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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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NZ lawyers await ruling on extradition of brothers
With a Federal Court judgment to be handed down today in an appeal against a controversial sex abuse extradition ruling against two brothers, New Zealand's legal commentators say the outcome will be closely watched for what it says about the country's criminal justice system.
Stuff.co.nz reports that Br Rodger Moloney, 71, and Fr Raymond Garchow, 58, have been fighting extradition since their arrest nearly three years ago on charges relating to when they taught at a St John of God Order school in Christchurch.
Moloney faces 28 charges of allegedly assaulting 12 boys between 1971 and 1977 at a residential school for the disadvantaged. Garchow faces four charges, dating from between 1971 and 1980.
A full bench of five Federal Court judges in Sydney will rule on an August appeal by New Zealand authorities after Justice Rodney Madgwick earlier controversially overturned an extradition order for the two men.
Justice Madgwick based his ruling on the grounds that they would face an "unjust or oppressive" hearing because of the age of the charges and the fact that New Zealand judges were not required to point out the difficulty of such cases to jurors, as they were in Australia.
Auckland University Associate Professor of Law Scott Optican said the latest judgment would be closely watched for its attitude towards New Zealand's criminal justice system, rather than for setting precedents for rare extraditions from Australia.
"When first this issue came out there were people in New Zealand who felt that it didn't give enough deference and respect to the criminal justice processes in this country that make sure a fair trial is guaranteed," he said.
"I think the real issue in the case is going to be making sure that the judges in their decision – no matter what their decision is – take a good, hard look at the due process protections that exist in this country for ensuring the fair trial of defendants in historical sex abuse cases."
New Zealand's Canterbury Criminal Bar Association spokesman James Rapley said: "A large number of defence lawyers do have very real concerns about our trials and trial processes when it comes to sexual cases.
"Those are issues as to whether it's fair, whether things have gone too far in one direction – that is, more pro-complainant than pro-accused – and whether there needs to be some thought go into that."
He believed the case could have wider implications for future extradition attempts.
SOURCE
Legal eyes on extradition ruling on clergymen (Stuff.co.nz, 5/10/06)
LINKS (not necessarily endorsed by Church Resources)
Federal Court of Australia (Wikipedia)
ARCHIVE
Five years jail for St John of God brother (CathNews 28/4/06)
Mystery over high-profile abuse case (CathNews 26/5/05)
Extra protection for John of God accused (CathNews 16/2/05)
Marist Frs plead not guilty to sex offences (CathNews 23/7/04)
Tasmanian sex abuse crisis continues
5 Oct 2006
