Holding the Light is an ecumenical service to remember and honour the Australian women and children who have been killed during 2019 by domestic/relationship violence. The service will be held on Sunday 1 December 2019, from 3.00 – 4.00 pm, at St Francis’ Church, corner of Lonsdale and Elizabeth Streets, Melbourne.

We are in the midst of Easter, of celebrating life over death! As Fr Andy Hamilton SJ reflects, "the point of Easter is to assure us that our hopes lie beyond all those seasons and beyond the youth and ageing of the world we live in. ... Easter represents our hope that even after the winter to which the year is heading greenness will return. The memory of Easter is food for a testing journey.  It is about both memory and hope."

The annual Jewish and Catholic Friendship Dinner will be held on Sunday 26 May, 7pm for 7.30pm start, in St Kilda. This is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy good food, wine and company. Archbishop Peter Comensoli will be attending for the first time and is the main speaker. Former Chair of the Rabbinical Council of Victoria and Rabbi of the St Kilda Hebrew Congregation, Yaakov Glasman will respond.

Many of us know someone or are aware of someone who is experiencing housing stress or homelessness. A Place to Call Home, the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Social Justice Statement 2018-19^[i] is a call for all of us to take action on this growing social crisis. Between 2011 and 2016, homelessness in Australia increased by 14 per cent, rough sleeping increased by 20 per cent and overcrowding increased by 23 per cent. The demand for homelessness services increased by 22 per cent[ii]. Homelessness is outpacing population growth and housing demand is outstripping supply. As with many social issues – the people most affected are those who face disadvantage or who are vulnerable.

The Plenary Council 2020 seeks to build the future of the Church in Australia.

 Here is a link to a short (10 minute) on-line survey to collect views that will be collated and submitted to the Council, particularly from people who are not now connected to the Church.

 

 

 Pope Francis said that "every person ought to have the awareness that purchasing is always a moral - and not simply an economic - act."

 

Author James Boyce’s award winning book 1835 presents a vivid picture of white settlement in Melbourne. James Boyce will explore the themes in his book at an event on  Sunday 24 March 2019 at 3:00pm. The book traces the settling of land by squatters, the power play in Hobart, Sydney and London and the dispossession of Aboriginal peoples. With his fresh approach to the nation’s history, Boyce asks the question: could it have been different? With his first book, Van Diemen’s Land, Boyce introduced an utterly fresh approach to the nation’s history. “In re-imagining Australia’s past,” Richard Flanagan wrote, “it invents a new future.” 1835 continues this untold story.