News
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29-Jul-2009
Solar panels are being installed on Pope Benedict's private home in Germany. It will feed electricity into the German power grid and raise money for a society that offers scholarships and trade training to disadvantaged youths.
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31-Jul-2009
Professor Anthony Kelly, Professor of Theology at Australian Catholic University (ACU National), has been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to the International Theological Commission for a further five years.
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31-Jul-2009
NSW Education Minister Verity Firth will unveil a plan to select 50 high performing schools as hubs linked to education faculties in universities, and to about 200 schools in remote areas, to improve overall teaching quality.
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28-Jul-2009
Catholic Health Australia said it was disappointed the Federal government's National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission's report only calls for "minor reforms" and defers the "real decision" of federally funding public hospitals.
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News - National
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31-Jul-2009
Friends and family have farewelled Perth businessman Nathan Verity and Austrade official Craig Senger, who were killed in the recent Jakarta bombing, in services on opposite sides of the country.
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31-Jul-2009
Human rights campaigner Fr Frank Brennan has rejected the former Treasurer Peter Costello's assertions that the national human rights charter would in effect curtail religious conscience or practice.
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30-Jul-2009
Catholic Super finished in the top ten of the SuperRatings table for having generated the best relative financial returns in the last financial year. The table was topped by industry superannuation funds CareSuper and REST.
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30-Jul-2009
The Labor Party welcomes debate on gay marriage and "respects the integrity of same sex relationships" but isn't going to change its opposition to same sex marriage, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said.
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28-Jul-2009
More than 50 deacons from across Australia and New Zealand will gather in Pennant Hills, NSW for a National Deacons' Conference from August 6-9, focusing on a theme of "Word, Worship, Service". Among scheduled speakers are Liberal MP Tony Abbott and national living treasure, Fr Frank Brennan.
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27-Jul-2009
A national vision to guide youth ministry development has been published, following years of work initiated by the Australian Network of Diocesan Youth Ministry Coordinators and supported by the Bishops Commission for Pastoral Life.
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29-Jul-2009
Melbourne Archdiocese vicar general Bishop Les Tomlinson said Easter is a "season of the spirit" and reiterated the Church's stance that the Australian Football League should omit playing games on Good Friday.
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28-Jul-2009
A group of parishioners from St Joseph's church in Collingwood have launched a campaign to stop the Archdiocese of Melbourne from tearing down walls of their burnt out church.
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27-Jul-2009
St Brigid's Church in Crossley has been put up for sale on the open market after bids that were received for it in a tender process, including a $100,000 bid by the community, were deemed unsatisfactory.
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27-Jul-2009
Victoria's abortion law reform legislation is at odds with the autonomy it seeks to embrace and may legally coerce doctors opposed to abortion into referring patients for termination, a news reports said.
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29-Jul-2009
Ageing religious sisters and diminished financial resources have forced a Sisters of Mercy Parramatta decision to cease funding and operation of St Mary's House, a community support centre in Campsie, NSW leaving the facility on the brink of closure.
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28-Jul-2009
Parents in Port Macquarie are demanding to know why the Church decided to rush through, during the school holidays, the sale of land in the vicinity of three schools to takeaway giant McDonald's.
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27-Jul-2009
Cranebrook's Corpus Christi Catholic Church is fighting a council order that's forced them to shut their doors and windows during services, even on hot summer days, to keep down the sound of singing.
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27-Jul-2009
Queensland's annual Catholic Education Week will celebrate 150 years of Catholic education in the state, since the formal establishment of the Archdiocese of Brisbane and the separation of Queensland and NSW.
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31-Jul-2009
A video featuring Archbishop Mark Coleridge, seminarians, Missionaries of God's Love sisters, a novice Marist brother and a married couple talking about their vocations has been produced to mark National Vocations Awareness Week.
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News - International
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30-Jul-2009
Ireland's Children's Minister Barry Andrews revealed a 99 point plan to strengthen the country's child protection system, including obligating those who deal with children, such as teachers to report suspected abuse.
