Media Release, 18 December, 2012

In late 2012 the Bishops Commission for Catholic Education (BCCE) set up a panel to review the terms of reference and the statutes of the National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC).

During the first six months of 2012, the Review Panel (Dr Peter Tannock (Chair), Sr Beth Calthorpe RSM, Ms Loretta Richardson and Mr David Hutton) received eighteen written submissions and interviewed over twenty different groups and individuals from every state and territory. Their report was sent to BCCE in early July 2012. Continue reading →

Mary MacKillop’s tomb

The following message was received at the Bishops Conference from Deacon Matt Ransom. We encourage you to participate in this initiative if you are able.

“Friends, would you consider joining with us as we pray for our good friend and and great Bishop, Michael Putney. Bishop Michael has inoperable cancer  and could use our support.

We believe in a God of miracles, so let’s storm heaven.

It has been suggested that we might pray a novena to Saint Mary MacKillop (http://www.marymackillop.org.au/prayer-space/index.cfm?loadref=4), and invite as many people as we know.

We will start today, January 10, when a special Mass is being offered up for Bishop Michael in Townsville.”

Bishop Anthony Fisher

Published in Catholic Outlook, December 2012/January 2013

Fifty years ago, at the end of that momentous day when the Second Vatican Council commenced, Blessed John XXIII looked out from his window to see a huge crowd of waiting, hoping, needing humanity in St Peter’s Square below.

At that moment he inaugurated a less formal way of speaking than was customary for popes till then but has become commonplace since. He came to the window and spoke impromptu from his heart. The speech became known as the Discorso della Luna – the Moonlight Speech or the Sermon on the Moon.

A ‘lone voice’ in the darkness somehow spoke for the whole world. Even the moon, the Pope said, seemed to draw close to witness the spectacle of the 21st ecumenical council. A half-century later Pope Benedict XVI recently spoke from that same window before a torch-lit square and inaugurated a Year of Faith. Continue reading →

Bishop Greg O’Kelly

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ

“See, I make all things new”. That is the message the figure of Christ gives in the Book of Revelations. We need Christmas each year. We can get worn down when at times the tragedies in life seem more apparent than the blessings, or when the good we do as individuals and as Church seems to get outclassed by the scandals. We need this event of Christmas, the reminder that God so loved us that He sent His only Son amongst us. Beyond the powers of our minds and imagination, the Word
was made flesh and dwelt amongst us. Christmas is the annual reminder of God’s endorsement of us, and thus endorsed we will always be a people of hope. Continue reading →

http://youtu.be/9hyoEO0T-oo

The Pope may be on Twitter, but Bishop Bill Wright of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle is this year sharing his thoughts about the Christmas season with the local community via a video message on YouTube.

With the recent launch of a new diocesan website, Bishop Bill has been able to embrace the latest technologies to reach a wider audience.

Bishop Christopher Prowse

Dear People of God in the Diocese of Sale,

We are celebrating Christmas during the Year of Grace and the Year of Faith.

Christmas is surely where Grace and Faith meet.  The Grace of God sends us Jesus, God-with-us.  The Faith of Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the Magi all “contemplate the face of Christ” resting in the humble stable of Bethlehem.  Even such great Faith is an initiative of Grace.  We too join in this profound contemplation of the Saviour. Continue reading →

http://youtu.be/HsJketmiftI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkfAKKBsf-Y

Published on Dec 2, 2012

Archbishop Paul Gallagher

A complete biography and the official announcement can be read at www.catholic.org.au

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher was today appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Australia. For the last three years, he has served as nuncio to the Central American nation of Guatemala.

Born in Liverpool in 1954, he was educated at St. Francis Xavier’s College in Woolton. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1977 for the Archdiocese of Liverpool and he joined the diplomatic service in 1984.

Archbishop Gallagher speaks Italian, French and Spanish.