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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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Commission worried about outworkers under IR rules
Brisbane's Catholic Justice and Peace Commission is deeply concerned about the impact of the Federal Government's workplace relations system on outworkers in the clothing industry.
The Commission's Executive Officer, Peter Arndt, said that WorkChoices may undermine a raft of protections for outworkers and make them more susceptible to exploitation by unscrupulous employers.
"It has been a long struggle to get greater protection for outworkers and we are concerned that the new system will remove many of the protections which have been introduced in recent times," Mr Arndt said in a statement this week.
"Many outworkers are migrant women with limited English and they are often easily exploited," he said. "We know that this situation is not uncommon as quite a few clothing industry employers are before the Courts in Brisbane right now for allegedly breaching award provisions, he said.
"We have approached the Government to seek assurances about adequate protection for outworkers under the new system, but we have received no response," he added.
In recent months, the Commission has worked with Fairwear, a community organisation, to promote just pay and conditions for outworkers.
Fairwear has identified a number of major concerns about the effect of the new system on outworkers:
• Employers may be able to opt out of the outworker award provisions;
• Outworkers may be considered as "independent contractors" rather than as employees, making it possible for them to be pressured into agreeing to a contract which pays them poorly;
• The definition of an outworker is very narrow;
• The mechanisms that allow the comprehensive monitoring of the activities of companies through the whole clothing supply chain will be undermined;
• The onus for making a claim against an employer is placed on individual outworkers;
• Outworkers' ability to claim unpaid wages from the principle contractor when their boss disappears without paying will be removed.
"Catholic Social Teaching stresses the importance of work to the dignity of people and the rights of workers to fair pay rates and conditions," Mr Arndt said. "As witnesses to the Gospel, we cannot stay silent if these changes will make it more likely that the weakest in our community are working long hours doing skilled work for as little as $3 or $4 an hour," he said.
SOURCE
CJPC concerned about outworkers in new workplace relations system (Archdiocese of Brisbane 14/11/05)
LINKS (not necessarily endorsed by Church Resources)
Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, Archdiocese of Brisbane
ARCHIVE
MORE STORIES
Bruce Duncan: Churches set to clash with government over industrial changes (Online Catholics 16/11/05)
Church head concerned about IR laws (ABC Radio AM 14/11/05)
Tim Martyn: Industrial Relations - Reform or Vandalism? (Jesuit Social Services 14/11/05) [PDF]
16 Nov 2005
