Mary MacKillop, St Mary of the Cross (above), died in 1909 and was Canonised by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome in 2010.

Both Mary MacKillop’s parents were born in Scotland and later emigrated to Australia, where Mary was born. Mary’s mother, Flora MacDonald, was born in Fort William and lived in Roybridge. St Mary of the Cross, the nun—who founded the order of the Sisters of St Joseph—visited Roybridge in 1873.

A memorial plaque will be unveiled this Saturday at Roybridge’s Cille Choiril Chapel, recording the visit and also in honour of another notable MacKillop, Gaelic poet Donald Finlay MacKillop, known as the Keppoch Bard, who was buried at the chapel.

Mgr Thomas Wynne, parish priest at St Margaret’s Church, Roybridge, confirmed that the Gaelic Society of Inverness commissioned the plaque.

“They wanted to do something to honour Mary, whose parents brought Highland culture and traditions with them to Australia,” Mgr Wynne said.

Sr Therese McConway from New Zealand, one of two St Joseph’s Sisters currently based in Fort William researching the life and roots of St Mary of the Cross, will be present at Saturday’s unveiling ceremony and she told the SCO that Mary MacKillop understood Gaelic and ‘as the story goes, some Highlanders were amazed that Mary MacKillop was Australian’ when she came to visit the Highlands in 1873 as she ‘very much had the features of a Highland woman.’

The unveiling of the memorial plaque will take place at 11am on Saturday morning.

— martin@sconews.co.uk

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At general audience, Holy Father says work should help, not hinder, family life and gives advice for those struggling to pray.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor (above) says religious intolerance will wipe out Christianity and expresses fears for the elderly.

SCO Editor Liz Leydon: “The exact date and the name of Archbishop Conti’s successor are as yet unknown.”

New plaque in Lochaber honours Australian saint Mary MacKillop.

UK AND IRELAND

Portsmouth Diocese is challenging a High Court ruling that the Catholic Church can be held liable for crimes of priests.

The Irish soccer team is to wear black armbands during its match against Italy in next month’s European Championships to remember the six Catholic men shot dead by loyalist gunmen in Co Down in June 1994.

VATICAN

Vatican says reconciliation talks with SSPX are still ongoing.

Pope watches film on Mary of Nazareth.

US

Threats against Massachusetts Catholic Church for anti-same sex ‘marriage’ sign.

Philadelphia court hears evidence archdiocese wanted abuse claims concealed.

Baltimore welcomes a new archbishop.

-Cross Wires is The Scottish Catholic Observer blog

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Our Lady and St Patrick’s High School in Dumbarton and the school’s headteacher, Charlie Rooney, are nominated for best secondary school and best headteacher at the annual TES School Awards.

There was further good news for Catholic education in Scotland with the announcement that St Ninian’s High School in Kirkintilloch is also in the running for best secondary school, while St Luke’s High School in Barrhead has been nominated in the outstanding literacy or numeracy initiative category.

Mr Rooney attributes Our Lady and St Patrick’s success to the school’s belief that all pupils are capable of outstanding achievement.

“Young people have talents, and the responsibility of any school is to identify these talents and encourage young people to fulfill their potential,” he said.

Earlier this year, Our Lady and St Patrick’s received an outstanding report from HMIe, (above) with inspectors noting that ‘young people learn very well and pupils’ achievement is exceptional.’ It added that pupils are ‘highly motivated and focused on their work,’ with the school’s Leadership Development Programme also highlighted as an example of good practice.

Speaking at the time of the report’s publication, Mr Rooney said it ‘not only reflects well on staff, our students and parents, but also on West Dunbartonshire as a whole.’

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at the London Hilton, Park Lane, on Friday July 6.

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Benetton apologises to the Catholics and gives donation to church charities for using an image of Pope Benedict XVI (above) kissing an Iman during an advertising campaign.

Nottingham Catholic, 21, who refused doctor’s advice to have an abortion after her cancer diagnosis, gives birth to healthy baby girl.

Pope’s schedule for World Meeting of Families in Milan is revealed.

NATIONAL

An Ulster University study finds increasing numbers of friendships between Catholic and Protestant teenagers.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair says a world without religion would lead to tragedy.

INTERNATIONAL

Vatican appoints new bishops for hierarchy of Central African Republic after investigation found many priests there had children.

A senior priest in the Legion of Christ admits breaking vows of celibacy to father a child.

US Catholic University in Ohio stops heath care scheme for students rather than risk providing birth control under new regulations.

- Cross Wires is The Scottish Catholic Observer blog.

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Speaking at the annual World Communications Day Lecture yesterday evening, Aaqil Ahmed shared with those gathered his three-step strategy for ensuring that religion stays fresh and new at the BBC.

This year’s lecture, organised by the Catholic Church in England and Wales’ media office and the Catholic Communications Network to celebrate World Communications Day, was held at the Mount Street Jesuit Centre in central London.

“Our audiences are very diverse and we can’t expect to service all of them with the same output,” Mr Ahmed said. “We need to make programmes that interest the religious, the non-religious, the non-religious literate and the general viewer.”

Mr Ahmed went on to further explain his three-step strategy and answer questions from the audience.

“Research told me that people wanted to know more about the basics of religion, they wanted to know less about the conflict and more about its roots in history and theology,” he said. “Hence projects such as How God made the English, The Bible’s Buried Secrets, Seven Wonders of Buddhism and Jerusalem: The making of a Holy City. They refresh the genre and fit into this thirst for knowledge.”

In Mr Ahmed’s view, religion and ethics complement the news agenda. Yet there is still the evidence that religious programmes are of interest for their own sake, not for the sake of another news agenda. This explains why programmes such as Songs of Praise continue to run consistently for more than 50 years and rate highly, it was explained.

Previous World Communications Day speakers have included: Cardinal John Foley; respected journalist John Allen Jr; head of the Vatican Press Office Fr Federico Lombardi, BBC Trustee Jacquie Hughes and Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster.

Prior to yesterday’s lecture, a Mass was celebrated in The Church Of The Immaculate Conception in Mayfair, by the Church’s media bishop, Archbishop George Stack of Cardiff.

World Communications Day is the day when Catholics are asked to reflect on the necessity of fulfilling the command of Jesus to preach the Good News of the Gospel to the whole world. A key to communicating with ‘the whole world’ is engagement with the media and its demand for news relating to every aspect of the life of the Church and its people.

Pic: Aaqil Ahmed, the
 BBC’s commissioning editor for religion and head of religion and ethics, with Archbishop George Stack Archbishop of Cardiff at last night’s lecture. Mazur/www.catholicnews.org.uk

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Catholic disability groups across Britain to host Paralympic conference and celebrations.

Canadian Bishops’ Conference (logo above) has issued a 12-page pastoral letter encouraging civil disobedience when public policy offends religious freedom.

The Community Relations Council in Northern Ireland says sectarianism remains deeply rooted in society there, despite the progress made in the peace process.

US

US Catholic bishops are reviewing the Church’s long-standing ties to the Girl Scouts after complaints that some of the organisation’s programmes might contradict Church teaching on contraception and abortion.

Newsweek proclaims Obama as the ‘first gay President,’ cover released early to drum up attention for magazine’s same-sex ‘marriage’ coverage.

‎Catholic worker group storms building housing US President Obama campaign headquarters, starting week of protest.

VATICAN

Leaked SSPX letters reveal internal discord over Vatican negotiations.

Christians’ civic commitment must respect beliefs of others, Holy Father says.

Pope salutes maestro Riccardo Muti’s commitment to reviving Sacred music.

INTERNATIONAL

Polish-born Israeli artist Samuel Willenberg, a Holocaust survivor, has donated his sculpture of Pope John Paul II to Warsaw.

CHRISTIAN

Church of England Evangelical Council publishes statement on marriage.

Episcopal and Catholic bishops from South Sudan have said that together they ‘stand committed to do all in [their] power’ to realise an end to war between Sudan and South Sudan.

