Christmas a time to be generous

THE CELEBRATION of the birth of Jesus reminds us of God’s immense and ceaseless love for all people.

It calls for compassion and care and reminds us to do for others what God has done for us in giving us his Son.

Parishes will again be conducting the annual Archbishop’s Christmas Appeal at their Christmas Masses.

The generosity of our communities will enable contributions towards the provision of a number of projects.

These include school bus to transport young children to school from poor surrounding villages within the La Salette Matha Province in India and student assistance for those in need at Bethlehem University in the Holy Land.

The university seeks to train future leaders within a Catholic education environment in the place Jesus was born.

There is also continued support for the National Council of Churches’ Christmas Bowl Appeal, the Diocese of Wilcannia Forbes as well as the Wilcannia Hub project supporting young indigenous families.

Projects within the Dioceses of Otukpo, Nigeria in Africa and Tagbilaran, Cebu in the Philippines are also envisaged.

Last year, the Archbishop’s Christmas Appeal raised $64,078.

Out of this $20,000 went to the Diocese of Otukpo, Nigeria, in assisting with the construction of their new multipurpose hall and pastoral centre, while $19,000 went toward further typhoon recovery work at the Tagbilaran Diocesan Seminary in Cebu.

The Diocese of Wilcannia Forbes received $10,000 in support of pastoral initiatives, and $5,078 went towards providing safe and accessible water to the communities of Hera and Kasait in Timor Leste.

A further $10,000 was given to the National Council of Churches in Australia’s (NCCA’s) Christmas Bowl Appeal, to assist their Act for Peace projects.

Please send donations to
Archbishop’s Christmas Appeal
Attn: Deacon Joe Blackwell
GPO BOX 3089, Canberra ACT 2601

Enquiries: Deacon Joe Blackwell Tel. 0407 909 295