Bishop Tony Percy at his episcopal ordination. Images by Giovanni Portelli Photography © 2025 The third annual Tim Fischer Oration for Ethics in Public and Political Life, founded by Bishop Tony Percy, will be held in Rosehill Gardens in Sydney’s west on 17 June.  Named after Liberal Party Deputy Prime Minister from 1996-1999, the oration honours Fischer’s strong Catholic faith and civic convictions.  This year’s speaker is Dr Mary […]
Sofitel Wentworth, Sydney, 9 May 2026 Your Excellency Governor Beasley and Mr Wilson, Prime Minister Albanese and Ms Haydon, Minister Prue Carr representing the Premier, Sir Peter and Lady Cosgrove, bishops, clergy, distinguished guests, generous sponsors, friends one and all: welcome, and thank you for being here tonight. On 15 April 2019 the world watched […]
Bishop Daniel Meagher at his farewell, wearing one of his parting gifts. Images by Giovanni Portelli Photography © 2026 Bishop Daniel Meagher bid goodbye to the Archdiocese of Sydney at St Mary’s Cathedral on 5 May, telling the faithful gathered for his farewell Mass before moving to Rockhampton that Christ’s peace would sustain His people through every […]
Anzac Day Mass. Photo: Alphonsus Fok. This is the edited text of the homily for the Vigil mass of Anzac Day, Friday the 3rd week of Easter at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney 24 April 2026. It was perversely codenamed Unternehmen Mondscheinsonate (Operation Moonlight Sonata) as more than 500 Luftwaffe bombers razed the industrial City of Coventry through the night of 14 […]
ST MARY’S CATHEDRAL, SYDNEY, 6 MAY 2026 It’s been labelled a ‘myth’, a ‘trap’, a ‘tyranny’: the very idea of meritocracy has been much criticised so labelled in recent years.[1] Commentators from prestigious universities like Harvard and Yale, if not from UNDA, have taken aim at the very idea that talent and hard work can […]
Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP giving his welcome to the Synod. Photo: Alphonsus Fok. Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP has accepted a series of key proposals from the Sydney Synod, setting new pastoral priorities for the archdiocese focused on more prayerful liturgies, Christ-centred communities and renewed missionary outreach. The decisions – aimed at strengthening sacramental life, evangelisation, and formation – came at the conclusion of […]
Statue of Our Lady of Fatima. Photo: Patrick J Lee. On the night of Saturday 16 May, thousands of Sydney’s faithful will take to the streets around St Mary’s Cathedral, rosaries in hand and candles burning, in one of the most moving expressions of Catholic faith in the city’s year. The Feast of Our Lady of Fatima Procession, organised by […]
Dominican sisters with Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP. Photo: Patrick Lee At a Mass celebrating those in religious life, Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP said that when Catholics think of ‘shepherds’ they usually think of bishops and priests. Yet there is a broader shepherding in which all the faithful share, he said, particularly the religious sisters, brothers, and priests who have built much of Australia’s religious and social infrastructure. “Many of us were blessed to have known […]
St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, 3 May 2026 Today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 6:1-7) begins with the Twelve calling a meeting of all the faithful. The Church had been expanding rapidly—more than 5,000 converts in the first few weeks, enough to scare the authorities (Acts 2:41,47; 4:4). More apostolic preaching plus persecution […]
St Mary’s Cathedral College Hall, Sydney, 3 May 2026 They had met many times before—the disciples of Jesus after His ascension. To elect a replacement for Judas. To await the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. To discern how to care for the widows. To choose and ordain the first deacons. But it’s the so-called […]
St Mary’s Cathedral College Hall, Sydney, 1 May 2026 Last week the ‘impossible’ was achieved: the Kenyan Sabastian Sawe ran a marathon in under two hours—becoming the first person ever to do so in a competitive race. On crossing the finishing line in front of Buckingham Palace he made the sign of the cross, for […]
Men praying the rosary during the St Joseph Camino. Photo: GIOVANNI PORTELLI 2025 More than 1,200 men transformed Sydney with a city-wide gathering of faith last year. This August they’re back — bigger, bolder, and hungry for more. Are you in? In 2025, something stirred among the men of this city. In the dead of night, more than a thousand men laced up their boots, […]
St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, 30 April 2026 The great Catholic novelist Flannery O’Connor produced some of the most startling and grace-filled fiction of the twentieth century. She once said that a story is a way to say something that can’t be said any other way.[1] While creeds, canons and councils, as well as the living […]
Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP giving the homily for the Paschal Eucharist. Images by Giovanni Portelli Photography © 2026 This is the edited text of the Homily for the Paschal Eucharist, Third Sunday of Easter (Year A), 19 April, 2026 at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney. The reality show Shark Tank has had six Australian seasons so […]
Marcel LeJeune. Photo: Jules Photo Design. When Marcel LeJeune arrived at St Mary’s Catholic Centre at Texas A&M University in 2006, he inherited a ministry with two priests, a part-time deacon, a leaking roof, and no budget to speak of. By the time he left 11 years later, there were 63 staff, a $3.5 million budget, state-of-the-art facilities, 5,000 students […]
