GOODY TO LECTURE ON HISTORY See page 2
GERALDTON HELPING HAND TO ST KILDA NUNS See page 2 NEW PRIEST A PPOINTED TO NED LANDS See page 3
ECUMENISM AT PARISH LEVEL See page 3
NA ()NAL. 1'AST' R AL. EENG TELEPHONE: (09) 328 1388
SYDNEY. — A national pastoral conference may be held in 1988 — Australia's bicentennial year. and the Australian bishops have resolved to support the proposal in principle. They have also asked their committee for laity to develop the proposal in consultation with the bicentennial committee.
BISHOPS' CONFERENCE R OUND-UP See pages 4 and 5
INAUGURAL ANTIOCH C ONVENTION See page 13
Bishop Bede Heather
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Number 2392 PERTH, WA: MAY 31 — JUNE 6, 1984 ADDRESS 26 John Street, Perth, WA, 6000 PO Box 50, Aberdeen Street, Perth, WA 6000
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The proposal put to the bishops' meeting in Sydney earlier this month said the congress: • will include all members of the Church — bishops. priests, religious and laity. • will examine both the universal life of the Church and the reality of Australian society.
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by NICHOLAS KERR reporting from the A ustralian Bishops meeting in Sydney See also pages 3, 4 and 5
• will enliven the mission of the Church in Australia and plan for its future. Bishop Bede Heather, liaison officer for the bicentenary, said the Australian Catholic Bicentennial Committee last year asked for people's suggestions for ways the Church could contribute to the 1988 celebrations. "From the suggestions that came from various parts of Australia this proposal was very much favoured," he said. "Many of those suggesting it referred to the recent experience of the Church in England and Wales in Liverpool in 1980. "Our committee has developed the principle to have three overall objectives: "First, the Catholic community should search, in a critical way, for its identity. Great changes have taken place in the Catholic community since the post-war years. We need to discover our identity anew.
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A t Armadale last week the former parish priest Father Geoff Beyer (centre) is pictured giving the background story to the St Francis Xavier Centre which was officially blessed by Archbishop Foley (right) see story Parish Pump page 16
"Second, we should examine the responsibilities the Catholic community has to Australia today. "That would mean seeking for the deepest needs the people of Australia have. "Examples of these responsibilities could be responsibility for Christian unity, and for justice in all parts of our society. "Third, we should search for new ways of making Jesus known in a multi-cultural society such as ours." Bishop Heather said proposals for a national pastoral conference have been made before. "Now the bishops have accepted the principle and begun positive planning," he said. BICENTENARY EVENTS: Several Catholic contributions to the 1988 bicentenary are being discussed. One is a national liturgical conference. It has been suggested the conference could be in Hobart. The bicentenary Authority is planning inter-faith services to commemorate the role of the various religious groups in Australia's history.