PERTH GAINS ANOTHER PRIEST CALLED TO PRAYER, COURAGE AND HUMBLE SERVICE
By Jamie O'Brien
New priest Fr Felipe Fernandez was called to be a man of prayer, a man of courage and a man of humble service to God's people during his recent ordination to the priesthood.
Ordained by Auxiliary Bishop Don Sproxton, Friday 2 June 2023 at St Mary’s Cathedral, Fr Felipe is the second priest to be ordained this year, in addition to two diaconate ordinations.
Joining Bishop Sproxton as concelebrants for the ordination was Vicar General, the Vry Rev Fr Peter Whitely VG, Redemptoris Mater Seminary Rector, Fr Michael Moore SM, Archbishop Emeritus Barry Hickey, assisted by Deacon Jason Yeap.
Some 20 priests from across the Archdiocese were also present for the occasion, with the Mass also
livestreamed for Felipe’s family and friends in Colombia to be able to join in the celebration.
His parents, Maria-Rocio and Diego, travelled to Perth from Colombia for the occasion, together with his sisters, Isabel and Ana-Lucia and brother Diego, who is a seminarian of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in in Amsterdam.
Also attending from Colombia was Felipe’s Parish Priest Fr Yormen Rua from Popoyan Colombia, in addition to Felipe’s uncle and other friends.
Continuing his homily, Bishop Sproxton said that the priesthood asks of those who are called to go on a pilgrimage with God.
“This journey is one of discovery and learning, growth in faith, and it's lifelong. From that first moment of feeling a call, God draws close to us in a very special way,” Bishop Sproxton said.
“The mystery which is ourself, is
gradually open to us at the same time as the mystery of God is revealed to us. This is the experience and has been the experience of people of faith. It must happen for each of us, so that we can take up the Ministry of teaching, sanctifying and shepherding,” he said.
Hailing originally from the town of Popayán, Colombia, 30-year-old Felipe trained at Perth’s Redemptoris Mater Seminary, arriving in 2012 at the age of 19.
At the age of 13, he listened to a catechesis of the Neocatechumenal Way in his parish of Iglesia Espíritu Santo, Popayán.
“I joined [the Neocatechumenal community] at the time because my mother said it would be good for my life,” Felipe explained, in a special interview for The Record. It was during his rebellious teenage years that Felipe recalled he experienced a moment of enlightenment, asking God to intervene.
God certainly intervened, with Felipe “standing up” to offer himself for the priesthood during a vocation call in 2008 at a youth pilgrimage for the Neocatechumenal Way in Bogota. He then went on to stand up again at a national meeting of the Neocatechumenal Way in 2010. Felipe says he quickly dismissed the call and didn’t think about it too much at the time.
Felipe went on to complete secondary school and was looking to become a forensic scientist or chemical engineer, completing one year of university in the town of Cali, some 140kms from Popayán.
The newly ordained Fr Felipe Fernandez thanks the congregation for their support, speaking also to his family and friends in Colombia who watched the Mass via livestream. PHOTO: RON TAN/ARCHDIOCESE OF PERTH.
NEW NAME FOR CATHOLIC LIBRARY, SAME QUALITY RESOURCES
The Catholic Library of Western Australia has last year moved to new premises in Doubleview and adopted a new name.
The Saint John Henry Newman Library is now located at St Catherine’s Centre in Doubleview and serves Catholic Education Western Australia Ltd, Catholic School staff, Parishes, staff and students undertaking courses at Tertiary institutions, Faith Formation centres, Social Justice agencies,
Outreach organisations, Clergy and members of religious orders and the broader community on their spiritual and lifelong learning journey. Membership is free and the library membership is open to all residents of Western Australia who are above 18 years of age.
The Catholic Library was originally established as the WACE (Western Australian Catholic Educators) Resource Centre in Nedlands in 1973.
It was later incorporated into the Catholic Institute in 1976 taking the name of the Catholic Institute Resource Centre.
In 1987, it was given new terms of reference by the WA Conference of Bishops and was reorganised and named as the Catholic Library of Western Australia.
As the name implied the new terms of reference heralded an expansion of its role and services to the general Catholic community as well as continuing its earlier mission in serving schools, Catechists and tertiary students.
The WA Bishops decreed in 1999 that the management of the Catholic Library would pass to the Catholic Education Commission and consequently it now operates as a library service within the Catholic Education Centre, while also maintaining its original purpose and role.
FR JOHN HOGAN CELEBRATES HIS 90TH BIRTHDAY
By Jamie O'Brien
priest Fr John Hogan recently celebrated his 90th birthday, inviting the
understand where God is calling them.
Speaking on Saturday 22 May, Fr John told how he was born in 1933 and lived through World War II,
going to school every day, while also dealing with experiences like food rationing.
After World War II, Fr John recalled to The Record that he went on to work in the public sector for many years, and upon reaching the age of 50 began to question what was the meaning of his life.
“I was working in the public service and I was going to work five days a week getting paid more than I probably needed.
“And then on my 50th birthday, I realised that in about 30 or 40 years or so I was possibly going to die and life would have been a complete waste.”
