The Record Newspaper 02 July 2008

St Mary’s Cathedral Crucifix Competition starts this week! - see Page 3

having before your eyes the reward of those who combat for Christ.”

-Bishop Matthew Gibney 

Saint for the week

Juliana Falconieri

1270-1341

feast – June 19

Juliana was the only child of a wealthy couple in Florence,

July

The

PERTH DAYS IN THE DIOCESE YOUTH FESTIVAL

IT’S BIG... it’s FREE... and it’s part of the nationwide World Youth Day celebrations. Join thousands of young people from around the world coming to Perth for “Days

in the Diocese Youth Festival” – Thursday, 10 July 2008 at the Perth Esplanade. A great line up of local and international bands featuring - Two Trains, Catholic pub band duo Twelve, Basement Civilian, Catholic progressive metal band Apokalypsis, Gaetan, Flame and Laurie’s Daughter. Plus there will be international

speakers, merchandise, expos, sport activities, prizes and giveaways and many more... Gates open at 1pm to 10pm. For more info call the Perth WYD Office on 9422 7944 or go to our website www.wydperth. com “BE THERE!”

Stewardship

Walking with Him Daily Mass Readings

6 S 14TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Gr Zech 9:9-10 Your king comes

Ps 144:1-2.8-11.13-14 O God, my King

Rom 8:9.11-13 Spiritual interests

Mt 11:25:30 I bless you, Father

7 M Blessed Peter To Rot, martyr (O)

Gr Hos 2:16-18.21-22 Tenderness and love

Ps 144:2-9 Greatness and might

Mt 9:18-26 Healing power

8 T Hos 8:4-7.11-13 Reap the whirlwind

Ps 113:3-10 Trust in the Lord

Mt 9:32-38 Few labourers

9 W St Augustine Zhao Rong and companions, martyrs (O)

Gr Hos10:1-3.7-8.12 Sow integrity

Ps 104:2-7 Recall God’s wonders

Mt 10:1-7 The twelve apostles

10 T

Gr Hos 11:1-4.8-9 I am the Holy One

Ps 79:2-3.15-16 Come to our help

Mt 10:7-15 No gold or silver

11 F St Benedict, abbot (M)

Wh Hos 14:2-10 Return to the Lord

Ps 50:3-4.8-9.12-14.17 You love truth

Mt 10:16-23 Sheep among wolves

12 S Gr Isa 6:1-8 The Lord of hosts

Ps 92:1-2.5 The Lord is King

Mt 10:24-33 Do not be afraid

Key Vatican adviser on Islam due in Perth

VATICAN expert on Islam and Muslim-Christian relations will give a series of public and private lectures at Murdoch University and in Perth in July.

The Vatican’s Ambassador to Egypt and Delegate to the League of Arab States, Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald is a leading expert on Islam, Muslim-Christian relations and Interreligious dialogue in the Catholic Church.

He will be the inaugural Murdoch International Theologian, a program to bring leading religious thinkers to Perth within the Theology Program of the University. Archbishop Fitzgerald is from the United Kingdom, and has travelled the world speaking on his subject.

While in Perth he will give the L.J. Kiernan Memorial series of free lectures:

Public wishing to attend are asked to RSVP by Friday 4 July 2008 as places are limited. rsvp@murdoch.edu.au or telephone (08) 9360 6176

Anthony

Our task is to witness, not convert: AFL star

■ By Joanna Lawson

WITH World Youth Day just under two weeks away, the preparations for the event were boosted for the Perth contingent with a visit from the Archdiocese of

Sydney’s Director of Evangelisation and Pastoral Formation, Steve Lawrence.

Perth’s Street Evangelisation Team had a special sit down session with Mr Lawrence, a former AFL Hawthorn star and grand finalist, has had a long involvement with

the Emmanuel Community which specialises in spreading the love of Christ through various evangelisation initiatives.

Eleven team members gathered at the Catholic Education Office to be encouraged in sometimes daunting activities. Talking specifically

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

Is it true that most of my sales are not from direct advertising, but from personal recommendation, repeat business and reputation?

Is it true I have my own finance company to assist good people with poor

to buy cars from me?.

Is it true I sell over 1,300 vehicles every month in Victoria Park, and that is the biggest number from any one location in Australia?

Is it true that I refuse to sell any vehicle that has had previous major accident damage?

Is it true that when people come to do business with me, I guarantee they will be treated with courtesy, sincerity, professionalism and efficiency?

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

Is it true that every year for the last 20 consecutive years I have been Australia’s top selling Hyundai dealer?

about approaching strangers in the street, Mr Lawrence said it was important that evangelisers don’t place too high an expectation on themselves or measure their success by attempting to “win” conversions.

“We must respect the way the Holy Spirit is working in the person we encounter, and the way they respond to Him,” he said.

“Jesus stands at the door and knocks, he doesn’t break the door down.

“Be free of ‘outcomes’ - it’s liberating for us to allow the seed to fall where it will. Our task is to witness, not to convert.”

The workshop focused both on street evangelisation and the unexpected opportunities we all may have in everyday life to spread the good news of the Gospel.

Recalling an experience in Sale, Victoria, Mr Lawrence said that the shirt he was wearing with the World Youth Day logo on it prompted a conversation about the event with a sales assistant.

The best advice for those attempting to engage with non-Catholics was to follow the “traffic light” system.

“By gauging a person’s response to the conversation you can tell if there’s an orange light, in which case, be prepared to stop,” said Mr Lawrence.

“If it’s a red light then stop. Archbishop Fulton Sheen said that it’s more important to win a soul than to win an argument.”

The success of the session was evident by the number of Street Team volunteers who then headed

out for a mission at Whitford city shopping centre. Enthused by the advice, they happily trooped out of the meeting to face the public. Street Team co-ordinator Matthew Hodgson said that the mission went well. “We gave out quite a few tickets for the (Days in the Diocese) Youth Festival at Whitfords.

“Even though we had a couple of new guys on this mission, it was hard to keep track of them because every time I turned my back on them they were off talking to people in some other part of the shopping centre!

“It was great because Steve had talked to us and really inspired us to not be afraid to go out there and be on fire for the Lord.”

Tips for evangelising

(both on the street and off):

• Be free of the outcomes – it’s up to God to do the work, we are just His instruments.

• Read body language and work with the person you are engaging, not against them.

• Use a “honey pot” something to attract people’s attention. If on the street it could be beautiful music for example.

• Don’t get into an argument.

• Don’t get offended.

• Recognise others’ story.

• Go out (at least) in pairs if you are going to engage strangers.

Win! a unique

and historic

St Mary’s Cathedral Crucifix

With the Current restoration and completion of St Mary’s Cathedral in Perth, The Record has begun the project of reconstructing the historical 1865 Jarrah floorboards removed from the Cathedral into something most befitting of this holy wood – The St Mary’s Cathedral Crucifixes.

The Record would love to share this project with our readers and is giving away one exclusive 37cm St Mary’s Cathedral Crucifix, valued at $119.95.

If you would like to go in the draw to win this piece of Western Australian Church history, here’s how to enter:

Every week for seven weeks (beginning Wednesday 2nd July 2008) The Record Newspaper will be placing one Cathedral Crucifix token in the paper. To enter, simply cut out and collect all seven tokens. Place all seven tokens in an envelope with your name, address and contact telephone number on the back and mail your envelope to:

St Mary’s Cathedral Crucifix Competition

The Record PO Box 75 LEEDERVILLE WA 6902

Entries must be received by close of business on Wednesday, 20th August 2008. All entries received by this date containing all seven tokens (tokens must be originals cut out from the paper and not copies) will be placed in the Thursday 21st August 2008 draw. The winner drawn will be notified by telephone. Happy token collecting!

the Nation

Cover story: What’s the best place for imbibing the Faith? Where else, but...

In the Pub

A new initiative from young Sydney Catholics aimed at learning more about the richness of the Catholic Faith in every aspect has been a wild hit. Theology on Tap, modelled on a similar experiment begun in the US several years ago, offers youth formation and the fun of being with others just like themselves.

n By Anthony Barich

Young people are turning out in droves to talk theology in a pub in Sydney for wildly successful Theology on Tap sessions.

Since August 2007, hundreds of young people have been turning out every month to hear the Catholic faith presented “without compromise” in a “fun, exciting way in a casual, non-confronting” setting of an Irish-themed pub in inner Sydney.

Speakers have included Cardinal George Pell of Sydney and Dominican nuns from America.

Patrick Langrell, a 20-year-old University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) third-year student, first heard Archbishop Charles Chaput address a Theology on Tap session in Colorado on the Denver archdiocesan website, and was inspired to start one in Sydney for 18-30 year-olds. It has exploded over the

ing Archbishop Chaput, Patrick contacted event organisers in the US to learn how to set up the event.

Patrick, who is completing a double degree of theology and philosophy

Patrick was drawn to the American prelate ever since Archbishop Chaput gave an inspired address

to the largest congress ever held by the Australian Catholic Students Association in Canberra last year. On July 16, the circle will be completed as the archbishop returns to Sydney to address the Theology on Tap forum at P. J. Gallagher’s, an Irish pub in Parramatta, central Sydney.

He will speak on the topic, “Mission possible: this double life will self-destruct”. After first hear-

with law, learned that there were up to 80 venues hosting Theology on Tap events in Chicago alone, co-founded in 1981 by US priests Fathers John Cusick and Jack Wall in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

Now it’s a growing move-

ment spreading across the globe, with events held for college-aged Catholics in Washington, New York, and Ohio, among others, and abroad in the Philippines, Ireland, England and Hong Kong.

Now it’s in Australia. The first talk was in the upstairs function room of P. J. Gallagher’s Irish Pub in Drummoyne, inner-west Sydney, with prominent Australian journalist Mike Willesee, a lapsed Catholic who recently published a book on Eucharistic miracles. Then, Willessee spoke on ‘Evangelisation in the media’. The first event had about 90 attendees but audience figures rapidly expanded with prominent subsequent speakers including Cardinal George Pell of Sydney and Hayden Ramsay, Dean of Theology and Philosophy at UNDA.

Among speakers have been three Dominican Sisters from Nashville in the US who World Youth Day organiser Bishop Anthony Fisher, also a Dominican, asked to assist with WYD08 preparations.

Patrick’s aim is to create an atmosphere in which Theology on Tap was first founded in Chicago - getting young people back into the life of the Church.

“We don’t hope that people think that it’s a substitute for church, but it gets people in a place where they can meet with other youth that believe in the Catholic faith, and inspires them to take it more seriously,” Patrick said.

“Faith is meant to be ‘24-7’, something that permeates every part of your life, so we hope this will inspire them to live a life worthy of the Gospel.” It’s set to grow further

in Australia. The success of Sydney’s Theology on Tap has inspired Justin Lynch, a 32-year-old self-employed web developer, to start a similar program, Faith on Tap, in Brisbane after WYD08.

Justin, who heard about the Sydney event through the rapidlygrowing national Catholic student network, wants to “harness the enthusiasm and momentum from World Youth Day”, which wasn’t done that well on a local level, he says, after previous WYDs.

He will be getting tips from the Sydney organizers by attending the July 16 event which Archbishop Chaput will address at WYD08.

“Ideally, it will be an ongoing, self-renewing group that can flow on to other things, to take a lot of people’s faith from school to another level,” Justin said.

Patrick was surprised by the event’s overwhelming popularity but knew that Sydney “had a need for something like this”.

“I wasn’t sure how many people would come, as some events are run by particular groups that mainly attract their own members, but there wasn’t much around that could attract a wider audience,” Patrick said.

“We get such a wide range of people with completely different backgrounds - various religious communities including the Maronites, along with non-Christians and even lapsed Catholics.

“If you present the faith without compromise, but in a fun way in a non-threatening setting where young people are comfortable, they are immediately drawn to that, where ever they’re from.”

past year, to the point where Patrick had to find another pub that could hold all the people thirsting for the Catholic Truth.

Enjoying the moment: Hayden Ramsay and Sydney World Youth Day organisers take a break during a Theology on Tap session. The event has proved popular with Sydney youth from all backgrounds, and looks set to spread further afield throughout Australia.

PHOTOS BOTH PAGES: GIOVANNI PORTELLI

Putting the argument: Sydney Cardinal George Pell speaks to youth at P.J. Gallagher’s, an Irish-themed pub in Sydney.

the Nation

A bright idea grew and grew

■ By Anthony Barich

A DECADE ago, the Elephant and Wheelbarrow Pub in Northbridge was the place to go after work for a pub meal, a pint and some spirituality.

Today, Spirituality in the Pub, as it was called, has moved down Stirling Highway to Notre Dame University’s Fremantle Hotel and is known as Conversations on Tap.

While Theology on Tap has experienced great success in Sydney over the past year, a similar concept has been running in WA since the mid-1990s.

It all started when State Labor MP Tom Stephens MLC heard about Spirituality in the Pub (SIP) being run in a pub in Paddington, inner Sydney.

Enjoying some secular press, it was run by Catalyst For Renewal, the group that recently sent a letter to the Australian bishops expressing their disappointment with the bishops’ rejection of some theological concepts of retired-Bishop Geoffrey Robinson’s book criticising the Church’s dealing with its sexual abuse scandals.

Founded by Marist Father Michael Whelan SM and wellknown Australian media identity Geraldine Doogue, SIP has spread to 16 locations around NSW, eight in Victoria, two in Tasmania and one in South Australia and Queensland.

Discussing spirituality in a public bar seemed like a good idea.

So Stephens, the Labor member for Central Kimberley-Pilbara, and his wife Anne joined Chris Flamer and Michael and Anne Fox, former mission officer at St John of God Hospital Subiaco, to facilitate a set program of sessions at the Elephant and Wheelbarrow, owned by the

late Maurice Brockwell, former chairman of The Record, with a speech then conversation.

“Audiences varied, but I distinctly remember a few crowded sessions with people standing on chairs,” Stephens said, adding that there had been some memorable contributions

Theology, psychology, philosophy, literature and the sciences were all covered to varying degrees. Even former WA Labor Premier Geoff Gallop spoke about a Scottish theologian who inspired both him and his friend, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

It attracted a mainly middleaged audience, with a smattering

of youth. Since then it has moved to the University of Notre Dame Australia in Fremantle, where campus minister Tom Gannon facilitates two sessions a semester.

He opened it with a blast, with visiting Bishop Peter Remigius, the chairman of Caritas India, launching the Conversations on Tap lecture series with his harrowing tale of losing close family members to the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami that ravaged his home diocese of Kumbakonam in India’s south, where Christianity is strong.

Since then, Gannon, an American who had himself attended Theology on Tap sessions in Portland back in the US, has hosted three sessions at Fremantle Hotel, including US Holy Cross Fathers Bill Beauchamp, president of the University of Portland, and Fr Frank Malloy from UNDA Indiana.

They spoke about the importance of Catholic universities and the role of UNDA in service to the Catholic mission in the world.

Last year Caritas Internationalis Secretary General Duncan spoke.

Though Gannon is still building the concept, it has grown outside the port city, with Stephens’ electoral officer Mary Jane Coates starting Spirituality in the Pub with Dominican Sister Pam Wood at the Walkabout Hotel in Port Hedland in WA’s north.

They’ve held a session there in March but the bar needs more beer sales, so they held it at a speaker’s house.

“Maybe we should call it, ‘Spirituality not in a pub’, Coates quipped. “We need to find a permanent location, because we really are getting some stimulating conversations going.” She said Stephens recently addressed the group and told them he’d never experienced anything like it.

A smaller group of 14 or so meant more intimate conversation.

She said that even an atheist attended and reported positive feedback.

A similar group was formed in Broome.

Fun: Hearing a variety of speakers on aspects of the Church’s faith is attracting hundreds, as this photo of Cardinal George Pell with youth, at top, shows. Other speakers have included religious such as the Dominican Sisters, at right, and laity, including Record columnist John Heard, centre, and Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Julian Porteous, at bottom. Participants, below, enjoy company and a meal beforehand.

