University of Notre Dame Australia Professor Tracey Rowland is the first Australian to receive a prestigious Ratzinger Prize for 2020, which is described as the “Nobel Prize” in Theology. She received her award from Pope Francis in October 2021.

Perth priest Rev Dr Joe Parkinson has last week been awarded the Catholic Health Australia 2021 Sr Maria Cunningham Lifetime Contribution Award.

The award recognises Dr Parkinson’s work over the past 40 years, in particular his contributions to St John of God Health Care, one of Australia’s largest Catholic providers of health care services, and his impact on the community through a lifetime of bioethics writing, teaching and consultancy across health, aged care and education.

The new Parish Religious Education program, Gathered in My Name, developed by the Catholic Education Western Australia Catechist Service, is finally complete.

Catholic Youth Ministry Perth recently embarked on a mini camino with 17 participants on Saturday 23 October. The journey began with a Mass at Our Lady of the Revelation Shrine in Bullsbrook and ended at the newly completed Divine Mercy Church in Chittering – a gruelling 15km track up and down the rolling hills.

We need disciples who are faithful and faith-filled, said Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, at the liturgical launch of the 2021 LifeLink Christmas Appeal for Parish Priests and Parish Appeal representatives.

The Commissioning of 36 Catechists took place at St Michael the Archangel Chapel, Leederville on Thursday, 4 November, coinciding with the feast day of St Charles Borromeo, patron saint of Catechists.

Parish Pastoral Council members from across the Archdiocese have recently gathered for the second of a four-part Parish Renewal program, focussing on prayer, discernment and developing parish pastoral plans.

Leaders from the three Abrahamic faiths – Christianity, Judaism and Islam gathered at the University of Notre Dame on 26 October to dialogue and learn about each tradition. ‘Hope in Unsettling Times’ was the theme for the event.

Speaking to the parishioners of East Victoria Park, Sunday 31 October, Perth Auxiliary Bishop Don Sproxton said every parish has a mission to be a people who listen for the Spirit's voice and what the Spirit is asking of us as a community.

Values-based aged care provider Catholic Home has this week broken ground to mark the start of construction of a new 96-bed aged care residence in Belmont.

Catholic Homes Chief Executive Paul Andrew said the vision for the service was to bring affordable and accessible care and accommodation choices to seniors.

The Cultural Diversity Mass was celebrated on Sunday, 24 October at St Mary’s Cathedral. The Mass organised by WA Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office, pays recognition to the multi-cultural backgrounds of Perth Catholics, and encourages the faithful to always be open to learning and welcoming the various cultures, in the one faith we all share.

The Bateman Parish community set out to experience the renowed ‘Hawes Heritage Tour’ from 30 August to 2 September 2021. The three-day pilgrimage was jam-packed with activity and visits primarily to significant landmarks and icons associated with Monsignor Hawes.

In a Pastoral Letter published Thursday 21 October, Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB has said the confessional experience is a personal encounter between that person and Christ.

Following the passing of legislation by the Western Australian State Parliament this week to remove civil law protections to the confidentiality of the seal of confession, Archbishop Costelloe has explained that the decision not only potentially criminalises fidelity to an essential dimension of the practice of the Catholic faith by priests, but also carries with it no guarantee that any child will be better protected from abuse because of the new legislation.

The congregation of the Sisters of St John of God were honoured by the Western Australian Bishops, stakeholders, and peers who gathered on 14 October to celebrate the past 150 years of the Congregations presence which began in Wexford, Ireland on 7 October 1871.

Catholics across the world are now being invited to join local consultations about their experience of synodality within the Church as part of a two-year journey towards the next international Synod of Bishops, set for October 2023.

Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB has reflected on a week that had been “inspiring, challenging and sometimes unsettling” following closure of the formal proceedings of the First General Assembly of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia on Saturday 9 October.

Dioceses across Australia will this weekend hold launches to mark the commencement of local participation in the two-year journey towards the 2023 Synod of Bishops.

The Centre for Faith Enrichment (CFE) this week renewed its call for applications for scholarships from the BJ Hickey Biblical Foundation for the year 2022.

