27 NOVEMBER 2011

Thankyou for attending the second AGM of St Mary’s Community Ltd. One of the major tasks of 2011 was to determine the membership of the Company.

2011 Melbourne series Melbourne Town Hall -  November 15, 2011

For more than two millennia, the Catholic Church has been the author and repository of some of the highest ideals of humanity. Yet, as humanity is flawed, so is the Church. Few would deny that the Catholic Church has dark chapters in its history. However, do these darker moments unfairly obscure the light – perhaps because so much is expected of an institution that claims to bridge the sacred and secular? Or is the Catholic Church simply the most ancient of wolves in sheep’s clothing?

Father Peter Kennedy

In 2009 the ABC Australian Story produced a feature film entitled “Holier Than Thou” which documented our forced removal from St Mary’s Church in South Brisbane into Exile.

America 14 November 2011 (Peter Henriot sj served for 21 years as the director of the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection in Lusaka, Zambia. He is currently engaged in Jesuit educational work in Malawi).

A seminarian I taught recently asked me to name the most influential document on church social teaching since the Second Vatican Council. He was surprised by my unhesitating and vigorous response: “Justice in the World,” the statement from the world Synod of Bishops of 1971.

West End Uniting Church, First Communion/Confirmation

A wood carver called Ching had just finished work on a bell frame. Everyone who saw it marveled for it seemed to be the work of the spirits. When the emperor saw it, he asked, what sort of genius is yours that you could make such a thing?

St Mary’s Matter Ed 26 – Happiness

Some of you may remember me as a member of this community but most of you – I suspect – know me as the filmmaker who produced the documentary The Trouble with St Mary’s. I am here to talk to you about the film from my perspective as the filmmaker.