A LEADING Catholic priest has criticised Cardinal George Pell for reserving a "grand apartment" for himself at the Australian church's new guest house in Rome, saying "the ethics of our secular state are higher than those of our church".

Father Eric Hodgens, of Melbourne, an elder statesman among the clergy, also savaged Australia's Catholic bishops for what he regards as an abject performance during their five-yearly visit to Rome last month, particularly in failing to stand up for Bill Morris, sacked earlier this year as bishop of Toowoomba.

"They eat their own when fingered by Rome," Father Hodgens wrote of the bishops in The Swag, the national journal of Catholic priests. "How can you trust them?

''They are reckless with our patrimony. They seem incapable of protecting their own rights, let alone ours, in a system which is corrupt by today's secular standards. No wonder the attitude of so many priests and observant laity is moving from disappointment to disgust," he wrote.

Father Hodgens said the Domus Australia guest house in Rome - a beautifully refurbished old religious house with 33 rooms for paying visitors, a richly restored grand chapel and organ and a 150-seat auditorium opened by Pope Benedict XVI last month - cost between $30 million and $85 million, according to different estimates.

He said Cardinal Pell, the Archbishop of Sydney, had hoped all Australian dioceses would pay for it, but only Melbourne, Perth and Lismore had made contributions and the Sydney Archdiocese had paid the bulk.

Hi Gus,

As John the agnostic would say .... "just kiss my ring".

Cheers,

John.

Hi John

Of course in this case "Grace" would be the name of my squeeze... No religious overtone here.

Labor backs disability insurance scheme

LABOR has unanimously backed a national disability insurance scheme, declaring it a historic reform to prevent 2 million Australians being treated as second-class citizens.

The assistant treasurer, Bill Shorten, urged an end to a situation where ''people with disabilities live in exile in their own country'' at the ALP national conference yesterday.

In an impassioned speech, Mr Shorten said: ''You don't put signs on buildings saying 'no blacks' but that's effectively what we do to people with disabilities. Every time someone can't cross the road because a curb isn't properly designed, that's a human rights issue.''

Advertisement: Story continues below The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, used the International Day of People with Disabilities to announce the scheme while visiting the Sydney Aquarium with a group of disabled people and their carers yesterday.
Ms Gillard pledged $10 million dollars for projects examining how to deliver individual, personalised care.

Once it is up and running, it will cost an estimated $6 billion a year.

Instead of money going directly to services, as they do now, funds will go to individuals who will be assigned a single case worker to help them deal with all their requirements such as equipment, schools, workplaces and government payments.

''Imagine if we put 2 million people inside a fence and said 'you can't have the same rights as other people','' Mr Shorten told the conference.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/labor-backs-disability-insurance-scheme-20111203-1ocid.html#ixzz1fWnQgZ4t

A dog of a night: riot squad rock 'rissole' charity show

Steve Meacham

December 16, 2011 - 5:14PM
At 10.55 pm last Saturday in the function room of Avalon RSL the last of the three local rock bands is playing at a charity night to raise money for a northern beaches cancer hospice.

Most of the 160 patrons are well over 35, and are there to support a friend of a friend who has cancer himself.

The four bouncers employed by the club are having an easy night: everyone is so well-behaved.Advertisement: Story continues But then the police dog squad arrives.

One man is asked to step outside on suspicion of carrying cannabis.

Within half an hour, the sleepy little beach suburb finds itself in the front line with the arrival of the riot squad, the accidental spraying of an eight month pregnant woman with capsicum spray, and sexist comments from a police officer caught on camera, saying it is her own fault for not being at home.

The curious case of the night the riot squad came to "the rissole" is still the talk of the northern beaches a week later.

Pittwater Liberal MP Rob Stokes has called for a full investigation.

Did the police over react?

"Absolutely," says Ron Berczelly who describes the weekend events as unprecedented in his 13 years as the club manager.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/a-dog-of-a-night--riot-squad-rock-rissole-charity-show-20111216-1oyh8.html#ixzz1ggTlDKwK