News - National
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21-Dec-2011
The federal government will investigate abuse of the multibillion-dollar Job Services Australia program and enforce ''more stringent evidentiary requirements'' on thousands of employment agencies claiming fees under the scheme, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.
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19-Dec-2011
The Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office (ACMRO) and the Edmund Rice Centre have expressed sorrow over the news of the deaths of a possible 160 people, mostly thought to be asylum seekers from Afghanistan and Iran, both organisations said in separate media statements.
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18-Dec-2011
Cardinal George Pell has spoken in favour of offshore processing of asylum-seekers, urging the government and opposition to work together to avert further deaths of boatpeople at sea, reports the Australian.
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18-Dec-2011
Adelaide's Archbishop Philip Wilson said the church was glad to welcome people back at Christmas and he encouraged them to explore their faith and connect with a worshipping community, reports the Advertiser.
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20-Dec-2011
There will be no bell ringing at a Catholic church in eastern Victoria this Christmas, because of a bizarre act of vandalism, said a report by the ABC.
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19-Dec-2011
A 78-year-old man was allegedly involved in a fight with two men over a disabled car space outside a church in Croydon, Vic, before driving to a police station where he died while reporting an assault, according to the Age.
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20-Dec-2011
Police are investigating a fire which has caused extensive damage to the library at Carmel College, Thornlands in southeast Queensland, the Catholic Education Archdiocese of Brisbane said in a statement.
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18-Dec-2011
Archbishop John Bathersby said goodbye to his archdiocese in a warm-hearted farewell mass marking his retirement, at St Stephen's Cathedral in Brisbane yesterday, reports the Courier-Mail.
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News - International
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21-Dec-2011
An ancient document found in the Vatican archives casts new light on the story of the Nativity and the Three Wise Men who came to offer gifts to the infant Jesus, according to researchers, reports the Times, in an article published in the Australian.
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21-Dec-2011
Pope Benedict has asked Christians to highlight the real, religious meaning of Christmas in their celebrations, reports the Catholic News Service.
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20-Dec-2011
Christianity has the largest group of followers in the world, and the religion has gone global over the past century, said a new Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life report, according to CNN.
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19-Dec-2011
Pope Benedict says the Christian faith provides the best foundation for society, and that promoting a new evangelisation is the best way to build a Christian culture, reports the Catholic News Agency.
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18-Dec-2011
Pope Benedict XVI seems worn out, and people who have spent time with him recently say they found him weaker than they'd ever seen him, seemingly too tired to engage with what they were saying, according to an AP report in the Chicago Sun-Times.
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19-Dec-2011
A US Sister of Mercy has been returned to her position after being excommunicated for authorising an abortion for a pregnant woman whose life was at risk, said a report in the Vatican Insider.
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19-Dec-2011
Victims of clerical child sex abuse in Ireland are "angry and upset" by the publication of the final part of a report into their allegations so close to Christmas, a support organisation chief has said, reports the Kerryman.ie.
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21-Dec-2011
A Catholic prelate in Ireland has said the church would arrange for victims of clerical sex abuse in one diocese to meet the bishop who was in charge of it when hundreds of abuse complaints were kept secret, said a New York Times report in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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20-Dec-2011
The president of the Czech bishops' conference (pic) has called former President Vaclav Havel a "friend and fellow prisoner", and said the entire nation owes Havel a debt of gratitude for its freedom and the new flourishing of Czech life and culture, reports the Catholic News Service.
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18-Dec-2011
The bishops of the Netherlands have offered ''sincere apologies'' to victims of sexual mistreatment, after a report by an official commission said church officials had ''failed to adequately deal with'' abuse, said a New York Times report in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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21-Dec-2011
Religious leaders in South Korea extended condolences to the North over the death of Kim Jong-il this week, saying that religious exchanges across the border should continue, reports ucanews.com.
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21-Dec-2011
Papua New Guinea's influential Catholic Church is the latest group to call on Sir Michael Somare to resign, ABC Radio Australia reports.
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20-Dec-2011
South Korea will reconsider a plan to display Christmas lights near the tense border with North Korea following the death of its leader Kim Jong-Il, Seoul's defence minister said, according to an AFP report in the Australian.