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30-Jul-2009
Pope Benedict thinks his "guardian angel" was clearly acting "on superior orders" when he was allowed to fall and break his wrist earlier this month, news reports said.
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29-Jul-2009
As Pope Benedict confirmed his intention to visit the Shroud of Turin next year, French scientist Thierry Castex has revealed that he has found traces of Aramaic on the Shroud.
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28-Jul-2009
Pope Benedict has laicised Medjugorje priest, Fr Tomislav Vlasic, a year after he was placed under investigation over allegations that he exaggerated the apparitions and had engaged in sexual relations with a nun.
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28-Jul-2009
The artist who created an artwork in which visitors were encouraged to write themselves into the Bible, has asked for it to be put in a glass case at the exhibition in Glasgow's Gallery of Modern Art, to prevent defacement.
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30-Jul-2009
Protests erupted across Vietnam this week after two Catholic priests were beaten brutally allegedly by plain clothed police and pro-government thugs. One of them is in a coma.
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27-Jul-2009
South Korean activists are claiming that North Korea publicly executed a Christian woman last month for allegedly distributing the Bible.
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31-Jul-2009
Hundreds are believed dead in Nigeria from three days of violence blamed on a group dubbed the "Nigerian Taliban". The local Catholic Institute for Development, Justice and Peace warned of rising radical Islamists.
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30-Jul-2009
A Facebook profile of Mexico's Cardinal Norberto Rivera that portrays him as a friend of controversial celebrities and political groups is a fake, the Archdiocese of Mexico City said this week.
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29-Jul-2009
Islanders from the tiny coral atolls of the Carteret Islands in the Pacific have begun to evacuate to neighbouring Bougainville and are being described as among the world's first climate change refugees.
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Religion
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29-Jul-2009
The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said the Anglican church may have to accept a "two-tier" or "two-track" communion for believers to remain united while in disagreement over matters such as gay clergy.
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Regulars
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31-Jul-2009
Recently after several weeks of heated debate and background maneuvering within the Vatican, L'Osservatore Romano published a statement from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), reaffirming the Church's absolute prohibition on direct abortion and confirming that involvement in procured abortion merits the penalty of excommunication. That CDF statement was a vindication for an embattled Brazilian archbishop, but that vindication was long overdue, and the short, impersonal notice in the Vatican newspaper fell far short of the apology the archbishop deserved. - Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture
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30-Jul-2009
The launch of Tony Abbott's book, Battlelines, has given Abbott the chance to neutralise his reputation negatives, especially the "Captain Catholic" label he was given when, as health minister, he made the reasonable point that Australia's abortion rate of up to 100,000 abortions every year was far too high. - Miranda Devine, Sydney Morning Herald
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29-Jul-2009
To understand why secularism is good for you and why you want it, you have to know something about rights, civil and human, in a democratic and pluralistic society. Many folks think of democracy as "majority rule". That's a big fail right there. Point at somebody and ask them "are you in the majority?" If they answer yes or no you picked the wrong person, move on to someone else. Their answer should be "which majority?" - Danny Stevens, Online Opinion
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28-Jul-2009
The Resurrection of Christ, the most awesome event in history, accompanies in the Gospel of St John the spiritual resurrection of St Peter. The tripartite questioning is symbolic, for in the three questions that are asked lies a penitential act with each subsequent affirmation of love erasing each previous denial of Peter's on Holy Thursday. - Andrew Kania, AD2000
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27-Jul-2009
The Catholic Church should be worrying a bit less about the priest shortage and a bit more about the nurse shortage. Attracting and retaining qualified nurses for parishes and for social service centres, schools, and other Catholic institutions may not garner headlines or excite the blogs, but it would be an incredibly valuable service to the Catholic future. - John L. Allen Jr, National Catholic Reporter
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31-Jul-2009
With today (July 31) being the feast of St Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, it is perhaps appropriate to feature the website of the Australian Jesuits.
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30-Jul-2009
The Catholic Leadership Institute is a US based association committed to developing Catholic leaders using the model of Jesus Christ across that country's dioceses. Its main program is titled, Good Leaders, Good Shepherds.