Senate report ‘hijacked’: AFA

■ By Anthony Barich

Christian, family and children’s media lobby groups have slammed a Senate report into the premature sexualisation of children as an advertising industry whitewash.

The Senate Environment, Communications and the Arts Committee, comprising Coalition and Labor Senators and two Democrats, released the report on June 27 and made 13 recommendations. These included a call for States and territories to introduce nationally consistent sex and relationship education in schools and a longitudinal study of the effects of premature and inappropriate sexualisation of children. Australian Family Association national spokesperson Angela Conway said the committee allowed itself to be influenced by the advertising industry.

“There is a massive groundswell of anger among parents on both sides of politics about this issue, and the Senate committee have deluded themselves that this is not a real feeling in the community. Our message to them is: don’t expect us to go away.”

She said that “Kinsey-an groups” who advocate comprehensive sex education have hijacked the inquiry for their own ends.

“My big concern is that much of the comprehensive sex education has been a key driver of the sexualisation of kids in the western world, as their core tenets are that they read young children as sexual beings and impose an adult sexuality onto young teenagers.

“There is no reseearch that shows the programs that have been run have reduced STIs (seexually transmitted infections) or unplanned pregnancies, and have actually seen a rise in these things and coercion in young people.

Womens Forum Australia director Melinda Tankard Reist said that the Advertising Standards Board (ASB), “set up by industry to police itself,” received a raft of criticism during the inquiry, saying it was taken to task for its weak code of ethics, inadequate complaints procedures, dismissal of most complaints, not reflecting community standards, lack of diversity in its composition and inability to punish advertisers who flout the code.

“Despite this, the Committee has handballed the need for a media and advertising complaints clearing house back to the ASB - the very body which has been found so ineffective in the first place,” she said, and that the committee failed to support calls for the ASB to consult child development experts about the potential impact of ads on children before they are released.

Australian Christian Lobby managing director Jim Wallace said: “Instead of dealing with the need for greater government regulation which gives priority to the interests of children, they have been snowed by the very industry they were inquiring into and are

“effectively leaving the issue in their hands.”

The 13 recommendations are:

● The onus is on broadcasters, publishers, advertisers, retailers and manufacturers to take account of community concerns on inappropriate sexualisation of children.

● A longitudinal study into the effects of premature and inappropriate sexualisation of children by the Commonwealth through the National Health and Medical Research Council.

● The Australian Communications and Media Authority revise the requirement that Children’s Television Standard content be broadcast for at least 30 minutes a day so broadcasters can schedule it in extended blocks at times when children are more likely to watch it.

● Broadcasters review their classification of music videos specifically regarding sexualising imagery.

● Broadcasters establish dedicated childrenís TV channels.

● Publishers provide Office of Film and Literature Classification-guided reader advice on magazine covers indicating the presence of material that may be inappropriate for children.

● In 18 months the Senate review the effectiveness of the operation of the Australian Association of National Advertisers’ Code for Advertising and Marketing Communications to Children, introduced in April 2008.

● The ASB and Free TV Australia consider establishing a media and advertising complaints clearing house to receive complaints and forward them on to the appropriate body; advise complainants that it had been forwarded and give them contact details and processes of the organisation they’d forwarded it on to.

● ASB to produce a half-yearly list of complaints where the impact of ads is on children.

● Advertising Standards Bureau pre-vets ads either when advertisers are concerned their product pushes boundaries or where an advertiser/agency has regularly produced material that has been subject of complaints.

● ASB to make determinations according to community standards and the Australian Standards Bureau develop a process of community consultation, including focus groups, and research acting as a benchmark for ASB decisions.

● ASB to rigorously apply standards for billboards/outdoor advertising to more closely reflect community concern about appropriateness of sexually explicit material and parents’ inability to restrict childrens’ exposure to such material.

● State and Territory governments introduce comprehensive sexual health and relationships education programs inclusive of youth and parents, with a consistent national approach.

Faith hits secular screens

■ By Anthony Barich

THE Christian Faith will make a concerted push into secular movie cinemas next month when Hoyts hosts the nationwide Faith on Film festival from July 24-27.

In an Australian first, nine films provided by Sunshine Coast-based Christian movie distribution company Heritage HM (history makers) will screen in Perth, Sydney, Blacktown, Eastland Victoria, Canberra and Adelaide.

Hoyts at Westfield Carousel in Cannington will host five of the films in Perth.

Heritage HG founding managing director Rod Hopping said the goal of his company and the festival is to distribute films that “inspire life and a journey of faith in people”.

He said the film industry is more open to Christianity since Mel Gibson’s 2004 epic The Passion of the Christ, which “encouraged Christian producers” and raised the bar on Christian-themed movies so they are taken more seriously.

“Christian media had been around for a while, but it was almost embarrassing - content was cheesy and production quality was poor,” said Mr Hopping, a Baptist.

The Faith on Film Festival, that includes six Australian features, has been timed to capture the expected increased interest in the Faith from World Youth Day in Sydney July 15-20.

Festival director and Hoyts representative Fiona Pulford said it was an exciting time as the “faith communities of the world are focused on Australia”.

Hoyts sees the relevance of faith in secular society, with a “Faith and Worship Films” section on its msn website.

One Festival on Film movie, Lord Save Us From Your Followers, is also the theme of a popular car sticker in Australia that is offensive to some Christians.

But the feature itself is more an at-times humorous examination of Christianity in the US, says Mr Hopping.

“With people who say gays will burn in hell and that 9/11 was retribution from God, where’s the Gospel of Love in the midst of that?” he said.

“(U2 lead singer and social activist) Bono sums it up during the documentary when he said the churches can often be perceived as a big mouth without arms and legs, but it needs to be arms and legs.

“It challenges me personally and reminds me that we shouldn’t get judgemental.”

The Festival also includes an award-winning South African drama, a ‘travel the world’ surfing documentary, children’s feature The Ten Commandments and the Australian premier of Roland Emmerich’s hard-hitting drama on human trafficking, Trade.

“Each of the films we’ve selected is powerful and will inspire audiences to go and change their world,” Mr Hopping said.

The Festival also introduces two Australian premiers: Hillsong United’s The I Heart Revolution, and from Sydney production company Karbon comes The Disposable Ones featuring Australian footballer Jason Stevens.

Mr Stevens, featured previously in discovery, is a former rugby league international who was part of a World Cup-winning Australian Kangaroos team and NSW State of Origin hero who has become a vocal exponent of saving sex until marriage.

Faith on Film Festival in Perth

Faith Like Potatoes

July 24 1.45pm, July 25 6.30pm, July 27 10.45pm.

The Disposable Ones

July 24 6.30pm, July 26 8.45pm, July 27 6.45pm.

The I Heart Revolution

July 23 7pm, July 24 8.45pm, July 27 4.15pm.

Lord Save Us From Your Followers

July 25 4pm, July 26 1.15pm, July 27 9pm.

Trade

July 25 9.10pm, July 26 4pm, July 27 1.30pm.

Gritty reality: Oscar winner Kevin Kline stars on Trade, a hard-hitting drama on human trafficking. It is one of five films to feature at Hoyts in Perth. IMAGE COURTESY OF HERITAGE HG

Mass goers are older, more educated

But be wary of spiritual apathy: Archbishop

Perth Archbishop concerned by latest stats of Mass attanders, and says Catholics should not be content with just baptising their children

■ By Anthony Barich

THE latest survey of Mass attendees in Australia shows they are older, better educated and more likely to be female, married and born overseas than Catholics in general.

Among Mass attendees aged 20 or more, 36 per cent were born overseas compared to 29 per cent of the Catholic population, according to the 2006 National Church Life Survey (NCLS), released last month. The NCLS was based on a random sample of around 70,000 Mass attendees from 229 Catholic parishes from every Australian diocese.

These findings of rising numbers of overseas-born Catholics were consistent with the 2006 Census, which revealed that over a fifth of Australian Catholics - 22.7 per cent - were born overseas, including 17.6 per cent who were born in nonEnglish-speaking countries.

The percentage of Catholics attending Mass every week dropped slightly from 2001 to 2006.

Among Mass attendees aged 15 and up, 28 per cent had a degree or higher qualification.

Sixty-eight per cent of Mass goers aged 15 and over were married, 10 per cent were widowed, five per cent were separated or divorced and one per cent were in a de facto relationship.

Noting that overseas-born Catholics are more than taking the place of Australian-born Catholics at Mass, Archbishop Barry Hickey said: “We can never be satisfied with just getting children baptised.

“We must find ways and means of offering them a means of coming closer to Christ.”

He said that while the ages of those not practicing are not specified by NCLS, he suspects that “fewer of the young are attending Mass than used to”.

“That might explain why the overseas-born percentage of practising Catholics is much higher than Australian-born practising Catholics,” the Archbishop told The Record

Archbishop Hickey also said it “may be true” that foreign-born Catholics are more enthusiastic about their faith than Australian Catholics, “but one can’t be happy about that”.

He said the fear is that the more ‘Australian’ the overseas-born people become, the less they’ll go to Mass.

“I think the main factor in the decline of people going to Mass is that Australia is a secular society with values out there in the mainstream that don’t sit comfortably with the Catholic faith, and Catholics are affected by it.

“It’s a matter of concern if enthusiastic foreign-born Catholics come to this country, and within a generation or two settle in like everybody else and don’t go to Mass.”

The NCLS survey also showed that 61 per cent of Mass goers aged 15 up were female, compared to 53 per cent of the same age group among Catholics as a whole.

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s Pastoral Projects Office conducted a national count in May 2006, which showed that the total number of people at Mass on a typical weekend was 708,600, or about 14 per cent of the Census Catholic population.

This was down from a little over 15 per cent, or 764,000, in 2001.

While the Census showed Catholics remain the largest religious group in Australia, with 5,126,884 - 25.8 per cent of the total population of 19,855,288 – it

declined slightly as a proportion of the total population from the 2001 figure of 26.6 per cent.

The Catholic population also grew up 125,260 between 2001-06, while the next two largest groups in terms of religious affiliation were Anglicans and those who said they had no religion, with both accounting for 18.7 per cent of the population.

Australian Catholics are also getting older on average.

The median age of Australian Catholics in 2006 was 36.6 years, slightly younger than that of other Australians (37.2 years).

Five years earlier, the median age of the two groups had been 34.7 years and 36.0 years respectively, so the gap in median age between Catholics and the rest of the population is narrowing.

The Australian Census also reflected the NCLS survey, revealing that 15 per cent of Catholics aged 15 and over had a university degree or higher qualification. This was a considerable increase over the 2001 figure of 12 per cent.

Some things remained the same, though.

The percentage of Catholic primary students and Catholic secondary students who attended Catholic schools – 52 per cent –remained the same as in 2001.

Non-Catholics made up 21 per cent of the students at Catholic primary schools and 28 per cent at Catholic secondary schools, up from 19 per cent and 26 per cent respectively in 2001.

The 2006 Census also revealed that WA is ranked fifth in the proportion of its population who are Catholics behind New South Wales, ACT, Victoria and Queensland, with 464,357 out of a population of 1,961,062, according to the 2006 national Census.

An extended profile of Australia’s Catholics can be found on the ACBC website at http://www.acbc.catholic. org.au/org/ppo/20080605608.htm or at www.ppo.catholic.org.au.

Church wants to help you evangelise

■ By Anthony Barich

ARCHBISHOP Barry Hickey says Western Australia is “not geared” for the Australian bishops’ latest drive to regain lapsed Catholics, but has embarked on his own evangelisation drive.

The Australian bishops spent $20,000 on a national advertising campaign in News Limited’s Sunday papers over June 14-15, set up a national hotline and issued a Pastoral Letter to all parishes over June 21-22 encouraging practising Catholics to welcome lapsed Catholics back.

But Archbishop Hickey has his own plans for evangelising, saying it must extend to those of no faith as well as lapsed Catholics.

While the Australian bishops are trying to get ordinary Catholics to become evangelisers, to talk to their friends and neighbours about returning to Mass, the archbishop said “that’s hard to do”.

“WA isn’t really geared to put a full effort into this particular program, because we haven’t had the time to prepare the people for it,” he said.

“Nevertheless, the material is in every parish, and many parishioners will be very enthusiastic about it. I think if we were to do it ourselves, rather than joining a national program, we would probably take more responsibility for the program.”

After “several concerted efforts” at evangelisation, the Archbishop has assigned Bunbury diocesan priest Fr Michael Slattery to lead a Diocesan Centre for Evangelisation to enthuse, engage and equip parishes, schools, organisations and communities to become more involved in evangelisation. Its aim is to reach out to those of no faith and those looking for

faith, and refer them to RCIA (Right of Christian Initiation for Adults) and the Catholic Enquiry Centre, among others.

“A Centre for Evangelisation is a good local effort to gear us up to have not only parish evangelisation but special groups in the diocese who reach out through the media (Internet) as well as face to face contact,” the Archbishop said. Though the Archbishop seeks to utilise the Internet more, he said personal contact will always be an essential part of the process.

“You don’t meet Christ in the abstract, you meet Him in people and in prayer,” he said. “Seeing that others are doing it will give them the courage to do it themselves.” He said that in the process of evangelisation and welcoming people back to the Church, patience and compassion is essential.

A recent National Church Life Survey revealed that only one per cent of Mass goers live in de facto relationships, and Archbishop Hickey says these people – of which there are much more than the figure stated – must be treated with compassion and patience.

“That statistic of one per cent (of Mass attenders are in de facto relationships) doesn’t say very much,” he said.

“It says that some people are hanging in, perhaps hoping for better days, perhaps hoping that if there is a matrimonial tangle then in the longer term it can be sorted out.

“So we shouldn’t be harsh on them; we should welcome them then assist them to untangle the problems they have and come back fully to the Church.

“We must understand that maybe they can’t do much about their situation immediately, but long-term we encourage them to do so, so they can fully become part of the local community.”

More of this: Stats show baptisms are up but practicing Catholics are down. Archbishop Hickey says we should not be content with just baptising our kids and leaving them to fend for themselves; we should help form them in the Faith.

PHOTO: CNS

Irish vote not so far away

On the face of it, there could be few things less significant for Australians than an Irish vote on something called the Lisbon Treaty. (The Irish seriously upset the European bigwigs by rejecting the Lisbon Treaty, which is supposed to bind ever tighter the bonds of the European Union. In doing so, they probably expressed the view that would be expressed in every European country if votes were ever held there.)

The fate of the Lisbon Treaty, which mirrored the fate of the Maastricht Treaty a few years ago, appears to express a clear public opinion about the European Union: namely, that the EU is a great idea, but it was designed to deal with unity issues, not with domestic issues. People like the ease of movement and trade, the convenience of the Euro, and the enhanced sense of security, at least within Europe. After countless centuries of intra-European warfare, and particularly the last 200 years from Napoleon to the present day, the current improbability of war between European neighbours must be a huge relief.

These big issues were the guiding principles of the leaders of the European project in the early days of its formation. Most of these statesmen were Catholics and they had no difficulty distinguishing between matters for which unity was required and matters that would be better left to nations, communities and even families. The principle is known as subsidiarity – leaving decision-making to the smallest level of society at which the decision can be effectively made and justly implemented. This principle is obviously alive and well in the European people (certainly in the Irish) but it is either dormant or dead in most European politicians, bureaucrats, academics and other groups of people who are in fact dependent on the people but who prefer to think of themselves as superior to (and preferably independent from) the general population.

The dichotomy extends over all groups or “classes” of people from trade unions to industry organisations and, if the Irish reports are to be believed, even between Catholic Bishops and Catholics in the pews.

THE RECORD

PO Box 75

Who dares wins

Ihesitate to contradict Guy Couchback

(The Record, June 25) but I do feel that Carmen Lawrence’s remarks about the prevailing pessimism in our affluent society were simply factual statements.

Guy’s rhetorical questions neglected the really critical question: why is there so much discontent in such an affluent age?

