Addresses and Statements

ST MARY’S CATHEDRAL CHAPTER HALL, 21 MARCH 2025 On this day one hundred years ago, the Butler Act was signed into law prohibiting the teaching of evolution in public schools in the state of Tennessee. Its author, Democrat John Washington Butler, sprung into action after hearing a Baptist sermon about a woman who had lost […]

ST MARY’S CATHEDRAL, 18 MARCH 2025 عَلَيْ  As-salamu alaykum, Peace up upon you. Welcome to St Mary’s Cathedral House for our 14th annual Iftar dinner, honouring especially the Muslim community, but bringing together people of many faiths. I’m glad to be with you in person this year, after Covid forced me to Zoom in last […]

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, The idea of a ‘synod’ has a long and rich history in the life of the Church. Since earliest times, there have been diocesan, regional or universal gatherings of the pastors of the Church, often with some lead-ing lay faithful, to pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit […]

Mine honour is my life; both grow in one.
Take honour from me and my life is done.
Then, dear my liege, mine honour let me try.
In that I live, and for will I die.

QUITO ECUADOR, 6 SEPTEMBER 2024(MOST REV.) ANTHONY FISHER O.P. Excelencias, padres, hermanas y queridos amigos, en primer lugar, deseo felicitar a los organizadores del Simposio Teológico y del Congreso Eucarístico Internacional por la maravillosa serie de eventos y oportunidades que nos han brindado a todos. Lamentablemente, debo disculparme ya que mi discurso de hoy será […]

I’m so grateful for the literary diet served me in my Catholic secondary school, named for St Ignatius whose feast it is today. We read Austen, Beckett, Blake, Bolt, Bronte, Chaucer, Chekhov, Conrad, Dickens, Donne, Dostoevsky…

Your Beatitude, Ignatius Yousef III Cardinal Yonan, Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and all the East; Your Graces of the Syriac Catholic Church, Mor Basilius Georges Casmoussa, Apostolic Visitor in Australia & New Zealand, Mor Ephrem Yousif Abba, Archeparch of Baghdad and Mor Barnaba Yousif Habash, Eparch of the USA…

Good evening and thank you Rabbi Elton for the kind introduction. It is a delight to be among friends at the Great Synagogue and a real honour to be invited to offer this address in memory of Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple and his contribution to Jewish-Christian relations. He truly was a trailblazer…

The term “communion” translates the Greek word κοινωνίᾳ koinonia and the Hebrew word חַבּוּרָה chavurah. Both indicated an association or cooperative, such as Jonah and Sons, and Zebedee and Sons, who were in partnership in the fishing business at Lake Galilee, until the boys ran away from home to join Jesus and fish instead for people. Already at the time of Jesus, as today, a chavurah or minyan of at least ten men was required to represent the community of Israel at a synagogue service, wedding or funeral…

The year is 2035, hopefully my last as archbishop. I’ve just emailed my draft homily for Sunday to the Religious Safety Commissioner for her approval. She’s the independent regulator charged with ensuring that faith groups spread no discriminatory and otherwise harmful messages. With the help of AI, she vets all planned sermons and spiritual talks to be given in Australia each week, catching any inappropriate words or themes before they are spoken…