Channel 7 News was holding a special broadcast on the death of the Holy Father, and I was very glad to see they made the effort to honour him in a special way. I was also very thankful to hear that all the flags in this country are flying half-mast today. I don’t think we have ever seen such an official outpouring of condolences and admiration from the politicians in Australia before regarding the passing of any other Pope, save, maybe John Paul II….but back then, when he passed in 2005, I was still prodigal and away from the Church. Although, I must admit that I actually learnt of Pope John Paul II’s passing while I was sitting in a lecture theatre at Melbourne Uni as my then-lecturer actually made an official announcement regarding his passing even though she was then & there a lapsed Catholic who was leaning more towards atheism than any forthright belief in God. 

And so, now there is all of a sudden, even here in this predominantly secular country, much busy-ness over Pope Francis’ passing, and I just have a sense that perhaps this is a good thing, because Australia needs to awaken from the careless slumber that secularism has drawn it into. This looks to be a knock on the door for that awakening to finally begin somewhere in earnest.