FOR 15 years former Navy medic Kerri Howie struggled with major clinical depression. Now the 48–year-old Kedron veteran has found a life-changing mission – thanks to the Veterans’ Care Association, headed by Catholic Deacon Gary Stone. A year ago Ms Howie travelled to Timor Leste as a member of Timor Awakening, a unique VCA rehabilitation program designed for veterans and ... Read More »
IN a simple prison chapel, chaplain Fr Tony Girvan celebrates Mass with inmates at Maryborough Correctional Centre for the final time during the Year of Mercy, delivering a missionary message “of revealing God’s love to all people”. “They are loved and we are called to preach the Gospel through the way we love each other,” Fr Girvan said. “For someone ... Read More »
WHEN Fr Tony Girvan speaks to prisoners he doesn’t ask what they have done, only what they can become. “I go in as a witness to Christ,” he said. “That’s what Christ saw in everyone – not what they’ve done wrong but what potential they can bring to the Kingdom of God. “It won’t fully be the Year of Mercy ... Read More »
DEACON Graeme Ramsden is a straight-talking man of faith who understands a life of discipline and sacrifice. Aged 70, Deacon Ramsden retired recently after distinguished careers as a soldier and a chaplain to the military and the police. He has an easy-going manner, enjoys a joke and is a good listener – just the attributes of a chaplain who has ... Read More »
FR Bob Harwood answered a knock on the door in Dysart. A dying miner was looking for a priest, knowing the cancer tormenting his body would soon claim his life. He wanted to die in his central Queensland home town and he wanted someone to walk the final weeks with him. He had no family and no close friends. So ... Read More »
AUSTRALIA has a major problem that goes to the heart of who we are. As a workplace chaplain I see the effects of domestic violence every day. I also note how overwhelmed non-government organisations and government departments are as they act to ensure that partners and families are responded to urgently, supported in their bid to be safe and well. ... Read More »
EMOTIONAL tributes are flowing from across Australia for beloved spiritual grandfather, Brisbane-based Jesuit Father Gregory Jordan, who died suddenly on July 19, aged 85. Fr Jordan collapsed while proclaiming the Gospel in Mass at St Ignatius Church, Toowong, and was taken to the Wesley Hospital in a critical condition. He died a few hours later. Prime Minister Tony Abbott, government ... Read More »
The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You
