News
-
13-Aug-2009
Cardinal Ennio Antonelli of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Family criticised a ruling by Italy's highest court that found no substantial legal difference between a family from marriage and a family resulting from a cohabiting couple.
» more
-
12-Aug-2009
He has spent 21 years in the ambulance that follows the pope around, serving as a nurse, and a total of 33 years serving at the Vatican. Meet Brother Martin Mendez, 76, the pope's oldest pharmacist.
» more
-
12-Aug-2009
The national literacy and numeracy tests don't show "the whole picture" of a school's performance, unlike a more inclusive league table featuring information about school programs and activities, The Australian reported.
» more
-
10-Aug-2009
Catholic schools in Western Australia won't use a new sex education website created by the WA Government because it does not promote the values taught in Catholic schools, a news report said.
» more
News - National
-
14-Aug-2009
Liberal senator Bill Heffernan clashed with three civil union activists from the "Equal Love" group at a breakfast in parliament's Great Hall, allegedly telling them: "I don't mind gay people, I just want you to stop f---ing the kids"
» more
-
13-Aug-2009
A Canadian Catholic film crew, who went in the footsteps of Blessed Mary MacKillop during last year's World Youth Day, has produced a short documentary on her life and inspiration.
» more
-
13-Aug-2009
Principal of the Anglican theological Ridley College, Dr Peter Adam says Christians must consider appropriate recompense to Australia's Aboriginal peoples, who suffered European colonisation, church planting and nation-building.
» more
-
12-Aug-2009
Some 14,500 people have signed a petition organised by the Mary MacKillop East Timor Mission supporting the nomination of Timor-Leste for the award of Companion of the Order of Australia (Honorary). It will be presented to parliament next month.
» more
-
12-Aug-2009
Father Kevin Dillon, parish priest of Geelong's St Mary of the Angels Basilica said the Melbourne Response system needs an external and independent review.
» more
-
11-Aug-2009
The Therapeutic Goods Administration of Australia has authorised abortion provider Marie Stopes International to use RU486 under special licensing to give desperately ill people access to drugs not available in this country.
» more
-
11-Aug-2009
Archbishop Denis Hart dismissed a call to overhaul the Melbourne Response to handling sexual abuse by clergy saying it has delivered "compassion, counselling and compensation" to hundreds of victims over 14 years.
» more
-
11-Aug-2009
To promote the faith in society, Catholics must be "very good" at presenting Church teachings without alienating others, MP Tony Abbott said at the National Deacons' Conference. Bishop Michael Malone meanwhile, hailed the diaconate as a good response to ministry challenges the Church faces.
» more
-
10-Aug-2009
Thousands gathered nationwide to celebrate the centenary of Blessed Mary MacKillop's death, and at the North Sydney Mass, Sydney Archbishop Cardinal George Pell said her canonisation is "almost completely certain".
» more
-
11-Aug-2009
The Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Industry warned Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls against interfering in men-only clubs and in the internal affairs of churches.
» more
-
11-Aug-2009
The Friends of St Brigid's group and the Koroit Catholic Parish finance committee agreed last week on a price for the historic church and hall at Crossley, The Warrnambool Standard reported.
» more
-
10-Aug-2009
Xavier College in Melbourne is being accused of covering up a bullying episode, for which the victim's parents are threatening to sue unless the school refunds two years of fees and covers the cost of counselling, a report said.
» more
-
10-Aug-2009
The Melbourne Church must overhaul its handling of sexual abuse cases, The Age reported, following the newspaper's investigative report that police inquiry against a priest was undermined by him being informed about it.
» more
-
13-Aug-2009
A Newcastle woman's eulogy at her father's funeral was cut short by a priest, when she began repeating lines from a news report about police recommendations to charge the late Monsignor Patrick Cotter over concealing abuse allegations against priest Vince Ryan.
» more
-
10-Aug-2009
Sydney seminaries are full for the first time in 10 years, as 60 men prepare for the priesthood, three times as many as there were in 2000, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
» more
-
10-Aug-2009
An $80,000 fine given to Trinity Catholic College in Lismore after it pleaded guilty over the death of five year old Gabriel McBurney, was "irrelevant" because it would not bring his son back, the boy's father said.
