The Record Newspaper 23 March 2006

Defiant Birth

How Australian mothers resist medicine’s persuasions

www.therecord.com.au

CHOCOLATE LAMB: Perth man hits on new way to refocus on Easter Page 3

1

Despite individual’s sins,

says

VATICAN CITY, (Zenit.org)

- Benedict XVI has begun a new cycle of catecheses at the general audiences, dedicated to explaining the “mystery of the relationship between Jesus and the Church.”

“Between Christ and the Church there is no opposition: They are inseparable, despite the sins of the people who make up the Church,” the Pope told the 30,000 people gathered for the audience in St Peter’s Square.

“Therefore, there is no way to reconcile Christ’s intentions with the slogan that was fashionable a few years ago, ‘Christ yes, the Church no,’” he continued. The Holy Father based his meditation on the third chapter of the Gospel according to St Mark in which he presented Jesus’ calling of the Twelve Apostles.

“The Church,” Benedict XVI explained, “was initially established when some fishermen from Galilee met Jesus; they allowed themselves to be won over by his gaze, his voice and his strong and warm invitation, ‘Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.’”

After concluding on February 15 the cycle of catecheses on the psalms and canticles used in the Liturgy of the Hours, Benedict XVI announced that he now seeks to delve into the objective that Pope John Paul II had set forth for the Church at the start of the millennium: “To contemplate the face of Christ.”

“Moving in this direction, in the catechesis I begin today,” Benedict XVI said, “I would like to show that precisely the light of that Face is reflected in the face of the Church, despite the limitations and the shadows of our fragile and sinful humanity.”

“The individualist Jesus is a fantasy,” the Pope insisted. “We cannot find Jesus without the reality that he created and through which he communicates himself” - the Church.

Western Australia’s Award-winning Catholic newspaper

PRAYING FOR THEM: Claremont group offers prayer booklet Page 5

Jesus

it’s impossible

Thursday March , 

Perth, Western Australia ● $1

I SAY, I SAY: Teaching children responsibility is key

VISTA 4

to separate Christ from the Church,

Pope Benedict XVI as he begins new series of catechesis

New JPII sex values program spreads

■

By

Mark Reidy

A new sex education program founded on the teachings of Pope John Paul II will be included in a number of Australian Catholic dioceses by the end of the year.

The Values Based Sex Education (VBSE) program, also known as “It’s Your Choice”, is the innovation of Jonathon and Karen Doyle, National Directors of the Melbourne based business, CHOICEZ.COM.AU.

The idea for the program developed during their work within the Masters of Marriage and Family Studies post-graduate program

WHERE ARE YOU DAD?

The Record continues its serialisation of a policy document aimed at promoting the importance of dads in a father-absent legal and political culture like Australia.

at the John Paul II Institute in Melbourne.

Inspired by the teachings of the late Pope, the couple developed their VBSE program to incorporate Catholic moral theology and sexual ethic and make it available to teachers and young people in a contemporary and dynamic way.

Mr Doyle told The Record that the program was not designed to replace existing school curriculums but rather to augment and support them.

Within the Facilitator’s Manual the Doyles state that they have significant concerns about the adequacy of the sexual formation and

Survey finds Catholic attendance down by 13 per cent

■ By Sylvia Defendi

The latest report to surface from the National Church Life Survey (NCLS) Research Centre has concluded that the Catholic Church in Australia is in dire need of rejuvenation, especially if it plans to offset the estimated 13 per cent decline in Church attendance it has encountered from 1996 to 2001.

The NCLS report, titled “Inflow and Outflow Between Denominations: 1991 to 2001”, compiles the information obtained from over 19 Christian denominations, who participated in research surveys in 1991, 1996 and 2001.

“Church growth or decline is a widely used measure of overall church health and vitality,” comments the report. Yet, NCLS

education that Australian teenagers are currently receiving and they believe that those in the 15-19 year age group are most at risk. Despite an increase in sexual information for teenagers over the last two decades, unplanned pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections and sexual violence have continued to rise. The Doyles believe that those in this age group are most vulnerable because they receive inappropriate information in the most critical years of their sexual development. They suggest that the damage has been exacerbated by a culture of peer pressure, sexually Offering another perspective: the new program is aimed at schools.

Continued on Page 4

THE GIFT OF TEARS

KATE CLEARY looks to the Desert Fathers and Mothers of the early centuries of Christianity who fled to the desert seeking repentance - and the face of Jesus.

VISTA 3

The Parish. The Nation. The World.

Acknowledging a higher power: Augustine Choge of Kenya reacts as he crosses the finish line in the men’s 5,000 metres in the 18th Commonwealth Games in Melbourne on 20 March 2006. Choge won the race with a time of 12 minutes 56.41 seconds - and blessed himself as he crossed the line.

See PAUL GRAY’S story on faith at the Commonwealth Games - Page 2

Photo: AFP Photo/Toru Yamanaka

Chaplains work ‘The Games’ in shifts

The 2006 Commonwealth Games in Australia have been marked by an unexpected development - a surging witness of Christian faith.

■ By Paul

RGray

everend Peter Nelson, a Christian pastor to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, says that athletes from all nations including the ‘secular’ societies of Australia, New Zealand and the British Isles have openly shown their faith, both behind the scenes and on the field of play, during this year’s Games in Melbourne.

Rev Nelson is one of about 12 chaplains officially sanctioned to minister to athletes at the Games Village, where participants from the Games’ 71 competing nations are being housed for the two-week duration of the events.

Speaking from the Games, he told The Record that all major Christian denominations, including Catholics, Anglicans, Baptists, Pentecostalists and Presbyterians were represented by chaplains throughout the Games.

A special “religious” area has been set aside within the Games Village, with a room dedicated as a Christian chapel.

The chaplains have been work-

ing in shifts to ensure someone is in attendance at all times to minister to athletes who feel the need to talk.

Rev Nelson said during his stint, he was surprised by the numbers of athletes coming up to speak.

“We’ve had boxers in who were Christians. They were fantastic guys. They come from places as diverse as Scotland and Malawi. Some of them even wanted to join in Bible study.”

I asked Rev Nelson whether athletes from one particular part of the world seemed more “religious” than any others.

He replied that athletes from Africa and the Pacific Islands “certainly express their faith very openly” compared with other nationalities.

“But we’ve had Canadians, South Africans, Aussies and New Zealanders who are open about their faith as well,” he added.

Rev Nelson named several openly Christian athletes from the Australian national team, including basketballers Jason Smith and CJ Bruton, boxer Steven Rudic, netballer Susan Fuhrmann and pistol shooter David Chapman.

Nineteen-year-old Kenyan runner Augustine Choge encapsulated the Christian faith of many athletes at the Games as he hit the tape in his spectacular win over Australian Craig Mottram in front of 90,000 spectators at the MCG this week.

After coming from behind on the final turn in the gruelling 5000

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metres race, Choge ran eight metres clear of Mottram, and then made the sign of the cross with his right hand as he crossed the finish line first.

In an emotional postscript to the race, Choge and fellow Kenyan runner, 5000m world champion Benjamin Limo, embraced Mottram who had been cheered on deafeningly by the huge crowd.

Choge is trained in Africa by renowned athletics coach and former geography teacher Brother Colm O’Connell, who has been responsible for training more than 100 world class athletes at St Patrick’s School in Iten, Kenya since the 1970s.

Rev Nelson said there is a unique value for athletes in having chaplains present during a major sporting event.

This is the case not only for Christian athletes, but also for any athlete who may be experiencing personal difficulty after failure or injury in competition.

“Chaplains are non-destiny people,” he said. “We are not involved in the destiny of the athlete on the field of contest, unlike coaches who are heavily involved with their charges and with how they perform on the field.

“So they can talk to us as a kind of neutral person.”

Rev Nelson expressed great sympathy for athletes like the two male 100 metre sprinters, Michael Frater and Mark Lewis-Francis, who were disqualified for “breaking” (i.e.

leaving the blocks before the starter’s gun) in their race against world record holder Asafa Powell this week. After years of training for an event like a Commonwealth Games, it would be heartbreaking to be disqualified just seconds before having the chance to prove their abilities, Rev Nelson said.

Rev Nelson said his overall impression of the athletes at the Commonwealth Games is not that of a “wild bunch.”

“They’re normal young men and women who like to let their hair down after an event. But the people I’ve seen seem disciplined and dedicated to doing their best.”

One of three Catholic chaplains at the Games, Fr Anthony Doran, said he had met some “very faithfilled people” during his time at the athletes village.

Fr Doran says he has particularly appreciated the “multi-faith” atmosphere of the Games Village, with Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, and Bahai faithful present along with Christians.

“In many ways the Commonwealth is a microcosm of the wider world,” he said.

As they have been wearing clerical dress, the Catholic and Anglican chaplains have been “very visible” within the Games Village, Fr Doran said.

He said people have been approaching him with a range of requests - some of them wanting to pray with him before a big event. Others have approached him to ask

“We’ve had boxers in who were Christians. They were fantastic guys. They come from places as diverse as Scotland and Malawi. Some of them even wanted to join in Bible study.“

about the times of services in the Village, while others still have simply come up “for a chat.”

Mass has been said once a day at the Games Village, with at least three Masses on weekends. A range of people from athletes, chefs de mission associated with the international teams and Games volunteers have attended the Masses.

“Many people have sought out that place of prayer, out of the desire to spend time with God,” Fr Doran told The Record

“The reception towards the chaplains has been overwhelmingly positive.”

Two priests pass away

■ A former Archdiocesan priest, Fr Patrick (Paddy) Gallagher died in Ireland on St Patrick’s day at the age a 85. Fr Gallagher was born on August 25, 1919 and was ordained on June 23, 1944.

He arrived in Perth in 1946 and was appointed to Kalgoorlie as Assistant Priest, becoming priest-in-charge at Boulder in 1949.

One of his altar servers during his time in Kalgoorlie was CBC student Barry Hickey, now Archbishop of Perth.

In January 1951 Fr Gallagher transferred to Bunbury, but soon afterwards moved to Melbourne and then Ireland.

After several years in Ireland and the US, he returned to Perth in 1963 for appointments in Highgate and Gosnells. In the same year he returned to the US and eventually to Ireland where he spent most of the last 40 years. In 1999 he was awarded the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice for more than 50 years service as a priest.

■ Fr William Costelloe, better known as Fr Bill, died on March 13, at St John of God Villas in Wembley, aged 88.

One of two brothers, Fr Bill, aged 14, enrolled at St Brendan’s Seminary in Kilarney. In 1941, Fr Bill was ordained a priest. “It was an amazing feeling – we all cried,” remembered Fr Bill. Fr Bill came to Australia, by ship, on October 30, 1942. After arriving in Western Australia he served 11 parish communities in the South West and Great Southern. After 52 years of faithful service, Fr Bill, aged 76, retired in 1993. He spent his last four years at St John of God Villas, saying it was a place were he was always “very well looked after.”

“Father Bill spent his life in self-sacrifice for the people of WA, but particularly those in the Bunbury Diocese – we will particularly miss him,” said Bishop Holohan of Bunbury.

The Church = Jesus: Benedict XVI

Continued from page 1

“Between the Son of God, made man and his Church, there is a profound, inseparable continuity, in virtue of which Christ is present today in his people,” the Holy Father stated.

For this reason, he acknowledged that Jesus “is always our contemporary - our contemporary in the Church built upon the foundation of the apostles. He is alive in the succession of the apostles.”

“And his presence in the community, in which he himself always gives himself, is the reason for our joy,” Benedict XVI added. “Yes, Christ is with us, the Kingdom of God is coming.”

Let the children be

St Simon Peter Parish, Ocean Reef, will present an original musical “Let the children be, Scenes from the life of the Man from Galilee” on March 31 and April 1.

The two-hour play was written by parishioner Gerald Searle and will be directed by June Allan.

The 11 original songs and music in the production were created by the Ocean Reef music group InSpiritus and will be performed

by 20 musicians and singers. The same team of writer, director, and musical leaders enjoyed a big success with their original Passion Play presented during the parish’s 10th anniversary celebrations in 2003. Audiences were drawn from all over the metropolitan area.

Director June Allan described “Let the children be” as a powerful play that will appeal to all ages.

The play will be presented at the Baptist College theatre in Kennedya

Drive, Joondalup, adjacent to the Joondalup Arena. Opening night will be Friday March 31 at 7.30pm, followed by shows at 2.30pm and 7.30pm on Saturday April 1. Tickets are available from St Simon Peter Church on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 9.30am to 11.30am or from Gerald Searle on 9404 7292. (Adults $10, conc. $8, children under 15 $5 and family $25 covering all dependent children.

