Abraham Lincoln’s leadership has lessons for Australians convinced they should lead the nation, writes Dr Andrew Kania.

Australians can be football-made – that’s true – but one of the more interesting events in religious affairs in recent weeks was the public statement by AFL North Melbourne captain Andrew Swallow praising the AFL for not scheduling football matches on Good Friday – interesting because to risk so obviously publicly identifying one’s self as a Christian these days is also to risk inviting ridicule from many quarters.

Although Perth born priest, Father Kevin Bartlett, was not ordained until he was in his mid-fifties, he spent the last 22 years of his life bringing the love of Christ to isolated communities in the highlands of central Taiwan.

A convert mum says she couldn’t see the sense in not becoming Catholic. Others helped and inspired her along the way. She takes her faith seriously, and maintains hope for her son …

Is anything known about the origin of the “Hail, Holy Queen” that we say at the end of the Rosary? I have always liked this prayer.

Others’ failings or ignorance may be real but while we can see their outsides, it’s their hearts that count. Only God sees those.

The Neocatechumenal Way’s ‘Mission in the Squares’ is taking the Gospel to Perth’s streets, writes Fr Michael Moore SM

Others’ failures can make it easy to forget the Church is a divine reality, but the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the love of Jesus and forgiveness of Jesus mean we are never alone, writes Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB in his Easter message.

Les Mutton stumbled across thousands of seedlings when on business in Tanzania in 2008. It was a discovery that led him to meeting a visionary priest, Fr Melodious Mlowe, and to a shared project that is changing hundreds of children’s lives, writes Matthew Biddle.

The rough is part of getting to the smooth, writes Canberra priest Fr Peter Day in this short story.