The Record Newspaper 05 October 2006

www.therecord.com.au

THE LIGHT OF DAY: Perth bishops exhumed in Cathedral Page 5

UK Bishops go to war with BBC over aired program

Program broadcast by Corporation is misleading, say Catholic Church leaders

The bishops of England and Wales are accusing the BBC of misrepresenting two Vatican documents that the news organization says Benedict XVI used to cover-up the sexual abuse of minors.

According to the prelates, the program “Sex Crimes and the Vatican,” broadcast last Sunday by Panorama, the BBC’s investigative news show, is unwarranted and misleading.

The program claims to have uncovered secret Vatican documents that imposed silence regarding all claims of child abuse, and accused then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - now Benedict XVI - of shielding priests from investigation in his previous role as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

One document mentioned is Crimen sollicitationis, (The Crime of Solicitation, 1962) issued by the Congregation of the Holy Office - future Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - which was made public in 2003.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, archbishop of Westminster, sent a letter to Mark Thompson, the director general of the BBC “to express the enormous distress and alarm of the Catholic community” regarding the program.

“No one can deny the devastating effects of child abuse in our society and the

Continued on Page 2

The

Western Australia’s Award-winning Catholic newspaper

SISTERS OF LIFE: Australian visit highlights new order’s charism Page 3

Thursday

October , 

Perth, Western Australia ● $2

MY LORD AND MY GOD: St Thomas the Apostle Page 12

Eye on the North La Grange-Bidyadanga farewells beloved priest

So long, old friend: Father Kevin McKelson SAC, one-time priest at the community of Bidyadanga-La Grange in the Kimberley, was farewelled earlier this year by the people he had ministered to for many years. Fr McKelson left the community after nearly half a century of service to the Church and its mission. He was parish priest in Broome and Beagle Bay as well as at La Grange where he worked from 1961 to 1993. Parishioners farewelled Fr McKelson at Mass, above, while later he was presented with a special painting by Weaver Jack. He was also chaplain in recent years at the University of Notre Dame Australia’s Broome campus.

Sisters’ takeover means IVF departs Canberra hospital

A Catholic health service organisation oper-

by the Little Company of Mary has forced IVF services out of a Canberra private hospital.

The purchase of the John James Memorial Hospital in Canberra by Little Company of Mary Health Care last month was welcomed by the hospital’s management and some political

OUR UNSEEN COMPANIONS

Monday this week - October 2 - was the feast of the Guardian Angels. Many people can tell stories of what they believe to be encounters with our invisible best friends.

Pages 4 & 5

figures in the ACT. The purchase was seen as keeping open a hospital which was otherwise in danger of closing.

But the Catholic organisation, which promotes “values-based care” in communities and hospitals around Australia, attracted national media attention when it became clear that IVF operations would be moved from the hospital as a result of the purchase. An IVF procedure

which was previously available at John James will now be made available to local residents by a nearby plastic surgery centre.

Little Company of Mary Health Care, known as LCM Health Care, continues the work of the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary who first began caring for the sick in Australia in 1885.

The focus of their work is care and support for those who are sick, dying or in need.

THE WAY HOME

Willem comes through

Student’s idea to help the poor grew into a campaign

■ By Sylvia Defendi

A six-year-old’s vision to assist the poor, one five-cent coin at a time, saw the Rockingham branch of St Vincent De Paul accepting over $1050 in donations.

Willem Vagg, a year one student at Rockingham’s Star of the Sea primary school, initially took on the task of ridding his family of ‘annoying’ fivecent coins.

“Willem said he always heard adults complaining about useless five-cent coins. His response was that a lot could be done with ‘lots of five-cents,” explained Star of the Sea principal, Nadia Maso.

Indeed a lot was done, as Willem’s idea generated a substantial donation to the local Rockingham Church.

Encouraged by his family, Willem

Continued on page 2

Natural fertility centre opens

With the blessing of Auxiliary Bishop Donald Spoxton, a service offering ‘medicine for life’ officially opened its doors on September 29 to couples looking to conceive naturally and women wanting a deeper understanding of their reproductive health.

Based in Yokine, on the corner of Royal Street and Wanneroo Road, the Magnificat FertilityCare Centre also provides support to rural couples and women via telephone, and acts as a resource for FertilityCare and Natural Procreative

Continued on page 3

With the publication this week of times for the Sacrament of Reconciliation around WA, Record writer MARK REIDY looks at some of the history and evolution of Confession VISTA

Parish. The Nation. The World.

■ By Paul Gray

ated

Photos: Kimberley Community Profile

Star effort: Willem Vagg shows how his idea turned into something much bigger and involved a whole school communitty.

Photo: Phil Bayne

Continued from page 1 then approached Ms Maso, in August, with his plan to get the whole school involved with this ingenious project.

Buckets were subsequently placed in each classroom, and the whole school community was encouraged to abandon their five-cent coins for a very worthy cause.

Five weeks later, on September 27, the school of over 700 students congregated to celebrate the feast of St Vincent De Paul with Mass in the adjoining Church.

Celebrant, Fr Vittorio Ricciardi, reminded the students, during his homily, that true happiness does not come from affluence but through the love we have for others.

“St Vincent De Paul, in looking at God’s generous love on the cross, devoted himself to helping the poor,” he said.

After Mass Willem handed the school’s donation to the president of Rockingham St Vincent De Paul, Norah Stewart, who especially thanked Willem for his “tremendous effort and brilliant idea.”

“I once read a little article that asked – ‘God when do I stop giving?’ and answered – ‘When God stops giving,” Mrs Stewart told The Record

Of his efforts Willem said he would continue to help the poor, “because they might not have any food or clothes.”

“It just goes to show how caring, creative and community minded children can be,” commented Ms Maso.

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Peter Rosengren

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Small idea, big difference Furore over BBC episode The Record

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Continued from page 1 damage inflicted on the victims and their families. This is particularly shameful if such abuse is committed by a priest and it is of course legitimate to portray heart-rending elements of this evil,” the cardinal said.

The letter continues: “However, your program sets out to inflict grave damage on Benedict XVI, the leader of a billion Catholics throughout the world. It is quite clear to me that the main focus of the program is to seek to connect Benedict XVI with cover-up of child abuse in the Catholic Church. This is malicious and untrue and based on a false presentation of Church documents.”

Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor, who is also president of the episcopal conference of England and Wales, said that he “cannot understand why no one from your corporation made any attempt to contact the Catholic Church in this country for assistance in seeking accurate information about this matter.”

“I must ask if within the BBC there is a persistent bias against the Catholic Church. There will be many, not only Catholics, who will wonder if the BBC is any longer willing to be truly objective in some of its presentations,” he said.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Birmingham, and chairman of the Catholic Office for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults, also issued a statement today in which he states that “as a public service broadcaster, the BBC should be ashamed of the standard of the journalism used to create this unwarranted attack on Benedict XVI.”

“Viewers will recognize only too well the sensational tactics and misleading editing of the program, which uses old footage and undat-

ed interviews. They will know that aspects of the program amount to a deeply prejudiced attack on a revered world religious leader. It will further undermine public confidence in ‘Panorama,’” he added.

According to Archbishop Nichols, the program’s attacks against Benedict XVI are “false and entirely misleading.”’

“It is false because it misrepresents two Vatican documents and uses them quite misleadingly in order to connect the horrors of child abuse to the person of the Pope,” he said.

The archbishop continued: “The first document, issued in 1962, is not directly concerned with child abuse at all, but with the misuse of the confessional. This has always been a most serious crime in Church law. The program confuses the misuse of the confessional and the immoral attempts by a priest to silence his victim.

“The second document, issued in 2001, clarified the law of the Church, ensuring that the Vatican is informed of every case of child abuse and that each case is dealt with properly.

“This document does not hinder the investigation by civil authorities of allegations of child abuse, nor is it a method of cover-up, as the program persistently claims. In fact it is a measure of the seriousness with which the Vatican views these offences.”

“Since 2001,” added the prelate, “Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, took many steps to apply the law of the Church to allegations and offences of child abuse with absolute thoroughness and scruple.”

A BBC spokesman said the organisation stood by the documentary.

The Parish. The Nation. The World.

In an effort to bring the presence of the Blessed Sacrament to the forefront of parish activities, St Jerome’s Church in Spearwood was proud to celebrate the installment of a new Church tabernacle and stained glass window on the feast of their patron, St Jerome the Doctor, on October 1. Blessed and dedicated by Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton the new tabernacle and stained glass window are the fruits of more than a hundred donations.

“It was during the Year of the Eucharist in 2005 that the parish realised there was a need for the tabernacle area to be restored, so as

to attract people to its grace,” Parish Priest Fr Valerio Fenoglio said.

Six months ago the parish decided it would undertake the challenge and sought ways to fund the $20,000 project.

“We did not have a fundraising strategy, nor host any events to raise money. It was a true blessing that so many people gave so generously and in so many ways,” he said.

The new tabernacle and stained glass window were installed over a four month period, and were completed a couple of days before the dedication ceremony. During his homily Bishop Sproxton said the blessing and dedication of the tabernacle showed a wonderful respect for the Blessed Sacrament.

Changing lives: Young Willem Vagg was proud to donate over $1050 to president of Rockingham’s St Vincent De Paul, Norah Stewart. Photo: Phil Bayne

■ By Sylvia Defendi

Official blessing: Bishop Donald Sproxton blesses the new parish tabernacle.

New fertility centre opens its doors

Continued From page 1

Technology practitioners operating throughout Australia and Asia.

Importantly, it will allow Director Dr Amanda Lamont, who left routine medicine in 1997, to continue her pioneering and award-winning work in women’s reproductive health.

Director of the first Australasian FertilityCare Education program, held in Perth last year, and currently directing a second program in Brisbane, Dr Lamont said “This is a field in which I can offer people knowledge about their fertility and offer simple, logical, effective treatments designed to restore normal fertility.”

FertilityCare is based on the Creighton Model FertilityCare System, which tracks a woman’s fertility and was developed by obstetrician and gynaecologist, professor Thomas Hilgers, at Creighton University School of Medicine, USA.

FertilityCare advocates the wholesomeness and healthiness of understanding and working with the body’s natural patterns and cycles rather than against them.

“The system is well rounded and encompassing in its approach to

restoring health to the human person. It is holistic, safe, effective and inexpensive,” said Dr Lamont.

While ultimately focusing on specific women’s health issues including, miscarriage, irregular cycles, pre menstrual syndrome, hormonal imbalances, post-natal depression and planning families naturally, Dr Lamont said “investigation and treatment of male fertility problems is naturally also an important part of NaProTechnology fertility treatment programs.”

Through the new Yokine headquarters, fulltime FertilityCare staff can now offer educational, medical and counselling appointments to couples and women in the Perth metropolitan area.

“FertilityCare is one tangible service I can offer which hopefully brings life to people, in a physical sense helping them to restore their health and receive the gift of a child, if that is their aim, but also assisting them to be fully alive in the psychological, emotional and spiritual senses, which may have been wounded by their experience of sub fertility or illness.”

For more information contact: Dr Amanda Lamont, on: 9440 4530

New nuns kick goals on Grand Final weekend

■ By Paul Gray

Grand Final weekend saw joy of another kind from that experienced by West Coast Eagles supporters in Melbourne, with the city also hosting the inaugural visit to Australia of the New York-based Sisters of Life.

The new order of nuns, who take a “fourth vow” to protect human life, in addition to the traditional vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, created an immediate stir on arrival at Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport, according to the sisters’ Melbourne host, Marcia Riordan of the archdiocesan Respect Life Office.

Passengers at the international baggage carousel enquired about their “lovely habit” and expressed disappointment when they learned that the nuns were not here in Australia permanently.

“People hadn’t seen a habit for a Continued on page 6

PADDED BRAS FOR LITTLE GIRLS ‘MODEST’ SAYS RETAILER

Australian retailer, Target, has defended padded bras for girls as young as six, saying they are “fashionable items that give girls modesty and style as they go through development changes”.

Tiny matching lingerie sets of lacy bras and knickers in many children’s brands including Bratz, Saddle Club and Barbie, have hit the shelves, aimed at girls who are barely old enough for school. The latest Bratz range also includes sexually provocative baby dolls dressed in leather and lingerie.

The Australian Family Association was among those warning parents against the sexualising of their children. But Bratz distributor Funtastic defended the range as modest. “The idea of padding is for girls to be discreet as they develop,” a spokeswoman said.

“It’s more about hiding what you have got than showing it off. It is certainly not there to make children look like they have breasts.”

 THE HERALD SUN

Blessed: Bishop Donald Sproxton blesses a young child at the new fertility centre.

Protectors of life: Three New-York based Sisters of Life meet with Marcia Riordan of the Melbourne Respect Life Office.

Photo: Peter Casamento

Vinnies re-opens Men’s Home

■ By Sylvia Defendi

An invaluable aid to many marginalised men throughout the Perth metropolitan area, the St Vincent De Paul Society’s Bayswater Home for Men re-opened on September 28 with much more than a new coat of paint.

Funded by the Society, Lotterywest and the Department of Housing and Works, the once drab living quarters were given an extensive renovation, which included demolishing more than half the building and the subsequent addition of bedrooms, bathrooms and a second level.

Opened for the first time in 1997, the Bayswater home has housed many semi-dependent men, who for a marginal fee have found a home away from home.

The house, which already has three residents, will now become home to another three men and will continue to be run by Vincentcare, a special branch of the Society.

Service provider at the Bayswater house, Ersilia Franco, who cooks, cleans and monitors resident’s well being, said she would not be surprised if the vacancies were taken by the end of the week.

