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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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Country priest's kidnap ordeal
A man who assaulted and abducted an elderly priest was a low-life and a coward, police said.
The Herald Sun reports that Fr John Leahy, 70, described by his colleagues as a gentle and loving man, suffered a broken shoulder in the attack in which cash and valuables were stolen.
Fr Leahy, who told a fellow priest his attacker had a "death wish", tried to jump from his car several times, but was thwarted when his abductor sped up.
The worst night of Fr Leahy's life began when he answered a knock at the door of the presbytery at St Mary's Catholic Church, Mooroopna, in central Victoria, about 8.30pm on Sunday.
He was confronted by two men asking for somewhere to stay the night.
Supt Fred Johansen, of Shepparton police, said one of the men edged his way inside the presbytery and violently pushed Fr Leahy to the floor. The fall broke the priest's shoulder.
As the other intruder fled, the attacker frogmarched Fr Leahy inside and forced the priest to open a safe. After scooping up cash and valuables, the attacker bustled Fr Leahy into the priest's car at knifepoint and drove away.
Fr Leahy endured a painful and frightening journey through Mooroopna and Shepparton for about an hour. The attacker fled near Mooroopna Golf Course, leaving Fr Leahy alone in the car.
"The offender was aggressive. The priest was threatened (in the car) with further assault," Supt Johansen said.
"I would describe the sort of person who could do this as a low-life. It is despicable behaviour to attack an elderly man, be it a priest or any other elderly man," he said.
Monsignor Peter Jeffrey, of St Brendan's Church in Shepparton, said Fr Leahy had been traumatised. "It was rough treatment, that was a real shock for him," he said. "He was conscious of damage being done."
"He is in the care of friends," Monsignor Jeffrey told ABC Goulburn Murray. "He is very much a community man, he has been a priest in the area for about 35 years. People have been assuring him of their prayers. Well-wishers have been dropping into the presbytery."
Fr Leahy did not know the offender, who claimed to have come down from Queensland.
SOURCE
Elderly priest robbed, assaulted, abducted (Herald-Sun 11/4/06)
ABC Goulburn Murray
LINKS (not necessarily endorsed by Church Resources)
Diocese of Sandhurst - Parishes
MORE STORIES
Thief kidnaps country priest (The Age 11/4/06)
Search for priest's kidnapper under way (ABC News 10/4/06)
Priest in shock after abduction (The Australian 11/4/06)
11 Apr 2006
