Pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Melbourne met the Holy Father in Rome on Wednesday, 26 July, in a special private audience as part of the lead-up to World Youth Day Lisbon. During the meeting, Pope Francis encouraged the pilgrims in their faith journey. He answered questions on topics ranging from education to evangelisation, the environment Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Australian Catholic Church’
‘The Lord is always by your side’: Pope Francis speaks with Melbourne pilgrims
Monday, July 31st, 2023Catholic Church Insurance refuses bailout, winding down
Thursday, June 1st, 2023
Australian firm Catholic Church Insurance (CCI) has announced that it will begin winding down its operations after failing to secure additional financial support. On Monday, the CCI informed shareholders and staff of the decision, which will result in the closure of the insurer for new business. Despite this decision, CCI remains solvent and will honour Read more
Vatican confirms seal of confession not up for debate
Monday, September 7th, 2020
The Vatican has told Australian Catholic Church leaders that the seal of confession can never be violated and is not debatable. This remains the case, even in cases where a victim disclose sexual abuse to their confessor or an abuser confesses their actions. “A confessor is prohibited completely from using knowledge acquired from confession to Read more
First Plenary Council for Australian Catholics in decades
Thursday, March 22nd, 2018
Australia’s Catholic Church is making plans to hold the country’s first Plenary Council in over 80 years. Pope Francis has approved the national ecclesiastical gathering. The Plenary Council will meet twice – once in central Australia in late 2020 and again on the eastern seaboard in mid-2021. The Council’s aim is to make plans to Read more
Australian Catholic Church – actual as against stated wealth
Monday, February 12th, 2018
The Australian Catholic Church wealth has been investigated by media. The amount the investigation turned up is significantly greater than the Church admits. The Age – a daily newspaper that has been published in Melbourne since 1854 – undertook the six-month investigation. It found the Church is far wealthier than it asserted to the Royal Commission Read more
Clerical sex abuse in Australia: can you believe the statistics?
Monday, February 13th, 2017
The headlines in Australian newspapers this week have not been kind to the Catholic Church. Gail Furness, the lawyer for the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, delivered a blistering speech outlining its findings to date about Catholic dioceses, religious orders and institutions. Afterwards, the Sydney Morning Herald editorialised: “Now we know too, that Read more
The obedience of the faith: the making of George Pell
Tuesday, October 1st, 2013
The presbytery of St. Alipius is a redbrick gothic bungalow built when gold money was still washing through Ballarat. It sits in a Catholic compound of brick and granite schools and convents where the road from Melbourne reaches town. White crosses stand on the gables of the house as if to ward off evil from Read more
Australian Catholic Church reveals 620 sex abuse cases
Tuesday, September 25th, 2012
The Catholic Church in Australia revealed that at least 620 children have become victims of sex abuse by clergy since the 1930s. The revelation was made in a submission to a state parliamentary hearing on Friday. “It is shameful and shocking that this abuse, with its dramatic impact on those who were abused and their Read more