News from around the Catholic world for the week ending 14 March.
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• Kidnapped nuns freed in Syria
• The Church’s Towards Healing Process in the spotlight at the Royal Commission
• The Internet celebrates Pope Francis’s first anniversary
• A new bishop for Rockhampton, and;
• NSW & ACT celebrate Catholic Schools Week.
TRANSCRIPT
BOBBIE: A group of nuns kidnapped in Syria by rebels last December have been released.
The 13 Greek Orthodox nuns and three maids were released on Monday, following to negotiations with the Syrian government, mediated by Lebanese and Qatari officials.
Their release marks the end of a three-month ordeal, which began when the nuns were kidnapped amidst heavy fighting in the ancient Christian town of Ma’loula.
“We want to thank God, who made it possible for us to be here now,” one of the nuns said in speaking to reporters on her release.
Although early rumours circulated that the nuns were mistreated and forced to remove their crosses by the al-Qaeda affiliated kidnappers, Abbess Mother Pelagia Sayyaf reported that they were treated well during their captivity.
“The [kidnappers were]good to us… but we took off our crosses because we were in the wrong place to wear them,” she said.
The nuns are now reportedly in the care of the Damascus-based Greek Orthodox Patriarchate for Antioch and All The East. They will remain there until it is safe to return to their Monastery, currently at the centre of battle between Syrian government and rebel forces.
The reasons for the abduction are unclear, with rebels insisting that they were kidnapped to protect them from government shelling, while Syrian government officials are accusing the rebels of attempting to intimidate the minority Christian groups.
While the nuns are now safe, the situation for Christians remains dangerous in the increasingly sectarian Syrian civil war.
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The eighth case study of the Royal Commission into institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse began on Monday this week, focusing on the Catholic Church’s Towards Healing Process.
The case study is examining the Church’s response to a complaint made by John Ellis against Sydney priest Father Aidan Duggan in 2002. Mr Ellis was reportedly abused as a teenager between the years 1974 and 1979.
The Commission has heard that Mr Ellis first issued his complaint through the Professional Standards Office, as part of the Towards Healing protocol. When the Office reportedly found Mr Ellis’ case to be ‘lacking evidence’, he subsequently took legal action in 2004.
Formal and recent assessment by the Royal Commission found that the abuse ‘more likely than not’ occurred.
Since its implementation the Royal Commission has unearthed thousands of complaints in a number of institutions across the country.
Case study eight continues over the course of next week. For daily summaries of the proceedings visit catholictalk.com.au.
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The World Wide Web has marked the first anniversary of Pope Francis’s election to the papacy with a barrage of posts and tweets carrying the hash tag #ThankYouFrancis.
The website graziefrancesco.com has been launched by Argentinian youth group Lindo Lio to collect the messages, promising that they will be personally delivered to the Holy Father himself.
Thousands of messages have already been sent expressing sentiments of gratitude and admiration for the moments that have inspired Catholics young and old over the past year.
Vatican Radio’s Susan Hodges spoke to Vatican Commentator John Allen Jnr to find out why Pope Francis has made such an impact.
JOHN ALLEN: “He (Pope Francis) has accomplished far more than most of us could have reasonably expected … both in terms of style and in terms of substance. I mean at the level of style, he has completely changed the global narrative about the Catholic Church. One year ago the dominant storylines about the Church were largely negative; I mean they had to do about child sexual abuse scandals, and various sorts of breakdowns in the Vatican, and bruising political controversies around the world. While none of those things have gone away, today the dominant narrative is ‘wildly charismatic pope takes the world by storm’… that has invigorated the Church at the grass roots level and given it a sense of a new lease on life. At the same time, he is hardly all sizzle and no steak – there have also been very significant deep structural reforms during Francis’ first year, perhaps his most obvious being his recent decision to create a new secretariat for the economy in the Vatican to impose fiscal discipline…”
You can hear the full interview via the Vatican Radio website.
Listen to a talk by John Allen Jr entitled ‘The Francis Effect’, presented in Sydney last year.
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BOBBIE: It was this week announced that Brisbane-based priest Fr Michael McCarthy has been appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Rockhampton.
The Queensland diocese has been vacant since the retirement of Emeritus Bishop Brian Heenan in October last year.
Australian Catholic Bishop’s Conference President Archbishop Denis Hart welcomed the appointment of Fr Michael McCarthy, Bishop Elect, as the 10th Bishop of Diocese of Rockhampton.
“Father McCarthy has already shown distinctive leadership in the care of clergy and people in Brisbane,” said Archbishop Hart.
“I know he will receive a gracious and enthusiastic welcome in his new diocese,” he said.
Fr McCarthy was born on 13 September 1950. He was educated at Greenmount State School and Downland College in Toowoomba. Fr McCarthy received a Bachelor of Applied Science at the University of Southern Queensland and studied for the Priesthood at St Paul’s National Seminary in Sydney. He also obtained a Master of Arts in Theology from the University of Queensland.
On 19 August 1978, Fr McCarthy was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Brisbane and commenced his priesthood as Associate Pastor in Gympie in 1979. Until now, he has been the Episcopal Vicar for Clergy of the Archdiocese of Brisbane and Parish Priest of Hendra and Northgate.
The Bishop-Elect said he was humbled by the appointment.
“I look forward to many years of service as Bishop to the priests, religious Sisters and Brothers and the Catholic people of the Diocese,” he said.
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Catholic Schools week has been celebrated across New South Wales and the ACT this week.
A variety of events have taken place in Catholic primary and secondary school across the region promoting the message that Catholic Schools are “more than a great education”.
St Mary’s Catholic Primary in Erskinville began the week with a focus on community outreach, inviting Lucy Morgan from the Australian Council for Refugees and African refugee Moisema to speak about the experience of asylum seekers in Australia.
St Mary’s Catholic Primary principal Frank Wasseff said that helping those in need was key to the ethos of Catholic schools.
“[W]e have a responsibility to proactively reach out to all sections of society, especially the disadvantaged and the marginalised, and allow them the opportunity of experiencing the richness and values of a Catholic education,” he said.
On the other side of the state in the Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes, Director of Schools Anthony Morgan has visited some of the most remote schools in the country for their respective open days.
Speaking on this year’s theme, Mr Morgan said “I am proud to say that our schools do offer ‘more than just a great education’. We offer children life changing opportunities… [these open days]highlight to those within the school, as well as the wider community, all the opportunities available to students.”
Music Credit: Waking Up Instrumental – Dexter Britain
