Tolkien’s response to clerical errors
At Offerimus Tibi Domine, Fr Simon Henry examined the question of Church “scandals” in the light of a letter by JRR Tolkien. Tolkien wrote to his son Michael in 1963, saying that he had “suffered grievously in my life from stupid, tired … and even bad priests”. But he would not “leave the Church (which for me would mean leaving the allegiance of Our Lord) for any such reasons: I should leave because I did not believe”.
For Tolkien, the betrayal of Judas, the cowardice of St Peter, the vanity of St James’s mother, were constants. “If He is a fraud and the Gospels fraudulent – that is: garbled accounts of a demented megalomaniac (which is the only alternative), then of course the spectacle exhibited by the Church (in the sense of clergy) in history and today is simply evidence of a gigantic fraud.” But if the Gospels were true, one would still expect to find scandals.
A survival guide for Catholics at university
In Australia's Catholic Weekly, Catherine Sheehan offered advice for prospective university students. How to avoid political correctness?
Theologian Tracey Rowland suggests a language course. “You can’t get into trouble with languages. You either have it right or you have it wrong. Languages give you access to the humanities like nothing else.”
Journalist Greg Sheridan says one option is “to do a non-humanities course and read in the humanities widely”. Other academics say that there are good courses and helpful individuals at all universities, but they need to be sought out. And when you get there, politician Mark Latham has said, you have a choice: “I don’t blame any student for going with the flow, wanting to get their degree, get out of there and get on with their life. But I also sense there’ll be students who step forward and do the brave things that call out the nonsense.”
Catechesis rooted in childlike wonder
At Church Life Journal, Jessica Keating described the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) programme, which was developed in the 1950s. CGS assumes that “the young child possesses the profound capacity to enter into a deep and meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ”.
It’s partly based on the thinking of educationalist Maria Montessori. She “compares the mind of the child to soft wax – everything in his or her environment makes an impression”. CGS uses the senses: three-to-six-year-olds are shown models of a shepherd, sheep and the sheepfold. These materials, according to one of CGS’s founders, lead not to “the formulation of concepts but to a vital encounter with a real Person”.
CGS tries to provoke wonder. Though children may still misbehave, it can awaken a “quiet joy”. “Here, a three-year-old boy grew wide-eyed in wonder upon hearing the proclamation of the Nativity when the angels tell the shepherds, ‘Do not be afraid’ and announced, ‘That’s what the angel said to Mary!’ In this inauspicious little space, 10 children, heads thrown back and arms reaching upward, elatedly sing the ‘Celtic Alleluia’ for a full 10 minutes.”
