Category Archives: Special interest

Growing euthanasia statistics should be a warning

Bishop Comensoli

There’s nothing compassionate or safe about killing our fellow travellers along the journey of life.

Accepting euthanasia means agreeing some people are beyond any help, for whom taking their life is the only option. I reject that pessimism. I reject the idea that euthanising someone is any sort of solution to the deeply human reality of facing our own mortality. That is a most callous and irresponsible choice. Doctors should instead help people to live their lives well as they make their final journey towards death.

Rather than buying into the dangerous and dishonest euphemism of “dying with dignity”, we would do better – and be more human – by dignifying the lives of the dying. Palliative care is one key way we can dignify the dying. We should not accept the chronic under-funding of palliative care in this country and offer lethal injections instead.

Euthanasia is not turning off a life support machine where there is no prospect of recovery. It is not ending treatment that is overly burdensome. It is not giving someone pain relief as they are dying. Rather, euthanasia is giving someone a drug with the intention of ending their life. Continue reading →

Attitude of accompaniment in Amoris Laetitia

Joy of the Family banner detail

It is with great joy that we receive Amoris Laetitia “The Joy of Love: On Love in the Family”, the Exhortation written by Pope Francis after the two Synods of Bishops on that topic in October 2014 and October 2015.

Pope Francis, who has often been embraced for his warmth, personal touch and authentic leadership style, calls for a pastoral and compassionate response to some of the most important questions being faced by families today.

The exhortation addresses several complex topics, including Holy Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried and marriage as a sacrament between one man and woman.

Continue reading →

Lesbos and Australia: one pope, one people

Pope Francis Since the end of the Second World War, global migration has become increasingly constrained through tougher immigration policies. This has seen long queues of applicants waiting for visas whilst fundamental human rights are increasingly disregarded, giving rise to increasing numbers of irregular and undocumented immigrants.

On Saturday 16 April, Pope Francis flew to the Greek island of Lesbos. In recent weeks, this island has become a place of confinement for thousands of people seeking refugee from what has now escalated into genocide in Syria and in other parts of the Middle East. For the international media, Lesbos and the island of Lampedusa off the coast of Sicily, represent how Europe deals with forced migration.

Pope Francis is no doubt a strategist of images and symbols. A visit of the Pope, though pastoral in nature and purpose, always carries a political impact, in the sense that it draws the attention of the whole world, and challenges it. Continue reading →

Cabrini introduce asylum seeker and refugee health hub

Cabrini is pleased to announce the development of an asylum seeker and refugee health hub located on the ground floor at 503 Sydney Road, Brunswick. Initial services will begin in May 2016 with GP clinics and specialist mental health services. Eventually the service will include chronic disease management, maternal and child health and infectious disease management, complemented with social, emotional and spiritual support. Clustering these services in one location will enhance access and facilitate a person-centred, integrated approach to primary and specialist care for this marginalised and vulnerable group.

Victoria has the one of the highest asylum seeker and refugee settlement numbers in Australia. Today many asylum seekers in our community have neither work rights nor access to government benefits such as Medicare, Centrelink, housing or emergency relief. The Cabrini Asylum Seeker and Refugee Health Hub will complement health services offered by the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in Melbourne’s west and Monash Health in the southern suburbs. Medicare-ineligible asylum seekers will be given priority access to our services at no charge. Continue reading →

Walking through the holy door of mercy

Celebrating the Holy Year of Mercy, a new media initiative has been established to assist pilgrims entering the holy door of mercy in their diocese.

Produced by a Vatican-based organisation, Catholic Bytes, Misericordia Media offers media to pilgrims approaching any Mercy Door worldwide, and to help pilgrims to come to a better understanding of mercy, the faith, and the Church.

With this goal in mind, Misericordia Media has produced a 7 minute audio-guide and 10 minute video available at misericordia.media. The material is approved by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion for the New Evangelisation. Continue reading →

Celebrating 50 years of the Project Compassion box

Over the decades and today, the Project Compassion box is a symbol of hope and generosity. The box is a practical way of helping those in need around the world.

Caritas Australia has produced the short video below to celebrate 50 years of the Project Compassion box. Bishop Terry Brady said, ‘The boxes work for a lot of families’.

Jane Sulis, Outreach Coordinator at Santa Sabina College in Stratfield said, ‘The Project Compassion box is a great example of a lot of people doing a little bit, that then aggrevates to make a big difference’.

‘The PC box has stood the test of time’, Paul O’Callaghan, CEO of Caritas Australia commented. ‘It’s a great example of our Catholic commitment to sharing and being with others.’ Continue reading →

Bishops want Catholics singing from the same hymn book

Bishop Pat O’Regan, Chair of the Bishops Commission for Liturgy. Photo credit: Casamento Photography.

The Bishops of Australia launched a new liturgical worship book at the Catholic Leadership Centre in Melbourne on Friday 8 April 2016, thirty years since the last one was published.

The new Catholic Worship Book II will be the official liturgical music resource for the Catholic Church in Australia, Archbishop Denis Hart, President, Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, said during the official launch.

The Catholic Worship Book II hits all the right notes with a broad range of liturgical music, including the chants for the revised Order of Mass (2010), new and revised Mass settings and service music, plus music for the Sunday Eucharist, the various rites of the Church and Morning and Evening Prayer.

Prepared by the National Liturgical Music Board, an advisory board of the Bishops Commission for Liturgy, the worship book reflects the Catholic Church’s rich heritage of chant – in Latin and English – and traditional hymns and contemporary liturgical songs from local and international sources.

Continue reading →

Archbishop says, change begins in the heart during Project Compassion

Archbishop of Canberra-Goulburn, Christopher Prowse & Caritas Diocesan Engagement Coordinator Lulu Mitshabu

On Shrove Tuesday, 9 February 2016, Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn, Christopher Prowse, enjoyed some freshly made pancakes while launching Project Compassion at the Secretariat of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC).

The Archbishop was joined in the ACBC garden by students and staff from across the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn who will participate in Project Compassion, one of Australia’s largest humanitarian fundraising raising campaigns during the six weeks of Lent. This year marks 50 years of Project Compassion and the theme is, Learning more, creating change. Continue reading →

Is Sanctuary the Way to Go?

cropped detention facility In response to the decision of the High Court that it is legal to send and detain asylum seekers in off-shore detention places, some Christian Communities have offered the right of sanctuary in their churches, as a solution to prevent these people from being sent to Nauru.

As an immediate response I wish to say that this is a very generous offer. It shows the care and concern these Christian Communities have towards those most in need and suffering persecution. This has been met with the support from many people who are appalled and shamed by the High Court decision.

It is sad, though, that since the announcement by the Anglican Dean of Brisbane the Reverend Dr Peter Catt, attention has drastically shifted to focus on the offer of sanctuary rather than the situation of asylum seekers or refugee claimants themselves. Continue reading →

Consider purchasing Easter chocolate slavery free

slavery free chocolate ‘Every person ought to have the awareness that purchasing is always a moral, and not simply an economic, act’, Pope Francis said last year. This ‘awareness’ is never more relevant than when buying chocolate writes Rosie Hoban from Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans (ACRATH).

As consumers we have lots of chocolate choices, but the most compelling choice is whether we buy chocolate that is slavery-free or not. The flavours and brands are less important.

This Easter, Australians will spend almost $2 billion on chocolate. That’s a staggering amount. Much of the chocolate is produced using cocoa beans picked by children in West Africa. The International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) estimates that there are about 1.5 million children working in the cocoa sector in West Africa, many of whom have been enslaved, or forced to work in exploitative conditions. Continue reading →

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