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.
[More]
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".
[More]
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.
[More]
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.
[More]
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.
[More]
Bees for Benedict
Italian scooter manufacturer Piaggio has presented Pope Benedict with two new specially made three wheeled vehicles.
[More]
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
[More]
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.
[More]
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
[More]
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
[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
Warning: main(http://www.cathnews.com/cgi-bin/ad_management.pl) [function.main]: failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found in E:\hshome\eureka0\cathnews.com\news\310\131.php on line 131
Warning: main() [function.include]: Failed opening 'http://www.cathnews.com/cgi-bin/ad_management.pl' for inclusion (include_path='.\;C:\HSphere.NET\3rdparty\PHP\4.4.7\PEAR') in E:\hshome\eureka0\cathnews.com\news\310\131.php on line 131
Canberra Bishop challenges Bush to wage war on poverty
Canberra-Goulburn Diocese auxiliary Bishop Pat Power yesterday urged US President George Bush to forget about the War on Terror and instead make the world more secure by correcting the imbalance in the distribution of the world's wealth and resources.
He was addressing a group of several thousand protestors outside Parliament House yesterday as US President George W Bush met with Prime Minister John Howard and delivered a speech before a special joint sitting of Federal Parliament.
"We should be having a war on poverty rather than a war on terror," he said.
Other speakers included Greens leader Bob Brown, Labor's Carmen Lawrence and former security analyst Andrew Wilkie.
Bishop Power's speech was pitched as an Open Letter to the US President.
"Can't you see how your so-called war on terrorism has only succeeded in increasing the threat of terrorists attacks?" he said. "Can't you see that our world has become far more volatile and fragile since you embarked on this senseless campaign?"
He suggested it is deeply divisive for countries like the United States and Australia continue to flaunt their extravagant lifestyles in the face of the dire poverty of Third World countries.
"Surely it is in everyone's interest for the United States and its allies to be viewed as friends to the rest of the world, rather than trying to beat them into submission by threats and brute force."
Bishop Power pointed out that during the Jubilee Year 2000, a campaign was conducted to remit or at least reduce the international debt of those Third World countries whose whole economy is locked into trying to pay off impossible interest debts. He said a fraction of the price of the war on terror would have gone a long way towards lessening those crippling debts.
SOURCE
An appeal to President Bush (Bishop Pat Power)
Protesters rally outside Parliament (AAP/news.com.au)
LINKS
Four arrested during violent protest (ABC TV 7:30 Report)
Bush heckled in Canberra speech (CNN)
Protesters rally outside Parliament (The Australian)
Bishop Power to urge Bush to be less aggressive (21/10/03)
Rev Gordon Moyes meets President Bush
24 Oct 2003
