Australia’s Catholic bishops have released a new document to guide priests, chaplains and pastoral workers who are asked to provide pastoral support to Catholics who are considering accessing the Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) scheme.
Category Archives: Press Releases
National unity needed to address First Nations challenges
Chair of the Bishops Commission for Relations with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, Bishop Charles Gauci, has called for all Australians to unite in addressing the critical issues faced by the First Nations people.
Bishops welcome release of Instrumentum laboris
Australia’s Catholic bishops have welcomed the release of the working tool for members of the Second Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.
Bishop Elliott completes 11 years as a ‘happy bishop’
Bishop Peter Elliott
Bishop Peter Elliott says he kept Mother Teresa’s exhortation to new bishops – that they be “happy bishops” – front of mind and in his heart during his 11 years of episcopal ministry in Melbourne Archdiocese.
Pope Francis today announced that he has accepted Bishop Elliott’s resignation, which he submitted recently upon reaching the retirement age of 75. Bishop Elliott had been appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne in 2007. Continue reading
Pope urges faithful to respond to the ‘cry of the poor’
The second World Day of the Poor will be celebrated on November 18.
In his message for the second World Day of the Poor, Pope Francis has called for a new evangelisation that prompts Catholics “to make tangible the Church’s response to the cry of the poor”.
In a letter to clergy throughout Australia, Bishops Commission for Pastoral Life chairman Bishop Terence Brady encouraged all Catholic communities to be involved and respond to the theme of day: “This poor man cried and the Lord heard him” (Psalm 34:7). Continue reading
Australian youth auditor announced for Vatican Synod
Twenty-two-year-old Sydneysider Sebastian Duhau will soon be winging his way to the Vatican as Australia’s youth auditor at the upcoming General Synod of Bishops on Young People, Faith and Vocational Discernment.
Mr Duhau, from the Diocese of Parramatta, was nominated and accepted to participate in the General Synod itself, along with young people and lay Catholics from more than 40 countries, according to an official list of participants released by the Vatican on Saturday. Continue reading
Bishops oppose plan to purge prayer from Senate
Parliament House, Canberra
A proposal to abandon formal prayer in the Senate has been strongly opposed by Australia’s Catholic bishops.
Senator Lee Rhiannon’s motion to create an inquiry proposes that the Senate should abandon the long tradition of formal prayer and replace it with a bland statement inviting senators to private reflection and prayer. Continue reading
Church calls for action to stem the rising tide of homelessness
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The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has used its 2018-19 Social Justice Statement to express deep concern about Australia’s alarming growth in homelessness and insecure housing.
In A Place to Call Home: Making a home for everyone in our land, released this morning, the bishops have called on Australians to look beyond the immediate challenges of the average household budget and to consider those who are homeless or facing housing stress because of skyrocketing rents and property prices. Continue reading
Australians journey to Ireland for World Meeting of Families World Meeting of Families
Mark and Tink Boyd
A large contingent of Australian couples and families have made their way to Ireland to participate in the World Meeting of Families.
Mark and Tink Boyd, from Yeppoon, in central Queensland, are leading a group of almost 40 pilgrims from Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT. Continue reading
Bond strengthens between Church and Australia’s First Peoples
A connection between Gospel values and the core tenets of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander life – family, spirituality and culture – is attracting more of Australia’s First Peoples to the Catholic faith.
Australia’s First Peoples now constitute more than 130,000 of all Catholics in Australia and the numbers are increasing, according to the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC), a peak advisory body to Australia’s bishops. Continue reading