Aged care system needs overhaul: Australia’s chief Catholic healthcare body.           Little Sisters of the Poor in Glendalough, who specialise in aged care, though many of them are of elderly age themselves. Their sector is under threat if the aged care system is not reformed, Catholic Health Australia says. Photo: Anthony Ba...

The Pope’s latest encyclical is another skirmish in his war on moral relativism. The Church saved civilisation once; it now falls on Christ’s Bride to save the day again. By Dr Thaddeus J Kozinski   I bet it never crossed the minds of many living during the Dark Ages that they were particularly dark, or of those living during the decline and fall of the ...

...that openness to life is at the centre of true development. Opinion: Carolyn Moynihan Pope Benedict XVI’s new encyclical letter, On Integral Human Development in Charity and Truth, discusses a wide spectrum of social realities, among them the need for openness to new human life, which, he says, “is at the centre of true development”, and protection of t...

Will Pope Benedict’s encyclical take root? Only time will tell.   A man finishes a meal at the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, where hundreds of people receive free meals and groceries in Detroit. In his latest encyclical, Pope Benedict XVI is telling us “to not be me centred, but to be other centred,” said US businessman Steve Hayes on the Pope’s letter Cari...

Economist: UN could create economic body with teeth, as Pope suggested.   Children play in front of their makeshift house near a railway track in Jakarta, Indonesia, where 32.5 million people live in poverty. In his latest encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (“Charity in Truth”), Pope Benedict XVI said being pro-life means being pro-development. Photo: CNS/Reuters. ...

Courage, an organisation that supports same-sex attracted people is set to break out of the shadows and, with confidence and compassion, tell the Good News that really is good news. Anthony Barich reports. By Anthony Barich   Hiding in the shadows for fear of persecution by media, Courage, a movement founded to support Catholics and others who experience same-sex att...

Carolyn Moynihan explores the question.   Sandy Long works on a craft project with her grandaughter Emily Long.   By Carolyn Moynihan PUTTING babies in formal daycare during their first nine months of life while mum goes to work seems at first blush quite the wrong thing to do. But more and more mothers of very young children are in the workforc...

Promoting a market for childcare would be 'gravely wrong' says the Australian Family Association. By Anthony Barich AUSTRALIA’S bishops would be participating in in the cultural trend that promotes the workplace over the care of children by parents and families if they allowed Catholic education to provide childcare for 0-4 year-olds, the Australian Family Association...

THE Catholic Church can still support the family structure while providing childcare, says an early childhood specialist employed by the Catholic Education Office. By Anthony Barich   Stephanie Jackiewicz, formerly with the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, was appointed to the WA CEO in July 2008 shortly after the CEO completed a survey of parents and school ...

Pope Benedict XVI's first "social" encyclical breaks new ground on social issues, commentators say. By Nancy Frazier O'Brien Catholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI's new encyclical, "Caritas in Veritate" ("Charity in Truth"), breaks new ground on such topics as microfinancing, intellectual property rights, globalization and the...