The Record Newspaper 06 April 2011

In 1911, their Majesties and football were important news

This week, The Record begins a new occasional feature: reprinting pages from the newspaper that first appeared 100 years ago. In 1911, news of the day included such things as visits by King George V and Queen Mary of

England to Maynooth Seminary in Ireland. In this week’s first instalment, readers can see how the WA Catholic primary schools’ First 18 were faring. Among pages to appear later this year will be fascinating examples of advertising;

in 1911 ladies perusing The Record could discover such essentials as “silver-plated cake baskets” which were considered “exceptional value,” all for the price of one pound and ten shillings. These and other silver plated goods which

made the “most acceptable wedding presents” were available from Stewart Dawson & Co at 613-615 Hay Street in Perth. These and many other pages will help give a picture of what it was all like. 1911 this week - Page 16

Archbishop submits resignation to Pope

Move begins process, the precise outcome and timing of which are unclear

ARCHBISHOP Barry Hickey has tendered his resignation as Archbishop of Perth to Pope Benedict XVI via the Pope’s personal representative in Australia.

The Archbishop informed The Record of his move on Friday, 1 April; under Canon Law, all Bishops must offer the Holy Father their resignation when they turn 75.

Archbishop Hickey’s 75th birthday will be on Saturday, 16 April. When he tendered his resignation, it was via the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzorotto, based in Canberra. It is Archbishop Lazzorotto who will be the Vatican’s key pointman in Australia in the selection of a new Archbishop for Perth.

Archbishop Hickey was installed as Archbishop of Perth in 1991 and the offering of his resignation after two decades leading the Church is an historic moment for the Church in Perth.

But, while his resignation has been offered, it has not, as The Record went to press, been accepted by the Pope and does not become effective until such time as it has. Theoretically, Archbishop Hickey could remain as Archbishop of Perth indefinitely.

The moment has also provided a slight glimpse into the processes surrounding the resignation of a Bishop from a diocese that has been entrusted to his care.

A diocese is one of the most important organisational institutions in the Church, covering either a substantial population of the faithful or a substantial area or both.

It is, in effect, an administrative, geographical boundary where the Church offers its care to the faithful and seeks to evangelise.

When it comes to vacancies in diocesan sees Canon Law sets out a variety of different procedures and arrangements to be followed depending on the situation that exists in any given diocese at any particular time; almost every conceivable situation is Please turn to Page 8

For Father Emmanuel, there’s no place quite like home

Dance expresses

Interested in being a lay missionary?

Information sessions to be held in Perth

For 50 years, the Australian Catholic Church has been sending lay Catholic missionaries out under the auspices of Palms Global Mission Programme. More communities than ever are requesting the assistance of Australians to build skills in their workplaces. This is a mission for all ages.

Palms Australia is seeking volunteers willing to live in another country, sharing skills to reduce poverty.

Positions exist in education, health, administration, agriculture/farming, trades and other professional or technical areas. Individuals can live simply on a volunteer allowance in Africa, Timor-Leste or the Pacific; positions ranging from six months to two years. All expenses, including travel, insurance and health, are covered.

Session details are:

Saturday, 16 April, 10am, Citiplace Community Centre, Upper Level Walkway, City Station Complex, Cnr Barrack and Wellington Streets, Perth.

Sunday, 17 April, 9.30am, Meeting Place, South Terrace, Fremantle WA.

Inquiries: www.palms.org.au or Marie Gilbert (02) 9518 9551 or via: marie@palms.org.au.

New Mass Times

St Patrick’s Cathedral, Bunbury

Weekdays

Blessed Sacrament Chapel

Monday - Friday: 7am

Saturday: 8am for vocations

Weekends

Saturday: 6pm

Sunday: 8am, 10am and 6pm

Sacrament of Confession

Saturday: 11.30am12.30pm

- Pages 10-11

happiness: Newly ordained Perth priest Fr Emmanuel Dimobi dances with his townspeople in Nigeria last weekend after returning with Archbishop Barry Hickey and Fr Robert Cross to celebrate a special Mass of Thanksgiving for family, friends and community after his ordination in St Mary’s Cathedral in March. The visit sparked several days of celebrations, speeches and gatherings, revealing, as Fr Cross writes this week, that when it comes to Church life there’s no doubt that Africans do everything with style. Story, more photos

Rotto chaplain urges sobriety for safe Easter

Catechism, Pope Benedict XVI back sober road use: Rottnest chaplain

BY ANTHONY BARICH

THE chaplain of one of WA’s most famous holiday locations has urged the State’s Catholics to steer clear of excessive alcohol to reduce road deaths during this Easter period.

“It is indeed sad that such a joyous time of Resurrection and new life can be, for many road users, a time of sad memories because of road accidents,” Rottnest Island Catholic chaplain Monsignor Sean O’Shea said.

The safety of road traffic depends on every road user, he said, hence “the positive stimulation of behaviour, responsibility and conscience are a challenge and concern to us all”.

He urged motorists to be mindful of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in this regard: “Those who are under the influence of alcohol or abuse speed limits are a danger to others and to themselves – on the road, in the air or at sea – they are guilty of a serious sin.”

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He also reminded Catholics of Pope Benedict XVI’s warning to drivers in 2005, seven months after he was elected as Pope: “I call on all drivers to drive with consideration and responsibility, so that we can effectively battle together, with representatives of authorities, against this social evil (road deaths) and diminish the number of victims”. On that day, the Pontiff also dedicated all victims of road accidents, all persons who have lost their lives in road accidents and also the many injured and their families to “the love of the Lord”.

In a statement sent to The Record last week, Mgr O’Shea also urged drivers to adhere to a “Ten Commandments of drivers” recently drawn up in Europe - broadly similar to those the Vatican issued in 2007: ● You will not be an egoist on the road.

● You will not be aggressive in word, behaviour or gestures towards others.

● Remember prayer and honour St Christopher when you start your journey – know how to be thankful.

● Respect pedestrians.

● Do not kill – always be sober.

● Wear your seat belt – you will be safe.

● Do not exceed speed limits.

● Do not put yourself or others in danger.

● Help those in trouble on the road.

● Follow all road regulations: respect the work of the police.

“Let us surround life with care … care on our roads this Easter,” Mgr O’Shea said.

St Emilie relic enshrined at Canning Vale

THE global head of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition witnessed the enshrinement of a relic of their foundress, St Emilie de Vialar, on 6 March at the only church in the world bearing the saint’s name in Canning Vale.

Superior General Sr Dorothy VellaZarb SJA visited St Emilie de Vialar parish in Canning Vale from Rome and presented the relic to parish priest Fr Robert Carrillo and the parish community.

Other attendees included Sr Margaret Anne Beech SJA, Mother Provincial of WA and Thailand; Sr Margaret Mary Gannon SJA, Pastoral Assistant; and Veronica Stratton, Chairperson of the parish’s Pastoral Council.

The relic was enshrined adjacent to a stained glass window depicting St Emilie de Vialar for the purpose of veneration and praying for the saint’s intercession.

The processional hymn, Hymn to St Emilie, was composed and offered to the parish by a founding parishioner, Maryann Heredia.

The parish was founded in 2001.

At the conclusion of the enshrinement, the parish presented Sr Vella-Zarb with the words and music to the hymn and a copy of a local history of the parish.

Two parishioners who participated in the celebration attribute their healing from terminal cancer to St Emilie. They say their prayers for intercession began prior to the beginning of critical surgery and continued up until receiving the all clear.

St Emilie de Vialar Parish Church was officially consecrated and opened on 23 May last year.

Monsignor Sean O’Shea outside his Holy Trinity Church at Rottnest Island where he is chaplain.

PHOTO: ANTHONY BARICH

Above left, Perth Srs Margaret Mary Gannon and Margaret Ann Beech present the relic of St Emilie and candle. Above right, parish priest Fr Robert Carrillo. Below, parishioners and Sisters gathered for the occasion.

PHOTOS: CANNING VALE PARISH

Melkite priest to be beatified this year

Melkite Catholic community receives rare visit from their Vicar General

BY COLLIN NUNIS

MELKITE priest Venerable Bechara Abou-Mourad BSO is expected to be beatified between July and September in Rome.

Venerable Bechara is the second Melkite Catholic to be beatified; the first being Blessed Mariam Baouardy, a Carmelite nun who was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1983.

Archimandrite Paul Abdallah Sayegh, BSO made the announcement as he presided over a special Divine Liturgy (Mass) on 27 March at the Melkite Catholic Parish of Our Lady of the Annunciation in Mount Lawley.

Archimandrite Paul, who is the Protosyncellus (VicarGeneral) of the Melkite Catholic Eparchy (diocese) of Australia and New Zealand, made the visit on behalf of Bishop Issam John Darwish BSO (Basilian Salvatorian Order, a monastic Order of priests), who was unable to attend. Archimandrite Paul celebrated the Liturgy at the invitation of the parish priest, Fr Sam Drouby.

The sung Divine Liturgy commemorated the feast days of Our Lady of the Annunciation (25 March) and the Veneration of the Holy Cross of the Lord, which falls on the third Sunday of Lent in the Byzantine liturgical calendar.

Celebrating the Liturgy with Archimandrite Paul was parish priest Fr Sam Drouby, assisted by Deacon Pierre Nahas. Also participating at the Divine Liturgy at the invitation of Fr Sam were members of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, who served as altar servers for the day.

According to the head of the Western Australian chapter, Lieutenant Robert Peters, the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre have been involved with the Melkite Catholic community since its establishment. Lieutenant Peters also added that

Suicides prompt detention ban call

BY ANTHONY BARICH

AUSTRALIA’S Catholic Bishops have renewed their call for an end to the mandatory detention of asylum seekers after the apparent suicide of members of Afghanistan’s ethnic Hazara minority over the past fortnight.

The Australian Bishops’ Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office (ACMRO) issued a statement on 31 March citing serious concerns for the mental health of detainees following an Afghan man’s death on 28 March.

The details surrounding the man’s death are being kept secret by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC). The man died at the remote Curtin Detention Centre in Western Australia’s desert Kimberley region.

“We are all witnesses to the human cost of immigration detention. The government cannot deny that prolonged detention will likely result in instances of suicide,” ACMRO director and Scalabrinian Fr Maurizio Pettena said in the 31 March statement.

young Australians”, he said. “Death in immigration detention is particularly tragic because the detainee’s last days are spent in despair, isolation and hopelessness, away from home and family. We will keep this man and his family very much in our prayers.”

While the ACMRO said it is appropriate for the DIAC to keep the details of the man’s death confidential out of respect for family members, the Bishops’ office for refugees “strongly urges the Coroner to hold an inquiry to shed light on the circumstances surrounding his death”.

Refugee advocates had also warned that overcrowding at Australia’s newest detention centre - a remote former Royal Australian Air Force base on Cape York in far north Queensland - could spark more suicides, following the apparent hanging death of a 20 year old Hazara Afghan detainee there two weeks ago.

Fr Pettena warned that mandatory detention inflicts “extreme suffering and frustration on already vulnerable people”.

“Detention centres compound the anxiety and hopelessness of detainees who require extra support to compensate for the conditions they experienced in detention”, Fr Maurizio said.

it was Archbishop Barry Hickey who requested that the Knights and Ladies attend the yearly festal liturgical celebrations at the Melkite community.

In his homily, which was preached in both English and Arabic, Archimandrite Paul stated that the “yes” of Mary marked the beginning of salvation and the revelation of the mystery that was planned since eternity.

He also spoke about the Cross as an inspiration of support and hope for our Lenten journey in preparation for Easter.

Archimandrite Paul also delivered a pastoral message from Bishop Issam, where he sent wishes of peace to the faithful and exhorted them and those present to keep the faith “once delivered to the saints”.

He also delivered his warm wishes to the ladies’ group of the parish, aptly dedicated to Our Lady of the Annunciation.

Archimandrite Paul also announced the availability of DVD copies on a movie of Venerable Bechara’s life and ministry, entitled Siraj El-Wadi (Lamp of the Valley).

The movie was produced by the Basilian Salvatorian Order, the monastic Order that both Venerable Beshara and Archimandrite Paul are from.

After Holy Communion, a procession of the Holy Cross took place within the church. Leading the procession were the Knights and Ladies, followed by the clergy; carrying the Book of Gospels and a tray holding a Cross strewn with flowers and three candles.

A veneration of the Cross took place after the final blessing, with each attendee at the Liturgy receiving antidoron (blessed bread that is not consecrated for the Eucharist) and flowers from the Holy Cross. A fellowship celebrating Middle Eastern hospitality followed shortly after in the parish hall.

For more information on the movie Lamp (or light) of the Valley or Venerable Bechara Abou-Mourad, please contact the parish for more details by phoning 9345 0517 or email ourladyoftheannunciation@hotmail. com.

“The fact that five asylum seekers in the last seven months have died weighs heavily on the social conscience of Australia.”

As Australia already has one of the highest rates of youth suicide, the government must “affirm the dignity of all human life and regard the lives of youth in detention as highly as it regards the lives of

in brief...

Corrections

THERE were two errors in the Scripture references of Western Australian artist Robert Juniper’s windows in the souvenir edition of The Record of 23 March regarding the opening of St Patrick’s Cathedral in the diocese of Bunbury.

For the empty tomb, the reference is John 24:2-5, but there are not even 24 chapters in John’s

The man’s death came a day after 1,000 Hazaras protested across Australia against the bloody incursion of armed Kuchis into Hazara areas of Afghanistan last week.

The ACMRO said it believes that choosing to isolate vulnerable people makes a difficult situation worse - and the Hazara asylum seekers are a case in point.

Gospel. St John refers to Mary Magdalene weeping beside Jesus’ tomb and two angels greeting her in John 20:11. For the visit of the wise men, it refers to Luke 2:11, when the only mention in the New Testament for the Magi is in the Gospel of Matthew in 2:1-12, where the astrologers did Jesus homage.

● THE Youth for Christ and Singles for Christ ministry mentioned on Page 15 of the 30 March edition of The Record are not a ‘Filipino’ group, as suggested in the headline, “Filipino youth empower families”.

“The government has a responsibility to ensure that when they detain asylum seekers, they also provide adequate medical services.

“This response must go well beyond first aid.

“Adequate medical care for detainees must always include access to medical doctors and professional counsellors. These services are best provided on the mainland in accessible areas.”

Though Couples for Christ, its umbrella group, started in Manila, the members of Singles for Christ come from numerous backgrounds - Burmese, Malaysian, Singaporean, Indonesian, Vietnamese, African, South American and Australian, as well as Filipino.

“It is affirming to be acknowledged,” an organiser of the ministry’s 26 March fundraiser at St Joachim’s Parish Hall told The Record

“But, more importantly, we are an open community spreading over the various continents.”

Fr Maurizio Pettena CS

Archimandrite Fr Paul Abdallah Sayegh BSO processes with the Book of Gospels at the Melkite Catholic Church in Mt Lawley. PHOTO: COURTESY COLLIN NUNIS

Bunbury welcomes two new priests of the New

BY ANTHONY BARICH

THE number of priests in the diocese of Bunbury has risen to 28 after Bishop Gerard Holohan ordained Roshan Fernando and Francis Espiritu Constantino to the priesthood on 30 March at the diocese’s rebuilt St Patrick’s Cathedral.

Fr Roshan, 38, born in Sri Lanka, and Fr Francis, 31, from the Philippines, started their seminary studies in their own countries before completing them at St Charles’ Seminary in Guildford prior to ordination.

Some 53 priests from the diocese of Bunbury and the Archdiocese of Perth concelebrated the Mass with Bishop Holohan, including Bishop Francis de Leon from Fr Francis’ home in the Philippines, St Charles’ Seminary Rector Mgr Kevin Long, Redemptoris Mater Rector Fr Michael Moore, Bunbury Vicar General Fr Tony Chiera and Perth Vicar General Mgr Brian O’Loughlin.

More than 550 family, friends, parishioners, staff and supporters from Bunbury and the parishes

in Perth and Bunbury where they served as Deacons also attended.

In his homily, Bishop Holohan first catechised the school children, then spoke directly to the Ordinands about the priestly ministry and responsibilities; and about being in companionship with Jesus.

Fr Francis was ordained to the Diaconate in the Parish of Manjimup, then spent time at St Thomas the Apostle Parish in Claremont and Our Lady of the Bay Parish in Busselton.

Fr Roshan was ordained to the Diaconate in the Parish of Mandurah, then spent his time as Deacon at St Joseph’s Parish, Manjimup and St Benedict’s Parish in Applecross. Claremont Parish Priest Fr Charles Waddell and Applecross Parish Priest Fr Peter Whitely also concelebrated the Mass.

Both the young men had their parents from overseas present for the occasion. Fr Roshan’s parents assisted Fr Chiera with investiture, while Fr Francis’ parents helped Bishop Francis de Leon with inves-

titure of stole and chasuble. His father, Bernette Anthony Fernando, and his mother, Marie Museus Tissera, plus cousins Ayesha Tissera, Surangi Fernando and Shrimantha Fernando, travelled from Sr Lanka to see Fr Roshan’s ordination. Fr Francis’ father Virgilio, Nisperos Constantino, his mother, Teresita Espiritu Constantino, along with Noeme Ventanilla, Iene Constantino and John Erick Villa, came from the Philippines for him.

There also was a focus on Catholic education at the ordinations, as some 680 primary and secondary students from nine schools around the diocese attended the Ordination Mass, including 220 from Bunbury Catholic College, as well as students from Kearnan College in Manjimup, St Joseph’s Busselton, St Joseph’s Pinjarra, St Joseph’s Bunbury, St Mary’s Bunbury, Our Lady of the Cape in Dunsborough, Our Lady of Lourdes in Dardanup, Leschenault Catholic Primary School and MacKillop College.

I ONCE WAS LOST BUT NOW AM FOUND

Trouble finding The Record bookshop on the map? Catch the Red Cat from Perth train station to bus stop number 16968 beside Royal Perth Hospital and follow your way round Victoria Square to find us.

For any help, just phone us on 9220 5900 and we will assist you as best we can.

PHOTOS: BRIDGET SPINKS

A fond embrace: Fr Francis Espiritu-Constantino, left, hugs his mother, Teresita, after investiture with the stole and chasuble; the newly ordained, above, lay down their lives for Christ after promising obedience to Bishop Holohan and his successors as the Litany of the Saints is sung; Bishop Holohan, below, solemnly confers the priesthood on Deacon Francis with the Laying on of Hands.

Bunbury welcomes two new priests of the New

BY ANTHONY BARICH

THE number of priests in the diocese of Bunbury has risen to 28 after Bishop Gerard Holohan ordained Roshan Fernando and Francis Espiritu Constantino to the priesthood on 30 March at the diocese’s rebuilt St Patrick’s Cathedral.

Fr Roshan, 38, born in Sri Lanka, and Fr Francis, 31, from the Philippines, started their seminary studies in their own countries before completing them at St Charles’ Seminary in Guildford prior to ordination.

Some 53 priests from the diocese of Bunbury and the Archdiocese of Perth concelebrated the Mass with Bishop Holohan, including Bishop Francis de Leon from Fr Francis’ home in the Philippines, St Charles’ Seminary Rector Mgr Kevin Long, Redemptoris Mater Rector Fr Michael Moore, Bunbury Vicar General Fr Tony Chiera and Perth Vicar General Mgr Brian O’Loughlin.

More than 550 family, friends, parishioners, staff and supporters from Bunbury and the parishes

in Perth and Bunbury where they served as Deacons also attended.

In his homily, Bishop Holohan first catechised the school children, then spoke directly to the Ordinands about the priestly ministry and responsibilities; and about being in companionship with Jesus.

Fr Francis was ordained to the Diaconate in the Parish of Manjimup, then spent time at St Thomas the Apostle Parish in Claremont and Our Lady of the Bay Parish in Busselton.

Fr Roshan was ordained to the Diaconate in the Parish of Mandurah, then spent his time as Deacon at St Joseph’s Parish, Manjimup and St Benedict’s Parish in Applecross. Claremont Parish Priest Fr Charles Waddell and Applecross Parish Priest Fr Peter Whitely also concelebrated the Mass.

Both the young men had their parents from overseas present for the occasion. Fr Roshan’s parents assisted Fr Chiera with investiture, while Fr Francis’ parents helped Bishop Francis de Leon with inves-

titure of stole and chasuble. His father, Bernette Anthony Fernando, and his mother, Marie Museus Tissera, plus cousins Ayesha Tissera, Surangi Fernando and Shrimantha Fernando, travelled from Sr Lanka to see Fr Roshan’s ordination. Fr Francis’ father Virgilio, Nisperos Constantino, his mother, Teresita Espiritu Constantino, along with Noeme Ventanilla, Iene Constantino and John Erick Villa, came from the Philippines for him.

There also was a focus on Catholic education at the ordinations, as some 680 primary and secondary students from nine schools around the diocese attended the Ordination Mass, including 220 from Bunbury Catholic College, as well as students from Kearnan College in Manjimup, St Joseph’s Busselton, St Joseph’s Pinjarra, St Joseph’s Bunbury, St Mary’s Bunbury, Our Lady of the Cape in Dunsborough, Our Lady of Lourdes in Dardanup, Leschenault Catholic Primary School and MacKillop College.

I ONCE WAS LOST BUT NOW AM FOUND

Trouble finding The Record bookshop on the map? Catch the Red Cat from Perth train station to bus stop number 16968 beside Royal Perth Hospital and follow your way round Victoria Square to find us.

For any help, just phone us on 9220 5900 and we will assist you as best we can.

PHOTOS: BRIDGET SPINKS

A fond embrace: Fr Francis Espiritu-Constantino, left, hugs his mother, Teresita, after investiture with the stole and chasuble; the newly ordained, above, lay down their lives for Christ after promising obedience to Bishop Holohan and his successors as the Litany of the Saints is sung; Bishop Holohan, below, solemnly confers the priesthood on Deacon Francis with the Laying on of Hands.

Evangelisation, first

PRINCIPALSHIP

OUR LADY OF LOURDES SCHOOL

Our Lady of Lourdes School in Nollamara was established in 1958 by the Sisters of Mercy, West Perth. Today the school is a single stream, co-educational primary school with a current enrolment of 231 children from Kindergarten to Year 6, with a small cohort of 3 year-olds.

The school has an excellent reputation for providing a welcoming, innovative and academically diverse environment for its students and enjoys a vibrant Religious Education program, providing opportunities for liturgical celebrations and support for the Sacramental programs. The school and the parish work closely together.

The enthusiastic staff are committed to providing a high level of quality education and pastoral care for all students through its balanced curriculum of music, dance, swimming, gymnastics, drama, Italian, library, Protective Behaviours, Perceptual Motor Program and PATHS. Early Childhood Education is vibrant and promotes play based learning. A Challenge Program is also provided to extend and support students in their learning.

Parents play a vital role in building school community through their involvement and support of the Parents and Friends’ Association and the School Board and this collaboration between parents and staff enhances learning and creates a positive sense of community. The successful applicant will take up the position on 1 January 2012.

Applicants need to be practising Catholics and experienced educators committed to the objectives and ethos of Catholic Education. They will have the requisite theological, educational, pastoral and administrative competencies, together with an appropriate four year minimum tertiary qualification, and will have completed Accreditation for Leadership of the Religious Education Area or its equivalent. A current WACOT registration number and a Working With Children clearance form must also be included.

The official application form, referee assessment forms and instructions can be accessed on the Catholic Education Office website www.ceo.wa.edu.au. Enquiries regarding this position should be directed to Helen Brennan, Consultant, Leadership, Employment & Community Relations Team on 08 6380 5237 or email wrd@ceo.wa.edu.au. All applications, on the official form, should reach The Director of Catholic Education, Catholic Education Office of WA, PO Box 198, Leederville 6903 no later than Wednesday 27 April 2011.

Labourers for the vineyard: Bunbury Ordinands, Deacons Francis and Roshan with Bishop Holohan; the presbyters, below, lay hands on the Ordinands; Bishop Holohan solemnly confers the priesthood on Deacon Roshan with the Laying on of Hands.

Bishop Francis de Leon, visiting prelate from the diocese of Antipolo in the Philippines, congratulates Fr Roshan as Bunbury priests line the atrium walls behind; the newly ordained with family cut the cake - both made by Bunbury cake maker Lena Patterson.

Disabilities adovcates slam SA Bill

BY ANTHONY BARICH

A PERTH-based disability advocate with quadriplegia has founded a new online blog to unite people with disabilities or chronic illness against euthanasia legislation that could put such people at risk.

Wanneroo author Dr Erik Leipoldt, who last year published Euthanasia and Disability Perspective: An Investigation in The Netherlands and Australia, convened the blog called ProLiving - a Disability perspective on euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) late last month with a group of other like-minded people.

The site warns that there are no safeguards against the abuse of legalised euthanasia and PAS.

The site’s creators wrote to the SA Lower House on 4 April on the euthanasia Bill currently before Parliament as “a disability voice on end-of-life issues has been largely absent in Australia”, which has led to euthanasia advocates dominating public dialogue on the issue and presuming to speak for them.

The site was launched after euthanasia advocates rushed a Bill through the second reading stage of South Australia’s Parliament. The Bill inserts an amendment to the crime of homicide, creating a defence for medical practitioners and those who assist them (including nurses) in either killing the patient or providing the means for the patient to commit suicide.Tackling the euthanasia lobby’s main arguments about people living with “intolerable suffering”, Dr Leipoldt and his associates said that the disability voice has been largely absent because:

● “It is hard to argue that each of us possesses equal human worth to anyone else, when society still widely views us as inferior. Notably, government itself has styled this state of affair as one of social apartheid.

● “It is hard to argue because many of those things that we live with daily involve the sort of intimate care and support that many euthanasia proponents try to escape.

● “We don’t experience indignity when receiving good support. Euthanasia proponents cannot conceive of that.

● “It is hard to be heard when our perceived ‘quality of life’ is painted as unbearable, while we want to live life.

● “It is hard to be heard

when your disability involves cognitive impairment, isolation and marginalisation, especially while we know that euthanasia supporters want to do away with such experiences of life by ending it.

● “It is hard to argue as, when we argue for the fair share of control, self-determination or autonomy that society withholds from us in trying to live our lives, euthanasia proponents use exactly those points in arguing for a right to die which, in our case, might become an obligation.

● “It is hard to be heard when disability advocacy has been unsupported, its funding slashed by the same government that might now sanction killing for reason of ‘intolerable ‘suffering.’

Dr Leipoldt’s site warns that “undoubtedly illegal intentional ending of life where life is considered not worth living in our healthcare institutions is happening today”, but “we believe that the answer to this situation is to pay attention to better quality and safeguards in care and safeguards against abuse, not to sanction medically assisted suicide by legalising it”.

