The past few months have been both busy and significant for our Diocese. Across our parishes, schools and early education centres, social services and ministries, there has been a real sense of momentum as we continue to build on important commitments, honour our history, and look with hope to the future. 

Each year in September, our Diocese marks the Perpetual Day of Remembrance. This day stands as a solemn commitment to truth, healing and accountability. It was established here in Maitland-Newcastle as a local, enduring response to the failures of the Church to protect children and the ongoing pain of survivors. 

Perpetual Day of Remembrance has coincided with National Safeguarding Sunday over recent years, and given their common spirit of acknowledgement, accountability, recovery and hope, both days will be commemorated together moving forward. 

It is an opportunity for us to come together in prayer and remembrance – honouring survivors and acknowledging the wrongs of the past, while also renewing our commitment to building a Church that is safe and life-giving for all.  

Another meaningful project we are working to progress is that of a permanent memorial to honour victims and survivors of sexual abuse. We have been continuing conversations with the partners we have previously engaged with, and I look forward to sharing an update soon.  

As we reflect locally, we must also remain mindful of the suffering in our wider world. The ongoing violence in Gaza and Israel, and Russia and Ukraine, along with other conflicts like the one in Sudan that too often slip from the headlines, weighs heavily on our hearts. The images of children and families caught in war are devastating. 

 

I ask you to join me in prayer for peace, for wise and compassionate leadership, and for the safety of innocent people. Where possible, please also consider supporting organisations delivering much-needed humanitarian aid to those affected. As Christians, our solidarity cannot stop at our borders. 

In other news, the Australian Catholic Bishops have recently released their 2025–2026 Social Justice Statement, Signs of Hope on the Edge: Serving People Living in Homelessness and Mental Ill-Health. The statement invites the whole Church to see and serve people on the margins who are facing the twin challenges of homelessness and mental ill-health. I commend the statement to you and encourage individuals, families and parishes to engage with its prayer, reflection and action suggestions over the coming year. 

As we find ourselves in the season of spring, there is much to look forward to. Our parishes continue preparing for sacramental celebrations, our schools will continue to nurture the next generation, and we will continue progressing each of our projects with integrity and purpose. The Perpetual Day of Remembrance will once again call us to reflection and action. And as the year draws to a close, Advent will remind us that in Christ all things are made new. 

I want to thank you, parishioners, staff, volunteers, families and friends of the Diocese, for the many ways you contribute to our shared mission. Whether visible or unseen, your efforts matter. If you carry wounds, please know you are not forgotten. If you serve quietly, know you are appreciated. 

Please continue to keep our Diocese in your prayers, as I keep you in mine.