The Record Newspaper 05 December 2007

THE R ECORD

A circle of life, tied with love...

St Padre

People need God to have hope, Pope says in new papal document

■ By John Thavis

Former Orthodox woman says Saint obtained cure for her

■ By Nieves San Martín

PESCEANA, Romania, NOV. 28

(Zenit.org) - The 71-year-old mother of a former Orthodox priest says she was cured of lung cancer through the intercession of Padre Pio. After the apparent miracle, the priest explained, he and his mother, and members of his parish, have become Catholics.

Lucrecia Tudor was born into the Romanian Orthodox Church and her son, Victor, followed a vocation to the priesthood. In 2002, he was working in Pesceana, close to Valcea, in south central Romania. Another son, Mariano, dedicated himself to painting, especially iconography, and lives and works in Rome.

The story of the family, and the church they are building dedicated to Saint Pio de Pietrelcina, was related to the ZENIT news agency by Italian journalist, Renzo Allegri.

Lucrecia was diagnosed with a tumor in her left lung

Continued - Page 7

“Let us put it very simply: Man needs God, otherwise he remains without hope,” he said in the encyclical, “Spe Salvi” (on Christian hope), released on November 30.

Continued, more reports - Pages 4-5

VATICAN CITY (CNS) - In an encyclical on Christian hope, Pope Benedict XVI said that, without faith in God, humanity lies at the mercy of ideologies that can lead to “the greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice.” The Pope warned that the modern age has replaced belief in eternal salvation with faith in progress and technology, which offer opportunities for good but also open up “appalling possibilities for evil.”

New South Wales Labor MP and Government Whip Greg Donnelly reflects for The Record on the culture of exploitation of girls and women. Page 2

INDIA CALLING

Edith Cowan University Journalism student Joanna Lawson is setting up a special project in India this summer, and writing about it for The Record.

CATHEDRALS AND PEOPLE

As the new St Mary’s begins to form, Perth Scalabrinian Priest Fr Anthony Paganoni CS reflects on cathedrals, art. architecture - and those they serve. Page 8

Tony Evans reviews a new book on the victory of the uninspiring and the

Love: This beautiful photograph of four generations of women in one family was taken by Gerard Overman on a family visit to his mother Lillian, at right, at that time a resident of the Catherine McAuley Nursing Home in Wembley. Lilian Mary Overman (nee Dawes) died approximately six weeks later on May 28 this year, aged 103 years and seven months. Beside her in this photo are her daughter-in-law Margaret Overman (wife of Gerard), and her grand daughter Nicole who is holding Lilian’s first great-grandchild, Lily Jacinta, who was born on February 11 this year. Son Gerard says it is one of the last photographs taken of his mother but for the family this one is treasured. “On this particular day it was really quite special because she really seemed to connect and she knew who was there, she knew who we were and she knew who the baby was. ...In ‘the circle of life’ my mother was going out as Lily was coming in,” he told The Record. Lilian was born on October 24, 1903 at Corrowa in New South Wales and had three children.

PHOTO: COURTESY GERARD OVERMAN.

Huge: Pilgrims pack St Peter’s Square for the Mass of canonisation of Italian Capuchin Padre Pio of Pietralcina in June 2002. The-then Pope, John Paul II, said the friar’s spirituality of suffering was a valuable model for modern times.

PHOTO: CNS/MAX ROSSI, CATHOLIC PRESS PHOTO.

Finito: Pope Benedict XVI signs his encyclical, ‘Spe Salvi’ (on Christian hope), at the Vatican on November 30.

Looks good? Must be good for you...

Greg Donnelly MLC, Government Whip of the New South

Wales Parliament, write exclusively for The Record on the deeprooted effects of the sexualisation many have grown accustomed to.

As I pulled up to the traffic lights recently on busy Victoria Road, my eyes glanced up to a billboard. On the billboard, larger than life, was an eye-catching model in red bra and briefs. She was cuddling a large fluffy animal, I am not sure what type, in her left arm. She was cheekily nibbling on one of its ears. Next to her in large letters was the word “Horny?”

Easy on the eye? Most men would say yes. For women, I don’t know. I haven’t asked any. Humorous or amusing? It may raise a smile, but not a laugh.

Sexist? You could argue that the model looked fit, healthy, confident and in control. Pornographic?

Probably not in the sense that the average Australian adult is likely to understand the meaning of the word in 2007.

Are we not just talking about another clever piece of advertising marketing a well known brand of women’s underwear? Does it have any negative consequences on girls and women, boys and men?

Our popular culture would say no and credit the advertisement as being “savvy” and

“in your face”. As the lights turned green and I drove off, I couldn’t help wondering if there was more to this advertisement than meets the eye.

The American Psychological Association earlier this year released a report titled “Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualisation of Girls.” The Task Force was established in February 2005.

It was comprised of six psychologists, four of whom have PhD’s plus a member of the public. The report has taken almost two years to produce.

It is 45 pages long and annotated with 439 references covering another 20 pages.

What we have is a major and significant piece of social science research on this particular subject that is, as far as I can establish, the most comprehensive ever done.

As outlined in the introduction of the report, the Task Force’s goals were to:

“... examine and summarise psychological theory, research, and clinical experience addressing the sexualisation of girls. We (a) define sexualisation; (b) examine the prevalence and provide examples of sexualisation in society and cultural institutions, as well as interpersonally and intrapsychically; (c) evaluate the evidence suggesting that sexualisation has negative consequences on girls and for the rest of society; and (d) describe positive alternatives that may help counteract the influence of sexualisation.”

The report also contains a number of recommendations under the headings of –Research, Practice, Education and Training, Public Policy and Public Awareness.

Recommendation five under the heading Public Policy says without qualification:

“That the APA work with Congress and relevant federal agencies and industry to

reduce the use of sexualised images of girls in all forms of media and products.”

The report looked at the issue across a number of media formats including television, music videos, music lyrics, movies, cartoons and animation, magazines, sports media, video/computer games, internet, advertising, products, clothing and cosmetics.

It is also worth noting that the report examines in detail the literature and research relating not just to girls, but also to women.

be underestimated. More needs to be done by social science to help us understand more clearly its impact on boys and men.

The report should agitate strong and open public debate not just in America, but also Australia where most if not all of the issues have a similar cultural relevance.

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Such a detailed report can not have its content simply reduced to a few, brief sentences.

However, in my view the keystone observation in the report is to be found at page 21 where the authors say with respect to the consequences of the sexualisation of girls and women:

“Ample evidence indicates that sexualisation has negative effects in a variety of domains, including cognitive functioning, physical and mental health, sexuality and beliefs.”

The language used by the authors of the report is candid and not ambiguous. They don’t say “may” or “possible”. They specifically use the phrase “ample evidence”.

And these are not the words of some rightwing cranks, conservative politicians, feminists or religious zealots.

They are the words of the American Psychological Association.

After examining the evidence under the various domains outlined in the quote above, the authors go on to look at the evidence of the impact of the sexualisation and objectification of girls and women on others including boys, men and adult women.

There is then a detailed examination of the impact on society as a whole.

The APA report does not pull its punches. It is very confronting and will seriously challenge some deeply held views that people may have.

However, I don’t believe that we can or should ignore what the report is fundamentally saying.

It can also be said that this should not be seen as just a girls’/women’s issue.

The impact of the sexualisation of boys/ men on individuals and society should not

EDITOR

Peter Rosengren cathrec@iinet.net.au

JOURNALISTS

Anthony Barich abarich@therecord.com.au

Sylvia Defendi sdefendi@iinet.net.au

Paul Gray cathrec@iinet.net.au

Mark Reidy reidyrec@iinet.net.au

Of course there will be the nay-sayers who will argue that the report has “methodological flaws”, “paradigm issues” or that social science is subjective by its very nature. It seems to me that if a report like this is not persuasive, the fact is, for some people nothing would be.

For years, those who have expressed serious concerns about the sexualisation and objectification of girls and women have been challenged by the doubters and those with vested interests to meet the high bar of proving their case “beyond reasonable doubt”. With what is at stake the test should never have been higher than “on the balance of probabilities.” In any event, whilst it may have taken some time, it seems to me that the evidence is now out there for all who wish to see. In the meantime it would be interesting to know just how many of the drivers and passengers in the 80,000 or so cars that pass the billboard on Victoria Road each weekday sense in their heart of hearts that just because it looks good, it may not actually be good for you. I wonder?

ADMINISTRATION

Caroline Radelic administration@therecord.com.au

ACCOUNTS

Cathy Baguley recaccounts@iinet.net.au

PRODUCTION & ADVERTISING

Justine Stevens production@therecord.com.au

Barely there: Passersby drift past a life-size cartoon poster of a young girl, scantily dressed and with an impossibly slim figure, out the front of a bookshop on Murray Street Mall. PHOTOS: ANTHONY BARICH

Interesting: A billboard in Footlocker shoe shop on Murray Street Mall.

WYD pilgrims to pay for half of costs

■ By Anthony Barich

World Youth Day pilgrims will be paying for about half the cost of staging the event through their registration fees.

In response to public enquiries regarding taxpayers funding the event through a $40 million compensation package to the horseracing industry for the inconvenience of using Randwick Racecourse announced last month, the WYD08 office said the pilgrims’ registrations would be used to pay up to half the total cost of the event, believed to top $100 million.

A statement - released to the media and to NSW priests - by WYD08 director of communications Jim Hanna said that the Church in Sydney and corporate partners are providing significant services and cash. It is understood the Sydney Archdiocese is contributing up to $15m.

Mr Hanna pointed out that Federal and State governments have forked out much more to comparatively smaller events in the past: the Victorian government spent over $600m on the Commonwealth Games and the Federal government forked out $293m on top of that.

The Randwick Trainers Association feared that the venue could go ‘offline’ for up to eight months, but the Australian Jockey

Club has confirmed that Randwick race meetings will be transferred elsewhere – likely Warwick Farm – only between June 15 and August 23 2008.

The AJC has also admitted that infrastructure installed at Randwick for WYD08 will benefit the AJC after the event, including “but not limited to” water, power and sewerage to the infield, lighting around the tracks, new ground staff and equipment facilities.

“It was never WYD08’s intention to disrupt unnecessarily the activities of the racing industry for our event,” Mr Hanna said. “That’s why we altered our plans at least three times to meet the (racing) industry’s legitimate concerns.”

Of the $40m compensation packages, $7m is for capital works that the AJC says it has been planning prior to WYD08 and $3m is for “unspecified costs” incurred by the AJC, which will also receive a 50year extension of their lease, a ‘peppercorn’ rent – almost nothing. Up to $10m has also been set aside as back-up funding in case the racing surface needs repair.

Mr Hanna said WYD08 is worthy of taxpayer support for reasons “unrelated to religion”:

● It will be the biggest event ever held in Australia in terms of participants, and will draw 125,000 visitors – more visitors than the Olympics.

● These visitors are mostly young

YCS is on the hunt

Young Christian Students are looking to rebuild old connections

The Young Christian Students organisation is casting the net far and wide to hear what ex-members are doing with themselves.

The initiative has been started in Western Australia so that current YCS students and leaders can learn about how the movement took shape, so they can also plan for the future.

Perth YCS has grown exponentially in the last few years and its leadership group and current members want to share these experiences with their ex-members.

YCS has had a major impact on people in the Church over the years, and the YCS wants to compile a history about the Movement.

YCS now has over 10 groups across Perth where students are reflecting on how their faith calls them into action.

Contact Perth’s Young Christian Students coordinator Vicky Burrows by emailing her at perth@aycs.org.au or calling 9422 7911 or 0412 529 656.

adults who will return to Australia if they enjoy the visit.

● The NSW government has said WYD08 will inject $150m into the NSW economy alone, while the rest of Australia will also benefit.

● The major events of WYD08,

including the Stations of the Cross for which WYD08 is looking for actors, will be broadcast live around the world, showcasing Sydney and Australia to a global audience.

Federal government officials are hoping for $150m in economic benefits.

The final Mass with Pope Benedict XVI is expected to draw up to 500,000 people, making it the biggest single event held in Australia.

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Carsguide customers have voted the John Hughes Group ‘Australia’s best car dealership’.

The Dealer of the Year reader’s choice competition was conducted by Carsguide, Australia’s biggest automotive online vehicle classified brand.

The survey asked car buyers to rate dealers according to their range, service, knowledge and price. Mr Hughes and his group, described by happy customers as a “breath of fresh air”, were clear winners.

