ACBC MediaBlog Podcast

In this episode, Paul Osborne is joined by Fr Andrea Ciucci currently the Secretariat Coordinator of the RenAIssance Foundation a non-profit organization with the objective of supporting the anthropological and ethical reflection of new technologies on human life.Father Ciucci was born in Milan (Italy) in 1967, and is a catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Milan. After receiving his Bachelor’s Degree in Theology from the Northern Italy School of Theology, he earned a PhD in Philosophy from the St. Anselm Institute in Rome, with a thesis on the reconsideration given in the twentieth century to Plato’s concept of the Chora (Il fascino di Chora, Mimesis 2019).Last April 10, Pope Leo XIV appointed Fr Andrea Ciucci as chancellor of the Pontifical Academy for Life.Learn more about the RenAIssance Foundation here:https://www.romecall.org/renaissance-foundation/---ABOUT THE PODCASTMedia Blog Podcast, a project of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. This podcast examines and explores important issues within the Catholic Church and invites people to think more deeply.VISIT MediaBlog for more articles, stories and releases:⁠https://mediablog.catholic.org.au/⁠Australian Catholic Bishops ConferenceCopyright ©2026 All rights reserved.⁠https://catholic.au⁠---#06 MediaBlog Podcast hosted by Paul Osborne with Fr Andrea Ciucci

In this episode, Paul Osborne is joined by Archbishop Christopher Prowse, Chair of the Bishop's Commission for Evangelisation, Laity and Ministry and Dr Trudy Dantis, Director of the National Centre for Pastoral Research to explore the new report, Thriving and Surviving in Ministry: A Profile of Catholic Clergy in Australia Health and Wellbeing. The research was initiated by the Bishop's Commission for Evangelisation, Laity and Ministry in 2023 and presented to the Bishops Plenary in November 2025.DOWNLOAD the full report here:https://ncpr.catholic.org.au/a-profile-of-catholic-clergy-in-australia/---ABOUT THE PODCASTMedia Blog Podcast, a project of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. This podcast examines and explores important issues within the Catholic Church and invites people to think more deeply.VISIT MediaBlog for more articles, stories and releases:⁠⁠https://mediablog.catholic.org.au/⁠⁠Australian Catholic Bishops ConferenceCopyright ©2025 All rights reserved.https://catholic.au⁠---#05 MediaBlog Podcast hosted by Paul Osborne with Archbishop Christopher Prowse and Dr Trudy Dantis

In the second and last part of this 2-episode topic, Paul Osborne and guest Michael McVeigh discuss Pope Leo XIV's thoughts on Pope Francis' message for the ⁠World Communications Day 2025 with the theme: "Share with gentleness the hope that is in your hearts" . The new Pope's statement was addressed to a live audience of various media representatives on 12th May 2025 just a few days after his election. Michael McVeigh is Head of Publishing at ⁠Jesuit Communications Australia⁠, publisher of Australian Catholics, Eureka Street, Madonna magazine and⁠ Pray.com.au⁠. Prior to his appointment in 2021, he was the editor of Australian Catholics for more than 15 years, overseeing its digital transformation including the development and launch of the Australian Catholics Education Hub.READ the new Pope Leo's address here:https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/speeches/2025/may/documents/20250512-media.htmlREAD Pope Francis' message here:⁠https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/communications/documents/20250124-messaggio-comunicazioni-sociali.html---ABOUT THE PODCASTMedia Blog Podcast, a project of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. This podcast examines and explores important issues within the Catholic Church and invites people to think more deeply.VISIT MediaBlog for more articles, stories and releases:⁠⁠https://mediablog.catholic.org.au/⁠⁠Australian Catholic Bishops ConferenceCopyright ©2025 All rights reserved.⁠⁠https://catholic.au⁠

In part 1 of this 2-episode topic, Paul Osborne and guest Michael McVeigh discuss (the late) Pope Francis' message for the World Communications Day 2025 with the theme: "Share with gentleness the hope that is in your hearts" .Michael McVeigh is Head of Publishing at Jesuit Communications Australia, publisher of Australian Catholics, Eureka Street, Madonna magazine and Pray.com.au. Prior to his appointment in 2021, he was the editor of Australian Catholics for more than 15 years, overseeing its digital transformation including the development and launch of the Australian Catholics Education Hub.READ Pope Francis' message here:https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/communications/documents/20250124-messaggio-comunicazioni-sociali.html---ABOUT THE PODCASTMedia Blog Podcast, a project of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. This podcast examines and explores important issues within the Catholic Church and invites people to think more deeply.VISIT MediaBlog for more articles, stories and releases:⁠⁠⁠https://mediablog.catholic.org.au/⁠⁠⁠Australian Catholic Bishops ConferenceCopyright ©2025 All rights reserved.⁠⁠⁠https://catholic.au⁠⁠

