AUSTRALIA’S new $688m HomeBuilder package has been described as “hitting the jackpot” by some potential homeowners, but there are warnings that the initiative has failed low-income families. The package offers a grant of $25,000 to build a new home worth less than $750,000 or to spend between $150,000 and $750,000 renovating an existing home. The scheme is limited to owner-occupiers ... Read More »
A GROUP of five, young asylum seekers ask that they not be identified. The reason is simple. They, and their families fear deportation if they speak out against how they are treated under Australia’s immigration system. Each of the five are at school, live with families, siblings or friends in community detention in Brisbane, waiting they hope, to start life ... Read More »
A BRISBANE parish priest opened his homily at a National Reconciliation Week 2020 prayer service with a challenging statement on racism. Bracken Ridge parish priest Fr Gerry Hefferan was speaking at the annual Ecumenical Murri Reconciliation Service which was live-streamed from St Joseph’s Church on June 3. Addressing the congregation (limited to 20 because of COVID-19 restrictions) and the online ... Read More »
MILLIONS around the world have accepted that life after coronavirus will require a digital upgrade, and Caloundra parish priest Fr Peter Brannelly believes parishes are no exception. After three months of live-streaming daily and weekend Masses on Facebook – attracting thousands of views each week – Fr Brannelly is preparing to make the digital upgrade permanent. He said parishes needed ... Read More »
A BRISBANE Catholic indigenous leader has described the Black Lives Matter rallies as “a wonderful experience of humanity”. Cynthia Rowan was among the crowd of up to 30,000 that packed inner city Brisbane on June 6, to protest police brutality against Indigenous Australians and call for justice for those who have died in custody. “We call ourselves Australian and we ... Read More »
THE annual Vinnies CEO Sleepout will go ahead on Thursday, June 18, as a national online event due to COVID-19 restrictions, at a time when homelessness and poverty in Australia are on the rise. Participants will nominate to sleep in their cars, on their couch or outdoors in their backyard, while taking part in a live-stream hosted by television personality ... Read More »
GOLD Coast Deacon Gary Stone is among the Queen’s Birthday Honours list, receiving an Order of Australia Medal for service to veterans and their families. Deacon Stone, who served for decades in the army as chaplain, in the federal police, and six years ago founded the Veterans Care Association that he says has helped veterans find a purpose in life ... Read More »
Among the many changes The Catholic Leader has implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic with its necessary restrictions has been the suspension of producing a printed edition and to continue publishing a weekly digital edition offered free of charge to readers. Letters to the Editor have not been published with the digital edition, which meant some familiar names have ... Read More »
MALICIOUS emails have been sent to random recipients claiming to be from Catholic parishes, dioceses and other Church organisations – they were not. The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference released a statement denouncing the emails and their contents. Their contents mention one or more of the following – Cardinal George Pell, the complainant in his criminal trial, COVID-19 and most recently ... Read More »
The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You
