Bishop Satterthwaite, Fourth Bishop of Lismore. Coadjutor bishop (1969-1970) Bishop of Lismore (1971-2001) May he rest in peace.

Bishop Satterthwaite died on Saturday, 23 April 2016, just one week short of the 47th anniversary of his ordination to the episcopate by Cardinal Gilroy.

His provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the contribution of this unassuming man to the life of the Catholic community on the North Coast of New South Wales.

Ordained originally for the Diocese of Armidale, Bishop Satterthwaite was what has been termed “a late vocation”. Prior to ordination he had studied engineering at Sydney University and theology at the Lateran University in Rome. Ordination to the priesthood brought with it service in Glen Innes as assistant priest and Armidale as Chancellor and Bishop’s Secretary. At the time of his appointment to Lismore he was Administrator of the Cathedral.

In 1969, at the relatively young age of forty he was appointed Coadjutor Bishop to the then Bishop, Patrick Farrelly, himself first appointed as Coadjutor to Bishop John Carroll in 1931.

Bishop Satterthwaite spent the first years in the Diocese in Casino and Grafton before becoming Bishop of Lismore in 1971, on the retirement of Bishop Farrelly. Continue reading →

Australians celebrate Mother’s Day on 8 May 2016. Mother’s Day is a special day to appreciate mothers or mother figures, including stepmothers, relatives, guardians, close family friends and those who would be mothers. The Council for Australian Catholic Women encourages you to recognise the contribution of women within and beyond families on this occasion.

To help celebrate Mother’s Day across the Catholic community, the Council for Australian Catholic Women (CACW) recently prepared Liturgical resources for use on Sunday 8 May 2016. The resources include; a suggested parish bulletin notice, sample general intercessions and a blessing for use by parishes, schools and diocesan agencies.

The Mother’s Day resources can be printed from the Office for the Participation of Women website. Continue reading →

Mass for the Fallen will be incorporated into the National ANZAC Day Mass at St Christopher’s Cathedral, Canberra, on Monday 25 April 2016 at 8am.

Mass for the Fallen was commissioned by Allan and Maria Myers for use in celebrations of the Eucharist on Anzac Day, particularly the 100th Anniversary in 2015 but also over the centenary period from 2014 to 2018.

Parishes throughout Australia are invited to incorporate the Mass, or parts thereof, in the Anzac Day liturgy this year.

The mass setting was composed by Christopher Willcock SJ and it comprises a setting of the Kyrie eleison, the Acclamations during the Eucharistic Prayer, and the Agnus Dei.

The bishops conference website includes a list of all cathedrals and parishes where Mass for the Fallen will be sung during the ANZAC day weekend. You are welcome to add your parish to this list on our website.

You are my sister!

It’s interesting how things happen in life. Who would think that the parish I belong to in Canberra would have a strong link with Aboriginal Catholics in Alice Springs.

This week I’m in Alice Springs participating in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC) retreat in partnership with the Bishops Commission for Relations with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People (BCRATSIP).

The theme of the retreat is Reconciliation – with God, with others and with the land. Our retreat opened with a welcome to country from two Arrernte Elders followed by Bishop of Darwin Eugene Hurley’s warm welcome to his diocese.

To prepare us for the day, NATSICC members Shirley and Dolly, led us through the open hand prayer. This prayer encouraged us to give, not only this present time to him but to invite God deeply into our hearts and to let God take and give to us what He sees fit. Continue reading →

Interfaith Climate Change Statement presentation. Photo credit: Paul Hunt: WCC

The world’s religious leaders have united to call on governments to take urgent action on climate change. At a colourful multifaith ceremony, Ambassador Mogens Lykketoft, President of the UN General Assembly took delivery of the Interfaith Climate Change Statement to World Leaders signed by 270 high-level religious leaders, 4970 individuals and 176 religious groups from around the world.

