A member of New South Wales Forensic Police is seen at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in the Sydney suburb of Wakeley, Australia, on April 16, 2024. Hundreds clashed with police in western Sydney on April 15 after Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was s… […]
Forensic police are seen at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in the Sydney suburb of Wakeley, Australia, on April 16, 2024. Hundreds clashed with police in western Sydney on April 15 after Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was stabbed at the alter during … […]
City skyline in Sydney, Australia. / Irina Sokolovskaya/Shutterstock
CNA Newsroom, Apr 15, 2024 / 07:30 am (CNA).
Australian police have confirmed another stabbing incident in Sydney after shocking video footage of a man apparently attacking a … […]
Pope Francis speaks at the Vatican’s Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday, March 28, 2024. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Sydney, Australia, Apr 13, 2024 / 12:14 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis has reacted with deep sorrow at the news from Australia on Saturday, where a 40-year-old man, armed with a large knife, killed six people in a Sydney shopping center, injuring several others, including a nine-month-old child.
“Pope Francis was deeply saddened to learn of the violent attack in Sydney, and he sends the assurance of his spiritual closeness to all affected by this senseless tragedy, especially those who are now mourning the loss of a loved one,” read a telegram sent by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, sent on behalf of the Pope.
The Holy Father offered prayers for the deceased, the wounded, and the first responders, invoking divine blessings of consolation and strength for the nation.
Daniel Ang, Director of the Sydney Centre for Evangelization at the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, reached out via X (formerly Twitter) to express solidarity and announce spiritual support: “We join in prayer for the victims & families affected by the horrific events at Bondi Junction today. The three Sunday Masses at the Catholic Parish of Bondi tomorrow will be offered for the repose of the souls that have passed away and all those others affected by these events.”
The bloody attack occurred in the busy Westfield Bondi Junction shopping center on April 13, the first day of the school holidays — a time when many families were out, adding to the shock and impact of the event.
Five victims died at the scene, while another person succumbed to their injuries in the hospital. Eight others remain hospitalized, some in critical condition, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
The attacker, who was known to the police but remains unidentified, was shot and killed by a policewoman at the scene. According to police, the man allegedly lunged at the officer before he was fatally shot.
Authorities have cautioned against speculation about the attacker’s motives, emphasizing that early indications suggest the incident was not terrorism-related. Police Commissioner Karen Webb said while the motive was unclear, evidence indicated the attack was not related to terrorism: “There’s no suggestion anyone was targeted but that could change.”
The incident has shocked the nation. The acting Premier of New South Wales, Penny Sharpe, told journalists the attack was “beyond distressing” and vowed as much information as possible would be shared with the public.
Investigations are ongoing, with the Australian Federal Police collaborating with local authorities to unravel the full circumstances of the attack.
Australia was previously rocked by a terror attack in Sydney almost ten years ago. The 2014 Lindt Café siege saw a lone jihadist gunman hold eighteen hostages, leading to three deaths, including the gunman.
null / Credit: Shutterstock
CNA Staff, Feb 21, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).
Pro-life advocates around the world are working to counteract continued efforts by euthanasia activists to pass and expand laws allowing doctors to help kill their patients.&… […]
Cardinal Gerhard Müller (center) and Father Joseph Hamilton (at left), personal secretary to the late Cardinal George Pell, were among the priests celebrating the Jan. 10, 2024, Mass held on the first anniversary of the cardinal’s death. / Credit: Elizabeth Alva
Rome Newsroom, Jan 10, 2024 / 16:45 pm (CNA).
A requiem Mass was held in Rome on Tuesday evening to mark the first anniversary of the death of Cardinal George Pell and to celebrate the cardinal’s illustrious ecclesiastical career.
The chapel of the Domus Australia was filled to capacity for the Mass, which was celebrated by Cardinal Gerhard Müller. In attendance were numerous cardinals and bishops, an array of priests from Rome, ambassadors to the Holy See, and faithful from Rome and abroad who came to pray for the beloved cardinal.
Father Joseph Hamilton, rector of the Domus Australia and Pell’s former secretary, noted in an exclusive interview with EWTN: “I think His Eminence was very loved here in the city of Rome. His witness was very much appreciated and his loss was very unexpected.”
