Attitude of accompaniment in Amoris Laetitia

Joy of the Family banner detail

It is with great joy that we receive Amoris Laetitia “The Joy of Love: On Love in the Family”, the Exhortation written by Pope Francis after the two Synods of Bishops on that topic in October 2014 and October 2015.

Pope Francis, who has often been embraced for his warmth, personal touch and authentic leadership style, calls for a pastoral and compassionate response to some of the most important questions being faced by families today.

The exhortation addresses several complex topics, including Holy Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried and marriage as a sacrament between one man and woman.

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Lesbos and Australia: one pope, one people

Pope Francis Since the end of the Second World War, global migration has become increasingly constrained through tougher immigration policies. This has seen long queues of applicants waiting for visas whilst fundamental human rights are increasingly disregarded, giving rise to increasing numbers of irregular and undocumented immigrants.

On Saturday 16 April, Pope Francis flew to the Greek island of Lesbos. In recent weeks, this island has become a place of confinement for thousands of people seeking refugee from what has now escalated into genocide in Syria and in other parts of the Middle East. For the international media, Lesbos and the island of Lampedusa off the coast of Sicily, represent how Europe deals with forced migration.

Pope Francis is no doubt a strategist of images and symbols. A visit of the Pope, though pastoral in nature and purpose, always carries a political impact, in the sense that it draws the attention of the whole world, and challenges it. Continue reading →

Elders and bishops gather for a retreat in Alice Springs

You are my sister!

It’s interesting how things happen in life. Who would think that the parish I belong to in Canberra would have a strong link with Aboriginal Catholics in Alice Springs.

This week I’m in Alice Springs participating in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC) retreat in partnership with the Bishops Commission for Relations with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People (BCRATSIP).

The theme of the retreat is Reconciliation – with God, with others and with the land. Our retreat opened with a welcome to country from two Arrernte Elders followed by Bishop of Darwin Eugene Hurley’s warm welcome to his diocese.

To prepare us for the day, NATSICC members Shirley and Dolly, led us through the open hand prayer. This prayer encouraged us to give, not only this present time to him but to invite God deeply into our hearts and to let God take and give to us what He sees fit. Continue reading →

Australian religious leaders join global call for ambitious climate action

Interfaith Climate Change Statement presentation. Photo credit: Paul Hunt: WCC

The world’s religious leaders have united to call on governments to take urgent action on climate change. At a colourful multifaith ceremony, Ambassador Mogens Lykketoft, President of the UN General Assembly took delivery of the Interfaith Climate Change Statement to World Leaders signed by 270 high-level religious leaders, 4970 individuals and 176 religious groups from around the world.

Australian signatories – including the presidents of the Australian Hindu and Imams councils, the Federation of Australian Buddhist Councils and the National Council of Churches in Australia – joined Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo – Chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences of the Holy See, the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Pakistani grand imam Maulana Khabir Azad, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit – General Secretary of the World Council of Churches and more than 250 of their international counterparts to sign the Interfaith Climate Change Statement. Continue reading →

The Joy of Love – Pope Francis’ reflection on family

Pope Francis is known as a man with a deep compassion for people, especially those who are disadvantaged or suffering. He has constantly sought to be with people who are on the margins. After convoking two synods in consecutive years on the subject of the family, he has now released a document entitled, “The Joy of Love”.

The document is marked by Pope Francis’ awareness that human life has an incompleteness, a brokenness. He sees families more as works in progress than settled realities. He says, “No family drops down from heaven perfectly formed; families need constantly to grow and mature in the ability to love”. He knows well that families are imperfect and that they experience many sufferings as well as many joys.

He understands that family life is rich and complex. He speaks of the many and varied situations of families. He calls the family a “multifaceted gem”. He is aware that families are shaped by diverse cultural situations. There is not just one model for the way families operate.

