The Record Newspaper 04 January 2007

RECORD READING

Start 2007 on the right foot. God Owns Our Business Also now available from The Record Page 12

Covered crosses OK

Bishop Bianchini defends practice: it’s not a denial of Faith

St John of God Hospital practice is a witness to compassion and tolerance regarding others’ beliefs, says Bishop.

■ By Anthony Barich

Geraldton Bishop Justin Bianchini says his local St John of God hospital is not denying its Catholicism by covering up crucifixes at the request of Muslim patients.

Tammy Batten, chief executive and director of nursing at Geraldton’s St John of God hospital, last week admitted to covering crucifixes at the request of Muslim patients, despite Jesus Christ being a high-ranking prophet in the Muslim faith.

The Catholic hospital also makes special arrangements for Muslim prayer services.

Bishop Bianchini told The Record that the “powerful and visible” crucifix that symbolises the healing love of Christ remains in every room and every main area of the hospital.

He adds that Geraldton, located 450km north of Perth, has a Muslim population of about 300, mostly Indonesian or from the Cocos Islands, and barely a handful would use such a private hospital, so it is extremely rare that such a case would arise.

The bishop says covering up crucifixes, if patients desire, is about good Catholic health care – ministering to their physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs.

St John of God staff are versed in Aboriginal cultural training and other beliefs so they understand other people’s faiths and cultures.

“The fact that we are Catholic means we do respect people, we are more open, not narrow-minded,” Bishop Bianchini said. “It’s not denying our beliefs.

“Its not political correctness, it’s accommodating a need occasionally on request in a room, even if it’s someone that believes nothing and they see this tortured body on the cross, the visual image can be distressing if they don’t understand it,” the bishop said, also highlighting the Sisters of St John of God’s motto, St Paul’s letter which says, “The love of Christ urges us”.

Continued - Page 3

CHRISTMAS CROWDS

Whitfords draws thousands,

many

non-Catholics, to worship Him

celebration meaningful for everyone who attended, including real camels bearing wise men and, the following day, a visit from Santa via a helicopter landing on the Catholic school oval. Full report by SYLVIA DEFENDI - Pages 6-7.

Pregnancy counselling move raises lobby’s ire

Health Minister Abbott criticised over decision to award contract pregnancy counselling to Church agency

■ By Paul Gray

There is no cause for fuss over the payment of Government money to a Catholic Church agency to provide pregnancy counsel-

ling, the head of the Southern Cross Bioethics Institute has told The Record

“The churches have been doing health and welfare work for so long, and this is entirely in keeping with that,” Dr Gregory

Pike, Director of the Adelaidebased Institute said.

“This is merely putting some money into the hands of people who have been doing this for a long time. Why the fuss now?”

Controversy arose this week

after it was reported that the Church’s health and welfare arm, Centacare, had been awarded part of the Australian Government’s $51 million pregnancy counselling contract.

Continued - Page 5

The Parish. The Nation. The World.

Bringing it alive: Fathers Benedict Lee, left, and Joseph Tran of Our Lady of the Missions Church in Whitfords-Craigie present Xavier Prentice during the outdoor Family Mass on Christmas Eve. Over 5000 people attended the Mass, many of them non-Catholics. The parish pulled out all stops to make the

PHOTO: PAULINE EGAN

Bishop Bianchini

Sisters to leave the goldfields behind

The goldfields region farewelled the Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition as the last sister departed on December 3, 2006.

■ By Harry Argus

The Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition had to officially relinquish their connections with the goldfields at the close of the 2006 school year; shortage in vocations being one of the reasons.

After 109 years and ten months of faithful and dedicated service to the education of children of the Eastern Goldfields, the last official sister, Sr Barbara White RSJ left the Goldfields on December 3, 2006.

A very large number of parishioners attended a Thanksgiving Mass at All Hallows Church, Boulder on December 3 last with the Parish Priest Fr Phong and Fr Nelson.

The Staff and Students of the John Paul College participated at Mass.

To mark this sad yet historic event, some other Josephite Sisters from Perth also attended.

Present among others were Srs Maree Riddle (representing the Provincial Sr Clare Ahern), Joan Luff (archivist of their Order in WA), Cecilia Connolly, Maria

Moriarty, Mary Cooney and Maureen Hodge.

Fr Phong thanked the Sisters during his homily for the many years the Sisters helped shape the Christian faith of the youth in the goldfields.

Many wonderful stories of the Sisters’ lives in the fields were shared. Robert Hicks, the Chairperson of the Parish Council thanked the Sisters on behalf on the parishioners and Srs Maree Riddle and Joan Luff also spoke

The Record

The Parish. The Nation. The World. EDITOR

Peter Rosengren Letters to: cathrec@iinet.net.au

JOURNALISTS

Mark Reidy reidyrec@iinet.net.au

Sylvia Defendi (Parish/State) sdefendi@iinet.net.au

Anthony Barich (Parish/State) anthonybarich@hotmail.com

Paul Gray (National) cathrec@iinet.net.au

Bronwyn Clune (International) clunerec@iinet.net.au

OFFICE MANAGERS inc. sales/subscriptions

Linda Jolliffe - Accounts recaccounts@iinet.net.au

Kathi Harp - Administration administration@therecord.com.au

PRODUCTION

Terence Boylen production@therecord.com.au

587 Newcastle Street, Leederville

Post: PO Box 75, Leederville, WA 6902

Tel: (08) 9227 7080

Fax: (08) 9227 7087

The Record is a weekly publication distributed throughout the parishes of the dioceses

and gave a good historical account of their involvement on the fields.

After the Mass many joined the morning tea specially prepared for this occasion.

Gifts from the parish were presented to Sr Barbara for her dedicated work at John Paul College in the last two years.

The Sisters departed on a sad note, yet did not give up hope of returning one day in the future if the Lord made that possible.

Originally, the Black Josephite

A LIFE OF PRAYER

...areyoucalledtotheBenedictinelifeofdivine praiseandeucharisticprayerfortheChurch?

Contact the:

TYBURN NUNS

Rev Mother Cyril, OSB, Tyburn Priory, 325 Garfield Road, Riverstone, NSW 2765 www.tyburnconvent.org.uk

VISITING SYDNEY

Sisters arrived in Kalgoorlie on February 6, 1897 to take on teaching at Kalmallie, a suburb of Boulder.

The first Sisters were: Mother Ursula Tynan and Srs Martha Postans and Magdelan Tuohy.

These three Sisters, in fact, began the Order of St Joseph known as the Black Josephite Sisters of WA in 1890 after Mother Mary McKillop asked her nuns to return to the Eastern States.

This new outfit was a breakaway group from the original Order of Brown Josephites.

However, the Brown Josephite Order returned to WA some years later and eventually after 22 years, the two factions came together in 1912.

In the many years they have been teaching on the goldfields, they have received many vocations from the goldfields as well as from Ireland and England.

Encouraged with this surge in vocations, in 1898 the Sisters built a school and convent named St Joseph’s Primary School in Moran Street Boulder which they ran until the 1990’s.

In 1899 the Sisters also opened up a new school in the suburb of Brown Hill and another one in 1905 in the suburb of Trafalgar.

These two schools ran till 1913 and 1924 respectively.

The Sisters also ran a primary school in Kanowna from 1904 till 1918.

In 1905 a new double storey

Ita of Killeedy died c. 570 feast – January 15

brick convent was built in Moran Street, Boulder to accommodate both the Sisters and the boarders from out of town.

Due to the mining activity at Kamballie in 1908 the Sisters had to relocate their first school from there to Oroya Street, Boulder which they ran till 1929.

Also, due to the large commitment to the Catholic hospital in Kalgoorlie run by the Sisters of St John of God, they gave up their school (St Camillus Primary School) to the Sisters of St Joseph in 1912.

In 1927 a cyclone destroyed the school.

In 1936 the Sisters of St John of God also handed over their St Mary’s Primary School to the Josephite Sisters, which they ran until 1997.

In 1971 Prendiville Senior Ladies’ College opened in Kalgoorlie and was jointly run by the Sisters of Mercy from Coolgardie and the Josephite Sisters till 1979 and from 1979 till 1984 the Josephite Sisters alone ran the College until it was amalgamated with the Christian Brothers in 1984 and John Paul College was born from this union.

The Josephite Sisters have since been associated with the education at this College till the end of 2006.

In 1997 the Convent in Moran Street was sold and a house was provided in Boulder for the one remaining Sister.

The Sisters of St Joseph will never be forgotten in the Goldfields and the active Old Students’ Association will keep their memory alive for years to come.

The Sisters should feel proud for their great legacy of dedicated Christian service and education of thousands of boys and girls of the district.

Many of these children have become valued citizens and at least nineteen vocations from the Parish were born to the Religious life.

The Sisters also leave behind the blessed mortal remains of seven of their own at the Kalgoorlie Cemetery. They are: Mother Ursula Tynan (d. 15-10-1905), Srs Anthony Mullins (d. 13-06-1915), Teresa Scanlon (d. 20-08-1920), Ignatius Minnock (d. 04-01-1925), Philomena O’Neil (d.11-10-1936), John Morony (d.04-09-1939) and Monica Butler (d.29-10-1957).

Originally named Deirdre, she earned the name Ita, which means “thirst for holiness.” Her story has much in common with that of St. Brigid, another great Irish abbess. For many years Ita headed a community of dedicated women at Killeedy in County Limerick. She ran a school for small boys who were taught “faith in God with purity of heart; simplicity of life with religion; generosity with love.” St. Brendan the Voyager reportedly was her student. St. Ita’s legend stresses physical austerity and includes some rather fantastic miracles.

Back in the day: Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition pose in front of the Moran St Convent, Boulder in 1915.

Police should act before power boost

■ By Anthony Barich

Police need to act on their powers to stop prostitution before they are given more powers, according to Christian Democratic Party executive director Gerard Goiran.

Debate has raged about prostitution law reform since an advertisement was placed in The West Australian calling for submissions from the public to a ”working group” and for them to be addressed to the Law Reform Secretariat in the office of Attorney General, Jim McGinty.

An editorial in that newspaper last week called for law reform that gives police more specific power on their responsibilities in regard to prostitution without leaving them open to allegations of corruption.

But Mr Goiran says that while

giving police more powers is a good idea, police need to show they can exercise their existing powers properly first.

He also warns that the other option being considered, decriminalisation, is a defeatist attitude, and says the CDP is concerned at the way the WA government treats women.

“Prostitution debases women; decriminalising it will simply make it easier for illegal immigrants to operate outside the law,” Mr Goiran said.

“If prostitution is downgraded to the status of a legal offence and it is no longer a serious crime, you can expect the police will do even less about trying to curb it. Illegal immigrants will therefore be even harder to detect. More women will be exploited. This will put us in breach of our international obligations.

Cross-covering sign of respect: Bianchini

Continued on page 1

“If they’re in a room and they were stressed, are you helping or hindering them? That’s part of good health care - you tend to them.

“It’s why the hospital started, with the care of the sick.”

“We’ve fostered good relationships with the Muslims in Geraldton – we’ve prayed together during the Gulf War, attended the birthday of Muhammad, and they are well respected in the town.”

Director of Mission at St John of God hospital Subiaco, Anne Fox, said the Subiaco and Geraldton hospitals do not have a policy ordering them to cover up crucifixes.

And while the Subiaco branch does not have crucifixes in patients’ rooms, each room is adorned with the traditional St John of God symbol – a pomegranate with a cross. It is the same logo which the St John of God Sisters wear.

“We are sensitive of the needs of individual patients and we would respond on a case by case basis if there was an issue on anything,” said Mrs Fox, a former Sister of Mercy for 17 years and ex-director of Pastoral Planning in the Archdiocese of Perth.

“We also have a range of visiting chaplains who are multi-faith, and they do whatever they need to do to tend to the patients.

“We’re totally committed as a Catholic hospital to Catholic imagery but we also respect where other people are coming from.

“A Catholic position, not even strictly a St John of God Hospital position, is to respect and translate the Gospel for all, which means using language and symbols which speak to all.

“We’re extremely proud of our Catholic heritage - we’re a Catholic agency, so we’re obliged to be that way, and we will always uphold that in every possible way.”

However speaking in 2005 Pope Benedict urged the display of crucifixes in public and private places.

“The only way the matter can be resolved is to give the police the powers to enforce the law and also to fine the client as well as the prostitute. However, it seems that whatever additional powers the police are given, there is little willingness on their part to enforce the legislation. The last time the law was amended, the police got additional powers but they did not even want to prosecute Anne Marie Kensworthy even after her publicly admitting she runs a brothel.”

Mr Goiran said he found it hard to believe that decriminalisation was still on the agenda when licensing in NSW and Victoria had failed to contain the practice.

“Once prostitution is recognised as a legitimate activity in WA, it will flourish as it has in NSW and Victoria. It will make things worse,

In brief...

Fatherless babies ok

The crucifix should be present in public and private places because this external symbol of God’s presence is a reminder of humanity’s shared God-given dignity, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Speaking on August 15, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pope Benedict said “The modern world believed that by putting God aside” and following man’s ideas and desires people could “become truly free,” but that did not happen. Only by exalting God’s greatness, just as Mary did in her hymn of praise, the Magnificat, can people become great, the Pope said in remarks apart from his prepared text.

“We must apply all this to our daily lives: It is important that God be great among us in both public and private life,” he said.

It is important that “God be present in the symbol of the cross in public places, (that) God be present in our communal life because only if God is present (will) we have a guide, a common path,” the Pope said.

Without God, people lose their “divine dignity” and become “only a product of a blind evolution,” he said.

By not recognising humanity’s divine dignity, people “can be used and abused,” he said.

But it is this shared “splendour of God in one’s face” that gives humanity the common ground it needs in the public sphere, the Pope said.

