The core recommendations of the Uluru Statement from the Heart must be implemented if Closing the Gap targets are to be met, according to a key group representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholics.

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC) last week published its response to the 2021 Closing the Gap statement and new national agreement. The Council welcomes many of the commitments made in the statement and agreement, but calls for greater action in some areas.

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The Australian Government should provide at least 20,000 humanitarian places for Afghans in the wake of the Taliban takeover, Australian Catholic Bishop Conference president Archbishop Mark Coleridge has said.

In a letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison last night, Archbishop Coleridge noted there has been “an outpouring of concern for the people of Afghanistan” as that country’s government has collapsed and the Taliban seized control.

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Taliban fighters stand outside the Interior Ministry in Kabul (Photo: CNS-Reuters)

Catholic and other faith-based groups are joining with refugee advocates in calling on the Australian Government to respond humanely to the crisis unfolding in Afghanistan as the Taliban seizes power.

Several Catholic organisations have signed a Refugee Council of Australia petition that calls for the Australian Government to take seven steps to support people in Afghanistan and Afghan nationals currently in Australia.

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Despite large parts of the country being in lockdown, those planning the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia say all is in readiness to deliver the first assembly in October wholly online.

Bishop Shane Mackinlay, the Plenary Council’s vice-president, said the Council journey has adapted to changing circumstances because of COVID-19 – and it is adapting again.

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On August 10, Australia will hold its five‐yearly national Census. The Census of Population and Housing, conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), is a “comprehensive snapshot” that reveals the changing economic, social and cultural demographics of the nation.

Religion is a basic variable used in socio-demographic research. A question on a person’s religion has been included in all Australian Censuses, along with questions of country of birth and language spoken at home, because it is an important part of a person’s identity and an indicator of Australia’s cultural diversity.

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Jeremy Stuparich, who for 10 years has been the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s public policy director, has been appointed to a new role as the Conference’s deputy general secretary.

Mr Stuparich will retain his public policy responsibilities while working closely with the general secretary, Fr Stephen Hackett MSC, in the new role.

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The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has made an historic commitment to work towards a more sustainable Church in its annual statement promoting social justice.

In the Social Justice Statement 2021-22 launched today, Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor, the bishops commit to a seven-year journey towards seven Laudato Si’ Goals.

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Bishop Delegate for Life Bishop Richard Umbers (Images by Giovanni Portelli Photography © 2018)

Australian bishops have urged federal politicians to scrap plans to allow mitochondrial donation, citing safety and ethical concerns and a lack of evidence the technique is effective.

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference recently made a submission to the Senate Community Affairs Committee inquiry into the Mitochondrial Donation Law Reform (Maeve’s Law) Bill 2021.

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Groups that provide spiritual, pastoral and practical support to seafarers are urging the Australian Government to follow New Zealand’s lead in funding welfare services for those working on the seas.

New Zealand recently amended legislation passed in 1994, with the changes now allowing revenue raised from maritime levies to fund “the facilitation of, or support for, seafarer welfare services”.

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The longest-running program on Australian commercial television, Mass for You at Home, will celebrate 50 years on our screens when Mass is broadcast into people’s living rooms on August 1.

Mass for You at Home, which originally aired on Channel 0 in Victoria, was a ministry of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne from 1971 until earlier this year.

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