Mr Hughes, who employs 485 people in Perth, said he was extremely proud of the win. “Particularly when told we were nominated by our customers. This is an Australian wide recognition of the passion of all of our employees in achieving this outstanding level of customer service.”

Our company philosophy. “We are a friendly and efficient company trading with integrity and determined to give our customers the very best of service.”

Moved by the desperate plight of Christians in the Holy Land and throughout the Middle East, the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has been supporting the country’s beleaguered Christian population.

Sadly, due to ongoing violence and oppression, the proportion of Christians in the Holy Land has plummeted from 20 percent to as little as 1.4 percent in the last 40 years.

ACN is helping to keep faith and hope alive throughout the region by providing urgent aid to priests, religious and lay people, offering subsistence help to refugees and building and repairing churches and convents. Please help us strengthen and rebuild the Church in the land of Christ’s birth.

A beautiful, handcrafted crib, made of olive wood in Bethlehem, will be sent to all those who give a donation of $20.00 or more to help this campaign.

I/We enclose $................ to help keep Christianity alive in the Holy Land and Middle East.

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JohnHughes

Encyclical puts virtue centre-stage on global scale

Continued from Page 1

The 76-page text explored the essential connection between faith and hope in early Christianity and addressed what it called a “crisis of Christian hope” in modern times. It critiqued philosophical rationalism and Marxism and offered brief but powerful profiles of Christian saints - ancient and modern - who embodied hope, even in the face of suffering.

The encyclical also included a criticism of contemporary Christianity, saying it has largely limited its attention to individual salvation instead of the wider world, and thus reduced the “horizon of its hope.”

“As Christians we should never limit ourselves to asking: How can I save myself? We should also ask: What can I do in order that others may be saved?” it said.

It was the Pope’s second encyclical and followed his 2006 meditation on Christian love.

He worked on the text over the summer during his stay in the Italian mountains and at his villa outside Rome.

The Pope said the essential aspect of Christian hope is trust in eternal salvation brought by Christ.

In contrast with followers of mythology and pagan gods, early Christians had a future and could trust that their lives would not end in emptiness, he said.

Yet today the idea of “eternal life” frightens many people and strikes them as a monotonous or even unbearable existence, the Pope said.

It is important, he said, to understand that eternity is “not an unending succession of days in the calendar, but something more like the supreme moment of satisfaction.”

“It would be like plunging into the ocean of infinite love, a moment in which time - the before and after - no longer exists,” he said. This is how to understand the object of Christian hope, he said.

The encyclical’s main section examined how the emphasis on reason and freedom - embodied in the French revolution and the rise of communism - sought to displace Christian hope.

Redemption was seen as possible through science and political pro-

At a glance

Main points of Pope Benedict XVI’s ‘Spe Salvi’

● Jesus Christ brought humanity the gift of a “trustworthy hope” in salvation and eternal life, a hope that is directly connected with faith.

● In the contemporary world, however, religious faith has been replaced with faith in progress and technology, provoking a “crisis of Christian hope.”

● Ideologies like Marxism tried to do without religion and create a perfect society through political structures. Instead, this led to the “greatest forms of cruelty,” proving that “a world which has to create its own justice is a world without hope.”

belief that man could be redeemed through science- but science can destroy the world unless it is guided by religious values.

● Experience shows that anyone who does not know God “is ultimately without hope,” the great hope that sustains life.

● Christianity cannot limit its attention to the individual and his salvation; Christianity’s transforming role includes the wider society.

● Some have placed their hope in the mistaken

grams, and religious faith was dismissed as irrelevant and relegated to a private sphere. While praising Karl Marx for his great analytical skill, the Pope said Marx made a fundamental error in forgetting that human freedom always includes

● Prayer is an effective “school of hope,” as demonstrated by the saints through the centuries. Prayer should not isolate Christians, but make them more responsive to others.

● Suffering cannot be eliminated in this world but can be transformed by Christian hope. The measure of humanity, for individuals and society, lies in compassion for the suffering.

● The prospect of divine judgment also offers hope, because it promises God’s grace and justice.

“freedom for evil,” which is not neutralised by social structures. In the same way, the Pope said, those who believe man can be “redeemed” through science and technological advances are mistaken.

“Science can contribute greatly to making the world and mankind more human. Yet it can also destroy mankind and the world unless it is steered by forces that lie outside it,” he said.

The Pope said that while Christians have a responsibility to work for justice, the hope of building a perfect world here and now is illusory. Hopes for this world cannot by themselves sustain one’s faith, he said. “We need the greater and lesser hopes that keep us

Suffering is part of human existence, and the sufferings of the innocent appear to be increasing today, the Pope said. He said Christians should do whatever they can to reduce pain and distress.

Yet suffering cannot be banished from this world, and trying to avoid anything that might involve hurt can lead to a life of emptiness, he said. Instead, Christians are called to suffer with and for others, and their capacity to do so depends on their strength of inner hope, he said.

“The saints were able to make the great journey of human existence in the way that Christ had done before them, because they were brimming with great hope,” he said.

The Pope recalled that in the nottoo-distant past, many Christians would “offer up” to Christ their minor daily disappointments and hardships. Perhaps that practice should be revived, he said.

The Pope said the idea of judgment - specifically the Last Judgment of the living and the dead - touched strongly on Christian hope because it promises justice.

“I am convinced that the question of justice constitutes the essential argument, or in any case the strongest argument, in favour of faith in eternal life,” he said.

It is impossible for the Christian to believe that the injustices of history will be the final word, he said.

The Last Judgment should not evoke terror, however, but a sense of responsibility, the Pope said. It is a moment of hope, because it combines God’s justice and God’s grace - but “grace does not cancel out justice,” he said.

“(Grace) is not a sponge which wipes everything away, so that whatever someone has done on earth ends up being of equal value,” he said. “Evildoers, in the end, do not sit at table at the eternal banquet beside their victims without distinction, as though nothing had happened.”

going day by day. But these are not enough without the great hope, which must surpass everything else. This great hope can only be God,” he said.

The second half of the encyclical discussed how Christian hope can be learned and practised - particularly through prayer, acceptance of suffering and anticipation of divine judgment.

The Pope called prayer a “school of hope,” and as an example he held out the late Vietnamese Cardinal Francois Nguyen Van Thuan, who spent 13 years in prison, nine of them in solitary confinement.

In this “situation of seemingly utter hopelessness,” the fact that he could still listen and speak to God gave him an increasing power of hope, the Pope said.

He emphasised that prayer should not be isolating and should not focus on superficial objectives. Nor can people pray against others, he said.

“To pray is not to step outside history and withdraw to our own private corner of happiness,” he said.

“When we pray properly we undergo a process of inner purification which opens us up to God and thus to our fellow human beings as well,” he said.

The Pope said the idea of purgatory, as a place of atonement for sins, also has a place in the logic of Christian hope. Heaven is for the “utterly pure” and hell for those who have destroyed all desire for truth and love, but “neither case is normal in human life,” he said. Thus, the souls of many departed may benefit from prayers, he said.

The Pope began and ended his encyclical with profiles of two women who exemplified Christian hope. The closing pages praised Mary for never losing hope, even in the darkness of Jesus’ crucifixion.

The encyclical opened by describing a similar sense of hope in a 19th-century African slave, St Josephine Bakhita, who after being flogged, sold and resold, came to discover Christ.

With her conversion, St Bakhita found the “great hope” that liberated and redeemed her, the Pope said.

The Pope emphasiSed that this was different from political liberation as a slave. Christianity “did not bring a message of social revolution,” he said, but something totally different: an encounter with “a hope stronger than the sufferings of slavery, a hope which therefore transformed life and the world from within.”

In touch: Christian hope can be learned and practiced through prayer, says Pope Benedict XVI in his second encyclical Spe Salvi (on Christian hope). Pictured: Catholics pray during Mass on the feast of the Assumption of Mary. PHOTO: CNS/NANCY

Pontiff invites all to turn Advent hope into charity

Benedict XVI sums up ‘Spe Salvi,’ says God is hope of the world

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 2, 2007 (Zenit.org) - The world needs God, otherwise it remains without hope, said Benedict XVI when he summarised the central message of his encyclical “Spe Salvi.”

The Pope said this today before reciting the midday Angelus with those gathered in St Peter’s Square. He also spoke on the meaning of Advent, which begins today.

Advent, the Holy Father said, “is the propitious time to reawaken in our hearts the expectation of him ‘who is, who was and who is coming.’”

The Pontiff regarded the First Sunday of Advent as “a most appropriate day to offer to the whole Church and all men of good will my second encyclical, which I wanted to dedicate to the theme of Christian hope.”

Benedict XVI noted that in the New Testament “the word hope is closely connected with the word faith.” Hope, he added, “is a gift that changes the life of those who receive it, as the experience of so many saints demonstrates.”

He asked: “In what does this hope consist that is so great and so ‘trustworthy’ as to make us say that ‘in it’ we have ‘salvation’?

“In substance it consists in the knowledge of God, in the discovery of his heart as a good and merciful Father.”

“With his death on the cross and his resurrection,” added the Pope,

Jesus “has revealed to us his countenance, the countenance of a God so great in love as to communicate to us an indestructible hope, a hope that not even death can crack, because the life of those who entrust themselves to this Father always opens onto the perspective of eternal beatitude.”

The Pope, as he also did in the encyclical, observed that the “development of modern science has confined faith and hope more and more

to the private and individual sphere, so much so that today it appears in an evident way, and sometimes dramatically, that the world needs God - the true God! - otherwise it remains deprived of hope.”

“Science contributes much to the good of humanity - without a doubt - but it is not able to redeem humanity,” he continued.

“Man is redeemed by love, which renders social life good and beautiful...

“Because of this, the great hope, that one that is full and definitive, is guaranteed by God, by God who is love, who has visited us in Jesus and given his life to us, and in Jesus he will return at the end of time. It is in Christ that we hope and it is him that we await!”

The Holy Father concluded his address with an invitation to live this hope in Advent “with works of charity, because hope, like faith, is demonstrated in love.”

New document ‘tackles urgent need’

VATICAN CITY (Zenit.org)Benedict XVI’s encyclical confronts one of the most urgent problems of our time, says a Vatican spokesman.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, analysed the context of the new encyclical on the most recent edition of the Vatican television weekly “Octava Dies.”

“Dedicating his second encyclical to hope, Benedict XVI has pinpointed with precision one of the most dramatic and urgent problems of our time. He is convinced that the rejection of Christian faith and hope - the rejection of God - in the end brings man to lose himself,” he said.

“But this does not at all lead [the Pope] to a merely negative critique; on the contrary, he works out a position of dialogue, of reciprocal help between faith and reason.”

He said Benedict XVI affirmed “that together with the self-critique of the modern age, ‘there also has to be a self-critique of modern Christianity, which must constantly renew its self-understanding setting out from its roots.’”

Father Lombardi continued: “But so that Christians learn again what they have to offer to the world they must set out again from God; not just any God, but the God who has come to meet us and is revealed in Christ as Love.”

Him alone: It is in Christ that we hope, and Him that we await, the One who will return at the end of time says Pope Benedict XVI. Pictured: Catholics pray during a charismatic renewal gathering.

PHOTO: CNS/NANCY WIECHEC

City of Mary bursts with youth

Perth student Geetanjali

Arora took a year off to live in one of the many minicities the Focolare movement inhabit called “Mariapolis”. Here she writes exclusuvely for The Record.

The Focolare movement, also called The Work of Mary, has extended to almost every corner of the globe. It is present today in 180 nations and reaches five million people.

Having decided to take a gap year this year, I went to live in one of the little cities that they have, known as a “Mariapolis”. The name Mariapolis means the city of Mary. Mariapolis Lia is situated approximately 300km east of Buenos Aires, in Argentina and is named after Lia, one of the first companions of Chiara Lubich, the founder of the movement.

The first Mariapolis originated in Italy, in the summers of the 1950s, when Chiara and her first companions would retreat to the mountains and spend the summer together, where the only rule was reciprocal love, making the gospel “come to life”, which is the basis of the spirituality of the movement.

Naturally, this was not a permanent Mariapolis as it lasted only as long as the summer break, which was two months.

Today this lifestyle has attracted many people such that there are now 33 permanent Mariapolis centres situated throughout the world. The very first permanent Mariapolis,

at Loppiano, was founded in the mountains of Italy in the province of Tuscany.

Countries like Italy, Argentina, Brazil, The Philippines, the Ivory Coast, Poland, Spain, France and many others including Australia all have their permanent centres.

