How we respect and treat some of our most vulnerable – our sick, aged, and terminally ill – is a vital consideration for many Queenslanders preparing to vote. After years of heated and polarizing debate, it will be the state MPs we elect on October 31 who decide whether to back legislation aiming to legalise voluntary euthanasia. Voluntary Assisted Dying ... Read More »
“AND the winner is … Sydney.” Those words, declared in 1993 by Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch, spoke volumes about the public drive and commitment displayed by John Fahey, who died on September 12, aged 75, after a battle with leukaemia. Famously, Mr Fahey, then Premier of New South Wales jumped out of his seat and celebrated wildly with ... Read More »
CATHOLIC relief agencies are gearing up for another summer of extreme hazards after the Bureau of Meteorology changed its outlook to a “La Nina Alert”. “We need to be better prepared at local levels for climate emergencies,” Catholic Social Services Australia chief executive officer Dr Ursula Stephens said. “This summer looks like one of cyclones and storms, so being prepared ... Read More »
BRISBANE Archbishop Mark Coleridge has called for compassion as the Queensland Government maintains tough COVID-19 quarantine rules that barred a Canberra-based nurse from attending her father’s funeral. “If proper precautions are taken in the interests of public health, compassion means that people should be allowed to attend funerals, to visit terminally ill family members before they die, to make mercy ... Read More »
MELBOURNE Archbishop Peter A. Comensoli has written a letter to Australian Catholics, explaining the Church’s advocacy for “ethically acceptable” COVID-19 vaccines, that do not use aborted foetal cell lines in their development. The University of Queensland vaccine project, in partnership with Australian biotech company CSL, is one that Bishop Comensoli singles out as acceptable. He is also clear that the ... Read More »
A LOW-PAID Australian worker laid off during the pandemic will receive the third-lowest unemployment benefit amongst developed countries, when the coronavirus supplement is reduced, according to a social security expert. Despite mass unemployment and extended COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns, the federal government plans to cut the supplement by $300 on September 25, reducing the base rate of benefits to about ... Read More »
PRIESTS in Queensland will be forced to break the seal of confession to report child sex abuse to police. New laws passed through Queensland Parliament on Tuesday, September 8 mean religious institutions and their members are no longer able to use the sanctity of the confessional as a defence or excuse in child sex abuse matters. The laws passed with ... Read More »
IF you are feeling lonely during the pandemic restrictions – you are not alone. Half of all Australians report feeling increasing loneliness at this time. But isolation, social distancing and even wearing a mask in public need not produce negative emotions. A new collection of resources launched by Australian Catholic University explores how thinkers throughout history have dealt with isolation, ... Read More »
QUEENSLAND’S Catholic Bishops have taken an unprecedented step into the political arena ahead of the Queensland election, demanding action on key social and economic issues and delivering a community call to arms to work with “common purpose” to find a way out of the COVID-19 crisis. “As Catholic citizens, we have the opportunity, like all citizens, to participate in the ... Read More »
The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You
