Author Archives: Mark Wei

Condolences from the Ukrainian Catholic Church to the Family and Friends of the Victims of Flight MH17

Memorial services are taking place across Australia for the innocent victims of MH17

The incredible has happened to Australian citizens and so many of other countries, including the Netherlands, Malaysia, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Philippines, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States of America.

The terrorist attack on the Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 has violently ended the promising, creative, fruitful lives of hundreds of innocent people. Their God-given dignity has been violated in the ultimate way: their life was destroyed. Then, even after death, they were further demeaned.

On behalf of all of the faithful of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy in Australia, New Zealand and Oceania, and in the name of all Ukrainians, we express our heartfelt condolences and spiritual solidarity.

In these days in our churches we have conducted memorial services for the innocent victims. As the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko has said: We, Ukrainians, have been shedding tears for the last half year because of the violence, terrorism, and war in our country; today we shed them with you. We thought we could not have more tears, but we do, and our tears and prayer is with you.

We are moved by the response of the Australian government, Churches, religious communities and especially the families of the victims. May the unity and integrity of the Australian people and all who bear the burden of this heinous crime serve to inspire the world in this time of tragedy and profound moral confusion and paralysis.

The grief and wartime anxiety of the Ukrainian people is exacerbated by the criminal inhumanity that occurred in the skies of Ukraine. We are at once tormented by the violence and shamed by the disgraceful treatment of the victims of this tragedy. It is hard to comment on our powerlessness in the face of enduring brutality. At this time we seek from God the wisdom and fortitude to understand and act according to God’s will.

For many months the Ukrainian people have done what they can to confront naked evil with peaceful demonstrations, night vigils in the bitter cold of winter, and unceasing prayer in the squares of Ukraine and in many countries of the world. They have been beaten, tortured, and shot before the cameras of the world. Ukraine has lost hundreds of citizens, the best of the nation. We have lost territory. At a great price Ukrainians have, however, gained dignity and unity. We are tormented by the authoritarian violence brought to our land; that has been our scourge and suffering. Today, this suffering brings us together and gives us common cause.

May we unite in spirit and deed to confront the evil besetting Europe and the world. We recommit ourselves to prayer, witness, and dialogue with all people of good will. Let us encourage each other with the promise of the Gospel that evil will be overcome and that in God we will find the truth and live it.

May the memory of the innocent victims be eternal!

Вічная Пам’ять! Eternal Memory !

+Peter Stasiuk, C.Ss.R.

Bishop of the Eparchy of Sts Peter & Paul for Ukrainian Catholics

In Australia, New Zealand & Oceania

+Borys Gudziak

Head of the Department of External Church Relations

of the Synod of the Ukrainian Catholic Bishops.

Women’s Interfaith Fellowship Seeks Participants

Current Fellowship participants Snezana and Rebecca Beisler

Current Fellowship participants Snezana Taneveska and Rebecca Beisler

Media Release, 25 July 2014

The Young Catholic Women’s Interfaith Fellowship, an initiative of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Office for the Participation for Women, is searching for inspiring women to participate in our 2015-2016 leadership programme.

The aim of the two-year Fellowship is to cultivate women’s capacity for leadership within the Catholic Church and society.

Ideal candidates should demonstrate an openness to spiritual growth and respect for other faith traditions. Continue reading →

MH17 Disaster: Mass of Remembrance and Call for Peace

girlHomily by Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney Peter Comensoli

St Mary’s Cathedral, 20 July 2014

The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everybody was asleep his enemy came, sowed darnel all among the wheat, and made off. (Matt 13.24-25)

One of the most profound and mysterious events in every person’s life is the moment of realisation that we human beings are a complex mixture of light and dark, of good and evil. In that moment when we first acknowledge this reality, honestly and humbly, we start to claim ownership of our humanity.

We know we are created for that which is good, true and beautiful, yet we allow ourselves to absorb that which is evil, false and ugly. God’s most marvellous creature of light and life often enough becomes lost in the shadows of corruption and death.

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PROCLAIM 2014 Awakening Delegates to Challenges of Reviving Parish Life

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Media release, 22 July 2014

PROCLAIM 2014, a conference on the new evangelisation, will awaken delegates to the challenges facing the Church in Australian to revitalise parish life.

The three-day conference from 21-23 August 2014 takes place at The Concourse, Chatswood, Sydney.

The conference theme, “Living the Joy of the Gospel in Parishes,” applies Pope Francis’ Apostolic Letter Evangelii Gaudium to the parish scene. Keynote addresses include: “Make Church Matter”; “What’s Working in Other Churches” and “Moving Members from Consumers to Contributors.”  Continue reading →

Bishop Peter Ingham celebrates 50 years as a priest with a letter from Pope Francis

Celebraing 50 years of priesthood Bishop of Wollongong Peter Ingham

Celebraing 50 years of priesthood Bishop of Wollongong Peter Ingham

Bishop Peter Ingham was surprised last week to receive a letter from Pope Francis congratulating him on his 50th anniversary as a priest on Friday 18 July 2014.

The letter from Pope Francis, in Latin, conveyed his good wishes and blessing upon Bishop Ingham, the clergy and the people of the Diocese of Wollongong.

Pope Francis wrote in the letter, “I send you this letter my venerable brother, because you will celebrate your 50th anniversary of your ordination to the priesthood. I wish to convey my good wishes to you for having consistently exercised the sacred ministry. For this you are to be congratulated…May the blessing be both to you and through you to your Vicars General and the Church community of your diocese. I very lovingly impart my Apostolic Blessing and ask from you prayers for me and my Petrine Ministry.”  Continue reading →

Living the Joy of the Gospel

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin at the Catholic Leadership Centre, Maelbourne

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin at the Catholic Leadership Centre, Melbourne

Global Perspectives for Local Action: The European Perspective

Speaking about Pope Francis and his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Archbishop of Dublin Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin addressed a Catholic Leadership Forum of priests, school principals and archdiocesan agency leaders gathered at the Catholic Leadership Centre, Melbourne on 14 July 2014.