In this episode, Paul Osborne talks to Bishop-Elect Joe Caddy on the eve of the Vatican announcement of Pope Francis' appointment of his Very Reverend Joe Caddy AM VG, a priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, as the eighth Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Cairns.Fr Joe, 64, was born and raised in Melbourne and ordained to the priesthood in the Archdiocese of Melbourne in 1990.He holds a Bachelor of Theology from the Melbourne College of Divinity and degrees in Social Sciences from the Gregorian University in Rome, where he studied Catholic social teaching, social ethics and economics.From 2002 to 2013 he served as part-time chaplain in the prison ministry team, providing the Sunday worship service and pastoral care to prisoners and their families in Melbourne’s men’s maximum-security prisons.He served as CEO of CatholicCare (Greater Melbourne, Geelong and Gippsland) from 2004 to 2017, during which time he advised the Victorian and federal governments, Australian Council of Social Service, and other bodies on a range of issues including homelessness, juvenile justice and local government.In June 2018, Fr Joe was recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list with an Order of Australia Medal in the General Division for “significant service to the community through a wide range of social welfare initiatives and policy reforms, the Catholic Church in Australia”.---ABOUT THE PODCASTMedia Blog Podcast, a project of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. This podcast examines and explores important issues within the Catholic Church and invites people to think more deeply.VISIT MediaBlog for more articles, stories and releases:⁠⁠⁠https://mediablog.catholic.org.au/⁠⁠⁠Australian Catholic Bishops ConferenceCopyright ©2024 All rights reserved.⁠⁠⁠https://catholic.au⁠⁠

‘Dignitas Infinita—On Human Dignity’ was released by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on April 8, 2024. The declaration presents a survey and summary of the Church’s teaching on the concept of human dignity as a way of correcting certain misunderstandings that the Dicastery claims have emerged about the concept in recent years. It includes a series of reflections on issues that it sees as ‘grave violations’ of human dignity. It is arguably the first ‘summary’ of Catholic moral teaching issued by the Dicastery since the Instruction ‘gnitas Personae—on Certain Bioethical Questions’ in 2008. (From David Kirchhoffer's Eureka Street article Vatican invites global discussion on human dignity (eurekastreet.com.au))The Australian Catholic University's Sandie Cornish and David Kirchhoffer talk to Paul Osborne from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference about the document.Episode GuestsDr Sandie Cornish is a Senior Lecturer in Theology at Australian Catholic University and a Member of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. She specialises in Catholic social teaching, thought and action.Associate Professor David G. Kirchhoffer is Director, Queensland Bioethics Centre, Australian Catholic University---ABOUT THE PODCASTMedia Blog Podcast, a project of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. This podcast examines and explores important issues within the Catholic Church and invites people to think more deeply.VISIT MediaBlog for more articles, stories and releases:⁠⁠⁠https://mediablog.catholic.org.au/⁠⁠⁠Australian Catholic Bishops ConferenceCopyright ©2025 All rights reserved.⁠⁠⁠https://catholic.au⁠⁠

The Catholic Church has for decades made a submission on the national minimum wage. Why does the Church do that? How did it come to propose a 6.5 % increase this year? In this episode, Bishop Vincent Long and Dr Tom Barnes join the Media Blog podcast to answer those questions and more.

In this episode, we’re talking with Dr Virginia Miller, a research fellow with the Centre for Public and Contextual Theology at Charles Sturt University. Dr Miller's book, Child Sexual Abuse Inquiries and the Catholic Church: Reassessing the Evidence, has just been published. The book looks at inquiries in Ireland, the US and Australia, while the podcast focuses on the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Australians can download Child Sexual Abuse Inquiries and the Catholic Church: Reassessing the Evidence for free from Firenze University Press or purchase it from Italian bookseller IBS.