With Catholic parishes across the country set to be full to overflowing next week, the Christmas season is being seen as a great time to increase participation in Plenary Council 2020.
Over the first six months of the Council’s Listening and Dialogue phase, more than 30,000 people have made individual submissions or were part of a Plenary Council gathering. Continue reading
Fr Matthias Ogwo with members of the Rockhampton Catholic community
Priests in the Diocese of Rockhampton are sharing the joy of Christ’s birth, providing hope for communities devastated by prolonged drought and catastrophic bushfires.
Fr Matthias Ogwo, Fr Raj Kodavatikanti HGN and Fr Ronaldo Rodriguez have already begun celebrating Christmas Masses and will collectively clock up several thousand kilometres driving between isolated mining towns and farming communities. Continue reading
Fr Brian Mathews has a huge parish that takes in Uluru.
From isolated outback mining towns to Queensland’s surf beach holiday spots, Australia’s parish communities are listening to the Spirit and preparing for Christmas.
As the Inland Mission’s parish priest for the past four years, Fr Brian Mathews is looking forward to celebrating the last ever Christmas Mass in the local pub of the soon-to-be-closed mining town of Mintabie, more than 1100km northwest of Adelaide. Continue reading
The Plenary Council 2020 received more than 2000 submissions during November, matching the number of responses the landmark process had received in the previous five months combined.
According to the latest figures from the National Centre for Pastoral Research, more than 31,000 people have shared their stories and engaged with the Plenary Council since the Listening and Dialogue stage launched at Pentecost in late May. Continue reading
The results of a survey about the 2011 changes to the liturgy has again opened up debate around the suitability of some parts of the English translation spoken at Mass.
At a meeting in September, the National Liturgical Council discussed the results of the National Centre for Pastoral Research document Mass Attender’s Attitudes to the English Translation of the Mass. Continue reading
Roslyn Rajasingam, national director of the Apostleship of the Sea
Seafarers on three ships docked at Port Botany received some early Christmas cheer as part of a planned visit from the Apostleship of the Sea ministry.
Roslyn Rajasingam, Apostleship of the Sea Australia’s national director, visited the ships along with Barry Cleary, a retired ship engineer and a volunteer ship visitor for AoS for the past five years in the Archdiocese of Sydney. Continue reading
Bishop Michael McCarthy
Queensland’s devastating bushfires have seen Catholic communities throughout the Rockhampton Diocese scramble to assist one another during the ongoing emergency.
Rockhampton Bishop Michael McCarthy yesterday praised the heroic acts of fire and emergency service workers and volunteers, who have worked tirelessly to save lives and property. Continue reading
Adeline Bock tells bishops how the Year of Youth can be a catalyst for change for the Church in Australia
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference welcomed a group of young Catholics from across the country to Sydney last week as the Church in Australia marked the end of the Year of Youth.
Opened at the Australian Catholic Youth Festival last December, the Year of Youth concluded on Saturday, the final day of the Church’s liturgical year. Continue reading
St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne on Red Wednesday
Two of Australia’s major cathedrals were splashed with the colour of martyrs on Wednesday night as a sign of solidarity with those who suffer religious persecution around the world.
Joining other faiths and landmark public and government buildings worldwide, St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne and St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney were floodlit red. Continue reading
Fr Peter Malone MSC
The Australian Catholic bishops yesterday recognised a Melbourne priest’s 50-year dedication to reviewing films for the Church that began with the iconic film To Sir with Love.
Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Archbishop Mark Coleridge and Fr Richard Leonard SJ, the director of the Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting (ACOFB), honoured Fr Peter Malone MSC at the bishops’ plenary meeting, in the presence of other Catholic film reviewers. Continue reading