Why the lamb? Easter!

CATHOLIC MARRIAGE EDUCATION SERVICES

Position Vacant Assistant Director

To assist the director to facilitate the smooth operation of Catholic Marriage Education Services in providing marriage and relationship education and the administration of Natural Fertility Services with view to taking on the director role in July 2006.

The applicant will be required to work in this role in a part time capacity (1-2 days per week) at commencement with the option of full time work if suitable for the director role.

Selection Criteria and Application form are available from the Catholic Marriage Education Services website:

MarriageEd-perthcatholic.org.au/ Applications (must be in writing and address the selection criteria) close on Monday 3rd April 2006

Interest grows in NaPro

■ By Sylvia Defendi

F our NaProTechnology-trained doctors and four training practitioners (teachers of the FertilityCare charting system) will be based in Perth, after successfully completing the second Australasian FertilityCare Education Program held in Brisbane earlier this year. Education program director Amanda Lamont said she was delighted with the outcome of this first part of a 13-month training program.

“The waiting time for new

patients at the Perth FertilityCare Centre is currently three months long, so the extra help is much needed” she said.

Participants in the Brisbane program came from Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Singapore.

Brisbane now has three doctors and one practitioner in training, while Singapore has two doctors and two practitioners in training.

“The enthusiasm for this work in both medical and practitioner fields is growing. We are already making plans for the 2007 FertilityCare Education program,” said Dr Lamont.

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I’m John Hughes, WA’s most trusted car dealer

Do I guarantee that when people come to do business with me, they will be treated with courtesy, sincerity, professionalism and ef ciency?

I say “I want your business and I m prepared to pay for it” and “I stand behind every car I sell”. Is that really true?

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Is it true that if somebody buys a used car from me, I will pay for a pre-purchase RAC or similar inspection?

I have a warehouse selling cars under $10,000. Is it true that I offer a full money back guarantee within one week?

Fertility educators: Some of the participants in the Brisbane program.

Makers of the Cholcolate lamb: Paul Moylan, left, Suzanne Hoecker and Rick Pieroni prepare a batch of the cholcolate lambs, a new product available in Perth which they are hoping will help refocus consumers on the true meaning of Easter - Christ the sacrificial lamb. For more information see the website www.whythelamb.com

School plans 40th

■ By Sylvia Defendi

Mazenod College will be celebrating its 40th Anniversary with a formal ball at the Sheraton Perth Hotel on May 6.

Celebrations for the event will continue with a commemorative Mass in the school gym on May 7, followed by lunch, and concluding with the annual Aussie rules footy match between the old boys and current students.

Officially opening on February 14, 1966, the College has grown from 33 students to over 600, including 95 boarders from around the state.

“The deep Catholic ministry and faith of the College founders, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, has remained a constant of College life and has been integral in shaping the Mazenod College community we see today,” said Deputy Principal, Jeff Ronan.

The College community would like as many past students, staff, parents and friends as possible to attend the celebrations.

Tickets for the ball are limited and are available from the College office on: 9291 6500.

In the beginning: May 1966

Project theme resonates with encyclical

Speaking to his community nearly 2000 years ago, Saint John said, “our love is not to be just words or mere talk, but something real and active.”

That same simple yet profound message is just as important now as ever before and has been re-echoed by Pope Benedict in his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (God is Love).

The second half of this recent encyclical, his first, is a closely argued passage on the practical theological issues around the ministry of charity, and it shows that Pope Benedict is making a strong commitment to the Vatican II model of a church of service to all mankind.

It also argues that Christian charity is an outreach to the whole world, irrespective of religious tradition, gender or even politics. It encourages us not just to relieve the suffering of the poor but also to ask why they are poor.

Building a just world involves standing in solidarity with the oppressed. To do this we must act, we must challenge and change unjust structures, we must promote the human dignity of all. We are called to put Compassion into Action.

So our “Compassion in Action” theme for Project Compassion this year is particularly synchronistic with Pope Benedict’s sentiments.

While Caritas Australia continues to respond to emergencies, the main work of Caritas Australia today is in long-term community development which encourages self reliance. It’s about working in partnership with many communities at the grass roots level to promote peace and justice.

Among our many projects,

Help yourself: The local community installing pipes in Kighare, Tanzania. This project was funded by Caritas Australia.

through Project Compassion 2006, Caritas Australia would like to help:

• The people of Tanzania to access safe drinking water

• Empower Indigenous Australian women in remote communities

• Provide trauma support for the people of the Solomon Islands

• Improve human rights and access to education for children in Bolivia

• The people of Papua New Guinea fight against HIV/AIDS

In 2005, Project Compassion raised $7 million. The generosity of so many Australians enabled Caritas Australia to help many

people in need around the world. Thank you!

2005 was an extraordinary year for raising awareness about global poverty. The ‘Make Poverty History’ campaign was launched, Live 8 concerts were held around the world and the G8 met to discuss issues of debt cancellation, more and better aid and fairer trade.

There was a realisation that we have the knowledge, the resources and the interest to ‘Make Poverty History’ and that we need to continue to build the political will. In the words of Nelson Mandela “Do not look the other way…. The world hungers for action, not words.”

Your donation to Project Compassion will support Indigenous communities both within Australia and around the globe. Donations can be made by phoning 1800 024 413, on-line at www.caritas.org.au or by posting to GPO Box 9830 in your capital city.

Abortions drop after notice law passed

Teenage abortions have fallen significantly in Texas following the introduction of a law in 2000 obliging doctors to notify the parents of any girl under the age of 18 seeking an abortion.

Similar laws, all hotly contested, exist in another 34 states, and a six-state review by the New York Times published on March 6 found no clear pattern of effects.

But a study published on March 9 in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the rate of teen abortions in Texas dropped by 11 per cent among 15-year-olds, 20 per cent among 16-year-olds, and 16 per cent among 17-year-olds in the first two years after the law was changed.

Rates, however, rose for second trimester abortions among girls who were a few months shy of their 18th birthday at the time of conception - probably due to a decision to “wait out” the law rather than tell their parents they were pregnant.

The analysis - one of the most rigorously conducted to date on this issue - is based on state records of about 14,000 abortions and 65,000 births per year involving 15- to 19-year-old Texan girls. The take-home message is clear, says lead researcher Professor Ted Joyce. “These comparisons suggest that the laws are causing kids to have fewer abortions and carry their pregnancies to term.”

- FamilyEdge e-zine

New JPII sex values program spreads

Continued from page 1

saturated media and family breakdown.

As a consequence of the urgent need, the “It’s Your Choice” program was developed.

The program aims to communicate to young people that the option of delaying sexual activity until marriage is an achievable and beneficial lifestyle choice. It seeks to provide a safe and non-threatening environment in which teenagers can develop healthy decision-making and relational skills, as well as access medically accurate and age appropriate information.

The program is presented in DVD format and is accompanied by an easy to follow Facilitators Manual that minimises teachers’ preparation time. The DVD consists of four parts, approximately 25 minutes each, and includes suggested discussions and activities to complement each session.

The program recognises parents as the prime educators of their children and incorporates them throughout, including a preliminary information night and ongoing involvement in homework discussion topics. The presentation is professionally produced and will appeal to a young audience with its graphics, music and peer contributions. It is balanced with input from medical professionals and others working with young people.

The first part of the program focuses on the sexual messages portrayed through the media and encourages young people to stand

“It is deeply faithful to the Catholic vision of human sexuality…‘It’s Your Choice’ presents a multi-dimensional understanding… which is clear on the disciplines required, but never negative in tone. It is counter-cultural but deeply positive.” -Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne Mark Coleridge.

back and critically analyse the impact these have on their lives.

Issues of self-respect, dignity and the uniqueness of others are then addressed.

“If you don’t know your own worth”, we are told, “You can give yourself away cheaply.” The short and long consequences of sexual choices are then explored and include personal testimonies from those who have experienced abortion and sexual disease.

The final section deals with relationships and how sex should be a precious gift of oneself given freely within a commitment of marriage. It distinguishes the differences between love and lust and explores how love can at times be a choice to not follow one’s feelings.

The program, whilst founded on Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, has been designed to meet the needs of a diverse population with differing religious, cultural and educational perspectives.

It can be used in classrooms, in youth groups, to enhance existing programs or for parents to directly teach their teenagers.

For further information: www.choicez.com.au

Fr Don Hughes OMI (L) first rector of Mazenod College and Fr Iain MackIntosh OMI (R) stand with the whole student body (33 students) May, 1966.

Forty years on: Fr Don Hughes OMI, first rector of the College, with the whole student body, (600+ students) and staff, March 2006.

Photo:

Concert celebrates choir

■ By Sylvia Defendi

The 2006 Pipe Organ Plus Concert Series will commence with Magnificat at the Basilica of St Patrick, in Fremantle, on April 2 at 2.30pm.

The concert will open with the launch of the first compact disc, featuring the Choir of the Basilica of St Patrick with organist and Choir

Director, Dominic Perissinotto.

“The CD recording is a celebration of the choir’s accomplishments over the past six years, featuring their favourite works and a number of solo performances,” said Mr Perissinotto.

The repertoire ranges from the works of 19th and 20th century English composers, Sir Charles Villiers Stanford and Sir Edward Elgar, to the contemporary work

of John Rutter. “This celebratory concert promises to stir the senses with the full voice of the choir, the magnificent resonances of the organ and the sheer delights of solo voice,” said Mr Perissinotto.

He said he was delighted to commence this year’s Pipe Organ Plus Series with the launch of the CD. The CD, Blessing, will be available for purchase at the concert. For Bookings call: 9339 7418.

Parents praying for kids offer resources

■ By Sylvia Defendi

St Thomas’ Parish in Claremont continues to offer support for parents with youth who have strayed from the faith, through the production of personal resources in conjunction with their Monica and Augustine prayer group.

Commencing on March 14, the prayer group gathered parents of those who are no longer practising

their faith, to pray, reflect and share with others in similar situations.

“Participants share how their adult sons and daughters have retained a spirituality and sense of justice even though they may have strayed from practising their faith,” said parish priest Fr Brian O’Loughlin.

Prayer group participant Dorothy Townsend composed A Prayer for our Children, which is prayed to open the meetings. A beautifully

coloured booklet, with extracts from St Augustine’s writings, was also produced by participant Margaret Wilcox.

Copies of the prayer are available to anyone who sends a stamped, addressed envelope to PO Box 84, Claremont, W.A. 6910. To obtain a copy of the booklet, phone Ms Wilcox at: 9291 3283.

For information regarding the next Tuesday meeting, on March 28, phone: 9384 0598.

Report maps church attendance trends

Continued from page 1 researchers argue that a focus only on numbers can be limiting. “Research in Western countries has shown that much of what passes as church growth is actually people moving between churches, or ‘religious musical pews,’” it says.

In an attempt to provide accurate figures NCLS research accounts for Church members switching in and out of denominations, births and deaths, as well as newcomers and ‘drift outs’.

Head of Communication and Research at NCLS, Dr Ruth Powell, says “this model helps churches understand whether their growth is a reflection of effectiveness in mission or whether it is being driven by other factors.”

A joint project of the Uniting Church, the NSW Board of Mission, Anglicare and the Australian Catholic Bishops Confrence, NCLS has concluded that from 1996 to 2001, total Christian church attendance, in Australia, has declined by seven per cent.

“Children born to church attendees naturally increase the size of the church, but it is whether they can be retained, particularly as they enter

the teenage years that ultimately determines whether the church has truly grown,” states the report.

As for the Catholic Church in particular, its 13 per cent decline in Church attendance is explained, in the report, as the direct result of people drifting out of religion altogether.

The report mentioned that yet another integral factor in the Catholic Church’s loss of parishioners was due to its increasingly aging population.

“When older long-term attendees die, it is not simply about a decline in Church attendance. The loss represents a loss of knowledge, experience and wisdom in multiple local settings across the country.

“To compound the tragedy, the missing generations of parents raising children in the life of the Church mean that the capacity to pass on something of worth is diminished,” declared the report.

The report stated that the research provided congregations and denominations with the knowledge to consider what needed to be implemented in order to change trends.

The 2006 National Church Life

Join Pope Benedict XVI in prayer - March

General intention: “That young people who are searching for the sense of life may be understood, respected and accompanied with patience and love.”

