Our justice system is based on the premise that a person is innocent until proven guilty. But what happens when a person is found guilty and then proven innocent? This is the conundrum facing Archbishop Philip Wilson and the Catholic Church in Australia following the overturning of the conviction against the former Adelaide Archbishop.
It’s that time of year again where the events and activities all around us signal the end of the current year. Our time and energies are taken up with rounding off this year’s work so we can have some respite from work and hopefully some quality family time.
There is nothing that looks deader than a pruned vineyard in August. I have seen it at Sevenhill, year after year. A month later, as is happening now with the trees in our gardens, the buds of the fresh green of life begin to appear.
As a young Catholic girl growing up in suburban Adelaide, one of my favourite things about having a religious upbringing was getting to read books about saints like Bernadette of Lourdes and the children of Fatima.
Opinion
For many Catholics, Sunday Mass is just part of the fabric of our Christian life. We began attending Mass at an early age and became familiar with its structure and content over the years almost ‘by osmosis’. Those of us who attended Catholic schools will certainly have received some teaching about Mass and the sacraments, but for many of us, it is not something that we have studied deeply.
Opinion
Salisbury parishioner and retired teacher Arthur Nankivell has been providing ‘technical support’ to musicians at St Augustine’s Church for many years. Diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease three years ago, he continues to actively participate in the parish, preparing the Powerpoint presentation and operating the overhead projector each Sunday. Arthur was heavily involved in community service with Lions for 40 years and named Citizen of the Year at the Salisbury City Council Australia Day Awards in 2015. In what he describes as ‘ramblings’ on living and dying, ARTHUR NANKIVELL writes of the importance of serving others – even in his dying days – and his personal rejection of euthanasia.
Opinion
There is the story of a former Prime Minister visiting a nursing home during an election period and going up to one of the elderly residents, bending over and asking the lady, “do you know who I am?” The resident replied, ‘no, I don’t, dear, but if you go over to the nurse at the desk, she will probably be able to tell you’.
All around us are signs of the season of spring, for which we have looked forward to. We have left behind us the sometimes grey, dull and cold days of winter and may even have a spring in our steps as we look forward to more natural warmth and light, and the energy that comes from them.
All roads lead to Rome, they say. And from all the corners of the earth we came – Australia (just me), Macau, the Philippines, Latin America, United States, Canada, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Western Europe and Rome itself – to learn about ‘covering Catholicism in the age of Francis’.
Apostolic Administrator Bishop Greg O'Kelly SJ asks why Catholics should stick with the Church in challenging times in his message this month.
In the past 50 years lay people have taken on many liturgical ministries, from extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion and readers, to visitors to the sick and collection counters. For many parishes the ministry of hospitality holds a special place because hospitality is – or ought to be – the hallmark of every Christian. We might think that hospitality at Mass is limited to providing a warm greeting as parishioners and visitors arrive, or handing out parish bulletins, but in fact it is much more than this: it is the ministry of the whole community.
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