In 1997 Pope John Paul II declared Isidore of Seville the patron saint of the internet. Isidore was a scholar with encyclopedic knowledge. In his writings he sought to collect, systematize and synthesize all existing knowledge. Speaking at a General Audience on 18 June 2008, Pope Benedict XVI, highlighted how Isidore combined contemplation and action.… Read More »St Isidore, patron saint of the internet
World Youth Day is celebrated every year in local churches and every two or three years at the international level. The theme for 2020 is "Young man, I tell you, arise!" (Lk 7,14). Lisbon, Portugal will host the next international gathering for World Youth Day in 2022.
The encyclical Pacem in Terris is known in English as Peace on Earth. It was published in 1963 in the wake of the Cuban missile crisis. You can read an introduction to the encyclical and find a link to the full text here. Pacem in Terris focuses on issues of peace in a nuclear age. It… Read More »1963: Pacem in Terris published by Pope John XXIII
St Peter Chanel was a Marist priest and the first martyr of the South Pacific. Read more about his life here. Prayer to St Peter Chanel You left your homelandto proclaim Jesus, Saviour of the world,to the peoples of Oceania. Guided by the Spirit of God,who is the strength of the gentle,you bore witness to… Read More »1841: Death of St Peter Chanel in the New Hebrides (Vanuatu)
Resources including a video, the full text of Bishop Long's Pastoral Message for the Feast of St Joseph the Worker 2020, and graphics are available here. Did you know that for over twenty years now the Catholic Church in Australia has marked the Feast of St Joseph the Worker with a pastoral letter? These letters… Read More »St Joseph the Worker
In the 1991 encyclical Centesimus Annus (The Hundredth Year), Pope John Paul II affirmed the groundbreaking encyclical Rerum Novarum from Pope Leo Xlll in 1891 where the fundamental rights and dignity of workers and work were clearly stated. It addressed any ongoing perceived conflict between the provision of capital and labour, acknowledging work as central to vocation, with a key social dimension that relates directly to the common good