Nellie Gray, the American woman who started the annual March for Life protest against the US 1973 Supreme Court decision legalising abortion nationwide and which grew into one of the signature events of the pro-life movement, has died at age 86. She was found dead in her home on August 13 in Washington by a March for Life staffer. After the first march in 1974, Gray, a Texas native, e...

By Catherine McDonough St Augustine’s Confessions, the autobiographical account of his sinful youth and eventual conversion to Christianity, may be a centuries-old story but its message still resonates today, according to the head of Ignatius Press. For the first time, a feature film – titled Restless Heart – will tell the story of the fifth-century doctor of the Church’s journey to f...

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US Sailors in a sign of goodwill help with the maintenance of St Mary's Cathedral Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB and Mgr Michael Keating welcomed US military chaplain Father Keith J Schuley and the sailors of the USS Carl Vinson at St Mary’s Cathedral on Friday morning. “We are blessed in a special way and delighted to meet you all,” Cathedral Dean Mgr Keating told the 14 sailors as he ...

  Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Bishop Tim Costelloe from Melbourne as the sixth Archbishop of Perth. Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Bishop Tim Costelloe SDB as the sixth Archbishop of Perth, making the announcement in Rome at noon today (7pm locally). Bishop Costelloe said he felt a sense of "gratitude, humility, and also a certain trepidation" at taking up his new role. "I am very ...

Papal praise crowns 50 years of love for local Catholic stalwarts. Luckily for friends and relatives gathered at the lunch celebration on 2 January for Kath and Michael Jaques’ anniversary, the weather was much kinder than the 41 degree day on which they married 50 years ago. Their wedding was celebrated by Fr Dan Foley, cousin of Archbishop Foley, at St Joseph’s, Subiaco and followed by ...

German Catholic dioceses have ordered the immediate sale of a Church-owned publishing house after reports it made millions selling erotic and pornographic titles.   “The board of management knows our mandatory requirements regarding this company’s value orientation, and that these are written into its statutes,” the Association of German Dioceses said. “After monitoring the board, we have ...

Pope Benedict XVI has urged international leaders to reach a credible agreement on climate change, keeping in mind the needs of the poor and of future generations. The Pope made the remarks at his noon blessing at the Vatican on November 27, the day before officials from 194 countries were to begin meeting in Durban, South Africa, to discuss the next steps in reducing greenhouse gases and st...

In his document on the Church in Africa, Pope Benedict XVI addresses the educational crisis on the continent, calling high illiteracy rates “a scourge on par with that of pandemics.” “True, it does not kill directly, but it contributes actively to the marginalisation of the person - which is a form of social death - and it blocks access to knowledge,” the Pope says in Africae Munus (The Co...

A few minutes after landing in Africa, Pope Benedict XVI delivered a stern warning against the “unconditional surrender to the law of the market or that of finance” in Africa and the rest of the global economy. His words were immediately seized upon by those wondering where he stood on the recent Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace document proposing a world political authority to regul...