Many thanks to whoever sent me the latest copy of The Brandsma Review! I have been enjoying reading it, especially the discussion on the Church in Germany, whose situation is far more intricate and nuanced than I imagined.
My only personal experience of Catholicism on the European continent was a Sunday Mass in Innsbruck. I was surprised at the size of the congregation (the church was almost full, I seem to remember), given that I had come to think of European Christianity as completely moribund.
I was also very interested by the review of Martin Scorsese's Silence, a film I watched rather reluctantly (all the reviews called it slow-moving and ponderous), but found far more entertaining than I expected.
I'm looking forward to reading the whole thing. Kudos to everybody involved!
I've certainly heard a lot about the German system of taxation and it's your in with church membership through the years. I think Ratzinger touched on the subject in the Salt of the Earth interview/book also
ReplyDeleteYes, that subject is discussed in-depth in the article. Lots of stuff I didn't know. A mention, for instance, of religious orders that are conservative in terms of liturgy and discipline, but liberal in doctrine. I've never read Salt of the Earth.
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