Naturally each centre has its “characteristic”. For example, Loppiano is the study centre of the movement where people who feel called to consecrate undertake the required study. A university will also be born there next year.

The Philippines are characterised by inter-religious dialogue, due to the geographical presence of many Oriental religions.

Ecumenical dialogue characterises “Mariapolis New Law” in Germany and a new economy, the economy of communion is the characteristic of the centres in Brazil and Argentina.

The economy of communion is sharing one third of the business profits, which go towards helping the poor in order to create sustainable projects to eventually eliminate poverty in the surrounding community. Argentina is one of the largest centres for the youth of the movement as well.

Mariapolis Lia started thanks to a large donation of 50 hectares of land and the monastery situated on it was given by Capuchin Brothers and priests. Today the Mariapolis has grown to the extent of hav-

ing 220 habitants including almost 100 youth (both male and female), consecrated people and naturally families with their children.

The Mariapolises are self-sustaining, with various industries that each centre runs. The community living there is responsible for the success and its management. Included in these industries are hotels, artisan products, sweets, carpentry, religious iconography and publishing of magazines, to name a few.

The “life formation” school is a big reason the community attracts so many youth to Mariapolis Lia.

There we learned how to break the barriers of culture, language and personal desires together in order to achieve a common goal, a united world- “so that all may be one” (Jn17: 21).

This year the school was comprised of 38 girls and 50 boys of at least 30 different nations.

We had classes in Catechism, Anthropology, The History and Spirituality of the Focolare movement and once a month there was an in-depth lecture on topics such as “Learning how to think”, “Mass Communication and Technology” amongst various others.

Also, in order to maintain our existence, we had part-time jobs in the industries.

The particular favourite of all the girls’ jobs was ‘maintenance and park’, fixing anything that broke down and maintaining the grounds. Our time was not only spent working or studying, we enjoyed ourselves immensely, learning traditional dances from Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Colombia, the occasional water fight, ‘kidnapping’ girls in order to obtain sweets, having picnics, bushwalks and, naturally, the occasional party dancing until four in the morning.

As many who visit a Mariapolis centre say, the most amazing thing is the atmosphere that is present, the “Jesus in the midst” which seems to ‘evangelise’ without any words

needing to be spoken because of the tangible mutual love. People left converted and with hope because they were able to see that the gospel could truly be put into practice. Once a month the whole Focolare movement is given a sentence of the gospel to live and together attempts to live this biblical phrase.

There are sharing groups all around the world, for youth, children, adults and priests. Here in Perth there are many groups as well. Anyone who wishes to know more or participate is very welcome.

The local Focolare contact is 9349 4052, or call Geetanjali on 9368 6554. Geetanjali, 18, graduated from highschool last year and hopes to study physics at UWA.

Joyful work: Geetanjali (right) at work in the park collecting wood for the fireplaces. Below: A landscape shot of half of the Mariapolis.

Ole! - Catholic style: Valeria from Argentina (right) dances the chacarera with Geetanjali Arora, at the going away party that they threw for her in a traditional “peña” style.

Project aims at radical pro-woman stance

■ By Paul Gray

As an answer to abortion, the late Pope John Paul II called for the Church around the world to become radically “pro-woman.”

A new nationwide project launched by the Australian bishops last weekend, Walking with Love, tries to answer that call.

In its early stages, the bishops’ campaign will take the form of a series of symposiums in the capital city of each state.

In the later stages, resources to help priests “find the right words” for speaking with women who have been hurt by abortion will also be developed. At the first symposium in the series, in Melbourne last weekend, the chair of the bishops’ Commission for Pastoral Life, Bishop Eugene Hurley, spoke about the suffering of women who’ve had abortions. “No woman ever chose abortion lightly, or with joy,” he said.

The Bishop told the symposium how, when he was a priest, he had sometimes encountered women who would drive someone else to Mass, but then refuse to come into the church themselves.

On more than one occasion he said he approached such a woman and asked what her story was. He was then told that the woman had had an abortion and no longer felt able to enter God’s house.

“Their immense and overwhelming sense of guilt would not allow them to come into church – the church of sinners,” he said.

Those attending the Saturday afternoon symposium, which was held at a city conference centre, included bishops, priests, pregnancy counsellors and anonymous women and men.

Welcoming those who had gathered, Bishop Hurley quoted words once addressed by John Paul II to women who’d had abortions.

The late Pope said that while the abortion remained wrong, these women should not give up hope that they will receive healing and forgiveness from God.

“I would like to re-address these words to any woman in the audience here who is in this situation,” Bishop Hurley said.

Like conception, abortion does not happen in a vacuum but always involves other people, particularly family and friends, the bishop said. He urged churchgoers to offer support to any woman who may be experiencing a difficult pregnancy. Speaking with The Record during the symposium, Bishop Hurley denied the Church has ground to make up in handling the abortion question.

Rather, he said the Church is seeking a balance between understanding that, on one hand, abortion causes a tragic loss of inno-

Listening: Bishop Christopher Prowse participated in the first Walking With Love meeting, organised by Walking With Love Project Officer Angela Lecomber.

cent life and, on the other, that “the heart of Christ” is about touching the lives of each of us, “who are sinful people.”

He said Walking With Love is “about having a regard (for) and supporting the main player in this, who is the mother.”

“Of all people on earth, this is the most confronting thing for the mother. More than anybody else on earth.”

Asked about his pastoral experience of women who would not come into church because of a past abortion, the bishop said he had always tried to be open and available to anyone who might be in a difficult situation

“My background is in therapy, and you’re sometimes aware that there is a reason for people’s behaviour.

“Whether it be acceptable or unacceptable, appropriate or inappropriate, you begin to think: why is that so? And if you see people come into the church carpark two or three times, and then they don’t turn up to Mass, you think, ‘well, something’s odd here - I ought to at least give people the opportunity to speak to me about it’.”

Bishop Hurley said he hoped no priest would take the attitude that a person should just be left alone in such a situation.

“I’d hope not,” he said. “because after all, if we are really serious about the Gospel, we know it’s not the people who are in good health who need the doctor.”

He said bringing people to wholeness and redemption in the Incarnation is the whole point of priesthood.

“You know, it makes sense of the Eucharist - where we say ‘this is the cup of my blood, the new and everlasting covenant, it will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven.”

He said that as a priest, it has been one of the great joys of his life to be with people when go “humbly before their God” seeking forgiveness in the sacrament of Penance. “I’ve never met people in more loving forms, than humbly before their God in Reconciliation.

“It’s a privilege no man should have, and I love it. I feel enormously refreshed by being

the minister privileged to bring that sort of opportunity for reconciliation.”

Bishop Hurley spoke with passion about the importance of promoting the respect for human life in today’s Church.

“It’s not only theological for me,” he said.” I have an absolute conviction as a person, as a sociologist, as a philosopher, and as a theologian that this is pivotal to everything else that we might do.

“If we don’t have a right to life, and do everything we can to bring it about, then we don’t have any other rights. That’s the end of the penny section.

“I’m driven, almost, to want to be alongside people going through this business.”

Asked if there is a change in the wind in our culture on the abortion question, Bishop Hurley answered. “I think there is. I have an enormous regard for and confidence in young people, and our young people are much more aware, I think, of the preciousness of life.

“They’re often anti-war because of that: they think this is a precious gift we’re thinking about here.

He says the Church has always cared about pregnant women, but now it has “an emphasis on caring for the carrier of this precious thing”. “Mary carried Jesus in her womb. Well, women carry a precious gift of life in their womb,” he said, adding that pregnancies at later ages are also having an impact on cultural attitudes on the life question.

“What’s changed a bit is that people are beginning older, people are conceiving older, and getting older and not being able to conceive at all, and then having difficulties with IVF.”

Consequently, “conception and the life of a child has begun to be something that people don’t take for granted any more. Now that we’re not taking it for granted, we’re beginning to think about the preciousness of it, the sacredness of it.”

The Bishop says he believes that people are saying “let’s treat life with the dignity and sacredness it deserves. Let’s not just dispose of it as though that’s unimportant and dispensable.”

Bishop Hurley praised the Walking With Love project as “literally the stuff of life.” He said “a newborn babe is the closest thing we’ll ever get to touching God.” A fan of the Natalie King Cole hymn to Mary, “Mary Did You Know,” he says whenever he sees a mother or father cradling and kissing their baby, he senses something deeply theological going on. “I think they (mothers and fathers) have this intuition that they’re kissing the face of God.” The Natalie King Cole hymn includes the line “Mary

Padre Pio credited for conversions

Continued from Page 1 more than five years ago. Romanian doctors told her surgery was impossible and she had few months to live.

Lucrecia and Father Victor turned to Mariano for help, hoping that a doctor in Rome could be found to give a better prognosis.

Mariano contacted a well-known surgeon, who invited the young painter to bring his mother to Rome, where he would try to save her.

After reviewing the reports from his Romanian colleagues, the doctor examined Lucrecia with more detail, only to arrive at the same conclusion: An operation was useless.

He could only offer medications to ease the sharp pain, which, he predicted would increase in the terminal phase.

Mariano kept his mother with himself in Rome so as to be near the doctor for checkups.

He was working on a mosaic in a church and, as his mother does not speak Italian, he kept her close by. While he was working, his mother

walked through the church, contemplating the paintings and statues.

In one corner, there was a large statue of Padre Pio. Lucrecia liked the statue and asked Mariano who it depicted.

Mariano related briefly the story of the saint. In the coming days, he saw his mother spending all her time seated before the image, with which she chatted as if it were alive.

Two weeks later, Mariano took his mother to the hospital for her checkup. The doctor said the tumor had disappeared.

Lucrecia had asked Padre Pio to help her, even though she was Orthodox, and, she said, the saint had granted her request.

“The great cure of my mother, accomplished through Padre Pio in favor of an Orthodox woman, impressed me much,” Father Victor said.

“I began to read the life of the Italian saint. I told my parishioners what had happened. They all knew

my mother and everyone knew we had gone to Italy in order to try a surgical intervention, and that she had returned home cured, without any doctor having operated.

“In my parish, they began to know and love Padre Pio. We read everything we found about him. His holiness won us over. Meanwhile, in my parish other sick people also received extraordinary graces from Padre Pio. Among my people, there spread a great enthusiasm and, little by little, we decided to become Catholics, in order to be closer to Padre.”

The step from the Orthodox to the Catholic Church required a slow process. And there were difficulties of every kind, Allegri explained in relating the story. But the parishioners continued in the process and even decided to build a church to dedicate it to Padre Pio.

“The funds are the result of the savings of this poor people, and of the help of some German Catholics who heard our story,” Father Victor said.

did you know when you kissed your baby boy you kissed the face of God?”

Also present at the Walking with Love symposium was Melbourne auxiliary bishop Christopher Prowse, who spoke after the screening of a documentary film, made by film-maker Don Parham. It told the stories of two unmarried Christian women who had had experience with unwelcome pregnancy and abortion. Speaking of one of these women, Bishop Prowse said “she learnt that God can be trusted.” The Bishop then led the symposium in prayer, saying to God: “You never walk out on us, even if we walk out on you.” Bishops Prowse also prayed to Mary the Mother of God, calling on her to welcome aborted children in heaven and to give them names. The Bishop then spoke on the themes of justice and mercy. He said that according to our Catholic tradition, justice means that our relationships with God and each other need to be kept intact, while abortion serves to break those relationships.

Mercy means recognising that God is “loving-kindness.” The bishop quoted the Gospel story where Jesus refuses to condemn the woman who is tried for adultery.

Bishop Prowse said society and the Church must steer a straight course, keeping these two words in mind.

“Our ship must go between these two buoys, justice and mercy,” he said.

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Perspectives

Here less than 24 hours, I’m already enchanted

Edith Cowan University Journalism student Joanna Lawson has gone to India this summer to establish Branches, a project aimed at helping the exploited working poor in Goa. Her column will appear regularly in The Record as of this week.

Suburban Mumbai is further away from Perth than the ten hour flight would have you believe.

In this age of super fast communication, information is learned and shared with speeds that even Jules Verne couldn’t have predicted, yet the relatively short flight took me from quiet to buzz, malls to markets and road rules to chaos!

I love India, and will discover what makes this ancient nation both a unique society and a mirror to things we are all familiar with, no matter where we come from.

I could see from the air the duplicity of this country.

Patches of land remained invisible in the night, the only way they could be discerned was by the illumination that was spattered across the blackness and formed a grid across the ground.

Some people had light and some did not. Some have food and some do not, and this duplicity is what makes India at once charming and saddening.

