Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and representatives of other Orthodox and Anglican churches accompanied Pope Benedict in lighting a candle to launch the Year of St Paul.
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Volunteers refuse WYD powers
Rural Fire Service and State Emergency Service volunteers will not seek "authorised person" status while assisting with WYD in order to avoid "negative interactions with people".
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Vietnam up, US down on WYD numbers
A record number of Vietnamese pilgrims will attend World Youth Day this year but US numbers are down - and 50 Angola pilgrims are stranded in Sydney instead of Adelaide because tour organisers thought the SA capital was only an hour way.
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Celebrate the living spirit: Bishops urge
Australia's bishops have urged Catholics to "celebrate the Living Spirit" to mark Aboriginal and Torres Islander Sunday this weekend.
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Korean priests in Mass protest against US beef
Two hundred South Korean priests have celebrated a street Mass in Seoul to protest an unpopular government decision to resume beef imports from the US.
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Bees for Benedict
Italian scooter manufacturer Piaggio has presented Pope Benedict with two new specially made three wheeled vehicles.
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Feature - Walking away from what they do not know
"People who leave the Church are not leaving because they are rejecting the teachings of John Paul II or Pope Benedict. Most do so because they go to Catholic schools and they think that the kind of warm secular humanism with Christian gloss that they get in Catholic schools is in fact the Catholic faith and it hasn't captured their imagination, their love or their intellect so they are walking away from something that they do not know." - The Catholic Herald
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Featured Website - First Things
First Things is a monthly ecumenical journal concerned with the creation of a "religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society." It is published by The Institute on Religion and Public Life in the United States of America.
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Film Review - Kung Fu Panda
Kung Fu Panda is essentially a martial arts comedy and is a total action movie. It has striking effects and action sequences and a particularly impressive concluding fantasy sequence which brings DreamWorks to a new level of technological sophistication. There is a strong cultural feel about the movie and it heavily draws on Chinese culture to bring authenticity to its fantasy. - Peter Sheehan, Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting
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Opinion - God is without circumference
His challenge was to see the beauty in every face, even when the owner of that face had long given up on it. Surely, that is to love others as Jesus did—Jesus the One who never gives up on us. If we are to love as Jesus loved, we need to be forgiving people. Forgiving people are bridge-builders and reconcilers. - Fr Chris Gleeson, Madonna
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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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Lobbyist plans rural tour to talk water reform
Church lobby group PolMin is embarking on a speaking tour of parts of drought-affected New South Wales to suggest that Catholic Social Teaching has some insights to contribute to the current debate on water reform.
"The current drought – the worst in 100 years – and its effects on rural communities makes water policy a key national policy issue for both Federal and State governments," said lobbyist Victoria Kearney ahead of her visit to the dioceses of Armidale and Wilcannia-Forbes.
"Salinity, food production, rural and regional survival and development arising from the current water crisis are some of the key challenges facing Australia’s policy decision makers," she said. "Proper and appropriate management of water as a resource is a necessity if we are to protect this essential resource and ensure the survival of rural communities."
Called Water: the Common Community Cause, the tour draws on Catholic social teaching in an attempt to encourage local communities to participate in the current debate on water policy reform. PolMin is inviting community members, politicians, community leaders, Catholic and non-Catholic to attend the talks. Dates and venues will be published in the local media.
Ms Kearney teaches health, environment and community development subjects at a university in Sydney. Her area of special interest is in developing community consciousness about issues, and community participation in changing government policy.
PolMin - the Australian Political Ministry Network Ltd (PolMin) - describes itself as a "national not for profit organisation committed to bringing about systemic change in Australian society ... in accordance with Catholic social teaching".
SOURCE
PolMin
LINKS
PolMin
Murray-Darling Basin Initiative
Salinity in NSW (Dept of Land and Water Conservation)
Adelaide Catholics encouraged to observe International Year of Fresh Water (20/1/03)
International Year of Fresh Water
A New Earth: The Environmental Challenge (2002 Social Justice Sunday Statement)
Catholic Earthcare Australia
4 Feb 2003
