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Hope does not disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Romans 5:5
The challenge facing Saint Paul and the early church is remarkably similar to the situation in which the Catholic Church in Australia finds itself today. In Christ, Paul had a story to tell, good news to share that would change how people live, relate to one another, make a difference to the broader society, change utterly the culture of their times. But who was listening? And how would the community called church engage with the wider society to convince them of the validity of their message?
The issue facing Australian Catholicism is strikingly similar. The church has a message to proclaim, a gospel to share, a conviction about how society should function, but, increasingly, no one is listening.
Paul Collins is a theologian with a special interest in the history of the Church. He knows well that, over the centuries, there have been various models of how to be church and it is this special insight that informs his commentary on the contemporary Australian Church. He understands that unless the Church addresses and reflects the real concerns of ordinary Australians – including patriarchy, the role of women, governance structures, ecology and climate change, gender issues – people will increasingly distance themselves from the Church.
He identifies the defects in the current model of Church – including clericalism, poor leadership, defective seminary formation, hierarchy. He counsels change and his criticism is both measured and informed. Above all, he offers hope that the Church in Australia will recover the Jesus tradition and witness to the gospel that is at the heart of its message and mission.
Recovering the ‘True Church’ is offered to all who care for the future of the Church in Australia, during the Plenary Council, and in the generations to follow.