“We have a very long list of marginalised men, who are seeking a nice, cheap, semi-dependant lifestyle,” she said. Aside from the wonderfully renovated premises,

Mrs Franco said that residents were attracted to the familial atmosphere.

“We really encourage a sense of family, after all this is their home and they are welcome to stay as long as they like.

“Many residents have experienced positive changes in their lives by living in an environment that encourages happiness,” she

Not so invisible

The Feast of the Guardian Angels was on Monday of this week, October 2. Here at The Record we went looking on the information superhighway to see what we could find and found the following, all from the blog sites of various Catholics who can’t seem to keep their fingers away from a keyboard. We think you’ll like what they say.

1. The solidity of cars; are angels solid or are we?

■ By Dwight Longnecker

For the celebration of our Guardian Angels here’s a true story:

My parents were driving home from the Christian youth group they ran as a young married couple. As a little tyke, 1I was asleep in the back of the station wagon with my brother and sister. Mum and Dad were driving down a narrow country road in Pennsylvania with steep banks on either side.

As they went over the brow of a hill they saw another car coming towards them further down the road at a great speed. They knew that the other driver would come over the brow of the hill without seeing them, for by then

said. St Vincent De Paul state president, Genevieve De Souza, who was present for the opening, said it was wonderful to open the house the day after celebrating the feast of St Vincent De Paul.

“This beautiful house speaks for itself. If the heart truly is where the home is, than this is a fitting home for the many warm hearts who will live here,” Mrs De Souza said.

they would have been in the dip of the next hill. Sure enough, they went over the brow of the next hill and there was the oncoming car. There was no place to turn to avoid the crash. Mum and Dad said they braced themselves for the high speed head on impact. Dad said he could see the terrified face of the driver of the oncoming car as he too prepared for the fatal crash. Mum called out to the Lord, and looked behind to see her sleeping babies one last time.

The next thing she knew she

Rudd nominates Bonhoeffer as living example to churches

■ By

Paul Gray

A potential future Federal Labor Leader has proclaimed German Protestant martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer as the man he admires most in modern history.

Bonhoeffer, a theologian and activist who was hanged by the Nazis in the final weeks of World War II, provides a shining example of Christian engagement in politics that should be followed by Christians and churches in Australia today, said Kevin Rudd.

Mr Rudd is the shadow foreign minister under the Federal Opposition leader Kim Beazley. He is widely seen as a potential successor to Mr Beazley.

In an essay in the journal The Monthly published this week, Mr Rudd described himself as a committed Christian of no fixed denomination. He was raised a Catholic.

His essay attacked the idea that Christians in Australia should be “natural” Coalition voters. In support of this attack, Mr Rudd attempted to link key parts of the Labor Party heritage with specifically Christian ideas rooted in the Gospels and Catholic Church teaching.

Mr Rudd’s reinterpretation of Australian political history included a reference to the famous “light on the hill” speech of 1949, when thenLabor Prime Minister Ben Chifley said the Labor Party had a “great

2. Let’s talk angels

■ By Julie

Alexa was talking about angels the other day. I usually have some “mind’s eye” angel thinking going on. During Mass I think about the fact that there are double the visible inhabitants, because we each have our guardian angel with us. I read somewhere that angels are always worshiping when the Host is consecrated ... I always have that mind’s-eye vision of them prostrating themselves at that point. St Josemaria Escriva always mentally greeted the guardian angel of the person and sometimes I do the same. It’s a big deal to some to know their guardian angel’s name.

Although I now have enough of a sense of my angel not to care, I believe that his name popped into my head when my sponsor was telling me about her attempts to find out her angel’s name.

objective” for the betterment of mankind. This speech continues to be widely praised within Labor Party circles as providing a sense of purpose which differentiates the party from conservative political groups.

In his essay, Mr Rudd claimed that Chifley had “consciously borrowed” the phrase “light on the hill” from Christ’s Sermon on the Mount.

While praising Bonhoeffer, Mr Rudd also attempted to appeal to Catholics by linking the example of the German martyr with that of Saint Thomas More, who was executed by King Henry VIII for his adherence to the Catholic teaching against divorce.

“Bonhoeffer’s was a muscular Christianity,” Mr Rudd wrote. “He became the Thomas More of European Protestantism because he understood the cost of discipleship, and lived it.

“Both Bonhoeffer and More were truly men for all seasons,” said Mr Rudd.

Mr Rudd argued that when engaged in politics, Christianity “must always take the side of the marginalised, the vulnerable and the oppressed.”

On industrial relations, Mr Rudd said that Catholic social teaching “has long argued for a proper balance between the rights of capital and labour, in a relationship based on mutual respect as well as legal protection.”

Continued on page 6

OK, so I’m browsing through this book and wondering: why should I buy it? What can you tell me about angels in one page?

1. They really exist. Not just in our minds, or our myths, or our symbols, or our culture. They are as real as your dog, or your sister, or electricity.

2. They’re present, right here, right now, right next to you, reading these words with you.

3. They’re not cute, cuddly, comfortable, chummy, or “cool.” They are fearsome and formidable. They are huge. They are warriors.

4. They are the real “extra-terrestrials,” the real “Supermen,” the ultimate aliens. Their powers are far beyond those of all fictional creatures.

saw through the car’s back window the receding tail lights of the car that had, just that moment, been in front of them. They drove home in silence.

To this day, convinced that their guardian angels had somehow transposed the laws of physics to allow the two cars to slip through one another like immaterial things.

Note: Dwight Longnecker’s blog ‘Standing on My Head’ can be found at: www. gkupsidedown.blogspot.com

More important to me is to be sure to ask my guardian angel for guidance during the day ... according to St Escriva, the more you “talk” to your angel, the more sensitive you are to any guidance.

I was fascinated by the entire concept of angels when I converted but wanted the real scoop ... not one of those cutesy “I met my angel” books that were popular at that time (2000). Wouldn’t you know, Peter Kreeft (is there anything that guy can’t write about?) has a wonderful book, Angels and Demons: What Do We Really Know About Them?

Here is the quickest possible Angels 101 course from the first page of the book ...

5. They are more brilliant minds than Einstein.

6. They can literally move the heavens and the earth if God permits them.

7. There are also evil angels, fallen angels, demons, or devils. These too are not myths. Demon possessions, and exorcisms, are real.

8. Angels are aware of you, even though your can’t usually see or hear them. But you can communicate with them. You can talk to them without even speaking.

9. You really do have your very own “guardian angel.” Everybody

New start: St Vincent De Paul Society State President Genevieve De Souza, front at right, enjoys the new premises with representatives form Lotterywest and the Department of Housing and Works, among others.

PHOTO: SYLVIA DEFENDI

Always there: A guardian angel is depicted in a window of St Nicolas Church in Feldkirch, Austria. The Catholic Church commemorates the angels that watch over the daily lives of believers with a memorial feast on October 2.

Photo: CNS/Crosiers.

History comes to life as bishops exhumed in cathedral

■ By Peter Rosengren

The bodies of two of Perth’s bishops were exhumed from a crypt beneath the floor of St Mary’s Cathedral this week.

Perth priest and archaeologist Fr Robert Cross discovered coffins containing the mortal remains of Bishop Martin Griver, who died in 1886 and Bishop Matthew Gibney, who died in 1925.

The discovery came during an archaeological survey of the floor of the cathedral.

The two-part crypt was located beneath the intersection of the central aisle of the cathedral and the side aisles that lead to the northern and southern side entrances.

Four floorboards, each inscribed with a cross, indicated the existence of a crypt, the precise location of which has been speculated on for many years.

Beneath these were found a tin lid and, once this was removed, excavators only had to remove approximately two feet of earth before they found the crypt containing the coffins.

Bishop Gibney’s coffin had been almost completely white-anted, including the zinc inner casket, Fr Cross told The Record

However Bishop Griver’s coffin, made from solid jarrah, was better preserved despite being much older, he said.

This coffin has a lid made from a

single piece of solid jarrah as well. One possible explanation for this is that it appeared to have been wrapped in wool, which is high in lanolin and protein content, and therefore possibly less attractive to white ants, he told The Record

Bishop Gibney’s coffin contains a viewing window and it was possible to see the body of the Bishop dressed in what appear to be green vestments, he said.

This may have been because the Bishop was Irish, he added.

Although there are different historical descriptions of where the crypt is located in St Mary’s, Fr Cross said he thought this was the original crypt of the cathedral.

“The centre wall is brick and mortar rendered but the other walls seem to be plain mortar; but we need to look into this more thoroughly,” he said, adding that

at some stage in the future he and those investigating the archaeology of the cathedral will sink a pit to investigate further.

The two coffins will be relocated to a new crypt when the cathedral is completed; until then they will be managed by Perth funeral company Bowra and O’Dea.

The old crypt lies under what will be the new sanctuary of the cathedral.

Consultant archaeologist Dr Shane Bourke and a team of student volunteers from the University of Western Australia’s Centre for Archaeology are assisting Fr Cross.

“Everything has been recorded, and the whole cathedral is being surveyed archaeologically,” he said.

Among interesting facts to emerge is what has been discovered during the floor survey.

The most common object found so far, he said, are ladies’ hairpins and these have been located mainly on the right hand side of the cathedral towards the front where the ladies’ sodalities usually sat in years gone by.

The original paint scheme has also been uncovered in places, revealing faux marbling on the walls of the 1865 cathedral, which he suspected had been done in about 1880.

“Prior to that it was probably whitewashed walls,” he noted.

Names written in pencil have also been uncovered, including that of a DH Regan; cathedral archives record an EM Regan who collected money in the 1870s for repairs to the cathedral and Bishop Griver’s records mention a Regan who was a stone mason but there was nothing conclusive, he said.

Fr Cross said the historical record often communicates conflicting information.

“The archaeology deciphers the historical record and tells us of past ways – it’s telling you how people lived and what they used,” he said.

Do readers of The Record have any stories about guardian angels they can share with our readers?Write in or email us at cathrec@iinet.net.au

does.

10. Angels often come disguised. “Do not neglect hospitality, for some have entertained angels unawares” - that’s a warning from life’s oldest and best instruction manual.

11. We are on a protected part of a great battlefield between angels and devils, extending to eternity.

12. Angels are sentinels standing at the crossroads where life meets death. They work especially at Muments of crisis, at the brink of disaster - for bodies, for souls, and for nations.

More Angel Talk

After saying yesterday that I didn’t want to read any cutesy “I met my angel” books, I now am going to tell a little story ... no, not about how I met my angel. That comes later. Ha! This is about my awareness of my angel.

I always have this sense that my angel is standing next to me with his hand on my right shoulder. I only notice this when I think about my guardian angel but don’t know if it’s “all in my head” or not.

Although there was one time when my angel was gone.

It was during last year’s Holy Thursday evening Mass. It’s complicated and I won’t go into the story here but I knew Hannah was distraught, by herself, and that was not a good thing at that point.

I was very upset at this and told my guardian angel to go look after her. I didn’t think about that again (I was at Mass after all) until a

few minutes later when I suddenly thought about that “order” and realised that I felt all alone. No “hand on the shoulder” presence around at all.

This was very strange ... and maybe all in my head? I kept mentally “testing” ... is he back? No. Is he here? No. About 20 minutes later, I was not alone any more. So was I grateful? Heck no! I mentally ordered him back to watch over Hannah ... and got this feeling of “she didn’t need me anymore.”

Naturally, when I checked with Hannah later that was about the time that Tom showed up and she was fine.

So enough about me, here is what few people much smarter than I say about guardian angels. These quotes are all from In Conversation with God: Lent and Eastertide

“... all the guardian angels will gather together at the universal judgment in order to bear witness themselves to the ministry that they exercised through God’s command for the salvation of each man.”

- St. John Chrysostom, Catena Aurea

“Just as fathers, when their sons have to travel among bad and dangerous roads, make sure they are accompanied by people who can guard them and defend them from danger, so in the same way does our heavenly Father, as we set out along this path that leads to our heavenly home.

“He gives each one of us an angel. He does this so that, strengthened by his power and help, we may be freed from the snares cunningly set by our enemies, and may repel the terrible assaults that they make on us.

“He wants us to walk straight

for men, but they carry out duties towards them. If intercession takes place through the blessed in Heaven, through the guardian angels there is both intercession and direct intervention; they are at the same time advocates for men before God and ministers of God before men.”

- G. Huber, My Angel Will Go Before You

“Have confidence in your guardian angel. Treat him as a lifelong friend - that is what he is - and he will render you a thousand services in the ordinary affairs of each day.”

- Saint Escriva, The Way

“We must learn to speak to the angels. Turn to them now; tell your guardian angel that these spiritual waters of Lent will not flow off your soul but will go deep, because your are sorry. Ask them to take up to the Lord your good will, which, by the grace of God, has grown out of your wretchedness like a lily grown on a dunghill.”

- Saint Escriva, Christ is passing by

Note: Julie’s blog is one of the best on the entire web. Her blog ‘Happy Catholic’ which is subtitled ‘not always happy, but happy to be a Catholic’ can be found at: www. happycatholic.blogspot. com

3. Angel encounter? A personal experience

■ By Georgette

along the path with such guides, so that no obstacle placed in our way by the enemy should turn us aside from the way that leads to heaven.”

- Catechism of the Council of Trent

“The saints intercede for men. The guardian angels not only pray

Reading Julie’s personal angel stories inspired me to share one of my own from personal experience. When we first moved to India we were on our way to Mass (long story but it was always a difficult

task for us to get to Mass, there were always so many obstacles trying to prevent my daughter and me from going), when our car just stopped running. It happened to be the feast of St Therese, one of our special patrons so I asked my daughter who was little at the time to ask St Therese to help us get to Mass on time.

