From the Head of College

The Context and Criticisms of the Catholic Church Rightly Addressed

On Monday, Marist College Ashgrove staff heard an address by Fr Richard Leonard SJ. Among many topics, Fr Richard addressed the place of the Catholic Church in the Australian context today and the many criticisms upon which it is confronted - criticism within society which seems fair, and he addressed these head-on.

Within context, Fr Richard Leonard explained to us how the Catholic Church is the third largest employer in Australia – the list of the top 10 companies being: Westfarmers, Woolworths, The Catholic Church, CBA, Federal Public Service, BHP, NAB, Rio Tinto, Westpac and ANZ. The Catholic Church is involved in education, health care and hospitals, welfare, and overseas aid. This involves some 221,000 employees where 165,750 are women making up 75% of employees, including the administering and leadership of many of these undertakings. In the Australian education sector, one-third of all Primary students and a quarter of Secondary students are educated in the Catholic system. This includes 1,239 Primary, 402 Secondary, 8 Special and 102 K-12 schools, of which Marist College Ashgrove is apart.

Catholic Church enterprises remain a significant positive contributor to our Australian society today. Many of these Catholic Church enterprises were established and galvanised through the free labour and generosity of priests and religious. The assets of the Church are owned and belong to the Catholic Church – that is, they will always be the property of the Catholic Church and passed through the generations for the benefit of all – including Marist College Ashgrove.

Public criticisms of the Church which Fr Richard addressed were in regard to the literal fundamentalist interpretation of the scriptures and sex abuse in the Church. 

Fr Richard explained how the story of Jesus comes out of the Church. The Gospels, which explore the Jesus story, have been communicated through the Church’s inspired writings. Jesus never inflicted pain and punishment on people but rather, was welcoming, offering hospitality, safety, healing, compassion, and love. The four Gospels are portraits, and the Old Testament an assortment of different styles of writings which need careful interpretation. They were never, and should never be, interpreted literally – a good example of this is the 5 creation stories in the Old Testament, which were never intended to be interpreted literally. These creation stories are just that – stories - to be interpreted as God creating the world and so it is, that evolutionary biology and God’s creation can go hand in hand. Fr Richard also explained that no teacher in a Catholic School should interpret the scriptures literally but rather in context.

Worldwide, there are some 1.2 billion Catholics, who have been, in more recent times, challenged by society, and rightfully so. Fr Richard didn’t shy away from the serious and uncomfortable topic of child sex abuse in the Church. He spoke about how he is often confronted with the question – “You seem like a good bloke so how can you work for an enterprise that has pedophiles in it?” Fr Richard replies that he is not aware of any pedophiles in the Catholic Church at present. He, like all of us, are appalled by the behaviour of priest and religious pedophiles of the past who have now been convicted and sentenced. He talks about these “tragic and despicable people” who have placed power over and controlled the lives of far too many people in the past and in turn, are not going to control his life and destiny. For Fr Richard, personally, he is not going to allow the worst people in his organisation to define his membership. He believes that they don’t have the right to determine whether he is Catholic or not… “I’m on about safety, inclusion and love, and that is my message.”

God of the Journey, as members of the Marist College Ashgrove family and the Catholic Church at large, we pray that our church will always remain true to Jesus’ story, words and actions. Amen.

International Women’s Day 2023

International Women’s Day will be celebrated on Wednesday 8 March 2023. This is a global day to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The theme for 2023 is “#EmbraceEquity.” A focus on gender equity needs to be part of every society’s thinking, and it shouldn’t be merely a “nice-to-have” but a must-have. Marist College Ashgrove acknowledges the 53% of our total staff who are female. We acknowledge their contributions and the importance of their role in shaping balanced, respectful and successful young men of the future who make a positive difference to our world. The boys will celebrate International Women’s Day and all women on staff during the College assembly next week. We salute the fine women of Marist!

AIC Swimming Championships

The 2023 AIC Swimming Championships have almost arrived - Tuesday 7 March. We wish all our boys the best of luck after a full pre-season of training and meets. Marist College Ashgrove has been a runner-up at these championships in more recent years where we continue to strive to go one better. The Year 12 boys have been invited to support our swimmers, this being their last week-day of support for athletes for the year, during class lesson time. The AIC Swimming Championships will be held at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre, Chandler. My thanks are extended to our professional and committed swimming coaches and administrators - James Boyce (Director of Swimming), Damian Bromley, Ziggi Jacks, Lachlan Gough, Roxanne Rosenberg, Pierce Hardy, David Meehan, Lucy Hislop, Cath Geraghty, Jack Goyen, Antoinette Restell and Christine Ballie (Swimming Conveynor). Best wishes Marist swimmers 2023!