» more
-
14-Aug-2009
Quadriplegic Perth man Christian Rossiter has asked The Brightwater Care Group, which cares for him, to stop feeding him through a tube, but would rather travel to Switzerland for assisted death.
» more
News - International
-
14-Aug-2009
Three Mexicans claiming to be additional children of Legionaries of Christ founder Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado have intiated action against the order, asking to be recognised as heirs to the founder.
» more
-
12-Aug-2009
Soon to be beatified Cardinal John Henry Newman will be a "powerful spiritual help" in responding to "damaging intellectual errors of our age," said Sydney Archbishop Cardinal George Pell.
» more
-
14-Aug-2009
New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan said there is "never any dearth of challenges" for the US Church, and one of them is a falling vocation to marriage.
» more
-
12-Aug-2009
A Georgetown University study has found that a smaller group of more racially and ethnically diverse recruits attracted to traditional prayer rituals and habits is replacing an ageing, mainly white generation of priests and nuns.
» more
-
14-Aug-2009
Pope Benedict will meet some of his former students in his annual "Ratzinger School Circle", or "Ratzinger Schulerkreis", gathering at Castel Gandolfo at the end of this month.
» more
-
14-Aug-2009
Polish Sister Anastazja Pustelnik has become a bestselling author with her five cookbooks that have now sold over one million copies.
» more
-
11-Aug-2009
Remembering St Maximilian Kolbe and St Edith Stein who died in Nazi death camps, Pope Benedict has described the World War II era camps as "extreme symbols of evil" and hell on earth.
» more
-
13-Aug-2009
Papal delegate Cardinal Francis Arinze opened an assembly of Asian bishops in Manila, stressing the Eucharist's transforming power, and emphasising evangelisation rather than "proselytism, which is forbidden by canon law."
» more
-
13-Aug-2009
Archbishop Fernando Filoni, who served as the Vatican's envoy to Iraq from 2001 to 2006, said it was important that Iraqi Christians are given greater protection, to stop their widespread emigration.
» more
Regulars
-
14-Aug-2009
How Catholics speak about Mary tells other people much about our faith. There is, first, her simple name. In Catholic homes, "Mary" - regularly referred to just like that, simply as Mary - is a familiar and beloved member of the family. She is remembered amid all the accumulated joys and sorrows of daily life. She is one of us. - John Heard, The Record
» more
-
13-Aug-2009
The idea of God being "with" someone is one of the most common and yet one of the richest expressions in the Bible, running like a thread through the Old and the New Testaments. From such dialogues we can learn that God's being "with" us, his presence in us, is a dynamic, not a static, presence. It is a presence with a purpose, a power through which God is using us for his purpose in spite of our personal inadequacy. - Fr Jack Mahoney, Thinking Faith
» more
-
12-Aug-2009
I want to propose that interventions in search of the perfect and to eliminate the imperfect threaten the essence of our humanness, our human spirit, that which makes us human and enables us to experience awe, wonder and the mystery of life, and through which we search for meaning. This latter search is of the essence of being human; we are meaning seeking beings and, as far as we know, uniquely so. - Margaret Somerville, MercatorNet
» more
-
11-Aug-2009
Mary knows the danger as well as anyone else. That is why she chooses to be in Jerusalem, near her son. The mother clings to her children like ivy to the castle wall. Neither the summer sun nor the winter cold can tear them apart. A mother's love brings Mary to the foot of the Cross. - Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli, AD2000
» more
-
10-Aug-2009
The Pavlou case is far from closed. Before the police investigation, the mother of Pavlou's victim spent more than six months assisting an inquiry commissioned by Melbourne's Catholic Church. It was an experience that left her shaken and questioning how the Church sponsored inquiry had dealt with Pavlou's behaviour. - Nick McKenzie, The Age
» more
-
14-Aug-2009
Mary of Nazareth International Centre is part of an evangelisation project to publicise the mystery of the Mother of God through technology. The website is divided into a range of topics with experts in theology, history and science offering their thoughts.
» more
-
13-Aug-2009
The Vatican City State website celebrated its second anniversary last month. It has registered over three million hits since it was launched.
