FATHER Eric Alleaume’s road to becoming a priest was a bit like being drawn into a kind of “Bermuda Triangle”. After his family emigrated from Mauritius when he was almost three years old, Fr Eric grew up in Melbourne where his destiny was sealed. “I grew up in Springvale North, in the parish of St John Vianney’s, which was an ... Read More »
“PLEASE, we are human … So please, please, consider and treat us as human beings,” is the plea of a Sri Lankan refugee languishing in detention in Brisbane on hearing the news that the Australian Government could take away his mobile phone. Raj is a Tamil refugee, a businessman from Sri Lanka who Australia has held in immigration detention for ... Read More »
CHRISTIAN Brother Brian Grenier is rare as far as writers go. That’s because he was more interested in his readers’ answers than his own. Having just released his new book, Listen to Him!, Br Grenier was reminded of a theologian who said “it is the question rather than the answer that educates”. “And you could say that in the book ... Read More »
QUEENSLAND police and frontline authorities are boosting their COVID-19 response, with a warning that the pandemic is far from over. As well as strict border checks, police are out and about ensuring churches, sports clubs and pubs adhere to the latest social distancing restrictions, and more specialist domestic violence workers are being deployed. One in nearly every 10 police will ... Read More »
SEVERAL parishes on Brisbane’s southside have been asked to cancel weekday Masses and gatherings until Saturday following the recording of three new cases of coronavirus in Queensland. In a letter to parishes sent yesterday, auxiliary Bishop Ken Howell instructed parishes to cancel all Masses and gatherings in the wake of the new cases. The parishes that will need to cancel ... Read More »
PROTESTERS and faith leaders united to sing Amazing Grace in the darkness and call for the release of asylum seekers being detained in the heart of Brisbane recently. Leaders from various Christian denominations and other faiths had gathered for a twilight prayer vigil during Refugee Week (June 14-20) at Kangaroo Point, not far from the hotel where the asylum seekers ... Read More »
A GROUP of Brisbane Catholics joined a Vatican official to launch a year dedicated to “ecological conversion in action”. The Global Catholic Climate Movement hosted the Zoom event on World Environment Day recently to launch the Special Year of Laudato Si’ in Oceania. People from throughout Oceania participated in group discussions after hearing Fr Joshtrom Kureethadam, of the Vatican’s Dicastery ... 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 »
A REFUGEE from Sudan and former student of Brisbane’s St James College says he understands the fear that young, African Americans feel when confronted by police. As Atem Atem watched last week’s protests over the death of George Floyd escalate into violence and arson in cities across the United States, he recalled his own experience while playing basketball at Northern ... Read More »
The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You