Mission intention: “That, throughout the Church, there may grow that shared missionary awareness, which favors the collaboration and exchange of those who work in the missions.”

The World Apostolate of Fatima presents a Lenten Renewal Program

Six recorded sermons by Fr J Corapi on Our Lady of Fatima will be screened at The Catholic Pastoral Centre in Harold St, Highgate, over three Monday nights, March 27, April 3, and April 10. Father’s talks get to the heart of the Fatima message and explain how to live the message, with a severe warning if we refuse to act. The talks begin at 7.30pm each evening. For bookings call 9339 2614.

Cana • Mt Tabor • Nazareth

Survey will take place between June and November, with different states participating during different months.

“We expect that up to 8000 congregations in 20 denominations will take part. It is a chance for churches to monitor the quality of their church life and take up one of a range of options to enhance their own vitality, ” said Dr Powell.

31 July, 10 Sep - Fr Frank Perry, 10 Oct - Fr Terry Raj

Conductor

Narrator

2pm

Tickets

Departs

8 Jun - Fr Warren Edwards, 2 Sept Fr David Tonks

GRACES OF FRANCE

Lourdes • Avignon • La Salette • Taize

Ars • Paray le Monial • Nevers • Chartres Lisieux • 14 days • Optional Paris

Departs 18 May - Fr Don Kettle, 18 Sep 2006 - Fr Frank Perry.

Fr Brian Ahearn, 17 Jun (Anniversary) - Fr Andrew Grace and Tony & Lorraine Grace (pictured), 10 AugFr James Kane, 12 SepFr John Rate, 7 Oct - Fr Patrick Vaughan, 18 Oct 2006.

Mt of Beatitudes • Jerusalem (5) Exodus Journey Link $4975 from

In full flight: the choir of the Basilica of St Patrick, in Fremantle, performing part of their repertoire.

Against the odds

We are a tolerant society. Or are we?

Many women have had to overcome ‘reasonable persuasion’ from doctors in order to have their babies. A new book by an Australian writer looks at their struggles.

By Geraldine Capp

Canberra author Melinda Tankard Reist has the special knack of articulating the experiences of women whose voices are rarely heard in the prevailing commentary on bioethics and women’s health.

In her new book Defiant Birth, Ms Tankard Reist presents the experiences of 20 women who continued with their pregnancies despite pressure from doctors, family members and friends to have an abortion.

Defiant Birth features women from around the world who were told they should not have their babies because of perceived disabilities – either in the unborn child or themselves. Facing silent disapproval and sometimes open hostility, the book chronicles what happened when these women went ahead and carried their child to full term anyway.

Ms Tankard Reist’s first book from 2000, Giving Sorrow Words: Women’s Stories of Grief After Abortion, articulated womens’ experience of unexpected grief, trauma and regret after having an abortion.

In Defiant Birth, Ms Tankard Reist again

challenges widespread medical and societal ideas about less than perfect pregnancies. This leads her to delve into attitudes about babies that are genetically different and mothers with disabilities who were discouraged from ever conceiving a child.

“I like to tell the untold story,” she says. “We are told that abortion is a good thing – easy, safe and the positive thing to do. But there are women who say this is not true and in my first book I tell their stories.

“This book shows that disability is seen as an unmitigated disaster and many of these women, who had been diagnosed with a baby that had an abnormality or women themselves who had a disability or were ill in some way, were told that they should not reproduce. But they all resisted the pressure to terminate.

“I had never read these stories before. I had never read stories about women who had resisted terrible pressure from the socalled results of genetic screening and termination package. These were the stories that needed to be told to empower women who face the same situation and don’t know they have options because they are only presented with one option.”

Ms Tankard Reist outlines how eugenically-influenced medical advice appears to have become the norm, even though it is not

Telling the untold story: Defiant Birth author Melinda Tankard Reist wants women to be empowered, not marginalised.

Photo: Fairfax

The illness we often forget to mention

Those who suffer from mental illness must nearly always wear their own crown of thorns - and often it is other people who place it on their heads. The sufferers - and the suffering - caused by mental illness were the theme of the recent World Day of the Sick, held in Adelaide last month.

■ By Fr Len Thomas

We often discuss our latest ailments as we gather for Sunday Mass, or meet at the supermarket. But some illnesses we leave out. Let us consider the following illnesses, and which we would be likely to omit, even to friends:

‘My blood pressure is up again, my GP tells me;’ ‘My hip operation is scheduled for next month, so I won’t see you for a few weeks;’

“The mentally ill person is blessed... resembles our Lord on the Cross... and is a faithful image of God our Lord.”

- Cardinal Javier Barragan

‘My GP wants me back in the psychiatric ward because of my manic depression;’ ‘My cancer is dormant, so all’s well for a while.’

For those of us that think that referring to manic depression would be the most unlikely of those four health conversations, we are not alone. Indeed, people fear, stigmatise and largely do not understand mental illness in our society, despite its rampancy.

The World Day of the Sick, established by the late Pope John Paul II to stimulate reflection and action on the subject of health, is conducted in a different continent each year by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care workers. Australia – more specifically, the Adelaide Archdiocese – was chosen as the 2006 host for the three day conference, which finished on the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes, February 11.

Mental Health and Human Dignity was the subject of this 2006 World Day of the Sick Conference, the 14th such conference of its kind. Archbishop Philip Wilson said that the theme Mental Health and Human Dignity is a particularly challenging and emotive one, “as we seek to engage the experience and needs of those who are most vulnerable in our societies.”

The Conference drew a number of renowned guest speakers, including comedian Gary McDonald, who himself suffers depression; Anne Deveson, author of “Tell Me I’m Here”; Prof Ian Hickie, clinical adviser at Beyondblue and Professor of Psychiatry at Sydney University; Mgr David Cappo, Catholic health adviser to the South Australian Cabinet; and Cardinal Javier Barragan, President of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers.

As keynote speaker, Cardinal Barragan went

beyond extensive research by the Pontifical Council to say that the mentally ill person is “blessed,” “resembles our Lord on the Cross,” and is “a faithful image of God our Lord.”

Dr Prue McEvoy, a leading child and adolescent psychiatrist in Adelaide, stressed family care by mother and father, and successful early intervention programs and research.

Speaking from a more spiritual perspective, Fr Peter Comensoli of Wollongong explained the depths of dignity relating to the mentally ill person, beginning with the example of the crucified Jesus. Yet despite there being a diverse range of speakers from both scientific and religious backgrounds, almost all participants expressed sentiments concordant with the notion that fear, embarrassment, shame and stigma can undermine the fundamental virtue of hope in our society, especially for our mentally ill. People can be ostracised, like the leper who Jesus touches and heals.

Both Cardinal Barragan and Prof Hickie produced Australian and world figures that one in five people will suffer mental illness, especially those aged between l5 and 34. Yet, although mental health needs account for 10% of all health issues, only 6% of Australian health funding is channeled into this cause.

Anne Deveson and Prof Hickie both stressed the value of community in treating mental health, and how difficult it is to get back into society once a person is sidelined with mental illness. Two research publications of Beyondblue, Not For Service, and Out of Hospital, Out of Mind, were cited to reveal the loss of hope and the loss of dignity that sufferers experience.

The need for local programs and family awareness, the need for open and frank discussion, the fact that mental illness is seen as too personal and questions of morality were

the major reflections of speakers on the first day of the Conference, and the major focus of participants’ sharing on the second day. Achievable targets are needed, said Prof Hickie. Social connection is largely gone, and it is especially crucial in mental illness. Families are the real health carers. Medical people are more into intervention.

As keynote speaker, Cardinal Barragan drew attention to the face of Christ – both suffering and joyful – and His death and Resurrection. The Church should face the issues of today, promoting and collaborating in parishes, dioceses, and throughout Australia, to alleviate mental illness and bring hope, he said.

Understanding, not sympathy was the challenge for participants at Adelaide Convention Centre. There was a call to dismantle fear, ignorance and destructive labels. The Church is in a prime position to effect change. As such it must listen to all people, including those suffering mental illness. It must “underline the inviolable dignity of mentally ill people, and do everything possible to protect it at the cultural, institutional, family and individual levels,” said Cardinal Barragan.

The Cardinal concluded the conference by celebrating Our Lady of Lourdes Day Mass at St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral, Adelaide, with 20 bishops, more than 20 priests, and l000 people. He emphasised relationship-building, strong family life, and that “at the centre of prevention and the care of the mentally ill person there is love.”

Ideas from this conference will be forwarded to church, welfare and government officials, and are available on website www. worlddayofthesick.org.au.

Fr Len Thomas is the Melbourne Archdiocesan Mental Health Chaplain

These troublesome women who won’t see reason

Continued from Vista 1 recognised as such. “The attitude is that if you have a ‘bad’ diagnosis after screening, you would terminate - who wants to have a disabled baby? My book tells the stories of women who have challenged that,” Ms Tankard Reist explains.

“Fewer and fewer pregnancies are allowed to proceed without screening and related interventions. Rarely are women allowed to move through pregnancy without being subjected to some form of genetic surveillance. Women are often led to infer that it is only those who are weak-willed and avoidanceseeking who do not avail themselves of all medical technology has to offer.”

Ms Tankard Reist draws on exstensive research to show that many women do not experience prenatal diagnoses as a choice but as a standard medical directive. Their autonomy is undermined when society determines which choices they are to be offered and makes them feel irresponsible for not exercising one of these pre-determined ‘right’ choices.

Because of the widespread availability of testing and due to burgeoning health care costs, parents who have a child with some type of impairment are considered irresponsible if they failed to have prenatal screening or if they ignored the findings.

The erosion of empathy was evident in Perth in 1998 during that year’s abortion law reform debate. Former Australian of the Year

and founder of WA’s Institute of Child Health Research, Professor Fiona Stanley, sent a letter to Members of the State Parliament explaining the rate of abortion for foetal abnormalities in WA – 100 of 9000 abortions.

Prof Stanley wrote: “Whilst some of these children would die soon after birth, some would survive the disabilities and need services that are already stretched to the limit.”

The attitude is again revealed through the work of lawyer and geneticist Margery Shaw.

Shaw believes that abortion for foetal abnormality is morally obligatory and she advocates legal penalties against parents who ignore their moral duty and give birth to babies with disabilities.

Parents who knowingly give birth to a seriously impaired child, she says, are guilty of child abuse.

Ms Tankard Reist highlights the extreme danger in this position through the story of Melbourne mother Leisa Whitaker who was born with achondroplasis, the most common form of dwarfism. She is married to James, who has another form of dwarfism, and they have four children who are also affected by dwarfism. With her first pregnancy, Mrs Whitaker’s specialist offered her an abortion and she describes how she felt abused and powerless by her treatment by some doctors.

“With prenatal testing becoming so routine, the human race is now able to choose who is acceptable and who is not,” Mrs Whitaker explains. “Seeing people like us flies in the face of ‘perfection’, and I think society finds

us a challenge to deal with as we are normal intelligent human beings living in a body that is not viewed as acceptable.

“I was devastated when I heard about the case involving the late-term abortion (at 32 weeks) of a baby that had been diagnosed as having achondroplasia. For a long while I had thought that we were ‘safe’ because achondroplasia would not normally be a condition that a doctor would be looking for and by the time it was obvious it would be too ‘late’ to do something about it.

“And what did aborting that baby say about us? Did society think we were better off dead?

I felt so upset for the mother of that child, wondering why she was in a place where she felt that there was no hope for that baby, or was it just a case of a world so obsessed with physical perfection that she was made to feel bad for producing someone who didn’t fit into that mould?”

Sandi Seyferth from Michigan in the US, explains what happened when her unborn daughter was diagnosed with curved femurs, over-sized kidneys, stomach and liver, and a turned left foot. Her doctor said the pregnancy “smelled of chromosomal problems” and the baby would probably live only a few hours after birth. Despite huge pressure to abort, Sandi and her husband decided to carry the girl to term and “love her for the time she would spend with us, inside me.”

When Grace was born, neonatologists were waiting to perform a variety of tests. Within two hours, she was declared normal, despite

the so-called validation of abnormalities through numerous ultrasounds.

Singaporean mother Nirmmala Jegathesan was told her third child Sonia showed signs of Down syndrome and cystic hygroma, a collection of brain and spinal fluid around the neck of the foetus. Again, she was told the baby would live just a few hours after birth and she was pressured to have an abortion. Sonia was born with no trace of any disability or abnormality.

