News & Events

As students returned to schooling on site after their time doing remote learning they were all given a bookmark to remind them both of the Mercy value of ‘Hospitality’ and to follow in Venerable Catherine McAuley’s words to ‘Strive to do ordinary things extraordinarily well”.

The bookmarks were designed by teachers Ms Allen and Ms Nakhoul as part of their project for the Mercy Formation Program. This program sees two staff members from each of the six Mercy schools in Sydney (Catherine McAuley, Westmead; Mercy College, Chatswood; Monte Sant' Angelo, North Sydney; Our Lady of Mercy College, Parramatta; Our Lady of Mercy College, Burraneer and Emmaus College, Kemps Creek) participate after being nominated by their school principal. The staff involved chose a project to work on which will deepen staff understanding of the Mercy charism.

As part of the project undertaken by Ms Allen and Ms Nakhoul, they also designed tea cups and postcards to be gifted to Year 12 students as a graduation gift and to new staff members.

Media Release from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, June 8, 2020

The Catholic Church has denounced a number of malicious emails being sent to random recipients claiming to be from Catholic parishes, dioceses and other organisations.

In recent weeks, emails have been sent that mention one or more of the following: Cardinal George Pell, the complainant in his criminal trial, COVID-19 and – most recently – the upcoming Eden-Monaro byelection.

 “The content in the small number of emails that have been forwarded to us is offensive, unChristian and, in some cases, defamatory,” said Fr Stephen Hackett MSC, general secretary of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.

 “The views expressed in the emails we have seen do not in any way reflect the views of the Catholic Church, nor the organisations that are purported to have sent them.”

Information technology experts say the technique being used is call “spoofing”, which sees the attackers create fake email addresses using legitimate or seemingly legitimate domain names.

“This has been described as the equivalent of someone sending a letter in the post that is ‘signed’ in someone else’s name and contains a fake return address,” Fr Hackett said.

 “Just as a letter of that kind would be hard to spot as fraudulent, some of the email addresses used appear to be legitimate and many people have contacted various Catholic organisations after receiving the messages.”

 Organisations that are known to have been attacked have taken steps that can limit the sending and receipt of these emails, but those measures have limited effectiveness and rely partly on the spam and junk email settings of the recipients.

“There is no evidence to suggest that databases nor servers have been compromised, which is supported by the fact that some of the people who have contacted us have no connection with the Catholic Church,” Fr Hackett said.

 “It is deeply regrettable that a number of people are being maligned in these emails, which seem designed to attack Cardinal Pell, Witness J, the Catholic Church and now even politicians.” Fr Hackett says a number of media reports have described an increase in the amount of devious online behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have been told that because these emails aren’t seeking money or seeking to access people’s personal details, they don’t meet the threshold for criminal investigation.

 “We, nevertheless, see this behaviour as harmful and criminal,” he said.

Media contact: Gavin Abraham • 0408 825 788 • media@catholic.org.au

Download the media release here (PDF)

We are all invited to join with Pope Francis and his worldwide prayer network in praying this month's intention: Compassion for the World

We pray that all those who suffer may find their way in life, allowing themselves to be touched by the Heart of Jesus.

  
Text of the video:

Many people suffer due to the great difficulties they endure.
We can help them by accompanying them along an itinerary full of compassion which transforms people's lives.
It brings them closer to the Heart of Christ, which welcomes all of us into the revolution of tenderness.
We pray that all those who suffer may find their way in life, allowing themselves to be touched by the Heart of Jesus.

⁠—Pope Francis, June 2020





We invite you to post a prayer or reflection in our prayer space

Valda Dickinson rsm is hosting online zoom meetings on Friday, May 22 and Saturday, June 13 at 10 am.  This is an opportunity to discuss the resources made available to us on the current theme of Mercy Global Presence: 
Mercy and the Degradation of Earth.

To register, email valda.rsm@gmail.com or call 0411 786 549. All are welcome. 

To view the resources on this theme.
Go to Mercy Global Presence here: https://www.mercyworld.org/about/our-initiatives/mercy-global-presence/

Click on the yellow button labelled 'Click here for Current Resources'
Click on the words 'View Resources' on the theme  'Mercy and the Degradation of Earth'
Choose what you would like to view from the resources listed