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.

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Catholic women are being invited to participate in a national consultation with two bishops later this month and to mark their diaries for a national gathering in September.

The national consultation, which will take place on March 27 via Zoom, invites women to articulate and celebrate their contribution to and vision for the mission of the Catholic Church in Australia.

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A years-long project to produce a book that contains the prayers the celebrant prays from the presider’s chair has been completed, with the new book now on sale in Australia.

Excerpts from the Roman Missal, known informally as the “Book of the Chair”, is significantly smaller and lighter than the Roman Missal.

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The working document for the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia provides a catalyst for the Church to renew the journey of prayer and discernment toward the first assembly in October, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB says.

The document, known as an instrumentum laboris, draws heavily on the voices heard during the Listening and Dialogue and Listening and Discernment phases of the Plenary Council, but also from other key sources. It is entitled Continuing the Journey.

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Seafarers with their care packages, distributed thanks to Stella Maris Australia

Thousands of people working on the seas have received care packages in recent weeks following the allocation of Stella Maris Australia funding to port chaplaincies across the country just before Christmas.

The International Christian Maritime Association also contributed funding to support the provision of key supplies like toiletries, snacks, clothing and stationery.

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The Diocese of Armidale will farewell its ninth bishop, Bishop Luc Matthys, on February 5 after the Belgian-born bishop passed away last week at the age of 85.

Bishop Matthys died on Australia Day after a short illness.

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A new protocol to be introduced next week provides a framework for Catholic entities across Australia to respond consistently to people raising concerns or allegations of child sexual abuse.

The National Response Protocol, which was adopted by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference at its November 2020 plenary meeting, is the product of two years of work and widespread consultation within and beyond the Church.

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Bishop Delegate for Social Justice Terry Brady

The Bishop Delegate for Social Justice has written to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, urging Australia to join the countries who have signed a treaty to ban nuclear weapons that comes into force today.

The majority of United Nations member states, including the Holy See, have signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Australia, however, has not yet become a signatory.

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From Catholic Communications, Archdiocese of Adelaide

Archbishop Philip Wilson, who served as Bishop of Wollongong and Archbishop of Adelaide during 45 years of priestly ministry, has died in Adelaide this afternoon at the age of 70.

Born in the Hunter region of New South Wales, a young Philip Wilson studied at St Columba’s College, Springwood and St Patrick’s College Manly before being ordained a priest of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.

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The presidents of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Catholic Religious Australia say their annual report to the National Office for Child Safety outlines comprehensive and sustained work across Church settings.

The provision of an annual report on progress in child protection and safeguarding was one of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The Bishops Conference and CRA adopted that recommendation. They have published the Church’s third such report today.

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