In bureaucracies everywhere, when someone’s interests are threatened by a cycle of reform, one time-honoured resistance strategy is to dig up dirt on the reformers. For maximum effectiveness, the dirt should be related to a brewing crisis in which people are tempted to shoot first and ask questions later. Whatever its supernatural claims may be, Read more
Catholic education authorities in Sydney are encouraging students to speak out if they are unhappy with Australia’s treatment of refugees and asylum seekers. Sydney archdiocese executive director of Catholic schools Dan White said these schools have a long-standing tradition of encouraging students to engage with social justice issues. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that a Read more
A religious order flew a paedophile out of Australia and he worked as a headmaster in another country, while wanted by police, a royal commission has heard. Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses into Child Sexual Abuse is holding hearings in Canberra. It has heard about failures by the Marist Brothers to act on repeated Read more
Last month Wellington hosted the four-yearly plenary assembly of the bishops of the Federation of Catholic Bishops of Oceania (FCBCO). But it would be no surprise if anyone attending the opening Mass thought they had been carried off to the Pacific Islands, with the vibrant contribution of the Samoan and Tokelauan communities. It was one Read more
You could be forgiven for not knowing where the buck stops in the Catholic Church these days. In any society, organization or Church community, it is important to know who is ultimately responsible in decision making; otherwise, chaos or worse would prevail. In an unprecedented (for a cardinal) cross examination in court last week, Cardinal Read more
Australia’s upper house of Parliament, the Senate, has rejected an attempt by the Greens to remove the Lord’s Prayer from the start of each day’s sitting. Victorian Greens Senator Richard Di Natale moved on February 13 that the prayer be replaced with the following words: “Senators, let us in silence pray or reflect upon our Read more
Over the past three-and-a-half years, the outback mining town of Leonora in Western Australia has been a temporary home for asylum seekers. Last month however, the Federal Government announced that Leonora’s detention centre – along with three other centres on Australia’s mainland – would close by the end of February. For Good Samaritan Sister, Annette Dever, a Read more
Sacked former Bishop of Toowoomba, Bill Morris, is expected to give testimony at the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Brisbane. Before being sacked by Pope Benedict over ongoing doctrinal issues, Morris, formally admitted Catholic Church liability, opening the door to a large compensation payout to 13 schoolgirls. The Brisbane hearing Read more
A female teacher has resigned from one of Sydney’s leading Catholic boys schools after inappropriate relationships with at least two students. It is understood the teacher, in her late 20’s, had sex with the students. The SMH reports both boys from last year’s Year 12 were over the age of consent, however because of student-teacher Read more
The Vatican’s representative in Australia is claiming diplomatic immunity in response to repeated requests for documents that might assist the NSW inquiry into child sex abuse. The Guardian reported that copies of correspondence released by the commission this week reveal the diplomatic stand-off between the papal nuncio, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, and the chair of the Read more