The site’s creators urge governments to engage the reality of disabilities and proper care because “currently, the debate is driven by polls that ask quick, simplistic questions on complex issues involving end of life support”.

“A variety of ways of engaging with those realities must be explored, in the interests of a meaningful debate and ongoing safeguard to human wellbeing. No legislation should be passed on uninformed, uneducated assumptions,” it says.

The site was created to illustrate that “it is a matter of social justice for the status of people with disabilities in our society to be duly considered in (any euthanasia legislation)”.

“We are concerned that euthanasia and PAS legislation may be introduced in this country that allows the intentional shortening of life, including on grounds that life with disability is not worth living.” This statement is intended as a public resource for those who wish to learn more about why people with disability are especially vulnerable to State-sanctioned euthanasia. The site is intended for people to educate politicians and others who influence such legislation and the availability of good quality care and support.

Dr Death hinders euthanasia push

BY ANTHONY BARICH

IT appears euthanasia advocate Dr Philip Nitschke has helped the pro-life cause in South Australia where a Bill has progressed rapidly that could set a precedent for other States.

In what pro-lifers have called “the ultimate act of bastardry”, pro-euthanasia MPs rushed The Criminal Law Consolidation (Medical Defences – End of Life Arrangements) Amendment Bill 2011 through the Second Reading stage on 24 March without giving pro-life MPs notice to prepare opposing speeches.

But those who support the Bill have condemned Dr Nitschke’s plans to set up a euthanasia clinic in Adelaide, which the controversial doctor said could open its doors within a month.

Liberal frontbencher Duncan McFetridge, who co-sponsored the Bill, told The Advertiser on 30 March that “it is not a Bill aimed at stand-alone so-called death clinics”, adding that Dr Nitschke “has not done this particular Bill any good at all”.

“He is going to make it hard for us to get these people (possible supporters) back on side,” Mr McFetridge said.

This turn of events has given pro-lifers some hope after the Bill progressed so quickly, “not long after the ink had dried”.

“Some members I know are livid at what occurred,” said Paul Russell, former Adelaide Archdiocesan

Family and Life Officer and founder of the national online network Hope: Preventing Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide.

Mr Russell’s network contributed to the defeat of SA’s second euthanasia Bill in 12 months on 24 November last year. It marked the fifth time a State parliament had carefully considered and then thrown out a Greens’ euthanasia bill in the previous two years.

Mr Russell, who now works for NSW Right to Life, dismissed claims of Health Minister John Hill – that the current Bill is not about euthanasia but improving doctorpatient relationships - as “entirely euphemistic”. Sponsored by Labor MP Stephanie Key, the current Bill is based on a draft produced by Mr Hill. “For the first time I have to thank Dr Nitschke, as what he’s suggesting

is exactly what the Bill provides for. He’s telling the truth about the Bill when nobody else seems to be,” Mr Russell said.

“Most people see him (Dr Nitschke) as being extreme so it doesn’t help debate to have him around, but this is one of those rare occasions where what he’s said is actually quite lucid.”

SA’s new Bill inserts an amendment to the crime of homicide creating a defence for medical practitioners and those that assist them (including nurses) to either kill the patient or provide the means for the patient to commit suicide.

However, it plays on the misconception, often promoted by euthanasia advocates, of equating doctors’ “amping up the morphine” - as part of a holistic care and pain management - with “involuntary euthanasia”.

Calvary Healthcare chief anaesthetist Dr Gerard McGushin dismissed this when fronting a parliamentary committee in August 2009, saying that there was a clear definition within the medical profession between withdrawing treatment and administering pain relief, and ending life by way of euthanasia.

Mr Russell told The Record that doctors already receive the legal protection which SA’s new Bill purports to achieve in the Consent to Medical Treatment and Palliative Care Act of 1995.

“I have never given anything on the basis of ending people’s life,” Dr McGushin said at the time. “I don’t know any doctors that do.”

Carving out a defence to a particular form of killing

Southern Cross Bioethics Institute

Director Dr Gregory Pike (right) breaks down the Criminal Law Consolidation (Medical Defences – End of Life Arrangements)

Amendment Bill 2011

Unlike other attempts at voluntary euthanasia legislation, the Bill currently before the South Australian parliament operates by carving out a specific defence to a particular form of killing. Euthanasia law that is structured in this way will have a similar effect to law that expressly permits euthanasia and assisted suicide, but with none of the safeguards.

The Commentary on Criminal Law Consolidation (Medical Defences – End of Life Arrangements)

Amendment Bill 2011 seeks to overprotect medical practitioners who, if acquitted, are assured protection from civil liability or any liability arising from a disciplinary proceeding. Such overprotection is unjustified.

For a successful defence the defendant must prove the following:

● The defendant is the person’s treating medical practitioner.

● The person was an adult of sound mind.

● The person was “suffering from an illness, injury or other medical condition that irreversibly impaired the person’s quality of life so that life has become intolerable to that person.”

● Death was at the express request of the person.

● The death was “a reasonable response to the suffering of the person”.

The only witness to the death may be the medical practitioner.

The Bill permits circumstances in which the only source of evidence may come from one individual. While the community would hope

that all its medical practitioners would be beyond reproach, this has not always proven to be the case.

The Bill provides broad protection for doctors who may, for a variety of reasons, be disposed towards ending their patients’ lives.

The medical practitioner may be the only one making the determination about whether a person is of sound mind. Medical practitioners are not always in the best position to make such a determination, and no psychiatric assessment is required.

Indeed, no second opinion is needed either, which is extraordinary considering the gravity of the matter. It is possible to be depressed enough to want to end one’s life and yet be of sound mind. Thus, patients with mental health issues are at considerable risk, people for whom treatment may have been of considerable value.

The phrase, “suffering from an illness, injury or other medical condition that irreversibly impaired the person’s quality of life so that life has become intolerable to that person”, is so broad as to permit many circumstances well outside the scope of those promoted even by euthanasia advocates themselves.

There are numerous illnesses, injuries or other medical conditions that impair quality of life and are irreversible. The only scale by which impairment is to be measured is the entirely subjective

Dr Philip Nitschke

Wanneroo author Erik Leipoldt outside his Wanneroo home last year.

Youth find God’s will amidst confusion

Perth’s Archdiocesan youth office’s first fulltime chaplain in several years is no stranger to persecution, living in a world of confusion and finding certainty in one thing – the Church. He’s now on a mission to give that same certainty to today’s youth in an unprecedented time of secularist confusion.

BY ANTHONY BARICH

WHEN Father Roman Wroblewski grew up in Communist Poland Catholics fought for their very faith because it was constantly under threat.

Today, Fr Roman’s role is to build up modern-day martyrs - young Christians with solid foundations, discerning what God wants for them in concert with Scripture and discussing their daily relationships with God and others.

Now free of that totalitarian regime, Poland finds itself under another dictatorship – of relativism – one which has also gripped Australia, where he now ministers as a youth chaplain where young people are crying out for spiritual direction. “The paradox is that we were more free (spiritually) under Communism than we are now. We were strong promoting the faith,” Fr Roman said. His days growing up under Communism were not unlike the first three centuries of the Church which grew despite savage persecution, including death. But, like the Poles, many Christians’ faith became lukewarm once the persecution stopped.

The challenge today is to reawaken young people to understand God better through Scripture, personal prayer and spiritual direction, which is where Fr Roman comes in.

Today’s world presents an especially important time to help youth discern God’s plan for them, he said, “in a world where image and material success is everything”.

“But it’s a process. We can’t expect them to die for Jesus straight away. It’s a process of knowing themselves, their relationship with God and with other people.”

When he was teased at school for praying the Rosary during lunch break, he was desperate to find other youth to talk about his faith for a sense of belonging. In today’s world of iPhones and iPods, hearing God’s word becomes nigh impossible.

“Today, we live in a world in which a sense of belonging no longer exists, replaced as it is by diffidence and fear, or by a fear of abandoning oneself into the hands of another,” he said.

“No one seems to belong to anyone anymore; or belonging to some is experienced as a refusal or a negation of belonging to others. For that reason, spiritual direction is important and precious, helping young people to discover their inner belonging to God and His family of human beings redeemed and renewed by the blood of Christ.”

The need is rising. He had so many requests for spiritual direction working two days a week at Perth’s Archdiocesan Catholic Youth Ministry office that he had to go full-time this year.

His Salvatorian Superior, Fr Karol Kukczycki, agreed this would fit their founder Francis Jordan’s charism to open up to as many people as possible the truth of the Catholic faith “that all may know the goodness and kindness of the Saviour”. He wanted to mobilise priests and lay people for this purpose using every means at their disposal, especially the press.

Hence Fr Roman has bombarded CYM’s website with Pope Benedict XVI’s former collaborator, Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar, Polish Pope John Paul II and St Edith Stein, otherwise known as St

He’s also put guidance on Lectio Divina (Divine Reading of Scripture), which he says is “God’s most intimate way of communicating with us”.

“In Jesus’ words, you’ll find an invitation to open ourselves to the presence of God - which is in the Word of God – and to one another, sharing our lives in the power of community which is fully realised when we can talk about our faith in the reality of our lives,” he said.

Jesus is not only found in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. He is revealed and pre-figured in the Old Testament and in other New Testament places like Paul’s letters. Accordingly, prominent on the website is a section called Transformation, which reflects the man whose life and writings reveal a deeper understanding of Christ – St Paul, a Jewish scholar once so convinced he was doing God’s work by persecuting Christians, was knocked off his horse and made blind by Jesus after His Resurrection and asked “why are you persecuting me?”

Fr Roman said that this highlighted for Paul his spiritual blindness that was blocking him from seeing the reason behind Christianity and the Church – Christ. Similarly, people’s relationship with God and others, and their ability to see who they are in Christ can be blocked by past hurts or events, all of which is teased out in spiritual direction.

Spiritual direction, however, is not counselling, nor psychology, though some experience in the latter helps at times. Spiritual reading and silence – so rare in today’s world – are essential in findings

what God wants of one’s life.

Priests often steer clear of being spiritual directors for people –understandably, he says, because he’s often found himself in “awkward situations” where he’s needed some psychology training to get to the crux of a person’s issue, while still maintaining the spiritual dimension.

But it is essential for everyone. It requires the spiritual director –whether priest or laity – to have the humility to say “I don’t have the answer for you now, but let me get back to you in a week”, he said.

While there have been several different models of spiritual direction throughout the centuries, modern spiritual direction most often refers to a relationship like spiritual companionship or friendship, he said.

In this way, the director is present as a spiritual friend who listens with the intent, compassion, love and understanding of helping the directed person recognise how the Holy Spirit is leading and working in one’s life.

“The emphasis is on helping the person develop a good prayer life and relationship with God,” Fr Roman said.

“The director does not tell them what to do in a way that requires obedience. The guided has the final decision as to what to do in his or her spiritual life. Questions are asked to get to know the person, his or her present life circumstances and spiritual life.”

St Paul was key in Fr Roman’s conversion that occurred as a youth, just when he was searching for Catholic fraternity and his identity in Christ. “Paul’s genius was that he puts Jesus in the spotlight, not himself. He uses himself only as an example of God’s transforming power,” Fr Roman said.

“This was similar to the transformation in my own life … to that realisation that I was not the centre of the universe, that there is someone else: Christ. Paul had an unexpected encounter, a turning point. When struck blind, he became like a child, allowing Jesus to lead him through the very people he’s imprisoned – the very people who gave him the faith and supported him.

“Through Paul’s letters I gained more knowledge about the life of Christ, and it was life-changing for me.” From his conversion at 18, Fr Roman’s own awareness of being a disciple of Jesus grew slowly but surely, and he “fell in love” with the Word of God – Scripture; “I couldn’t live a day without the Eucharist and individual prayer”.

Fr Roman’s heroes for youth

Philosopher

Theologian

Former

SA Bill fraught with problems for vulnerable

Continued from Page 6 assessment by the person that life has become intolerable.

Objectively, the impairment may be minor, but the psychological state of the individual may create a sense of intolerability. Furthermore, with many conditions, apparent irreversibility may be reversed by medical advance.

New treatments are continually coming on line, but not all medical practitioners will be aware of them.

Coercion from the doctor, family members or any other person who would stand to gain in any way, financial or otherwise, could press vulnerable people to the point where their circumstances seem intolerable to them.

There is no way such influence

can be accounted for in this Bill and, in any case, after the fact it is too late. Someone is dead.

People who consider themselves a burden to others might say things have become intolerable for them; but in reality what creates the sense of intolerability is that others continually reinforce that they are a burden.

It would not be too far-fetched to envision a small group of ‘euthanasia doctors’ who, for a range of reasons consider certain groups of people, such as the disabled, as unworthy of life. Subtle coercion from such a culturally powerful figure as a doctor, directed towards a vulnerable person to accept euthanasia or assisted suicide, is a dangerous mix.

This Bill would defend such coercion, which would potentially be easily concealed.

The requirement that death be at the express request of the person is intended to enshrine the concept of informed consent, a foundational idea in modern medicine.

However, there is no requirement stipulating what information must be provided to a patient. Indeed, what information should a doctor provide to someone interested in euthanasia?

The question is fraught. Again, the doctor may be the only witness to what information, if any, has been provided. However, it is likely that were this Bill to pass, doctors prepared to carry out euthanasia could ensure that a routine series

of forms were signed by the patient, forms designed to ensure an adequate defence for the doctor in accordance with the Bill.

