The editors of The Swag invited me to write an article for the magazine reflecting on some issues facing priests today. Because I am a priest of the Toowoomba Diocese, my heart has been almost completely absorbed by one issue for some time – the situation of our bishop, Bill Morris.

The case of Perth man Christian Rossiter reveals the difference between secular ethics which allows people to refuse tube feeding, and Catholic ethics which holds as a general rule that we have a duty to preserve our life and that we therefore should not refuse tube feeding.

Church and other mission oriented groups should work hard to maintain and strengthen their commitment to health care that is universal (not confined only to those who can afford it), and comprehensive (not confined to specialties thought to have distinctive appeal to mission oriented groups).

Each year in August the Church in Australia celebrates Vocations Week. This week provides opportunities for priests to share the vocational story and people to reflect upon their vocational call. A great deal of effort goes into these days. Yet, are they assessed for effectiveness?

It is difficult today to be a priest, especially in modern day Australia. Our secular and shallow society is based on popular culture, shaped by mediocrity and baseness. While there are good qualities among people that aren’t typical of post-modern Australia, we have still to realize as a society that the common good and higher good are best served by uncommon aspirations of altruism and selflessness. There is serious need among us for prophets and a prophetic voice.

Two sets of questions concerning U.S. women religious are roiling the waters in and outside the church today: 1) Why are religious disturbed about the apostolic visitation? 2) What is the real motivation for this investigation?

St Luke’s Parish Mannya – in Southern Uganda is a parish that is twinned with St Bernard’s Parish Belmont, Victoria. Kevin and Peter recently returned to Uganda to monitor the progress of the Health Centre and the rebuilding of the Nurses Home and the Secondary School, projects jointly undertaken in conjunction with the Cotton On Foundation.

The conversations around the table are very interesting as we tackle subjects like reincarnation, the role of the disciple and teacher, and so on. We are all faithful to our own traditions and support each other. We don’t try to convert, but give witness to our faith.

Edward Harris was born in May 1905 in England to an Irish mother and Protestant English father, who converted because he wanted to share his family’s passionate practice of Catholicism. They migrated to Australia; Ted learnt that in a family “sacrifice and love are twins”. He was a Christian Brothers boy, dux of Balmain CBC’s intermediate class 1920 and next year, turning 16, a NSW government junior public servant.