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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Sydney priest defies heritage listing on parish church
Bondi Beach parish priest Fr Paul Foley has made changes including the removal of altar rails in defiance of state planning rules.
The heritage-listed St Anne's Church, which was built in 1934, won the 1935 Sulman architecture prize.
Fr Foley closed the church so workers could take out the altar rails. He said a range of changes were needed, such as for air vents that had not worked for 50 years, covered by boxes that were breaking up.
Fr Foley said altar rails are no longer of use because priests now step down from the sanctuary to give Communion. He has also put in a glassed section at the back of the church as a "crying room" for babies.
He does not believe that council planning rules should intrude into such matters.
But 10 parishioners of the "committee for the preservation of St Anne's Shrine" sent a letter to the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal Pell, earlier this month calling on him to intervene.
They said that Fr Foley continued to "disobey the lawful, civil authorities so blatantly" and had "carried out unapproved works four times in the last five years".
The parishioners said their "legitimate complaints have been treated with contempt and that Fr Foley has been allowed repeatedly to disregard proper procedures and approvals".
Last week, Arif Faruqi, a planner for Waverley Council, wrote to the archdiocese trustees about the removal of the rails and erection of the glass panelling without permission.
Mr Faruqi warned that unless an explanation was received within two weeks, "council will be forced to take further legal action". Father Foley says he has contacted the council and there will be a meeting this week.
Meanwhile in Melbourne, a row has erupted over a plan to expand a little-known Catholic community on the fringe of the suburbs.
Maryknoll, 15 km east of Pakenham, was set up in the 1950s as an ideal Catholic settlement. A plan to allow development has sparked a bitter battle with a councillor who owns some of the land.
If approved, property surrounding Maryknoll could be carved into 35 rural lifestyle blocks.
Original resident Des O'Connell, 88, said development would rob the settlement of its unique identity. Maryknoll, the vision of Catholic priest Wilfred Pooley, was established as a rural village of families on 0.8ha blocks.
"This has grown up over 50 careful years. The growth has been incremental, in little bits," Mr O'Connell said.
It's no longer exclusively Catholic, but the locals claim the strong sense of community remains.
SOURCE
Why some of the congregation hate this priest (Sydney Morning Herald)
Maryknoll residents fight land carve-up (Herald-Sun)
LINKS
Archdiocese of Sydney | St Anne's Church
Waverley Council | Heritage Listings
NSW Heritage Office
[Maryknoll] Community in bitter council planning battle (ABC TV Stateline)
27 Oct 2003
