News
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28-Aug-2012
Australians are increasingly shunning church weddings, with civil ceremonies increasing from 42 per cent in 1990 to more than 69 per cent of all marriages in 2010, reports The Canberra Times. Catholic weddings account for 33 per cent of all church ceremonies.
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23-Aug-2012
The director of the National Office for Vocation of England and Wales (pictured) was heckled on a radio program as he began to tell the audience that people of faith often have their views dismissed or ridiculed in the public square, reports The Catholic Herald.
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30-Aug-2012
The Italian Franciscan priest, Fr Gabriele Maria Allegra, who translated the entire Bible into Chinese for the first time, will be beatified next month, reports Vatican Insider.
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30-Aug-2012
The lawyer for the papal assistant charged with stealing Vatican documents, has left his client's defence team, citing a difference over defense strategies, according to a Catholic News Service report on NCR Online.
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29-Aug-2012
A trio of thieves on a train stole a backpack containing a vial of Pope John Paul II’s blood from a traveling Catholic priest on Tuesday, according to a report by the New York Daily News in The Inquisitr.
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27-Aug-2012
A traditionalist religious order, based on a tiny island off the north coast of Scotland, that used to be part of the breakaway Society of St Pius X, has received formal recognition as a diocesan institute within the Catholic Church, reports the Catholic News Agency.
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30-Aug-2012
A Catholic church on Sydney's northern beaches has ramped up a campaign against the redevelopment of a neighbouring carpark ahead of council elections on September 8, reports The Manly Daily.
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27-Aug-2012
Catholic agencies are working to assess damage in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Isaac's pass over the Caribbean, where at least 24 people died and tens of thousands were evacuated, reports the Catholic News Service.
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27-Aug-2012
The President of Panama, Ricard Martinelli, has promised to build the world's tallest statue of the Virgin Mary, reports The Tablet.
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29-Aug-2012
With abounding "colour and energy", an array of cultures packed St Stephen's Cathedral, Brisbane, last Sunday for the archdiocese's annual Multicultural Mass, reports The Catholic Leader.
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29-Aug-2012
US anti-nuclear activist Sr Anne Montgomery, renowned for her role in the Plowshares actions from the 1980s onwards, has died of cancer in California, aged 85, according to a Catholic News Service report on NCR Online.
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26-Aug-2012
Families in Sydney have gathered to support a campaign against shops opening on protected public holidays such as Christmas and Easter, according to an AAP report in Adelaidenow.
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28-Aug-2012
The head of St Vincent de Paul says giving inadequate welfare payments to unemployed people is like punishing a person who can't walk up stairs while refusing to build a ramp, reports The Australian.
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27-Aug-2012
The Federal Government says it is has no plans to increase dole payments despite calls by church groups for them to be indexed to real wage increases, reports Radio Australia.
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30-Aug-2012
Catholic school teachers across Queensland have voted to strike next Thursday, September 6, over a 2.7 per cent wage offer, reports The Daily Telegraph. But most Catholic schools will remain open.
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29-Aug-2012
A Christian girl charged under strict blasphemy laws in Pakistan saw her chances of escaping a prison sentence increase yesterday after a court confirmed she was a minor suffering from a mental disability, reports Ucanews.
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28-Aug-2012
The San Diego Police Department has verified the weekend arrest of the Archbishop-designate of San Francisco for driving under the influence, reports the Catholic News Agency.
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28-Aug-2012
New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan will offer closing prayers on September 6 at the Democratic National Convention, as he will at the Republican National Convention a week earlier, reports the Catholic News Service.
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28-Aug-2012
Scotland's Roman Catholic priests have condemned plans by the devolved government in Edinburgh to legalise same-sex marriage, according to a BBC report on SBS.
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28-Aug-2012
The Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop of the Syrian city of Aleppo fled to Lebanon as fighting intensified in the city's Christian areas last week, reports The Tablet.
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27-Aug-2012
Syrian rebel forces have trapped over 12,000 Greek Catholics in a village near the Lebanese border, causing shortages of food, medicine and other urgent supplies, reports the Catholic News Agency.
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26-Aug-2012
The ACT Catholic Education Commission will launch a grassroots campaign today to force local MLAs to commit to increased funding for local Catholic schools, which hold the distinction of being among the least-funded in the country, reports The Canberra Times.
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26-Aug-2012
New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan will deliver a benediction at the Republican National Convention, making him the latest in a long string of prelates to offer prayers at the major party conventions, according to a Catholic News Service report published by NCR Online.
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26-Aug-2012
The Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal Pell, has been urged to appear before the upcoming Victorian inquiry into sex abuse, reports The Australian.
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23-Aug-2012
The Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal Pell, has authorised a 4000-word statement regarding the church's mishandling of sexual abuse investigations around the country, and emphasised that his authority in dealing with complaints is "limited to the Archdiocese of Sydney", reports The Australian.
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29-Aug-2012
Scores of people who can trace their ancestry to a group of Irish orphan girls were among more than 400 who gathered at the Great Irish Famine monument at Hyde Park Barracks for the 13th annual commemoration on Sunday, reports The Catholic Weekly.
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27-Aug-2012
Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Bishop Bill Wright has told a civic reception in Maitland that he was working on a plan to provide more Catholic education in the growing city, reports The Newcastle Herald.
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26-Aug-2012
About 5000 Victorian Catholic school teachers and staff are expected to join 35,000 state school colleagues who will walk off the job on Wednesday, September 5, in unprotected industrial action, reports the Herald Sun.
