Bishop Bosco Puthur
Syro-Malabar communities in Australia are being encouraged to join Catholics in India by observing a day of fasting and prayer on Friday, May 7 as the country suffers a devastating COVID-19 surge.
Cardinal Oswald Gracias, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, asked bishops in the country to nominate May 7 as a day to invoke divine intervention to save the country from the spreading pandemic.
Australian Catholics are being encouraged to consider the challenges migrant workers face, in particular during a pandemic, as the Church marks the feast of St Joseph the Worker.
In his message for the feast, observed each year on May 1, Bishop Vincent Long van Nguyen OFM Conv reflected on the fact that St Joseph himself was forced to flee to another country.
A fundraising program launched today will help enable the ongoing broadcast of Catholic Mass on free-to-air television as it prepares to mark 50 years ministering to people who cannot attend a local church.
Mass for You at Home, which first aired on August 1, 1971, is broadcast on Channel 10 and WIN television on Sunday morning at 6am. It is also shown on Foxtel’s Aurora channel and can be viewed on the new www.massforyou.com.au website.
Australia’s Catholic parishes and dioceses are being invited to undertake the five-yearly National Count of Attendance next month, albeit with some changes to reflect the COVID-19 pandemic.
Held every five years since 2001, the project is a simple head count of all attenders at all parishes and other Mass centres across Australia over the four weekends of May. The count takes in Masses as well as Sunday assemblies in the absence of a priest.
Catholics in Australia are being encouraged to receive a COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available to them, with the relevant Bishops Commission saying it is morally permissible to accept any vaccine.
In a document published today, the Bishops Commission for Life, Family and Public Engagement acknowledges that there are ethical concerns about the way some of the vaccines have been developed or tested. That includes the use of cell lines derived from an abortion in the 1970s.
An example of the damage that Cyclone Seroja unleashed on buildings in Geraldton Diocese (photos supplied)
The people of the Diocese of Geraldton are remaining positive and supportive as they deal with the aftermath of Cyclone Seroja, which caused extensive damage to church buildings last week.
Geraldton Bishop Michael Morrissey said he was thankful the strongest part of the Category 3 cyclone missed the city of Geraldton by about 25 kilometres.
Cardinal Cassidy, in a 1998 file photo (Catholic News Service photo)
The Catholic Church – in Australia and globally – is mourning the death of Cardinal Edward Cassidy, who died earlier today in Newcastle at the age of 96.
After being ordained to the priesthood, Cardinal Cassidy served in parish ministry in Wagga Wagga Diocese before heading to Rome for ongoing study. Once he completed his additional training, he spent nearly 30 years serving as a Vatican diplomat in Asia, Europe, Latin America and Africa.
Almost 200 Catholic women from around the country gathered online on March 27 for a national consultation organised by the Bishops Commission for Evangelisation, Laity and Ministry.
Twenty-six Australian dioceses were represented at the event, with Archbishop Christopher Prowse, the chair of the Bishops Commission, and Bishop Michael Morrissey, the Bishop Delegate for Women, also taking part.
Participants in the 2021 Leadership for Mission program participated in their first module last week
Twelve young women from across Australia gathered last week for a four-day intensive session as part of the acclaimed Leadership for Mission program, a postgraduate course for women aged 25 to 35.
The latest cohort for the program, which is a joint initiative of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s National Centre for Evangelisation and Australian Catholic University, with the support of Catholic Mission, was set to commence last year but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chris Richardson and Bernard Salt were keynote speakers at the ACU/Bishops Conference event
Leaders of Catholic agencies and a number of external experts gathered online on Monday to consider the challenges of the pandemic for Australians and what the Catholic community can contribute to public policy ideas to bolster the country’s COVID-19 recovery.
The roundtable discussion, “A Catholic contribution to public policy on COVID”, was co-hosted by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and the Australian Catholic University’s public policy think tank, the PM Glynn Institute.