In a move highlighting how seriously they view the issue, Victoria’s Catholic bishops circulated 80,000 letters through Victorian parishes last weekend urging parishioners to write to their MPs, asking them to defend marriage as being between a man and a woman (see breakout box below). The idea of same-sex marriage seems both reasonable and tolerant to many people. But, as US academic J Budz...

This is Archbishop Timothy Costelloe’s Homily, which he said on 21 March, 2012 at St Mary’s Cathedral in Perth. A few moments ago Archbishop Hickey and Archbishop Lazzarotto led me to the Bishop’s chair, the Cathedra, from where I will preside as the Archbishop of Perth. In doing so Archbishop Hickey is representing not just the Archdiocese of Perth or the Church in Western Australia but...

This week, Archbishop Barry Hickey thanked the people of Perth for their support. Here is the text of his message. As we look forward to the Solemn Liturgical Installation of Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB as the new Archbishop of Perth, I take this opportunity to thank the Catholic people of Perth for their prayerful support, their tolerance at times and their forgiveness, but most of all...

Q: I have often heard people speak of the seven sorrows and joys of St Joseph, but I don’t know anything about them. Can you tell me anything about this devotion? A: The devotion of the seven sorrows and joys of St Joseph is traditional in the Church. It may have its origin in the following story which is often recounted in relating the history of the devotion. It seems that two Franciscan f...

Daniel Matthys gave in to his misgivings about online shopping, stumbling upon a hidden treasure, a personally signed copy of GK Chesterton’s 1928 book The Sword of Wood. Being a localist at heart, I must confess my misgivings concerning online shopping, suspicious of the detachment embodied by online transactions. In an ideal world I would buy only local products from local shops owned a...

At the heart of the push for infanticide is an identity crisis about what it means to be human, writes Jing Ping Wong.

Interference with the divine plan means we may not only refuse to carry our personal crosses but we are also refusing Jesus' help in carrying them. A few years ago, my children thought it would be a good Lenten project to dramatise the Passion of our Lord. They gathered costumes, made props, and selected the cast. Our eldest wrote a script and named herself narrator/director, a natural part fo...

God’s grace overrides sheer willpower which is never enough. If you think this column is about the erstwhile American TV sitcom, Will and Grace, sorry to disappoint; I’m just borrowing the title. This column is about my daily life, so it might have been titled “Joy and Fulfilment,” or to reflect the reality of certain days, “Stress and More Stress.” It seems I’m getting busier all the ti...

If the Church is to once again draw huge numbers of willing people, then it must once again be identified with God’s supernatural graces as well as works of charity. Jesus could not heal the sick”. These words, written by US evangelist Bill Johnson, may shock many Catholics; however, they do not contradict the Church’s teachings in any way. Johnson does not deny the 100 per cent divinity of...

Lovers, one of them a future great novelist kept apart by a priest, the last thing Robert Hiini expected to find in the bargain bin of an antique shop in Rockingham. The two lovers had been spotted together once more and the usually cheerful priest was furious at the deception.The first time, they were cavorting innocently over tea: he, having left their mutual lodging house on the pretext...