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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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Catholic Health calls mental health report a "national disgrace"
Yesterday's release of the report "Not for Service" reveals the desperate underbelly of Australia's mental health system' said Francis Sullivan, CEO of Catholic Health Australia
Federal Health Minister, Tony Abbott, launched the report yesterday, calling it a "necessary and timely document".
He said the system would be more efficient if mental health was dealt with by one level of government. "We need to do better in this area and, as far as the Federal Government is concerned, we are doing better."
However, one of the report's authors, Ian Hickie, urged all governments to commit to mental health reform. "The reality of the situation is when national government sees a problem the heads of government get together and solve the problem."
Catholic Health's Francis Sullivan said that the financial bottom line has become more important than the lives of people with mental illness.
"We are facing a moral crisis before our very eyes," he said. "Basic human rights are being denied to desperate and vulnerable people."
"Despite thirteen years of national initiatives mental health services are embarrassingly inadequate, people with dual diagnoses are left abandoned, young people at risk are isolated and bureaucratic 'duck shoving' has become an art.
"We can't reasonably expect to improve the situation without national political leadership and an investment program which brings mental health funding to 12% of the health budget within five years.
"The report clearly demonstrates that governments and private health insurers restrict access to services for the mentally ill purely for financial reasons. This is discrimination writ large."
Mr Sullivan said that the Council of Australian Governments must convene a crisis summit to "stop the rot, take leadership and break through the bureaucratic vice that shackles the mental health system".
SOURCE
Mental health report a national disgrace (Catholic Health Australia 19/10/05)
NSW in the sin bin on mental health (Sydney Morning Herald 20/10/05)
LINKS (not necessarily endorsed by Church Resources)
Mental Health Council of Australia | lhttp://www.mhca.org.au/notforservice/index.htmlNot for Service Report
Cries from the outside looking in (excepts from report - Sydney Morning Herald 20/10/05)
Catholic Health Australia
ARCHIVE
Catholic Welfare sounds alarm on undiagnosed mental illness (CathNews 5/7/05)
Catholic Health says Costello "calls it right" on mental health (CathNews 24/9/04)
MORE STORIES
Abbott's response to mental health report a bitter disappointment (ABC Radio PM 19/10/05)
'Not For Service' report scathing on state of mental health services (ABC Radio PM 19/10/05)
Conditions surprise mental health report author (ABC Radio The World Today 19/10/05)
Aged care facility officially opened (Northern Daily Leader 12/10/05)
Holy See calls for promotion of respect for elderly (catholicireland.net 11/10/05)
Vatican official calls for better care of mentally ill (Catholic News Service 10/10/05)
Holy See Urges Attention to Causes of Mental Illness (Zenit 9/10/05)
Holy See Calls for Promotion of Respect for Elderly (Zenit 6/10/05)
Holy See's U.N. Address on the Year of Older Persons (Zenit 6/10/05)
20 Oct 2005
