CHRISTMAS stockings are going to be bare for a lot of families this year as more than a million Australians were expected to be unemployed by December. The Australian Government warned unemployment was expected to peak at 9.25 per cent – that’s another 240,000 people out of work. With a deepening economic crisis came a worsening participation rate, which meant ... Read More »
AS Brisbane Catholics take stock of the small blessings in their life, a trend has emerged showing people were recognising the way COVID-19 had reminded them of the importance of family and helped them to re-think their priorities. At time of publication, almost 100 people had contributed to the Archdiocese of Brisbane’s Small Blessings campaign and family was central to ... Read More »
A QUEENSLAND couple with seven children will lead the official Australian pilgrimage to the ninth World Meeting of Families conference in Dublin in August. Mark and Tink Boyd, from Yeppoon, first attended a World Meeting of Families conference in Mexico City in 2009 after an invitation from then Rockhampton Bishop Brian Heenan. “It just opened our eyes to the evangelising ... Read More »
BRISBANE Archbishop Mark Coleridge believes the latest census data showing a drop in religious affiliation suggests “the young are more interested in unorganised spirituality than organised religion, and that they aren’t as interested in denominations as their forebears were”. Catholicism remains by far the most dominant religion in Australia with more than 5.2 million followers, however the 2016 census data ... Read More »
HUNGRY little mouths in Brisbane will be feasting for weeks after Christmas, thanks to a delivery of 110 hampers from parish ministry Aspleycare. Laundry baskets filled with delicious festive and staple foods were delivered to Brisbane families assisted by Aspleycare, a ministry of Our Lady and St Dympna’s Parish in Aspley on the city’s northside. More than 100 disadvantaged families ... Read More »
CONCERNS have been raised by a leading Catholic ethicist that some of Australia’s major IVF clinics have been misleading couples with information about success rates. Queensland priest Fr Kevin McGovern, emeritus director at the Caroline Chisholm Centre for Health Ethics, Melbourne, described as “deceitful” how some IVF clinics presented figures on their websites “to create the impression that the chance ... Read More »
YOUTH minister Steve Allgeyer is convinced the Catholic Church will “come alive” if parishes put more energy into reaching teenagers. Mr Allgeyer is the vice-president of ministry advancement at Life Teen, a United States-based youth movement that visited Brisbane last year. With more than 25 years’ experience in youth ministry, he has seen the power of building the Church from ... Read More »
BRISBANE Archbishop Mark Coleridge has used a pastoral visit to Darra to welcome newly-arrived Iraqi refugee families. Two families driven from their war-torn homeland have spent the past two years in refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon, and have been reunited with relatives already living in Brisbane. “Last week we had two couples arrive with their children at our school, ... Read More »
RELIGIOUS adoption agencies can freely refuse same-sex couples wanting to adopt a child in Victoria under an amended bill that passed yesterday. Victorian Parliament passed the controversial bill allowing same-sex couples a chance to adopt children in the state, but with an amendment omitting Clause 17, which would have prohibited faith-based agencies from an exemption. The amended bill would also ... Read More »
The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You
