BRISBANE Archbishop Mark Coleridge has released the process by which Catholics throughout the archdiocese can give input to next year’s Extraordinary Synod on the family called by Pope Francis. Their input will come through responses to a questionnaire on how Church teaching is promoted, how well it is accepted and ways in which modern people and societies challenge the Catholic ... Read More »

CATHOLICS will now have greater access to Brisbane archdiocesan news, liturgies and special events thanks to a new app, increased webcasting and the extension of The Catholic Leader in flipbook edition. These products and services are small but tangible signs carrying the vision of Blessed John Paul II, who said any new evangelisation must be “new in ardour, method and ... Read More »

US Cardinal Edwin O’Brien visited Brisbane last week, and journalist Emilie Ng covered his brief trip.   POPE Francis’ election as Pope was “God’s choice”, US Cardinal Edwin O’Brien said during his visit to Brisbane last week. Cardinal O’Brien shared several stories of Pope Francis and his approach as the Successor of St Peter with various Catholic groups at a ... Read More »

By Emilie Ng ABORTION will end when the attitude towards adoption changes, guest speak-er Dr Joanna Howe said at the Cherish Life Queensland fundraising dinner on November 8. Dr Howe, 30, is a law lecturer at the Uni-versity of Adelaide, and a former NSW Rhodes Scholar. In her address, Dr Howe said there were three motivations for reforming adoption laws ... Read More »

By Paul Dobbyn ROSIES is experiencing a mix of familiar and new as it gears up for its annual presence at Schoolies Week on the Gold Coast and a change of leadership takes place. New general manager Troy Bailey, a self-described “passionate Rosies volunteer”, will be working alongside other volunteers at Schoolies Week which started on November 16. The 47-year-old ... Read More »

By Emilie Ng LOVE and community is at the core of Booval’s Sacred Heart primary school’s new facility – the Amare Centre. The centre’s name is taken from the school’s motto, “Amare est Servire” – “to love is to serve”. Members of the school and parish community agreed the centre should be named in honour of the love shown by ... Read More »

By Paul Dobbyn BRISBANE archdiocese’s Filipino community chaplain Fr Marce Singson is fielding desperate calls as the full extent of devastation from super Typhoon Haiyan emerges. Fr Singson, a Benedictine priest, is also trying to get details of the wellbeing of his own family – he has 12 siblings and 17 nephews and nieces living in various parts of Leyte, ... Read More »

DOCTORS and nurses at St Vincent’s Private Hospital Brisbane have  witnessed an “increased quality of life” in patients using the new Centre for Pain Management. Since opening in July, the centre has implanted more than 30 high-frequency spinal cord stimulators that have reduced debilitating neck and back pain. These stimulators have only been approved in Australia and Europe. St Vincent’s ... Read More »

SURFERS Paradise parish has taken up Pope Francis’ challenge to “go outside of itself” with plans to open an outreach café. After the Pope’s call to reach out to those outside the Church, parish priest Fr Tim Harris said a café was a unique way of “conversing with the world”. “In this day and age, we have to think outside ... Read More »