The Record Newspaper 03 August 2006

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BOOK AWARD: The Christian book of the year shortlist announced Page 4

The Parish. The Nation. The World.

Thursday August ,  Perth, Western Australia ● $2 Western Australia’s Award-winning Catholic newspaper

LA SALLE: College in Viveash celebrates the return of its statue Page 5

CATHOLICS CATCH UP: ... in the contemporary music scene Page 12

Palestinian Christians caught between ‘extremists’

■ By Karin Kloosterman

TEL AVIV, Israel (CNS)Palestinian Christians living in the West Bank and Israel expressed anger after Israeli airstrikes in Qana, Lebanon, left 65 civilians dead in the largest attack against Hezbollah since the war began mid-July.

Jacob Zakharia, a Palestinian Melkite Catholic living in Jerusalem’s Old City, said that Palestinian Christians are most affected by the conflict.

“We are sandwiched between extreme Jews and extreme Muslims,” Zakharia said.

Like many, Zakharia expected an Israeli aerial cease-fire following the July 31 Qana attack. “I heard half an hour ago on the radio that Israel was bombing again,” Zakharia told Catholic News Service on July 31. Israeli forces carried out aerial attacks in southern Lebanon on July 31, hours after the government agreed to a 48-hour halt while investigating its bombing in Qana. But a representative from the Israeli Defence Forces said, “This was not a cease-fire. There was a partial suspension of certain aerial activities.”

Continued on page 4

The thirst for truth continues

UNDA throws doors open

The University of Notre Dame Australia’s Fremantle Campus will open its doors to the public on Sunday August, 13, 2006 from 10am until 4pm.

“Notre Dame’s annual Open Day is designed for prospective students who wish to view the Campus and to hear first-hand what is on offer at Notre Dame,” said Liz Beal, Manager of the Prospective Students and Marketing Office.

Information sessions and work-

OUR CORRESPONDENT

shops will be held on most of the university’s courses.

“Teaching staff and current students will be available to speak to prospective students and to answer any questions that visitors may have. We will also be hosting guided tours of the campus during the day,” explained Liz.

For more information on Notre Dame’s Open Day contact the Prospective Students and Marketing Office on 9433 0533 or visit the website - www.nd.edu.au.

Archbishop Barry Hickey took time out from his sabbatical to report home for readers of The Record from the Philippines after attending a conference in Korea.

BAD MEDICINE

Brennan sets his criteria for how to reject Church

■ By Paul Gray

Catholic politicians should have a “readiness to compromise” with non-Catholic points of view on issues like abortion and euthanasia, high-profile Jesuit Fr Frank Brennan says. And church leaders “may not enforce” particular methods of enshrining morality in law, as some US bishops did when threatening to deny Holy Communion to Catholic politicians who supported abortion rights in the 2004 election, Fr Brennan also said.

Speaking at a Jesuit conference in Melbourne on evangelisation and culture, Fr Brennan addressed the perennially heated issue of Catholic politicians and abortion law.

Fr Brennan endorsed the view that “authoritative church teaching” can be rejected by a committed Catholic so long as they have engaged in “mature reflection and discernment” first.

“The committed Catholic cannot be satisfied that his conscience is properly formed and informed simply by pledging adherence to Vatican declarations,” he said.

“Authoritative church teaching is a privileged guide to be discounted only after mature reflection and prayerful discernment.”

His speech attempted to draw upon two major intellectual authorities of the modern Catholic worldCardinal John Henry Newman and Pope Benedict XVI - to support the view that Catolic MPs should not be forced to oppose liberal abortion reforms.

Continued on page 2

Michael Cook of Mercatornet gained an exclusive interview with the author of a new book detailing how doctors participated in torture by US troops in Iraq.

Vista 1 and 3

The young gather: The first of Catholic Youth Ministry’s eight-part series on the Theology of the Body got off to a flying start with plenty of interest from youth and others last week. Full story - Page 7

A day for students: The University of Notre Dame’s open day is on August 13.

Signs of faith everywhere

■ By Archbishop Barry Hickey

On my way to the Conference of the Federation of Bishops of Oceania I stopped over in the Philippines for a brief visit.

Signs of the Catholic faith are everywhere, on the jeeps, on TShirts, on shopfronts, on posters. Religious objects are sold everywhere and one has the feeling that the Church is very much part of the people, that their faith and their culture are inextricably intertwined.

My first visit was to a young religious community in Cebu with Perth connections. It is a mixed community of men and women, some professed, some still novices. They take their daily spiritual program very seriously, with prayer and silent meditation at fixed times during the day and into the evening.

Some of the community help give catechesis to poor children living on the huge rubbish dump nearby, and to children with a range of intellectual or physical disabilities. It was all very inspiring and they all looked so young!

They live entirely on Providence. Lay people come each week for prayers where they take up a collection and give it to the community. This is their only income.

In Manila I stayed wit h the Holy Spirit of Freedom Community. Many in Australia will know them as they have communities in Belmont, Pemberton and Melbourne. In the small Manila group there are four members, two Australians and two Filippinos.

Their work is with street kids, and in Manila there are plenty. They go among them, try to provide medicines for them, get them to school and encourage them to look to a better future.

One of the young women from Perth told me how she wanted to speak to the street children about Jesus, only to find that they already knew him well and prayed to him a lot. She said she learned much about trust, joy and the presence of God from these young people.

I felt that God was reminding me to depend more on him than on merely human and secular ways to carry his message to the world. It was an unusual experience to be with two happy communities that lived entirely on Providence. There

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are lessons there for people of the Western World who are surrounded by material possessions.

I went to a beautiful old town north of Manila called Taal. It boasts the largest Basilica in Asia, built by the Spanish in the 16th Century.

This is the home of one of our Diocesan priests, Fr Armando Carandang, Chaplain to Curtin University and our Vocations Director.

I’m staying in his family house in Taal as I write these words. His sister is here as are three cousins and their families. We all had a festive meal last night. I am accompanied by Fr Denis O’Brien, a priest from Melbourne running a small “orphanage” in Manila for homeless boys.The retired Bishop of this area, Bishop Queson, was also a guest at the festive meal.

I reflect that God’s ways are not our ways. I did not even expect to be in Taal, but because a child was born here who eventually became a priest of Perth, here I am, to give thanks to God not only for the gift of Fr Armando, but for all the other Filippino priests who have chosen to give their lives to God in the Archdiocese of Perth.

Next stop in this lengthy sabbatical, Fiji.

In Christ our Lord Most Rev B J Hickey Archbishop of Perth 31 July 2006

Brennan speaks out

Continued from page 1

Pope Benedict, in his one Encyclical since becoming Pope, Deus Caritas Est, has written that “it is not the Church’s responsibility to make [its] teaching prevail in political life.”

The Pope also said that Catholic social teaching does not “attempt to impose on those who do not share the faith ways of thinking and modes of conduct proper to faith.”

“Its [i.e. the Church’s] aim is simply to help purify reason and to contribute, here and now, to the acknowledgement and attainment of what is just.”

Fr Brennan said that these reflections by Pope Benedict “are more helpful than his specific directives as Prefect” of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, his role before being elected to the Holy See.

In his paper at the evangelisation conference, Fr Brennan argued that law reform issues, including abortion law, are “not primarily moral questions.”

These issues “also require prudence and political savvy best practised by those who are imbued with the local culture and who are experienced in the law and politics” of their own country. For this reason, he said, “religious leaders, and especially those from other countries, are less likely to be competent no matter what their place in the hierarchy of the religious community.”

These words appear to indicate that in Fr Brennan’s view, Vatican officials, including the Pope, and even bishops in Australia have no right to direct politicians as to how they should vote on any law reform issue, including abortion, euthana-

sia or the regulation of stem cell research.

Fr Brennan also suggested that the famous 19th century British theologian John Henry Newman, who profoundly influenced the Second Vatican Council and has been warmly praised by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, would not have endorsed the Popes’ moral opposition to artificial contraception.

During his lifetime in the 19th century, Cardinal Newman “had no idea about the range of issues on which subsequent Popes and Vatican congregations would issue declarations not just on the faith but in relation to morals, law and public policy.”

Newman “would have been surprised by some of the contemporary claims that popes have taught infallibly on a vast range of moral issues, including contraception,” Fr Brennan said.

Newman also “thought there ought to be little overlap” between state policies and church teachings, Fr Brennan said.

Fr Brennan said the question of the right relationship between church leaders and individual Catholic politicians needs to be cleared up immediately, in part because of the threat from radical Islam.

“If we are to forestall the claims by fundamentalist Muslims to implement Sharia law in a democratic nation state where they are in the majority or at least an influential minority, we need to set right the terms on which Christians and their churches bring their religious perspective to bear on questions of law, policy and political agitation.”

Controversial views: Jesuit Fr Frank Brennan and Cardinal John Newman.

Book to counter ‘culture of death’

Fr Peter Tran, sheds some light on euthanasia.

A priest who fled to Australia as one of the ‘boat people’ in 1982 has produced a new book to counter the culture of death in this country.

Fr Peter Hung Manh Tran’s “Advancing the Culture of Death” will be launched in Perth next Friday, August 11.

Fr Tran was born in South Vietnam and came to Australia as a refugee in 1982.

He joined the Redemptorists and was ordained a priest in 1994, one of a significant number of priests the Holy Spirit sent to Australia through this difficult pathway.

Fr Tran came to Western Australia and completed a Master of Moral Theology Degree at Notre Dame University in 1998, and after further studies in Rome at the Alphonsian Academy, Pontifical University of Lateran, he became a Doctor of Moral Theology in 2003. His doctoral thesis is the foundation for this book which has been published by Freedom Press through the sponsorship of the Knights of the Southern Cross in WA.

In a foreword to the book, Cardinal Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, points out that when Pope John Paul referred to trends in Western societies as a “culture of death” he was referring specifically to the utilitarian philosophy behind the practices of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.

Dr Tran’s approach was to show how the culture of life has been an integral part of the Catholic Faith from the beginning and how its ideas had ultimately triumphed over the utilitarianism of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds.

His book would contribute to success in the struggle for life in Australia, Cardinal Pell said.

Publication of Dr Tran’s book comes at a time when State Parliament is debating government legislation about advance health directives (‘living wills’) and the medical care of the dying.

In a recent media statement about the legislation, Archbishop Hickey acknowledged the government’s insistence that it does not intend to open the door to euthanasia, but warned that more clarity was needed.

“It does appear that broadly written advanced health directives could place families and doctors in invidious positions and, potentially, open the door to euthanasia by omission of treatment or care that is rationally called for,” he said.

“I think Parliament will have to ensure that the limits of advance health directives are defined more precisely than they are in the Bill at present.”

Fr Peter Tran will be present for the launch of his book on August 11 from 7.30 to 9.30pm at the Country Women’s Association House, 1174 Hay St, West Perth. Anyone wishing to attend has been asked to contact 9470 4922.

Exhibition to amaze

■ By Sylvia Defendi

One of Australia’s most outstanding landscape artists, Mel Brigg, will be exhibiting an acrylic art work, titled Afternoon Light, as part of Mazenod College’s 13th annual Fine Art Exhibition and Sale.

Held at the College, on Gladys Road, in Lesmurdie, the exhibition will present an array of artistry from across the nation.

This year there will be 450 paintings on display, as well as works of sculpture, pottery, photography and glass.

Reiterating the accolades of previous audiences and artists associated with the art show, events coordinator Colleen Wilson said

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the College exhibition had gained a reputation for excellence in high quality artwork and its presentation.

The exhibition will be launched on August 18 at 7.30pm and will include a champagne supper for $20 per person. Artwork by Henry McLaughlin and Lois Ellison will be raffled during the exhibition, which will run from August 18 – 20.

“Apart from being a major fundraising event for the College, the art exhibition has become a notable social and cultural event for the Perth art scene,” Mrs Wilson said.

Tickets will be available at the door or from the College office (9291 6500).

For more information, contact Mrs Wilson on 9293 4719.

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

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

Is it true that I have over 40 technicians who are dedicated to getting my used cars in rst class condition before sale?

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I ve been Australia s top selling Hyundai dealer?

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

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

Timeless: Mel Brigg’s Afternoon Light, which will be exhibited at the Mazenod college art show.

Aussie Christian books shortlisted

■ By Sherrilee Kingston

The shortlist of nine finalists for the Australian Christian Book of the Year was announced on July 28 with Western Australian writer and broadcaster Sheridan Voysey’s book Unseen Footprints among those making the list.

Out of 41 entries, the nine books chosen as finalists range from an introduction to Jesus, spiritual journeys, biographies and evangelical guides.

Sheridan Voysey’s Unseen Footprints; The Divine Along the Journey of Life is a reflective walk through pain, yearning, whispers,

doubt and surrendering to seeing the Divine. The non-fiction book is an exploration of finding God for today’s spiritual seekers.

“Unseen Footprints is a journey about opening our spiritual eyes to see the activities of the Divine around us”, said the publishers, Scripture Union. Tim Costello CEO of World Vision Australia, and brother of the federal treasurer, comments on the book as one that “will open your eyes to the God who is already present in your life and in this amazing world of ours. “It invites us along a path of grace, true vocation and transformation”.

Other authors short-listed for

the Australian Christian Book of the Year include John Dickson, Anne Henderson, Benny Tabalujan, Leigh Hatcher, Ash Barker, Cecily Patterson and 14 women under the editorship of Lesley Ramsay.

The criteria that the books will be judged upon include the original nature of the work, the literary style, the overall design and the contribution in meeting a need in Christian writing for the Australian situation and market. The winner will receive $2,500 and a certificate for both the author and the publisher.

The winner and the awards will be announced on Wednesday September 13 at a lunch in Melbourne.

Latest Basilica concert set to be ‘unforgetable’

■ By Sylvia Defendi

Internationally renowned saxophonist Matthew Styles will join Perth’s Dominic Perissinotto in Scaramouche, the third in a series of five pipe organ concerts for 2006. Held at the Basilica of St Patrick in Fremantle on August 6, the concert will feature works ranging from the 16th to 20th centuries.

Mr Styles, who was looking forward to his participation, said the unusual combination of the pipe organ with the saxophone would provide a truly unique experience for the audience.

“This concert, featuring Dominic and myself, will be an unforgettable one, creating music full of charm, beauty, character and dynamism,” he said.

“The first part of the concert program presents works from the earliest periods of composition including Platti, Mozart, Cabezon and Cimarosa, all of whom are rec-

ognised as historically significant artists. Highlighting works from the 20th

century, the second part of the concert features an original piece for the saxophone and pipe organ writ-

ten by Swedish saxophonist Anders Paulsson, and culminates with Darius Milhaud’s Scaramouche.

Of the concert’s feature piece, Scaramouche, organist Dominic Perissinotto said: “This is a playful French modernist piece originally for saxophone and orchestra, with the orchestral part arranged to take advantage of the symphonic style organ at St Patrick’s.”

After Sunday’s concert two more will be held this year.

One, featuring solo organ performances will include works by CPE Bach and Mendelssohn, as well as Charles-Marie Widor’s Symphony No. 6. And at Christmas, a concert featuring soprano Tamsyn StockStafford and singer Philip Murray. will showcase works by Purcell, Vierne, Marcel Duprey and JS Bach.

Tickets for this Sunday’s 2.30pm concert can be purchased by calling: (08) 9339 7418 or by emailing info@pipeorganplus.com.

YCW lobbies on youth pay level

■ By Sylvia Defendi

Citing case studies provided by the Youth Affairs Network in Queensland the Australian Young Christian Workers (AYCW) have called on the Federal Government to increase the minimum wage for young people in low skilled jobs.

Research conducted by the Youth Affairs Network displayed evidence that incomes for young people living independently, which comprised both social security payments and wages, were set below the poverty line.

The acting Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Philip Ruddock, who released the Australian Government’s submission for wage review to the Australian Fair Pay Commission stated that any increases in pay would be at the discretion of the commission.

“The Commission will consider whether to adjust, and if so by how much the federal minimum wage which is currently set at $12.75 per hour,” said Mr Ruddock.

“Low paid workers who receive the safety net of minimum wages, and who may not have received a wage increase for twelve months or more, would benefit from some increase,” he said.

In their recent submission to the Commission, the AYCW urged the Commission to ensure an increase to the federal minimum wage that reflected the real cost of living.

An AYCW statement, released by national secretary Sara Kane, declared: “The AYCW movement advocates strongly for young people in low paid and low skilled jobs. We recognise that through this work, young people rely heavily on the fact that the minimum wage and conditions are a means to avoid poverty. It is essential that minimum wages and allowances be established at just and adequate levels.”

