The Bishop of Darwin has threatened to close Catholic schools if the Northern Territory’s Labor government changes laws that strip schools of the right to hire employees based on faith. Bishop Charles Gauci wants the Northern Territory government to shelve its plan to remove the right of religious schools to employ staff who share their Read more
The New Zealand Catholic Church is not on the expert speaking list at an Oceania Catholic climate crisis meeting. A world first, the conference is driven by the Australian Catholic University with support from the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. New Zealanders, however, are still invited to register and listen in over Zoom. Read more
A top court in the southern Indian state of Kerala has demanded a cardinal appear to face questions over his alleged involvement in the sale of Church lands. The Kerela High Court dismissed an appeal by Cardinal George Alencherry seeking exemption from appearing in a district court. The decision means the head of Eastern rite Read more
To mark World Day of the Poor on Sunday, Pope Francis challenged Christians to be lighted candles of hope in the midst of darkness. Walking the talk and supported by generous local businesses, Caritas and the Sant’Egidio community, Francis hosted a lunch for 1,300 poor and homeless. As well as lunch, other initiatives for the Read more
An Ashburton school is calling it quits on student cellphone use. From next year, Ashburton College’s students won’t be able to use them during school hours. Or see them. At all. Not even at lunchtime. Principal Ross Preece (pictured) says the Board-approved new policy will address a number of concerns, including bullying. Others include ensuring Read more
A call from Germany’s “synodal way” to give lay Catholics a clearly defined role in choosing bishops has run into problems. The Southern German Archdiocese of Bamberg says the decision seems incompatible with a concordat governing the appointment of bishops. In their document “Involvement of the faithful in the appointment of the diocesan bishop,” synodal Read more
Just war theory requires that combatants have not only a just cause, but also that they wage their war in a just way. Thus, Catholic teaching about conflict condemns direct attacks on civilians or even the disproportionate killing of civilians as collateral damage in an attack on a military target. In other words, you cannot Read more
Australia’s Covid-19 case numbers are on the rise again, with health officials signalling the arrival of new Omicron subvariants as a new wave begins. It’s the first sustained uptick since the “winter wave” of Omicron subvariant BA.5, University of Melbourne public health researcher Nancy Baxter told RN Breakfast on Friday. “You have things like wastewater Read more
The upcoming plenary meeting of the USCCB comes as the Catholic Church is on its way to being, in some ways, a “post-episcopal” Church—no longer a bishops’ Church. That will likely have a dramatic impact on how Catholicism may influence and interact with American social and political values. The situation arises from the precipitous drop Read more
Decentralisation is likely to be the order of the day from now on, says Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane. “The days of Dioceses as independent fiefdoms and the bishops as a law unto themselves are gone.” Coleridge (pictured), who is the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s outgoing president, explains what he means by this in his Read more