The Vine

Branches

By Joanna Lawson

You can find here a cross-section of all people that we find in our own society, but more often than not you experience everything in (what would seem to the uninitiated) an exaggerated form.

For example when pink is in fashion in Australia, it might be a pastel, but walking down a Mumbai street you might see a lady personifying a highlighter in a fluorescent sari.

In the same way, the poor are on display, taking refuge at night under the eaves of shops that might sell Prada or Gucci.

Yes, India has a lot of poor people, there is a lot of dust and there are slums, some of them the size of small cities but the image that is often portrayed doesn’t do justice to the beauty of this enchanting place.

I have been here less than one day, and on a trip to buy a light bulb (a mere seven minutes jaunt) I walked past three games of cricket, bought candy floss from a roaming salesman, and encountered two groups of local children who left their games, and spying my camera implored me to take their photos.

Seeing their own images instantaneously caused them to break out into peals of laughter as I bid them goodbye and they ran back to pick

up their play where they left off. I want to explore India and find out what causes such a big divide. Why is it that some of the world’s richest people live here, right along side some of the poorest? Why is this a familiar story all over the world?

As a young Catholic person, the light of Christ and the Catholic Church helps me to see that some of the things that I am going to see

in India are in direct opposition to our values of respect for the dignity of each human person.

It is Christ’s message of love that animates us, and is a prompt to go about changing these things that disturb us.

On my last day in Perth, I went to our Rosary group for young people. The son of one of our members came up to me and dropped a small toy pony in my lap.

“That’s for the kids,” he said. “Which kids?” I asked him, and he replied that it was for the kids in India. I thanked him and he gave me a hug, and then dropped six more toys in my lap. A five-year-old sharing his toys with unseen friends across the ocean is a sign that the missionary spirit is alive with the young people.

Read Joanna’s Blog on the internet at: www. thebranchesproject.blogspot.com

Going beyond appearances to the heart of the matter

Perth-based Scalabrinian

Tony Paganoni CS commences a series of reflections this week on the significance of cathedrals in the life of a church and the wider community

Every work of art is a child of its time. I am speaking of art in the broadest sense, almost coinciding with any visible or physical expression, whether building or canvas or wellknown musical piece. I know that this is very optimistic and, perhaps too broadminded a view of art.

Yet somehow people sense it: when, for example, looking at a church or cathedral building. They appreciate the fact that an abstract idea has been transformed into a non-verbal and at times powerful means of communicating a message without words, charged with emotions and feelings. Stones, canvases, sculptures, musical texts all have a language of their own. A spirit of their own.

It follows then that each cultural epoch produces an art of its own, which cannot really be replicated. Efforts to revive bygone artistic principles at best can produce works of art akin to a stillborn child. It is simply not possible for us to live and feel like the ancient Greeks and Romans, for instance. Or closer

Spirit in Stone of Cathedrals and communities

Anthony Paganoni CS

to our time, like the artists of the Middle Ages or the Renaissance. For this reason those who attempt to imitate past art forms may attain some similarity of form but end up with a product without a soul.

Without in any way offending the sensibilities of anyone in this regard, such imitations would resemble the antics of an ape: he may sit holding a book in front of his nose, turning over pages with a thoughtful air, but his actions have no real significance.

In observing the restoration work at St Mary’s Cathedral, it is important to remember that, yes, to be sure, there is a kind of external similarity, founded on a fundamental necessity.

When there is, as is sometimes the case, a similarity of ‘feel’ across an entire moral and spiritual milieu, a similarity of ideals, at first pursued but later lost sight of, the logical consequence will be the revival of the external forms which in an earlier age served to convey similar concerns.

If the resemblance is purely external, it has no future. But if the resemblance is with the internal essence, it communicates, since it

contains the seeds of the future. For example, after a period of materialistic temptations, which the human soul may have partially succumbed to but somehow managed to shake off, the soul emerges refined by struggle and suffering.

The spiritual life to which art belongs and of which it is one of the mightiest agents, is a complex but definitive reaching out above and beyond. Art, churches and cathedrals are not only what they appear to the human eye. And they are not only the repositories of family events, such as important milestones in anyone’s life.

This need to express and encapsulate such ‘high moments’ in a church building is sustained by the belief that a church, particularly some churches, are not simply what they appear to be. Somehow subconsciously, people realise that their significant experiences receive the seal of the Spirit in a church, and that the church building is able to speak to them in a very engaging way. There are ways and ways of seeing the same things, and beauty is not just in the eye of the beholder! There is a discipline in seeing, just

as there is a discipline in everything else that we do well, whether reading or writing or loving someone. A discipline of seeing does not come by being told how to see, though that may be helpful or necessary; it comes primarily from seeing and seeing and seeing again.

In the field of music, it takes discipline and repeated hearings to find one’s way into appreciating a symphony. Such a discipline stands in stark contrast to the lure of popular melody, which demands little of us. Frequently people appreciate both. However, in terms of stretching our sensibilities, a symphony rates above a popular tune. With respect to the visual arts, people are finding it more difficult to grant a similar distinction.

One last remark: the arts, in whatever form or shape, have been with us far longer than the spoken word. It may be (but don’t you believe it!) that the definitional mode, including in theology, originating in the late sixteenth century and continuing to our own time, will ultimately be seen as a parenthesis in Western history.

Before that time messages, including the Christian message, were suggestive and imaginative rather than worded, conceptually presented, defined. But this developed faith as a way of understanding the mysterious and the ultimate realities of

Here we are: Joanna Lawson in Mumbai, with a new friend. Joanna will write regularly for The Record this summer.

PHOTO COUTESY OF JOANNA LAWSON

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Opinion

Give me smokes over condoms any

According to modern thinking, my preference of finding a packet of cigarettes, rather than a form of contraception in my teenage child’s possession, brands me as an irresponsible parent, however the label certainly wouldn’t sway my convictions.

Of course I hope that I never discover either, but if I were forced to choose, it would be the tobacco option every time.

Such thinking is in conflict with recent trends that have seen smoking demonised and sexual activity endorsed. It is a pattern that began midway through the last century and has been clearly reflected by Hollywood filmmakers.

In 1930 the Production Code was established to specifically outline what was acceptable and unacceptable in movies. These restrictions, however, were made redundant by a Supreme Court decision in 1953 that declared cinema as an art form protected by the Freedom of Speech clause in the US Bill of Rights.

With doors opened by this decision, Hollywood rode the wave of “sexual liberation” of the 60’s and

Mark Reidy i say i say

By

continually widened the boundaries of freedom of expression as they simultaneously broadened their influence across the globe.

We are left today with minimal restrictions within all forms of media that is reaching an increasingly younger audience. Compare this development to the demise of smoking on the silver screen.

In the early days of cinema it seemed that every star had a cigarette hanging from their mouth, but today we stand on the verge of a push from the powerful antitobacco lobbyists to upgrade movie ratings, including to R-rating, of those films that depict smoking. What, in essence, this trend is telling the most impressionable members of our society is that smoking is a habit that must be avoided

Stop opening the presents, and listen

@home

By Catherine Parish

We have reluctantly entered the world of the internet with many reservations – and filters...

Since then we have been the recipients of all sorts of funny and cute things that seem to circulate constantly through email.

One of them was a list of sayings of little children about love; and the most thought provoking one of all, naturally enough for this time of year, was “Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen”.

Having just leafed through mountains of Christmas catalogues; read the paper with its little report that some working families at the lower end of the wage scale, after being hit with rent rises in the $50 to $100 per week range, will find it very hard to do something even a bit special for Christmas this year; and then picked up the Pregnancy Assistance magazine, it was brought home that perhaps it is time to take to heart the message of that little boy.

After all, it is the birth of another little boy that we remember at Christmas, isn’t it? Perhaps we all need to stop amid the flurry of gift buying and party planning and have a little listen to what is going on around us.

The simple and unheralded generosity of people who give their time and substance to help mothers struggling with pregnancy for one reason or another, whether it

at all cost, but, as portrayed on many films and television programs aimed at teenagers, love equates to sexual intimacy and should be pursued if desired.

With doors opened by this decision, Hollywood rode the wave of “sexual liberation” of the 60s and continually widened the boundaries of freedom of expression as they simultaneously broadened their influence across the globe.

These are values that many seem to have embraced. The bans on smoking have rapidly spread from advertising to public places and resulted in decreased numbers of smokers, whilst sexual activity amongst teenagers has rapidly increased, aided by the liberal distribution of condoms and information on “safe sex”. This is where

be social pressure not to go ahead and have the baby, or poverty or relationship difficulties, really does contrast strongly with the glittering Christmas junk mail.

It was the kindness of a single inn keeper in Bethlehem that meant Jesus was born under shelter in some sort of privacy, rather than in the streets of the town.

Those at organisations like Pregnancy Assistance seek to emulate that kindness by providing practical help to those who are in need of support.

At Christmas time we should particularly remember mothers in difficulty and seek to help those who dedicate themselves to ensuring that all mothers no matter what their circumstances may experience the joy and fulfilment of motherhood.

The constant work of charity groups to help those in need especially at Christmas should also strike a chord with us at this time of year.

Our generosity now might be the difference for many families between a little Christmas and no Christmas at all. Who knows what pressures might be relieved by even a small helping hand.

Maybe it’s time to rein in our own family spending a little and spread our resources out a bit more widely.

It is not only good for us to look beyond ourselves in this way, it is good for our children to be made aware that others are not as fortunate as they are (harrumph might respond one of my young cynics, but many are much more fortunate Mum – does that mean we aren’t getting a PlayStation 3?), and that it is good to give what you can without necessarily being lauded publicly for it and seeing the results of your giving.

day

of the week

hypocrisy appears to rear its head. Those who support this “safe sex” message argue that teenagers will indulge in it anyway, so we may as well minimise the consequences through information and education.

However, it doesn’t appear that there are too many advocates of this mentality in relation to smoking.

We never seem to hear about a promotion of “safe smoking’, despite those who argue that such a thing exists.

Independent studies showing that the chewing rather than the smoking of tobacco would decrease annual smoking related deaths in the US from 400,000 to an estimated 6000 - a fact that has been accepted by the President of the American Council on Science and Health.

The problem, however, is that those behind the anti-smoking push do not want to promote the safer use of tobacco in any way for fear of encouraging its use. Obviously issues relating to premarital sex are not considered important enough to be treated with the same con-

cern. This belittling of the sacredness of sexuality is a tragedy for the children and young people of today.

If equal fervour had been given to the message of sexual abstinence before marriage that has been given to smoking abstinence, then countless numbers could have been spared the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual devastation that has resulted from the “harm minimisation” message. Instead we find ourselves confronted by an escalation of sexual diseases, unwanted pregnancies and abortions.

As my children grow up in this environment of distorted thinking, I hope that their choices will always be moulded by the words of Jesus, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul… (Matt 10:28).

I pray that while they acknowledge their physical bodies as gifts that must be respected, they will always understand that there is something far more sacred and eternal.

The immaculate connection that is offered to us by Mary

Q&A

By Fr John Flader

Can you tell me the basis for the Church’s teaching on Mary’s Immaculate Conception? I have a Protestant friend who says there is no justification for the belief in Scripture and that therefore the Catholic Church is going too far in teaching it.

Let me clarify that the Immaculate Conception means that Mary, unlike any other human being, was conceived without the stain of original sin.

The word “immaculate” comes from the Latin word meaning “without stain.”

As we know, the original sin of Adam and Eve affected all their descendents, so that every human being is conceived in the state of original sin.

Original sin consists essentially in the soul being deprived of sanctifying grace; that is, deprived of sharing in God’s own life and nature. It is to restore the state of sanctifying grace that we are baptised.

When we say that Mary was conceived immaculate, we are saying that by a special grace of God, she was preserved from original sin from the very moment of her conception in the womb of her mother.

On what do we base this belief? An implicit reference may be found in Scripture in the angel’s greeting to Mary in the Annunciation: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.”

(Lk 1:28)

The phrase “full of grace” is a translation of the Greek word

kecharitomene, meaning “having been filled with grace” or “fully graced”.

Mary’s being filled with grace is something that happened in the past but with ongoing effects. That is, Mary was already full of grace when the angel appeared to her, and she remained so throughout her life.

Even though, as your Protestant friend says, there is no explicit reference to the Immaculate Conception in Scripture, the belief in Tradition is very ancient. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, quoting the Second Vatican Council, teaches:

“The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God “the All-Holy” (Panagia) and celebrate her as ‘free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature.’”

