Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto

“For me, I cannot imagine my life without Jesus Christ. I simply cannot imagine it. I am so happy that I met Jesus from the very beginning of my life, when I was a very small, young boy. From the very beginning, I always considered he was my life. I am grateful that he called me in a special way to follow him. This is the perennial source of my happiness and my joy.” (Archbishop Lazzarotto, August 30, 2012)

In just a few weeks, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto, the Apostolic Nuncio to Australia will leave for the Holy Land, having been appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Israel and Cyprus, and Apostolic Delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine. Continue reading →

The following address was given by Most Rev Anthony Fisher OP to the St Thomas More Forum, Campbell, ACT, Wednesday 6 September 2012
Same-sex marriage (SSM) is all the rage at the moment. Last week the lower house of the Tasmanian parliament passed a bill to allow it. A similar bill passed first reading stage in New Zealand, and the Scots parliament announced it plans to make similar law.

Meanwhile, on the latest count there are four bills before the Australian Federal Parliament on the matter, two in each house. Recent legislation for civil unions in the ACT ape marriage and the local Attorney-General openly says it is a stage towards SSM on the Tasmanian model. Continue reading →

eConference poster

Grace That Speaks to Our Times

‘Vatican II: An Event of Grace,’ brings together two notable concepts in an e-Conference: Vatican II and the Year of Grace.

This e-Conference is brought to you by The Broken Bay Institute in partnership with The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.

Delivered on the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the first session of Vatican II, this one day live conference will be streamed across the world using internet and television technology and will celebrate the Year of Grace. Continue reading →

Lord,
You asked that
the little children
be allowed to come to you;

for it is such as these that
the Reign of God belongs.
You entrust them
to the care and protection
of our communities of faith.

Guide us
as we strive to ensure
that our Catholic communities
provide a safe environment
for each child.

We pray especially for all those
who have been harmed
in their childhood.
Give them courage
in facing the past
and lead them
to your healing protection.

Amen Continue reading →

 BISHOP JOE GRECH MEMORIAL LECTURE

GIVEN BY ARCHBISHOP DENIS HART

FOR THE SECOND ANNUAL BISHOP JOSEPH GRECH COLLOQUIUM ON ETHICS AND MIGRATION

AT AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY

ON THURSDAY, 30TH AUGUST 2012 AT 7.00 P.M.

Archbishop Denis Hart

INTRODUCTION

Minister Chris Bowen, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Bishop Joe Grech was passionate about helping refugees and asylum seekers, so I am very pleased we are remembering him in this Colloquium.

Migration and the Church

In acknowledging the Traditional Owners of this area, I invite you all to reflect on how the great majority of us have relatively recent family histories in Australia, how migration has been central to the development of the Catholic Church and how migration has transformed Australia into a vibrant, prosperous, western democracy in just over two hundred years.

I remember that migration has not always helped Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.  We have a lot more work to do with our Indigenous brothers and sisters to create a truly just Australia.

The 2011 census shows almost a quarter of Catholics were born overseas.  Migrants to Australia have brought the Church new symbols, practices and devotions which express the richness and diversity of the Universal Church.  We are grateful for example for the people from the Eastern Catholic Churches – the Maronite Diocese and the Melkite, Chaldean and Ukrainian Eparchies.  Their traditions help to enrich the whole Church in Australia.

A recent analysis of the 2011 census data in The Australian newspaper highlights the role of migrant communities in Australia’s most Catholic city suburb, Horsley Park in Sydney’s west.  Almost three quarters of the population there are Catholic, partly explained by the fact that more than 40 per cent of the residents have Maltese or Italian heritage. Continue reading →

Minister Bowen addresses the colloquium

Acknowledgements

Thank you, and thank you to Father Pettena for the opportunity to contribute to this important colloquium on ethics and migration.

Father Pettena combines passion with action. Last year, Father Pettena came to see me to lobby for faster action in moving children into the community, out of detention. I pointed out to the Father that one of the very real challenges is finding appropriate housing for children and families, and that with more accommodation we could move quickly.

The next day, Father Pettena called back saying that he had found a former monastery in Canberra that could sleep plenty of unaccompanied minors and made it available to us, an offer we accepted with alacrity. He’s my kind of action-oriented advocate.

Your Grace Archbishop Denis Hart, Father Pettena, Associate Vice-Chancellor Mr Chris Sheargold, ladies and gentlemen.

I would like to begin by acknowledging the Wurundjeri peoples of the Kulin Nation, the traditional owners on whose land we meet today, pay my respects to their elders – past and present – and thank them for their stewardship of our land over the millennia.

Continue reading →