pathways, June 09
Congregational commitment to education
Mass to mark Year of Paul end
Pastors and Pastoral Associates to build on strong foundations
Aboriginal Australia map
CIS registrations now open
Faith, Ecology and Transformation Action
Justice and the Catholic Church's Mission
Theologians to meet in landmark ecumenical dialogue
Congregational commitment to education
A book which details the importance congregational schools have played in the development of Catholic education in New South Wales will be launched in Sydney on Tuesday, June 23.
Religious congregations have been educating young people in New South Wales since the late 1880s. Commitment to education continues today with 36,600 students being educated in 45 congregational schools around the State.
The Congregational School: Its History and Significance in NSW and Australia is the collaborative effort of the Education Committee of the Leaders of Religious Congregations in New South Wales [CLRI(NSW)] and the writing skills of Dr Berenice Kerr RSM, a member of the committee.
The Congregational School will be launched at Ignatius College, Riverview, by CLRI(NSW) President Sister Patricia Bolster RSM, CEC(NSW) Executive Director Dr Brian Croke and Bishop Greg O'Kelly SJ (Port Pirie).
Mass to mark Year of Paul end
A closing Mass for the end of the Year of St Paul (June 29, 2008 - June 29, 2009) will be held at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney on Sunday, June 28 at 10.30 am. The principal celebrant will be the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell. Light refreshments will be served after the Mass at the College Hall (next to the cathedral). The event is being hosted by members of the Pauline Family - the Society of St Paul, the Daughters of St Paul, the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master and the Sisters of Jesus Good Shepherd (Pastorelle).
Pastors and Pastoral Associates to build on strong foundations
The 2009 Pastors and Pastoral Associates National Conference at the Shoal Bay Resort (NSW) in August will build on the five foundations of church life - leadership and structure, identity and community, worship and prayer, formation and education, mission and outreach.
The keynote speaker will be Rev Dr Gerard Kelly (pictured) of the Archdiocese of Sydney. He is President of the Catholic Institute of Sydney and a lecturer in theology. His research interests include ecclesiology, with a particular focus on Christian unity, and Baptism and Eucharist and their significance for the unity of the Church. Other speakers will include Fr Frank Moloney SDB, Sr Lauretta Baker RSJ, Sr Virginia Bourke RSJ, Fr John Chalmers and Fr Frank Devoy.
Aboriginal Australia map
Aboriginal Studies Press has produced an Aboriginal Australia map which attempts to represent language, tribal or nation groups of Australia's Indigenous peoples.
CIS registrations now open
Registrations are currently open for two courses at the Catholic Institute of Sydney.
Both courses over several sessions will be held in coming months ...
Faith, Ecology and Transformation Action
in two sessions: July 13-15 and August 8-9
Faith, Ecology and Transformation Action will be taught as an extensive at the Catholic Institute, a member of the Sydney College of Divinity, Strathfield (Sydney) in July and August. Environment problems pose pivotal challenges. Christian baptismal vocation calls each person to sharpen ideas and learn how to take action. The earth itself and Catholic tradition teach how to make a difference in communities and grow our faith at the same time. Course leaders Fr Charles Rue SSC and Sandra Menteith have experience in connecting faith, ecology and action and how to apply that knowledge in people's lives.
UN tree-planting campaign reaches 4 billion
New York, June 10: The United Nations Environment Programme has announced that its campaign to plant seven billion trees worldwide - in a bid to pressure nations to "seal the deal" on an ambitious new climate change pact this December - has passed the halfway mark. More than four billion saplings have been planted as part of UNEP's Billion Tree Campaign, which has mobilized thousands of people in 166 countries to put more trees on the planet by the end of 2009. Negotiations on a successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol, whose first commitment period ends in 2012, are expected to wrap up at a UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, this December.
Justice and the Catholic Church's Mission
in three sessions: August 8-9, September 19-20 and October 24-25
Whether through outreach programs, immersion experiences or classroom discussions, Catholic schools and organisations encourage engagement with social justice issues. But how does one link this social justice outreach with the broader mission and traditions of the Church? This course will explore the scriptural call for justice, and how justice is integral to the evangelising mission of the Catholic Church. It considers the option for the poor, structures of sin, social change, the role of religion in the public forum, and other related topics
Sandie Cornish has diocesan, national and international experience in research and educating for social justice and human rights. She has degrees in economics, social doctrine and ethics, and public policy. Presented over three weekends, the course is an ideal professional development opportunity for teachers and pastoral agents with an interest in social justice and church teaching.
Theologians to meet in landmark ecumenical dialogue
A meeting of 120 theologians from nearly all Christian traditions will look at what churches consider to be their mission in the world and how they
come to decisions on theological, ecumenical or moral questions.
The Faith and Order Plenary Commission of the World Council of Churches (WCC) will meet in Greece, October 7-14, 2009.
The event promises to become "a landmark in ecumenical dialogue", according to the WCC director of Faith and Order Canon Dr John Gibaut. (
audio interview)
Known as the world's most representative forum for theological dialogue, the 120-strong plenary commission will discuss three main topics: What it means to be church, sources of authority and moral discernment.
Through the examination of case studies - some of them on controversial issues like proselytism, homosexuality and stem-cell research - the commission will critically look at how churches arrive at their positions on moral issues. The goal is to begin the process of developing an ecumenically recognised set of steps for the churches' moral discernment.
Faith and Order is the historical branch of the World Council of Churches dealing with theological aspects of the churches search for visible unity. With a membership wider than that of the WCC, the commission includes the Roman Catholic Church as a full member, as well as Pentecostal and Evangelical churches. The plenary commission meets once between WCC assemblies, which take place every seven or eight years.
Top of page
