Reduce the funding gap for Catholic Schools

Media Release, 2 February, 2012

The school funding data in this week’s ROGS Report (Productivity Commission, Report on Government Services 2012, pages 4.33 and 4.34) provides a very interesting statistic.

• Government funding for government schools has increased each year in the period 2005-06 to 2009-10 by an average of 2.7%.

• Government funding for non-government schools has increased over the same period by an annual average of just 0.7%.

NCEC calls on the Commonwealth Government to reduce the operating resources gap in Catholic schools. Continue reading →

Bishop Les Tomlinson appointed Bishop of Sandhurst

Media Release, 3 February, Archdiocese of Melbourne

Photo from the Bendigo Advertiser

Pope Benedict XVI announced in Rome today the appointment of Bishop Les Tomlinson D.D., as Bishop of Sandhurst. Bishop Tomlinson is presently the Vicar General for the Archdiocese of Melbourne. He will take up his position as Bishop of Sandhurst on 1 March 2012.

The Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst includes central Victoria and the Goulburn Valley and north-eastern Victoria to the Murray River in the north.
Bishop Tomlinson said he was humbled by the confidence that the Pope has shown in him and that he was delighted to accept the appointment. Bishop Tomlinson was born and raised in Mildura and is no stranger to country life. Continue reading →

Communicating the Word: Australian Catholic Media Congress 2012, 30 April – 2 May

Maria Jose Centurion at Congresso della Stampa Cattolica, Roma, 2010

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN FOR THE AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC MEDIA CONGRESS 2012 AT WWW.COMMUNICATINGTHEWORDACMC2012.COM

Dear friends,

It is my great pleasure to invite you to the Australian Catholic Media Congress 2012. The congress is run by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference through the Australian Catholic Media Council and aims to bring together Catholic media, Christian media, secular media, people working within Church agencies, and anyone with an interest in how we communicate the Gospel message in our society today.

The ACMC will be held from Monday April 30 to Wednesday May 2 at the Menzies Hotel, Sydney with the theme Communicating the Word: Timeless messages, new media.

The Congress aims to look at the phenomenon of Social Media and how the Church can use everything from Facebook, to Twitter to more traditional means to spread the message of Christ in our world.

Already, we have booked a tremendously exciting international guest Monsignor Paul Tighe from the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, and we are planning to have great line-up of Australian guests also including former Young Australian of the Year and filmmaker Khoa Do; Social commentator Melinda Tankard Reist; and musical contributions by Fr Rob Galea and Simon Hyland.

Please enter the site here and browse the program, and register early! This Congress promises to be the Catholic Media event of the year and I warmly invite you to consider attending.

With every blessing in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Bishop Peter Ingham

Silence and Word: Path of Evangelization

This is the Official message from the Pontifical Council for Social Communications
for the Occasion of the 46th World Day of Communications, May 20, 2012

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
As we draw near to World Communications Day 2012, I would like to share with you some reflections concerning an aspect of the human process of communication which, despite its importance, is often overlooked and which, at the present time, it would seem especially necessary to recall. It concerns the relationship between silence and word: two aspects of communication which need to be kept in balance, to alternate and to be integrated with one another if authentic dialogue and deep closeness between people are to be achieved. Continue reading →

Bishops’ Australia Day call for time limit on detention

Media Release
24 January, 2012

To mark Australia Day, the Catholic Bishops Commission for Justice, Ecology and Development calls upon political parties to work towards a common approach to asylum seekers, so that human beings do not become pawns in a political argument. Further, and more immediately, to honour the Australian sense of justice and compassion, there must be a defined limit to incarceration in detention centres for people who are not criminals. The Bishops are calling on the Government to limit detention to three months.

Four of the Bishops who signed this statement minister directly to asylum seekers in immigration detention centres located in their dioceses. Bishop Julian Porteous, Auxiliary Bishop in Sydney, supported the opinions of the other Bishops who have direct involvement in the pastoral care of asylum seekers in detention. “Prolonged and indefinite detention in these facilities can only produce psychological damage”, he said. Continue reading →

Catholic schools: making good use of government and family funds

Media Release
10 January, 2012

The National Catholic Education Commission commented today on reports in the Australian Newspaper and on the ABC regarding government funding for Catholic schools, suggesting that there has been a misrepresentation in the media of how much funding schools receive per student.

Mrs Therese Temby, Chair of the National Catholic Education Commission, said that the reporting is quite misleading, as it suggests that Catholic schools receive a higher level of funding than Government schools. Continue reading →

Oranges and Sunshine is named Australian Film of the Year by the Catholic Film Office for 2011.

Noting the quality of many of the Australian films produced this year, the jury of the Australian Catholic Film Office (ACFO) has awarded its 2011 Film of the Year to Jim Loach’s Oranges and Sunshine.

This film tells the story of a Nottingham social worker, Margaret Humphreys (Emily Watson), who almost singlehandedly confronted the UK Government on its relocation scheme that forcibly moved more than 130,000 children from the UK to other countries between the 1940s and the 1970s. More than 7,000 so-called “degenerate” and “unfit” children, who were in the protection of the UK social services, were shipped to Australia.
Continue reading →

One year on, much-loved Bishop’s legacy still being felt

Media Release
28 December, 2011

Exactly one year after the sudden death of Sandhurst Catholic Bishop Joseph Angelo Grech, the legacy of the much-loved pastor is still being felt by the Catholic community around Australia.

On 28 December, 2010, Bishop Joe passed away at St Vincent’s Private Hospital Melbourne at the age of 62, after complications arose from an existing blood disorder.

The Bishop had just a couple of weeks earlier spoken out on the tragedy of a boat of asylum seekers who had drowned just short of safety on Christmas Island, calling upon all people of good will to reflect deeply on the nation’s treatment of vulnerable people.

Director of the Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office Fr Maurizio Pettenà CS was with Bishop Joe in the days leading up to his death and attested to the concern that he showed for asylum seekers and refugees to the very end.

“Even in his final lucid moments he was speaking about how we need to do more for migrant chaplains, particularly for overseas priests, those who live in remote places and are isolated”, he said.

Bishop Joe was particularly loved by young people around Australia and remembered for his way of making each individual feel and know that they were loved by God.

He was well-known for using the phrase “God does not make rubbish” often, particularly when preaching to young people.

His funeral on 6 January, 2011 attracted over 4,000 people to Bendigo’s Sacred Heart Cathedral.

For media enquiries please contact Beth Doherty on 0407 081 256. A number of high res photos of Bishop Joe are available by getting in contact.

Catholic Migrant office calls for reflection on asylum policy during the Christmas season.

Media Release,
23 December 2011
The Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office today urged both political parties to show moral leadership over the Christmas period with regard to policy debates on asylum seekers and refugees.
Director of the ACMRO Fr Maurizio Pettenà CS expressed the view that people seeking asylum need to be processed in countries who are signatories to the UN Refugee Convention and who can assure them of the opportunity to rebuild their lives in dignity.
“Richer countries like Australia have a moral duty to do more to help the world’s refugees who are mostly hosted by poorer nations” he said.
“Christmas reminds us that it is in giving that we receive. This applies even more so to how much we give to those who seek asylum. Increasing the humanitarian program is an appropriate outcome that both political parties can agree on.” Continue reading →

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