Three influential Catholic leaders spent an evening speaking about the influence of faith and church on their lives. The history symposium themed ‘Personal Histories’ was held on Wednesday, 22 October at the UNDA Fremantle campus.

Plenary Council President Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, spoke from the heart as he delivered his homily at the Perth Closing Mass of the First Assembly on Sunday 10 October, sharing Jesus’ desire that we put God first – before the myriad goals that come to occupy so much of our lives, both as individuals and as a Church. He stressed the importance of the question, “What is it that's stopping us from being the Church that the Lord is calling us to be?”

Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB has this week spoken about the need for a Gospel culture in a special video interview.

The development of the prayer resources for the First Assembly of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia has required a different way of thinking, said Mercy Sister Kerry Willison, Chair of the Plenary Council Liturgy Committee and Director of Liturgy for the Archdiocese of Perth.

“It has required a clear vision, a purpose, and notably thinking about how we are all impacted by the current situation brought about by the pandemic.

Pope Francis has sent greetings and blessings from Rome as the program for the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia, the first such event in this country in 84 years, began today.

In a historic moment for the Church in Australia, the official opening Mass of the Fifth Plenary Council has taken place at Perth’s St Mary’s Cathedral, with Council President Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB boldly telling the congregation and viewers that perhaps the most important thing God is asking of us at this time is to return the Church to Christ and return Christ to the Church. 

As Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB opened the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia, he said Catholics “must become, even more than we are already, a community of true disciples”.

WA Catholic Migrants and Refugees Office Director Deacon Greg Lowe has this week called on the cultural communities across the Archdiocese of Perth to come together for the annual Cultural Diversity Mass on Sunday 24 October.

With just over 10 days to go till the Opening Mass of the First Assembly of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia, President and Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB is inviting Catholics across Australia to pray with and pray for Council Members.

The Saint Mary’s Cathedral choir welcomed six new choristers into the cathedral choir on Sunday, 19 September. Cathedral choirs are charged with a specific mission, added St Mary’s Cathedral Director of Music Jacinta Jakovcevic, on the occasion.

Mt La Verna Retirement Village have been blessed with a new cross of San Damiano, written by WA icongrapher Marice Sariola.

The Australian Salvatorian family together with the Perth Catholic community, gathered at Saint Mary’s Cathedral for a thanksgiving Mass, to mark several significant events for the Order. The beatification of their founder Blessed Francis Jordan, his 103^rd death anniversary, 140 years since their foundation, and the 60^th anniversary since the Salvatorian Fathers started their pastoral work in Australia.

Students from nearly a dozen Catholic schools around the state gathered at Aquinas College on Friday, 3 September, for the 2021 WA Earthcare Youth Eco-Summit. The delegates met in discussion groups throughout the day, attending 12 sessions, covering topics such as Our Carbon Footprint and Managing Waste to Our School Strategies – What are we Brewing, interspersed with special online presentations on topics such as Pope Francis’ Laudato Si and the Climate Clever App, developed for Australian schools.

Recognising that humans are hard-wired to be kind particularly during difficult times such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Catholic Mission Conference speaker Hugh Mackay posed, Will there be a culture shift at having lived through this pandemic?

The Mission: One Heart, Many Voices conference held from 1 to 3 September 2021, with an additional day of creativity shaped by young people on 4 September, explored the challenges of living the gospel and leading mission in Australia and globally. The biennial event was last seen in 2019.

There is growing fear among Catholic providers of disability services that the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) will not deliver the level of support that clients and providers need.

The volunteering spirit is alive and well in Willetton where John Paul Care gardening volunteers Elisabeth and Neil Macpherson have been helping their community for nearly 30 years.

89-year-old Fr John Neill OP was a founding Trustee-Governor of UNDA and will be remembered as a visionary leader who devoted his life to the service of the Church and education. He passed away Saturday 22 August.

The Archdiocese of Perth celebrated the gift of the Sacrament of Marriage with a Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral, and acknowledged couples celebrating their milestone anniversaries particularly 25, 40, 50, 60, 70 years.