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A US Coast Guard officer who refused to be injected with a vaccine derived from the remains of an aborted child has won an exemption from the required vaccination. 
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Melbourne parish priest, Fr Noel Brady, has launched a protest against unsightly supermarket trolleys left abandond in streets for up to three months.
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With US lenders threatening to repossess 650,000 homes in the first quarter of 2008, Catholic parishes are mobilising to offer assistance to mortgage distressed homeowners.
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Feature - A new dawn for Sorry Day
It is time for this country to build new relationships and to be open to future possibilities, we commit ourselves to deep, on-going dialogue with our indigenous sisters and brothers on further ways of moving forward. - Fr Mark Raper, Pathways
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Featured Website - Ron Rolheiser
This is the website of one of the best known Catholic priests in the western world. Fr Rolheiser is best known through his writings and lecturing on spirituality and prising open the Word in such a clear, beautiful and heart-inspiring style.
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Film Review - Shutter

Based on a 2004 Thai film of the same name, Shutter is an American/Japanese production. If you can take the shocks and violence of this genre, this film is worth the admission price for the cinematography alone. - Fr Richard Leonard, Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting


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Opinion - Middle class creep in Irish Church
During the transformation of Irish society from a largely rural and agricultural economy to an industrialised one there occurred a failure of imagination in the Irish Church. - Fr Oliver Rafferty, The Catholic Herald
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OPINION
Beyond knowledge to wisdom
I 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 borders
It 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 Parramatta
Returning 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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Iraq bishop says media distorts coverage to discredit US-led war


An Iraqi Catholic bishop has accused Western media of lying about the postwar state of his country.

Auxiliary Bishop Andraos Abouna of Baghdad said he believed media were running a propaganda campaign to discredit the American-led coalition that ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and now runs Iraq.

Bishop Abouna, a Chaldean Catholic, told the Catholic Herald in London that the situation in Iraq is steadily improving rather than descending into a morass resembling the Vietnam War, as often depicted by media outlets.

"It´s getting better but still there are many problems," Bishop Abouna said. "The first problem is that they need security, then they need water and electricity -- and all these things are getting better."

"The media are exaggerating a lot of things. They should be realistic about the situation in Iraq. Newspapers and television are saying a lot of things that aren´t true. When they go there they can see everything (is changing)," he said.

SOURCE
Catholic News Service

LINKS
Bishop Andraos Abouna (catholic-hierarchy.org)
Caritas says it will stay in Iraq (24/9/03)
Dominican returning from Baghdad reports on US weapon rumours (18/9/03)
Chaldean Catholics demand role in post-Saddam Iraq rule (17/9/03)
Polish military bishop says troops in Iraq face ´harsh conditions´ (Catholic News Service)
Baghdad Archbishop says fears rising after mosque attack (3/9/03)
Iraqi bishop welcomes latest papal appeals for peace (John L. Allen, National Catholic Reporter 10/1/03)


26 Sep 2003