Following the announcement of the Australian Government’s deal with Malaysia, the Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office (ACMRO) called on all political parties to strive for a more humanised approach to dealing with clandestine migration.

The Sydney Alliance website describes the movement as bringing “together diverse community organisations, unions and religious organisations to advance the common good and achieve a fair, just and sustainable city. We do this by providing opportunities for people to have a say in decisions that affect them, their families and everyone working and living in Sydney. The Sydney Alliance is a non-party political organisation.”

On 19 August 2011, Mark Edwards OMI celebrated 25 years of priestly life with a concelebrated Mass and dinner with his family, friends and fellow Oblates at St Mary’s Seminary in Mulgrave Victoria where Mark had worked for more than ten years as Pre- Novice Master, Novice Master and Rector before taking up his present position as Rector of Iona College in Brisbane at the start of this year.

Sydney Archdiocese’s Aboriginal Catholic Ministry’s executive officer, Graeme Mundine, commenting on the Northern Territory Intervention and the visit to Darwin of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said the Labor Government had been in power long enough to “own” the intervention. “It’s true the intervention was started by the Howard Government,” he said. “But this Government hasn’t changed it - if anything it’s [...]

A new Jesuit school will open its doors in the Sydney suburb of Redfern later this year – the first Jesuit school to be established in Australia in 60 years, and one that goes to the very heart of Jesuit teaching: equality and opportunity for all, noted Catherine Marshall in Province Press (March 29, 2011). Catering to Aboriginal students, the primary school – [...]

                        Three new bishops have been appointed. Bishop Bill Wright will serve as leader of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, Bishop Peter Comensoli will be auxiliary in the Archdiocese of Sydney and Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv will be auxiliary in the Archdiocese of Melbourne. These men come from varied backgrounds [...]

On May 26, Fr Maurizio Pettena, Director of the Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office questioned the Malaysia deal and challenged the government to increase its humanitarian intake. “It remains essential for Australia to hear asylum seekers when they knock at our door. Concern for the welfare of asylum seekers must not stop at our border”, he said. “We acknowledge that the policy of sending [...]

Bishop Issam Darwish, Greek-Melkite Eparchy of St Michael the Archangel of Sydney, has been appointed Archbishop of Zahleh & Furzol, Lebanon. We thank him for the contribution he made to the Church during his time here and we wish him every blessing in his new appointment. Rt Rev Archimandrite Robert Rabbat, currently Rector of the Cathedral of the Annunciation, Newton, USA, has been appointed the [...]

A challenge to the constitutionality of the Government’s School Chaplaincy Program in State Schools will be heard in the High Court in August. “Australia’s constitution does not separate church and state. The closest it comes is in section 116, which says the Commonwealth cannot make any law for ‘establishing any religion’, ‘imposing any religious observance’ or ‘prohibiting the free exercise of any religion’’’ said [...]

Charles Rue SSC, has produced a resource for engaging with environmental issues that is very attractive to handle, yet full of spiritual and scientific wisdom. He calls everyone to face the climate change challenge with commitment and prayer. Rue notes that in recent times the emphasis in his “evangelization work has been on showing the integral connection between Catholic faith and ecological issues starting [...]