ARCHBISHOP COSTELLOE: WE ARE CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF THE LIFE GIVER, AND THE CREATOR.
By Grant Taylor and Jamie O’Brien
The idea that people of faith have a shared responsibility to protect “our common home” was the theme of this year's Abraham Day event hosted by the University of Notre Dame Australia in Fremantle. The interfaith event, held last Thursday 27 October, brought together leaders of Western Australia’s Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities - which all share a common origin Abraham - to focus on issues that unite them and strengthen the bonds of friendship. During the panel discussion, Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB spoke about the story of Genesis and how people we are created in
the likeness of God to be “stewards of the world”.
“At the end, the way the story presents itself, it has as the culmination of God's creative activity, the creation of humanity,” Archbishop Costelloe said.
“My experience of teaching primary school children, is that, if you share this particular story with them, and then you say to them, ‘What sort of God is being talked about?’ they'll say something like, ‘Well it’s a God who makes stuff.’
“We would put it in a slightly more sophisticated way, but ultimately, those young people would be right. We have a kind of a litany or a poem, which speaks very powerfully as God as a creating God, as a lifegiving God. That's important to keep in mind,” Archbishop Costelloe
explained.
“Because after God created everything else in this first creation story, He creates humanity. And it says, God created humankind in the divine image and likeness.”
Archbishop Costelloe continued by explaining that there is then a phrase that has caused a lot of trouble over the long period of the Christian interpretation, “and God said, ‘Be fruitful, and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it’.”
“Often people will look back to that particular that last phrase ‘and subdue it,’ and see there the roots of much of the ecological crisis that we now face today,” Archbishop Costelloe highlighted.
UNDA Chancellor, the Hon Chris Ellison, Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, Perth Hebrew Congregation Chief Rabbi Daniel Liebermann, Perth Islamic community Teacher and Leader Sheikh Muhammed Agherdien and UNDA Vice Chancellor, Professor Francis Campbell, with UNDA Student Representatives on Thursday 27 October. PHOTO: MICHELLE TAN.
CREATIVE TALENT ON DISPLAY AT CHISHOLM CATHOLIC COLLEGE
The 2022 Chisholm Practical and Creative Arts Exhibition was opened at Chisholm Catholic College on Monday 17 October with an energetic performance by the College Showband and attracted many visitors during the week. The ceremony included awards presentation that recognised students for their exemplary work, in the Learning Areas of Design and Technology, Home Economics, Visual Arts, Media and Photography.
The school highlighted that they were very fortunate to have Olive Cheng (nee Monte) from the Class of 2010, as Guest Speaker on Opening Night.
Olive spoke about her journey as she pursued her passion for Art, which included receiving the Most Promising Artist and Angelico Award
in Year 12, later completing university degrees in Design, Landscape Architecture and Primary School Teaching.
Her love of Art has taken her to Cape Town, Japan and Italy.
Olive is now working as an artist across a range of projects, exhibiting and working on commissions. She sells her art locally to the community and has it displayed in a range of local and formal settings, including Subiaco Markets and in wider audiences in art exhibitions around WA.
Once opened, the Exhibition was viewed by various community members including parents, students and special guests who enjoyed the service of food and drinks from our Home Economics students as they perused the works.
The Exhibition is an outstanding showcase of the many creative and practical talents of our students. It is essential that we acknowledge the current and past staff of Visual Arts, Design and Technology, Home Economics, Media and Photography, who have worked with tireless dedication to nurture and develop our students’ excellence and skills, sharing their passion for the practical and creative arts and playing a part in shaping these students and their work.
During the week the Exhibition was open to the community and was enjoyed by staff and students from local primary schools, parents and our visiting Year 7 grandparents, during our annual Grandparents’ Morning.
Winner of the Tina Sacino Award 2022, Charles Cabaltera. PHOTO: SUPPLIED.
THE INTERSECT OF FAITH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT BROUGHT TO LIGHT AT NOTRE DAME
The importance of integral human development and the role of a modern Catholic university were among the topics discussed at a public lecture at the University of Notre Dame Australia on Wednesday October 26.
The well attended lecture by Professor Father Eamonn Conway was entitled “All things are connected for the glory of God”.
Fr Conway recently joined UNDA after an illustrious global career as its inaugural Chair of Integral Human Development.