There can be no doubt that modern civilisation is based on material progress, but it should be obvious that our civilisation is predominantly materialistic and godless.

Same sex legislation

There were commentaries in the media that the Same Sex Relationships (Equal Treatments in commonwealth Laws –Superannuation) Bill 2008 needed to be passed by the end of June in order to facilitate financial equity between same sex coupled and the wider community. There has even been a suggestion that to delay the bill is obstructionist and unfair.

I believe that your readers should know what the position is on this complex issue. The Coalition believes in the principle of equal treatment of interdependent relationships (including same sex couples) in relation to superannuation. In this context, the Coalition has consulted across a wide variety of groups, including the Australian Christian Lobby, the Australian Family Association and the Catholic and Anglican Churches, to name a few. None expressed significant opposition to the principles in the Bill.

The Coalition, however, believes it is important that the Bill be carefully scrutinised, and the Bill be sent to a Senate committee for consideration. Such an inquiry will take some time and should examine among other things the various definitions in the Bill.

For example, there are several important changes that are being made. They include:

Leederville, WA 6902 cathrec@iinet.net.au

This is a problem that is not confined to the European Union. It arises whenever people try to combine previously disparate groups without maintaining a clear understanding of the reasons for the combination and respect for the things for which the combination is not necessary. If these understandings are not maintained, the larger organisation degenerates quickly into a wastrel devoting most of its energy to the imposition of ‘ideals’ that were never envisaged among its purposes.

Tel: (08) 9227 7080

Fax: (08) 9227 7087

The United Nations is probably a worse example than the EU. While it struggles to have a significant impact on world peace, the UN has developed into an uncontrolled bureaucratic mess that imposes a wide variety of unsavoury practices on countries that cannot protect themselves, and even on some that can. The UN Declaration of Human Rights was (is) an outstanding document that declared the rights or principles that governments should respect in their people, and that nations should respect in one another. Under the control of various, and virtually anonymous, committees many of these principles have been seriously distorted and then imposed on the helpless and the unwilling.

For example, UN committees have defined “women’s reproductive health” as contraception, abortion and sterilisation. UN programs around the world impose this ruling wherever they can, even to the point of refusing to fund programs that provide real reproductive health care by dealing with the actual health problems that affect women during pregnancy and childbirth, and which sometimes affect their ability to cope with their responsibilities in life after childbirth. The UN is worse than the EU in many ways, and not nearly as inanely bureaucratic as the EU in others, chiefly because it has not yet obtained authority in areas like production and trade.

And what does this mean to Australia? We have a Federation – an agreed union of a group of smaller units. The Federation set out the areas where the Federation is necessary and those in which subsidiarity would apply. Things are degenerating rapidly, and the surest sign of it is that the bigger group – the Commonwealth – is desperately trying to identify itself with a host of things that are not its business while it struggles to be coherent on things that are. We know we are in serious trouble when the Federal Treasurer creates a new bureaucratic unit to advise people to “shop around and shop for specials”, and then defines the absurdity of it by saying these are “simple things millions of Australians do every week”. At the same time, neither the Treasurer nor the PM acknowledges that fuel excise was imposed on Australians to provide funds for road-building, but most of it has not been used for that purpose for 80 years and the excise could easily be removed if the Federal Government would look at balancing its budget in some other way.

It is when we lose sight of what we are really all about that governments and their societies begin to break down.

Our society is materially rich and spiritually impoverished, and it will remain so until there is a widespread realisation that is personally and socially disastrous to neglect God and his spiritual Kingdom.

Hugh Clift Lesmurdie

Not a superior Guy

Itotally agree with Peter Gilet’s letter re:

Mr Crouchback’s criticism of Pauline Hanson. Although I never voted for One Nation I thought her ideas were mostly plain common sense. There obviously was a vendetta against her. The Howard Government established a slush fund headed by Tony Abbott, the aim of which was to destroy her credibility. Her jailing was a case of rank injustice.

I don’t think anyone should be surprised at what Mr Crouchback writes. His research is often inadequate and coloured by his own particular prejudices. The Harry Potter series, I remember, was an instance where he waved banners for JK Rowling, despite the fact that she acknowledged links with the occult and, according to Adelaide University, laid the gorunds for a course in Satanism. I had to smile when our Mr Crouchback was somewhat dismayed when the elderly gentleman in the series announced that he was homosexual.

Anyway, I now must thank you and your team for the means to express our opinions form time to time. Long live your interesting paper and many thanks, too, for the excellent editorials.

MP Walsh East Perth

● Changing “marital relationship” to “couple relationship”

● Substituting “husband”, “wife” and “spouse” with “partner”, and

● Changes to the definition of a “child”

Couple relationships are defined as having existed “when a person ordinarily lived with another person as their partner on a permanent ad bona fide domestic basis”. To establish such relationship, evidence of the following needs to be provided:

● The only person is wholly or substantially dependent on the other person at the relevant times; or

● They were legally married to each other; or

● They had jointly owned a home which was their usual residence; or

● The relationship was registered under a prescribed law of a State or Territory as a prescribed kind of relationship.

The Bill also proposes defining a child of a couple relationship as a child born of the couple relationship or adopted by the people in the period of the relationship or a child who is the product of the relationship.

There is obviously a difference between “born” of the relationship and a “product” of the relationship. It is the latter, which in particular requires close attention.

The proposed Bill could well have consequences, which flow beyond the intended policy stated by the government. It is therefore important that adequate time be given for careful scrutiny and for those who have a view, to make submissions to the relevant Senate Committee.

Chris Ellison Senator for Western Australia

How

Vista

July 2 2008

A pilgrimage by one group of Perth Catholics to WYD in July has a double-focus, the suffering children of Sudan - Page 11

QUEBEC 2008: The 49th International Eucharistic Congress

THE EUCHARIST: gift of God for the life of the world

focused on HIM

A Eucharistic Congress is a major event in the life of the Church. The first, in France in 1881, saw 300 people attend. The 49th, just concluded in Quebec, saw tens of thousands participate in a Eucharistic procession through the streets of Toronto and 55,000 gather for the closing Mass.

■ By Regina Linskey

When people pause and question the purpose of their lives, they “yearn for a spiritual answer,” said Slovakian Cardinal Jozef Tomko at the opening Mass of the 49th International Eucharistic Congress.

“So many people are moving here and there - 6.5 billion people busy working to improve their living conditions,” said Cardinal Tomko, Pope Benedict XVI’s representative to the congress.

Why are “we plunged on this road,” he asked the crowd of more than 10,000 cardinals, bishops, priests, nuns and laypeople from around the world gathered for the June 15 Mass in Quebec City’s hockey arena.

A Eucharistic Congress “allows us to

encounter” these questions and “examine the meaning of our life and death,” said the cardinal.

“What does it mean to be the gift of God” and what is the Eucharist, he asked, referring to the theme of the June 15-22 congress, “The Eucharist, Gift of God for the Life of the World.”

Jesus is the gift of God, he “is the food that feeds us and fulfills us and allows us life in eternity,” said Cardinal Tomko.

“The Eucharist is a person, not an object, not a dead gift. Maybe we should ask not what is the Eucharist, but who is the Eucharist?”

The answer to this question, Cardinal Tomko said, is Jesus in the sacramental form of bread and wine “to indicate he wanted to become our food and sustain our life.”

The cardinal also said Jesus’ words at the Last Supper, “Do this in memory of

me,” are not only a memorial but a command to do what he has done and to use those same words at Mass.

In this way, Jesus’ sacrifice is perpetuated throughout history, he said.

“The Sunday Mass is a memorial, my brothers and sisters, and we cannot lose this Sunday Mass,” he said.

During the homily, Cardinal Tomko presented Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet with a large, ornate gold crosier as a gift from Pope Benedict. The cardinals embraced as the crowd applauded. Cardinal Tomko said Pope Benedict was with the congress “full-heartedly” in prayer.

The history of Quebec, which is celebrating the 400th anniversary of its founding this year, and the global participation in the congress were highlighted throughout the more than three-hour Mass. continued on Vista 2

Honouring Him: Clergy carry the Eucharist atop the Ark of the New Covenant at the end of the opening Mass of the 49th International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City on June 15. More than 12,000 people from 70 countries participated in the week-long event.

PHOTO: CNS/NANCY WIECHEC

Kicker: Incense is brought to the altar following the eucharistic procession at the opening Mass of the Congress.

PHOTO: CNS/NANCY WIECHEC

Gifts: Bearers representing different countries of the world join the eucharistic procession at the opening Mass of the Congress.

PHOTO: CNS/NANCY WIECHEC

healthy would a marriage be if spouses regularly renewed their vows? - Vista 8

THE EUCHARIST gift of God for the life of the world

49th Congress sees tens of thousands focused on Him

continued from Vista 1

More than 12,000 people participated in the conference’s weeklong conferences, lectures and liturgies. Although 75 per cent of the participants were Canadians, pilgrims came from more than 70 countries.

As the cardinals and bishops processed into the arena, the crowd applauded and stood to greet them. A group of more than 50 Mexican pilgrims chanted “Mexico, Mexico” when they spotted their local bishop in the procession. Hearing their welcome, the bishop turned to them, smiled and waved.

During the presentation of the gifts, representatives from Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe and Latin America offered rice, grains, wheat and fruit to represent their regions’ cultural gifts. Several chalices were presented at the large, circular altar in the centre of the arena; among them was the chalice given to the first bishop of Quebec

by a French king. The silver, locally made modern chalice for the Eucharistic congress also was presented.

At the end of the Mass, the Eucharist was placed in a monstrance, which was hoisted atop the youthinspired Ark of the New Covenant - an icon-covered chest that had been carried on foot to the more than 70 dioceses and eparchies in Canada. Four clergymen carried the ark and monstrance outside the arena to one of the several eucharistic adoration chapels, where pilgrims can pray throughout the week.

The first International Eucharistic Congress was held in France in 1881 as a gathering of 300 Europeans. Over the years, the congresses grew into an international event of celebrations, seminars and charitable works. The last International Eucharistic Congress was in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2004.

Praise: Seminarians from Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Toronto sing the Our Father during the 49th International Eucharistic Congress.

PHOTO: CNS /NANCY WIECHEC

Focused on Him: Catholic clergy carry a monstrance attached to the Ark of the New Convenant during a procession at the opening Mass of the 49th International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City on June 15. Meanwhile, Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec smiles after receiving a crosier, a gift from the pope, that was presented to him by Cardinal Jozef Tomko, right, at the opening Mass.

PHOTO: CNS /NANCY WIECHEC

Animated: A giant puppet representing a historical Canadian religious figure hovers over a singer before the opening Mass of the International Eucharistic Congress.

PHOTO: CNS /NANCY WIECHEC

gift of God for the life of the world

A sign not seen in decades as 25,000 hit the streets

Almost forgotten sight brings back memories to Quebecers in intensely secular nation

■ By Joseph Sinasac

QUEBEC CITY (CNS) -

- Nearly 25,000 Catholics from around the world poured through the narrow streets of Quebec City, accompanying the Eucharist in an outpouring of religious fervor absent from this city for at least half a century.

The June 19 procession was one of the highlights of the June 15-22 Congress. The Eucharist, held in an oversized modern monstrance, was driven through the streets on a platform pulled by a truck. Riding with the monstrance were Slovakian Cardinal Jozef Tomko, Pope Benedict XVI’s representative to the congress; Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet; and Cardinal Theodore-Adrien Sarr of Dakar, Senegal.

Jean Audet watched the procession with his 34-year-old son, Louis.

“It’s very old, it reminds me of my young time,” said the elder Audet, who is no longer a practicing Catholic.

He explained that when he was young the English Canadians were Protestant and the French Canadians were Catholic; the young men were embarrassed when their girlfriends knelt on the sidewalk during eucharistic processions back then.

Though once the most devoutly Catholic part of Canada, Quebec society abandoned the Church in droves in the 1960s during a tumultuous period of social change. Today roughly 10 per cent of Catholics still attend Mass, though symbols and saints’ names for streets and villages constantly remind the province’s residents of their religious past.

The presence of the Eucharist - surrounded by cardinals, bishops and priests - at the end of the nearly milelong crowd gave the procession a solemn finish. While many onlookers stared curiously at the passing sight, occasionally a few would fall to their knees as the Eucharist moved past.

Meanwhile, near the front of the line there was a more festive atmosphere in which hundreds of young people mixed among their elders. The parade started with a Knights of Columbus honour guard, followed by the Ark of the New Covenant, a large wooden box carved in the shape of the ark and covered with icons. This ark had spent the last two years crisscrossing Canada to build involvement in the congress among Catholic youths.

Following the ark were the “13 giants” - marionettes at least 15 feet tall representing male and female leaders from the almost 400-year history of the Catholic Church in Quebec. Among them were St Jean de Brebeuf, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, St Margaret Bourgeoys, Blessed Marie de l’Incarnation and Blessed Francois de Laval.

Cheers arose each time one of the giants would bow or wave

at the crowd. Jordan Clark, 15, of Kensington, Prince Edward Island, waved his province’s flag as he walked in the procession.

“I love being with people who want to celebrate our faith,” he said. “I’ve felt a strong bond with

religious people in this congress who have come from all over the world.”

Cody Gabrielson, 23, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, carried a conga strapped over his shoulder as he walked. He said he was

drawn to the congress by a “deep love for the Eucharist.”

The procession, he added, gave him a “deeper understanding of how unified we are.”

At St Roch, one of the historic churches of the city, the Eucharist was the focus of a liturgy of blessing for the sick. After St Roch’s the crowds thinned because the final destination, the Agora, an

amphitheatre on the waterfront, could only hold 5,000 marchers. Some carried torches; others carried candles. The rain that had pounded the streets on and off all day held off for most of the procession. A brief shower did nothing to douse the joy, as umbrellas popped up.

Contributing to this story was Deborah Gyapong.

Can’t miss us: Catholics process in an evening eucharistic procession through the streets of Quebec City June 19. The puppets in the rear represent Canadian Catholic historical figures.

PHOTO: CNS/ROBERT J GALBRAITH

Deservedly grand: A monstrance rests on the Ark of the New Covenant. The ark, featuring iconic representations of the faith, has traveled throughout Canada in advance of the June 15-22 congress in Quebec City.

PHOTO: CNS

THE EUCHARIST gift of God for the life of the world

Church celebrates diversity in Byzantine liturgy

Roman Catholics see how Eastern cousins worship

■ By Deborah Gyapong

QUEBEC CITY (CNS) - The diversity of the Catholic Church was on display with the celebration of the Divine Liturgy on June 18 at the 49th International Eucharistic Congress.

The metropolitan of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada, Archbishop Lawrence Huculak of Winnipeg, Manitoba, celebrated the two-hour Byzantine liturgy inside a packed hockey arena adjacent to the Expo City grounds that had been transformed into a “eucharistic city” for the Congress.

“From the many priests, deacons and laity here today, we have heard prayers chanted in Greek, Arabic, Ukrainian, Spanish, French and English,” Archbishop Huculak said in his homily.

“Later we shall hear them chanted in Slovak, Hungarian and Romanian as well, just as some of the languages in which this ancient Divine Liturgy is celebrated throughout the world.

“Indeed, in this celebration of the Divine Liturgy we experience the great diversity of the people of God,” he said. “But, as we heard in the Letter to the Ephesians, we are united in one faith, one baptism, one God and father of us all.”

While many people identify the Catholic Church only with the Latin rite, almost 30 churches that celebrate Eastern liturgies are in full commun-

ion with the Vatican. The Byzantine liturgy is closer to that of Orthodox churches, and Byzantine priests are allowed to marry before being ordained.

At a news conference following the liturgy, Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec, host of the congress, said most of the pilgrims present would have found the Divine Liturgy a new experience.

“We had an example of the wedding between heaven and earth,” he said.

The liturgy provides insight into how the Catholic faith is universal and crosses cultures, he said. In his homily, Archbishop Huculak tied the diversity to the unity about which Jesus spoke in the Gospel when he said, “That they may all be one, even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you.”

