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Yearly Archives: 2015
Archbishop’s Homily: ‘Living, working spaces of the Church’
Designed principally by Bramante, Michelangelo, Maderno and Bernini, St Peter’s is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture and the most prominent building in...
Papal nuncio expresses concern for journalists in conflict situations
Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Vatican’s U.N. nuncio, acknowledged the “tremendous contribution to our world” made by journalists, and extended the Holy See’s prayers for...
Why Pope Francis put the human person at the heart of his eco-encyclical
The pope’s first social encyclical Laudato Si’ is a good deal more interesting than was reported by mainstream media outlets last week.
Certainly, Pope Francis...
Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, the cool hand cardinal from Africa
Last October, when English-speaking participants at the extraordinary synod in Rome were reeling on account of a mid-synod report which they said had severely...
Are the fruits of the Holy Spirit the same as the gifts?
Dear Father, my daughter asked me recently about the fruits of the Holy Spirit, but I was not exactly sure what they were. I...
Horror tales from a city of shame
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has been sitting in Ballarat for the past two weeks. For those unfamiliar with...
Why are families reluctant to ask for help when they most need it?
I attended the funeral recently of a friend who had been diagnosed with cancer just over a year ago. Her husband thanked the mourners...
The pope who opened the doors to be Aboriginal, Catholic and proud
God will be asked this week to “touch the hearts of the broken, homeless and inflicted and heal their spirits.”
That call is part of...
Miracle attributed to Holy Land saint while she was alive
Dear Father, an Australian friend recently went to Rome for the canonisation of a relative, Sr Marie-Alphonsine, and although she told me something about...
Plotting the points on our moral compass
It is a well-worn question that continues to incite debate, whether at dinner parties or in theological and scientific journals: Is morality hard-wired into...
Sanctity and sanity under threat when reality TV messes with matrimony
Days that are set aside for special commemorations can promote thoughts about how those events may relate to other people who are sharing similar...
Freedom of worship in a mostly Christian society?
Dear Father, In my suburb Muslims have proposed to build a mosque. This has the people completely divided, most of them being against it....
