An 1871 portrait of Pope Pius IX by George Peter Alexander Healy (1813-1894) (Wikimedia)

December 8 marked the 150th anniversary of the opening of the First Vatican Council. This is the final article in a series on the Council, its key moments and its legacy.

by Dr Josephine Laffin, Australian Catholic University

Full in the panting heart of Rome
Beneath the apostle’s crowning dome.
From pilgrim’s lips that kiss the ground,
Breathes in all tongues one only sound —
God bless our Pope, the great, the good!

Continue reading →

Bishop for Youth Columba Macbeth-Green OSPPE speaks with young Indigenous Catholics about faith, culture and life at the Australian Catholic Youth Festival

American speaker, evangelist and author Katie Prejean McGrady has told 5500 young Australian Catholics that they are made “not only for something great” in this world, but that they are ultimately made “to worship God for eternity”.

Mrs McGrady was addressing the evening plenary session on the second day of the 2019 Australian Catholic Youth Festival, which will conclude in Perth on Tuesday evening. Continue reading →

Archbishop of Perth Timothy Costelloe SDB welcomes pilgrims to the Australian Catholic Youth Festival (www.icebergmedia.com.au)

Thousands of young Australian Catholics have been challenged to “go out and rebuild” God’s Church on the opening day of the 2019 Australian Catholic Youth Festival.

The opening session of the Festival, which has drawn 5500 young people from across Australia, featured a Welcome to Country, high-tempo music, inspirational speakers and moments of prayer. Continue reading →

The First Vatican Council opened on December 8, 1869 — the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Wikimedia Commons)

December 8 marks the 150th anniversary of the opening of the First Vatican Council. This is the second is a series of articles on the Council, its key moments and its legacy.

by Dr Mariusz Biliniewicz, University of Notre Dame Australia

The First Vatican Council, the 20th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, took place between the Council of Trent (1545-63) and Vatican II (1962-65) – arguably the two most important councils of the Catholic Church in the second millennium. Continue reading →

The Chair of Peter in St Peter’s Basilica (Wikimedia)

December 8 marks the 150th anniversary of the opening of the First Vatican Council. This is the first is a series of articles on the Council, its key moments and its legacy.

by Bishop Peter J. Elliott

The First Vatican Council defined papal infallibility, a widely misunderstood teaching of the Church. The history of the Ecumenical Council that met in Rome between 1869 and 1870 reveals what the doctrine of papal infallibility really means. Continue reading →

The Bishop Delegate for Disability Issues has used his message for the International Day of People with Disability to call on Catholic communities across Australia to invite people with disability to take up leadership positions.

The theme for the 2019 celebration, held on December 3, is “Promoting the participation of persons with disabilities and their leadership”. Continue reading →

Launching the new book Still Listening to the Spirit, from left, Bishop Vincent Long, book editors Andrea Dean and Sandie Cornish, and Archbishop Christopher Prowse

Two decades since the publication of the document Woman and Man: One in Christ Jesus, the Australian bishops concede there is “unfinished business” in promoting women’s participation in the Church.

Published in 1999, Woman and Man: One in Christ Jesus arose from a collaboration between the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, the Australian Conference of Leaders of Religious Institutes (now Catholic Religious Australia) and the Australian Catholic University. Continue reading →

Broken Bay’s Ashleigh Green will represent young Australian Catholics on the Church’s new International Youth Advisory Body, which the Holy See has just established.

Miss Green, who was the Australian delegate at preparatory meetings for the Synod of Bishops on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment, said that experience was a transformative one for her as a Catholic. Continue reading →

Two inseparable eras have come to an end, with Annals Australasia publishing its final edition after 130 years in print and the death of its editor of several decades, Fr Paul Stenhouse MSC.

Earlier this year, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart announced that Annals Australasia – which has had several different names since it was first published in 1889 – would cease publication at the end of 2019. The final edition was mailed to subscribers in November. Continue reading →

The organisers of next year’s National Biennial Liturgy Conference say the gathering will examine how the Church’s evolving liturgical practices can help make Christ present in the world.

The meeting, which will be held in Parramatta in March, has been held regularly since the mid-1990s. It provides liturgical education and training and opportunities to participate in various forms of liturgical prayer. Continue reading →