Bishop Long’s homily during Mass of Installation

Bp_Long_thumb

Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM ConV and Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP.

Dear friends,

The clergy and Catholic people of Parramatta have been waiting for long and here I am, only five feet and a half though. After 19 months without a bishop, you have been given one in the person of a Vietnamese Australian and a former boat person. Perhaps, you can add my appointment to the list of surprises that Pope Francis has done.

I am very honoured and humbled by this appointment and grateful for the opportunity to serve the Church in Parramatta during this time. As guided by my motto “go further into the deep” (Lk 5:40), I have taken many leaps of faith before, including the one that launched me literally onto the Pacific Ocean. Now I am about to be cast into the deep interior of Western Sydney, all the way to the beautiful Blue Mountains and the fertile plains of the Hawkesbury River. I cannot help but feel daunted by what lies ahead. Nevertheless, I make bold to move forward, trusting in the sustaining power of God and the support of many people and fellow ministers of the Gospel. Continue reading →

Bishop Vincent Long Installed as Fourth Bishop of Parramatta

The new Bishop received formal recognition from a family in the Diocese, two pilgrims who will be participating in World Youth Day 2016, two members of Religious communities from the Diocese and two priests of the Diocese. Photo: Alphonsus Fok

The new Bishop receives formal recognition from a local priest. Photo: Alphonsus Fok

A Liturgical Reception and Solemn Mass of Installation celebrated the appointment of former Vietnamese boat person, Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM ConV, as the fourth Bishop of Parramatta at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Parramatta tonight.

The Mass was concelebrated by Most Reverend Anthony Fisher OP, Archbishop of Sydney, the Most Reverend Adolfo Tito Yllana, Apostolic Nuncio to Australia, the archbishops and bishops of Australia, clergy of the Diocese of Parramatta and visiting clergy.

Prayers of the faithful were read in Malayalam, Arabic, Auslan, Cantonese, Spanish and Polish representing the ethnic diversity across the diocese. Continue reading →

CathNews on YouTube

youtube-squareInterested in following what’s happening across the Catholic Church in Australia and beyond?

Subscribe to the CathNews YouTube channel featuring daily uploads from the Vatican, addresses by Pope Francis and Catholic news of the day.

The CathNews YouTube channel also features Easter and Christmas video messages from the bishops of Australia.

The video channel also offers daily Mass from Sydney and a variety of videos from Church leaders and agencies, including reflections, documentaries and lectures for the interest and information of our subscribers and the wider public. Continue reading →

Treat suicide as the human tragedy it is

Elderly woman with hands clasped

AS chaplain to a big Melbourne hospital, I often provide comfort and support to those dying and their families. Another part of my ministry in the parish is visiting families in the aftermath of suicide.

The death of a loved one leaves those close to them with a sense of pain and loss, but the agony caused by suicide is different.

“What more could I have done?” and the unanswerable “Why?” haunt those left after such a tragedy. While suicide may seem to a person taking their own life as a way to end their suffering, it does not remove the pain. It just shifts the distress on to others.

The Victorian Government’s Inquiry into End of Life Choices addressed many important questions. Recommendations such as improving education for health professionals and improving access to palliative care, if legislated, will definitely improve outcomes for Victorians approaching the end of life. But recommendation 49 to introduce assisted suicide and euthanasia will transfer the distress to health professionals and to family, as anyone who has experienced a loved one’s suicide knows only too well. It does not remove the suffering. Continue reading →

Australian Bishops head to World Youth Day

Nineteen Australian bishops will pack their bags for World Youth Day next month, proving age is no barrier to participation in the World’s largest youth event.

The faith filled festival will take place in Krakow, Poland from 25 – 31 July, with more than 2,500 Aussie pilgrims attending including teachers, chaplains, youth leaders and those who may be unsure about their faith.

Half of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference will participate in World Youth Day celebrating St John Paul’s vision for young people, renewed again with the presence of Pope Francis.

President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Archbishop Denis Hart, said, ‘World Youth Day is a unique opportunity for young people to deepen their faith and unity with the Pope and with each other. It is often a life-changing experience’.

