To: Archbishop Jose S Palma, D.D
President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines

Your Grace,

At this time of grave human suffering and uncertainty, it is with sadness that I write to you to convey my deepest condolences following the devastating aftermath of super Typhoon Haiyan.

I wish to assure you on behalf of myself and the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference and the Australian Catholic community that you and your people have been consistently in our prayers.

In the challenging months ahead, the world must act together to ensure the security and livelihoods of our brothers and sisters in the Philippines. The Catholic Church in Australia together with Caritas Australia is committed to being our expression of concrete solidarity on the ground in the Philippines, providing emergency aid and working to secure long-term opportunities for those affected by the typhoon through members of the Caritas network and social action centres in the Philippines.

Today and in the months ahead, we pray especially for those lives already lost and for those endangered by the growing crisis and that our Lord grants you and the people of the Philippines peace and strength.

Please be assured of our ongoing prayer support and any practical assistance you might need, as we work together to reach the most vulnerable communities at this difficult time.

I wish you every grace and blessing.

Fraternally yours in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Yours sincerely,

Archbishop Denis Hart
President, Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

By Francis Sullivan

The long overdue guilty verdict handed down to retired priest Finian Egan last week is yet another sad and shameful story from the annals of the Catholic Church.

A few months ago I spoke with members of the Dioceses of Broken Bay at St Gerard’s Carlingford, where Egan worked. With the support of the Bishop for Broken Bay, David Walker, I was impressed with how the community was trying to assist one another and find positive ways to help the victims of this terrible abuse.

Bishop Walker spoke strongly in response to the Egan case demonstrating the open and transparent position the Church is taking with the Royal Commission.

“I again express my great sadness at the trauma and suffering victims have experienced. We continue to pray for the victims, their families and our communities…. Continue reading →

Pope Francis has invited Catholics around the world to reflect carefully, and to consider issues around the pastoral challenges of the family. This call includes a survey which invites Catholics to formulate a response to questions on the pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelisation. This is being done as part of the preparation for an Extraordinary Synod in October 2014.

This is an important opportunity to share your thoughts and suggestions on issues facing the family. The Holy Father has opened up an important dialogue about key issues that Catholics around the world face.

Among the questions and issues that the survey (entitled the Lineamenta on the ACBC website) includes are the following:

The Church’s teaching on family
The family in the context of evangelisation
Relationship between the family and person
Other challenges of today
Marriage
Pastoral care in difficult marital situations
Same-sex unions
Education of children in irregular marriages
Openness to Children

The document and questions are available on the front page of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference website www.catholic.org.au, however, the responses will be collated at a Diocesan level.

Visit your local Diocesan website, or contact the office of the Bishop for more information.

Media Release, 14 November, 2013

The Catholic Church’s Truth Justice and Healing Council will write to the Attorneys-General of the Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments calling on them to start work on a national compensation scheme – with no caps – for victims of child sexual abuse.

The call comes in the wake of a recommendation from the Victorian Parliamentary Committee for a Victorian compensation scheme and recent comments by Royal Commissioner Peter McClellan that a general redress or compensation scheme should be considered.

Mr Francis Sullivan, CEO of the Truth Justice and Healing Council said that while a state-based scheme is a significant initiative, a national scheme with consistent investigative powers and compensation payments should be considered by the Federal, state and territory governments.

“It is now time for governments and other organisations to take a national approach to providing compensation and justice for the victims of child sexual abuse,” Mr Sullivan said. Continue reading →

Media Release, 14 November, 2013

Cardinal George Pell welcomed the release of the report of the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Non-Government Organisations today.

“The Report is an important document and it offers valuable recommendations to ensure that
crimes are reported, children and vulnerable people are better protected, and those who have been hurt can more easily seek justice,” Cardinal Pell said. “I welcome the publication of the Report.”

“The report details some of the serious failures in the way the church dealt with these crimes and responded to victims, especially before the procedural reforms of the mid 1990s. Irreparable damage has been caused.

“By the standards of common decency and by today’s standards, church authorities were not only slow to deal with the abuse, but sometimes did not deal with it in any appropriate way at all. This is indefensible. Continue reading →

Media Release, 13 November, 2013

The Holy Father Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop David Louis Walker of Broken Bay. The Bishop turned 75 today, 13 November 2013.

One of six children in a close-knit family, Bishop Walker spent his childhood in the eastern Sydney suburb of Clovelly. He was educated with the Sisters of St Joseph and with the Marist Brothers at Randwick, and attended the Seminary at Springwood and Manly.

Bishop Walker was ordained to the priesthood on 21 July 1962. He was appointed Bishop to the Broken Bay Diocese on 9 July 1996 and was ordained by Cardinal Clancy in Our Lady of Dolours Catholic Church, Chatswood on 3 September 1996.

Archbishop Denis Hart, President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference thanked Bishop Walker for his magnificent contribution to the Church and society. Continue reading →

Media Release, 13 November, 2013

I welcome the release today of the report by the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry.
It is our hope that the Inquiry, and its recommendations, will assist the healing of those who have been abused. We also hope they will enhance the care of victims and their
families, and strengthen the preventative measures now in place.

Victims bravely came forward to give their accounts, often at great personal cost. The
Inquiry has been an important opportunity for victims to be heard.

The report documents terrible abuse that occurred in the Catholic Church, mainly over a
25-year period from 1960 to1985. It also sets out inexcusable failures in the Church’s
response to that abuse. Continue reading →

President of the Catholic Bishops of the Philippines, Archbishop Jose Palma, has called for a novena of prayer and charity for victims of a massive Typhoon Haiyan stating; “No typhoon or flood can diminish the strength of the Filipino soul.”

Caritas Australia, the Catholic Church’s international aid and development agency, has committed an initial $1 million to help in emergency relief efforts in the Philippines. Emergency supplies are now arriving in Cebu city.

Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms to ever make landfall, has caused widespread devastation. Almost 10 million people have been affected across 8,000 villages, 447 towns, 48 cities in nine regions across the country. Continue reading →

Media Release, 10 November, 2013

Caritas Australia, the Catholic Church’s international aid and development agency, is responding through our partners on the ground in the Philippines to the devastating aftermath of the super Typhoon Haiyan.

The monster storm battered the country with winds of more than 330 kilometres per hour and had a diameter of approximately 800 km wide. The UN estimates that 4.3 million people have already been affected, and in Vietnam, authorities warned many hundreds of thousands of people could also be affected.

In the Philippines authorities have reported the death toll could reach into the tens of thousands following the Typhoon the strongest in the world this year and possibly the most powerful ever to hit land. Continue reading →