Premier Concert 

This Thursday, 2nd March, commencing at 6:30pm, Marist College Ashgrove will be holding its first music concert for the year – the Premier Concert. During this concert, you will see performances by the College’s Chamber Strings, Wind Orchestra 1, Big Band 1, Guitar Orchestra 1, Chamber Choir and Symphony Orchestra. This concert will be held in the Draney Theatre. My thanks are extended to the generous and professional staff involved, namely: Megan Harmston, Catherine Wasserman, Andrew Butt, Tony Vandermeer, Alison Braidwood, Alex Hides and Vanessa Mitchell.

Everybody is invited. Tickets are available at - https://events.humanitix.com/copy-of-premier-ensembles-concert-2023 - $5.00 per adult, students are free (bookings mandatory). Well done to our talented musicians at Marist. Enjoy!

Marist College Rugby Union Easter Camp

Marist College is hosting a Rugby Union Camp for all year levels on Sunday 16 April. This innovative Easter Rugby Camp covers all facets of rugby union, and is designed to improve each boy’s skills, focus on safety, and enjoyment. The camp will include:

• Specialist sessions in all the skills of rugby union
• A structured and enjoyable program for each age level
• Individual and team feedback
• A game

To ensure the boarding community has an opportunity to attend the camp, the boarding school will be open to boarding students and staffed from 1:00 pm, Saturday 15 April.

The flyer below outlines how to book camp tickets.

Please see the links and flyer below for camp tickets and how to book.

Years 5-7

https://events.humanitix.com/marist-rugby-camp-years-5-6-and-7

Years 8-10

https://events.humanitix.com/marist-rugby-camp-years-8-9-and-10

Opens

https://events.humanitix.com/marist-rugby-camp-opens

May our loving God with Mary our good mother and St Marcellin Champagnat walk with all members of the Marist College Ashgrove Family.

Upcoming Events

Tuesday 28 February

• Study Hall – Senior Library
• Reconciliation – Chapel (Fr Alatini Kolofo’ou)
• House Meetings Years 5-12
• Year 8 Market Day
• Vinnies Meeting – Room 801

Wednesday 1 March

• Mass in Chapel – Special invitation to Primary School
• Year 6 HASS Federation Source Test (Part A)
• Year 11 and 12 Visual Arts in Practice Excursion
• Primary Award Assembly – Draney Theatre
• College Assembly
• 1st XI Football Trial v Ipswich Grammar (A)
• Year 12 Night Study Session (every Wednesday 5:00pm-8:00pm)

Thursday 2 March

• SVdP Sausage Sizzle – Main Yard
• Study Hall – Senior Library
• Primary Morning Assembly
• Pastoral Group Paper Recycling
• Spelling Bee - Champagnat Centre
• Co-Curricular Swimming and Catch Up Volleyball and Cricket Photos (Science Foyer)
• Year 8 Market Day
• Environment Group Meeting – Room 206
• Premier Concert – Draney Theatre

Friday 3 March

• Year 11 and 12 Rec Excursion to Victoria Park Golf Club
• Co-Curricular Photos (AFL, Term 1, 1st Teams and Captains and Cricket/Volleyball catch-ups) – Tower Steps and Science Foyer
• Open AFL v St Laurence’s (Coorparoo)

Saturday 4 March

• Year 12 Formal (City Hall)
• Round 5 Cricket/Volleyball/AFL v SPC (A)

Sunday 5 March

• Boarders Mass’ (Chapel)
• Smart Rugby Program for Rugby Coaches (Online)

Monday 6 March

• House Meetings Years 5-12
• Assembly

Tuesday 7 March

• AIC Swimming Championships
• Reconciliation – Chapel (Fr Alatini Kolofo’ou)
• Vinnies Meeting – Room 801
• Old Boys’ Association Meeting

Wednesday 8 March

• International Women’s Day
• Year 8 Pastoral Day (DRFG)
• Mass in Chapel
• 1st XI Football v Nudgee College (A)
• Year 12 Night Study Session (every Wednesday 5:00pm-8:00pm)