It is not hard to generate the appearance of probity when a bill such as this is so broad.

The request can be merely implied. What does this mean?

Presumably, it means that, in his or her defence, the medical practitioner who aids, abets or counsels a suicide would need to provide proof that the person had implied that they wanted assistance with suicide.

It is unclear what could constitute such evidence. Perhaps wanting to see a doctor to discuss suicidal thoughts could be construed as an implied request for assistance

with suicide? With a matter as serious as the ending of someone’s life, attempts to divine an implied desire to commit suicide are entirely unsatisfactory. The effect is to protect doctors from prosecution rather than provide carefully considered protections for vulnerable people who may be considering euthanasia or assisted suicide.

This Bill is a particularly broad and permissive version of euthanasia/assisted suicide legislation. It could even be viewed as reckless. It would be of comfort to doctors disposed to either euthanasia or assisted suicide that such a Bill appears to protect them so adequately from prosecution. By contrast, weak and vulnerable patients stand to lose literally everything.

Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.

Fr Roman Wroblewski SDS listens to Stefania Di Maria at the the chapel of St Theresa of the Child Jesus at the Catholic Pastoral Centre in Highgate, where he also offers Mass and Benediction for youth seeking clarity in complex times.

PHOTO: ANTHONY BARICH

POPE JOHN PAUL II

To be beatified on 1 May

EDITH STEIN, AKA ST TERESA BENEDICTA OF THE CROSS Philosopher Martyred by Nazis in gas chamber with her sister

HANS URS VON BALTHASAR

associate of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI)

Churches with ham and pineapple

Abon mot in the latest edition of the remarkable journal First Things is well worth quoting in full for it touches on a matter of great importance in the life of the Church, one quite recently editorialised upon by The Record: “Waste not, want not,” we’re told. “Want not, waste not” can be equally good advice - and following it may lead to some extraordinary results. Take, for example, the case of a hundred year old Catholic church that’s being moved, stone by stone, 900 miles from Buffalo, New York, to a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia.

The diocese of Buffalo was looking for a good use for the beautiful limestone St Gerard’s, built in 1911 and modelled after the Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls in Rome. “Why should a church become a restaurant, or a nightclub?” asks St Gerard’s former pastor. “Let’s re-use it for its intention. It’s a holy place. A sacred place.” At the same time, the pastor of Mary Our Queen, a parish in the small Georgia city of Norcross, was looking to build a new church that would look like an old one. “I don’t mean to offend the people who build those [modern] churches,” says Fr David Dye, “but some of them look like Pizza Huts.”

“A note to those building new churches: No one will ever move a Pizza Hut from Buffalo to Atlanta.”

Indeed, the former pastor of St Gerard’s asked a very good question which might be expanded as asking why a building meant to express a striking and transcendent beauty in the service of a unique function - the Church’s liturgical life - should be abandoned to such an ignominious end as a cheap and trashy pickup joint covered in the stench of beer and vomit the morning after the night before. Or course, there is really nothing that says a former church can’t be used for profane purposes after its life as a church has ended, but both the former pastor of St Gerard’s and Fr David Dye were commenting on a much deeper issue. One thing that is often lost in the debate on the significance of church architecture is not the effect it has on the lives and attitudes to worship of the faithful but the extent to which architecture should beckon to the lives of those who have no faith or are not sure whether any such thing as faith is real or significant. In other words, an important function of excellence in church architecture is the effect that it has on those who walk past the outside of parish grounds without necessarily being prepared (as yet) to step inside. Great, beautiful and excellent church architecture has a social dimension too.

Letters to the editor

Way off beam

The mutterings of the likes of MJ Gonzalez and Mrs CV Phillips (Record 30 March) have driven me to question their knowledge and bias regarding the coming carbon tax and its reasons for implication.

They are partly right inasmuch as some carbon is an essential part of life’s necessity; however, it seems beyond their intellectual grasp to

THE RECORD

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Tel: (08) 9220 5900

Fax: (08) 9325 4580

St Mary’s Cathedral, always a difficult architectural task because of the necessity of combining three historical styles into one completed building, was important precisely because it was the major ecclesial building in the heart of Perth. Thousands of workers who would not normally contemplate entering a church will, for generations to come, be struck, even on an unconscious level, by the psychological and spiritual reality of a large public building devoted exclusively to the divine and the transcendent - to God. The Cathedral is remarkable not for the fact that it is completed but because it stands in stark contrast to the brutalism of the city skyline and the emptiness of the marketplace that it represents.

Australians in general are not really as stupid as so many church bureaucrats have appeared to believe in recent decades. People of faith or none at all instantly recognise cheap buildings that represent nothing much more than a contemporary currency of bling - flashy today, gone tomorrow. The same principles would not be tolerated for a moment in planning a marriage or commissioning a portrait for posterity and yet mediocrity embedded in formal processes seems to have become cemented into our architecture. There seems to be a tremendous absence of vision in relation to designing and building churches. We do not, as a Church, seem any longer to be able to think creatively or laterally and, at the same time to maintain an organic link with the informing traditions of our past which express our history (history is remembering and therefore acknowledgement). Many of our churches are no longer the sorts of structures that beckon or invite, homes to which one one turns as places of silent spiritual refuge or renewal.

This is why parishes planning new churches should make it clear they are prepared, if finally necessary, to resist suffocating diocesan committees where accountants seem to wield all the power and none of the taste. They should even feel free to consider mounting Canon Law cases. We should not settle for nightclubs. If, as Fr David Dye said, some modern churches look like Pizza Huts, then is it any wonder that many behave as though that is what they are?

Following law, Archbishop submits resignation

Continued from Page 1 provided for. Retirement for reasons of age in accord with official rules is not the only situation for which Canon Law needs to provide. Death can cause a diocese to become vacant suddenly, or a Bishop may need to retire for health reasons that make it impossible for him to lead his diocese. A scandal that would cause a loss of faith among the general population of a diocese in the leadership of a

Bishop may also necessitate a quick stepping down from his role. Under Canon Law, a resignation lapses if it is not accepted by the Pope within three months.

In the case of Perth, the See of the Archdiocese of Perth becomes vacant from the moment the resignation is accepted; Archbishop Hickey then automatically assumes the title and role of Archbishop Emeritus of Perth. When a Bishop retires, the Pope usually appoints

understand the evidence unfolding worldwide that carbon pollution is multiplying, and causing, and will cause worldwide problems unless steps are commenced to retard its progress.

Many reasons can be advanced for climate change, not the least being ever-increasing population, much more industrialisation, more and more motor cars, everincreasing coal use etc etc etc.

A run of extreme cold proves nothing; one cannot look at one region or country and draw global conclusions. 2010 was the hottest year on record based on global average, the second hottest was 2009 - the last decade was the hottest on record.

Note the huge snow and ice melt in the Arctic regions.

Are MJ Gonzalez and CV Phillips climatologists? Are they scientists? Or are they dinosaurs living in the past?

Perhaps they should accept the evidence of 97 per cent of all scientists who believe we are changing the planet. We must do some thing now, otherwise what dreadful

future are we leaving for our great grandchildren?

Writing letters of semi-hysterical content and calling the Prime Minister a liar does little to support their ramblings.

The world is changing and will continue to do so; even General Motors, the home of gas guzzlers, is now offering electric cars.

Patrick Walsh

Melville

A great newspaper

Congratulations on all of the excellent work done in publishing The Record. It is a great Catholic paper. Solely in the interests of accuracy, I have to say that the picture on page 17 of the 30 March issue for the ‘Walk with Mary’ report shows the procession leaving St Patrick’s Cathedral (not St Paul’s) at the conclusion of the Mass. We are very proud of our Cathedral! God bless!

Denis J Hart Archbishop of Melbourne

him Apostolic Administrator on the date of the public announcement of his retirement; if he is not appointed an apostolic administrator, the existing Auxiliary Bishop and a College of Consultors (clergy previously appointed or elected for such eventualities) will administer a diocese until a new Bishop is announced.

The apostolic administrator retains his appointment until a new Bishop takes possession of the See.

While waiting for a new Bishop, the apostolic administrator is expected to invite all the faithful of the Church in a diocese to offer fervent prayers for the appointment of a new Bishop and for the needs of the diocese.

If the new Bishop is already a Bishop, he must take possession of his See within two months of receiving the apostolic letter of appointment. If he is not already consecrated a Bishop, the new Archbishop has four months to take possession.

A Bishop takes possession by showing the apostolic letter to the College of Consultors in the presence of the Chancellor of the Archdiocese, usually during a Cathedral liturgy.

Meanwhile, when a See falls vacant after a resignation has been accepted, all vicars general cease to exist, as do episcopal vicars, any council of priests and any Archdiocesan pastoral council.

Judicial vicars and tribunal judges, however, whose offices are appointed for fixed terms, continue in their roles; Archdiocesan Chancellors, a mandatory position for every diocese, will usually continue and can exercise powers delegated by the previous Archbishop.

While the appointments of some among diocesan bureaucracies lapse when an Archbishop retires, the appointments of deans, parish priests and assistant priests do not. Parishes also continue daily life as normal.

An Archdiocesan Finance Council is the only institution, along with the Episcopal council, which is mentioned in the Code of Canon Law as being part of the Archdiocesan curia and it remains in place even during the vacancy of a See. While a See is vacant, an apostolic administrator of a diocese can carry out a range of duties normally exercised by a Bishop of a diocese but cannot:

• incardinate or excardinate priests unless the See has been vacant for a year

• consecrate the sacred Oil of Chrism on Holy Thursday unless he is a Bishop

• appoint vicars or chancellors

• altar or suppress parishes.

Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts

VICTORY AND FULFILMENT

Thurs 14, Fri 15 April, 7.30pm

Music Auditorium, ECU, 2 Bradford St, Mt Lawley

Tickets $23 Full / $18 Concession

WAAPA Box Office: (08) 9370 6817

The Faith Court Orchestra, under the direction of Peter Tanfield perform Shostakovitch’s glorious Symphony No. 9 and Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 4, a warm and fulfilling work, rich with allusions to Beethoven and featuring an adaptation of a Bach chorale and a chaconne as last movement.

For idle hearts and hands and minds the devil finds a work to do!

THE RAKE’S PROGRESS

Thurs 21 April, 7.30pm

Heath Ledger Theatre, State Theatre Centre

Performed by WAAPA Classical Vocal students

Devised and directed by Rachel McDonald nd

Tickets $330 Full / $25 Concession BOCS (08) ) 9484 1133 or visit bocstickeeting.com.au

Stravinskyy’s operatic masterpiece re-imagineed in a workshop presentation, bringing this classic talle of debauchery and redemmption to life in the beautiiful surrounds of the new w State Theatre Ceentre waapaa.ecu.edu.au

scripture in sculpture on the... Beach

A display of faith in God through sand sculpture on Scarborough Beach at an annual Catholic Youth Ministry event helped gear up and consolidate WA youth for World Youth Day in Spain in August ...

Crowds of youth gathered at Scarborough Beach on Saturday, 2 April for the annual sand sculpture competition. Youth groups from Catholic parishes and communities from all over Perth sculpted Christian images on the beach to win the perpetual shield and other prizes.

Images of the Immaculate Heart, the Eucharist and WYD images were sculpted along the beachfront at Scarborough.

The judges commented to the young people that the competing teams wit-

nessed about their faith on the beach through their sand sculptures and showed the fun, laughter and teamwork of their youth groups.

The winning team from Singles for Christ, based at the Victoria Park parish of St Joachim’s, claimed the shield and won a prize pack including 10 Hoyts movie vouchers. The Ministry of Fire team from Mandurah and Pinjarra parishes took home second prize: Fr Rob Galea’s CD.

All finalists were challenged to sculpt the images of the Gospel with the words

‘St Matthew, St Mark, St Luke and St John’ under the respected images on the beachfront.

This event continues to raise public awareness of the forthcoming international World Youth Day in Madrid.

Any young people interested in attending the Madrid WYD are invited to attend a pilgrims meeting at 40A Mary St, Highgate on 11 April at 7.30pm. RSVP to admin@cym.com.au.  ANITA PARKER, CYM

IXTHUS: Members of the Singles for Christ winning team, right, sculpting images of faith into the sand at Scarborough Beach.

PHOTO: SIMON SEEBER

On the shore: far left, the winning team with the perpetual shield: Paul Tan, Daryl Paculanang, Adeana Khoo, Jason Yeap, Derek Calunsag; left, the WYD 2011 Sand Scupture Comeptition finalists and spectators at Scarborough; bottom left, CYM staff member Jeremy Baltazar promoting WYD on the beach; bottom right: Ministry of Fire team from Mandurah and Pinjarra sculpt the sand into Biblical images.

PHOTOS: SIMON SEEBER

Family, community, welcome back a son who became a pries

After completing the exhumation of Bishop Brady in France, Fr Robert Cross joined Archbishop Hickey in Nigeria to celebrate the Thanksgiving Mass of Fr Emmanuel Dimobi who was ordained a priest at St Mary’s Cathedral on 4 March. It was, as Archbishop Hickey and Fr Cross found out, a colourful affair ...

Fr Cross assisted in Fr Dimobi being accepted as a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Perth Fr Cross commented that while the Thanksgiving Mass had nothing to do with the exhumation of Bishop Brady, it illustrated a point that goes all the way back to Bishop Brady, namely that the Archdiocese of Perth from its inception, as is the case for most Dioceses in Australia, has always depended on missionary priests

to provide for its pastoral needs. Fr Cross said, “These days traditional sources such as Ireland are no longer able to provide missionaries.

