The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You

PRIESTS working in Australia’s worst bushfire-ravaged districts have praised the courage and “generosity of spirit” of their communities. But with more heatwave conditions expected, they have warned of the long-term impact of disaster trauma. “We have parishioners fighting fires, those who have lost their homes, and those who are playing a part with the evacuation centres,” Fr Luke Verrell said ... Read More »

KUMBIA might not have the lights of New York City or the fame of London, but the people there enjoy something far more important – a community of faithful who “love each other and like to spend time with each other”. And in Kumbia they’ve been doing just that at Our Lady of Peace Church for a century. Pastor Fr Chukwudi ... Read More »

BUSH Sister of Charity Christine Henry believes prolonged drought is one reason outback Queensland has been identified as easily Australia’s worst youth unemployment hotspot. A report by the anti-poverty group The Brotherhood of St Laurence has analysed Australian Bureau of Statistics data to find youth unemployment at its extreme – 67.1 per cent – in a thinly populated but vast ... Read More »

KATHY Duff was four years old when she met her first Archbishop outside a small church in the rural town of Durong. It was March 6, 1966, and despite such a grand figure visiting, the deputy mayor of the South Burnett Regional Council only remembers a sibling dispute about fancy hats.  “I had a white hat that sat at an ... Read More »

IN the rural South Burnett region, death from suicide has been almost double the rate compared to Brisbane. The region is in the north of the Brisbane archdiocese, yet it is lacking in the vital services– psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health nurses – which can help reduce self inflicted injuries and deaths Between 2009 and 2013 there were 18 deaths ... Read More »

THREE young families from drought-stricken northern cattle stations will have a break from the stress and worry with a visit to Ravenshoe’s Torimba Festival which starts this weekend. Ravenshoe parish is hosting the families to an all-expenses-paid weekend in the town. Parish pastoral leader for the Ravenshoe and Gulf Savannah parishes Deacon Peter de Haas said the aim was “to ... Read More »

FATHER Jason Middleton was driving on a dirt road with a mobile phone that teased: “No service”. He was heading to a cattle property on the remotest stretch of the Brisbane archdiocese. Roads of dirt, cattle grids and not one bar of mobile phone reception. From the property, Fr Jason would see the unremarkable point where the Brisbane, Rockhampton and ... Read More »