Julia Anderson, wife of former Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson, tells the story of the birth and death of their fifth child Andrew.

He was diagnosed with Down syndrome and a serious oesophegael defect. He underwent surgery on his heart, oesophageus, throat and bowel. He suffered many complications and died at home aged six months.

“Through his pain and the turmoil of his short and difficult life, Andrew was overhauling our family on the inside,” Mrs Anderson explains.

“He was at work changing our souls in a way that only he could. He was teaching us that external appearances, physical disabilities and even grotesque pain were not the most important things in life. From him we learned to look at our own imperfections differently. We learned to see that we are all imperfect, just in different ways.”

Defiant

Birth: Women Who Resist Medical Eugenics Spinifex, RRP: $29.95.

Waiting on Him: Away from

Awash with the tears of the saints

■ By Kate Cleary

Lent is a beginning. To drift into and out of it as into and out of a familiar, obligatory custom is to bypass the vibrant spiritual reality that it contains. This is the reality of repentance. In Lent we can return to God with a renewed awareness of the depth of his love for us. The early Christian monks knew how to hold on to the power of such a return. Their lives were lived in silence and solitude in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine and Syria. Away from the din of the false counsel that permeates cities they were able to listen for God.

And one of the key insights gleaned from such attentive listening was the preciousness of the gift of repentance: not futile guilt, not a harbouring of the past, but a simple and honest turning to God, a turning which begins with tearful prayer ‘in order to calm the wildness within the soul.’1

They called the tears that inevitably accompanied such a conversion tears of compunction. Such a turning is not a morbid and continuing sense of guilt for particular sins but an ever-present consciousness that once you were away from God and that now you are not. It is not a moment of sentiment, nor maudlin reproach or self-pity but the start of a life-long encounter and one that is to be rejoiced over.

For them the tears of the penitent are one of God’s greatest gifts. Like Christ the Fathers seemed almost to have a preference for the sinner because they are aware that the more distant she knows herself to be, the greater her thirst for the rediscovered God. For them, then,

Lent is not a mulling over past sins. It is a time to reflect on natures fractured by attempts to live life independent of God; to become aware that we are not the limitless and self sufficient creatures that we play at being. To accept ourselves as we are, to mourn our estrangement from God rather than our lack of self-sufficiency is to move towards the other. (‘To accept with joy the humility and the humiliation of nature.”2 Our work in Lent is to begin the life-long task of accepting of the boundless, unconditional love that God offers always, to accept “the mercy that runs after us all the days of our lives.” (Psalms 22.6, and 135). The experience of the Desert Fathers attests to the fact that such experiences are real. They show us that life can begin again, that things that seemed unforgivable are forgiven, not even spoken of, once we return to God. Compunction is a kind of sadness at not having loved enough. It’s a quiet sadness that sticks with you. But it is a sadness tinged with joy because to understand that one has not loved enough is to recognise that God has been absent from one’s life The word itself contains the notion of a puncturing, a piercing, a pinch to wake us up. How many of us would weep the tears of compunction if we awoke to “the sadness of my exile, of the waste I have made of my life; the brightness of God’s presence and forgiveness, the joy of the recovered desire for God, the peace of the recovered home”?3

The insights that God gives one who receives the gift of tears are irreplaceable. God’s presence is etched into the soul by them. These are the tears of the Prodigal Son, the one who now sees that, in returning to his father and his homeland, he returns to himself.

They are the soft, quiet tears of one who, though humbled, is confident of being enfolded once more in the love that was rejected. They are the tears of one who has a new awareness of the depth of the gift offered and a new appreciation of its unconditional nature.

When we weep over our absence from God we are once more in His presence. Befriended by this abiding sense of how God has been absent our tears become tears of love. Our tears change course, as it were, as we move closer to God. At first we feel sorrow for our actions and this movement leads us to deep desire for God.

God disturbs us like this in order to shake us out of our complacency so that we might look for him and find him. St Isaac the Syrian calls these ‘the tears that return children to their homeland’

The desert was often watered by these tears because out there nothing could distract you from

their call. These tears of the saints watered the dry earth and refreshed it.

The poetess Cassia (840) speaks with beautiful eloquence about the most famous recipient of the gift of tears, Mary Magdalene

“Lord, she who fell into many sins has recognised your Godhead and has joined the myrrh-bearing women: weeping she brings myrrh for you before your entombment.

‘Alas’! she cries. ‘What night is upon me, what a dark and moonless madness of unrestraint, a lust for sin. Accept my fountains of tears, you who pour down the water from the clouds into the sea; bow down to my heart’s grieving, you who bowed down by the unutterable abasement of your incarnation. Many times will I kiss your undefiled feet, and then dry them with the hair of my head; those same feet whose steps Eve heard at dusk in Paradise and hid herself in terror. Who will trace out the multitude of my transgres-

sions, or the abyss of your judgements, Saviour of souls? Do not overlook me, your slave girl, in your boundless compassion.”

Let us imitate this most famous of all converts. Let us turn to God this Lent with all our hearts so that once freed from distractions the weight of our sins that crushes can also squeeze out the wine of compunction and fill us with great joy.

In so doing we will discover, like the prodigal son who in returning to his father returns to himself, that we are finally home.

KATE CLEARY is a ormer director the Caroline Chisholm Library in Melbourne. The library’s entire catalogue is online and can be found at: www.cclibrary.org.au

1 Ponticus the Hermit, Sayings of the Desert Fathers

2 Isaak the Syrian, Sayings of the Desert Fathers

3 Fr. Alexander Schmemann, Great Lent

the din of the false counsel that permeates cities the early Christian monks of Egypt, Palestine and Syria were able to listen for God, writes Kate Cleary. Whether in the heart of the city, as at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Bendigo, or the silence of the bush, as in this West Australian Anglican Church near Mt Barker, we can find our own deserts. Photos: Peter Rosengren

Opinion

A little self denial can help build character

■ With Mark Reidy

It is difficult to ignore the relationship between the decline in Church attendance over the past few decades and the culture of “no boundaries” that has pervaded today’s society.

The pendulum has well and truly swung from the tight-reined parenting that was predominant before the 1970’s to the, ‘if it feels good, do it’ mentality that has since prevailed. But has this ‘unshackling from the pews’ brought young people true freedom?

As a youth worker in Melbourne for the Department of Community Services I spent ten years in hostels and agencies caring for children and teenagers who had been abused and removed from their homes. We regularly dealt with severe behavioural problems, but the most difficult often came from those who had existed in environments where they were free to do as they pleased.

Initially I found this revelation quite surprising, but gradually I learned to understand why. These children had never had parameters placed on their behaviour.

They had been removed from their families for reasons of neglect, often left to fend for themselves because their parents were incapable of providing a safe environment. These were the children who displayed the most at-risk behaviours. Whether it was toddlers climbing tall trees, young children defiant and abusive or teenagers engaging in sexual promiscuity and drug taking, there was a sense of selfdestruction that encompassed them all.

They were children who had never known a loving presence that instilled in them the gift of selfcontrol.

And it seems that today this vacuum of self-discipline has invaded a broader spectrum of young people. This phenomenon has been founded on the misguided belief of parents who have falsely equated love with fulfilling their children’s desires.

As a consequence there have been an increased number of children and adolescents who have never had to do without. They have been born into smaller families, with higher incomes than ever before, in a society that measures success with material wealth and within an environment that has relieved them of the need for personal responsibility. Catchcries of ‘Just do it’ and ‘No limits’ have woven their way into

the psyche of this generation and there is now an increasing number of individuals who have become answerable only to themselves.

In these child-centred families, virtues of self control, sacrifice and personal responsibility have been overlooked and children left to naturally incline toward the pursuit of self-satisfaction. This mindset has pervaded all aspects of their lives and they instinctively shun anything that threatens their seemingly tranquil existence. The Church con-

in brief

Progenitors ‘A’ and ‘B’

Mothers and fathers in Spain are in danger of being officially re-labelled Progenitor (parent) A and Progenitor B, whether they like it or not. That’s how they would appear henceforth in the Family Book of the civil registries, according to a government decree issued recently.

The Minister of Justice said the move was necessary because the law now allowed for same-sex “marriages”. Such couples are also allowed to adopt children.

Almost immediately, however, the government back-pedalled, claiming that the Family Book model with mother and father will co-exist beside the new progenitor A and B model. And the revisions may not stop there. Lesbian groups

sequently comes to be viewed as an authoritarian regime that enforces rules, dictates boundaries of behaviour and directly challenges their freedom.

Offended at being told what they can or cannot do they search elsewhere for a spiritual home. They soon find that they can appease their inner yearnings for meaning in a marketplace that ignores all reference to self-denial.

In this way they can be selective in their attitudes and behaviours and

do not like the term “progenitor” because its gender is masculine. They are suggesting Progenitora A, and Progenitora B. Spain-based journalist Robert Duncan suggests, ironically, just calling them both progenitoras (plural), “or, while we are at it, why not facilitators. After all, nowadays mothers and fathers in Spain are nothing more than outdated, endangered expressions.” Duncan says so far, only around 400 samesex couples have bothered to get married in Spain.

- FamilyEdge e-zine

Pill News

Cancer expert Sam Epstein has called the birth control pill “the largest unregulated human trial that’s ever been conducted.” Dr Epstein, author of Cancer-Gate:

can continue their lifestyle based on never having to compromise.

The irony of this tragedy is that this generation has become imprisoned by their passions and have been denied access to the one pathway of true freedom. It is when they are nurtured in overcoming, rather than succumbing to, their own wills, that they will come to recognise the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

responses: reidyrec@iinet.net.au

How to Win the Losing Cancer War (2005), is Professor of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at the School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago.

He maintains that prevention of cancer has been largely ignored because of vested interests in drugs and other pollutants.

In 2005, the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer reclassified certain oral contraceptives as carcinogenic to humans with slightly increased risks for cervical, liver and breast cancer. While the overall benefits of oral contraceptives may be beneficial, it concluded, more study is needed. (The Canadian Cancer Society is reviewing its position on oral contraceptives. The society plans to make a decision this spring.)

- FamilyEdge e-zine

Those who seek rules will find plenty - and more

Reading in the Sunday Times recently about people who had converted to Islam, I found it both intriguing and sad that the three Catholics who had chosen to embrace Islamic practices (once a Catholic, always a Catholic, you cannot erase that Sacramental mark of Baptism from your soul) seemed to think that Catholicism was wishy-washy, lacked rules, boundaries and directives, and that it was just a ‘week-end’ thing.

They have never been taught - or have forgotten - about those huge, over-arching, inescapable laws, the Ten Commandments, that cover every important aspect of everyday life for everybody, if you take them seriously.

And they cover everything from keeping the Sabbath holy by attending Mass every Sunday, to making Godliness a priority rather than lots of money and a big house or any other ‘false gods’, not swearing or cursing, giving money, time and talent to charities, helping one’s neighbour, honesty in financial dealings and indeed in everything, not stealing lying, cheating or killing others - including character assassination through gossip - being faithful to your spouse, having a marriage

Catherine Parish @ home

always open to the possibility of new life (ie not using artificial contraception), and the nurture, education and loving of children in loving and permanent marriages.

These are all serious responsibilities undertaken by committed Catholics in their normal lives; none of these are optional extras for the super-devout, they are just the basic requirements for living a normal Catholic life.

If you are single, leave out the bit about spouse and children and substitute ‘remain chaste until married.’

And if you want more rules than those first ten, or need more clarification of what is contained in the Bible, there is a huge book of

“rules”, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (over 800 pages’ worth in fact), giving the Catholic spin on everything under the sun, all based, under the Holy Spirit, directly on Scripture, as well as centuries of Catholic scholarship, deep thinking, argument and prayer - always prayer.

There is a Catholic answer to every question, but it may not be a palatable or easy one, or the one you want to hear.

The earliest New Testaments from which our translations come have very good provenances and the central teachings have never changed and never can (much to the annoyance of many erstwhile Catholics, both clerical and lay) because they are not human teachings.

They are God’s Word direct from the lips of His Son, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.

Sure, we might fall down on the job occasionally, but we are not Catholics because we are perfect.

