Last Saturday morning, I drove to the next parish where there’s a recently, beautifully renovated church/Shrine in honour of Mary, known “in house” as Our Lady.

The twin parishes of Middle Park and Port Melbourne have been there for 100 years plus. The Carmelite Order of Priests has faithfully staffed both places for over a century. My parish, South Melbourne, was mother to both parishes.

So what? Well, last Saturday the Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel played host to a couple of sacred artefacts known as the Cross and Icon. Read more »

Should I go into a monastery now I’m 74 and never have anything to say on TV or radio?

I got a call late one night last week from “concerned of Werribee”. He’d just seen me on TV pontificating on Gordon Ramsey’s coarse language – you know the Brit chef who swears a lot during his cooking show. Read more »

Joe Caddy, Catholic Priest colleague, Chaplain to Victorian Prisons, was brave enough to write in a Melbourne paper that prisons are not for rehabilitation but for breeding criminals.

I agree.  You probably agree.  Where does that leave us?  Nowhere I suspect. Read more »

Just a note for those wondering what has happened to the Father Bob Show podcast. The Podcast Network has had severe technical problems, and will hopefully be back up and running as normal next week. If you would like to listen to or download the podcast, you may find it more expedient to visit the website at
http://fatherbob.thepodcastnetwork.com
Show #93 was in the can last Monday, and will be available ASAP.

The event was held at the St Kilda Drop In Centre.  We
expected 10 to 18 people and ended up with 30 people. Assisting myself was Peter Fein and Dahlia Gross.

Read more »

One of our workers, in fact the hardest working, a Jewish man, put on a ritual meal for the people who live in a St. Kilda boarding house. It’s Jewish Passover this week. He and two other Jewish friends cooked the special dishes associated with Passover and waited on the tables while the guests enjoyed the meal and had the religious meanings of the dishes explained in a non-patronising way.

Some photos of the event are to be uploaded to this page. See for yourself. Read more »

I went to the footy at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground is one of the local “sacred spots”).  What, dear readers, do I hear you say, are you doing watching football at a cricket ground?My team, Collingwood, was pretending to play the team, Carlton, at the bottom of the 18 team ladder. Read more »

Are the Iraqis better off now than when Saddam was king?

Depends who you ask, eh?  Just ask, by the way, don’t answer your own question.  You could cause yourself reputational damage.

Are the Tibetans better off under the Chinese than under the rule of the monks?  Depends what you mean by “better off” and depends what section of Tibetan society you’re questioning.

Those who, undeniably, are better off after a regime change may well have to seek protection in the event of the next regime change. Read more »

According to experts, I should be writing this blog in Gotham font because that’s the style adopted by Barak Obama for billboards, leaflets and other US of A, presidential election handouts.

I’m not so much stunned as distracted by this claim. I don’t, myself, type much. I prefer to invest myself in hand writing. Read more »

I short weighted you last blog. Sorry about that. It was, what’s called, Holy Week for us Catholics.
Read more »

Unfortunately it was a busy night out there tonight, and even during the downpour of rain we had people come to the bus for food. 

Read more »