Australian signatories – including the presidents of the Australian Hindu and Imams councils, the Federation of Australian Buddhist Councils and the National Council of Churches in Australia – joined Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo – Chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences of the Holy See, the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Pakistani grand imam Maulana Khabir Azad, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit – General Secretary of the World Council of Churches and more than 250 of their international counterparts to sign the Interfaith Climate Change Statement. Continue reading →

“In his Apostolic Exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, ‘The Joy of Love: On Love in the Family’, Pope Francis has spoken as a true pastor who really knows the human heart and is well aware of the pressures now facing marriage and the family”, said Archbishop Mark Coleridge on behalf of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference today.

“The Pope moves between the ideal and the real, offering the Church’s vision of marriage and the family but also dealing with the facts on the ground that can be messy,” Archbishop Coleridge said.

In the document, which was launched at 8pm AEST in Rome, the Holy Father sees marriage and the family in dynamic terms, writing of them as a journey. ‘The Synod process’, he notes, ‘allowed for an examination of the situation of families in today’s world’, opening up ‘a broader vision’ and a renewed awareness of the importance of marriage and the family, which is counter cultural in today’s society.

Francis does not shy away from complex and controversial issues including divorce, abortion, domestic violence, euthanasia, same-sex marriage and gender ideology. He stresses the need to care for the most vulnerable in society, especially the elderly, people with disabilities and migrants. Continue reading →

Minimum wage

The Australian Catholic Council for Employment Relations (ACCER) is seeking a $25.10 increase per week to the National Minimum Wage.

The Council made the proposal in a submission to the Fair Work Commission Annual Wage Review 2015-2016.

The ACCER asked that the National Minimum Wage be set at $682.00 per week and $17.95 per hour. It also sought that Award wage rates be increased by $19.00 per week.

The annual wage review requires the Fair Work Commission to set a safety net of fair minimum wages by taking into account, relative living standards and the needs of the low paid. Continue reading →

Get on board and book your ticket to Krakow by Friday 15 April 2016 to experience World Youth Day (WYD) in the ‘City of Mercy’ this year.

The Bishops Conference, Office for Youth, are calling all young people to get in touch with their local diocesan youth office this week.

Australian registrations for WYD2016 will close at the end of this week, 15 April. Full registration details are available on the Office for Youth website: https://wyd2016.com.au/

Pope Francis will join millions of pilgrims including 3,000 young Australians in Poland from 25 – 31 July 2016. The theme of the 31st World Youth Day is ‘Blessed are the merciful: For they shall receive mercy‘ (Mt 5:7). Continue reading →

Archbishop Mark Coleridge

This op-ed was first published in The Weekend Australian today, Saturday 9 April 2016.

From the moment of his election Francis has been a Pope of surprises. One of the surprises of this old man has been his energy. It has been astonishing, and part of the energy has been literary — as we see in his latest production, published yesterday, The Joy of Love: On Love in the Family.

In it, the Pope wants to gather up and move forward the work of the Synod of Bishops held in Rome in 2014 and last year. The decision to hold the two synods on the theme of marriage and the family was a surprise. But it was shrewd strategy from a Pope who is nothing if not a strategist.

What Francis was saying to the Catholic Church was that a synod wasn’t just a one-off event; it’s an ongoing journey, which is what the word synod means. In The Joy of Love Francis doesn’t claim to be the final word settling every controversial question. Nor does he claim to offer a comprehensive pastoral plan to be implemented around the planet. His claims are more modest, and for that reason more compelling. He wants this text to be another step on the way; not a final product but another part of the process. Continue reading →

The late Bishop Mulkearns

On Monday 11 April, the funeral of Bishop Ronald Mulkearns, retired Bishop of Ballarat, took place at a local nursing home in Ballarat.

During this time, members of the Catholic community gathered for prayer and reflection in different parts of the Ballarat Diocese.

The death of Bishop Mulkearns from cancer has given rise to different responses from those who remember him as their bishop and to those who remember him for his failings in dealing with perpetrators of child sexual abuse.

As with all Catholic funerals, the funeral of Bishop Mulkearns was a time of prayer for the deceased, asking for God’s mercy, remembering his life. The chief celebrant was Archbishop Francis Carroll. Continue reading →