Our religion is given to us because Heaven knows we are not perfect, and we need all the help we can get, not only to manage in this life, but to come through to the next after we die, sharing eternal life with

beset us no matter how rich, comfortable and easy our lives are, in the Catholic Church; there is such a flood of love and forgiveness and grace and strength available for anyone who chooses to partake of it in the Catholic Church; there is such inescapable truth in the teachings of the Catholic Church, that only wishes for each individual to find true happiness - not the winning-Lotto type of happiness, but the deep abiding peace of heart that comes from knowing that there is someone else always there who you can trust, who will never desert you, who will never hate you, to whom you can always return penitent and be sure of forgiveness no matter how bad you have been.

God. This is the ultimate aim of the whole religion ‘thing.’ The saddest thing is that somehow this message is not getting through to people who somewhere in their past lives have professed to be Catholics. There is such a wealth of wisdom, depth of understanding of the human condition, fathomless compassion for the difficulties that

The tragedy of the faithful but constantly spurned lover speaks to every human heart - how else explain the enduring appeal of romance, from the earliest myths and chivalric romances right through to modern breathless airport pageturners?

Christ is that One, waiting faithfully for us always, always ready to have us back. That is what is at the centre of Christianity, you see - not rules, ultimately, but Love, Love Himself.

Answers aplenty: the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Catholic Media in Perth

Free to Air

Broadcast TV

Sunday, February 5

Eternal Word Television Network

1-2pm on Access 31 (See Panorama page 11 each week)

FM Radio

Gate of Heaven: 7.30pm Sundays

Radio Fremantle 107.9 FM

April 2

(1) Catholic Morality and The Catechism w/Monsignor William Smith “Ten Commandments #7 Continued

(2) Last Things: In Time & Eternity w/Colin Donovan and

Desmond Birch “The Coming Of Christ”.

(3) Saint For The Third Millennium w/Fr Charles Conner “Life of St Therese of Lisieux” Ep#3

April 9

(1) Fulton J. Sheen at St Agnes Church in New York City

“The Entry of Our Lord Into Jerusalem”.

(2) Holy Spirit At Work In The Church w/Fr Andrew Apostoli “The Role of the Holy Spirit In Turbulent Times”.

(3) Catholic Heritage w/Peter Johnson & Joanna Bogle “St. Anne, St Albans, & Hampshire Pilgrim Route”.

April 16

(1) Fulton J. Sheen “The Resurrection” At St Agnes Church New York City

(2) Council Of Faith II w/Fr John Trigilio “Eucharisticum Mysterium”.

(3) Catholicism: The Heart Of History w/Joanna & James Bogle “Galileo: The Church And Science”

April 23

(1) Catholic Morality and The Catechism w/Monsignor William Smith “Ten Commandments #8 Through #10”.

(2) Lord Have Mercy w/Dr Scott

Catholic Church TV Australia

Program guide: 1 — 30 April

Aurora Community Television is available on Foxtel Digital and Austar Digital. Channel 183

Saturday 1 April

Hahn “Confession In The New Testament”.

(3) Does The Church Still Teach That? w/ Fr Shannon Collins, CPM “The Last Four Things” April 30

(1) Search And Rescue w/Patrick Madrid “Access The Situation”.

(2) Saint For The Third Millennium w/Fr Charles Conner “Life of St. Therese of Lisieux” Ep#4

(3) Defending Life II w/ Fr Frank Pavone “Rape And Abortion”. Donations toward the program may be sent to Gate of Heaven, PO Box 845, Claremont, WA 6910.

Sunday 2 April

Monday 3 April

Program Notes

Octava Dies (Eight Days)

Made by Vatican Television, Octava Dies (Eight Days) is a weekly half hour round up of the activities of the Pope and the Vatican.

Responding to Emergencies

This week we mark the UN World Health Day. When most of see great needs in the developing world we want to respond, but we can get anxious about where the money goes and what projects it funds. Today’s film describes how the money raised during Lent by the Catholic aid agency, Caritas Australia, empowers local Bishops and people in the third world to set their own priorities, and respond as quickly as possible to emergencies. It shows us how our support of Project Compassion is put to work where it’s needed most.

The Pilgrimage

This week we mark the Church’s holiest week, when we remember the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. And in the film from Albert Street Productions, we make a spiritual journey, or pilgrimage, to Israel - the place where the momentous events we remember this week, all occurred. No matter what your faith or belief we hope that this week is a special one for you too. You’d be very welcome to join your local Catholic com-

munity for our Easter celebrations and meet fellow travelers in the on-going pilgrimage of faith.

Faces

We are now in the Church’s most joyous season, as we remember all God has done for us in Jesus. The best way the Easter story is told in the here and now is to look at how its message still inspires three ordinary Australians who as a result of their faith do extraordinary things. In response to the Easter story the Catholic Church is, outside government, the largest provider of education, healthcare and welfare across the nation.

Pacific Padres

This week we’ve been remembering our war dead. Among some of the unsung heroes of war are the chaplains - the men and women who care for the spiritual needs of those in the armed forces – at home and abroad, at war and in peace. Chaplains are often called “Padres”, and in this film from Albert Street Productions, we look at the inspiring story of three World War II Padres and the extraordinary impact they had on the young soldiers given into their care. Most people wouldn’t know that we have an entire Catholic diocese dedicated to the care of our service men and women and their families. And in many dioceses there are Catholic veteran’s organizations which look after our returned servicemen and women. Contact your local Catholic parish for details.

Tuesday 4 April

Wednesday 5 April

Thursday 6 April

Friday

Saturday 8 April

All times are WA time.

Saturday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday 19 April

Thursday 20 April

Friday 21 April

Saturday 22 April

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday 26 April

Mass for You At Home

Octava Dies

Thursday 27 April

Octava Dies

Friday 28 April 5.00am Mass for You At Home

Saturday 29 April

Mass for You At Home

Octava Dies

Sunday 30 April

The World

Church ready to fight for family values

Defence of family life crucial, says head of Vatican’s family council

■ By John Thavis

Colombian Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo spends most of his days behind a desk, but he says he feels like he’s “in the eye of the hurricane.”

As president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Cardinal Lopez Trujillo has denounced proposals in several countries that would authorise same-sex marriage and adoption.

He has helped local churches oppose legislation to legalise abortion or make it easier to obtain and has called promotion of contraceptives a form of “biological colonialism” by drug companies and wealthy nations. He has described drug addiction as a modern “form of slavery that oppresses the whole world.”

Two years ago, he went on British television to warn that condoms were not an effective barrier against the AIDS virus and suggested condom packets should carry a warning to that effect. Cardinal Lopez Trujillo is convinced that the family risks destruction today and that the Church must lead an “evangelical struggle” to defend it.

“People don’t realise the human tragedy they are preparing,” Cardinal Lopez Trujillo said in a recent interview with Catholic News Service.

“If you look at Europe or the Americas, there’s not a parliament where these issues are not being debated. I think it’s providential to have a Pope who speaks with cour-

age and clarity - and to have a curial agency to lend help when needed,” he said. The cardinal’s comments came as Pope Benedict XVI was considering ways to streamline Roman Curia departments. One rumour was that the family council would be reorganised as a part of an enlarged Pontifical Council for the Laity. In the interview, however, Cardinal Lopez Trujillo said his council’s role was more important than ever. It is currently preparing the Fifth World Meeting of Families in Valencia, Spain, in July; the Pope is expected to attend.

The meeting, the cardinal said, will bring together Catholic profamily advocates from around the world to exchange experiences, to proclaim and defend church teach-

ings, and “to bring fire” to the movement.

“In this sense, the Pope’s presence is unique,” he said.

Cardinal Lopez Trujillo sees Pope Benedict as a natural successor to carry on Pope John Paul II’s strong pro-family agenda.

“The Pope has chosen this as one of the human priorities of his papacy, a historic priority. Because if the family collapses, the world collapses,” he said.

He noted that already in his papacy, some of Pope Benedict’s sharpest comments have focused on threats to the family. The Pope’s first encyclical defended the dignity of marriage as the true expression of love between a man and a woman, he said.

Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, the former

archbishop of Medellin, has headed the family council since 1990. The 70-year-old prelate has never shied away from making news, and Pope John Paul gave him the freedom to speak loudly and clearly whenever the family was in danger.

“As the Pope would say, these are decisive battles, and we want to be in the middle of them,” the cardinal said. Under Pope Benedict, Cardinal Lopez Trujillo has continued to speak his mind on topics ranging from divorce to gay adoption.

At the Synod of Bishops last October, he urged a firmer line on the issue of Communion, politics and abortion. In his view, he said, politicians who promote unjust legislation must “remedy the evil committed” before they receive Communion.

When Spain approved gay marriage last year, Cardinal Lopez Trujillo said Catholic civil officials should conscientiously object to taking part in such ceremonies, even if they lose their jobs as a result.

On several occasions, he has praised the Bush administration for its opposition to abortion and its positions on a range of pro-life and family issues.

In the interview, the cardinal freely acknowledged that his council engages in political questions. But he said that while Pope Benedict has cautioned Church leaders against involvement in partisan politics, the council is simply “enlightening politicians and saying what the values are ... as a service to society.”

“It’s a different kind of politics,” he said. “Those who are afraid of this are mistaken.”

Over the years, the council has sponsored six important dialogue encounters with politicians and legislators in Europe and the Americas. In all these efforts, he said, the council tries to speak with “love and charity, but also with clarity,” explaining the Church’s positions and its vital interest in the family.

The family council was established by Pope John Paul on May 13, 1981 - the day the Pope was shot by a Turkish assailant in St Peter’s Square.

“That’s why we say we were born with a baptism of blood,” Cardinal Lopez Trujillo said. The council studies demographic issues, bioethical challenges, the impact of the mass media, and devotes considerable resources promoting family education and family spirituality for parents, children and couples preparing for marriage. It has strongly supported the teaching of natural family planning methods. CNS

Settlement aims for closure Suspend RU-486 plea

Pro-life official urges Congress to suspend FDA approval of RU-486

A spokeswoman for the US bishops’ pro-life secretariat, responding to a report that two more women have died after taking RU-486, called on Congress to pass legislation that aims to suspend the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug used for chemical abortions.

“We are deeply saddened by yet another advisory from the Food and Drug Administration that two more women have died from RU486 abortions,” said Deirdre A. McQuade, director of planning and information for the US bishops’ Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities.

However, in its March 17 public health advisory, the FDA said it was not yet “able to confirm the causes of death” of the two women in the United States but was “investigating all circumstances associated with these cases.”

The agency said it had received “verbal notification” of the deaths by the manufacturer of RU-486,

Danco Laboratories. McQuade said 10 women have died after using the regimen.

“We again call on Congress to pass the RU-486 Suspension and Review Act (‘Holly’s Law’) which will protect women’s lives while the flawed FDA approval process of this dangerous drug is scrutinised,” McQuade said. The measure calls for temporary suspension of the FDA’s approval of RU-486 so the US comptroller general can review the agency’s adherence to statutory mandates in its process for approving the drug.

“After five years of trauma and death associated with RU-486, the FDA’s response has been limited to health advisories and amended drug labelling. How many more healthy women must die before the agency takes a close second look at RU-486?” she asked.

Since its approval in September 2000, RU-486 has been marketed in the United States under the names Mifeprex and Early Option by Danco. Known generically as mifepristone, it induces an abortion in the first seven weeks of pregnancy when used in conjunction with another drug, prostaglandin.

Jackson Diocese agrees to pay $5.1 million to 19 sex abuse victims

The Diocese of Jackson has agreed to pay more than $5.1 million to 19 victims of sex abuse by priests during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

“I sincerely hope that this settlement will bring a sense of peace to all those who have suffered as a result of the acts of a few,” said Bishop Joseph N. Latino of Jackson in a statement.

“On behalf of the entire Church, I apologise from the depths of my heart to all of you for the pain, grief and shame that have been brought about by these actions,” he added. “I pray that we will be able to reconcile and heal the deep, deep hurts of the past and move forward together to a future of hope.”

The settlement, announced on March 16, will be funded primarily by the diocese’s insurers, with diocesan funds of $731,250 used to cover the balance.

“Such a settlement is costly for

us as a Church, but it will allow us to move forward with all the good works we do on a daily basis,” Bishop Latino said. “No funds from the Catholic Service Appeal, the Catholic Foundation, Catholic Charities or parish funds were used in the settlement of these cases.”

The settlement totalling $5,162,500 involved six lawsuits filed beginning in 2002 and followed more than a year of mediation efforts.

A news release issued jointly by the diocese and attorneys for the abuse victims said the settlement also included “certain nonmonetary terms,” including the diocese’s agreement to make a public apology; to remove “any person against whom there has been a credible allegation of abuse from any position of influence over policy and decision-making regarding sexual abuse claims”; and to disclose any policy changes regarding the deterrence, reporting and investigation of alleged sexual abuse by clergy.