AND FINALLY

US seminarians win first Clericus Cup championship title.

- Cross Wires is The Scottish Catholic Observer blog.

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“As far as the gift that it is, I suppose people remember you first of all and you tend to draw attention to yourself, so I try to use that in a very good way and very positive way to serve God’s people.”

Bishop-designate Parkes, 48, (above with Holy Father and below with Florida bishops) is originally from New York’s Long Island, but moved to Florida in his teens to attend college at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

Remaining in Florida, he was ordained in the Diocese of Orlando in 1999 before moving diocese for his new role.

During his week in Rome, the bishop-designate visited the new Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelisation led by the Italian Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella and aims to use ‘the current social media that people are looking to for information to spread the good news and to evangelise about our Catholic Faith.’

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Pope Benedict XVI addresses economic crisis, full text from homily at Mass in Arezzo, central Italy yesterday.

The Polish daily Rzeczpospolita  has reported that morning that the Canonisation of John Paul II  would be held in Krakow, Poland, in summer 2015, during World Youth Day.

SCOTLAND

Sr Roseann Reddy of the Sisters of the Gospel of Life in Glasgow believes reform within the Catholic Church is not necessary but Edinburgh’s Fr Mike Fallon is asking for a debate on the vow of celibacy and the ban on ordaining women.

Ban for Thai children in Scotland with the help of the Good Hope Foundation from wearing their Celtic tops or singing Celtic songs at a Scottish schools.

Margaret Lynch, new head of Citizens Advice Scotland, is former Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund worker.

UK

UK Parliament to focus on discrimination against Christian women women tomorrow, Lord David Alton of Liverpool will chair the parliamentary meeting at which John Pontifex of the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need will speak.

VATICAN/INTERNATIONAL

SSPX leader says group could divide over unity with Rome.

Vatican investigates abuse charges against Legion of Christ priests.

US Cardinal Wuerl on how to live as Christians.

OPINION

The controversy surrounding same-sex ‘marriage’ is shaping up to be the biggest battleground of them all for the SNP, writes Eddie Barnes.

Cross Wires is The Scottish Catholic Observer blog.

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One in seven people go to bed hungry every night, with the total number of hungry people amounting to more than the populations of the European Union, the US and Canada combined, while one in four children suffers from malnutrition.

SCIAF is working on many levels to address the huge problem of hunger throughout the world and its multiple causes, which include poverty, unfair international trading systems and climate change.

“Global poverty is a huge problem which cannot be ignored,” Lorraine Currie, SCIAF’s head of international programmes, said. “Over 925 million people do not have enough to eat and 98 per cent of them live in developing countries.

“SCIAF and our partners are working every day of the year to give people the direct support and assistance they need so they can provide enough food for themselves, either by growing it themselves or earning enough money so they can provide for themselves and their families.  SCIAF’s appeal will enable us to continue to provide life-saving support.  I would ask everyone to give whatever they can so that we can help more people to become free of hunger.”

To make a donation to SCIAF’s Hunger Appeal visit http://www.sciaf.org.uk or call SCIAF on 0141 354 5555.

—martin@sconews.co.uk

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“It is not the intention of this government to force denominational schools, or anybody else, to teach something which is against their beliefs,” he said. “Nor would I personally, nor the government, permit any circumstances in which there is an interference in the right to speak the truth as an individual sees it, of course always with respect and fairness.”

Mr Russell was speaking as the Scottish public awaits the outcome of a government consultation on legalising same-sex ‘marriage,’ a proposal that has been vehemently opposed by the Catholic Church.

Michael McGrath, director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service, highlighted press coverage in England that criticised Catholic schools for having the ‘audacity’ to teach a vision of marriage founded on Church doctrine. Asked, in light of this coverage, if he could understand the concerns of Catholic educators in Scotland, Mr Russell said: “I am happy to say once more that there is no intention and I wish to see no unintentional consequence that puts any people in a position where they cannot teach or express what they believe to be true.”

— martin@sconews.co.uk

— Pic: Paul McSherry

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