Caught between extremists

Continued from page 1

Meanwhile, Zakharia said Israel doesn’t care about its neighbours in the Middle East.

“Israel has very sophisticated bombs and bombardment tactics. They don’t care about their neighbours,” he said. “They respect only who is powerful.”

Father Youssef Saadeh, a Palestinian parish priest at St John the Baptist Church in Nablus, West Bank, said he believes US President George W. Bush and the American government is supporting Israel and its airstrikes against Hezbollah militants.

“As Arab people, we need justice and rights. This airstrike is a very good example for how Mr Bush is a bad man, so is his government.

I think Mr Bush told the Israelis to bomb Qana,” said Father Saadeh. “How can we speak about the peace and love of Jesus when the Israeli soldiers send their bombs and kill many children and young men in this city,” he said.

The Bush administration says it supports a long-lasting Middle East cease-fire that would address the root of the ongoing conflict, rather than a quick-fix halt to the war.

Franciscan Father Quirico Calella, who lives in the northern Israeli city of Acre, said he is just relieved to see only smoke and not tragedy after a Hezbollah rocket landed near a parishioner’s home on July 30. “We hope for us and for Lebanon,” Father Calella said.

Heavenly sounds: Organist Dominic Perissinotto in front of the organ in St Patrick’s Basilica in Fremantle.

Tragedy: Red Cross workers move the body of a child killed in an Israeli air raid on the village of Qana in southern Lebanon on July 30. Some 60 civilians, including at least 37 children, died.

Photo: CNS/Zohra Bensemra, Reuters.

One hopeful: Perth author and broadcaster Sheridan Voysey.

Bishop’s message to youth: come on down

On conservative estimates Australia can expect at least 25,000 young Americans at World Youth Day in 2008, says key organiser

■ By Nancy Frazier O’Brien

WASHINGTON (CNS) - The first international World Youth Day to be held in Australia will provide an opportunity for young people to learn about and strengthen their faith and to spread that faith to those “down under” who do not put a high priority on spiritual concerns.

That was the message Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney brought to the United States recently in his role as coordinator of World Youth Day 2008, which will take place from July 15-20, 2008, in Sydney.

Bishop Fisher said the planning team expects about 25,000 US young people to attend, similar to the number of Americans who went to Germany for World Youth Day in 2005.

“But from what they’re telling me now, 25,000 may be a very conservative number,” the Australian bishop said in a telephone interview from Orange, California, after a meeting with Auxiliary Bishop Jaime Soto of Orange, chairman of the US bishops’ Subcommittee on Youth and Young Adults, and other U.S. planners for World Youth Day.

“So I’m going back looking for more places to house World Youth Day pilgrims from the United States

and other countries,” Bishop Fisher said. In addition to the events in Sydney, young Catholics will be able to experience the pre-World Youth Day activities known as Days in the

La Salle celebrates statue return

■ By Sylvia Defendi

La Salle College, celebrated the return of their St John Baptist De La Salle statue on July 26 with Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton, who blessed the statue after the college’s confirmation ceremony.

The statue was initially located in front of the college’s original building, but was relocated to the Gomboc Gallery in 1999 when the need for restoration arose.

The college statue remained at the Gallery up until recently, when it was rededicated and blessed after

being placed in the college memorial gardens.

La Salle College principal, Wayne Bull said that for him, the statue had iconic memories from when he attended the college in 1966. Students, parents and friends of the college in Viveash were delighted to have the statue residing in a prominent part of the college once again.

“It was a very poignant time to rededicate the statue, after the confirmation of La Salle students,” said John Finley, Liturgy Coordinator for the college.

Eight students received the sac-

Dioceses, in which pilgrims stay with families or parishes throughout the host country to learn more about the place they are visiting.

In 2008, however, participants in the Days in the Dioceses might stay in Australia or New Zealand. “The 24 dioceses of Australia will be joined by the six New Zealand dioceses in hosting World Youth Day visitors,” Bishop Fisher said.

The bishop said his country has much to offer American young people and is located about as far away from the US as Germany is, for those on the West Coast.

“We speak more or less the same language, and it’s easier culturally” than Germany was for Americans, he added.

Although it will be winter in the Southern Hemisphere in July, materials on the World Youth Day 2008 Web site list the average high temperature in Sydney in July at 19 degrees Celsius and the average low at 9.5 degrees C - comparable to Paris, London or Washington in May, the site says.

The Web site at www.wyd2008. org offers preparatory materials for parishes, schools and individuals planning to join in World Youth Day, as well as an opportunity for those who cannot travel to Australia to share in the preparations.

The theme for the 2008 gathering is “You Will Receive Power When the Holy Spirit Has Come Upon You; and You Will Be My Witnesses,” taken from Chapter 1, Verse 8 of the Acts of the Apostles.

The Pontifical Council for the Laity, which organises the international World Youth Days, set similar themes related to the Holy Spirit

and mission for 2006 and 2007 preparatory study sessions.

Through an “e-pilgrimage,” participants will be alerted to a monthly pilgrim pack on the Internet, including catechesis on the World Youth Day themes, testimonies of young people who have gone to other World Youth Days and information on such topics as the lives of young saints and pilgrimage sites around the world.

The e-pilgrimage is available in all four official World Youth Day languages - English, Spanish, French and Italian.

In late July, the WYD organisers launched a 15-minute video highlighting Australia’s charms and the spiritual and cultural benefits of participation in World Youth Day.

Bishop Fisher, who has already visited the Philippines and South Korea to encourage participation in World Youth Day 2008, also has stops planned in Spain, France and Ireland and is scheduled to meet in Fiji with the bishops of the Pacific Islands.

“My main message (on the US stop) is that Australia might seem very far away, but it is very closely connected personally and culturally to the States,” the bishop said.

“And this may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Australia.”

But Bishop Fisher also is excited about the effects of World Youth Day on Australians of all ages.

“It’s a great blessing to us in Australia,” he said.

When Australians see hundreds of thousands of young Catholics energised by their faith, he added, “it will be a real evangelising moment.”

Record-breaker for Vinnies

■ By Sylvia Defendi

For the first time in history, the St Vincent De Paul Society has raised more than its $500,000 target during its annual Winter Appeal.

Ending on July 31, this year’s Winter Appeal has gained recordbreaking support from the Western Australian community.

“WA’s biggest charity was prepared for the huge demand on its services and were able to bring comfort, dignity and hope to those who needed it most,” commented state president, Genevieve De Souza.

Sending her sincere thanks to all those who generously donated, Mrs De Souza said this winter the society’s good works were successfully sustained by donations – both

monetary and material – from the WA community.

“The West Australian community never lets us down. They know they can trust us to use their donations wisely and respectfully,” she said.

Each year the society’s members, volunteers and staff assist more than 155,000 disadvantaged people in Western Australia alone.

Funds donated to the Winter Appeal will enable the state’s largest charity to continue assisting the homeless, those battling mental illness, the elderly and families in crisis.

“Many of these people face the real prospect of endless cold and lonely nights, plagued by fear and insecurity”, said Mrs De Souza.

UK judge rejects ‘same-sex’ marriage

rament of confirmation that day, one of whom was year 12 student Courtney O’Donnell, who also received her first holy communion.

“This is something she always wanted to do and was happy to know that it could be done at school prior to completing Year 12,” said Mr Finley.

During the celebratory Mass Bishop Sproxton recalled the occasion of his own confirmation and stressed the need for everyone to be strengthened by the Holy Spirit to be truly successful in their life, not in worldly terms, but in the way they treat others.

A lesbian couple who were married under Canadian law three years ago failed this week to have their union declared valid under the law of England and Wales. In a “ringing endorsement of traditional marriage”, reports the Telegraph, the senior family judge also dismissed a claim that English law was now incompatible with the couple’s human rights.

The women are Sue Wilkinson, a professor of feminist and health studies at Loughborough University, and Celia Kitzinger, a professor specialising in genders, sexualities and conversation analysis at York University.

Giving judgement in Britain’s

High Court, Sir Mark Potter said common law had always recognised marriage as the voluntary union of a man and a woman.

Anyone challenging this faced the “insurmountable hurdle” of legislation passed in 1973, which says that a marriage is void if “the parties are not respectively male and female”.

The Human Rights Convention says that family life and the right to marry must be respected without discrimination, unless the discrimination has a legitimate aim, is reasonable and proportionate. In Sir Mark’s view, English law satisfied those tests.

Looking ahead: Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney, right, coordinator of World Youth Day 2008, which will take place from July 15-20 that year, is pictured with Australian pilgrims at World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany, last year.

Photo:courtesy of World Youth Day 2008

Great day for college: On hand for the blessing were Fathers Hong Pham, college chaplain Vinh Dong, La Salle Principal Wayne Bull, Bishop Sproxton, liturgy coordinator John Finley and Deputy Principal Rino Randazzo.

Photo:courtesy La Salle

Italian official dedicates law cutting prison time to late pope

■ By

Cindy Wooden

Italy’s justice minister dedicated to Pope John Paul II a measure passed by Italian lawmakers granting sentence reductions to thousands of prisoners.

The law, granting up to three years off prison sentences, easily surpassed the two-thirds majority needed in the Italian Senate on July 29 after having passed the House of

Reduced sentence dedicated to late Pope UNDA Broome celebrates

The Broome Campus of The University of Notre Dame Australia held its Graduation Ceremony on Friday 28th of July. 39 students graduated in a variety of Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses and Higher Education courses.

Over 350 people were in attendance on the grounds of the Campus to witness the University’s Chancellor, the Hon Justice Neville Owen confer the nominated candidates.

Special guests included Yawuru elder Cissy Djaigween who performed the welcome to country, Federal Member for Kalgoorlie, Mr Barry Haase and the Shire President of Broome Mr Graeme Campbell.

This year’s guest of honour was Fr Ray Hevern SAC, the Regional Leader of the Pallottine Order. He spoke about the history of the Order in the Kimberley and their significant contribution to the region over 105 years.

Deputies on July 27. Pope John Paul had appealed for amnesty and clemency measures for prisoners around the world as part of the Holy Year 2000 celebrations, and in 2002 he specifically asked Italian lawmakers to adopt sentence reductions to ease overcrowding in Italian prisons.

During the debate dozens of lawmakers recalled the appeals of Pope John Paul. Clemente Mastella, the justice minister, dedicated the final victory to the late pope.

Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, welcomed the vote saying, “This crowns the dream of John Paul II and also that of Benedict XVI, who is very sensitive

to the situation in prisons around the world.”

The cardinal also said on July 29 that his office is working on a new document about justice in prison systems.

The Italian Ministry of Justice estimated that some 12,700 of the more than 60,000 people in Italian prisons would be eligible for early release under the terms of the law. Prisoners sentenced for committing another crime within five years of their early release would have to serve the remainder of their original sentences as well.

It does not apply to prisoners convicted of serious violent crimes such as murder, rape and terror-

The Lands family from Broome had good reason to celebrate as daughter Sharona graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. Sharona’s mother Merrilee had previously graduated from the Broome Campus in 2002 with a Bachelor of Education. The Patricia and Michael Kailis Award,

which is given to the highest achieving student, was awarded to Katie Donnelly, a Bachelor of Education graduate. In her Valedictory speech she thanked the staff of the Broome Campus for the high level of pastoral care that she had received throughout her studies.

ism or Mafia-related crimes, sexual abuse of minors, human trafficking or kidnapping. Cardinal Martino and Mgr. Giorgio Caniato, the chief of Italy’s prison chaplain corps, called on social service agencies and all Catholics to offer special assistance to prisoners being released.

“These people need to be accepted,” Cardinal Martino told the Italian news agency ANSA on July 30.

“They will get out without networks of protection. Many do not even have a family and almost all of them are without jobs and a home.”

“They risk rejection by society,” he said, and are at a high risk of committing new crimes unless

they are met with solidarity and assistance. Msgr. Caniato said, “It is wonderful that the justice minister wanted to dedicate this act of clemency to the memory” of the late pope.

“It is the evident sign of a Catholic who recognises the deep interest that John Paul II demonstrated for the prison world,” he told ANSA.

However, he said, clemency will not help anyone if there is no support for the prisoners being released. And special attention must be given to non-Italian prisoners, estimated at making up about 30 percent of the prison population, and to those with drug addiction problems. -

CNS

New sports centre for Iona

Iona College’s new sports centre was officially blessed and opened by Bishop Donald Sproxton and Sister Anna Fewer, congregation leader of the presentation sisters, on July 23.

The principal, Margaret Herley, thanked everyone who was involved in the planning and building process and all those families who have so generously pledged their financial support over the past four years.

Long years of planning and inconvenience have come to an end

as the Iona school community has taken full possession of the new building, complete with a gymnasium, circuit room, new changing rooms and staff offices as well as four additional class rooms.

“The impact of this new building on Iona is enormous. It is a great teaching and learning facility and once again, the College will enjoy full school assemblies involving all students under one roof,” Ms Herley said.

End to death inducing policy

Sunday, August 13

1pm: Arrive for Barbecue, Sharing, Tour.

4pm: Mass with celebrant Bishop Sproxton

For Information

Contact:

Vocations Director Fr Armando

Ph: 9470 9113, Mob: 0401197310

Fax: 9361 5710

Email: prvocation@hotmail.com

Seminary: 9279 1310

(Also for enquiries after Aug 13)

Haryana state in northern India has scrapped a population control law that barred people with more than two children from running for political office or serving as politicians. Officials admitted the policy has had “disastrous” social consequences, with couples aborting third pregnancies, giving children up for adoption, or failing to

register a child’s birth. Changes to the policy were triggered in part by the highly-publicised action of an elected official who disowned his wife and third child to avoid losing his position. Two other states, Chattisgarh and neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, have already dropped the two-child policy.

FIRST GAY ‘MARRIAGE’ ENDS AFTER TWO YEARS

The first homosexual couple to “marry” in Massachusetts in May 2004 has announced they are separating. Julie and Hillary Goodridge, the lead plaintiffs in the case that led to the approval of such unions in Massachusetts have not filed for a divorce but are “amicably living apart”, according to their spokeswoman, Mary Breslauer. They have a 10-year-old daughter, Annie. Asked if the failure of the “marriage” meant anything to the gay rights movement, Ms Breslauer said, “I just think this really doesn’t say anything. Our families, like other families, can face tough times, with many making it through those moments, but some not.”

The Goodriches began a homosexual relationship more than two decades ago after meeting at Harvard University. A 2006 survey by the Boston Globe estimates that 7,300 same-sex couples have married in the state since May 2004 and 45 have divorced.

Just the beginning: Graduates from the University of Notre Dame Broome Campus celebrate at their graduation ceremony.

Opening speech: Sr Anna Fewer, Congregation Leader of the Presentation Sisters

NFP hotline a call away

Coast to coast, NFP just a phone call away

■

By Paul Gray

The Australian Council of Natural Family Planning has established a toll-free national telephone number to assist couples interested in fertility management.

The Council promotes the sympto-thermal method of natural family planning, for which a 98 per cent success rate in avoiding pregnancy has been claimed, when the method

is taught correctly. The Council’s President, Mrs Noelle Melrose, said that a natural family planning awareness week will be held during August.

She said an important aspect of the work of promoting natural family planning today is advising women not to leave it too late in life to try to achieve pregnancy.

“NFP Week provides an opportunity to remind us all to respect our natural fertility, not to take it for granted and for those planning a pregnancy not to leave it until too late,” she said.

A nationwide toll-free telephone

number - 1800 114 010 - has been set up to take enquiries on the method. Callers will be directed to the nearest natural family planning centre in their state.

As well as the sympto-thermal method of family planning, the Council teaches the LAM method which is particular to breast-feeding mothers.

The underlying principles of natural family planning are to teach couples to understand their own fertility from a practical point of view, to help them avoid or achieve a pregnancy without use of drugs or devices.

Dedicated to aiding youth

■ By Sylvia Defendi

Perth’s Young Christian Workers (YCW) and Young Christian Students (YCS) came together over the weekend of June 17 and 18, to hold their inaugural adult assistants, chaplains and mentors training event at the Catholic Pastoral Centre in Highgate.

25 adults concluded their training with a celebratory Mass and commissioning ceremony, during which each participant received their mission cross and voluntarily stated their commitment to their respective movement. Darren Parnell, an adult assistant for Morley YCS group, said, “even we adults need to keep an open mind to things, be prepared to listen to the experiences and suggestions of others, and actually make the effort to reflect on these thoughts, and decide how we will apply them in our daily lives.”

Based in high schools and parishes, the YCW and YCS are youth movements within the Catholic Church that encourage young students and workers to relate their faith to their everyday experiences, to develop a deeper understanding of the Gospel and discover the meaning and value of their lives through various personal and collective actions.

