The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You

THE Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has launched a national Church response to deal with the unprecedented scale of the bushfire crisis. “The efforts of firefighters have been heroic. The resilience of the communities affected has been extraordinary,” ACBC president Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane said. “This has been Australia at its best … but we need more than words. Expressions ... Read More »

THE former judge who chaired the royal commission into child sexual abuse has singled out the Catholic Church as the only institution whose leaders failed to recognise sexual assaults of children as a crime, as distinct from a moral failure.   “I cannot comprehend how any person, much less one with qualifications in theology and very often further qualifications from recognised ... Read More »

FOR a long time now there’s been an empty place at the Devitt’s family Christmas table. It’s almost ten years since Michael Devitt disappeared in the Whitsundays region. Normally, Michael, a 48 year-old, father of three, a happy-go-lucky truck driver would make it back to Brisbane for Christmas get-together with his older brother Gary and the rest of the extended ... Read More »

CAIRNS Bishop James Foley is to step down due to ailing health after 27 years, and is expected to cease duties early next year. “I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s (disease) earlier this year … and I submitted my resignation,” 71-year-old Bishop Foley told The Catholic Leader. One of Australia’s longest-serving current bishops, Bishop Foley has written a letter to Cairns ... Read More »

BRISBANE archdiocese has received a high rating – but still with room for improvement – in a landmark report on its safeguarding arrangements. The report is the first conducted in an Australian archdiocese by Catholic Professional Standards Limited, set up by the Church leadership in response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The National Catholic ... Read More »

“I DON’T know about you, but it’s been a very, very tough year,” Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge said, reflecting on 2019 during a Facebook Live session with thousands of viewers from as far afield as Sydney and Suva. “… We’re preparing for what we call a plenary council; we’ve got to make big decisions about the future, and that in ... Read More »

NATIONAL costumes and flags of the Americas heralded a vibrant feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Brisbane on December 9. More than 500 people – members of Brisbane’s Latin American Catholic Community – filled St Finbarr’s Church, Ashgrove, for Mass followed by a celebration of music and food from most of the 16 countries that span Central and South ... Read More »

FRIENDS and colleagues remember Indigenous elder and activist Sam Watson as down to earth, courageous and deeply committed to his people. “I can’t remember a time when Sam Watson wasn’t in the public eye – all my life,” Catholic social justice advocate Peter Arndt said. “I cannot remember a time when he wasn’t there at the forefront speaking up for ... Read More »

MARGARET Marshman has a good eye for a painting. Earlier this year, the Emerald parishioner who attends St Patrick’s Church opened The Catholic Leader to read about the death of Australia’s first Deacon Boniface Perdjert, aged 82. She was struck by Deacon Perdjert’s unique story as an indigenous Church leader.  The story was accompanied by a striking portrait photo of ... Read More »