“This unity with our loving God is fundamental to our spiritual identity,” the archbishop said. “It was the purpose for our creation, and it remains the goal of our existence.”

Archbishop Huculak was joined at the altar by Ukrainian Bishop Stephen Chmilar of Toronto; Melkite Bishop Ibrahim Ibrahim of Montreal; Slovak Bishop John Pazak of Toronto; and Melkite Bishop Georges Bacouny of Tyre, Lebanon, representing the Lebanese patriarchs and bishops.

Archbishop Huculak acknowledged that the diversity in the body of Christ has sometimes become a reason “to treat our brothers and sisters unfairly, to denigrate, to shame.”

“Even the very celebration of the holy Eucharist has at times been made a point of division, rather than a time to behold the glory of the Lord Jesus,” he said.

Old school: The metropolitan of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada, Archbishop Lawrence Huculak of Winnipeg, Manitoba, centre, presides at a Divine Liturgy on June 18 during the 49th International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City.

PHOTO: CNS/JAMES BACA, DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER

Confessions galore in city’s every nook

■ By Joseph Sinasac

QUEBEC CITY (CNS)

- An international gathering of Catholics to focus on the Eucharist would be missing something essential if there were no sacrament of Reconciliation.

To that end, Quebec City’s exposition grounds, where the Congress convened, were turned into a massive “city of forgiveness” on June 19 to prepare the hearts of the faithful for the Eucharist.

Hundreds of priests heard countless confessions, seated in nooks and crannies around Expo City, and thousands of pilgrims availed themselves of the sacrament.

Christians have to present themselves “in front of the Father in the nakedness of the prodigal son,” in order to prepare their hearts for the eucharistic feast, Cardinal Claudio Hummes, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Clergy, told the group in a morning penitential liturgy.

“Jesus died out of love so humanity could once again trust

in the love of the Father,” Cardinal Hummes said in his homily in the Pepsi Coliseum. While humanity longs for this love, they also fear it, he added. Just as Herod feared little children and killed the firstborn of Israel in his attempts to root out the infant Jesus at his birth, today’s society fears God’s redeeming love, he said. “We have to become like little children because the child is always receiving and receiving in trust.”

To obtain forgiveness for sins is “intricately related to our participation in the eucharistic meal. The altar can literally be called the table of reconciliation.”

The Brazilian cardinal’s comments came at the end of a service highlighted by a dramatisation of reconciliation modeled loosely on the story of the prodigal son.

“We all have need of pardon and reconciliation,” said Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec. Priests, too, bishops, too.”

He invited all pilgrims to participate in the sacrament before joining a massive Eucharistic procession.

“... what the poor need more than anyone else is people who say ‘I love you.”

- Jean Vanier

Poor need love too: L’Arche founder

■ By Deborah Gyapong

QUEBEC CITY (CNS) - The poor and the marginalised are crying out for love and relationships, not just generosity and ideas, said the Canadian founder of communities for people with developmental disabilities.

Jean Vanier, founder of the International Federation of L’Arche Communities and author of books on compassion and human fragility, told the 49th International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City on June 16 that Christians are called to be like Jesus, with their hearts open to all the poor and disadvantaged.

But opening up to a relationship with the marginalised is frightening, he said, because doing so will destroy the walls that separate people and fill in the gap that separates the rich and poor.

“In our world there is a lot of generosity,” but there must be relationships and love, he said, adding that “to be like Jesus, we have to be able to wash the feet of one another.”

Vanier, one of several lay witnesses addressing the Congress, told the audience of pilgrims from more than 70 countries that

“in many ways the Church has lost the poor because of a lack of vocations.”

The government has filled this gap, which is not a bad thing, he said, speaking in French. “But what the poor need more than anyone else is people who say ‘I love you,’” Vanier said.

“The presence of Jesus is in the poor” and, in welcoming the poor, people welcome Jesus, he said.

Becoming like Jesus will make people meek and humble, compassionate and committed, he said, adding that it is not normal and not simple. He urged those present to step outside their “clan” when holding a celebration and invite the poor, the blind and the marginalised.

The mission of Jesus is to send each person to serve the poor, so through the mystery of the Eucharist they know they are loved, he said.

Vanier also expressed the hope that all baptised Christians would be able to discern the mystery of Jesus in the Eucharist, “that they all (may) be one so the whole world believes.”

Above: Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl presents a catechesis on the Eucharist at the 49th International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City June 16. (CNS photo/ Nancy Wiechec)

Hear us roar: Women from Colombia carry a banner during an evening Eucharistic procession through the streets of Quebec City June 19.

PHOTO: CNS/ROBERT J GALBRAITH

Below: Franciscan Brother Paul MacIntosh of Halifax, Nova Scotia, watches as the Eucharist is carried from the opening Mass of the Congress on June 15.

PHOTO: CNNANCY WIECHEC

THE EUCHARIST gift of God for the life of the world

Families can resist secularisation with Eucharist

There’s nothing wrong with telling the kids to turn off the TV, the computer and “every distraction to pray,” Bishop tells parents

■ By Regina Linskey

QUEBEC CITY (CNS)Catholics who rely on family members and the Eucharist can better resist secularisation, US Bishop Edward Braxton told pilgrims at the 49th International Eucharistic Congress.

Bishop Braxton noted that the family in the Western Hemisphere “has changed dramatically.”

Citing statistics that only 25 per cent of American families are made up of a mother,

father and children, he said changes in the family and decreased attention on the family dinner have made the meal “merely feeding time.”

“We are challenged not to imitate secular society,” which can undermine the family and marriage, said the bishop.

The family “relies on the Eucharist” by praying and going to Mass together as well as having a family discussion of the homily, he said.

“There is nothing wrong with telling children” to turn off the computer and TV and “every distraction to pray,” he said.

He said renewed faith in the Eucharist is not a quick fix that

can be used and manipulated to solve family problems.

“God is not God the way we would be God if we were God,” Bishop Braxton said.

Prayers and petitions are an important part of the Catholic faith but “it is important not to have a simplistic view of this,” he said.

God accompanies people through troubled times but does not “remove them from us,” the bishop said.

Catholics can risk thinking that receiving the Eucharist is about “Jesus and me ... like a personal Jesus or an insurance policy to heaven,” Bishop Braxton said. But the Eucharist “is a call to each one of us to a conversion as a community,” he said.

Meanwhile, Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio told participants that humans may be fallible but the Catholic Church as an institution

Sacrifice what it’s all about: cardinal

■ By Deborah Gyapong

QUEBEC CITY (CNS) -

- Sacrifice is the heart of the Eucharist and Christian life, said Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon, France.

To “present Christianity without the cross, or mention (of) the eucharistic sacrifice ... would be a lie,” he said in French during his June 17 catechesis

at the June 15-22 International Eucharistic Congress.

Cardinal Barbarin said that by faith the altar is the table of Holy Thursday, the cross of Good Friday and the tomb from which Jesus rose from the dead.

remains sanctified through the Eucharist.

As a sanctified institution, the church always deserves defending, even if its individual members err, the archbishop of Buenos Aires and primate of Argentina explained in a large catechetical session on June 18.

“The assurance of sanctity of the life of the Church is not a question of personal or social privilege,” he said. “It is ordained for service.”

Cardinal Bergoglio acknowledged that the “world really has the impression the Church is always trying to defend its own power.” However, he defended the Church, saying that while individuals have abused their power, the sanctity of the Church - through the gift of God in the Eucharist - remains intact.

The cardinal’s talk was one of five major lectures presented at the congress. In it, he explained that the Eucharist is a gift that transforms those who receive it. It is both “sanctified and sanctifying,” he said. He used the analogy of the marriage ceremony, with its anticipation of a lifelong commitment in love, as a parallel to the Eucharist. The Church, in this sense, he said, is the bride, and reception of God’s gift allows the Church “to share the life the Lord has given to her for the life of the world.”

Cardinal Bergoglio also reflected on the life of Mary as an example of perfect submission to the will of God. She is, he explained, a role model of one who accompanies Christ, trusts the Lord completely and lives in hope.

“We find in the Magnificat (the canticle of Mary in St. Luke’s Gospel) the very program

From the Jews, Christians inherited the concept of memorial, he said. The biblical word does not mean merely a monument to the past but “God’s active presence, a God who saves us today as he did in the past,” said the cardinal.

Even if this mystery took place 2,000 years ago, Christians believe that at every Mass they are like the apostles gathered around the Lord for the Last Supper, he said. They are like Mary at the foot of the cross, with a few women and the disciple Jesus loved; they are like witnesses to sightings of Jesus, he said.

“Who is celebrating this mystery?” Cardinal Barbarin asked.

Jesus said, “I have chosen you,” and people are called to answer with their vocations and in their sacrifices, said the cardinal.

He explained that the word sacrifice is often understood to mean suffering and deprivation, but it also is the joy invoked with an inner attitude of offering.

The characteristic of sacrifice is love, he said.

“Start with the priest,” he said, noting that the priest of the Latin rite gives power to the words “This is my body given up for you” because he is celibate.

A pregnant woman does the same in sacrificing her body for the baby, he said.

And for married couples, the sacrament God gave them helps them understand over the years that “love is everything,” he said, adding that the Eucharist is a foundation for their lives together.

He spoke of young people who have not chosen their vocation - whether to marry or to

Prayer in actions: The crucifix is venerated during a morning prayer service at the 49th International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City on June 16. Meanwhile, audience members, below, applaud after one of the many talks.

PHOTO: ABOVE: CNS/NANCY WIECHEC

Bishop Braxton

THE EUCHARIST gift of God for the life of the world

MP-turned-priest sees Sacrament as the real solution

Eucharist’s power of healing leads to conversion, Swiss priest says

■ By Laura Ieraci

QUEBEC CITY (CNS)Nicolas Buttet’s life looked bright. He was the youngest member of the Swiss Parliament and he was in a position to shape the country’s future.

And then he quit.

It was 1988. The social problems and human suffering he encountered as a legislator begged for authentic solutions, ones he could not offer as a politician. His journey led him to discover the Eucharist as a source of healing and conversion. He’s now a priest, devoting his life to eucharistic adoration and service to others.

Father Buttet, now 47, eventually founded a religious community, Fraternite Eucharistein, dedicated to eucharistic adoration. He told his story on June 17 during a plenary session of the June 15-22 International Eucharistic Congress.

The congress’ theme, “The Eucharist: Gift of God for the Life of the World,” is more than a slogan, Father Buttet told the thousands in attendance. “It’s reality,” he said.

“We do not always reflect Jesus to others,” he said. “But once we recognise Jesus Christ in the bread, this allows us to recognise Jesus in our brothers and sisters,” even in the most disfigured members of society. Such recognition propels the faithful to service, offering the daily gift of

Continued from Vista 6 enter religious life. Whatever the path, it involves the giving of their entire life, the cardinal said. Cardinal Barbarin stressed the call to chastity. Young people are waiting for a clear testimony and challenging Christians of their age, he said. He also mentioned those who are suffering: people who want to marry and have not had the grace, those who are physically disabled, those who have lost their spouses, and those who have suffered neglect.

He discussed those who have followed Jesus to the extreme through martyrdom, including Christians in many countries who have given their lives.

In Algeria, he said, the Trappist monks murdered in 1996 gave a simple offering that was understood by all: They gave their lives because of an evangelical fidelity to the people God sent them to serve and love.

He said Archbishop Henri Teissier of Algiers, Algeria, visited Lyon last year to preach and spoke of the Christian victims of the recent wave of extremist Islamic violence. Cardinal Barbarin said those listening knew Archbishop Teissier’s own life was in danger every day as well.

self, he said. Father Buttet told his story of conversion and healing, a journey that encompassed 15 years, leading to his ordination in 2003.

His first stop after leaving politics was Turin, Italy, where he had gone to volunteer at the Little House of Divine Providence, a hospital dedicated to the care of people with physical disabilities.

Arriving exhausted after traveling from Switzerland, Buttet was invited by one of the religious on the Divine Providence staff to make the evening rounds, checking on the people receiving care. He agreed reluctantly and before long saw that many of the people were in need of a bath. So he helped wash the lame, disabled bodies, his fatigue vanishing as he worked.

After completing the rounds, Buttet went to the chapel to pray before the Eucharist.

It was there, he said, that he began to understand the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist for the first time. He realised that the eucharistic bread and the frail, bedridden bodies he had just washed were the same body of Christ.

He later volunteered with the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, then spent five years in a Swiss hermitage. His discernment led to the establishment in 1997 of Fraternite Eucharistein. Eucharistein is a Greek word meaning thanksgiving or gratitude directed toward God.

Based in Switzerland, the community draws upon the spirituality of St Francis of Assisi. The small community of 24 monks and nuns operates three houses. It received diocesan recognition on June 22, 2003, and one week

later Father Buttet was ordained a priest in the order. Many people find strength in the Eucharist to continue through difficult circumstances, the priest said. He recounted his experience with a small community of Catholics in rural China, where he celebrated Mass behind a stable so as not to draw the attention of the authorities.

“You could see the hunger in

their eyes for the Eucharist,” he said.

Father Buttet told several stories about young people who experienced conversions and healing before the Eucharist. Many had come to his monastery at the brink of despair, with serious addictions or deep psychological and spiritual wounds.

The nakedness of Christ is the answer to the scandals of the

world, he told congress participants. “Christ was naked in the manger, naked on the cross and naked on the altar,” he said.

Spending time before the Blessed Sacrament allows people to learn directly about Jesus, he added.

“His way of being God (in the Eucharist) reveals to us the way of being human,” he said.

Families can rely on Eucharist totally

Continued from Vista 6 of what she is teaching us,” he said.

Mary’s deep relationship with the Eucharist can guide the faithful and allow people to get closer to God, he said. She is the “model of the bond between the Lord and his bride, the Church, between God and each man,” the cardinal said.

He compared Mary to a set of Russian dolls that fit inside each other.

“Mary... is the “model of the bond between the Lord and his bride, the Church, between God and each man.”

- Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio SJ

“In the same way that a set of Russian dolls includes others that are smaller, but essentially identical, Our Lady is the smallest of the Russian dolls.

“Because we see in her the mystery of the bond that allows the gift of God to be accepted and communicated for the life of the world,” Cardinal Bergoglio said.

Catholics can ask for the grace

to receive Communion in the same way Mary received Christ. And Catholics must venerate the Church in the same way that

they do Mary and the Eucharist, he said.

The cardinal’s theological reflection presented a Church

that is sharply at odds with those of fellow Jesuit Father Guy Paiement, who published an article earlier in the year on the Web site Journees Sociales du Quebec criticising the focus on the Eucharist at the congress.

“The Eucharistic Congress proposes a ceremony centered on the adoration of the consecrated bread,” Father Paiement SJ wrote in the article that was quoted on June 14 in Le Devoir, a French daily based in Montreal.

“We believe that the Christian identity cannot be restricted to such a devotion,” he wrote.

Christians today should take action to show “solidarity and commitment toward equality between men and women, democratic life, international justice and saving the planet,” he said in the article.

For Cardinal Bergoglio, the Eucharist must be at the centre of the Church.

Describing the Eucharist as the “source and at the same time the summit of all evangelisation” and a force that purifies and sanctifies the Church, the cardinal said that the bond between the Eucharist and the Church is one that cannot be broken.

- Contributing to this story was Mary Durran.

Conversion: Swiss Father Nicolas Buttet, founder of the new religious community Fraternite Eucharistein, gives a talk during the International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City on June 17. Once a young politician, the priest now devotes his life to eucharistic adoration and service to others.

PHOTO: CNS/MOUSSA FADDOUL, S.J., CATHOLIC TIMES

Trust: Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, delivers a catechesis on June 18 during the Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City. He told the gathering that humans may be fallible but the Catholic Church as an institution remains sanct ified through the Eucharist.