‘During the five World Youth Days that I have attended, I have found my faith encouraged by the joy and deepening faith of beautiful young people,’ Archbishop Hart added. Continue reading →

Women as Witnesses to the Joy of the Gospel

2016-PSU-CACW-colloquium_poster_thumbHow do we make more space for women in decision-making, leadership and lay pastoral ministry in our Church?

If this is a question that interests you, why not consider attending the Council for Australian Catholic Women’s Colloquium from 17 to 18 September at Mary Mackillop Place, North Sydney.

The Colloquium theme, Women as Witnesses to the Joy of the Gospel will set the scene for theological and pastoral reflection on Pope Francis’ call to “create still broader opportunities for a more incisive female presence in the Church” (Evangelii Gaudium 103).

The keynote addresses and workshops will examine this theme, Dr Maria Harries, Adjunct Professor at Curtin University will lead a keynote address considering the issues facing ‘Women in the Family’. Dr Michele Connolly, RSJ, Lecturer of New Testament Studies at the Catholic Institute of Sydney, will explore the issues facing ‘Women in the Church’. Dr Megan Brock RSJ, member of Catholic Religious Australia and a psychologist working in private practice, will deliver the final keynote address on ‘Women in Society’.  Continue reading →

Tree of Life resource celebrates Laudato Si’ anniversary

Tree of Life image for a Laudato Si' ResourceCatholic Earthcare Australia’s 2016 resource has been launched on World Environment Day to encourage the community to celebrate the first Anniversary of the papal encyclical Laudato Si’ by coming together to experience dialogue and stimulate action on caring for our common home.

Catholics are being invited to write down their actions about caring for creation and bring them together in the form of a new ‘Tree of Life’ resource. “The ‘Tree of Life’ is a wonderful opportunity to share the message of the Pope’s encyclical, Laudato Si’ and to enable dialogue and action within local Catholic communities,” says Jacqui Remond, Director of Catholic Earthcare Australia, the ecological agency of the Catholic Church in Australia. Continue reading →

Redress for abuse victims will stay in the bottom drawer this election

With less than four weeks until polling day the heavy slumber of the electorate is showing signs of lifting.

Opinion polls continue to signal a close result. Nothing new there really. The polls always tighten as election dates close in.

Hip pocket issues begin to surface and politicians expend enormous emotional energy attempting to convince us that they are engaged, down to earth and responsive. Again, nothing new there.

And that’s the point. Disengagement is the problem. People stop listening because they are not listened to. The current craft of narrative manipulation that besets political strategists has become self-defeating. Continue reading →

Bishops Establish New National Centre for Evangelisation

National Centre for EvangelisationA new National Centre for Evangelisation (NCE) is being established by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.  It will bring together the work of the Catholic Enquiry Centre and the National Office for Evangelisation.

The Bishops Commission for Evangelisation made the announcement on Thursday 2 June 2016.

Launching the new Centre, Archbishop Mark Coleridge, Chair of the Bishops Commission for Evangelisation, said that ‘we’re trying to bring the old and the new together in a fresh configuration’.

The priorities of the new National Centre for Evangelisation (NCE) include further developing the work carried out by the Catholic Enquiry Centre and the National Office for Evangelisation.

The Catholic Enquiry Centre (CEC) was founded in 1959 to offer an invitation to all who are not Catholic to learn about and understand the Catholic faith through the promotion of courses and activities that seek to evangelise unbelievers. It will continue to operate within the new National Centre for Evangelisation. Continue reading →

Liturgy of Lament and Hope

D8E_9384_ThumbOn Friday 3 June, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, a Liturgy of Lament and Hope to acknowledge publicly the pain and suffering of those who have been wounded by abuse in the Catholic Church, was held in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary, Waitara.

Bishop Peter Comensoli, Bishop of Broken Bay, called upon his brother priests and the Diocesan faith community to join him for this sacred event, with more than 200 braving the wild Sydney weather to come together in prayer.

Opportunities for expressing lament such as this are important – a time at which people can give voice and shape to shared feelings of sadness, regret, and solidarity for what has occurred in our communities, and a time for the Diocese as a family to pray for those who have been wounded and turn towards the Lord with hope for healing. Continue reading →