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At
this time, this course is only available
in Australia and New Zealand. But please
feel free to provide us with your
details, in the future event that it is
promoted internationally! |
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Young
Catholics consistently drift away
from the Church in their thousands.
Is there
a solution for this crisis?
Of course
there is! |
According to official Church figures,
95% of teenagers in our Catholic school system leave
the Church.
 In
the
Record
newspaper, Archbishop Barry
Hickey referred to “A particular Catholic secondary
school,” where “not one boy or girl in Year 12 went
to Mass. This floored me”, he continued. “I had
no idea how bad the situation had become. The
loss of young people to the active life of the
Church will have catastrophic long term effects
on our Catholic population if we do not address
it with energy, wisdom and prayer.” (Record,
21.8.03)
At most, 15%
of Catholics still go to Mass. The paper also
reported that
“The
average weekly attendance in Australia declined
by 100,000 between 1996 and 2001, an average
decline of 20,000 a year”…“There was no evidence
of this trend being reversed.” (1.5.03).
Let’s face it:
Decades of poor or no moral teaching in most
Catholic schools; a sorely defective Catecheses;
lack of proper formation for parents in many
parishes and associations surely have something to
do with it.
Whatever excuse one may come up with to explain away
this catastrophe, the hard truth is that, by and
large, we Catholics no longer pass the Faith on to
the next generations as we used to.
Yet, good news is
coming! Read on:
We must agree
with Archbishop Hickey when he said, “We have to
admit that the drift away from the Church will
continue [unless] new initiatives that we have not
even thought of yet come from our common
consideration of the problems the Church is facing”.
His Grace made it very clear that “Every Catholic
has a duty to participate in evangelization for the
sake of their friends, family and society”.
What
new initiative could be started to respond to the
challenge?
How could you be involved in it?
How many
Catholics grieve as they see their children losing
the Faith, their relatives joining anti-Catholic
sects, their friends saying that they no longer
believe in God?
And yet, many of us simply keep on wishing that
things will get back on track without effort on our
part. This wishful thinking and lack of serious
action will get us nowhere - except into a worse
state.
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But there is
plenty of light at the end of the
tunnel! Here’s the Good News! The
"New
Apologetics by Mail",
a top new initiative aimed to
recover what we have lost, reclaim the
souls that already belong to the
Catholic Church, rekindle the Faith in
the baptised and proclaim Jesus Christ
among unbelievers. And this is not
for the faint-hearted!
This new
initiative provides necessary tools to
Re-Evangelise the Baptised and
empower Catholics to understand and
defend the true Faith with wisdom
and zeal: A New Apologetics for
the people, as Pope John Paul II said. |
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"THE CHURCH
NEEDS A NEW APOLOGETICS for the
people, that they may understand what
the Church teaches. Especially so in a
world where people are continuously
subjected to the cultural and
ideological pressure of the media and
the aggressively anti-Catholic attitude
of many sects."
Pope John
Paul II
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The lessons in
the ‘New Apologetics by Mail’ Course are taken from
the celebrated ‘Apologetics and Catholic Doctrine’,
authored by the great Archbishop Michael Sheehan.
This masterpiece has been revised and expanded by
Father Peter Joseph, Director of Studies at Vianney
College, the Diocesan Seminary in Wagga Wagga.
The book was officially launched by the Archbishop
of Sydney, George Cardinal Pell. His Eminence
strongly commended the work. |
Fr Peter
Joseph, holds the book, with Archbishop Pell and the
Hon John Johnson MLC, President of the New South
Wales Legislative Council. The book was launched at
the historic Jubilee Room of the New South Wales
Parliament House. |
 ‘Apologetics and Catholic Doctrine’ is now
available in
Click on the
link below, fill in the form and you will receive an informative set
on this unique Faith education initiative,
thoroughly explained by Rev. Father Jim Shelton,
parish priest of Saint Joseph's parish, Bassendean,
Western Australia, and Advisor to Saint Gabriel Communications.
You will also
receive a FREE 60-minute CD/tape-recorded talk on
the logical proofs of the Resurrection of Jesus -
the cornerstone of our Faith - expounded with
knowledge and wit by Australia’s first full-time lay
Catholic Apologist, Raymond de Souza. The talk was
given at the Cathedral Parish Centre in Perth before
an audience that included priests, nuns and a large
number of teenagers and young adults.
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"In this time
of rapid social change and new scientific
discoveries, questions are being asked about the
Catholic Faith that many may not feel confident to
answer.
"The information offered in the ‘New Apologetics by
Mail’ will assist Catholics to understand their
Faith better, and be able to give rational and
convincing replies to the questions being asked.
"This information
will also clear up misunderstanding
about the Faith and draw us closer to
God."
His Grace Archbishop Barry Hickey
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  There is no
time to waste! Your CD/Tape and Information Set awaits
you.
Click on the link below and find out all about the
"New Apologetics by Mail"!
For contact information,
CLICK HERE
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