ACROSS a parched Australia the Church is dedicating November as a month to pray for those touched by crippling drought, and to pray for rain. Parishes, schools, families and Catholic communities across the country are being encouraged to take part in the National Prayer Campaign for Drought, which also invites people to dig deep and provide assistance to those in need. ... Read More »
THE life of newly declared St John Henry Newman holds a special significance for one Brisbane congregation – the Brisbane Oratory in Formation. Among the throng at the canonisation ceremony in Rome’s St Peter’s Square last Sunday was Brisbane Oratory’s Italian-speaking Fr Scot Armstrong. He was selected to witness the event on behalf of his congregation, while others celebrated the ... Read More »
MALTESE-born Charles Gauci has spent much of his first year as Bishop of Darwin moving about Australia’s massive northern diocese that is two-and-a-half times the size of France. “I’m on a new adventure, walking alongside many people,” Bishop Gauci confides during an interview in his residence next door to Darwin’s St Mary’s Star of the Sea Cathedral. The late afternoon ... Read More »
A SENIOR professional in the death-care industry says Queensland’s laws are “failing dismally” to protect bereaved families, while putting the health of industry workers at risk. “There are minimum standards that associations like ours, and funeral directors would like to have in place,” Brisbane’s Nudgee Cemetery manager David Molloy, who is a board member of the Australasian Cemeteries and Crematoria ... Read More »
IT is easy to tune off when presented with the latest estimate that no less than 150 million people, or about two per cent of the world’s population, are homeless. On World Homelessness Day, October 10, an estimated 116,000 Australians, and 20,000 in Queensland, slept rough, couch surfed or settled in for the night feeling insecure in temporary lodgings. There’s ... Read More »
BRISBANE Assembly brought together Catholics from across the archdiocese and beyond to listen and discern together on the issues of the Church today. This is what some participants said about the event, which marks the journey towards the Plenary Council 2020. “Impressive. It hasn’t disappointed (me) at all. You wonder how it can be sustained in the face of the ... Read More »
HUNDREDS of Catholics who attended the Brisbane Assembly have returned to their parishes, communities and agencies invigorated with a message to “listen to the voice of God” and “hold your nerve” in discerning what is needed by the Church at this time. “I’ve come out very hope-filled – just to hear that we have to listen to everyone,” 21-year-old Thomas ... Read More »
THE St Vincent De Paul Society is playing a big part in new drought-support programs – that will allow rural families to access financial counselling, and pay for groceries and power bills as they fight one of the worst droughts on record. Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited Dalby on Queensland’s Western Downs on September 27 and named the St Vincent ... Read More »
ROCKHAMPTON is one of the few dioceses in Australia that has seen an increase in Catholic numbers in recent years, while Brisbane numbers have dropped slightly in line with a national trend. Drawing on Australian Bureau of Statistics data from the 2016 Census, new reports prepared by the National Centre for Pastoral Research provide insights into the demographics of the ... Read More »
The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You