(CCC 493; LG 56)

Mary’s being filled with grace is something that happened in the past but with ongoing effects. That is, Mary was already full of grace when the angel appeared to her, and she remained so throughout her life.

An example of an Eastern Father who alludes to the Immaculate Conception is the 4th century Doctor of the Church St Ephrem. He writes: “You and your mother are the only ones who are totally beautiful in every respect; for in you, O Lord, there is no spot, and in your mother no stain.” (Carm. Nisib. 27)

A theological problem with belief in Mary’s Immaculate Conception comes with Mary saying in the Magnificat, “My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour” (Lk 1:47).

This seems to imply that even Mary was conceived in original sin and needed a saviour. The problem is strengthened by St Paul writing to the Romans that “all have sinned” (Rm 3:23; 5:12), suggesting that all human beings, including Mary, were subject to sin and needed a Redeemer.

This led even great theologians like St Bonaventure and St Thomas Aquinas to reject the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception.

It was the Scottish-born Franciscan Duns Scotus (+1308) who resolved the problem by teaching that Mary too was redeemed by Jesus, but that she received the fruit of redemption in anticipation, in the very moment of her conception.

There is an explanation that has been used for many centuries to explain this truth. Just as a person who has fallen into a pit and has been pulled out is said to have been saved from the pit, so too a person who is held back from falling into the pit in the first place is also said to have been saved from it. Mary was saved from original sin in the latter way.

A feast of the conception of Mary was celebrated in the East already in the 7th century and a feast of her Immaculate Conception in England in the 11th. The universal feast of the Immaculate Conception has been celebrated since the 15th century.

The dogma was proclaimed by Pope Pius IX on 8 December 1854 in the Bull Ineffabilis Deus. In response to numerous requests and having consulted the bishops of the world, the Pope taught:

“The Most Holy Virgin Mary was, in the first moment of her conception, by a unique gift of grace and privilege of Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of mankind, preserved free from all stain of original sin.”

The World

Vatican declines to rule out future encyclical on Faith

VATICAN CITY (CNS) - After Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclicals on love and hope, could one on faith be next?

“We’re all asking ourselves whether there will be a third encyclical on faith. It cannot be excluded, but it’s not yet on the agenda,” Jesuit Fr Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said.

The three theological virtuesfaith, hope and love - are considered the foundation of Christian moral activity.

Pope Benedict’s first encyclical was “Deus Caritas Est” (“God Is Love”), and his second was titled “Spe Salvi,” which means “saved in hope.”

Fr Lombardi, speaking at a press conference to present “Spe Salvi,” said the Pope had surprised his

aides earlier in the year when he told them he was writing an encyclical on Christian hope.

The Pope was already working on a separate encyclical on social justice issues, but he finished the one on hope first, Father Lombardi said. He worked on the text last spring and summer, doing most of the writing at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, outside Rome. “One can see by the style and the writing that this is absolutely and personally his own text,” Fr Lombardi said. The encyclical on social justice is expected

to come out sometime next year. At the press conference, Cardinal Georges Cottier, retired papal theologian, said the encyclical posed an important challenge when it asked for a “self-critique of the modern age” and a “self-critique of modern Christianity” on the question of hope.

“In this dialogue Christians, too, in the context of their knowledge and experience, must learn anew in what their hope truly consists, what they have to offer to the world and what they cannot offer,” the Pope wrote.

Cardinal Cottier said this section zeroed in on the pastoral and cultural purpose of the encyclical, because it examined the essential relationship between Christian hope and the wider society.

Abortion gives men nightmares too

SAN FRANCISCO (CNS)While the impact of abortion on men is low on the cultural radar, there is overwhelming research, clinical experience and anecdotal evidence that men can be profoundly traumatised by the elective loss of a child whether they encouraged it, resisted it or only learned of it after the fact.

This was the view of speakers at the first international conference on men and abortion held in San Francisco from November 28-29.

Nearly 200 people from at least seven nations and 28 states gathered at St Mary’s Cathedral to hear the personal stories of men affected by abortion, reports on research on the topic, and presentations by counselors and therapists on the treatment of men suffering postabortion grief.

Organised by the Milwaukeebased National Office of PostAbortion Reconciliation and Healing, the “Reclaiming Fatherhood: A Multifaceted Examination of Men Dealing With Abortion” conference was co-spon-

sored by the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the national office of the Knights of Columbus.

Victoria Thorn, executive director of the post-abortion group, opened the event with a brief overview of how men, like women, experience hormonal and other changes during a partner’s pregnancy, something that is little recognised.

“Men’s bodies are busy with their own changes” during a mate’s pregnancy, she said, “although the physiology of men during pregnancy is not yet taken seriously.”

The speakers included men who shared personal stories of how abortion had unexpectedly pulled the carpet out from under their lives.

Chris Aubert, 50, an attorney, traced his life from days as a “very secular young guy” focused on “making money and in general becoming a yuppie” to his shocking realisation during a 1994 ultrasound procedure for his pregnant wife “that that is a baby” in her womb. It flooded over him, he said, that on two occasions prior to his marriage he had agreed with preg-

Christ wills our unity, Benedict tells Orthodox

Pope makes special plea for communion in letter to Istanbul Patriarch on Feast of St Andrew, Orthodox Christianity’s patron

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Pope

Benedict XVI expressed in a letter to Patriarch Bartholomew I of Istanbul his wish that CatholicOrthodox dialogue continues to progress toward the union that Christ Himself desired.

nant girlfriends to terminate their pregnancies. “I realised that I had killed two of my own kids,” he said. “It was almost like the hand of God reached down and touched me.”

He recalled how after the first abortion in 1985 he had left a rose and a $200 cheque for his thengirlfriend. “But I felt no sorrow, no pain, no nothing,” he said.

“I had happily agreed to the abortion.”

Similarly, he described a second abortion in 1991 with a different woman. “I went to the clinic with her and sat in the waiting room reading a magazine for 20 or 30 minutes, then we went to lunch,” he said. It did not occur to him, Aubert said, “that in the next room my child was being dismembered and killed.”

“Something in the depth of my belly,” he said, “kept rising higher and higher” as the realisation of the loss of two children sank in. By then a convert to Catholicism, Aubert said he told his wife, “There is something I have to tell you,” and he revealed the past abortions.

A Vatican delegation, led by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, delivered the letter to the Orthodox leader from the Pope today, on the feast of St Andrew, patron of the ecumenical patriarch.

The aide also presented to the Orthodox patriarch a signed copy of the Pontiff’s encyclical “Spe Salvi,” and a reproduction of the “Mystical Lamb” from the dome of the Church of St Vital of Ravenna, Italy.

The visit reciprocates the habitual exchange of delegations for the respective patronal feasts in which Bartholomew I sends a delegation to Rome on June 29, the feast of Sts Peter and Paul, and the Pope sends a delegation to Istanbul on November 30.

Last year, the Holy Father led the delegation himself.

In the letter, Benedict XVI recalled his visit to Istanbul, and said that the practice of exchanging delegations represents an authentic sign “of the commitment of our Churches to an ever deeper communion, strengthened through cor-

dial personal relations, prayer and the dialogue of charity and truth.”

Referring to the 10th plenary session of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, held in October in Ravenna, Pope Benedict XVI said that even though the meeting “was not without its difficulties, I pray earnestly that these may soon be clarified and resolved, so that there may be full participation in the eleventh plenary session and in subsequent initiatives aimed at continuing the theological dialogue in mutual charity and understanding.”

“Indeed, our work toward unity is according to the will of Christ our Lord,” the Pope said.

“In these early years of the third millennium, our efforts are all the more urgent because of the many challenges facing all Christians, to which we need to respond with a united voice and with conviction.”

A communiqué published on Thursday last week by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity said that both Rome and Constantinople, “after dedicating themselves in many forms to the reactivation of theological dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches,” look at the conclusions of the plenary session “with feelings of hope.”

The concluding document of the meeting, it added, “can in fact encourage future dialogue, and constituted the first step toward the deepening of those painful themes which prevent full communion between Eastern and Western Christians”.

Here’s to you: In his second encyclical, “Spe Salvi” (on Christian hope), Pope Benedict XVI explores the connection between faith and hope and addresses the “crisis of Christian hope” in modern times. Pictured: The Pope holds his crosier during the recent consistory in St Peter’s Basilica. PHOTO: CNS/PAUL HARING

Clinging on: A man and child hold hands during an anti-abortion march in central London on October 27. The 1967 Abortion Act, which marks its 40th anniversary on November 3, allows abortions to be carried out in Great Britain up to 24 weeks after conception. Pro-life campaigners argue that medical advances mean that babies have a better chance of survival at 24 weeks than in the past and say the upper limit should now be reduced.

PHOTO: CNS/TOBY MELVILLE, REUTERS

Christianity in Iraq ‘doomed’?

■ By Simon Caldwell

LONDON (CNS) - The war in Iraq might have caused the end of Christianity in the country, said a Chaldean Catholic Bishop.

Bishop Antoine Audo of Aleppo, Syria, said that the hundreds of thousands of Christians who had fled their homes in the aftermath of the 2003 US-led invasion were still too scared to go home.

“serious problem” for the Church in Syria. The Bishop visited London on November 28-29 as a guest of Iraqi Christians in Need, a British-based group set up this year to provide displaced or persecuted Christians with money for food, medicine and an education. The Bishop told CNS that the war was a tragedy for the 1.2 million Christians who lived in the country at the time. More than half of those Christians have since fled.

He told CNS in an interview in London’s Church of the Immaculate Conception that unless security improved in Iraq the Chaldean diaspora may become permanent.

“They love their country, but at the same time it is impossible for them to go back to this situation,” said Bishop Audo, who ministers to approximately 60,000 Iraqi Christian refugees in Syria.

During a press conference, Bishop Audo said that prostitution among desperately poor Iraqi Chaldean female refugees had emerged as a

“It may be the end of Christianity in Iraq,” he said. “This is very sad and very dangerous for the Church, for Iraq and even for Muslim people, because it means the end of an old experience of living together.

“If in the Middle East Christians and Muslims are not able to live together, then it will also be very dangerous for the West in the future,” he said.

“We have to save this coexistence, this nice experience of history, in spite of all the difficulties which we have.”

The Bishop’s comments came as the Iraqi government said that refugees slowly were beginning to return to the homeland after a decline in sectarian violence.

The reverse flow has followed a recent surge in US and Iraqi military operations against terrorists

VATICAN CITY (CNS) - While lacking the media attention and the pomp of a papal conclave, the election of the superior general of the Jesuits, known as the black pope, has its own rigid rules and ritual.

Fr Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, 79, superior general of the Society of Jesus, has called for a general congregation of the 19,200-member order.

The meeting will begin on January 7 at the Jesuit headquarters in Rome, one block away from St Peter’s Square. While Jesuit superiors general are elected for life, the first order of business in January will be a formal vote on accepting Fr Kolvenbach’s resignation, a novelty personally approved by Pope Benedict XVI.

As with a papal election, politicking is banned, there are no nominees going into the congregation and voting is preceded by formal presentations on the current state of affairs and future challenges and possibilities. But unlike the cardinals in a papal election, the Jesuits had almost two years’ notice that they would be meeting to elect the 29th successor to St Ignatius of Loyola.

The advance notice gave them time to hold meetings in each province around the world to elect their delegates to the general congregation and to draw up proposals for the congregation to consider. US Jesuit Fr Frank Case, secretary of the order, said that after Father Kolvenbach formally resigns at the beginning of the meeting and after the presentations on the current state of the Jesuits, there will be “four days of prayer and quiet, one-on-one conversations” among the 217 Jesuit priests chosen as electors by their peers.

The delegates are not allowed to campaign for anyone, although they can ask each other about the qualities they see in another Jesuit, Fr Case said. After the four

and militia groups. The government has offered free transportation and is offering to pay $US800 for every family willing to return.

Some 4700 families have heeded the call, and another 8500 are on a waiting list.

Of the four million Iraqi refugees, about 1.4 million are in Syria and 750,000 are in Jordan. Two million are displaced within Iraq.

In Syria, 44 per cent of Iraqi refugees are Christian, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Bishop Audo said Iraqi

refugees were suffering great hardships. “They have no legal protection by law and they are not recognised as refugees,” he said.

“They feel that they can’t go home because of the war, and at the same time they can’t get a (work) visa.”

“They have to work on the black market and they are exploited by the Syrians,” he added.

He said they found themselves in a foreign land without rights, security or hope.

He said the psychological impact on the refugees has been devastating.

