STUDENTS CHALLENGED AT LIFELINK LAUNCH – BE THE DIFFERENCE IN OUR SOCIETY
Catholic students throughout Western Australia have been challenged to open their eyes to what is happening to the poorest members of society and to be inquiring enough to get to know the Christ who identifies so strongly with them.
Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB spoke to students via webcam on 19 May for this year’s LifeLink Day launch, commending the efforts of Catholic schools in raising funds throughout the year for the social outreach agencies of the Archdiocese of Perth.
Archbishop Costelloe was joined by the Executive Director of Catholic Education Western Australia (CEWA), Dr Debra Sayce, and LifeLink Chair, Bishop Don Sproxton, in a launch compered by CEWA’s Director of Religious Education, Deacon Mark Powell.
Student Kate from Seton Catholic College asked Archbishop Costelloe
what trends he saw as requiring more support from LifeLink-supported agencies.
Noting the pressure that rising interest rates would have on households with mortgages, “providing for the needs of the family becomes even more of a challenge”, the Archbishop related his personal experience of living in the heart of the city.
“There's an ever-growing number of homeless people that I pass by, each morning or evening when I go for a walk,” he said.
“That's a growing problem and is telling us something about how well or badly we care for those who are struggling.
“At the Cathedral, we have many people knocking on the door of the Cathedral presbytery, looking for food. And these things are growing all the time.
“So, I think we really only have to open
our eyes and have a look around us, and we'll see all kinds of needs that are a sign of the direction our society is taking, and therefore of the direction that our Christian living needs to take in order to respond to it.”
Catholic primary and secondary schools have raised more than $2.5 million since LifeLink Day was established in 1999, raising $138,363 in 2021 for the good works of LifeLinksupported agencies.
In answering student questions, the Archbishop noted the work of the LifeLink-supported drop-in centre, The Shopfront, “a drop-in centre, where no questions are asked, no judgements are made, people are just made to feel welcome and provided with a meal and provided with some company”.
The Executive Director of Catholic Education Western Australia (CEWA), Dr Debra Sayce; Archbishop of Perth, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB; LifeLink Chair, Bishop Don Sproxton; and the Director of Religious Education for CEWA, Deacon Mark Powell. PHOTO: RON TAN.
PERTH PREPARES BLESSINGS AS PLENARY COUNCIL MEMBERS MOVE TO THE NEXT PHASE
The Church in Perth will pray for the Holy Spirit’s blessing upon its members of the historic Fifth Plenary Council of the Church in Australia as they prepare to head to Sydney for the next phase of the Council’s deliberations.
The 18-strong delegation will join the Archbishop of Perth and Plenary Council president, Archbishop Timothy Costello SDB, on the Feast of Pentecost for a special prayer of blessing on 5 June at the 11am Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral. In July, the members will participate in the Second General Assembly of the Council, a gathering in Sydney of more than 300 people from throughout Australia, discussing soon-to-be-released proposals building on those from the first assembly in October 2021.
Archdiocesan Plenary Council coordinator Tony Giglia says the Mass is an opportunity for the Church in Perth to journey-in-theSpirit with members in what will be the next phase of Australia’s first
plenary council since 1937.
“We will send these members off with our love and best wishes, and commend them to the guidance of the Holy Spirit for this historic occasion,” Mr Giglia told The Record this week.
“At the end of this process, all of the work that comes out of it will get written up as recommendations for the bishops (of Australia) to consider at their own meeting in November. Then, that all goes off to Rome.
“At the end of that, it will be up to each bishop to consider how the outcomes of the Plenary Council will be implemented in each diocese.”
The subsidence of the pandemic will allow members to come together in a way that hasn’t been possible for some years.
COVID-19 scuttled initial plans for the first assembly of the council, originally set to take place in person in Adelaide, with Council members instead meeting online via the Teams meeting app.
While a national gathering wasn’t
possible at the time, Perth’s members were determined to gather each day of the assembly at the Catholic Education Office of Western Australia in Leederville, sharing meals and Mass together each day in a spirit of togetherness.
The way the Church has risen to the challenge of finding new ways to express “synodality” – sharing and collaboration in the communion of the Church – has proved a great blessing.
“In the end, the delays turned out to be a great gift, enabling people to spend that much longer in prayer and consultation with the people around them,” Mr Giglia said.
In a publication containing the proposals of the first assembly, released in March, Archbishop Costelloe described the council as an ongoing “process of discernment”, one appropriately bookended by the prayer “Come, Holy Spirit”.
Plenary Councils Members Sr Lucy Van Kessell PBVM, Bishop Don Sproxton, Fr Brian McKenna, Fr Vincent Glynn, Sr Chitra Justin, Marco Ceccarelli, Damian Walsh, Fr Phillip Fleay, Sr Mary Ryan OP, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, Jonathan Antony (Melbourne), Gemma Thomson, Eva Skira, Angela Mcarthy, Prof Francis Campbell, Catherine Nguyen, Fr Michael Moore SM, Fr George Kolodziej SDS and Fr Peter Whitely VG at the conclusion of the Opening Mass of the Fifth
Plenary Council at St Mary’s Cathedral on Sunday 3 October. PHOTO: RON TAN.
