RECEIVING a blessing from Pope Francis and a birthday message from the Queen were pretty special but not the highlight for Margaret Stephensen on turning 100 at the end of last year. It was being surrounded by more than 140 of her family and friends for Mass and a party in her home parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, ... Read More »
QUEENSLAND parishes will have the option to extend seating to 100 per cent capacity for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Masses if allocated seating is ticketed and monitored by marshals. This option has been made available for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Masses, ac- cording to recent advice from Queensland Health to the Brisbane archdiocese. The 100 per cent capacity ... Read More »
LIKE the Holy Family trekking all the way to Bethlehem to register for the census, all Brisbane Catholics must reach out to their local parish to register for Christmas Masses. Christmas Masses are among the most popular of the year and once COVID-safe capacities are reached, parish workers will have to turn people away and direct them to live- streamed ... Read More »
TERRY Latchford sets the standard for Mass attendance in his parish. He’s 101 and was among the first to return to Sunday Mass when churches re-opened around Brisbane during the COVID pandemic lockdown. Fr Ladu Yanga, parish priest at St Rita’s, Victoria Point, is inspired by Terry’s commitment and said he was an inspiration to other parishioners. Seeing Terry walk ... Read More »
AUSTRALIA’S 623,400 or so Catholics who normally attended Sunday Mass before the COVID-19 lockdown are being studied as part of a research project exploring the psychological impact of church closures. Philippa Martyr, a Perth Catholic undergoing a graduate diploma in Psychology at Monash University in Western Australia, is studying the effect that the nationwide dispensation of Sunday obligation and ongoing ... Read More »
INTERNATIONAL speakers will explore pressing questions of faith, spirituality and caring for creation during an online series being presented in Brisbane during September. Archbishop Peter Loy Chong of Suva, Fiji, and United States theologian Franciscan Father Daniel Horan will be among those heading the line-up of speakers for a four-part series of one-hour online events. Brisbane archdiocese is hosting the ... Read More »
LAST Christmas was a first for me. At that time, I was living in Rome and studying at the Gregorian University, so, as that very special season approached, I found myself far from home. I faced a dilemma. It was technically possible for me to return home for Christmas, but the long distance, the high cost and the fact that ... Read More »
SISTERS of the Sacred Heart tuned in from Indonesia and interstate to a livestream Mass celebrating the feast of St Madeleine Sophie Barat and the centenary of Stuartholme School, Toowong, on May 25. Toowong parish priest Fr Wrex Woolnough celebrated the Mass joined by students, both boarders at their homes and day-students in classrooms, staff and Sacred Heart sisters. Sacred ... Read More »
COLLECTION plates around Brisbane have been collecting dust instead of coins and notes for the past eight weeks but a new app is giving parishioners a chance to donate to their parish once more. The Parish Giving app for the Archdiocese of Brisbane was released at the end of April, several weeks after parishes were told to suspend Masses and ... Read More »
The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You