The diocese said those terms “reflect the Catholic diocese’s longstanding commitment to protect

children of the Church,” the joint statement said.

“We are mortified that the crime of sexual abuse took place in our Church and are determined that it will not happen again,” Bishop Latino said. “As a diocese, we will continue our many positive efforts to create a safe environment in our churches for all and to educate everyone about the scourge of childhood sexual abuse in our society.”

The settled cases include a $48 million lawsuit by Kenneth, Thomas and Francis Morrison and their mother, Dorothy. Fourteen men and two women, all of whom remained anonymous, also agreed to the settlement.

John Hawkins, an attorney for the sex abuse victims, said he was proud to represent them.

“Like other victims in other parts of the world, these victims of clergy sex abuse have demonstrated the courage to face their deepest fears and emotional pain and have fought bravely to seek justice for the horrific abuse they suffered at the hands of the Catholic Church,” Hawkins said in a statement.

Cardinal Lopez Trujillo hopes to bring fire to the fight for families.

Photo: CNS

The World

Cardinal laments secular France

French cardinal-designate grapples with increasingly secular France

When Cardinal-designate Jean-Pierre Ricard of Bordeaux becomes a cardinal at the March 24 conclave, it will be widely seen as recognition for his efforts to grapple with the French Church’s challenges in an increasingly secular society. As president of the bishops’ conference since 2001, the 61-year-old has set out his church’s position on key issues from churchstate cooperation to interfaith dialogue.

He also has reorganised church administration and pastoral work in the country, where about 80 percent of the country’s more than 60 million people identify themselves as Catholic.

“I don’t see myself as a sociologist, historian or politician, but as a practical pastor who has to analyse the situation, work out lines of action and make decisions,” the cardinaldesignate told Toulouse’s Catholic Institute in November. “People often ask me if I’m not distressed about the future. I answer that I’m anxious, but not distressed. I’m formed by a strong experience of the Gospel, which goes beyond figures and strategies.”

The cardinal-designate also said post-1960s secularisation and consumer attitudes had severely eroded church and family life.

As priorities, he listed rebuilding a Christian presence in culture and encouraging priestly vocations and greater lay responsibility.

Born in Marseilles on September 26, 1944, to a father who headed the Mediterranean port’s Chamber of Commerce, Cardinal-designate Ricard took a yearlong break from priesthood studies for military service with French troops in Mali. Ordained in October 1968, he earned his doctorate in theology and started work in his first of two Marseilles parishes two years later. Over the next 18 years, Cardinaldesignate Ricard ran his diocese’s religious teaching and formation program, also serving

as the bishops’ representative for seminarians, ecumenism and pastoral work, before becoming secretary-general of the Marseilles diocesan synod and vicar general to Cardinal Robert Coffy in 1988. In April 1993, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Grenoble. In July 1996 he was named coadjutor of Montpelier, and that September he succeeded Bishop Louis Boffet. In the bishops’ conference, Cardinaldesignate Ricard served on committees for migrants, deacons, Christian unity, and information and communications; he became a permanent council member in 1997 and vice president two years later.

Speaking after his election to succeed the ailing Cardinal Jean-Marie Bille as president in November 2001, he urged church members to show “personal testimony to the authenticity of Christian life,” and pledged to “curb cacophony

while maintaining a variety of voices” among his fellow bishops. The Church’s greatest challenge, he added, was to “proclaim the good news to those for whom it isn’t news but rather the past.”

“The Catholic Church in France is like a ship on a stormy sea,” the cardinal-designate told Christian RCF radio. “It would certainly be easier to sail on a small familiar pond. But we have to sail on the open sea, often against high winds. Will our ship sink?”

Cardinal-designate Ricard was named Archbishop of Bordeaux in December 2001.

Since then, he has established a firm reputation as the Church’s front man, presenting and defending its teaching on issues from gay marriage to euthanasia and speaking out on questions as diverse as sea pollution and the rights of asylum-seekers. CNS

Lenten prayers get the iNod

British Jesuits have launched a high-tech prayer service to put people in touch with God via their iPods. An initiative to offer commuters daily prayer sessions in MP3 format, as free downloads from the Internet, has proven to be an instant success, according to Jesuit Media Initiatives, which piloted the project called “Pray-As-You-Go” for Lent. The Jesuits invited people from their parishes and schools in Britain to try the service using the audio files on their iPods, mobile phones or other MP3 players in an attempt to guide them through prayer on their daily journey to work, school or college. On Ash Wednesday, March 1 - the first day of the initiative - 3,300 prayer sessions were downloaded from www.prayas-you-go.org/ in countries as far away as Australia, Mexico and the United States. In the following eight days, 18,400 more sessions were downloaded, according to a press statement released by the British province of the Jesuits on March 10. Father Peter Scally, director of Jesuitedia Initiatives, said he had received many appreciative emails from users. He said Brooks Thoman of Nipomo, California, called the service “awesome, wonderful, inspiring.” Patrick Allen of San Jose, California, said, “This is the most beautifully produced prayer that I have ever heard. It touches me in ways that I never thought possible.” A new prayer session is offered every day, combining music, a short reading from the Scriptures and a few questions for personal reflection in a session of guided prayer that lasts 10-12 minutes. The site also offers the option of using “Pray-As-You-Go” as a daily podcast with iTunes or other podcasting software, which automates the downloading process and keeps users up to date with the site’s latest offering. CNS

Da Vinci Code meets its match in Roman meeting of women

“The Da Vinci Code” came in for resounding criticism at a recent round-table discussion at the Marianum Pontifical Theological Faculty in Rome. It was not a pickit-apart session by church historians. Instead, four women spoke about Mary Magdalene and her distorted depiction in Dan Brown’s book. The moderator of the discussion, Marinella Perroni, a New Testament theologian, said “The Da Vinci Code” joins a list of books and other media treatments that exploit the figure of

the world in brief

Mary Magdalene. Perroni said caution is always needed when dealing with scriptural figures, but for some reason people feel free to take great liberties with Mary Magdalene.

Maria Luisa Rigato, a retired professor of exegesis at the Pontifical Gregorian University, said she found Brown’s book entertaining fiction - but that it was clear to real scholars that Mary Magdalene was neither the wife nor the lover of Jesus.

The Catholic participants drew a sharp distinction between what is

Sporty side of JPII explored

The Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport will mark the first anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s death by distributing a special DVD series documenting the Pope’s 26-year pontificate.

While this was the first time the paper was promoting a collection that was not exclusively about sports, the paper’s editor in chief, Carlo Verdelli, told journalists on March 21 that he expected readers would snatch up the DVDs. “Everyone remembers (Karol) Wojtyla, the Pope who skied, swam, walked, hiked in the mountains. He was a Pope who paid particular attention, very paternal and affectionate attention, to all those who did sports,” he said at a press

known about Mary Magdalene from the approved Gospels and what has been circulated for centuries in the so-called Gnostic gospels, rejected by the Church long ago.

But a Waldensian pastor, the Rev. Letizia Tomassone, said she thought the noncanonical gospels, although they are clearly later manuscripts, can be valid secondary sources of information. In some of these later gospels, she said, Mary Magdalene appears as the “mediator of the resurrected Christ,” which aligns with

conference promoting the new DVD collection. People in the sports world see Pope John Paul, who was a goalkeeper during his boyhood in Poland, as the Pope who was closest to athletes, Verdelli said. The DVD series, called “John Paul II: The Man Who Changed the World, a Pope on the Road to Sainthood,” was produced by the Italian television production companies RAI Trade and RAI Vatican.

Religious freedom a right

Because religious freedom “lies at the heart of human rights,” the US government must give it greater support and higher visibility in its foreign policy decisions, a Catholic bishop told a congressional subcommittee on March 16. Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Florida, chairman of the US bishops’ Committee

what the Gospel of St John says about her being the first witness of the resurrection. Mary Magdalene, Rev. Tomassone said, comes across as “one who knows how to heal the heart of a wounded community.”

The experts generally agreed, however, that there is no scriptural evidence that Jesus and Mary were lovers, which is a key element in the plot of “The Da Vinci Code.” Even the incomplete references in the Gnostic gospels about Jesus’ special relationship with Mary Magdalene depict

on International Policy, was addressing the House International Relations Committee’s subcommittee on Africa, global human rights and international operations. “Given the enormous potential of religion to contribute to a more humane world, as well as the troubling ways religion can be manipulated, especially in coercive or repressive environments, religious freedom needs to be at the centre of the work on human rights in US foreign policy,” he said.

The March 16 hearing was convened to review the US State Department’s 2005 country reports on human rights practices.

Truth will prevail

Despite public debates or the rule of dictators, the truth about human dignity, including the sacredness of human life and the importance of the traditional family,

a “spiritual intimacy,” not a sexual relationship, Rev. Tomassone said. The panelists differed about whether it should matter to Christians whether Christ was married or not. Some said they would have no problem with such a marriage, but the Gospels make no mention of it. That prompted an objection from a young priest in the audience, who said he would not have made a promise of priestly celibacy unless he believed he was imitating Christ. CNS

eventually will be victorious, Pope Benedict XVI said. In a March 18 meeting with Vatican diplomats accredited to the United Nations and other international governmental organisations, the Pope said Christians must not “marvel and, even less, be discouraged in the face of difficulties and misunderstandings” because God is on the side of truth. The growing participation of Vatican diplomats in international organisations and meetings is a consequence of the Church’s conviction that human dignity must be protected in every sphere, he said. By upholding the dignity of the human created in God’s image, the Church works to foster the common good, authentic freedom, justice and peace, he said.

“Relations between states and within states are just to the degree that they respect the truth,” the Pope said.

A bible lies among the rubble of an arson attack on a Catholic Church in France. Photo: CNS

movie

reviews

“V for Vendetta”

(Warner Bros.)

Provocative futuristic thriller based in London about a masked antihero (Hugo Weaving) who enlists the aid of a young office worker (Natalie Portman) to undermine a totalitarian government headed by an Orwellian dictator (John Hurt) and his cowering advisers (Stephen Rea, Rupert Graves, Tim Pigott-Smith). Director James McTeigue, working from a Wachowski Brothers adap-

letters to the editor

tation of Alan Moore (uncredited by choice) and illustrator David Lloyd’s graphic novel, has crafted a reasonably intelligent political allegory, with emphasis on character development, ideas and even a bit of romance, rather than simple mindless violence. The performances are first rate, and the film’s theme of the

Little difference

WContinued from page 6 virtues which they should teach their children to live by.

Despite accusing me of errors of fact, Fr Parkinson has actually endorsed all these basic thoughts, and Catholic doctrine, by stating that “situation ethics” has no place in the authentic Catholic ethical tradition and that virtues are not old fashioned and should be taught.

As to the other two “errors of fact” – that I “seem to believe there is only one kind of behaviour” and that “this will necessarily lead to identical decisions in concrete cases”, they are not my thoughts, not relevant and not facts. They are only Fr Parkinson’s opinion of what he personally extrapolated from my basic thesis.

Catherine Parish Leeming

Yes, but...

While fully agreeing with Fr Joe Parkinson’s letter ‘Making a Virtue out of Ethics’ I was concerned with one aspect. This is the idea that virtue somehow lies at a balance point between two extremes. In the case he cited, niggardliness and profligacy were the extremes and true generosity appeared to lie half way between. When steering through ‘the moral maze’ it’s like taking the helm of a ship and constantly adjusting the tiller - first left, then right - to avoid the shoals on one side and the rocky bank on the other. But what decides the ‘balance point’ is the goal or aim of our endeavours - where we are going. In ethics it’s the goal of our life. This part of the ethical debate should never be left out.

Joe Goerke Lesmurdie

hen I saw Fr Parkinson’s response (The Record, March 16) to Catherine Parish’s column on ethics and virtues (The Record, March 2), I re-read her column closely, to see what could justify his patronising dismissal of it (“however well-intentioned it may have been...”, “...far too many errors to pass without correction,” “Mrs Parish seems to believe...,” “...as simplistic as she would have us believe.”)

Fr Parkinson writes: “For the sake of brevity, I will comment on only three errors of fact’ “ But as far as I can see, all three boil down to a single complaint: “Firstly, Mrs Parish seems to think... that every right-thinking person would do exactly the same thing... secondly ... that all faithful Catholics will necessarily make exactly the same moral choices every time... thirdly... that decisions made on the basis of immutable values and principles will necessarily lead to identical decisions in concrete cases”.