PHOTO: CNS/MOUSSA FADDOUL, S.J., CATHOLIC TIMES

The joy of a Franciscan life

Ipray the ‘Morning prayers’ and ‘Evening prayers’ of the Church. I meditate on the Scripture readings from Mass and do a little ‘spiritual reading’.

On my altar in my bedroom, I have a Nativity and a San Damiano Cross.

As a Secular Franciscan, this brings together three things that are central to my spirituality and life – the Crib, Cross and the Eucharist. These reminders of the humanity of Christ, His humility and sacrifice help me to focus in prayer.

How I Pray Now

with Debbie Warrier

I pray my Rosary wherever I am. It’s my own quiet space. I try to get to daily Mass. I work in the city near a Church so I can get to Mass at lunchtime.

To receive Holy Communion and be strengthened spirituality is such a help. On Fridays I attend Mass and Adoration at St Lawrence’s, Balcatta. I am often tired but know I can just sit quietly with the Lord and offer the events of the week into His hands.

My mum was always a great person for prayer and later in life became involved with intercessory prayer. Whenever I came home from work she’d be giving me another list of people to pray for.

St Francis and St Clare are big influences as they were so in love with the “poor Christ.” St Francis once said to his friars, “We must begin again for up to now we have done very little.” This saying inspires me to try to draw closer to God each day and do some good for those that I encounter.

My faith means everything to me. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without having Jesus as my brother and friend and His friends and mine, the Saints.

There is such a wealth of wisdom and so many great people who have lived the Catholic faith that it is a privilege to walk in their shadow and receive their inspiration and guidance along the way.

In St Francis’ time there were challenges, various heresies and rampant materialism. God raised up many holy men and women to shine His light in the world. It’s our turn today.

St Francis’ advice to his friars was, “Go everywhere and preach the Good News and use words if you have to.” Today too the witness of good example, joyful living and charity shows Christ to others.

The Secular Franciscan way of life was an important step for me. When I started to read St Francis’ writings, his love for Christ in the Crib, the Cross and the Eucharist resonated with me. St Francis’ love for Mother Mary was something I wanted to grow in. I had found my spiritual home.

I was professed on the Feast of the Ascension in 1994 and have grown so much with the help of my brothers and sisters in Our Lady’s Assumption Fraternity, Balcatta.

When my mum was diagnosed with a terminal illness, I really clung to Jesus’ promise that He would make a place for us and come back to us. My mum quietly and humbly served God.

I found it difficult to pray at the time. Yet my regular prayer gave a place for God to keep me company and strengthen me. I know that Jesus is taking care of her now and that her prayers are even more powerful.

debwarrier@hotmail.com

Perspectives

Contracepion attacks creation

Body Language

By Christopher West

Commentary on the intersection of Faith, sex and culture: Sex speak -true and false prophets

July 25 marks the 40th anniversary of Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI’s famous re-affirmation of the Church’s constant teaching on contraception. In commemoration, we continue our reflections on this critical issue.

I ended my last column by asking: How healthy would a marriage be if spouses were regularly unfaithful to their wedding vows? On the other hand, how healthy would a marriage be if spouses regularly renewed their vows with an ever increasing commitment to them?

Then I stated, if you’d prefer the latter type of marriage, you have just accepted the teaching of Humanae Vitae

This is what is at stake: fidelity to the wedding vows; fidelity to love.

At the altar, the priest or deacon asks the couple: “Have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage? Do you promise to be faithful until death? Do you promise to receive children lovingly from God?”

The bride and groom each say “yes.”

In turn, spouses are meant to express this same “yes” with the “language of their bodies” whenever they become one flesh.

Sexual intercourse, then, is where the words of the wedding vows become flesh. Or, at least, it’s meant to be.

Everything the Church teaches about sex begins to make sense when viewed through this lens.

The Church’s teaching is not a prudish list of prohibitions. It’s a call to embrace our own “greatness,” our own God-given dignity. It’s a call to live the love we so ardently desire. It’s a call to

Anger natural, but watch your step

Is anger a sin?

I know that anger is one of the seven deadly sins. Yet Jesus was clearly angry when he chased the moneychangers out of the Temple and, being God, he couldn’t commit any sins. Is anger a sin or isn’t it?

The question you ask is one that troubles many people. It is good that we have a clear understanding of the issues, so that we don’t unsettle our consciences unnecessarily.

The problem arises when we fail to distinguish between anger as an emotion, or a passion in the traditional terminology, and anger as an act of the will.

In general, emotions or passions, sometimes called feelings, are natural responses to various situations. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines feelings or passions as “emotions or movements of the sensitive appetite that incline us to act or not to act in regard to something felt or imagined to be good or evil.” (CCC 1763)

Thus in the face of something good, we may experience the emotions of love, desire, hope, joy, etc. And in the face of something perceived as evil, we may experience hatred, anger, fear, aversion, sadness, etc.

In themselves, the passions are neither good nor evil. They simply form part of the human psychology God gave us. It is only natural to experience love or joy in the face of something good, and equally natural to experience fear or anger in the face of something evil.

For example, if we didn’t fear danger we would not live long. And if we didn’t become angry when we saw a man cruelly beating a child, we would not be human.

By Fr John Flader

These feelings are neither meritorious, in the case of the positive ones such as hope, love and joy, nor sinful, in the case of the negative ones like fear, anger or sadness. They are simply natural reactions to situations.

It is only when we consent to the feelings by an act of the will that they can become meritorious or sinful. In the words of the Catechism, “In themselves passions are neither good nor evil. They are morally qualified only to the extent that they effectively engage reason and will.” (CCC 1767)

Let us look at anger in particular and see how this teaching applies. Adolphe Tanquerey, in his spiritual classic The Spiritual Life, defines anger as “a sentiment that consists in a vehement desire to repel and punish an aggressor.” (n. 854) Using the example previously given, if we see a man cruelly beating a child we naturally feel angry towards the man and a desire to stop him. This is only natural, and it is good. It is not sinful to feel angry.

There are many situations in which we can feel justifiably angry. Parents can feel angry towards their children when they don’t do what they are told. Teachers can feel angry towards unruly students. Employers can be angry with workers who are lazy, and workers can be angry with employers who make unreasonable demands on them. There is nothing wrong in this.

In response to these feelings, a per-

son can react in various ways. Their response will now be a free act, moved by the will, and it will be praiseworthy or sinful.

For example, they can express their anger in a controlled way, proportionate to the evil being done, and moved by charity, in which case their expression of anger will be morally good. Parents need to express their anger and discipline their children when they act up, as do teachers with their students. As long as they do it in a controlled way, moved by love, it is praiseworthy, even virtuous.

Jesus’ anger towards the moneychangers in the Temple was of this sort. It was completely justified, expressed with control, and moved by love for his Father’s house, even if it may have appeared strong.

Alternatively, people can lose control and become unduly violent, harsh or abusive. While they may be justified in becoming angry, they are not justified in expressing their anger in such a harsh way. This anger is sinful because of its lack of self-control and due proportion.

It is the role of the virtue of meekness to moderate anger according to right reason; that is, according to what is appropriate in each case. We do well to ask God for an increase in meekness, so that we can control our anger when required.

With this understanding, we can clear up many doubts of conscience. For example, we do not need to confess feelings of anger, which are never sinful in themselves, nor do we need to confess expressing our anger outwardly if it was done with moderation and charity. We only need to confess our expressions of anger if they were immoderate and disproportionate to the situation, or expressed without love for the person.

- director@caec.com.au

Anne Marie Langdon

Perspectives

Study-led total immersion in Trinity’s image

embrace divine love and share it with one’s spouse bodily.

John Paul II goes so far as to describe the body and sexual union as “prophetic.” A prophet is someone who speaks for God, who proclaims his mystery of love. This is what the marital embrace is meant to proclaim. But, as the Pope adds, we must be careful to distinguish true and false prophets (see TOB 106:4). If we can speak the truth with our bodies, we can also speak lies.

As a sacrament, marriage not only signifies God’s life and love, it really participates in God’s life and love. However, for sacraments to convey God’s life and love, the physical sign must accurately signify the spiritual reality. For example, through the physical sign of cleansing with water, baptism truly brings about a spiritual cleansing from sin. But if you were to baptise someone with mud or tar, no spiritual cleansing would take place because the physical sign is now one of making dirty. This would actually be a countersign or an “anti-sacrament.”

All of married life is meant to be a sign of God’s life and love. But nowhere do spouses signify this more profoundly than when they become “one flesh.” Here, like no other moment in married life, spouses are called to participate in God’s life and love. But this will only happen if their sexual union accurately signifies God’s love. Therefore, as John Paul II concludes, we can speak of moral good and evil in the sexual relationship

based on whether the couple gives to their union “the character of a truthful sign” (TOB 37:6).

Insert contraception into the language of the body and (knowingly or unknowingly) the couple engages in a counter-sign of God’s mystery, a kind of “anti-sacrament.” Rather than proclaiming, “God is life-giving love,” the language of contracepted intercourse says, “God is not life-giving love.” In this way spouses (knowingly or unknowingly) become “false prophets.” They blaspheme.

Their bodies still proclaim theology, but not Christian theology; not a theology of the God who reveals himself as Father, as Son, and as Holy Spirit. Contracepted sex, whether we realise this or not, attacks our creation in the image of the Trinity at its roots.

From this perspective we can see that contraception is actually a sly betrayal of the deepest truth of our humanity.

The language of the body has “clear-cut meanings” all of which are “programmed,” John Paul II observes, in the vows. For example, to “the question: ‘Are you ready to accept children lovingly from God ...?’ the man and the woman answer, ‘Yes’” (TOB 105:6, 106:3).

If spouses say “yes” at the altar, but then render their union sterile, wouldn’t they be lying with their bodies? Wouldn’t they be speaking against their vows? Why, then, does the Church accept the practice of natural family planning?

We’ll see in the next column.

Higher Education on

ministry and the music in the Holy Spirit Chapel on Sunday evenings, walks down to Bathers’ Beach during class breaks, mornings on the cappuccino strip, and most of all the good friends I had made while studying.

Gloucester Tree in Pemberton. I was also able to become active in the Fremantle community working with Notre Dame students Caroline Watson and Jacinta McKinlay, in teaching catechism for the Basilica of St Patrick.

By Katy Healy

I’ve always been interested in music, writing and religion.

For my undergrad I earned a Bachelor of Music from Birmingham-Southern College in 2001, but after a few years of trying performance and music education for careers I decided I was missing writing and religion, so I switched gears and turned towards ministry.

My goal was to go into the Master of Divinity program at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, but they had prerequisites for applying - a year of service and a year of study in philosophy and theology. After completing a year of volunteer service in North Carolina where I trained in community leadership, I headed down to Australia to begin studies in philosophy and theology at The University of Notre Dame Australia. I chose to study in Fremantle as I have relatives in Perth who invited me to stay with them while I studied. After completing a Diploma in Theology in 2005, I headed back to the US.

But I was not quite ready to say goodbye to Australia. I missed Notre Dame’s Friday afternoon philosophy seminars, campus

The Church’s beautiful response, affirming the dignity of every human

Life...

with Bronia Karniewicz

Being confronted with a loved one who is sick and suffering is difficult but the person who is incapacitated presents an opportunity, albeit a difficult one, for the blossoming of our capacity to love and receive love and ultimately for the power of Christ to be revealed.

John Paul II said in 2004 “I feel a duty to reaffirm strongly that the intrinsic value and personal dignity of every human being does not exchange, no matter what the concrete circumstances of his or her life.

A man, even if seriously ill or disabled in the exercise of his highest functions, is and always will be a man, and he will never become a “vegetable” or an “animal”

The Church always proclaims the inherent dignity of every human person. This dignity comes from the fact that we are human beings, we are members of God’s family and we have been given the gift of our free will.

Unlike animals we do not act on instinct alone, but have the capacity to choose the good, the capacity to choose to love.

We are unrepeatable; made in God’s image and likeness and have been created, redeemed and given

the chance of heaven. This dignity gives rise to certain ethical principles and entitlements, a right to live from conception till natural death.

The Church recognises the state of our culture and the difficulty of applying ethical principles to certain cases.

The Church is involved in the response to invite people to see the wisdom of this teaching written in their hearts and seen in their lived experience.

We are also called to put these principles into practice ourselves, remembering that Christian love should be the animating principle of health care.

We can feel so inadequate when we do not know what to say to a suffering person and when we do not have any solutions for them, in addition, we may have many personal obstacles preventing us from becoming close to the person who needs us.

Often what can be overlooked is the person’s primary need to be accepted and loved. Such simple message, one we have heard so often, but how often do we rise up to the challenge of these words?

what we can do. This stands in stark contrast with the Catholic Church’s constant teaching that our dignity is based rather on who we are; human beings, each individual, unrepeatable and a unique reflection of God’s love!

Jesus not only gave us verbal instruction about this way of being, He also gave us the ultimate example when He suffered and died for us. But His love did not stop there; He also gave us the power to imitate His example!

Our compassion and healing is a continuation of Christ’s redemptive emission.

The unconditional love we all yearn to give and receive requires grace, grace that God is yearning to give us “We can do all things through Him who strengthens us” (Phil 4:13).

Even though we cannot fully understand this mystery, it is a powerful truth that can transform our reality and who we are, if we are prepared to follow Him!

Bronia Karniewicz is executive officer of the Archdiocesan Respect Life Office.

Fortunately I was able to return to Fremantle in the role of Senior Residential Supervisor for the residence halls on campus and began work on the Master of Theological Studies course in 2006.

Returning to UNDA allowed me not only to continue my studies, but to work with and learn from the campus ministry team of Tom Gannon and Fr Greg Watson OMI. Additionally I began tutoring in theology and ethics which afforded me the opportunity to meet more Australians and give something back to the university.

As Senior Residential Supervisor I had the privilege of introducing study abroad students to Australia, which included planning excursions to Caversham Wildlife Park where they could interact with koalas, wombats, and kangaroos, plus trips to Subiaco Oval for footy games, night tours of Fremantle Prison, and visits to Perth’s Aboriginal Art Gallery. Spending more time in Australia also enabled me to see a bit more of the country. During school holidays I was able to fit in travels to Tasmania, Victoria, and South Western Australia. It was a treat to climb Cradle Mountain, visit the Twelve Apostles on the Great Ocean Road, and scale the

Good

By Trish Clark

Convents, Monasteries and Abbeys have always been places that generously welcomed weary travellers. This tradition continues today and Good Night & God Bless takes you on a tour of religious hideaways offering tourist and pilgrimage accommodation throughout Europe.

Good Night & God Bless reveals these unique, atmospheric and affordable places which accommodate tourists or those pursuing a pilgrimage or spiritual retreat.

This user-friendly travel book provides safe, affordable and comfortable accommodation information, local tourist information, places of pilgrimage, travel tid-bits and anecdotes against a fascinating backdrop of history and religion. An amazing reference guide for all those planning to travel to Europe!

$29.95+postage

This led to a position as pastoral associate for the parish which was a great learning opportunity for me as well as another chance to give something back to the community. My time as pastoral associate culminated in a Women’s Spirituality morning tea which featured a talk by Notre Dame academic, Dr Angela McCarthy.

The last part of Australia I was able to see was Broome as I spent winter term coordinating a program for visiting University of Portland students.

One of the units the students took was on researching animal behaviour, which meant stimulating trips to the Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park, the Manbana Aquaculture Hatchery, and the Broome Bird Observatory.

A highlight of the experience was learning about Aboriginal culture and the process of Reconciliation.

From being ‘Welcomed to Country’ to going through a smoking ceremony at graduation as well as a journey into the Kimberley with an Indigenous family, my eyes were opened to the heart of Australia.

As for my own heart, a part of it will always be in Fremantle.

Katy Healey is a US cultural exchange student at UNDA Fremantle

The Rise of Benedict XVI: The inside story of how the Pope was elected and what it means for the world

By John L. Allen

Pope Benedict XVI will soon be in Australia. His Papal visit to America caused a stir. What will happen in Australia? In this book, Vatican correspondent John L. Allen gives readers exclusive access into the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI, and the reasons why they chose him to be the Vicar of Christ, leading the Church today.