FR ALBERT SAMINEDI CELEBRATES 30TH
ANNIVERSARY TO THE PRIESTHOOD
When Fr Albert Saminedi paused to reflect on his vocation to the priesthood, he emphatically and without hesitation exclaimed, “I have no regrets being a priest”, and, to others, it is obvious he embraced his calling and ministry wholeheartedly and continues to do so today.
Fr Sam celebrated the 30th anniversary of his ordination at his parish, Our Lady of Mercy Church in Girrawheen on 30 April.
His 30 years of priesthood have been colourful and very well spent in the service of others as a missionary in countries many people were too scared to go to but, for Fr Sam, it was his call.
Born in Kilacheri, a small town towards the south of India, Fr Sam was brought up in a wonderful family of five children.
His schooling was at the Don Bosco Institution, and it is this affiliation with the Salesian Order that so clearly intertwines its way through Fr Sam’s vocation and life.
As a university student in India, Archbishop Mario Mugalunde from the Archdiocese of Iringa Tanzania, East Africa, visited and spoke of the need for missionaries in many
countries, including Africa, and it was then that Fr Sam saw the call for himself.
He went to Africa to help as a missionary and, by 1980, two years after the Archbishop’s talk, he joined the Salesian Order, the very order which educated him.
Fr Sam was ordained in 1992, having studied in India, Africa and Rome, and Arabic Studies in Egypt. It was during his time in Rome studying theology that volunteers were asked to do missionary work in South Sudan, where it was heard a priest had been kidnapped. Being such a big ask, no one put their hand up except Fr Sam. His time in South Sudan, Wau specifically, included no running water, no electricity, no telephones and security was required to follow him around. But it was there, struggles aside, that Fr Sam to this day feels his passion for missionary work. This missionary work was an initiative by Rome to set up ‘Project Africa’. Starting from scratch, it was the first time the Salesian Order had gone to Africa. They built 11 schools and four churches, even with the government always being against them. “They want to keep them [the people] ignorant,”
he said, a far cry from his own passion for educating youth. There were greater difficulties yet though, as the period of missionary work was also during the war in Sudan at the time. In 1999, Wau was heavily bombed. Until that point, there had been three missionaries in the community, with Fr Sam as one of them, but that year saw two expelled, which left Fr Sam carry on the work alone for another three years. At this point, he was principal of John Paul II College and it was left to him to run the entire school in all its facets. Not only that, he also had to divide his time between the college and other schools and churches the Salesians had established.
His passion for helping and teaching reigned over it all though and, in total, Fr Sam spent 20 years working in the missions. Once the community had their own priest and was flourishing, he saw it time to leave. His work has not stopped in Wau though, but continues from afar, with a team of people helping him here in the diocese of Perth with the current project under way of building a 200-bed hospital.
Fr ‘Sam’ cut his anniversary cake. Mass was celebrated and a morning tea hosted on 30 April to celebrate. His 30th anniversary was on 22 April. PHOTO: SUPPLIED.
CARITAS AUSTRALIA RAISES OVER $3.5 MILLION FOR
UKRAINE APPEAL
Since the start of the conflict, Caritas Australia has raised more than $3.5 million for its Ukraine Appeal.
“We are so incredibly humbled by the generosity of our supporters, both long-term and new. The compassion that they have shown to the people of Ukraine during their hour of need is truly amazing,” said Kirsty Robertson, Caritas Australia’s CEO.
“It reminds me of what we’re hearing from our partners on the ground, Caritas Ukraine and Caritas Spes, who have both been blessed with an extraordinary outpouring of support. In dark times, like in times of war and crisis, we often see the best of humanity against
the backdrop of the worst. It gives us great hope for the future.”
Caritas Australia is working with Caritas Ukraine and Caritas Spes to support displaced families in Ukraine with food, hygiene kits, clean water, psychological support, and emergency shelter. Since the beginning of the conflict, Caritas Ukraine has assisted more than 800,000 people across the country.
In Ukraine, volunteers are helping transport hundreds of tons of cargo across the country, including bedding, medicines, hygiene supplies, and much more. In the past week alone, over 50,000 people have received emergency food kits or hot meals.
“There is even a free laundromat in Uzhhorod where people can enjoy a hot drink while they wait. These small acts of generosity bring normality and dignity to an otherwise distressing experience, but when added together they can also move mountains.”
The funds raised are also supporting Caritas Moldova, in partnership with Catholic Relief Services, to provide shelter, hot meals, cash assistance and psychological support to Ukrainians displaced by the conflict. Over 460,000 people have fled to Moldova since the conflict began.
Donations can be made at: www. caritas.org.au/ukraine
Activities for displaced children in Ivano-Frankivsk. PHOTO: CARITAS.