Is that what Mrs Parish said?

Not as far as I can see. I can find nothing in her column to sustain this complaint.

She is irritated by the practice of drawing up ‘mission statements’, lists of ‘visions’ and ‘core values’, etc., and suggests that these documents do not do much to improve people’s conduct in practice. She points out that moral relativism, ‘situation ethics’, is sometimes taught in the name of ethics.

And she recommends teaching children about virtues, and training them in the practice of the virtues.

Fr Parkinson agrees with her that “merely reading mission statements” will not make people virtuous; that “situation ethics has no place in the authentic Catholic ethical tradition”; and that virtue, “moral facility,” “can and should be taught.”

So why the put-down?

Ted Watt Claremont

Long live the Chesterbelloc

W hy is capitalism let off the hook in Guy Crouchbacks’ piece? He writes “Capitalism is

individual’s responsibility in standing up to tyranny - while questioning the moral limits of opposition - is worthy, and stops short of imparting a universal anti-authoritarian message. Some discreetly handled violence with bloodshed, a hanging, scattered profanity, rough and crude language and expressions, minor lesbian-themed flashback and implied gay male character, corrupt Anglican clergyman, attempted rape, sexual innuendo, drug use. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L - limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling.

morally and spiritually neutral, apart from the very important fact that for it to work properly it is necessary for people to be honest and sensible, to keep their contracts and not be criminal or excessively greedy”. (Communism and capitalism are not equal, p4 Vista, March 9, 2006, The Record).

The key words are “work properly”. These words imply an objective. What is the objective of capitalism?

G. K Chesterton is not the only Catholic thinker to be critical of capitalism In the book Catholicism, Protestantism, and Capitalism one such Catholic, Amintore Fanfani does not portray capitalism as a “neutral, benevolent” economic system that has “brought life, not death, all over the world.”

Fanfani wrote the book in 1934. It was first translated into English in May, 1935 by Sheed & Ward, London. His views must have caused quite a stir. With each reprint capitalism apologists were wheeled out to challenge Fanfani’s position.

The 2003 copy of Catholicism, Protestantism, and Capitalism was published by IHS Press and contains the views of the author, a preface from the directors of IHS, a foreword by Dr Charles M A Clark and an introduction by Dr Giorgi Campanini. A quotation from each paints a very different picture of Capitalism than that described by Guy Crouchback.

On page 126 Fanfani writes: “Anyone who strives to understand exactly the respective positions of Catholicism and capitalism cannot be surprised to find the two ideals in conflict, and the exponents of the one contending with the exponents of the other for the domination of society. It only remains for us to repeat that the Catholic ethos is anti-capitalistic, that Catholicism has opposed the establishment of capitalism, even if in certain ways it has favoured its progress in this or that direction.”

In the preface, the IHS directors state: “An apologia for the free market is to be expected from oil men, manufacturing giants, and the masters of debt. But for a Catholic to support their ‘party line’- by hiding the race to amass wealth, which is fostered by modern economics, behind clever theories and contrived social ‘systems’ - is nothing less than a betrayal. For one cannot

“She’s the Man” (DreamWorks)

Breezy if uneven modernising of Shakespeare’s comedy of mistaken identities, “Twelfth Night,” about a teenage tomboy (Amanda Bynes) who poses as her twin brother (James Kirk), enrolls in his coed boarding prep school to play soccer, and winds up falling in love with his/her jock roommate (Channing Tatum), who has a crush on a pretty student (Laura Ramsey), who, in turn, is smitten with the new “guy,” leading to predictable romantic complications.

serve both catholic truth and capitalist lies anymore than one can serve both God and Mammon.”

In the foreword, Charles MA Clark, senior fellow at the Vincentian Centre for Church and Society, and a Professor of Economics at St John’s University wrote: “The essence of capitalism, however, as Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, William Stanley Jevons and the Marginalists, Thorsten Veblen and the Institutionalists, John Maynard Keynes and the Keynesians have all known is the drive to amass wealth by using money to make more money through market exchange.

“One can certainly come up with very good arguments to support that type of economy and social system, but they cannot be based on the Gospels which, for the most part, hold the making of money for the purpose of making more money, in contempt.”

Finally, Giorgi Campanini, Professor of the History of Political Thought at the University of Parma, wrote in the introduction: “Under this aspect the history of capitalism reconstructed by Fanfani in its foundational moments, the middle ages, and in one of its foundational locations, the Italy of the merchants - can be read also as the history of a great opportunity lost by the West, i.e. as the history of a progressive journey away from the Catholic ethic in one of its key aspects, the connection between ethics and economics.

“It is exactly this connection that Capitalism in its origins wanted to break and which modem ‘democratic Capitalism’ (regardless of the intentions of its earnest and inspired exponents) does not manage to recover, bound as it is to the myth of the autonomy of the market, which implies that a society which is prosperous is therefore necessarily just.”

Last words to Amintore Fanfani, found on the back cover of the book:

“We might continue with examples and comparisons, but we should find nothing to make us modify our conclusion that there is an unbridgeable gulf between the Catholic and the capitalistic conception of life.”

These four men do not offer a glowing endorsement of capitalism. They back up the great G.K.C

Director Andy Fickman cleverly updates Shakespeare’s plot devices- mixed-up lovers, triangular attractions, and gender-bending deception - to mostly good effect, and the film overcomes forced humour in large measure due to Bynes’ effervescence, though its occasionally crude comedy makes it best suited for older teens and up.

Some sexual humour and innuendo, a bathroom brawl between three girls, brief implied nudity, sports roughness, a few crass expressions, as well as an instance of profanity. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II - adults and adolescents.

unlike Guy Crouchback. Long live the Chesterbelloc.

Paul Nicholls

Jane Brook

Sensus catholicus

Itrust you will not be castigated for allowing a further contribution to the BC/BCI debate.

The use of ‘BCE’ and ‘CE’ rubs my sensus catholicus up the wrong way and I am grateful to you and your correspondents for bringing it to more general notice.

I confess I found the contribution (Vote No Evans) a little disappointing. The first argument is one from authority. The strength of such an argument rests upon the strength of the authority. In this case the journal Biblica, published by the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome is not a Roman Dicastery and, on the scale of pronouncements by the Papal Magisterium, doesn’t rate very high. The editors of that journal could hardly insist that a Jewish scholar, for example, must be bound to use the BC/AD nomenclature. That would be insensitive. Hence a gesture is offered to placate sensitivities. So I don’t rate its use in Biblica as a strong argument.

It is a pity that your correspondent refrained from addressing more substantive issues such as the creeping literary influences aimed (if not intentionally, then no less effectively) at undermining the very Catholic notion of the Kingship of Christ and the watering down of the position of Christ in Christianity generally. The correspondent (Vote Yes Evans) properly cited the case of the Da Vinci Code, which other writers have criticised on that score. Just an ahistorical novel? Many disagree.

The other two arguments used are of the ad hominem variety and deserve not attention.

Certainly in Catholic circles we must resist any attempt to undermine the presence of Christ in our lives, in our liturgy, our catechesis and, indeed, in every other way. The undermining may not be intended but in this case it is insidious and further, to a Christian, changing the nomenclature has no basis in logic.

Dr RTM Whipple Shelley

OFFICIAL DIARY

4

5

6

31-2

A scene from V for Vendetta. Photo: CNS

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IN MEMORIAM

■ LORECK, JOHN GEORGE

The Loreck family is sadly moved by the loss of John George Loreck, husband of Marcela, father of Tom, Mary Rose, John, Andrew and grandfather of 12 grandchildren. We deeply appreciate your heartfelt sympathy and prayers during our bereavement.

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PANORAMA a roundup of events in the archdiocese

RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

■ REPAIR YOUR LITURGICAL BOOKS

Tydewi Bindery offer handcrafted fine bindings, journals, leather recovering. Repairs fo all your books, liturgical, bibles, missals and statues. Ph. 9293 3092.

■ RICH HARVEST  YOUR CHRISTIAN SHOP

Looking for Bibles, CDs, books, cards, gifts, statues, baptism/communion apparel, religious vestments, etc? Visit us at, 39 Hulme Court (off McCoy St), Myaree, 9329 9889 (after 10.30am, Mon-Sat). We are here to serve.

TENNIS ANYONE?

■ WA CATHOLIC TENNIS ASSOCIATION

Invites you to join in the forthcoming season on Saturday afternoons from May to September at the Manning Tennis Club. Anyone aged 17-70 is welcome to fill our A, B and C grades. Just form a group of 5 people (three men, two women) for our doubles competition. Come along, improve your tennis while having great fun and meeting new people. Ph: Warren 9271 4670, Rod: 0409 839 768.

Sunday March 26

LEGION OF MARY

Comitium of Perth extend to all Legionaries, Active and Auxiliary, an invitation to attend their ACIES which will be held at St Mary’s Cathedral Perth, commencing at 3pm. This is the annual occasion on which we recommit ourselves to our Blessed Mother. All are encouraged to attend. Contact details Rosemary Bennett: Ph 9454 7831 (Secretary).

Sunday March 26

ALPHA

COME & SEE! All welcome to a brand new Alpha Course starting with free Welcome Dinner and loads of fun, faith and friendship. Venue is St Johns, 16 Aberdeen St, Northbridge and time is 5.30pm. More info: Harry 9444 4626.

Sunday March 26

PILGRIMAGE TO BULLSBROOK SHRINE

The next end of month pilgrimage to the Shrine of Virgin of the Revelation takes place on Sunday, March 26, commencing at 2pm. Prior to the celebration of Procession, Rosary and Mass, Reconciliation will be available in Italian and English. All are most welcome. Enquiries SACRI 9447 3292.

Sunday, March 26

ETERNAL WORD TELEVISION NETWORK

ON ACCESS 31: 10  11 AM

Exclusive interview with Cardinal Pell / Raymond Arroyo [The World Over] REPEAT 1 - 2 pm Lent / Fr Benedict Groeschel [Faith Matters], followed by His Last Words / Abp Fulton Sheen [Life is Worth Living]. Please note that the program broadcast on March 12, of which the sound was faulty, will be repeated in the morning time slot, above. The Rosary Christian Tutorial Association, PO Box 1270, Booragoon 6954. Enquiries 9330-1170.

Monday March 27 – Wednesday March 29

LANGFORD LENTEN MINIMISSION

St Jude’s Church, 20 Prendiville Way, Langford

Monday March 27 – Wednesday March 29. Daily Mass 9am, followed by instruction and confessions. Evening sessions 7.30-8.30pm (inc Benediction) followed by confessions. Wednesday March 29, 2nd Rite of Reconciliation 7.30pm. Come and receive the forgiveness of God for the sins of a lifetime! Conducted by the Redemptorists. Ph: 9458 1946.

Monday March 27 – Friday March 31

LENTEN MISSION

Preached by Fr John Fongemie FSSP of the Fraternity of St Peter with Mass at 6.30pm followed by Spiritual Conference, Holy Hour, confessions, silent adoration and Benediction. Spiritual Conference Topics: Monday – The Life of Grace, Tuesday – The Blessed Trinity within us, Wednesday – Mary, Model of Reparation, Thursday – St Joseph Model of the Hidden Life, Friday – The Soul of the Mass. All at St John’s Pro-Cathedral, Victoria Ave, Perth. All welcome to attend each night or when you are able. Enq: 9444 9604.

Tuesday March 28

JOHN XXIII TALKS

“Parenting-Dealing with your Teenager” Presenters: Hasser Graham and Steve Kiely (Psychologists ) Cost $10 (Donation Unwaged) Multi-Purpose Room (now the MacKillop Room) John XXIII College 7.309.30 PM Tuesday 28 March. Details Murray 9383 0444.

Thursday March 30

MOTHERS’ PRAYER MASS

For all Mothers and Grandmothers coming together to pray for their children. Fathers, Grandfathers welcome. This is a wonderful and necessary opportunity for God to hear and act upon the hearts and minds of mothers joining together as one here on earth. (Enjoy fellowship following the Mass over a cup of tea or coffee) here at the Catholic Pastoral Centre, 40a Mary Street, Highgate at 10am. For information regarding the Mass (if required) please contact Veronica Peake on 9447 0671.

Friday March 31

HEALING FIRE  BURNING LOVE

This Lent break down walls and receive God’s love and mercy. Our Lady of the Missions Catholic Church Whitfords, 270 Camberwarra Drive, Craigie.

