International Day of People with Disability – Removing barriers to create inclusive society

Banner – International Day

Media Release, November 26, 2012

The International Day of People with Disability is celebrated on 3 December each year, with this year’s theme of, “Removing barriers to create an inclusive and accessible society for all.”

Bishop Terence Brady, the Australian Bishops’ Delegate for Disability Issues, said that there is much evidence of the types of barriers that are faced by people with disability, and that Church communities can find ways to address these.

“Barriers can take a variety of forms, including those relating to the physical environment or to information and communications technology (ICT), or those resulting from legislation or policy, or from societal attitudes or discrimination.” Continue reading →

Royal commission will be healing for Church

By Bishop Bill Wright

This blog was published in CathBlog on 21 November, 2012

It is a week since Prime Minister Gillard announced the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse, and some people have seen it as the worst week the Catholic Church in Australia has ever had.

So much of the talk has been about the Church’s slow and inadequate response to allegations of abuse over a long period. In all honesty, though, I’ve been feeling quite positive and relieved ever since the announcement.

Here is the occasion when the nation as a whole can come to grips with one of its greatest issues. It is the beginning of a most important, purifying process. Continue reading →

Royal commission

The Catholic Church welcomes the royal commission into child sex abuse. Picture: Bill Hearne Source: The Daily Telegraph

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
18 November 2012

The following is the text of Cardinal George Pell’s Sunday Telegraph Column.

Last Monday the Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced a Royal Commission on the sexual abuse of children in institutions across Australia.

Naturally the victims were delighted that their struggle for justice was heard.  Many have high expectations and every decent person should work to see that all possible progress is made.

Along with the Australian Catholic bishops I welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement. The Royal Commission will provide an opportunity to clear the air.

Unfortunately the Catholic Church has been unable to reassure everyone that it is serious about dealing with sexual abuse and responding appropriately.  This is despite the fact that in 1997 the NSW Wood Royal Commission found the Catholic response “a model for other Churches and religious organizations to follow”. Continue reading →

National Catholic Education Commission Meeting – report

Hand up in the classroom

The one hundred and ninety-seventh NCEC meeting was held on Thursday 15 November 2012 at the Catholic Education Office, Melbourne.

This was the final meeting of this particular Commission (its four-year term of office runs from January 2009 to December 2012), and the Chair, Mrs Therese Temby, thanked Commissioners for their important work on behalf of Catholic education over what had been a very busy period.

Logo for NCEC

The Chair of the Bishops Commission for Catholic Education (BCCE), the Most Rev Greg O’Kelly SJ, also thanked Commissioners for their important contribution to the national Catholic education debate. On behalf of BCCE, Bishop O’Kelly also thanked Mrs Temby for her invaluable work as Chair of NCEC. Continue reading →

Statement on Royal Commission: Australian Catholic Bishops’ Response

Bible and candle

The President and Permanent Committee of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, on behalf of the Australian Bishops, support the announcement by the Prime Minister of a Royal Commission into child sex abuse in our community.  This is a serious issue not just for the Catholic Church but for the whole community. As Catholic bishops and as individuals we share the feelings of horror and outrage which all decent people feel when they read the reports of sexual abuse and allegations of cover ups.

Over the past 20 years, there have been major developments in the way the Church responds to victims, deals with perpetrators and puts in place preventive measures. In addition, there is a much greater general awareness of the issue of paedophilia in the broader community.

Sexual abuse of children is not confined to the Catholic Church. Tragically, it occurs in families, churches, community groups, schools and other organisations.  We believe a Royal Commission will enable an examination of the issues associated with child abuse nationally, and identify measures for better preventing and responding to child abuse in our society. Continue reading →

Pure Gift resource from Catholic Earthcare – a legacy of hope

Image of PureGift Resource

Pure Gift promotional video clip

‘Pure Gift’ is Catholic Earthcare Australia’s new resource for adults and senior secondary students. The core of this resource package is an animation of a legacy letter written by Luke Edwards to his three young sons. Luke Edwards has developed a range of prayerful exercises and contemplative reflections based on themes contained within the animated clip.

The ‘Pure Gift’ resource has a flexible design and offers a selection of options for the user within each theme.

The ‘Pure Gift’ resource package is a growing series.   As additional resources are developed, these will be added to the resource package.Material is intended to assist the user in the growth and understanding of their emerging ecological consciousness. It is hoped that these exercises might provide moments of insight and transformation to stimulate and sustain the movement for ecological conversion at a personal and communal level.

To find out more about this resource, follow the link:

http://www.catholicearthcare.org.au/PureGiftPreview.html

Excision policy: a disturbing proposition for the international protection of asylum seekers

Excision policy - ABC online

Media Release, 2 November

The Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office are gravely concerned with the proposal to excise the whole Australian territory for asylum seekers who arrive by boat. The excision policy places boat arrivals in a precarious legal position and denies them the legal right to ask Australia for protection due to their mode of arrival.

“We appreciate the considerable challenge that the Australian Government faces to ensure asylum seekers do not lose their life reaching Australia. Unfortunately, we do not decide who comes to Australia or the manner in which they arrive” said Fr Maurizio Pettena, Director of ACMRO.

“Australia has an exceptionally high level of regulation across our borders. Nonetheless, there will be times when people seeking asylum by boat will challenge this and our level of compassion” he said. “We should not give in to these challenges by disregarding our respect for human rights and the Refugee Convention.” Continue reading →

Bishop Pat Power’s historic moment of grace

Bishop Pat Power at St Peter's Square

By Bishop Pat Power

This article was first published on CathBlog, a daily service of CathNews.

Planning a two week holiday in Italy, I had overlooked the fact that October 11 would mark the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council.

So on that day I travelled by train from Spoleto in Umbria to Rome for the historic occasion which was marked by a Mass celebrated in St Peter’s Square by Pope  Benedict XVI with hundreds of bishops, many of whom were present in Rome for the Synod of Bishops. Continue reading →

Time to take one small step to address national poverty

Image courtesy of The Age

 

By John Ferguson, Executive Officer, Australian Catholic Social Justice Council

In March 2004, a Senate Committee issued its report on poverty and hardship. It was the most exhaustive investigation of the causes, effects and extent of poverty in Australia since Ronald Henderson’s Commission of Inquiry into Poverty, thirty years earlier.

The 2004 report, A hand up not a hand out: Renewing the fight against poverty, was wide ranging – addressing everything from poverty measures to wages and income support, from education and training to gambling addiction, from the circumstances of sole parents to the decline of rural communities.

This inquiry called for the establishment of a National Poverty Strategy and a commitment to action within 12 months of the report being tabled. It warned, ‘Australia will face a crisis of poverty and disadvantage in the coming years … [with] the implication that Australians are increasingly at risk of falling into poverty and indeed more so now than at any time in the post-war era.

The recommended Strategy did not eventuate and the lack of political consensus across parties saw the report and its recommendations shelved.

Continue reading →

We’re at our best when we follow Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes – Cardinal Timothy Dolan

By Devett O’Brien

“It’s time to stop the hand wringing” this was the main message from Cardinal Timothy Dolan when he sat down this morning with a group of around 10 english speaking journalists including myself to discuss his views on the Synod so far.

Cardinal Dolan is the Archbishop of New York and President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

He told us that the thing he is most surprised and “tantalized” by is the number of Bishops who acknowledge the power of secularism but are saying “it’s time we stopped wringing our hands over this.” Continue reading →