The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You

SOME of Brisbane’s homeless call her “Santa”, but Sr Salvacion Bunao likes to think of herself just as a nun serving the vulnerable, inspired and challenged by the Pope. The Franciscan Immaculatine Sister, who works alongside the Capuchins at South Brisbane, has been personally delivering food and good cheer to vulnerable members of her community, including elderly parishioners, families and ... Read More »

IF you are feeling lonely during the pandemic restrictions – you are not alone. Half of all Australians report feeling increasing loneliness at this time. But isolation, social distancing and even wearing a mask in public need not produce negative emotions. A new collection of resources launched by Australian Catholic University explores how thinkers throughout history have dealt with isolation, ... Read More »

HOMELESSNESS in Australia has risen sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic, spurring community groups to demand investment in a multibillion-dollar social housing program that could stimulate the economy. In a submission to the government ahead of the federal budget in October, peak body Homelessness Australia says the COVID-19 crisis has caused a surge in people seeking assistance and losing their homes ... 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 »

YEAR 12 students Hayley Bowden and Lucy Baker are planning to leave the worst year of their schooling life on a positive note by shaving their heads for cancer. The vice-captains of Stuartholme School plus another 34 Year 12 students are taking on the Ponytail Project, a movement started by St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School, Ascot, in 2015 when a ... Read More »

THOUSANDS of people who lost their homes, their possessions and their loved ones when 2750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded at Beirut’s port will soon receive a message of hope from Queensland. Maronite priest Fr Fadi Salame, who lost a relative and a childhood neighbour in the devastating blast on August 4, filled a truck on September 1 filled with ... Read More »

LEADING child protection expert Daryl Higgins is backing a call for an urgent change to Medicare rebates to help address mental health issues among children. Professor Higgins, who is director of the Institute of Child Protection Studies at the Australian Catholic University, joined a list of prominent health academics calling for the change. They want Medicare rebates to be changed ... Read More »

MENTAL Health is topping the nation’s political agenda, with the Prime Minister promising greater resources for suicide prevention, and Australia agreeing to a new blueprint that recognises faith leaders and communities as necessary in delivering mental health crisis care. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has ranked suicide prevention as “one of my government’s highest priorities” during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has ... Read More »

A CATHOLIC priest who helped rescue a surfer being attacked by a four-metre great white shark, says it was the grace of God that gave him courage to act in the moment. “There’s something deep inside you that wants to help,” keen surfer and newly-ordained priest Fr Liam Ryan, 33, said, after a daring rescue at remote Bunker Bay beach, ... Read More »