A woman sits with children as evacuees, including civilians who left the area near Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, arrive at a temporary accommodation center in Bezimenne, Ukraine, May 1, 2022. (CNS photo/Alexander Ermochenko, Reuters)

Australia’s Catholic bishops have again expressed their prayer for and solidarity with the Ukrainian people, in a letter to Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Archbishop Mark Coleridge told Archbishop Shevchuk that the Church is Australia is watching on with horror at “the tragic situation in Ukraine where an invasion based on lies and injustice continues with no end in sight”.

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Thanks to the journey of the Plenary Council, the People of God in Australia are well placed to respond to Pope Francis’ exhortation to be people who listen, Australian Catholic Media Council chair Debra Vermeer says.

Pope Francis’ message for World Communications Day, which is celebrated in Australia on May 22 this year, has the theme “Listening with the ear of your heart”.

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The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has elected Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB president of the Conference and re-elected Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP vice-president on the opening day of its plenary meeting.

The Conference agreed that the president and vice-president’s two-year terms will commence on July 13, 2022, after the Second General Assembly of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia.

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To help better understand the place of synodality in the Catholic Church, ecumenical leaders will attend national Uniting and Anglican gatherings this month to see how synodality works in those communities.

The global Synod on Synodality has encouraged engagement with ecumenical and interfaith groups as part of the process leading towards the gathering in Rome in October 2023.

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Archbishop Mark Coleridge’s tenure as president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference will conclude next week, after the Holy See asked that bishops not serve in leadership roles in bishops conferences past 75.

Archbishop Coleridge, elected president of the Bishops Conference in 2018, will complete his second two-year term this month.

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In a message for the Feast of St Joseph the Worker, Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv has highlighted the challenges many people face in working more than one job to make ends meet – and the flow-on effects of that decision.

The Bishops Conference publishes a message each year for the May 1 feast, with this year’s message focusing on low-paid workers who can’t cover the cost of living through a single job.

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Australia’s Catholic bishops have called for a shakeup that focuses the country’s politics on the common good of all, including – and especially – those who struggle to participate in the community.

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Archbishop Mark Coleridge said no one political party fully embodies Catholic social teaching. The bishops are, however, offering an election statement to encourage Catholics and people of good will to reflect on the good they can do for their community by using their vote for the good of all.

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Catholics across the country are being invited to participate in a new prayer pilgrimage as the Church journeys towards the second assembly of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia.

The “Walking in the Spirit” pilgrimage has been prepared to encourage individuals, families, parishes, schools and other ministries to keep the Plenary Council in their prayers.

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Archbishop Charles Balvo has arrived as Pope Francis’ ambassador to Australia in what the 70-year-old believes will be his final assignment after having already served 35 years in the Vatican’s diplomatic service.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Archbishop Balvo presented his credentials to the Governor-General of Australia on April 1 – the 17th anniversary of his first appointment as an Apostolic Nuncio, to New Zealand and the islands of the Pacific.

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Dioceses across Australia are currently preparing reports on the local consultation phase of the global Synod on Synodality, which will shape the development of a national synthesis to be sent to the Holy See.

Between October and March, individuals and groups were invited to reflect on and respond to a series of questions across the Synod of Bishops’ three key themes: communion, participation and mission.

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Australia’s Catholic bishops have welcomed the Government’s decision to see up to 450 asylum-seekers resettled in New Zealand, but say hundreds more need to be offered a pathway out of detention.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews this week announced that 150 asylum-seekers in Australia will be able to relocate to New Zealand each year for the next three years.

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Catholics around the world are being encouraged to join their prayers with those of Pope Francis on March 25 when he consecrates Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The act of consecration places the warring countries under the protection of Mary, the Mother of Christ, trusting in the power of her intercession. Such an act looks towards God, the source of all peace, and seeks God’s peace through Mary.

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