In seconds a boy of about 14 or 15 years old rode up to us on his bicycle and asked what was wrong and we told him the car just died.

He leaned into the car and did something under the dashboard and instantly the car started! We were utterly amazed. When I turned to give the boy some money, he was gone already.

I supposed he may have ridden his bike off really fast somewhere.

Then, as we started to pull back into traffic, we saw an Indian nun dressed in full Carmelite habit walking right past us!

What on earth was a Carmelite nun - who are usually cloistered - doing walking on this street, we did not know.

When we looked back, she was no longer there.

We were sure it was a sign that St Therese had heard our prayers and sent an angel to help us because we did in fact get to Mass on time.

Julie’s description of her beggar/ angel sounds much like the young boy who helped us. He also had that angelic look on his face and seemed to be composed of only one color-his hair, poor clothes, skin, eyes, all were a golden brown.

And his innocent look and manner were like nothing I have come across in anyone here in India before or since.

Note: Georgette’s blog ‘Chronicle of a Meandering Traveller’ can be found at: www. chronicleofameanderingtraveller.blogspot.com

The light of day: The coffins of Bishop Martin Griver, left, and Matthew Gibney lie on the floor of the cathedral on Wednesday this week on either side of the crypt. PHOTO: PETER ROSENGREN

Everywhere: a young performer dresses as the guardian angel of China during a procession honouring Jesus and Our Lady of Fatima in Hong Kong on May 21 this year. Photo: CNS/Paul Yeung/Reuters

We don’t need politics in faith

The push in recent years to introduce more faith into politics has always had one guaranteed outcome: there would come a push by politicians to try to shape faith and present their image of what sort of faith might be acceptable in politics. Politicians will inevitably do their best to corrupt faith so that it complies with their brand of politics. And sure enough, as if on cue, Kevin Rudd, the ALP’s spokesman on foreign affairs and chairman of the caucus committee on faith and values has produced his own, and conceivably the ALP’s, version of the kind of faith that can be welcomed into the political world. It was published in “The Monthly”, a magazine that says it devotes itself to Australian politics, society and culture.

The faith he talks about is Christianity. But, be warned, it is a very K.Rudd version of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s version of Christianity as applied to politics. The following quotations should not necessarily be accepted as a fair summary of Bonhoeffer’s views; they illustrate Rudd’s view of Bonhoeffer’s view. Rudd approvingly quotes Bonhoeffer: “Obedience to God’s will may be a religious experience but it is not an ethical one until it issues in actions that can be socially valued.” It seems like a full (but still misshapen) circle for a Lutheran: from salvation by faith alone to salvation solely by “actions that can be socially valued”. It is also reminiscent of Martin Luther’s purpose for education -’that it lead everyone to worship at the altar of a common deity approved by the state’.

Referring to Bonhoeffer’s view that history should be viewed from the perspective of the outcast, the suspects, the maltreated, the powerless, the reviled - Rudd concludes that the Church’s domain is “in the village not the interior life of the chapel”. The 20th Century’s outstanding example of someone viewing the world from the perspective of the outcasts, the powerless and the reviled was Mother Teresa, together with the 4,500 women who joined her religious order. Mother Teresa insisted in her own life and to her Sisters that they must maintain their prayer life, Mass, Communion and obedience to the will of God (which is love) because if they did not, they would not be able to do their work with the poorest of the poor.

This is not an original view; it is merely the most recent reminder of the Christian principle that (to paraphrase Rudd) if we do not take the interior life of the chapel into the village, we risk becoming just another village idiot.

Faith which does not give priority to obedience to the will of God is no faith at all, it is no use to the soul, and if it is taken into politics it will inevitably add to the corruption that a lack of faith inevitably breeds in that domain.

Sister’s message of life attracts many

Continued from page 3 long time.” Ms Riordan said. “And they were fascinated, and moved, to see nuns of such a young age.”

An encounter with an airport security guard summed up the nuns’ effect. The guard, aged in his mid30s, approached the nuns and asked them to pray for him and his wife.

When he later approached them a second time, Ms Riordan invited the security guard to attend one of the nuns’ talks which were held across Grand Final weekend. He accepted, and attended.

Considering all the football on offer around sport-mad Australia last weekend - Sunday also saw the National Rugby League Grand Final, and Melbourne’s Telstra Dome hosted a 25,000 crowd to watch an A-League soccer clash - the unheralded nuns’ visit drew remarkable numbers in Melbourne.

Ninety people attended their Friday night meeting, a further 65 on Saturday and around 40 attended on Sunday night.

Now in their 15th year, the nuns provide shelter and support for vulnerable pregnant women in New York.

PO Box 75, Leederville, WA 6902

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

And it has certainly led to a serious corruption of reason in Rudd’s article. Politicians almost make a habit of accusing one another of “weasel words” - words and sentences that are merely words whose meaning cannot be pinned down. This exposition of faith in politics is WW from beginning to end.

For example, he gives five forms of modern ‘political engagement’, with approval only for the fifth. The first four are non-existent creatures - aunt sallies for him to sneer at.

When he gets to his own preferred model, his arguments are vague and his language WW. Towards the end of it, returning to Bonhoeffer again for approval of Rudd, he says he’s talking about a view of politics that “seeks to enlarge society, rather than contract it into a colony of self-contained white picket fences. It also attaches a primacy to the most critical social institution of all: the family.” It almost sounds good, but the ‘white picket fence’ in the Australian idiom has always been an image for the family secure in its own home, where family members grow and from which they go out to contribute to and draw from the community in which they live. This security has always been the family’s best defence against those who want to ‘enlarge society’ and from this lofty position to give the family “a primacy”.

It will be no surprise to anyone that Mr Rudd’s version of faith in politics convicts John Howard of all manner of evil and the ALP of none.

Mr Rudd’s treatise makes no commitment to faith or reason. The Christian “concern” for the sanctity of all human life applies when assessing the war in Iraq, but not in matters of abortion, euthanasia and embryonic experimentation. Poverty and other forms of marginalization appear to be the only Christian principles politics will countenance, but neither they nor the concern for life are to affect the sanctity of state boundaries in places like Darfur.

The sole purpose of the article is to persuade readers that the only real faith for politics is his own (disguised as Bonhoeffer’s) and that it will always lead to the wisdom, truth and beauty of the ALP’s policies, whatever they are for the time being. As a serious examination of faith in politics it is a WW failure. But it could be a useful reminder to many people that it is in God that we live and move and have our being, and if we do not hold fast to Him we will not hold fast at all.

Pope Benedict XVI in Prayer

- October

General: That all those who are baptized may mature in their faith and manifest it through clear, coherent and courageous choices in life.

Missionary: That the celebration of World Missionary Day may everywhere increase the spirit of missionary animation and cooperation.

They also conduct “post-abortion healing retreats,” to offer spiritual help to women who have had abortions.

“One of the most significant things the sisters are doing is the post-abortion healing work, reaching out to the many women who’ve been traumatised by abortion and helping them find hope

and peace again,” Ms Riordan told The Record “They run many retreats and found there’s a great need in New York.

“Women of all ages come from all over the place. They’re seeing women in their 80s right

through to young women who’ve had abortions but don’t want to have any more.”

“One of their works is to help vulnerable women who are being coerced by others into abortion.” They’ve saved pregnancies, she said.

Pro-life politicians a must

Continued from page 4

Mr Rudd also called on the Christian belief in “the sanctity of life,” arguing that this belief “should cause us to conclude that capital punishment is unacceptable in all circumstances and in all jurisdictions.”

However Mr Rudd did not make a similar claim in his essay in relation to abortion law.

The Christian Democratic Party issued a statement welcoming Mr Rudd’s call on Christians

to engage in politics. However, if the Liberal or Labor Parties “want to start gaining some of the Christian vote, they will need to start drafting pro-life policies on abortion, euthanasia and embryonic stem cell research,” said Mr Gerard Goiran, National Deputy Senior President of the CDP.

“To gain proper support from Christians,the major parties need to be serious about pro-life issues rather than treating them as a touchy subject on which they are

too afraid to speak,” Mr Goiran said. In the latter part of his essay, Mr Rudd devoted considerable space to rebutting those who appeal for votes purely on the basis of being Christian, upholding family values or holding “a defined set of views on a narrowly defined set of questions concerning sexual morality.”

Bonhoeffer’s approach, Mr Rudd argued, was that the Gospel should be seen as “an exhortation to social action.”

‘Sex-Ed’ creeps into puritanical China

Reticence about sex is still the norm in China although it is being eroded by the advance of the mass media, according to an article in the Washington Post. Radio talk-back shows with names like “Tonight’s Whisperings”, magazines, music videos and the Internet promote sex to the country’s trend-conscious youth, opening up a gap between them and parents, many of whom grew up during the puritanical Cultural Revolution. Still, the most common form of sex education today is a 45minute class offered just once, in the middle of a physical hygiene

course, in the second year of middle school. Most teachers are too embarrassed to discuss the lesson and tell students to read it for themselves. “Generally speaking, most parents are against sex education,” says Xu Zhenlei, vice secretary of the China Sexology Association—a group of academics that advises the government. “If you’re talking about the sex education that says, ‘Don’t date and focus on your studies’, of course they support that.” In the absence of “frank discussion”, teenagers turn to the Internet or easy-to-find adult videos. Most of the 600,000 registered users

of the sites in a large online pornography case were juveniles; eight out of the nine suspects charged were about 20 years old. While the majority of older teens remain more conservative than their peers in western countries, a survey by the Beijing Evening News last month indicated 90 per cent of university students think its all right to have premarital sex. More girls are having recourse to abortion. Widespread advertising describes abortions as cheap and painless, and the abortion pill RU486 can be easily obtained from illegal clinics for about $US15.  WASHINGTON POST

Choosing life in a culture of death: three of the new Sisters of Life.

The way The wayback home back

Jrgiven econciliation

Conver Confession Penaance

“Salvation is therefore and above all redemption from sin, which hinders friendship with God, a liberation from the state of slavery in which man finds himself ever since he succumbed to the temptation of the Evil One and lost the freedom of the children of God”

STORIES BY MARK REIDY

 POPE JOHN PAUL II

The history of the sacrament

esus instituted the sacrament of confession on Easter Sunday night. He entered the room where the Apostles gathered and said to them. “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me so am I sending you”. After saying this He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven: if you retain the sins the sins of any, they are retained.” (John 20:19-23). There are a number of known texts which reflect the early Church’s belief that they had the power to forgive sins. These include: Pope Clement I (d. 99AD) in

his epistle to the Corinthians he exhorts them not only to repentance, but implores the seditious to “Submit themselves to the presbyters and receive correction so as to repent”.

Ignatius of Antioch at the close of the first century spoke of the mercy of God to sinners, provided they return, “With one consent and the communion of the bishop”. He also said, “the bishop presides over penance.”

Dionysius of Corinth (d. 170) spoke against the growing Marcionistic traditions by teaching that Christ had left to his Church

the power of pardon and that no sin was so great as to be excluded from the exercise of that power.

The transmission of the power to forgive is expressed in the prayer used at the consecration of bishops as recorded in the Canons of Hippolytus (d. 236); “Grant him, O Lord Almighty, the episcopate and the spirit of clemency and the power to forgive sins.”

A more explicit reference to this formula is found in the Apostolic Constitution, a compilation of books, which reflects the growth and evolution of the Church in

Continued on Vista 4

4

Penance - what is it?

Paragraph 1084 of the Catholic Catechism states, “‘Seated at the right hand of the Father’ and pouring out the Holy Spirit on his Body which is the Church, Christ now acts through the sacraments he instituted to communicate his grace. The sacraments are perceptible signs (words and actions) accessible to our human nature.” There are seven sacraments in the Church. Penance is one of these.

Commonly referred as the Sacrament of Penance, it is also known in the Catechism as the sacrament of conversion, of confession,

of forgiveness and of Reconciliation (1423-1424), due to its multidimensional nature.

In his 2002 Apostolic Letter, Misericordia Dei, Pope John Paul II said that while the celebration of the sacrament had developed in different forms throughout the centuries, it has always kept the same structure.

He writes, “…it necessarily entails not only the action of the minister – only a Bishop or priest, who judges and absolves, tends and heals in the name of Christ – but also the actions of the penitent: contrition, confession and satisfaction.”

The Record’s Mark Reidy explores the history of reconcilliation and the continuing decline in participation.

■ By

Mark Reidy

When the Apostles first encountered Jesus after His resurrection he said to them, “Peace be with you.

“As the Father has sent me, so am I sending you”. He then breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

“If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (John 20: 19-23).

As the Catholic Church explains these words, Christ passed to the Apostles the right to forgive sins if they judged the penitent worthy and the corresponding right to retain sins, or refrain from absolving, if the sinner is not sincerely repentant.

In the unbroken succession of authority that links the Church established by Christ on the Apostles to the present day Priesthood, these powers remain as real and relevant today as they were 2000 years ago, yet the number of faithful utilising this gift hast been steadily declining since the Second Vatican Council.

“If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained”

- John 20:

From the very beginning of his reign, Pope John Paul II was aware of the dwindling participation in the practice and sought to rekindle the interest in the sacrament that was prevalent prior to the Second Vatican Council.

