Category Archives: Special interest

On the Road Together – The final post

The final Mass at St Peter's Basilica, Vatican City. Photography by Fiona Basile.

The final Mass at St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City. Photography by Fiona Basile.

“The Synod journey is far from over; in some ways an important new phase is only beginning. But we are much better equipped … this doesn’t mean we have a detailed road-map; but Abrahamic journeys never do. They require instead a listening of another and deeper kind.”

27 October 2015, by Archbishop Coleridge.

Into St Peter’s we marched yesterday to close the Synod that had opened three weeks ago. It seemed like three months. When I made it to my place and sat down, I felt a fatigue come over me – probably the let-down after the intensity and sheer hard work of the Synod journey. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder, thinking it was either my guardian angel or an MC telling me I was in the wrong place. But no: it was the Australian Ambassador to the Holy See who’d been sitting in the front row in all his finery and then saw me take my place. He needed to speak with me. Under Pope Francis, it seems, diplomatic formalities aren’t what they used to be. No one stays in their proper place any more. All these surprises can be exhausting. Continue reading →

Catholic Prison Ministry: Light at the End of the Tunnel

Dr Ruth Webber addressing delegates at the prison chaplains gathering in Sydney last month.

Dr Ruth Webber addressing delegates at the prison chaplains gathering in Sydney.

Prison ministry has an important role in providing genuine human contact and a place where prisoners can interact in a positive way with each other and with the ministry team.

Dr Ruth Webber spoke about the integral role of prison ministry during the National Prison Chaplains Gathering between 24–26 September 2015.

Focusing on ‘the restorative practices employed in prison ministry and the ways in which they assist prisoners towards healing and transformation’, Dr Webber said that ‘while it may not be essential, I believe if prisoners can reconnect with their faith and with the spiritual and religious part of themselves this restorative process will be easier as they embrace the Christian message of hope and forgiveness’.

Touching on the announcement by Pope Francis that we will celebrate a ‘Year of Mercy’ in 2016, the theme of the Gathering was ‘Prison Ministry – The Face of Mercy’. The gathering was supported by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference through the Australian Catholic Prisoners Pastoral Care Council (ACPPCC). Bishop Terry Brady attended the gathering as Chairperson of the ACPPCC.  Continue reading →

Journeying through the Synod on the Family

Bishop Eugene Hurley and Archbishop Mark Coleridge - speakers on the videos.

Bishop Eugene Hurley and Archbishop Mark Coleridge – speakers on the videos.

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference created a series of short videos below to share some of the thoughts, hopes and prayers of the two Bishops representing the Catholic Church in Australia, Bishop Eugene Hurley and Archbishop Mark Coleridge, at the Synod in Rome from 4th – 25th October 2015.

The videos discuss and explain a number of topics including; What is a Synod? Hopes for the Synod, the Place of the Holy Spirit and Prayer, and the Church as a place of mercy.

Take a moment to watch our Australian representatives speaking about their journey to the Synod: https://www.catholic.org.au/synod2015/synod-videos

Wasting Time and Learning to Love

Bishop Kennedy with the Bourke family

Bishop Kennedy with the Bourke family

“Waste time with families” was the fatherly advice Pope Francis gave to bishops, and by extension to all priests, on the final day of the World Meeting of Families held recently in Philadelphia.

For many years “wasting time with God” has been my own approach to God and time with him in prayer so I was delighted to hear the Holy Father say we must approach families and the time we spend with them in the same way.

When in the presence of those we love we are happy just to be with them; we don’t have to be doing anything in particular, we simply ‘hang out’ and spend time with each other. From this “quantity time” as opposed to “quality time” there emerges a deepening of relationships, mutual understanding and appreciation, and growth in love. It also provides the opportunity to accompany and support each other through difficulties. We know from experience that simply “being there” for somebody is often all that’s needed. “Wasting time with families” is not just good advice for bishops and priests; it’s good advice for everybody. Continue reading →

On the Road Together – The Synod begins

Synod venue, Paul Vi Hall

Synod venue, Paul Vi Hall

By Archbishop Coleridge

We’ve just completed the first morning of the 3-week marathon.  There was lots of milling around before we actually started – greeting those you know, finding your place in the Synod Hall, sorting through the documentation, making sure you know how the technology works (microphone and voting device).

It turns out I’m sitting next to the Georges Pontier, Archbishop of Marseilles (on my right), and on my left Romulo Valles, Archbishop of Davao, Philippines, who’s an old mate of mine.  Just in front of us are what’s called the fraternal delegates, which means the representatives of the other Churches.  I was chatting to the Anglican rep, the Bishop of Truro, who is a rugby fan and was mortified by the Wallabies defeat of England.  I was of course suitably jubilant, and all he could do was remind me of the Ashes, which did tend to slow me down a bit. Continue reading →

Pope Francis’ Homily at Opening Mass of Synod on the Family Translation by the Vatican

IMG_4355‘This is God’s dream for his beloved creation: to see it fulfilled in the loving union between a man and a woman, rejoicing in their shared journey, fruitful in their mutual gift of self.’

At 10 am today, the 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Pope Francis presided at the Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the opening of the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the theme: ‘The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and in the contemporary world.’ Below is the Vatican-provided translation of the homily Pope Francis delivered during the Mass:

 “If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us” (1 Jn 4:12).

Continue reading →

On The Road Together – Thoughts from the Synod

Over the next three weeks, the ACBC will help to keep you updated about what’s happening at the Synod on the family taking place in the Vatican, Rome.

Our ACBC bishop delegates at the Synod, Archbishop Coleridge and Bishop Hurley, will be blogging about their experiences. Keep an eye out for ‘On The Road Together‘ blog updates.
By Archbishop Coleridge

Finally, after months of preparation, the bags are packed and I head to Rome tonight for what is probably the most eagerly anticipated Synod since the close of Vatican II, 50 years ago. The word “synod” means “on the road together”, which explains the title of this blog.

When the Pope decided to convene the two Synods on marriage and the family, he summoned the Church to undertake a journey together. He made the Synod more of a process than an event. First there was the preparation for last year’s Synod; then there was the Synod itself which drew widespread publicity.

Continue reading →

From boat person to bishop

Most Rev Vincent Long Van Nguyen ofm conv

Most Rev Vincent Long Van Nguyen ofm conv

‘I was one of the boat people who escaped from South Vietnam.’

During migration awareness month [August], the new Australian Catholic Bishops Conference delegate for migrants and refugees, Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen ofm conv, shared his journey from survival as a refugee to nurturing a longing to become a priest, before being appointed Auxilliary Bishop of Melbourne.

‘The escape happened after South Vietnam had fallen to the Vietnamese communist forces in 1975.’

‘My parents who had escaped by boat themselves from North Vietnam in 1954 encouraged me and my siblings to escape. They had experienced the cruelty and tyranny of communism.’

From an early age, ‘you could say that risk-taking and freedom-seeking were in our blood’.

Continue reading →

Healing through ministry

Helping girls and young women overcome trauma and heal following beatings and sexual violence is the healing ministry of Sr Angelique Namaika, a woman with a passion for justice who is transforming her community.

Sr Angelique received the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Nansen Refugee Award in 2013 for ‘her exceptional courage and unwavering support for survivors of brutal violence in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).’

Sr Angelique said that such brutality is carried out by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan rebel group that moved into the DRC about ten years ago.

Continue reading →

Solidarity: On the road to Justice Opinion editorial

Bishop of Broome, Christopher Saunders

Bishop of Broome, Christopher Saunders

In a remote Town in northern Australia a teenage girl learns of the death of her best friend in a motor accident. Within a few hours she too is dead and her body is found by her brother.

In another larger regional town a young man is drinking into the early hours of the morning with two male relatives. In between drinks they share some cones of marijuana, as they did earlier in the day, and pass the hours in small talk or sometimes in silence. Before dawn the young man, in his mid-twenties, leaves the room without a word. After some time one of the others goes out to look for the missing young man. He finds him and with the help of the third person cuts him down from the tree.

A clergyman, experienced in ministry to Aboriginal people in rural Australia, speaks to an assembled group of priests about the strains and stress often encountered in such ministry and the hurt that often emerges when faced with the senseless tragedies of self harm in rural towns and settlements. He emphasises that people who work in those environs need useful and carefully placed support, if they are to survive the rigours and sorrows of almost daily living. Continue reading →