Parish attendees

In 2012, the Pastoral Research Office of the Catholic Church in Australia began to send out an eNews which would give Australians an opportunity to understand better some of the findings from the census.

This eNewsletter can be subscribed to via the website www.pro.catholic.org.au, however, we have also provided as part of the mediablog some samples. Continue reading →

Opening liturgy

The Triennial National Conference for Pastors and Pastoral Associates is currently being held in Adelaide February 5- 7, 2013 at the Hilton Hotel, Victoria Square, Adelaide.

Donella Johnston of the Office for the Participation of Women is attending the conference and has shared the following photos of the proceedings.

The theme for the Conference, “An Echo in their Hearts”, and is taken from the Preface of the Vatican II Document Gaudium et Spes. 2012. This Conference aims to revisit several of the key themes from the documents. Continue reading →

Fr Brian Lucas, photo by Beth Doherty

This article was published in the Canberra Times on 24 January, 2013

By Fr Brian Lucas

Freedom of religion is a fundamental human right. Its existence and importance is acknowledged in the constitution and in international covenants to which Australia is a signatory. It is a freedom that cannot be ignored but it is a freedom questioned by many who want churches to abandon their beliefs in the public square.

Governments are obliged to ensure that freedom of religion and the freedom to manifest religious beliefs in public are recognised and protected in law. It applies equally to participation in religious observance and to the delivery of services by religious people and agencies, for both religious organisations and their members. Many people who have a religious belief exercise their religious freedom to promote the common good.

On Thursday a Senate committee will hold hearings on a draft Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill that includes protections for religious freedom.

There are more than 1300 Catholic parishes in Australia, where more than 600,000 parishioners worship every Sunday and work with their fellow parishioners to provide services to the local community.

The St Vincent de Paul Society, for example, works through parishes and has 40,000 members and volunteers helping people in need across Australia.

In the schools sector, there are more than 700,000 students being taught at more than 1700 Catholic schools by more than 55,000 teachers. In healthcare, Catholic agencies provide more than 9000 hospital beds and more than 19,000 residential aged care beds.

Catholic social services are the largest welfare provider outside of government, with more than 60 member organisations employing more than 10,000 staff and 4000 volunteers providing a huge range of services.

The value of the work carried out by Catholic people and agencies is not just in the numbers of people helped, but that they are helped in the spirit of Christian love.

The draft laws propose religious freedom be exercised as exceptions to the anti-discrimination laws. Drafting legislation that way fails to recognise that religious freedom is not a special permission to discriminate granted by government but a fundamental human right that government is obliged to protect.

To make this clear and to remove the potential for misunderstanding, the legislation should replace that language with words that recognise religious freedom as one of a number of important competing rights that must be balanced against each other.

As human beings endowed with religious freedom, people have the right to contribute to society and serve humanity in accordance with those beliefs.

We need a system that encourages all Australians to participate in the public life of the nation, not one that would reject some because they have a religious belief.

Parents choose Catholic schools for their children because they expect this education will be provided by teachers in a manner consistent with the doctrines, beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church. If a teacher in a church school publicly argues against church teachings or lives in such a way to challenge those teachings, the school should have the freedom to refuse to employ that person.

The bill also deals with freedom of speech and a number of commentators have criticised those sections that relate to offending people. This idea that one person can be responsible for how another person reacts is fundamentally flawed.

The law prohibits certain behaviour in the interests of good order in society, and rightly so. It can only require people to do or refrain from actions for which they are responsible. That is why we sometimes excuse people if for some reason, such as mental illness, they cannot be held responsible. No one can be responsible for how another person reacts and whether they may be offended by something said or done. The test must be an objective one.

A better approach is to ask whether this action or these words are such that a reasonable person would say they are calculated to incite hatred or violence against another.

The Catholic Church does not impose its beliefs on anyone and no one is obliged to work for a church agency. The expectation that those working in a Catholic agency will support its mission applies to everyone without discrimination.

The Reverend Brian Lucas is the general secretary of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. He will be giving evidence on Thursday to the Senate committee hearing on the Exposure Draft of Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill 2012.

Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/opinion/religious-freedom-should-be-protected-20130123-2d76t.html#ixzz2IwcWk2Zz

Pontifical Council for Social Communications 47th World Communications Day
“Social Networks: portals of truth and faith; new spaces for evangelization.” 12 May 2013

Message of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI

New “Pope” app for iPhone

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

As the 2013 World Communications Day draws near, I would like to offer you some reflections on an increasingly important reality regarding the way in which people today communicate among themselves.  I wish to consider the development of digital social networks which are helping to create a new “agora”, an open public square in which people share ideas, information and opinions, and in which new relationships and forms of community can come into being.

These spaces, when engaged in a wise and balanced way, help to foster forms of dialogue and debate which, if conducted respectfully and with concern for privacy, responsibility and truthfulness, can reinforce the bonds of unity between individuals and effectively promote the harmony of the human family.  The exchange of information can become true communication, links ripen into friendships, and connections facilitate communion.  If the networks are called to realize this great potential, the people involved in them must make an effort to be authentic since, in these spaces, it is not only ideas and information that are shared, but ultimately our very selves.

The development of social networks calls for commitment: people are engaged in building relationships and making friends, in looking for answers to their questions and being entertained, but also in finding intellectual stimulation and sharing knowledge and know-how.  The networks are increasingly becoming part of the very fabric of society, inasmuch as they bring people together on the basis of these fundamental needs.  Social networks are thus nourished by aspirations rooted in the human heart. Continue reading →

OPW Parish Kit

To assist parishes to celebrate International Women’s Day in 2013, the Office for the Participation of Women and the Council for Australian Catholic Women have developed the following kit which can be downloaded here.OPW Parish Resource 2013

As part of the introduction to the kit, chair of the CACW Natalie Lindner L’Huillier writes the following:

For over a hundred years International Women’s Day has called our attention to the remarkable political, social and economic accomplishments of women, and encouraged us to work with all people of good will so that the dignity of women may be more fully realised. Continue reading →

Media Release, 18 December, 2012

In late 2012 the Bishops Commission for Catholic Education (BCCE) set up a panel to review the terms of reference and the statutes of the National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC).

During the first six months of 2012, the Review Panel (Dr Peter Tannock (Chair), Sr Beth Calthorpe RSM, Ms Loretta Richardson and Mr David Hutton) received eighteen written submissions and interviewed over twenty different groups and individuals from every state and territory. Their report was sent to BCCE in early July 2012. Continue reading →