Anthony Egan SJ's blog

In a whirlwind God finally answers Job’s persistent question: Why do the innocent suffer? The Book of Job, that great work of the Old Testament, rejects all the ‘easy’ answers often trotted out to explain suffering. No, we do not suffer because we are sinners deserving divine punishment, because we have broken divine laws (perhaps laws of which we may even be unaware). We suffer because…we suffer.

There are three Presidential candidates. Candidate A is a non-smoking, non-drinking vegetarian. Candidate B is a heavy smoking, borderline alcoholic with suicidal depressive tendencies. Candidate C is an adulterous chain-smoker (who also likes the odd glass or three). How will you good people vote?

Do you remember February 2nd to the 11th 1990, that ‘long week’ that shook the world, beginning with the unbanning of the African National Congress and other political movements and culminating with Nelson Mandela’s release from Pollsmoor Prison?

I remember a discussion with colleagues in the Religious Studies Department at University of Cape Town the week before February 2nd. Some of us intended to be at the demonstration planned outside Parliament that day. Suddenly, quietly, one of the professors said, “I have a feeling [then President F W] De Klerk is going to surprise us. I think he’ll unban the ANC and release Mandela next week.”

James Cameron's 2009 blockbuster movie "Avatar" has been criticised by the political and religious right for being anti-capitalist, anti-militarist, "neo-pagan‟ and "pantheist". Though less hostile, the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano were critical of its latter aspect, seeing the film as endorsing pantheism – the worship of nature. Are they right? More importantly, why does "Avatar" appeal to so many people? What can Christians learn from it?

The Irish Government’s inquiry into child sexual abuse by clergy in the archdiocese of Dublin is harrowing reading. Following other similar scandals it evokes a disturbing sense of déjà vu. The question is: Will we learn from it?

The latest round in the ideological wrestling match over nationalisation of mining has led to a nasty exchange between ANC Youth League leader Julius ‘the Mouth’ Malema and Jeremy ‘the Poet’ Cronin worthy of those delightfully staged World Wrestling Association entertainments we see regularly on television. Like those shows, I would suggest that its 70% rhetorical bluster and 30% scripted ‘action’.

For those like me mathematically challenged, let me translate the strange formula of our title into what it means, the most commonly held definition of corruption. Corruption equals Monopoly Power, plus Discretion, minus Accountability. This definition applies, as you see, across the board from politics through business to personal life – and even, dare I suggest, to the church.

CHRISTIANITY AND THE COLONISATION OF SOUTH AFRICA: A Documentary History Volume 1, by Charles Villa-Vicencio and Peter Grassow (Pretoria: UNISA Press, 2009), Pb, xvii + 360pp; ISBN 978-1-86888-399-8.

CHRISTIANITY AND THE MODERNISATION OF SOUTH AFRICA: A Documentary History Volume 2, by John de Gruchy (Pretoria: UNISA Press, 2009), Pb, xix + 388pp; ISBN 978-1-86888-440-7.

Twenty years ago, as a Master’s student in History at the University of Cape Town, I was recruited by John de Gruchy and Charles Villa-Vicencio to find and collect documents on the history of Christianity in South Africa. It was part of a project they had started with a range of graduate students, all the rest of whom were in Religious Studies, to set up a comprehensive data base on church-state relations, the foundation for what became the Research Institute for Christianity in Southern Africa (RICSA).

As the Synod comes to a close, as many important insights get written into its final document, as many weary bishops and advisors prepare to return home, one question must surely remain: why have an African synod in Rome?

Marxists who follow the world systems theory of Immanuel Wallerstein might argue that this reflects the nature of global power, a world ruled from the centre.

Reconciliation has become a major theme of the African Synod, with the Church seen (rightly) as an important real or potential player in the process. A new dimension to this was added by Sister Pauline Bukasa of the Democratic Republic of Congo, speaking a few days ago, who called (together with other speakers) to recognise the importance of women as agents of the process in both church and state. Women, after all, bear the brunt of violence, oppression and marginalisation – in, once again, both Church and State.