“Consequently, the net to recruit missionaries has been cast by Archbishop Hickey to all the continents of the world. Some have questioned this decision and similar decisions made by other Bishops in Australia.

“However, I thank God for the wisdom, vision and courage of the Archbishop in welcoming these clergy.

“In recruiting far and wide, the Archdiocesan clergy has come to have a diverse ethnic mix that I think better serves the pastoral needs of the diverse ethnic mix of people that constitutes the Church of Perth today.”

The Thanksgiving Mass of Fr Emmanuel Dimobi was held in the packed parish Church of St Patrick in the town of Aguluzigbo.

His mother, family, clergy and many friends helped celebrate the occasion with him.

After the Mass, female drum bands and an international acrobatic troupe continued the celebrations in a festive manner, along with the obligatory speeches and cutting of the thanksgiving cake.

Fr Cross said, “I was overwhelmed by the vibrancy of the Church and faith in Nigeria”. He said it was integral to the daily lives of people. “The Church in Australia could learn a lot from Nigeria.” PHOTOS: FR ROBERT

Music, song and dance are ev Emmanuel returned home for where ladies wear elegant an Hickey took plenty of time to can be seen below. Security fo party was ever present courtes concerned, below.

CROSS

Archbishop Hickey and Fr Dimobi, above, with Fr Dimobi’s mother. Among the many celebrations organised for Fr Emmanuel’s return were a soccer match; Archbishop Hickey was selected to kick it off, above at right. He also brushed up on his dancing skills, at right, during one of many celebrations, as did Fr Emmauel and seminarians, below. There were numerous events organised for Fr Emmanuel’s return such as this community lunch, at right below.

for Perth in true ...

Nigerian Style

verywhere in African life and there was no exception when Fr his Mass of Thanksgiving, as can be seen above and at bottom nd brightly coloured costumes. During their visit, Archbishop meet and talk with locals, including a children’s drum band, as or the Archbishop, Fathers Robert Cross, Emmanuel and their sy of the Cobra Squad who ensured a safe visit at all times for all

Dancers perform an impressive display in honour of the visit of Fr Emmanuel at top. Among happy locals were this supporter of his brother Joe Dimobi, a local politician. The t-shirt he wears bears a photo of his brother and the slogan ‘Tested, and found worthy.’ Fr Emmanuel and Archbishop Hickey pose for a photo with this ladies group, above. Dancers, such as this member of a troupe, above at right, also performed, throwing colourful batons into the air during the performance. The celebratory soccer match organised for the Archbishop inlcuded a whole team wearing Fr Emmanuel Dimobi’s strip, below at left. Among other events encountered by Archbishop Hickey and Fr Emmanuel Dimobi was this local wedding, below. Archbishop Hickey happily gave his blessing to the newlyweds.

Note: There were so many excellent photos of the celebrations for Fr Emmanuel’s return to his family and community that The Record regrets it was unable to reproduce all of them. The paper presents its compliments to Fr Dimobi’s family and community in Nigeria.

Lockridge parishioners give till it hurts

GOOD Shepherd parishioners in Lockridge have demonstrated their utmost generosity in recent weeks with thousands of dollars donated to several overseas and domestic causes, according to parish priest Fr Francis Ly.

In support of handicapped and orphan children in orphanages in Vietnam and other poor in different places, Fr Francis sent 1,300kg of toys and clothing in 80 boxes to these institutions. Freight on these boxes was negotiated at a considerably reduced rate thanks to the generosity of Jon Jordan of Qantas Courier.

Since Christmas and New Year, Fr Francis and parishioners have been collecting quantities of used toys and new clothing. Much of the clothing has come from two

schools – Padbury Catholic and Iona College – in the form of new, unused uniforms. There was also a quantity of clothing from a manufacturer connected to a family in the parish. For this, Father is very grateful.

“This surely is a very worthy Lenten sacrifice which makes Fr Francis very proud of his parishioners and he prays for abundant blessings on his flock,” a parish statement said.

“He would like to thank all within the parish who collected the toys and clothing, including Vietnamese Catholic friends and the parishioners who helped to pack all these boxes. Fr Francis intends to continue the parish charity world mission in the near future, perhaps including Burma and India.”

Five new seminarians

BY PATRICK TOOHEY Student

THE Holy Spirit quietly works in the hearts of all people to enable them to become more than they even know themselves. In the hearts of five Perth men, the Holy Spirit has planted the seed of priesthood for the people of Perth.

Kent Hodgson attended Corpus Christi College at Bateman during his schooling years. He attended Willetton parish where he served as a youth leader and has completed a Bachelor of Health Science Degree before entering the Seminary.

Mark Rucci’s journey back to God began with a search for the truth at 33. Within years, he had been reconfirmed in the Catholic faith. Whist working in the mining industry in the last five years, he felt the call to priesthood.

Scott Peacock was a retail manager for a large food chain. In 2003, he converted to Catholicism. He felt the call to priesthood ever since his conversion to which he has now responded.

Michael Scartaccini was a student at Hope Christian College in Bunbury. He worked as a retail manager for a year and a half. Out of admiration for a number of priests and the work they did, Michael began to feel attracted to being a priest himself.

Easter feast

THIS Easter, St Mary’s Cathedral’s Music Programme offers a feast of music to commemorate the suffering and death of Jesus and His glorious resurrection. Good Friday features a special short programme of meditative music commencing at 9.45am (just before the 10am Stations of the Cross) of various arias of Bach and Handel (Messiah) focusing specifically on the suffering and death of Jesus.

At 2.30pm is a special presentation of the ‘Seven Last Words of Our Lord Jesus Christ’, a reflective period preceding the 3pm Solemn Liturgy during which the last utterances of the crucified Jesus are read, then musically presented by

Past parish donations have included $5,000 from Mass Intentions given to Archbishop Barry Hickey for his overseas charity, $5,000 from Christmas Offerings used for repairs to the airconditioning system in the church, parish centre and office, and $1,200 to support Fr Loyola De Rose, an Indian priest who is experiencing financial difficulties while studying in Canada.

The parish also supported local efforts when $5,000 was send to the St Vincent de Paul Sociey’s Appeal for Queensland flood victims.

Also to date, the Lenten Project Compassion has raised a total $2,382.20. These parishioners have demonstrated that, in the words of 2 Corinthians 9:7, “God loves a cheerful giver.”

St John’s closed for restoration

I was a primary school teacher for about 20 years in a variety of government schools and have been a University of Notre Dame Australia Theology student since 2007. Whilst studying theology at Boston College in 2008, it was suggested to me by a professor that I may be a suitable candidate for the priesthood as a late vocation.

The voice of God is gentle but insistent. These men have stepped forward to discern their priestly vocation. Please keep these five men in your daily prayers.

St Charles’ Seminary has a Vocation Awareness Day on Sunday, 15 May. Any man 17 years or over discerning the call of the priesthood can contact Fr John O’Reilly on 9279 1310.

the Cathedral Choir, which will also be singing a contemporary setting composed by one of its own, the Cathedral’s Principal Cantor, Daniel Mullaney.

The Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday services feature music of great exultation including the famous Alleluia from Mozart’s Exultate Jubilate. Other highlights include John Rutter’s Christ the Lord is risen again sung by the Cathedral Choir, small chamber orchestra and organ and, as is traditional, the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah

The Cathedral’s newly refurbished Dodd organ adds to the grandeur with some glittering organ solos - the Finale from Vierne’s ‘Symphony No 1’ in D minor and an Australian organ piece: the Gothic toccata of Graeme Koehne.

SAINT John the Evangelist Pro-Cathedral, the second-oldest building in the Perth central business district, is closed until further notice for restoration.

Archdiocese of Perth Archivist and Presentation Sister, Frances Stibi, is overseeing the project.

It was first called the Church of St John the Evangelist because the first sod was turned on the Feast of St John the Evangelist.

The foundation stone was laid on 16 January 1844.

It became the Cathedral of St John the Evangelist when Bishop John Brady became a Bishop and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary after Bishop Joseph Serra

returned from Rome where the Dogma had been proclaimed. The name is now given to St Mary’s Cathedral. It was also called the Children

of Mary Chapel when the building was used by Mercedes College. It is currently called the Pro-Cathedral of St John the Evangelist.

College lives up to St Joseph name

A COLLEGE in Albany has celebrated the feast day of its namesake - St Joseph - by fundraising for an agency that does as the Good Saint did - looking after and enabling.

St Joseph’s College donated the proceeds of is Annual St Joseph’s Day Fair on 18 March to Caritas Australia’s Lenten Project Compassion.

Beginning at midday on the college oval, the fair featured a trash’n’treasure stall, face painting, pony rides, sumo wrestling and more with students involved in the preparation of activities and sale items.

Staff and students celebrated the day with Mass in the Holy Family Church where student leaders received a blessing and were presented with their badge of office.

The boxes, ready for transport to the airport.

PHOTO: LOCKRIDGE PARISH

St Charles Seminary Dean of Seminary Life, Fr John O’Reilly with the new students.

St John’s Pro-Cathedral.

PHOTO: PERTH ARCHDIOCESAN ARCHIVES

Young head to guide Ukraines

Ukrainian Archbishop says he was chosen ‘despite age’ to promote unity

BY CINDY WOODEN Catholic News Service

ROME - The new head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, its youngest Bishop, said he believes the other Bishops elected him to promote unity within the Church and with other Christians.

The 40 year old Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of KievHalych, visiting Rome to meet Pope Benedict XVI, told CNS he believes he was elected “despite my age.”

Ukrainian Bishops from around the world, who met in a synod in late March to elect a new major Archbishop for their Church, were looking for a leader who could “unite the Church in Ukraine and outside Ukraine,” who could “promote the unity of Christians in Ukraine and establish some sort of dialogue with the new Ukrainian government,” he told CNS on 30 March at the Ukrainian Church office in Rome.

Archbishop Shevchuk said the suffering - including imprisonment and martyrdom - endured by Ukrainian Catholics under the Soviet regime from 1946 to 1989 “was a sacrifice for communion with the See of Peter” and the Catholic Church.

In 1946, the Soviet government dissolved the Ukrainian Catholic Church by forcibly uniting it with the Russian Orthodox Church. But for more than 40 years, Ukrainian Catholics continued to live and to worship clandestinely. Archbishop Shevchuk said there are tensions between generations of Ukrainian

Catholics over relations with the Orthodox, considering the fact that older Catholics risked their freedom and even their lives to remain Catholic.

But, he said, people seem excited by his election, “and I think this is the work of the Holy Spirit, which is the spirit of unity. And that’s why I was so courageous to open my arms to the Orthodox without fear and with great assurance that my Church, which I represent, is an open Church.”

While the majority of Ukrainians are Orthodox, they are divided into three churches: one in communion with the Russian Orthodox Church, one with a patriarch in Kiev and the third known as the Autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

All three Orthodox communities sent Bishops to Archbishop Shevchuk’s enthronement, or installation, liturgy on 27 March.

“For Eastern Christians, liturgy is the main expression of doctrine and of the life of the Church. When we were chanting the creed, I approached each of them saying, ‘Christ is among us’ - that is the liturgical greeting - and each of them responded, ‘Yes, he is and will be,’” the Archbishop said.

With the exchange of greetings in such a solemn setting, “maybe we started a new moment in our relationship and I hope this new openness in the dialogue will grow,” he said. Archbishop Shevchuk, who was born in Ukraine and entered the seminary after the Ukrainian

New Maronite leader to unite Catholics

BEIRUT (CNS) - Church bells rang, horns blasted and firecrackers echoed throughout Lebanon as it was announced that Bishop Bechara Rai of Jbeil, Lebanon had been elected the new Patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church.

Patriarch Rai, 71, known for his courage to speak the truth, is seen as someone who can unite Maronite Catholics who have been divided among political party lines.

The Patriarch’s election was announced on 15 March. Elections began on 11 March after the Maronite Synod spent two days in spiritual retreat and reflection. He replaces Cardinal Nasrallah P Sfeir, 90, who retired because of age. Fr Joseph Mouawad, vicar general of Jbeil, predicted Patriarch Rai would unite Maronite Catholics and begin a pastoral renewal of the Church. “I think his first mission will be to confirm us in our faith here in Lebanon and, as head of the Church, he will try to unite Christians, the different parties, and to consolidate the communion among the Maronites,” Fr Mouawad said. “He has a deep spirituality, and he is very sociable and open to the others, and has great courage. He says the truth even if someone doesn’t want to listen to it.

“I think on a national level in Lebanon, he will work to conserve this country to be a country of conviviality of all religions

PHOTO: CNS

- between Christian and Muslims.” Of Lebanon’s population of nearly 4 million, approximately 33 percent are Christian. Of the approximately 5.5 million Maronite Catholics worldwide, approximately one million live in Lebanon.

Syrian Catholic Patriarch Ignatius Youssef III Younan called the new Patriarch “a good friend, an outstanding leader and wellgifted Bishop. His intense spirituality, solid formation and openness of heart will be, God willing,

Catholic Church won its right to live freely, was the apostolic administrator of a Ukrainian diocese in Argentina at the time of his election. Being so far from home and from the headquarters of his Church, he said he kept in touch and up-todate through the Internet and the Church’s website.