Without recognising God’s presence, people have “nothing left in common” and “differences become irreconcilable,” he said.

The pope emphasised that making God great in public and private life meant making “room for God every day,” including morning prayer and “giving Sunday to God.”

Spending more time with God does not make one “lose time” or freedom, rather it makes the day “greater, fuller, richer,” the Pope said.  ADDITIONAL REPORTING FROM CNS

Looking to Advertise?

not better” Mr Goiran said, also wondering why the media is continuing to report that a parliamentary committee has been set up to look into this matter.

“The matter of decriminalisation of prostitution has not been referred to a parliamentary committee but to a working group working at the Prostitution Law Reform Secretariat care of the Department of the Attorney General,” Mr Goiran said.

“The group was handpicked by the Attorney General. Its brief is to consider a model based on minimalist decriminalisation. There is no open-mindness. The group knows full well the sort of recommendations it is expected to make. This makes a big difference to the outcome.

“The Attorney-General also said that he wants to protect children

In brief...

Bigger classes better

A child’s need for a father will no longer be a consideration when a woman seeks fertility treatment under law changes proposed by the Blair administration in Britain.

Single women and homosexual couples will have the same parental rights as heterosexual couples. At present the law obliges clinics to consider a child’s “need for a father” - a provision supported by the public - but they will still have to take account of the “welfare of the child”.

Other changes to the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act include a ban on sex selection for non-medical reasons, and permission for genetic screening of embryos - including for the purpose of providing a “tissue match for a sibling suffering a life-threatening illness”.

Health Minister Caroline Flint says in a foreword: “The overarching aim is to pursue the common good through a system broadly acceptable to society.”

 FAMILYEDGE/MERCATORNET

from being involved in prostitution. How can this be achieved if prostitution is decriminalised? Would that not have just the opposite effect?”

The CDP policy on prostitution included a ban on all advertising in newspapers and stronger powers for police to shut down brothels.

“Most prostitutes end up on drugs, incapable of experiencing normal relationships and without the necessary skills to function normally in society. Consequently, normalising prostitution as a job choice is profoundly anti young women,” he said. “Many girls trapped in prostitution want to get out but need help to break their drug addiction. Rehabilitation and support to volunteer organisations such as Linda’s House of Hope also need to be supported by the Government if we are to succeed in this difficult area.”

A London principal short of a maths teacher four years ago combined two classes and found that bigger classes (up to 75) produced better academic results. “A maths teacher left, so over the weekend I converted a room into a double classroom ... I got in an excellent maths teacher, with three teaching assistants, and wired up two interactive whiteboards. It was a risk, but it proved to be very successful and we have the exam results to prove it,” said John Atkins of Kemnal Technology College.  FAMILYEDGE/MERCATORNET

Principals important in the school room

School principals are just as important as good classroom teachers in getting good academic results, an Australian study has found. Stephen Dinham of the University of Wollongong was investigating “faculties and teams” rather than schools as a whole, and was surprised to find how influential the principal was. The most effective were relentless in helping students to do better. “They do not become distracted and bogged down by the administrative demands” of the job but find ways to concentrate on leadership.

Join Pope Benedict XVI in prayer January

 FAMILYEDGE/MERCATORNET

General intention: Peace - That in our violent time, Bishops may continue to show the way of peace and understanding among peoples.

Mission intention: Church in Africa - That the Church in Africa may be a witness of the Good News of Christ and be committed to the promotion of reconciliation and peace.

JohnHughes

I’m

John Hughes, WA’s most trusted car dealer

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

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

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

Is it true that every year for the last 17 consecutive years

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?

JOHN HUGHES

UNDA name lab after prominant WA nurse

The University of Notre Dame Australia School of Nursing Fremantle recognised the generous donation of prominent Western Australian business identity John Court by recently naming a laboratory after his wife Helen.

The laboratory is named the ‘Helen Court Nursing Laboratory’.

Mrs Court worked as a nurse and has a particular interest in the area of psychiatric nursing. The room will be the cornerstone of every nursing program at the University and will also act as a simulated hospital ward.

School of Nursing Fremantle Dean, Professor Selma Alliex said the funding given by the Courts has been a great help to the school in updating its facilities.

“We are very grateful for the generous support of Mr and Mrs Court,” she said. “Their dona-

tion will go towards purchasing much needed equipment and teaching aids. We will teach the students all their nursing skills in the laboratory.

“We are also fortunate that it is fully equipped with technology and can be used as a lecture space for nursing students.”

At the naming of the laboratory, both Mr and Mrs Court spoke of their admiration for the university and its nursing program, Mr Court saying that offering funding to nursing is an easy task compared to the hard work Vice Chancellor Dr Peter Tannock and staff of the School of Nursing have put into establishing the course.

He also expressed his gratitude to the University for dedicating the room to Mrs Court.

“I am honoured Helen is commemorated in this way. We, as a family, are proud to be supporting Notre Dame,” said Mr Court.

50 years of wedded bliss

■ By Sylvia Defendi

Position Vacant

Accounts Manager - Part Time

The Record Catholic Newspaper in West Perth is seeking an Accounts Manager to fill a maternity position for 3 days per week for 6 to 12 months with possible permanency.

You must be experienced in a variety of accounts payable/receivable roles. Your primary responsibilities include:

• MYOB Account Edge (MAC)

• Accounts receivable/payable

• Invoice processing

• Raising credit notes

• Purchasing

• Reporting to Editor on Financials

• Bank reconciliation

• Supplier Liaison

• Follow up on debtors

• Budget analysis and preparation

• Banking

• Maintaining client database

• Maintaining Bookshop inventory

• BAS

• End of month

• Filing

• Liase with Accountant

Secondary responsibilities include:

• Mail inwards/outwards

• Reception duties

• Distribution of newspaper

• Payroll

• Petty cash

• General office support as required

• Organising business functions and appointments as directed

To be considered you will have had at least 2 years in a similar role and have a sound understanding of accounting principles. You must have excellent interpersonal, oral and written skills and be a team player. Attention to detail and numerical accuracy is essential. Competency in Microsoft Office is also required.

Applicants must be fully supportive of the objectives and ethos of the Catholic Church. Please forward your application and CV to: The Editor The Record and Discovery Newspaper P0 BOX 75 Leederville WA 6902 Or email: cathrec@iinet.net.au

Closing date for applications is Wednesday 10 Jan 07.

Wed at St Brigid’s Church in West Perth 50 years ago, Mr Les Fern and Mrs Clare Fern, formerly Massam, celebrated their golden wedding anniversary surrounded by family, friends and a quaint bit of memorabilia maintained by Mrs Fern all the while.

Mrs Fern has held on to her top-tier wedding cake decoration since December 29, 1956, when she was wed. The anniversary Mass was celebrated at St Brigid’s Church in Northbridge on December 29, 2006 and was celebrated by current parish priest Fr Tiziano Martelozzo and Fr Maurice Toop, who had wed the couple 50 years ago in the same Church.

The Record reported on the event in its January 10, 1957 edition on page 4, stating: “The happy couple went by train the same day for their honeymoon in the South-West. On their return they will make their home in Morley Park.”

Over 40 people attended the anniversary event, including the couple’s four children, Carol, Jennifer, Stephen and Diane; and 10 grandchildren, Cathryn, Jerome, Andrew, Rachel, Sarah-Clare, Emma, Adam, Rebekah, Michael, and Cate.

Family members had travelled from Darwin and Adelaide for the event, which happily coincided with the Christmas season.

Mr and Mrs Fern had also been able to spend Christmas Day with the entire family for the first time in at least 15 years.

Family and friends then moved to the parish hall, which had been decorated in gold, where, 53 years and one day previously, Mr and Mrs Fern had first met, at a YCW dance.

Mrs Fern was almost sixteen when she met Mr Fern. They danced frequently at St Brigid’s Hall and married after a courtship of three years and one day.

Mr and Mrs Fern remained in Perth until they moved in 1979 to Darwin, Northern Territory,

where they continue to reside.

Some of the golden anniversary guests had been present at the wedding in 1956, including best man, Don Fern, bridesmaid, Margaret Massam and even some school friends.

Family members had organised music from the couple’s courting days, and earlier married life, which added to the happy atmosphere of the celebration.

The beautiful two-tiered golden anniversary cake was decorated with the partially restored original wedding cake ornament that Mrs Fern had maintained.

Honour: Nursing school students at Notre Dame. The school of Nursing has benefitted from a generous donation from WA business identity John Court.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF NOTRE DAME

Golden celebration: Clare and Les Fern cut the cake one more time in 2006.

Memories: Les and Clare Fern cut their wedding cake in 1956.

Execution not the answer

VATICAN CITY (CNS)

- Executing someone guilty of a crime “is not the way to restore justice and reconcile society,” the Vatican spokesman said after Saddam Hussein was hanged on December 30.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi said, “A capital execution is always tragic news, a motive for sadness, even when it involves a person found guilty of serious crimes.”

In a formal statement issued shortly after Saddam’s death was announced, Father Lombardi said, “The position of the Catholic Church against the death penalty has been reaffirmed many times.”

The death penalty not only will not restore justice in Iraq, but also can “increase the spirit of vengeance and sow new violence,” he said.

“In this dark time in the life of the Iraqi people one can only hope that all leaders will make every effort so that in such a dramatic situation spaces will open for reconciliation and peace,” he said.

Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, who earlier had expressed hope that the execu-

tion would not be carried out, told Vatican Radio on December 30, “I hope and pray that this act will not contribute to aggravating the already critical situation in Iraq, a country already so harshly tried by divisions and fratricidal struggles.”

The cardinal said the Catholic Church’s opposition to the death penalty is based on its recognition of every human life as a gift of God that must be defended from conception to natural death.

“That position excludes abortion, experimentation on embryos, euthanasia and the death penalty, which are denials of the transcendent dignity of the human person created in the image of God,” he said.

Latin-rite Archbishop Jean Sleiman of Baghdad told Vatican Radio justice was not served by hanging Saddam. Although he hoped it would not worsen the situation in the country, he said “it could.”

“We already are in a situation that is more than tragic on the level of security, relations among populations and also the economy of the country,” he said.

Catholic pregnancy assistance aided in reducing abortions

Continued from page 1

The contract is aimed at reducing the number of abortions in Australia.

Supporters of abortion-ondemand, including Australian Democrats Senator Natasha Stott-Despoja and Greens Senator Kerry Nettle, have criticised the Government’s decision.

The Greens said that the Catholic Church should not have been awarded a government contract to supply pregnancy counselling as it could not provide independent advice.

However, the WA executive director and Senate candidate of the Christian Democratic Party Gerard Goiran leapt to the defence of Mr Abbott and said Family Planning WA does not provide unbiased counselling.

Mr Goiran said that the media was quick to report on the accusations of the pro-abortion groups but failed to mention that the same accusations of bias could also be levied against FPWA, who has also been selected to develop a training package for the helpline counsellors.

“The media makes it sound as if FPWA would certainly be above reproach and incapable of anything but totally unbiased counselling whilst on the other hand, Christians cannot be trusted with the same level of responsibilities,” Mr Goiran said.

FPWA states on its website: “There is a very low risk of complications when a pregnancy termination is done early. In later pregnancies, the risk of complications after an abortion rise, however they are still very low.... There is more likelihood of com-

plications occurring after a natural miscarriage or after the birth of a baby.”

However, if successfully implemented, the payment to Centacare can be viewed as a significant victory for the political strategy on the abortion issue associated with Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott. Mr Abbott, frequently tagged in news reports as “a devout Catholic,” has not sought to utilise his role as the nation’s health minister to push for an outright legislative ban on abortion.

Mr Abbott’s refusal to seek a legal ban reflects the larger reality that in Australia, both in the arena of public opinion and the arena of federal politics, no consensus in favour of outlawing abortion exists.

The fact is, very little advance has been made by anti-abortion forces in the political arena in democratic nations in the past two to three decades. All the victories have been on the other side.

Abortion-on-demand, like nofault divorce, has become accepted as a standard legal feature of the liberal societies of the contemporary West.

Anti-abortion forces, wedded to the principle of the sanctity of each human life from conception, have experienced a frustrating and at times desperate period.

For some, from the late ‘70s it seemed that no progress could ever be made against a liberal mindset which refused to face the obvious fact of the humanity of the human foetus. However, in his time as Health Minister, Mr Abbott has sought to emphasise the fact that the abortion rate, at an estimated 100,000 a year, is far too high.

While bitterly resisted by ele-

ments of the feminist academic and activist communities, this strategy appears to be working.

As has already occurred in the United States, research evidence is now emerging in Australia to show that most adults do wish to see a lower abortion rate, while most still do not support an outright legislative ban. The insertion of this principle - that the rate is too high - into public debate around the abortion issue has opened the possibility for Government action of the kind announced last week.

While legislative coercion will not be used to oblige pregnant women to avoid abortions, women will, with Government endorsement, be advised of support that can be provided to them should they proceed to term with their pregnancy. This is not the first initiative in this area during Mr Abbott’s time as Health Minister.

In March 2006, Mr Abbott announced a new Medicare payment for pregnancy support counselling by general practitioners and, on referral, by other health professionals.

Announcing that initiative in a joint statement with Prime Minister John Howard, Mr Abbott stated it would provide “additional support and information to women who are anxious about their pregnancy.”

“Women who have had a pregnancy in the preceding 12 months will also benefit by being able to access pregnancy support counselling under Medicare.”

The Government also said it would fund a National Pregnancy Support Telephone Hotline to provide “professional and non-directive advice 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

Executed: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein fires shots into the air in 2000.

’ Tis the season to celebrate the greatest gift of all

■ By Sylvia Defendi

Donkeys, camels, large balloons and a helicopter welcomed over 8000 people to the miracle of Christmas 2006 at Our Lady of the Mission parish in Whitford.