In a 1979 address to US Bishops he described Reconciliation as a “personal encounter with the forgiving Jesus” and a “divine means which keeps alive in our hearts and in our communities, a consciousness of sin in its perennial and tragic reality, and which actually brings

forth, by the action of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, fruits of conversion in justice and holiness of life.” Yet despite his continuous encouragement for the faithful to partake of the healing graces offered through this sacrament, the participation rate continued to decline during his pontificate. Statistics provided by the US National Opinion Research Centre, who conducted extensive studies of American Catholics in 1965 and again in 1975, found that those who participated in the sacrament of confession once a month declined from 38 per cent to 17 per cent, while those who said they “never” or “practically never” confessed increased from 18 per cent to 38 per cent. These findings were also reflected in a survey conducted by the US University of Notre Dame, which found that by the mid-1980’s, the number of monthly penitents had fallen to six percent. Such statistics would be comparable in Australian Catholic churches, with Archbishop Hickey, in a 2001 Pastoral Letter, reporting that the confessional practice amongst churchgoers in most parishes was “extremely low”.

■ By Mark Reidy

One of the reforms to emerge from the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) was the mandate for the Sacrament of Penance. Prior to the Council the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy stated that, “The rite and formulas of Penance are to be revised so that they more clearly express both the nature and effect of the sacrament.”

The Catholic Encyclopedia states that no reform emanating from the Council received a more thorough or lengthy scrutiny than Reconciliation. It states that amendments made to aspects of the sacrament were the result of, “Exhaustive research on doctrinal, historical, liturgical, and pastoral matters that extended from 1966 through 1970…” The Rite was finally made public with the approval of Pope Paul VI in February 1974.

These new Rites of Penance produced three distinctive ritual forms:

(1) the rite for reconciliation of individual penitents, (2) the rite for reconciliation of multiple penitents with individual confession and absolution and (3) the rite of reconciliation of multiple penitents with general confession and absolution. However, these reforms, particularly the Third Rite, have, through misunderstanding and/or misuse, contributed to the decline in individual confession and absolution.

Due to man’s inclination to sin, the Christian life is an ongoing struggle for holiness and eternal life. Although one receives the new life of Christ through the sacrament of Baptism, this new life is carried in “earthen vessels” and therefore can be weakened or even lost by the vulnerability to sin. This weakness can lead to mortal, or serious sin, which in turn deprives one of communion with God. Jesus, in his love and mercy, through the sacrament of Penance, offers those who have sinned against God and neighbour, the opportunity to be restored to that communion.

Sin is not only an individual offence against God, but it also damages communion with the Church. The receiving of God’s forgiveness and reconciliation with the Church is liturgically accomplished through the sacrament of Penance.

The Code of Canon Law requires all Catholics to confess at least once a year, although they are encouraged to attend more frequently. If one has committed a mortal sin they should not receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist until they have

Reconciliation from a priest. It is not obligatory to confess venial, or less serious sins, but it is strongly recommended as it strengthens the penitent against temptation to mortal sin.

Mortal Sins

According to the Catechism, for a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: (1) whose object is grave matter, i.e. contrary to divine law (2) is committed with full knowledge and (3) deliberate consent. (1857)

In order for the sacrament to be valid the penitent must be truly contrite for each of the mortal sins he has committed, have a firm intention never to commit them again and perform the penance given by the priest.

To the best of their ability the penitent must also disclose the number of times the offence was committed.

Why go to a priest?

The sacrament of penance is Christ’s gift to the Church through Apostolic succession (see John 20; 22-3 and Matt 16:19). The priest who by ordination is configured to Christ absolves sinners, not in his own name or power, but in the name

In 2002, Pope John Paul II attempted to clarify any misunderstandings on the sacrament in his Apostolic letter, Misericordia Dei. Commenting on this Letter, the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger expressed his concern for the faltering attitude prevalent amongst churchgoers: “The strongly personalist nature of the Sacrament of Penance was overshadowed in the last decade by the ever more frequent recourse to general absolution which was increasingly considered as a normal form of the Sacrament of Penance, an abuse that contributed to the gradual disappearance of this sacrament in some parts of the Church.”

The wrongful interpretation of the Third Rite had been highlighted in December 1976 when Bishop Carroll Dozier offered general abso-

lution to almost 12,000 Catholics gathered in an arena in Memphis, Tennessee. Although the Vatican reacted swiftly to criticize the event, misunderstanding continued and eventually led to Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter. Inspired by a marked return to the sacrament during the Jubilee Year, the Pope used Misericordia Dei to emphasise the purpose and need for Penance as well as earnestly encouraging Bishops and Priests to vigorously revitalise the sacrament by equipping themselves, “with more confidence, creativity and perseverance in presenting it and leading people to appreciate it.”

He had indicated in a 2001 letter to priests that they needed to share some blame in the falling participation rates due to a, “certain dwindling of our own enthusiasm and availability for the exercise of this delicate and demanding ministry.” He also took the opportunity in Misericordia Dei to point out that the Church did not have the power to replace personal confession with general absolution and reminded the faithful that the Third Rite was only to be utilised in situations of necessity, in which the penitents final salvations are at stake and that the intention of an individual is to seek personal confession as soon as

possible. However, misunderstanding of the Second Vatican Council’s reforms are not the only factors contributing to the drop in those utilising the sacrament. One of the leading Catholic theologians of the twentieth century, Father John A. Hardon believes that at the root of the breakdown in the western world of Penance and Catholicism in general, is the acceptance, to varying degrees, of the Fundamental Option theory.

The implication of this theory, which was declared a heresy by the Holy See in 1975, is that no mortal sin can be committed unless a person subjectively rejects God. This

consequently implied that there are no moral absolutes and that the definition of sin can be left to the discretion of an individual’s conscience.

Hardon believed that the acceptance of this subjective discernment, “subverts the whole moral order of Christianity.”

The ramification of individuals separating themselves from the responsibility of sin, according to Hardon, has led to decisions such as those made by the US Supreme Court in 1973, which legalised abortion.

Behind the Supreme Court decision, he says, was a Catholic judge who was able to justify the murder of innocent unborn children.

Pope Benedict XVI refers to this trend as moral relativism and was warning the world of its encroachment even before his pontificate began. Only hours prior to his election as Pope he announced, “A dictatorship of relativism is being formed, one that recognises nothing as definitive and that has its measure only the self and its desires.”

By diluting sin to the personal interpretation it becomes possible to justify most behaviours. Venial, or less serious sins are first to be ignored when moral boundaries become negotiable and this pattern of thinking opens the door to rationalising choices considered by the Church to be mortal, or more serious sin.

Dr John Finnis, Professor of Law at England’s Oxford University is in agreement with this observation. In a 1989 article for Catholic journal AD 2000, Finnis suggested that subjective morality opened the door for the practice of contraception, abortion and sex outside marriage.

By accepting the theory that there are no moral absolutes, he claims, we are left with the principle that each individual should decide what constitutes a greater good or a lesser evil.

This self-regulated consciousness was able to easily find a home in the environment that Pope John Paul II referred to as “smorgasbord Catholicism”; in which individuals believed they could pick and choose the teachings that they would adhere to and which they would moderate or ignore.

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A parish format that works

In stark contrast to many parishes in Australia, Our Lady of Grace in North Beach, Perth, has participation rates in the Sacrament of Penance of over 80%. In the mid 1990’s, this rate wavered between 8% and 15%.

The change occurred after prayer and consultation by Parish Priest, Fr Ken Keating. He made the decision to move the physical location of the sacrament from the confessional box to the body of the church and to make reconciliation a communal experience.

The sacrament is now celebrated three or four times a year on what has become known as Reconciliation weekends. They occur in the lead up to Christmas, Easter and in the month of August. The process has not replaced individual confession, which is still available on Saturday afternoons or by appointment. In the weeks leading up to the designated times, parishioners are informed of the event. This is done through prior advertising at Masses as well as in the Parish Magazine, “Reflections”, which is distributed to every home within the parish’s geographical boundaries. Parishioners are encouraged to take a Reconciliation sheet (see right) with them during these preceding weeks so that they can prayerfully prepare for the sacrament. They are also encouraged to pray for the success of the weekend and for each other.

How the process works:

• At the advertised start time for each of the Sunday Masses four priests find a private space across the front of the church.

• Those wishing to receive the sacrament line up as they would to receive Holy Communion.

• The format is that of the First Rite for Reconciliation.

• Penitents are encouraged to bring with them an A5 Reconciliation sheet that is handed out in the preceding weeks and to read from it. This begins with the words, “Jesus I need to be reconciled with you because…” They then read out their written confessions.

• At the conclusion of their confession the person reads, “Jesus, I am sorry for these sins because they offend you and others and I promise to pray... to make up for my sins and to ask the Holy Spirit to help and guide me to…”

• Each person decides for themselves, during their preparation, their prayer of penance and the future action they will make to amend for their sins. The priest confirms this if it is suitable.

• The priest may seek clarification or offer advice about matters confessed, the penance or future action and proposed amendment.

• The priest will then give Absolution.

• If a person chooses they can burn their sheet of paper in one of the two urns provided.

• The entire process for the congregation takes up to 30 minutes.

• Quiet music is played during this time.

• Mass follows

Jesus I need to be reconciled with you because…

Jesus, I am sorry for these sins because they offend you and others and I promise to pray... to make up for my sins and to ask the Holy Spirit to help and guide me to…”

Free

Popes, Councils, Saints all promote Reconciliation

Continued from Vista 1

the first three centuries; “Grant him O Lord almighty, through Thy Christ, the participation of Thy Holy Spirit, in order that he may have the power to remit sins according to Thy precept and Thy command, and to loosen every bond, whatsoever it be, according to the power which Thou hast granted to the Apostles.”

Pope Callistus (218- 222) stated in a peremptory edict, “I forgive the sins both of adultery and of fornication to those who have done penance.”

St Cyprian in his “De lapsis” in 251, rebukes those Christians who had fallen away in times of persecution, but he also exhorts them to penance: “Let each confess his sin while he is still in the world, while his confession can be received, while satisfaction and the forgiveness granted by priests is acceptable to God.”

The heretic, Novatian asserted that apostasy could not be forgiven by the bishops, but by God alone. A Synod in Rome in 251 rejected this claim.

St Ambrose (d.397) also rebuked the Novatianists, “Greater wrong could not be done than what they do in seeking to rescind His commands and fling back the office He bestowed…” “Christ granted this (power) to the Apostles and from the Apostles it has been transmitted

to the office of priests.” St Augustine (d.430) warned the faithful: “let us not listen to those who deny that the Church of God has power to forgive all sins.”

Pope Leo the Great in 459 wrote to the bishops of Campania in Italy, reproving them for demanding a public confession of sins. “All that is necessary”, he stated, “Is for the sinner to manifest his conscience in a secret confession to priests alone… It is sufficient, therefore, to have first offered one’s confessions to God, and then also to the priest, who acts as an intercessor for the transgressions of the penitents.”

Up to this time it appears that public Penance was widely practised in the Church and Christians usually experienced it once in their lives, either at the time of their conversion or just before death. Private confession directly to a priest began to emerge in Ireland about the sixth century and gradually spread to Europe.

The practice of seeking forgiveness repeatedly and on a regular basis did not become common until about the eighth century.

The Church mandated annual confession in 1215 at the fourth Lateran Council.

By the middle ages the sacrament of penance had four components, which were confirmed by the Council of Trent in 1547. They were: contrition, confession, abso-

lution by a priest and satisfaction (completing an act of penance).

The Council of Trent also responded to Protestant leaders at the time who rejected the sacrament of Penance as of divine institution. The Council issued fifteen definitions on the sacrament. These included, “If anyone says that sacramental confession was not instituted by divine law or that it is not necessary for salvation according to the same law; or if anyone says that the method which the Catholic Church has always observed from the beginning, and still observes, of confessing secretly to the priest alone, is foreign to the institution and command of Christ, and that it is of human origin: let him be anathema.”

In the early 17th century French Bishop Jansenius attracted a large following when he claimed that, “there has been no Church for the last five hundred years”. One of the reasons was that Jansenius wanted a return to the early Church practice, as he understood it, of public penance and that only long and arduous works of satisfaction were accepted as necessary conditions for priestly absolution.

So rigid were his interpretations that very few of the faithful would have been able to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion. His teachings were condemned by both Pope Urban VIII in 1642 and Pope

Powerful moment: Msgr. Hugh Marren., administers absolution.

Innocent X in 1653, but continued to have influence over the next few centuries.

Pope St Pius X effectively challenged the erroneous ideas of Jansenism in the early 20th century. He restored the custom that all should have access to the sacrament of Confession on reaching the age of reason and thereby be able to receive Holy Communion.

The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) decreed that, “the rite and formulas of Penance are to be revised in such a way that they may more clearly express the nature and effects of this sacrament.”

Subsequently the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship

issued “The Rite of Penance” in 1973.

Three new “Rites for Reconciliation “ are published: (1) Individual confession to a priest, (2) individual confession with a public celebration of penance; and (3) under specific circumstances, the general absolution of a group of people.

Photo: CNS

The World FEATURE

Sport... the Christian way

Building winners: Vatican works to put values back in to sports

■ By Carol Glatz

The square in front of St Peter’s Basilica is vast, flat and wide-open. In fact, the nearest breakable window is farther than most people could lob a ball, so perhaps that’s why it made the perfect venue for a basketball game played in the presence of Pope Pius XII in 1955.

The Vatican also served as prime turf for a marathon bout of “calcio storico fiorentino,” the Florentine version of nearly ruleless soccer that looks more like rugby and wrestling combined. During the Renaissance, Pope Sixtus IV peeked out his studio window every now and then to see how the gruelling match, which lasted from midmorning to dusk, was proceeding.

Though it’s no longer likely pilgrims will see hoopsters shooting baskets or cleats digging into turf, that doesn’t mean the Vatican has called a timeout on sports.

Rather, the universal Church is even more dedicated to being a presence in the world’s sports stadiums, on the tracks, and in the hearts and souls of today’s athletes, supporting them and an ethical sporting ethos.

