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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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Possible regulation challenge for Development Funds
The finance industry watchdog is preparing to target churches operating quasi-banks - multi-million-dollar enterprises offering loans and deposit services to customers but avoiding the strict regulations imposed on commercial banks.
The Australian reports that the Prudential Regulation Authority (ARPA) is warning churches they face being considered as financial institutions if they fail to prove their services are used for charitable purposes and not commercial gain.
The authority has sent a draft policy to several churches setting out eight conditions the church-run organisations need to satisfy to remain exempt from the provisions of the Banking Act.
While many major churches - including the Catholic, Anglican and Uniting churches - offer financial services, sources told the paper yesterday that the main targets of the APRA crackdown are the more entrepreneurial evangelical churches.
Congregations such as the 18,000-strong Hillsong Church in Sydney make no secret of their bank-style activities.
Hillsong Emerge is a division of the church that has an enterprise development arm, using cash contributions to make loans to small businesses, purportedly to alleviate poverty.
The Assemblies of God operates a national financial services company that trades as Australian Christian Services.
Fr Brian Lucas, secretary of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, said APRA had always granted exemptions to the church's 24 development funds, which pay interest on money invested by parishioners.
Less than 15% of money collected for the funds was from parishioners, with the rest coming from internal church funds from organisations in the wider Catholic community, such as schools and hospitals.
"APRA may have a concern that some funds (operated by churches) don't have a charitable purpose and are seeking simply to run a commercial operation outside the Banking Act," Fr Lucas said. "I'm firmly of the view that this does not apply to any Catholic church funds."
SOURCE
God's banks to face crackdown (The Australian 28/10/05)
LINKS (not necessarily endorsed by Church Resources)
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority
Hillsong Emerge
Australian Christian Services
Catholic Development Fund Tasmania
Catholic Development Fund, Archdiocese of Melbourne
Catholic Development Fund Wollongong
Catholic Development Fund - Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle
ARCHIVE
Catholic Development Fund WA
28 Oct 2005