With an emphasis on inviting the whole local community to join parishioners in celebration, the parish community set to stun under the guidance of parish priest Fr Joseph Tran and assistant priest Fr Benedict Lee.

Preparations began with a massive leaflet drop, detailing Mass times, to all residents within the parish area, two weeks before Christmas, then moved on to advertising Christmas Mass times atop a large inflated balloon, which was donated by the Knights of the Southern Cross and was set on the roof of the parish hall.

Advertising drew over 5000 parishioners, visitors and people of other faiths to the outdoor vigil family Mass held on the adjacent primary school oval.

“This Mass was evangelistic, with many non-Catholics receiving a blessing at Communion time and participating with enthusiasm in their responses to prayers and carols performed by the parish youth,” said Whitford’s parishioner Pauline Egan.

The celebration grew as the oval filled to capacity and many people resorted to watching from their car seats.

Children and adults were surprised to witness a very realistic re-enactment of the gospel retelling the first Christmas as ‘Mary’ and ‘Joseph’ entered on a donkey and ‘three wise men,’ dressed in royal robes, rode upon camels with gifts for the Christ child.

To compensate for the large crowd, children dressed as angels assisted those who requested the Eucharist or a blessing by holding stars up-high to mark the 22 Communion points around the

oval. Communion was followed by a liturgical movement by children from Padbury Catholic School, who performed a joyful dance with balloons, streamers and graceful movements.

In true spirit of the newborn Christ, a second Mass in the Church then followed that celebrated the welcoming of two week old Flynn into the Catholic Church.

Many newborns were welcomed to join in the miracle of Christmas by representing the infant Jesus.

Those who participated were gifted with a small, embodied shirt, which read: “I was baby Jesus at Whitford’s parish 2006.”

Fireworks went off after midnight Mass and signified the conclusion of the evening’s services, which spread the message of Christ’s coming to 7185 people.

On Christmas day three morning Masses were attended by a further 1025 people.

After morning Mass Santa, who was present after all Christmas Masses, arrived in a helicopter on the school oval, much to the delight of the children and adults present.

Prayers of thanksgiving were offered for the many people who spent over three months planning the Christmas Liturgies, participated in the Masses and donated time, money or their services to help reach out to the community and spread the good news of our Saviour’s birth.

The day also proved to be an evangelisation tool. When asked about the effect of Christmas celebrations on the local community, Fr Tran said that he has seen a definite increase in enquiries concerning the Catholic faith from people in the local community in the weeks following Christmas.

“These events are not about being bigger and better. They are about bringing the wonder of Christmas to people’s attention and reminding them of the significance of life within the Catholic Church,” Mrs Egan said.

How some of our parishes celebrated Christmas

Celebrations draw thousands

Re-enactment: Three parishioners were brave enough to straddle these camels as they portrayed the three wise men.

Santa arrives rather unconventionally. Work of art: This magnificent Perth backdrop was the fruit of artistic parishioners.

Memories: Fr Joseph Tran holds the small shirt gifted to all the infants in the parish who played baby Jesus.

From far and wide: Over 5000 people joined in the outdoor Christmas Eve Mass held on the oval.

Sharing Christmas joy

■ By Sylvia Defendi

Mother Theresa’s giving spirit overflowed to the parishioners of St Joseph’s Church in Queens Park on December 9 as they shared the joy of Christmas with those less fortunate.

Several parishioners from the Queens Park parish were joined by various other parish communities and Mother Teresa’s Missionary

Sisters of Charity in Northam, where they celebrated Christmas lunch and even enjoyed a visit from Santa Claus.

“We were indeed privileged to have a share in the missionary commitment of the Sisters of Charity and aid them in their outreach program in the community of Northam,” said parishioner Melody Wates.

Ball games were played by all, faces were painted and Santa

brought a smile to children’s faces with his red sack filled with gifts for every adult and child.

“The giving and sharing of love and warmth heralded the birth of little baby Jesus for these wonderful people in Northam” Ms Wates said.

Most important were the gifts of joy, laughter, love and genuine concern that parishioners, Sisters and parish priests took time to impart.

Secular, Catholic forces unite

■ By Anthony Barich

Secular and Catholic forces got together to spread the true Christmas message in Claremont last month.

For the second year running, Claremont parish priest Fr Brian O’Loughlin “took the Church to the street” by working with the Claremont City Council to evangelise beyond the parish centre during a time of year when mankind – Catholic or otherwise – unite for its Saviour.

Claremont’s St Thomas the Apostle parish set up a Christmas crib in the afternoon and evening of the Claremont Christmas Carnival under the lights of the prominent Norfolk Island pine tree in the grounds of the Claremont Council Chambers.

Fr O’Loughlin and parishioners distributed invites to the parish’s Christmas ceremonies, which included a “carefully crafted” note to people who may have drifted from the practice of their faith, inviting them to “come home for Christmas”, as Christmas carols played on CD. Fr O’Loughlin noted that it was the children who first noticed the Christmas crib and then approached to admire the figures.

“Many of the children said they had played the part of one of the figures in a nativity play, and one 10 or 12-year-old boy even told me: ‘This is real cool’,” he said.

CACW wants you back in Church

While the major role of the Council for Australian Catholic Women (CACW) is to promote the participation of women in the Catholic Church, other important subsidiary roles are evolving.

These include the importance of providing support and pastoral care to the women of Perth and involves reaching out to women who have left the Church and women who feel wounded from their experiences with the Church.

Therefore the Council is especially eager to hear from women who have not felt part of the

Church and/or have been away from the Church for any length of time.

The CACW is giving women a voice by inviting them to participate in the Council at one or all levels: by receiving information and updates (only); by attending bi-monthly meetings to observe and/or give input; and by participating fully or partially through various CACW projects, programs and events.

In February, the Council will offer a monthly Scriptural Prayer Program developed in the Jesuit tradition.

This form of prayer can lead to greater spiritual depths, to a more reflective life and promotes lay spiritual leadership in the Church. The program will be led by a religious with over 15 years experience in this form of prayer.

In March, the Council will conduct a Forum for Women on the topic Integrating the Mission: Into our Lives and Into the Church. A questionnaire is now available to assist participants’ contribution to the Forum in March.

For further information, please contact Michelle Woods on: 9345 2555 or michelleww@iinet.net. au. CACW website: www.cacw.catholic.org.au

Gender ratios entering sci-fi territory

Sex-selective abortion is now so widespread that the world is “moving to the realm of science fiction,” warns a leading United States demographer. Speaking at a UN conference, Nicholas Eberstadt said “son preference” is not a trend exclusive to Asia or countries with coercive population control policies, but is now a “global war against baby girls” that includes Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa. The natural birth ratio is about 105 males for every 100 females, but some regions now have upwards of 115 boys born for every 100 girls, and some ratios are as high as 150 to 100. This means there are 20 million “missing” baby girls in Asia alone, says Eberstadt. Sex-selective abortions have permanently skewed the demographic balance of China and are in the process of doing the same to India. Although the UN has formally recognised the problem, its Violence Against Children (VAC) study released earlier this year made no mention of sex-selective abortions. The Violence Against Women (VAW) study also released this year referred to pre-natal sex selection only three times. Solutions are not simple. Eberstadt said that when South Korea made sex-selective abortions illegal, the practice sky-rocketed. The only cure may be a curb on all abortions. Experts also point out that an increasing gender imbalance will lead to more trafficking of women and could affect national security.

FAMILYEDGE/MERCATORNET



Couples economise to keep mother with baby

New mothers in the United States are dropping out of the workforce in greater numbers, even though the importance of their earnings to the family has increased. Data from the Bureau of Labour Statistics shows a seven-year trend among women at all income levels - not just the highly educated, prosperous mothers examined in many recent studies. But they are staying out of the workforce for shorter periods than in the past, concentrating mainly on the baby’s first year - encouraged, perhaps, by research on infant development. The biggest percentage declines in workforce participation, as expected, has been among mothers with a bachelor’s degree or more, followed by women with husbands in the top 20 per cent of earners. The trend is most pronounced among mothers of children less than one year old, with a fall among married mothers of infants of 8 percentage points to 51 per cent between 1997 and 2004. The decline in participation for mothers of 3- to 5-year-olds was 3.4 points, down to 63.6 percent.

Historically, women’s movement in and out of the workforce over the course of their careers has ebbed and flowed. However, the importance of their paychecks to their families has continued to rise - on average from 32.7 per cent in 1997 to 34.8 per cent in 2004. Couples quoted in WSJ have economised by such measures as downsizing their car, not eating out, and stopping college savings plans.

 FAMILYEDGE/MERCATORNET

Kicker: Sandra and Arielle Gantor with Fr Brien O’Loughlin at the nativity.

United: Missionary Sisters of Charity with St Joseph’s parishioners from Queen’s Park and Northam community members.

Healed: CACW provides help. PHOTO: CNS In brief...

letters to the editor

The Church in good hands? Just a bit too optimistic

Perspectives Around

It was wonderful to see such a high level of local content in the Christmas edition of The Record. I was particularly interested in the various activities of Catholic young people. It was great to read about initiatives like Six Thirty and Embrace the Grace.

However, Anthony Barich is overly optimistic about Catholic Youth Ministry’s efforts. How does Barich measure successful events? By what standards can the headline the Church is in good hands be substantiated?

According to his reports there are currently between 40 and 100 young people attending Catholic Youth Ministry events. Given there are about 100 parishes in the Archdiocese this works out at less than one young person per parish.

From a practical perspective, how will the Archdiocese finance a Catholic Youth Ministry ten years from now?

That’s without considering a raft of other agencies, parish maintenance, a Cathedral to finish and serving the poor in our community. I’m left wondering if the money I put in the collection plate each Sunday wouldn’t be more effectively spent elsewhere.

It is great to see diocesan events for young people but what about parishes?

It is great to have forums listening to young people but what about the parents of young people or the Catholic schools where they are being educated? Thousands of students graduate each year from Catholic schools.

Why aren’t they at Embrace the Grace or Six Thirty? What about the older generation who currently fill our churches each week?

Something worked for them. They were all young once and while many of their peers left the Church they remain and fund the Archdiocese. Is there something we could learn from the more senior members of our parishes?

I’d like to see the bishops and Catholic Youth Ministry talking not just to young people but schools, parishes, parents and the older generation.

Michael Hitchins Greenwood

Saddam’s death speaks loudly

Once they found no weapons of mass destruction, then Saddam Hussein’s death was inevitable, to prove what a tyrant he had been and to justify the US occupation of Iraq.

Yet we have caused and still cause, far more deaths in Iraq than even he did, and the West is quite happy about supporting bloodthirsty dictatorships like Suharto’s or China’s or Chile’s.

It is a measure of how much our leaders despise us that they don’t even bother to tell us the real reason for Iraq: to grab the oil. Perhaps we need a few hangings in Australia too.

Peter Gilet Albany

A politically correct scandal

As Catholics move into 2007, we must surely question our commit-

ment to evangelisation. Do we lack the courage to go into the deep and merely seek an apparent safe haven in false secularism?

Just as the Pope decried ideological secularism (The Record, December 14 2006) we learn from the West Australian (December 23 2006) that SJOG, the Catholic health care group, is pandering to this very ideology in the name of tolerance by covering up crucifixes.

Speaking vigorously against excluding religious symbols from public places e.g. hospitals, the Pope maintained that their symbols affirmed and defended great values that give meaning to life and protect its dignity.

Is SJOG causing scandal in WA just to maintain so called political correctness rather than proclaiming Jesus love for all people through his cross.

Mary Burke Ferndale

Mass intended as present calvary

John Garlano’s comments about the Novus Ordo Mass could be construed as a rejection of decisions of Vatican II Council, which was inspired by the Holy Spirit.

The Mass Is not and was never intended by Christ as a popular event or to cater for our judgement or criticisms.

Each Mass is calvary made present, which allows us to unite ourselves with Christ in his supreme sacrifice and to receive His Body

The work of vandals or artists?

St Mary’s Cathedral priest Fr Robert Cross, also an archaeologist, has been excavating the site of the cathedral as large parts of it are dismantled in preparation for its completion.

■ By Fr Robert Cross

One of the first actions of the St Mary’s Cathedral Archaeological Project was to carry out a paint scrape.

A paint scrape is done to determine the different paint schemes of a building over its operational life. It became apparent that the Cathedral had only seen probably three schemes of paint over its 141 year history.

Preliminary analysis seems to indicate that the interior of the Cathedral may not have been painted originally but was simply mortar rendered. The first paint scheme, probably undertaken in the mid to late 1870’s, was what is termed faux marbling.

Faux marbling imitates the appearance of marble. It appears that in the case of St Mary’s Cathedral, a wet plaster was applied to the surface of the walls and then, before the plaster set, it was pointed to imitate blocks of marble and

He has found many fascinating things which provide clues or glimpses into the past life and history of the cathedral and of those who have worked and worshipped there.

This week, Fr Robert begins an occasional series looking at some of the things that have been discovered. He is also appealing from readers for information which may throw light on any of his discoveries.

and Blood as food for our journey to Heaven.

Such criticisms of Mr Garlano infers that the Holy Father, Bishops, Priests, religious and laity who have accepted Vatican II decisions and the Mass of Novus Ordo in some way or other have not prayed the Mass “properly” for 35 years.

Mr Gariano’s comments in reality could be seen as a sign of dissent from decisions of Vatican Council II.

Peter 0’ Meara Mt

Lawley

Important feast day deserved coverage

I suppose it is water off the ducks back to complain but I really think you missed the plot on the feast of the Immaculate Conception 8th December not a word about this great feastday of Mary I don’ t know why, political expediency or what. I think you blew it in the excellent history of St Mary’ s Cathedral formerly called Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

Why not a heading, at least in large print, acknowledging the name of the Immaculate Conception on this great feastday in the Catholic Church?

