“God is like the Good Shepherd in the Gospels, who never tires of going in search of us, ready to place us on His shoulders and bring us back.” These are the words of Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, on the occasion of the inauguration of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, which was officially launched this week on 8 December, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

“The old saying will always be true: ‘Where there are religious, there is joy!’,” stated Pope Francis in his Apostolic Letter to All Consecrated People, just before declaring 2015 the Year of Consecrated Life.

If there is a group within the Archdiocese of Perth that took Pope Francis at his word, it is the Vietnamese Catholic Community, whose celebration marking the approaching end of the Year of Consecrated life was last month a resounding success.

As one walks through the premises of The Shopfront in Maylands during a busy weekday, it is immediately evident that the volunteers are the very heartbeat that pumps life through the Archdiocesan LifeLink organisation.

The effects of climate change and the resolve to find a solution has last week prompted Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe to join other local and national religious leaders to sign the Catholic Climate Petition.

This year’s Embrace the Grace (ETG) Youth Conference is set to once again provide youth from across the Archdiocese aged 16 to 30 with the opportunity to explore faith, life and culture through a mixture of talks, workshops, music, drama and prayer.

A music video of a skateboarding Franciscan, who spent 14 years living in Western Australia, received an Emmy at the Chicago/Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences on November 7.

The Filipino Catholic community from across the Archdiocese of Perth last month came together at St Mary’s Cathedral for the first time to celebrate the instalment of a monthly Mass in honour of their culture and faith.

A research project exploring how to improve the quality of life for adults with community-acquired pneumonia through ‘best practice’ has earned PhD candidate, Lisa van der Lee, a national award from the Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA).

Three groups of students from Western Australian Catholic schools were last month awarded in the 2015 Students Advising Youth (SAY) Project, after producing films highlighting some of the negative aspects of alcohol.

St John of God Health Care (SJGHC) Group Chief Executive Officer, Dr Michael Stanford, has last week said the impact of the recent opening of St John of God Midland Public Hospital would benefit the communities served as the hospital would be able to reach more people where there are identified community needs.