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Australia and the Popes
Significant events in Australia's history
during the reign of Pope Benedict XVI, 2005–
As argued in the Australian history section
under the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, the Catholic Church in Australia
from some points of view is in a fabulous position at the beginning of the pontificate
of Pope Benedict XVI. In physical assets, and their maintenance, the Church
is possibly in a better position than she has ever been at any point in her
previous history in the Great South Land of the Holy Spirit. In terms of professionally
employed personnel she has simply never had a workforce as well-paid, as highly
qualified — and theologically qualified as this. The quality of liturgies,
church music and at least the technical quality of the face she presents to
the world has never been better. The only problem seems to be that few want
to be priests or religious and only 15.3% of the baptised population bother
to front up on a Sunday anymore — down from 40+% at the time of Vatican
II and about 80% a century ago. And within the 15.3% still practising there
is deep division not only as to what is to be done but as to what explains why
the Church is no longer able to communicate to her faithful as she once could.
These are the challenges facing the Bishops of Australia today. They are the
challenges facing Pope Benedict in Europe and throughout the Western world.
They are the challenges we all face a responsibility for addressing.
The Australian Catholic Bishops' are seeking to address the issues and have
funded an intensive survey of the people who have already left the regular practice
of their faith to find out what has gone wrong. To find out further information
visit the ACBC Pastoral Project Office website where this initiative is explained
HERE.
Key events in Australian secular history
during the pontificate of Benedict XVI:
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01 Jul 2005
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Senate majority
The Senators elected at the 41st federal election took their seats, giving
the Liberal-National coalition a majority in both chambers.
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Source: National
Archives of Australia website
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Archdioceses and Archbishops
in Australia
during the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI:
Adelaide – Philip Edward Wilson 2001-
Brisbane – John Bathersby 1991-
Canberra-Goulburn – Francis Patrick Carroll 1983-
Hobart – Adrian L. Doyle 1999-
Perth – Barry James Hickey 1991-
Sydney – George Cardinal Pell 2001-
Melbourne – Denis Hart 2001-
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Next: The Popes between 1606 and 1901 >>
The textual material on these pages was sourced from a large number of places all of which can be found through the links on each page. The material was researched, assembled and produced by Brian Coyne for Catholic Australia. The images used in the Flash animations are in the public domain. Other images used are in the public domain or sourced from the webpages to which they are linked.
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