News from around the Catholic world for the week ending 29 November.
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• The Year of Faith comes to a close in Rome
• Pope Francis challenges the faithful in their approach to evangelisation
• The National Catholic Education Commission calls for Government’s assurance on future funding
• Melbourne gears up for the Australian Catholic Youth Festival
• Sydney’s inaugural social justice expo to help young people put their faith in action.
TRANSCRIPT
BOBBIE: The Year of Faith came to a close last Sunday with a Mass at St Peter’s Basilica for Solemnity of Christ the King.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI inaugurated the Year of Faith on October 11 2012 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and the 20th anniversary of the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Pope Francis thanked the Emeritus Pope in his homily, stating that “[Benedict XVI] gave us an opportunity to rediscover the beauty of the journey of faith begun on the day of our Baptism, which made us children of God and brothers and sisters in the Church.”
The Holy Father also reflected on the Year of Faith as a “journey which has as its ultimate end our full encounter with God, and throughout which the Holy Spirit purifies us, lifts us up and sanctifies us, so that we may enter into the happiness for which our hearts long.”
The Mass also provided an opportunity for pilgrims to venerate the relics of St Peter – marking the first public display of the apostle’s relics in history.
Fr Geno Sylva from the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation spoke to Vatican Radio about the significance of the event.
FR SYLVA: And the whole purpose of the year of faith was to awaken the faith of the first Christians in the hearts of present day and contemporary Christians. And so this final culminating sign confirms once again that the door for the encounter with Christ is always open and awaits to be crossed with that very same passion and enthusiasm and the very same conviction of the first believers.
You can access Pope Francis’ homily via news.va
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BOBBIE: Pope Francis has this week published his Apostolic Exhortation on the new evangelisation entitled “Evangelii Gaudium” – The Joy of the Gospel.
The 50,000 word exhortation covers a wide range of topics, including the missionary outreach and evangelising activity of the Church, problems within contemporary society, and the spiritual motivations for mission.
Throughout the document, Pope Francis emphasises a need for Christian joy and a missionary focus at all levels and activities of the Church in order to effectively evangelise the world today.
“I dream of a ‘missionary option'” Pope Francis said, “that is, a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything, so that the Church’s customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, language and structures can be suitably channeled for the evangelisation of today’s world rather than for her self-preservation”.
In concluding the exhortation, the Pope called upon Christians to be “spirit-filled evangelisers”, taking the example of Mary as the “Mother of Evangelisation”.
“There is a Marian ‘style’ to the Church’s work of evangelisation” the Pope said.
“Whenever we look to Mary, we come to believe once again in the revolutionary nature of love and tenderness.”
The full document is available for download at Vatican.va.
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The National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) has urged the Federal Government to confirm that Catholic schools will not be negatively impacted by its plans for school funding reforms.
Federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne this week announced the Government will guarantee school funding arrangements made by the former Labor government for the 2014 school year only. In 2015 a new funding model will be implemented based on that of the Howard Government.
NCEC Executive Director Ross Fox has asked that some sort of assurance be made for future funding of Catholic schools.
Mr Fox said, “Funding certainty is essential so that Catholic schools and systems can plan to support the current and future needs of students and staff.”
“Catholic education systems need certainty that overall funding levels for Catholic education will at least remain at currently projected levels under any new funding model,” he said.
With 1 in 5 Australian children being educated in Catholic schools, Mr Fox emphasized that any proposals to change funding must be carefully considered.
“Catholic education includes students from all backgrounds, including from some of the most disadvantaged communities, and operates a system of needs-based funding for its schools,” he said.
More information is available via the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne website.
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The Archdiocese of Melbourne is preparing to host over 3000 young people from around the country next week for the inaugural Australian Catholic Youth Festival.
The three-day Festival, which is an initiative of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, will center around the theme “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” from Luke 4:18 and will feature daily plenary sessions and some 120 workshops.
Presenters include US-based musician Steve Angrisano, Paramatta’s Bishop Anthony Fisher, star of the Abbey TV series Sister Hilda Scott, Collective Shout Founder Melinda Tankard Reist and many more.
Festival Park will open throughout the day, featuring a large variety of amusements, activities and workshops in the grounds of Australian Catholic University.
The Festival will run from Thursday 5 to Saturday 7 December. A live broadcast of the plenary sessions and final Mass will be broadcast via XT3.com.
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Over in Sydney, the Archdiocesan Justice and Peace Office will this Saturday host its inaugural Faith in Action Social Justice Expo.
The Expo will feature four talks from speakers including The Catholic Institute of Sydney’s Dr Robert Tilley and the Edmund Rice Centre’s Phil Glendenning, plus a range of exhibitors from various volunteer organisations.
Qwayne Guevara from the Justice and Peace Office said the event has been organised as an opportunity for young people to find new ways of serving the Church and the broader community.
QWAYNE: We heard that there was a lack of knowledge among the youth of just exactly where they can go, in terms of how they can get involved… because they have all this passion but they don’t really know where to go, so I hope that the youth get out there and they sign up and they put their faith into action, really.
BOBBIE: Among the exhibitors will be overseas volunteering organisation Palms Australia who will have volunteers available to share about their experiences abroad. Palms Director Roger O’Halloran spoke to Cradio earlier this week about the opportunities available.
ROGER: One fellow spent his 2 years in Bougenville almost never seeing another white person while he was there and really being integrated into the community while he assisted them with accounts and administration, and taught people there the processes for keeping their figures and being transparent in that way. His story’s great – he also went of to East Timor and did it again… you know to get the opportunity to talk to volunteers like that, people who’ve done it is something that I hope would inspire others to follow.
BOBBIE: Faith in Action will run from 10am to 4pm on Saturday the 30th of April at the University of Notre Dame’s Sydney Campus.
Hear the full interview with Roger O’Halloran or find out more about the event via the Faith in Action website.
Music Credit: Waking Up Instrumental – Dexter Britain
