As an 18-year-old in between jobs and about to move out of town for university, I was in a position in which I had about a week of time I needed to fill.
Rather than spending this time eating all the food in the house and spending 12 hours a day on the computer slaying dragons, I elected to go in search of volunteer work for this short period.
As it would turn out, I ended up spending this week working at the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) and it’s been a fantastic learning opportunity, seeing the inner workings of the Catholic Church and the contributions the people there make to spreading the message of the Christ. Continue reading →
In 2010, the Bishops’ Commission for Pastoral Life through the Australian Catholic Marriage and Family Council developed a kit devoted to the celebration of St Valentine’s Day for use in parishes.
The third edition of the St Valentine’s Day kit for 2012 is now available for download as a PDF from the Bishops’ Conference website by clicking on the button on the front page. Continue reading →
Former Catholic Bishop of Armidale, Most Rev Luc Matthys, was the principal celebrant of the Episcopal Ordination and Installation of his successor, Bishop Michael Robert Kennedy. Continue reading →
In preparation for Australia’s pilgrimage to World Youth Day (WYD) in Rio de Janeiro in July 2013, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) has named Harvest Pilgrimages as their official Tour Operator for the Conference’s National Pilgrimage of Australian groups attending this universal event.
“I am happy to see Harvest Pilgrimages partner with us again for WYD Rio de Janeiro” said Bishop Christopher Prowse, Bishops Commission for Pastoral Life (BCPL) Delegate for Youth. Continue reading →
The Chair of the National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC), Mrs Therese Temby, today welcomed the Coalition’s announcement of its ten principles for funding school students.
“The ten principles announced by Mr Pyne constitute a charter to which I think most schools in Australia would subscribe”, said Mrs Temby. Continue reading →
The school funding data in this week’s ROGS Report (Productivity Commission, Report on Government Services 2012, pages 4.33 and 4.34) provides a very interesting statistic.
• Government funding for government schools has increased each year in the period 2005-06 to 2009-10 by an average of 2.7%.
• Government funding for non-government schools has increased over the same period by an annual average of just 0.7%.
NCEC calls on the Commonwealth Government to reduce the operating resources gap in Catholic schools. Continue reading →
Media Release, 3 February, Archdiocese of Melbourne
Photo from the Bendigo Advertiser
Pope Benedict XVI announced in Rome today the appointment of Bishop Les Tomlinson D.D., as Bishop of Sandhurst. Bishop Tomlinson is presently the Vicar General for the Archdiocese of Melbourne. He will take up his position as Bishop of Sandhurst on 1 March 2012.
The Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst includes central Victoria and the Goulburn Valley and north-eastern Victoria to the Murray River in the north.
Bishop Tomlinson said he was humbled by the confidence that the Pope has shown in him and that he was delighted to accept the appointment. Bishop Tomlinson was born and raised in Mildura and is no stranger to country life. Continue reading →
It is my great pleasure to invite you to the Australian Catholic Media Congress 2012. The congress is run by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference through the Australian Catholic Media Council and aims to bring together Catholic media, Christian media, secular media, people working within Church agencies, and anyone with an interest in how we communicate the Gospel message in our society today.
The ACMC will be held from Monday April 30 to Wednesday May 2 at the Menzies Hotel, Sydney with the theme Communicating the Word: Timeless messages, new media.
The Congress aims to look at the phenomenon of Social Media and how the Church can use everything from Facebook, to Twitter to more traditional means to spread the message of Christ in our world.
Already, we have booked a tremendously exciting international guest Monsignor Paul Tighe from the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, and we are planning to have great line-up of Australian guests also including former Young Australian of the Year and filmmaker Khoa Do; Social commentator Melinda Tankard Reist; and musical contributions by Fr Rob Galea and Simon Hyland.
Please enter the site here and browse the program, and register early! This Congress promises to be the Catholic Media event of the year and I warmly invite you to consider attending.
This is the Official message from the Pontifical Council for Social Communications
for the Occasion of the 46th World Day of Communications, May 20, 2012
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
As we draw near to World Communications Day 2012, I would like to share with you some reflections concerning an aspect of the human process of communication which, despite its importance, is often overlooked and which, at the present time, it would seem especially necessary to recall. It concerns the relationship between silence and word: two aspects of communication which need to be kept in balance, to alternate and to be integrated with one another if authentic dialogue and deep closeness between people are to be achieved. Continue reading →
Children’s welfare, family interests and the rampant drug culture in Perth will be a few of the topics discussed by Perth Catholic Archbishop Barry Hickey in a new video series he launched on 20 January online.
In an attempt to speak to the broader public, the weekly video series “A Word for Today’s World with Archbishop Barry Hickey” will appear online every Friday from now on via The Faith Centre website, signed in Auslan and complete with subtitles and a transcript.
The Faith Centre for Evangelisation and Catholic Culture, the newest centre in the Perth Archdiocese, will produce the videos and host these on their website www.thefaith.org.au.Continue reading →
By Pat Ransom
