Experienced researcher Trudy Dantis has this week begun as the new director of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s Pastoral Research Office.
Dr Dantis, who has conducted research on behalf of the Catholic Church in Australia and India, will lead the Pastoral Research Office from its new Canberra office. Continue reading
Congolese women – Caritas Australia
Media Release, 23 November, 2012
Fear and insecurity has sent tens of thousands of innocent civilians into hiding and flight as the M23 Rebels now occupy Goma, the main city in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The military spokesperson of the M23 has now publically declared that the rebels are prepared to march onwards to take over the country’s capital, Kinshasa should the people “invite” them.
Caritas is extremely concerned that water and electricity supplies have been cut off; accentuating the panic and uncertainty amongst the city of one million people. Continue reading
Bishop Anthony Fisher
Monday, 26 November 2012
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Australian Catholic Youth Festival : 5 – 7 December 2013, Melbourne
In December 2013 the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference will host the first Australian Catholic Youth Festival. The Festival is anticipated to be the largest national gathering of Catholic young people since WYD 2008.
You are invited to begin promoting and preparing for the Festival and supporting young people from your community to attend.
The Festival will be held from Thursday, 5 December to Saturday, 7 December. It will be held at the Australian Catholic University (ACU) St Patrick’s Campus in East Melbourne, as well as at the East Melbourne Catholic Precinct, including St Patrick’s Cathedral and other nearby churches and facilities.
The Festival will invite students in the age group from Year 9 to young adults aged 25 years from schools, universities, youth groups, parishes, groups and movements throughout Australia. The venues and organisational arrangements have a capacity for 4000 young people. With your assistance we hope to reach this limit. Continue reading
Banner – International Day
Media Release, November 26, 2012
The International Day of People with Disability is celebrated on 3 December each year, with this year’s theme of, “Removing barriers to create an inclusive and accessible society for all.”
Bishop Terence Brady, the Australian Bishops’ Delegate for Disability Issues, said that there is much evidence of the types of barriers that are faced by people with disability, and that Church communities can find ways to address these.
“Barriers can take a variety of forms, including those relating to the physical environment or to information and communications technology (ICT), or those resulting from legislation or policy, or from societal attitudes or discrimination.” Continue reading
By Bishop Bill Wright
This blog was published in CathBlog on 21 November, 2012
It is a week since Prime Minister Gillard announced the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse, and some people have seen it as the worst week the Catholic Church in Australia has ever had.
So much of the talk has been about the Church’s slow and inadequate response to allegations of abuse over a long period. In all honesty, though, I’ve been feeling quite positive and relieved ever since the announcement.
Here is the occasion when the nation as a whole can come to grips with one of its greatest issues. It is the beginning of a most important, purifying process. Continue reading
The Catholic Church welcomes the royal commission into child sex abuse. Picture: Bill Hearne Source: The Daily Telegraph
By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
18 November 2012
The following is the text of Cardinal George Pell’s Sunday Telegraph Column.
Last Monday the Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced a Royal Commission on the sexual abuse of children in institutions across Australia.
Naturally the victims were delighted that their struggle for justice was heard. Many have high expectations and every decent person should work to see that all possible progress is made.
Along with the Australian Catholic bishops I welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement. The Royal Commission will provide an opportunity to clear the air.
Unfortunately the Catholic Church has been unable to reassure everyone that it is serious about dealing with sexual abuse and responding appropriately. This is despite the fact that in 1997 the NSW Wood Royal Commission found the Catholic response “a model for other Churches and religious organizations to follow”. Continue reading
By Bridget Anna-Maria Spinks
Children’s welfare, family interests and the rampant drug culture in Perth will be a few of the topics discussed by Perth Catholic Archbishop Barry Hickey in a new video series he launched on 20 January online.
In an attempt to speak to the broader public, the weekly video series “A Word for Today’s World with Archbishop Barry Hickey” will appear online every Friday from now on via The Faith Centre website, signed in Auslan and complete with subtitles and a transcript.
The Faith Centre for Evangelisation and Catholic Culture, the newest centre in the Perth Archdiocese, will produce the videos and host these on their website www.thefaith.org.au. Continue reading
Media Release,
23 December 2011
The Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office today urged both political parties to show moral leadership over the Christmas period with regard to policy debates on asylum seekers and refugees.
Director of the ACMRO Fr Maurizio Pettenà CS expressed the view that people seeking asylum need to be processed in countries who are signatories to the UN Refugee Convention and who can assure them of the opportunity to rebuild their lives in dignity.
“Richer countries like Australia have a moral duty to do more to help the world’s refugees who are mostly hosted by poorer nations” he said.
“Christmas reminds us that it is in giving that we receive. This applies even more so to how much we give to those who seek asylum. Increasing the humanitarian program is an appropriate outcome that both political parties can agree on.” Continue reading
Bishop Joe Grech and Fr Maurizio Pettena concelebrating Mass with Bishops and Priests in Sydney, May, 2010.
Bishop Joe is still very much a holy presence in my life. I remember very vividly last year on the 23rd of December when he called me at about 10pm at night and asked me what I was doing.
He said he wasn’t feeling too well. He kept feeling worse, and the doctor recommended that he be hospitalised. On Christmas Eve, he was.
He rang me as he was being admitted to the hospital and asked me if I could come and be with him. A few hours later, I was there in Melbourne at St Vincent’s private hospital where I found him in his usual joking mood.
The doctor came in, amused by the jovial character and positive in his outlook. Continue reading
Institutional leadership team of the Sisters of Mercy
About 1,500 Sisters of Mercy, their friends, families and ministry colleagues gathered at St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney on Sunday, December 18, for the foundation Eucharist of the newly established Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea (PNG).
This historic occasion, also attended by members of other religious congregations and many bishops and priests from dioceses throughout Australia and PNG, heralded the beginning of a new era for the Sisters of Mercy. Continue reading