To commemorate the fifth anniversary of the encyclical Laudato Si', Pope Francis has invited Catholics to participate in Laudato Si' Week, a nine-day global campaign taking place May 16-24, 2020.

Social distancing, remote learning and the restraints of COVID-19 have not stopped our school communities from seeking ways to stay connected. One initiative is 'Growing Together Through COVID-19' which has been introduced at Holy Family Ingleburn and Stella Maris Shellharbour.

Due to NSW Government’s restrictions on two-person public gatherings, Bishop Brian Mascord will be celebrating Palm Sunday and Holy Week with online Masses and liturgies that will be live-streamed on the Diocese of Wollongong's YouTube channel dow.sh/YouTube, Facebook page facebook.com/WollongongCatholic and website www.dow.org.au.

Plenary Council President Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB has written to 266 Catholics throughout Australia, calling them as delegates for the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia.

Find the delegates for the Wollongong Diocese inside.

Congratulations to St John the Evangelist Primary School Campbelltown on their record haul of containers for the Vinnies Return and Earn Container Deposit Scheme.

As part of Catholic Schools Week, 500 CEDoW staff gathered for a moving celebration at the annual Diocesan Education Mass. The Mass saw Catholic educators from all four regions of the Wollongong Diocese come together in a strong statement of unity and spirit at St John Vianney Co-Cathedral, Fairy Meadow, to celebrate who we are and we believe in.

A proud community gathered together in solidarity at St Brigid’s Catholic Primary School, Gwynneville on Monday 3 March, to celebrate the blessing of the school’s recently installed 42kW Solar Photovoltaic system. Thanks to the outstanding fundraising efforts of the school community, St Brigid’s has now become the first virtually-electricity independent school in the Illawarra.  

In 2020 Clean Up Australia celebrates 30 years of campaigning encouraging Australians to clean up, fix up and conserve our environment. As usual many of our CEDoW schools have joined in to do their bit to "care for our common home".

A blend of wisdom and youth filled the room, as over 200 guests gathered at Villa D’oro Function Centre on 27 February to welcome new staff to the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong (CEDoW).

The Plenary Council in Australia is now just months away. The Plenary Council will begin on:
• Sunday 4 October 2020 in Adelaide and conclude on Sunday 11 October 2020
• Monday 28 June 2021 in Sydney and conclude on Saturday 3 July 2021

Update regarding overseas school excursions

Based on the advice we have received from Catholic Schools NSW, the NSW Department of Education, the NSW Ministry of Health and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, CEDoW has determined that all overseas school excursions are currently 'on hold' until further notice. This also means that parents/students are not required to make any further scheduled payments for school-based overseas travel until further notice. 

Wollongong Catholic School students come together in solidarity with the world's poor at Project Compassion for 2020. Ten-year-old Tawonga often had to miss school because she was too sick from hunger. The youngest of six children, Tawonga was born in a region of Malawa plagued by food insecurity and poverty.  For most of her life, her parents struggled to put meals on the table. The family has also faced discrimination in their community due to Tawonga having a disability. 

Good things seem to come in fives for Dylan Anderson. Fifteen years ago, he walked through the gates of St Michael’s Catholic Parish Primary School, Nowra for the first time. Five years later he was school captain. Now he’s back as the school’s newest teacher, sharing a class with the woman who first inspired his love for education – his Year Five teacher, Maree Hamilton.

Starting small was revealed as the secret to large successes at the Mount Carmel Catholic College Varroville’s HSC High Achievers ceremony last Friday, which celebrated the outstanding results of the school’s 2019 Year 12 cohort.

Mount Carmel recognised an impressive 14 HSC High Achievers, including student, Shequina Pereira, who placed first in all NSW-based schools in Indonesian Beginners. Mount Carmel was pleased to welcome special guests from the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia for the occasion.

Over 100 CEDoW students and staff who attended December’s Australian Catholic Youth Festival in Perth have gathered together at Holy Spirit College, Bellambi to reconnect and reflect on the vibrancy of the special event and the many ways the experience has positively impacted them.

See photos from the ACYF trip and read the delegations five-day blog inside.

St Patrick’s College, Campbelltown student - Amy Sligar - was the recipient of the prestigious Vince Villa award at the recent 23rd NSW Combined Catholic Colleges (NSWCCC) Blue Awards evening, staged at St Mary Star of the Sea College, Wollongong on Monday 3 February.

According to Chinese philosopher Confucius, 'if you’re lucky enough to find a job that you love, you will never work a day in your life'. This belief was shared by Mr Peter Turner, recently-retired CEDoW Director of Schools, who, at a recent event celebrating and honouring his lifetime commitment to Catholic education, gave thanks that he, indeed, had chosen work that he loved.

View our photo gallery and read more about how the CEDoW community acknowledged Mr Turner’s retirement with a Mass of Thanksgiving and a Farewell Dinner.

All Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong schools are operational today, Tuesday 11 February 2020.

Following the devastating bushfires and drought in their region, the community at St Michael's Nowra is responding in a practical way to fire-affected animals and native birds.