JUST hours after Cardinal George Pell was released from gaol Pope Francis spoke during Mass about the “persecution that Jesus suffered” and prayed for those “who suffer an unjust sentence”. The High Court of Australia acquitted Cardinal Pell of child sexual abuse during a brief sitting in Brisbane yesterday (April 7), allowing the 78-year-old to be driven free from Victoria’s ... Read More »
CARDINAL George Pell has been released from prison after the High Court of Australia quashed his child sexual assault convictions. The 78-year-old, was serving a six years prison term, and has spent more than 400 days behind bars in Victorian jails. “I have consistently maintained my innocence while suffering from a serious injustice, ” Cardinal Pell said in a statement ... Read More »
THE High Court will rule tomorrow whether Cardinal George Pell was wrongly jailed after being convicted on five counts of child sexual abuse. Among the possibilities are that 78-year-old Cardinal Pell could be released after spending just over 400 days behind bars. He was found guilty by a jury in late 2018. The court ruling will be announced amid COVID-19 ... Read More »
A LETTER from a stranger can be a huge boost if you are alone in this time of isolation, or if you are stressed working on the frontline of the coronavirus crisis. Students at St Rita’s College, Clayfield have written letters to the elderly, veterans and healthcare workers, offering a ‘virtual hug’ and letting them know they are appreciated during ... Read More »
BARRY Guest places a handful of care packages at the foot of the gangplank, waves to the crew on board and retreats across the dock. It’s a new way of outreach that Mr Guest, a seafarer pastoral worker, can offer to crews stuck on board ships and unable to come ashore because of coronavirus restrictions. Mr Guest works for Brisbane’s ... Read More »
A LONG-running parliamentary committee has recommended Queensland legalise voluntary assisted dying. Support for VAD is contained in a Queensland parliamentary health committee report examining end-of-life issues, tabled on March 31. It drew immediate condemnation from Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge, who, together with other faith leaders in Queensland stridently oppose VAD – a form euthanasia. “The Parliamentary Committee’s recommendations on euthanasia ... Read More »
AS the coronavirus pandemic widens, each one of us is called on to make decisions – based on answering to deep moral questions. This ranges from the mundane decisions we make about how much toilet paper to take from the supermarket shelves, to the life-and-death calls that doctors have to make about which patients to treat. David Kirchhoffer, the director ... Read More »
BRISBANE Archbishop Mark Coleridge has spoken powerfully of the life-giving water of faith even in a disease-ridden world, during a live-streamed Mass from inside the city’s near-empty St Stephen’s Cathedral. Churches across the Brisbane archdiocese, like those across the country, are now closed in line with new restrictions to reduce the spread of coronavirus. “The churches might be closed but ... Read More »
BRISBANE’S Catholic churches have been closed until further notice. The directive comes from Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge and follows the Federal Government’s suspension of all non-essential gatherings for an initial four weeks to reduce the spread of coronavirus and to give the community time to understand fully social distancing requirements. “The ruling applies from noon today (March 23),” Archbishop Coleridge ... Read More »
The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You
