On Good Friday five priests there heard the confessions of people of all ages for five hours. One of them was in the confessional until 1.00 am in the morning. Photo: Alphonsus Fok. Lent, Holy Week, Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday have come and gone, but what some Sydney priests remember is hearing a huge […]
Anzac Day memorial Mass. Photo: Alphonsus Fok. Sydneysiders marked Anzac Day with style and reverence, remembering both those who fought and died for our country as well as those currently in the armed forces. Among the dawn services, games of two-up, and a tribute service in the Opera House forecourt, a Mass at St Mary’s […]
Floral wreaths laid at the memorial for fallen soldiers following the the Vigil Mass for Anzac Day at St Mary’s Cathedral on 24 April, 2025. Photo: Alphonsus Fok Nowadays, although this is not greatly to my credit, I skip the 4.30am Anzac Day Dawn Service in Martin Place and choose the nearby sleep-and-brekkie-friendly 10am option. […]
Balk family with Father Knight and Bishop Umbers. Photo: Supplied. This is the story of a romance that has endured for 75 years. Beryl and Kevin Balk, 97 and 98 years old respectively, of St Andrews parish in Malabar, have just received a Papal Blessing as a capstone to their marriage. Kevin told The Catholic […]
ST MARY’S CATHEDRAL, SYDNEY, 24 APRIL 2025 Formerly known as the Glebe Island Bridge, the longest cable-stayed bridge in Australia was completed in 1995. In a ceremony in 1998 it was renamed “the Anzac Bridge”, as a fitting memorial to those who had fought in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. In the year […]
ST MARY’S BASILICA, SYDNEY, 22 APRIL 2025 “Woman, why are you weeping?” the angels ask Mary Magdalene on Easter day (Jn 20:11-18). Her grief is profound, her tears sincere. With the execution of her Master and Friend, her world had been turned upside down. Now she has come to tend His corpse and her grief […]
Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP meets with Pope Francis after a meeting of the Congregation for Oriental Churches in 2022. Photo: Vatican Media Francis, Pope of the peripheries The Church in Sydney and Australia joins with people throughout the world in mourning the passing of the Holy Father, Pope Francis. As priest, bishop and pope, he […]
Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP with portrait of Pope Francis. GIOVANNI PORTELLI 2025 Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP says Pope Francis’ passing on Easter Monday is an invitation to reflect on Easter and its meaning. He said this was a moment to question if the faithful “really believe” in life after death and if Pope Francis will […]
Pope Francis greets family members during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican May 4, 2022. Pope Francis, formally Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, died April 21, 2025, at age 88. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) A non-European? A member of a religious order? From the Southern hemisphere? Following the surprise resignation of Pope […]
Pope Francis greets some elderly people as he arrives at the headquarters of the Apostolic Prefecture of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Sept. 1, 2023. Photo: CNS/Vatican Media Updated 22/04/25 As dawn broke in Sydney, flags on government buildings were at half-mast as Catholics woke up to a world without their Pope. Less than two weeks out from […]
Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney
