Category Archives: Special interest

Ms Michele Castagna OAM, Rest in Peace

Michele Castagna

Michele Castagna

Ms Michele Castagna OAM died peacefully on Saturday morning, 17 September 2016, in the presence of her family at home in Alice Springs. 

Michele was appointed Chairperson of the Australian Catholic Disability Council in 2006 and worked tirelessly in the role promoting the full participation of people with disability and their families. Michele guided the Council with wisdom and tenacity until she stepped down in 2015.

Serving on the Council for 14 years, Michele had over twenty years practical experience and knowledge in community work, community development and service delivery, including fifteen years working in the area of multiculturalism.

Always an active member of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart parish in Alice Springs. Michele was a member of the choir and other ministries within the parish. Due to Michele’s advocacy within the parish, it became an accessible place of worship.

We pray for the repose of her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God. May she rest in peace. Amen. Continue reading →

Finding the Silver Bullet for Evangelisation

Bishop Nicholas Hudson

Bishop Nicholas Hudson

Interview with Bishop Nicholas Hudson, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster, on Friday 2 September during the Proclaim 2016, national conference on evangelisation.

‘Are you going to give us a silver bullet for evangelisation?’ Bishop Nicholas Hudson, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster, was asked on the journey from Sydney airport to the Diocese of Broken Bay for the Proclaim 2016, national conference on evangelisation.

He quickly responded, ‘there is no silver bullet, it’s going to be different in every parish and every local community’. Interestingly, the question stayed with him and ‘I’ve found myself thinking, there is one silver bullet and that is to just start doing it’.

‘Sometimes there is scope for reflection and being strategic that’s the reason why we are all gathered here for Proclaim 2016. We know that Pope Francis has a vision and there is a phrase, “Vision without strategy is hallucination”. That is how Pope Francis sees it and when he says that he dreams of a missionary option for the Church, what he means is that we need to do a lot of rethinking.

Bishop Comensoli leading morning prayer during Proclaim 2016

Bishop Comensoli leads morning prayer during Proclaim 2016

‘We need to rethink our strategies, our methods and our structures in order to be more evangelising but the way we become more evangelising is just by getting on with it.

The Proclaim conference was hosted by the Diocese of Broken Bay in partnership with the Australian Catholic Bishops Commission for Evangelisation.

Bishop Hudson’s address at the Proclaim conference focused on parishes becoming oases of mercy. ‘I learnt from my Dad when I was six years old, he used to take me out to visit the neighbours who were elderly or alone. He wasn’t self-consciously teaching me to make our family or our parish an oasis of mercy, but I realised that he was for those vulnerable people around us, an oasis of mercy.

‘He would say to me, Nick, let’s go and see Bob, next door, or we would drop off a shepherd’s pie to Mr Flood every Saturday. It was a way of showing mercy. So I believe that parishes need believe in being oasis of mercy, by simply showing mercy to their neighbours. The clue is to simply ask, who is my neighbour? And if you ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in the response, you can’t but become more evangelising.’ Continue reading →

National Fertility Conference to focus on Infertility in the Year of Mercy

screen-shot-2016-09-14-at-3-42-47-pm_200Bishop Mark Edwards, a member of the Bishops Commission for Family, Youth and Life will deliver the opening address at the National Fertility Conference in Melbourne this weekend, 16-18 September 2016.

On Friday evening, Bishop Edwards will address a public forum on the topic, ‘Infertility in the Year of Mercy- a Pastoral Response’.

The journey of infertility is a difficult one affecting one-in-six couples. Our technological culture promotes treatments like IVF which, unfortunately, have a low success rate and bypass the underlying cause(s).

Couples who prefer to conceive naturally, because of their religion or a desire for a healthier outcome, may struggle to find medical assistance, which aims to restore their fertility and offer hope.

In recent years, the number of Australian health care practitioners dedicated to a restorative approach to solving infertility has grown. The network includes doctors and members of the three national fertility awareness agencies*. Since 2014, they have met annually to promote therapies for infertility which are respectful of physical, mental and spiritual health, relationships and embryonic life. Continue reading →

ACBC Media Blog recognised in 2016 Catholic Media Awards

fullsizerender1_200Archbishop Mark Coleridge’s daily blog during the Synod on the Family, ‘On the Road Together’ was awarded ‘Best Column or Blog’ at the Australian Catholic Press Association’s annual awards for excellent this year.

The judges acknowledged the daily personal insights into the Synod process, which the blog provided and highlighted the Archbishop’s ‘self-deprecating sense of humour’ throughout the blog posts.

This Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Media Blog, was also highly commended in the ‘Best Editorial’ category for an opinion-editorial, ‘Interconnectedness a major principle of encyclical’, written by Bishop Michael Kennedy following the publication of Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si’.  Continue reading →

New Evangeliser has four qualities: courage, confidence, a sense of urgency and joy, Cardinal Wuerl tells Proclaim 2016 delegates

Cardinal Wuerl

Cardinal Wuerl

The new evangeliser needs four qualities for successful parish renewal: courage, confidence, a sense of urgency and joy, keynote speaker Cardinal Donald Wuerl told Proclaim 2016 delegates during his opening address on 1 September in Sydney.

‘Many young people today have these qualities,’ the Archbishop of Washington said.

‘Courage could also be described as boldness. We only have to think of Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth in order to understand the sense of urgency in our task, she set off at pace. We are not passive bystanders.’

Speaking about Pope Francis, parish renewal and evangelisation, the Cardinal said, ‘others have gone before us but the responsibility of parish renewal falls to us. It’s our turn now. Continue reading →

Show Mercy to our Common Home

dreamstime_l_19675611_200Pope Francis’ message for today’s World Day of Prayer for the care of creation

United with our Orthodox brothers and sisters, and with the support of other Churches and Christian communities, the Catholic Church today marks the “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation”.

This Day offers “individual believers and communities a fitting opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live.” 1

It is most encouraging that concern for the future of our planet is shared by the Churches and Christian communities, together with other religions. Indeed, in past decades numerous efforts have been made by religious leaders and organisations to call public attention to the dangers of an irresponsible exploitation of our planet.

Here I would mention Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople who, like his predecessor Patriarch Dimitrios, has long spoken out against the sin of harming creation and has drawn attention to the moral and spiritual crisis at the root of environmental problems. Continue reading →

Pope Francis sends message to PROCLAIM 2016 delegates

Pope Francis Photo‘The Holy Father asks you kindly to convey his cordial greetings to all assembled in the Diocese of Broken Bay for the third National Conference on Evangelization, Proclaim 2016,’ Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State wrote a message to the Most Reverend Peter Comensoli, Bishop of Broken Bay.

Pope Francis trusts that ‘in this Holy Year devoted to the preaching and practice of mercy, the Conference will contribute to a more effective proclamation of the Gospel message of forgiveness, redemption and interior renewal’.

‘In a world increasingly wounded by alienation, fragmentation and forgetfulness of God, he urges Christian families and young people in particular to be missionary disciples, radiating in their homes, parishes and communities the joy of the Gospel and the hope it offers for the building of a society of true solidarity and freedom. Continue reading →

Pope calls young people to teach us how to live in diversity, in dialogue and to experience multiculturalism

Pope Francis arriving at Campus Misericordiae

World Youth Day, Prayer Vigil, 30 July 2016

Dear Young Friends, good evening!

It is good to be here with you at this Prayer Vigil!

At the end of her powerful and moving witness, Rand asked something of us.  She said: “I earnestly ask you to pray for my beloved country”.  Her story, involving war, grief and loss, ended with a request for prayers.  Is there a better way for us to begin our vigil than by praying?

We have come here from different parts of the world, from different continents, countries, languages, cultures and peoples.  Some of us are sons and daughters of nations that may be at odds and engaged in various conflicts or even open war.  Others of us come from countries that may be at “peace”, free of war and conflict, where most of the terrible things occurring in our world are simply a story on the evening news.  But think about it. Continue reading →

Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania focus on the people of West Papua

Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv and Bishop Robert McGuckin at the FCBCO meeting.

Australian delegates, Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv and Bishop Robert McGuckin attending the FCBCO meeting.

The Executive Committee of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, PNG/SI, CEPAC) is currently meeting in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. We come from a multitude of island nation States spread throughout the Pacific.

We are delighted to be here in PNG and have enjoyed greatly the wonderful hospitality of this vibrant nation. It was an honour for us to meet with the Hon. Powes Parkop, Governor of Port Moresby, and we all offered him congratulations and encouragement on the development of this city and his commitment to justice, integrity and service in civic leadership. Continue reading →