Author Archives: Mark Wei

To the threshold of the Apostles – Australian Bishops Begin their Ad Limina visit

By Fr Brian Lucas and Beth Doherty

The Australian Bishops have begun their Ad Limina visit with a reception at the Vatican Museum which featured a presentation on the Australian indigenous collection.

The following is an extract from the homily of the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Archbishop Wilson at the tomb of St Peter.
 
“Today we begin our Ad Limina visit. It is an act of pilgrimage. As bishops we come to be renewed in faith and love as we renew our unity with one another as successors of the Apostles and with the Holy Father, Pope Benedict; the successor of Peter. We come seeking peace in our lives as bishops. A peace fostered by our obedience; an obedience framed in different ways at different levels of our faith; an obedience framed firstly in our relationship with God; to Jesus’ rule of faith and love; then an obedience framed in our love and fidelity to the Holy Father and the Church. Finally, we come in an obedience of love to one another as brother bishops and to all our people, our sisters and brothers in the communion of the Church.”

The Bishops were joined at this Mass by a number of Australian religious workingin Rome and other Australian visitors. Continue reading →

Confessions of a digital “asylum seeker”

By Bishop Peter Ingham

I was born in 1941, in the midst of the Second World War…. a time of intense change followed the war.

We welcomed migrants and refugees seeking asylum who have since truly enriched our country.

Life has changed more than somewhat from when I entered the Seminary in 1956 in Sydney to today. We wrote letters, where you simply waited the postman’s whistle hoping you got mail!

The 60’s, 70’s and 80’s were a time of great social change, the fastest change in the past decade and a half has been what’s made possible by the internet. Suddenly, a new language of blogs and tweets and MySpace and Facebook and XT3.

As the Bishops’ delegate for the media, I am on a sharp learning curve. As I chair the Australian Catholic Media Council, I am kept up to speed on what is happening, aware I am a digital immigrant.

Mostly, with the help of my staff my email and Facebook are attended to. However, the Church must engage with new media. The last two annual Papal messages for World Communications Day have highlighted the opportunities and pitfalls of using the net.

The Church, and people of faith must not remain silent or remove themselves from the realm of public policy and debate, our opinions and contribution should be eagerly sought.

The weight of evidence would suggest that from our long and rich tradition of Catholic faith and culture we might just have more than a little bit of accumulated wisdom to contribute to public debate. It is for this reason, as much as any other, that upholding and securing religious freedom is so vital for society as a whole, not just for believers.

So, it is with this, I welcome you to the newest addition to the Media engagement of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference – The ACBC Media Blog

The Catholic Solution

Growing up in regional Australia you will forgive me for thinking that been part of the Catholic Church was a lot like been a member of an RSL club – same thing each week and full of old people! I didn’t even know what the word “Catholic” meant and only recently found out it means “Universal”.

While I found that info on Wikipedia, I was also very blessed to actually ‘see’ our Universal Church while at World Youth Day in Madrid this year. Seeing the Church at an event where over two million Catholics from every country in the world come together in unity as sisters and brothers is an amazing sight. It was the Church in her true colours – vibrant and universal! Continue reading →

The Australian Catholic Bishops call for on-shore processing of asylum seekers

The Australian Catholic Bishops call for on-shore processing of asylum seekers who arrive in Australia.

“Australia has an exceptional community lead resettlement program. Over 200 Charities have recently expressed their passion and commitment to work with refugees and asylum seekers in community based detention” said Fr Maurizio, director of the Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office.

“Community based detention reaffirms the human dignity of the person seeking asylum and is in the best interests of the common good of all humanity” he said.

The Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office warn that off-shore processing will not solve the underlying problem. Continue reading →

Catholic parishes to participate in the 2011 National Church Life Survey

Parishes around Australia are preparing to take part in the 2011 National Church Life Survey (NCLS) in November.

The NCLS, the largest survey of its type in the world, is a joint project of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Australian Catholic University, Anglicare (Diocese of Sydney) and the Uniting Church in NSW.
Conducted every five years across most of the major denominations in Australia, the survey results are an extremely useful tool that assists parish priests, pastoral council members and other leaders to understand their parishioners and strengthen the ministry and mission of the parish. Continue reading →