Author Archives: Mark Wei

Archbishop Paul Gallagher appointed nuncio to Australia

Archbishop Paul Gallagher

A complete biography and the official announcement can be read at www.catholic.org.au

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher was today appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Australia. For the last three years, he has served as nuncio to the Central American nation of Guatemala.

Born in Liverpool in 1954, he was educated at St. Francis Xavier’s College in Woolton. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1977 for the Archdiocese of Liverpool and he joined the diplomatic service in 1984.

Archbishop Gallagher speaks Italian, French and Spanish.

Candidates named for popular women’s interfaith fellowship

Recipients of the inaugural fellowship, 2006

Media Release,

11 December, 2012

The names of the seventeen participants of the Young Catholic Women’s Interfaith Fellowship 2013-2014 have been confirmed.

The successful candidates come from twelve dioceses from across Australia, and will undertake a formation program which includes theological studies, interfaith relations and Catholic leadership.

Bishop Peter Ingham, Bishops’ delegate for the Council for Australian Catholic Women (CACW) expressed his delight at the quality of the applications and the giftedness of the candidates. Continue reading →

Hundreds attend third annual migrant and refugee conference

Media Release, 10 December, 2012

Migrant Chaplains

Over two hundred people from around Australia attended the Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office’s (ACMRO) third annual conference on the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees, held at St Patrick’s Campus of the Australian Catholic University (ACU) from 5-7 December.

Beginning with a day for migrant chaplains on 5 December, stories and pastoral experiences were shared under the biblical theme “I have heard them crying out” (Ex. 3:7)

All Nations Mass

An All Nations Mass was celebrated by Bishop Gerard Hanna was held at St Brigid’s Parish in Fitzroy and featured representatives from Colombia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Italy, Tonga, Samoa, Haiti, Vietnam, Lebanon, Portugal, Burma and the Philippines.

At the conference, with keynote speakers – including Richard Towle from UNHCR; Graham Thom of Amnesty International; William Maley from the ANU; Fr Aloysius Mowe SJ Director of Jesuit Refugee Service Australia; Paris Aristotle of the expert panel on migration; Paul Power of the Refugee Council of Australia; author Robin de Crespigny; Bishops Eugene Hurley, Vincent Long, Terry Brady and Gerard Hanna – themes such as mandatory detention; immigration policy and boat journeys were discussed and explained in detail by experts.

Bishop Vincent Long

Those who had lived the refugee experience also presented at the conference, including Melbourne Auxiliary Bishop Vincent Long, who spoke of his own journey to Australia by boat from Vietnam in 1983.

“It is estimated that of two million Vietnamese refugees who fled the conflict, 500,000 perished in the pursuit of freedom. It is something that we will never forget, and my episcopal motto is “go further into the deep” for this reason, as a testimony to my experience and my commitment to the refugee issue”, he said.

“Every time I hear the mantra “stop the boats”, I shudder, because those of us who came to Australia by boat from Vietnam see that this country is founded on the downtrodden, that this is our history. Our country is about giving a fair go to the underdog. We need to look to the broader context of justice and solidarity.”

Sr Rosa, Anna and Sr Ann at the ACMRO conference

Bishop Eugene Hurley of Darwin also shared passionately on his experiences of meeting with people during his time as Bishop of Port Pirie up to today, often inside detention centres such as Woomera, Baxter and Curtin.

 

‘I don’t like to talk about the boats, because when we talk about the boats, we can dehumanise the issue. We can easily forget that there are people in those boats whose stories we don’t know”, he said.

Sudanese migrant chaplains

Director of the ACMRO Fr Maurizio Pettenà CS was pleased with the number of people who came to hear such a wide variety of perspectives on the situation for migrants and refugees in Australia.

“From presentations by Catholic bishops to committed religious and lay people who have been working tirelessly for the rights of migrants and refugees, we heard testimony of how Australia has been so greatly enriched by migration.  This said, we have also been able to learn and understand more clearly how the politics of fear have damaged our image as a welcoming nation. This has been sobering, challenging but essential”, he said.

For media requests or to arrange an interview please contact Beth Doherty on 0407 081 256 or email your request to media@catholic.org.au.

Typhoon Bopha leaves a path of destruction in the Philippines

Typhoon bopha

Media Release, 6 December

Typhoon Bopha has wreaked havoc in the Philippines as it struck land on Tuesday morning killing at least 300 people and leaving another 300 people missing.  The typhoon hit eastern Mindanao and ripped through central Mindanao through Bukidnon province, Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City.  Hardest hit were the coastal, farming and mining towns in the southern region of Mindanao, where Bopha caused severe flash flooding and landslides leaving behind a path of destruction and despair. Raging waters and mud from the mountains swept through school buildings, covered courts, town halls and health centres.