He has a Blackberry phone but no Facebook page. He said that, as major Archbishop, he plans to continue developing a media strategy for his Church because communications is the key to promoting unity. Speaking to reporters immediately after a private meeting with the Pope on 31 March, Archbishop Shevchuk said the purpose of the meeting was to express his communion with the Pope and to thank him. “Confirming the election of such a young Bishop is a sign of great trust,” he said.

For decades, the heads of the Ukrainian Catholic Church and many of its faithful have been calling on the Vatican to give the major Archbishop the title “Patriarch” - a title that recognises the holder as the father of a self-governing Church and a title which would place him on par with the heads of the Orthodox Churches.

Archbishop Shevchuk said that while having the title is important recognition of the maturity of an Eastern Church like his, convincing the Pope to grant the title is not his first priority.

“The number one priority for each head of a Church is evangelisation, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in today’s world,” he said. Of course, our Church is growing, is developing its structures ... but we are conscious that the decision about the patriarchate belongs to the Holy Father and we would never press him. We respect his freedom.”

Married state not cause of priest boom: new head

LESS than a week after his enthronement as head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk said that the ordination of married men to the priesthood has not been the major contributing factor to the numerous young vocations in his Eastern Catholic Church.

Archbishop Shevchuk also said his age is not really so shocking when one considers the fact that the average age of his priests is about 35.

“In our tradition, we do have a married clergy, but a married clergy is not the main reason we have so many young priests,” he said, noting that Religious Orders, which require a vow of consecrated chastity, also have numerous young vocations.

“The possibility of being a married priest is not the main cause of an increase or decrease in vocations to the priesthood because this vocation comes from God.”

The large number of priests in their 30s and 40s today is the result of young people looking for strong values when Communism fell apart 20 years ago and finding those values in the Church, the Archbishop said.

Altar servers record for City Beach

a tremendous asset to reunite all Catholic Maronites in Lebanon, in the Middle Eastern countries and in the Church.”

Maronite Fr Joseph Mouannes, secretary of the communications commission for Catholic Bishops of the Middle East, called the election “really the choice of the Holy Spirit. And a great choice.”

“He has done a lot for dialogue between Muslims and Christians. He was always the voice of truth, the voice of dignity, of freedom and respect,” Fr Mouannes said.

The new Patriarch has served as president of the Lebanese Bishops’ communications committee and hosted a weekly programme on Telelumiere, Lebanon’s Christian television station. The programme, Boushra al Rahi , which means “Good News of the Shepherd,” provided commentary and teaching on that Sunday’s Gospel, and the Patriarch encouraged listeners to live the Scriptures in a practical way.

Maronite Fr Camille Mubarak, dean of the faculty of political science at Beirut’s Sagesse University, said Patriarch Rai “can resolve many problems, politically and socially.” He predicted the Patriarch would “try to make peace between Christians first (the political parties), and then he will try to make peace among all the people of Lebanon.”

HOLY SPIRIT Catholic Primary School in City Beach has just graduated its biggest class of altar servers.

Thirty-two Year 5 and 6 students have been undergoing some intense training as altar servers, with parish priest Fr Don Kettle facilitating a number of workshops with the help of school Principal Steve Versteegen over the last month.

The students were presented with their certificates at the weekly school assembly on 1 April and will not only bolster the ranks of the altar servers in City Beach school and parish but also present some wonderful role models for the younger students coming through, the school said. Twenty female altar servers also commenced at the parish as of Term 4, 2010 for the first time in the parish, to be used for school Masses and liturgies.

Back row: Lauren Whitechurch, Josie Burnage, Anastasia Beasley, Niamh Rooney, Madelaine Turner, Sebastian Bargmann, Kelly Schneider, Dominic Stachewicz, Jackson Kelly, Georgia Williams and Grace Olver.

Middle Row: Fr Don Kettle, Lachlan Phillips, Jack Penniment, Aisling Jenkins, Jeremy Hansen, Jake Cole, Thomas Brosnan, Jaxon Creed, Julia Pearce, Amelia MacMillan, Milla Harris and Mr Steve Versteegen (Principal).

Front Row: Matthew Rapkoch, Luke Pearce, Arielle Cassian, Meg Hampton, Janais Moloney, Angela Tobar, Laura Gillman, Olivia Stowell, Olivia Mann Ruth Burke, Adele Cole and James Barr.

Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk is installed as the new head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church at the Cathedral of the Holy Resurrection of Christ in Kiev, Ukraine on 27 March. He succeeds retired Cardinal Lubomyr Husar.

PHOTO: CNS/KONSTANTIN CHERNICHKIN, REUTERS

Cardinal Nasrallah P Sfeir, left, blesses newly elected Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai during his installation ceremony in Bkerke, Lebanon on 25 March.

Confessors need to combat loss of moral conscience: Benedict

PRIESTS must dedicate themselves to the Sacrament of Penance, to combat “clear signs of a loss of moral conscience” in our age, Pope Benedict XVI told his weekly audience on 30 March.

He devoted his public audience to the influence of St Alphonsus Maria of Ligouri (1696-1787), the patron saint of confessors and moralists. He remarked that St Alphonsus “never tired of repeating that priests were a visible sign of the infinite mercy of God, Who pardons and illuminates the minds and hearts of sinners that they might convert and change their lives.” Noting “a certain lack of respect for the Sacrament of Confession,” the Pope said that the teaching of St Alphonsus nevertheless remains valid, and particularly important as a means of spurring priests to be good confessors.

Pope Benedict said that the works of St Alphonsus - who left a promising career in law to become a preacher and founder of the Redemptorist Order - are “marked by a deep Christological and Marian piety, stressed the practice of prayer, especially before the Blessed Sacrament.” Again, he said, the saint’s advice is particularly valuable in our day.

Chinese Bishop ordained with Vatican approval

A CHINESE Bishop has been ordained, with the full approval of the Holy See, for the first time this year.

Bishop Paul Liang Jiansen was consecrated on 30 March to head the Jiangmen diocese. All of the Bishops who participated in the ordination ceremony are in communion with the Holy See. Relations between the Holy See and the Chinese government have been strained severely during the past year. In November 2010, the Beijing regime pushed forward with the illicit ordination of a Bishop who did not have Vatican approval, and forced the participation of several other Bishops in the ordination ceremony. In December, the regime again compelled the participation of Catholic Bishops in the election of new leaders for the Catholic Patriotic Association, a group that the Vatican has denounced.

Bishop Jiansen, however, has won approval of the government as well as the Holy See.

Campbell Soup drops company for using fetal tissue in test flavours

THE Campbell Soup company has severed its business ties with a California corporation that uses cells from aborted children to test artificial flavors.

Following revelations that Senomyx Corporation uses fetal tissue as part of its testing procedure, Campbell Soup announced: “We are no longer in partnership with Senomyx.”

Personal holiness, not papacy, led to John Paul II beatification

THE personal holiness of Pope John Paul II, and not any historic assessment of his pontificate, is responsible for the beatification of the late Pontiff, noted Cardinal Angelo Amato, the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Speaking to a conference in Rome, Cardinal Amato acknowledged that popular calls for the beatification of the Pontiff played a role in advancing his cause. He said the vox populi has a legitimate role to play in the consideration of a candidate, although it cannot be the sole determining factor.

Ivory Coast massacre

CARITAS Internationalis has condemned the massacre of an estimated 1,000 people in Duékoué, a city in western Côte d’Ivoire.

“Caritas does not know who was responsible for the killing, but says a proper investigation must take place to establish the truth. Caritas condemns all attacks on civilians and says the humanitarian situation in Cote D’Ivoire is rapidly deteriorating,” it said.

The local Bishop, Gaspard Béby Gnéba of Man, told the Fides news agency that Church facilities had been looted and destroyed.

Violence has afflicted the nation since President Laurent Gbagbo refused to recognise Alassane Ouattara’s victory in the November presidential election. Of the nation’s 20.8 million people, 17 per cent are Catholic, according to Vatican statistics.

No change in abuse policy, says Dolan

Dolan: Bishops’ commitment to address clergy sex abuse remains firm

BY CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON - The US Bishops’ procedures for addressing child sex abuse remain “strongly in place” and the Bishops remain “especially firm” in their commitment “to remove permanently from public ministry any priest who committed such an intolerable offence,” said the president of the US Bishops’ conference.

“This painful issue continues to receive our careful attention,” said Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York.

“The protection of our children and young people is of the highest priority,” the Archbishop said in a statement released on 24 March. He added that the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” approved by the Bishops in 2002 “remains strongly in place.”

He said the Bishops who met in Washington for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Administrative Committee meeting on 22-23 March asked him to offer reassurances about the Church’s resolve to address sexual abuse and deal firmly with clergy who abuse children.

The Administrative Committeecomposed of the executive officers, committee chairmen and regional representatives of the USCCB - is the highest decision-making body of the Bishops apart from the entire body when it meets twice a year in general assembly.

“We Bishops recommit ourselves to the rigorous mandates of the charter, and renew our confidence in its effectiveness,” Archbishop Dolan said in his statement. “We repeat what we have said in the charter: ‘We make our own the words of His Holiness, Pope John Paul II: that the sexual abuse of young people is by every standard wrong and rightly considered a crime by society; it is also an appalling sin in the eyes of God.’”

Both the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” and norms the US Bishops approved for dioceses to adhere to the charter’s mandates have Vatican approval. The charter, which also established the Bishops’ Office for Child and Youth Protection, was updated in 2005, the norms in 2006.

The charter mandates that safe environment programmes be set up in dioceses and parishes. It also requires an annual audit on how dioceses and Religious Orders are complying with provisions in the charter.

In the nine years since the charter was first approved, “we have constantly reviewed the high promises and rigorous mandates of the charter, as we continually try to make it even more effective,” Archbishop Dolan said.

He said the Bishops “keep refining” it based on input from the lay-led National Review Board and from Catholic parents, professionals, the victim-survivor community, law enforcement officials and diocesan victim-assistance coordinators.

“We want to learn from our mistakes and we welcome constructive criticism,” the Archbishop added.

He said the Bishops are to take up a “long-planned review” of the charter during their June meeting.

Archbishop Dolan said the audits will continue in order to check on how well the Church is able “to protect our young people, promote healing of victims/survivors and restore trust.”

His statement referred to “recent disclosures about the Church’s response to the sexual abuse of

minors by priests” but did not mention the recent clergy sex abuse crisis in the Philadelphia Archdiocese.

A Philadelphia grand jury released a report on 10 February that called for the Archdiocese to “review all of the old allegations against currently active priests and to remove from ministry all of the priests with credible allegations against them.”

In response, the Archdiocese, among other things, has hired a former sex crimes prosecutor to review personnel files of the 37 priests named in the grand jury’s report. Cardinal Justin Rigali has placed 21 priests on administrative leave while any allegations made against them are reviewed.

In his statement, Archbishop Dolan said the progress the Church has made in addressing abuse “must continue and cannot be derailed; we want to strengthen it even more; we can never stop working at it, because each child and young person must always be safe, loved and cherished in the Church.”

He said the designation of April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month provides the Bishops with “the providential opportunity to unite with all Americans in a renewed resolve to halt the scourge of sexual abuse of youth in our society.”

Filipinos fight repressive Bill

Philippine Catholics rally against legislation

MANILA, Philippines (CNS)Thousands of Philippine Catholics rallied in Manila against the government’s proposed reproductive health law.

The Archdiocese of Manila and various pro-life groups led the prayer rally, and Mass was celebrated by Manila Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, reported the Asian Church news agency, UCA News.

The 25 March rally had the theme Filipinos! Unite Under God for Life and coincided with the feast of the Annunciation, which the

activists have declared as the Day of Unborn Children.

Pro-Life Philippines said Pope Benedict XVI has sent a message that reportedly includes a special indulgence for those in attendance.

Hours before the rally, sponsors of the House version of the Bill withdrew several provisions, including a section that encouraged limiting families to two children.

In a letter to priests, Religious and laity of the Archdiocese, Cardinal Rosales said the rally was for all those who value family and life values. He urged the clergy and all Catholics to join the event to show “that our country will never allow the repressive bill to be passed.”

Similar activities were also held in other major cities. Lawmaker

Neri Colmenares, a Catholic, said he thought the “silent majority of Catholics” favoured the proposed legislation to make individuals responsible for planning their families. Philippine President Benigno Aquino, who was invited by the Bishops to attend the gathering, said he opposes abortion but added that government officials “cannot close our eyes to the reality of our huge population; that is why the State should address it along with other issues like maternal and child health.” He said the centrepiece of the government’s policy is the promotion of responsible parenthood which includes raising the awareness of those of reproductive age about the consequences, good or bad, of bearing children.

St Alphonsus Maria of Ligouri

Bishop Paul Liang Jiansen

Fr James Brennan walks out of the courthouse after a hearing in Philadelphia on 14 March. Father Brennan, 47, is charged with raping and sexually assaulting a 14 year old boy in 1996. PHOTO: CNS/ TIM SHAFFER, REUTERS

Mgr William Lynn walks away from the courthouse after a hearing in Philadelphia on 14 March. Mgr Lynn, former secretary of the clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, has been charged for allegedly failing to protect children from two alleged clergy sex abusers. CNS

Undoing damage of HV opposition

New documents reveal inner workings of papal birth control commission

BY BENJAMIN MANN

EMMITSBURG,

Maryland

(CNA/EWTN

News) - New documentation from a renowned moral theologian is shedding light on a controversial moment in Catholic history – the 1963-66 commission that considered the question of contraception prior to Paul VI’s encyclical Humanae Vitae.

