For Australia, bushfires are an annual event, occurring throughout its history. However, the ones we have experienced in the last two months have been, by any criteria, extraordinary. Their extent, duration, severity and destruction have horrified us. And not just us: the world has been watching and commenting, writes CRA President Brother Peter Carroll FMS.

Congregational Leader of the Sisters of Saint Joseph and former CRA President Sister Monica Cavanagh has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the Australia Day Honours for Service to the Catholic Church of Australia.

No stranger to the world of journalism, Australasian Catholic Press Association (ACPA) Life Member and Editor of the Salesian Bulletin, Father Frank Freeman SDB, made it his business to dedicate 10 years of his life to re-visit and re-tell the rich history of ACPA, The Catholic Record reports.

A Polish congregation which was formed secretly under Communism and is dedicated to serving Polish migrants abroad has celebrated 25 years in Tasmania.

Christmas and similar significant festivals are a fraught time for many people. Who do you spend the day with? What food should you bring to share, and does it have to be gluten-free, paleo, vegan, or keto-friendly? What do you do if Uncle Clive starts talking about politics, or Aunty Edith wants to debate the science behind immunisations? And then there is the issue of gifts, writes Cristy Clark in Eureka Street.