Allen also analyses the battle Pope Benedict XVI has begun against ‘the Dictatorship of Relativism’, his aim to renew the culture of the Church and the surprises and challenges his Pontificate will bring. An engaging book for those who want an inside scoop to Pope Benedict XVI before his Australian visit.

$14.95+postage

Available from the Record Bookshop 9227 7080 or email bookshop@therecord.com.au

Proponents such as Peter Singer base human dignity on

the Parish

Perth Sudanese on WYD mission

Pilgrimage has added focus - to highlight the plight of those long-suffering in conflict-ridden nation, especially children

■ By Joanna Lawson

SIXTY EIGHT Sudanese pilgrims will travel from Perth to Sydney for World Youth Day this month.

The pilgrimage, organised by Perth’s Catholic Mission office, will also highlight the plight of children in Sudan.

They have chosen St Josephine Bakhita, an African slave who was canonised by Pope John Paul II, as their patron.

They are being led by Perth Priest Fr Albert Saminedi, chaplain to African Catholics for the Archdiocese.

To prepare for the event, the group has undertaken a program of spiritual formation, including prayer meetings and celebrating the Journey of the Cross and Icon.

The group is made up of members of the African Catholic Community in Perth, who come from Bedford, Mirrabooka, Girrawheen and Morley.

Named after St Bakhita, the first Sudanese to be canonised, the group will undertake a 15 day pilgrimage, starting out in a convoy of buses and visiting regional communities

along the way. The trip will take in Kalgoorlie, Port Augusta, Poochera, Adelaide, Mildura and Wagga Wagga before culminating in the festivities of World Youth Day.

The trip will also mark a reunion of sorts for the group. “They’re excited that Cardinal Wako of Sudan (see story below) and youth are coming from their country,” said

Wako to visit Perth

The most senior figure in the long-suffering and persecuted Catholic Church in Sudan will visit Perth from July 22-24, Catholic Mission Director Francis Leong announced last week.

Cardinal Gabriel Sufeir Wako of Khartoum will visit Sudanese Catholics in Perth and participate in an interfaith meeting during his brief visit.

Cardinal Wako will be wellknown to Perth Catholics in general after a profile and interview in The Record several years ago highlighting the plight of the Church in his country.

Many readers of The Record also purchased copies of his book of poetry, much of which focused on the suffering of his people and the Church there.

On Tuesday July 22 Cardinal Wako will visit the Herb Graham Recreation Centre in Mirrabooka

for a pastoral program with the Perth Sudanese Community and an interfaith meeting.

The next day he will visit Majella Catholic Primary School in Balga, before meeting with Archbishop Barry Hickey and, later that day, school staff at the Catholic Education office of WA in Leederville. At the CEO Cardinal Wako will recite some of his poetry.

That evening he will celebrate Mass at the St Josephine Bakhita Centre in Chipala Rd, Westminster.

The following day he will be available to meet media representatives when he holds a press conference at the Catholic Pastoral Centre in Highgate.

Further information on the visit is available from Mr Leong on (08) 9422 7933 or via cm@perthcatholic.org.au

Fr Saminedi. When they return, the group are eager to evangelise their adopted home of Perth.

“They will share the message of the Holy Father and the Church,” said Fr Saminedi. The festivities do not end there for the African community.

Fr Saminedi invites all parishes to come and listen to the world’s first Sudanese Cardinal make a series of presentations on the Church in Sudan.

Cardinal Wako will visit Perth on July 23 (see separate story below). For many, World Youth Day is the long awaited event the Australian Church has been praying for, an opportunity to rejuvenate a nation which Pope Benedict XVI once called “moribund” in its faith life.

In other parts of the world, in countries where the faithful are vilified and still live in secrecy as Christians did in the Church’s infancy, love for Catholicism burns strong in the hearts of the young.

The youth of nations like Sudan live under conditions that most

Patron of The Sudan

Saint Josephine Bakhita

Saint Bakhita (pictured at right) was born in the Darfur region of The Sudan and at the age of seven was kidnapped by Arab slave traders, forced to convert from her tribal beliefs to Islam and then sold.

She was bought and sold five times, and the trauma of her kidnapping caused her to forget her given name.

She also suffered terribly at the hands of her owners and recalls on one occasion being beaten so severely that she could not move for a month.

She was also marked by her fourth owner by having patterns cut into her skin and having salt and flour rubbed into the wounds to create a raised scar.

Her final owner was an Italian who bought her to care for his daughter.

While away on business, he left Saint Bakhita and the child in the care of Canossian sisters, and on his return found that his slave did not want to leave the convent.

Aussie couple to give WYD talk

■ By Anthony Barich

A married couple whose business, Choicez Media, is also Australia’s largest provider of Values Based Sex Education, relationships resources and training seminars will speak at Sydney’s University of Notre Dame Australia campus during World Youth Day.

In what promises to be one of the week-long festival’s key events during the Youth Festival, Jonathan and Karen Doyle, founders of Choicez Media, will speak on Theology of the Body as part at the Love and Life Site based at UNDA from July 16-18.

Their daily presentation will follow 2pm performances by the hugely successful Matt Maher Band, the American inspiration for music used by Catholic youth ministries around Australia.

people would find hard to imagine.

The dangers of persecution or being kidnapped for recruitment as child soldiers are realities that young people have to face.

It is their faith in Jesus that sustains many and provides hope.

“The Church is the only hope for them,” said Fr Saminedi, adding that when the late Pope John Paul II visited Sudan there were several political prisoners, including priests, and he spoke on their behalf.

“The people have remembered that and have a great devotion to the Pope.”

The African community has a large number of parishioners aged between 15 and 35, and with that sizable demographic, having World Youth Day in Australia was an added blessing for their community in particular.

“Youth are very actively involved in the Church because for many of them without their faith and the Church they would have literally died” said Fr Saminedi.

A court case ensued and it was decided that the African woman was not a slave, as the trade was illegal in Italy. St Bakhita took the name of Josephine and became a Canossian sister and became famous for continually smiling even in sickness. Her memoirs were published in Italian.

In the final stages of death, it was said that she had flashbacks of her days as a slave, calling for the chains to be removed from her. Pope John Paul II canonised her in 2000 and her feast day is February 8. She is the patron of The Sudan and of slaves.

- Joanna Lawson

The Love and Life Site is hosted by the Sisters of Life, a Religious congregation for women consecrated for the protection and enhancement of the sacredness of all human life, founded in 1991 by Cardinal John O’Connor, the Archbishop of New York.

The Sisters are in Australia funded by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal benefit society founded in 1882 who are active in 150 university campuses.

Jonathan Doyle, based in Canberra with wife Karen, says Theology of the Body is not just for university professors, but is accessible to everyone.

Because they decided to abstain from sex with each other until marriage, he says, they will be sharing personally about the real-life implications of Theology of the Body, a collection of theses by the late John Paul II, whose “main fascination” was with the human person.

While Theology of the Body is the main subject of their talks at WYD08, Mr Doyle said their presentation draws on the late pontiff’s earlier writings, especially Love and Responsibility, a collection of lectures Pope John Paul II gave as a bishop between 1957-59, the fruit of decades of working with married couples.

The Doyles will contrast the general western cultural attitude to relationships and sex with that of Catholic morality, which Mr Doyle says is not lived as a list of rules but is the key to happiness itself.

“It’s straight-forward really,” Mr Doyle said.

“If the general cultural attitude to sex, with its notions of casual sex and multiple partners, could make people happy, it would have done it by now.

“But it hasn’t, and young people are hungry for something genuine. ”If the current culture made young people happy then half a million of them wouldn’t come from around the world to an event like World Youth Day.

“It’s a question of the heart. Before you talk about how people should behave, we need to address who we are as humans, what are we capable of and what we are designed for.”

Nothing: Displaced children sit near a pot, but there’s no food to be cooked, in the Darfur region of Sudan in May 2005. Millions of Sudanese have been uprooted from their homes by violence in the country and have been living as refugees. The effects of warfare and armed conflict hinder the development of countries such as Sudan. PHOTO: CNS/PAUL JEFFREY

Brothers: Cardinal Gabriel Zubeir Wako of Khartoum, Sudan, greets Pope Benedict XVI during the pontiff’s meeting with a delegation of Sudanese Catholics in 2005.

PHOTO: CNS/L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO

the Parish

Why are our parishes turning on to Stewardship?

A stewardship conference in Sydney has sparked a wave of enthusiasm in two Perth parishes, with calls to expand the concept throughout the State.

Mark Reidy reports exclusively for The Record

WHEN the word “Stewardship” is mentioned, the parishioners at St Saints John and Paul Church in Willetton will no longer respond by simply reaching into their money pockets.

After almost 1000 people attended a Ministry Fair on the weekend of June 14-15, there is now a broader understanding that stewardship is about building the Church community on the collective time, talents and treasures of its individual members.

The seeds for the weekend were planted over a year ago when a Parish Stewardship Committee was formed to encourage the coordination of the many individual ministries that existed within the parish.

However, according to chairman Simon Bowen, the impetus for the weekend’s success came when assistant parish priest Fr Richard Rutkauskas attended a Stewardship Conference in Sydney earlier in the year and returned with such a passion for the concept that he ignited and focused the Committee in its endeavours. “His eyes were on high beam when he returned”, recalled parish priest Fr Greg Donovan, “And his extraordinary enthusiasm inspired us all.”

The new understanding that Father Richard received through the Sydney conference drew from the Stewardship revival in the United States, which has inspired growth in all the parishes that have adopted it, according to Mr Bowen.

“Because the concept is basic to being a disciple, it will create a vibrancy in any parish that embraces it,” he said. “It is about recognising that all we have is a gift from God, and because we are so grateful for what we have received, we freely share those gifts with others…”

Several months before the Ministry Fair, the Willetton Stewardship Committee placed regular Gospel-related messages in the weekly Bulletin reflecting how the utilising and sharing of one’s gifts was integral to the growth and well being of a church community.

This coincided with a successful Name Tag program that has nurtured a more community friendly environment. The Committee’s desire was to lead parishioners to the understanding that collectively

they make up the church and that each individual is able to contribute to it in their own unique way.

They wanted to alter the perception that giving financially to their parish was the only aspect of stewardship and create an awareness that the giving of one’s time and talents is of equal importance.

By presenting the various groups available within the parish in a single venue, parishioners were provided with the opportunity to not only recognise and acknowledge these ministries, but to find out how they could become involved and, if need be, how to access each one.

The committee’s initial enthusiasm for the stewardship program has been further bolstered by the excitement and energy generated by the crowds that gathered after each of the weekend Masses.

They now wait with great expectation to see how passionately parishioners will respond to the words Fr Richard spoke during his homily, “Jesus doesn’t say, ‘Do this and I will love you’, instead He says, ‘I love you…how will you respond?’”

For more info on the Willetton Stewardship initiative go to www.johnpaulwilletton.org.au

Whitford moves closer to starting own program

Parish chairman wants to see

concept spread

■ By Mark Reidy

The Stewardship Committee at Our Lady of the Mission Parish in Whitford have been watching the developments in Willetton with great interest as they also prepare to launch their own Stewardship program in early August.

Their chairman Dave Emery was similarly inspired to introduce the concept into the Whitford parish after attending the Sydney Stewardship Conference with parish priest Fr Joseph Tran and fellow parishioner Pauline Egan.

Mr Emery believes that the concept should be adopted in each parish across the State and is convinced that it will bring a new lease of life to the Church in WA.

He hopes that the enthusiasm of their Stewardship Committee, which comprises a number of young parishioners, will spill over into the 1600-strong congregation and will become a solid foundation for the future.

The concept of drawing on the time, talent and treasures of individual members allows each person to enter on the ground level and encourages them to become an integral part of the local church community, Mr Emery said.

He is also excited about the timing of their program launch, which will coincide with the return of World Youth Day pilgrims.

The committee hopes to provide young parishioners with a place in which they can contribute their unique gifts into the building up of the church community.

Spirit at work: Sunday morning at the ministy fair, even heavy rain did not deter many local faithful from participating in the festivities.

Hear ye: After-school Religious Education programs are displayed.

About sums it up: Stewardship, under Christ, giving fruits of time, talent and treasure, which contribute to its success.

Excitemant: Children preparing for the fair.

Nothing can stop the working of the Spirit: The spirit of local collaboration at Willetton was exhibited in various ways, especially in fellowship.

Reviews

Good? More than that Watch your back, PC will wreak havoc

Cry Wolf A political fable By Paul Lake

Published by Benbella Books, Inc. Dallas, USA

■ Reviewed by Hal

G. P. Colebatch

IT has been rare in recent years for me to get more than a few pages into a modern novel before abandoning it; rarer still for me to bother finishing it; rarest of all for me to read it in a single sitting. This book, by an American poet and professor of literature (poetry editor of First Things) is in that final and rarest category.

Actually, Cry Wolf is more than a novel, though it has many of the strengths of one.

It is a political fable, in the great tradition of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. I can only hope that it will be as widely read and will be as powerful an influence as was Orwell’s masterpiece in awakening civilization to its present deadly peril.

I have been watching developments in Britain for some years and it seemed to me much of the book could have been taken from British newspaper-clippings with only the names changed, but obviously this is an American work.

It leads one to wonder if the title of Mark Steyn’s brilliant and terrifying America Alone may not actually be over-optimistic.

Like Animal Farm, it is the story of a farm run by animals.

But the story of Cry Wolf begins with a very different situation to that of Orwell’s corrupt and terror-ruled post-Revolutionary Communist order.

This is an American, or at any rate Western, animal farm, Green Pastures, which the animals inherited peacefully when the old human owner died (see Nietzsche). With considerable effort they have established a stable Commonwealth. They are proud that in the early days of running the farm they beat off an attack by a bear, and “No Trespassing” is their watchword.

(A lost dog has been admitted and has become a useful member of the farm because of his civilized or “tame” heritage).

To keep the farm running has not been a difficult achievement and there is some hardship and economic inefficiency, but they have managed. They know that they live far longer and better lives than the wild creatures outside.

Although The Wild lurks beyond the farm’s borders, with cougars, foxes, wolves and, worst of all, bears, the farm animals, even defenceless sheep and small birds like ducks and hens, can live in security. The dogs and the large, powerful animals like bulls and stallions guard

the borders. Slowly, and for very good reasons, the rule of keeping out wild animals is modified.

As in Animal Farm there is an inevitability about the process and at no single point does it seem reasonable (or, at length, possible) to make a stand against it.

A harmless doe is admitted, wounded and desperate after escaping from predators. Then a small raccoon, whose hands make him invaluable for picking fruit which would otherwise be lost, is allowed to remain after he begs and pleads for a job which will allow him to survive and feed his family.

From there things become inevitable: more small non-predatory animals from the wild are admitted for very good reasons and form voting blocs in order to, democratically, express their point of view. The traditions, rituals, educational systems, ordinances and spiritual heritage of the farm are progressively modified.

The goose in charge of educating the young is by no means a complete fool. She is subject to uneasiness but cannot think outside the square of established ideas (It is part of the book’s strength that the characters are rounded, real and credible).

Education, she assumes, is a good thing, the question of what is taught not entering into it. The meek wild creatures who have been admitted on sufferance become less meek.

Changes in the education system ensure that there is no melting-pot in which the newcomers might be assimilated and adopt the farm’s values. Laws are interpreted with increasing creativity by far-seeing and progressively-inclined judges.

The farm’s mottos and maxims are re-interpreted or abolished. The security and high living standards which the farm animals have achieved are held to be matters of shame and collective guilt and evidence of their tyranny over and exploitation of wild creatures. And the newcomers breed much faster.

The rule of Law which had given the farm security is turned against it. “Rights” are interpreted in a strictly one-way direction, always in favor of the newcomers.