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20-Dec-2011
Catholic organisations are helping organise aid for the victims of Typhoon Sendong in the Philippines after it caused flash floods that have killed hundreds of people and left thousands homeless, reports the Catholic News Agency.
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19-Dec-2011
The president of the Episcopal Conference of South Korea says the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il could mark the start of "a turning point for the path of reunification of the Koreas", reports Fides.
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18-Dec-2011
Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity order said it would pray for the soul of British writer Christopher Hitchens, who aggressively campaigned against its Nobel prize-winning founder, reports AFP in the West Australian.
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Regulars
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21-Dec-2011
If you are wandering in the 50-block area known as Skid Row in Los Angeles and you ask directions to Hospitality Kitchen or where the Catholic Workers serve meals to the homeless, no-one will know what you are talking about, writes Sister Rose Pacatte in NCR Online.
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20-Dec-2011
Bishop Cosme Hoàng Van Dat (pictured) of Bac Ninh, in North Vietnam, says he would not describe the Church of his homeland as a "persecuted Church." Yet he states with simplicity that he's sure the government watches his every move, reports Zenit.
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19-Dec-2011
Akuol Alaak, the first known female African student to lead a South Australian Catholic school, is determined to throw a spotlight on the good work of Sudanese youth, reports Southern Cross.
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18-Dec-2011
Societies which measure the worth of human beings by utilitarian criteria rather than by basic dignity are headed for trouble. It turns out that the really prescient novel about dystopias of the future was not 1984; rather it was Brave New World, says George Weigel in an interview with Kairos, published on the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne website.
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21-Dec-2011
This year marks the 30th of the worldwide satellite telecasts of Papal Christmas celebrations. The Vatican website has full details of this year's telecasts.
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20-Dec-2011
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has released a report of its study on Global Christianity: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population. The huge study contains many challenging findings about the state of modern Christianity.
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19-Dec-2011
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, a Mohawk convert to Christianity, is one of seven named by the Vatican today for canonisation after their miracles were recognised by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
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18-Dec-2011
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has renewed its poverty awareness campaign, Poverty USA, complete with a revamped website. The campaign will promote awareness about domestic poverty with updated statistics plus resources including an interactive poverty tour.
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20-Dec-2011
Just as Margaret Thatcher dominated politics in the United Kingdom for over a decade, Meryl Streep dominates The Iron Lady with a performance that ranks as one of the most masterly and compelling in recent cinema history.
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19-Dec-2011
Adam Sandler comedies seem to appeal to a wide audience, but not to critics. This film further antagonises critics by starring Al Pacino who they think has no right to be appearing in such a film.
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18-Dec-2011
One has to ask the questions: Does this film deserve continuing the series, in what ways is it different, and is it likely that we are facing the prospect of another Mission:Impossible? The answer to all these questions is in the affirmative.
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21-Dec-2011
Every December Jean and Peter Ridley hook up their "Caravan of Hope" to bring Christmas cheer and joy (and toys for kids!) to the people of the bush. Compass joined the Caravan in its outback odyssey to families doing it tough.
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21-Dec-2011
The celebration of Christmas is not purely the remembrance of a child born 2,000 years ago who happened to become famous because he claimed to be of God, as folklore would have us believe. The infancy stories are theological reflections about the faith of a people and their spiritual journey, writes Clare Condon SGS in The Good Oil.
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20-Dec-2011
A new book on Benedict XVI by a veteran Italian journalist asserts that he is a "part-time pope" who dips in to running the church or acting as a global leader only when circumstances require it. It may be tempting to dismiss the author as a grumbling leftist, but that would be a mistake, writes John allen in NCR.
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19-Dec-2011
There should be some prima facie evidence that sexual abuse complaints have not been fairly, reasonably and appropriately dealt with before any public inquiry is called, writes Peter O'Callaghan, the independent commissioner for the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, in the Age.
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18-Dec-2011
Once we start drawing the lines elsewhere with the blunt instrument of the law, vulnerable people will be sure to be put to death without their consent, because others judge that their lives are complete or useless, writes Frank Brennan in ABC Online.
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