The presidents of Catholic Religious Australia and the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference have thanked a group of key advisors who helped the Church progress matters related to safeguarding and child protection.

In letters sent earlier this month, Implementation Advisory Group (IAG) chair Jack de Groot informed Br Peter Carroll FMS and Archbishop Mark Coleridge that the group had concluded its work, with Mr de Groot noting “the many blessings that will result in taking forward the important and essential work of leading the Church in Australia”.

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Australia Post will release a commemorative envelope later this month celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Catholic Church’s ministry to seafarers through the Apostleship of the Sea.

The postage-paid envelope, which will cost $1.35, features an historical image of an Australian port and a photo of Melbourne Archbishop Peter A. Comensoli visiting his local Stella Maris centre in 2018.

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14 September 2020

Friends, I take this opportunity on the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross to share the perspective of the Catholic Church in Australia to development of a vaccine for COVID-19.

Many Catholics have sought advice from the bishops about the ethics of a vaccine, which has been discussed widely in Australia in recent weeks. Early in September I met with the Federal Health Minister to discuss vaccines for COVID-19, following a letter I wrote to the Prime Minister in July.

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Fr Karol Kulczycki SDS, Bishop-Elect of the Diocese of Port Pirie, will be ordained in Poland later this month before taking up his ministry in the regional South Australian diocese.

Fr Kulczycki’s episcopal ordination will take place on September 29, the Feast of the Archangels, in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Trzebinia – the church in which he was ordained a priest in 1994.

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The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has provided the Holy See’s observations on 12 recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse to the Australian Government.

The Royal Commission proposed that the Bishops Conference engage with the Holy See on those recommendations because they relate to universal Church law or practice. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin confirmed that the recommendations, and the entire final report of the Royal Commission, were studied closely by several Vatican dicasteries.

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Chiara Porro, the new Australian Ambassador to the Holy See, will present her credentials to Pope Francis on August 27

Australia’s bishops have welcomed the appointment of a new residential Ambassador to the Holy See, with the new ambassador to present her credentials to Pope Francis this week.

Chiara Porro has worked within the Department of Foreign Affairs for most of the past dozen years, including in overseas postings in India and New Caledonia. She has also served in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

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The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Catholic Religious Australia have today published an “important and substantial” document on the review of diocesan and parish governance and management in Australia.

The review was recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

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Catholics in Australia are being encouraged to participate in a first-of-its-kind week-long retreat in preparation for the ecumenical celebration of the World Day of Prayer for Creation on September 1.

The “7 Days of Creation Reflection-Retreat” has been prepared by Columban priest Fr Charles Rue, whose ministry has for many years had a focus on the Catholic understanding of care for the environment.

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People engaged in parish ministry are being encouraged to attend a webinar next week to help understand how data from the 2016 Australian Census can inform the way they support their local communities.

In June this year, the National Centre for Pastoral Research published social profiles on almost 1300 Catholic parishes across Australia. Each profile looks in great detail at the demographic makeup of those living within a parish’s boundaries, according to the 2016 Census, particularly those who identified as Catholic.

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More than 700 men from across Australia, as well as New Zealand, Uganda and Kenya, will participate in the inaugural Catholic Men’s Gathering, being delivered this weekend using video technology.

The gathering had originally been scheduled for July 2020, but was postponed by 12 months due to COVID-19. The success of other events that had shifted online prompted the decision to deliver the men’s gathering using digital means in August 2020 instead, with a live event still scheduled for 2021.

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