Daily Archives: 10 May 2013

New Appointment: Chair of the National Catholic Education Commission

Greg Crafter – Photo from Adelaide Now

We are delighted to announce that the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has recently confirmed the appointment of the Honourable Greg Crafter AO as the Chair of the National Catholic Education Commission. Mr Crafter will take up this responsibility from 1 July this year.

Mr Crafter was Minister of Education in South Australia from 1985 to 1992. Since that time he has retained an active interest in school education at international and national level. He was President of the Geneva-based International Baccalaureate Organisation (1997-2003) and has been a member of the National Catholic Education Commission since 2009.
Within South Australia, Mr Crafter has continued his involvement in education. He was the chair of the recent review of the former Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia. Mr Crafter’s long association with the University of Adelaide has been recognised by their granting him an honorary doctorate. Continue reading →

Bishop Peter Ingham introduces 47th World Communications Day Kit


The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Communications Office has released an eBook and parish resource to coincide with the celebration of the 47th World Communications Day, which takes place in Australia on Sunday, May 5.

In one of his final acts as Pope, Benedict XVI authored the statement “Social Networks: portals of truth and faith; new spaces for evangelization”, recognising the gifts of social networking in sharing the message of Christ.

In response to the Holy Father’s message, the Communications Office of the Bishops Conference commissioned 30 Catholic Media Professionals from around Australia to contribute chapters to an eBook entitled “Word Made Flesh and “Shared” Among Us.”

Here, Bishop Peter Ingham introduces the kit and eBook which can be downloaded from the front page of www.catholic.org.au or by clicking the following links:

ePub version of eBook
PDF version of eBook
PDF version of parish resource

Catholic Bishops support DisabilityCare

DisabilityCare, www.abc.net.au

Media Release,May 10, 2013

The Catholic Bishops of Australia welcome and support the Federal government’s commitment to DisabilityCare Australia (National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)), a scheme which aims to help people with disability and their families.
The Catholic Bishops believe that people with disability and their families should be provided with the most appropriate levels and quality of service throughout their life. This includes services for families supporting and caring for the person with disability.

The Bishops said the current national approach to disability services is crisis-driven, welfare-based and lacks dignity. DisabilityCare intends to ensure better accessibility, choice and control over service delivery.

Bishops Delegate for Disability Issues, Bishop Terry Brady said ‘Governments need to ensure the rights of persons with disability are upheld by taking action to stop the historic discrimination and exclusion of persons with disability. DisabilityCare should ensure all persons with disability in Australian society will enjoy their human rights and fundamental freedoms.” Continue reading →

Families behind razor wire – a sad day for a fair nation

Curtin Detention Centre from www.theaustralian.com.au

Media Release, 10 May, 2013

The Chairman of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, Bishop Christopher Saunders, has expressed deep concern over the proposed detention of children and families in remote immigration facilities.

“There is something particularly uncaring about locking away children and families in a starkly isolated facility such as Curtin in the Kimberley”, Bishop Saunders said. “I have seen first-hand the conditions of this place and the physical and mental trauma experienced by older detainees who had already suffered greatly.

“The Minister says that families and children will be detained for migration checks for the shortest possible time. But the Government gave similar undertakings in 2008, and recent figures reveal that the average time adults and children are spending in detention is almost five months. Continue reading →