News
03 December 2024
The ACMRO Directors met in the Santa Teresa Spirituality Centre in Brisbane from 25 to 27 November. It was attended by Fr Khalid Marogi and Don Gomez from the ACMRO, Fr Roland Maurer and Kylie Cullen from Sydney Archdiocese, Fr Joselito Asis from Melbourne Archdiocese, Eric Robinson and Liliana Ortiz from Brisbane Archdiocese, Tracey Tessitore from Adelaide Archdiocese, Fr Paul Anthony from the Armidale Diocese, Fr Jun Perez from the Divine Word Missionaries, and Dcn Greg Lowe from the Perth Archdiocese, who joined in via online.
The event was a great opportunity to gather, pray, share reports, and have formation sessions. In his address via Zoom to the Directors, Archbishop of Canberra-Goulburn and ACMRO bishop-delegate Christopher Prowse highlighted the importance of migrant communities and challenged the communities that bring so many gifts to Australia to be actively engaged not only in their church communities but also in political leadership roles that shape policy and decision-making.
Davide Bernocchi, the Secretary General of the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC), provided via Zoom from Geneva great insights on the important work of the ICMC as well as a summary of the global data relating to migrants and refugees.
Fr John Quang SVD shared the history and story of the Vietnamese Catholic community in the Archdiocese of Brisbane highlighting the community's rich faith and culture.
One of the highlights of the gathering was the participants’ visit to the Romero Centre, the Archdiocese of Brisbane's ministry to people seeking asylum. The gathering ended in planning for future projects, such as the celebration of the Jubilee Year 2025, most specifically the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, as well as the Jubilee of Migrants in September to October 2025.
Members are known as “ACMRO directors” because of their close collaboration and cooperation in sharing information and reflecting on grassroots practices, as well as raising issues the ACMRO could bring to the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference's attention through the Bishops Commission for Evangelisation, Laity and Ministry, which Archbishop Prowse chairs.
Source: ACBC Media Release and CathNews
11 November 2024
The ACMRO joins the Church of Australia, especially the Archdiocese of Melbourne, in welcoming the appointments of two new bishops as auxiliaries by Pope Francis on Friday, 8th November, in Rome.
Bishop-elect Rene Ramirez RCJ will be the first Filipino-born bishop in Australia who has been serving as the parish priest of St Mel’s and St Malachy’s Parishes in Shepparton, under the Diocese of Sandhurst, while Bishop-elect Thinh Nguyen, born in Vietnam, is currently the Coordinator of Clergy Life & Ministry of the Archdiocese.
Australian Catholic Bishops Conference President Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB said that “the appointments of Bishops-elect Thinh and Ramirez reflect the multicultural face of the Church in Australia, which is witnessing signs of growth and renewal.”
The Episcopal Ordination for the Bishops-elect is to take place in the morning of February 1, 2025, at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne. We continue to accompany them with our thoughts and prayers.
FULL STORY: Pope Francis appoints two new Melbourne auxiliary bishops (ACBC Media Release) | New bishops reflect ‘multicultural face of Church in Australia’ (CathNews)
Source: Lisa Zengarini | Vatican News
29 October 2024
In his meeting with the Scalabrinian Missionaries on the occasion of their 16th General Chapter, Pope Francis reaffirms that migrants escaping poverty, injustices, and wars must be welcomed, accompanied, promoted, and integrated. He also said that our ageing societies need them.
Reiterating his call for a compassionate response to migration challenges, the Pope denounced once more the prevalent “indifference” to the plight of refugees and migrants in today's world, which is “aggravated by the closing of borders,” as well as the increasing hostility against them.
The Scalabrinians chose the 2025 Jubilee theme “Pilgrims of Hope” as their focal theme this year. From this, the Pope reflected on the virtue of hope in light of their three ministry aspects: charity, pastoral care, and migrants. He then elaborated on the following key themes:
- Migration can be a precious school of faith and humanity
- Pastoral closeness to migrants
- Ageing developed societies need migrants
- Rejecting exclusivist stereotypes
In his closing remarks, the Pope acknowledged the vibrancy of the Scalabrinian charism and urged them to deepen the mission that St John Baptist Scalabrini had entrusted to them more than a century ago.