The Christians were being targeted partly by Muslims who identified them with Western military aggression, he told CNS.

He said Western governments should grant asylum to more Iraqi Christians.

“They pay huge amounts of money to hire apartments, and they are suffering from severe poverty.” The Bishop said many of the refugees had lost family members, as well as their homes and jobs, because of the violence.

All ritual, no pomp, Jesuits’ conclave not unlike Papal one

days of prayer, the delegates gather to concelebrate a Mass of the Holy Spirit and then return to the congregation hall.

They sit in silence for an hour, praying, and then the voting begins. There are no nominations and no slate of candidates, just ballots cast for the man each delegate believes should lead the order. When one candidate garners a majority of votes, the election is over. But, Fr Case said, the delegates are required to stay in the congregation hall until Pope Benedict has been informed of the election results and gives his consent. Fr Kolvenbach was elected on the first ballot in 1983, Fr Case said.

In private conversations, most Jesuits are willing to guess who might be the next superior general, but all Father Case would say was that his confreres are most likely to look for a man who has “a multicultural background and is multilingual.”

For the Jesuits, the election of a new superior is only the beginning of the general congregation’s work. And, in fact, a date for the congregation’s conclusion will not be set until the delegates begin meeting. Fr Case said the congregation’s preparatory committee received more than 350 propositions from the provincial congregations held in the last year. The proposals fall into nine categories: the Jesuit mission today; Jesuit identity; governance; obedience; Jesuit-lay relationships; community life; formation; youth ministry and vocations; and the structure of the Jesuit Refugee Service.

In looking at the Jesuit mission, at relationships among Jesuits, with their lay coworkers and with the wider world and at the structures of governance, Father Case said, delegates of the general congregation will be particularly mindful of the phenomenon of globalisation. He said the questions to be kept in mind are: “How can we minister to

assuage its negative effects,” particularly on the poor, on the environment and on indigenous peoples? Then, he said, there also is the fact that globalisation brings rapid movement and communication, something that could be used to benefit relationships between individual Jesuits and their superiors and between provinces and the Jesuit curia in Rome.

Founder: A rare letter discovered in Jesuit archives in London’s Church of the Immaculate Conception contains the signature of St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus. The letter, dated February 16, 1555, 18 months before St Ignatius’ death, is one of the few documents signed by the saint that exists outside Rome.

PHOTO: CNS/GED CLAPSON

Innocence: An Iraqi family looks through a bus window before leaving Damascus, Syria, for Baghdad, Iraq on November 27 after the Iraqi government organised a free trip to encourage Iraqis to return home. However, Chaldean Bishop Antoine Audo says that Christianity in Iraq faces complete devastation because of the war. PHOTO: CNS/KHALED ALHARIRI, REUTERS

Bishop Antoine Audo

In December of 2007, 22 years of service to the Indigenous families in the Kimberley through the Mirrilingki Spirituality Centre by the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, will come to an end.

But the Josephites’ WA provincial leader Sr Clare Ahern, who started the Spirituality Centre with Sr Theresa Morellini, has not ruled out the Sisters returning to the Centre. Sr Clare said that a very competent review of Mirrilingki had been conducted during 2007 and the resulting report proposed many constructive ways of meeting the needs of the Kimberley communities.

The first stage in the plan was to engage in a thorough maintenance and refurbishment of the Centre under the supervision of a Josephite sister, while the recruitment of the new staff to commence later in 2008, began.

This proposal was rejected by Bishop Christopher Saunders who, being acutely aware of the needs of Indigenous Australians in the Kimberley, wanted the Sisters to continue managing the Centre, coordinating or delivering courses and hosting other programs.

The Sisters were unable to carry out this plan as they could not provide the managers for February 2008 and consequently they had no option but to move on. The Diocese of Broome has now undertaken to manage the Centre.

Mirrilingki was the brain child of Sr Clare who migrated to Australia from Ireland aged 16 to join the Josephites in 1960, arriving in the Kimberley in 1976.

It became clear to her that the Church in the Kimberley was putting all its educational energy into the children but were not “dialoguing adult-to-adult with the older generation”, so the Mirrilingki Spirituality Centre came into being.

Then-Bishop of Broome, John Jobst bought a property in the East Kimberley.

The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart gave Sr Clare a generous grant to purchase six mobile units from Argyle Diamond Mines, set up the residential part of the spirituality centre, furnish the existing buildings on the

22 years of loving the most precious

property and purchase vehicles and resources. Over the years the Sisters took the responsibility of supplying staff and resources and financing the Centre and Sisters in a myriad of ways.

“Mirrilingki provided a peaceful space for the Kimberley Aborigines to address social

City Beach revolution

Bishop Sproxton urges parish’s youth to be fired by by Holy Sporot to bring others to the Church, and therefore to God

■ By Anthony Barich

Anew age in experiencing the Holy Mass was ushered in last week as Perth Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton blessed City Beach parish’s new function room.

As part of renovations to the church foyer, which tripled in size, and the toilet block worth a total of $320,000, the new room in the church building has a plasma screen to simulcast the Mass to restless children and mothers who need to breastfeed.

The massive project, paid for by parishioners promising to up their Planned Giving by 50 per cent over three years, started before parish priest Fr Don Kettle arrived earlier this year.

The room will be used for congregation overflow, Bible study, CAFÉ (ongoing formation), out of school care, morning teas for new school mums and for Confraternity of St Joseph men’s group meetings. While blessing the centre, Bishop Sproxton told the many children huddled at his feet that as a place of formation, the room will be an important place where they will be inspired by the Holy Spirit to let others know the joy of living the Christian faith, and showing them what it means.

He told the children that the very water he blessed the centre with was that which they were baptised with, and the water of baptism means “we have to do something for God”.

“We all need to learn more about our faith,” Bishop Sproxton said. Encouraging them to bring one person each to Mass as

a result of the inspiration they get in that centre, he used the example of St Thomas the Apostle – the “doubting Apostle” who went on to evangelise India, where he had an impact on millions of people, and generations after that.

He said that when Catholic missionaries arrived in the country 16 centuries later, they found that many were already Christians – a testimony to the effect that one person can have.

“There are lots of opportunities to bring Jesus to people’s lives, and show them how great it is to be in a relationship with Him,” the Bishop said.

Fr Kettle, the former Catholic Youth Ministry director involved in vocations promotion, said the parish’s significant effort to raise the funds was a testament to their pride in the parish and the need for it to be a more people-friendly parish.

There are also plans for a wall separating the foyer from the church, so people can talk before and after Mass without distracting those who wish to spend time in prayer in the pews before and after Mass.

“We dealt with the beginning of family breakdowns throughout the years at the Spirituality Centre,” Sr Clare said. In addition to educating the people of the East Kimberley in Theology and Scripture, the Sisters – all trained teachers and many qualified counsellors, or spiritual directors – skilled the Indigenous women in ways to change the direction of their lives in terms of preventing or avoiding abuse in alcohol-fuelled situations and solving other such issues.

Together with the local community at Warmun the Sisters developed intervention courses in the drug and alcohol area which received State Awards.

Over the years Mirrilingki became a Centre of Reconciliation with volunteers coming from Australia-wide to join the project. It is with sadness the Josephites leave Mirrilingki.

While they recently gathered to ritualise their departure, the Sisters still remain in other parts of the East Kimberley region assisting the disadvantaged in Wyndham, Kununurra, Warmun and Balgo while in partnership with the Federation Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart.

These Sisters were formerly called the ‘Black Joeys’, because of their black habits as opposed to ‘the Brown Joeys’ with the brown habits worn by the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart.

At the last General Chapter of the ‘Brown Joeys’, held in October in Sydney, the Congregation made a strong commitment to ‘stand in solidarity with the original peoples of Australia and to be in partnership in mission with others who share the same vision.’

The Sisters have a heartfelt call to make the cause of the poor their cause.

problems within their community e.g. alcoholism, domestic violence, youth issues,” Sr Clare said, adding that the much-publicised problems concerning the sexual abuse of children began to appear with the prevalence of alcohol and drugs and their destructive effects on family life.

“Mirrilingki is a special place,” said Sr Clare, who hopes that the Centre will continue to exist, enriching the lives of the Kimberley people and walking with them as they address the problems that are destroying their communities.

She added that Bishop Saunders is looking for lay single people or married couples to run the Centre.

Anyone interested can contact his office on 08 9192 3334.  ANTHONY

St Vinnies foster student tutors for a brighter future

The St Vincent de Paul Society has long seen the benefit in educating children as a means to breaking the poverty cycle, and the Vinnies Youth Homework Centres are proof of the pudding.

Vinnies Youth, the Special Work of the Society operates two Homework Centres in Perth; the Homework Centres are a unique program offering a nutritious afternoon tea, one-on-one tutoring and activities for disadvantaged children in years 3-7 from the surrounding area.

Former John XXIII College student Sarah Crute is a driving force at the Fremantle Homework Centre, working as the Coordinator.

The Notre Dame Law student says “When I was growing up my family was fortunate enough to have the resources to provide me with access to a good education. I decided to become involved with the centre because there are many families in the area that do not have the resources to provide their kids with the one on one tuition they need”.

State Youth Manager for the Society, Rebecca Callaghan says the results have been phenomenal.

“We have seen astounding results from the Society’s two Homework Centres and we are hopeful of expanding and eventually having more Centres and more opportunities for young people in need,” Ms Callaghan said.

“Week after week we are inspired by the dedication shown by those who volunteer at the Homework Centres to help improve the futures for the children in the program.”

Sarah is one of ten volunteers from the University of Notre Dame Australia who rotate to tutor the children once a week at a Recreation Centre in Spearwood.

The Fremantle Homework Centre equipped with the wonderful team of volunteers are leading the way in supporting the community as the St Vincent de Paul Society moves closer to the launch of their annual Christmas Appeal.

“I have stayed committed to the program because I can see the difference it makes in the kids lives and because it’s a lot of fun,” she said.

The Fremantle Homework Centre celebrates its ninth month this month, operating as a platform for improved education in a safe and encouraging environment for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The Society is largely called upon during the festive and New Year period as many families struggle to celebrate Christmas and finance the back to school period for their children. The community is encouraged to dig deep for the Christmas Appeal.

BARICH

Tender Love: Josephite Sister Mary Baker with Aboriginal boy Frankie at Mirrilingki. PHOTO COURTESY OF SISTERS OF ST JOSEPH OF THE SACRED HEART

Momentous: Bishop Donald Sproxton blesses City Beach parish’s new facility with Fr Don Kettle by his side. PHOTO: ANTHONY BARICH

Reviews

Once a house of prayer, now a multi-purpose site

No Place for God: The Denial of the Transcendent in Modern Church Architecture

By Moyra Doorly Ignatius Press.

in Australia from The Record. Soft cover, 148 pages $29.90

Tony Evans applauds a new study which reveals that modernist church architecture has obliterated the sacred and replaced it with the boring and the ugly.

With Mass attendance declining and young people leaving Catholic schools without the Faith, and most churches locked during the day because only vandals would be likely to enter them, clergy, educationists and interested laity rack their brains for an explanation and a remedy. While it may be too simple an explanation to lay the blame at the door of modernist church architecture entirely, Moyra Doorly, an architect, Catholic convert, and well known writer and broadcaster in England, argues convincingly that contemporary modernist churches not only reject the past, but discredit and destroy traditional beliefs by stripping churches of the sacred. The result has been the rise of the ugliest and emptiest church buildings in history.

In the past even atheists and agnostics found it impossible not to admire church architecture but

now there is hardly a Catholic who can admire the concrete and futuristic buildings which seem designed to deny their spiritual function. Modernist churches with their carpets, functional furniture, sound system and meaningless daubs of paint on the walls no longer point to a transcendent God, a God who inspires awe, reverence and wonder, they resemble more a conference hall, lecture theatre or health cen-

tre. Only Mosques and 19th and early 20th Century churches proclaim on city skylines the presence of God amongst us.

One cannot blame congregations for breaking into animated conversations and sharing jokes before and after Mass on Sundays if the design of the church resembles a barn-like festive hall, or ignoring the Real Presence if the tabernacle is halfhidden, hardly noticeable, away in a

dark corner. The author shows how these modern churches are geared to ‘the celebration of the worshipping community’. They look, not to the Transcendent God, but inwards towards the people themselves; they are ‘temples to the spirit of the age...they reflect the theology of the times’. But the spirit of the age is the celebration of people, not worship of God.

