On the second Sunday in September the Catholic Church in Australia marks Safeguarding Sunday (10 September). In this National Child Protection Week, we speak with Rachel Averbukh, the new Director of the Archdiocese’s Safeguarding Unit, who is encouraged by ‘the potential to create significant and long-term change’.
Last week, about 450 people came together for the Archbishop’s Dinner, held annually to raise funds in support of seminarians. During the dinner, Fr Cameron Forbes, Rector of Corpus Christi College, reflected on the theme of vocation, encouraging everyone to recognise their ‘special vocation that God has planned from the beginning of time.’
Also this week, following Father’s Day, we hear from some Melbourne Catholic dads who, despite being at different stages in their fatherhood journeys, share how they have been shaped by their own ‘father figures’. We chat with Professor Isabel Gil from the Catholic University of Portugal, one of the world’s most distinguished women in Catholic higher education, about her recent honorary doctorate from ACU and why the world needs Christian values now more than ever. Archbishop Peter A Comensoli blesses the new Saint Teresa of Kolkata Building at ACU Melbourne. St Ambrose’s Brunswick looks back over 150 years since its inception. And the ongoing housing crisis takes centre stage at the Catholic social services annual dinner.
Finally, Pope Francis has concluded his unprecedented apostolic journey to Mongolia, visiting one of the smallest Catholic flocks in the world. We take a look at the visit and some of the powerful things Pope Francis said.
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