Denis and Ann Cullity with Archbishop Barry Hickey, Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton and Vicar General Fr Brian O’Loughlin at St Thomas More College Chapel. Photo: Archdiocese of Perth. Archbishop Barry Hickey has bestowed Papal Honours on three Perth Catholics, Peter Tannock and Denis and Ann Cullity, for their significant contribution to society and the Church in the name of Christ. Th...

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) - All people are called to holiness, and having extraordinary gifts does not make someone a greater saint than someone else, Pope Benedict XVI said. “Precisely the ‘normal’ saints are the kind of saints God wants,” the Pope said on August 20, briefly setting aside the prepared text at his weekly general audience. “Holiness is not a ...

Monsignor Jude Okolo, counsellor at Canberra’s Apostolic Nunciature, appointed Nuncio to Chad and Central African Republic.   Monsignor Jude Thaddeus Okolo   By Anthony Barich Monsignor Jude Thaddeus Okolo, counsellor the Apostolic Nunciature in Canberra, has moved up in the world after Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as Apostolic Nuncio to Chad and th...

By Anthony Barich Pope Benedict XVI will be spend his three-day holiday prior to World Youth Day in a tranquil Opus Dei-run centre surrounded by wombats, frilled-neck lizards and euchalyptus trees. Close to nature: This quiet and secluded retreat at Kenthurst north-west of Sydney is where Pope Benedict will rest before plunging into WYD activities. while there he will be as close as he ...

Here is the text of Pope Benedict XVI's remarks at the April 19 rally with seminarians and young people at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, NewYork.   Pope Benedict XVI spreads his arms in greeting at St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers where he met with young people with disabilities and attended a youth rally. Photo: CNS   Your eminence, dear brother bishops, dea...

Anthony Barich A new website linking international pilgrims with Australian Catholics as they prepare for World Youth Day 2008 was launched on May 24 by Cardinal George Pell at an Hispanic party in Sydney. The website, www.ybenedict.org, is an initiative of the Australian Catholic Students Association and is now publishing daily pilgrim-news in English and Spanish for the final 50...

By Paul Gray The day after Joseph Ratzinger’s election as Pope Benedict XVI, Melbourne author and theologian Tracey Rowland received a startling email from one of the world’s most prestigious publishers. Tracey Rowland They wanted her to write a book on Karl Rahner, the influential Jesuit theologian who was leader of one of the “progressive” factions at the ...

By John Thavis VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Pope Benedict XVI said the Church must bring the "Gospel of mercy" to those involved in abortion and divorce, showing sensitivity to the inner burdens they bear. Pope Benedict XVI has told an international conference on the aftermath of abortion and divorce that the Church must show the 'Gospel of mercy' to children involved. Photo: CNS ...

Pope, honouring 20th-century martyrs, says love is stronger than death. For others: Pope Benedict XVI talks with Sant’Egidio Community founder Andrea Riccardi at St Bartholomew Basilica in Rome on the community’s 40th anniversary on April 7. Photo: CNS/Alessia Giuliani, Catholic Press ROME (CNS) - Even in the darkest situations of violence and oppression, the power o...

By Cindy Wooden and Benedicta Cipolla UNITED NATIONS (CNS) - Neither government nor religion has a right to change or limit human rights, because those rights flow from the dignity of each person created in God's image, Pope Benedict XVI said. Pope Benedict XVI addresses the United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York on April 18. Photo: CNS/Brendan McDermid, R...