“Young people need support from both the official Church and from charismatic and faith-filled adults, to assist them in living out their faith in everyday actions,” said diocesan mentor for the Perth YCW, Guido Vogels.

The weekend, which was facilitated by Mr Vogels and Margaret Maassen, Diocesan Adult Assistant for the Perth YCS, included morning reflections from the YCW national chaplain and YCW workers, infor-

mation on the history, principles and methodology of each movement and practical skills sessions that specifically catered for YCS adult assistants or YCW mentors.

Those who may be interested in training to be an adult assistant, chaplain or mentor can contact Vicky or Adam (YCS) on 9422 7911 or email perth@aycs.org.au, or Shirley or Vincent (YCW) on 9422 7910 or email ycw@highgate-perthcatholic.org.au.

Children of war remembered

Members of the Australian Jewish community will sponsor a high-profile event to highlight the plight of all children caught in war zones this weekend.

The “Butterflies of Hope” event in central Sydney, sponsored by the Sydney Jewish Museum, will see a major city park covered in coloured carboard butterflies with messages

written by Australian children in support of young people caught up in armed conflict around the world. Prominent Jewish community members including David Knoll, President of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, are supporting the event, which has been described by its sponsors as urgent, “in view of the tragic events of the past few

weeks.” Sister Giovanni Farquer of the Commission for Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations of Sydney’s Catholic archdiocese, is also supporting the event.

The event is intended as an open invitation to all Australians to plant messages “in memory of all children who have been affected by war through no fault of their own.”

■ By Sherrilee Kingston

Two medical students from the University of Notre Dame Australia, will attempt to break a world record by running up and down Jacob’s Ladder in Western Australia’s Kings Park for 24 hours whilst raising money for Variety Club WA.

The world record attempt will begin on Saturday August 5 at 6am and finish on Sunday August 6 at 6am.

Participant Jonathan Hague said he and classmate Bernard Cregan “wanted to do something beneficial, not just the challenge. It will be a great way to raise money and awareness for the work of Variety WA - whilst attempting something a little crazy.”

Mr Hague and Mr Cregan will try to break the Guinness World

Record for the most height climbed in 24 hours by attempting to ascend the 43 metre stairs approximately 350 times. The current world record stands at 15,000m set in 2004 by Kurt Hess when he ascended the Swiss Esterli Tower 333.3 times.

Mr Haguewas was first introduced to Jacob’s ladder in 2005 when he moved to Perth from Adelaide. A national volleyball and beach volleyball player he said Jacob’s ladder was “perfect interval training for fitness, as each lap pushes your heart rate slightly higher until you max out.”

After consulting Guinness World Records Mr Hague and Mr Cregan have been training progressively and are looking forward to the challenge. Mr Hague said “ I am heading into the unknown but can’t wait to find my limit wherever that lies on Jacob’s ladder.”

Change of date for feast days

■ By Cindy Wooden

Because of conflicts in the Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar, the Vatican has decided that in 2008 the dates of the feasts of St Joseph and of the Annunciation of the Lord will be moved.

Working a year and a half in advance to meet the needs of publishers of church calendars, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments published its notification on the 2008 changes in mid-July.

In 2008, if the feast of St Joseph were to be celebrated as usual on March 19, it would fall on the

Wednesday of Holy Week and if the feast of the Annunciation of the Lord were to be celebrated on March 25, it would fall on the Tuesday during the octave of Easter.

While the two feasts are among the 14 solemnities marked with special care in the Catholic Church, they do not take precedence over the commemoration of Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection.

Therefore, the congregation said, in 2008 the feast of St Joseph will be celebrated on March 15, the day before Palm Sunday, and the feast of the Annunciation will be celebrated on March 31, the Monday after the second Sunday of Easter, which also is Divine Mercy Sunday.

Youth embrace theology of the body course

■ By Mark Reidy

An eight-week course promising to change the way young people perceive the Catholic Church’s teachings on sexuality commenced on July 31 at the Pastoral Centre in Highgate. Presented in DVD format by internationally acclaimed author and speaker, Christopher West, the series aims to address, in a relevant and exciting format, the answers to some of the most important and often misunderstood per-

spectives of Catholic theology. West is able to translate the beautiful and profound insights of Pope John Paul II’s, Theology of the Body, and present them in a way that is relevant and comprehensible to young people today. Dealing with both the spiritual and practical aspects of sexuality, West is masterly in his ability to clearly express the joy and wonder that God intended this gift to be. Stephen Gorddard, one of the organisers of the course, believes that the course will allow participants to fully embrace God’s original plan for sex and

marriage. “Young people are searching for meaningful relationships, they are looking for real love and true happiness”, he said.

“The good news is that God has planned this for all of us.”

The course is open to all those aged between 16-40 and is free to attend.

It is held at the Catholic Pastoral Centre in Highgate and commences at 7.15pm.

The first evening was conducted on July 31, but it is not too late to join. For more information or to register contact Stephen Gorddard on 0431 228 630.

Eager bunch: Mentors, chaplains and adult assistants from the YCS and YCW movements, shortly after receiving their mission crosses.

A matter of truth

Acouple of weeks ago, the ABC-TV science program Catalyst devoted its half-hour to an examination of various ways of testing and measuring whether and when a person was telling a lie. The measurements covered many aspects of the human person, including brain activity, blood flow to the area around the eye, the more traditional measurements taken by the polygraph, and observations of what is loosely known as body language. The object of the exercise was to determine which system could more accurately tell when the journalist involved was lying.

As so often happens in journalism and science, no consideration was given to the really important question: Why is it that the act of telling a lie, or even preparing to tell a lie, causes so many changes in the energy patterns and physiological systems of the human body? After all, the physical process is the same whether I say ‘my name is Bill Smith’ (if it is) or ‘my name is Harry Jones’ (if it isn’t), but it can be demonstrated that many changes occur and that all of them represent a weakening of the human system in one way or another.

This is not new knowledge, but science is developing new ways of measuring it. People have always known that patterns of dishonesty weaken and distort human life and human relationships. Compulsive gamblers, for instance, lose the energy to sustain life’s affairs, not because they lose their money but because they devote so much of their energy to deceiving themselves and those around them about what is going on in their lives. Alcoholics and drug addicts, similarly, are brought down not by the drug but by the continuous deception and unreality of their lives. In all these cases, recovery begins with the truth, and is sustained only to the extent that truth becomes the foundation of the renewed life.

Language

Irefer to the article in Vista page 2 in the June 15 issue of The Record by CT Maler.

I quote: “Cancelling Sunday Mass, let alone Mass on one of the holiest days of the Church calendar, would never enter a Catholic’s mind, but it fits Protestant theology.”

You have carried in VISTA (The Record, July 27) a good cover of the investigation into the suspicion that human organs are being harvested from unconsulted political prisoners in China.

But there is another question that should form part of any such investigation: are the “donors” really dead when their organs, especially their hearts, are removed, or is the removal of the organs the chosen method of execution - with or without sedation?

Organs must be live when transplanted – they are of no use if they are taken from a body that has passed through all the processes to real death.

In Australia we have coined the term “brain dead” to describe the donors, but we know at the same time that “brain death” is not the same as real death. So there is a serious ethical problem that has not been properly faced even here in Australia.

So in China – are the “donors” really dead or is the removal of their hearts and other organs the cause of real death, with or without sedation? If this is so, it would make the situation in China even more grotesque than already suspected.

Then what of Australia? Many medical people accept the semantic of “brain death” but many do not, regarding the patient as still living until real death takes place. Recently the St Vincent’s Sydney ethics body approved a new method of keeping organs “live” for transplanting, but even that relies on the criterion of “brain death”.

Mrs Doris Martyr Attadale

PO Box 75, Leederville, WA 6902

Tel: (08) 9227 7080, Fax: (08) 9227 7087 cathrec@iinet.net.au

Infidelity often begins to infect marriage and family life long before it is disclosed. In public life, those who live a sound moral life tend to benefit from their experience and get better and wiser as they get older, while those who do not live such lives tend to make more mistakes as they get older, and often strange and spectacular mistakes. That is why it used to be considered of value to know whether a candidate cheated at cards or at golf before trusting him with government.

The point of all this existing human wisdom and of the new scientific tests is that human beings are made in truth. That is how we are made; we are made in truth and there is truth about us.

Our most important responsibility in life is to do our best to know the truth and to live by it. This responsibility applies to individuals, families and societies. It is a responsibility that requires us to obey the truth, to abide by it even when all sorts of human appetites are appealing to us to ignore it, and even when it appears that the truth will harm us. It won’t, of course, because the truth, and only the truth, will set us free.

Human weakness being what it is, there is endless possibility for us not to understand the truth, not to welcome it when it is presented to us, and even to detest it when it appears likely to restrict the kind of freedom we demand for ourselves but are unwilling to give to others. Human weakness also tends to ensure that even when people accept truth and endeavour to obey it there will be many failures. Forgiveness, however, is part of the truth of who we are.

To come to the truth about humanity, we must start at the beginning. Did we just happen, without purpose or responsibility? Or were we created, with a relationship between creature and creator?

It is only when we know and accept our relationship with God that we can begin to understand all the other relationships that exist within us and between us, and between us and the rest of creation.

This relationship has been revealed to us by God, and most particularly in the person of Jesus Christ who told us, “I am the way, the truth and the life”. This is not a truth that is variable according to our pressures or our desires. It is truth that we can experience personally, truth that sustains us in all our circumstances.

It is truth to which we cannot be forced. When confronted by brutal philosophies like communism or dangerous philosophies like relativism, we must remember that Jesus was raised up (on the cross and from the grave) so that all men would be drawn to him. When we live that truth, it will become evident to others.

Another one...

Now that the position of Prime Minister has been settled, we hope that journalists will stop asking Mr Howard to announce his retirement.

The sorely tried readers, viewers, listeners – and voters – have put up with this nonsense at every election Mr Howard has faced. On the available evidence, all the journalistic froth and bubble about when the PM intends to “hand over” has made not a scrap of difference to voters.

Despite voluminous media self-justification, the question has never been related to truth. It has always been about ego and the creation of grounds for speculation and conflict.

Similarly, the recent proclamations by the media that Mr Costello’s only options were to challenge or retire to the backbench have proved fallacious. They were based on the record of Paul Keating, not a man whose example is to be followed. The desire to lead is only a problem if it interferes with loyalty and teamwork.

It goes on to make other insinuations, which, while they may be true, are nevertheless the sort of thing which, when expressed in print, could incite our brothers and sisters belonging to the Protestant denominations in a negative way; the sort of thing which is undesirable in an age where the Holy Father and the Church are trying to achieve ecumenical harmony.

It does nothing but frustrate and embarrass the efforts of ecclesiastical and grassroots Christians who have been working so hard in that regard.

In anticipation of a rejoinder along the lines of: “They say similar things about us in their journals”, I have to simply ask, do two Wrongs make a Right?

Brian Digby Jandakot

Revolutions

It’s taken a long time and the consequences will still be felt for decades, but it seems that like all revolutions, the inanity of the feminist revolt is finally hitting home.

From the grandmother of modern feminism, Betty Friedan, repudiating her early militancy to our own Germaine Greer mourning the children she will never have, many women are having a big rethink about feminism and its consequences.

Now ex-New Yorker, Perthbased Susan Maushart, has joined the chorus. Columnist, author, social commentator, Maushart’s witty irreverent commentary on life in the feminist lane often makes us laugh, but one wonders is the acerbic humour just a facade?

Her introductory remarks as one of the speakers during the coming UWA Extension Spring School gives another insight into feminism and its consequences.

Under the heading ‘What Do Women Want Next?’ She says – “When I was a teenager, I thought love would solve everything. In my early twenties, I thought sex would solve everything. By my late twenties, I thought a career would solve everything, and then – when it didn’t – I was sure that motherhood would. By my late thirties, following a brief period of cer-

tainty that therapy would solve everything, I became convinced that divorce would solve everything. At forty I became convinced that an extension would solve everything (and, frankly, the ensuite came damn close). Now edging fifty, imagine my surprise to find that I am as screwed up as ever.”

Its funny, but also a poignant reminder that actions have consequences and those consequences can often be very hard to live with.

Barry Morgan Samson

Family is key

It was heartening to read the words of Archbishop Philip Wilson in The Record last week. I couldn’t agree more.

The development, promotion and support of family life should be at the very centre of the new evangelisation.

Real evangelisation is rarely a one off event. It comes about through a willingness to walk with another in faith.

Often this journey takes many years.

Sadly, in today’s society, marriage and child rearing are the only two commitments that people still make with a lifelong view.

While in reality many relationships fall far short of this mark it is still the initial hope and dream that most begin with.

All Christians are charged with the mission to make the Good News known in the world.

Many unfortunately find it hardest to live the gospel call in their own homes. Strong marriages and families work toward building a strong Church and society.

I encourage all those who work in this important area in the life of the Church.

The family is at the heart of the new evangelisation. We need to strengthen and support marriage and family so that they may become a crucible of love for the world.

Derek Boylen Director Catholic Marriage Education Services, Perth

Go elsewhere

Iwrite in response to the letter by Eric Natta. The very point he raises is one which offends me and causes me to go to a parish other than my own.

Parish liturgy committees are an anachronism but they exist and they often appear to think that they have the power to change the wording of things like Creeds.

The Creed is an infallible statement and cannot be changed by those who know not what they do.

In the case of the Nicene Creed the “offending” word is “men”. It is objected to by those who say that that word does not include women and children.

For centuries the word “men” has been used in both a restricted sense of the male gender and in the inclusive sense of the whole of mankind throughout all ages. It is in this latter sense that it properly belongs in the Nicene Creed as the correct translation of “Qui propter nos homines” “Who, on account of us men….” Jesus came to redeem all men (in the inclusive sense) and not just men in the gender sense.

In the English language “us” means a particular group of people. In the context of a prayer group the word simply means those within that group.

If the word is qualified as in perhaps “us Sandgropers” it extends to all Western Australians.

If the word is qualified as in “us men” it means the whole of mankind, past, present and to come.

Cutting out the word “men” reduces the meaning to simply those at prayer. Clearly it is false to claim that Jesus came only to save that community at prayer.

But then, we’re used to such things aren’t we? Mass has to be made into an entertainment because the youth are “bored”, many hymns have become songs and are, often, banal. The Blessed Sacrament is repeatedly referred to as “bread” and not as the Body and Blood of Christ - and then hidden in a corner.

John Rayner

Hillarys

Continued on page 13

The oath BETRAYED

Who’s terrorising who in the War on Terror? Who’s who in the War on Terror?

■ By Michael Cook

Have American doctors and other health personnel cooperated in the abuse and torture of suspected terrorists? Yes, says medical ethicist Steven Miles in this exclusive interview.

After 9/11 one of the most wrenching ethical issues faced by the American government is how to interrogate prisoners and detainees in a way which respects their dignity as human beings. In this, doctors and nurses have an especially sensitive role. In Oath Betrayed : Torture, Medical Complicity, and the War on Terror, medical ethicist Steven Miles claims that American health personnel have been complicit in the abuse of prisoners after 9/11. In an exclusive MercatorNet interview, Dr Miles contends that torture is both unethical and unproductive.

MercatorNet: Have American doctors and other health personnel really become an integral part of military interrogations since 9/11? It’s hard to believe. How many of them are participating?

Miles: The numbers and roles of various health personnel varied.

Pathologists with the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology delayed public knowledge of homicides by torture. Earlier knowledge of those abuses would have given a signal that something had gone seriously wrong in the prisons.

Physicians and psychologists helped design programs of coercive

interrogation that were designed to break prisoners down; they monitored those interrogations; they culled medical records for weaknesses that could be exploited against prisoners.

The general medical staff did not report signs of abuse, did not inquire about abuse in suspicious injuries, failed to record injuries in medical records. They also allowed prisoners, especially at Abu Ghraib, to live in a prison that was regularly subject to hostile mortar, grenade, and sniper fire in violation of the Geneva Convention. In Iraq and Afghanistan, they failed to ensure that prisoners received obligatory medical care for diseases like tuberculosis, as is required by the Geneva Convention and US military regulations. The mental health needs of prisoners were largely neglected.

MercatorNet: It must have been difficult to find out exactly what was happening. Are doctors beating prisoners or putting needles under their fingernails? How did you do your research?

Miles: Oath Betrayed is a meticulously documented book that is largely based on about 35,000 pages of government and military documents that were declassified and obtained in response to a lawsuit based on the United States Freedom of Information Act that was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union. It shows that the physicians, psychologists and medics at the war on terror prisons in Iraq, Afghanistan, and at Guantanamo Bay were an integral part of the system of human rights abuses at these prisons. Medical personnel rarely directly abused prisoners, although I did identify a few instances where that happened. Instead, they actively and passively supported a system of human rights abuses that

was run according to US Defense Department policy.

