In a landmark decision, Australia’s High Court has ruled that the Catholic Church is not vicariously liable for child abuse committed by priests not directly employed by the institution. This ruling overturns a 2023 Victorian court decision that held the church responsible for the abuse of a five-year-old by assistant priest Father Bryan Coffey. The Read more
Pope Francis has named Ukrainian-born Bishop Mykola Bychok as Australia’s new cardinal, a decision that has left some senior bishops “choking on their Talisker”. Bychok, 44, who leads the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Australia, was appointed only four years after arriving in the country. His elevation has surprised many within the Church, especially those Read more
As the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis drew to a close, an Australian bishop praised the event as a model for revitalising the Catholic faith worldwide and expressed hope that it could inspire similar revivals worldwide. According to the Australian Catholic Weekly, Auxiliary Bishop Richard Umbers of Sydney, who attended the congress as an international Read more
Archbishop Mark Coleridge says despite a fall in the number of Australians identifying as Christian, fifty percent still identify as such. That means Jesus’s voice remains prominent in Australia, Coleridge says. Data from the 2021 census has just been released by the Bureau of Statistics. It includes figures on religious affiliation which show Catholics now Read more
The Catholic Church in Australia will not be the Church that Jesus wants until the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have made a contribution to the life of the Church and until it has been joyfully received by others. This one of the ‘motions’ distributed by the church’s drafting committee and circulated among Council Read more
An Australian archbishop is calling on catholics “to rise up with new evangelical vigour”. He made the call in a commentary on a plenary council preparatory document. Archbishop Julian Porteous of Hobart (pictured) said Catholicism in Australia faces crises such as a loss of faith and declining religious practice. The plenary council working document shows Read more
Ordaining women is not okay, over 200 Australian Catholic students have told the country’s bishops in an open letter. The letter, sent ahead of the upcoming Fifth Plenary Council of the Church in the country, urges the bishops to remain committed to the Church’s teaching. Ordaining women should therefore be rejected. “Many submissions to the Read more