TMC update: Upcoming events, courses, interviews

November 6, 2024

This week, we’re taking the opportunity to provide an update concerning TMC events, courses, and interviews.

UPCOMING EVENTS

BRISBANE: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27 – TALK ON COURAGE.

Dr Craig Heilman will be giving a TMC talk at Indooroopilly Library entitled, “The Virtue of Courage: Can it Still be Found?” Dr Heilmann received his doctorate from Duke University, where he wrote an ethics dissertation on Alasdair MacIntyre’s virtue ethics under Prof. Dr Stanley Hauerwas. As usual, drinks/dinner will follow at the Pig ‘n’ Whistle downstairs.

MELBOURNE: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29 – THE INAUGURAL NICHOLAS TONTI-FILIPPINI MEMORIAL MASS AND ORATION

The Thomas More Centre is assisting in the promotion and organisation of a special Mass and Oration marking the 10th anniversary of the death of Australia’s first professional bioethicist and leading voice for the “culture of life”.

Professor Tonti-Filippini was a regular lecturer and speaker at the early Thomas More Centre events and was Associate Professor at the John Paul II Institute in Melbourne.

The Mass, to be celebrated by Archbishop Peter Comensoli, will be at St Patrick’s Cathedral at 5pm on Friday, November 29. The Oration, to be delivered by Professor Tracey Rowland, will follow at the Park Hyatt, Melbourne at 6.30pm.

All are welcome to attend the Mass. The early bird price to attend the Oration ($65) ends tomorrow. You can book your ticket(s) here.

UPCOMING SHORT COURSES

2025: CHRISTIAN SOCIAL TEACHING

A pillar of the TMC philosophy rests on the rich heritage of Catholic social teaching and a key resource is the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, which was published by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

To mark the 20th year of the Compendium’s publication, the Thomas More Centre is working to create a 2025 interactive short course that will guide participants through key aspects of this important document and relate these to our current social and cultural challenges.

BRISBANE, 2025: READING WITH JOHN: A FREE 8-WEEK INTERACTIVE SEMINAR SERIES

Beginning on January 14, 2025, Mark Makowiecki will be delivering a fortnightly interactive seminar series on the Gospel of John at Indooroopilly Library (7pm). We will examine the interpretative keys needed to understand John's Gospel, as well as several of his theological themes (for example, new creation, new birth, heavenly ascent). This pilot course will be free, followed by a paid online course later in the year.

YOUTUBE INTERVIEWS

We’ve also had some great guests on the YouTube channel in recent months. These include:

Joe de Bruyn. As many of you will know, Joe was in the news recently after staff and students at Australian Catholic University staged a mass walk-out during his graduation ceremony address in Melbourne (a copy of his speech can be read in the latest issue of News Weekly). Joe was the National Secretary of Australia’s largest private trade union – the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) – from 1978 to 2014, as well as a member of the Australia Labor Party (ALP) Federal Executive. In the interview, Joe discusses his Catholic upbringing, the papal encyclical Rerum Novarum, the ALP Industrial Groups, an encounter with B.A. Santamaria, the Polish Solidarity Movement, Julia Gillard's gay ‘marriage’ promise, his gardening, his professional accomplishments, income-splitting, and the late Cardinal George Pell.

Ronan Reilly. Ronan is a musician who lives in Mathoura, NSW but commutes to Sydney for work. Ronan leads the Jubilate Deo Sacred Music Program, the mission of which is to evangelise through the way of beauty – utilising Liturgical Chant as a unique medium to deepen and instill the Catholic faith in a new generation. Informally begun in 2018 with a group of 70 girls at Brigidine College, it is now teaching 1800 students across the Sydney archdiocesan school network. In the interview, Ronan discusses the intensive training he received as a member of the St Mary’s Cathedral school choir, the history of sacred music, the possibility of incorporating images of Australian flora and fauna into Catholic worship, the Pell accusations, the Jubilate Deo program, and his publishing initiative to help children learn sacred chant.

Monsignor Michael Nazir-Ali. Monsignor Nazir-Ali is a former Anglican bishop and was once a candidate to become the Archbishop of Canterbury (he lost out to Rowan Williams). Born in Pakistan, he embraced Christianity at the age of 15 and went on to become the bishop of Raiwind and, later, Rochester. In 2021, he was received into the Catholic Church and ordained a priest for the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. In the interview, Nazir-Ali discusses Pakistan’s blasphemy law, the difference between true and false ecumenism, the outstanding obstacles to Catholic-Lutheran reunification, his hopes and disappointments on the ecumenical front, his journey into the Catholic Church, Henry VIII and the English Reformation, the differences between Sunni and Shia Islam, the emergence of radical Islam in Europe, the proposed Islamophobia law in the UK, the appeal of Christianity to Muslim women, the growth of Christianity in Iran, and the persecution of Armenian Christians.

Luke McCormack. Luke is the president of the National Civic Council as well as its state president in Queensland. A Victorian by birth, he lives in Brisbane with his wife, Caroline, and six children. Since 2008, he has helped manage campaigns against radical abortion law reforms, the redefinition of marriage, and euthanasia laws. He is particularly passionate about campaigning for fairer funding for families and his studies include teaching, business for not-for-profits, science and theology. In the interview, Luke discusses his passion for mountain-biking, beer-brewing, this history and purpose of ‘The Movement’, how he got involved, the benefits of nuclear power for Australia, the need for fairer income tax and childcare systems, the shrinking birth rate, the challenges of home ownership, the benefits of high-speed rail, and frugal living.

Kevin Bailey. Kevin is a former SAS soldier, financial advisor, and Catholic philanthropist. He was the state manager in Victoria of Monitor Money Corporation before he established Money Managers Ltd in 1996 – a finance advisory business that manages over $800 million in capital. Kevin has written two finance and investment books, wrote a weekly finance column for the Herald Sun between 1998 and 2009, and hosted talk-back radio programs for 3AW and ABC in Melbourne. Besides having been the Honorary Consul General for East Timor, he is a director of that country’s Investment Advisory Board. Since 2011, Kevin has devoted himself to supporting Catholic evangelisation projects, such as Parousia Media and Divine Renovation Australasia. In the interview, Kevin discusses his hardscrabble upbringing, his time in the army (including his membership of the ski team and attending Jim Wallace’s bible study), his career as a financial advisor, the Timor Gap gas deal, bureaucratisation and ‘safetyism’ in the Church, revitalising the Church, and his favourite saints.

Also keep an eye out for our upcoming interviews with Professor Tracey Rowland, the St John Paul II Chair of Theology at the University of Notre Dame Australia and 2020 winner of the Ratzinger Prize, and Monica Doumit, the Director of Public Affairs and Engagement for the Archdiocese of Sydney and a columnist with The Catholic Weekly.

If you have not done so already, please consider subscribing to our YouTube channel. Once we reach 1000 subscribers, we will be eligible for monetisation, meaning that the channel can begin (albeit very modestly) paying for itself.

If you would prefer to listen to TMC interviews in the car, remember that we also have the Thomas More Centre podcast, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.

Finally, if you would like to financially support the work of the Thomas More Centre, we would be very grateful for your assistance. While many of the events and material we provide are given for free, they are not free to make.

Thank you for your support!

Mark Makowiecki
TMC Organiser for Queensland

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