Father Z, the doyen of priest bloggers, is at the clergy conference I’m attending. He is posting on the conference each day.
He and I are in agreement that today’s address from Archbishop Di Noia, who works at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is “outstanding.” Father Z laments that we don’t have an open Q&A. As one of the organisers, I can confirm it’s not due to mistrust, but due to time constraints. Despite our tight Q&A protocols, the archbishop was still half an hour late for his next appointment.
Unhappily for me, since I am the Australian Confraternity editor and it’s my task to publish the conference proceedings, Archbishop Di Noia spoke ex tempore. He apologised to his audience and explained that he had run out of time. That apology was redundant because he is an accomplished teacher and speaker (he is a Dominican), and his talk was both systematic and compelling. But I have to pray – perhaps you can pray too – that His Excellency finds the time to put something to paper, so that I have something to publish!
Bishop Jarrett led Evening Prayer and Benediction on the first evening.
Cardinal Pell spoke about the evangelical mission of the priest in an increasingly secular world. His paper will be published in The Priest.
This blurry photo obscures the very pensive look on my face. (I’m at the end of the table.) Archbishop Di Noia’s talk was theologically very rich.
Could not agree more with your comments about Archbishop Joseph Augustine DiNoia, O. P. He is one of the very few theologians currently in the Church who has a deep knowledge and understanding of the relationship between the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the General Directory for Catechesis, as well as the relationship between doctrine and pastoral practise. I have learnt so much by reading his work on how the logic of doctrine in the Catechism shapes and directs Catechesis as part of the process of evangelization – a knowledge and understanding which is seriously lacking in formation and educational institutions in the Universal Church today. God bless your Conference father.