A few weeks ago I was speaking with a Parish Priest in my diocese who told me that he was a little worried about his Curate. He said that his curate was a hard worker and that he got on reasonably well with people, but that he had a problem.

I asked what this problem was and the Parish Priest replied that the problem was with a person and when I asked further, to my surprise the answer was Pope Francis.

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Homily on MH17 tragedy

dreamstime_m_15873804Sunday, 20 July 2014

By Archbishop of Perth Timothy Costelloe SDB

As we gather in the Cathedral for Mass this morning, we are all deeply aware of and profoundly shocked by the terrible act of violence in Ukraine which has cost so many lives and horrified the world.

Families the world over are in mourning. We are no different here in Western Australia. The most recent information indicates that nine residents of our state have been killed, the youngest just eight years old.

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Mass of Remembrance and a Call for Peace

18 July 2014

Dear Brother Priests,

We are all shocked and deeply saddened at the terrible news of the Ukrainian airline tragedy, Malaysian Airlines MH17.

Firstly, I offer my prayers for all those who perished in this disaster and for their families and friends. We know there were a number of Australians on the flight, as well as many delegates for the 20th International Aids Conference in Melbourne, and I would encourage everyone to join me in prayer for them.

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Message of Condolence and Mass offered following MH17 airline tragedy

18 July 2014

Media release from Apostolic Administrator for the Archdiocese of Sydney Bishop Peter Comensoli

Message of Condolence and Mass offered following MH17 airline tragedy St Mary’s Cathedral Sunday 20 July 2014

A member of the Religious Sisters of the Sacred Heart at a Catholic girls’ school, Kincoppal-Rose Bay, was among the 28 known Australians to have died in the Ukrainian airline tragedy, Malaysian Airlines MH17.

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Catholic groups to meet ahead of International HIV/AIDS Conference

caritas

Media release, Caritas Australia

It’s estimated that the Catholic Church provides as much as 25 per cent of the care worldwide for people living with HIV, especially in developing countries.

Given the level of care and compassion in response to HIV and AIDS within the Catholic Church, a conference will be held ahead of the 20th International AIDS conference in Melbourne that brings together those engaged in faith-based responses to this epidemic.

The pre-conference is sponsored by Caritas Internationalis, Caritas Australia, St Vincent’s Health Australia and the Catholic HIV and AIDS Network (CHAN). It will enable delegates from Catholic ministries overseas as well as in Australia, to build linkages and exchange best practice on spiritual and pastoral care for those affected by HIV and AIDS, as well as explore the intersection between faith and science in combatting the pandemic.

Monsignor Robert Vitillo, who works for Caritas Internationalis as both Head of Delegation to the United Nations in Geneva and Special Advisor on HIV and AIDS and health, said the pre-conference, Stepping up the Pace; Remembering the Loaves and the Fishes, would look at best practice in HIV and AIDS interventions; scientific developments, advocacy with pharmaceutical companies, access to funding in order to finance church HIV and AIDS programs and ethical issues. He will be in Melbourne for the pre-conference and the main UN Conference.

He noted that since the 2012 International AIDS Conference, the church had witnessed a decrease in funding for many faith-based care and other community-based systems that provide treatment, care, and support for people living with AIDS and HIV and their families.

“Yet we are continually being asked to ‘do more with less’,” Monsignor Vitillo said.

The multiplication of the loaves and fishes is one of the few miracles by Jesus that is recounted in all four gospels. The disciples are given a seemingly impossible task. They simply do not have the resources to feed this huge crowd and momentarily are paralysed. But Jesus showed them how to use few resources in order to feed a crowd of more than 5000. The pre-conference organisers believe that, as Catholic Church representatives gather for AIDS2014, the spirituality of the “Loaves and Fishes” can be their guide in efforts to “step up the pace”.

“This particular conference is important for Australia and for the whole Pacific region, because it’s the first time an international conference of this size in terms of responding to HIV and AIDS is being held in this region,” Monsignor Vitillo said.

“This represents an opportunity to promote behaviour change in order to prevent further spread of HIV in the region and to save lives through early diagnosis and treatment of those already living with the virus. Finally, it will help us to spread the Church’s message of care and non-judgemental compassion for all those living with or affected by HIV.”

“It’s also a time when the researchers present the latest findings that they have in terms of scientific research on treatments, on possible cure in the future and on possible vaccines.”

Monsignor Vitillo said it was also an important opportunity to affirm the fact that the Catholic church had been there since the beginning in terms of responding to HIV and AIDS.

“We have health and social services in the most rural and isolated parts of the world,” Monsignor Vitillo said.

For example, Caritas Australia in partnership with Catholic Health Services in Papua New Guinea, is helping to make prevention the cure for men, women and children most vulnerable to HIV and AIDS through the Sexually Transmitted Infections Management Program (STIMP).

The Catholic pre-conference will be held on 18-20 July at the Catholic Leadership Centre in East Melbourne and will include presentations from His Excellency Tim Fischer, former Ambassador of Australia to the Holy See; Father Rick Bauer, Chair of CHAN; Professor Suzanne Crowe, Associate Director of the Burnet Institute; and Dr Steve Kraus, Asia/Pacific Regional Director of UNAIDS.

To find out more about the pre-conference go to http://bit.ly/stepping-up.
For more information contact: Media Advisor, Nicole Clements on 0408 869 833 nicolec@caritas.org.au 

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