Her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson AC, Governor of South Australia, will join members of State Parliament at a service to mark the opening of the Parliamentary Year tomorrow morning at 8am.

A joint initiative of the Leaders of Christian Churches SA and the SA Parliamentary Christian Fellowship, the service is being hosted this year by Adelaide’s Catholic Archbishop Patrick O’Regan and will be held in St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide has confirmed a fire has caused extensive damage to a Glenelg parish property at 11 High Street, Glenelg, adjacent to Our Lady of Victories Church.

There was no damage to the church, neighbouring property or school.

Bishops Conference and Catholic Religious release report

On August 31 2018 the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Catholic Religious Australia issued their initial response to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse relevant to the Catholic Church. On the fifth anniversary of that response, the Conference and CRA have prepared an update as part of the Church’s ongoing efforts to be publicly accountable for how it is working to create, maintain and enhance safe environments for children and all people who are at risk.

Catholic school families will benefit from a freeze on tuition fees at 84 Diocesan schools for the 2024 year.

It will be the third consecutive year that Catholic Education SA has decided not to raise fees.

Australia’s Catholic bishops have called on the nation to seek “a new engagement” with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in their annual Social Justice Statement launched today.

Since the 1940s, the bishops have published annual statements that urge the Catholic community to reflect and act on social, economic and ecological issues. The statements are published as a focal point for Social Justice Sunday, which will be marked on August 27 this year.

This year’s statement, Listen, Learn, Love: A New Engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, was launched in Western Sydney by Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv, chair of the Bishops Commission for Social Justice, Mission and Service.

Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, President, Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

It was with great sadness that I learned of the unexpected death of Cardinal George Pell in Rome on Tuesday evening (Rome time). Cardinal Pell provided strong and clear leadership within the Catholic Church in Australia, as Archbishop of Melbourne and Archbishop of Sydney and as a member of the Bishops Conference for more than 25 years.

In his annual Christmas message, Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide Patrick O’Regan has reminded us that in our darkest times, Christ “lights our way toward justice and peace”.

“Even when our own wicks burn dimly, the Word of God, Jesus, withstands the darkness, gently urges us forward,” he said in his message recorded at the historic Archbishop’s House on West Terrace, Adelaide.

As South Australians continue to feel the impact of COVID-19, Catholic Education SA has announced it will freeze fees at its 86 Diocesan schools for the 2023 school year. 

In 2023, schools fees will remain unchanged at: 

• 62 diocesan Catholic primary schools
• 2 special schools – St Patrick’s and Our Lady of La Vang
• 22 diocesan secondary and combined colleges

Catholic schools across the State are ready to welcome their biggest intake of students when the school year commences on Wednesday February 2.

In a year of expansion and growth for Catholic Education SA, more than 48,000 students will be educated at 103 Catholic schools, including two brand new schools.

In a year when it seems that light has dimmed somewhat, people such as our healthcare workers show that darkness can never have the last say. Christmas shows us that even in chaos and uncertainty God is with us.

May Christmas 2021 be a time of great peace, trust and forgiveness, for you and your families and friends. May we rediscover in our lives, Jesus Christ our true light.

View the Archbishop's Christmas message here.

Catholics are invited to join local consultations about their experience of synodality within the Church as part of a two-year journey towards the next international Synod of Bishops, set for October 2023.

Dioceses across the world hosted local Synod celebrations on Sunday, a week after Pope Francis officially opened the global process for the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.

Dioceses across Australia will this weekend hold launches to mark the commencement of local participation in the two-year journey towards the 2023 Synod of Bishops.

Last Sunday, Pope Francis celebrated a Mass to launch the global process for the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which has the theme “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission”.

More than 550 students and staff from Catholic Education SA will join in a simultaneous celebration with schools throughout Australia to mark 200 years of Catholic education TODAY.

In a national first – the event will be livestreamed with participants from every corner of the country – coming together for a simultaneous Mass.

The national Mass will mark the bicentenary of the first 'official' Catholic school that opened in Parramatta, NSW, in October 1820.

As South Australians continue to feel the impact of COVID-19, Catholic Education SA has announced a free midyear intake for Reception students.

The announcement comes as the number of students attending Catholic schools across the State continues to rise. Enrolments grew by 1,605* students (3.5%) this year, with more students expected to join Catholic schools as part of the July intake.  

Thousands of Catholics from parishes and multicultural groups throughout the Archdiocese of Adelaide will converge on the Adelaide Showgrounds this Sunday for the annual Marian Procession and Peace Rally.

It is the first time the event – the State’s longest continuously run religious festival - has been held at the Wayville location.

Plans for the procession to take place on the main arena have been changed due to inclement weather and the proceedings will now take place in the Jubilee Pavilion where there is seating for 2200 people.

The Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide, Patrick O’Regan, has welcomed with “great joy” the opportunity for large numbers of people to attend Easter services.

The Archdiocese received confirmation today that 100 per cent capacity will be allowed in places of worship with fixed seating (pews), provided masks are worn. If the number of attendees is 75 per cent of capacity or less, masks are not required.

The bells of St Francis Xavier’s Catholic Cathedral will ring at 11am tomorrow (March 11) as more than 100 local faith communities across Australia take part in a global day of action to ‘sound the alarm’ for the climate.

Churches, synagogues, mosques and other faith groups in 15 countries are taking part in the initiative which supports a statement called Sacred People, Sacred Earth signed by prominent religious leaders including the Vatican Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Cardinal Turkson.

The Archbishop of Adelaide Patrick O’Regan will celebrate Shrove Tuesday TOMORROW (February 16) by cooking pancakes at Thomas More College, Salisbury.

The event coincides with the launch of Project Compassion, the annual Lenten campaign run by Catholic humanitarian and development agency Caritas Australia.

The theme of this year’s Project Compassion is Oscar Romero’s quote of ‘aspire not to have more, but to be more’, which connects with the college motto of Learn More, Love More, Be More.  

The Funeral Mass of Archbishop Philip Wilson will be celebrated in St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral at 11am on Wednesday February 3.

The Mass, to be livestreamed via www.adelaide.catholic.org.au, will be celebrated by Archbishop Patrick O’Regan with bishops and clergy from around Australia concelebrating.

A Vigil Mass will be held on Tuesday February 2 at 7.30pm in the Cathedral and there will be an opportunity for people to pray in the presence of the coffin from 2pm to 6.30pm.

Archbishop Philip Wilson, who served as Bishop of Wollongong and Archbishop of Adelaide during 45 years of priestly ministry, has died in Adelaide this afternoon at the age of 70.

Born in the Hunter region of New South Wales, a young Philip Wilson attended St Joseph’s Hunter Hill before studying at St Columba’s College, Springwood, and St Patrick’s College, Manly. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle in 1975.

Ordained Bishop of Wollongong in 1996, he was seen as an important figure in introducing reforms to help the Catholic Church respond to the issue of child sexual abuse.

In 2001, he was appointed Archbishop of Adelaide, a post he held until his resignation in 2018.

He served as president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference for three consecutive terms, from 2006 to 2012.

Archbishop Wilson had suffered a series of health problems in recent years, including cancer. Even so, his death on Sunday was unexpected.