“The idea of what happened with the commission has been shaped by people who were procontraception.” said Germain Grisez, Professor Emeritus of philosophy and moral theology at Mount St Mary’s College in Maryland. “It’s their account of what happened that has been circulated over the years.”

Now, Grisez is seeking to set the record straight by releasing documents that few in the Church have ever seen before. They can be viewed through his website at http://twotlj.org/BCCommission. html. According to Grisez, who assisted commission member Fr John Ford in his work, several misunderstandings about the commission date back to 1967 – the year before Pope Paul VI condemned

artificial contraceptive methods in his encyclical Humanae Vitae

During that year, a number of commission documents containing pro-contraception arguments were leaked to the public and the press. The move led to the popular misconception of the Pope “overruling” a commission, although the commission had no authority to make decisions. Those who supported the traditional teaching, like Fr Ford, could have responded in kind with their own document leaks. But they chose not to do so at the time, considering themselves bound to keep the commission’s work private and wait for the Pope to speak authoritatively. “The people who weren’t supportive of a change in Church

teaching believed that their knowledge of what the commission had done was confidential,” Grisez explained. “They didn’t go around talking about it.”

According to Grisez, this onesided perspective on the commission’s work made it appear that Pope Paul had simply disregarded the majority report.

But the new documents show that the Pope took both sides of the issue seriously, and gave advocates of artificial contraception every chance to make their case. It also shows how the commission’s secretary general, Fr Henri de Riedmatten, managed to exert a strong influence in favour of contraception despite the opposing position of commission president Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani.

Grisez noted that the Pope, rather than ignoring the procontraception arguments, was legitimately interested in considering the questions raised by new methods. “He was perfectly happy to have a lot of people on the commission who thought that change was possible. He wanted to see what kind of case they could make for that view.”

But the Pope never intended to hand over his teaching authority to the commission. “He was not at all imagining that he could delegate to a committee the power to decide what the Church’s teaching is going to be,” Grisez said. Some

Escriva film shows saints are flesh and blood

ROME (CNS) - Cardinals, Vatican ambassadors and the leadership of Opus Dei gathered in a seminary theatre in Rome to watch director Roland Joffe’s film There Be Dragons about the early life of St Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, founder of Opus Dei.

The 21 March screening in the auditorium of the Pontifical North American College, the US seminary in Rome, was attended by Joffe and by Bishop Javier Echevarria Rodriguez, head of the personal prelature of Opus Dei.

Joffe, 65, described himself at the preview as a “wishy-washy agnostic standing in admiration” of St Josemaria who was born in Spain in 1902 and founded Opus Dei in 1928 as a community of men and women, married and celibate, who were committed to striving for holiness in their everyday lives. The Spaniard died in Rome in 1975, was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1992 and was canonised in 2002.

Opus Dei says it has about 87,000 members around the world, including about 1,900 priests.

Joffe told CNS that writing and directing the film made “an enormous difference” in the way he thinks about religion. “It made me respect and honour people who do believe ... and it taught me, in all honesty, that my views about religion had been subjective and cliched,” he said. “For me, it was a very powerful experience to say, ‘Look, if I’m going to make this movie, the first step I must take is to honour belief and not think that I’m smart to criticise it’”.

Joffe said for him, St Josemaria had two especially important messages: “this idea that every human being could be a saint - and I notice

he said ‘every human being,’ not every believer; and the second thing was the idea that God can be seen not only in church but in everyday acts.” For the director, being a saint “is expressed through action. Each saint is like a series of acts strung together like beads. As each act is added to the necklace, you begin to say, ‘This man is a saint.’ What you really mean is the number of times he surmounted his own ego, the number of times he put himself at the service of others” is remarkable.

“One of the great themes in the film,” and the theme that Joffe said fascinated him most was the redemptive value of forgiveness, which he called “the great and divine Christian message.”

The film focuses on St Josemaria’s life, particularly during the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War, which tore apart families, as well as the country.

St Josemaria, Joffe said, insisted that a real Christian was required to love others, even those who took a

proponents of a change in teaching believed that Pope Pius XI’s encyclical Casti Connubii, which condemned artificial birth control in 1930, had not conclusively settled the kinds of questions raised by new methods of hormonal contraception.

They initially argued that the contraceptive pill was different from older methods, and could be accepted without contradicting prior teaching.

Pope Paul encouraged the commission to pursue this line of inquiry – not expecting that the commission’s work, after being leaked to the public, would be set on the same plane as his judgement.

“He never intended the commission to be a public body, or that its study should be publicised in print,” Grisez emphasised. “He thought they were going to study, and make their presentation to him, so he would understand it and think the matter through.” This spirit of inquiry, however, had consequences he did not intend. “When the documents were leaked in 1967, Paul VI was extremely upset about it. He sent a letter to all the Bishops and Cardinals who were on the commission about the documents. It wasn’t what he had in mind at all.”

In the end, the majority of commission members actually lost interest in attempting to argue that contraceptive pills could be squared with Casti Connubii. Instead, they

simply advocated the acceptance of contraception without attempting to reconcile this prospect with the previous teaching of the Church.

“Almost nobody, in the end, was arguing that the pill was anything different,” Grisez recalled. “In the commission documents, you wouldn’t find much of a case anywhere for that – although that was the starting point for the whole thing.”

Pope Paul VI considered their work but grew more convinced than ever that the majority position was not correct. “He became absolutely clear, in his own mind, that the pill was wrong. That led to the declaration in Humanae Vitae.”

But in the public realm, the groundwork had already been laid for the disastrous reception of Humanae Vitae in 1968 through the leaking of the majority report that supported contraception.

Grisez hopes the new documentation he is providing might undo some of that damage and help many people open their minds to the Church’s teaching on sexuality.

“It would help the Church now if people had a more sound notion of what did happen – an understanding of Paul VI’s actual mentality, wanting to study the question without intending to hand over his authority. If that were better understood, I think a lot of the resentment surrounding Humanae Vitae could be dissolved.”

Asking questions on God ‘poses no threat’

VATICAN CITY (CNS)Asking questions about God is not a threat to individuals or society, just as a secular society that respects freedom of conscience is not a danger to religion, Pope Benedict XVI said.

“If we are to build a world of liberty, equality and fraternity, then believers and nonbelievers must feel free to be just that: equal in their right to live as individuals and in community in accord with their convictions, and fraternal in their relations with one another,” he said.

The Pope’s remarks were broadcast in a video message to thousands of people attending the launch of the Vatican’s Courtyard of the Gentiles initiative on 26 March in Paris.

different stand during the war. The headquarters of Opus Dei provided Joffe with the historical information, photographs and artefacts he requested as he wrote the film, and an Opus Dei priest from the US, Fr John Wauck who teaches at Holy Cross, served as an official consultant to the film.

Manuel Sanchez Hurtado, who handles international press contacts for Opus Dei, told CNS the film “is not a project of Opus Dei, but of Roland Joffe”, but “our position as the Opus Dei Information Office is that it is a beautiful film. Personally, I liked Joffe’s human approach, the fact that he showed the richness of St Josemaria’s humanity”.

“One thing we learned from St Josemaria is that the saints aren’t made of plaster, artificial, just to be admired, but they are flesh-andblood people with defects, passions and, especially, great love for the Lord and, consequently, for everyone around them,” he said.

The video message was shown in the square in front of the city’s Cathedral of Notre Dame.

The initiative, sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Culture, aims to promote friendly and respectful discussions between Christians and atheists or nonbelievers.

In his video message, the Pope said: “The question of God is not a menace to society; it does not threaten a truly human life.

“The question of God must not be absent from the other great questions of our time.”

He said many people who do not identify themselves as believers “challenge believers to live in a way consistent with the faith they profess” and to reject any distortions of religion that “would make it unworthy of mankind.”

Many people who do not belong to any religion also “long for a new world, a world that

is freer, more just and united, more peaceful and happy,” the Pope said; and people of faith know that “the treasure dwelling within you is meant to be shared”.

He urged everyone, especially young people, to build bridges with one another, including the poor, lonely, unemployed, the ill or marginalised, and to discover ways to engage in sincere dialogue about the challenges and pressing issues of the day.

“Religions have nothing to fear from a just secularity, one that is open and allows individuals to live in accordance with what they believe in their own consciences,” he said.

“The first thing we can do together is to respect, help and love each and every human being, because he or she is a creature of God and in some way the road that leads to God.

“Work to break down the barriers of fear of others, of strangers, of those who are different; this fear is born of mutual ignorance, scepticism or indifference.

“I deeply believe that the encounter of faith and reason enables us to find ourselves and the truth, happiness and beauty of life.”

The first sessions of the Courtyard of the Gentiles project were held in Paris from 24-25 March, bringing Christian clergy, artists and activists together with nonbelievers from the world of politics, economics, law, literature and the arts.

Sessions are being planned for other cities around the world, including in Quebec in 2012 and in Chicago and Washington in 2013.

Professor Germain Grisez

Charlie Cox portrays Fr Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, founder of Opus Dei, in a scene from the movie There Be Dragons IMAGE: CNS

How could I be anything else but Catholic

Fay Stanley

I am starting to realise that Mass is the best and easiest way to pray, so I try to go during the week as well as on Sundays. Every day, I try and read the Scriptures. Another spontaneous prayer of mine is, “God, help me!” At times, I find myself singing hymns if I have got something on my mind. Sometimes when I don’t know what to say to God, I pray in tongues and thank the Holy Spirit for that gift. I go to Charismatic prayer meetings a couple of times a week and really enjoy the singing and praising. When my husband Norm and I go together, it strengthens us as a couple.

I never had much education so I find it hard to understand why people of intelligence can’t believe in God as the Creator. I have always loved trees since I was a little girl and at some stage I must have realised that God created them. From a young age, I always believed in Him.

When I was teaching religion in State schools, I had to be trained as to how and was taught by a Franciscan. He asked me to see God as a young 33 year old man called Jesus Christ. I had always thought of God as this old man on a cloud and visualising Him as the Son made me hungry to know more about my faith. I did various courses and joined groups until this eventually led me to the Charismatic Renewal. Although always seeking for more knowledge on Catholicism, I have never been spiritually hungry again.

How I Pray

with Debbie Warrier

I can’t live without my faith although at times it has been put to the test. My husband was an alcoholic and I remember thinking at one particular time, “If this is God’s love, I can do without it.” Many times, I found myself repeating my wedding vows, “For better or for worse.” I thought, “How much worse can it get?” We would never have divorced but, although we were together, we were leading separate lives.

In hindsight, I realise that when the hard times happen in a marriage you call on the grace that comes from that sacrament. Throughout this trial, I never stopped believing in the sacrament so that has to be faith. We received blessings too as we still went to Mass together. So the help came through the Body of Christ.

We went to Holyoake (a drug and alcohol counselling and rehabilitation service) as well as attending a Marriage Encounter weekend. Marriage Encounter didn’t really suit us as Norm was just saying what he thought I wanted to hear. One thing he did learn that he found useful was when the facilitators said, “Love doesn’t support marriage. It’s the marriage that supports the love.” Marriage is the love of God and it’s the sacrament itself that holds it together.

At that weekend the other important thing that they taught us was, “Love is not a feeling. It is a decision.” It was then that Norm told me, “I never loved you.” After 20 years of marriage and five kids, that was devastating. But then he added, “I want to love you.” So that was our decision.

Norm and I have been married now for 53 years. We have 13 grandchildren and two great grandchildren. How could I be anything else but Catholic?

Picking and choosing religion, buffet-style

Foolish Wisdom

“a foolishness wiser than human wisdom” (1 Cor 1:25)

By Bernard Toutounji

I recently went away to a monastery for a time of silent retreat. As there were a few other people staying at the same time, there were brief conversations shared during meals. On one of the evenings we were having dinner, Darren, who had just arrived for a “getaway”, was proceeding to tell us a little about himself. Darren was a young man in his mid-30s, the sort of guy you would not want to get on the wrong side of, well built with tattoos down both arms but a genuinely kind man. He was sharing how he was fascinated by different religions and loved to learn about what different faiths believe.

One of my fellow retreatants asked Darren what religion he was, to which he replied that he was a “Buddhist Jew”. Now, of course, there is no official religion of Jewish Buddhists and I would be willing to wager that Darren was officially neither a Jew nor a Buddhist. It was far more likely that his name was scribed into the baptismal register of the local Protestant denomination as a child but that he was not actively raised in any faith. I am certainly not out to condemn this chap, though. He is no doubt responding to the movements of God in his life and as, St Edith Stein beautifully

said, “All who seek truth seek God, whether this is clear to them or not”. I will be looking forward to being reunited with Darren at the ‘eschatological banquet’ (to quote a scripture professor I know).

The whole matter raised in my mind, though, the growing trend of buffet-style religion. It is the notion that one is able to wander down the shopping aisle of faith and select those elements one feels most comfortable with at that particular moment in time. Now granted, Buddhism would probably not have such a problem with this concept but Buddhism is more of a philosophy than a religion. The world’s major religions though, Judaism, Islam and Christianity, certainly do have an issue with the ‘pick and choose’ mentality because they do not consider religion is simply about whichever path one prefers to use in climbing the mountain of eternity.

