Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton lauds new Archbishop appointment. Auxiliary Bishop of Perth Donald Sproxton said he welcomed today's announcement that Bishop Timothy Costelloe SDB would be the next Archbishop of Perth. The archbishop-designate had the right mix of personal qualities and skills to endear him to Perth's priests, Bishop Donald said. "He's going to be a great theological...

Outgoing Perth archbishop sizes up the achievements, challenges.   Perth Archbishop Barry Hickey said he was “planning to fade into obscurity” and was “looking forward to it” when introducing his successor Bishop Timothy Costelloe SDB yesterday, employing the understated humour that has been a calling card throughout his 21 years service in the role. Archbishop Hickey introduced...

The fruits of the ‘Arab Spring’ for Christians in Syria are also far from certain, according to a local Syrian Orthodox Church leader. Standing in solidarity with Coptic Orthodox Christians at a prayer vigil in Victoria Park on Friday night, the Rev Deacon Theodore Issa prayed for the souls of Egyptian Copts killed in recent protests and persecutions. The deacon recently returned from Jorda...

While Australia’s Catholic bishops have welcomed the federal government’s decision to process onshore the claims of asylum seekers arriving by boat, in much the same way as it treats those who arrive by plane, a deeply personal plea for a more compassionate approach to refugees has been made by Melbourne’s Bishop Vincent Long van Nguyen, who himself escaped from Vietnam by boat. Delivering t...

A priest from the Sydney archdiocese jailed in 2010 for using the internet to groom a 13 year old for sexual purposes has apologised to his fellow priests for having besmirched the image of the Catholic priesthood for the “many good faithful clergy”. In a letter published in the latest issue of the The Swag, the quarterly journal of the National Council of Priests, Fr Robert Fuller writes th...

Bishop Anthony Fisher OP. Photo: Supplied. Pope Benedict XVI has appointed the bishop who organized World YouthDay 2008 in Sydney Bishop of one of the biggest dioceses in Australia. Bishop Anthony Fisher OP, who at 49 is the youngest prelate in Australia, was appointed on 6 January as the third Bishop of Parramatta, a part of western Sydney that was separated from the Archdiocese of Syd...

Youth mobilise to solidify Faith in nation’s hearts. By Anthony Barich   Highly successful evangelisation efforts by Roman Catholic, Maronite and Melkite lay movements across Australia have been amalgamated to form a lay apostolate called The Catholic Forum to “rekindle the faith of lukewarm faithful”. The Catholic Forum (TCF) grew out of a page on the social networking websi...