How much we all need Mary conceived without sin to pray for us who have recourse to her. The prayer on the miraculous medal, or the medal of the Immaculate Conception.

Bernadette Guy Joondalup

Revealed: One of the two signatures was revealed on the Cathedral ceiling.

“scribled” on to resemble the dark lines that run through marble. It is thought that all the walls of the Cathedral were faux marbled, except perhaps the sanctuary area. Interestingly, the ceiling was also faux marbled. By amazing coincidence, Fr Robert Cross, who carried out the paint scrape, scraped the exact area where somebody had

signed their name on the faux marble surface. Is this the act of a vandal or is it the signature of the person who did the faux marbling?

The name of the person was D. H. Regan. In the Archdiocesan archives, a source has been found referring to a E. Regan collecting money for the painting of the Cathedral in the 1870’s. Was this a

relation of D. H. Regan and can we suggest then that D.H. Regan was the faux marble artist/painter?

Another name, J. Glennon, has also been found in association with the painting, but this time it was on the faux marbled ceiling. Again there is conjecture as to whether J Glennon was the painter of the faux marble ceiling or maybe a worker who left his mark on the old ceiling he was covering up with the pressed metal roof that was

installed in 1905. Whether they were artists or vandals, the discovery of the names are a great archaeological find. Do you have any information as to who D.H. Regan or J. Glennon might be? Perhaps they are relatives!

Project Archaeologist, Fr Robert Cross would welcome any information you

Vista

The Economist’s moral blinkers

By Michael Cook

■

Many people have traded in their brains for a subscription to world’s best news magazine. Are they better off?

Afew months ago, Bill Emmott, the editor of The Economist, retired after 13 years at the helm of the world’s best news magazine.

He was replaced by the US editor, John Micklethwait. There was a flurry of reports in the media and then their names disappeared under the blanketing snow of current affairs. As part of the 163-year-old tradition, no bylines appear in The Economist, not even the name of its editor. The next time Mr Micklethwait’s name will appear could be his own retirement.

More than a magazine, The Economist is an institution – a relic of the Victorian era founded upon the economics of Adam Smith and the morals of John Stuart Mill which has adapted superbly to modern times. In the post-modern age of fragmentation and doubt its business is certitude.

But with flair: its covers are often hilarious; its style sober, garnished with sly humour. Headlines in Latin pop up from time to time; allusions to Shakespeare and English poets pepper the text. It is supremely readable and entertaining. Originally British, during Mr Emmott’s watch, The Economist prospered across the Atlantic and turned a good reputation into an outstanding brand. Half of its circulation of one million is now in the United States. Mr Micklethwait will no doubt ensure the continuity of its free market philosophy and maintain its high standards of editing.

“I used to think. Now, I just read The Economist,” Larry Ellison, CEO of information technology giant Oracle Corporation, has admitted. The list of political and business luminaries who read it religiously is long and impressive. “The magazine I spend most of my days reading is The Economist,” says Microsoft’s Bill Gates. “An important part of my life support system,” says Chris Patten, former Governor of Hong Kong and now Chancellor of Oxford University.

Even its rivals are glowing in their praise. Here’s the International Herald Tribune: “This unique journal in which sheer intellect, backed by integrity and a bold welcoming of new ideas has held sway over statesmen and governments.” And Germany’s Die Zeit: “The paper of the global ruling classes.” And if you’re still not convinced, Vanity Fair: “The magazine is probably read by more presidents, prime ministers, and chief executives around the world than any other... The positions it takes change the minds that matter.”

Which makes it all the more disturbing when The Economist takes up the cudgels in favour of infant euthanasia. The UK’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has suggested that the rights and wrongs of actively killing disabled infants should be debated. It is hardly surprising that doctors paid to kill infants on one side of the birth canal should seek permission to kill them on the other side, too. But it seems odd that the world’s most respected magazine should swallow their arguments and drizzle them with treacly sentimentality: “Tiny babies do tug at the heartstrings but raising a severely impaired child is heartbreakingly hard. It is brave of doctors to dare to question whether they should save the life of each and every one.”

Brave? How about immoral? How about

cowardly? How about inhuman? How could the world’s best news magazine be so wrongheaded about killing babies?

The Economist prides itself upon “its objective, factual writing, rather than... emotive journalism”, but on nearly every important moral issue, the ghost of John Stuart Mill whispers that morality must be dismissed as an inconvenient superstition. Should the West shower Africa with condoms to prevent AIDS? Naturally - “morality must take second place”. Same sex marriage? Obviously - “The case for allowing gays to marry begins with

equality, pure and simple.” Legalise prostitution? Why not? “What consenting adults do in private is their own business.” Should Olympians take drugs? - It is “shrill” and “intolerant” to suggest otherwise. And so on.

Despite the vast common sense and analytical clarity of its business and political analysis, The Economist wears the ideological blinkers of a Victorian free-thinker. It racks moral arguments on the Procrustean bed of Mill’s libertarianism.

For instance, the author of one of its excellent surveys defends the legalisation of illegal

drugs by citing the great man: “The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.”1 Like Mill, The Economist regards the person as an autonomous, self-sufficient individual who shapes his own good without reference to society. Furthermore, for The Economist, the market is not a way to achieve the good of society; it is the good of society. Any social policy which introduces a market or makes a market more efficient is to be praised. Any one which does not is to be censured as antiquated and moralistic. It is hard to find a better example of how ideology colours the magazine’s vaunted objectivity than its recent leader (The Economist has “leaders”, not editorials) defending a market in which people could sell their kidneys for profit. It would be safer for patients and it would eliminate long waiting lists. “Instinct often trumps logic. Sometimes that’s right. But in this case, the instinct that selling bits of oneself is wrong leads to many premature deaths and much suffering. The logical answer, in this case, is the humane one.”

But this is ideological, rather than logical. How does The Economist justify itself? By using as a case study a place where the sale of kidneys has been legalised, where donors are amply compensated and where waiting lists have been eliminated: Iran. It’s perplexing to see a country with one of the world’s worst records on human rights used to justify a policy which puts human rights at risk.

And the argument is not confined to the leader, but seeps into the news coverage as well. The contrary view - that donors’ health is compromised, that they will be exploited, that it will not stop the black market - is ignored.

Even though it admits that “there is little information on how donors ultimately fare,”

The Economist still accepts the glib assurances of the Iranian brokers that donors remain healthy. But isn’t the ultimate health of the donors the central issue in the debate over selling kidneys? As often happens, The Economist’s evidence often looks threadbare and its arguments unravel when they are teased apart.

The plausibility of a market for organs and other such proposals owes more to a team of brilliant editors than to logic and evidence. The Economist’s reputation for omniscience and its tightly-written, sardonic style anaesthetise criticism. While bylines in other magazines and newspapers reveal the name of journalists and allow readers to imagine that bias and misinformation - not to mention disinformation - might be possible, its Olympian anonymity reinforces the myth that it has canvassed all points of view, sifted all the evidence and formed a dispassionate opinion.

This is nonsense, of course. All journalism reflects the ethical prejudices of an author – even at The Economist. Back in the late 50s, readers were probably not aware that its Middle East correspondent was Kim Philby, a spy who did incalculable damage to Britain and the United States and was eventually buried in Moscow with the honours of a KGB general.Had they known, perhaps they might have treated The Economist’s pronouncements on the Middle East with just a bit more scepticism. As The Economist itself might put it, if you are thinking of trading in your brain for a subscription, caveat emptor.

Michael Cook is Editor of MercatorNet.

1 Frances Cairncross. “Stumbling in the dark”. The Economist. July 26, 2001. Surveys are one of the rare exceptions to The Economist’s anonymity.

Unwanted trouble wears a face: A child looks up at a visitor at the Franciscan-run Brother Pedro Social Services Hospital in Antigua, Guatemala, in early June. Besides providing health care to needy residents, the centre houses severely disabled children and others who have been abandoned by family. It seems one of the world’s most influential magazines, The Economist, sees little positive value in such people. PHOTO: CNS/CARLOS LOPEZBARILLAS

■ By Mark Reidy

“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” - ST PETER

JESUS in the EUCHARIST

The day after experiencing the miracle of the loaves and fishes, many of Jesus’ followers became disillusioned and turned their backs on him. In their eyes, within 24 hours he had gone from miracle man to madman. This large crowd had earnestly pursued him across the Sea of Galilee in the hope of witnessing more supernatural powers, but instead many were devastated with what they found.

What Jesus had to say to them became a crossroad for many of the disciples at the time and continues to divide them today. “Truly, truly”, he told those who gathered, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed and my blood is drink indeed.” (John 6:53-55).

When St John records this entire discourse, on three occasions he graphically uses the Greek word, “trogo”, which means to “munch” or “chew down on”. It is not surprising then, that this did not make sense to those who heard his words. They must have been waiting in anticipation, as they had in the past, for Jesus to clarify exactly what he meant when they had not fully grasped his message, but no explanation was forthcoming.

Many believed that they were left with no other choice than to immediately stop following him.

For if Jesus had been speaking figuratively, then the term “eat the flesh and drink the blood”, as understood by Jews in those times, meant to inflict serious injury on a person, especially by calumny or false accusation. Surely Jesus wasn’t promising everlasting life to people who did this to him?

However the only other alternative, given the language Jesus used, was literal. Neither would have made any sense.

But Jesus did not chase after the departing disciples and convince

“The

- ST PAUL

The Gift He left us

them that they had misunderstood him. Instead he turns to his closest 12, who must have been equally perplexed by his words, and asks them, “Do you also wish to go away?” The reply, appropriately, comes from Peter who says, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69).

The Apostles or any other disciples who heard these words spoken, could not possibly have understood his words because he had not yet made his sacrifice on the cross, yet they remained by his side. This faith, spoken through the Rock on which Jesus entrusted his Church, overshadowed the need for sen-

sory understanding and opened the doors to a belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist for all future Christians.

There are no records to indicate whether the Apostles grasped this literal sense of Jesus’ words during the Last Supper when he told them that the bread and wine of the Passover meal was his body and blood or whether it was only in hindsight that they eventually understand the fullness of this truth, but there is no doubt that they were truly embraced by the early Christian Church.

St Paul was the first to record this understanding when he addressed the people of Corinth, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not participation in the

blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” (1Cor 10:1-4).

He further admonishes those who were not giving due reverence to the Eucharistic meal: “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Cor 11:27).

Similarly the early church fathers consistently maintained this understanding. Renowned protestant historian J.N.D. Kelly concedes in his book, ‘Early Christian Doctrines’, “Eucharistic teaching…was in general unquestioningly realist, ie the consecrated bread and wine were taken to be, and were treated and designated as, the Saviour’s body

and blood.” A look at the writings of these fathers indicates that Kelly’s findings cannot be refuted: Ignatius of Antioch (35-117 AD), who was most likely a disciple of St John, based his arguments against the Docetists denial of Jesus’ humanity on the fact that the bread and wine were truly the Lord’s body and blood.

Justin Martyr in 151 wrote: “… the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by him…is both the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus.”

This understanding has remained unchanged to this day.

The Catholic Catechism describes the Eucharist as “the source and summit of the Christian life… For

in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch” (Para 1324).

Throughout the third century Tertullian, St Hippolytus of Rome, St Cyprian and Origen were some of those who passionately wrote of and defended the Real Presence in the bread and wine. St Cyril of Jerusalem, St Ambrose of Milan and Irenaeus and others continued this understanding in the 4th century, as did Theodore of Mopsuesstia and St Augustine in the fifth. This belief was confirmed during the Council of Ephesus in 431, “Proclaiming the death, according to the flesh, of the only-begotten Son of God, that is Jesus Christ, confessing his resurrection from the dead, and his ascension into heaven, we offer the unbloody sacrifice in the churches, and so go on to the mystical thanksgivings, and are sanctified, having received his holy flesh and the precious blood of Christ the Saviour of us all. And not as common flesh do we receive it; God forbid…but as truly the lifegiving and very flesh of the Word himself.”

The Church then maintained this conviction, with minimal opposition or controversy, until the Protestant reformation in the 16th century. It was this schism which inspired Bishops at the Council of Trent (1545-1563) to unequivocally confirm the Church’s unbroken chain of Eucharistic faith; “If anyone denies that in the Sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist are contained truly, really and substantially the body and blood and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and consequently the whole Christ, but says that He is in it only as in a sign, or figure or force, let him be an anathema.”

In 2003 Pope John Paul II opens his Encyclical letter, “Ecclesia De Eucharistia”, with the words, “The Church draws her life from the Eucharist. This truth does not simply express a daily experience of faith, but recapitulates the heart of the mystery of the Church.” His words not only reflect an uninterrupted succession of faith that is directly linked to Christ, but also fulfils His promise to us, “Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20).

Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration

■ By Mark Reidy

Both Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa desired that every Catholic parish in the world establish Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. Pope Benedict XVI stated earlier this year: “In a world where there is so much noise, so much bewilderment, there is a need for silent adoration of Jesus concealed in the Host”.

It’s one of the best known

Eucharistic miracles

■

The Real Presence Association, an apostolate founded by US priest Fr John A Hardon, lists 126 Eucharistic miracles that have occurred over the Church’s history.

One of the more intriguing and dramatic miracles is the one that took place in the small Italian town of Lanciano around the year 700.

This miracle can still be seen today, over 12 centuries after it occurred.

Lanciano derives its name from the word “to lance” and refers to St Longinus, the soldier, who according to legend, pierced the heart of Jesus and was believed to have come from this town.

At the turn of the eighth century, a local priest of the Basilian Order was having doubts regarding the supernatural transformation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.

