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A US Coast Guard officer who refused to be injected with a vaccine derived from the remains of an aborted child has won an exemption from the required vaccination.
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Pope thanks "wifes of Christ"
Pope Benedict yesterday thanked consecrated virgins for their "total gift" to Christ encouraging them to "always irradiate the dignity of being the wife of Christ."
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Mail and penny drop for WYD
Preparations for World Youth Day have stepped up a notch with a letter drop to half a million Sydney homes and the release of a commemorative colour coin of the Pope.
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Priest in supermarket trolley protest
Melbourne parish priest, Fr Noel Brady, has launched a protest against unsightly supermarket trolleys left abandond in streets for up to three months.
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Call to follow WA and reject cloning
Sydney archdiocese policy officer, Dr Brigid McKenna, has welcomed a decision by the Western Australian Legislative Council to reject cloning as a victory for "commonsense science and morality."
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US churches offer mortgage help
With US lenders threatening to repossess 650,000 homes in the first quarter of 2008, Catholic parishes are mobilising to offer assistance to mortgage distressed homeowners.
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Feature - A new dawn for Sorry Day
It is time for this country to build new relationships and to be open to future possibilities, we commit ourselves to deep, on-going dialogue with our indigenous sisters and brothers on further ways of moving forward. - Fr Mark Raper, Pathways
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Featured Website - Ron Rolheiser
This is the website of one of the best known Catholic priests in the western world. Fr Rolheiser is best known through his writings and lecturing on spirituality and prising open the Word in such a clear, beautiful and heart-inspiring style.
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Film Review - Shutter
Based on a 2004 Thai film of the same name, Shutter is an American/Japanese production. If you can take the shocks and violence of this genre, this film is worth the admission price for the cinematography alone. - Fr Richard Leonard, Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting
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Opinion - Middle class creep in Irish Church
During the transformation of Irish society from a largely rural and agricultural economy to an industrialised one there occurred a failure of imagination in the Irish Church. - Fr Oliver Rafferty, The Catholic Herald
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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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Irish probe finds abuse cover-up in Catholic Church
The Catholic Church in Ireland covered up the sexual abuse of young people by priests over several decades in one diocese, according to a 270 page report that follows an investigation by the state.
Reuters says the report, which stems from an investigation begun in 2002, was published yesterday and details the Church's handling of 100 allegations of abuse against 21 priests in the diocese of Ferns in County Wexford dating back to the mid-1960s.
"It is clear from the report that effective action was not taken to protect vulnerable children over a period many years," Minister for Children Brian Lenihan said in a statement.
"On behalf of the government I want to condemn in the strongest possible terms the repeated failure and gross dereliction of duties of those in positions of trust in the Dioceses of Ferns," the minister added.
The probe found that for 20 years a bishop in charge of the rural diocese in Ireland's south east penalised priests against whom abuse allegations were made by transferring them to a different post or different diocese for a time. Priests were then returned former posts.
The Ferns Inquiry report criticised the bishop's decision to ordain "clearly unsuitable men into the priesthood" when he knew or ought to have known that they might abuse children.
The findings are likely to reignite public anger in mostly Catholic Ireland after a string of clerical sex abuse scandals.
The inquiry was set up following the resignation in 2002 of the Bishop of Ferns, Brendan Comiskey, when it emerged he had been aware of the activities of an abusive priest in the diocese, south of Dublin, but failed to protect the victims.
SOURCE
Irish probe finds abuse cover-up in Catholic Church (Reuters 25/10/05)
MORE STORIES
Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, Dr Seán Brady - response to the publication of the Ferns inquiry report “New one-Church National Board for Child Protection to be established” (Catholic Communications Ireland 25/10/05)
Ferns to be named 'one of worst in the world' (Irish Times 25/10/05)
Bishop of Ferns issues unreserved apology (Irish Times 25/10/05)
Priest molested 10 girls on the altar (Irish Times 25/10/05)
ISPCC: Ferns report a damning indictment of society (Irish Times 25/10/05)
Ferns priests shamed in damning report (Irish Times 25/10/05)
Taoiseach vows to act on 'shocking' report (Irish Times 25/10/05)
ISPCC calls for laws protecting children in wake of Ferns Report (Irish Times 25/10/05)
Priest pleads guilty to child sex (news.com.au/Australian Associated Press 25/10/05)
Irish probe into RC Church abuse claims (The Age/Australian Associated Press 25/10/05)
Damning report into child abuse in Irish diocese (London Times 25/10/05)
New abuse inquiry to follow report on Ferns (Irish Independent 25/10/05)
Ferns Report to rock church (The Post.IE 23/10/05)
Cult falls apart (South Coast Register 19/10/05)
26 Oct 2005
