ARCHDIOCESE OF PERTH SET TO BEGIN A PROCESS OF DISCERNMENT FOR THE MINISTRY OF THE PERMANENT DIACONATE
By Jamie O'Brien
Perth is set to embark on a program of discernment for the formation of Permanent Deacons.
Mature men of good health, actively involved in their parish and informed in their Catholic faith are being invited to express their interest in discerning and learning about the ministry of the permanent deacon.
The Archdiocese of Perth currently has 12 men ordained as permanent deacons most of these serve in various ministries in parishes, prisons and hospitals.
Since the time of the apostles and the early Church, deacons have played an important role in the life and ministry of the Church.
The Acts of the Apostles records that, as the apostles had to grapple with the increasing calls on their ministry as the early Church began
to grow, they chose seven men and appointed those men to assist them in the ministry, especially the ministry to the poor.
Over time, that ministry took on a liturgical function as well, especially in preaching and teaching.
Derived from the Greek ‘diakonos’ meaning ‘servant’, a deacon’s ministry is, therefore, one of service to the community and the proclamation of the Word of God.
Over the centuries, for a variety of reasons, the ministry of deacons, and their presence in the life of the Church as a permanent and stable ministry alongside that of the bishops and priests, began to diminish. Especially in the Latin Church, to which most of us belong, the diaconate was seen simply as a step towards the priesthood.
What should have been a permanent ministry became a transitional one. While deacons appear in the early and middle history of the Church, they
disappeared in the latter centuries as a “permanent” state and became a “transitional” state for those men being formed toward the priesthood.
In 1967, Pope Paul VI re-established the diaconate as a permanent ministry and opened it to married men as well as to celibates.
In 2006, then-Archbishop Barry Hickey ordained 14 men to the permanent diaconate.
In a special presentation released to invite expressions of interest, Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB said that men who express their interest will be those who believe that the Permanent Diaconate may be God’s will for them.
“Always of course with the discernment of God’s will in relation to a vocation to the ordained ministry is the work of the community rather than simply of the individual himself,” Archbishop Costelloe said.
Fourteeen men were ordained to the Permanent Diaconate on 29 June 2006 by then Archbishop Barry Hickey; 12 remain following the passing of Deacons Ivan Sands and Patrick Seatter. PHOTO: JAMIE O'BRIEN.
IONA PRESENTS PAPER CRANES IN SOLIDARITY WITH UKRAINE
Iona Presentation College senior students have recently come together to make paper cranes for Ukraine. On Sunday 15 May, College Dean of Mission and Catholic Identity, Gemma Thomson, along with Presentation Sister, Sister Anna Fewer PBVM, attended Mass at the Ukrainian Catholic Church of St John the Baptist to share a special the special gift with the Parish community.
The students’ gift was inspired by their knowledge of the novel, Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes. The students were aware that the crane has always been a strong symbol of success and good fortune in Japanese culture. When the crane is folded into origami, it is believed that one’s heart desire will come true. Like many schools, the Iona
Presentation College Community has been praying for the war to cease in Ukraine.
This heart desire was symbolised in their coming together as a faith community to fold, to reflect, to pray and to speak about their hope for the people of Ukraine to experience peace.
Iona Presentation College students had folded more than 1000 paper cranes which were then framed and created several pieces of art.
It was a desire of the College for the Ukrainian Catholic Community to be gifted one of the pieces.
The remaining pieces are at the College and with the Presentation Sisters, symbolising the solidarity between the communities.
“As Catholics, we stand in solidarity with one another, and journey together
through what are very challenging times for your families and your community, both here and abroad,” Miss Thomson shared with Sunday’s congregation.
“Please be assured of our continued love and prayers for peace, and that we admire the strength, courage, and commitment to faith of the Ukrainian people. In educating our students it is our hope that they will be bearers of light and hope, and actively live out the Gospel in a time when this is so needed in our modern world,” Miss Thomson said.
Parish Priest, Father Ihor Holovko expressed a profound sense of gratitude on behalf of the Parish, commenting on the uniqueness of the gift of art, but also prayer, love and support.
Iona Presentation College students with the framed gift of paper cranes. PHOTO: SUPPLIED.
WILL AUSTRALIA BE OBEDIENT TO THE HOLY SPIRIT AT THE PLENARY COUNCIL?
Australia’s capacity to discern the motions being put forward to the final session of the historical Plenary Council will rely heavily on whether the faithful will “allow the Holy Spirit breathing room”, ACU theologian Rev Dr Ormond Rush has said.
