DESPITE the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing security concerns, Pope Francis is determined to visit Iraq to pay homage to Christian and other minorities persecuted for their faith and to strengthen the commitment of the overwhelming majority of Iraqi Muslims to creating a future of peace and harmony. During his visit from March 5-8, Francis will visit churches that were destroyed ... Read More »
Category Archives: Features
Easing the ‘mental load’ during Carers Week
NATIONAL Carers Week, running from October 11-17, is an opportunity to recognise more than 2.65 million Australians who provide care and support to a family member or friend who has an illness, disability, frailty or a mental health condition. Boonah resident Bevan Pressler is one such carer. Mr Pressler has been caring for his wife Rosie, who has been living ... Read More »
Jeanette’s making a major difference in lives
WHILE Australia marks National Volunteer Week (May 18 – 24), Jeanette Ayre is certainly among those people worth celebrating. With a heart as big as the Story Bridge and four volunteer roles to prove it, the Kangaroo Point East Brisbane parishioner has lived on Main Street all of her life. Born in 1956, around the arrival of a much-loved Monsignor ... Read More »
Photographer Alan Edgecomb’s journey to the Basilica of St Peter in Chains shows highest praise to God
IT is a short but steep climb from the Colosseum up the Oppian Hill to the small Piazza di San Pietro in Vincoli. If one was lost, one would then walk past the plain façade of the Basilica of St Peter in Chains that is wedged between two buildings. But I was not lost. The Basilica was the last on ... Read More »
‘Follow your heart’ – talking fatherhood, family and faith with multiple amputee Matthew Ames
Radio personality Donna Lynch sat down with multiple amputee Matthew Ames to discuss family, faith and fatherhood. Donna: Tell us about what happened back in 2012? Matthew: In 2012, I became ill and thought it was the flu, man flu, sort of wondered whether or not I was complaining a little bit too much. But anyway, one thing turned to ... Read More »
Queensland Doctor David Van Gend says no one should be made to feel that their life is a burden
DR Henry Marsh, British neurosurgeon, was displeased when the UK Parliament rejected euthanasia four years ago. The good doctor said, “Even if a few grannies get bullied into (suicide), isn’t that the price worth paying for all the people who could die with dignity?” We should give some thought to those grannies. Our head of state certainly did back in ... Read More »
Guilt-free motherhood: Why mums need to be kind to themselves and patient with their children
THE irony is not lost on me. Here I am writing a column on guilt-free motherhood while feeling guilty because it has taken me so long to do. I often say, if I could give any new mother a gift, it would be guilt-free motherhood, after all we are all just flawed human beings doing our best. Whether you are ... Read More »
Medicinal marijuana debate: Queensland couple who used cannabis oil to treat son’s autism walk free
In countries across the world the jury is still out on the effects of drugs on society and individuals’ health, however a case in Queensland reflects softening attitudes and changing laws against some drugs. QUEENSLAND parents who pleaded guilty to treating their five-year-old son’s autism with cannabis oil, recently walked free from court in what the judge described as an ... Read More »
Parents of transgender woman share their emotional journey
CATHOLIC parents Teresa and Bill* discovered the unconditional love they had for their children when their son told them 17 years ago he could no longer live as a man. Six months earlier, Bill, a retired GP and Billings natural family planning practitioner, had taken a course on medical ethics and bioethics with health ethicist Fr Kevin McGovern. One of ... Read More »