AFTER SEVERAL years of preparation, St Joseph Pignatelli Parish in Attadale is almost ready to begin construction of its new church. The original parish church, built in 1955, was only meant to be temporary, but the parish never had the funds to build a permanent church. But thanks to a generous bene-factor, the parish has now raised more than half the funds required, and hopes to com...

Pope Francis told young people God might have been trying to communicate something in forcing the World Youth Day vigil’s change of venue from a huge field to a long narrow stretch of sand and sea.

Pope Francis commissioned some 3 million young people to join forces and form what could be called Missionaries Without Borders. “Where does Jesus send us?” he asked World Youth Day pilgrims July 28. “There are no borders, no limits: He sends us to everyone.”

Speaking to political, economic and cultural leaders in Brazil, a country recently shaken by anti-government protests, Pope Francis called for a “culture of encounter” and said dialogue is the only way to promote social peace.

The street protests involving hundreds of thousands of mostly young people in cities across Brazil, and in other countries, are a sign of the youths’ desire for a more just world, but Christians must ensure the protests are peaceful and that efforts to improve society are guided by Christian values, Pope Francis said.

Everyone connected to disability, writes Barbara Harris, is invited to a free forum on Tuesday, July 30 – a chance to meet and talk with others…

Acknowledging the Catholic Church’s heavy loss of members in Brazil over recent decades, Pope Francis told the country’s bishops that they must learn to understand and sympathize with the reasons for people’s disaffection and speak to them in a simpler language of beauty, mystery and love.

In the sea of young people on Copacabana beach were many who said faith is ageless. “There is no age limit for youth.,” said Cynthia Doss, 54. “You are always as young as you feel, and age does not have an effect on our faith.”

With his cross and resurrection, Christ promises to walk with and ease the burden of every suffering person, whether that suffering comes from violence, addiction, a broken family, hunger, persecution or the death of a loved one, Pope Francis said.

With the young pilgrims of World Youth Day, Pope Francis was encouraging and challenging; with the bishops, priests and religious who minister to them he was firm and blunt.