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29-Aug-2012
The forearm of St Francis Xavier, one of Australia’s patron saints, will be in Sydney for the saint’s feast day on December 3, the first time the relic has been away from the Church of the Gesu in Rome for that date, reports The Catholic Weekly.
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26-Aug-2012
A Spanish grandmother's less-than-artistic attempt to restore a century-old church fresco has turned into an unlikely art sensation, with thousands of people signing an online petition to save her questionable handiwork, reports Brisbane Times.com.au.
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Regulars
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30-Aug-2012
Fr Caesar Atuire is not naive enough to ask his pilgrims to leave their smartphones at home. However, the CEO of a Vatican-related pilgrimage agency does ask his pilgrims to at least look at the holy sites - perhaps even say a prayer - before clicking and capturing the moment in a photo, text message, tweet or Facebook post, according to a Catholic News Service story published by NCR Online.
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29-Aug-2012
Sr Esmey Herscovitch rscj talks about the work at The Gathering Place among the Aboriginal community at Redfern. Her story reveals a fundamental element in the pursuit of social justice that we can apply to daily life, reports Catholic Religious Australia.
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28-Aug-2012
Ever since young Frank Jones went to the local Catholic youth group to meet girls at age 15, he was inspired by the joy and happiness of the local priests and vowed to join them, reports The Catholic Leader.
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27-Aug-2012
US Catholic parishes have fewer priests and more lay people, according to a study by Georgetown University that sketches out the landscape in contemporary America, reports Vatican Insider.
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26-Aug-2012
Sister Ruth Egar rsm, retiring after seven years as the Archbishop's Delegate for Religious in Adelaide, says that handing over the responsibility for many Catholic institutions to the laity has enabled the religious to minister more strongly to others who ‘live on the edge’ of society, reports Catholic Religious Australia
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30-Aug-2012
Developed by an American former parish youth ministry leader, flocknote is an Internet-based networking tool that aims at making communication within ministries, parishes and dioceses more effective.
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29-Aug-2012
Sacred Destinations is an ecumenical guide to more than 1,250 sacred sites, holy places, pilgrimage destinations, religious architecture and sacred art in over 60 countries around the world. In includes photo galleries plus detailed maps and lots of practical travel information.
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28-Aug-2012
Pax Christi is a gospel-based lay-inspired, peacemaking movement. Founded in the Catholic Church, its membership is open to individuals, groups and organisations of all faiths who are in sympathy with its aims and values. It is affiliated to Pax Christi International.
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27-Aug-2012
The Association of Catholic School Principals works with other education bodies to challenge and respond to education issues. Its website carries a wide range of relevant educational news, reports and statistics about Catholic education.
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26-Aug-2012
The Australian Confraternity of Catholic Clergy is a membership organization for diocesan clergy. However, the Confraternity welcomes and encourages lay and religious associate members.
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30-Aug-2012
Talent, age, experience. All very impressively present in this light and serious comedy about marriage and marriage counselling. Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones, in their 60s, are so at home in front of the camera that their performances seem effortless – but, it is obvious that they have given a great deal of thought to each scene, even to body language with small details.
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29-Aug-2012
Bullying is one of the harshest realities close to parents and families as they try to communicate with their bullied child. And, one of the severest consequences of bullying is child and teenage suicide. Parents could find the film quite harrowing. However, the director, Lee Hirsch, has opted for a more straightforward exploration and avoided sensationalism.
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28-Aug-2012
Adult audiences should find Bernie an interesting and entertaining film. However, it is best to go into it knowing as little of the plot as possible. There are several very well portrayed character developments.
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30-Aug-2012
I have discovered a heartening article on Rome Reports TV News agency about the quiet, good work done in sub-Saharan Africa by a Jesuit organisation, the African Jesuit Aids Network (AJAN). Begun by a Canadian priest, Fr Michael Czerny SJ, AJAN is now present in 30 African countries, since its foundation in 2002, writes Francis Philips in The Catholic Herald.
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29-Aug-2012
Countless connections exist between the Catholic Church and ancient Rome but it remains to be seen whether the Roman principle of natural justice has also been adopted by the Church. The case of the papal butler, so far, gives cause for grave concern that it has not, writes The Tablet in an editorial.
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28-Aug-2012
People have always been intrigued by the seal of confession; it is generally accepted, certainly among Catholics that a priest will never "tell" what he has heard in confession even if he has to suffer or even die to maintain the integrity of the seal of confession, writes Fr Gary Walker on the St Columbans Missionary Society website.
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27-Aug-2012
Perhaps Emily Seebohm, James Magnussen and all the other Australian Olympians who had to “settle for silver” might receive a greater gift by not winning the ultimate golden prize. In “falling short” there is a larger meaning and purpose than that of gratifying one’s ego, writes Patty Fawkner SGS in The Good Oil.
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26-Aug-2012
The US church is sending clear signals that it has no intention of backing down. Its involvement in the public square is vital. The church's voice has been raised consistently on behalf of the poor and the marginalised, the undocumented and the unborn. The question is whether the "culture-warrior" model of the new trio of archbishops is the right model for such involvement, writes NCR Online in an editorial.
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27-Aug-2012
On Thursday Archbishop Denis Hart, President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, and the Hon Chris Bowen, Minister of Immigration and Citizenship, will come together to reflect on Australia’s moral obligations to people seeking asylum.
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26-Aug-2012
What is the responsibility of the individual in responding to climate change versus the responsibilities of government, corporations and international bodies? On Wednesday this question will be debated at the fourth ACU Voice speaker event, led by journalist Geraldine Doogue and key speaker Clive Hamilton AM.
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