Evangelisation needs to take place where the people are. Doing so is succeeding beyond a UK archdiocese’s wildest expectations. The new “Some Definite Service” programme is working, say Catholics in the Southwark archdiocese. They say the programme is behind the 450 adults who completed the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) course this year. Read more
Australia’s fifth plenary council (PC) finished on a united note on the final day of voting last Friday. The PC’s final acts will now be compiled and sent to Rome for ratification. PC vice president Bishop Shane Mackinlay says he believes “in time we will look back on this as an extremely significant event in Read more
One of Pope Francis’s top advisers says a new relationship between lay people and clergy is needed in the Church’s institutions and organisations. German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, a member of the Pope’s council of cardinals, spoke at a conference in Dublin, Ireland. The cardinal later told CNS, “When you see the institutions and the organisation Read more
The Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship has said he feels wounded at incomprehension by some priests of the Church’s teaching on marriage. Cardinal Robert Sarah told French Catholic magazine “L’Homme Nouveau” he ascribed this to “the insufficiency of the formation of my confreres”. “And insofar as I am responsible for the discipline of Read more
Inter-congregational ministries and formation were among the topics explored at the Leadership Conference of Women Religious 2015 assembly. Former executive director Sr Janet Mock emphasised the need for inter-congregational ministries. The St Joseph Sister said there could be no “superstars” in religious life. Sr Mock discussed the need for current leadership to ensure that younger Read more
Pope Francis has warned religious orders against letting low numbers of new vocations influence whom they accept into religious life. The Pope was speaking to a conference of religious formation directors in Rome on Saturday. He told the 1200 directors that they must be “gravely attentive” to those they are guiding. This is so that Read more
Some 500 Catholic leaders and their pastors from across the United States met recently at the first-ever Amazing Parish conference. Held in Denver late last month, the aim was to brainstorm and swap ideas about improving parish life, the Catholic News Agency reported. The newly-founded Amazing Parish movement seeks to provide a one-stop shop for Read more
Representatives from sixteen seminaries in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, and Guam have been meeting at The Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary of Guam for their annual Oceania Seminary Rectors’ Meeting. “What we have in common is the Pacific, the ocean. I think it is great that we can share a Read more