Media Release, 1 May, 2012

The National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) will accept the Australian Government’s invitation to participate fully in the analysis of the recommendations of the Report on Funding for Schooling released on 20 February.

“There is much detailed work to be done”, said Mrs Therese Temby, Chair of NCEC.

“We have asked Minister Garrett and his department to release as a matter of urgency the detailed modelling that has already been completed on the Gonski recommendations”, she said. Continue reading →

Each year, the Office for the Participation of Women releases a kit for the celebration of International Women’s Day. To download your own copy of the kit, feel free to click here OPW Parish Kit 2012

The following prayers, written by Beth Nolen, are provided for use on International Women’s Day.

Priest: We are called to be people who listen to God’s Word and respond. Let us turn to God in prayer now, so that our prayers can help make a difference to our world.

We pray for men and women who hold positions of leadership and power within the Church, that their work will help empower all those influenced by their ministry, to know their full dignity and value. (Pause to enable the faithful to pray this prayer in their hearts.) Gracious God, hear our prayer. Continue reading →

Media Release
23 February, 2012

Monsignor Paul Tighe, Secretary to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications heads an influential line-up of guests for the Australian Catholic Media Congress 2012, an event which is held once every three years in Sydney.

The Media Congress is organised by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and will take place from 30 April – 2 May at the Menzies Hotel.
The event carries the theme “Communicating the Word: Timeless Messages, New Media”, to focus on the way the Church and the world can engage with social media to share important messages. Continue reading →

The National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) will release a statement on their response to the Gonski Report, Review of Funding for Schooling, on Monday, 20 February at about 2.00 pm (following the Report’s release by the Australian Government).

NCEC Chair, Mrs Therese Temby, will also be available for comment.

By Beth Doherty

Brazil’s most well-known tourist attraction is the huge Christ the Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro on top of Mount Corcovado. A striking symbol of the world’s most populous Catholic country, its situation and placement has a message to convey.

Mount Corcovado where the statue is placed is characterised by a rich side with mansions and palm trees, and a poor side which is a hill-side slum, heavily populated by Brazil’s poorest living in dilapidated houses.

In the 1990s, photojournalist Mev Puleo attributed traveling on an air-conditioned tour bus to see the statue as a catalyst for her conversion. She peered out the window and was suddenly starkly aware of the sheer inequality she saw before her. As a committed Catholic, she couldn’t reconcile this inequality with her faith. Continue reading →

By Bishop Greg O’Kelly SJ,

Bishop of Port Pirie and Chairman of the Australian Catholic Bishops Commission for Catholic Education

The report of the Gonski Funding Review will soon be made public, and there has been a lot of commentary in the media about the new funding “model”. These commentaries typically focus on the benefits this model will deliver for the future schooling of our young people. Continue reading →

To download the Valentine’s Day Kit 2012, click here!St Valentine Resource 2012

Heart shaped chocolates and teddy bears have become a symbol of February in the commercial world, and, for the lucky ones who have someone to share February 14th with, this is another chance to celebrate. Yet it is not an unreasonable question to ask why the Catholic Bishops’ Conference would put out a kit for St Valentine’s Day each year.

In 2010, the Bishops’ Commission for Pastoral Life through the Australian Catholic Marriage and Family Council developed a kit devoted to the celebration of St Valentine’s Day for use in parishes. Continue reading →

By Pat Ransom

As an 18-year-old in between jobs and about to move out of town for university, I was in a position in which I had about a week of time I needed to fill.

Rather than spending this time eating all the food in the house and spending 12 hours a day on the computer slaying dragons, I elected to go in search of volunteer work for this short period.

As it would turn out, I ended up spending this week working at the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) and it’s been a fantastic learning opportunity, seeing the inner workings of the Catholic Church and the contributions the people there make to spreading the message of the Christ. Continue reading →

By Lu Danieli and Gary Fry

Former Catholic Bishop of Armidale, Most Rev Luc Matthys, was the principal celebrant of the Episcopal Ordination and Installation of his successor, Bishop Michael Robert Kennedy. Continue reading →