“A team of catechists from the NeoCatechumenal Way came to Canberra, where I was based: they gave a talk on Abraham and inspired me to change my life.
The WA Bishops decreed in 1999 that the management of the Catholic Library would pass to the Catholic Education Commission and consequently it now operates as a library service within the Catholic Education Centre, while also maintaining its original purpose and role. PHOTO:SUPPLIED.
Morley
small congregation gathered to
Speaking on Saturday 22 May, Fr John told how he was born in 1933 and lived through World War II, going to school every day, while also dealing with experiences like food rationing PHOTO:JAMIE O'BRIEN.
OBITUARY: JULIE COOK REMEMBERED FOR LIFELONG PASSION TO HEALING TRAUMA
In 2006 my sister answered an advert for a writer that Julie had placed in The Record Newspaper. On meeting with Julie, my sister advised her that she thought ‘she might need her sister Mary’s help’ in her particular needs.
Anyone who knew Julie, understood how impossible it was to say ‘no’ to her - and so began our enduring friendship in both a professional and personal journey together.
Julie was the Director of Abortion Grief Australia (now known as Abortion Trauma Australia) for the past 30 years. She was married to Richard and together they had seven children.
Her work in addressing abortion trauma was remarkable and deserves acknowledgement.
Julie promoted community awareness and professional development as integral in supporting healing and prevention of abortion trauma.
In 1997, from a simple home-office, she received a government grant for a 24-hour crisis line – which she often manned herself.
In 2006, through support from the Knights of the Southern Cross, Julie developed the first mainstream marketing publications on abortion trauma. With the assistance of a Perpetual Trustees Grant in 2007, she employed me, and we developed a website in 2008, thanks to a Lottery West Grant.
In its first year, the website was accessed more than 25, 000 times with more than 6000 downloads of Julie’s publications (predominantly the Silent Suffering and Men and Abortion Trauma).
Julie’s holistic achievements over the years increasingly attracted the support of health and community service professionals creating unprecedented opportunities to promote understanding of abortion trauma.
In 2014, Julie conducted a two-day training program for the Department of Child Protection and Family Services, which at that time was ground-breaking.
In 2015, she achieved a two-year grant from the Mental Health
Commission to integrate the community into the healing, early intervention, and prevention of abortion related illnesses. By the end of this grant, Julie had trained more than 250 professionals.
Julie received the Michael Bell Memorial Award from the international alliance of Catholic Knights for her ‘courage and persistence in tackling abortion in the context of the current social and political landscape’. Competition for this award extends to more than 15 countries.
In the same year, Julie received a ConnectGroups award for her commitment to addressing the issue of abortion trauma in a manner that recognises the seriousness and magnitude of the problem.
In 2016 Julie initiated and held a very successful men’s forum, Abortion trauma: Impact on Men and Relationships.
Former Abortion Trauma Australia Director, Julie Cook, left with Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB (centre), Archdiocesan Special Projects Coordinator Tony Giglia (far right), Lisette Jas from Pregnancy Assistance, Rod West, formerly from Centrecare Inc and Celia Joyce from the Fullness of Life Centre in 2017, following the launch of the new post-abortion grief counselling service. PHOTO: JAMIE O'BRIEN.
PARTNERSHIP ON NEW GRAD CERTIFICATE TO BENEFIT STUDENT WELLBEING IN AUSTRALIA
Educators, school leaders, and student service staff are set to benefit from an innovative education training program that focuses on student wellbeing. Provided through the University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA), the program will help build their capacity to lead their classrooms and enable school communities to flourish.
Open to teachers from all Australian schools, the Graduate Certificate of Wellbeing in Education was developed in partnership with Catholic Education Western Australia (CEWA), which is offering scholarships to its staff to help cover the cost of the training.
Notre Dame Deputy Head of the School of Education, Dr Anne Coffey, said the need to support student wellbeing was a key finding of a recent Productivity Commission review of the nation’s education
sector.
“As the Productivity Commission noted, there are a range of factors ‘outside the school gates’ that can significantly impact on a student’s performance,” Dr Coffey said.
“While schools cannot necessarily fix those external issues, there is a lot that teachers can do within the classroom to support the wellbeing of their students and give them the best chance of success.
“Our new Graduate Certificate equips educators with the skills, knowledge and confidence that they need to be able to identify students who are struggling and then create a safe and supportive environment that allows them to focus on learning.”
Dr Debra Sayce, Catholic Education WA Executive Director said: “We acknowledge how important it is to support the wellbeing of our
students and of the school staff who care for them.
“After the challenges and disruption to learning the world has faced in the last few years and the increasingly concerning trends around youth mental health, in Catholic education we want to provide our educators with the best opportunities to deepen their knowledge and capacity to effectively support improvements in student wellbeing.”
Importantly, the course also focuses on ways to improve the wellbeing of teachers through the development of positive school cultures. The Productivity Commission found that poor wellbeing among teachers was a major contributor to workforce attrition and could also have flowon effects for students.
Wellbeing in education Notre Dame Deputy Head of the School of Education, Dr Anne Coffey, said the need to support student wellbeing was a key finding of a recent Productivity Commission review of the nation’s education sector. PHOTO: SUPPLIED.