Doorly quotes a famous passage of Chesterton’s: “Of all horrible religions the most horrible is the worship of the God within. That Jones shall worship the God within turns out ultimately to mean that Jones worships Jones.”

Doorly is not content to merely criticise the appearance of modern churches but analyses the various modernist movements that have spawned modernist architecture, ultimately proving as harmful to the Church as it has been to the towns and cities of the world. She shows how underpinning the modernist movements are elements of Einstein’s Theories of Relativity, Theosophy, Psychoanalysis and Neopaganism, and how many wellmeaning leaders in the Church passively adopted the Modernist ideas about space, form and functionideas entirely in tune with contemporary self-reverence.

And while the havoc caused by the massive urban developments and Brutalist secular buildings of the 50s and 60s has now been recognised as destructive of the environment, our dear Church, of its nature - and understandably soalways behind the times continues to encourage Godless buildings in the mistaken belief that they reflect the ‘spirit of Vatican II’.

The author shows, quoting extensively from Vatican II documents, how the so-called spirit of Vatican II has been misinterpreted and in some cases, instructions of the Conciliar and Post Conciliar documents have been ignored in

favour of the latest architectural fads. The book is liberally illustrated with photographs of the worst excesses of Modernist Churches both in England, mainland Europe and America - and even in Rome itself.

The trendy but dreaded word ‘reordered’ is used to describe how the interiors of churches have been desecrated and made ‘more meaningful to the ‘spirit of the age’. The traditional interior of St Joseph’s in Bunhill, London, for example was ‘reordered’ in 1970, stripped of its altar and furnishings in favour of a bare modernist sanctuary, and then restored to its former appearance in the 1990s by a more conservative priest. But the church was in turn reverted back to its former modernist appearance by another parish priest in 2002. Doorly reports that most of the congregation, in despair, has gone elsewhere.

And if we in Australia may feel a little smug that these dramatic and neopagan examples happen elsewhere, we have only to look around us in the suburbs to see exactly the same uglification of churches in this country.

The tide is turning back but not fast enough to prevent the dollars and cents of the faithful supporting buildings which the decisionmakers believe reflect ‘the spirit of the age’. As Doorly says,’ the spirit of the age, any age, is something transitory, something that will pass away as time moves on.’ For many of us – and one suspects, the majority of the Faithful - it cannot pass too quickly.

I cannot recommend this little book too highly. Buy two and send one to your Parish Council when a new church is being planned.

Tony Evans’s first book ‘The Conscious Stone’ was on the architect Fr John Hawes. He is currently engaged in writing a biography of the 19th Century architect William Wardell whose crowning works were St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney and St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne.

Appropriately, Christmas disc will support mothers in need

Christmas in Australia is a very fine selection of mostly original Christmas songs that reflects the diverse cultures of the people of Australia and of the land we live in.

The title track creates images of the wonderful colours of the Australian bush in December.

This fresh collection of Christmas songs includes ‘Christmas in Australia’, ‘Happy Birthday Dear Lord’, ‘St Nicholas’, ‘One Solitary Life’, ‘Carol of the Birds’ and ‘Life is Precious’.

Over the last couple of years it has been given airplay, both locally and interstate and the songs continue to be popular and are performed by many school choirs’ Carmel said.

‘Life is Precious’, although not really a Christmas song, reflects the sacredness of life.

It was written by Carmel in one evening. She was feeling rather sad about the many lives that are lost to abor-

tion. “It was one of those moments when the words and music just flowed”, said Carmel. She had planned to record

another song the following day at the recording studio but instead recorded ‘Life is Precious’.

‘All too often young people are not given any alternatives to abortion when faced with an unplanned pregnancy’, Carmel said.

All proceeds from the sale of ‘Christmas in Australia’ will go to Pregnancy Assistance for the tremendous work that they do in supporting women contemplating abortion both before and after thus saving the lives of many unborn children.

Life is Precious

O for the dreams that never can be realised

What have we done; what have we come to?

Where is the faith, faith to move the mountains.

Forgive us Lord, we’ve lost our way

We’ve lost our way when we don’t believe your words

You spoke through the prophets You speak to us now, you speak to us now.

O for the songs that never will be sung

The children’s laughter that won’t be heard

In our small world, think we know the answers

Where is the love for old and young?

For old and young life is so precious

With willing hearts we’ll receive the strength

To carry on, to carry on.

There’s a higher power reaching out his hand to hold our pain

We’re in this together

Won’t you call on my name, wont you call on my name?

O we can’t cope in our fragile humanity

But letting go is hard sometimes

It’s hard sometimes when we can’t see the end of the road

But what is faith if you can see, if you can see.

In our small world think we know the answers

Where is the love for old and young?

For old and young life is so precious

With willing hearts we’ll receive the strength

To carry on, to carry on. by Carmel Charlton.

music Christmas in Australia

By Carmel and the Mites

Record

PANORAMA a roundup of events in the archdiocese

Panoramas

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

Submissions over 55 words will be edited or 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. Please do not re-submit Panoramas once they are in print.

Friday December 7

PRO LIFE PROCESSION  MIDLAND

The first Friday Mass, Procession and Rosary Vigil will be held, commencing at 9.30am with Mass celebrated at St Brigid’s Church, Midland. The Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate will lead us. All are invited to witness for the sanctity of life and pray for the conversion of hearts. Enq: Helen 9402 0349.

Friday December 7

CATHOLIC FAITH RENEWAL  CHRISTMAS CAROLS

An invitation to all to join in a night of singing Christmas Carols and songs of Praise and Worship at St John and Paul’s Church, Pintree Gully Road, Willetton, followed by light refreshments in the parish centre. All welcome. Invite your family and friends! Enq: Rita 9272 1765 or Rose 4043 300 720.

First Friday December 7

ALLIANCE AND TRIUMPH OF THE TWO HEARTS

HOLY MASS AND EUCHARISTIC VIGIL at St Bernadette’s Church Glendalough. Confessions at 5.15 pm. Parish Mass at 5.45 pm (Celebrant: Fr Doug Harris) followed by exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, hourly rosaries, hymns and reflections etc. Vigil concludes with midnight Mass in honour of the BVM (Celebrant: Fr Doug Harris).

Friday December 7

SILVER JUBILEE OF PRIESTLY ORDINATION: FR PETER STIGLICH O PRAEM

The Norbertine Canons and the Parishioners of East Cannington/Queens Park invite past parishioners, friends and supporters to celebrate with them Fr Peter Joseph’s Ordination Anniversary at 7.30 pm, with Solemn Mass in St Joseph’s Church, 135 Treasure Rd, Queens Park, followed by Supper at St Norbert College. RSVP 9458 2729 ext 238 by November 30.

Friday-Saturday December 7 and 8

24 HOUR ADORATION TO CELEBRATE THE FEAST OF OUR LADY OF IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Venue: Holy Family Maddington, Lot 375 Alcock Street Maddington, starting after the 8am Mass on Friday and finishing with the 8am Mass on Saturday. Those wishing to participate enq: Shiranie 9398 6350 or Fr Francis 9493 1703. “You will NEVER regret any sacrifice you have made for ME during your life” – words of Jesus to Sr Josepha.

Saturday December 8

SINGLES CHRISTMAS PARTY

Three course meal. Inc wine, tea and coffee. $25/ head $20 conc. Venue: Integrity House, 67 Howe Street, Osborne Park. Run by Disciples of Jesus Catholic Community Reach Out Ministry. Come along and meet new friends. RSVP Barbara 9341 5346 by 18 November.

Sunday December 9

GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS  OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP, WILSON

The Catholic Parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (formerly Castledare Boys’ Chapel), 14 Castledare Place, Wilson, will be celebrating its Golden Jubilee with a Mass at 9.30am, officiated by Archbishop Hickey, followed by a morning tea in the Community Centre of Castledare Retirement Village. All past and present parishioners, and anyone with any association with our community over the years, would be most welcome to attend our celebrations.

Wednesday December 12

CHAPLETS OF THE DIVINE MERCY

A beautiful, prayerful, sung devotion to be held at St Thomas More Catholic Church, Dean Road, Bateman on the second Wednesday of each month commencing at 7.30pm. All are welcome. Enq: George Lopez on 9310 94939 (h) or 9325 2010 (w).

Wednesday-Thursday December 12 to 13

MEDJUGORJE PEACE DAYS

Nancy (Fr Jozo’s translator) and Patrick Latta of Medjugorje (both dynamic speakers) will be visiting Perth for 2 days. Perth will be the end of their Australian and New Zealand Speaking Tour, speaking on Our Lady Queen of Peace and Her Messages.

PROGRAMME FOR PERTH: Wednesday 12 December, ST BERNADETTE’S CHURCH, GLENDALOUGH starting at 10.30am. Rosary, Holy Mass, Talks concluding 2pm (B-Lunch to share); HOLY SPIRIT CHURCH,

CITY BEACH starting at 7pm. Rosary, Holy Mass, Talks, concluding 9pm. Thursday 13 December, OUR LADY QUEEN OF PEACE, WILLAGEE starting at 10.30am. Rosary, Holy Mass, Talks concluding 2pm (B-Lunch to share); OUR LADY OF THE MISSIONS, WHITFORDS-CRAIGIE starting at 7.30pm. Rosary, Holy Mass, Talks, concluding 9pm. Enq: Margaret 9341 8082.

Friday December 14

WYD PRAYER VIGIL

Join us for a night of prayer and adoration hosted by the young people of Perth. In the spirit of the Advent season we pray for the coming of Jesus at Christmas, and in preparation for 2008: the coming of the WYD Cross & Icon and WYD08. Come to Good Shepherd Parish, 215 Morley Drive East KIARA, 8pm-6am. Come along for an hour or two, or why not stay for the entire night. Enq: wydperth@highgate-perthcatholic.org.au or 9422 7944 (www.wydperth.com)

Saturday December 15

CHRISTMAS ULTREYA  MASS AND FIESTA

Community Mass at 6pm to be held at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church, Kitchener Street (near Hamersley), North Beach. Please bring a plate (finger food) to share. Please join us for this joyous and happy celebration. Family and friends welcome. Live entertainment: Cursillista Musician Keith Carton and jazz quartet

Saturday December 15

GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATION MASS  BRENTWOOD

Starting at 9.30am at Regina Coeli Catholic Church Brentwood. To mark the Golden Jubilee of our church, dedicated on 15th December 1957, past & present parishioners are invited to participate in Mass to be concelebrated by Bishop Don Sproxton and Priests ,who have served our community over the past fifty years. Refreshments will be shared following Mass. RSVP (for catering purposes) by Saturday 8th December to Marie Hill 9364 6042 or email reghill@optusnet.com.au

Sunday December 16

SILVER JUBILEE OF PRIESTLY ORDINATION:

FR VINCENT GLYNN

The parish of Floreat/Wembley invite you to join with Fr Vincent Glynn as he celebrates his 25th anniversary of Ordination to the Priesthood. A special invite to all past parishioners and friends of Fr Vincent. An anniversary Mass of Thanksgiving will be held at 9.30am at St Cecilia’s Church, Grantham St, Floreat. It will be followed by a morning tea. RSVP florcath@iinet.net.au by Dec 5th.

Thursday December 20

ST PEREGRINE HEALING MASS

Starting at 7pm at SS John & Paul Church, Pinetree Gully Road, (off South Street), Willetton. A Healing Mass in honour of St Peregrine, patron of Cancer sufferers and helper of all in need. The celebration will include Veneration of the Relic, and Anointing of the Sick. Enq: Noreen Monaghan 9498 7727.

Saturday January 5

DAY WITH MARY

St Mary Star of the Sea Church, Cnr Stirling Highway & McNeil Street, Cottesloe. Starting 9am to 5pm. A video on Fatima will be shown at 9am. A day of prayer and instruction based upon the messages of Fatima. Includes Sacrament of Penance, Holy Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Sermons, Rosaries, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Stations of the Cross. Please BYO lunch. Enq: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286.

Sunday January 6 to 12

THE SUMMER SCHOOL OF EVANGELISATION 2008

Is a unique week long Retreat and formation experience that will set hearts on fire. Open to everyone over 16yo and is the ideal preparation for World Youth Day. Night rallies open to the public. 67 Howe St, Osborne Park. See http://sse2008.disciplesofjesus.org/ <http://sse2008.disciplesofjesus.org/ for brochure/registration or Enq: 0401 692 690.

