In an evening of reflection, challenge and renewal, Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB and Catholic Social Services Australia executive director Jerry Nockles called on the Church to embrace the full scope of its social mission with bold faith and humble compassion. Source: The Record.
Speaking to an audience of Catholic leaders, religious, and social service professionals at the Duxton Hotel on June 12 for the 2025 St Mary of the Cross MacKillop Oration, Archbishop Costelloe and Dr Nockles offered complementary messages on the heart of Catholic identity and action in today’s world.
Archbishop Costelloe opened his address with a reflection on the significance of recent papal leadership, drawing inspiration from the transition between Pope Francis and Pope Leo.
Rather than highlighting contrasts between popes, Archbishop Costelloe invited the audience to consider the spiritual continuity from Pope Benedict through Francis to Pope Leo.
“What I want to suggest tonight,” he said, “is that this reflection has something important to offer us as we celebrate the work of Catholic Social Services Western Australia and as we look forward with enthusiasm, creativity and boldness to the future”.
Turning to this year’s Jubilee Year and the warning not to let the Church become “just another NGO,” Archbishop Costelloe reiterated that Catholic social outreach must never lose sight of Christ as its source and goal.
“When we see a need and try to respond to it, we must ask ourselves what responding according to the mind and heart of Jesus looks like,” he said.
Dr Nockles reflected on his first five months as executive director of CSSA, describing it as “not a punishment, as one friend joked, but a profound privilege.”
Drawing on personal encounters across Australia, Dr Nockles spoke about the role of Catholic social service agencies in creating spaces of “transformative encounter.”
“I’ve witnessed our members creating spaces where people meet not as service provider and client, but as human beings recognising the divine spark in one another,” he said.
Both Archbishop Costelloe and Dr Nockles pointed to St Mary of the Cross MacKillop as a guiding light in this mission.
“Never see a need without doing something about it,” Dr Nockles quoted, echoing the Saint’s famous line.
Archbishop Costelloe added her lesser-known but vital complement: “Never forget who it is you are following”.
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Mary MacKillop Oration 2025: We must ask ourselves what responding according to the mind and heart of Jesus looks like, says Archbishop Costelloe (By Jamie O’Brien, The Record)
