GRATITUDE and good-wishes flowed for retiring parish priest Fr Leo Donnelly, who was presented a major Papal Award by Lismore Bishop Greg Homeming at a Mass held at St Agnes’ Parish on March 23. The same Mass installed the new parish priest, Fr Paul Gooley. The Croce Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice (the Cross for the Church and Pontiff) was established ... Read More »

“THOUGH 12,000 miles (19,300km) may divide us my thoughts will constantly fly back to the old folks at home,” Fr Tom Keegan wrote in November 1953 aboard the ship Otranto while he was steaming out to Australia from his home in Ireland. Memories from Fr Keegan’s life came back to life as his friends and family prepared for his 90th ... Read More »

A YOUNG girl’s simple idea to protect the Great Barrier Reef from plastic waste has won her the title of Cairns Young Woman of the Year. Molly Steer, a Year 5 student at Mother of Good Counsel, North Cairns, received the title at the recent Cairns International Women’s Day awards for her Straw No More project, a crusade she started ... Read More »

ST Ursula’s College, Yeppoon, has launched into a year of celebrations for its centenary. Principal Catherine Dunbar said special college-based activities on March 12 were a prelude to even bigger festivities during Centenary Celebrations Weekend on May 4-6. “On Monday, March 12, all current students gathered for a special liturgy and then had a ‘100 years’ photo taken by college ... Read More »

ST Mary’s Catholic College, Casino, has launched the Mercy Scholarships Program offering fee concessions for Year 7 students. Principal Aaron Beach said the scholarships would be offered based on students’ academic achievement, effort and accomplishments in sport or culture. “For the first time in its in ninety-nine year history, the college is excited to offer these Mercy Scholarships for two ... Read More »

NORTH Queensland is recovering after major flooding cut roads, closed Catholic schools and caused major property damage. Hardest hit was the town of Ingham, where a muddy clean-up of homes and businesses was underway after floodwaters swept through town, with authorities issuing a warning about crocodiles and snakes. “We’re cut off north, east and west still, but the centre of ... Read More »

THE opening of the Clive Berghofer Operating Theatre Suite on February 21 heralded a new chapter in the 96-year history of St Vincent’s Private Hospital, Toowoomba. The $30 million theatre complex, which added six new state-of-the-art operating theatres including a cutting-edge hybrid theatre, a new kitchen and a new main reception area for the hospital has been completed under budget ... Read More »

TRAFFIC is not a word Corena Powers uses much in Mount Isa. But that’s what graced the Good Shepherd parish secretary’s morning school drop-off just days after what was the heaviest rainfall through the north-west Queensland city in years. Flooding of the Leichhardt River shut down two of Mount Isa’s bridges, forcing all traffic to and from the city to ... Read More »

THE tyranny of distance could well have cruelled the opportunity of a lifetime for two indigenous boys from Herberton to perform in the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in April. However, the performance aspirations of the senior students from Mount St Bernard College have been thrown a lifeline by a friend and former colleague of ... Read More »