Texts

Scapegoat: how civilisation harms and how the Cross heals

It’s a word we’re all familiar with, it’s through the violence of the scapegoating mechanism that civilisations are built. And, it is through the scapegoating mechanism that the cross heals. It’s a fascinating way of understanding the atonement, especially for those of us disillusioned with models of atonement that require a violent God.
39 mins read

We’re in for a rough ride

In the clerical closet, dishonesty is functional, honesty is dysfunctional, and the absence or presence of circumspect sexual practice between adult males is irrelevant.
22 mins read

Violence: how it forms us and how we can be self-critical about it

There is a third dimension to Girard’s insight which is of particular interest to theologians. The mechanism described is omnipresent in human society, and depends, in order to work, on those involved not knowing that their blamed one is in fact arbitrarily chosen, or innocent. What is it, then, that has enabled anyone to face up to the true state of affairs, to recognize ourselves as beneficiaries of a culture which is built on lies and murder, and to want to move beyond living like this?
21 mins read
Oneing: Perfection - book cover

Failure and perfection

A contribution to the volume entitled “Perfection” from the “Oneing” series, published by the Center for Action and...
9 mins read

Love in a changing climate

The place of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Catholics in the church family was the controversial issue the synod chose to avoid. Does the minimal reference to them in the final document confirm deadlocked thinking, or offer hopeful grounds for change?
1 min read
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