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29-Jul-2009
The Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst takes in significant tracts of Victoria and has its cathedral and main administration centre in Bendigo. It has a long and proud history by Australian standards and actively continues the work of the Church in schools, faith education and social services.
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28-Jul-2009
The Sisters of St Joseph have recently launched a new website for their company, Good Grief, which supports people, especially children, in times of loss or change or grief. The organisation's work is based on Blessed Mary MacKillop's principle "Never see a need without doing something about it."
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27-Jul-2009
The Catholic Institute of Sydney was a foundation member of the Sydney College of Divinity over a quarter of a century ago and has been conferring awards in theology for 55 years. Its website gives an insight into its philosophy which is its consciousness that theology should always be taught in dialogue with culture.
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27-Jul-2009
This film was made in 1971 and has been re-released following digital restoration, after it was assumed to be lost. When first released it was a commercial failure. It was Chips Rafferty's last film and Jack Thomson's first. Now, it has resurfaced from a locked vault in Pittsburgh, USA to emerge as unquestionably one of the finest Australian movies ever produced. - Peter W. Sheehan, Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting
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29-Jul-2009
This Compass profile of Paul Stewart's life explores his close connections with East Timor, from his brother Tony's death in 1975 as one of the "Balibo Five" to his work with The Dili All-Stars, a band he formed to help highlight the plight of the East Timorese people.
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31-Jul-2009
Leading American Franciscan priest Richard Rohr will be the featured guest on this week's edition of Sunday Nights with John Cleary. Fr Rohr has been touring Australia and is well known as an international and inspirational speaker on spirituality and men.
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28-Jul-2009
The Last Crusaders is a lively and engaging history of the Mediterranean world in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and in particular the power struggles that pitted the Ottoman Empire against a Christian Europe dominated by Habsburg Spain. - Marcus Bull, The Tablet
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31-Jul-2009
Put simply, marriage is a contract. The problem is the existing contract is a civil and religious institution in one. Everyone's contract is the same, but some religious civil celebrants require extra obligations in return for overseeing entry into the contract. But in arguing for same-sex marriage most gay activists don't appreciate the significance of marriage to religions. In response, many religious conservatives have bunkered down for the fight. - Tim Wilson, The Australian
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30-Jul-2009
If I was thinking of running away this would be a good week to do it as the circus has set up in our local park. Since the circus arrived I have been seeing some parallels between the circus and mission. When I was growing up there were a couple of options available if one wanted to get away from home and see the world. If joining the circus was one, becoming a missionary was another. - Fr Patrick O'Shea, St Columban's Mission Society E-News
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29-Jul-2009
The human rights industry begins with grand promises and ends up intervening in non-problems. We are led to believe that the purpose of these charters is to stop arbitrary arrests, guarantee a free press and guard against dictatorship. What does it actually do? In practice, it complicates the life of religious schools and opens lawsuits against the churches. - Peter Costello, The Age
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28-Jul-2009
Dear Baby Boomers, thanks a lot for telling us religion and reason are opposed. You fed us Chicken Soup for the Soul and tenth rate rock bands in church while leaving intelligence to the nihilists. Then you wonder why we leave the church and think that you're just an old fool. Could it be because you never told us that great Christians could think too? - Rebekah Hebbert, MercatorNet
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27-Jul-2009
English speaking Catholics today are awaiting the restoration of an even greater treasure than the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel: a fresh and faithful translation of the Liturgy of the Church into the English language. The decree of the Second Vatican Council has, in many cases, hidden rather than revealed the true treasures of the Liturgy. - Archbishop Denis Hart, Kairos Catholic Journal
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30-Jul-2009
Y Walk is a city pilgrimage in the footsteps of holy people from Brisbane's past. This year auxiliary Bishop, Joseph Oudeman will lead the pilgrimage which will focus on her deep faith, courage and vision as she sought to give witness to the Gospel through service to poorer members of the Brisbane community.
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