The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has told the Fair Work Commission a 7.2 per cent increase in the minimum wage is needed to protect workers at risk of poverty – and analysis shows it is affordable.
The Bishops Conference has made submissions on the national minimum wage for decades, arguing consistently that working people and their families living in poverty is inconsistent with principles that see the minimum wage as a “safety net”.
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has told parliamentarians that they should place the needs of vulnerable people at the centre of the country’s culture and politics.
The call was made in a submission to the Senate Community Affairs Committee’s inquiry on poverty, which the committee recently published.
Jillian Segal, Bishop Michael McKenna and Teresa Pirola at the launch of Walking Together
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference today launched a new document to highlight Christianity’s unique relationship with Judaism and the celebrate the positive relationship the two faiths enjoy in Australia.
Walking Together: Catholics and Jews in the Australian Context comes 30 years after the Bishops Conference published a set of guidelines and recommendations to enhance Catholic-Jewish relations.
Fr Kimi Vunivesilevu (left) and Fr Stephen Hackett led the spirituality day
Staff from its General Secretariat have extended the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s commitment to its Laudato Si’ Action Plan with a spirituality day focused on “An Integral Ecology of the Heart”.
Fr Kimi Vunivesilevu MSC and fellow Missionary of the Sacred Heart priest Fr Stephen Hackett, the general secretary of the Bishops Conference, guided staff through a four-part program.
Archbishops Peter A Comensoli and Anthony Fisher OP
Senior bishops have warned law changes proposed by the Australian Law Reform Commission would prevent Church schools from being authentically Catholic, arguing they would discount the rights of people with a religious faith.
The fears were raised in the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s submission to the Law Reform Commission’s Inquiry into Religious Educational Institutions and Anti-Discrimination Laws.
People following global progress towards the two assemblies of the Synod of Bishops for a Synodal Church are being invited to participate in Lenten prayers to support the ongoing journey.
The Synod’s General Secretariat has published Lenten resources in multiple languages for use around the world as the continental stage of the Synod continues.
Archbishop Prowse, Ms Geoghegan and Mr Hart met the prefect of the Dicastery for Clergy, Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik, while in Rome
Archbishop Christopher Prowse says a gathering at the Vatican this week will help clergy and lay people alike better understand how they can work together to carry out God’s mission.
Archbishop Prowse, chair of the Bishops Commission for Evangelisation, Laity and Ministry, is attending the conference, which has the theme “Pastors and Lay Faithful Called to Walk Together”.
Archbishop Peter Loy Chong signed a letter from members of the FCBCO sending prayers and condolences to civic and Church leaders in Turkey and Syria.
The Catholic bishops of Oceania have sent a message of prayerful condolence and solidarity to Church and civic leaders in Turkey and Syria as the countries suffer the effects of devastating earthquakes.
Meeting for their quadrennial assembly of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania in Fiji, the bishops expressed deep sadness at the loss of life and the damage from which it will take years to recover.
The bishops of Oceania spent much of Wednesday in dialogue and discernment on the assembly’s three key themes.
Oceania’s Catholic bishops have been invited to imagine a “theology of the Pacific”, that would allow the Church in the region to speak with a voice and a faith that is “distinctive”.
The fourth day of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania gathering saw the bishops continue their shared discernment on the assembly’s three key themes.
Sr Nathalie Becquart addresses the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania assembly in Fiji
The bishops of Oceania were challenged to take up the path of synodality and to be prepared to confront a “silent earthquake” in the Church on the third day of their quadrennial assembly in Fiji.
Synodality and formation for mission are two of the three major themes for the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania assembly, along with the effects of a changing climate on the oceans.