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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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Melbourne priest pours cold water on PM's rain prayers
As the nation's political leaders discuss emergency water conservation plans, Archbishop Philip Wilson has taken up Prime Minister John Howard's call to pray for rain - but a Melbourne priest says the prayer is "pointless".
In a statement released on Friday, the President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Archbishop Wilson, calls on all Australians to pray for rain as the drought continues to cause widespread devastation.
Archbishop Wilson also prayed on Sunday at St Francis Xavier's Cathedral in Adelaide for drought-breaking rainfall.
"Our hope is that the Lord will grant us adequate rains for our urgent needs," he said.
The power of prayer is very strong and we have every hope in asking for the Lord's intervention and help at this time of great difficulty."
Archbishop Wilson said his prayers would also be with the many people across the nation who are personally hurt by the continuing drought.
Last week, Prime Minister John Howard warned that unless there was significant rainfall in the next six to eight weeks, there would be no water available for irrigation at the start of the water year on 1 July.
"We should all, literally and without any irony, pray for rain over the next six to eight weeks," he told ABC TV.
But well-known Melbourne priest, Fr Bob Maguire (pictured) says church leaders across Australia can pray for rain "until they go black in the face" but it won't solve the water crisis.
"Maybe our prayers need a creative spin, like 'O God, please turn this wine into water'," Fr Maguire said, according to a Herald-Sun report.
"Now I know a lot of people won't like it, particularly if people are making their prayers over a nice bottle of Grange, but this water problem is bigger than all of us boys and girls down here on ground level."
Fr Maguire, of St Peter and Paul's Parish, is among many Melbourne priests warning drought-stricken farmers not to pin all their hopes on divine intervention.
"Praying for rain is great and we will be doing it in our services, but we have to be prepared to work on finding solutions to the problem ourselves," he said.
According to the Australian, Fr Maguire's scepticism is also shared by weather experts.
Seasonal rainfall predictions from the Bureau of Meteorology reveal a moderate increase in the chance of above-average rainfall across southeast Queensland and northeast NSW.
The rest of the country, however, has only a one-in-two chance of even average rainfall over the next three months.
SOURCE
Pray for rain, says Archbishop Philip Wilson (ACBC, Media Release, 20/4/07)
Last resort: stop the Murray (The Age, 21/4/07)
Priest claims praying 'pointless' (Herald-Sun, 21/4/07)
Even rain may not answer PM's prayers (The Australian, 21/4/07)
LINKS (not necessarily endorsed by Church Resources)
Water: A Time for prayer (Archdiocese of Brisbane)
Sts Peter and Paul Parish, South Melbourne
Hydrometeorological Advisory Service, Bureau of Meteorology
ARCHIVE
Christians unite in prayer for rain (CathNews, 16/11/06)
Qld Catholics to join other Christians in rain prayer (CathNews, 27/10/06)
Call for prayer as bush faces a ‘winter of fear’ (CathNews 5/6/05)
Bishops urge prayer for rain (CathNews, 14/5/04)
Church leaders declare Sunday a day of prayer for rain (CathNews 27/11/02)
23 Apr 2007