Friday 7.30pm - 9.00pm Daniel Garlett, from the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry, will express the love of Jesus sacrifice in his talk on reconciliation and unity. Daniel uses the Didgeridoo in praise and worship to express the love and unity of God’s Spirit with his people. Come and experience the fire of God’s love through praise and worship and healing prayer in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. For more information please contact Jenni Young 0404 389 679.

Saturday April 1

DAY WITH MARY

St Joseph’s Church, 19 Hamilton St, Bassendean. 9am - 5pm, A video on Fatima will be shown at 9am. A day of prayer and instruction based upon the messages of Fatima. Includes Sacrament of Penance, Holy Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Sermons, Rosaries, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Stations of the Cross. Please BYO. enq: Franciscan sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286.

Saturday April 1

WITNESS FOR LIFE PROCESSION

The next first Saturday Mass, Procession and Rosary vigil will commence with Mass at 8.30am at St Anne’s Church, Hehir St, Belmont. We proceed prayerfully to the Rivervale Abortion Centre and conclude with Rosary, led by Fr Paul Carey SC. Please join us to pray peacefully for the conversion of hearts. Enq: 9402 0349.

Sunday April 2

DIVINE MERCY

An afternoon with Jesus and Mary at St Mary’s Cathedral, Victoria Square, Perth, on Sunday at 1.30pm. Program – Holy Rosary and reconciliation. Sermon: with Fr Douglas Rowe SFP on a range

of topics followed by Divine Mercy prayers and Benediction. Enq: John 9457 7771 or Linda 9275 6608.

Monday April 3 – Wednesday April 5 ST BRIGID’S PARISH  MIDLAND MINIMISSION

7.30pm-8.30pm (Mon & Tues) confessions after Wednesday Session held at St Brigid’s Church, 69b Morrison Road, Midland. There will be three sessions presented by Norma Woodcock on the topic “You are – Chosen, Blessed, Broken, Given”. Norma’s area of expertise is Spirituality specialising in Ignatian Imaginative Meditations on Gospel scenes. Enq: 9274 1495

Friday April 7

ALLIANCE AND TRIUMPH OF THE TWO HEARTS

1st Friday/Saturday All Night Vigil in reparation to the Two Hearts: Holy Mass 9pm Friday evening at St Bernadette’s Church, 49 Jugan St, Glendalough followed by All Night Eucharistic Adoration with Rosaries, Hymns etc and Silent Adoration. All are welcome to join us for any length of time to make reparation to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Saturday Parish Mass is at 7.30am (reconciliation at 7am) Fr Doug Harris 9444 6131, Dorothy 9342 5845.

April 7-8

TWO HEARTS DEVOTIONS

All Saints Chapel, St George’s Tce, Perth. Devotions to the Sacred Heart on the first Friday of the month commences 9pm with Holy Mass, Exposition of Blessed Sacrament, Prayers, Hymns and Rosary through the night on the hour concluding on Saturday morning with Mass at 7am to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Please join us even for 1 hour. Ph: 9409 4543.

Sunday May 7

THE BOVE FARM MAY ROSARY RALLY

Celebration in Honour of Our Lady to be held at the Queen of the Holy Rosary Grotto, Bove’s Farm, Roy Road, Jindong. Hymn singing commences at 12.30pm. Holy concelebrated Mass led by Bishop Gerard Holohan commences 1pm, followed by Rosary Procession and Benediction. Afternoon tea provided. All welcome! Bus bookings from Perth to Bove Farm can be made with Francis Williams on ph 9459 3873 or mob 0404 893 977. (Note: Roy Road runs off the Bussell Highway, halfway between Busselton and Margaret River).

Saturdays

PERPETUAL HELP NOVENA DEVOTIONS

Saturdays 4.30-5pm. Redemptorist Church, 190 Vincet Street, North Perth. No Novena Saturday April 15 (Easter Vigil).

Every Saturday

ART EXHIBITION

Art exhibition every Saturday at the Parish Hall, Star of the Sea church, Cottesloe, cnr of Stirling Highway and McNeil Sts beginning Saturday March 4, 11am – 4pm. All proceeds from the sale towards the extension of St Mary’s Cathedral, Perth.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

Is alcohol costing you more than just money? Alcoholics Anonymous can help. Ring 9325 3566.

BLESSED SACRAMENT ADORATION

Holy Family Church, Alcock Street, Maddington. Every Friday 8.30 am Holy Mass followed by Blessed Sacrament Adoration till 12 noon. Every first Friday of the month, anointing of the sick during Mass. Enq. 9398 6350.

PERPETUAL ADORATION AT ST BERNADETTE’S

Adoration: Chapel open all day and all night. All welcome, 49 Jugan St, Glendalough, just north of the city. Masses every night at 5.45pm Monday to Friday, 6.30pm, Saturday and the last Sunday Mass in Perth is at 7pm.

ST CLAR E’S SCHOOL, SISTERS OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD

A short history of St Clare’s School is being prepared to celebrate 50 years of its work in WA. Any past students, staff, families or others associated with the school - from its time at Leederville, at North Perth, at East Perth or at Wembley - are invited to contact us with photographs, or memories. Privacy will be protected, in accordance with your wishes. Please contact Nancy Paterson on 0417 927 126, (email npaters@yahoo.com.au) or St Clare’s School, PO Box 21 & 23 Carlisle North 6161. Tel: 9470 5711.

Wednesdays SIGN LANGUAGE COURSE

Australian Sign Language (Auslan) Classes are offered free of charge at Emmanuel Centre on Wednesdays at 1pm. If this does not suit you, other arrangements can be made. Please contact Fr Paul or Barbara at Emmanuel Centre, 25 Windsor St Perth 9328 8113.

Wednesday During Lent SHARED MEALS

In preparation for the Easter Celebration, we are holding one more Shared Meals with a Topical Talking Point. The Venue St Kieran’s Parish Centre, Corner of Cape and Tyler Streets, Tuart Hill. The Time will be 6.30pm on March 29. The topical talking point is “Life after death” - a fascinating and scientific documentary by the BBC. According to this documentary, “Life after Death” is just as certain as death itself. Don’t miss out! All you need to bring with you is a plate with food to share with others. Obviously, these discussions are meant for ADULTS ONLY. It’s not a PICNIC! I look forward to having good attendance. All welcome! Enquiries: Fr Michael Gatt on 9444 1334.

The absence that keeps on hurting

Fathers in Families, the policy document currently being serialised in The Record, aims at supporting all dads without distinction to fulfil their role as effective fathers

Fatherlessness increases crime

• A British study found a direct statistical link between single parenthood and virtually every major type of crime, including mugging, violence against strangers, car theft and burglary.14

• One American study even arrived at this startling conclusion: the proportion of single-parent households in a community predicts its rates of violent crime and burglary, but the community’s poverty level does not. Neither poverty nor race seem to account very much for the crime rate, compared to the proportion of single parent families.15

• In Australia, a recent book noted the connection between broken families and crime. In a discussion of rising crime rates in Western Australia, the book reported that “family breakdown in the form of divorce and separation is the main cause of the crime wave”.16

Fatherlessness increases drug abuse

• A UCLA study pointed out that inadequate family structure makes children more susceptible to drug use “as a coping mechanism to relieve depression and anxiety.”17

• Another US study found that among the homes with strict fathers, only 18 per cent had children who used alcohol or drugs at all. In contrast, among mother-dominated homes, 35 per cent had children who used drugs frequently.18

• A New Zealand study of nearly 1000 children observed over a period of 15 years found that children who have watched their parents separate are more likely to use illegal drugs than those whose parents stay together.19

Fatherlessness increases sexual problems

• Studies from many different cultures have found that girls raised

“girls raised without fathers are more like to be sexually active, and to start early sexual activity. Father-deprived girls “show precocious sexual interest, derogation of masculinity and males, and poor ability to maintain sexual and emotional adjustment with one male”

without fathers are more likely to be sexually active, and to start early sexual activity. Father-deprived girls “show precocious sexual interest, derogation of masculinity and males, and poor ability to maintain sexual and emotional adjustment with one male”.20

• A US study found that girls who grow up without fathers were “53 per cent more likely to marry as teenagers, 111 per cent more likely to have children as teenagers, 164 per cent more likely to have a premarital birth, and 92 per cent more likely to dissolve their own marriages.”21

• New Zealand research has found that the absence of a father is a major factor in the early onset of puberty and teenage pregnancy. Dr Bruce Ellis, Psychologist in Sexual Development at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch found that one of the most important factors in determining early menarche is the father: “There seems to be something special about the role of fathers in regulating daughters sexual development.”22

• A British study found that girls brought up by lone parents were twice as likely to leave home by the age of 18 as the daughters of intact

homes; were three times as likely to be cohabiting by the age of 20; and almost three times as likely to have a birth out of wedlock.23

Fatherlessness increases physical and mental health problems

• From nations as diverse as Finland and South Africa, a number of studies have reported that anywhere from 50 to 80 per cent of psychiatric patients come from broken homes.24

• A Canadian study of teenagers discharged from psychiatric hospitals found that only 16 per cent were living with both parents when they were admitted.25

• A study of nearly 14,000 Dutch adolescents between the ages of 12 to 19 found that, “In general, children from one parent and step-parent families reported lower selfesteem, more symptoms of anxiety and loneliness, more depressed mood and more suicidal thoughts than children from intact families.”26

• A massive longitudinal study undertaken in Sweden involving over one million children found that children from single parent backgrounds showed increased risks of psychiatric disease, suicide or suicide attempt, injury and addiction. The authors, writing in The Lancet, concluded that growing up in “a single-parent family has disadvantages to the health of the child. Bear in mind that Sweden is one of the most highly advanced welfare states on earth. Thus even with a comprehensive welfare net, children still suffer when not in two-parent families.27

• A researcher from the University of South Australia’s School of Health Sciences found that “children from single families do less well than those from married families because they are less active and do not have as much opportunity for physical activity.28

To be continued

References

14. Robert Sampson and Byron Groves, “Community Structure and Crime: Testing Social Disorganization Theory.” American Journal of Sociology 94, Jan. 1989.

15. Douglas Smith and Roger Jarloura, “Social Structure and Criminal Victimization.” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 25, Feb. 1988.

16. Alan Tapper, “Welfare and Juvenile Crime” in Mike Nahan and Tony Rutherford, eds., Reform and

Recovery. Institute of Public Affairs, 1993.

17. Cited in Bryce Christensen, “When Families Fail ... The Social Costs.” University Press of America, 1991.

18. Cited in Nicholas Davidson, “Life Without Father: America’s Greatest Social Catastrophe.” Policy Review, Winter 1990.

19. David Fergusson, et. al., “Parental Separation, Adolescent Psychopathology, and Problem Behaviors,” Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 33, 1944, pp. 1122-1131.

20. Patricia Draper and Henry Harpending, “Father absence and reproductive strategy: an evolutionary perspective,” Journal of Anthropological Research, 38(3), 1982, pp. 255-273, p, 258.

21. Irwin Garfinkel and Sara S. McLanahan, “Single Mothers and Their Children: A New American Dilemma.” Washington: Urban Institute, 1986, pp. 30-31

22. Cited in “Early Menarche Catalyst,” ABC TV, 2 October 2003.

23. Kathleen Kiernan, cited in “The Bargain Breaks,” The Economist, 26 Dec. 1992 - 8 jan. 1993.

24. Cited in Nicholas Davidson, “Life Without Father: America’s Greatest Social Catastrophe.” Policy Review, Winter 1990.

25. Cited in Nicholas Davidson, “Life Without Father: America’s Greatest Social Catastrophe.” Policy Review, Winter 1990.

26. Nadia Garnefski and Rene Diekstra, “Adolescents from one parent, stepparent and intact families; emotional problems and suicide attempts,” Journal of Adolescence 20, 1997, pp. 201-208.

27. Weitoft, Gunilla R., et. al., “Mortality, severe morbidity, and injury in children living with single parents in Sweden: a population-based study,” The Lancet, 9354, 25 January 2003, pp. 289-295.

28. Carol Nader, “Children with sole parent ‘less active’,” The Age, 2 September 2004, p. 8.

Fathers in Families is available from The Record.

Tel: (08) 9227 7080. Cost $5 plus postage.

For further information on the Fatherhood Foundation Phone (02) 4272 6677 or go to www.fathersonline.org