Short news

Wilhelm Steckling

Gleanings

"Both in the United States and around the world, those religious movements which have grown most dramatically over the last half-century are those with the clearest boundaries between themselves and the prevailing culture. In their 1987 book A Theory of Religion, Rodney Stark and William Bainbridge called this 'high-tension religion.'"

"Significantly, 'high-tension' and 'conservative' are not coterminous. It's entirely possible to foster a high-tension ethic within a church, or a religious order, that's not premised on ideological conservatism. Within Catholicism, new movements such as Sant'Egidio or L'Arche illustrate the point; they have many of the characteristics of 'high-tension' groups without falling on the ideological right."



To the great powers of this world, we plead: treat Africa with respect and dignity.

• A change is called for with regard to the debts burden against poor nations, which literally kills children.
• Multinationals have to stop their criminal devastation of the environment in their greedy exploitation of natural resources.
• It is short-sighted policy to foment wars in order to make fast gains from chaos, at the cost of human lives and blood.

Is there no one out there able and willing to stop all these crimes against humanity? (32 - 33)

What do you see today for the church in Europe? - Kolvenbach: I think about something Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts and a man who wasn't himself particularly religious, once said: 'I like my religion the same way I like my tea - boiling.'

"I consider the Gospel to be the Body of Christ" (Origenes)

"The Lord's flesh is real food and his blood real drink; this is our true good in this present life: to nourish ourselves with his flesh and to drink his blood in not only the Eucharist but also the reading of Sacred Scripture. In fact, the Word of God, drawn from the knowledge of the Scriptures, is real food and real drink" (St. Jerome).