Continue reading →

Become What You Are: Growing in Christian Character, new book by Bishop Julian Porteous

Become what you are, Bishop Julian Porteous

Modotti Press, Paperback, 220 pages ISBN: 9781922168085 $24.95

The question of the formation of Christian character is an important contemporary issue. Our society is undergoing radical change at the personal and social level. There are forces at work that deconstruct the traditional patterns of human life – the family, the understanding of masculinity and femininity, our view on the nature and use of our sexuality.

These forces are rebuilding human society in such a way that it is free from the influence of a religious perspective on life and free from the constraints of a moral approach to human living. The modern attitude is to reject traditional models of the virtuous life in favour of a self-realisation freely pursued outside the constraints of moral codes. There is a certain “morality” which is fashioned by society. Certain things are determined to be “politically correct”. Certain stances become fashionable like ecological sensitivity or the perceived threat from sexism, but these are fluid positions and change with fashions of thought.

They do not impinge particularly on the inner quality of character but rather reflect certain acceptable attitudes. They are superficial and do not promote serious inner growth. This book seeks to explore the nature of the human person. Then, by drawing on our Christian tradition, consider the ways in which we can build a healthy and happy life fulfilling what God has intended us to become as a faithful imitation of his Son. This is a book about identifying the nature of Christian character. It offers a path which will lead to mature Christian character.

The book can be purchased by clicking here to visit the page of Connor Court Publishing

or the mustard seed bookshop

Continue reading →

Plenary Summary – November Meeting of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference 2012

Mass at Mary MacKillop Chapel

AUSTRALIAN   CATHOLIC   BISHOPS   CONFERENCE MEETING  HELD  AT  MARY  MACKILLOP  PLACE, MOUNT  STREET,  NORTH SYDNEY,  NSW

26 – 30 November 2012

The Mass of the Holy Spirit was concelebrated on Tuesday in the chapel of Mary MacKillop Place, North Sydney at 7 am.  The President of Conference, Archbishop Denis Hart, was the principal celebrant and preached the homily

The President welcomed the observers from the Australian Conference of Leaders of Religious Institutes (Catholic Religious Australia)

 

  • Sr Annette Cunliffe rsc
  • Sr Marion Gambin rsj
  • Rev. Fr Anthony Banks osa

Continue reading →

Migrations: Pilgrimages of Faith and Hope

Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

migrants and refugeesThe Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, in the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, recalled that “the Church goes forward together with humanity” (No. 40); therefore “the joys and the hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted, are the joys and hopes, grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts” (ibid., 1). The Servant of God Paul VI echoed these words when he called the Church an “expert in humanity” (Populorum Progressio, 13), as did Blessed John Paul II when he stated that the human person is “the primary route that the Church must travel in fulfilling her mission… the way traced out by Christ himself” (Centesimus Annus, 53). In the footsteps of my predecessors, I sought to emphasize in my Encyclical Caritas in Veritate that “the whole Church, in all her being and acting – when she proclaims, when she celebrates, when she performs works of charity – is engaged in promoting integral human development” (No. 11). I was thinking also of the millions of men and women who, for various reasons, have known the experience of migration. Migration is in fact “a striking phenomenon because of the sheer numbers of people involved, the social, economic, political, cultural and religious problems it raises, and the dramatic challenges it poses to nations and the international community” (ibid., 62), for “every migrant is a human person who, as such, possesses fundamental, inalienable rights that must be respected by everyone and in every circumstance” (ibid.). Continue reading →

Church to establish new Council for Royal Commission

meeting

Statement, 30 November

With leaders of Religious Orders, we welcome the establishment of the Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.

It is an opportunity for those who have suffered to obtain a compassionate hearing, justice and further healing.

It is also an opportunity for the Church’s processes to be scrutinised with greater objectivity. This will allow further refinements that seek justice and pastoral care. Continue reading →

NCEC Media Statement – Australia Education Bill, 2012

LOGO, NCEC

“The legislation introduced into Parliament yesterday by the Prime Minister charts an ambitious course for school reform”, said Mrs Therese Temby, Chair of the National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC).

“Catholic schools are already engaged in many effective programs of continuous improvement, as envisaged by the Prime Minister’s National Plan for School Improvement”, she said.

“NCEC urges the government to announce the details of its precise school funding proposals for 2014 and beyond as soon as possible. Continue reading →