Following the end of a snap week-long lockdown, Perth Catholics have last weekend lived through the first weekend of Masses wearing and coping with the task of wearing a mask. The weekend was also marked as the Sunday Word of God, instituted by Pope Francis last year following his Apostolic Letter, Aperuit Illis, in which he encouraged the celebration, study and dissemination of the Word of God.

Hundreds of parishioners and peers of Maida Vale Parish Priest Fr Joseph Rathnaraj, gathered to give thanks for the gift he has been to the Catholic community during his 50 years of priestly ministry.

Dame’s Maureen De Wind and Maria Davies, Knight’s Nathan Peter Barnie and Allan Francis Dwyer have been received into the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (EOHSJ), Western Australian Lieutenancy at a ceremony and Mass held on Saturday, 30 January, joining the growing Papal Order of 30,000 members worldwide.

Aid to the Church in Need Australia launched a prayer campaign asking people to add to a spiritual bouquet of Masses praying for the multitude of needs surrounding the pandemic, as Australia notes the one-year anniversary of the first case of Covid-19.

A catechist always must teach what the church teaches and that includes the vision and teachings of the Second Vatican Council. It must focus on leading people to a personal relationship with Christ and building a community of believers where the talents of each person are valued and where all go out to share the Gospel and serve the poor, Pope Francis said.

Seventy years have passed since cunning understudy Anne Baxter usurped glamorous star Bette Davis in “All About Eve.” Now, with “The White Tiger” (Netflix), comes a grittier, ethically unmoored take on ambition and deceit set in modern-day India.

The life of the late Dr Richard Vincent McSweeney who departed on 31 December 2020, will go down in history as a man who was largely dedicated to the Catholic Church, to Catholic Education and to helping others. By Amanda Murthy.

Sydney’s Auxiliary Bishop Terence Brady recognised the great courage and unfailing service to others, endured by Eileen O’Connor despite living with great personal suffering herself, at a special mass held on 10 January 2021, to mark the centenary of her death, as she remains on the path to becoming Australia’s second saint.

A middle school music teacher who yearns to be a jazz pianist gets his big break when he’s invited to join a highly regarded quartet. But just before his first performance with them, an accident leaves his body in a coma and sends his spirit into the afterlife. His efforts to avoid going to heaven and return to his earthly existence bring him instead to the realm where the personalities of future babies are formed. There, he’s assigned to mentor a soul who has stubbornly refused to be born for centuries. By John Mulderig

Pope Francis delivered his Christmas message and blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world) from the Hall of Blessings at the Vatican on 25 December 2020, highlighting his hope that Christmas would be an opportunity for all to rediscover the family as a cradle of life and faith, a place of acceptance and love, dialogue, forgiveness, fraternal solidarity and shared joy, a source of peace for all humanity.