In an effort to help parents, coaches, athletes, schools, parishes and sports associations, the Vatican

has published a book aimed at “rehumanising” a sports world that tends to glorify winning at all costs to the detriment of players and spectators.

Titled “The World of Sport Today: A Field of Christian Mission,” the book was released in September by

torical perspective, beginning with ancient Greece, whose pan-Hellenic games helped imbue sports with the values of equality, fraternity and fair play.

Because ethical values are already at risk in many modern societies, healthy, human-centered sports can make a world of difference in steering kids away from an empty or marginalized future.

the Vatican’s own fledgling sports desk at the Pontifical Council for the Laity. The special section was established in 2004 by Pope John Paul II as a way to help get the Church off the sidelines and onto the playing field, helping promote Christian values in today’s sports.

The slim, 146-page paperback compiles speeches and proceedings from the Vatican’s first international seminar on sports held last November.

The seminar brought professional players, experts, sports fans and chaplains to talk about how the Church could better promote authentic human values and the Gospel message in the world of athletics.

The book starts off with a his-

Other chapters look at how those values gradually eroded, giving way to lucrative economic interests that, according to the head of the Vatican’s laity council, have robbed sport of its true nature.

In the book’s preface, Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko wrote that sports today are in the hands of a powerful industry “which produces dreams of power and success in millions of individuals.”

Sport has become a fast-growing business, now valued at $213 billion, wrote another seminar participant, Clark Power, associate director of the Centre for Ethical Education at Indiana’s University of Notre Dame.

While sponsorships, marketing gimmicks and the general commercialisation of sports help sustain an otherwise valid industry, they also feed a culture of materialism

devoid of human values, he wrote in a chapter dedicated to sports and business.

The book points to a wide range of ills plaguing today’s sports world, but it also dedicates several chapters to what the Church, Catholics and people of good will can do to turn sports back into what Archbishop Rylko called “a school of humanity, virtue and life.”

The consensus among contributors underlined the critical role parents and coaches play in moulding young people’s attitudes and interest in sports.

Parents and coaches, they said, need to teach kids what sports really are about and how they should be played.

Because ethical values are already at risk in many modern societies, healthy, human-centred sports can make a world of difference in steering kids away from an empty or marginalized future, wrote another contributor.

Young people need “to create their own life project, to feel useful in society and to find solid models from which to take inspiration,” wrote Edio Costantini, head of Catholic Action’s sports association in Italy. Coaches, therefore, should not just be concerned with perfecting athletes’ technique and skills, but should help kids “feel accepted, direct them and accompany them along their path, thus giving them hope,” said his text on opportunities for renewing today’s sports.

Parents, too, can do a lot in boosting their kids’ self-esteem, identity and autonomy, he wrote, and they can “openly voice opposition to the

negative things” affecting sports.

Sports, taught well and played right, have enormous potential in changing today’s world by promoting peace and fraternity, many of the writers said.

They often quoted Pope John Paul - the skier, canoeist, hiker and goalkeeper - who said sports can answer today’s needs.

The late Pope said sports can free young people “from the snares of apathy and indifference,” help free disadvantaged peoples and nations from poverty and help “eradicate intolerance” as people unite behind a common goal.

Sports, he said in his homily for the jubilee of sports in 2000, can enhance “love of life, teach sacrifice, respect and responsibility, leading to the full development of every human being.”

That sounds like a game that could make everyone a winner.

A diver springs from a board during a training session in the Olympic aquatic centre in Athens, Greece.

PHOTO: CNS

The World

Boomimg bakery means a bigger monastery

Nuns’ booming baking business points to need for new monastery

■ By Sam Lucero

Hours before sunrise, life begins anew at the Valley of Our Lady Monastery. The 16 Cistercian nuns who call the 122-acre monastery in Prairie du Sac their home live a cloistered life of solitude and prayer.

Each day they rise at 3.40 am to prepare for matins, the first of seven prayer services, known as the Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office, held throughout the day.

While prayer is a hallmark of monastic life, it is not the only activity in which the nuns engage. There is time for individual and group study, recreation and work.

To sustain their livelihood, the nuns bake altar bread. Their modern bread-baking operation seems out of place in a Cistercian monastery whose roots go back to 1098.

The process begins with flour and water that is measured and mixed into a commercial mixer, blending gallons of altar bread batter. It is then pumped through a hose attached to a pipe and poured into an oven, where 30 heated irons bake the bread and move it along a conveyor belt. The oven is about 15 feet long and each baking iron is

heated to about 325 degrees.

The computerised baker, manufactured as a cookie wafer machine and imported from Austria, produces about 6,000 11- by 15-inch sheets of whole wheat or white bread in about six hours.

The nuns bake one day a week and cut and package the other five days. A workday is from about 9 am to 5.30 pm, with breaks for prayer and meals.

The process, which involves 10 nuns doing various tasks, produces

more than 12 million altar breads each year for more than 400 parishes around the United States.

But success has come at a price. Expansion of the bakery has encroached on other parts of the monastery, including the infirmary, workrooms and living quarters, known as cells.

This shortage of space was an indication that a new monastery was needed, but it wasn’t the first indication.

From the time six Cistercian

nuns came to Prairie du Sac from Switzerland in 1957 to establish the only Cistercian monastery of nuns in North America, it was apparent that someday a new monastery would be needed.

The farmland purchased by the sisters included two buildings - a stone house built in 1850 and a summer home for Governor Emanuel L. Phillip, built in the early 1900s. The buildings’ design did not meet the traditional requirements of a Cistercian monastery, but the sisters

Bringing dignity to the poor Respects for bishop

Chinese bishop recognized by Vatican, government dies at age 87

More than 1,500 Catholics attended the funeral of a Chinese bishop who was recognized by the Vatican and Chinese government.

Bishop Andreas Zhu Wenyu of Chifeng, northern China, died on September 24 in his native Kulitu village with a priest and laypeople by his deathbed. He was 87. His funeral was on September 28 at the Kulitu church, where he was buried, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand. Memorial services were held in Kulitu for several days as well as in Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in Chifeng city, 56 miles south of the village. The area is in the eastern part of China’s autonomous region of Inner Mongolia.

Father John Zhang Jingfeng, parish priest at the cathedral, told UCA News on September 28 that the bishop was diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes four years ago, and his health deteriorated gradually due to old age. Father Zhang, 33, concelebrated a memorial Mass at the cathedral with seven diocesan priests on September 24.

Father Zhang, editor of the diocesan Chinese-language newspaper Catholic Digest, said the bishop had left the diocese without a successor,

and “our pastoral work might be affected.” Another priest of the diocese, Father Zhao Zhemin, 31, said that for the last year church affairs have been handled by the vicar general. The Chifeng Diocese has 13 nuns and 21 priests. One priest is 82. The other 20, ranging in age from 26 to 40, work in nine parishes that serve 50,000 Catholics. The diocese covers an area of 36,000 square miles.

Born on December 1, 1919, Bishop Zhu studied at major seminaries in Beijing and Suiyuan. He was ordained a priest in 1957. From then until 1966, he did pastoral work in Beijing and Chifeng.

During the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, he was imprisoned for two years, then sent to a prison camp. He was forced to farm until 1982, when he became the parish priest in Kulitu. He was elected bishop of Chifeng in 1990. Bishop Zhu is the sixth government-recognized bishop who has died in 2006.

The Catholic Church in China includes three communities: underground Catholics, whose members are not approved by the government; members of the socalled open church, approved by the Vatican and the government; and members of the patriotic association, who reject papal authority and are not approved by the Vatican.

Pope calls for ‘dignified living conditions’ for people in slums

Pope Benedict XVI called for “dignified living conditions” for people living in slums and ghettos.

After praying the noonday Angelus on October 1, the Pope reminded pilgrims gathered in the courtyard of his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, that October 2 marked World Habitat Day.

The United Nations established the day to highlight the importance of city management and an individual’s right to adequate shelter. This year’s theme was “Cities: Magnets of Hope.”

The Pope said that dealing with the rapid growth of cities and the increase of people moving into urban areas “represents one of the most serious problems that humanity of the 21st century is called to face.”

He encouraged all those who work on urban management to help ensure that “people living in degraded neighbourhoods be guaranteed dignified living conditions, the fulfilment of their basic needs and the possibility of achieving their dreams,” especially concerning family life and “peaceful coexistence” in society.

UN Secretary-General Kofi

made do with their surroundings. Construction of two buildings, one in 1964 to create living quarters for more nuns, and the other in 1994 to accommodate the altar bread operation, only postponed the inevitable. Even the chapel, where the nuns spend much of their day in prayer and song, is too small.

As the community of nuns grew and building problems - such as basement flooding, mouldy walls and inadequate heating - increased, the quest for a new monastery intensified. Population growth and building expansion around Sauk County made it clear that a new home in a new location would be needed. The decision to find a new home came in 1999. After the Madison Catholic Herald diocesan newspaper published a story about the nuns’ plight in December 2003, Harvey and Marcie Yero of Highland offered to donate their 220-acre farm to the sisters.

The land, worth more than $300,000, was donated in the name of Harvey Yero’s deceased wife, Dorothy. The land had been in Dorothy Yero’s family since 1915, and Harvey believed she would have approved of the donation.

The gift of land for a new monastery was a prayer answered. Since then, the nuns have been praying for another dire need: assistance to build their new home.

A campaign is under way to raise $7 million for construction of a Cistercian monastery that meets the requirements of the order’s founder, St Bernard of Clairvaux. CNS

Annan said in his World Habitat Day message that city slums are mushrooming and that “today 1 billion people, or 1 of every 3 urban dwellers, live in slums.”

He added that this figure was bound to double in the next 30 years if cities and national governments “fail to manage urban growth and migration” in a sustainable way. World Habitat Day was launched on October 2 from the Italian city of Naples, where Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travellers, took part in the opening ceremonies. He was present on behalf of the council’s president, Cardinal Renato Martino, who was awarded the 2006 UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour for his “tireless work

to help improve the plight of slum dwellers around the world,” according to the UN Web site.

Archbishop Marchetto recalled how the cardinal had personally met with the president of Kenya in 2004 to prevent the eviction of hundreds of thousands of people living in a Nairobi slum.

The city had wanted to raze the area to build a new bypass without offering the people alternative housing.

Cardinal Martino told officials that they needed to tackle the root causes of slums which are a “result of underdevelopment and poverty” because people who cannot earn a decent living in rural areas come to the city seeking something better, according to the UN Web site.

Nuns busy at work in their booming bakery business.

PHOTO: CNS

Children play in a slum area of Jakarta, Indonesia.

PHOTO:CNS

The World

Godcasting music to the ears

Broadcast to podcast to GodCast: Streaming faith to Catholic ears

■ By Mark Pattison

If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear podcasts.

That seems to be today’s adaptation of Jesus’ familiar exhortation.

Podcasts are recordings that are prepared with actual radio broadcast material with one pair of ears in mind rather than a mass audience. The new venues are computers and iPods, the wildly popular personal music storage system. The term podcasting is derived from the iPod name.

For one online Christian podcast directory, the most popular podcasts by far are by a Catholic priest, the late Father Al Lauer.

Before he died four years ago, he had made a number of recordings - before podcasts became all the rage.

A daily Scripture summary recorded by Father Lauer, who was the founder of Presentation Ministries in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, regularly gets more than 325 samplings, or “hits,” a day on the Web site www.godcast1000. com. Listeners who have taken the time to rate it give it three stars out of a possible five.

Chris Jacek, webmaster for Presentation Ministries, said one of Father Lauer’s first components of Presentation Ministries was a radio show. All of the tapes from close to 20 years of the show have

been preserved, he added - and are still available on cassette tape and compact disc formats.

“Because there’s so many years of broadcasts, we have recordings for all days of the liturgical year,” Jacek told Catholic News Service. “Someone goes back to refurbish them. We cut and paste certain parts together to get the correct prayers for the day and the correct readings.” Presentation Ministries

makes five new podcasts a week from the archived material.

Jacek said he didn’t expect Father Lauer’s 15-minute podcasts to become so popular so quickly. “I’m a bit surprised, but that’s a relatively new site, so we have about 300 or so listeners per podcast,” he added.

“About half of them are regular subscribers.”

Other Catholic-related podcasts in the top 100 sites on www.god-

cast1000.com and their rankings include:

- Catholic Family Podcast, 37th with 12 hits a day. It bills itself as “family life viewed from the right.” No ratings have been given by listeners.

- Meditations from Carmel, 60th with 6.4 hits a day, and a five-star rating from listeners. A Carmelite community produces them using, in their words, “the treasury of writings of the great Carmelite saints including St Teresa of Avila, St John of the Cross and St. Therese of Lisieux.”

- St. Michael’s RCIA Podcast, 67th with 5.5 hits a day and a five-star rating as well. Produced by St. Michael Parish in Cranford, New Jersey, the podcast mixes Scripture passages, religious music and reflections on the daily readings. RCIA stands for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.

There are 685 podcasts listed on the GodCast site. (GodCast is a registered trademark of Craig Patchett and the GodCast Network.)

Of those podcasts, the Eternal Word Television Network’s podcast was ranked 679th, and still waiting for its first listener. A closer look reveals, though, that every podcast on www.godcast1000.com ranked 155th or lower has yet to be heard. In fairness, EWTN’s podcasts have been offered in MP3 format at its own Web site, www.ewtn.com, for nearly a year. While some Catholic newspapers have prepared audio recordings of their material for the blind and made them available on radio subchannels or on cassettes or compact discs, podcasts can bring an additional audience. CNS

Missionaries to China

Superior says Missionaries of Charity waiting for China to OK home

■ By Anto Akkara

The Missionaries of Charity congregation, founded by Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, is close to realizing one of her unfulfilled dreams - a home in China.