Attempts by some of the farm animals to warn against what is happening are first stigmatized as hatespeech and then subjected to criminal punishments as Xenophobia and then Feralphobia (Mark Steyn’s America Alone is the subject of legal action in Canada).

Foxes and snakes join the smaller and more harmless wild creatures which had been admitted previously and take over buildings for their own where some of the young of the farm-creatures join them.

“No-Go” areas spread, where the smaller and the female newcomers themselves live in increasing dread.

The first murder horrifies the farm animals.

Then murders multiply as the force of the law is turned against political incorrectness and the use of incorrect words. Words like “prey” come to be used again.

The old Green Pastures Farm’s idea of equality for females and an equal voice for large and small animals is repudiated.

Finally the wolves and bears come storming back. Prey is prey again. The old bull, who had been complacent in the knowledge of his own strength for so long, girds himself for a last stand .

This is highly recommended.

Question Time

150 Questions and Answers

On the Catholic Faith

By Father John Flader

Foreword by Cardinal George Pell

Published by Connor Court Publishing

Price $29.95 plus postage

Available Record Bookshop

Telephone Caroline 9227 7080 or email: bookshop@therecord.com.au

■ Reviewed by Brian Peachey

THIS is a good book, but it is more. It is a valuable book. It will be of value, especially to parents and grandparents.

It is a book that should be given to catechists and every religious education teacher in all Catholic

schools. It would also be of great assistance to parents who choose to home school

As its name says it contains answers to 150 questions most frequently asked about the Catholic Faith.

Father Flader is a renowned scholar, who since 2002 has been the Director of the Catholic Adult Education Centre for the Archdiocese of Sydney. The answers were originally published in the Sydney paper The Catholic Weekly and also in The Record. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University in USA and a Doctorate in Canon Law from Navarre University in Spain. He was ordained a priest of Opus Dei in 1967.

Answering questions on faith and morals that require a theological explanation, drawing on exegesis and the history of the Church is not easy. Father Flader has done this with integrity and clarity, with an easy-to-read style of writing.

When Archbishop Hickey launched the book in the Record Bookshop he praised Father Flader for his valuable work and said those involved with the RCIA will find the text helpful and informative.

Cardinal Pell, who formally gave the book his Imprimatur, refers to it as a wonderful resource for every Catholic who has ever had

questions about the faith or about life together with God.

The work is divided into four chapters, Catholic Doctrine, The Sacraments and Sacramentals, Christian Moral Issues and Christian Prayer and Devotion Each chapter has several subheadings, including the titles of the 150 questions.

There are many who may welcome it as a gift on their journey. We have all known that friend or relation, of whom we have thought or said: He or she is obviously thinking of becoming a Catholic.

Often they need just a little gentle encouragement to make the decision. Faith is strengthened by knowledge. This book could be the instrument to help us become the evangelist to those we hold dear. It could also be a help to the many heart-broken parents who have seen their children wander away from the church after leaving school.

There are a number of reasons why this is happening today, not the least being the impact of the secular media. But a common reason is simply lack of knowledge.

The area covered is wide ranging, although it is not exhaustive. If Father Flader‚s stamina holds up with his heavy workload we may see Question Time Volume 2. What is imminently more likely is a second printing of this exceptionally valuable book.

Engaging and encouraging guide for our journey

Prayers for the Journey

By Fr James FitzPatrick OMI

St Pauls Publications, 2007

■ Reviewed by Fr Brian O’Loughlin Perth Vicar General, Archdiocesan Historical Commission chairman.

FR JAMES FitzPatrick OMI is a well-known West Australian Oblate priest who has roamed far from his Kalgoorlie roots.

He was ordained a priest in 1959 and had post- graduate studies in Rome, Paris and St Louis, USA.

He taught for 13 years and was then Director of the Catholic Enquiry Centre in Sydney, then worked at the Oblate General House in Rome where he worked on thirty-one causes of canonisation and is currently based in Melbourne.

Fr FitzPatrick’s skill as a teacher and his skill as an evangeliser, shows through in this very helpful aid to prayer, devotion and meditation. Prayers for the Journey is

arranged so that it can be a means of prayer for each day of the year.

Each week has a theme, this is a ready reference for themes, such as My Life of Faith, Courage in Life, Hope, Joy in the Lord, Peace, Advent, Lent, Prayers for others, for the sick.

The suggestions for use will help the prayer to develop their own style of prayer.

The introduction contains helpful suggestions for those who are new to prayer.

They will find the author’s style engaging and encouraging.

As one example I offer the following: Bless the efforts of scientists who work to overcome illness in our world. Enlighten their minds, strengthen their resolve, inspire their initiatives. May their efforts relieve pain and suffering, and restore good health. I ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

That’s just one example. Readers who buy the text will find many stimulants to their own prayer and the prayers of those to whom they give this help to prayer as a gift.

The hard cover makes it ideal for birthdays, anniversaries and many other special occasions.

The giver will know they have given something useful for every day of the year.

They may even have the comfort of knowing that the recipient is now praying, possibly even praying for them.

The price of $19.95 and the presentation on elegant paper with bright illustrations, makes an ideal spiritual accompaniment. Thank you, Fr. James FitzPatrick for this admirable guide.

FAUSTINA

THE MYSTICAL LIFE OF THE VISIONARY OF DIVINE MERCY

Directed by Jerzy Lukaszewicz

Faustina is a drama on the life of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, a member of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, and based upon the experiences she recorded in her spiritual diary. She received Our Lord the vision of the Divine Mercy in the 1930s and was canonised by Pope John Paul II. This is a beautiful, artistic portrayal of her mystical life. The film is in Polish with English subtitles.

$59.95+postage(DVD can only be played on a multizone player.) available from The Record Bookshop 9227 7080

WINNERS

noahs ark colouring competition

Georgia Ferrari Oranna Primary school

Anastasia Marvin Homeschool Riverton

Bernadette Laundy Homeschool Ocean Reef

You will be receiving your faithstones in the mail soon.

Kids bitz jokes puzzles

BIBLE BRAINTEASERs

Solutions from our lady brainteaser

o Medjugorje: Medjugorje is not yet fully confirmed as a Marian Apparition by the Church. Fatima, Lourdes and Guadalupe have all been fully confirmed sites of Marian Apparition.

o Lady in White: The visionary children of Fatima described Our Lady as ‘The Beautiful Lady in White’. All the others are references to Our Lady contained in the Litany of Loreto.

kids pics

colour in

Genesis 1:24-31

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth… And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

KIDS COOKING ST ANDREWS HEARTS

Ingredients:

250g flour

1 Tbsp. sugar

pinch of salt

4 Tbsp. white wine

2 small eggs powdered sugar for dusting

Method:

Mix together all the dry ingredients except the powdered sugar. With an electric beater blend the liquid ingredients and eggs. Then add the dry ones and blend thoroughly.

Bake in a waffle iron until golden brown. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

If they are baked in an old fashioned waffle iron that needs to be dipped in hot oil, the amount of cream should be reduced by half.

Serving size: Makes about 24 heart shapped waffles.

IGNACIO (Cake for St Ignatius Day)

Ingredients:

6 egg whites

625g sugar

400g ground almonds

200g flour

250 g butter

Method:

Preheat oven to 175c

In a large bowl beat the egg whites with an electric beater until quite firm. Slowly add the sugar while continuing to beat. After the sugar has been used up, fold in the ground almonds and the flour. Melt the butter; when cool add it to the mixture folding it in carefully.

Use an ungreased large round cake pan, about 25 cm in diameter. Pour in the mixture. Bake on a low rack for about 1 1/2 hours, or until a wooden skewer comes out clean.

Serves: 12 to 16 servings from Cooking with the Saints by Ernst Schuegraf

o Asperges: Asperges is the rite of sprinkling a congregation with holy water. All the others are Sacramentals given to the Church by Our Lady to help those who are devoted to their practice grow closer in relationship to Christ and attain Salvation from God.

o Ave Maria: Ave Maria is the Hail Mary. It is the prayer to Our Lady and also the title of numerous song compositions. All the others are world famous paintings of Our Lady.

I HAD been teaching my three-year old daughter, Caitlin, the Lord’s Prayer. For several evenings, at bedtime, she would repeat after me the lines from the prayer.

Finally, she decided to go solo. I listened with pride as she carefully enunciated each word, right up to the end of the prayer: “Lead us not into temptation,” she prayed, “but deliver us from e-mail. Amen.”

ONE particular four-year old prayed, “And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets.”

A LITTLE boy was overhead praying: “Lord, if you can’t make me a better boy, don’t worry about it.

I’m having a real good time like I am.

ONE balmy day in the South Pacific, a navy ship espied smoke coming from one of three huts on an uncharted island. Upon arriving at the shore they were met by a shipwreck survivor. He said, “I’m so glad you’re here! I’ve been alone on this island for more than five years!”

The captain replied, “If you’re all alone on the island why do I see THREE huts.”

The survivor said, “Oh. We’ll, I live in one, and go to church in another.”

“What about the THIRD hut?” asked the captain.

“That’s where I USED to go to church.”

If you have great kids recipes please share them with us and we will publish your recipe in kidz bitz with your name. send to: Justine Stevens, The Record, PO Box 75 Leederville WA 6902 or email production@therecord.com.au

Snail: Elijah Edmonds aged 3.

Panorama

A roundup of events in the Archdiocese

Panorama entries must be in by 12pm Monday.

Contributions may be emailed to administration@therecord.com.au, faxed to 9227 7087, or mailed to PO box 75, Leederville, WA 6902. Submissions over 55 words will be edited. Inclusion is limited to 4 weeks. Events charging over $10 constitute a classified event, and will be charged accordingly. The Record reserves the right to decline or modify any advertisment.

Friday July 4

PROLIFE WITNESS

Commencing with Mass at St Brigid’s Midland at 9.30am, followed by Rosary procession and prayer vigil at abortion clinic, led by the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. Enq. Helene 9402 0349.

Friday July 4

HOLY HOUR FOR VOCATIONS TO THE PRIESTHOOD AND RELIGIOUS LIFE

Commencing with Holy Mass at 7pm, Celebrant Fr Saminedi, at Little Sisters of the Poor Chapel, 2 Rawlins Street, Glendalough. Holy Hour Adoration at 7.30pm with Fr Don Kettle. All welcome. Refreshments provided.

Friday July 4

CATHOLIC FAITH RENEWAL  PRAISE AND WORSHIP

Commencing at 7.30pm at St John and Paul’s Church, Pinetree, Gully Road, Willeton. Talk on Mary v Martha by Fr Greg Donovan and Thanksgiving Mass. Refreshments after Mass. All welcome, bring family and friends. Enq: Rita 9272 1465 or Rose 0403 300 720.

Saturday July 5

WITNESS FOR LIFE

Commencing with Mass at St Augustine’s, Gladstone Road, Rivervale at 8.30am, followed by Rosary procession and prayer vigil at abortion clinic, led by Fr Paul Carey SSC. Enq Helene 9402 0349.

Saturday July 5

DAY WITH MARY

9am to 5pm, at Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament Church, Corfield and Isdell, Gosnells. 9am Video on Fatima. Day of prayer and instruction based upon the Fatima message. Reconciliation, Holy Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Sermons on the Eucharist and Our Lady by His Grace Archbishop Hickey, Rosaries, Blessed Sacrament Procession and Stations of the Cross. BYO lunch. Enq: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286.

Sunday July 6

INTERNATIONAL FOOD FAIR  ST EMILIE DE VIALAR

BUILDING FUND

10am - 3pm, St Emilie’s Primary School, 151 Amherst Road, Canning Vale. Savour authentic flavours from Australia, Asia, Europe and more. Sniff great buys at Bargain Corner, live band, games, and great prizes at the Treasure Trove. Coupons $10, now on sale All Welcome! Enq: Francis 0437 562 263 lksltt@yahoo.com; Dominic 0447 053 347 or email celestialorchids@gmail. com.

Sunday July 6

DIVINE MERCY  AN AFTERNOON WITH JESUS AND MARY

1.30pm at St Joachim’s Church, Shepperton Road Victoria Park. Holy Rosary and Reconciliation, Sermon on St Thomas the Apostle by Fr Hugh Thomas. Divine Mercy prayers and Benediction. Refreshments, then Video/DVD, The Power of the Holy Rosary Part 1, with Fr John Corapi. Enq: John 9457 7771 or Linda 9275 6608.

Tuesday July 8

MONTHLY MASS IN HONOUR OF BLESSED MARY

MACKILLOP

6pm Sisters of St Joseph Chapel, 16 York Street, South Perth. Come and place your Petitions through the heart of our Australian Saint. All welcome. Enq: Sr Maree Riddler 0414 683 926.

Wednesday July 9 to Friday July 11

PERTH DAYS IN THE DIOCESE 40 HOUR ADORATION

4.30pm at All Saints Catholic Chapel, Allendale Square, 77 St George’s Terrace, Perth, hosted by Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, Bronx USA.

Program includes reconciliation, talks, Liturgy of Hours, prayer/praise, Mass and guided meditation. Rosary of John Paul II, led by Perth’s own Missionaries of the Gospel. Enq: www. wydperth.com or Matthew 9422 7944 or wyd. projectworker@highgate-perthcatholic.org.au.

Wednesday July 9

CHAPLETS OF THE DIVINE MERCY

7.30 pm at St Thomas More Catholic Church Dean Road Bateman. A beautiful, prayerful, sung devotion, held on the second Wednesday of each month. All are welcome. Enq: George 9310 9493(hm) or 9325 2010(wk).

Thursday July 10

PERTH DAYS IN THE DIOCESE YOUTH FESTIVAL

From 2pm to 10pm, on the Perth Esplanade. Come join thousands of young people from around the world travelling to Perth prior to WYD, with live bands, dance, powerful speakers, street theatre, drama and indigenous performances. Tickets: visit wydperth.com, email wydperth@highgate–perthcatholic.org.au mailto:wydperth@highgate and #8211;perthcatholic. org.au Silvana 08 9422 7944.

Every Friday to July 11

NEW LIFE IN GOD’S SPIRIT SEMINAR

7.30pm – 9.30pm, St Brigid’s Church, Corner Aberdeen and Fitzgerald Street Northbridge. Be filled with grace, love and power of the Holy Spirit. Renew your faith by listening to talks and testimonies given by Charismatic Priests and laypeople. Enq: Jenni 9445 1028 or 0404 389 679.

Saturday July 12

ST PADRE PIO PRAYER GROUP

8.45am with St Padre Pio DVD, at All Saints Catholic Chapel, Allendale Square, 77 St Georges Terrace, Perth. 10am Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Rosary, Adoration and Benediction. 11am Holy Mass, St Padre Pio liturgy. 12noon lunch. BYO. Tea and coffee provided. Enq: Des 6278 1540.

Saturday July 12

PERTH DAYS IN THE DIOCESE COMMISSIONING MASS

10am on the Perth Esplanade, come celebrate with all the pilgrims heading off to WYD. Mass celebrated by Archbishop Hickey, concelebrated by international bishops and priests from around the world. Details for tickets visit wydperth.com or email wydperth@highgate-perthcatholic.org. au. or Silvana 08 9422 7944.

Sunday July 13

HEALING MASS AND RECONCILIATION BULLSBROOK

SHRINE

2pm every second Sunday of the month at The Shrine of Virgin of the Revelation, 36 Chittering Road, Bullsbrook. 1.30pm reconciliation in Italian or English. All welcome to Pilgrim Mass and devotion at the Shrine every Sunday at 2pm. Enq: SACCRI Assoc. 9447 3292.

Sunday July 13

THE WORLD APOSTOLATE OF FATIMA  HOLY HOUR OF REPARATION

3pm at St Mary’s Church, Franklin Street, Leederville. All welcome. Enq: Diana 9339 2614.

Wednesday July 16

CATHOLICS RETURNING HOME

A meeting for Parish organisers and interested persons, to advance this program, will be held at 36 Windsor St Perth at 1.30pm. Enq: Thea, 9458 3724 or Fred 9447 5433.

