CatholicCare is excited to announce that they are now delivering free counselling support for members of the Shoalhaven community, who may have been affected in any way, by the bushfire events.

The two assemblies for the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia will be held in Adelaide from October 3-10, 2021, and in Sydney from July 4-9, 2022.

Schools across our diocese recently celebrated World Environment Day through prayers and actions that invited their communities to take ownership of their environment and actively engage in the protection of our earth.

During Laudato Si’ Week, the Holy Spirit united Catholics on six continents, where we deepened our connection with each other and creation by participating in webinars and local activities. Many of our CEDoW schools joined in too. At St Thomas More Ruse, they did not let remote learning get in the way of celebrating.

John Therry Catholic College, Rosemeadow have come together with other organisations in the Macarthur area to providing comfort and support to vulnerable Aboriginal Elders and indigenous families in the area, who have been struggling through these difficult times due to COVID-19. 

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.