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\412\115.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\412\115.php on line 131
Council urges Govt to 'come to table' on Timor Sea
The Australian Catholic Social Justice Council (ACSJC) has called on the Australian Government to do all in its power to ensure East Timor has early access to revenues from the oil and gas resources of the Timor Sea.
A Council statement yesterday noted that as recently as August, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer stated that Australia and East Timor had the makings of a framework to settle the dispute by the end of the year. By October, however, these negotiations had broken down. There appears to be no good news for the East Timorese this Christmas.
The Timor Sea dispute comprises a number of boundary issues but the most immediate relates to the Greater Sunrise oil and gas fields. At stake is the development of billions of dollars worth of revenue. A reasonable share of this revenue is desperately needed to secure the economic viability and sustainable development of East Timor.
ACSJC Chair Bishop Christopher Saunders said: "A rich nation like Australia can endure delays in these negotiations. East Timor cannot."
Bishop Saunders pointed out that East Timor is among the poorest nations of the world, and the Timor Sea is the "only resource available to East Timor to provide adequately for its growing population".
Half of the population of 900,000 is under the age of 14. Food security is poor and there is widespread malnutrition. Child mortality rates for children under 5 years of age are well over 10%. Industry and commerce is minimal – over 80% of the population survive on subsistence agriculture and farming.
"Australians can view with pride the role we have played in securing East Timor’s transition to democracy and providing aid and development support," he said. "The dire need of our vulnerable neighbour increases the urgency of Australia acting now to ensure East Timor can improve its economic security."
The ACSJC is urging the Australian Government to resume negotiations on Greater Sunrise that will allow fair terms to assist East Timor to be self sufficient and prosperous. Such terms would recognise both countries' right to pursue permanent maritime boundaries relating to the shared petroleum development area in the future”, Bishop Saunders concluded.
SOURCE
Council urges "Come to the table on Timor Sea" (Australian Catholic Social Justice Council 20/12/04)
LINKS
Save East Timor (Edmund Rice Centre)
Australian Catholic Social Justice Council
Government of East Timor
Office of Territory Development: Timor Sea Oil and Gas
Sr Susan Connelly: East Timor needs justice not charity (Australian Catholic Movement for Intellectual and Cultural Affairs)
Long Term Consequences of Government Policy on Resources of the Timor Sea (Sr Susan Connelly, Politics in the Pub, 17/9/04
ARCHIVE
Nun challenges media mischief on Timor oil (CathNews 6/8/04)
Christian Brothers leader writes to PM on Timor Sea oil (CathNews 20/5/04)
Josephite support for Timor Sea boundary rethink (CathNews 13/5/04)
Commission says Australia 'bullying' East Timor (CathNews 20/4/04)
MORE STORIES
East Timor ups ante in oil and gas fight (ABC Radio The World Today 16/12/04)
Australia accused in E Timor oil wrangle (The Guardian 4/12/04)
21 Dec 2004
