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”.

The Plenary Council, the first such gathering in Australia since 1937, is being celebrated across nine months, bookended by assemblies from October 3-10 and in July 2022.

Next week, the Chancery will become a Hub for the five Sandhurst Plenary Members (formerly known as delegates) and three locally based Assembly facilitators. This will provide the infrastructure and support for members to attend sessions securely online, as well as the opportunity to gather for prayer, fellowship, and discussion. 

A Federal Government commitment made to boost funding for domestic violence more than four months ago is still yet to make its way to service providers.  Organisations focused on providing domestic and family violence services are coming under increased pressure as a result. 

The time has come!  Momentum is gathering as preparations are well underway for the First General Assembly of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia, which will take place in hubs and homes across the country from 3-10 October. 279 Members will tackle 16 questions in an endeavour to create a more missionary, Christ-centred Church in Australia.

On Monday 4 October at 9:30 a.m, the Feast of Francis of Assissi, Mass celebrated by  Bishop Shane Mackinlay at St Kilian's will be streamed across the country as part of the National Plenary Council programme.  Please join Bishop Shane and our Plenary Members online.  

The Diocese of Sandhurst welcomes Dr Chris Cotter, a Wodonga parishioner for twenty years, back to Central Victoria and our diocese. After working in Perth as Director of Religious Education at Catholic Education Western Australia (CEWA); Chris returns to Victoria to be part of the senior leadership of our diocese in the newly created role of Director of Mission and Pastoral Life.

"There is a reason why I wrote a book of poems entitled Rex. Many years ago, as a young priest, I was given a drawing.  This drawing was signed by Rex, I never met him, but I knew that life had been difficult for him.  Rex happened to be a Latin word meaning 'King'. This drawing reminded me of Christ the King lying on the Cross ..." 

How have Christians in antiquity understood flourishing, and what can these ancient accounts offer to modern understandings of creating a good life for individuals and societies?  Australian Catholic University is partnering with Harvard University for this exciting new research project. 

Catholic Mission has launched an Australian-led global awareness campaign to mark the beginning of World Mission Month. The #WeAreStillHere campaign features the faces and voices of missionaries from over 50 countries.

Last Sunday, the World Day of Migrants and Refugees was celebrated across Sandhurst and across the world. For 107 years, this has been a day, designated by the Pope, to focus on the issues of migration and seeking refuge. Pope Francis’ specially chosen theme this year is Towards an Ever-Wider 'We'.

Sandhurst seminarian, Jackson Saunders, offers this final article in his three-part series on the life of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop. We reflect on Mary’s travels in the Sandhurst Diocese and the work of the Sisters in Numurkah, Eaglehawk, Nagambie, Rushworth, Pyramid Hill, Tallangatta and Corryong.

Each year, Catholic Alliance for People Seeking Asylum holds a National Week of Prayer and Action (NWPA) to engage with the Australian Catholic to take action and stand in solidarity with people seeking asylum. This year the NWPA will begin on 26 September 2021 the day of World Migrant and Refugee Sunday and run through to 1 October 2021.

Just over sixty years ago, stalwart Cathedral parishioners Wilma and John McCormack, were married at Wilma’s home parish of St Joseph’s in Ouyen. Their diamond anniversary was acknowledge  Sunday Mass on Sunday 12 September after Mass at St Joseph’s Quarry Hill, with a Blessing from Bishop Shane and presentation of a Papal Blessing parchment.

By Michael Chisholm

In August 2021, members of the Aboriginal Education Team from  Catholic Education Sandhurst Pty Ltd were invited to speak and present at the 2021 Sandhurst Priests’ Inservice.

Sandhurst Disability Contact Coordinator, Mary Pianta, thoroughly enjoyed the Tokyo Paralympic Games. While Tokyo was fighting off a COVID-19 curse of over 5000 new infections a day, the Games opened eyes, won hearts and fulfilled the dreams of many. That the games went ahead at all is a cred to all involved writes Mary. 

Disability Contact Coordinator, Mary Pianta visited PepperGreen Farm recently. It stuck her that the vision of this social enterprise is very much in-line with Pope Francis’ concerns for our environment and people living with a disability, as expressed in “Fratelli Tutti, 98” and reiterated in the Australian Bishops’ Social Justice Statement 2021 “Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor.”

By Kerry Stone

Caritas India has given Caritas Australia this report about what has been achieved through the recent support from Australians. “Each day was a nightmare for me after my return to the village with the lost job due to pandemic. The worries of livelihood and sustaining family disturbed me each day,” said Dileep, one of the migrants from Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh.

By Kerry Stone

Caritas Australia has launched its annual Women for the World Campaign. Join Lulu Mitshabu, Caritas Australia’s Program Coordinator in Africa, for a virtual talk and Q&A session on Tuesday, 21 September. Lulu will speak about how your support is empowering women in the Democratic Republic of Congo with the skills they need to take control of their lives and forge a path out of poverty. 

Tasmanian Anna Murchison has won Australia's richest poetry prize with her poem 'Child of Gath-hepher'.  Murchison did not start writing poetry until she was 50 and now, at age 54, still considers herself a “new and unschooled” writer.

Sunday 10 October

The Marian Festival will again be held online in 2021. Mass will be followed by a programme of the Crowning of Our Lady, Act of Consecration, Rosary, Litany, Reflection, and Adoration, concluding with Benediction.

"We can take a national and international perspective on migrants and refugees. This is good. Yet, if our concerns do not start with our neighbours, so many of whom are migrants and refugees in Australia, then something is very wrong."

Archbishop Christopher Prowse, Chairman Bishops Commission for Evangelisation, Laity and Ministry, reflects on Pope Francis' message for Migrant and Refugee Sunday. 

Heartfelt tributes have poured out from across the Diocese and beyond for Fr Paul Purcell.  

We share with you the following:

The Homily at the prayer vigil for Fr Paul by Fr Junray Rayna

Fr Paul's eulogy by his niece, Clare O'Brien

THe Homily at Fr Paul's Funeral Mass by Fr Rom Hayes.

Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2021

In the Encyclical Fratelli Tutti, I expressed a concern and a hope that remain uppermost in my thoughts: “Once this health crisis passes, our worst response would be to plunge even more deeply into feverish consumerism and new forms of egotistic self-preservation. God willing, after all this, we will think no longer in terms of ‘them’ and ‘those’, but only ‘us’” (No. 35).

After an initial delay in 2021, the annual Archbishop’s dinner will now be held on Friday 5 November at Moonee Valley Racecourse.

Archbishop Peter A. Comensoli will be the Guest Speaker and former race-caller, Bryan Martin will be the Master of Ceremonies. The event is a major fundraiser for the Priests Support and Education Fund, helping seminarians and military chaplains with the cost of their studies.

Sandhurst seminarian, Jackson Saunders, offers this second article in his three-part series on the life of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop. We consider the establishment of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart in Penola and their expansion into Adelaide and beyond. However, troubles arose, and Mary went to Rome, before the Institute made Sydney their Mother House.