Why I became Catholic? The Record's Debbie Warrier speaks to David Pettitt.   David Pettitt. Photo: Debbie Warrier.   I look back on our conversion now and see it as a gradual awakening. My wife Paulette and I spent a lot of time in the Scottish mountains either walking or cycling. When you get away from the daily clutter of your life and go out into the ...

Christopher West reflects on Mother Teresa's "Dark Night."                                            German-born Sister Mary Prema poses beside a statue of Ble...

The evangelists of global atheism are at it again, says The Record's Guy Crouchback. British professor of atheism Richard Dawkins is reported to be setting up summer camps where children will be taught athiesm, ths reviving a practice in Britain which fell into disuse with the fall of communist governments in Eastern Europe. The London Times reports that children at the camps wi...

A new book by a former-child soldier in the Sudan sheds light on the horror that is occuring there.   Warchild: A boy soldier’s story By Emmanuel Jal Published by Abacus Available from The Record Bookshop for $35.00 + p & h Reviewed by Mark Reidy   Emmanuel Jal is living testimony to the adage that innocence is the first casualty of war, ...

A New Zealand company is tending what will be one of St Mary's enduring treasures.                      Watched by South Island Organ Company Director John Hargraves, St Mary’s Cathdral Director of Music Jacinta Jakovcevic inspects the 1910 St Mary’s Cathedral Dodd or...

Thanks to a generous bequest, the parish of St Thomas the Apostle in Claremont has been able to renew its sanctuary including the addition of a new altar.      Claremont parishioners Tracey Peter, left, and Ann Gurlach, right, present a newly-made altar cloth - sewn by parishioner, Pam Doney - to adorn the church’s new Jarrah altar. Photos: Robert Hii...

The new chair of the Bishops Commission for Catholic Education says that the Gospel is a priority for Catholic Education.   Bishop Greg O’Kelly SJ of Port Pirie is the new Chair of the Catholic Bishops’ Commission for Catholic Education.   By Anthony Barich HELPING Catholic school leaders and staff see their vocation as working in a vi...

Relativism is the new communism, says Murdoch academic.                                    Murdoch university Dean of Law Dr Gabriel Moens, above, has warned that moral relativism is the new danger that challen...

Bishop Anthony Fisher OP says the popular perception of Galileo as persecuted purveyor of the truth is out of kilter with the truth.   This 1635 portrait of astronomer Galileo Galilei by Dutch painter Justus Sustermans hangs in the Palazzo Pitti art gallery in Florence, Italy, Jan 22. Photo: CNS.   By Anthony Barich RESEARCH suggests that Galileo ...

The woman who founded and steered the Walking With Love initiative is moving on.   Angela Lecomber, pictured above, has signed off after several years helping to educate Catholics and the wider community, including welfare agencies, on abortion and related issues including sex and pregnancy. Her national effort has been part of a new approach by the bishops to the abortion ...