QUEENSLAND’S lingering drought has made Kerri Brennan’s farm on the Darling Downs completely unrecognisable but her fighting spirit for fellow farmers is stronger than ever. Mrs Brennan is the founder of Buy From the Bush Queensland, a Facebook page that is now a viral social media movement with a following of more than 15,000 people. The Catholic mum from Holy ... Read More »
I WAS a young adult in 2002 when the relics of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face (Saint Thérèse of Lisieux) first came to Australia. I lined up at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, with hundreds of other people, full of anticipation, but was unsure what to expect. I had come because she was my Confirmation saint, ... Read More »
AS communities recover from the current bushfire crisis, the Catholic Church is setting up a blueprint for how it will respond to future disasters in Australia. It has set up a new collaboration called CERA – Catholic Emergency Relief Australia – to serve as a co-ordination point for Catholic agencies responding to fires, droughts, floods, cyclones and other disasters. The ... Read More »
FIRE-affected communities and members of parliament have taken out their frustration at what they labelled the sluggish pace of funds distributed from charities after months of bushfire appeals. Speaking at a press conference in Bateman’s Bay, State Member for Bega Andrew Constance took aim at the charities for taking too long to distribute the money. “The money is needed now, ... Read More »
A CARDINAL best known for defending Pacific island nations swamped by the impacts of climate change has spoken candidly of another challenge – his own daily commitment to be a priest. “The question really is how do I live my life in relation to the formation but also the sexuality that is deep within us. How do you live that?” ... Read More »
SIGNS reading “Choose Life” flagged a crowd of tens of thousands, formed from an international backdrop of religions and creeds, young and old, and united at the March for Life 2020 in Washington DC on January 24. Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Richard Umbers was among the demonstrators flooding the National Mall and said he saw “huge numbers” turning out in favour ... Read More »
QUEENSLANDERS Nic Marchesi and Lucas Patchett, former Young Australians of the Year who were behind mobile homeless hygiene service Orange Sky Laundry, were among the many Catholics announced in the Australia Day honours list this year. Both Mr Marchesi and Mr Patchett, who first featured in The Catholic Leader in 2014, were named as recipients of the Medal of the ... Read More »
RESPECTED Aboriginal elder and educator Aunty Joan Hendriks is being remembered for a deep commitment to her culture, promoting reconciliation, and as a guiding light in understanding Aboriginal Creation spirituality and Christian faith. The revered Ngugi woman, one of the three clan groups of the Quandamooka people of south-east Queensland’s Moreton Bay, died peacefully on Australia Day. “A heartfelt farewell ... Read More »
MARJORIE Williams was eight years old and, for a bit of fun, was baking a cake for her teddy bear’s birthday in the electric oven her brother had got from his electrical job. It was baking better than the cake she had made for her dolly’s birthday, which had ended up as chook scrap when she threw it out the ... Read More »
The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You
