THE tabernacle was all that was salvaged when St Leo’s Church at Haden, north of Toowoomba burnt to the ground last weekend. Priest-in-residence Fr Dave O’Connor in Crows Nest parish said by the time he arrived at the church in the early hours of Sunday morning the fire had all but destroyed the 89-year-old timber building. “I got the phone ... 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 »
MOUNT Isa parish priest Fr Mick Lowcock is a Queensland Great. But most people already knew that. For some it was because of his ministry achievements like accompanying young people to World Youth Day, for others it was his social work supporting employment opportunities in Indigenous communities, and for everyone else it was just how far he travelled to bring ... Read More »
ISOLATION. It’s almost three months since a priest has visited the Catholic faithful of Coen, a remote indigenous community in far north Queensland. Usually in the first week of each month, Augustinian Fr Robert Greenup packs his swag and drives 500km to Coen, along the partly-dirt Peninsula Developmental Road, that stretches deep into the Cape York Peninsula. His travel companion ... Read More »
IT’S time for short drives and family picnics (from Friday midnight restrictions will be eased), soon there will be a staged return for schools, and our major sporting codes are plotting a course for a return to competition. So when will the Church return to public liturgies? “We’re in regular contact with the Queensland Government about the progress of COVID-19 ... Read More »
WHILE all Australians are affected by the COVID-19 virus, we in North Queensland may be thanking God that we have not been hit as hard as others. If we look to our North things look very bleak, in Indonesia, the US, Italy and Spain. Who of us is not deeply moved when we see the figures for Italy where over ... 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 »
WHEN Deacon Peter de Haas had an idea to write a practical handbook for Catholics geographically isolated from everyday parish life, he never imagined needing to refer to his advice weeks after it arrived from the printers. In 2016 the permanent deacon for Cairns diocese started writing a handbook based on his experience of providing spiritual and pastoral support to ... Read More »
A NEW model of pastoral leadership is being trialled in the central west of Rockhampton diocese to combat the challenges posed to sacramental ministry because of the vast distances between the remote parish communities. Rockhampton Bishop Michael McCarthy appointed Carmelite of Mary Immaculate Father Shaiju Lookose and Heralds of Good News Father Raj Kodavatikanti as priests “in solidum” to the ... Read More »
The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You
