Universal Church

Pope Francis welcomes Pope Emeritus Benedict back to Vatican

FOR the first time in history, the Vatican is home to a pope and a retired pope.

Pope Francis and Pope Benedict entered the convent's chapel together "for a brief moment of prayer," said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman.

Pope Benedict had been staying at the papal summer villa in Castel Gandolfo since retiring 28 February. Pope Francis traveled to the villa 10 days after his election to visit, pray and have lunch with Pope Benedict; the new pope also has telephoned his predecessor on at least two occasions.

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Archbishop Hart gives testimony in Parliamentary Inquiry

Archbishop Denis Hart attended and gave his testimony to the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other non-Government Organisations last 20 May.

The Archbishop told the parliamentary inquiry that the Church was too slow to act in the past when dealing with child abuse offenders.

He also acknowledged that one of his predecessors had kept information about two priest offenders secret and moved them to other parishes. Archbishop Hart this was a wrong decision and had a devastating consequence. For this reason, the archbishop reiterated the Church's apology made earlier.

Furhtermore, Archbishop Hart says the Church is commited to do what is right in solving and preventing the same thing happening again by updating the Churchs rules, especially on the admission and training of future priests as well as the rules on reporting offenders to police.

:: View the Archbishop's Summary Statement
:: View Parliamentary Inquiry transcript for the Melbourne Response

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COUNCIL GRANTS PERMIT FOR CHURCH RENOVATION

The Council has granted us a permit for extension of the toilet facilities and foyer area. The tenders have now closed. The selection process will now commence to select a contractor for the extension.

There will be some disruption to mass services during the extension due to safety reasons and lack of water & electricity. The level of disruption will not be known until the building timetable has been established.

Mass will be held in the hall when the church is not available. Some portable toilets will be provided during the renovation.l be made available during renovati

Relatedly, our mass count for the last three years indicated that we have around 2300 people attending 6 masses each weekend. The 12:00pm mass in Vietnamese has a large number of people (around 750 plus) attending each weekend.

The other masses have around 300 to 450 people at each mass. The inside of the church can comfortably hold 500 people. During the alterations at the back of the church, the 12:00pm mass in Vietnamese will be considerably affected. Fr Minh is proposing an extra mass in Vietnamese at 7:30pm on Saturday night to help relieve the pressure on the Sunday mass.

If anyone has any objections or suggestions about the additional mass please contact office or see Fr Minh. This proposal of an extra mass is only for the duration of the extension work of the church as we do not have enough priests in the parish to continue this extra mass into the future.

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When yhave you seen an act of compassion? How did it affect you?

Jesus is the compassionate Lord who breaks all barriers to let people know that God loves them.

:: Sunday Readings--courtesy of the USCCB.org
:: Reflection--Lectionary Resources for Catholics

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