The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You

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 »

IT’S time for short drives and family picnics (from Friday midnight restrictions will be eased), soon there will be a staged return for schools, and our major sporting codes are plotting a course for a return to competition. So when will the Church return to public liturgies? “We’re in regular contact with the Queensland Government about the progress of COVID-19 ... Read More »

DEACONS Josh Whitehead and Brendan Gormley are to be ordained priests on Friday, May 31 – but between now and then, there’s still a lot of work to be done. Deacon Whitehead said he was unsure about his expectations for the ordination itself, but he said he was excited to be ordained alongside his “brother” Deacon Brendan Gormley. “I’ve been to ... Read More »

LOWER attendance at traditional gatherings like church could be linked to increased levels of loneliness and depression among Australians, Brisbane psychologist Nahum Kozac said. “As of earlier this year loneliness is now considered a public health crisis,” Mr Kozac, a parishioner St Paschal’s Church, Wavell Heights, said. He said several factors contributed to the increase of loneliness including social media ... Read More »

DEACONS Joshua Whitehead and Thomas Duncan took a major step towards ministerial priesthood last Friday when they were ordained as deacons at the Holy Spirit Chapel, Banyo. Toowoomba Bishop Robert McGuckin celebrated the Mass with more than 100 clergy and faithful present. “As deacons, Thomas and Joshua will be strengthened by the gift of the Holy Spirit, they will help ... Read More »