Individual opinions about Australia’s gay marriage postal survey are personal, Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen of Parramatta Diocese says. In a pastoral letter published on the Catholic Outlook website last week, Nguyen said “when voting there must be a deep sense of respect for all concerned, and for the opinion and decision that each person Read more
Australia is viewed as “the promised land” by persecuted Catholics in the Middle East. An Iraqi Catholic priest says Australia has led the way in welcoming thousands of Christians who have been forced to leave their homes because of violence from radical militant groups such as the Islamic State. Read more
Same-sex marriage is alright. That’s the message put out by two of Australia’s elite Jesuit schools, St Ignatius’ College, Riverview and Xavier College. Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart is declining to comment on remarks made by the schools last week that seemed to support gay marriage. The Australian Bishops Commission for Catholic Education is also Read more
Gay marriage should be legal, say two thirds of Australian Catholics, despite church leaders demanding they vote no. Catholics were the most likely people of faith to indicate they would vote yes in the upcoming postal vote, along with non-Christian religions, a new poll found. Read more
Australia’s Catholic church is threatening to fire teachers, nurses and other employees who marry their same-sex partner if gay marriage is legalised. The Church’s threats come as opponents and supporters of marriage equality stand firm to their view while the countdown to the federal government’s postal vote to decide the issue continues. The Archbishop of Read more
Australia’s Truth Justice and Healing Council vice chair, Elizabeth Proust, says she’s “pessimistic” about the Catholic Church’s willingness to reform now the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has finished. Proust, whose role on the Council is to supervise and coordinate the Church’s response to the Commission and its recommendations, says she fears Read more
The provenance of organs harvested for transplants is so concerning in Australia that a federal inquiry into illegal organ harvesting has been launched. The aim is to help to deter organ trafficking and transplant tourism crimes. The Catholic church in Australia supports voluntary, legal organ donation. In a position statement in which a number of Read more
While the Australian Catholic Church says it is “working hard to prevent child abuse from happening again”, what does this mean? One priest has adopted strategies to ensure his church is a safe place. These include, for example, ensuring young altar servers do not change into their robes without parental supervision. “Now the door to Read more
The Australian Institute of Theological Education says it is “proud to be partnering again with the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference” to host the 13th Annual National eConference next month. They say the eConferences have attracted growing interest from communities across the world and this year’s event will be streamed live. Read more
Andrew Forrest recently donated $420 million of his $5.45 billion fortune to charity, the single largest donation by a living person in Australian history. His family supports his philanthropy, which will see him giving away most of his fortune. “Inheritance has never really made sense to me,” one of his children says. “You watch it Read more