Communicating the Word 2012 – Virginia Ryan

Virginia Ryan has been an educator for over 30 years. She was the Adult Faith Education and Pastoral Formation Coordinator at The Broken Bay Institute where she was the national co-ordinator for the ACBC eConferences on Paul, Luke, Mary and Jesus the Christ. For three years Virginia edited and wrote for a monthly e-newsletter each month, Mission and Spirituality News which has an audience of about 17,000 subscribers nationally. Virginia is currently a member of the Broken Bay Diocese Catholic School Office Mission Team where she designs and delivers faith formation opportunities for school leadership teams, whole school staff and parents.

Stronger futures or stolen futures – Bishops and Religious question legislation

Media Release, 5 May, 2012

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) and Catholic Religious Australia (CRA) call upon all Federal Senators not to pass the legislation of the ‘Stronger Futures Northern Territory 2011 Bill’.

In their meeting today in North Sydney, Archbishop Philip Wilson and Sr Anne Derwin RSJ on behalf of the ACBC and CRA released the following statement:

“We join with the many Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander peoples and other Australians who have already urged the government to consult Aboriginal people and their Elders in planning actions and developing policies that will affect their lives for many years.”

Continue reading

Archbishop Denis Hart elected President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference


Media Release
4 May, 2012

Archbishop Denis Hart, Metropolitan Archbishop of Melbourne has been elected as the President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference at the Australian Bishops Plenary today in Sydney.

Archbishop Hart will take over after this meeting from Archbishop Philip Wilson who has held the post for the past six years. Continue reading

Communicating the Word 2012 – Monsignor Paul Tighe

Monsignor Paul Tighe one of the Vatican’s most senior media advisors, is Secretary to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. Irish-born, Monsignor Tighe worked as the Director of Communications in the Archdiocese of Dublin prior to this Vatican role, where he focusses on developing new media strategies and also with liaising between the Vatican and the international media. His work for the Council is right on the cutting edge of the social media revolution which is changing the way the world — and the Church — communicates. ‘Communication of the Gospel must be at heart of the ministry of a priest and I am pleased to be asked to work in the Council that has a mandate to harness the potential of the media – new and old – as a means of evangelisation,’ Monsignor Paul says. ‘I am equally pleased to be speaking on this vital area in the mission of the Church at the ACMC in Sydney”

Communicating the Word 2012 – Emma Rossi

Emma Rossi is a Media Executive at the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) She has previously worked as a Reporter/Newsreader at Seven Network Limited and at the Nine Network as a Reporter/Newsreader. She was chair of the Board of Directors for the Sisters of St Joseph Peruvian Project for four years.

Communicating the Word 2012 – Bishop David Walker

Bishop David Walker has been chief pastor to the people of the Diocese of Broken Bay for the past 15 years. His deep love and interest in spirituality forms the backbone to his commitment to promote a truly Australian spirituality, and the fostering of theological and spiritual education. Bishop David’s ongoing support for furthering serious theological study and adult faith formation to the wider Catholic community has led to the development and founding of the Catholic Correspondence Centre, The Centre for Christian Spirituality and The Broken Bay Institute. He is a prominent speaker and has published extensively on faith renewal, spirituality, mysticism, formation of clergy and Church leadership. As a member of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Commission for Mission and Faith Formation, he has undertaken evangelisation of the Scriptures. His promotion of lectio divina through new media has taken the Word of God in to the hearts and homes of people throughout Australia and the world.

Communicating the Word 2012 – Julie Posetti

Julie Posetti is a journalist and journalism academic from Canberra, who has worked with the flagship ABC current affairs programs AM, PM and the World Today. In 1997, she was posted to the Canberra Press Gallery as a political correspondent for these programs. Her reporting focus has been on social justice issues including Aboriginal affairs and ethnic communities. While she still calls herself a journalist, she moved into academia in 2003 and now teaches radio and television journalism at the University of Canberra. She is currently working on a PhD on the Twitterisation of Journalism while continuing research into multicultural journalism, talk radio and public broadcasting.

Vatican official, social commentator and filmmaker among speakers at Catholic Media Congress

Media Release
April 16, 2012

Secretary to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications Monsignor Paul Tighe will lead an impressive line-up at the Australian Catholic Media Congress which will take place in Sydney from 30 April-2 May.

Former Young Australian of the Year and Filmmaker Khoa Do; and Social Commentator and Women’s Advocate Melinda Tankard Reist will also give keynote presentations during the Congress.

Also featured will be a keynote address at the Gala dinner on 1 May at the Amora Jamison hotel by Julie Flynn, CEO of FreeTV Australia.
Musical performances and accompaniment will be provided by Fr Rob Galea, whose hit song “God does not make rubbish” made number one on the Inspiration Top Ten in 2011.

The Congress entitled “Communicating the Word: Timeless Messages, New Media” will explore the impact of social media on the news landscape, and will offer professional development to Catholic, Christian and Secular media professionals.

The Media Congress will be held at the Menzies Hotel, Sydney from 1pm on 30 April and ending at Midday on 2 May.

Monsignor Paul Tighe will address the Congress on ways of harnessing the potential of social media to present an ethical message of hope and peace.

“Communication of the Gospel must be at heart of the ministry of a priest and I am pleased to be asked to work in the Council that has a mandate to harness the potential of the media – new and old – as a means of evangelisation”, Monsignor Paul said.

‘I am equally pleased to be speaking on this vital area in the mission of the Church at the ACMC in Sydney’.
Full time Registration for the Australian Catholic Media Congress is available for $725 for full time.

Registration for part-time or full-time registration is available at the following website: www.communicatingthewordACMC2012.com

For media enquiries or to organise your registration for the Australian Catholic Media Congress, please contact Beth Doherty on 0407 081 256, (02) 62019859 or media@catholic.org.au or visit www.communicatingthewordACMC2012.com for a full program.