MercatorNet: But what is torture, anyway? Some of the techniques revealed by the media - sexual humiliation, sleep deprivation, loud music - don’t sound like the techniques we see in old World War II movies.

Miles: The Geneva Convention is quite clear.

“The following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever ...: (a) Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; . . . (c) Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment; ... No physical or mental torture, nor any other

form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind. The United Nations’ Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment says that “pain or suffering . . . from prison conditions that do not comply with the Standard Minimum Rules may, in some circumstances, constitute torture.”

Other documents, including the UN Convention Against Torture reaffirm this position. Some prisoners were subjected to loud music. Most of these were also subjected to degrading treatment, beatings,

kickings, stress positions, sleep deprivation, etc. All of these techniques are highly coercive and violent.

MercatorNet: Why don’t you think it acceptable to use medical skills in the interest of a higher imperative - in this case national security? After all, thousands of Americans died on 9/11 and more are going to die unless the terrorists are captured or crushed.

Miles: Oath Betrayed summarises the abundant evidence from intelligence services’ research that coercive interrogation does not work. In fact it is counterproductive. It floods limited intelligence analysis systems with bad information and this results in sending troops on dangerous and futile forays and in Cotinued on Vista 3

Sustained by faith: An Iraqi prisoner reads the Quran, the Muslim holy book, before his release at the Abu Ghraib prison run by coalition forces west of Baghdad in June. Photo: CNS/Wathiq Khuzaie, Reuters

American patrol: US troops inside the Abu Ghraib prison where Iraqi prisoners and others were degraded, humiliated and, in some cases, died from torture.

Photo: CNS

In 1969 Pope Paul VI warned against the western world’s obsession with material gain. Perth writer BARRY MORGAN reflects on the increasingly-evident consequences of the Western world’s ever declining birth rates.

God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and conquer it.” - Genesis 1:28)

The significance of God’s blessing, in the very first chapter of the Bible, appears to have escaped most of today’s Christians; fertility has become something to be avoided, a stumbling block on the way to material success; but not so the members of Islam.

The followers of the prophet have no such inhibitions and the consequences are now becoming too obvious to ignore. So rapidly is the influence of Islam spreading, particularly in once-Christian Europe, that some commentators are now calling it ‘Eurabia.’

It is yet another example of the Law of Unintended Consequences formulated in 1936 by US sociologist Robert Merton.

Merton identified five sources of unintended consequences, the third of which occurs where the individual or group through “wilful ignorance” wants the intended consequence of an action so much, that they purposely ignore any unintended effects.

For forty years or so the West’s obsessive pursuit of ‘self’ and ‘things’ at the expense of its fecundity has seemed to work; at least in a material sense. Over the decades our material standard of living has increased enormously.

But the trade-off has been an ever-decreasing birth rate. Paul VI warned against this as early as 1968, but then few wanted to listen; now the results can no longer be ignored.

On its own the declining birth rate of the West is problematic enough, but coupled with the far greater fecundity of Muslim populations it literally poses a threat to the continued existence of Europe. The maths are simple. The Muslim birth rate is three times higher than the non–Muslim. Also the

European non-Muslim birth rate is well below the replacement rate. Like everywhere else in the West, a demographic time bomb that has been ticking for decades looks increasingly close to going off.

In his recent book The West’s Last Chance Tony Blankley spelt out the problem. Thirty years ago there were only a few hundred thousand Muslims in all of Europe; today there are over 20 million and unlike the rest of the population their numbers are rising fast. If it continues, this massive demographic shift will have enormous cultural, social and

“ Not long ago historian Bernard Lewis predicted, ‘Europe will be Islamic by the end of the century’ “

legal implications.

Already some are saying the situation is beyond redemption. Not long ago historian Bernard Lewis predicted: “Europe will be Islamic by the end of the century.”

Another historian, Bat Ye’or, expresses the same view in her book Eurabia, saying that the decline has gone too far to be arrested.

Recent surveys of British Muslims found that more than 60 per cent wanted a change to Islamic Sharia Law.

It was under Sharia law in Nigeria that in October 2001, a mother of four, Safiya Hussaini, was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery and recently another mother Amina Lawal also received the same sentence

From Europe to ‘Eurabia’

for the same ‘crime’.

It was also Sharia law that sentenced Abdul Rahman in Afghanistan to death for the ‘crime’ of converting to Christianity.

If Western libertarians, always quick to exaggerate and criticise Christianity for perceived abuses, have complained about these things they have been very muted.

It was only through the intervention of Pope Benedict XVI and US Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice that Rahman’s life was spared and he was able to migrate to the relative safety of Germany.

He might be safe in Europe, but one wonders will his children? Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, a London based international expert on Islam and adviser to governments, relates what has been happening for some time.

He tells of a documentary on Britain’s Channel 4 in 2003 showing a government school in a suburban Islamic stronghold that now teaches only an Islamic syllabus. All students have to study the Koran, and nonMuslim girls have to cover their heads.

In 2002 Britain introduced pensions that comply with Sharia law. In a March 2005 edition of The Guardian, Adam Jay reported the capitulation of Lloyds, once a bastion of British financial hegemony, to the new financial realities. One month after introducing an Islamic current account, it launched a home finance product compliant with Sharia law.

While the once-Christian West gives every sign of having entered its dotage, the opposite is happening in the Middle East. Iran’s birthrate far outstrips the West’s anaemic efforts. Proportionately, it has four times as many young men of fighting age as the West, millions of them apparently eager to embrace “martyrdom”. During the Iran-Iraq war, it was Iranian youth, many of them children, who marched through Iraqi minefields to clear the way for the following army.

Islam controls four fifths of the world’s oil reserves, much of it in Iran, but with such an abundance of cheap energy Iran recently embarked on a project to build 54,000 centrifuges to enrich enough uranium for numerous nuclear warheads.

Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has made his intentions quite clear. In a recent article, reporter Amir Taheri tells how Ahmadinejad is convinced he has been chosen by the Hidden Iman, a messianic Shia figure who went into “grand occultation” in

941 AD. He claims he has been chosen by the Iman to provoke a “clash of civilisations”.

Interestingly some of the most forthright statements on dealing with this situation have come from Pope Benedict.

Both before and since his accession to the papacy he has made it clear that, while intending no offence to other religions, his role is to defend and strengthen Christianity.

He has also made it clear that at this moment in history, the struggle revolves around the battle for the soul of Europe in a pre-eminent way.

In late 2003 while he was still Cardinal

“

Iran’s birth-rate far outstrips the West’s anaemic efforts. It has four times as many young men of fighting age as the West, millions of them eager to embrace ‘martyrdom’ “

Ratzinger, the semi-official Jesuit magazine

La Civilta Cattolica published a scathing criticism of the mistreatment of Christians in Islamic societies.

It pointed out “for almost a thousand years Europe was under a constant threat from Islam, which twice put its survival in serious danger”.

The Cardinal has criticised multiculturalism, “which is so constantly and passionately encouraged and supported”, because it, “… amounts to an abandonment and disavowal of what is our own”.

It seems that in its current anaemic state Christianity is not up to the challenge of a revitalised Islam. Now, Pope Benedict has called for a rejection of secularist relativism; a moral disease that has gradually white-anted the West’s Christian foundations and inheritance.

Islam is very much on the Church’s agenda and we’ll be hearing a lot more about it in the future.

A new stewardship: going green for God

A recent cover story in Time magazine featured the headline “Be worried. Be very worried.” and proclaimed that the debate about global warming is, or should be, over.

■ By

Stephen James

“F

rom heat waves to storms to floods to fires to massive glacial melts, the global climate seems to be crashing around us,” Time said. The real-time seeming Armageddon is the result of a chain reaction of events originating in the excessive generation of carbon monoxide and other gases that damage the protective layer of the earth’s atmosphere.

The damage lets in harmful energy, such as ultraviolet rays, and traps the sun’s heat, causing surface temperatures to rise, among other side effects.

For years, the immense complexity of the problem delayed an accurate assessment of the cause-and-effect relationship but longterm research combined with technological breakthroughs has all but confirmed the stark reality of the situation.

“I haven’t run into anybody that’s skeptical about it,” said Edward Wassell, a former researcher for NASA and now a professor

question is what do you do about it? And that’s not a scientific question but a policy question.”

Taking action

It is time, researchers and activists say, for all elected officials to acknowledge the problem and enact initiatives to reduce greenhouse emissions.

Stories in the local and national news media have echoed the same concerns and conclusions. Although the US government has been accused of foot-dragging and even obstructing progress to mitigate the problem, much of the private sector has decided to preemptively begin changes.

Cross sections of corporate America have recognised that it is good public relations, and even fiscally beneficial, to confront the business challenges presented by global warming; recognising that greenhouse gas limits are inevitable and that they cannot risk falling behind their international competitors in developing climate-friendly technologies.

Faith-based groups also have advocated for action to address the problem of global climate change.

In January, a coalition of US evangelical Christians formed the Evangelical Climate Initiative.

“Over the last several years many of us have engaged in study, reflection and prayer related to the issue of climate change,” the group said in a statement. “For most of us until recently this has not been treated as a pressing issue or major priority.”

would bear a disproportionate share of the negative impact since the areas likely to be hardest hit are in the poorest areas of the world, according to the initiative statement.

Church response

The Evangelical Climate Initiative has striking similarities to a 2001 statement from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, who, apparently, were ahead of some regarding the global-warming-acknowledgment curve.

Nearly five years ago, the bishops emphasised the socio-economic ramifications of climate change.

“We especially want to focus on the needs of the poor, the weak and the vulnerable in a debate often dominated by more powerful interests,” they wrote.

John Carr, director of social development and world peace for the US bishops, is gratified to see that consensus about the problem appears to have reached critical mass.

“I think people are coming around to the points that the bishops made and continue to make” he said.

“This is a classic case of where we have to act in pursuit of the common good instead of responding to one set of interests or another.”

Should Catholics rush out and buy gaselectric hybrid vehicles and begin campaigns to lobby their elected representatives and corporate executives?

Not necessarily, say the experts. “We’re not part of the ‘What Would Jesus Drive?’ campaign,” said Carr. “Catholic teaching is more complicated than that. What we drive and how we live is a challenge for each of us. Sacrifice and restraint, as Lent teaches us, are not only good for creation, they’re good for our souls.”

But Catholics should keep an eye on the big picture as well, said Carr, who suggests a

debate. Make the case for prudent action with a focus on how it touches the poor. And then shape our own choices in terms of sacrifice and restraint,” he said. “Because in Washington there are a lot of voices at the table, the environmentalists, the power corporations, industry and labor to a certain extent. The poor aren’t at those tables. They’re not buying 60-second TV ads.”

Public denial

But while scientists, corporations and churches have accepted the problem as virtual fact, much of the public in the US seems to be in denial.

The disconnect may be related to misleading media coverage which grants equal time to fringe elements who claim that the problem is grossly exaggerated, or outright reject the overwhelming evidence, according to Geoffrey Henebry a Catholic professor and senior research scientist at South Dakota State University.

“I think the media feels that it makes a good story to have a couple of dissenting voices, and if they’re presented pretty much on equal footing ... the reader of the article is saying “Oh, look, there’s two sides and they’re pretty much divided,” he said.

But Franciscan University professor and greenhouse-effect researcher, Jim Slater, offers a different, less forgiving observation on the public’s reluctance to confront the issue. Slater attributes the disassociation to self-interest.

“This is something that turns out to be very difficult to deal with if we decide that the greenhouse effect is a really important thing and that we ought to take some action,” he said.

“That requires some very serious efforts to change the way we consume energy, and maybe the cars that we drive and how big a house we live in,” he said.

“So it’s easier to say ‘Well, it’s not important, the greenhouse effect isn’t really

Medicine’s amnesia at the service of foreign policy

Continued from Vista 1 misleading policy. For example, the information that Saddam Hussein was giving Al Qaeda bioweapons training came from a torture interrogation and was a key part of the larger policy to go to war. Torture alienates recruitable informants and enrages populations against whom it is directed.

MercatorNet: Why do you think that there is there something specially wrong about doctors having a role in torture and abuse? Do you think that they ought to be more morally sensitive than the rest of us?

Miles: Physicians are front line human rights monitors. In prisons, their ethical duty to report abuses comes from their primary obligation to the health of disarmed and captive people. Military physicians are in places where monitors from the International Committee of the Red Cross do go and they are there when human rights monitors are absent.

MercatorNet: Before 9/11 was there a different ethos amongst military health personnel?

Miles: As far as I can determine, US military physicians treated POWS well in World

War II, Korea, Vietnam and Gulf War I.

MercatorNet: Is it possible for a doctor to toggle between his role as an interrogator and his role as a doctor? Can’t his moral life be put in a parenthesis while he does a job for the military?

Miles: No. It is one thing for a good crosscultural psychiatrist or psychologist to train an interrogator in techniques for establishing rapport during an intelligence interview; it is quite another for that behavioral scientist to provide advice on how to break a prisoner down.

MercatorNet: Military doctors will always have to deal with the tension of loyalty to their Hippocratic Oath and obedience to higher-ups. What is a doctor supposed to do if he is ordered, or pressured to participate?

Miles: Military health personnel are obliged to record signs of abuse, report abuse, and refuse to participate in abuse. Our professional colleagues in dictatorships have assumed grave personal risks to fight torture in their countries. No US military clinician faced the risk of disappearing, torture, or having his or her children killed for protesting these abuses. The US is paying a stunningly high price for

the silence of its military health personnel.

MercatorNet: The war on terror is supposed to go on for decades - are you optimistic about the ability of American doctors to withstand pressures to violate human rights?

Miles: Although this is outside the scope of this book, the war on terror is misconceived. It should be understood as a long term police action against an international criminal organisation.

MercatorNet: Is highlighting medical complicity in torture playing politics? Or is it an issue that Americans of every political hue should be concerned about?

Miles: This book is about international human rights-not politics. It takes no position on the war in Iraq or Afghanistan. The timing is due to the fact that the administration played politics with the timing of releasing information that belonged in the public domain.

The first large release of information was delayed until about a week before the last election-far too late to sift through it. The majority of the information, tens of thousands of pages, was not released until early 2005. This book is based on an orderly review of that material. - Mercatornet

Mecca pilgrims: Thousands of pilgrims from all over the world visit the Ka’aba in the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Opinion

the

family is the future Robots for Christmas

■ By Derek Boylen

Elijah wants a robot for Christmas. I asked him over dinner the other day why he wanted a robot for Christmas. The answer: “to clean the play room.”

Elijah has mastered the art of delegation. Comments like “Isaiah can you put my pyjamas in my room” or “Caleb can you please put my breakfast bowl on the bench” are regularly heard in our house. Our problem is that it’s usually Elijah’s brothers and not Elijah who ends up doing the cleaning.

Our son has discovered the value of orderliness but is yet to develop the virtue. As Christians we often focus on the big virtues justice, temperance, fortitude, etc. but it’s important to focus on the little virtues from time to time too.

Orderliness is an important aspect of Christian life. In Kings II 20:1 the prophet Isaiah tells King Hezekiah that he is going to die and that the Lord orders him to set his house in order. Isaiah’s words are a message to all of us though. To be an effective Christian in the world

we need to cultivate orderliness in our lives.

Being orderly means being organised, staying on track, having a plan. Because they are organised, orderly people are more effective Christians. They are ready for the demands of Christian life each day.

Orderly people recognise when things aren’t quite right in their lives and take action to correct mistakes. This may involve seeking forgiveness, reintroducing prayer into their lives, looking for ways to become more involved in their faith community. Without order we become lost and confused. Our mornings

easily turn to chaos if we don’t have a place to put the car keys away when we get home each evening. Likewise when we become disorganised we can’t fulfil our Christian responsibilities effectively.

Orderly people are also better situated to recognise the order in God’s creation. Einstein once said that “God doesn’t play dice with the universe.” Orderly people recognise that our lives have meaning and purpose. As Christians we are called to discover the meaning of our lives and to live with purpose - to intentionally build the Kingdom of God. One of the ways that we help our

children to appreciate the importance of orderliness is by pointing out the benefits of being orderly; the value of having a tidy playroom, of using a planned approach to doing homework or a project. Another good way to do this is by helping them to have a place for everything. We can also help our children to plan. Sometimes the task of returning order to our life can seem overwhelming. What we need is a plan. A step-by-step approach. As parents we need to teach our children strategies for bringing order to their lives.

