A finding from the annual child safety compliance plan of the US Conference of Catholic bishops warns of a “growing complacency” about child protection. The report mentions around 30 dioceses as failing to provide safe environment training for all children in parishes or schools. The auditors said several dioceses assumed that the children had undergone the training Read more
Bishop Peter Cullinane has retired after almost 32 years as the Bishop of Palmerston North. Bishop Peter was born in Dannevirke, 29 November 1936, was ordained a priest at Brignole Sale College, Genoa, on 23 December 1961, and ordained as the first Bishop of the newly established Diocese of Palmerston North at St. Patrick’s Palmerston North, Read more
The Diocese of Chalan Kanoain the Northern Marianas are still waiting for a new Bishop. Almost two years have passed since Bishop Tomas A.Camacho resigned. Bishop Camacho was the first Bishop of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa in the Northern Mariana Islands. He served as bishop from 1984 until his retirement in 2010. Fr. Ryan Read more
Mick Gooda, Aboriginal and Social Justice Commissioner leader, addressed the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference this week in Sidney. Mick Gooda is a descendent of the Gangulu people of central Queensland.
Gooda said that since 1972, the Catholic Church had said that Aboriginal people’s rights to land, employment, housing, education, and are all paramount rights.
Commissioner Gooda spoke about the apology expressed by the national Parliament, which acknowledged past mistakes, (such as taking Aboriginal children from their families and putting them with white families) and promised to make steps toward a reconciled Australian future.
“This is a journey that moves us along the road to freedom and human dignity which Australia owes her people. It is about looking forward and moving forward as a nation. It is a journey that can help build healthy relationships, necessary for an agenda of hope”, said Gooda.
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The Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences last week concluded a meeting to address growing concerns in Asia over sexual abuse within the Church. Conference organizers barred access and refused comment to journalists attempting to cover the event. A letter posted by the Federation’s Office of the Clergy in January invited “cardinals, archbishops, bishops and formators” Read more
Sudan’s Catholic bishops have issued a formal warning about the threat of a return to full-scale civil war and appealed for urgent food and medicine, stating that thousands of people are being terrorised by aerial bombardment.
Referring to spreading violence in different regions in central and eastern Sudan, and newly created South Sudan, the bishops’ statement urges the international community to intervene to stop the fighting.
Read the article...Thousands of Mexican citizens are fleeing the violence that continues to plague the border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. That was the message from college professors, the director of a refuge for migrants and the migrants themselves to members of the U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions during a recent visit to El Paso.
Ruben Garcia, director of Annunciation House in El Paso, told the eight bishops on the subcommittee Oct. 20 that there is a “steady stream” of refugees trying to escape their country’s “police, military and government,” as well as the nation’s drug cartels.
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Dunedin’s Bishop Campbell could be in line for a “rap over the knuckles” from the Pope for criticising the new translation of the prayers, responses and music used at Mass, a Dunedin academic says. Bishop Campbell has made a public criticism of changes endorsed Pope Benedict. University of Otago Associate Prof Greg Dawes, an authority Read more
A couple of weeks ago I was caught up in a conversation with a group of people which left me wondering if they had really grasped the Good News of the Gospel at all. Their point of the conversation was all about sin and how dreadful the world is and what sinners we are. To Read more
“Be the change that you want to see in the world.” So said Mohandas Gandhi. This was also the theme of a homily presented at the opening mass for the 129th The Knights of Columbus Convention in Denver. “Renewal begins not in vilifying others, but in examining ourselves honestly, repenting of our sins and changing ourselves. This Read more