OXFORD, England (CNS) - Greece’s Catholic Church faces disaster because the current economic crisis is forcing it to end vital social and charitable projects, said Archbishop Nikolaos Foskolos of Athens. A man stands between discount advertisements at the entrance of his shop in Athens, Greece, 6 July. The economic crisis in Greece is taking its toll on Catholic churches and Churc...

By Bridget Spinks Eighteen couples in the parish of Sts John and Paul in Willetton will renew their vows in a Special Wedding Anniversary Mass to be held on 21 August this year. Noreen and Don Dickinson are the longest-married of the couples who will renew their vows at Willetton Parish on 21 August. The couple married on 30 November 1957 and are celebrating 54 years of marriage this y...

By Bridget Spinks The remains of the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Perth, Bishop John Brady, will finally be laid to rest in the crypt of St Mary’s Cathedral on 2 August 2011. Bishop John Brady, First Roman Catholic Bishop of Perth 1845-71. Once consecrated Bishop of Perth in 1845, Bishop Brady recruited 27 missionaries for Western Australia including the Irish Sisters of M...

Bateman Parish Jubilee celebrations recognise growth of local community. St Thomas More parish in Bateman celebrates 25th anniversary. Photo: Courtesy of Bateman parish THE Catholic Parish of Bateman celebrated its 25th Jubilee on 22 June with Mass followed by supper – the date marking the beginning of the parish and the feast day of its patron, English martyr St Thomas More...

SAINT Joseph’s Parish in Subiaco re-launched the Guild of St Stephen on 26 June. St Stephen was the first martyr of the Church and is the Patron Saint of the Guild which is set up to officially train, foster and develop altar servers and acolytes within Australia. St Joeseph's altar servers graduations. Photo: Courtesy Mirek Kanik Photography St Joseph’s is the de...

By Anthony Barich MORE THAN 130 students participated in the St Vincent de Paul Society’s inaugural School Sleepout at the WACA ground on 4 July. St Brigid’s, La Salle, John XXIII, Mandurah Catholic, Irene McCormack Catholic and St Norbert’s Colleges and St Thomas the Apostle Claremont Parish Youth Group participated after registering through the Every Day Hero page on ...

By Anthony Barich THE Malaysian Singaporean Catholic Community of Australia (MSCCA) is helping activate Archbishop Barry Hickey’s vision of the Church to be more akin to the original Christian communities in Rome. Archbishop Barry Hickey, Fr Roy Pereira and Indigenous chaplain Fr Emil Ciecierega SDS with Indigenous Australians at the MSCCA fundraiser. Photo: Anthony Barich ...

Book Review by Brian Peachey WHEN I reviewed the book, Light River, which Archbishop Barry Hickey launched, I wrote:  “Hal Colebatch has done it again! He has proved himself – if proof was necessary - to be one of Australia’s leading poets. We in Western Australia are fortunate to have in our midst such a towering literary figure.” WHEN I review...

By Mark Reidy THE Director of Choicez Media, one of Australia’s best known Catholic media and training businesses, is driven by the mantra, “The Catholic Church has the best product in the world with the worst marketing department”. But Jonathan Doyle, who founded Choicez with his wife Karen, is determined to correct this travesty and has now added an e-journal for Catholic e...

By Anthony Barich THE entire St Paul’s Catholic Primary School in Mt Lawley experienced a major catechesis on God’s love and on Catholic devotion to Mary with a trip to Our Lady’s Shrine Church in Bullsbrook on 29 June. More than 200 students, from pre-primary to Year 6, attended Mass and prayed a decade of the Rosary. St Paul’s Catholic Primary School students p...