Editorial

A request for your assistance

Peter Westmore

Contents - Feb 2015 - Buy a copy now Editorial: A request for your assistance - Peter Westmore Consistory: Pope Francis names twenty new Cardinals - AD2000 Report News: The Church Around the World The survival of the Church - Fr John O'Neill PP Vatican report lays bare problems in US religious life - AD2000 Report Martyrdom: Would I have had their courage? - Cardinal George Pell The Pope and the Holocaust: why did Pius XII not speak out? - Robert A. Graham SJ The family and the Church in 2015 - Archbishop Mark Coleridge Brisbane: powerhouse of Catholic young adult ministry - Br Barry Coldrey The Eighteen Benedictions of Judaism ... and Christianity - Andrew Sholl What Pope Francis really said to the Roman Curia - AD2000 Report Letters: Catholic education - Allan Choveaux Letters: Smartphone apps 'very suspect' - Elizabeth Afribo Letters: A rejoinder to Anne Lastman - Charles M. Shann Letters: Mary in St John's Gospel - Dr Frank Mobbs Letters: The Church in China - Paul Simmons Letters: Homosexuality - Anne Lastman Books: AUSTRALIANS AND THE CHRISTIAN GOD: An historical study, by Hugh Jackson - Michael E. Daniel (reviewer) Books: MY BATTLE AGAINST HITLER, by Dietrich von Hildebrand - Kate Veik (reviewer) Books: Order books from www.freedompublishing.com.au Reflection: Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy - Anne Lastman

In 2015, AD2000 will increase its online presence, currently available through www.ad2000.com.au, to give readers more timely access to information than is currently available. To enable us to keep up with the changes in the way in which information is conveyed, we request that you complete the enclosed form, giving us access to your mobile phone number and your email address.

Alternatively, you could email us at subscriptions@ad2000.com.au.

This change is a reflection of what is happening to many publications today, including religious publications, and new methods of delivering news and information. Increasingly, people are receiving information online, through both news sources, emails and blog sites. A recent survey of young people found that most get their news from Facebook and Twitter ... though this is not something we intend to follow!

The other driver of change is the emergence of smartphones which radically improve the functionality of mobile phones. These devices are now routinely used to access the internet, manage contacts, read the news, send text messages and get the latest weather forecast, as well as making telephone calls.

The level of penetration of smartphones is extraordinary. A recent study showed that the number of smartphones in Australia is expected to exceed 80 per cent of the population this year, and is rising at around 20 per cent annually. Accompanying the increased take-up of this new technology, prices of smartphones have fallen dramatically, as has the price of access.

This, in turn, has led to a further increase in the use of computers and tablets for accessing news and information.

Thank you for your continued encouragement and support.

– Peter Westmore is Publisher of AD2000.

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 28 No 1 (February 2015), p. 2