FULL STORY: Pope to Scalabrinians: ‘Migrants teach us the virtue of hope’ (Lisa Zengarini | Vatican News)
Bishop Anthony Randazzo, president of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conference of Oceania, has announced the creation of a network to support thousands of migrant workers, refugees and their families across the Pacific.
Source: Broken Bay News | CathNews
22 October 2024
The Migrant and Refugee Oceania Network will serve as a unifying voice offering much-needed pastoral and practical support for the region’s unique challenges.
Bishop Randazzo made the announcement in Rome, where he is attending the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican.
“This is what a Synodal Church looks like where words are supported by actions that foster and generate real human relationships, a region not on the periphery but a region in which we live and work together in solidarity, making sure no one is forgotten,” Bishop Randazzo said.
The bishop announced details of the network at a dinner in Rome on Saturday with leaders from the four episcopal conferences of Oceania – the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference, the Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands and the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific.
Oceania covers a vast area of the Pacific with approximately 41 million people with international migrants making up almost 22 per cent of the population, over a million of those originating in Oceania staying within the region.
The network will identify urgent problems and build programs to respond to and protect the needs of people displaced within and across Oceania.
This will occur through advocacy and raising the voice of the region at international levels, cooperation through the four episcopal conferences sharing information, skills, resources and practices, and connecting the smaller Pacific Island countries and dioceses through the International Catholic Migration Commission and the Dicastery for Integral Human Development at the Holy See.
“The hopes of Oceania are as vast and diverse as the region itself. From the smallest, most remote islands to bustling cities, the voices of the people of God are united in their longing for a Church that listens, heals, and walks alongside them in their journey of faith. We have brought our voice to this Second Assembly of the Synod,” Bishop Randazzo said.
“It is unhelpful when the dominant voice from the north forgets the vulnerable people and region from Oceania.
“Maybe we need to change the paradigm where from Oceania; it is Europe or North America that is on the edge.
“This is how we can lead by example, calling others back to the Christian faith, not because we are dominant or powerful, but because we are walking with our brothers and sisters in Christ.”
FULL STORY: New Network to support Oceania migrant workers, refugees and families announced at Synod gathering (Broken Bay News)
07 October 2024
The ACMRO joins the whole Church in praising the Lord for receiving the wonderful news from the Holy Father on Sunday, 6th October, in naming 21 new cardinals to be created at the next consistory in Rome on 8th December.
The office is delighted to learn that Bishop Mykola Bychok CSsR, the Eparchial Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne in Australia and Father Fabio Baggio CS, the Undersecretary of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (DPIHD) are among the cardinals-designate. Bishop Mykola and Father Fabio are both valued collaborators in the office's mandate and ministry concerning migrant and refugee issues.
We send them our warmest congratulations on their imminent elevation to the College of Cardinals, and we continue to accompany them with our thoughts and prayers.
ACBC Media Release: Bishop Mykola nominated for cardinal| DPIHD website: Fr Fabio's Short Bio | Vatican News: Pope Francis announces Consistory for creation of 21 new Cardinals
29 September 2024
Included in the ACMRO’s WDMR resources web page is a newly composed song whose lyrics took inspiration from Pope Francis’ message highlighting the “fundamental reality of the Exodus, of every exodus, is that God precedes and accompanies his people and all his children in every time and place.” From wandering and slavery, God called his people to be pilgrims on their way to his promised home for them.
The song also emphasises that Christ continues to provide the bread of his real body and the wine of his real blood to his people to nourish them in the pilgrimage and journey to our true home: heaven, where his love reigns.
The song was co-composed by Don Gomez (lyrics) and Nilo Nucup (music). The song's digital arrangement was by Paul Cortez of the Limang Siglo team headed by Fernando Contreras, Jr., and performed by Year 4 student Dominiq Gomez from Canberra. Special thanks to Ryan Macalandag for the audio and video recording and editing.
Imprimatur: Archbishop Christopher Prowse, Nihil Obstat: Fr Trenton van Reesch of the Archdiocese of Canberra & Goulburn.
To download the lyrics and musical sheet, please click here. To request a copy of the instrumental, please email info@acmro.catholic.org.au
Visit: 110th World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2024 Online Resources.