“We are waiting for them (China) to tell us when to come,” Sister Nirmala Joshi, superiorgeneral of the congregation, told Catholic News Service in September. Speaking to CNS at the motherhouse in Calcutta, Sister Nirmala said that following the election of Pope Benedict XVI China invited the Missionaries of Charity to open a home for the elderly as a step toward improving relations with the Vatican. At the invitation of the Chinese government, Sister Nirmala visited Qingdao in July 2005 and was shown the building where the order has been invited to run the home for the elderly and the handicapped.

“We are ready, but the final decision is not in our hands, as it is linked to China-Vatican relations,” said Sister Nirmala.

“We have not pursued this, but Mother has not forgotten her dream and is working it out from heaven.” CNS

Proclaim the truth about AIDS says Pope Benedict to bishops

Pope encourages bishops to proclaim truth about Malawi’s problems

Pope Benedict XVI encouraged Malawi’s bishops to “proclaim the truth” about social and moral ills, including the spread of AIDS, human trafficking and agricultural injustice.

He made the comments in a meeting on September 29 with the bishops, who - as they do every

the world in brief

Prayers for Amish

five years - were making their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican.

The Pope praised the Malawian bishops’ recent pastoral letter on the spiritual aspect of social renewal, saying it had drawn attention to some of the “social and moral evils afflicting the nation.”

“Food security is threatened not only by drought but also by inefficient and unjust management of agriculture; the spread of AIDS is increased by failure to remain faithful to one partner in marriage or to practise abstinence; the rights of

Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Harrisburg said on October 3 that the parishes and schools in his diocese were united in prayer with a Pennsylvania Amish community reeling from a gunman’s shooting spree in a one-room school the day before that left five girls dead and five others injured. The Catholic community is “with you in prayer in the aftermath of the terrible tragedy,” he said in a statement. “I extend deep sympathy and prayerful remembrance to all our brothers and sisters in the Amish community of Lancaster County. Our hearts go out to you during this time of sorrow.” On the morning of October 2, according to the Pennsylvania

women, children and the unborn are cynically violated by human trafficking, by domestic violence and by those who advocate abortion,” the Pope said.

“Never cease to proclaim the truth, and insist on it, in season and out of season ... because the truth will set you free,” he said, adding that it was part of the bishops’ role in leading his flock away from danger. The Pope also asked the bishops from the central African nation to make sure their clergy are not using the priesthood as a means of

state police, a 32-year-old man identified as Charles Carl Roberts IV stormed into a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County with a rifle, a shotgun and other weapons. After making the boys and adults leave, police said, he barricaded the door, chained the girls together in a row at the blackboard and shot them “execution style.”

By the time police broke into the school, he had killed himself.

Turks surrender

Two Turks hijacked a plane en route to Turkey to protest Pope Benedict XVI’s planned visit to their country in November. After the Turkish Airlines flight carrying 113 passengers landed on October 3 in the southern Italian city of Brindisi, the hijack-

social or economic advancement.

“In a world dominated by secular and materialist values, it can be hard to maintain the countercultural manner of life that is so necessary in the priesthood and the religious life,” he said. While some priests may lack the means of adequate living, others may need to be warned against “excessive concern with material possessions,” he said.

“Help your clergy not to fall into the trap of seeing the priesthood as a means of social advancement by reminding them that the only legiti-

ers had said they were prepared to surrender but wanted a message delivered to the Pope, according to Italian wire services. The hijackers surrendered, and a passenger told Turkish television that one of the hijackers waved and apologised to the passengers, The Associated Press reported. The Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, told Catholic News Service that the Vatican was following developments closely. Father Lombardi said the incident had not prompted reconsideration of the Pope’s visit.

Chinese priests arrested

Two Catholic priests from the underground church have been detained in eastern China after being taken away by public

mate ascent toward the shepherd’s ministry is the cross,” he said.

He said formation staff in seminaries need to teach students that a priest is called to live for others and not for himself. The number of diocesan priests in Malawi has nearly tripled over the last 25 years. While the Vatican has been heartened by the African vocations boom, it has also cautioned that in some particularly poor nations like Malawi the priesthood may sometimes be seen as a way out of extreme poverty. CNS

security officers. Father Peter Shao Zhumin and Father Paul Jiang Sunian of Wenzhou Diocese’s underground community were taken from a layperson’s apartment in Shenzhen on September 25, the same day they had returned from a trip to Europe. Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, is about 1,200 miles south of Beijing. Sources said that the layperson also was taken away but released after public security officials thoroughly searched the Catholic’s home. Relatives of both priests were informed that they are being detained at Putaopeng Detention Centre in Wenzhou, a Church source said. Relatives were able to send the priests some clothes and daily necessities but were not allowed to visit them, the source said, adding that public security officials had not yet charged the two priests.

Students share a listen on an iPod. Catholic broadcasters, publishers and even parishes have jumped on the podcasting trend.

PHOTO: CNS

Culture

Seen one Abrahamic faith, seen ‘em all

■ By Mark Shea, Mercatornet

Yesterday’s moral equivalency meant that the West was just as bad as Communism. Today’s is that both Christianity and Islam are the creeds of violent wackos.

US TV talk-show host Rosie O’Donnell didn’t waste any time turning her top-rating program The View into a forum for sheer lunacy. Recently she announced to a surprised audience, “Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America where we have separation of church and state.” This assertion is, as we kill-crazy, bloodlusting Christians like to call it, a “target-rich environment”. First, of course, there is the initial contention of Ms O’Donnell. To which, of course, we all reply, “Amen!”

After all, who can forget the beheading Methodists, the angry riots by surging Catholic mobs enraged over “Piss Christ”, the planes flown into mosques by members of the Nebraska Missionary Alliance, the Bible Church members who bombed the disco in Bali, the bomb in the London Underground set off by crazed Lutherans from Lake Wobegon, and the bombs in Spain courtesy of the Billy Graham organization.

Christians? Why there’s dangers o’plenty out there from these maniacs. Remember when the Dutch filmmaker was found murdered with a “Precious Moments” Bible verse pinned to his chest with a knife? Remember when the Vatican issued the death fatwa against Dan Brown and he had to go into hiding? You don’t think the Salvation Army is for spiritual warfare do you? We’re talking about the most deadly fighting force of soulless killers in the world! And, of course, the number of gays and lesbians like Rosie O’Donnell hanged, stoned to death, and sentenced to death by courts in America, where the vast majority of citizens self-identify as Christians, is indistinguishable from places like Iran and Saudi Arabia.

If you’ve seen one Abrahamic religion, you’ve seen ‘em all.

Rosie would stand alone as a particularly empty-headed pundit on Christianity - if she stood alone.

The thing is, this peculiar tendency to see all Christian churches and ecclesial bodies as the same, and to see Christianity as more or less identical to some other (and often profoundly different) cultural phenomenons has dogged Christianity from its very inception.

Jesus, even in his sojourn on earth, was confused by popular opinion with others.

When he asked his disciples who people thought he was, they replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

A little later on, we find Christianity being confused with a revolutionary sect, an incarnation of pagan gods, and a cult devoted to a god named Jesus and a goddess named Anastasis.

As time went on, the Romans found they could not distinguish Christianity from a Jewish sect and the Jews could not distinguish it from a pagan cult. A little after that, and the authorities could not tell it apart from various gnostic sects that all made Jesus the mouthpiece of their various spiritual theories.

These days you see much the same thing. For several years, people who wanted to fancy themselves “educated” were all agog for the pseudo-sophistication of The Da Vinci Code, which said that the Church was pretty much exactly the same thing as Mithraism and the various mystery cults of the late Roman Empire and that it had nothing to do with Judaism.

Meanwhile, pop scholars of the Dead Sea Scrolls were confidently announcing that

Christianity was pretty much exactly the same thing as the thoroughly Jewish Essene community and its “Teacher of Righteousness” and that it had nothing to do with paganism. Now, since 9/11, Chritianity has been discovered by Rosie and similar deep thinkers to be pretty much the same as Islam.

This sort of rediscovery of what Jesus and the Church “really” are has been proceeding apace for a long time. For the Communists, Jesus was really a Bolshevik. For the Nazis, an icon of Aryan purity. For feminists, a feminist.

For Christians, this is all pretty funny because it’s like saying your mother, dogs, cats and elephants are all pretty much the same: hair, two eyes, a nose, a mouth, warm blood.

What’s the difference? A certain inattention to details is notable in such an analysis, coupled with a glibness that elicits laughs and sighs in turn.

The Christian faith is “the same” as Judaism insofar as the revelation to Israel was a true revelation from God that prepared the way for Christ.

It is “the same” as Islam insofar as Mohammed called upon the God of Abraham

and so do Jews and Christians. It is “the same” as paganism insofar as Christ answered the longing for truth and love that burns in the pagan heart as well as in the Jewish one. Therefore, some elements of some pagan myths and mystery religions bear a passing resemblance to the Christian story.

But Christianity is unique. Its revelation of Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, incarnated under Augustus Caesar, crucified under Pontius Pilate, dead, buried, and raised in glory is not affirmed by anybody else in the world. Points of similarity are only that: similarities. They are not identifications. They prove Christianity is “the same” as these other cultural and religious phenomenons in exactly the same way as the presence of a mouth, a stomach, a digestive tract, and an opening for the excretion of waste prove that an earthworm, a blue whale, an ostrich, Osama bin Laden, Mother Teresa, and Groucho Marx are all “the same”.

Other factors really need to be taken into account.

Mark Shea blogs at Catholic and Enjoying It! This article first appeared on Mercatornet.

PANORAMA a roundup of events in the archdiocese

October - December

CROSS ROADS COMMUNITY

Term 4 - Tuesday 17th October – 12th December 2006. Tuesdays 5.30-7.30pm Substance Abusers Support Group & 7pm Lectio Divina at Immaculate Conception Church. Wednesdays 7-9pm Family & Friends Support Groups. Fridays 9.30am-2pm

Substance Abusers All Day Support Group including Healing Mass at 12.30pm.

Saturday October 7

WITNESS FOR LIFE PROCESSION

The next first Saturday Mass, procession and Rosary Vigil will be commencing with Mass at 8.30am 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 October 7 DAY WITH MARY

Holy Family Church, Lot 375 Alcock Street, Maddington. 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 Station of the Cross. Please BYO lunch. Enquiries: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286.

Sunday October 8 ETERNAL WORD TELEVISION NETWORK

Access 31. 1-2 pm: Scripture passages on Our Lady / Fr Alfred McBride [Images of Mary]; followed by St John Vianney, the Cure of Ars / Fr Bing Arellano [Holiness of Priesthood]. Your prayerful and financial support is needed to keep EWTN on air at Access 31. Please send donations and comments to

RCTA, P.O. Box 1270, Booragoon 6954. Enquiries re: videotapes: 9330-1170

Sunday October 8 SPRING AFFAIR

10am to 3pm Schoenstatt Centre, 9 Talus Drive, Armadale. Plants, cakes, books, silent auction, woodworking items and lots more. Enquiries 9399 4759.

Monday October 9

MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT GROUP MEETING

Nollamara. A meeting will be held at 7.30pm, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Centre, Marda Way, Nollamara. For further details telephone – Pat Mahoney on 9275 2809.

Tuesday October 10

WOODVALE 5TH ANNUAL NOVENA

St Luke’s Woodvale offers their annual Novena in honour of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.

The Novena commences on Tuesday October 10 and will run for 9 consecutive Tuesdays. Commencement time is 5.30pm and takes just under 30 minutes. Private petitions are to be received. Novena booklets provided.

Thursday October 12

MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT GROUP

Kelmscott - starting with a light lunch at 12 noon at Good Shepherd Parish Centre, 42 Streich Ave, Kelmscott. Contact Marge 9291 6397.

Thursday October 12

CARITAS MAKE POVERTY HISTORY  SOLIDARITY LUNCH Catholic Pastoral Centre, 40A Mary Street Highgate - Seminar Room -12 noon to 1 pm. Guest Speaker: Janeen Murphy, Caritas WA Global Education Advisor. Cost: Gold Coin. RSVP: Mon October 9 Tel: 9422 7925 Email: perth@caritas.org.au.

Really? In Talkshowland, a strange country that exists all over the world, but mostly in the US, these two people are pretty much the same, even interchangeable. But the truth that American talkshow host Rosie O’Donnell may have missed is that Mother Teresa is far more dangerous. You can see it in the eyes.

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■ BRICK REPOINTING

Phone Nigel 9242 2952.

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

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

FURNITURE REMOVAL

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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.

ACCOMMODATION

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

■ FAMILY/GROUP ACCOMMODATION

Luxury f/f beach house complex Perth. www. guadalupehill.com. 0400 292 100.

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.

SITUATIONS VACANT

■ CARETAKER St Anne’s Bindoon. Free accom. Suit retired man. 9571 1839.

EVENTS

■ CHRISTIAN MEDITATION WORKSHOP

You are invited to a weekend introduction to Christian Meditation at the Dardanup House of Prayer, Ferguson Road, Dardanup, on Sat 7th October 10 to 3:30 and Sun 8th October 10 to 12 noon. BYO lunch. $20 for weekend. Inquiries Marian 9387 4716

Classifieds

Classifieds must be submitted by fax, email or post no later than 12pm

OFFICIAL DIARY  BISHOP SPROXTON

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PANORAMA a roundup of events in the archdiocese

Thursday October 12

HEALING MASS

In honour of St Peregrine, patron of cancer suffers and all in need will be held at SS Peter and Paul at Pine Tree Gully Road (off South Street), Willetton. Starts 7pm. Including Veneration of the relic and anointing of the sick. For further information please contact Moreen Monohan on 9498 7727.

