Saint John the Baptist Bearing Witness – painting by Annibale Carracci (MET, 2009.252). Photo: Wikimedia Commons. This is the edited text of the homily of the Lourdes day Mass for the Order of Malta at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney 6 December 2025. A recent McCrindle report offers a fascinating snapshot of trends in naming our bubs. For over […]
ST MARY’S CATHEDRAL, SYDNEY, 28 DECEMBER 2025 In Rembrandt’s painting of the Holy Family with Angels (1645), now in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, we witness a thoroughly domestic scene.[1] The context is not in the Bethlehem stable but Joseph’s workshop, where the carpenter is bent over his bench, surrounded by his tools, and […]
St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, 25 December 2025 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” We all know the biblical story of creation (Gen chs 1 & 2), in which God made this magnificent universe for us, and made us in His own image, free, intelligent and loving, so we might flourish according […]
Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP blesses worshippers as he exits St Mary’s Cathedral following midnight Mass for Christmas 2022. The Mass is traditionally one of the most-attended in St Mary’s Cathedral throughout the year. Photo: Giovanni Portelli This year was the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, one of the most pivotal gatherings in Christian […]
The series, called Eternal Rest: The Art of Dying Well, is a video program from the Augustine Institute and will be presented by Willow Tree Funerals funeral director Bruce Missen. Photo: Pexels.com. In an effort to help relieve anxiety and stress surrounding death, Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Varroville will be hosting a four-part series on death and the afterlife. The series, called Eternal Rest: […]
Members of the New South Wales Faith Affairs Council and faith leaders in a 15 December emergency meeting convened by Minister for Multiculturalism Steve Kamper. Photo: Supplied. The New South Wales Faith Affairs Council is inviting Australians to undertake an act of kindness, compassion, or charity to bring light into the world and honour the victims […]
Opening of Christmas at the Cathedral 2025. Images by Giovanni Portelli Photography © 2025 Amidst one of the darkest weeks in Sydney’s history, the opening night of Christmas at the Cathedral saw Sydney’s mother church become a beacon of healing and unity. Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP hosted a memorial prayer service attended by Prime Minister […]
Preaching of St John the Baptist by Domenico Ghirlandaio, between 1486 and 1490. Photo: Wikimedia Commons During the week before Christmas, as we celebrate with the Christmas at the Cathedral each night in Sydney, the Church sings a series of ancient Advent acclamations known as “The O antiphons.” At Vespers each night the Church prays to Christ […]
ST MARY’S CATHEDRAL FORECOURT, SYDNEY, 17 DECEMBER 2025 Dear friends, we gather this evening in what should be a season of joy, feeling a great weight of sadness; our celebration of peace, now marred by violence; the festival of light for Jews and Christians, now overshadowed by darkness and death. An unspeakable evil has visited […]
More than 200 people took part in a torchlight procession from Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Earlwood, to the Grotto of the Society of Our Lady of Lourdes. Photo: Supplied On the evening of 8 December, the Feast of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, more than 200 people took part in a torchlight procession […]
Holy Family Maroubra’s 22nd annual Christmas Carols with Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP on 14 December. Photo: Giovanni Portelli Portelli In the lead up to the Nativity of the Lord, parishes across Sydney got into the Christmas spirit by hosting carols for their community. Crowds packed Holy Family Catholic Church in Maroubra for the parish’s 22nd […]
A Statement from the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Most Rev. Anthony Fisher OP Monday, 15 December 2025 We all share in profound grief and righteous anger following last night’s terrorist attack on Bondi Beach. That a celebration of the Jewish feast of Hanukkah could end in at least 16 dead, including a young child, and many […]
Founder of Lumen Verum Apologetics Arlette Bowen receives her Dempsey Medal in July 2018. PHOTO: PATRICK J LEE The parish of St Michael the Archangel, Belfield, formally farewells Mrs Arlette Bowen, the founder of ‘Lumen Verum Apologetics’, this December following her 30 years of voluntary service as its chair and host. “Lumen Verum” began on Friday 16 February, […]
Police officers arrive at St. Vincent’s Hospital following a mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney Dec. 14, 2025. Two gunmen targeted Jewish beachgoers at an event celebrating the first day of Hanukkah, leaving 12 dead, including a gunman, and 29 wounded, New South Wales police said. (OSV News photo/Izhar Khan, Reuters) Archbishop Anthony Fisher […]
Police officers arrive at St. Vincent’s Hospital following a mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney Dec. 14, 2025. Two gunmen targeted Jewish beachgoers at an event celebrating the first day of Hanukkah, leaving 12 dead, including a gunman, and 29 wounded, New South Wales police said. (OSV News photo/Izhar Khan, Reuters) A Statement from […]