Teaching and encouraging our children to live a Catholic way of life doesn’t just happen by chance and it takes more than just telling them to be nice or to forgive others. If we want to be effective in living the gospel and sharing the Good News, then we need to take an orderly approach. It means keeping our lives organised, valuing the order in God’s creation and intentionally planning time for prayer, community, faith growth and service.

Derek Boylen Works for Catholic Marriage Education Services and welcomes comments at derek.cmes@perthcatholic.org.au

The year I became something of a Polish camel

i say, i say

■ By Mark Reidy

In 1990, during a year of world exploration, I found myself in Warsaw, boarding a crowded overnight train destined for the newly opened borders of Eastern Europe.

Stuck in a narrow aisle, I was unable to turn around due to the fact that I carried everything I owned in a large pack on my back.

Suddenly, as the train began to move, three or four men, who had strategically surrounded me, began to shout and push and I quickly realised that I was being robbed.

Due to the confined space and the weight of my luggage I felt totally trapped.

Fortunately, however, self-preservation kicked in and I was able to

Just a thought...

■ By Fr Paschal Kearney Cssp

Every five years, church attendees are given the opportunity to have their voices heard via a National Church Life Survey.

Such a survey is offered this year in August.

The local church receives resources to help it access its ministry and leadership. It also puts a spotlight on patterns and trends,

including changes in attendance. In 2001, the community I was involved with partook in such a survey, and the results were carefully analysed and became the basis for pastoral planning.

Now, church leaders tend to monitor these polls like politicians.

They see them as bench marks for measuring whether the church is gaining or losing ground in the wider culture. And since they measure specific beliefs and practices,

somehow wrest the pack from my back and shove it through a small head-high window.

I then squeezed myself out of the same window and tumbled onto the platform below, grateful that the train had not gathered much speed.

I was reminded of this incident recently, when reading an interpretation of Jesus’ words, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

The writer believed that the eye of the needle referred to a small door that was used to enter a walled town at night when the main gate was closed.

This door was too narrow for a loaded camel to pass through, and the contents had to be removed before the animal could squeeze through.

In other words, those truly wanting to follow the will of God had to be prepared to strip themselves of any excess baggage that may hinder their passage. I couldn’t help associate this interpretation with my own European misadventure.

In order to be “saved” I was forced to let go of everything I owned.

Today that particular backpack gathers dust in my cupboard, but in a way it has become a symbol of all that hinders my relationship with God. It reminds me that I need to regularly empty out the “baggage” I carry in my heart and honestly acknowledge what I consider to be most important in my life.

I realise now that anything I treasure more than my relationship with God, becomes a blockage to my entering the narrow gate.

And I have been surprised at the

packages that these obstacles can come in - my family, wife, children, financial security, career, possessions, charitable works, television, sport, etc… all, in themselves, wonderful gifts from God, but they become hindrances if I allow them to take priority over Him.

It is my attitude that can cause them to become excess luggage on my journey of complete surrender.

If am not willing to let go of each of them in my heart, then they become burdens rather than blessings. If am not willing to let go, I am saying to God, in essence, that I cannot trust Him with those things I consider precious. Jesus had nothing left to give, spiritually, mentally, physically or emotionally when he died naked on a cross.

The least I can do is start sorting through my own baggage. responses: reidyrec@iinet.net.au

they also serve to target areas of community-faith that call for greater attention. But one thing these surveys do not do is offer guidance on when churches grow.

What are the factors that contribute to a vital parish life? What services offered by a church community strengthen parish outreach and influence the community?

What are the most effective means of evangelising the unchurched and revitalising the churched? What

changes could be made to reach greater numbers? Yes, surveys can tell us if a church is growing, but can’t tell us how it can grow.

So using the results of this year’s National Church Life Survey, we can and should ask, “When do churches grow – grow not only in membership and budget, but in spiritual depth and community service?”

Paul’s letters to the communities he visited and founded on missionary journeys come to mind.

One reason why those young churches grew was because they were given guidance from their leaders – guidance that focused on the faith.

These epistles cut through quarrels that bedevilled communities and brought them back to their shared beliefs and values. Churches grow when they get their act together and concentrate on essentials – we may still learn from Paul’s experience and advice.

The World FEATURE

Visitors flee the Holy City

Nazareth’s streets empty as tourists retreat to safer southern Israel

■ By Judith Sudilovsky

Things were just starting to look up for the city of Nazareth: Tourist buses crammed the streets and new restaurants and coffeehouses opened their doors to gladly receive the influx of visitors.

But when the HezbollahIsraeli violence broke out in midJuly, the tourists packed their bags and made a hasty retreat to southern Israel, where they could avoid rocket attacks and life was still fairly normal.

At Nazareth’s darkened, cavernous Basilica of the Annunciation on July 25, two cleaning ladies rhythmically washed the floors while Eva Waisser, 60, and her family - Jews from Mexico - were the lone visitors.

“We are in Israel visiting friends and family and are visiting different sites. There are robberies and kidnappings all over the world,” said Waisser, noting that Nazareth was as far north in Israel as they were willing to go.

In two weeks of violence between Israel and the militant Islamic group Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, two rockets fell on Nazareth, killing two children on July 19. However, the Franciscan superior of the basilica, Father Ricardo Bustos, said he did not

think it would happen again, and he had not taken any special precautions to protect the basilica.

“There is no need to alarm anyone,” Father Bustos said. Hezbollah’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, “said there was a miscalculation. It was only that one time.”

At the Franciscan-run Casa Nova pilgrim hostel next door to the Nazareth basilica, a man who identified himself only as Sami sat chatting with a friend at the front desk. Their voices echoed through the empty room.

“This month all the groups completely cancelled. In August we usually have 90 percent occupancy, and now 70 percent of the groups have cancelled and 30 percent have not confirmed. We hope it will be better in September,” said Sami. “We only need peace. Without peace, we can’t do anything. There is enough land for everybody.”

The only traffic on Nazareth streets was local residents, and shop owners sat dejectedly in their darkened stores. By midafternoon, everyone closed up shop and went home.

“I don’t even feel like shaving,” said Shadi Boutrous, 42, as he watched news of more Katyusha rocket hits in Haifa, Israel. “This is a very difficult situation. People didn’t think this would happen. There is no work, and people are starting to have problems with the banks.” Boutrous, who is Catholic, said his wife works in elderly care in Haifa, and they are constantly on the phone to one another. When she has time

off, he said, he goes up to Haifa to be with her. For more than two weeks, Haifa was the main target of Hezbollah missiles, which “are very scary,” Boutrous said.

“I am not religious, but I do believe that God gave us religion to love one another, not to kill each other,” he said.

Launching Katyushas is not an exact science, and missiles have

taurant, and all 48 groups they were set to serve from July 22 to the end of the month had cancelled.

“With this war they have pushed us back 10 years. You can’t change history. This will be this way forever,” Pavlo, a Greek Orthodox, said angrily. “If Nasrallah goes, there will be another person in his place.”

“This month all the groups completely cancelled. In August we usually have 90 percent occupancy, and now 70 percent of the groups have canceled and 30 percent have not confirmed. We hope it will be better in September,” said Sami.

fallen in other nearby Arab villages as well, killing at least two people, including a 15-year-old Muslim girl who died on July 25 when a Katyusha landed on her house next to a mosque in the village of Maghar.

Still, many Muslims in Israel find it difficult to openly criticise Hezbollah. Amal Esa, 20, a Muslim, initially said both sides are to blame and differences should be settled through talks, but as the discussion progressed he commented: “Hezbollah are not terrorists. They are fighting for their religion. Lebanon doesn’t do it, so Hezbollah has to.”vvv v Joseph Pavlo, 35, his friend and business partner in the new Casanova Restaurant they opened in May, gave him a sidelong glance. The two invested half a million dollars in the res-

Vatican newspaper criticizes EU

The European Union’s decision to continue funding for embryonic stem-cell research represents “the macabre result of a twisted sense of logic,” said the Vatican newspaper.

In its July 26 edition, L’Osservatore Romano criticised the EU ministers’ attempts to find a middle ground between pro-life concerns and pressures for stemcell research.

Instead of finding an ethical solution, the European Union has condoned “a macabre illicit trade” between researchers who harvest stem cells and those who work with stem-cell lines, the Vatican newspaper said.

A proposal to fund research on stem cells was amended to clarify that the funding would not go to harvesting cells that involve the destruction of human embryos, but rather would be limited to research on stem-cell lines already derived from embryos.

Italy and Germany swung the July 24 vote by national ministers of the European Council to give the package majority approval. Austria, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland and Slovakia rejected the proposal. The European Council is the main decision-making body of the European Union.

The full European Parliament narrowly approved a draft version of the EU research policy and budget in mid-June. The July vote marked the second step of the budget’s approval process.

The package, which represents $63.7 billion dollars of research funding for the next seven years, still has to undergo a second vote in the full European Parliament this fall.

Researchers who use already existing stem-cell lines are still in collusion with those who destroy the embryos to begin with, said Bishop Elio Sgreccia, head of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

He told Vatican Radio on July 25 that the two parties have “overlapping interests,” so researchers who use existing embryonic stem-cell lines are still in “complicity, collaboration” with those responsible for the embryo’s destruction.

He said the EU decision violated a “primordial right” to life and authorised “the use of a human being on the basis of ‘I kill you in order to gain benefits for others.’”

Bishop Sgreccia said the EU’s move was seriously inconsistent with its stated concern for ending the violence in the Middle East.

“To not be opposed to research that is destructive and inherently violent” is “an act of serious inconsistency,” he said.

Despite the Hezbollahlaunched missiles and warning sirens, Christians in villages throughout the north have tried to continue with their regular lives since the July 12 start of the violence. As they attend Mass on Sundays, amid their prayers and the tolling of the church bells they hear the sound of Israeli artillery and Katyusha rockets in the distance.

“We pray to God to stop this war,” said Wakim Abu Faris, 73, a Catholic. Katyushas landed on his property in the village of Gush Halav and killed six of his goats. Luckily, he said, he had taken his family to visit his wife’s family in another village at the time.

“They have to solve the problem in another way. Not like this with all the people killed and property destroyed,” said Abu Faris.

Meanwhile, the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community, or COMECE, said it, too, was “perplexed by the contradiction” of the EU’s latest decision. The vote represents a desire to “promote therapies aiming to save human life” while at the same time attacking human life, it said.

The bishops said that instead of using embryonic stem cells scientists could use stem cells from adults or the umbilical cord.

“The Catholic Church recognises the importance of developing an economy based on knowledge, research and innovation” and recognises the important contributions science and research make in improving humanity’s quality of life, the bishops’ statement said.

But destroying human embryos “is not acceptable,” it said, and the bishops urged Europeans to “do all in their power” to foster debate on the issue and help put stricter limits on EU funding for stem-cell research.

Ceremonial guard William Michel shows his sword to pilgrims in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre during an Easter Mass in Jerusalem’s Old City on April 16. Tourists have cancelled tours to the area in the wake of violence.

PHOTO: CNS

The World

Taiwanese families face up to change

Western values have been liberating for Taiwan but there is a downside to breaking with the past.

■ By Taijing Wu

When East meets West, as it does in Taiwan, collectivism yields to individualism. Traditions are given up and forgotten, but new values are adopted. In the end, a new balance must be found.

Taiwanese society is like a sponge that has become saturated with a foreign culture during its evolution. Since people here had a first taste of western culture family values have noticeably changed, especially during the past decade when the island’s economy began to expand.

A growing appetite for material goods and other stimulants leads people to spend less time with their family and to devote themselves to personal pleasures.

“The influence of Western values on Taiwan could be summed up in the word ‘individualism’,” said Professor Wu Chyi-in, Associate Research Fellow of the Academia Sinica’s Sociology Institute, in an exclusive interview with MercatorNet.

“In the past, children weren’t allowed to give an opinion, no matter how respectfully they expressed it. They could be severely punished. But now there is no way parents can do that.”

Most Taiwanese children today are allowed to have their say and even decide what they want to do.

They may express their feelings about things they don’t agree with, and parents are no longer the ones who decide just because they earn the money.

“There is a growing trend that parents have to negotiate with children regarding anything, whether it is about which restaurant to go for weekend family gathering or about their career,” professor Wu says. He puts the changes down to the country’s economic wealth.

Study and work

In the past, there was only one way to win praise from the society: to study really hard.

But now, people living in Taiwan have become more aware that a child’s life is not only about studying, and later on working.

Parents start to care about their children’s self and realize little by little that there are other things to enrich their children’s life, such as learning painting, music or even how to live with other children of their age.

Lin Chun-yu, a young lady in her late 20’s, working in the finance industry, had a typical traditional upbringing.

“I didn’t think very much at that time. The only target I had during my time as a junior high school student was to pass the senior high entrance exam. Not until I turned 19 did I feel I was being respected,

treated like an adult,” Lin Chun-yu told MercatorNet.

“But my kids will be different. They will not be forced to study hard and get good grades. There are so many other interesting things to learn and do than sit in a classroom and study.”

Making a concession to traditional values Lin adds: “I will be a very indulgent mother, but my kids have got to know how to be good and honest individuals.”

Marriage, western style

Marriage in the past was a tremendous issue between two families, involving the parents, the grandparents, their expectations and the interests of many others. But individualism has had its effect here also.

“I think that one of the major purposes of marriage is to have children, regardless of the husband’s and the wife’s families. Marriage in

the past involved too many factors, which made it a really complicated thing,” says Lin Chun-yu.

Yet a “simple” modern marriage is not easy to bring off.

Last year one in every five marriages in Taiwan were to a foreigner - mostly women from neighbouring Asian countries who met their husbands through a marriage broker. Taiwanese men find the women of their country too independent, unwilling to fit into the husband’s family and look after his old parents. The average Taiwanese bride is 29, and the country’s birth rate is among the world’s lowest, at 1.2 births per woman.

Lin Chun-yu, who wishes to get married before the age of 30, admits: “Now that I say all this, I still don’t know what it is like to be a mother. I want to have children, but I still wish to preserve my liberty and do what ever I want. It is an important milestone in my life to be a mother,

but I haven’t got the courage to do the leap.”

Nostalgia

Although people who grew up in the conservative past find themselves used to the new rules that individualism has imposed, they realise it has come at a cost.

Lin Tsui-hsiang, in her late 40’s and the mother of two daughters, says she likes the convenience that life provides now although she sometimes feels nostalgic for the simplicity of life when she was a teenager.

“It is very important now for everyone to live freely and independently. Take my family as an example. Each one has a job, manages his or her own money and is free to decide what to buy whenever there is a discount at a department store.

“But I sometimes miss the past when people, as well as family members, had tighter bonds between them. Now, everyone in the family has something to do individually after work or weekends - meeting friends to gossip in a coffee shop, going to the movies alone. No matter what we do, it is important to fill up our time with little pleasures,” the middle-aged mother said.

Nostalgia may not solve the problems of excessive individualism, but as younger Taiwanese experience its downside, our country may move towards a better balance of East and West.

- Mercatornet

Taijing Wu is a journalist in Taiwan

Bishop Zheng honoured for loyalty Calls for cease fire ignored

Pope calls for cease-fire after Israeli raid kills children

Pope Benedict XVI launched an impassioned appeal for a ceasefire in the Middle East, saying it was impossible that military action would create the conditions needed for a lasting peace in the region.

“In the name of God, I address all those responsible for this spiral of violence so that immediately on all sides the weapons would be laid down,” the Pope said on July 30 before reciting the midday Angelus prayer.

Speaking at his summer villa at Castel Gandolfo, the Pope made his appeal several hours after an Israeli air raid in Qana, Lebanon, led to the deaths of some 60 civilians, including at least 37 children.

The attack on Qana brought Lebanon’s death toll to more than 510 since fighting began mid-July.

Israel, which maintained Hezbollah guerrillas were using civilians as human shields, promised an investigation into the incident and later declared a 48-hour suspension of aerial bombings. Fighting resumed July 31.

Asking those gathered in the courtyard of his summer residence to increase their prayers for peace, Pope Benedict said the situation in Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territories was becoming more and

more “serious and tragic” with “hundreds of dead, many injured, an enormous mass of homeless and displaced (and) houses, cities and infrastructure destroyed.”

At the same time, he said, hearts of many people, hatred and the desire for vengeance seem to grow.”

“These facts clearly demonstrate that you cannot reestablish justice, create a new order and build an authentic peace by turning to the instrument of violence,” the Pope said.

“More than ever we see how prophetic and, at the same time, realistic is the church’s voice when, in the face of wars and conflict of every kind, it indicates the path of truth, justice, love and freedom,” Pope Benedict said.

Pope Benedict asked the leaders of governments around the world to do everything possible to achieve a cease-fire and “begin building, through dialogue, a lasting and stabile coexistence among all the peoples of the Middle East.”

