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"People who leave the Church are not leaving because they are rejecting the teachings of John Paul II or Pope Benedict. Most do so because they go to Catholic schools and they think that the kind of warm secular humanism with Christian gloss that they get in Catholic schools is in fact the Catholic faith and it hasn't captured their imagination, their love or their intellect so they are walking away from something that they do not know." - The Catholic Herald
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Featured Website - First Things
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Film Review - Kung Fu Panda
Kung Fu Panda is essentially a martial arts comedy and is a total action movie. It has striking effects and action sequences and a particularly impressive concluding fantasy sequence which brings DreamWorks to a new level of technological sophistication. There is a strong cultural feel about the movie and it heavily draws on Chinese culture to bring authenticity to its fantasy. - Peter Sheehan, Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting
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OPINION
Beyond knowledge to wisdomI believe this is one of the crisis points for contemporary Christianity. Put bluntly, its representatives do not seem wise. Yes, those representatives can give you any amount of information, some of them can even speak knowledgeably of Christian teachings. Wisdom is another thing altogether. - Fr Michael Whelan [More] - Aquinas Academy
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Connected across bordersIt is time for leaders of nations to see their national interests as connected with the interests of people on the other side of the globe. We have reached the point where human existence is at stake and our destiny is inextricably linked. If we are to overcome this crisis of climate change we need to think beyond the confines of national states. - Just Comment [More] - Edmund Rice Centre
FEATURED CATHOLIC WEBSITE
Catholic Education Diocese of ParramattaReturning to our education theme, we shine the spotlight on arguably the most innovative Catholic education website in the country. In addition to all the standard features of any CEO site, Parramatta's includes some interactive opinion polls and a competition for students to attempt to ''Become the Executive Director for the day''. The site is also well regarded for its RE and curriculum resources.
- www.parra.catholic.edu.au
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Archbishop says Africa's retarded development a terrorist threat
Peoples excluded from genuine development might feel there is no other option in their lives but terrorism, Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, the Holy See's secretary for relations with states told a symposium on Africa.
The event on Africa's social and economic development was held in Rome on Friday by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
Archbishop Lajolo, the Holy See's secretary for relations with states, presided over the morning session. He said that "after the terrorist attack suffered by the United States on September 11, 2001, the conditions of life of many African countries have decidedly worsened."
The sub-Saharan region is the area "that pays the highest price with its millions of poor and the absence of an effective assistance network," he said.
Yet, Africa's dramas take place amid an "almost general indifference, aroused when it involves citizens or interests of the North of the world," he noted, according to Vatican Radio.
Archbishop Lajolo warned that the "Western world must be aware that, if the path to genuine development is not undertaken, peoples who are excluded will end up by believing that they have no other option but that of terrorism. And this could become a new way of making war."
SOURCE
Lack of Development Could Open Door to Terrorism, Warns Official (Zenit 23/5/04)
25 May 2004
