THE AUSTRALIAN government is being urged to follow the lead of Great Britain in attempting to block access to pornography sites. Last week, British Prime Minister David Cameron said he would request internet service providers block access to inappropriate sites unless customers opt in. He said by the end of 2013 “family-friendly” filters would become the default setting for new intern...

The Federal Government’s new Papua New Guinea resettlement arrangements are based on a “fundamentally untrue premise” that it is wrong to seek asylum, Bishop Gerard Hanna, bishops’ delegate for migrants and refugees said this week.

Catholic education is not producing commitment to the Catholic faith parents and religious educators hope for and expect, Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Julian Porteous wrote on his blog yesterday. Despite the Church’s heavy investment in Catholic schools, participation in the sacramental life by young people graduating from Catholic schools was low. “The Catholic Church in Australia can be ...

Paul Fitzgerald AM is one of Australia’s most distinguished portrait painters. During his career—which spans more than 60 years—he has painted some of the world’s most notable figures, including Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Pope John XXIII, writes Fiona Basile…

The Archdiocese of Sydney’s Great Grace Conference, held from May 20-23, was so popular organisers ended up turning overflow crowds away. Among the speakers, Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron set out the authentic Vatican II agenda.

The media are not inherently hostile to the Catholic Church, CatholicVoices founders Jack Valero and Austen Ivereigh told an international conference in Sydney last month. Most of the time journalists are just doing their jobs. Catholics could run from their difficult questions or, in the spirit of Vatican II, seize on them as opportunities to change the world, reports Robert Hiini …

How can confident lay, religious and ordained Catholic communicators grasp the opportunities presented by controversy? CatholicVoices co-founder Austen Ivereigh gave a concrete example at The Great Grace Conference in Sydney, last month.

Apparent a-religiosity among Catholic schools and hospitals was a major sign an authentic reception of the Second Vatican Council had yet to take place in Australia, a leading Australian Catholic intellectual told an international conference last week.

Advocates of the Church accommodating itself to the ‘signs of the times’ were hopelessly out-of-date, even at the time of the Second Vatican Council, Australian Professor Tracey Rowland said at The Great Grace Conference in Sydney last week.

The Catholic Church has to be honest with itself in assessing why many former Catholics have switched to Pentecostal Christianity, a leading Holy See official in ecumenical affairs said in Sydney recently.