Bøker av Julian Porteous

For any Catholic living in Australia at the present moment the challenges to the faith are great indeed. The culture around us is changing rapidly, not only abandoning its Christian heritage but becoming increasingly hostile to the Church. Within the Church there is a serious struggle to know how to respond to these changes. Does the Church adapt itself to the culture? How can it preserve its true identity?The evident decline in religion and in numbers of Catholics attending Sunday Mass and living a sacramental life is another area of concern. Is this decline terminal? Experiences like the sexual abuse crisis have further eroded the confidence of many Catholics, and some have lost confidence in the leadership of bishops. Is it time to change the governance structures of the Church?As the Church prepares for a Plenary Council, these and many other issues challenge the Church here in Australia. Will the Council find the right way forward and plot a course which will ensure that the Church is able to effectively carry out the mission entrusted to it by the Lord?The response we make to the issues we face must be grounded in a deep spirit of faith. It must be faithful to the revelation of Sacred Scripture. It must be grounded in its living Tradition, and continuous with the body of Magisterium.The Plenary Council will shape the direction of the Church in Australia for decades to come.

The question of the formation of Christian character is an important contemporary issue. Our society is undergoing radical change at the personal and social level. There are forces at work that deconstruct the traditional patterns of human life - the family, the understanding of masculinity and femininity, our view on the nature and use of our sexuality. These forces are rebuilding human society in such a way that it is free from the influence of a religious perspective on life and free from the constraints of a moral approach to human living. The modern attitude is to reject traditional models of the virtuous life in favour of a self-realisation freely pursued outside the constraints of moral codes. There is a certain "morality" which is fashioned by society. Certain things are determined to be "politically correct". Certain stances become fashionable like ecological sensitivity or the perceived threat from sexism, but these are fluid positions and change with fashions of thought. They do not impinge particularly on the inner quality of character but rather reflect certain acceptable attitudes. They are superficial and do not promote serious inner growth. This book seeks to explore the nature of the human person. Then, by drawing on our Christian tradition, consider the ways in which we can build a healthy and happy life fulfilling what God has intended us to become as a faithful imitation of his Son. This is a book about identifying the nature of Christian character. It offers a path which will lead to mature Christian character.

What sort of priest is needed for the third millennium? The cultural and ecclesial landscape has changed so dramatically over the past fifty years. There are new and challenging forces at work influencing the direction of culture and there are many forces bearing in on the Church. The priest is at the cutting edge of the intersection of these forces as they play out in the lives of Catholics. It is timely to look again at the identity, spirituality and pastoral orientation of priests. This book is written firstly for priests and for seminarians, but can be of interest to lay people who seek to understand what is happening to the priesthood in our time.