POPE Francis’s highly anticipated Apostolic Exhortation “Querida Amazonia” (Beloved Amazonia), released by the Vatican on February 12, has been described as a document “not just for a distant and alien part of the world, but has much to offer the Catholic Church in Australia”. “The Amazon is remote from us but the issues are not,” Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president ... Read More »
PARISHES and dioceses taking precautions like refusing to offer Holy Communion from the chalice to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak in China were not called to do so. The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference issued a statement that said they had “not called for the suspension of any practices at Mass in response to novel coronavirus that appeared in China and ... Read More »
THEIR hands pressed to the reliquary glass-casing and eyes shut in silent prayer, thousands of Brisbane Catholics took a few moments to pray with the relics of St Therese of Lisieux and her parents Sts Zelie and Louis Martin as they pilgrimaged around the archdiocese last week. It was the first time Sts Zelie’s and Louis’ relics had visited the ... Read More »
RAIN has brought hope to some of the country’s hardest-hit farm communities. “It’s like a miracle. It is absolutely. Everyone is so happy,” St Mary’s Warwick parishioner Trish Seaby said after watching the Condamine River rise. “Within two days, up came the grass. “It’s been absolutely life-changing, but we do need it to continue.” On Queensland’s Southern Downs the Condamine ... Read More »
THREE innocent siblings who were killed on the footpath of a quiet suburban street in western Sydney have been remembered as children who put God first in their young lives. Antony, Angelina and Sienna Abdallah, three of six children to Maronite Catholics Daniel and Leila Abdallah, were walking with their cousins to the shops in their home suburb of Oatlands ... Read More »
AS Peter and Ellyn Gasparin approach their first Valentine’s Day as a married couple, the Brisbane duo well remember the impact of Fr Adrian Sharp’s wedding homily in St Brigid’s Church, Red Hill, last September. They remember not only because the wedding was in a church they’ve long admired, surrounded by a loving contingent of family and friends, including almost ... Read More »
THIS week – on February 11 – the Church will observe the 28th World Day of the Sick, an occasion to be in prayerful solidarity with those suffering ill-health and those who care for them. It is also an occasion to reflect on the witness and meaning of Jesus’ ministry of healing – a ministry which continues to inspire today ... Read More »
DROUGHT-affected families with children enrolled in Catholic schools will continue to receive Federal Government support with a further boost of $8.2 million announced last week. As the nation’s largest non-government education provider with 1746 schools, Catholic schools have been allocated a further $8.2 million on top of the initial $10 million in funding announced by the Government on November 7 ... Read More »
GEORGINA Edwards might need a larger car if she’s going to handle impromptu school pick-ups this term. The doting grandmother from St Bernard’s Church, Upper Mount Gravatt, waved off six grandchildren to the same school, Clairvaux MacKillop College, when Term 1 started last week. Her grandchildren are the second generation of two families, the Edwards and the Lendarduzzis, to go ... Read More »
The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You
