Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB has this week reinforced the message of Pope Francis and the upcoming World Day of the Poor at the liturgical launch of his 2017 Christmas Appeal for LifeLink.
“It is an initiative which we can be sure will find a place in the Church’s life for a long time to come, touching as it does one of the most fundamental aspects of our Christian faith,” Archbishop Costelloe said.
“In his letter inaugurating this first World Day of the Poor, the Pope writes powerfully of the many faces of poverty in our contemporary experience,” the Archbishop continued.
“We live in a country which is richly blessed with natural and human resources, with a stable political system, with a well-developed and resourced education system and with generally good access to medical care for all who need it,” he said. By Jamie O’Brien.

Directors and representatives from 21 Catholic agencies in the Archdiocese gathered together to build networks, collaborate and find opportunities for partnerships at the Social Outreach Collaborative Meeting which took place on 27 October at the Newman Sienna Centre.
The meeting was a fresh opportunity for the directors to build new networks and opportunities for partnerships.
The event saw CEOs, Directors and representatives from each of the 21 agencies meet and greet each other, whether for the first time or through working together, and present a short video and presentation for six minutes of their story and the good works they do in the Archdiocese. Vicar for Social Outreach, Dr Terry Wilson, said that at the launch of the Archdiocesan Plan in 2015, Archbishop of Perth Timothy Costelloe SDB recognised that many organisations and program existed but stated, ‘I want to strengthen these initiatives, encourage mutual collaboration and support, and also identify areas where the Church could contribute but is not as yet active’. By Natashya Fernandez.

UNDA PhD researcher Dr Anne Poelina has won a top international award from the Women’s World Summit Foundation (WWSF).

The St Vincent De Paul Society have encouraged Perth parents to imagine what it would feel like to not be able to provide a happy Christmas for children.

Surgeons at St John of God Murdoch Hospital have embarked on a study seeing patients pedalling on bicycles to test recovery after knee surgery.

The Centre for Faith Enrichment (CFE) will this month be taking a look at the 500 years since the beginning of the Protestant Reformation by hosting a daytime and evening course. CFE Director Dr Marco Ceccarelli, stated that understanding the history of the Reformation is significantly important.

With the 2017 RCIA State Conference held at Morley Parish on Saturday 21 October, RCIA State Director Karen Hart spoke with The eRecord about her talk at the conference exploring the Mystagogia and her hopes for the future of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). By Josh Low.

Personal Advocacy Service (PAS) seeks to enrich the lives of people with an intellectual disability. Established in 1989, the agency has worked tirelessly over the years to raise spiritual awareness and foster a sense of wellbeing for people with disability.
Staying true to its mission to provide opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities to be included in community life, by pairing them with a catechist volunteer or ‘advocate’ with whom they can develop a meaningful friendship, PAS also promotes spiritual development for those with intellectual disabilities and their integration into parish communities. By Natashya Fernandez.

Established in 1966 as Southern Cross Homes, and as a not-for-profit as Southern Cross Care (WA) Inc., (SCC) in 1968, the organisation has now developed into one of the largest and leading aged care providers in Western Australia.
Originally founded thanks to the vision and drive of a group of men from the Order of the Knights of the Southern Cross, SCC currently runs seven retirement villages across Perth, together with eight aged care homes and a ninth on the way.

Catholic Homes is a Christian-based not-for-profit organisation who have been caring for Western Australians as they age for more than 50 years. Their care model ‘Care with Purpose’, is based on Montessori principles. The aim is to encourage people to remain active and busy for as long as possible, whilst continuing to do the things that bring them joy.

Such an innovative and proactive approach to care earned it two Better Practice Awards in 2015 for its care model and the Circle of Men project – a support and social group for men in aged care.