TWO months since Townsville was devastated by floods, and after the television crews, Twitter hash-tags and international news media spotlight passed on, one thousand people were still homeless and thousands more still waiting to rebuild. Townsville Bishop Tim Harris said the aftermath of the floods were still being felt and would be felt for some time yet. Bishop Harris said ... Read More »

IT’S been proposed that turning to religious and traditional wisdom could help protect planet Earth, after environmental scientists delivered a “dire” report card on the health of the environment. “The science is clear,” UN Environment acting executive director Joyce Msuya said at the fourth United Nations environmental assembly in Nairobi this month. “The health and prosperity of humanity is directly ... Read More »

THE heartbreak of the Christchurch massacre, felt across the world, was made real for the Townsville community when a gathering of bishops took time to meet with a local Imam. The executive meeting of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania was held in Townsville between March 19 and 20.   While there, the bishops made time to see ... Read More »

MERCY Sister Dolores Donnelly recently retired after 20 years serving as one of a dedicated team of people who regularly visits the Capricornia Correctional Centre. She was part of the Catholic chaplains, an integral part a multi-denominational team of chaplains who seek to bring caring support to all affected by the destructive cycle of crime. “I really loved doing the ... Read More »

ONE man’s “yes” to God rallied a community from Mount Isa and Ingham to Townsville City – a hope for the future of Church in regional Queensland. Townsville Bishop Tim Harris ordained Emene Kelemete a deacon in front of more than 400 people at Holy Trinity Church, Mundingburra, on Friday, February 22. Some present on the night travelled from Mount ... Read More »

ROLLING up their sleeves and braving the mud, 14 schoolboys from a rural Catholic school travelled to the flood-ravaged suburb of Idalia, Townsville, to help out their neighbours. The boys from St Teresa’s College, Abergowrie, received high praise for their initiative. They managed to clear out eight houses and filled up two dump trucks for the kerbside pick-up. College principal ... Read More »

NO-man’s-land encrusted with cattle carcasses and graziers hovering in helicopters, unable to reach their bogged, starved and diseased animals, tells the tale of heartache felt across the rural areas of Townsville diocese.  An estimated 500,000 cattle perished in the floods, a direct economic loss of about $300 million. Townsville Bishop Tim Harris said he was troubled by the crushing debt ... Read More »

RAINS have stopped and thousands of Townsville residents begin the task of picking through their homes to count the cost of an historic flood disaster. Pope Francis offered his condolences after the floods in a letter penned by Holy See secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin to Townsville Bishop Tim Harris. “Having learned of the loss of life and destruction ... Read More »

STUDENTS and staff at St John College, Woodlawn, are busy settling into the new school year but someone special is missing. Eighty-seven-year-old Fr Paul Pidcock is not among them this time, for the first time in about 60 years. He’s in Sydney, having retired from the college late last year. As he adjusted to the idea of not returning to ... Read More »