Since the early days of the NCP, The Swag has been much more than just a newsletter of our organisation. It has been a platform for the clergy of Australia and their many friends to share information and views, as well as news, about the life of the Church in this country. It rightly holds a unique position, as there is no other publication quite like it.
Emeritus Bishop Peter Ingham
Emeritus Bishop Peter Ingham was the Bishop of Wollongong for seventeen years, retiring in November 2017. For a number of years he was afflicted with Pulmonary fibrosis, a terminal condition. As his condition worsened he chose to prepare the following article for The Swag. It was forwarded by Julia Cuming who in her role of Enduring Guardian and Power of Attorney cared for Peter in the family home. Julia’s parents, Doctor John and Dame Monica Gallagher, first met Peter as a young priest when he was personal secretary to Cardinal Freeman. The friendship with the Gallagher family has endured for fifty years. Peter died peacefully in the evening of the feast day of Saint Mark, 26 April.
Bill Uren, SJ, AO, is a Scholar-in-residence at Newman College at the University of Melbourne. In this article (first published in Eureka Street on 24 April 2024, and reprinted here with permission of Eureka Street and the author) Bill reflects on the recent Vatican Declaration on Human Dignity which has occasioned much reaction around the world especially in relation to gender theory. Bill notes in particular the lack of a pastoral approach in this document which has been present in other recent Papal and Vatican teachings. A former Provincial Superior of the Australian and New Zealand Jesuits, he has lectured in moral philosophy and bioethics in universities in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth and has served on the Australian Health Ethics Committee and many clinical and human research ethics committees in universities, hospitals and research centres.
Fr John Joseph Therry
Dr Damian John Gleeson was the 2022 Australian Religious History Fellow at the State Library of New South Wales. Drawing on primary sources, his detailed examination of colonial New South Wales has identified many errors in the history of Catholic education, the Irish convict settlement, and early Catholic clergy, such as Fr Therry.
Gerald O’Collins SJ
Gerald O’Collins SJ
After a PhD at the University of Cambridge, Gerald Glynn O’Collins, SJ, taught for 33 years at the Gregorian University (Rome), where he supervised the doctoral dissertations of several Australians. A frequent contributor to professional journals (e.g. Theological Studies) and popular journals (e.g. the London Tablet and The Pastoral Review), he has so far authored or co-authored 85 books. The latest include Letters to Maev (Connor Court Publishing), The Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola (Paulist Press) and The Beauty of Jesus Christ (Oxford University Press).