The flesh and the blood clots can still be clearly seen today in the same church in which the miracle occurred.

The Host has a fibrous appearance and a yellow-dark-brown colour, which becomes a light red colour when illuminated. There is a sheet of tissue in the centre, which is ripped in the middle. The blood contained in the chalice has a brownish yellow colour and consists of five coagulated globules. Since

One morning, while celebrating Mass in the Church of St Legontian, he was shocked to discover that as he pronounced the words of consecration, the Host visibly changed into real flesh and the wine into bright red blood, which soon after coagulated into five small clots. Those in attendance who witnessed the miracle soon spread the news throughout the town.

1713, both have been preserved in a silver monstrance.

The miraculous flesh and blood have been submitted to Vatican authorities and recognised as authentic in 1574, 1637, 1770, and 1886. In 1970-71 Dr Odorardo Linoli, Professor of Anatomy, Pathological Histology, Chemistry and Clinical Microscopy undertook more modern scientific analysis. He was assisted by Dr Ruggero Berteli, a Professor of Anatomy at the University of Sienna. They concluded the following:

The blood is real blood and the flesh is real flesh.

The flesh consists of muscular

tissue of the myocardium (heart tissue).

The blood and flesh belong to the human species. The blood type is identical in the flesh and in the blood, type AB. The proteins in the blood are in the same proportion, as though found in normal fresh blood. There is no trace whatsoever of any materials or agents used for the preservation of flesh or blood. The preservation of the flesh, which was left in its natural state for 12 centuries and exposed to atmospheric and biological agents, remains an inexplicable phenomenon.

Indifference does not a good communion make

■ By Mark Reidy

Personally dipping the Eucharistic Bread into the Wine (intinction) by Catholic communicants is a practice that is forbidden by the Church.

The Vatican-based Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, which attends to matters regarding the Sacred Liturgy, is very clear in its instruction regarding this procedure: “The communicant must not be permitted to intinct the host

himself in the chalice, nor to receive the intincted host in the hand” (Para 104).

The uncertainty of this Church teaching by some of the faithful could possibly have stemmed from a misunderstanding of the current Roman Missal instruction.

This current instruction allows intinction by the priest, and other appointed ministers, who are permitted to take the communicant’s host and dip it into the wine before placing it into the mouth of the recipient.

The Church has never authorised the practice of “self-intinction”. The misinterpretation of this

These inspirational leaders are part of a growing number of Catholics who have promoted the importance of prayer before the Eucharist since Pope Paul VI, during the Second Vatican Council, invited bishops and priests to allow a, “new era of Eucharistic piety (to) pervade the whole Church”. With over 2500 parishes around the world now committed to Perpetual Adoration, it is apparent that many Catholics are taking his words to heart. These parishes have established continuous Adoration, within their churches or chapels, ensuring that at least one person is praying before the Blessed Sacrament, often exposed in a monstrance, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Although there are references to Adoration before the 13th century, the first recorded instance of Perpetual Adoration occurred in Avignon, France on September 11, 1226. On this occasion Louis VII, as an act of thanksgiving for his victory over the Albigensians, requested that the Blessed Sacrament be exposed in the Chapel of the Holy Cross. So great in number were the adorers that the bishop, with the approval of the Holy See, continued the practice, which, despite an interruption from 1792, continued again in 1829. In 1592 Pope Clement VIII established “the -Hour Devotion”, which involved continuous prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. This led to the rise of religious orders and communities throughout Europe and eventually America, who were centered on Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. Although dedication to this form of prayer by the laity began to wane during the early and mid 20th century, it seems that there is now a renewed interest.

procedure can possibly be tracked to the Second Vatican Council’s decision in 1963 to allow the laity to receive both the Bread and Wine during Communion.

This was after centuries of receiving the Bread alone.

The decision was not an innovation of the Council, but rather the restoration of a practice that had existed in the Church for the first 11 centuries.

But while they believed that the practice of receiving both the Body and Blood was a “fuller sign of the Eucharistic banquet” they simultaneously acknowledged that receiving one kind alone does not dimin-

ish the grace received. However, perhaps (and this is debatable) due to ineffective teaching or a lack of correction over the ensuing decades some laity began, usually for the sake of hygiene or convenience, to adopt the practice of intincting their own Host into the wine before consuming it.

In an effort to clarify the protocol of the distribution and receiving of Communion, Perth Archbishop Barry Hickey, in 1997, released Guidelines for the Archdiocese of Perth entitled, “Communion Under Both Kinds”.

Included in these guidelines regarding Communion are the

appropriate practices for the receiving of the Body and Blood of Christ as well as the procedures that are not acceptable; “Authorisation for the current practice of intinction by the people is not found in official Church documents”.

“Arguments based on practicality or hygiene do not justify its continuation” (Para 8.3) and “If Communion is distributed by intinction, it is always the minister who dips the Eucharistic bread into the chalice” (Appendix 4.6). These guidelines for Communion are still valid today and are consistent with the current teachings of the Church.

By Mark Reidy

Popular bread of life: A priest gives Communion during the closing Mass for World Youth Day at Marienfeld outside Cologne, Germany. PHOTO: CNS

Opinion

Where she counts for little at all

Much more depends on the plight of women in Arab Muslim societies than most people might imagine, writes The Record’s national affairs editor, PAUL GRAY.

“Dogs and cats in the developed world have more rights than Arab women do in their own countries.”

So says the Saudi Arabian women’s rights activist and journalist, Wajeha Al-Huwaider.

Al-Huwaider was twice arrested and detained by Saudi Arabian police, in August and September 2006. She was instructed to cease and desist from all writing and activism concerned with the status of women in the Arab-Muslim world.

In a recent English translation of Al-Huwaider’s writings, the Middle East Media Research Institute drew attention to the abysmal status of women in the Arab world.

The heart of the problem is that women are not protected by law in Arab countries, Al-Huwaider says. “Legislation in the Arab countries overtly discriminates against women, overtly oppresses their rights, and harms them as human beings. They are still treated as though they contaminate purity and arouse temptation and immorality.

“The unresolved problems of women are not religious, but purely legal,” Al-Huwaider says. “Legislation that takes away the rights of the woman as a citizen must be replaced by legislation guaranteeing her full rights.

“All the Arab regimes are UN members, and have ratified the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which clearly decrees justice, equal rights and equal obligations for all citizens. Nevertheless, in our chauvinistic country” - here she refers to Saudi Arabia - “the woman is still considered the property of her family.”

Last May, Al-Huwaider wrote an article comparing the conditions of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba with the conditions for women living in the Arab-Muslim world.

Guantanamo Bay, though a “terrible inhuman prison” according to Al-Huwaider, is a better place than the home in the Arab-Muslim world, from a woman’s point of view.

“In some Arab countries a woman is a prisoner in her [own] home, and can only move with permission of her guardian, or, more accurately, her jailor.

“Second, in some Arab countries the woman’s guardian is her owner, and the one who has the legal right to use her. He controls all her affairs, great and small. His role is very similar to that of a jailor at Guantanamo.

“Third, a prisoner at Guantanamo, like many Arab women, is not the master of his own body. He has no power to control his own fate and his personal freedom has been taken away, along with his right to protest his situation.

“Fourth, the prisoners in Guantanamo are not protected by law, and their lives are the property of their jailors, just as the lives of the Arab women are in the hands of their guardians. When a guardian feels that his wife has crossed a red line, she is doomed to die a terrible death.”

One point in which Guantanamo Bay prisoners are better off than Arab women is in clothing, Al-Huwaider

suggests. While Guantanamo Bay prisoners wear practical, light coloured clothing suitable for the climate, Arab women “are forced to wear impractical and suffocating garments in colours that do not suit the scorching climate of our region.”

The brutal messages contained in the writings of Al-Huwaider are reinforced by the recently published UN Arab Human Development Report. The report points out that half of women in the Arab world are illiterate, and in all but four Arab countries fewer than 80 per cent of

short of a Martin Luther-style reformation for Islam”.

At a time of year when Christians remember the unique missionary role of Mary, the mother of Jesus - a woman from the same region of the world where women now are so visibly oppressed - it is timely to remember the sufferings and status of Arab-Muslim women today. It may be considered fanciful to believe it possible to improve the living conditions of women in Arab-Muslim countries. Certainly the obstacles in the path of such a development are enormous.

“Dogs and cats in the developed world have more rights than Arab women do in their own countries.” So says the Saudi women’s rights activist and journalist Wajeha Al-Huwaider.

girls go to secondary school. The report also shows that the maternal mortality rate in Arab countries is about 270 per 100 000 live births, which is a rate almost twenty times higher than in the USA.

Women are not allowed to vote in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Female workforce participation is only 33 per cent. The home in the Arab-Muslim world is described in the report as a place where “any type of violence against women may be practiced”.

The details of violence practiced against women in the Arab-Muslim world are well known and sometimes too grisly to put in print.

Commenting on the UN report last week, journalist Janet Albrechtsen said in The Australian that what is needed is “nothing

These obstacles include not only the customary conservatism of the Arab-Muslim world, but also the significant absence of freedoms, including a free media in which such ideas can be discussed.

Nevertheless, throughout history a great deal of human progress has been achieved in the face of seemingly insurmountable difficulties. From the perspective of Christianity, with its emphasis on the never to be neglected role of divine grace, the possibility of improvement in the living conditions of Muslim women can always be prayed for, at least, if not actually brought into existence.

One of the central messages in Rodney Stark’s classic book, A History of Christianity, bears this out. Stark demonstrates the essential role played by women in bring-

ing about the transformation of the ancient pagan world. In many early Christian communities, women outnumbered men by as many as twenty to one. Women both carried and planted the seeds of Christianity throughout the pagan Mediterranean in the centuries before the Emperor Constantine. It is Stark’s thesis that pagan Rome adopted Christianity because of these women-led missionary endeavours, and that the fabled conversion of Constantine himself, presented as a miraculous and sudden event in many early devotional traditions, was more of a symptom than a cause of the Roman Empire’s adoption of Christianity.

This process, it should be remembered, took centuries. The transformation of the Arab-Muslim world likewise cannot be expected to occur overnight.

What seems certain is that when and if such a transformation occurs, it will occur largely through the agency of women. The securing of women’s basic human rights is certain to have revolutionary effects throughout Islamic society. This is a matter which should be of vital interest to the West.

In the course of the first four years after September 11, 2001, it has become increasingly clear that the greatest part of the struggle against totalitarianism arising from within the Arab-Muslim world will be political and civil rather than military. The building of political alliances with moderate forces in Arab-Muslim countries is essential. So too is any practical assistance which can be offered towards the development of a prosperous middle class whose vital interest is in the safe and peaceful business of trade, rather than the anger and violence of war.

Another vital strategy for the West is to support women in the ArabMuslim world - not least through the avenue of drawing attention to their situation and their needs.

Femininity under Islam? Nigerian Amina Lawal waits in an Islamic courtroom in Katsina in northern Nigeria in 2003. She was appealing her sentence of death by stoning under the Shariah - or Islamic law - for having a child out of wedlock. Her case caused international outrage, while Shariah’s imposition sparked riots when it was extended from civil law to criminal law in 12 northern Nigerian states in 2000. Thousands died in violence between Christians from southern ethnic groups and Muslims in the North.

PHOTO: CNS/REUTERS

World Feature

How green is my coffee?

Jesuit coffee company brews up peace, fair trade, stewardship

■ By Elizabeth Elliott

It could be called the ultimate “green” bean - a coffee bean that promotes peace, fair trade, education and organic stewardship. MadreMonte is a company that promotes 100-percent Colombian organic coffee and is linked with the Colombian Jesuits who have been helping Colombian farmers for the past 42 years.

The US company was co-founded by Jesuit Father Bill Watson of Portland and Jesuit Father Joe Aguilar of Colombia.

To make it a for-profit company, Father Watson asked Joe Verschueren, the founder and CEO of the online printing company, ImageX.com, to give them financial backing.

Verschueren is a graduate of Gonzaga University, the Jesuit college in Spokane, Wash.

He is an entrepreneur who has a lot of experience with start-up companies.

Father Aguilar has a doctorate in environmental studies from the University of California at Berkeley.

The plans for MadreMonte evolved over the past four years during Father Watson’s visits to Colombia, first as Gonzaga

University’s vice president for mission and later as the Jesuits’ Oregon province assistant for international ministries and Colombia.

“My interest in this developed when I began to visit the coffee regions of Colombia with Father Joe Aguilar,” Father Watson told the Catholic Sentinel, Portland’s archdiocesan newspaper.

“I discovered the positive benefits of organic farming and the destruction to the environment that chemical farming produces.”

Fathers Watson and Aguilar tried to imagine what modern-day Jesuit “reductions,” or settlements, would look like as they considered this venture.

The reductions in Paraguay were visionary missions established by the Jesuits with the Guarani Indians. They were visionary in that the cities or mission centres combined faith, culture, music, architecture and commerce.

“We knew it was not desirable or possible to re-create such a mission as the reductions, but we felt that a new type of project that considered culture, commerce and faith as integral components of a company that alleviated poverty, generated wealth for growers and had sound environmental principles was possible,” Father Watson said.

In order to achieve this goal, Father Watson said, MadreMonte would assist the Colombian Jesuits in their sustainable development projects as it applied to coffee farmers’ cultivation of the land.

The guarantee of a consistent

price for green coffee that is higher than fair trade prices would help them preserve their local cultures and farming lifestyles while encouraging greater numbers of small family growers to take the leap into organic farming.

The Colombian Jesuits have assisted in developing the first modern-day organic coffee farms in Colombia. They work with independent cooperatives to advance organic farming and sustainable development.

Father Watson said that sustainable development uses the resourc-

The Colombian Jesuits have assisted in developing the first modern-day organic coffee farms in Colombia.

es of the earth in a way that helps all people and has no lasting negative impact on natural ecosystems.

