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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Cardinal Pell hails stem cell discovery
Cardinal George Pell will refer to the Vatican an Australian scientific breakthrough that could make obsolete the moral and ethical debate surrounding embryonic stem cell research.
The Australian reports that Dr Alan Mackay-Sim of Griffith University in Brisbane yesterday published the results of a four-year project that succeeded in growing adult stem cells harvested from the nose.
The cells appear to be able to deliver everything that embryonic stem cell research promises, but without the medical and ethical side-effects.
Professor Mackay-Sim (pictured) said the easily harvested and grown olfactory stem cells are capable of being turned into heart cells, brain cells, nerve cells, indeed almost any kind of cell in the body, without the problems of rejection or tumours forming, which can happen in one in five cases when embryonic stem cells are injected into the body.
The university research team, partially funded by a $50,000 grant from the Catholic Church directly approved by Cardinal Pell, appears to have found a direct and non-controversial alternative to the use of stem cells derived from leftover embryos created during IVF fertility treatment.
Cardinal Pell, who has lobbied for a national ban on embryonic stem cell research, said there is a real possibility the findings have made "an enormous contribution".
"I would be happy to communicate it to the Pontifical Academy of Science to expedite the scientific examination and also to spread the word about the success," he said.
He also indicated he was prepared to put more Catholic funding into the project.
Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott, who officially launched the publication of the team's paper in the peer-reviewed journal Developmental Dynamics, expressed relief that "we may be delivered from ... all those moral dilemmas".
State governments recently turned down a proposal from John Howard to extend by another year restrictions imposed in 2002 on stem cell research using surplus IVF embryos.
Senator Ron Boswell, leader of the Nationals in the Senate, said the giant leap forward made by the research proves that adult stem cell research, not embryonic research, was the way of the future.
"This new adult cell technology now puts them way ahead of embryo stem cell research," Senator Boswell said. "Science has spoken loud and clear and come out on the side of adult stem cells."
SOURCE
Pell hails stem cell discovery (The Australian 22/3/05)
LINKS (not necessarily endorsed by Church Resources)
Griffith Univesity School of Biomolecular & Biomedical Science: Professor Alan Mackay-Sim
Alan Mackay-Sim: A Researcher's Perspective (The Brisbane Institute)
Practical Problems with Embryonic Stem Cells (US Conference of Catholic Bishops)
Bishops support ethical research on stem cells (Australian Catholic Bishops Conference 22/9/01)
A Discussion Paper on Ethics, Law & Medical Research Cloning & Stem Cells: A contribution to the national debate (Australian Catholic Bishops Conference 20/9/01)
The Griffith key to innovation in biotechnology (Innovation Australia)
ARCHIVE
Sydney Archdiocese announces Church funding for adult stem cell research (CathNews 26/3/03)
Ethicist stresses moral inviolability of embryonic stem cells (CathNews 5/10/04)
US cardinal talks up benefits of adult stem cell research (CathNews 19/10/04)
Adult marrow breakthrough at Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital (CathNews 30/1/03)
Catholic Health calls for delay in embryo research bill (CathNews 24/6/02)
St Vincent's Hospital research sidesteps moral dilemma (CathNews 16/4/02)
MORE STORIES
Former Queenslander of the Year makes world breakthrough on stem cells (Senator Ron Boswell 21/3/05)
Sweet cell of success (The Australian 22/3/05)
Embryo advance by SA team (The Age 20/3/05)
22 Mar 2005
