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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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Remote area voice sees PM ´off target´ on IR
Broome´s Office of Justice, Ecology & Peace has said that Prime Minister John Howard´s attempts to silence Church comment on the Government´s proposed Industrial Relations reforms show a lack of understanding of the role of Church leaders and organisations.
In the context of Church criticism of the reform proposals, Mr Howard last Sunday challenged the idea that the Church can hold a position on particular social issues, asserting that there´s "no such thing as a Catholic or an Anglican view on anything. It depends on individuals".
Broome Office Coordinator Br Shane Wood said yesterday that the attempt by the Prime Minister to ward off Church criticism of the IR proposals was "wide of the mark:.
"His comments demonstrate the Prime Minister´s lack of understanding of the role and responsibilities of Church Leaders and Church organisations committed to social justice," he said.
"Unlike the Prime Minister, Church Leaders are required by their position to preach the Word in season and out of season," he said. "They are not responsive to the whims of popular opinion or swayed by the pressures that come from the need to keep an eye on the next election."
Br Wood said that Church Leaders and Church groups with a responsibility for the promotion of social justice are required to take their lead from the Gospel, and based on a solid tradition of over a century of Catholic Social Justice teaching, to apply these principles to current affairs.
"Also unlike political parties in most instances, having had the principles of Catholic Social Justice Teaching applied to a particular issue by Church Leaders or their agencies, it is up to the conscience of the individual members of the Church to act as they see fit on that advice. This is not to weaken the principle or to call into to question the process by which it was arrived at. It is to give to the individual the respect and dignity that is their right, and to leave them to exercise their informed conscience on the issue at hand."
SOURCE
Preemptive strike misses the target… (Office of Justice, Ecology and Peace, Diocese of Broome 11/8/05)
LINKS (not necessarily endorsed by Church Resources)
Diocese of Broome
ARCHIVE
Commission answers PM´s denial of existence of Catholic position (CathNews 10/8/05)
PM dismisses voice of Church (CathNews 8/8/05)
Melbourne Archbishop coordinating IR response (CathNews 3/8/05)
Minister tells churches to stay out of IR fight (CathNews 11/7/05)
Pell voices wages concerns (CathNews 4/7/05)
Canberra bishop speaks out on job insecurity fears (CathNews 1/7/04)
Church leaders worried about Howard IR changes (CathNews 29/6/05)
Bishop hits back at Minister´s claims on IR reforms 1/6/05)
Catholic body seeks meeting with Minister over workplace laws (CathNews 30/5/05)
MORE STORIES
We want this! We need this! We demand this! (Online Catholics 10/8/05)
PM holds out against IR pressure (Seven News/Australian Associated Press 9/8/05)
Family Provisions Decision (Australian Catholic Commission for Industrial Relations 8/8/05)
No "Catholic" political stands, Australian premier says (Catholic World News 7/8/05)
12 Aug 2005