The Jesuits are not new to the coffee business.

They have helped with coffee growing in many places in the world, and first introduced coffee to Haiti in 1715.

“I realised that as one of the largest commodities imported to the US, coffee is more than just a product,” Father Watson said.

“It is a symbolic commodity that can be used to educate consumers on the critical issues of sustainable development and environmental protection.”

He added, “The Jesuits introduced coffee to the New World, and now we want to see if we can’t use coffee to help change the way the world works in terms of sustainability, environmental consciousness, globalisation and commerce.”

The company sells its coffee- highest-quality Colombian and completely organic - for $11 for a 12-ounce bag.

It is available only through the company’s Website, www. madremonte.com, in order to keep costs down and maximise profits for investing in programs that advance sustainability.

The valley from where Madre Monte source their organic coffee beans.

PHOTO: MADREMONTE

Fr. Joe Aguilar, Co-Founder

The World

Lonely Christmas in Bethlehem for few pilgrims

Few foreigners spend Christmas in Bethlehem due to political tensions

■ By Judith Sudilovsky

Six friends, members of a local Christian choir, huddled together in long coats and scarves for warmth against the evening chill on Manger Square in Bethlehem.

The admittedly disappointed choir was supposed to have performed along with other local choirs for Christmas Eve, but instead a Spanish women’s group had taken over the whole time slot.

“Ten years ago there were choirs performing here on Christmas from all over the world (like) Korea, Poland. So now we are happy for the Spanish group.

“We’d like to see more groups coming,” said Munther Isaac, 27, a Presbyterian and teacher at Bethlehem Bible College.

Around the friends, groups of mainly young men milled about and street vendors sold hot corncob, coffee, party hats and glow-inthe dark toys.

Few foreigners were among the crowd - just those with tickets to midnight Mass who gathered close to the church and arrived just before the church doors opened.

This meant little business for the local souvenir shops.

“We don’t see that many tourists,

and it is not the same without the international Christians here,” said Isaac. “It is a privilege for us to be from the few remnants of the tiny minority of Christians here. Those of us who stay have a responsibility.”

Many of his friends are leaving or talking of leaving, he said. Quickly glancing around at the local crowd, he added quietly that he and his friends were among the few Christians in the square.

Isaac’s friend, Gabriel Hanna, 29, said, “We are happy they (Muslims) are here, but they don’t feel the holiday.”

Hanna, a Syrian Orthodox student at the college, said the political situation leaves “no peace in the hearts” of Christians for Christmas.

“The political situation, the conflict, the (Israeli) occupation, the (separation) wall” have hastened the Christian exodus, Isaac said.

Most local Christians can’t afford

to buy new clothes and gifts for Christmas, so are turning more to religious rituals, he said.

“Most people just go to church,” he said. Many Christian families spend Christmas Eve at home or eat dinner at one of a few local restaurants; they took their children to Manger Square earlier in the day to watch the traditional procession of Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem into the Church of the Nativity.

Father Julian Wawro, a Polish priest studying a semester at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem through Rome’s Pontifical Biblical Institute said he and his fellow student-priests were quoting Scripture and singing Christmas carols about going to Bethlehem that morning, and now here they were.

“Now we are in the place. Now it is real. It is very profound that we are here now,” he said.

“To be in Bethlehem at midnight Mass is the most important thing we can do on this day.”

Squeezed next to the police barricades in front of the church stood Vida Samvileviciene, 50, who came from Lithuania with 17 other pilgrims.

They had arrived earlier that day without tickets for the Mass and were hoping to be allowed in once the doors opened.

“We heard that last year there weren’t that many people, and they let in people without tickets so we hope they will let us in,” she said. “We are Catholic and it is important for us to be at Christmas Mass here.”

They hadn’t known what to expect when they arrived in Bethlehem, she said, and were a bit concerned it would be unsafe because of news of tension in the region.

Although the border crossing from Israel went smoothly, she said, they were a bit unnerved by all the soldiers with guns on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides.

China working towards Vatican ties Millions see Pope

Chinese official, Macau

bishop discuss China-Vatican sticking points

A top Chinese official told the Catholic bishop of Macau that two conditions must be met for normalisation of China-Vatican relations.

According to Bishop Jose Lai Hung-seng of Macau, the Chinese official said China is working to establish ties with the Vatican, but issues concerning Taiwan and the appointment of Chinese bishops remain obstacles.

Liu Yandong, head of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China, and her delegation visited Bishop Lai and other Catholic leaders at the bishop’s residence, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency. Liu said China feels it isn’t respected if the Church in China has to follow foreigners’ instructions on the appointment of bishops, Bishop Lai told UCA News on December 20.

China has insisted repeatedly on two prerequisites for discussing the establishment of formal relations with the Vatican: The Vatican must sever diplomatic relations with Taiwan and must not interfere in China’s internal affairs.

Bishop Lai said Liu was “sincere

and frank” in sharing her views on China-Vatican relations during their one-hour meeting.

The bishop said he hopes China and the Vatican can establish relations soon.

“Macau Diocese and I will do whatever we can” to help achieve this goal, he said.

Bishop Lai said the meeting was an opportunity to understand Chinese leaders’ thinking and to enhance mutual understanding. He said a breakthrough in ChinaVatican relations is not easy due to a lack of contact between the two sides.

In 1957, the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association was formed by the government to assure Catholics’ harmony with state policies and to separate the Church from “foreign interference,” especially from its ties with the Vatican. Although initially bishops elected and ordained by members of the patriotic association did not have Vatican approval, in the mid-1980s bishops began secretly seeking such approval.

Church sources say as many as 90 percent of the bishops in the government-approved Church are recognised as legitimate bishops by the Vatican.

Meanwhile, Bishop Lai said he told the delegation he regrets that Macau priests cannot celebrate Mass while on pilgrimage to mainland sites. Liu agreed to deliver his

request to the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the bishop told UCA News.

Bishop Lai also told the delegation about the development of the diocese and social problems in Macau.

“We are really concerned with the hidden social problems” behind the flourishing economic development of Macau since 1999, when Macau was returned to the Chinese government from Portugal, he said.

Bishop Lai said the Church has been trying to help solve family problems, moral confusion among the youth, compulsive gambling, and conflicts among social classes arising from the extreme disparity between the rich and poor.

The bishop said he also told Liu about local Catholics’ concern for mainland Chinese and the local Church’s interest in serving people with leprosy and supporting students in poor areas there.

Father Joao Evangelista Lau Him-sang, who was present at the meeting, told UCA News it was “a good start” for furthering contacts with mainland China. He said he believes the visit showed the central government recognises the local Church’s contribution to society.

Liu led the official delegation that visited Macau on December 13-17.

Vatican says more than 3.2 million attended papal events in 2006

With two public events still to go in 2006, the Vatican reported on December 28, 2006 that more than 3.2 million people attended papal audiences and liturgies during the past year.

Almost 1.3 million people joined Pope Benedict XVI for the recitation of the Angelus on Sundays and feast days at the Vatican and at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, the Vatican reported.

The faithful still had one more opportunity - December 31 - to raise the number for reciting the midday Marian prayer with the Pope in 2006. The statistics, compiled by the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household, do not include figures from Pope Benedict’s four trips abroad in 2006, or from his trips to different Italian cities.

With an evening prayer of thanksgiving still on the schedule for December 31, the Vatican said 539,200 people had attended papal liturgies at the Vatican and at Castel Gandolfo during the year.

Another 357,120 people took part in special audiences for particular groups. In addition, the Vatican said a total of just over 1 million people attended one of the Pope’s weekly general audiences on

Pope Benedict

Wednesdays at the Vatican or Castel Gandolfo. According to the statistics, the biggest crowds were registered during June, when more than 556,000 people attended the Pope’s general audiences, special audiences, liturgies and Angelus prayers.

The low point came in July, when the Pope spent 18 days in the Italian Alps.

At the beginning and end of the month, the general audience attendance added up to 20,000 people; 100 more were part of special audiences and 35,000 participated in the Sunday Angelus.

Pope Benedict held no public liturgies in July or September.

In August, an estimated 500 people joined him inside and outside the tiny parish Church of St Thomas in Castel Gandolfo for the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

A Palestinian Christian prays in the grotto of the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem on Christmas Eve. PHOTO: CNS

The World

Saint casts a surprise hit on the internet

Doctor becomes unlikely Internet evangelist with podcasts on saints

■ By Joe Bollig

Dr. Paul J. Camarata never planned to become a worldwide Internet evangelist. It just worked out that way.

Camarata, a neurosurgeon who practices in Kansas City, is the creator of SaintCast, a weekly Internet podcast about saints.

SaintCast has gained fans across the United States and as far away as Japan, New Zealand and Ecuador. He estimates that the SaintCasts have been downloaded 70,000 times in the past five months.

“As soon as I heard about the SaintCast, I subscribed to it on my iTunes,” said Gloria Denis, a regular listener. “On (one) particular show, Dr Camarata had a trivia question on St Francis of Assisi under his ‘Saint Jeopardy’ segment. I was so excited about answering that question, even with my limited knowledge of the saints. That was it! I was hooked.”

“Podcasting” is a term that comes from the iPod, Apple’s small electronic device that can receive audio programs that have been downloaded from the Internet.

“It’s actually a way of broadcasting over the Internet,” said Camarata, a member of the Church of the Nativity Parish in Leawood.

“It can be a textual reading or a music program.”

One of the benefits of podcasting is that the listener can download the file and listen to it at his or her leisure - at home, driving or while taking a walk.

Another benefit is that, unlike conventional radio, the podcast can be received wherever there’s an Internet connection.

Podcasting also is relatively inexpensive to start. Anyone with a computer and an Internet connection just needs to talk into the microphone on the computer, make it an MP3 file and place it on a hosting Web site. For a little more quality, a good microphone, an interface between the microphone and

computer, software (which comes preloaded on many computers) and Web hosting are needed.

Camarata estimates he has spent about $300 on equipment and $10 a month on Web hosting - all from his own pocket. And he doesn’t need a fancy studio.

A clothes closet in his home works very nicely, thanks to the sound-dampening qualities of the hanging clothes.

His first podcast was in April 2006, and he has done more than 30. It takes between five and seven hours to put together a single podcast, he said, so he usually makes one per week. Sometimes when he’s busy, he has to skip a week.

While admittedly no computer

geek, Camarata did have something that many other budding podcasters didn’t: actual broadcast experience.

When he was a student at Thomas More Prep-Marian in his hometown of Hays, Camarata got a parttime job as an announcer at KAYS, an AM radio station. While he was in college, he came home during summers to work at KAYS-TV.

He was so good that one of the station’s owners offered to pay his way to broadcasting school, but Camarata decided to follow in the footsteps of his physician father.

It was experience from that road not taken that has helped him put together high-quality podcasts.

But it takes more than just good production values to make a good podcast.

The key thing is “content, content, content,” he said. And the inspired content that sets Camarata’s podcasts apart from the pack is his focus on the saints.

“The saints are people who are there to serve as our guides,” said Camarata.

“We have thousands of (saints) we can look to who have done everything. They were all sinners. They faced identical problems that many of us have to face, and they faced them the right way. Their lives are presented for us to emulate.”

The SaintCasts and a related blog are available at www.saintcast.org.

A subscription is available through iTunes at feeds.feedburner.com/ saintcast.

Main Rome train station dedicated to Pope John Paul II

Honouring the late Pope John Paul II as a man of dialogue and encounter, the city of Rome and the Italian state railway system have dedicated Rome’s Termini train station to his memory. The newly refurbished “Termini-John Paul II Station” was formally inaugurated on December 23.

According to Termini statistics, some 480,000 people a day - 150 million each year - pass through the station.

At the dedication ceremony, Rome’s Mayor Walter Veltroni said Pope John Paul was “a man who bound to himself the idea of dialogue and of understanding values continually listening to a society in transformation.”

Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the papal vicar of Rome, told the crowd gathered for the ceremony that it made perfect sense to dedicate a train station to the memory of a pope who travelled so much.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, conveyed the “pleasure and thanks of Pope Benedict XVI. We spoke this morning and he asked me to give his blessing to you.”

Vatican surpised and concerned at Bishop’s run for Presidency

Vatican warns retired Paraguayan bishop not to run for president

The Vatican warned an inactive Catholic bishop that he faces suspension from the priesthood if he pursues his goal of winning opposition support to run for the Paraguayan presidency.

On its Web site, the Paraguayan bishops’ conference posted the warning, signed on December 20 by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for

the world in brief

24 Missionaries killed

Bishops. Bishop Fernando Lugo Mendez, the 57-year-old retired bishop of San Pedro, announced publicly on December 25 that he intended to leave the priesthood to run as the presidential candidate of an opposition party or coalition in the April 2008 elections.

Cardinal Re wrote to Bishop Lugo, “In the name of Jesus Christ, I exhort you to reflect seriously on your behaviour and on the effect this could have on you and on the Church.”

The letter said the Vatican learned “with surprise” of his intention to run for the presidency.

Catholic Church personnel continue to be killed as they work in mission lands or among society’s most disadvantaged groups, although they are more often the victims of violent crimes than of persecution for their faith. Fides, the news agency of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, said that over the course of 2006 it had registered the deaths of 24 priests, religious and lay workers “who lost their lives in a violent way.” The murdered church workers, it said, are often “the victims - at least apparently - of aggression, robbery or theft perpetrated in social contexts marked by particular violence, human degradation

“You know well,” the cardinal told him, that canon law “prohibits clergy to assume public offices that carry a participation in the exercise of civil power,” whether in the legislature, presidency or judiciary.

Serving as president “is not congruent with the priestly and episcopal mission, which has as its fundamental objective the salvation of souls,” the cardinal wrote.