The Pope also appealed for continued donations for humanitarian aid for the suffering and displaced.

“But, most of all, may there continue to rise from every heart a confident prayer to the good and merciful God so that he would give his peace to that region and the whole world,” the Pope said.

Thousands attend funeral of Chinese Bishop Zheng, 90

Thousands of Catholics bid farewell to Bishop Augustine Zheng Shouduo of Xinjiang July 25.

After walking with his body in a funeral procession through Xinjiang’s main streets to the suburban Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church, they attended a funeral Mass celebrated by Bishop Joseph Li Hongguang, 80, Bishop Zheng’s former coadjutor, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand.

Many other bishops and priests concelebrated the funeral Mass.

Several government officials attended the service before the bishop was buried at a cemetery near the church.

Bishop Zheng, who remained loyal to the Vatican but was approved by the government, died of natural causes July 16 at the age of 90.

Bishop Zheng lived most of his life in Poli, a Catholic village in a suburb of Xinjiang, and spent his final years at the rectory of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church there.

Father Joseph Wang Guizhong of Xinjiang said July 20 that soon after the bishop died about 1,000

Catholics gathered to pray for his soul. The priest said Bishop Zheng maintained good relations with Catholics, who respected him for being strict and principled in matters of faith.

Bishop Zheng worked hard and was attentive to the formation of seminarians and nuns.

Father Niu Guangxing of Xinjiang said July 25 that Bishop Zheng worked hard and was attentive to the formation of seminarians and nuns.

Anthony Lam Sui-ki, senior researcher of the Hong Kong Diocese’s Holy Spirit Study Center, said that before moving to Poli Bishop Zheng lived in a mud-kiln cave, a common form of housing in the region, and led a simple life.

Father Simon Li Chi-yuen of Hong Kong said despite Xinjiang’s financial problems the diocese was setting up mission stations and building new churches.

The construction of a new cathedral and diocesan centre in Xinjiang is to be completed by the end of the year, providing more space for activities, he said.

Bishop Zheng was born March 17, 1917, in Taiyuan, where he

entered the major seminary in 1934. He taught Latin in Xinjiang’s minor seminary before continuing his own studies in another major seminary in Beijing in 1947.

After he was ordained a priest in Beijing in 1949, about the time China’s civil war ended, he walked for 40 days south from Beijing to Xinjiang, where he served the church, said the Poli parish Web site.

In 1964, the communist government accused him of counter revolutionary crimes and sent him to a reform-through-labour camp.

After he was freed in 1979, he returned to Poli and continued his ministry until Sept. 23, 1982, when he was secretly ordained a bishop of the underground church that had remained active since the communists tried to force Catholics to join a patriotic church in the 1950s.

In 1991, Bishop Zheng was installed as an open, or government-approved, bishop.

He ordained 27 priests and opened the diocese’s first convent, which now has about 40 nuns.

In 2000, he built the Chinesepalace-style Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church, 10 times larger than the original church built in 1921.

It has become a popular site for tourists as well as pilgrims.

The World

Timorese pray for reconciliation

1,000 Timorese, including president, attend Mass for reconciliation

About 1,000 people, including government officials and President Xanana Gusmao, attended a Mass for national reconciliation at the Dili cathedral.

The July 25 Mass was to remember the approximately 20 people killed in recent months of violence that divided the largely Catholic nation. It also marked a formal end to hostilities that had occurred since April, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand.

During the memorial service, Gusmao placed flowers on the altar, and the choir sang as Leonia Falcao carried a bundle of flowers and her father’s photo up the aisle. Martinho Falcao, 43, was among nine police officers gunned down by soldiers on May 25 in Dili.

The absence of army personnel at the Mass led some observers to doubt whether the army was willing to accept responsibility for the chaos.

During the service, Australian troops stood guard outside. The troops are part of more than 2,000 international peacekeepers; sent after weeks of chaos in which 100,000 people were displaced. Tens of thousands continue to take refuge in camps.

Hostilities began after former Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri, fired

about 600 soldiers from western East Timor who had complained of discrimination.

The ensuing mutiny of nearly half the army, resulted in armed clashes and gang violence, pitting locals from the eastern and western sides of the country against one another.

Alkatiri, who claims the mutiny was an attempted coup, resigned on June 26 after he was blamed for the violence. Jose Ramos-Horta has replaced Alkatiri as prime minister until elections are held next year.

Bishop Alberto Ricardo da Silva of Dili, who celebrated the Mass,

urged the congregation to pray for those who had died due to the country’s political and leadership crisis.

He said a person’s destiny is not determined by humans but by God, “so we have to respect each other; if we don’t, evil will always dominate.”

Many things had happened due to human error, the bishop added, and this remains a major lesson for the country.

The bishop also criticised the absence of army officials at the Mass, saying it set a bad example and did not contribute to the reconciliation process.

Outside the cathedral after Mass, Gusmao told journalists the state wished to honour those who died, but he acknowledged that this was small consolation for grieving family members.

“It is the state’s fault,” the president acknowledged, “and the state will look into that.”

As for absent army members, Gusmao said, “The army may have something else to do.”

He said he was “representing the state, and there (were) also two vice prime ministers, and some members of Parliament” at the Mass. CNS

LAHORE, Pakistan, JULY 30, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Muslims and Christians in Pakistan gathered together after hearing a recent papal appeal for peace, and prayed for an end to the conflict in Lebanon, reports AsiaNews.

Organised by the Milap Organisation, the interfaith prayer service was held in Lahore last Wednesday, rather than last Sunday as Benedict XVI had asked, to enable Muslim believers to take part.

A young Muslim man, Asif Khan, introduced the moment of prayer with a short synopsis of the situation in Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

“Let us pray from the bottom of our hearts for peace in that region in response to the Pope’s call,” he said. Afterward, a group of children sang hymns for peace.

The participants proceeded to the rooftop of Milap’s headquarters, and while each held a lit candle, passages of the Koran and the Gospels were read.

In her address to the gathering, Margaret Piara, director of Milap, spoke about human selfishness which sees man kill his fellow man and which does not spare children whom Jesus defended when he said: “Let the little ones come to me.”

Piara said: “We say our prayer so that peace may rule the world and the international community play a vital role in solving the crisis.”

- Zenit.org

Only one in four men on US reality TV show chose seminary

■ By Mark Pattison

Of the four men featured on US reality TV show “God or the Girl,” three of them decided against entering the seminary to pursue a priestly vocation.

The fourth, Steve Horvath of Virginia, who has been on a student missionary assignment in Nebraska, said he would apply to a seminary. Then he got stuck on the application.

“The last parts that I ended up

The world in brief

not completing were ...“What do you think a Catholic priest should be’ and ‘What is calling me to the Catholic priesthood?” Horvath told Catholic News Service in a July 27 telephone interview. “I needed some more subjective and personal reasons. In taking that to prayer, I really didn’t feel that calling.”

Horvath instead will spend a third year as a lay missionary at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students.

The feedback to the show has

Women’s ordination risk

Risking excommunication from the Catholic Church, eight US women participated in a riverboat ceremony near Pittsburgh that they said constituted ordination to the priesthood.

At the July 31 ceremony, another four women said that they were ordained to the diaconate.

“They have excommunicated themselves by walking away from the Church and by not following Church teaching on this matter,” Father Ronald Lengwin, Pittsburgh diocesan spokesman, told Catholic News Serviceon August 1 in a telephone interview.

A July 31 statement by the Pittsburgh

been good, he added. “I got one email from a lady who was dying of cancer out in Wyoming. saying that if she had a Catholic priest like me she would have converted,” Horvath said.

As for the others profiled in “God or the Girl,” Mike Lechniak of Pennsylvania had a girlfriend and a teaching offer. Joe Adair of Ohio, who had been in two religious orders’ seminary programs and had been seen vacillating during the series, also decided against the seminary. So did Dan DeMatte

Diocese called the ceremony “an invalid ritual” because of Church teaching that only men can be ordained to the priesthood and diaconate.

It also said those “attempting to confer holy orders” were removing themselves from the Church. Father Lengwin told CNS that Catholics in his diocese have been asked to pray for the reconciliation of these women with the Church and that the Church was ready to welcome them back.

One of the women who said she was ordained to the priesthood told CNS that the ceremony strengthened her ties to the Church.

“I never felt more Roman Catholic or more devoted to the Church than during the ceremony,” said Sister Bridget Mary Meehan on August 1 in a telephone interview. “I

of Ohio, who had broken up with his girlfriend to focus on discerning what vocation he had.

Harry Forbes, director of the U.S. bishops’ Office for Film & Broadcasting said of the series: “it’s a surprisingly reverential treatment of a profound life passage.”

The first two hours of “God or the Girl” debuted on A&E on Easter Sunday, followed by another two hours the next day. The concluding hour was shown on April 23.

One telling scene from the series showed Joe Adair looking at the

think in the future the Church will accept women priests,” said Sister Meehan, a Sister for Community Service.

Plan B concern in US

A move by the Food and Drug Administration toward making the morning-after pill available over the counter could damage women’s health and put more pressure on pharmacists conscientiously opposed to dispensing the drug, according to the US bishops’ pro-life spokeswoman.

The FDA announced on July 31 that it would work with Duramed, a subsidiary of Barr Pharmaceuticals that manufactures the drug marketed as Plan B, to develop a “framework for moving emergency contraception medication to over-the-counter

menu in a diner, saying to no one in particular, “It takes me forever to make up my mind.”

Now that Joe Adair seems to have sworn off the idea of the seminary for good, people are “trying to fix him up with girls.” They’re thinking ‘Oh, he just wants to get married,” says his mother.

However, “I don’t think Joe will go for that,” his mother said. “I’ve already given him two phone numbers. ... He doesn’t pursue that. He doesn’t go after them.”

status” for women 18 and older.

Deirdre McQuade, director of planning and information for the bishops’ Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, criticised the FDA’s decision in a July 31 statement. Plan B uses large doses of birth-control pills to prevent conception up to 72 hours after sex.

“But even its proponents admit that it works both before and after conception,” McQuade said, adding that many women are “unaware of (the pills’) abortifacient action.”

McQuade also said FDA approval of overthe-counter sales would “place additional pressure on pharmacists who conscientiously object to dispensing drugs that kill humans at their earliest stages of development.”

Barr Pharmaceuticals originally had sought approval for over-the-counter sales of Plan B to anyone 16 or over.

East Timorese children attend Mass

PHOTO: CNS

Movies

More twists and turns

The best still lies ahead

Catholic contemporary music has come a long way since its infancy in the 1970s, but some insiders say it still has a bit further to go before it sees its glory days.

■ By Gerald Korson

For years, Catholic recording artists, particularly in the US, have tried and failed to gain a foothold in the tough Christian music market. While some have enjoyed success with mainstream Gospel music, the industry has been far less receptive to those artists who wear their Catholic faith on their sleeves.

It would be easy to claim an anti-Catholic bias on the part of Christian music distributors and radio stations. The issue, however, may simply be a matter of business and marketing, according to Doug Archer, co-founder of Catholic Music Networks.

“There is no doubt that among some Christian labels and broadcasters there is an aversion to the openly Catholic message,” Archer told Our Sunday Visitor

“Certainly a song that explicitly deals with the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist or devotion to Mary, is extremely unlikely to get airtime on Christian radio?”

That’s because Christian music “seems to still be limited to a generic appeal to the widest range of audience possible’ he said.

‘Jesus loves you’ is about as theologically deep as it gets?’

Catholic artists are then left with a choice: water down the Catholic references in their lyrics in hopes of winning wider commercial appeal, or stay on message with a limited audience.

New opportunities are beginning to change all that, Archer and other Catholic music insiders say, as the Internet and the growth in Catholic radio have allowed Catholic artists to bypass Christian record labels and find airtime and exposure on

The Lake House

■ By

Harry Forbes

The stars of the actionpacked Speed from 1994 reunite for a romance that is anything but speedy.

The Lake House is an intriguing if slow-moving time-warp love affair that is, at the very least, quite unusual in its concept.

Dr. Kate Forster (Sandra Bullock) is moving out of the bucolic Illinois lakeside house to take a job at a Chicago hospital, and she leaves a note for the next occupant in the mailbox, asking him to forward her mail.

That new tenant turns out to be architect Alex Wyler (Keanu Reeves), who is puzzled by the note, as he claims he’s the first resident there, and some of what Kate has written seems to presage circumstances - like a dog’s paw prints on the floor - that have not yet transpired.

time-traveling postal abilities, but before long they find themselves falling in love through their letters, which can be delivered through the house’s stand-alone mailbox. (Alex puts an envelope in the box in his time frame; Kate removes same in hers.)

Kate has a fondness for Jane

Austen’s Persuasion, with its mismatched lovers who come to learn that it’s never too late for two disparate souls to come together, a theme which permeates the film. Both are at a crossroads in life: Kate beginning her new job at a hospital where she works with Dr. Anna Klyczynski (Shohreh

their own. “The Internet has made it possible for unsigned, indie [independent] artists like myself to get our music out to the public,” said Susan Bailey, one of many Catholic musicians to perform at World Youth Day in Toronto in 2002.

“Ten years, ago, none of this was possible”

Getting in tune

But that’s not enough, critics say, for contemporary Catholic music to survive. Two more things must happen: Artists must improve the quality of their work, and Catholic audiences must take greater interest in their music.

“As Catholic artists, we must learn to be more critical of our own talents, both individually and as a whole,” writes Dave Wang, frontman for Canadian Catholic rock group Critical Mass, in the online magazine Grapevine

“Otherwise, we run the risk of thinking ourselves to be superstars when the reality is that our audience sees us as inadequate.”

Catholic musicians, he said, “have an opportunity to create an industry that truly glorifies God by learning from the mistakes and wisdom of others?

“After all, it is the audience that determines the success or failure of any musician.

“Catholics won’t listen to mediocre music,” Wang told the Milwaukee Catholic Herald

“For Catholics, the music has to be as good as secular music, or they won’t listen.”

Even Catholics who prefer traditional or liturgical music can learn to appreciate the contemporary scene, Bailey said.

“The beauty about Catholic artists is that they are able to lift up the teachings of our Church in the music they write,” she explained.

Contemporary Catholic music “is not meant to take the place of our beautiful traditional music - it is merely another tool for reaching our Catholic people?”

Page 13 - See our guide to great web sources of contemporary Catholic Christian music

A bristling correspondence ensues until the two come to realise they are, in fact, existing in different time frames: Kate in the present, and Alex two years earlier.

It’s surprising with how much complacency they accept their

Spacey’s Bobby Darin a truly

Beyond the Sea

■ By Harry Forbes

Currently showing at a few cinemas in Perth, actor Kevin Spacey’s long-gestating Bobby Darin biography finally sees the light of day, with the actor confidently stepping into the late singer’s shoes and delivering a phenomenal vocal perform-

ance that should surprise many.

In Beyond the Sea, which he also produced, directed and co-wrote, Spacey confronts head-on any charges that at 44 he’s too old to play Darin (who died at 36) by framing the narrative as if Darin, at the end of his career, is filming the story of his own life, with the help of his younger self (William Ullrich).

The story begins with the young Walden Robert Cassotto, stricken with rheumatic fever, being cared

for by his mother, Polly (Brenda Blethyn). Darin hears the doctor tell Polly that Darin’s heart has been damaged and that he’ll “be lucky to see” his 15th birthday, a prediction that haunts him throughout his life.

Polly, a former vaudevillian, helps ease his recuperation with music and as he shows a talent for it, she encourages him in his career.

A big production number with Spacey, Blethyn and the large chorus dancing on the city street is the first indicator that, besides the actual “performance” numbers

“

It’s a triumph for the multifaceted Spacey, whose versatility matches that of his beloved subject. “

with Darin onstage, there will be fantasy numbers as in a real musical.

Polly witnesses the success of his early hits like “Splish Splash” and “Mack the Knife” but dies before he begins his movie career.

While filming a Rock Hudson film in Italy, he falls madly in love with Sandra Dee (Kate Bosworth), who treats him coolly and is under the thumb of a domineering mother (Greta Scacchi).

A different kind of love story: Sandra Bullock stars in a scene from the movie “The Lake House.” Photo: CNS/Warner Bros

A very good show: Kevin Spacey stars in a scene from the movie “Beyond the

Faith cool: US Hip Hop duo Point 5 Covenant.

Movies

than a snake

Aghdashloo), and Alex coming to terms with his estranged architect father, Simon (Christopher Plummer), whose career-driven hardness alienated his family, and who now faces a serious heart ailment.

“

...and there are plenty of head-scratching loopholes so you need to apply a major suspension of disbelief “

It was Simon who actually designed the lake house.