Dr Rush is an internationally respected systematic theologian, priest of the Diocese of Townsville, and expert adviser for the Plenary Council.
Speaking at public event in Brisbane organised by the Australian Catholic Theological Association (ACTA) to discuss the themes of the Plenary Council Framework for Motions, Dr Rush said that the Church cannot forget or leave out the third person of the Trinity.
“We won’t be a fully renewed Church until we allow the Holy Spirit breathing room among us,” Dr Rush said at the first of two ACTA Plenary Council Conversations.
“The Church is powerless, clueless, without the Spirit enlightening it to discern how to apply the Gospel of Jesus Christ in new situations.”
Dr Rush was invited to unpack the seventh theme of the Framework
for Motions, At the Service of Communion, Participation, and Mission: Governance at the event, which was sponsored by ACU’s Faculty of Theology and Philosophy, Catholic Theological College of the University of Divinity, Melbourne and BBI: The Australian Institute of Higher Education.
More than 400 people tuned into the livestreamed event.
He joined fellow ACU theologian and Plenary Council member for Brisbane, Dr Maeve Louise Heaney, ACU honorary doctorate recipient Sr Melissa Dwyer FDCC, Archbishop Christopher Prowse, Bishop Shane Mackinlay, Dr Julie Trinidad, and Toni Janke at the public and livestreamed event on June 16.
Focusing on the term “participation”, Fr Rush said the Church in Australia had a unique opportunity to practice what the Second Vatican Council termed ‘sensus fidei’, or the capacity for the baptised, through the gift of the Holy Spirit “to discern the signs of the times in light of the Gospel” at the Plenary Council.
“As the Church moves through time, into an unknown future, history
throws up new questions that the Church, let alone humanity, has never before had to deal with,” Dr Rush said.
“And as it searches its primary sources, of Scripture and the living tradition, how does the Holy Spirit assist the Church and its leaders to find answers to those seemingly imponderable questions?
“This is what the Plenary Council is attempting to do.”
Acknowledging that the reception of the Second Vatican Council “had hardly begun even 55 years after its close”, and that historically the Church has taken an average of 100 years to implement a council, Dr Rush said the Pope was “moving the needle here” with the notion of synodality.
“In no way is it meant to downplay the role of the oversight of the hierarchy in the Church’s three offices of Christ, but it does require all of us, lay and ordained, to what the Pope calls a ‘synodal conversion’,”
Dr Rush said.
Australia’s capacity to discern the motions being put forward to the final session of the historical Plenary Council will rely heavily on whether the faithful will “allow the Holy Spirit breathing room”, ACU theologian Rev Dr Ormond Rush has said. PHOTO: SUPPLIED.
WA ARTIST TAKES HOME MAJOR PRIZE
Australia’s most significant thematic Christian art prize has been announced at Holmes à Court Gallery in West Perth.
The Award has attracted some of the nation’s finest artists since it was first established in 1985.
This year, of 275 submissions, 41 artists from across Australia and WA were selected to exhibit.
All artists submitting addressed the 2022 theme of Metamorphosis, with a biblical reference to Isaiah 43:19 – “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”
The $25,000 major St John of God Health Care prize was won by Claire Beausein from Western Australia with Chalice, which was created from wild silkworm cocoons, stitched together with silk thread and presented on
cotton rag paper.
The rare artwork included museum insect pins, traditionally used to display moths.
The work will become part of the Mandorla Collection, held in perpetuity at New Norcia Museum and Art Gallery and displayed in its Mandorla Gallery.
The Award is administered by the Mandorla Centre for Inner Peace Inc. steered by a volunteer committee and curator.
Being selected to exhibit in this prestigious prize is highly sought after by artists and winning the major prize can be life changing.
This year the selection panel included ECU Honorary Professor Ted Snell, artist Susanna Castleden and Notre Dame University theologian Associate
Professor Glenn Morison. Judges of the award are John Curtin Gallery Director Chris Malcolm, artist Erin Coates and theologian Rev Ros Fairless.
Mandorla Chairperson Angela McCarthy says the chosen finalists are an outstanding group of Australian artists and their interpretation of our theme shows their diversity and expertise. “It is exciting to see how the theme of ‘Metamorphosis’ referenced from the prophet Isaiah, has been presented to us in such a challenging way,” Dr McCarthy said.
Curator Lyn Di Ciero says the Award continues a long association between art and religion.
Western Australia artist Claire Beausein’s winning 2022 Mandorla artwork, created from wild silkworm cocoons, stitched together with silk thread and presented on cotton rag paper. PHOTO: SUPPLIED.