The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You

THE Queensland Government’s controversial election promise to fast-track euthanasia legislation early next year is coming under increasing pressure. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk shocked Church leaders and other opponents of voluntary assisted dying (VAD) by announcing at Labor’s campaign launch on October 18 that legislation would be introduced next February if the Government was returned. By advancing the timeframe, the Premier has ... Read More »

AS the Queensland border is set to reopen to Greater Sydney and Victoria on December 1, one local Catholic family is already “counting down the days” until they can reunite with family for Christmas. Brisbane Catholics Arnaud and Pia Hurdoyal, and their son Micah, have only a few distant relatives in north Queensland with Arnaud’s family roots in Victoria and ... Read More »

EUTHANASIA legislation is a top priority for Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk but the rushed promise needs to get past Townsville Bishop Tim Harris first. The North Queensland bishop told The Catholic Leader he believed the returned Queensland Labor Government was “helping to facilitate a culture of death” with the promise to introduce voluntary assisted suicide legislation in February. “We’re now ... Read More »

CAIRNS Bishop James Foley – a Labor supporter all his life – says he’s disenfranchised by the party’s stand on abortion and euthanasia – and has doubts about how he will cast his vote in the Queensland election. A moral voice for Catholics in the state’s far north, Bishop Foley has written a letter to the Cairns Post and featured ... Read More »

While several Australian state’s debate whether to legalise euthanasia, the state of Victoria, where voluntary assisted dying (VAD) was legalised a year ago has reported more than ten times the anticipated number of deaths. Victoria’s Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board reported 124 deaths by assisted suicide and euthanasia during its first year, a result Victoria’s bishops said was “not a ... Read More »

QUEENSLAND will reopen its borders from midday July 10, but travel from Victoria will remain restricted because of a spike in community transmissions of COVID-19 in that state. The decision, announced by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is part of a much anticipated move to Stage 3 restrictions. Brought forward a week to July 3 will be the easing of restrictions allowing ... Read More »

A DIRE lack of palliative care services is one of the key issues Queensland Parliament’s aged-care inquiry has heard at public hearings across the state. The inquiry is examining the adequacy of Queensland’s end-of-life care including palliative care, and is looking into support for laws to allow voluntary assisted suicide. Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge will present a submission to the ... Read More »

AN historic agreement to pay lost wages to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as an act of healing, has been welcomed by a Catholic human rights advocate.  “This is quite a significant step forward to healing divisions and creating a possibility for greater trust and respect,” Archdiocese of Brisbane Catholic Justice and Peace Commission executive officer Peter Arndt said. On ... Read More »

ARCHDIOCESE of Brisbane frontline domestic violence workers have urged a closer focus on strangulation in a bid to lower the number of fatalities in Queensland homes. Centacare’s Family and Relationships Services say any evidence of non-lethal strangulation places a victim immediately in a “high-risk” domestic violence situation. Their urgings are supported by a State Government advisory board that has issued ... Read More »