AUSTRALIA will be officially rededicated to the patronage of Mary Help of Christians at a special ceremony in St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney on May 3.
The Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference has endorsed this rededication as one of the Church’s official activities for the Centenary of Federation.
The ceremony’s principal celebrant will be president of the Australian bishops’ conference, Archbishop Francis Carroll of Canberra and Goulburn.
“The bishops of Australia thought it was an opportune time, being gathered in Sydney for our plenary meeting, to hold a special ceremony in the Australian cathedral that is dedicated to Mary Help of Christians renewing our devotion to the Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ,” he said.
Secretary of the Bishops’ Committee for Liturgy, Bishop James Foley of Cairns, who spoke in the absence of its chairman, Bishop Kevin Manning of Parramatta, said the feast had always had significance in the Australian Church.
“The celebration this year is part of a pattern of breathing new life into what is valuable from the past,” he said.
