November 08, 2016
170 years ago, in 1846, the people of Maitland opened St John the Baptist Church in Maitland, right next to the Hunter River. Then in 1866, Bishop James Murray proclaimed this church as the Cathedral of the Diocese of Maitland.
November 01, 2016
In this 150 Years since the arrival of Bishop James Murray in our Diocese, I have had a weekend experience of pilgrimage, beginning on Saturday with the Murray Pilgrimage, followed by the Deaf Pride Week Mass at the Cathedral and then a ‘Prayer and Ritual in Thanksgiving and Farewell' to Sr Anne Moylan and Sr Kim Barnes from St Joseph’s Toronto.
October 25, 2016
When I came to the Diocese in 2005 there was one person employed in the area of Communications across the diocese and its agencies. I am amazed how much change has occurred in this space in that 11 years.
October 18, 2016
I am scribing this message on a Saturday afternoon, just after the Diocesan Pastoral Council Meeting. The core content of this meeting was to review the outcomes of our ‘around the diocese’ DPC meetings. The DPC found today’s meeting to be productive, and we will now work on the core ideas of our conversation before communicating with our parishes, Councils and agencies.
October 04, 2016
I scribe this message from the Gold Coast on this October long weekend. I have spent the past week assisting my daughter, her newborn and her family. Last week, Tracey Edstein filled you in on the celebration of Religious in our diocese over the past 150 years.
September 20, 2016
In this Year of Mercy I hope you are mindful that this Wednesday, 21st September, is International Day of Peace. This day was established in 1981 and is observed each year, corresponding with our Spring Equinox. I first became aware of this day when I was Religious Education Co-ordinator at St Joseph’s College, Tweed Heads. Its motto was Peace through Justice. This school was established in 1993 and had no connection with a religious congregation or an associated charism, so we chose our motto as our way of being.