Friday October 13

89TH ANNIVERSARY OF OUR LADY’S LAST VISIT TO FATIMA

The World Apostolate of Fatima Aust Inc invites you to attend celebrations in St Joachim’s Church, Victoria Park. The National Pilgrim Virgin statue will be carried into the church at 11am. Rosary and Litany of Loreto will follow before 12.10pm Mass. The statue will remain in the church until Fatima Devotions, 3pm Sunday October 15. All welcome. Enquiries: 9339 2614.

Saturday October 14

WORKSHOP

The Emmanuel Centre and The Unconditional Love program will present a workshop on “Living with a Mental Illness.” 1pm-4pm, at Emmanuel Centre, 25 Windsor St, Perth. The cost is free. Bookings for the workshop are essential. Contact Amanda Olsen, Home: 9454 2241 Mob: 0407 192 641; Email: amandaolsen@bigpond.com

Sunday October 15

WA UNITES TO MAKE POVERTY HISTORY

This event may determine if Australia leads the world to make poverty history. We don’t want your money - we want you! Forrest Place, Perth at 1pm to Make Poverty History. For info or to help promote the event email wamakepovertyhistory@ca. com.au or ph 0413 022 645.

Sunday October 15

HEALING MASS

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

Friday October 20

ALAN AMES IN KALAMUNDA

Alan will be speaking of his conversion experiences at Holy Family Catholic Church, 2 Burt St, Kalamunda, after 7pm Mass. Healing prayers will follow. Enq: Loretti Crameri 9444 4409.

Friday October 20 to 22

MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER WEEKEND

Tell him or her they’re still No.1 in your life. To love

the very best in your marriage, treat yourselves to a Marriage Encounter Weekend. Few places still available for the October weekend. Contact Joe & Margaret Cordina on 9417 8750 for further details and Bookings.

Sunday October 22

CATHOLIC DOCTORS ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MASS

Holy Spirit Chapel, Notre Dame University (Cnr Mouat & Croke St) 9.30am followed by brunch. All past and present doctors, their family and friends welcome. Nurses, Medical students and Health Care Professionals also welcome. RSVP by 16/10/06 to Natalie on 9242 4066.

Sunday November 5

DIVINE MERCY

An afternoon with Jesus and Mary will be held at St Joachim’s Pro-Cathedral on the corner of Shepperton Road and Harper Street in Victoria Park at 1.30pm. Program: Holy Rosary and Reconciliation, Sermon: with Fr Anthony Van Dyke on Holy Souls and All Saints followed by Divine Mercy prayers and Benediction. Enquiries: John 9457 7771 or Linda 9275 6608.

Thursday November 23

PRESENTATION SISTERS’ 50TH ANNIVERSARY

St Augustine’s School Community wishes to invite all interested parties to attend a celebration to acknowledge the service to St Augustine’s School, Rivervale. This will take place in the school grounds at 9am, followed by morning tea. For catering purposes, RSVP by 2/11/06 on 9361 6158.

Sunday October 29

WORLD CENTENARY OF CATHOLIC WOMEN’S LEAGUE

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

Wednesday November 1

BOOK LAUNCH

A history of St Gertrude’s College, New Norcia cowritten by Sr Anne Carter IBVM and Sr Elizabeth Murphy RSJ will be launched at John XXIII College, Mt Claremont at 6.30pm. To attend or order the book, phone Marie on 9275 6307 or email pstrickland@eftel.net.au by October 16.

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.

TUESDAY NIGHT PRAYER MEETINGS

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

EVERY SUNDAY

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

FIRST SUNDAY OF THE MONTH

The Santa Clara Parish Community welcomes anyone from surrounding parishes and beyond to the Santa Clara Church, corner of Coolgardie and Pollock Sts, Bentley on the 1st Sunday of each month for devotions in honour of the Divine Mercy. The afternoon commences with the 3 o’clock prayer, followed by the Divine Mercy Chaplet, Reflection and concludes with Benediction.

YOUNG CATHOLIC WOMEN’S INTERFAITH FELLOWSHIP

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

NEW WEBSITE

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

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

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

BLESSED SACRAMENT ADORATION

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

Wednesdays

SIGN LANGUAGE COURSE

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

QUEEN OF APOSTLES SCHOOL

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

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

LINDA’S HOUSE OF HOPE APPEAL

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

Panorama

Entries must be in by 5pm Monday. Contributions may be faxed to 9227 7087, emailed to administration@therecord. com.au or mailed to PO Box 75, Leederville, WA 6902.

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

The Last Word

The one who couldn’t believe

We continue with our series of reflections on each of the aspotles given by Pope Benedict XVI. This week: St Thomas

Dear Brothers and Sisters, continuing with our encounters with the Twelve Apostles chosen directly by Jesus, today we dedicate our attention to Thomas. Always present in the four lists of the New Testament, he is presented in the first three Gospels next to Matthew (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15), while in the Acts of the Apostles he appears next to Philip (Acts 1:13).

His name stems from a Hebrew root, “ta’am,” which means “twin.” In fact, John’s Gospel calls him sometimes with the nickname “Didymus” (John 11:16; 20:24; 21:2), which in Greek means precisely “twin.” The reason for this name is not clear.

The fourth Gospel, in particular, gives us some information which offers us some significant characteristics of his personality. The first is the exhortation he made to the other apostles when Jesus, at a critical moment of his life, decided to go to Bethany to raise Lazarus, thus coming dangerously close to Jerusalem (Mark 10:32). On that occasion, Thomas said to his fellow disciples: “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (John 11:16). His determination when it came to following the Master is truly exemplary and gives us a precious teaching: It reveals the total willingness of adherence to Jesus to the point of identifying his own fate with His, and of wanting to share with Him the supreme trial of death.

In fact, what is most important is never to distance oneself from Jesus. When the Gospels use the verb “follow,” they intend to explain that wherever he goes, his disciple must also go. Thus, Christian life is defined as a life with Jesus Christ, a life that must be spent with him. St. Paul wrote something similar when he calmed Christians of Corinth with these words: “You are in our hearts, to die together and to live together” (2 Corinthians 7:3). What is true between the Apostle and his Christians must also be true above all in the relationship between Christians and Jesus himself: to die together, to live together, to be in his heart as he is in ours.

A second intervention of Thomas is recorded in the Last Supper. On that occasion, Jesus, predicting his imminent departure, announces that he will go to prepare a place for the disciples so that they will also be where he is; and he specifies: “And you know the way where I am going” (John 14:4). Then Thomas intervenes, saying: “Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” (John 14:5).

In reality, with these words he places himself in a rather low level of understanding, but [his words] offer Jesus the opportunity to utter the famous definition: “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6).

Therefore, in the first instance, he makes this revelation to Thomas, but it is valid for all of us and for all times. Every time we hear or read these words, we can be in thought next to Thomas and imagine that the Lord also speaks with us as he spoke with him.

At the same time, his question also gives us the right, so to speak, to ask Jesus for explanations. We often do not understand him. We must have the courage to say to him: I do not understand you, Lord, hear me, help me to understand. In this way, with such frankness, which is the authentic way to pray, to converse with Jesus, we express the littleness of our capacity to understand, but at the same time we assume the attitude of trust of one

At the same time, his question also gives us the right, so to speak, to ask Jesus for explanations. We often do not understand him.

who expects light and strength from the one able to give them.

Then, very well known, even proverbial, is the scene of Thomas’ incredulity, which took place eight days after Easter. Initially, he did not believe that Jesus had appeared in his absence and had said: “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25).

Deep down, from these words emerges the conviction that Jesus is no longer recognized by his face, but rather by the wounds. Thomas believes that the characteristic signs of Jesus’ identity are now above all his wounds, in which is revealed to what point he has loved us. In this the apostle is not mistaken.

As we know, eight days later, Jesus again appears to his disciples and on this occasion Thomas is present. And Jesus says to him: “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing” (John 20:27).

Thomas reacts with the most splendid profession of faith of the New Testament: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). In this connection, St. Augustine comments: Thomas “saw and touched the man, but confessed his faith in God, whom he did not see or touch. But what he saw and touched led him to believe that which until then he had doubted” (“In Iohann” 121, 5). The evangelist continues with one last phrase of Jesus addressed to Thomas: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (John 20:29).

This phrase can also be enunciated in the present: “Blessed are those who do not see and believe.” In any case, Jesus enunciates here a fundamental principle for Christians who will come after Thomas, that is, for all of us. It is interesting to observe how another Thomas, the great medieval theologian from

St Thomas

Born

Memorial

Died

Unknown

July 3

Stabbed with a spear c. 72, India

Patronage against doubt; architects; blind people; builders; construction workers; Ceylon; East Indies; geometricians; India; masons; Pakistan; people in doubt; Sri Lanka; stone masons; stonecutters; surveyors; theologians

Prayer

OGlorious Saint Thomas, your grief for Jesus was such that it would not let you believe he had risen unless you actually saw him and touched his wounds.

But your love for Jesus was equally great and it led you to give up your life for him. Pray for us that we may grieve for our sins which were the cause of Christ’s sufferings. Help us to spend ourselves in his service and so earn the title of “blessed” which Jesus applied to those who would believe in him without seeing him.

Amen.

Aquino, joins this blessedness with another referred to by Luke that seems opposed: “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!” (Luke 10:23).

However, Thomas Aquinas comments: “He has much more merit who believes without seeing than he who seeing, believes” (“In Iohann. XX lectio” VI paragraph 2566). In fact, the Letter to the Hebrews, recalling all the series of ancient biblical patriarchs, who believed in God without seeing the fulfillment of his promises, defines faith as “guarantee of what is hoped for; the proof of realities that are not seen” (11:1).

The case of the Apostle Thomas is important for us at least for three reasons: first, because it consoles us in our insecurities; second, because it shows us that every doubt can have a luminous end beyond any uncertainty; and, finally, because the words that Jesus addressed to him remind us of the authentic meaning of mature faith and encourages us to continue, despite the difficulties, on the path of fidelity to Him.

The fourth Gospel has preserved for us a last note on Thomas, on presenting him as witness of the Risen One in the moment after the miraculous catch on the Lake of Tiberias (John 21:2). On that occasion, he is mentioned also immediately after Simon Peter: an evident sign of the notable importance that he enjoyed in the ambit of the first Christian communities. In fact, in his name, were later written the “Acts” and the “Gospel of Thomas,” both apocryphal, but in any case important for the study of Christian origins. Let us recall, finally, that according to an ancient tradition, Thomas evangelized in the first instance Syria and Persia (so says Origen, as referred by Eusebius of Caesarea, “Hist. eccl.” 3,1) and later went as far as western India (cf. “Acts of Thomas” 1-2: 17 and following), from where Christianity also later reached the south of India. We end our reflection with this missionary perspective, hoping that Thomas’ example will increasingly confirm our faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God.

From the Holy Land to India: St Thomas established Christianity in India’s south.

What it is

Why it’s important Why you’ll never regret it

Reconciliation Special

How to make a good confession

■ By Mark Reidy

Confession is not a difficult matter, but it does require some preparation. As with all things, we should begin with prayer, placing ourselves in the presence of God. Then we should try to review our lives since our last confession, searching out our thoughts, words, and actions that did not conform to God’s love, to His law, or to the laws of the Church. Reviewing our life this way is called an “examination of conscience,” and it is a good practice for every day of our lives.

We should not let too much time pass between our visits to the sacrament of reconciliation. The Church asks us to go at least once a year, but suggests that we go regularly, perhaps once a month. If we go more often, we can more often receive the graces to improve our lives.

Once you are there for the sacrament, follow these four steps to a good confession:

1. Tell all. Try not to leave any

serious sins out. Start with the one that is toughest to say.

2. Be clear. Try not to be subtle or euphemistic.

3. Be sorry. Remember, it is God you have offended, and His forgiveness you seek.

4. Be brief. No need to go into detail. Often when we do, we are just trying to excuse ourselves.

If you have not been to confession for a while, this is not a reason to worry. The Church loves to welcome home prodigal children. But please do not delay any longer — just go. You might even want to make an appointment with your parish priest so you can spend a little more time without worrying about delaying others who might be waiting in line. Let the priest know at the start that it has been a while since your last confession, and that you are not sure how to proceed. And if you are nervous, say so. The point of the sacrament is repentance and mercy; so the more mercy the priest can dispense in the name of God, the more joyous the occasion should be.

The reality facing us

■ By Charles and Margaret Savitskas

All the signs are telling us that people are just not comfortable with the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The official Church has made an enormous effort to change that by updating the way this sacrament is celebrated. The New Rite of Reconciliation, published in 1973, introduced face-to-face confession with the opportunity of a more personally meaningful celebration. But the results were dismal. Today, with exceptions here and there, fewer people, not more, make use of this sacrament. Most kids

who receive First Reconciliation do not return until Confirmation. Parochial school students are regularly shepherded to the sacraments, but the practice does not continue after they graduate.

Something more is obviously needed. The groundwork has been done. The theology has been revitalised, and the rite has been revised. The “something more” is rediscovering Reconciliation as a life-giving element in Christian life, especially family life. There is a way to do this, which holds much hope for the future. It revolves around how parents “talk” to their children about reconcilia-

tion. Simply, the key is this: Find the essence of this sacrament - honesty, sorrow for wrongdoing, making up, forgiveness, and making amends - in real life. Look for these elements in your life as a family. They are there! Sin is a fact of life. So is reconciliation. When we recover this truth we will become more aware of our need for this sacrament, more open to how it can nourish our lives, more interested in celebrating the reality of God’s love, forgiveness, and healing in our lives. Then we just might be able to keep our children from drifting away from this “awkward” sacrament.

