ONLY a year ago, Saveen Oghana and Ban Isaqi, an Iraqi couple, were busy building their careers – one as a medical doctor, the other a dentist – but now they’re in Brisbane preparing for the biggest challenge of their young lives. The 28-year-olds are studying at Australian Catholic University before they return home to manage a new hospital being ... Read More »
QUEENSLAND’S major parties have made their positions clear about whether they intend to legalise abortion. In a letter to pro-life organisation Cherish Life Queensland, the LNP stated it would not change existing abortion laws. “It is the long held position of the LNP that the current abortion laws are sufficient and do not need to be changed,” LNP Leader Tim ... Read More »
LEADING Catholic bioethicist Margaret Somerville is familiar with the jibes and attacks that accompany a national debate about same-sex marriage. About 15 years ago, the now Sydney-based Notre Dame University professor of bioethics lived through heated ideological battles as Canada edged towards same-sex marriage laws. Canada progressively introduced legislation in several provinces by court decisions beginning in 2003 before legally ... Read More »
A THORNY ethical dilemma surrounds a new push by doctors to have women screened for Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), linked to intellectual disabilities and the most common single genetic cause of autism. Researchers at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the University of Melbourne are recommending that women should be offered testing for FXS, an inherited genetic condition, if pregnant ... Read More »
A PROMINENT Catholic relationships educator has warned that Christian churches are blind to the reality of the “porn pandemic” that is affecting young Queenslanders. Paul Ninnes, whose organisation Real Talk Australia sees more than 30,000 students in Catholic and state schools every year, said it was rare to meet teenagers who had not been exposed to pornography. “There’s huge ignorance ... Read More »
EUCHARISTIC adoration is reconnecting students and staff of a Brisbane Catholic school to the true purpose and meaning of Catholic education. Students and staff at St Finbarr’s Primary School, Ashgrove, completed a second year of 24-hour Adoration after receiving many beautiful responses from children who experienced the program last year. Adore for 24 takes children out of the classroom to ... Read More »
MOTHERS and leaders pushing for better maternity care in Logan have claimed a victory after the Queensland government promised a $2m annual investment to community-based care. Health minister Cameron Dick announced on May 25 that the investment would fund six new midwives for community-based antenatal and postnatal care to Logan women. The midwives will be based in community maternity hubs, ... Read More »
A NEW focus on domestic violence in Papua New Guinea has revealed the Church at the forefront of providing for child victims. In a country where Human Rights Watch estimates 70 per cent of women are raped during their lifetime, the Archdiocese of Mt Hagen has built a care centre for vulnerable children, which its Australian designer says could be ... Read More »
“O COME let us adore him.” This is what we sing at Christmas and in our hearts throughout the year as we adore the one who: “came not to be served but to serve”. (Mark 10:45) As an aunty of nine nephews and nieces spending time with them in the Christmas season helped me receive the joy of the Christ ... Read More »
The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You
