Archbishop Rino Fisichella presenting at PROCLAIM 2012

Media Release, 11 August 2012

The first ever national conference for Catholics, focusing specifically on the “new evangelisation”, has been hailed as a “Spirit-filled success”.

Organisers predicted PROCLAIM 2012 – which wrapped up in Chatswood, on Sydney’s north today (Saturday, August 11) – would come to be recognised as a “watershed” moment in the life of the Australian Catholic Church.

Director for the National Office for Evangelisation, Marita Winters said feedback, both formal and anecdotal, proved that the event had “ticked a lot of boxes”.

“It attracted those who were interested in learning more about their faith and how to share it with others, and we covered topics as diverse as engaging with people with disabilities, attracting young people back to the church and equipping people in parishes to more effectively outreach to those disconnected from the institutional church.”

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Fr Chris Ryan MGL will preach at the Youth Rally during PROCLAIM 2012

Parishes, youth leaders, Church employees, priests, religious, volunteers, and musicians are all among those who have signed on for what promises to be one of the signature events of the Year of Grace, the PROCLAIM 2012 Conference on the New Evangelisation.

PROCLAIM 2012, to be held from August 9-11 at the Concourse in Chatswood, Sydney is the first ever national conference on the New Evangelisation and is open to everyone who is interested in learning more about their faith and how to share it with others. It is being organised by the Office for Evangelisation and Catholic Mission on behalf of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC). Continue reading →

Australian pilgrims gather in Madrid, Photo courtesy of the Knights of the Southern Cross

In December 2013 the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference will host the first Australian Catholic Youth Festival. The Festival will be held in the Archdiocese of Melbourne from Thursday December 5^th to Saturday December 7^th and gather up to 4000 young Catholics from year 9 students to those 25 years of age.

The Festival will be the largest national gathering of Catholic young people since WYD 2008 and will be held 5 years after Pope Benedict XVI visited Australia for the Sydney WYD.

Bishop Anthony Fisher, the Bishops Delegate for Youth, said the concept of a national youth event has been discussed for many years: “The Bishops Commission for Pastoral Life and the Australian Catholic Youth Council has invested a good amount of time reflecting on the purpose and structure of a national youth event. It will be an exciting and vibrant gathering of young people full of music, talks, prayer and exhibitions. Continue reading →

All Catholics feel shame at the sexual abuse of children by clergy and others.

The loss of childhood innocence and the broken lives that flow from this evil have evoked broad community revulsion and a determination that such criminal abuse of the young has to be stopped.

Since the advent of Towards Healing in December 1996, the Australian Catholic Church has committed itself publicly to a more victim-centred response when evil of this nature became known. Continue reading →

Media Release
21 June 2012

The Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office (ACMRO) expresses great sadness of the loss of life of the asylum seekers who’s vessel capsised attempting to reach Australia.

“The decision to get on a boat in order to seek asylum is not made by someone who has any other choice” said Fr Maurizio Pettenà Director of ACMRO “No one wants to be an asylum seeker. No one wants to risk their life on open waters.”

“This news will likely attract a lot of attention towards people smugglers and political concerns around offshore processing, let’s not forget these tragedies are a reflection of a much greater issue”he said.

“There is a great and urgent need to tackle the phenomenon of asylum seekers at its source”said Fr Pettenà.

Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Sri Lanka all feature in the top 20 countries at risk of serious human rights violations and mass killings.

 “These people are desperate. We cannot expect asylum seekers will always behave rationally” he said “they know the boat journey is dangerous and they know they’re likely to end up in detention, but in their situation, it is often seen as a necessary step in order to secure their long-term future”

ACMRO urge the government to explore alternative measures which would allow a number of these people who are most at risk to depart in an orderly fashion directly from countries of conflict and persecution and then be processed in Australia.

“Australia should explore suitable arrangements with countries like Afghanistan, Iran and Sri Lanka to allow people through an orderly process to escape at the source and take away the need for many to put themselves at the mercy of smugglers and dangerous boat journeys” said Fr Pettenà “ currently these people have no alternatives”.

We are greatly encouraged by Minister Bowen’s call to increase Australia’s humanitarian intake. “Quite simply, the demand for refugee visas far outstrips supply” said Fr Pettenà “Increasing the number of available places is by far our best solution to the asylum seeker phenomenon”

For media enquiries or to arrange an interview with Fr Maurizio Pettenà please contact Joe Moloney on (02) 6201 9848.

Media Release 15 June, 2012

This evening 15 June, 2012, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI officially erected the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross under the patronage of St Augustine of Canterbury.
Ordinariates have thus far been erected in England and the United States and are the response of Pope Benedict to Anglicans who have been petitioning the Holy See to enter into full corporate unity with the Catholic Church while retaining essential elements of their heritage.

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Media Release, 15 June, 2012

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC) and the Bishops Commission for Relations with Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (BCRATSI) of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) today take the opportunity to remind senators of some issues surrounding the Stronger Futures legislation that will come before the Senate on Monday.

Chair of NATSICC Thelma Parker said that there are a number of problems with the legislation and hopes that the Senate will look closely at the problems.

“The blanket approach endorsed in the Stronger Futures legislation is simply inappropriate.  Changes introduced in recent years have resulted in stable conscientious Aboriginal people being exposed to the embarrassment of using a basic card for their essential items, whilst others in order to obtain cash have sold at a discount the credit on their basics card.  This highlights inequities in the system and the problematic nature of the ‘card system’,” said Ms. Parker. Continue reading →