Speaking Wednesday 12 April, Pope Francis focused on the need for missionary disciples to be ready to set out and to be open to exploring new paths as they seek to share the Gospel through word and deed.

The Fifth Plenary Council of Australia and the global Synod on Synodality were key discussion points for Australian Catholic Bishops Conference President and Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB and Pope Francis when they met in October.

“It’s all about recognising that we all have a part to play,” Archbishop Costelloe said, explaining that Pope Francis, throughout his pontificate, has been striving “to shift the Church’s culture to one of active engagement in this task of being the visible sign that Christ is with us.”

Secretary of the Vatican Dicastery for Legislative Texts, Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, said the updated document was based on four years of experience operating under the previous version, but the update also was needed to incorporate changes Pope Francis made in 2021 to the Code of Canon Law’s “Book VI: Penal Sanctions in the Church.”

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference President and Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB says Pope Benedict XVI will long be remembered fondly in Australia as the Pontiff who led young people from around the globe in prayer at World Youth Day in Sydney in 2008.

During the five weeks of Lent, four short video messages (in addition to the Introduction from Archbishop Costelloe) speaking about What is Sacramentality, Why we Gather to celebrate Liturgy, Signs and Symbols in the Liturgy and What is Liturgy, were shown in our parish communities. The videos feature Fr Vincent Glynn, Sr Kerry Willison RSM and Mildred Rego.

By Bro Stephen Mensah SDB and Jamie O’Brien Archbishop Costelloe with parishioners of Sacred Heart Church, West Battersea Parish, during his visit on Sunday 5 March. Photos: Br Stephen Mensah SDB. Salesians of the GBR Province were recently privileged to host Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB at Sacred Heart Church, Battersea West Parish, London. Archbishop Costelloe was in Londo...

Pope Francis kisses the hand of residential school survivor Alma Desjarlais of the Frog Lake First Nation during a welcoming ceremony at Edmonton International Airport 24 July 2022. Photo: CNS /Paul Haring. By Justin McLellan Establishing clear procedures for protecting vulnerable people against abuse "must become a priority in every local church," Pope Francis said. In a message to p...

Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB has last weekend told youth from the United Kingdom that the Church needs their energy, their enthusiasm, their restlessness and their idealism. Photo: Martin Mazur/Catholic Bishops Conference England and Wales.

The Holy Father explained that witnessing the “light of holiness” radiated by Christ is not a “magical moment” outside of time but is what gives the disciples “the strength to follow him to Jerusalem, to the cross.”