Ron and Mavis Pirola, Co-Chairs of the Australian Catholic Marriage and Family Council, presenting Pope Francis with a print from Aboriginal and religious artist, Richard Campbell while discussing the incorporation of Aboriginal culture and traditions in liturgies.

Ron and Mavis Pirola, the Sydney-based Chair-couple of the Australian Catholic Marriage and Family Council (ACMFC), were one of 13 Australian couples who attended the recent III Extraordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops from 5 – 19 October 2014, in Rome. The theme of the Synod was ‘The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelisation’.

The ACMFC is a Council of the Bishops Commission for Pastoral Life, which in turn is a Commission of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.

Presenting at the Synod, the Pirolas commented on the “prayerful and respectful” way in which proceedings progressed and how “enormously privileged they felt in participating in such an experience of the Universal Church”. Continue reading →

Archbishop Prowse with members of the community

On 14 December 2014, a delegation of Australian Bishops from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference as well as the Conference of Bishops and Representatives of the Middle Eastern Apostolic Churches in Australia and New Zealand departed to the Middle East to be with displaced Christians in Erbil, Iraq and refugees in Lebanon, offering spiritual support and humanitarian aid in this Christmas season.

The delegation comprises: Most Reverend Christopher Prowse, Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn, Most Reverend Julian Porteous, Archbishop of Hobart, Most Reverend Robert Rabbat, Eparch of the Melkite Eparchy of Australia and New Zealand, Most Reverend Mar Jibrael Kassab, Archbishop of St Thomas The Apostle Chaldean and Assyrian Catholic Diocese of Australia and New Zealand, Most Reverend Antoine-Charbel Tarabay, Maronite Bishop of Australia, Most Reverend Bishop Daniel, Coptic Orthodox Bishop of Sydney and Affiliated Regions, Most Reverend Danil Bolis, Archbishop of the Ancient Church of the East. Continue reading →

Archbishop Fisher delivering his homily

We are not used to hearing words like ‘siege’, ‘terrorist’, ‘hostages’ and ‘security forces’ associated with our city. Yet for the past day and night we were subjected to pictures and sounds we tend to associate with alien lands. In a café only two blocks away from St Mary’s Cathedral, only one block away from the Supreme Court, even closer to the New South Wales Parliament, the Reserve Bank and the Channel 7 studio, hostages were pinned for hours against the windows and forced to hold up a flag which blasphemously used the name of God as a threat.

The distress was visible on their faces, as was the relief of the first five to escape. We went to bed hoping to wake to good news. But despite patient efforts to maintain calm and negotiate there were, in the early hours of this morning, flashes of gunfire, intervention by our police to save lives, merciful escapes, but finally death. Hell had touched us. Continue reading →

Pope Francis

Pope Francis and bishops from around the world have called for a binding global climate agreement, written by Katie McSweeney, CatholicEarthcare Australia.

As United Nations leaders gathered at the COP20 climate summit in Peru last week, Pope Francis and Catholic Bishops from around the world called for a global climate treaty and an end to the use of fossil fuels.

“We can find adequate solutions only if we act together and unanimously”, Pope Francis said a written statement to Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Peru’s minister of the environment and host president of the climate summit. He encouraged the leaders to make the right decisions quickly, as they “affect all of humanity, especially the poorest and future generations”. He also urged them to work together, as “an effective fight against global warming will be possible only with a collective and responsible answer”. Continue reading →

With a euthanasia bill tabled in the Federal Parliament, arguments on all sides of the debate are gathering steam, but there is one group of people who say they have more to fear than most from euthanasia legislation – those who are living with disability and battling a daily presumption from society that their lives are not worth living.

Greens Senator, Dr Richard Di Natale, earlier this year tabled the Exposure Draft “Medical Services, Dying with Dignity Bill 2014”, which was then referred to a Senate Inquiry. Hearings for the inquiry took place in October.

Among those who appeared before the Senate Committee was Craig Wallace, Convenor of Lives Worth Living, a network of Australians with disability speaking about euthanasia and eugenics, not from a religious, ideological or pro-life position, but from a disability rights perspective.

Continue reading →

Archbishop Hart

Christmas message from Archbishop Hart, President of Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.

As I take some time out to reflect on the year that was, I realise that 2014 was a year of highs and lows for the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC).

Many wonderful occasions have taken place throughout the year and the guidance of the Holy Spirit can certainly be seen through the dedicated work of our agencies, bishops commissions, councils and at the Secretariat.

Pope Francis asked us to be missionary disciples. In our work at the Bishops Conference we are called to take part in this new missionary ‘going forth’. Reflecting on the work carried out by the Conference and its staff over the past year, I think of the joy that Pope Francis refers to and which I have seen. Amid busy times with pressing obligations, the Conference and staff have worked with hearts full of faith. Continue reading →

Bishop Comensoli

The Most Reverend Peter A Comensoli became the third Bishop of Broken Bay during a Solemn Mass of Installation at Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral, Waitara on 12 December 2014.

“On this feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, for who I have had a special devotion, I entrust my ministry and our diocese to the loving protection of St Mary, Star of the Sea, our sure light leading us to Christ,” Bishop Comensoli said.

“What exciting times lie before us as we together proclaim Christ crucified to the people of the Central Coast, the northern Peninsula and the North Shore,” he added.

Dean of the Cathedral, the Very Reverend Robert Borg and the Cathedral Clergy welcomed Bishop Comensoli. Indigenous Elder Uncle Neil Evers said the Welcome to Country and Director of Music, Noel Debien, led the Cathedral choir. Continue reading →

Luke Mowbray teaches his nephew Noah to use an iPad

The Catholic Church in Australia is celebrating International Day of People with Disability this week with a focus on the promise of technology for people with disability.

The 2014 theme is Sustainable Development: The Promise of Technology. It focuses on the role of technology as a way to break down barriers for people with disability, particularly as devices are becoming faster, cheaper and more accessible.

Member of the Australian Catholic Bishops Commission for Pastoral Life and Bishops’ Delegate for Disability Issues, Bishop Terry Brady said, “It is appropriate that we observe and celebrate the International Day of People with Disability as we prepare during the Advent season for the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ.”

“Rapidly developing technology has changed the way people with disability can communicate and access catechesis, entertainment, faith formation, work, and information in general,” Bishop Brady added. Continue reading →