While bishops also must be concerned about the social problems of their people, that concern must be expressed in a way that is consistent with their role as the spiritual leader of the faithful, the letter said.

and poverty, which these peacemakers tried to alleviate with their presence and their work.” The total of 24 murdered church workers was just one less than that reported in 2005, it said. While Fides said it was not declaring the deceased to be martyrs in the formal sense of those recognised by the Church for being killed out of hatred of the faith, it hoped people would remember and pray for them.

Catholic workers accused

Two Catholic human rights workers in the Republic of Congo received suspended sentences and fines on charges of forgery and misusing funds, but said they would appeal the sentences. Christian Mounzeo, president of a Congolese human rights

In addition, the cardinal said, a bishop must be a symbol and servant of unity, which is impossible if he runs as a candidate in a multiparty democracy.

If Bishop Lugo formally becomes a candidate, Cardinal Re said, it would “be in clear contrast with the serious responsibility of a bishop of the Catholic Church called to promote and defend the unity of the Church, its doctrine, worship and discipline.”

Cardinal Re told the bishop that if he continues to promote himself as a candidate there would be, “as a first sanction, the canonical penalty

organisation working to promote transparency in the country’s oil industry, and Brice Mackosso, secretary of the Pointe-Noire diocesan justice and peace commission, were given nine-month suspended sentences and fines totalling around $600 each for forgery and misappropriating funds by a court in Pointe-Noire, Congo’s second-largest city, on December 27. The two also were ordered to repay money they were convicted of stealing. Both men deny the original charge of stealing up to $4,000 and a laptop computer.

Pope has hope for 2007

Welcoming in the new year at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI said a world suffering from wars and terrorism can find peace

of suspension,” which would prohibit him from any public exercise of his priesthood.

After Cardinal Re’s letter was published, the Vatican press office said on December 28 it had no further comment.

Bishop Lugo was ordained to the priesthood in 1977 and named bishop of San Pedro in 1994. Pope John Paul II accepted his resignation as bishop of the diocese in January 2005. The Vatican announcement of his resignation referred only to the provision in canon law for bishops to retire before age 75 for health or other serious reason. CNS

only through respect for human dignity and human rights. The Pope celebrated Mass in St Peter’s Basilica on January 1, which the Church marks as World Peace Day, and quoted from his peace day message that was sent to governments around the globe. The theme of the message this year was “The Human Person, the Heart of Peace.” In order for peace agreements to last, the Pope said, they must be based on respect for the dignity of the human being created by God. This dignity is the foundation of peace and cannot be viewed as something subject to popular opinion or negotiations between parties, he said. He urged the international community to make greater efforts to ensure that “in the name of God a world is built in which essential human rights are respected by all.” Every Christian has a special vocation as a peacemaker, he said.

Dr Paul J. Camarata of Overland Park, Kansas, is the creator of SaintCast, a popular Catholic podcast on the Internet. PHOTO: CNS

They teach us to serve with generosity

Benedict XVI speaks on Timothy and Titus

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

After speaking at length of the great Apostle Paul, we now take into consideration two of his closest collaborators: Timothy and Titus. To them are addressed three letters traditionally attributed to Paul, of which two are destined to Timothy and one to Titus.

“Timothy” is a Greek name and means “who honours God.” While Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles, mentions him six times, Paul names him on 17 occasions in his letters (moreover he appears once in the Letter to the Hebrews).

We can deduce that from Paul he enjoyed great consideration, although Luke does not tell us all that he had to do with him. The Apostle, in fact, entrusted him with important missions and saw in him a sort of “alter ego,” as can be seen in his great praise of him in the Letter to the Philippians. “I have no one like him, who will be genuinely anxious for your welfare” (2:20).

Timothy was born in Lystra

(some 200 km northwest of Tarsus) of a Jewish mother and a pagan father (cf. Acts 16:1). The fact that his mother had contracted a mixed marriage and that she did not circumcise her son leads one to think that Timothy was brought up in a family that was not strictly observant, though it is said that he knew the Scriptures from his childhood (cf. 2 Timothy 3:15). His mother’s name has been transmitted to us, Eunice, and that of his grandmother, Lois (cf. 2 Timothy 1:5).

When Paul passed through Lystra at the start of his second missionary journey, he chose Timothy as his companion, as “he was well spoken by the brethren at Lystra and Iconium” (Acts 16:2), but he “circumcised him because of the Jews that were in those places” (Acts 16:3). Together with Paul and Silas, Timothy went across Asia Minor to Troas, from where he went to Macedonia. We are told that in Philippi, where Paul and Silas were accused of disturbing

Position Vacant

Administration Manager - Part Time

The Record Catholic Newspaper in West Perth is seeking an Administration Manager for 3 days per week. (MonWed).

The Office Manager is an integral part of a team which publishes the weekly Catholic newspaper. This position is primarily to provide administrative support for all staff under the general supervision of the Editor. The major role is to be a capable and confident receptionist, handling phone calls, following up on queries, processing invoices and banking. Strong interpersonal skills are imperative along with excellent time management and the ability to prioritise.

You must be experienced in a variety of administration duties. Your primary responsibilities include:

• Mail inwards/outwards

• Reception duties

• Preparation & distribution of weekly newspaper (via couriers & post)

• Payroll

• Banking

• Petty cash

• Filing

• Panorama & Classifieds bookings.

• Entering & tracking subscriptions in MYOB.

• Liason with clients & suppliers & customers

• Liason with Printers & couriers on a regular basis regarding deadlines, numbers to be printed & publishing dates.

• Maintaining client database on MYOB

• General office support as required

• Running errands

• Organising business functions and appointments as directed

• Ability to assist the accounts department as required

To be considered you will have had at least 2 years in a similar role and must have excellent interpersonal, oral and written skills and be a team player. Attention to detail and numerical accuracy is essential. Competency in Microsoft Office is also required, as is ability to use MYOB (AccountEdge – MAC) and email. Applicants must be fully supportive of the objectives and ethos of the Catholic Church.

Please forward by January 29 your application and CV to: The Editor The Record and Discovery Newspaper PO BOX 75 Leederville WA 6902 Or email: cathrec@iinet.net.au

the city and imprisoned for having been opposed to some unscrupulous individuals who were taking advantage of a slave girl who had a spirit of divination (cf. Acts 16:1640), Timothy was released.

When Paul then was obliged to travel to Athens, Timothy caught up with him in that city and from there was sent to the young Church of Thessalonica to confirm her in the faith (cf. 1 Thessalonians 3:1-2). He then joined the Apostle in Corinth, giving him good news about the Thessalonians and collaborating with him in the evangelisation of that city (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:19).

We again find Timothy in Ephesus, during Paul’s third missionary journey. From there, the Apostle wrote probably to Philemon and to the Philippians, and both letters were written with Timothy (cf. Philemon 1; Philippians 1:1).

From Ephesus, Paul sent him to Macedonia with a certain Erastus (cf. Acts 19:22) and later to Corinth, with the task to take a letter, in which he recommended to the Corinthians that they give him a good reception (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:17; 16:10-11).

He appears again as co-writer of the Second Letter to the Corinthians, and when from Corinth Paul wrote the Letter to the Romans, he transmitted greetings to Timothy, as well as to others (cf. Romans 16:21).

From Corinth, the disciple again traveled to Troas, on the Asian shore of the Aegean Sea, there to await the Apostle who was going to Jerusalem at the end of his third missionary journey (cf. Acts 20:4).

From that moment, we can say that the figure of Timothy stands out as that of a pastor of great importance. According to Eusebius’ subsequent “Ecclesiastical History,” Timothy was the first bishop of Ephesus (cf. 3:4). Some of his relics have been in Italy since 1239, in the Cathedral of Termoli, in Molise, having come from Constantinople.

“

The fact that his mother had contracted a mixed marriage and that she did not circumcise her son leads one to think that Timothy was brought up in a family that was not strictly observant, though it is said that he knew the Scriptures from his childhood.

As regards the figure of Titus, whose name is of Latin origin, we know that he was Greek by birth, that is, pagan (cf. Galatians 2:3). Paul took him to Jerusalem on the occasion of the so-called Apostolic Council, in which the preaching of the Gospel to pagans was solemnly accepted without imposing upon them the precepts of the Mosaic law.

In the Letter he addresses to him, the Apostle praises him describing him as “my true child in our common faith” (Titus 1:4). After Timothy went to Corinth, Paul sent Titus with the task to call that rebellious community to obedience.

Titus brought peace to the Church of Corinth and the Apostle wrote these words: “But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only with his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more....

“Therefore we are comforted. And besides our own comfort we rejoiced still more at the joy of

“

Titus, because his mind has been set at rest by you all” (2 Corinthians 7:6-7,13). Paul again sent Titus - whom he called “partner and co-worker” (2 Corinthians 8:23) - to organise the completion of the collections for the Christians of Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 8:6). Subsequent news found in these pastoral letters speak of him as bishop of Crete (cf. Titus 1:5), from whence, by invitation of Paul, he joined the Apostle in Nicopolis, in Epirus, (cf. Titus 3:12). Later he also went to Dalmatia (cf. 2 Timothy 4:10). We do not have any more information on Titus’ subsequent trips or on his death.

In short, if we consider together the two figures of Timothy and Titus, we are aware of some significant facts. The most important

is that Paul used collaborators in the development of his missions. He is, of course, the Apostle par excellence, founder and pastor of many churches. Nevertheless, it is clear that he did not do it all alone, but leaned on trustworthy persons, who shared the effort and responsibilities.

To be pointed out, moreover is the willingness of his collaborators. The sources we have on Timothy and Titus underline their willingness to take on the different tasks, which often consisted in representing Paul even in difficult circumstances. In other words, they teach us to serve the Gospel with generosity, knowing that this also implies a service to the Church herself.

Let us take up, finally, the recommendation that the Apostle Paul makes to Titus in the letter he addresses to him: “This saying is trustworthy. I want you to insist on these points, that those who have believed in God be careful to devote themselves to good works; these are excellent and beneficial to others” (Titus 3:8). With our concrete commitment, we must and can discover the truth of these words, and carry out in this season of Advent good works to open the doors of the world to Christ, our Saviour.

Couples Corner

Hints for a Happy Marriage

with Derek Boylen

Marriage is not a 50/50 relationship.

A person cannot go into marriage expecting it will be a 50/50 venture and hope for success. If we go in thinking 50/50 then as soon as the effort begins to look more like 51/49 we start to feel resentful. Happy marriages require 100% from both spouses. Real love requires us to give fully of ourselves to our spouses.

Ancient: The city of Ephesus in modern Turkey - one of the earliest centres of Christianity established by St Paul and his collaborators Sts Timothy and Titus.

Books

The cream always rises to the top, by God

Those with difficult upbringings are either crushed by the weight of their misfortune or rise above it. This is a story of the latter.

■ By Brian Peachey

“I’ve been bloody lucky’: the story of an orphan named Jimmy Butt

As told to Felicity Dargan

By Connor Court Publishing Available from The Record

$24.95 plus postage

This book is a gripping story of the life of Jimmy Wallace Butt, who was given up for adoption at birth. It stretches over eightynine sometimes-harsh years.

But it is more than that. It is a unique demonstration of the storyteller’s art.

It is Jimmy Butt’s story in his own words as told to Felicity Dargan, who had the ability to listen and record what she instinctively recognised as a slice of real-life drama, told by a man who was dealt a bad hand, but who held no grudges. Faith is a gift, given freely by God to many and rejected by some. But it was not rejected by Jimmy Butt. If one tries to grope for the reason for his survival against some of the roughest adversities, the answer is partly because he had the gift of faith, which strengthened as the years went by.

Felicity Dargan has produced

a real page-turner; a hard to put down book that starts in 1917 when Jimmy was “born out of wedlock” and handed over to the Victorian Child Welfare Department. It is told by Jimmy in his own colourful language and grammar.

When just 13 months old he was fostered to the Aylward family in Hopetoun Street in Northcote.

Aged five, Jimmy and the Aylwards moved to a shop and house in Lygon Street, Brunswick opposite the East Brunswick Club Hotel.

Jimmy starts school at St Ambrose in Sydney Road and later attends the Christian Brothers School in Brunswick Road.

For many Victorians this is the start of a nostalgic journey of places throughout Melbourne: the trams, the trains, the sounds and smells. There are also the hard times in country Victoria and the depression.

Life with various sections of the Aylward family was good. They were Catholics, typical of the honest, hard working poor of the time. But when Jimmy was nine his stay with this family ended when the lady he called Aunty Kate became ill and he had to be sent back to the Royal Park Children’s Home “you know where the Zoo is”.

As he describes it: “The first night at the home was the worst.”

The other kids pinched the fruit he had brought with him.

They also ate all his bread and jam at dinner and he wasn’t allowed to have a cup of tea because he wet the bed.

He was only there for a month

when he was taken by the Corrigan family in Preston, who soon moved to Mordialloc.

This was the beginning of a nomadic life. Then it was the Molloys in Alton for a short time and then to Mrs Bridget Lonergan, who had a small farm at Bonnie Doon, where he learned to milk cows and ride a horse.

He enjoyed the sometimes hard farm work. Jimmy was there until he was 14, which was also when he had to leave school. It was then back to “the Home”.

Jimmy has to take many long train journeys on his own to country Victoria.

Imagine the fears and doubts experienced by a lonely ten year old boy boarding a steam train at Spencer Street Station.

When he turned 19 he was freed from being a ward of the State. By then he had experienced (in some cases suffered) 16 changes of foster families, usually interlinked with having to go back to “the Home”.

When the great depression struck, money was scarce, work hard to find and the numerous changes of accommodation Jimmy found were primitive.

