The new chief shepherd of the Syro-Malabar Eparchy in Australia, New Zealand and Oceania says his first priority is to meet with and listen to the faithful, before working together to formulate a pastoral plan for the region.
Bishop John Panamthottathil CMI was ordained the second leader of the Syro-Malabar Eparchy of St Thomas the Apostle in Melbourne last week. He was reflective when asked about the ministry that lay ahead of him.
The Australian bishops have welcomed the minimum wage increase, even though they asked for a larger increase
The Australian Catholic Council for Employment Relations has welcomed the largest increase in the minimum wage in three decades, even though the increase fell below the Council’s submission of 7.2 per cent.
However, the increase for C13 award rates is equivalent to an 8.6 per cent increase.
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has launched its Laudato Si’ Action Plan on World Environment Day, outlining practical responses to Pope Francis’ landmark 2015 encyclical letter.
When it published the 2021-22 Social Justice Statement Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor, the Bishops Conference committed to developing its own plan – believed to be the first episcopal conference in the world to make that pledge.
Bishop John Panamthottathil blesses the congregation during Wednesday evening’s ordination (Photo: Syro-Malabar Eparchy Media)
Hundreds of people gathered on Wednesday evening to celebrate the ordination of Bishop John Panamthottathil CMI as the second shepherd of the Syro-Malabar Eparchy of St Thomas the Apostle in Melbourne.
Bishops from India, Europe and the United States, as well as 20 members of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, were among those who attended the ordination and installation ceremony.
A joint statement from Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, President, Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Father Peter Jones OSA, President, Catholic Religious Australia.
Following today’s announcement that Catholic Church Insurance is voluntarily being placed in a run-off situation, we restate our commitment to responding with justice and compassion to victims and survivors of abuse in Catholic settings – as we have sought to do for many years.
Catholic communities across the country are being invited to consider how the outcomes of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia can be integrated into local contexts with the help of a new study guide.
Dozens of decisions were made during the second assembly of the Plenary Council last year, contained in 10 decrees. While those decrees are awaiting recognitio from the Dicastery for Bishops before they can be promulgated, some initial reflection and planning can be carried out for their implementation.
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has appointed Fr Chris de Souza, currently serving as one of two vicars general in the Diocese of Parramatta, as its new general secretary.
Born in Sri Lanka, Fr de Souza moved to Sydney at a young age. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1983 for the Archdiocese of Sydney, and has ministered in the Diocese of Parramatta since it was erected in 1986.
Bishop Ken Howell, left, will replace Bishop Bob McGuckin as the Bishop of Toowoomba (Photo: The Catholic Leader)
Pope Francis has this evening appointed Bishop Ken Howell, who has served as Auxiliary Bishop of Brisbane since 2017, the seventh Bishop of Toowoomba.
Bishop Howell will succeed Bishop Robert McGuckin, who has led the Diocese of Toowoomba since 2012, whose resignation Pope Francis has accepted.
World Youth Day coordinators gathered in Sydney recently as preparations ramp up for the August gathering in Lisbon, Portugal
More than 3000 Australian pilgrims will travel to Portugal for World Youth Day 2023, making it one of the largest Australian contingents to attend the gathering in its history.
A group of 25 World Youth Day pilgrimage coordinators gathered in Sydney – or joined the meeting online – earlier this month for the final preparation day before the August 1-6 celebrations.
As a vote on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament nears, Australia’s bishops have encouraged Catholics to read and discuss the Uluru Statement from the Heart – the document from which the Voice proposal emerged.
During their plenary meeting in Sydney this week, the bishops considered how they might assist Catholics in preparing for the referendum to enshrine the Voice to Parliament in the Constitution, with a vote due in the second half of 2023.