This year marks 20 years since the publication of the Advent Pastoral Letter from Bishop Bill Morris that ultimately led to his removal as Bishop of the Queensland Diocese of Toowoomba. Below is an article from the Sydney Morning Herald, published in 2012 that provides a snapshot into how the affair had been handled in the six years that followed the publication of the Pastoral Letter in 2006.
Eight years after writing the Advent Pastoral Letter that proved to be the catalyst for his eventual removal as Bishop of Toowoomba, Bill Morris penned a book titled ‘Benedict, Me and the Cardinals Three’. Below is the transcript of Fr. Frank Brennan’s speech at the launch of the book in 2014.
Fr Joseph Panackal Sebastian IVDei, has provided a personal reflection on the journey towards the closure of a much-loved country church in rural Victoria, St. Brigid’s Anakie, where he is the Parish Priest in nearby Meredith.
Below is a poem written when the Sacred Heart Church at Deuchar in the Toowoomba Diocese closed in 2021. I reprint it here in appreciation of the sentiments expressed by Fr Joseph Panackal Sebastian in his reflection on the closure of St. Brigid’s Church at Anakie in Victoria.
The following adaptation of the Stations of the Cross was prepared for a Parish in country Queensland on Good Friday. They did not replace the familiar traditional stations but complemented them. As the priest moved from station to station in the body of the church with the traditional version, a reader added the following reflection at the conclusion of each station from the ambo in the sanctuary. The more contemporary reflections placed each station in a local context while also praying for an end to the various conflicts in war-torn parts of the world.