But it is here that we see his indomitable spirit. He succeeds and gets work in a foundry, eventually becoming a qualified moulder and later owning his own moulding business.

He spins some interesting yarns about his conflicts with the “the Commos” in the Moulders Union and his involvement with the Industrial Groups.

In 1943, at the Carmelite Church

Academics on the Sabbatical of a lifetime...

■ By Dr Jennifer Carroll

The Magi are one of my favourite parts of the Christmas story, and not only because they almost always have the best outfits. In the last 2000 years, they have changed from ‘wise men’ to priests of ancient Persia (Magi) and kings.

In Medieval and Renaissance art, they were often considered to represent the Gentile peoples, arriving late, but still worshiping the True God.

This is ironic, as modern archaeology strongly suggests that they were very likely to be Jews from Babylon.

A great many Jews lived in Babylon, remaining there after their exile, (‘By the Rivers of Babylon’, as the song goes) and Balthazar was a common Babylonian name of the period.

In 1925 some the neo-Babylonian cuneiform tablets were deciphered from the School of Astrology at

Sippar in Babylon. These particular tablets record the position of the planets in the constellation of Pisces. Jupiter and Saturn are carefully marked over a period of about five months, in 7BC.

Recent mathematical calculations have revealed that this conjunction was clearly visible in the Mediterranean on May 29, October 3 and December 4, 7BC.

These two planets close together would have appeared as one particularly brilliant star.

To the Jews in Babylon, this conjunction would mean that a mighty king would appear in the West Country, the land of their fathers.

In Babylonian tradition, Pisces was the sign of the West, the Mediterranean. In Jewish tradition it was the sign of the Messiah; Pisces stood at the end of the sun’s old course and the beginning of its new one.

Across the ancient world, Jupiter was seen as a lucky star and a royal

in Middle Park Jimmy married Maree Bourke, “who lived around the corner from me”. “It was the best thing I ever done,” he said.

After living in several rented houses of doubtful quality, he receives permission as an ownerbuilder to build his home on a block in Daly Street, Pasco Vale.

The construction commences after he had built a brick garage and lived in it with Maree, who was seven months pregnant, and the three kids.

There is a temptation to repeat (in Jimmy’s own words) some of the hundreds of wonderful stories, but space in such a review does not permit it. I can only urge everybody, especially the young, who may want all that is offered by commerce and the media.

As well as it being a good read there are numerous valuable messages. The ex-pat Victorians living in Western Australia will enjoy and wallow in the nostalgia of “the good old days”.

star. According to Jewish tradition Saturn was supposed to protect Israel. The Romans believed that Saturn and Yahweh were different names for the same god.

Babylonian astrology thought that Saturn was the star of its neighbours, Syria and Palestine.

To Jewish astronomers in Babylon, this conjunction of planets would indicate the birth of a very great king, or the Messiah.

So on May 29, 7BC, some Jewish or Babylonian astronomers observed the conjunction of the two planets. They could predict the second conjunction on October 3 (which was also the Jewish day of Atonement). If they set out for Jerusalem then, which was a better time than mid summer, they would arrive in Jerusalem about mid November, where they turned up at the court of King Herod, who was less than pleased to see them.

Herod sent the Wise Men to Bethlehem in search of the Messiah, in time for the third conjunction, on December 4 and lo the star which they saw in the east, went before them. (Matt 2,10)

At their third conjunction, Jupiter and Saturn appeared as one great brilliant star. In the evening it would have been visible in a southerly direction, so that the Wise Men on their way from Jerusalem to Bethlehem would have had it before them all the time.

So three Jewish academics from Babylon, on the Sabbatical of a lifetime, get to see the Messiah, and somewhere change into three kings representing the Gentile peoples.

Amazing grace: Jimmy Butt had experienced 16 changes of foster families.

Holy: The Epiphany in “Adoration of the Magi” painted by Benedictine monks in

ACCOMMODATION

■ DENMARK

Holiday House 3bdr x 2bath, sleeps up to 8. BOOK NOW. Ph: Maria 0412 083 377.

■ FAMILY/GROUP ACCOMMODATION

Fully furnished luxury beach houses, Perth metro. Visit www.guadaluplehill.com Call 0400 292 100

■ BRICK REPOINTING Phone Nigel 9242 2952

BUILDING TRADES

■ PERROTT PAINTING PTY LTD

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

Classifieds

BUILDING TRADES

■ PICASSO PAINTING Top service. Phone 0419 915 836, fax 9345 0505

FURNITURE REMOVAL

■ ALL AREAS Mike Murphy 0416 226 434

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.

RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

■ RICH HARVEST  YOUR CHRISTIAN SHOP

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

SERVICES

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

OFFICIAL DIARY

The Eternal Word Television Network

On Access 31 every Sunday 1pm - 2pm

Coming Programs

January

7 Spiritual journey of Guy Doud, former Evangelical Pastor/ with Marcus Grodi [The Journey Home]

14 Evangelising in a post-Christian society / Fr William Casey with Fr Mitch Pacwa [EWTN Live]

21 What can we learn from the stars? / Fr Benedict Groeschel [Sunday Night Live]

28 End of life issues ; what you don’t know can kill you / Fr Edward Krause, Dr Joseph Mauceri and Fr Phillip de Vous with Johnette Benkovic [Abundant Life]

The Rosary Christian Tutorial Association wishes all viewers a very Happy New Year.

Rosary Christian Tutorial Association, P.O. Box 1270. Booragoon 6954, Enquiries: 9330-2467

In brief...

Psychosis in new mothers brings call for screening

Within three months after giving birth for the first time, 1 out of 1000 women suffered from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression or another psychotic condition severe enough that she was hospitalised, researchers reported in this month’s Journal of the American Medical Association. The Danish study, based on 630,373 women and 547,431 men on national health registers, suggests that serious post-partum mental illness may occur more frequently than suspected.

The rate of mental illness in new fathers was 0.37 per 1000 births and no higher than in the general male population - suggesting a physical reason in women rather than psychosocial reasons affecting the couple.

An estimated 70 to 80 per cent of new mothers experience the “baby blues” for a couple of weeks, but 10 to 15 per cent are said to suffer depression that can last for months.

 FAMILYEDGE/MERCATORNET

THANKS AND PRIASE

■ PRAYER TO ST JUDE

Oh, Holy Saint Jude, Apostle and Martyr, great in virtue, rich in miracles. Near kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke you as special patron in time of need. To you I have cause from the depths of my heart and humbly beg you to whom God has given such great power to come to my assistance. Help me now in my urgent need and grant my earnest petition. In return I promise to make your name known and cause you to be invoked. Thank you for your mercy towards me and mine. Say 3 days and publish.

PANORAMA a roundup of events in the archdiocese

January 5 to 6

ALLIANCE AND TRIUMPH OF THE TWO HEARTS

All night Eucharistic vigil in reparation to the Two Hearts. Holy Mass 9pm Friday at St Bernadette’s Church, 49 Jugan Street, Glendalough. Followed by all night adoration with rosaries, hymns etc and silent prayers. All are welcome for any length of time. Concluding with Parish Saturday Mass at 7.30am with Reconciliation available at 7am. Enquiries: Fr Doug Harris 9444 6131 or Dorothy 9342 5845.

Saturday January 6

WITNESS FOR LIFE PROCESSION

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

Saturday January 6

DAY WITH MARY

St Joseph Church, 1 Salvado Road, Subiaco. 9am to 5pm. A video on Fatima will be shown at 9am. A day of prayer and instruction based upon the messages of Fatima.

Includes Sacrament of Penance, Holy Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Sermons, Rosaries, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Stations of the Cross. Please BYO lunch. Enquiries: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286.

Sunday January 7

DIVINE MERCY

An afternoon with Jesus and Mary will be held at St Joachim’s Church, Corner Shepperton Road and Harper Street, Victoria Park at 1.30pm.

Program: Holy Rosary and Reconciliation, Sermon with Fr Terry Raz (The Three Wise Men) followed by Divine Mercy prayers and Benediction. Enquiries: John 9457 7771 or Linda 9275 6608.

Wednesday January 24

SIC NEW NORCIA/MARIST ANNUAL MASS AND REUNION

Newman College, Empire Avenue, Churchlands. Mass will be celebrated by Marist old boy Priests at 4pm in the Newman College Chapel. The annual reunion event will follow in the college courtyard. BYO everything (BBQs available). SIC and Marist old boys most welcome. Enquiries: Ambrose Depiazzi 9387 1117 or 0419 912 187.

Every Friday

BIBLE STUDY AND NOVENA TO OUR FATHER

Every Friday 7.30pm at St Joachim’s in Vic Park. Bible study on Genesis followed by Novena to God, Our Father, both conducted by Fr Douglas Rowe. Enquiries to Yit 9310 1392, 0401 674 302.

DIVINE MERCY

Every Saturday afternoon at St Francis Xavier’s Church, 25 Windsor Street, East Perth from 2.30pm. Holy Hour will be held with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Holy Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet and prayers plus Reconciliation and Benediction.

A Holy Mass is also held every second Saturday including Sacrament of Healing. Concludes with Veneration of a first class relic of Saint Faustina Kowalska. Enquiries: John 9457 7771 or Linda 9275 6608.

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.

First Sunday of the Month

DEVOTIONS IN HONOUR OF THE DIVINE MERCY

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.

The afternoon commences with the 3 o’clock prayer, followed by the Divine Mercy Chaplet, Reflection and concludes with Benediction.

BLESSED SACRAMENT ADORATION

Holy Family Church, Alcock Street, Maddington. Friday 8.30am 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.

ST COLUMBA’S BAYSWATER

Information is sought from past and present parishioners of St Columba’s Catholic Church (Roberts St Bayswater) for inclusion in a written history (1905 – 2007) of the parish. Photographs of Parish Priests, parishioners and events depicting the original and current Church greatly appreciated. Contact: Carolyn Kelly, St Columba’s History, PO Box 47 Bayswater 6053 WA. Telephone: 9271 1988.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

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

ATTENTION COUPLES

Have you or your spouse been diagnosed with a mental illness? Depression? Anxiety/Panic Attacks? etc. Could you do with some help in 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.

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 9325 7528 – 24 hrs.

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.

Monthly Monday Evening

SCRIPTURAL PRAYER PROGRAM

The Council for Australian Catholic Women (CACW) is offering a Scriptural Prayer Program developed in the Jesuit tradition. This form of prayer can lead to more reflective living, greater spiritual depths and promotes lay spiritual leadership in the Church. Led by Kathleen Brennan (IBVM). Commences 29th Jan, 7.30pm, 49a Vincent St, Highgate. Enquiries: 9345 2555. All Welcome.

Panorama

Entries must be in by 5pm Monday. Contributions may be faxed to 9227 7087. emailed to administration@therecord. com.au or mailed to PO box 75, Leederville, WA 6902. Submissions over 55 words will be edited. Inclusion is limited to 4 weeks. Events charging over $10 constitute a classified event, and will be charged acordingly. The Record reserves the right to decline or modify any advertisment.

Equipped to make a difference

The transition from school to further study or work can often be confusing for young people and the fast pace and heavy workload of highschool years leave little time and space to consider the importance of spiritual values for the future.

Acts 2 College is asking all youth to seize an opportunity and discover life skills that will enrich their lives.

The college, whose patron is Archbishop Barry Hickey, has specially-designed courses to prepare people for their future.

For young people just leaving school, the college offers a oneyear, transformational experience of learning and spiritual growth.

It provides a supportive, social and academic bridge between finishing high school and further study and/or full-time work.

The college offers a creative mixture of topics and activities, covering a range of practical, biblical and inspirational topics.

Acts 2 College is asking all youth to seize an opportunity to discover life skills that will enrich their lives for further study and work.

Young people are given a unique opportunity to think and learn more about future directions, and to experience Christian friendship and support.

Mature age students are also catered for. Courses on theology and Catholic doctrine, coupled with practical ways of applying the knowledge they gain, can open up new opportunities within their work, parish or group.

“Tertiary education and training is becoming more workplace specific. But many young people need support in their personal development and overall life skills; such as: social confidence, interpersonal relationships, communication, workplace behaviour, budget-

ing and financial management, and the development of positive mental habits,” said College chief executive Reginald Firth.

“Every now and then in the busyness of our lives there comes a pause when an important choice is offered. A small window of opportunity where real change is possible. A time when people of vision see the real possibility of doing something different. A time when ordinary people can dream of doing extra-ordinary things. Things that make a difference.”

Subjects are designed to help stu-

dents grow in their understanding and application of the Catholic faith.

They provide practical support in areas that people face today, such as relationships, self image, peer group pressure, character, dignity, work, budgeting, goal setting, leadership, communication, music ministry, public speaking, leading groups, and the role of spirituality in today’s society.

Projects will be integrated in the student’s weekly timetable, and assist them develop their character, faith, and skills through Christian

service. Students will be exposed to life issues impacting on our society, and will consider current methods to deal with them.

As part of the curriculum, they will be placed into a voluntary service situation in their sponsoring parish or organisation for the duration of the year.

“This will enable the student to apply in practical service the fresh insights gained from the study,” Mr Firth said.

Other opportunities will include youth outreach, conferences, retreats, and assisting the needy,

elderly, and underprivileged.

“Participating in the College will be an experience of dynamic Christian living,” Mr Firth said.

Lecturers include priests and laity who present courses designed to be informative, engaging, and interactive.

Further details, and application form, can be obtained from the website at http://acts2come. wa.edu.au or by contacting the College principal on 9202 6859 or principal@acts2come.wa.edu.au .

Name: Address:

Suburb:

Postcode: Telephone: I enclose cheque/money order for $78 For $78 you can receive a year of

Girl power: Simone Cummins (left) and Megan O’Neill just love the thought that they’re seizing an opportunity to discover life skills at Acts 2 College.