Kate had a fiance, Morgan (Dylan Walsh), with whom she broke up after he observed Kate kiss a stranger at her surprise birthday party.

Much to Kate’s amazement, it finally dawns on her that the man was Alex. In its theme of love transcending time, the film resembles such cinematic fantasies as A Portrait of Jennie, Somewhere in Time and Kate and Leopold

But here, the characters never step outside their respective life

cycles, except in their correspondence.

Director Alejandro Agresti employs several split-screen scenes where the couple speak to each other on screen, but clearly in two separate worlds. They also share the same dog, as the mutt starts out in Alex’s care but later becomes Kate’s pet.

You may be tempted to say “Well, why don’t they just ...” and there are plenty of head-scratching loopholes so you need to apply a major suspension of disbelief.

For the record, there is a plot element that keeps the would-be lovers apart, and you may guess it before it is actually revealed.

All in all, though the movie never really grips, the fantasy is intelligently adapted by Pulitzer Prizewinning playwright David Auburn from a 2000 South Korean film; the leads are appealing; and the story of two unhappy people trying to make a connection is touching even if sometimes perplexing.

The film contains just a couple of instances of mild profanity and a crude word, and a brief but violent traffic accident, though otherwise refreshingly free of objectionable content.

The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II - adults and adolescents.

SOURCE: CNS

impressive feat

Darin charms her, though, and proposes. In spite of the enraged mother, they marry.

Dee is a mass of nerves on her wedding night, and pathetically crouches in the closet in tears, afraid of intimacy.

In a sweet scene, Darin promises her he’ll stay on his side of the bed for as long as she wants, and that “crossing over” will be her decision. She succumbs to his low-key, sincere approach.

From this point on, the film becomes much more compelling.

Darin’s fast career-track strains the marriage, even after their son Dodd is born. Dee begins to drink excessively, brought on by the stresses of their twin careers. His career flourishes with Darin’s older sister, Nina (Caroline Aaron), in frequent attendance, along with Nina’s husband, Charlie (Bob Hoskins), who eventually becomes Darin’s protector.

As time passes, Darin attempts to modify his musical style to include folk and anti-war songs.

On the personal front, he receives a shattering revelation about his parentage and the assassination of Robert Kennedy deals him a heavy blow, as he also copes with increasing heart-related health problems.

Spacey does, at first, seem a tad mature for the image of the smoothfaced young Darin, but from the first notes of his opening song, the vocal impersonation is stunningly good, with Spacey projecting a solid singing voice, amazingly like Darin’s.

Spacey’s achievement is all the

more remarkable for doing his own singing.

Dramatically, he’s fine, too, especially once the plot gets going, but you never quite forget you’re watching Spacey, not Darin.

All the musical numbers are slickly done, and the elaborate fantasy sequences, as when he romances Dee with the catchy title song, work well, too.

In spite of some knock-down, drag-out fights, the bond between Darin and Dee is portrayed as strong and loving, reinforced by their mutual love of their son. (The film conveniently ignores their reallife divorce, but a written postscript to the film informs us that Dee loves Darin to this day, and never remarried.)

Spacey’s direction is assured, the production design handsome, and he’s drawn fine performances from Hoskins, Blethyn and John Goodman (as his agent).

Up-and-coming jazz pianist/ singer Peter Cincotti has a small supporting role as Darin’s friend and pianist.

Dramatically, the story is flawed, but musically - and there are plenty of songs - “Beyond the Sea” is a high from beginning to end.

It’s a triumph for the multifaceted Spacey, whose versatility matches that of his beloved subject.

The film contains some rough and profane language and one nonexplicit sexual encounter.

The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III - adults.

Source: CNS

Here are some top Catholic recording artists and the musical style for which they are best known:

■ Rock: Critical Mass, Rise

■ Pop/Folk/Contemporary: Dana, Crispin, Janelle, Matt Maher, Sarah Hart, Valerie Van Fange, Tony Melendez, Jesse Manibusan, Popple

■ Rap/Hip-Hop: Righteous B, Father Stan Fortuna, Point 5 Covenant

■ Bluegrass: Father Edward Richard, Bob Price

■ Jazz: Liz Kelly, The Vatican III

■ Soul: Manuel3

■ Country: Katrina Rae, David Patrick Bryan

■ Contemplative: John Michael Talbot, Lynn Geyer, Hermit Sister

■ Adult Listening: Danielle Rose. Aaron Thompson, Lynn Cooper

■ Celtic Influence: Celi Rain, Mark Forrest

Contemporary Catholic music can be heard on Catholic radio stations across the country 24 hours a day on the following Internet radio sites:

■ www.sacredheartradio.net

■ www.cm247.com (online Summer 2006)

■ www.catholicjukebox.com

■ www.ewtn.com

To purchase or preview contemporary Catholic music CDs online, visit your Catholic bookstore or try these top websites:

■ www.catholicmusicnetwork.com

■ www.heartbeatrecords.com

■ www.catholictuneage.com

Hoodwinked

■ Reviewed by David DiCerto

With “Hoodwinked” (Weinstein), the title says it all, especially if you’re expecting computer-animated entertainment on a par with “Shrek” or Pixar’s bar-setting delights such as “The Incredibles.”

Lifting its premise (sort of) and title (partially) from the 1955 Looney Tunes cartoon “Red Riding Hoodwinked,” the intermittently amusing film directed by Cory Edwards sets out to reveal the “real story” behind the wellknown nursery tale.

Told in true-crime manner, the movie opens with the woodland

police - a menagerie of Keystone Kops - responding to a domestic disturbance call involving a young girl, an old lady, a fanged intruder and a brawny woodsman wielding an axe without a licence.

Lending their voices are Anne Hathaway as the spunky scarlet-clad heroine; Glenn Close as her granny, here a closeted extreme sports enthusiast; Patrick Warburton as the big, bad wolf; and Jim Belushi as a schnitzel-selling lumberjack.

The police are aided by a dapper frog detective named Nicky Flippers (David Ogden Stiers), who believes that one of the four may be the elusive “Goody Bandit,” who has been stealing prize reci-

pes from local businesses. As the investigation unfolds, each of the storybook suspects gives a different accounting of the events a la “Rashomon.” Despite sporadic bursts of wit, the wacky proceedings are handicapped by a laughlean script, unimpressive animation and forgetable songs.

There are enough sight gags to hold youngsters’ interest, but adults will be thankful for the film’s merciful 80-minute length. Give me Looney Tunes any day!

The film contains cartoon action violence and mildly crude humor. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II - adults and adolescents. CNS

Books

Christian verse reveals profound faith

Flowers of Heaven: One Thousand Years of Christian Verse

■ Reviewed By Gigi

Fotou

At first glance, Joseph Pearce’s compilation, “Flowers of Heaven: A ThousandYears of Christian Verse” (Ignatius Press), can be taken at face value as a collection of some of the best Christian poetry in the English language.

Spanning the entire second millennium, these verses represent most major Christian poets and denominations and invite readers to linger a while as they contemplate all things in Heaven and Earth.

Studied a little closer, however, the volume also becomes a deeply revealing history of a people and their profound faith.

Pearce, professor of literature at Ave Maria University in Naples, Florida, is no novice when it comes to bringing history to life.

He is the celebrated author of numerous literary biographies, including works on J.R.R. Tolkien, Oscar Wilde and C.S. Lewis.

With Flowers of Heaven, originally published in 1999 to compensate for a secularised world obsessed with the coming of the third millennium, Pearce succeeds in bringing essential Christian reflections and imagery into the 21st century.

Through the book’s chronological organisation, he also connects the past with the present to illustrate the unbroken chain of poetic evolution.

Poetic tradition

Indeed, Pearce told Our Sunday Visitor that at no point in history has there actually ever been a breach of poetic religious tradition and said that many people don’t realise Christian poetry is still alive

and well. It survives and thrives precisely because of the timelessness of the faith itself.

“Christian verse, throughout the ages, has mirrored what has historically and culturally taken place in the world.

“For instance, in the 1100s, an age of great religious conviction, St Hildegard of Bingen, through her verse, praised God openly, whereas poets of the Protestant Reformation, such as St Philip Howard, had to cloak their faith in ambiguity,” he said.

Pearce added that Flowers of Heaven is also a study of traditions, trials and tribulations, a type of societal ruler of the faith of bygone eras.

In today’s Western culture Christian verse is enjoying a renaissance through new poets who are seeking an artistic venue for their faith.

Pearce said this is not unusual since poetry is the pinnacle of the written word.

“Since we have all been made by God for God, all the arts eventually give praise to him,” he said.

“Poetry, like all true art, expresses love of the Creator through its ability to capture complex spiritual truths both beautifully and succinctly.”

Poetic future

But can this beauty survive in an age where the turning on of a television occurs far more regularly than the opening of a book and where spirituality is likened to a hobby one takes out on Sunday?

Pearce’s answer is a resounding yes. Religious poetry, he said, has not been bequeathed to the world solely for the culturally elite but for all Christians to enjoy.

“There is no right or wrong way to read religious, verse. It exists simply to bring us closer to God,” he said.

The variety selected for this collection was chosen for both its critical and mass appeal.

It can be utilised as a springboard

New children’s meditation text a “gem”

To God on a Magic Carpet

By Sister Anthony Macdonald SN

Spectrum Publications, available from Gatto’s $12.95

■ Reviewed By Hugh

Ryan

Parents and teachers interested in teaching children to meditate will find a wonderful aid in “To God on a Magic Carpet”.

Written by Sister Anthony Macdonald while she was teaching at St Lawrence’s School in Geraldton, this gem consists of only 26 pages, none of them tightly packed with print.

That’s about the right size for a book on meditation because, as Sr Anthony points out, meditation is something you do first, and then only learn about afterwards if you have a need to.

This book contains 13 exercises which begin with Listening and end with meditative prayer which gives children the opportunity to experience the quiet depth of themselves, and the opportunity to listen to God at that level.

The exercises are written step by step so that they can be presented very easily by parents or teachers with little or no experience in this field.

Having taught relaxation and meditation to many adults over

many years, my own recommendation to parents and teachers is to practise meditation for a week or so before introducing it to children. Using some of the exercises in this book would be a good way to start.

All things are taught better by people who are at peace in themselves, and that is particularly true of meditation, which brings peace of mind and body.

As Sr. Anthony points out, children are “natural contemplatives”, but they live in an anti-contemplative world in which television, walkman radios, computers, mobile phones, ipods, and all manner of electronic gizmos disrupt the natural rhythms of the world and a child’s natural tendency towards periods of stillness and wonder.

Sr Anthony set out to create ‘pools of stillness’ in the school day.

Sr. Anthony set out to create ‘pools of stillness’ in the school day. She has enjoyed great success with children from Years 1 to 7 and has also taught it to older children.

Scattered through the book are succinct comments from children which reveal volumes of benefits in just a few words.

Meditation is a great gift to give to children. Parents and teachers who deliver the gift will find that it is also a great gift to the family and the classroom.

Sr. Anthony Macdonald has made it possible for anyone to play Santa with this gift.

Celebrating stillness: Sr Anthony Macdonald’s book on meditation for children

to deeper contemplation and meditation, giving readers a glimpse of something new and compelling to look at our world through the eyes of the poets.

Violent video games reduce sensitivity to real violence

Playing violent video games, even for a short time, can desensitise people to real violence, new research has proved.

Nicholas Carnagey and Craig Anderson of the University of Iowa, led the study in which 257 college students were given physical tests before and after playing either video or non-violent games, and then after watching actual violent episodes from TV and films.

“The results demonstrate that playing violent video games, even for just 20 minutes, can cause people to become less physiologically aroused by real violence,” said Carnagey.

“Participants randomly assigned to play a violent video game had relatively lower heart rates and galvanic skin responses while watching footage of people being beaten, stabbed and shot than did those randomly assigned to play nonviolent video games. It appears that individuals who play violent video games … ‘get used to’ all the violence and eventually become physiologically numb to it.”

The study builds on previous research showing that exposure to violent video games increases aggressive thoughts, angry feelings, physiological arousal and aggressive behaviours and decreases helpful behaviour.

Previous studies also found that more than 85 per cent of video games include serious violent actions.

 FAMILYEDGE

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.

■ PICASSO PAINTING

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

Classified ads: $3.30 per line incl. GST 24 hour Hotline 9227 7778 Deadline: 12pm Tuesday

FURNITURE REMOVAL

■ ALL AREAS

Mike Murphy 0416 226 434.

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

■ DENMARK

Holiday House 3bdr x 2bath, sleeps up

to 8. BOOK NOW.

Ph: Maria 0412 083 377.

RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

■ 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.

■ REPAIR YOUR LITURGICAL BOOKS

REPAIRS to all sorts of books and leather bindings; reliable, reasonable rates. Ph. (08) 9293 3092

RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

■ RICH HARVEST  YOUR CHRISTIAN SHOP Looking for Bibes, CDs, books, card, gifts statues, baptism/communion apparel, religious vestments, etc? Visit us at 39 Hulme Court (off McCoy St), Myaree, 9329 9889 (after 10.30am, Mon-Sat) We are here to serve.

■ HUMBLE MESSENGER Shop 16/80 Barrack St (Inside Bon Marche Arcade) Perth WA 6000. Trading

Hours: Tues-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 10am3pm. Ph/Fax 92257199, 0421 131 7t16

Classifieds

Classifieds must be submitted by fax, email or post no later than 12pm Tuesday. For more information contact 9227 7778.

PANORAMA a roundup of events in the archdiocese

Sunday August 6 and Tuesday August 8

BLESSED MARY MACKILLOP’S FEASTDAY MASSES

First Mass 6pm Sunday at the Sisters of St. Joseph’s Chapel, followed by supper. Second Mass at 9.45 am Tuesday at the Sisters of St Joseph’s Chapel, 16 York Street, South Perth. Everyone welcome to come and celebrate our First Australian Saint’s Feast day.

Sunday August 6

DIVINE MERCY

An afternoon with Jesus and Mary at St Mary’s Cathedral, Victoria Square, Perth at 1.30pm. Program: Holy Rosary and Reconciliation, Sermon: with Father Joseph Johnson (on St John Vianney), followed by Divine Mercy prayers and Benediction. Enquiries; John 9457 7771 or Linda 9275 6608.

Thursday August 10

HEALING MASS

Healing Mass honouring St Peregrine, patron of Cancer sufferers and helper of all in need, will be held at the Church of SS John and Paul, Pinetree Gully Rd, (off South St) Willetton, 7pm. Veneration of the Relic and Anointing of the Sick. Contact Noreen Monaghan on 9498 7727.

Friday August 11

BOOK LAUNCH

Knights of the Southern Cross have sponsored the publishing of “Advancing the Culture of Death” by Fr Peter Hung Manh Tran CSsR. He will be at the launch, Friday August 11, Country Women’s Association House, West Perth, 7.30pm. To register, phone 9470 4922 or fax 9470 4955 by August 7. Enqiries: Neville Ward, Ph 08 9276 9159.

Friday August 11

JADE LEWIS TALK

Associated with Teen Challenge Perth Inc, Lewis speaks about her journey from heroin addiction to a new life of freedom through Jesus Christ. Our Lady of Grace, 3 Kitchener Street, North Beach at 7.30pm. This is an opportunity for those interested especially parents and teenagers. Contact Veronica Peake on 9447 0671.

Friday to Sunday August 11 to 13

AWAKE MY HEART

All are invited to the 9th Charismatic Conference in Pemberton presented by The Holy Spirit of Freedom Community. For further details contact; Meryl (08) 9772 1172 or Marcelle 9776 1542.

Sunday August 13

SOLEMNITY OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN MARY INTO HEAVEN

This will be celebrated at the Shrine of Virgin of the Revelation, 36 Chittering Road, Bullsbrook at 2pm. Beginning with a Marian Procession followed by Rosary, Mass, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessing of the Sick. All welcome. Reconciliation available at 1.30pm.

Enq: 9447 3292.

Sunday August 13

HOLY HOUR

The World Apostolate of Fatima Aust Inc. invites you to a Holy Hour in St Jerome’s Church, Troode Street, Munster at 3pm. The National Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima, will be present in the Church for this hour of Eucharistic Reparation. All are very welcome. Enquiries 9339 2614.

Tuesday August 15

REMEMBRANCE MASS

Held at the Good Shepherd Church in Lockridge, Corner Altone Road and Morley Drive at 7pm. This is a time to remember babies lost either before, during or after birth whether it is a recent loss or many years ago. For further details please contact Shirley on 9279 9165.

