Courtesy MJ Suttie Architects The Discalced Carmelite nuns in Mathoura in country New South Wales not only take a contemplative approach to their prayer lives, but are building their new monastery with a gentle and ancient method proven to stand the test of time. Sections of the Great Wall of China and parts of ancient cities still standing in places like Egypt, Iran and Nepal owe their beauty and immutability to rammed earth construction. There are different methods but rammed earth typically involves a mix of locally-sourced soil, clay and gravel shoveled layer by layer between a framework o ..read more

Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP lays a floral wreath at the memorial for fallen soldiers at the conclusion of the vigil Mass for Anzac Day at St Mary’s Cathedral on 24 April. Photo: Patrick J Lee As Australians prepared for dawn services, marches and games of two-up for Anzac Day, Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP called on Christians to remain faithful to their role of service as “war-preventers and peacemakers”. In remarks before leading the celebration of the vigil Mass for Anzac Day held at St Mary’s Cathedral the archbishop noted more than a dozen conflicts around the globe in places such as Came ..read more

Photo credit: Omar ram This A-League Mens season is set to go down in history for the most goals ever scored in a single campaign. Impressive. Instead, we’ll probably remember it as the year we paid the price for ruining football. Goals have come in thick and fast, but so to have the red cards, which have become the new standard for “entertaining” matches in this competition. Referees have dished out nearly 40 reds this campaign. More than 18 of the 25 rounds so far have featured at least one send-off. That’s a ridiculous 72 per cent. Of those, more than eight separate rounds have included mul ..read more

Fr Toan Nguyen’s passport may soon be running out of pages, thanks to his work for God. The parish priest at St Brendan’s Catholic Church in Bankstown recently returned from his missionary trip to Vietnam, where he helps disabled orphans from the province of Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu. He makes the trip annually (and sometimes more frequently through the year) as part of his Lenten penance. The trip also reminds him of his priestly promises. “When I became a priest 30 years ago the motto on my card was, ‘To the weak I became weak so that I might win the weak’ (1 Cor 9:22),” Fr Toan said. “Some of these ..read more

Photo credit: Josh Applegate So, I was on retreat last week. Before I left, I had been telling people that it was my first ever retreat, but that’s not exactly true. I did go on another one back in 2009, but there was no silence, phones were allowed and the other “retreatants” were some of my closest female friends. So, it wasn’t so much a retreat as a fun trip away with my Catholic gal pals. Confession: even though it wasn’t a silent retreat, I still managed to get into trouble for talking too much. This one was different. My laptop, phone and Apple watch all stayed switched off and in the ca ..read more

Its gleaming white church with famous mother-of-pearl altar put Western Australia’s Beagle Bay community on the map. Parishioners’ response to a group of stranded asylum seekers who wandered across it will keep it there. The remote Indigenous township near the Kimberley coastline, around 130km from Broome, was thrust into the media spotlight earlier this year when locals found two groups of men lost nearby on a searing hot morning in February. The untold story is that Beagle Bay’s Sacred Heart Catholic parish and primary school took in the strangers thought to be from Pakistan and Bangladesh ..read more

Giovanni Portelli Photography © 2023 More than a century after Our Lady asked three Portuguese shepherd children to “pray the rosary every day in honour of Our Lady of the rosary, in order to obtain peace for the world,” thousands of Sydney’s faithful are expected to gather at St Mary’s Cathedral to live out her message.  The Archdiocese of Sydney is inviting all Catholics to a procession in honour of Our Lady of Fatima on 11 May to bear witness to the beauty and richness of their devotion in song and prayer.  The Vigil Mass begins at 6pm and will be followed by the candlelight proce ..read more

Images by Giovanni Portelli Photography © 2024 Our Lady of Mount Carmel Shrine in Waterloo is a jewel in the crown of the Archdiocese of Sydney, now restored to its former glory after the renovation of its stunning sanctuary. Part of the Sydney City South parish, which also includes Rosebery and Redfern churches, the former spiritual home of Servant of God Eileen O’Connor was established by Archbishop John Bede Polding in 1859 and was raised to the status of a shrine in the year 2000. Blessed but never consecrated, on 19 April Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP led the rededication of the church and ..read more

Discussing and explaining the key practices of Catholicism, as well as what to do if you’re not a Catholic, but you’re in a Catholic school or parish. With Bishop Daniel Meagher The post RE Search Episode 44: What it means to be Catholic: what do Catholics ‘do’? appeared first on The Catholic Weekly ..read more

Credit: Rome Reports The Bambino Gesu, hospital for children, has drawn the most papal visits from Pope Francis on three occasions in 2013, 2018 and 2022. The president of the hospital Tiziano Onesti described one of the most moving moments from Francis’ visits when the children from Ukraine arrived. “His last visit was very emotional. I indirectly witnessed it because I was not the president of the Bambino Gesu at the time, when the Ukrainian children came to us in 2022. “During that visit, the pope expressed his deep concern for a very vulnerable part of society. The Bambino Gesu is always ..read more