Church in Oceania

Australian Cardinal Cassidy, former Vatican official, dies at 96
- Apr 10, 2021
Australian Cardinal Edward Cassidy died on Saturday at the age of 96.

By Cindy Wooden
Pope encourages Australians affected by severe flooding
- Mar 24, 2021
Pope Francis sent words of encouragement to Australians in the state of New South Wales, where some areas received two-thirds of their yearly rainfall in less than a week.

By Catholic News Service
New Zealand cardinal says church ‘ashamed and saddened’ by abuse
- Mar 23, 2021
Cardinal John Dew told a royal commission of inquiry that the Catholic Church in New Zealand is ashamed and saddened that people suffered abuse while in its care.

By Michael Otto

Sydney archbishop urges ‘deep breath’ after news of artificial embryos
- Mar 22, 2021
After a prominent Australian university announced it had made artificial human embryos from skin cells, an Australian archbishop with a doctorate in bioethics asked, “Is this really such a good thing?”

By Catholic News Service

Same-sex union blessings ban upsets gay Catholics in Oceania
- Mar 16, 2021
The Vatican’s edict that same-sex unions cannot be blessed because they are sinful was met Tuesday with criticism by rights activists and gay Catholics in parts of the Asia-Pacific region as inconsistent and out of step with contemporary community standards.

By Rod McGuirk
Ethicists must call out unethical behavior in health care, Sydney archbishop says
- Mar 12, 2021
The coronavirus pandemic has multiplied the number of ethical dilemmas that health care workers, health care systems, governments and individuals face which require the specialized assistance ethicists can provide, Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher told the Catholic Health Association of the United States.

By Benjamin Conolly
Palliative care in Australia on life support, says new report
- Mar 6, 2021
Australia has only half the number of palliative care doctors needed to provide good quality care for chronically and terminally ill patients, despite increasing demand, according to new research.

By Marilyn Rodrigues
Australian bishops release working document for October Plenary Council
- Feb 25, 2021
The need for “deep, spiritual conversion of all members of the church stands out” as a key theme of the “instrumentum laboris,” the working document for Australia’s Plenary Council, due to begin in October, said one of its authors.

By Benjamin Conolly