It goes without saying that you have an important role in society. One of the basic needs of people is to feel that they are protected and that they live in a secure society. One of the deepest desires is to live in a safe environment. This is the reason why justice has such an important part to play in our society and this is where you are directly involved. The law reflects what is just and what is good. It ought not reflect what is most popular or what can be manipulated. As a virtue justice is the constant and permanent determination to give everyone his or her due.

“I have come to give you Life and Life to the full” Jn 10:10

This statement has many ramifications. How does it apply to this occasion that we are celebrating today? The church in Australia in its history made two very important decisions regarding education. The first one was taken many years back when the bishops of Australia decided to provide catholic education so that all those children belonging to the Catholic community would have the opportunity to access a good education and be given the maximum opportunities to make a mark in society based on the teachings of our faith. The second was made more recently when once again the bishops following the general trend of the universal church declared that the Catholic school is part and parcel of the mission of the church. These decisions are still fresh and vitally important today as we grapple with so many issues such as those of funding, enrolment policies, proper accreditation and an on going personal development for our teachers.

Monsignor Francis Marriott adm has been appointed as administrator of the Sacred Heart Cathedral and the Chancellor of the Diocese of Sandhurst. Mgr Marriott was formerly Parish Priest of Wodonga and prior to that had appointments as Parish Priest in Kennington, Heathcote and Nagambie. He fills the position left after Mgr John Duffus's death earlier this year. He takes up his new appointment on 12 April 2008.

Holy Monday each year, priests and representatives from parishes of the diocese gather at the Sacred Heart Cathedral as the mother church of the diocese to celebrate the Chrism Mass. This year Bishop Joe blessed the oil of the sick, the oil of catechumen (oil of baptism) and consecrates the Chrism (the oil for Confirmation, Holy Orders, and consecration of altars and churches).

Bishop Joe addresses the Students of the Primary Schools around Shepparton and the Students of Notre Dame College pass the cross around the Mercy Centennial Stadium and two of the many events inShepparton when the WYD Cross visited the Sandhurst Diocese. For further stories on the journey of the Cross and Icon visit www.sym.org.au and Journey of the Cross & Icon Site and the Catholic Education Sandhurst Site.

On Friday evening, 11 January, Monsignor John Duffus died surrounded by family and friends at his presbytery in Bendigo. They saw a, dedicated and greatly esteemed priest of Sandhurst quietly and peacefully leave this earthly life to enter into eternal life.

About 2000 mourners packed the Cathedral for the Requiem Mass, which was also attended by overseas and interstate mourners. Bishop Joe Grech led the service where readings from the books of Isaiah, Philippians and Luke were read. During the service, students from Catholic College Bendigo read the Prayers of Intercession and Mgr Duffus’ nieces Suzanne Ion, Rachel Duffus, Terese Knight and Philipa Nolan took gifts to the altar. Mgr White, in the homily described how, they turned their planned holiday into a pilgrimage to visit places in Victoria that Mgr Duffus held dear. See Obituary Page for further comments.

(Photo: Bendigo Advertiser)

Bishop Joe Grech ordained Jacob (Jake) Mudge to the diaconate at the Sacred Heart Cathedral on Friday night, 26 October. The Mass was attended by a great number of family, friends, parishioners from parishes he did pastoral work and many parishioners from the parishes of the Diocese and well as priests from Sandhurst and Melbourne and his fellow students from Corpus Christi College Carlton.

With funding from the City of Greater Bendigo Council, Powercor and Bendigo Trustees and the Diocese of Sandhurst, the Sacred hHeart Cathedral is floodlit at night dominating the city's skyline and highlighting this extraordinary example of Neo-Gothic architecture. Photos are courtesy of the Bendigo Weekly.

Pictured above: Cr Julie Rivendell (Bendigo Council) , Bishop, Neil Atherton (Sandhurst Trustees), Ian Gillingham (Powercor) and Mons Duffus.

Fr Cyril Hally, a missionary priest with the Columban Society, a sociologist and octogenarian addressed the Sandhurst Priests during their two clergy conference 21-22 June in Bendigo. The conference began with Mr Paul White, pastoral planning officer for the Diocese of Sandhurst, presenting statistical summary of parishes and a forecast of the next ten five, ten and fifteen years regarding clergy distribution. Fr Cyril helped in facing these issues by giving a broad overview of church ministry over two millennia, and how the church responded or adapted to culture and change and contemporary forces in society and church. The priests studied several questions and their responses will be collated and used for further reflection and response during the year. The Council of Priests organised the agenda and the Chancery and St Kilian's hosted the days.

Pictured: Fr Andrew Fewings, Fr Cyril Hally, Columban Mission Father, Bishop Joe Grech and Fr Joe Taylor.

In Mid June three seminarians arrived in Bendigo in preparation to go to Corpus Christi College Carlton to resume studies for the Priesthood and hopefully serve in Sandhurst parishes after ordination. They are pictured here: Eugene, John-John and Bernard at the occasion of the clergy conference in Bendigo while they acclimatise to our Victorian winter and our Australian culture.

The annual Presbytery Housekeepers and Parish Secretaries Day was held in Numurkah on Wednesday 16 May beginning with Mass at St John's and the luncheon at the Numurkah Golf Club. The occasion is to say thanks to the "Welcoming Faces" (as Bishop Joe calls them) at the presbyteries around Sandhurst. Many photos of the participants at the lunch appear in the July issue of Sandpiper. Pictured here are the Bishop and priests before the altar at the conclusion of the Mass.

This year across the Diocese, Sandhurst School children dressed in their school uniforms (for a public holiday) and represented their schools at their respective local Anzac Day marches and wreath laying ceremonies at cenotaphs and memorial parks. Pictured here are some of the children from St Joseph's School, Nagambie getting ready for the procession from the Memorial Hall to the cenotaph.

Fr Meinolf Wacker and Mr Klemens Reith visited the Bendigo and Shepparton regions in April and spoke at the deanery meetings and other gatherings of World Youth Day. Paderborn Diocese hosted the Sandhurst pilgrims at the last World Youth Day event in Germany last year and we will host them in Bendigo prior to the Sydney WYD08. They are pictured here with Karen Lunney, youth minister coordinator. Photo on right is them with some of the priests and deanery representatives at lunch in Shepparton.

The 2007 Helder Camara Lecture in April was delivered by Cardinal Oscar Rodiguez, Archbishop of Honduras in central America. The theme of his talk: "Signs of Hope" reflected on his own people's struggles with poverty, natural disasters and institutionalised corruption. While the circumstance are different in Honduras, what gives hope is universal and relevant for Australians. A summary of the talk is printed in the June edition of the Sandpiper. Pictured here are Dr Bill Quilty, Cardinal Rodriguez and Fr Rom Hayes.