AMID the bullets and terror surrounding East Timor’s vote for independence, an Australian priest witnessed the depth of humanity, but he also saw courage, spirit and glimmers of hope. “The faith of the Timorese was completely powerful,” Jesuit Father Peter Hosking, who headed the Jesuit Refugee Service in East Timor at the time of the independence vote 20 years ago ... Read More »
A CATHOLIC bishop in Papua New Guinea has branded rival tribesmen “monstrous cowards” and called for a law and order crackdown, after tribal clashes that claimed at least 24 lives – including the hacking to death of women and children. “What kind of monstrous cowards can sneak up on defenceless women and children and slaughter them in their beds?” the ... Read More »
“WE are in trouble as a nation,” according to the author of an Australian Catholic University survey that reveals one in three Australian school principals have been attacked and half have experienced violent threats at work. “This is a reflection of our society, it is much bigger than schools,” the survey’s chief investigator associate professor Philip Riley, from ACU’s Institute ... Read More »
COMBATING elder abuse and protecting the rights of older Australians has been given a new priority by governments and banks. Almost 80,000 older Australians have suffered physical violence at the hands of someone known to them and many others have been financially exploited, often by a family member. Federal Attorney-General Christian Porter used World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, on June ... Read More »
FOR years, domestic violence trapped the woman like a fog that wouldn’t lift. Every part of her life, from home to work and her relationship with her teenage son, had been impacted by her abusive partner. He was physically violent and he was emotionally abusive. He would monitor the odometer on the car to know how far his partner had ... Read More »
ANTI-domestic violence experts have called for more education on the signs of strangulation as police cope with new cases sparked by a change in legislation. The introduction of non-fatal strangulation to the Queensland criminal code in 2016 has resulted in more than 1400 reported offences. More than half of those were in southeast Queensland. The law was introduced from the ... Read More »
PARENTS are being advised to reach out for professional help if they are worried that children have been affected by domestic and family violence. Some counsellors warn that the effects may not be easy to recognise particularly for stressed parents coping with the strain of an abusive relationship and the demands of raising children. Centacare executive director Peter Selwood said ... Read More »
DOMESTIC violence workers are dealing with a significant increase in distressed women and children, including those involved in high-risk cases, as awareness campaigns continue across south-east Queensland. Centacare, the Catholic Church’s social services arm, has reported increases in the number of women who have reached out for help, matching the observations of police. “This is a problem that is everywhere. ... Read More »
A NIGERIAN nun who lives “a stone’s throw” from the priests and lay people who were murdered during Mass will tell the community affected by the vicious crime to put an end to retaliation and turn to prayer. Sr Anna Abba, the superior general of the Sisters of the Nativity, an order of African women serving the poor and marginalised ... Read More »
The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You
