Welcome to the online edition of The Official Directory of the Catholic Church in Australia.

This will be a momentous year for the Church in Australia, as we celebrate World Youth Day in Sydney with the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI and the youth of the world. The period after World Youth Day will be at least as important as the event itself. For it is then that we will seek to discern the spiritual gifts poured out on individuals, on the Church and on the nation and to use these gifts to move forward with increased fervour and renewed faith.

To do this in a deep and lasting way we will be relying on the energy and commitment of a great many people, some of whom are listed in this Directory and others who are not, but whose contribution is no less important.

Over the years, The Official Directory has become an indispensable tool for anyone who works within the Church and for many people from the wider community who at one time or another seeks to make contact with Church personnel.

But behind the lists of names and phone numbers and email addresses in this book lies the beating heart of the Catholic Church in Australia.

The Church, as we know, is a communion of souls - a living organism of people united in their faith in Jesus Christ and bound together to form His Church.

Between the pages of this Directory we see a wonderful picture begin to emerge of the breadth and depth of the Church's activities and mission in Australia. We find information on dioceses, parishes, religious orders, lay movements and organisations.

And, it is wonderful to note that the names in the Official Directory are just the beginning of the story. There are more than 5 million Catholics in Australia. Through their baptism, all are called to enter into the life of the Church.

The Church, through its members, seeks to respond wholeheartedly to Jesus' command to love God and love neighbour. The Catholic Church is a worshipping, Eucharistic community, which carries out its mission to the broader community in a number of key areas including education, health, social welfare and social justice.

I commend The Official Directory of the Catholic Church in Australia to you and thank the staff of the National Council of Priests for the work they have put into its compilation and publication. I pray for Christ's blessing on the work of all those mentioned in its pages and on the People of God whom they serve.