National Briefs

Labor property spokesman Steve Kamper, Catholic Cemeteries and Crematoria CEO Peter O’Meara, Muslim Cemeteries Board president Kazi Ali and board member Jasim Ahmed and NSW Opposition Leader Chris Minns. Photo: Alphonsus Fok.

Faith leaders unite over cemeteries 

Labor property spokesman Steve Kamper, Catholic Cemeteries and Crematoria CEO Peter O’Meara, Muslim Cemeteries Board president Kazi Ali and board member Jasim Ahmed and NSW Opposition Leader Chris Minns. Photo: Alphonsus Fok.

MORE than 20 Muslim community leaders from western Sydney have called on the NSW Government not to push ahead with a planned takeover of the management of Sydney cemeteries from faith-based operators including Catholic Cemeteries and Crematoria. A meeting brought together 75 people at Kemps Creek Cemetery, which is owned by the Catholic Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust. Catholic Cemeteries and Crematoria said the government’s move would effectively end its 154 years of commitment to providing the people of Sydney with dignified burials which respect different faith traditions.

• The Catholic Weekly

Nursing pathway: Shairon Eremugo from St Francis College, Crestmead.

Fast-tracking careers at school

SCHOOL-BASED traineeships are helping senior students at Brisbane Catholic schools to get a head start on their dream careers while studying for their Queensland Certificate of Education. St Francis College Crestmead Year 11 students Rory Jones and Shairon Eremugo have forged a roadmap to fast track their careers in nursing by balancing their QCE senior studies with a Vocational Education and Training course towards a Certificate III in Health Services Assistance alongside a paid school-based traineeship. “It’s challenging and I’m really enjoying it,” Ms Jones said. She is one of only eight trainees to be awarded a paid school-based Assistant in Nursing Traineeship in aged care.

• The Catholic Leader

A new generation of learning

AUSTRALIAN Catholic University has launched ACU Online, a fully online education portfolio. Available for students to enrol in April 2022, it will offer courses specifically designed for online learning. The new platform will complement the university’s existing portfolio of both on-campus and online offerings. ACU Provost Prof Belinda Tynan said the university could provide a personalised student experience that was supported by smart technologies. “Our students might be studying at home, but they won’t be alone,” she said.

• Australian Catholic University

Chaplain Fr Wayne Edwards proclaims the Gospel.

‘Home away from home’ turns 40

MELBOURNE’S John Pierce Centre has celebrated its 40th anniversary with a Mass of Thanksgiving. The JPC officially opened in August 1980 and is named after Fr John Pierce, who in the 1930s became Victoria’s first full time chaplain to the deaf community. JPC remains the only Catholic Deaf Centre in Victoria and, for the past four decades, has been a “home away from home” for members of the deaf community and a place for social interaction, personal growth, sacramental preparation and spiritual development.

• Melbourne Catholic