Parliament must work to unify Australians by respecting different views on marriage, Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) President Archbishop Denis Hart said this week in the wake of the result of the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday morning, Thursday 15 November, revealed Australians had voted Yes to same-sex marriage in a non-compulsory postal vote, with 61.6 per cent in favour and 38.4 per cent against. There were 7,817,247 votes for Yes and 4,873,987 for No. A further 36,686 votes, or 0.2 per cent, were unclear.

With only a month to go, Sydney is gearing up to play host to more than 18,000 young Catholics from around the nation for the Australian Catholic Youth Festival. If you are over the age of 18, there is still time to register for this amazing event. With Festival numbers nearing capacity, you will need to get online now. Find out more by visiting www.acyf.org.au

Federal Minister for Social Services, Christian Porter has last week introduced the long-awaited Commonwealth Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual abuse Bill 2017 into the Federal Parliament. Mr Francis Sullivan, CEO of the Catholic Church’s Truth Justice and Healing Council, said the Bill is just the start of what is looking to be a long process to get all states, territories and institutions into the scheme.

Pope Francis has last weekend called for a renewed focus on the immense task of mission as parish communities all over the world celebrated World Mission Sunday. On 30 November, 2019, the Catholic Church will celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the promulgation of the Apostolic Letter Maximum Illud, with which Pope Benedict XV sought to give new impetus to the missionary task of proclaiming the Gospel.

The Australian Catholic Youth Festival (ACYF) has this week announced that the two young men behind charity Orange Sky Australia, will be among the keynote speakers at the event in December. Lucas Patchett and Nicholas Marchesi will join a stellar line-up, including Canadian Christian singer Matt Maher, and singer songwriter Steve Angrisano along with local artists and Church leaders.

The Sisters of the Good Samaritan have elected a new leadership team and discerned a new Statement of Directions for the next six years at their 26th Chapter Gathering in Sydney earlier this month. Of the 208 Good Samaritan Sisters who live and minister throughout Australia, Japan, the Philippines and Kiribati, 115 were present for the Chapter Gathering which explored issues of global and local importance.

The care for migrants and refugees was top of the agenda at the 5th National Conference on Pastoral Care in a Multicultural Church and Society, which took place on 19 and 20 July. Co-hosted by the Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office (ACMRO) and the Australian Catholic University (ACU) Melbourne, the conference provided an opportunity for formation, renewal and forming new connections.

Australian Catholic University’s (ACU) Melbourne Campus announced Canberra-based poet Geoff Page as the winner of the 2017 ACU Poetry Prize for his piece Charles S Ryan to Alice E Sumner. Page’s poem was selected ahead of Lichen: 13 points by fellow Canberran Lesley Lebkowicz ($5,000 second prize) and On Botox, bibles and baguettes by Melbourne’s Judy Keighran ($3,000 third prize).

Tune in for the latest news and updates from the Youth Ambassadors about the Australian Catholic Youth Festival (ACYF) 2017.

Ruby Warber is one of four indigenous graduates recently awarded a Roberta Sykes Education Foundation scholarship, and will now undertake a Masters of Science in Global Population Health at the London School of Economics.