“I think that a beautiful Mass to commemorate his life, to pray for the repose of his soul, and to ask for his intercession here in the chapel, which he renovated and which he loved, I’m hoping will bring consolation and some degree of closure for those who have been grieving for the cardinal over the last year,” Hamilton added in his interview.
Pell died at the age of 81 on Jan. 10, 2023, after suffering a cardiac arrest following a scheduled hip replacement days prior at Rome’s Salvator Mundi hospital. He previously served as archbishop of Sydney and Melbourne before Pope Francis appointed him to head the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy in 2014, making him the most senior Australian prelate.
During his homily, Müller reflected on the long illustrious life of the departed cardinal, noting that Pell and Pope Benedict — who passed away less than two weeks before the cardinal — were “role models of the true faith.”
Müller reflected on his early life, noting that the cardinal showed great “athletic abilities” and “high intellectual talent,” which would have brought him “a brilliant career in the world.” But, Müller continued, Pell eschewed worldly goals and opted to “follow Christ’s call to the priestly service.”
Pell was renowned for his quick wit and towering stature. Müller, reflecting on his personal relationship with the late cardinal, highlighted Pell’s commitment to “marriage and family in the spirit of Christ, teachings against relativization by secularist-minded participants in the Synod of this topic.”
Müller also touched upon the darkest chapter of Pell’s life, which stands as “a great testimony of Christian patience.”
Pell was convicted on Dec. 11, 2018, on five charges of sexual abuse while he served as archbishop of Melbourne in the late 1990s. After serving 404 days in solitary confinement, Australia’s high court unanimously overturned the convictions, based on reasonable doubt of the appellate proceedings, in April 2020.
“He was relentlessly pursued by a bloodthirsty mob and made himself a victim of justice by anti-Catholic agitators in the media and the police apparatus,” Müller remarked regarding the vilification of the late cardinal in mainstream media.
Auxiliary Bishop Richard Umbers of the Archdiocese of Sydney spoke with EWTN after the Mass, noting that the evening was an opportunity to mark “the anniversary of a man who was a lion in the Church. I think it’s giving due recognition to someone who’s been very important in the life of Australia, if not in fact the whole world.”
While recognizing that Pell was a “lightning rod for the Church,” Umbers explained that he was a man “of great strength and tremendous courage.”
Pell’s legacy is not just limited to his theological acumen or reforms of the Vatican’s handling of financial affairs, but it is most tangibly seen in the revitalization of the Church in Sydney.
“I think the impact of Cardinal Pell is very visible in Sydney,” Umbers said. “He was a big man with great vision, and the last 20 years in the Archdiocese of Sydney have seen real growth and leadership amongst a number of young Catholics.”
“You find an environment there which is quite extraordinary. A lot of life, especially in the area of university chaplaincy. He [Pell] invested heavily in that area and took great interest in the next generation of leaders,” Umbers added.
According to Father Hamilton, one of the hallmarks of Pell’s legacy will be his example of strength and unity for the Church as it is going through a period marked by division and is mired in crises.
“We are one Catholic Church, we have one faith, we have one pope, we’re one people. If we stand together, we’re strong. If we’re divided, we’re weak, and I think that his [Pell’s] witness to us and his legacy to the Church is that it is one, holy, catholic, apostolic Church that he was proud to serve and that he was proud, in a very humble way, to be a confessor of. I think that that leaves us an astonishing and shining example,” he said.
Cardinal George Pell’s funeral Mass drew thousands of mourners to Sydney’s St. Mary’s Cathedral Feb. 2, 2023. / Credit: Giovanni Portelli/The Catholic Weekly
Denver, Colo., Feb 2, 2023 / 16:45 pm (CNA).
The late Cardinal George Pell’s funeral M… […]
On Tuesday, January 3, when Cardinal George Pell and I went to pay our respects to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, lying in state in St. Peter’s, I couldn’t help but notice the reverence with which […]
Catholics around the world mourned a Churchman, a bishop who was for decades a pastoral and intellectual force for the Gospel — they mourned Cardinal George Pell, who died unexpectedly Jan. 10. I, too, mourn […]
In one of my last conversations with Cardinal Pell we talked about Margit Balogh’s biography of Cardinal Mindszenty, titled Victim of History. Balogh chose as the opening epigraph Mindszenty’s statement: “I shall keep on fighting…until […]
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