Saturday August 19 - Wednesday August 23

INTERNATIONAL PILGRIM VIRGIN STATUE

Return visit of Fatima International Pilgrim Virgin

Statue to Perth. Venues include St Patrick’s Basilica, Fremantle, Redemptorist Monastery, concluding with Mass, and crowning at St Mary’s Cathedral 22 August. (Queenship of Mary). Enquiries: 9341 8082, Mobile 0413 707 707.

Friday August 25

FR GREG DONOVAN SILVER JUBILEE

Fr Donovan invites all friends and past parishioners to his Silver Jubilee celebration. Mass will be celebrated in SS John & Paul Church, Cnr Pinetree Gully Road & Wainwright Close, Willetton, at 7pm, followed by a Supper in the Parish Centre. For catering purposes, RSVP by 4 August to the Willetton Parish Office, 9332 5992 or email: admin@johnpaulwilletton.org.au

Sunday August 27

TAMMIN HOLY FAMILY CHURCH ANNIVERSARY

Holy Family Church will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its opening. We extend an invitation to all past parishioners to join us on this happy occasion. A thanksgiving Mass will be held at 11am followed by a light luncheon. For catering purposes please contact Mary Stokes 9637 1131 or Mary Caffell 9637 1020 by August 13.

August

CATHOLIC BIBLE COLLEGE

Diarise the following short courses: August 14, 15, 17, 18 – Fr Leo M Spicer, OSM: Mary in the Mystery of the Church; August 31, Sept 1, 4, 5 – Fr Daniel Benedetti, MGL: The Bible and the Mass. All courses commence with Mass at 9am and finish by 1pm. These courses may be taken towards a Certificate IV in Christian Ministry (National Code 51446). Enquiries and Registration to Jane Borg, 0401 692 690.

Thursday September 7

MASS OF THE ASSOCIATION OF CATHOLIC POLICE

OFFICERS OF WA INC

Held at Our Lady Help of Christians Parish, 43 Camberwell Street, East Victoria Park. Commences 7.00pm. Light supper and refreshments following the Mass. For catering purposes RSVP by 1 September to either Peter Browne (9321 2155), Inspector Paul Newman (9222 1474) or Des Noonan (9291 8641).

September 7-10

FEAST OF OUR LADY MARIA SS DEL TINDARI

Basilica Saint Patrick, Adelaide Street, Fremantle. Beginning with a Triduum which will be celebrated by Fr Christian Fini O.M.I. from Melbourne on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7.30pm. The Mass will be, Sunday, 9.45am. The procession will commence from the Basilica at 2pm. Enq: Joe Franchina 9335 1185 or 0404 801 138.

Sunday September 10

ST ISIDOR E’S PARISH OF JENNACUBBINE ANNUAL PICNIC

Mass and Picnic to be held on the banks of the Mortlock River, Jennacubbine. 11am Mass followed by BYO Picnic & Chair or rug. BBQs available – lots of extras provided. Everyone is welcome. Contact Cathie Bowen 9623 2264 or Fr Geoff Aldous at Northam 9622 5411.

Sunday September 17

KOORDA 50TH ANNIVERSARY

All past parishioners who are going to join us for the 50th Anniversary of the Koorda Catholic Church are asked to notify their intention to attend by September 1. The day will commence with Mass at 10.30am followed by lunch at the recreation ground rooms. Reply to: Kath Gosper, PO Box 68, Koorda or Ph: 9684 1242.

Sunday September 17

KOORDA CHURCH 50TH ANNIVERSARY

Our Lady of the Assumption Church at Koorda will celebrate its Golden Anniversary this year on September 17. Past Parish Priests and past parishioners are invited to come and join us for the celebrations. Anyone who has any photos they would like

to include in a display is welcome to send them to Kath Gosper at PO Box 68, Koorda 6475. You could send copies or we will copy and return them to you. The day will commence with Mass at 10.30am, to be followed by lunch at the Recreation hall.

Sunday September 24 to Saturday September 30

FIVE DAY DIRECTED RETREAT

At the Redemptorist Monastery Retreat House, 190 Vincent Street North Perth. Director: Fr Joe Carroll CSSR. For more information contact Jan Broderick.

Sunday October 15

HEALING MASS

“Oh taste and see the Lord is good. He will satisfy the soul.” Catholic Charismatic Renewal invites you to come and experience the healing love of God through Prayer and Praise, the Eucharist and Praying over. The celebration will be held at St Joseph’s Church, 1 Salvado Road, Subiaco, commencing with Prayer and Praise at 5.30pm, Mass at 6pm followed by praying over and supper. All are very welcome to join us in this celebration. Enq. Celine 9446 2147.

Sunday October 29

WORLD CENTENARY OF CATH OLIC WOM EN’S LEAGUE

Members of the Catholic Women’s League of WA will be celebrating the Women’s League Centenary, founded in England by Margaret Fletcher in 1906. Mass will be celebrated at the Redemptorist Monastery, 190 Vincent Street, North Perth at 10.30am followed by a lunch at the Royal Park Hall at noon. Members, ex-members and their families are most welcome to attend. For more information contact Margaret Ph: 9328 8978 or Fay Ph: 9284 3084.

July - September

CROSS ROADS COMMUNITY

Term 3 Tuesday 25th July until Friday 29th

September for: Family & Friends Support Groups of Substance Abusers Wednesdays 7–9pm, Substance Abusers Support Groups Tuesdays 5.30 to 7.30pm and Fridays Day Group for Substance Abusers 9.30am-2pm including Healing Mass Fridays at 12.30pm during term. Rosary Tuesday to Thursday 12.30 to 1pm. Lectio Divina on Tuesdays 7pm.

AL ANON FAMILY GROUPS

If a loved one’s drinking is worrying you – please call Al Anon Family Groups for confidential information meetings etc… Phone Number on 9325 7528 – 24 hrs.

ATTENTION COUPLES

Have you or your spouse been diagnosed with a mental illness? Depression? Anxiety/Panic Attacks? etc. Could you do with some help understanding your/their illness? Do you know how to get help when you need it? We can help you to help each other through the Unconditional Love Program. For more information contact Amanda Olsen: 0407 192 641, or email: mandyfolsen@bigpond. com.au.

TUESDAY NIGHT PRAYER MEETINGS

St Mary’s Cathedral Parish Centre, 450 Hay Street, Perth, 7pm. Come join us! Overcome the burdens in life making prayer your lifeline with Jesus. Personal healing in prayer, Rosary, meditation, Scripture, praise in song, friendship, refreshments. Be united with Our Lord and Our Lady in prayer with others. Appreciate the heritage of the Faith.

EVERY SUNDAY

Bullsbrook Shrine Sunday Pilgrimage Program. Shrine of Virgin of the Revelation, 36 Chittering Rd Bullsbrook. 2pm Holy Mass, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with Holy Rosary. Reconciliation is available before every celebration. Enquiries: 9447 3292.

FIRST SUNDAY OF THE MONTH

The Santa Clara Parish Community welcomes anyone from surrounding parishes and beyond to the Santa Clara Church, corner of Coolgardie and

Pollock Sts, Bentley on the 1st Sunday of each month for devotions in honour of the Divine Mercy. The afternoon commences with the 3 o’clock prayer, followed by the Divine Mercy Chaplet, Reflection and concludes with Benediction.

YOUNG CATHOLIC WOMEN’S INTERFAITH FELLOWSHIP

The Council for Australian Catholic Women (CACW) seeks to promote the participation of women in the Catholic Church in Australia. CACW is pleased to announce that the 2007 application package for the Young Catholic Women’s Interfaith Fellowship is now available. The package can be downloaded from the website: www.cacw.catholic.org.au. Michelle Wood is the contact person for the CACW in the Archdiocese of Perth. For further information regarding the CACW or the Fellowship, please contact Michelle: michelleww@iinet.net.au or 9345 2555.

NEW WEBSITE

Address for Holy Family Parish, Maddington is http://www.holycatholicfamily.org.au

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

Is alcohol costing you more than just money?

Alcoholics Anonymous can help. Ring 9325 3566.

BLESSED SACRAMENT ADORATION

Holy Family Church, Alcock Street, Maddington.

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

Wednesdays SIGN LANGUAGE COURSE

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

QUEEN OF APOSTLES SCHOOL

If anyone has information on Queen of Apostles School, Riverton, used to go there or knows anyone who did please do one of the following to tell the extension group – Call 9354 1360 and ask to speak to Veronique or email your information to veronequeregnard@gmail.com.au or janellekoh@yahoo.com.au or you can put your information into the box in the office at Queen of Apostles School. Thanking you in anticipation.

LINDA’S HOUSE OF HOPE APPEAL

To enable us to continue to provide and offer support for girls wishing to leave the sex trade we need your help. We have achieved already new offfices which are now complete at the rear of the shelter and are fully functional. Donations are also required to complete the internal layout of the shelter itself. Please send donations to Linda’s House of Hope PO Box Z5640, Perth, St George’s Tce 6831. Ph: 0439 401 009. All donations over $2 are tax deductible.

Panorama entries must be in by 5pm Monday. Contributions may be faxed to 9227 7087. emailied to administration@therecord. com.au or mailed to PO box 75, Leederville, WA 6902.

Submissions over 55 words will be excluded. Inclusion is limited to 4 weeks. Events charging over $10 constitute a classified event, and will be charged acordingly. The Record reserves the right to decline or modify any advertisment.

Earlier this year Pope Benedict XVI began a series of catecheses at his Wednesday general audiences in Rome focusing on each of the apostles. The first, published by The Record, was on Saint Peter. However the Holy Father also devoted a second talk to the first Vicar of Christ, which is published below. Talks on the remaining apostles will appear soon in forthcoming editions of The Record.

The Evangelist John, when recounting the first meeting of Jesus with Simon, Andrew’s brother, mentions a singular detail: “Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas’ - which is translated Peter” (John 1:42). Jesus did not usually change his disciples’ names.

With the exception of the nickname “sons of thunder,” addressed in a specific circumstance to the sons of Zebedee (cf. Mark 3:17), and that afterward he would not use, he never attributed a new name to one of his disciples.

He did so, however, with Simon, calling him Cephas, a name that was later translated into Greek as “Petros,” in Latin “Petrus.” And it was translated precisely because it was not just a name; it was a “mandate” that Petrus thus received from the Lord.

The new name “Petrus” will return on several occasions in the Gospels and will end by replacing his original name, Simon.

This detail is of particular importance if one keeps in mind that, in the Old Testament, a change of name announced in general the conferring of a mission (cf. Genesis 17:5; 32:28ff, etc.).

In fact, Christ’s will to attribute to

The Last Word

The Rock

Peter a special prominence within the apostolic college is manifested with many clues: In Capernaum, the Master stays in Peter’s house (Mark 1:29); when the crowds pressed upon him on the shores of the Lake of Gennesaret, between the two moored boats, Jesus chose Simon’s (Luke 5:3); when in particular circumstances Jesus remains only in the company of three disciples, Peter is always recalled as the first of the group.

Thus it occurred in the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter (cf. Mark 5:37; Luke 8:51), in the Transfiguration (cf. Mark 9:2; Matthew 17:1; Luke 9:28), and finally during the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. (cf. Mark 14:33; Matthew 16:37).

The tax collectors for the Temple went up to Peter and the Master paid for himself and for Peter and only for him; (cf. Matthew 17:2427) he was the first one whose feet he washed in the Last Supper (cf. John 13:6) and he prays only for him so that his faith would not fail and so that later he will be able to confirm the other disciples in it. (cf. Luke 22:30-31).

On the other hand, Peter himself is aware of this particular position he has.

He is the one who speaks often on behalf of the others, asking for explanations of a difficult parable (Matthew 15:15), or to ask about the exact meaning of a precept (cf. Matthew 18:21), or the formal promise of a recompense (Matthew 19:27).

In particular, he is the one who surmounts the awkwardness of certain situations, intervening in the name of all.

In this way, when Jesus, grieved by the incomprehension of the crowd after his discourse on the “bread of life,” asks: “Do you also want to leave?”, Peter’s answer was peremptory: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:67-69).

Jesus then pronounces the solemn declaration that defines, once and for all, Peter’s role in the Church: “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail

against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:18-19).

The three metaphors to which Jesus takes recourse are very clear in themselves: Peter will be the rock foundation upon which the building of the Church will be based; he will have the keys of the Kingdom of heaven to open and close to whom he thinks it is just; finally, he will be able to bind or loose, that is, will be able to establish or prohibit what he considers necessary for the life of the Church, which is and will continue to be Christ’s.

It is always Christ’s Church and not Peter’s. He describes with plastic images what subsequent reflection will describe with the term “primacy of jurisdiction.”

This pre-eminent position that Jesus willed to give Peter is also seen after the resurrection: Jesus tells the women to take the announcement to Peter, singling him out among the other apostles (cf. Mark 16:7); Magdalene runs to him and to John to tell them the stone has been removed from the entrance of the sepulchre (cf. John 20:2) and John will let him go first when they arrive before the empty tomb (cf. John 20:4-6); later, Peter will be, among the apostles, the first witness of the apparition of the Risen One. (cf. Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5)

This role, underlined with determination (cf. John 20:3-10), marks the continuity between his pre-eminence in the group of the apostles and the pre-eminence that he will continue to have in the community born with the paschal events, as the book of the Acts of the Apostles attests. (cf. 1:15-26; 2:14-40; 3:1226; 4:8-12; 5:1-11,29; 8:14-17; 10; etc.]

His conduct is considered so decisive that it is the object of observations and also of criticisms. (cf. Acts 11:1-18; Galatians 2:11-14)

In the so-called Council of Jerusalem, Peter carries out an executive function (cf. Acts 15 and Galatians 2:1-10), and precisely by the fact of being witness of the authentic faith, Paul himself will

recognise in him a “first” role. (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:5; Galatians 1:18; 2:7ff, etc.)

Moreover, the fact that several of the key texts referring to Peter can be framed in the context of the Last Supper, in which Christ entrusts to Peter the ministry of confirming his brothers. (cf. Luke 22:31ff], shows how the Church, which is born from the paschal memorial celebrated in the Eucharist, has in the ministry entrusted to Peter one of its constitutive elements.

This context of the primacy of Peter in the Last Supper, at the moment of the institution of the Eucharist, the Lord’s Pasch, also indicates the ultimate meaning of this primacy:

For all times, Peter must be the

custodian of the communion with Christ; he must guide in the communion with Christ so that the net will not tear but sustain the great universal communion.

Only together can we be with Christ, who is Lord of all. Peter’s responsibility thus consists of guaranteeing the communion with Christ with the charity of Christ, guiding the realisation of this charity in everyday life.

Let us pray so that the primacy of Peter, entrusted to poor human beings, may always be exercised in this original sense desired by the Lord, so that it will be increasingly recognised in its true meaning by brothers who are still not in communion with us.

TRANSLATION BY ZENIT.ORG

New Rainbows: New a series on society and church cd

Laicisation

■ Tony Paganoni CS

The wars between Protestants and Catholics, which scarred Europe in the 16th and 17th century, left no doubt that the time had come to abandon the religious model that had united societies, and to forge a new, modern way through which societies could function independently of religious interference.

Europe and most of the western democracies, were thus formed.

More recently, with the enact-

Jurgen Habermas

ment of a new constitution for the European union, the efforts to include a mention of its Christian roots failed. Pope John Paul II repeatedly asked that such a mention be made explicit; unfortunately however, his call was not observed.

In my mind, the basis for such a reasonable request was not based on religious inducements, but from

undeniable historical facts. During the interview which was subsequently entitled, ‘Only Religion Can Save Us From the Pitfalls of Modernity,’ the French philosopher J. Habermas stated that religion has a legitimate role in the political landscape of liberal states.

The well-known French philosopher was quick to add that the contribution of religious organisations must be translated into a language that can be grasped by the average person.

The Church is called upon to speak, not to itself, but to the world

in which it lives. Religious messages must be laicised, or deprived of clerical status, if they are to become relevant to the average person in western societies.

While there will be those who will fear such a move, this cultural transition is unavoidable.

However, even the most laicised nation or continent must remain open to the influences offered by religious organisations.

A Vatican official recently reported that world media always relegated the announcements proclaimed by the Holy See. The trend

was, however, reversed whenever the Pope dealt with the subject of human rights – the daily nourishment for politicians, reporters and social observers.

Human rights are one of the most commonly used pipelines to build or destroy international relations.

Far too often, however, civil societies and governments obliterate signed treaties in their effort to pursue financial or political gains. Without a common ethical platform, human rights become very vulnerable. Could their moral basis be a role for the Church?

From Simon to Cephas: This early mosaic depicts the apostle Peter, who, says Pope Benedict, was the only one of the apostles to whom Christ gave a new name; the gesture underscores a clear pattern of Peter’s significance.