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.

The KSC Education Foundation Inc are encouraging religious educators and leaders in Catholic schools to apply for their scholarship. One of the aims of the Foundation is to support those who teach and give witness to the Catholic faith in the Catholic education system.

The Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, in conjunction with the Justice Ecology Development Office (JEDO), have last week launched the Social Justice Statement 2021-2022: Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor at Newman College.

The Australian Catholic Church History Symposium inaugural lecture will commence at 6pm on Wednesday, 22 September at the University of Notre Dame Australia in the Tannock Hall of Education (ND4), corner Cliff and Croke Streets, Fremantle.

With most of the country’s population currently in lockdown or having experienced lockdowns in recent weeks the First Plenary Council Assembly the journey been adapted to cope with changing circumstances caused by COVID-19.

Redemptoris Mater Seminary’s Grzegorz Rapcewicz was Ordained to the Diaconate at St Mary’s Cathedral on 12 August by Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton. Dcn Rapcewicz will continue to serve his ministry at Osborne Park Parish while awaiting the next step of his vocation – priesthood.

Following the beatification of Salvatorian founding Father Francis Mary of the Cross Jordan on 15 May 2021, the Archdiocese of Perth together with Salvatorian Fathers and Sisters will be celebrating a Thanksgiving Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral on 8 September.

The upcoming Safeguarding Breakfast on 9 September, themed ‘Every Child in Every Community Needs A Fair Go’ will see the launch of a new story book ‘I am God’s Marvellous Creation,’ dedicated to children between the ages if three to eight years of age.

Following the success of the 2020 Catholic Education Leaders’ Forum Roadshow held at Catholic schools across WA, the 2021 roadshow kicked off earlier this month.

Perth Auxiliary Bishop Don Sproxton concluded his four-day parish and school visitation with the Sunday Mass celebrated at Armadale, in conjunction with the feast day of Australia’s first saint, Mary of the Cross McKillop, recognising her commitment to helping the poor, her care for women and children who were destitute or orphaned.

Australia's Churches are being invited to especially pray for our local, national and global communities experiencing great need and distress caused by COVID-19 on Sunday 22 August.

Chair of the Bishops Commission for Social Justice, Mission and Service, Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv, has last week said we are facing an ecological crisis and Pope Francis wants the whole Church globally to act with a greater sense of urgency.

Perth Catholics gathered at the Newman Siena Centre on Thursday, 29 July for the final Plenary Council seminar, this time, answering the question, ‘How is God calling us to be a Christ-centred Church in Australia that is a joyful, hope-filled and servant community?’

This year’s NAIDOC Week theme Heal Country was reflected in the Archdiocese annual NAIDOC Mass held at Saint Mary’s Cathedral on Sunday, 1 August. The 11am Mass attended by hundreds was a way to gather in prayer with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, bound by the gift of our common faith.

Fourteen Catholic Education school choirs participated in the annual Sacred Choral Section of the Catholic Performing Arts Festival at St Mary’s Cathedral on 27 July.

After a year break due to covid restrictions, the Orchestral Mass held its largest event in its’ sixth-year history – with the involvement of a 68-piece orchestra and a total of 115 choir members from WA schools (Catholic, Anglican, Uniting Church and public schools) - joining the St Mary’s Cathedral choir at its’ 11am Sunday Mass on 25 July, celebrated by Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB.