PRIESTS in Queensland will be forced to break the seal of confession to report child sex abuse to police. New laws passed through Queensland Parliament on Tuesday, September 8 mean religious institutions and their members are no longer able to use the sanctity of the confessional as a defence or excuse in child sex abuse matters. The laws passed with ... Read More »
“Today you will be with me in Paradise” – Luke 23:43 THE scriptures of Holy Week are very special to me; it’s a week in which I enjoy very deep and meaningful reflections, doing as Mary did, treasuring these things and pondering them in my heart. But there is one that really stood out for me, touching me in much the ... Read More »
FOR some people, the Sacrament of Penance can evoke feelings of guilt, shame and anxiety. Sometimes it can feel like we have been called into the school principal’s office. If practised properly, however, the Sacrament of Penance can free a person from burdens by drawing them closer to God. One young man who has experienced that freedom is 21-year-old Alex ... Read More »
A LEADING psychiatrist has described efforts to remove the confessional seal as a “distraction” as governments continue to respond to the final report of the Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse. Associate Professor Carolyn Quadrio, who was an expert witness at the Royal Commission, said she agreed with clergy views that confessions of sexual abuse were extremely ... Read More »
CONFESSORS from Australia’s first Oratory community say an increasing number of people are receiving the sacrament of penance regularly following the Year of Mercy. Oratory Father Andrew Wise said the original second confessional needed to be re-installed at Mary Immaculate Church, Annerley – the home of the Brisbane Oratory – to cope with the number of people lining up for ... Read More »
PROTECTING the sacred dialogue between God and sinner in the confessional needs to be paramount if Australian lawmakers are to follow new recommendations proposed by the Royal Commission, Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge has said. Archbishop Coleridge was responding to the recommendations made by Royal Commission into child sexual abuse that would require members of clergy to report information even if ... Read More »
TRAVELLING Missionary of Mercy Fr Richard Shortall has finished an exhausting mission to lift the burdens of people in regional Australian communities. Living out of a motor home that ran off the water and electricity of churches, the Jesuit priest spent the past nine months visiting 30 communities in Maitland-Newcastle diocese to bring God’s mercy as a commissioned Missionary of ... Read More »
CHURCHES and confessionals across Queensland remained open for 24 hours to respond to Pope Francis’ call for the world to be “immersed in the mercy of God”. Brisbane archdiocesan parishes, including the communities of Kenmore; Redcliffe; Nambour; St Mary’s, South Brisbane; and Sandgate, opened their doors for adoration, communal prayer and Confession. Rockhampton diocese also organised a Eucharistic procession through ... Read More »
HEARING a Catholic’s confession should be awe-inspiring for a priest, an experience that makes him look at his own life and willingness to convert, Pope Francis told a group of seminarians, new priests and priests who hear confessions in the major basilicas of Rome. “Let yourselves be educated by the sacrament of Reconciliation,” he told them yesterday (March 12). Hearing ... Read More »
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