First Sunday of Every Month

HEALING FIRE BURNING LOVE MINISTRY

Celebrates the Sunday Mass at St Bernadette’s Church, Cnr Jugan and Leeder Streets, Glendalough commencing with praise and worship at 6.30pm and Mass at 7pm. We have healing prayers after the

Mass so please invite all those in need of the healing love and power of Jesus. Enq: Jenni Young 9445 1028 or 0404 389 679.

Third Sunday of the Month

OBLATES OF ST BENEDICT MEET

Venue: St Josephs Convent, York Street, South Perth at 2pm. An annual Retreat is held at New Norcia, Trinity Sunday Weekend. Oblates are affiliated with Benedictine Abbey New Norcia. We celebrate our 50th Anniversary September 2008. A golden celebration. All welcome. Vespers and afternoon tea conclude monthly meeting. Enq: Secretary 9388 3026.

Every Tuesday

WEEKLY PRAYER  MARY’S COMPANION WAYFARERS OF JESUS THE WAY

Starting at 7pm at St. Mary’s Cathedral Parish Centre, 450 Hay Street, Perth. Appreciate the heritage of the Faith united with others asking Jesus and Mary to overcome burdens in life. Receive healing in prayer through the Rosary, Scripture, meditation and praise in song. Followed by friendship and refreshments. Prayer is powerful. Come join us!

First Friday and first Saturday of each month

COMMUNION OF REPARATION  ALL NIGHT VIGIL

Corpus Christi Church, Mosman Park 7pm-1am. 46 Lochee Rd, Mosman Park. Mass, Rosary, Prayers, Confessions and silent adoration. Contact: Catalina 0439 931 151.

First Sunday of each month

DEVOTIONS IN HONOUR OF THE DIVINE MERCY

The Santa Clara Parish community welcomes anyone from surrounding parishes and beyond to Santa Clara Church, cnr of Coolgardie and Pollack Sts, Bentley. The afternoon commences with the 3 o’clock prayers, followed by the Divine Mercy Chaplet, reflection and concludes with Benediction.

Every Saturday

PERPETUAL HELP DEVOTIONS

4.30pm. The half hour perpetual novena devotions to the Mother of Perpetual Help continue each Saturday at the Redemptorist Monastery Church, 190 Vincent St, in North Perth. Reconciliation available before and after the devotions. All welcome.

Every Sunday

BULLSBROOK SHRINE

Sunday pilgrim Mass is celebrated with Holy Rosary and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament 2pm at the Shrine of the Virgin of the Revelation, 36 Chittering Road, Bullsbrook. Reconciliation is available in Italian and English before every celebration. Enq: 9447 3292.

Book donations wanted

We are seeking donations of Catholic books, Bilbles, Missals and Divine Office books any age, any condition. Tel: 9293 3092.

Every First Friday

HOLY HOUR FOR VOCATIONS TO THE PRIESTHOOD AND THE RELIGIOUS LIFE

At Little Sisters of the Poor Chapel, 2 Rawlins Street, Glendalough. 7pm Mass with celebrant Fr Albert Saminedi. 7.30pm Holy Hour Adoration with Fr Don Kettle. Refreshments to follow in the hall. All welcome.

Second Friday of each Month GENERAL PRAYER ASSEMBLY

The Couples for Christ and its Family Ministries welcome all members who now reside or are visiting Perth to join the community in our monthly general prayer assembly 7.30pm, St Joachim Parish Hall, Shepperton Road, Victoria Park. Enquiries: Tony and Dolly Haber (08) 9440 4540.

Every Fourth Sunday

SECULAR FRANCISCAN ORDER

The Perth Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order assembles every fourth Sunday at 2.30pm in the Chapel of RSL Care, 51 Alexander Dr, Menora. Enquiries John 9385 5649.

Every Fourth Sunday WATCH AND PRAY

A Holy Hour is held at Infant Jesus Parish, Morley from 2-3pm with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. The hour consists of some prayers and Scripture but

mostly the hour is silent prayer for Vocations. All are welcome. Please encourage others to come and pray. Prayer - it works! Enq: 9276 8500.

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

Ignatian Volunteers Australia calls for part-time volunteers to respond to the needs of people in the community who live in marginalised circumstances. At the heart of this program is a reflective process based on Gospel values, which supports the volunteers in their work. To learn more: www.volunteers.jesuit.org.au Contact Kevin Wringe, Perth Coordinator (08) 9316 3469 kwringe@iinet.net.au .

Every First and Third Monday of the Month ST TERESIAN PRAYER GROUP

The St Teresian Prayer Group meets every 1st and 3rd Monday of the Month, 7pm at Infant Jesus, Morley. Enq: Darren Miranda 9276 6358 after 1pm.

Every Third Saturday of the Month PRAYER FOR LIFE

Father Jim Shelton leads prayers from 10am to 11am at Abortion Clinic in Rivervale. All welcome. Enq 9279 1549 or 9403 2444.

Every Wednesday HOLY HOUR, BENEDICTION

Holy Hour 4pm to 5pm. Held at St Thomas the Apostle Church, 2 College Road, Claremont. Followed by Evening Prayer and Benediction. Personal prayer before the Blessed Sacrament is Adoration of Jesus’ gift of Himself, of His love for you, for you loved ones and for our world. Come and Thank Him.

Every Tuesday THE GOSPEL OF ST MATTHEW

7.30pm to 8.30pm Fr Douglas Leslie Rowe S.F.P conducts a wonderful Bible course free of charge on “The Gospel of St Matthew” at St Joachim’s Parish Hall, Shepperton Road, Victoria Park. Those interested may bring friends along. The course starts punctually at 7.30pm. Free parking available. Light refreshments after each session.

Every Sunday evening.

N.O.W NIGHT OF WORSHIP

On the initiative of Fr Charles Waddell PP and the assistance of Flame Ministries International, a new and exciting service called “N.O.W” (Night of Worship) has begun at 7.15pm followed by Mass at 8pm every Sunday at St Thomas the Apostle Church corner of College Road & Melville Street, Claremont. “NOW” is aimed at attracting people back into the Church and to the Mass as well as attracting regular Mass goers both youth and families. Come and join us each Sunday for a new experience of dynamic and joyful worship.

Every Sunday LATIN MASS

The Latin Mass according to the 1962 missal is offered every Sunday at Our Lady of Fatima, 10 Foss St, Palmyra at noon. All welcome.

ETERNAL WORD TELEVISION NETWORK

Every Sunday, 1 - 2 pm on Access 31 Sunday December 9:

The value of a person : Christianity and the future of Western civilization / Abp Fulton Sheen [Life is Worth Living]

Followed by: The Immaculate Conception / Fr Alfred McBride

[Images of Mary]

Presented by The Rosary Christian Tutorial Association, P.O. Box 1270,

IN LOVING MEMORY

Joan Baguley 5 Decemeber

In loving memory of our mother & nanna. In our hearts always. Cathy, Nathan & Brandon

ACCOMMODATION

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BLINDS

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BOOK REPAIRS

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BUILDING TRADES

■ BRICK REPOINTING Phone Nigel 9242 2952.

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EMPLOYMENT

Part time Project Officer required for administrative projects and some reception duties at the Magnificat FertilityCare centre, Yokine. Appreciation for Catholic teachings on Human Life essential. Please send CV and references to Amanda Lamont, 15/162 Wanneroo Rd, Yokine 6060 or amandalamont@fertilitycare.com. au by 12 December 2007.’

FURNITURE REMOVAL

■ ALL AREAS Mike Murphy 0416 226 434.

GIFTS

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Kolbe chivalry is back!

■ By Anthony Barich

The spirit of Saint Maximilian Kolbe is being renewed in the hearts of men and boys who have taken on his spiritual militancy to become better fathers, husbands and sons.

St Maximilian, a Franciscan priest who founded the Crusade of Mary (Militia Immaculatae) and martyred at Nazi prison camp Auschwitz, was canonised by Pope John Paul II.

He was passionate about all things military and his fiery patriotism even made him lose interest in becoming a priest, though he entered the junior Franciscan seminary in Lwow, Poland.

But when his parents announced that, now that all their children were in seminaries, they too would join the Religious life, he abandoned his plans, not wanting to disappoint them.

But his fighting spirit didn’t leave him, and after studying philosophy and theology in Rome he saw that a battle still needed to be waged – but a spiritual one.

In 1917 he officially waged war on the Freemasons – considered by many Catholics in Europe as the chief enemy – when he founded the Crusade of Mary Immaculate (Militia Immaculatae) with six companions in 1917 to “convert sinners, heretics and schismatics, particularly Freemasons, and bringing all men to love Mary Immaculate”.

Now the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate – an international order of priests and Brothers whose WA members are based at Munster and Toodyay – have adopted St Maximilian’s model for masculine spirituality to support men in living out their faith.

It all started when one such priest, Father Angelo Mary Geiger, started a discussion group to form young men in Connecticut, USA, that evolved into a pathway towards membership of what he called “Knights of Lepanto”, named after a monumental Christian military victory against an Islamic onslaught, under the banner of Christ the King and His Holy Mother, some 400 years ago.

Fr Geiger’s intention was to provide a forum for men, living their faith as men and translate their prayer life into works of justice. The men develop a greater understanding

Sunday. We offer personal shopper services too. OTTIMO, Shop 102 and Shop 107-108, Trinity Arcade, Terrace Level, Hay Street, Perth. Phone: 9322 4520.

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IMMIGRATION

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Registered Migration Agent (MARN # 0212024)Phone: 02 8230 0290 email: michael.ring@bigpond. com

RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

■ CATHOLICS CORNER

Retailer of Catholic products specialising in gifts, cards and apparel for baptism, communion and con-

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Skin-bound book sells at auction

firmation. Ph: 9456 1777. Shop 12, 64-66 Bannister Road, Canning Vale. Open Mon-Sat.

■ RICH HARVEST  YOUR CHRISTIAN SHOP

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

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■ TRAVEL COMPANION. Lady 50-60’s

of “Marian chivalry”, taking a prayerful devotion to Mary into the world through daily actions, be it more active parish work, more generosity or to become better fathers, sons and husbands.

Fr Geiger said it is often hard to get men involved in practical spirituality, as the female in the relationship often drives the family prayer life.

“We’re finding it’s a global reality that gone is the moral leadership of families, with fatherlessness, is an epidemic in the US,” Fr Geiger says.

“Kids are being born into families without fathers, and these problems aren’t being addressed. So we wanted to encourage men to become leaders of their families by taking responsibility for the common good as men of faith, in family, the Church and society at large.”

Fr Geiger guides the discussion group by presenting ideas and ways for men to express their faith, not to debate the Truth of their faith but to assimilate what they know and engage them on an intellectual level, and encourage courtesy and respect in their relationships.

“I wanted there to be a vigorous participation in the faith,” Fr Geiger said.

The governing principle of this group is St Augustine’s saying: ‘In certain things unity, in doubtful things liberty and in all things charity’.

In allegiance to Mary, the group pledge virtues of chivalry – fidelity, honesty, courtesy, prowess and generosity – in their everyday lives as manifestations of their prayer life.

Fr Geiger, who was in Perth last month to run such a retreat at Toodyay, said that Knights of the Immaculate, by their very nature, undertake the chivalrous ideal of consecrating oneself to the Queen and working and fighting for her, for the conversion and sanctification of souls.

“It’s like an immunization,” Fr Geiger says; a weapon.

St Maximilian called his Miraculous Medal a Silver Bullet that has become the Knights’ insignia – the same medal the Franciscans of the Immaculate wear on their garment.

To

LONDON (CNS) - A book bound in the skin of an executed Jesuit priest was sold at an auction in England to an unnamed private collector for 5,400 pounds (more than US$11,000).

The macabre, 17th-century book tells the story of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot and is covered in the hide of Father Henry Garnet.

Jessica Wall, a spokeswoman for Wilkinson’s Auctioneers in Doncaster, England, said: “We didn’t know what the book was going to go for. It was an unexpected result but a good one. We are very pleased.” The priest, at the time the head of the Jesuits in England, was executed on May 3, 1606, outside St. Paul’s Cathedral in London for his alleged role in a Catholic plot to detonate 36 barrels of gunpowder beneath the British Parliament, an act that would have killed the Protestant King James I and other government leaders.

World Youth Day Ball

Perth youth put on the Ritz for gala night of fun

The World Youth Day Ball held at the Italian Club in North Perth last Saturday night was a smashing success with hundreds of young people turning out to have a great time and raise money for pilgrims travelling to Sydney next July for the weeklong international Catholic youth event. Record contributor Paul Bui went along not only to join in the fun but also to capture some of the moments from a fantastic evening for relaxing, having fun and catching up with friends.