Wednesday July 16

SOLEMNITY OF OUR LADY OF MT CARMEL, MASS

10am at the Carmelite Monastery, 100 Adelma Road, Nedlands. A sung, concelebrated Mass for the Solemnity of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

Sunday July 20

TAIZE MEDITATIVE PRAYER

7pm-8pm at Sisters of St Joseph Chapel, 16 York St, South Perth. Come be still and pray in a warm candlelit chapel with song, scripture and silence, prayerful atmosphere. All welcome. Bring a friend and a torch Enq: Sister Maree Riddler 0414 683 926.

Monday July 21

ST PIO PRAYER GROUP DEVOTION MASS  WYD Mass will be celebrated by Archbishop Dominica Ambrosia at the Capuchin Church in Sydney. Details and bookings travel to Sydney phone Nick 9378 2684.

Wednesday July 23

ST SIMON PETER PLAYERS  PUBLIC MEETING

7.30pm at St Simon Peters Parish Centre. An inter-parish Performing Arts Group seeks players and crew for its 2009 original production, The Story of the Three Marys, Mary of Nazareth, Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene. No experience necessary. Enq: Gerald 9404 7292.

Friday July 25

MEDJUGORJE EVENING OF PRAYER

7pm with Adoration, Meditation and Rosary at Santa Clara Parish, Palmerston Street, Bentley. All welcome to an Evening of Prayer with Our Lady Queen of Peace, followed by Holy Mass. Concluding 9pm. Enq: Eileen 9402 2480.

Thursday July 26 to Sunday July 29

FEAST OF ST PETER AND PAUL

6.30pm with Reconciliation at Good Shepherd Church, Lockridge. 7pm Rosary, 7.30pm Speaker. Saturday, 5.30pm Reconciliation, 6.30pm Vigil Mass 7.30pm Speaker. Sunday, Feast of St Peter and St Paul 9.30am Mass. New members will be instituted into the Order of St Peter and St Paul. Enq: Nick De Luca (famdeluca@optusnet. com.au).

Monday July 28

ALAN AMES TALK  WYD PILGRIMS

5pm at St Thomas More Catholic Church, 100 Dean St., Bateman Alan Ames will speak to World Youth Day Pilgrims.

Tuesday July 29

DAY OF REFLECTION

10.30am to 2pm at Holy Spirit Church, City Beach. Rosary followed by Mass and talks. Celebrant Bishop Salesius Mugambi, Diocese of Meru, Kenya. Bring lunch to share. Tea and coffee provided. Enq: 9341 8082

Friday August 8 – Sunday August 10

SEPARATED, DIVORCED WIDOWED  BEGINNING EXPERIENCE WEEKEND

The next weekend program will be held at Epiphany Retreat Centre, Rossmoyne. To assist and support people in learning to close the door gently on a relationship that has ended in order to get on with living. Enq: Bev 9332 7971 or Margaret 9294 4892.

Every 1st Tuesday of the Month

HEALING MASS

7.30pm at St Joachim’s Parish Hall, Shepparton Road, Victoria Park. Incorporating hymns, spiritual reflection and Novena to God the Father. Enq: Jan 9323 8089.

Every Saturday

VIDEO / DVD NIGHT

Starting after the 6.30pm Mass, at St. Joseph’s Church, 20 Hamilton Street, Bassendean. A variety of Videos/Dvd’s, will be shown i.e. The Saints, Conversion Stories, Catholic Teaching etc. Videos approx. 30mins. Want to learn more about our Catholic faith? Bring the family, no charge.

Third Sunday of the Month

OBLATES OF ST BENEDICT MEET

2pm St Joseph’s Convent, York Street, South Perth, affiliated to Benedictine Abbey of New Norcia. All interested in studying rule of St Benedict, its relevance to lay people’s day to day life. Vespers and tea conclude meetings. Enq: 9457 5758.

Every Saturday

HOLY SPIRIT OF FREEDOM CHARISMATIC PRAYER MEETING

10.30am to 12.30pm at St Peter the Apostle Parish Hall, 91 Wood Street, Inglewood. All welcome. Enq: 9475 0155.

First Friday of Each Month

GENERAL PRAYER ASSEMBLY

7.30pm at St Joachim Parish Hall, Shepperton Road, Victoria Park. The couples for Christ and its Family Ministries welcome all members who now reside or are visiting Perth to join the community in its monthly general prayer assembly. Enq: Tony and Dolly Haber 9440 4540.

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

Jesuit Volunteers Australia calls for part-time volunteers to respond to the needs of people in the community who live in marginalised circumstances. At the heart of this program is a reflective process, based on Gospel values, which underpins the work of the volunteers. To learn more: www.jss.org.au. Enq: Kevin Wringe 9316 3469 or email kwringe@iinet.net.au.

Every Sunday

LATIN MASS KELMSCOTT

The Latin Mass according to the 1962 missal will be offered every Sunday at 2pm at the Good Shepherd Parish, 40-42 Streich Avenue, Kelmscott, with Rosary preceding. All welcome.

Every Tuesday

THE GOSPEL OF ST MATTHEW  COURSE

Every Tuesday 7.30pm St Joachim’s Parish Hall, Shepperton Road, Victoria Park. Exciting revelations into the Gospel of St Matthew are being offered free of charge. Conducted by Fr Douglas Rowe SFP. Participants will be introduced into an insightful exploration of this fascinating Gospel. Light refreshments will follow. Please bring your bible and a friend.

VOLUNTEER DRIVER

Emmanuel Centre is looking for a volunteer who has a truck and who will take newspapers for recycling from East Perth to Canning Vale. Every couple of months we have five-tonne of bundled newspapers for recycling. Please call Fr Paul 9328 8113 or ring pager 9480 5960.

First Friday and First Saturday

COMMUNION OF REPARATION ALL NIGHT VIGIL

Corpus Christi Church, Mosman Park, 47 Lochee Road. Starting with Mass at 7pm on Friday with Father Bogoni and concluding with Mass at midnight. Confessions, Rosaries, Prayers and silent Adoration every hour. Please join us for reparation to The Two Hearts according to the message of Our Lady of Fatima. Enq: Vicky 0400 282 357.

BOOK DONATIONS WANTED

Can you help? We urgently need donations of Altar Vessels, Catholic books, Bibles, Divine Office, Missals, Lectionaries, Sacramentaries etc. Telephone: (08) 9293 3092.

Faith extravaganza planned for Youth Festival in Sydney

Over 450 free concerts, art exhibitions, forums, talks and more as Youth Festival celebrates World Youth Day

■ By Anthony Barich

A FULL week of rapping priests, interfaith dialogue and discussions on sex and Theology of the Body will enable Australian youth to tackle the key issues facing their country, says World Youth Day coordinator Bishop Anthony Fisher OP.

The Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney says these events during the Youth Festival will feed the in-depth thirst of young Australians for knowledge and discussion that the youth of today have.

“This is a time for the youth of the world to come together and discuss the critical challenges and issues facing society today.”

Staged every day during the WYD08 week (July15-20), the Youth Festival will take place in over 100 city locations from approximately 2pm–10pm, except during major event times.

“The Youth Festival is an important part of World Youth Day, as this is where young people are centre-stage showcasing their talent and discussing their ideals,” said WYD08 spokesman Fr Mark Podesta.

“All Youth Festival events are open to registered pilgrims and members of the public,” Fr Podesta said.

“Events will be held outdoors, in art galleries and theatres, on beaches, in Churches, theme

parks and commercial spaces – almost every available space in Sydney CBD.”

There are also a handful of indoor and theatre events where space is limited. To check out all the events and reserve your space at certain venues, go to www.wyd2008. org/youthfestival.

Central highlights of the Youth Festival include:

- Pilgrimage to St Mary’s Cathedral

Friday 11 July – Tuesday 22 July

Visit Australia’s Mother Church, where the relics of Blessed Pier Giorgio will be housed. A photographic exhibition of his life and that of Blessed Mary MacKillop will be on display. The newly commissioned painting, Our Lady of the Southern Cross, will also be a focal point.

- Vocations Expo, Hall 1 Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre

Tuesday 15 July – Friday 18 July

Over 110 different religious movements and organisations will be on display offering people information and answering questions about living religious life

-Reconciliation Centre, Bayside Grand Hall, Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre

Tuesday 15 July – Friday 18 July

This is one of five main locations where reconciliation (confession) will be offered. Reconciliation will also be available at the Southern Cross Precinct (Randwick Racecourse and Centennial Park) during the Vigil and Final Mass.

ACCOMMODATION

■ ST ANNE’S CHURCH, BINDOON accom for retreat/family/group or single $25 per night or $100 for family or group. BYO food. Tea/coffee provided. Tel 9576 0975.

BUILDING TRADES

■ BRICK REPOINTING Phone Nigel 9242 2952.

■ PERROTT PAINTING PTY LTD

For all your residential, commercial painting requirements. Phone Tom Perrott 9444 1200.

■ BRICKLAYING

20 years exp. Quality work. Ph 9405 7333 or 0409 296 598.

■ PICASSO PAINTING

Top service. Phone 0419 915 836, fax 9345 0505.

CHRISTIAN SINGLES

Meet other Christian singles over small group dinners or on individual dates. FigTrees is Perth’s ONLY genuine Christian dating agency. So, call 9472 8218 to make an appointment or check out our web site figtrees.com.au. 9-328 Albany Highway, Victoria Park. Open Tues-Fri 10am - 6pm.

HEALTH

■ DEMENTIA REMISSION

Do you, or your loved one, suffer Dementia. Get into Dementia Remission like me! http://www. wgrey.com.au/dm/index.htm or (02) 9971 8093.

BOOK REPAIRS

■ REPAIR YOUR LITURGICAL BOOKS

General repairs to books, old bibles & missals. 2ndhand Catholic books avail. Tydewi Bindery 9293 3092.

FURNITURE REMOVAL

■ ALL AREAS

Mike Murphy 0416 226 434.

5

6

Sunday, EmbletonBishop Sproxton

7 Murdoch University International Theologian Programme Cocktail Function and meeting with Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald - Fr Brian O’Loughlin VG

8 WYD “Days in the Diocese” - Bishop Sproxton

10

11

12

RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

■ KINLAR VESTMENTS

‘Modern meets tradition.’ Quality hand-made & decorated. Vestments, altar cloths, banners. Vickii Smith Veness. 9402 8356 or 0409 114 093.

■ CATHOLICS CORNER

Retailer of Catholic products specialising in gifts, cards and apparel for baptism, communion and confirmation. Ph: 9456 1777. Shop 12, 64-66 Bannister Road, Canning Vale. Open Mon-Sat.

■ 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 to Sat). We are here to serve.

■ OTTIMO

Shop 108 TRINITY ARCADE (Terrace Level) Hay St, Perth Ph 93224520. Convenient city location for a good selection of Christain products/ gifts. We also have handbags, fashion accessories. Opening hours Monday-Friday 9am-6pm.

THANKSGIVING

Holy Spirit Thou who make me see everything and show me the way to reach my ideal. You who give me the divine gift to forgive and forget the wrong that is done to me and who are in all instances of my life with me. I, in this short dialogue, want to thank You for everything and confirm once more that I never want to be separated from You no matter how great the material desires may be. I want to be with You and my loved ones in Your perpetual glory. Amen. JEP

2

Bishop Sproxton

13 Mass, Bethel Community - Bishop Sproxton

14-22 World Youth Day, Sydney - Archbishop Hickey, Bishop Sproxton

years ago funds were sourced from the Society for the Propagation of the Faith

Name:

Address:

Suburb:

Postcode:

The Last Word

A most extraordinary experience

■ By Anthony Barich

PERTH’S Vicar General Fr Brian O’Loughlin attends many official engagements representing Archbishop Barry Hickey, but none was more unusual than the consecration ceremony of Perth’s new Hindu Temple in Canning Vale on June 1.

Fr O’Loughlin, WA Premier Alan Carpenter and two other members of State Parliament were welcomed by the President of the Temple Management Committee who thanked the State Government for its donation of $621,000 towards the building of the temple.

Along with one in Kwinana, it is the second major Hindu temple in WA, plus there is a ‘minor’ temple in Scarborough. The temple replaces the hall-like structure alongside

the Warton Road site in Canning Vale.

Mr Carpenter commended the Committee for building an unmistakable Oriental structure which now distinguishes the site.

Meanwhile, Fr O’Loughlin found himself seated on the floor alongside the other dignitaries, all of whom had parted with their shoes at the entrance to the temple.

The consecration ceremony consisted of prayers and chants in Hindi and libations, with many young visiting Hindu priests clad in saffron robes. Hundreds packed the new temple for the occasion, but as a Catholic priest in a polytheist temple, Fr O’Loughlin said he “prayed to God for tolerance and respect”.

“This seems more than ever necessary, given the rise of fundamental Hinduism in India which tragically saw the incineration of an

Australian Christian missionary in recent years,” he said.

“Some Indian states have banned conversion to Christianity. It is to be hoped that the Indian priests return to their home country and relate how the local Hindu community has been welcomed and helped by the Australian community and its Government.”

Mukesh Mani, president of the Hindu Association of WA, has studied the Bible and the Koran and has lived in Middle East Muslim countries and Israel, and says there are many parallels between the Christian and Hindu faiths.

He said the five main deities of the Hindu faith are similar to the Christian concept of the Trinity, though Shiva, the “Supreme God”, of their faith, appears to have a higher ‘ranking’ to the other four, whereas in the mystery of the Holy

Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are equal and in fact the one God.

The other four Hindu deities are Ganesha, remover of all obstacles in one’s life; the goddess Devi, whom the faithful pray to for protection, knowledge, wisdom and sustenance; Laxmi-Narayana, the god and goddess of wealth and wisdom; and Murugan, the “commander in chief-type God” who is the “destroyer of egos”.

Mr Mani, a member of the State Council of Churches, said the Hindu community invited other faiths including the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Bahai faith and Taoists, “just to say that we can all cohesively partake in each other’s ceremony”.

“It helps to give others a knowledge of how Hindus operate, as we have been very docile in our way,” he says. Hindu god:

Essential Catholic Resources from

THE R ECORD Bookshop

INTO GREAT SILENCE

Directed by Philip Groning

German filmmaker Philip Gröning received unprecedented access to the Grand Chartreuse to film the ascetic order of monks, the Carthusians, going about their daily life. Into Great Silence is a film of great beauty, capturing six months of monastery life. Unaided with sound, lights or crew, Gröning has created a film of simple but stunning beauty. This version is the director’s double disc version, and includes special features such as vision of the monks’ nocturnal recitations of the holy office.

$47.90+postage

RECEIVING THE LORD

By Bishop Peter Elliott

This booklet is an aid to Eucharistic prayer. It includes passages of scripture, and from the writings of the Saints as well as reflections on the centrality of Holy Communion in our lives. This book will help the reader make he most of the Church’s greatest sacrament.

$7.50+postage

THE GENIUS OF WOMANHOOD

By Karen Doyle

The Genius of Womanhood is a collection of thoughts and reflections on what it means to be a woman, the qualities that mark the feminine, and why it is so crucial that women embrace the qualities that are unique to them. In this book the author is supported by the work of Pope John Paul II, offering women an invitation to reflect on the deeper meaning of their existence and their purpose in life.

$16.95+postage

YOUNG MEN RISE UP

By

Father Ken Barker

Fr Ken Barker has faith in young men. He talks about the message of Christ in a world which bombards today’s men with opposing voices that leave them lost and confused. He points them towards Christ as the one who will answer their deepest questions and bring fulfilment to the profound longings of the human heart. Fr Barker is confident that by improving the quality of their lives by living Catholic teaching and giving courageous witness, young men can have a major impact for good on the Church and its mission in the contemporary world.

$22.95+postage

These books and more are available from The Record Bookshop. Bulk orders and educational discounts are available. Contact Caroline Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday at The Record on (08) 9227 7080 or email bookshop@therecord.com.au.

Shiva, the faith’s highestranking god.