AURORA EXTRA: At Home in L’Arche
In L’Arche worldwide there are 149 communities and 14 projects in 37 countries. L’Arche Hunter is one of the 14 projects. L’Arche’s founder Jean Vanier will turn 88 on 10th September. He wrote the following contribution especially for the book, My Home in L’Arche, an initiative of L’Arche Hunter and he entitled it At Home in L’Arche.
AURORA EXTRA: Channelling mercy through the dust
Predictably, the theme of the 2016 Australasian Catholic Press Association’s annual conference, held in Sydney last week, was “Channels of mercy”.
Christie's claiming gold in more ways than one
TS Eliot once wrote, “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
Come to the market place at the cathedral!
I think we could all agree that the world is a bazaar. One could almost say it’s a ‘bizarre’ bazaar – a mélange of people – fat and thin, short and tall, black and white, brown and yellow, healthy and unhealthy, a world of justice and injustice – a world where Christ, two thousand years ago, preached from the hillsides and in the market places – to come and follow him and to learn how to love one another.
Why stopping the boats does not solve the problem
Austria’s foreign minister recently suggested that people seeking asylum in Europe should not be allowed to enter the continent, but should be held on offshore islands instead. Sebastian Kurz said that the principles of the “Australian model” should be applied to Europe, and went as far as to suggest that people who entered Europe “illegally” should lose their right to apply for asylum.
Fossil fuel divestment and living Laudato Si'
The start of a push for Catholic divestment from coal, oil and gas extractive industries is now well under way. Another boost was given at World Youth Day via a letter signed by over 120 youth organisations delivered to Pope Francis. In it, they urged him to support fossil fuel divestment and asked him to ensure the Vatican’s own financial institution cuts its ties with extractive industries. A call from young people will no doubt be significant to Pope Francis.
The sense of an ending, and many beginnings
Gail O’Brien is to be the guest speaker at Holy Trinity Parish Dinner on 21 October (see page 21). Tracey Edstein interviewed Gail at her Sydney home and learned something of her remarkable story.
A pilgrimage of mercy
When we left the diocesan offices on Thursday 14 July to travel to World Youth Day (WYD) in Krakow, Poland, I knew all my fellow pilgrims’ faces, but I didn’t know anything about them. By the time we landed in Venice, 32 hours later, the wonderful people I had shared that never-ending journey with were my treasured friends. And 27 days later, I feel like the bonds we have forged are simply unbreakable.
