Adelaide priest Fr Charles Gauci named Bishop of Darwin

Darwin Bishop-elect Charles Gauci

Pope Francis has this evening appointed Fr Charles Gauci, currently administrator of St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral in Adelaide, the seventh Bishop of Darwin.

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Archbishop Mark Coleridge welcomed the appointment of a man who is known for his deep spirituality and real commitment to evangelisation. Continue reading

Women, including Mary, focus for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday ACBC and National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council

The role of women in families and communities and in the Catholic Church is the focus of this year’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday, to be celebrated on July 1.

The theme for this year’s celebration is “Because of her, we can” – which is shared with the theme for NAIDOC week, to be held from July 8-15. Continue reading

Bishops congratulate, welcome new Catholic Religious Australia president

Sr Monica Cavanagh RSJ

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Archbishop Mark Coleridge has congratulated Sr Monica Cavanagh RSJ on her election yesterday as president of Catholic Religious Australia at the group’s National Assembly.

Sr Monica, currently congregational leader of the Sisters of St Joseph, was elected along with a number of other religious women and men to the Catholic Religious Australia Council. Continue reading

Townsville locals see great potential in Plenary Council by Neil Helmore, Diocese of Townsville

Lana Turvey-Collins explains the Plenary Council 2020 process to Townsville locals.

The northern Australia tour continued for Plenary Council facilitator Lana Turvey-Collins recently when delivered five sessions over three days in the Townsville Diocese, presenting to more than 130 people.

Geoff Gowdie, Church life and mission services director for the Diocese, saw the opportunity to gather as many people as possible together from a wide range of ministries to gain an understanding of how the Plenary Council will work. Those people can then serve as leaders in their specific ministry or parish.

Continue reading

Spirit of welcome imbues 2018 Sea Sunday celebration Apostleship of the Sea

Roslyn Rajasingam, national director of the Apostleship of the Sea

Dozens of Catholic chaplains and managers who work in Australian ports – and the tens of thousands of people who support their work financially – are being reminded of the scriptural imperative to “always welcome a stranger” in the lead-up to Sea Sunday next month.

On July 8, the Catholic Church will celebrate the work of those men and women who work on the seas and those Catholics across the country who minister to seafarers by providing spiritual, social and material support. Continue reading

PROCLAIM sells out weeks ahead of conference National Centre for Evangelisation

The organisers of the 2018 PROCLAIM Conference have posted the “Sold Out” sign for this year’s event, with more than 600 people to come together in Brisbane for the biennial gathering.

Being held in Queensland for the first time, this fourth PROCLAIM conference is organised and hosted by the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane, in partnership with the National Centre for Evangelisation – an agency of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. Continue reading

Educator joins Bishops Conference in executive secretary role

Louise Zavone, who has spent the past three decades teaching in Catholic schools and in leadership roles within Catholic education, has joined the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference to serve as an executive secretary to a number of bishops commissions.

Mrs Zavone, who most recently worked as a religious education officer for Sydney Catholic Schools (formerly the Sydney Catholic Education Office), will support the work of the Bishops Commission for Doctrine and Morals, the Bishops Commission for Ecumenism and Inter-religious Relations, and the Bishops Commission for Family, Youth and Life. Continue reading

Dozens gather in Cairns for Plenary Council conversation Plenary Council 2020

More than 70 people from across Far North Queensland came together in Cairns last week in the latest of regular diocesan gatherings that are helping local communities commence the three-year Plenary Council process.

Plenary Council facilitator Lana Turvey-Collins, who has attended many such gatherings across the country, introduced the Cairns locals to the listening and dialogue process that will help groups — large and small — participate in the preparation phase of the Plenary Council. People’s dialogue sessions, which can inform submissions to the Plenary Council, will help shape the agenda for the Council sessions in 2020 and 2021. Continue reading

Pope Francis sends blessings as Plenary Council process begins Plenary Council 2020

Pope Francis has sent his support and blessings to the Catholic Church in Australia as it commences a three-year process to consider its future through the Plenary Council 2020.

The Church in Australia, on the feast of Pentecost, yesterday marked the official launch of the Plenary Council, which will culminate in gatherings in 2020 and 2021 to consider the Church’s governance, laws and practice. Continue reading

Adelaide will host opening Plenary Council session in 2020 Plenary Council 2020

The first of two historic national gatherings to consider the future of the Catholic Church in Australia will be held in Adelaide in October 2020, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has announced.

The celebration of the first session of the Plenary Council in 2020 will bring hundreds of Catholic leaders to Adelaide to discuss how the Catholic Church in Australia can continue its mission in a society that is changing and evolving. Continue reading