Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB had some direct and encouraging words to say to St Charles’ seminarians when he joined them for evening prayer, last Sunday. Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB made the most of his first opportunity to address archdiocesan seminarians directly when he attended Solemn Vespers and Benediction at St Charles Seminary last Sunday. After welcoming words from S...

Deacon Patrick Moore received a strange phone call one Monday morning last month. The Stella Maris Seafarers centre in Fremantle which he adminsters has no shortage of phone calls, with around 600 seafarers seeking solace through its doors, each and every month, but this call was a little different. The Australian newspaper’s Chief of Staff was on the other end of the line, saying he ...

Fr Peter Porteous says he has never been more content than where he is right now. That, for the Parish Priest of the central Perth suburb of Joondanna, is no mean feat, given the demanding picture he paints of the priesthood. But it is a vision no less compelling than it is daunting and the only one, he says, that could ever deliver the fulfillment a priest seeks and the ministry God’...

Senior Western Australian Catholic Education bureaucrat Dr Tim McDonald has been appointed the new Director of Catholic Education in WA. Dr McDonald will replace the outgoing Director of the organisation, Ron Dullard, in early November. A panel of six people, which included a representative of the Bishops of Western Australia, unanimously made the key WA Catholic appointment of Dr McDona...

Nicholas Donnelly and Sandy Toop are just two in the army of volunteers who have completed the painting of St Mary’s historic cathedral fence. Painting of the fence commenced in April. It was begun with help from sailors from the USS Carl Vinson, a US Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, when it visited Perth earlier this year. Often, when US forces visit ports, volunteers are made available f...

One of Perth’s oldest buildings, St John’s Pro-Cathedral on Victoria Avenue in East Perth has received a grant of $59,000 from Lotterywest to ensure it can be preserved. It is the third and largest Conservation of Cultural Heritage grant the Pro-Cathedral has received from Lotterywest, which has given more than $95,000 over the past eight years. The grant was approved by Premier Colin Ba...

Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB entered a packed church to celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Mt Carmel with the congregation on July 15. Fr Paul Raj assisted the Archbishop during Mass and the combined choir gave its best to mark the festive occasion. Scapulars were distributed to the members of the congregation as they entered the church and after Communion Archbishop Costelloe...

Three members of the Bentley conference of the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) are working hard to help the underprivileged people of their area. Their efforts are a lesson in how the little local chapters of the Society – known as conferences – can do a huge amount of good work, often unnoticed and unseen. Tom and Pat Thomas, of Santa Clara Parish in Bentley and Flo Robinson, of ...

Among the experiences for Perth pilgrims in Rome for Archbishop Timothy Costelloe’s reception of the pallium was Mass concelebrated on June 27 by a contingent of Perth clergy in the Chapel of Santa Lucia in Tinta. The historic chapel, dating from at least 1002AD and rebuilt in the 16th century, is attached to Fraterna Domus where Perth pilgrims stayed while in Rome. Among those concel...

People are often uncertain how to handle a request for money from someone begging on Perth’s streets but the Holy Spirit of Freedom Community’s Outreach worker Mark Reidy says “the signs are a sign” and these people are desperate for help. “When seeing beggars on the streets asking for money, don’t ignore them, look away and put them at the back of your mind. Acknowledge them and give...