In the course of the document he touches on a wide range of issues that affect family life: from migration to lack of housing; from lack of respect for elders to the special situation of persons with disability; from pornography to sexual abuse; from violence against women to the impact of biotechnology in the field of procreation. Continue reading →

Cabrini introduce asylum seeker and refugee health hub

Cabrini is pleased to announce the development of an asylum seeker and refugee health hub located on the ground floor at 503 Sydney Road, Brunswick. Initial services will begin in May 2016 with GP clinics and specialist mental health services. Eventually the service will include chronic disease management, maternal and child health and infectious disease management, complemented with social, emotional and spiritual support. Clustering these services in one location will enhance access and facilitate a person-centred, integrated approach to primary and specialist care for this marginalised and vulnerable group.

Victoria has the one of the highest asylum seeker and refugee settlement numbers in Australia. Today many asylum seekers in our community have neither work rights nor access to government benefits such as Medicare, Centrelink, housing or emergency relief. The Cabrini Asylum Seeker and Refugee Health Hub will complement health services offered by the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in Melbourne’s west and Monash Health in the southern suburbs. Medicare-ineligible asylum seekers will be given priority access to our services at no charge. Continue reading →

Walking through the holy door of mercy

Celebrating the Holy Year of Mercy, a new media initiative has been established to assist pilgrims entering the holy door of mercy in their diocese.

Produced by a Vatican-based organisation, Catholic Bytes, Misericordia Media offers media to pilgrims approaching any Mercy Door worldwide, and to help pilgrims to come to a better understanding of mercy, the faith, and the Church.

With this goal in mind, Misericordia Media has produced a 7 minute audio-guide and 10 minute video available at misericordia.media. The material is approved by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion for the New Evangelisation. Continue reading →

Celebrating 50 years of the Project Compassion box

Over the decades and today, the Project Compassion box is a symbol of hope and generosity. The box is a practical way of helping those in need around the world.

Caritas Australia has produced the short video below to celebrate 50 years of the Project Compassion box. Bishop Terry Brady said, ‘The boxes work for a lot of families’.

Jane Sulis, Outreach Coordinator at Santa Sabina College in Stratfield said, ‘The Project Compassion box is a great example of a lot of people doing a little bit, that then aggrevates to make a big difference’.

‘The PC box has stood the test of time’, Paul O’Callaghan, CEO of Caritas Australia commented. ‘It’s a great example of our Catholic commitment to sharing and being with others.’ Continue reading →

“The Joy of Love”, Pope Francis between the ideal and the real

“In his Apostolic Exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, ‘The Joy of Love: On Love in the Family’, Pope Francis has spoken as a true pastor who really knows the human heart and is well aware of the pressures now facing marriage and the family”, said Archbishop Mark Coleridge on behalf of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference today.

“The Pope moves between the ideal and the real, offering the Church’s vision of marriage and the family but also dealing with the facts on the ground that can be messy,” Archbishop Coleridge said.

In the document, which was launched at 8pm AEST in Rome, the Holy Father sees marriage and the family in dynamic terms, writing of them as a journey. ‘The Synod process’, he notes, ‘allowed for an examination of the situation of families in today’s world’, opening up ‘a broader vision’ and a renewed awareness of the importance of marriage and the family, which is counter cultural in today’s society.

Francis does not shy away from complex and controversial issues including divorce, abortion, domestic violence, euthanasia, same-sex marriage and gender ideology. He stresses the need to care for the most vulnerable in society, especially the elderly, people with disabilities and migrants. Continue reading →

Bishops want Catholics singing from the same hymn book

Bishop Pat O’Regan, Chair of the Bishops Commission for Liturgy. Photo credit: Casamento Photography.

The Bishops of Australia launched a new liturgical worship book at the Catholic Leadership Centre in Melbourne on Friday 8 April 2016, thirty years since the last one was published.

The new Catholic Worship Book II will be the official liturgical music resource for the Catholic Church in Australia, Archbishop Denis Hart, President, Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, said during the official launch.

The Catholic Worship Book II hits all the right notes with a broad range of liturgical music, including the chants for the revised Order of Mass (2010), new and revised Mass settings and service music, plus music for the Sunday Eucharist, the various rites of the Church and Morning and Evening Prayer.

Prepared by the National Liturgical Music Board, an advisory board of the Bishops Commission for Liturgy, the worship book reflects the Catholic Church’s rich heritage of chant – in Latin and English – and traditional hymns and contemporary liturgical songs from local and international sources.