serving the faith communities of the Goulburn Valley
International Women’s Day is held on March 8 each year to honour and celebrate the achievements of women and highlight challenges and the need for action to reach gender equality. The day has been commemorated for well over a century. This year’s international theme is #ChoosetoChallenge.
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Breaking with tradition, Pope Francis has appointed Frenchwoman Nathalie Becquart as an undersecretary of the synod of bishops, the first woman to hold the post and have voting rights.
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St Brendan’s Parish and Shepparton L’Arche Council will host an Activity day in St Brendan’s Parish Garden and the Mgr Peter Jeffrey Centre on Sunday 7 March at 12:30 for disabled and their carers and anyone interested in the work of Shepparton L’Arche Council.
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Pope Francis plans to hold an interfaith prayer ceremony next week amid the ruins of Ur, an ancient Mesopotamian city and the traditional birthplace of Abraham.
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The University of Melbourne, Department of Rural Health invite you to our first Public Webinar for 2021 titled, Impacts of COVID-19 in our Region Local research findings from the Department of Rural Health online at 5:30pm – 6:30pm Tuesday 23rd March, 2021.
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As part of the Interfaith Call to Action auspiced by United Nations Environment Program and other multifaith organisations, we will, each month, present the view of one religion on the Environment and Care for the Environment. Religions to be covered include Indigenous Traditions, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism, the Bahá’í Faith, Hinduism, the Jain Religion, Buddhism, the Sikh Religion, Confucianism, Daoism, Shinto, and in summary, Environmental Ethics: Points of Agreement among the World’s Religions. This month, Care for the Environment features the teachings of Judaism.
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Pope Francis expects to die in Rome, still the Catholic pontiff, without returning to spend his final days in his native Argentina, according to a new book titled The Health of Popes.
In an interview granted to Argentinian journalist and physician Nelson Castro at the Vatican in February 2019, the pope said he thinks about death, but does not fear it.
Extracts from the book were published Saturday in Argentinian daily La Nacion.
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In Vajrayana Buddhism, dakinis are seen as unbridled and enlightened feminine energy. There are many kinds of dakinis, both worldly and wisdom dakinis. The wisdom dakinis are the same level as buddhas; the worldly dakinis can have enlightened aspects but also worldly aspects. Sometimes the dakinis operate as messengers, sometimes as guides, sometimes as protectors.
The dakinis tend to push us through blockages. They appear during challenging, crucial moments when we might be stymied in our lives; perhaps we don’t know what to do next and we are in transition. Maybe an obstacle has arisen and we can’t figure out how to get around or get through—then the dakinis will guide us. If in some way we’re stuck, the dakinis will appear and open the way, push us through; sometimes the energy needs to be forceful, and that’s when the wrathful manifestation of a dakini appears.
Another important aspect of the dakini’s feminine energy is how they cut through notions of pure and impure, clean and unclean, what you should do and shouldn’t do. They break open the shell of those conventional structures into an embrace of life in which all experience is seen as sacred.
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The Department of Home Affairs has established a website and four social media channels celebrating Australian Values. The website and social media channels will help to promote Australian values and our inclusive national identity. This website hosts information in English and in the top three languages other than English spoken in Australia – Chinese, Arabic, and Vietnamese.
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As a first-generation immigrant growing up in a Western country, the struggle to find one’s identity can often be a long journey of confusion and compromise. By contrast, the differences between my religious status and that of my school’s ultimately resulted in a paralleled journey of self-discovery.
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The Sydney Statement is an interfaith charter for building bridges between believers from different religions. It is available in booklet, A4 size and full size poster format. The Sydney Statement is the work of POWR Youth in Sydney over several years and was launched online recently. As the work of Australian Youth, it is a work of high merit.
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Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent and is the first of the forty days of Lent leading up to Easter.
The celebration of Ash Wednesday was introduced in the seventh century to ensure Lent consisted of 40 days exactly. The forty days refer to the time Jesus spent in the desert after being baptised in the Jordan by John and before beginning his public ministry.
The ashes used in the liturgy on Ash Wednesday are traditionally made from the palms used on Palm Sunday the previous year. Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting and abstinence. Abstinence from eating meat applies to everyone age 14 and above. Fasting applies to everyone age 18-59.
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VATICAN CITY – The Vatican Philatelic Office has issued a new block of postage stamps highlighting Pope Francis’ innovative ventures into interfaith dialogue.
The set of stamps, which is to be released on Feb. 22, boasts snapshots of Francis’ meetings with leaders of the world’s major religions over the past six years and marks the beginning of the ninth year of his pontificate.
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You are invited to have a yarn with the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria’s Engagement Team to find out where we’re at on the journey to Treaty in Victoria! Two sessions with the treaty team are available on Monday 8 February, morning and afternoon at the Rumbalara Football Netball Club.
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The Shepparton Apology Breakfast will move online this year for the first time in its history, to protect Elders from ongoing COVID-19 concerns. the Apology Breakfast will be broadcast online on Friday 12th of February, 2021, at the amended time of 10:00am on the Council’s Facebook Page.
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In Commemoration of the World Interfaith Harmony Week The Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nations and The Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations in partnership with the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and sponsorship of the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity have the pleasure to invite you to an interactive panel dedicated to the celebration of The International Day of Human Fraternity A Pathway to the Future
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As part of the Interfaith Call to Action auspice by United Nations Environment Program and other multifaith organisations, we will, each month, present the view of one religion on the Environment and care for the environment. Religions to be covered include Indigenous Traditions, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism, the Bahá’í Faith, Hinduism, the Jain Religion, Buddhism, the Sikh Religion, Confucianism, Daoism, Shinto, and in summary, Environmental Ethics: Points of Agreement among the World’s Religions.
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For the annual Opening of Parliament (Canberra) a Last Post Ceremony honouring those who defended Australia is observed the afternoon before the Yearly Opening of Parliament. At the Last Post ceremony yesterday (1 February 2021), which is attended by political leaders ahead of the commencement of the new parliament sitting, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese referenced Indigenous Soldiers who served Australia.
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The climate insights report is published each year through a partnership between Future Earth, the Earth League, and the World Climate Research Programme.
Emissions from thawing permafrost are likely to be worse than expected.
Other key findings from 2020 include that climate change can affect our mental health, tropical forests may have reached peak uptake of carbon, electrification in cities is pivotal for just sustainability transitions, and going to court to defend human rights can be an essential climate action.
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Religious leaders in Hiroshima and Nagasaki are welcoming the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, even as Japan’s Christian council “regrets” that the government has not supported or ratified the treaty.
“We ask the government of Japan to sign the nuclear weapons ban treaty as soon as possible,” the National Christian Council in Japan said in a 27 January statement, saying that the treaty “collects the wisdom of humanity,” and is “a major step in humanity’s long walk toward hope and ideal.”
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