Jillian Segal, Bishop Michael McKenna and Teresa Pirola at the launch of Walking Together
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference today launched a new document to highlight Christianity’s unique relationship with Judaism and the celebrate the positive relationship the two faiths enjoy in Australia.
Walking Together: Catholics and Jews in the Australian Context comes 30 years after the Bishops Conference published a set of guidelines and recommendations to enhance Catholic-Jewish relations.
Fr Kimi Vunivesilevu (left) and Fr Stephen Hackett led the spirituality day
Staff from its General Secretariat have extended the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s commitment to its Laudato Si’ Action Plan with a spirituality day focused on “An Integral Ecology of the Heart”.
Fr Kimi Vunivesilevu MSC and fellow Missionary of the Sacred Heart priest Fr Stephen Hackett, the general secretary of the Bishops Conference, guided staff through a four-part program.
Archbishops Peter A Comensoli and Anthony Fisher OP
Senior bishops have warned law changes proposed by the Australian Law Reform Commission would prevent Church schools from being authentically Catholic, arguing they would discount the rights of people with a religious faith.
The fears were raised in the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s submission to the Law Reform Commission’s Inquiry into Religious Educational Institutions and Anti-Discrimination Laws.
People following global progress towards the two assemblies of the Synod of Bishops for a Synodal Church are being invited to participate in Lenten prayers to support the ongoing journey.
The Synod’s General Secretariat has published Lenten resources in multiple languages for use around the world as the continental stage of the Synod continues.
Archbishop Prowse, Ms Geoghegan and Mr Hart met the prefect of the Dicastery for Clergy, Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik, while in Rome
Archbishop Christopher Prowse says a gathering at the Vatican this week will help clergy and lay people alike better understand how they can work together to carry out God’s mission.
Archbishop Prowse, chair of the Bishops Commission for Evangelisation, Laity and Ministry, is attending the conference, which has the theme “Pastors and Lay Faithful Called to Walk Together”.
Archbishop Peter Loy Chong signed a letter from members of the FCBCO sending prayers and condolences to civic and Church leaders in Turkey and Syria.
The Catholic bishops of Oceania have sent a message of prayerful condolence and solidarity to Church and civic leaders in Turkey and Syria as the countries suffer the effects of devastating earthquakes.
Meeting for their quadrennial assembly of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania in Fiji, the bishops expressed deep sadness at the loss of life and the damage from which it will take years to recover.
The bishops of Oceania spent much of Wednesday in dialogue and discernment on the assembly’s three key themes.
Oceania’s Catholic bishops have been invited to imagine a “theology of the Pacific”, that would allow the Church in the region to speak with a voice and a faith that is “distinctive”.
The fourth day of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania gathering saw the bishops continue their shared discernment on the assembly’s three key themes.
Sr Nathalie Becquart addresses the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania assembly in Fiji
The bishops of Oceania were challenged to take up the path of synodality and to be prepared to confront a “silent earthquake” in the Church on the third day of their quadrennial assembly in Fiji.
Synodality and formation for mission are two of the three major themes for the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania assembly, along with the effects of a changing climate on the oceans.
FCBCO assembly delegates visit an extraction mine and hear about the impacts on the river and its ecosystem
The bishops of Oceania encountered the scriptural and practical realities of God’s creation on Monday, hearing the Creation story at morning Mass and later seeing the effects of climate change in Fiji.
On the second day of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania assembly, Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB celebrated Mass, at which the first reading included the first four days of the Creation story in Genesis.
The Bishops Commission for Evangelisation, Laity and Ministry (BCELM) has launched a new online resource designed to enable more people to easily access formational Australian Catholic video content.
Evangelise Plus is a video resource library that will host a range of audiovisual content from various Catholic events and initiatives, bringing the material to a wider audience in an effort to inspire, form and encourage viewers in their faith life.
The offertory is brought forward for the opening Mass of the FCBCO assembly
A Mass steeped in Fijian spirituality and tradition has opened the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania assembly – a gathering its president hopes will turn “a new page” in the bishops’ shared mission.
Sacred Heart Cathedral in Suva was overflowing on Sunday morning with hundreds of local worshippers, along with dozens of bishops and other assembly participants.
Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Michael Kennedy, who has led the Diocese of Armidale in regional New South Wales since 2012, the new Bishop of Maitland-Newcastle.
The Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle has been without a bishop since the death of Bishop Bill Wright in November 2021, with Fr Greg Barker serving as diocesan administrator in the intervening period.