Pope Benedict has made a plea for more action to address the poverty, conflicts and neglect that lead to the suffering or death of millions of children around the world.
[More]
WYD visitors in modest boost to tourism
The number of tourists to Australia in World Youth Day month, July 2008, jumped by 47,000 compared with the same month last year, figures show.
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ACU unveils MacKillop sculpture
Sydney Cardinal George Pell has unveiled and blessed a specially commissioned sculpture of Blessed Mary MacKillop at the Australian Catholic University North Sydney campus.
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Breaching laws hit families: CSSA
Harsh social security breaching laws impact on families with up to 50 percent of breached job seekers falling behind in their rent, Catholic Social Services chief Frank Quinlan has told a Senate enquiry.
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Confirmation "the sacrament of farewell": Bunbury bishop
Saying that Confirmation has practically become a "Sacrament of Farewell", Bunbury Bishop Gerard Holohan has called for a radical reconsideration of the age and practice relating to its conferral.
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Qld, Vic school teachers in new abuse cases
A former Catholic College Bendigo staff member has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two young boys twenty years ago while a Darling Downs Catholic school teacher has been charged with seven counts of rape.
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Poland's Wyszynski proposed Wojtyla
Cardinal Stefan Wyszinski declined to be nominated as pope during a 1978 conclave, proposing instead his compatriot Karol Wojtyla, the late Polish primate's journal reveals.
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Priests arrested over Indian nun murder
Citing "fresh and concrete evicence", Indian detectives have arrested two priests and a nun over the 1992 murder in Kerala of 21 year old Sr Abhaya.
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Salvador archbishop rejects inquiry into killed Jesuits
San Salvador Archbishop Fernando Saenz Lacalle has criticised the prosecution in Spain of Salvadoran officials over the 1989 massacre of six Jesuit priests.
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Feature - Differing memories of a Melbourne institution
The Abbotsford Convent wasn't a cruel place, Angela Dyer says. At least not for her. During her four years there, Dyer says, the nuns did not mistreat her, but she does remember the lack of love and her craving for affection. For some, the nuns were angels of mercy, while others remembered a nightmare childhood of beatings. - Katherine Kizilos, The Age
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Featured Website - Catholic League
This is the website of the Catholic League, the organisation which holds itself as the defender of Catholic civil rights in the United States. The League views that bias against the Catholic Church is deeply rooted in Amercian society and that "Catholic baiting is the anti-Semitism of the liberals."
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Book Review - The Ethics of the Common Good in the Social Doctrine of the Church
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's Secretary of State and effectively the second most important official in the Catholic Church, takes a close look at economic globalisation and the social nature of markets in this book which is notable for its ecumenical character. - Paola Fantini, Acton Institute
[More]
Opinion - Anglican dissenters in conflict of conscience
The GAFCON leaders claimed that what they regarded as their orthodox views have not been properly respected in the Anglican Communion. They therefore have had to act out in organisational dissent. To claim that at the global level and not to respect and engage with dissenters in your own immediate family is manifestly dishonest. - Reverend Bruce Kaye, Online Opinion
[More]
OPINION
Beyond knowledge to wisdomI believe this is one of the crisis points for contemporary Christianity. Put bluntly, its representatives do not seem wise. Yes, those representatives can give you any amount of information, some of them can even speak knowledgeably of Christian teachings. Wisdom is another thing altogether. - Fr Michael Whelan [More] - Aquinas Academy
FEATURE
Connected across bordersIt is time for leaders of nations to see their national interests as connected with the interests of people on the other side of the globe. We have reached the point where human existence is at stake and our destiny is inextricably linked. If we are to overcome this crisis of climate change we need to think beyond the confines of national states. - Just Comment [More] - Edmund Rice Centre
FEATURED CATHOLIC WEBSITE
Catholic Education Diocese of ParramattaReturning to our education theme, we shine the spotlight on arguably the most innovative Catholic education website in the country. In addition to all the standard features of any CEO site, Parramatta's includes some interactive opinion polls and a competition for students to attempt to ''Become the Executive Director for the day''. The site is also well regarded for its RE and curriculum resources.
- www.parra.catholic.edu.au
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Vatican reasserts opposition to war in Iraq
The Vatican renewed its opposition to war in Iraq on Wednesday, saying military action would only make matters worse and that a pre-emptive strike raised serious ethical and legal problems.
"It's unilateralism, pure and simple," the Vatican's UN observer, Archbishop Renato Martino, said in comments published in the Italian newsweekly Famiglia Christiana.
The principle of a "first strike" as well as its possible use in Iraq "provoke profound reservations be it from the ethical or legal point of view," he said.
He recalled the Vatican's opposition to the 1991 Gulf War, saying: "Everyone knows the way it turned out. War doesn't resolve problems. Besides being bloody, it's useless," he said.
The Vatican's foreign minister has said the United Nations must authorize any military action in Iraq and a papal adviser has warned against the "unacceptable human costs and grave destabilizing effects" of a preventive strike.
The Italian government has sided closely with the United States in its campaign against Iraq.
SOURCE
AP
VATICAN TELLS UN THAT NUCLEAR ARMS ARE INCOMPATIBLE WITH PEACE
Representative Laments Stalled Process of Disarmament
The Vatican has told the United Nations there is no moral justification for military and political doctrines that promote the proliferation or stocking of nuclear weapons.
On Tuesday, when addressing the 1st Committee of the 57th Session of the UN General Assembly on General and Complete Disarmament, Archbishop Renato Martino, head of the Vatican delegation, expressed the Church's concern over the stagnation of the disarmament process.
"There can be no moral acceptance of military doctrines that embody the permanence of nuclear weapons," said Archbishop Martino, who on that same day was appointed by the Pope as president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
"They are incompatible with the peace we seek for the 21st century; they cannot be justified. These weapons are instruments of death and destruction," Archbishop Martino added.
SOURCE
Zenit
LINKS
Papal Collaborator Poses Questions to US on Iraq Crisis (Zenit)
Iraq cleric reveals the sufferings of his faithful (3/10/02)
Melbourne Justice Commission urges boycott of 'blood tax' (2/10/02)
Washington Archbishop cautions lawmakers on Iraq war (30/9/02)
Catholic agency worried about 'untold suffering' in Iraq war (20/9/02)
4 Oct 2002
