Young person campaigns for YCS

Australia is facing a crisis against children our age.

1000 children are without proper access to education

1000 children are being imprisoned.

1000 children are without their basic human rights, outlined in the Conventions Of The Rights Of The Child, a UN document Australia signed in 2000.

1000 children are currently being held in immigration detention in Australia and just off our coast.

As a high school student of Australia, I find this totally unacceptable.

YCS is standing with Catholic Mission, Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office, Uniting Justice, Catholic Religious Australia and Chilout collectively in the Coalition- End Child Detention Australia- to show solidarity with those facing immigration detention. This May, we are all inviting you to undertake a ‘Detention4Detention’ doing a voluntary lunchtime detention with other high school students all around Australia to provide asylum seekers with a message of hope, and a welcome to our country. We will be asking students to take action by signing a petition and taking photos in support. Continue reading →

Bishop Bill Murray, photo

Family members of Bishop William Murray were joined by Bishop Peter Ingham (Bishop of Wollongong), Cardinal George Pell (Archbishop of Sydney), Archbishop Denis Hart (Archbishop of Melbourne and President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference), other archbishops and bishops, many clergy and about 500 parishioners at St Francis Xavier Cathedral, Wollongong, yesterday (1 May) for a Mass of Christian Burial for the late Bishop William Murray (Bishop Emeritus of Wollongong).

In his homily, Bishop Ingham paid tribute to Bishop Murray’s contribution to the life and development of the Diocese of Wollongong over 21 years, particularly his foresight in relation to the development of parishes and schools, the establishment of CatholicCare and the setting up of the Catholic Education Office.

Bishop Ingham said, “Today we celebrate the birth into eternal life of Bishop William Edward Murray, a member of a large extended family, a parish priest, seminary rector and the second Bishop of Wollongong. He came to a multi-cultural, urban and semi-rural part of Australia that was growing and developing and still is.

“In many ways the Bishop’s death has been a happy release after suffering a debilitating stroke that robbed him of his mobility and of his ability to communicate easily some six years ago… Yet to those who knew Bishop Murray well, and to his family particularly, his passing strikes a chord of pain and separation with which the reality of death confronts all of us.” Continue reading →

Photo by Caritas Australia

“Darfur is seemingly a forgotten crisis. But we must not forget the ongoing suffering of so many Darfuris; they still need our support.”Jack de Groot, CEO, Caritas Australia.

This year marks ten years of war in Sudan’s Darfur region.

Since 2004 Caritas Australia and our international partners have been helping Darfuris in refugee camps, providing clean water, nutrition, health services, education and skills training.

To mark our tenth year in Darfur, we have released a photo gallery with images of our work and the people we have helped with your support.

Ten years on, Darfur has become one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. We must not forget the Darfuris; they still need our prayers and support.

View our photo gallery A Decade in Darfur »»

Bishop Christopher Saunders

Fifty years ago, Pope John XXIII issued his last social encyclical Peace on Earth. The scope of his call for world peace was wide-ranging – encompassing all aspects of society, from the relationships between individual citizens to the interaction of nation states on the world stage.

Pope John provided a blueprint for a peaceful society based on the human rights of each citizen and the good of society as a whole. He emphasised the primary responsibility of governments to ensure the ‘right to live’ through entitlement to ‘the means necessary for the proper development of life, particularly food, clothing, shelter, medical care, rest, and finally, the necessary social services’. The standard of governance could be judged in terms of the support offered when people faced crises like ill health, disability, enforced unemployment and deprivation. Continue reading →

Cards for Mother’s Day from Caritas Australia

There’s no doubt that mothers around the globe help make the world a better place to live.

This Mother’s Day, Caritas Australia, the Catholic Church’s international aid and development agency, is offering the opportunity to help change women’s lives around the world by giving the Global Gift of Healthcare.

Caritas Global Gifts are an easy way to make giving meaningful and at the same time help vulnerable communities.

When you purchase a Global Gift card for Mother’s Day via the Caritas website, you can choose from one of six gifts ranging from $10 to $200. This card explains to your mother how a donation has been made on her behalf.

The money goes towards funding Caritas Australia’s partners in nearly 200 programs in over 30 countries around the world, which focus on the most vulnerable including, women and mothers. Continue reading →