» more
-
12-Aug-2009
Phases of Womanhood describes itself as "a non-profit organisation that offers women encouragement and practical resources from a solidly Catholic perspective, connecting women to the faith and to each other."
» more
-
11-Aug-2009
The Vatican has had a channel on YouTube for nearly 4 years and it has nearly 18,000 subscribers. The channel offers news coverage of the main activities of Pope Benedict XVI and of relevant Vatican events. It is updated daily.
» more
-
10-Aug-2009
This is the website of the Catholic Military Ordinariate of Australia. It has been charged with the pastoral care of the uniformed members of Australia's navy, army and air force, their families and of the civilians employed by the Department of Defence.
» more
-
14-Aug-2009
Adam is a romantic comedy with a difference. Aren't they all? Well, this one has a significant difference: Asperges Syndrome. The story is rather straightforward, familiar in style to many a New York romance. A young man buries his father who took care of him. He has Asperges Syndrome and now has to manage by himself. He encounters a vivacious young teacher, Beth, who moves into one of the apartments in the block. - Fr Peter Malone, Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting
» more
-
10-Aug-2009
This film is about the life of Mike Tyson, former heavyweight boxing champion of the world. At just 20, Tyson was the youngest champion of the world. The film attempts to make the case that his being bullied as a child instilled a level of savagery that drove him in the ring. - Peter W. Sheehan, Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting
» more
-
13-Aug-2009
This week's edition of The Spirit of Things features Tom Harpur, Canada's best known religion journalist. He went from being an Anglican priest with a famous radio show, Harpur's Heaven and Hell, to being an advocate of a cosmic spirituality which denies the supremacy of Christianity.
» more
-
12-Aug-2009
I began this novel, set in Germany between the two world wars, after watching the film Valkyrie. I found the film both shallow and grandiose, dominated by clicking heels and clashing chords; the choice of Tom Cruise to play Claus Von Stauffenberg was singularly inept. - Jack Carrigan, The Catholic Herald
» more
-
14-Aug-2009
We cry a lot of tears because we make other peoples' lives about me. I may be someone's parent, spouse, friend, brother, sister, teacher, mentor, or guardian, but ultimately that other person's soul has its own individuality, freedom, daemons, and destiny. Others are not about me. Most tears we cry are for ourselves, not others. - Fr Ron Rolheiser, ronrolheiser.com
» more
-
13-Aug-2009
One of my favourite sayings about Jesus is that "he spoke with authority." When people heard him speak they recognised that what he said was profoundly true, that ‘he knew.' He understood what their lives were about. He did not speak in platitudes. - Fr Noel Connolly, The Far East
» more
-
12-Aug-2009
The Church seems forever to be embracing those she once held in suspicion. Galileo Galilei, the Italian astronomer, is the most famous among them. But there are others, too, like Thomas Aquinas, Joan of Arc and Ignatius Loyola. The most recent candidate for rehabilitation is the Jesuit paleontologist, evolutionary philosopher and spiritual writer Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Vatican watchers have taken note of Pope Benedict XVI's appeal to Teilhard. - America
» more
-
11-Aug-2009
Many a tired spirit can be dragged along by a busy body, when in fact it should be the spirit, refreshed through silence, gently guiding the body into service. Self care is a discipline that can appear counter-cultural in a Christian world where demand driven desperation and gentleness of spirit collide. - Pauline Connelly, The Southern Cross
» more
-
10-Aug-2009
Weakening or eliminating the religious exemptions would force the secularisation of service delivery by religious agencies. The likely effect of such proposals would be a profoundly negative effect on two fronts. It would go to the heart of the religious motivation that leads people to be involved in ownership, governance and as an employee or volunteer. It would also go to the heart of the motivation that leads people, whether Catholic or not, to prefer the services of many Catholic providers. - Bishop Christopher Prowse, www.cam.org.au
» more
-
11-Aug-2009
The fourth concert of the St Stephen's Concert Series 2009 features Mendelssohn's great oratorio "Elijah" to be performed by The Queensland Choir, Sinfonia of St Andrew's and soloists, directed by Kevin Power. This year of 2009 also marks the 200th anniversary year of the Mendelssohn's birth.
» more