The Australian Catholic Bishops call for on-shore processing of asylum seekers who arrive in Australia.

“Australia has an exceptional community lead resettlement program. Over 200 Charities have recently expressed their passion and commitment to work with refugees and asylum seekers in community based detention” said Fr Maurizio, director of the Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office.

“Community based detention reaffirms the human dignity of the person seeking asylum and is in the best interests of the common good of all humanity” he said.

The Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office warn that off-shore processing will not solve the underlying problem. Continue reading →

Parishes around Australia are preparing to take part in the 2011 National Church Life Survey (NCLS) in November.

The NCLS, the largest survey of its type in the world, is a joint project of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Australian Catholic University, Anglicare (Diocese of Sydney) and the Uniting Church in NSW.
Conducted every five years across most of the major denominations in Australia, the survey results are an extremely useful tool that assists parish priests, pastoral council members and other leaders to understand their parishioners and strengthen the ministry and mission of the parish. Continue reading →