The establishment of this position is an outcome of the University’s new Strategic Plan, which identifies Integral Human Development as one of its five key pillars.
It is also an important indication of the unique contribution the University makes to the higher education landscape across Australia.
Fr Conway provided a rich and stimulating address exploring how faith and integral human development intersect, and their importance in creating intellectually and spiritually developed people who live their lives authentically.
“When we realise that what lies at the
heart of reality is loving relationality then we realise that the concept of integral human development is unavoidable for Christians, and this in two ways. The first is what we have been talking about. God is present and manifest in each of us in every dimension of our being: social, economic, political, cultural, environmental, and spiritual.
Given that we humans are made in God’s image, and that God is lifegiving relationality, it follows that as human beings we are all intimately and integrally bound up with one another.”
He also drew on the wisdom of numerous recent Popes including Francis, Benedict and St John Paul II to demonstrate that integral human development is at the foundation of what we do and who we are as people and communities.
“So, from Saints Irenaeus, Augustine and Ignatius we glean two important insights into what it means to be an integral human being. The first is that it requires being fully alive, in contrast to the virtual compulsion nowadays, as one Irish poet puts it, to “half-do a lot of things, to half-live our lives, half-dream our dreams,
half-love our loves…”.”
He then turned his attention to examine the role of a Catholic University to guide, shape and support the formation of students, staff and the broader community.
Fr Conway said it is imperative that universities keep sight of the need to help students develop well principled and cultured minds.
“I note that our university’s billboards reflect what is being referred to by Newman and McIntyre very well, I think, by stating that what we offer is an ethical education,” he said.
“This approach to education fits well with the contemporary emphasis on developing our students as life-long learners in an age where the only certainty is uncertainty.
“However, integral human development is about more than developing skills. It has, fundamentally, to do with enabling our students to appreciate and accept their inherent dignity and the unique service for which they which they have been both gifted and called.”
UNDA Vice Chancellor, Prof Francis Campbell, Dean, School of Philosophy and Theology, Prof Renee Kohler-Ryan, Prof Fr Eamonn Conway, Dean, School of Education, Prof Caroline Mansfield and Chancellor, the Hon Chris Ellison following a public lecture by Fr Eamonn, Wednesday 26 October, entitled, “All things are connected for the glory of God – Integral Human Development as Task and Opportunity for the Catholic University.” PHOTO: MICHELLE TAN.
LORETO NEDLANDS TO CLOSE AFTER 125 YEARS FOLLOWING CONSIDERED REVIEW
The Loreto Primary School Nedlands community was last week informed that that school would close at the end of 2023.
Closure of the school comes following a decision by Province Council of Loreto Australia and South-East Asia and the Loreto Ministries Board after “a comprehensive independent review of the school’s future viability”.
In a statement released via email Monday 24 October, Loreto Ministries acting chief executive Paul Ould said that for many years, the changing demographic and educational landscape of the catchment area has presented challenges to the Loreto Province of Australia and South East Asia (the Province) and, more recently, to Loreto Ministries.
“Throughout this time, the Province has provided ongoing financial support to Loreto Nedlands and the school board has actively consulted with Loreto Ministries regarding the stewardship and long-term viability of the school,” Mr Ould said.
“Despite these challenges, the priority was for Loreto Nedlands to continue delivering quality education while monitoring the changes in the catchment area. Loreto Nedlands has consistently delivered excellent educational outcomes throughout this period.
In a brochure released to celebrate the 125th anniversary earlier this year, the site at Nedlands was initially envisaged as a university college, but the plan evolved into a school.
The foundation stone for the new school was laid on 21 November 1930 with the Western Australian Sisters present. The first wing was completed, and thefirst day of school was on 10 February 1931.
The letter continued by explaining that Loreto Ministries undertook internal research prior to commissioning an independent review by Perth-based consultants to objectively evaluate the position of Loreto Nedlands.
The report findings confirmed the demographic changes in the catchment area and the impact on the school's current and long-term financial viability in an increasingly competitive education landscape.
Members of the Coro Comelico Choir in anto Stefano di Cadore, Italy, hold a banner as Pope Francis leads the Angelus from the window of his studio overlooking St Peter's Square. PHOTO: CNS/VATICAN MEDIA.