Tag Archives: Pastoral

Letter from Bishop Anthony Fisher – Australian Catholic Youth Festival

Bishop Anthony Fisher

Monday, 26 November 2012

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Australian Catholic Youth Festival : 5 – 7 December 2013, Melbourne

In December 2013 the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference will host the first Australian Catholic Youth Festival. The Festival is anticipated to be the largest national gathering of Catholic young people since WYD 2008.

You are invited to begin promoting and preparing for the Festival and supporting young people from your community to attend.

The Festival will be held from Thursday, 5 December to Saturday, 7 December. It will be held at the Australian Catholic University (ACU) St Patrick’s Campus in East Melbourne, as well as at the East Melbourne Catholic Precinct, including St Patrick’s Cathedral and other nearby churches and facilities.

The Festival will invite students in the age group from Year 9 to young adults aged 25 years from schools, universities, youth groups, parishes, groups and movements throughout Australia. The venues and organisational arrangements have a capacity for 4000 young people. With your assistance we hope to reach this limit. Continue reading

International Day of People with Disability – Removing barriers to create inclusive society

Banner – International Day

Media Release, November 26, 2012

The International Day of People with Disability is celebrated on 3 December each year, with this year’s theme of, “Removing barriers to create an inclusive and accessible society for all.”

Bishop Terence Brady, the Australian Bishops’ Delegate for Disability Issues, said that there is much evidence of the types of barriers that are faced by people with disability, and that Church communities can find ways to address these.

“Barriers can take a variety of forms, including those relating to the physical environment or to information and communications technology (ICT), or those resulting from legislation or policy, or from societal attitudes or discrimination.” Continue reading

A Word for Today – Archbishop Hickey launches new weekly YouTube series

By Bridget Anna-Maria Spinks


Children’s welfare, family interests and the rampant drug culture in Perth will be a few of the topics discussed by Perth Catholic Archbishop Barry Hickey in a new video series he launched on 20 January online.
In an attempt to speak to the broader public, the weekly video series “A Word for Today’s World with Archbishop Barry Hickey” will appear online every Friday from now on via The Faith Centre website, signed in Auslan and complete with subtitles and a transcript.
The Faith Centre for Evangelisation and Catholic Culture, the newest centre in the Perth Archdiocese, will produce the videos and host these on their website www.thefaith.org.au. Continue reading

Catholic Migrant office calls for reflection on asylum policy during the Christmas season.

Media Release,
23 December 2011
The Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office today urged both political parties to show moral leadership over the Christmas period with regard to policy debates on asylum seekers and refugees.
Director of the ACMRO Fr Maurizio Pettenà CS expressed the view that people seeking asylum need to be processed in countries who are signatories to the UN Refugee Convention and who can assure them of the opportunity to rebuild their lives in dignity.
“Richer countries like Australia have a moral duty to do more to help the world’s refugees who are mostly hosted by poorer nations” he said.
“Christmas reminds us that it is in giving that we receive. This applies even more so to how much we give to those who seek asylum. Increasing the humanitarian program is an appropriate outcome that both political parties can agree on.” Continue reading

Trust in God, and take one day at a time – A reflection on the life of Bishop Joe

Bishop Joe Grech and Fr Maurizio Pettena concelebrating Mass with Bishops and Priests in Sydney, May, 2010.

By Fr Maurizio Pettena CS

Bishop Joe is still very much a holy presence in my life. I remember very vividly last year on the 23rd of December when he called me at about 10pm at night and asked me what I was doing.

He said he wasn’t feeling too well. He kept feeling worse, and the doctor recommended that he be hospitalised. On Christmas Eve, he was.

He rang me as he was being admitted to the hospital and asked me if I could come and be with him. A few hours later, I was there in Melbourne at St Vincent’s private hospital where I found him in his usual joking mood.

The doctor came in, amused by the jovial character and positive in his outlook. Continue reading

The Christmas story of asylum seekers

By Fr Maurizio Pettena CS

Yesterday, I stood in front of the Nativity scene that is displayed in front of St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney and considered it for a moment. The Christmas story, as always during December, is much on my mind and in my prayer this week. Even David Jones just down the road has a beautiful display in its windows of puppets re-enacting the Christmas story, complete with baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the three kings and the angels. A huge group of tourists had gathered to watch the mechanical puppets, taking photos and in some way, celebrating what Christmas is about. Continue reading

“Increase humanitarian intake to prevent future asylum tragedies” says Catholic Migrant office

Media Release
19 December, 2011

The Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office (ACMRO) today expressed sorrow over the tragedy which has resulted in the deaths of a possible 160 people, mostly thought to be asylum seekers from Afghanistan and Iran.

This time last year, a similar tragedy occurred when just short of safety, a boat carrying 50 Middle Eastern asylum seekers crashed off the rocks of Christmas Island. Continue reading

Bishops’ Commission for Church Ministry founds new Pastoral Council for Lay Catholics

Media Release
8 December, 2011

The Bishops Commission for Church Ministry (BCCM) has founded a new Lay Pastoral Council to develop policies for the education, formation, pastoral care and support of Lay Pastoral Ministers.

The members of the newly-formed Council are: Sr Philomena Burrell (Perth); Mrs Heather Carey (Adelaide); Sr Kathy Hatherall (Brisbane); Mr Richard McMahon (Sydney); Mrs Kathleen Lillis (Melbourne); Fr Brian Moloney (Australian Catholic Council for Clergy Life and Ministry Representative) and Bishops’ delegate Bp Peter Comensoli (Sydney). Continue reading

What is this “Year of Grace”?

By Fr Peter Brock

You’ll have seen Archbishop Wilson’s Letter, on behalf of the Australian Bishops, announcing the Year of Grace [www.yearofgrace.catholic.com.au]
The Bishops have chosen, as a sort of sub-heading, a phrase from Pope John Paul II’s Novo Millennio Ineunte: “starting afresh from Christ”.
So that might be the four-word answer to the question.
At the meeting of our National Planning Team, we brainstormed a slightly longer version:
“Listening to the wisdom of God, the Year of Grace calls us to:
· encounter Jesus Christ in prayer
· seek healing and renewal through repentance
· grow as disciples by cultivating the gifts of the Holy Spirit so that the Church in Australia will continue to be transformed by the power of Christ’s resurrection”. Continue reading