BISHOP’S MESSAGE By the Grace of Our Lord

By Bishop Anthony Randazzo

“I see that your plate is getting bigger. Rest assured you are being granted all the graces you need”. These words were written to me recently by a good friend and holy bishop after he saw the recent announcement that the Holy Father, Pope Francis, has given me the pastoral care and oversight of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross (OLSC), commencing on 1 July 2023.

As the Apostolic Administrator of the Ordinariate, I have been called to serve under the direct authority of the Pope, in communion with the bishops of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, to build up the Body of Christ through mutual mission and ministry, while retaining elements of the Anglican patrimony.

On 4 November 2009, Pope Benedict XVI provided for members of the Anglican Communion to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church. The OLSC, which is equivalent to a diocese, is formed by communities and individuals of the Anglican heritage gathered around the Ordinary. The OLSC community stretches across Australia and includes communities in Japan and Guam, all of whom have been entrusted into my pastoral care. These brothers and sisters in Christ bring with them a rich, beautiful, and distinctive theological, spiritual, and liturgical patrimony.

On 31 May 2013, Pope Francis updated the norms governing the OLSC so that a person who has been baptised in the Catholic Church but who has not completed the Sacraments of Initiation, and subsequently returns to the faith and practice of the Church as a result of the evangelising mission of the Ordinariate, may be admitted to membership in the Ordinariate and receive the Sacrament of Confirmation or the Sacrament of the Eucharist or both.

It is the deep desire of Pope Francis, that the OLSC, collaborating with the various dioceses in which they are located, will share close bonds of communion through pastoral activity, evangelisation, and catechesis in the Catholic faith. I commend the OLSC to your prayers and fraternal communion.

The above comment about what’s on my plate was also tied to my election as the President of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania (FCBCO). The FCBCO is the regional grouping that comprises the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, the New Zealand Catholic

Bishops Conference, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, and the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific (CEPAC) – which includes Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, New Caledonia, Northern Mariana Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Wallis and Futuna.

The FCBCO has a threefold function:

(1) to provide the means whereby the members of the four memberConferences can share their interests, insights, experiences and concerns;

(2) to enable the members of the four member-Conferences to become more aware of each other’s Particular Churches and issues affecting these, Churches, and (3) to enable the members of the four memberConferences to discuss and formulate joint pastoral action in matters of common concern.

In a spirit of synodality, the recent gathering of the FCBCO also involved the participation of Christ’s lay faithful by means of prayer, listening, consultation, and discernment.

As President of the FCBCO, it is my hope that the mission of proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ to the peoples of Oceania will bear long lasting fruit and will involve every member of the Church and the Christian communities in a spirit of unity and peace.

Sometimes it can be tempting for us to think that there is too much on our plate. In our ministry, life, and mission, it is helpful to remain steadfast in our belief that when God asks us to do something we are also given the gifts needed to do it. No matter what is on our plate, a calm and prayerful approach helps digest life’s challenges with minimal indigestion.

I invoke the intercession of Mary, Star of the Sea, to guide us in our work, which belongs not to me or to any one group of the faithful, but to God.

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Olá Lisboa

Broken Bay Pilgrims Countdown to WYD23

Hello Lisbon!

An excited group of 167 students, young adults and leaders are in the final preparations for their pilgrimage to World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal.

through Italy with Bishop Anthony Randazzo before flying on to Lisbon where they will meet up with the group flying direct from Sydney.

Eighteen months of planning, preparation, and formation is now only be an exciting but life-changing experience for many of our young people in the Diocese – and for many of the leaders as well, alongside Bishop Anthony who will attend his first World Youth Day!

“I am very much looking forward to leading our Broken Bay group to WYD23 where we will join thousands of young people from around the world, sharing our culture, interests and ambitions, and importantly our faith as Christ’s living witnesses,” Bishop Anthony said.

“We have been preparing well for this journey and I am very grateful to our leaders who have been working hard for a long time to ensure this will be a wonderful experience for so many but a also a transformative one as well.”

Pope Francis chose the theme for this WYD – “Mary arose and went with haste”. It is from the Gospel of St Luke

(Lk 1:39) which opens the account of the Visitation, Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth.

This biblical account follows the Annunciation, the angel’s announcement to Mary that she would be the mother of the Son of God which was the theme of the last WYD in Panama.

Although Lisbon will be pumping with its first WYD, the Broken Bay contingent will be heard loud and clear. They have spent the last few months practising the Broken Bay official song, Magnify.

This was written by one of the school co-ordinators and recorded by five students. It takes its inspiration from the Magnificat and the WYD theme. The Broken Bay pilgrims are looking forward to sharing the song with pilgrims from around the world.

Included in the Magnify group are students from Catholic Schools Broken Bay and young adults from parishes throughout the Diocese as well as pilgrims from Townsville, Parramatta and the Sydney Archdiocese. Three bus groups will fly to Venice on 21 July to begin their pilgrimage through Italy visiting the cities and towns of saints before flying to Lisbon to meet the fourth group for the start of WYD on 1 August.

Following the WYD week and the final Mass with Pope Francis, the group will travel to Fatima for a three-day retreat before flying home.

The 42 leaders with the group will comprise Bishop Anthony and an Executive Team, along with Pilgrim Co-ordinators, Chaplains, Seminarians, Bus Leaders, Night Supervisors, Counsellors, Safe Guarding Case Worker, a Communications Director and Director of Catholic Schools Broken Bay, Danny Casey.

There is also a “Stay-at-Home” team supporting the pilgrimage in our parishes, schools and Chancery.

The pilgrims will have access to the WYD Magnify App as a key resource for their journey. Not only will they be able to read all about the cities and sites they are visiting, the lives of the saints, access their itinerary, maps, photo and video galleries, the daily Liturgies and Prayers, an Italian and Portuguese phrase book, they will also be able to upload images and video to a secure server and receive notifications. Parents and schools will also be able to follow the pilgrimage via the App.

CYBB and the Diocese have also designed a range of merchandise for the pilgrims. Some items will be given to all pilgrims and leaders while more will be available from a designated WYD23 Online Shop on the Diocese website.

The final big event before wheels-up will be the Commissioning Mass on 14 July with Bishop Anthony at Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral, Waitara followed by dinner and distribution of travel documentation.