POPE Francis gave an apostolic blessing to Australian Catholic bishops visiting the Vatican, encouraging them to explore new ways of being missionaries. Pope Francis met with a group of 38 Australian bishops on June 24 for more than two hours as part of their Ad Limina Apostolorum visit, translated as “To the Threshold of the Apostles”. It was a high ... Read More »
CATHOLICS across south-east Queensland are being urged to take up the call of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, understand its teachings and support an urgent environmental action plan aimed at protecting the planet. Central to the plan is a commitment to “ecological conversion” in parishes, Church agencies and schools throughout Brisbane archdiocese. Ahead of World Environment Day on June 5, ... Read More »
BISHOPS in Australia have welcomed a sweeping new law ordering officials in the Church worldwide to report cases of clergy sexual abuse – and attempts to cover it up – to their superiors. Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge said the law contained in a new papal document “Vos Estis Lux Mundi” (You are the Light of ... Read More »
POPE Francis recently urged representatives of the association of hairdressers, hairstylists and beauticians of Italy to avoid giving in to the temptation of gossip. He has spoken about gossip several times since his election to the papacy in 2013. In a 2018 general audience address, the Pope referred to gossip as a “form of terrorism”, and an act of war. ... Read More »
YOUNG Catholics must embrace the present and future of the Church through relationships with their community and God, Pope Francis wrote in his new apostolic exhortation Christus Vivit (Christ is Alive). “The very first words, then, that I would like to say to every young Christian are these – Christ is alive and he wants you to be alive,” Pope ... Read More »
BLIND Eye homeless shelter in South Brisbane will host a monthly Sunday Mass during 2019, establishing itself as a bona fide Church for the people. “Pope Francis asks us to be a Church that is ‘poor for the poor’, and this is a response here in Brisbane,” Blind Eye Ministries centre manager Eddie Murray said. Mr Murray, who is one ... Read More »
DESPITE historic leaps made in the emancipation of men and women in the last two centuries, the practice of slavery remains a real and present source of suffering for millions of people around the world. But, it also remains a real and present source of profit for slavers. Exact estimates vary due to the illicit nature of the activity, but ... Read More »
IT seems at the moment that there is a constant narrative in the news about building walls and dividing nations. For months we’ve heard United States President Donald Trump talking endlessly about his wall between the US and Mexico. With the Brexit debate there is talk of reintroducing borders in parts of Ireland. Added to this, since 2001 walls have ... Read More »
IN the heart of Panama City the beautiful Nuestra Senora del Carmen church was packed with young Australians celebrating morning prayer. Just by chance Bishop Michael McKenna of Bathurst, one of several Australian bishops in Panama for World Youth Day, passed the church and agreed to introduce prayers to about 250 visiting youth from Australia. Bishop McKenna’s message was strong ... Read More »
The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You