Thoughts of a priest

■ By Mark Reidy

Retired WA priest, Father Brian Morgan, believes that desensitisation to sin is one of the major factors contributing to the dwindling number of those utilising the sacrament of Penance. “There is a clash of values between the secular modern world and

He believes that prayer and confession have become the victims of modern life, “Worldly priorities begin to take over from the spiritual.”

the teachings of Jesus and the Church”, he said. He believes that television has significantly contributed to the shifting of moral boundaries and that younger generations have become confused about what is right and wrong.

TV programming has also replaced family prayer in many households, he said, and this has contributed to a weakening of faith. “Faith is very much about repentance. Where faith is strong the urge to repent is strong”, he reflected.

To reverse this trend he

believes that families and schools must help children develop authentic, tender consciences. But he said that this could only be fulfilled when parents and teachers took responsibility for appropriate catechising. In this way children would learn, through the grace of God, to recognise sin in their lives. “The leprosy of sin is the major obstacle of our relationship with Jesus”, Fr Brian stated, “We need to make war on our own sinfulness”.

He also firmly believes that it is vital that all priests make themselves available for the sacrament of Penance. He is adamant that they must commit themselves to a time and, in faith, be dutiful to that commitment. He accepts this as a part of the cross of priesthood.

He believes that prayer and confession have become the victims of modern life, “Worldly priorities begin to take over from the spiritual”, he said, “The busyness of life is a subtle deception of Satan”.

Fr Brian is a believer that Penance is part of God’s plan for on-going purification for both the individual and for the Church, which is the Body of Christ. “Each confession is a new beginning”, he says, “A fresh start.”

Absolved: Nick Timmons, 21, of Chicago receives absolution from Fr Robert Kawa of Beverly, Ohio, during WYD in Cologne.

A touch of advice: Going to confession is gives you time to seek guidence as well as forgiveness.

Photo: CNS

Leonora - Sacred Heart

By appointment

Ph: 9963 4050

Laverton - Christ the Redeemer

By appointment

Leinster - Chrisitan Centre

By appointment

Leschenault - Christ the Living Vine

By appointment

Ph: 9797 1684

Lesmurdie - Our Lady of Lourdes

Sat: 11am to 12pm and 5:30pm to 6pm

Ph: 9291 6282

Lockridge - Good Shepherd

Sat: 5pm to 6m or anytime by appointment

Ph: 9279 8119

Langford - St Jude’s

Tues to Wed: 8:30am to 8:50am

Sat: 11am to 12pm and 5:30pm o 6pm

Ph: 9458 1946

MMaddington - Holy Family

Sat: 9am and 5:45pm

Ph: 9493 1703

Maida Vale - St Francis of Assisi

Sat: 10am to 10:30am

Ph: 9454 6385

Mandurah - Our Lady’s Assumption

Sat: 5pm to 5:45pm

Ph: 9581 2061

Manjimup - St Joseph’s

Sat: 5pm to 5:30pm and on request

Ph: 9771 2873

Manning - St Pius X

Sat: 11:30am to 12pm and 5:30pm to 5:50pm

Ph: 9450 4171

Margaret River - St Thomas More

Sat: 5:15pm to 5:50pm

Or as requested

Ph: 9757 2264

Maylands - Queens of Martyrs

Sat: 5:30pm to 6pm

Ph: 9271 3731

Merredin - St Mary’s

30 minutes before Mass or anytime

by appointment

Ph: 9041 1118

Midland - St Brigid’s

Sat: 11am to 12pm noon and 5pm to 6pm

Ph: 9274 1495

Mirrabooka - St Gerard Majella

Sat: 11:30am to 12:30pm and 5:15pm to 5:45pm

Ph: 9349 2315

Moora - St John the Baptist

Before Masses and on request.

Ph: 9651 1054

Badgingarra - Community Hall Mass Centre

Before Masses and on request.

Bindi Bindi - Our Lady of Lourdes

Before Masses and on request.

Cervanties - Ambulance Centre

Before Masses and on request.

Dandaragan - St Anne’s Anglican

Church

Before Masses and on request.

Jurien Bay - CWA Hall Mass Centre

Before Masses and on request.

Miling - Holy Rosary

Before Masses and on request.

Morawa - Three Springs

Holy Cross

By appointment

Ph: 9971 1150

Three Springs - St Paul’s

By appointment

Perenjori - St Joseph’s

By appointment

Morley - Infant Jesus

Sat: 10am to 11am and 5pm to

Mt Barker - Sacred Heart

By appointment

Ph: 9851 1119

Cranbrook - St Anne’s

Prior to Mass by arrangement

Frankland - St Margaret Mary

Prior to Mass by arrangement

Mt Lawley - St Paul

Sat: 5pm to 5:50pm

Or by appointment

Ph: 9271 5253

Mt Magnet-Cue-Meekatharra

Mt Magnet - St Brigid’s

By appointment

Ph: 9963 4050

Cue - St Patrick’s

By appointment

Meekatharra - Christ the King

By appointment

Mullewa - Mingenew

Mullewa - Our Lady of Mt Carmel

By appointment

Ph: 9961 1181

Mingenew - St Joseph’s

By appointment

Mundaring - Sacred Heart

Sat: 9:15am to 10am

Ph: 9295 1059

Myaree - Corpus Christi

Weekdays: by request

Sat: 5:45pm to 6:15pm

Ph: 9330 3584

NNarrogin - St Mathew’s

Sat: 11am to 11:30am

Or by appointment

Ph: 9881 1153

Williams - St Mathew’s

By appointment

Nedlands - Holy Rosary

Sat: 10am to 10:30am and 5pm to 5:30pm

Ph: 9386 1870

Newman - St Joseph’s

Sat: 4:30pm to 5pm

Sun: Before Mass on the 1st and 2nd Sun

Or by appointment

Ph: 9175 1030

New Norcia - Abbey – Benedictine

Monastery

Sun: 8:45am

Ph: 9654 8018

Nollamara - Our Lady of Lourdes

Sat: 5pm

Or by appointment

Ph: 9345 5541

Northam - St Joseph’s

Sat: 11:30am to 12pm

Ph: 9622 5411

Northampton - Our Lady of Ara, Coeli

Prior to Mass or by appointment

Ph: 9934 1190

Kalbarri - Our Lady Help of Christians

20 minutes prior to Mass or by appointment

Nanson - Our Lady of Fatima 20 minutes prior to Mass

North Beach - Our Lady of Grace

Sat: 5pm to 5:15pm

Ph: 9448 4888

North Perth - Redemptorist

Monastery

Tues to Fri: 10am to 10:45am and 5pm to 6pm

Sat: 10am to 12pm, 4pm to 4:30pm and 5:30pm to 6pm

Ph: 9328 6600

OOcean Reef - St Simon Peter

Osborne Park - St Kieran’s

Sat: after 8am Mass and 5:30pm to 6pm

Ph: 9444 1334

PPalmyra - Our Lady of Fatima

Sat: 5:45pm to 6:15pm

Ph 9339 1298

Pemberton - Sacred Heart Wed: Before and after 10.00am

Mass.

Sun: Before 8.30am Mass and after 10.30am Mass

Ph: 9776 1711

Northcliffe - St Joseph’s

Before and after Monday monthly Mass

Perth - St Mary’s Cathedral

Mon to Thurs: after the 12:10pm Mass to 1pm

Fri: 11:30am to 12pm noon and after the 12:10pm Mass to 1pm

Sat: 12pm noon to 1pm and 5pm to 6pm

Ph: 9223 1350

Pinjarra - St Augustine’s Sat: 6pm Or before Mass

Ph: 9531 1227

Boddington - St Joseph’s Sun: before Mass

Dwellingup - St Patrick’s

Sun: before Mass

Port Hedland - St Cecilia’s 1 hour before all weekend Masses

Ph: 9173 1687

Port Kennedy - St Bernadette’s Sat: 9am to 9:30am and 30 minutes prior to weekend Masses

Ph: 9593 4670

QQueen’s Park - East Cannington St Joseph’s, Queens Park

Sat: 4:45pm to 5:25pm

Ph: 9451 5586

East Cannington - St Francis of Assisi

Last Sat of the Month: 9am

RRiverton - Our Lady Queen of Apostles

Sat: 4:30pm to 5:30pm

Ph: 9354 0707

Rivervale - St Augustine’s Sat: 5pm to 5:30pm

Or on request

Ph: 9361 2271

Rockingham - Our Lady of Lourdes Sat: 11:30am to 12:30pm and 5pm to 6pm Ph: 9527 1605

Rottnest Island - Holy Trinity Sat: 4:30pm to 5:30pm

Or as requested Ph: 9292 5052

SScarborough - Immaculate Heart of Mary Sat: 11:30am to 12pm noon

Ph: 9341 1124

Shenton Park - St Aloysius

Sat: 5pm to 5:45pm

Ph: 9381 5383

Southern Cross - Our Lady of Montserrat 30 minutes prior to each Mass

Ph: 9049 1049

Westonia - St Lucy’s 30 minutes prior to each Mass

South Hedland - St John the Baptist

Spearwood - St Jerome

Sat: 9:30am to 10:30am and 5pm to 5:30pm

Ph: 9418 1229

Subiaco - St Joseph’s

Sat: 4:30pm to 5:30pm

Ph: 9381 0400

TThornlie - Sacred Heart

Sat: 5pm to 5:30pm

Or by appointment

Ph: 9459 4459

Tom Price - St Thomas’

By appointment

Paraburdoo - St Teresa’s

By appointment

Toodyay - St John The Baptist

Sat: 4:40pm to 4:55pm

Ph: 9622 5411

VVictoria Park - St Joachim’s

Sat: 5pm to 6pm

Ph: 9361 1057

WWagin - St Joseph’s

By appointment

Ph: 9881 1153

Dumbleyung - St John the Baptist

By appointment

Wanneroo - St Anthony of Padua

Sat: 10am to 10:30am and 5:30pm to 6pm

Ph: 9405 1110

Waroona - Yarloop

Waroona - St Patrick’s

By appointment

Ph: 9733 1225

Yarloop - St Joseph’s

By appointment

West Perth - St Brigid’s

Sat: 5:30pm to 6:15pm

Or as requested.

Ph: 9328 6938

Whitford - Our Lady of the Mission, Craigie

Sat: 12;00pm noon to 1pm and 5:30pm to 6pm

Ph: 9307 2776

Wickham - Our Lady of the Pilbara

By appointment

Ph: 9187 1525

Willagee - Our Lady Queen of Peace

Sat: 10am to 10:30am

Ph: 9337 1949

Willetton - Saints John and Paul

Sat: 11am to 11:30am and 5:30pm to 6pm

Ph: 9332 5992

Wilson - Our Lady of Perpetual

Help

Sat: after the Vigil Mass

Ph: 9458 6586

Wongan Hills - Dalwallinu

Wongan Hills - St Gregory’s

Before or after Sun Mass if time permits.

Ph: 9671 1202

Ballidu

Before or after Sun Mass if time permits.

Dalwallinu

Before or after Sun Mass if time permits.

Woodvale - St Luke’s

Sat: 5pm to 5:30pm

Or by appointment

Ph: 9409 6291

Wyndham - Queen of Apostles Before Mass.

Ph: 9191 1242

Warmun - Bower Shed beside the School

Before Mass.

Halls Creek - St Mary’s Church Hall Before Mass.

YYanchep - Lancelin

Yanchep - St Anne’s

Before or after Mass or by appointment

Ph: 9561 2172

Lancelin - Our Lady of Fatima

Before or after Mass or by appointment

Guilderton - Community Hall

Before or after Mass or by appointment

Yangebup - Mater Christi

Sat: 5pm to 6pm

Ph: 9417 4763

York - St Patrick’s

Sat: 9:30am to 10:30am and 30 minutes prior to weekend Masses Beverley

30 minutes prior to weekend Masses

Brookton

30 minutes prior to weekend Masses

Pinjelly

30 minutes prior to weekend Masses

Other Mass Centres

Bullsbrook - Shrine of Virgin of the Revelation, Mother of the Church Sun: 2pm prior to Mass ; 1:30pm prior to Pilgrimage Ph: 9571 1699

Crawley - St Thomas More College Chapel

By appointment Ph: 9386 0111

Fremantle - Holy Spirit Chapel Weekdays by appointment Ph: 9433 0551

Inglewood - All Hallows - Melkite Rite (Eparchy of St Michael, Archangel) Weekdays by appointment Ph: 9345 0517

Joondalup - Holy Spirit Catholic Chapel Weekdays: 10:30am to 11:45am Or by appointment Ph: 9301 4111

Maylands - Our Lady Queen of Poland - Polish Community

By appointment Ph: 9272 2451

Maylands - St John the BaptistUkranian Rite (Eparchy of Sts Peter and Paul)

Tues to Thurs: 8:30am

Fri: 9am

Ph: 9271 4711

North Fremantle - St Anne’sCroatian Community

By appointment Ph: 9335 4485

Perth - All Saints Chapel Mon to Fri: 10:45am to 11:45am Ph: 9325 2009

Westminster - Vietnamese Catholic Community Centre

Tues to Fri: 30 minutes prior to 6:30pm Mass

Sat and Sun: 1 hour prior to Mass Ph: 9440 1678

Tues and Fri: 6:30pm

Sat: after 8:30am Mass

Ph: 9300 4885

Ongerup - St John Vianney

Before Mass

6pm

Ph: 9276 8500

Ph: 9837 4091

By appointment

Ph: 9172 1254

South Perth - St Columba

Sat: 11:30am to 12:15pm

Ph: 9367 3950