Pope Francis’ latest encyclical letter Fratelli Tutti, is, as we might have anticipated, a reflection on our times, writes Fr Andrew Hamilton SJ in Eureka Street. The encyclical strongly endorses the human rights of people made vulnerable by society — of women and children, of racial minorities, of refugees, of the aged and others. It views the public conversation about rights as one of engagement and persuasion in seeking the common good, not as a closed and adversarial struggle between allies and enemies. That at least would be an improvement upon the public discourse to which we have become accustomed.

The National Catholic Reporter recently published a review of a new book entitled “Back- Pocket God: Religion and Spirituality in the lives of emerging adults”. As the title suggests, it presents the findings of a survey of younger people and is the last part of a twenty-year study called the National Study of Youth and Religion, writes CRA President, Brother Peter Carroll FMS.

The third Catholic Religious Australia National Day of Sorrow and Promise will be held on Sunday, October 25, offering a national response from Catholic Religious across the country to recognise survivors and all who have been harmed from abuse in the Church and to commit to a safer future.

In Frederick Street, Launceston, Tasmania, an old oak tree grows, planted in the 1800s, in front of what became the home of four women, Gwen, Alice, Kathleen and Joyce, who risked all to follow the dream of a young Victorian-born priest, John Wallis. They gathered in front of the old oak tree on 8th July, 1944. Theirs would be a mission to reach out to people who were out “beyond”. This is a mission which is still evolving today with the Missionary Sisters of Service, with the motto “Into the Highways and Byways”, writes Stancea Vichie MSS.

History was made earlier this year when the Australian and British Provinces of the Daughters of Charity came together to form the new Province of Rosalie Rendu, reports Independent Catholic News.