Speaking from a Christian perspective, Jesus is not called ‘Jesus Christ’ because His surname was ‘Christ’ but because Christ means Messiah and that is what Jesus claimed to be. The Gospels cite Jesus referring to Himself as “the way, the truth and the life”. You would have noticed that Jesus used the definitive article, the Not merely a nice guy, or a social liberator, Jesus claimed to be the true God. That statement made by Jesus leads us to two possible conclusions, (1) He is wrong; which means He is a liar and quite possibly a madman and we should have no part of Him or Christianity, or, (2) He is exactly who He says He is; the Son of God who was born of a virgin, who preached about eternity, established a Church on

The Spirit of Lent

Q&A

By Fr John Flader

When I was young, I used to give up something for Lent: chocolate, icecream, soft drinks, etc. I appreciate the value of this but now that I am an adult I think I should be doing other things. Do you have any suggestions?

It is important to situate what we are going to do for Lent within the context of the meaning of this important season.

Lent is the long season of preparation for the greatest feast in the liturgical year: Easter, the Resurrection of Our Lord.

Easter, in turn, ends the Paschal Triduum in which we commemorate the suffering and death of Christ, which brought about our Redemption.

It is only fitting to precede such a great feast by a time of spiritual preparation, as we do in the Advent preparation for Christmas.

In Lent, we accompany Our Lord along the way of the Cross to His Resurrection.

In so doing, we live out His invitation, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mt 16:24).

Pope St Leo the Great, in the fifth century, recommends that during Lent we follow Christ by struggling to overcome our defects. He says

the rock of Peter, died on a cross, rose again and ascended into heaven. We must choose between one option or the other, liar or God; it is impossible for there to be a middle ground.

It is from this standpoint that Christianity, and specifically Catholicism, states that she possesses the fullness of truth. There is, of course, no shortage of people out there who will say that it is sheer arrogance for anyone to state that they offer the fullness of truth, but think about it; if Jesus is really who He said He was and if the Gospels really contain the story of His life, what else is Christianity going to say, indeed what else can she say?

There will continue to be many good people like Darren who begin the journey (or live the entire journey) taking a little from column A and a little from column B, seeing Jesus as a good man but not being able to take the next step in proclaiming with the Apostle Thomas, “my Lord and my God”. Thankfully, we know that God leads all people to Himself and will always bless a heart that is responding to truth, beauty and goodness in the best way it can. Living our own faith with surety and making genuine friendships with those around us is another way to share the great joy of faith.

Far from arrogance, Christianity calls us to the greatest mystery and reality that we will ever know. Each of us is completely free to choose what we will believe but at some point a genuine choice must be made. Happiness cannot be found in the shopping aisles of faith. Eventually we must take it all or leave it all.

that “for us all it remains necessary to struggle every day against the rust of our earthly nature. Whatever steps forward we make, there is not one of us who is not always bound to do better. All of us must strive hard and so, on Easter day, no one should remain bound by the vices of his former nature. And so, dearly beloved, what every Christian should always be doing must now be performed more earnestly and more devoutly. These forty days, instituted by the apostles, should be given over to fasting which means, not simply a reduction in our food, but the elimination of our evil habits” (Sermon 6 on Lent, 1-2).

Among the habits to be overcome might be impatience, laziness, disorder, pride, impurity, self-indulgence, etc.

In addition, as I explained in an earlier column (cf J Flader, Question Time, Connor Court 2008, p 299), the Church urges us to live penance through a greater effort in the three areas of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

They are mentioned by Our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount (cf Mt 6:1-18), and the Church reminds us of them in the Gospel for Ash Wednesday.

Prayer includes all aspects of our spiritual life: constancy and devotion in our daily prayers, attending Mass more often during the week, doing the Stations of the Cross, reading some Scripture every day, meditating on the Passion, etc.

Fasting can be taken in its broadest sense of self-denial in any area. This may include not eating between meals, giving up something we especially like, not listen-

ing to the radio in the car or while working, watching less television, etc.

And almsgiving should be understood as the practice of charity and the works of mercy: being more patient and kind, visiting sick or elderly relatives and friends, giving money to charities, encouraging someone to return to the Sacrament of Penance and to Mass, being more cheerful and pleasant, etc.

St Peter Chrysologus, in a Lenten sermon in the fifth century, shows how prayer, fasting and almsgiving are related to each other: “There are three things, brethren, three, through which faith stands firm, devotion abides, and virtue endures: prayer, fasting and mercy. What prayer knocks for upon a door, fasting successfully begs and mercy receives. Prayer, fasting and mercy: these three are a unit. They give life to one another. For fasting is the soul of prayer; and mercy is the life of fasting” (Sermon 43). Thus, it is recommended to do something in Lent from each of these three areas.

St Peter especially emphasises mercy: “But to make those gifts acceptable, follow them up with mercy. When mercy dries up, fasting suffers drought, for mercy is to fasting what rain is to the earth” (ibid).

Lent then is more about what we are going to do than about what we are going to give up. And if we live it, well, we don’t have to wait for Easter to experience joy.

In a real sense, every day is Easter when we draw closer to Christ through our self-denial, prayer and works of mercy.

SATURDAY, 9 APRIL

Divine Mercy Healing Mass

2.30pm at Windsor St, East Perth, St Francis Xavier Church. Celebrant Fr Meilak. Italian Reconciliation available. Prayers to end Abortion by Veneration of First Class relics of St Faustina. Enq: John 9457 7771.

St Padre Pio Day of Prayer

8.30am at 49 Jugan St, Glendalough, St Bernadette Parish. Includes Padre Pio DVD, Adoration, Rosary, Divine Mercy and Benediction. 11am Holy Mass. Bring a plate for lunch. Enq: Des 6278 1540.

An introduction to Christian Meditation 10am-3.45pm at St Cecilia’s Parish Centre, Cnr Grantham St and Kenmore Ave, Floreat. Presented by Stephanie Woods and Marian Oxenburgh. Suggested Donation $10. BYO lunch, tea and coffee provided. Enq: Marian 9387 4716 or Stephanie 9387 4094, christianmeditation@ iinet.net.au.

SUNDAY, 10 APRIL

Anniversary of Virgin Mary’s Apparition

2pm at the Shrine of the ‘Virgin of the Revelation,’ 36 Chittering Rd, Bullsbrook. Celebration of Our Lady’s Apparition to Bruno Cornacchiola at Grotto Tre Fontane, Rome. Reconciliation, Rosary procession followed by Mass. Enq: Aileen 9447 3292.

TUESDAY, 12 APRIL

Lenten Preparation

7-8pm at St Benedict’s school hall, Alness St Applecross. ‘Spirituality & The Sunday Gospels’ by Norma Woodcock. Powerful sessions to deepen your relationship with God and prepare for the graces of Easter. Collection to cover costs. Enq: 94871772 or www.normawoodcock.com.

THURSDAY, 14 APRIL

Healing Mass

7pm at St John & Paul Parish, 5 Ingham Ct, Willetton. Mass in honour of St Peregrine, patron of cancer sufferers and helper of all in need. Followed by Veneration of St Peregrine Relic and anointing of the sick. Enq: John 9457 1539.

FRIDAY, 15 APRIL

Payment due date for World Youth Day

If you are 18-35 years of age and interested in attending this year’s August WYD in Spain, don’t miss out and register now. Enq: Anita 9422 7912 or www.wydtours. com/perth.

GOOD FRIDAY, 22 APRIL

Passion Play

9.45am at Holy Spirit Oval, 2 Keaney Rd, City Beach. Dramatised Stations of the Cross. 35 Actors. Enq: Janny 0420 635 919.

Divine Mercy Novena

3pm at Lot 375, Alcock St, Maddington, Holy Family Parish. Every day until 30 April. Adoration, Divine Mercy formation and healing prayers. 2.30pm Reconciliation. Enq: Fr Parackal 9493 1703.

Good Friday Ceremonies

11am at Catholic Agricultural College, Bindoon. Begins with Stations of the Cross. 2.30pm will be a solemn ceremony - The Lord’s Passion. 10.30am Reconciliation.

Enq: Fr Paul 9571 1839.

HOLY SATURDAY, 23 APRIL

Passion Play – 35 Actors

11.30am Fremantle High St Mall.

Enq: Janny 0420 635 919.

SATURDAY, 30 APRIL

Live Ministries - Charismatic Healing

6.30pm at Sacred Heart Parish, 64 Mary St, Highgate. Come and get prayed over and be healed from past and present issues or stand in for a loved one who may be ill or facing problems at this time. Team includes Fr H Thomas, Fr D Watt, Fr P Bianchini, Fr D Harris. All welcome. Enq: Fr Hugh or Gilbert 0431 570 322.

SUNDAY, 1 MAY

Centenary of Kellerberrin Parish 11am at St Joseph’s Parish, Kellerberrin. All present and past parishioners are invited to the parish Centenary celebrations. Mass celebrated by His Grace, Archbishop Barry Hickey, followed by a catered luncheon at the Kellerberrin shire hall. RSVP by Saturday, 2 April for catering purposes to Christine Laird 9045 4235 or fax 9045 4602, or Audrey Tiller 9045 4021, or stmary@westnet.com.au.

2011 Busselton Rosary Celebration

12.30pm at Queen of the Holy Rosary Shrine, ‘Bove’s Farm’, Roy Rd, Jindong, Busselton. Celebrant: Bishop Gerard Holohan. Mass followed by Rosary procession and Benediction. Tea provided. All welcome. Bus booking and Enq: Francis 0404 893 877 or 9459 3873.

Divine Mercy Feast

3pm at Lot 375, Alcock St, Maddington, Holy Family Parish. Solemn procession of Divine Mercy Icon, Adoration, Mass and fellowship dinner. All welcome.

Enq: Fr Parackal 9493 1703.

Divine Mercy Sunday

1.30pm at St Mary’s Cathedral, 17 Victoria Sq, Perth. Rosary, Reconciliation, chaplet of Divine Mercy and prayers to end abortion. Benediction and Veneration of two first-class relics of St Faustina. 2.30pm Concelebrated Mass. Main Celebrant and Homily: Mgr Kevin Long, Rector of St Charles’ Seminary. Parking for Clergy at ground level. Enq: John 9457 7771.

SATURDAY, 7 MAY

Day with Mary

9am-5pm at St Peter the Apostle Parish, 91 Wood St, Inglewood. Day of prayer and formation based on the Fatima message. 9am Video; 10.10am Holy Mass; Reconciliation, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament, Eucharistic Adoration, Sermons on Eucharist and Our Lady, Rosaries and Stations of the Cross. BYO lunch. Enq: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286.

MONDAY, 9 MAY

Pilgrimage for 17 days

Vietnam and Cambodia tour until 25 May. Includes the Centre for Handicapped Children, the opening of a new church on 12 May. $3,800 per person twin share. Enq: Francis 9459 3873 or 0404 893 877.

SATURDAY, 14 MAY TO SUNDAY, 15 MAY

Catholic Faith Renewal Weekend Retreat

9am- 6pm (daily) at James Nestor Hall, Catholic Education Centre, 50 Ruislip St, West Leederville. “ Living life to the fullest in Christ” by Fr Henriques. Admittance by registration only. Enq: Kathy 92950 913, Ann 0412 166 164 or Rita 9272 1765, catholicfaithrenewal@gmail.com.

WEDNESDAY, 25 MAY

‘An hour for Sheen’ Variety Concert

7.30pm at Gibney Hall Trinity College, East Perth. Featuring St Joseph’s Chamber Choir; Yan Kee soprano; Daniel Mullaney baritone; June Glen poet and raconteur; John Meyer pianist. Part of the proceeds to two overseas missions and the supporting of the Cause of Servant of God Archbishop Fulton J Sheen. $27.50 inc supper. Pensioner and Senior discount. Credit card payment facilities available. Ample parking. Enq and tickets: Daniel 9291 8224, sheensociety@globaldial.com.

EVERY SUNDAY

Gate of Heaven Catholic Radio

Join the Franciscans of the Immaculate every Sunday from 7.30-9pm on Radio Fremantle 107.9FM for Catholic radio broadcast of EWTN and our own live shows. Enq: radio@ausmaria.com.

Pilgrim Mass - Shrine of the Virgin of the Revelation 2pm at Shrine, 36 Chittering Rd, Bullsbrook. Commencing with Rosary followed by Benediction. Reconciliation is available before every celebration. Anointing of the Sick administered during Mass every second Sunday of the month. Pilgrimage in honour of the Virgin of the Revelation, last Sunday of the month. Side entrance to the church and shrine open daily between 9am-5pm. Enq Sacri 9447 3292.

EVERY FIRST SUNDAY

Divine Mercy Chaplet and Healing Prayer

3pm at Santa Clara Church, 72 Palmerston St, Bentley. Includes Adoration and individual prayer for healing.

Spiritual leader: Fr Francisco. All welcome. Enq: Fr Francisco 9458 2944.

EVERY SECOND SUNDAY

Healing Hour for the Sick

6pm at St Lawrence Parish, 392 Albert St, Balcatta. Begins with Mass, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and prayers. Enq: Fr Irek 9344 7066 or ww.stlawrence. org.au.

EVERY THIRD SUNDAY OF THE MONTH

Oblates of St Benedict

2pm at St Joseph’s Convent, York St, South Perth. Oblates are affiliated with the Benedictine Abbey of New Norcia. All welcome to study the rule of St Benedict and its relevance to the everyday life of today for lay people. Vespers and tea later. Enq: Secretary 9457 5758.

EVERY FOURTH SUNDAY OF THE MONTH

Holy Hour for Vocations to the Priesthood, Religious Life

2-3pm at Infant Jesus Parish, Wellington St, Morley. The hour includes Exposition of the Blessed Eucharist, silent prayer, Scripture and prayers of intercession. Come and pray that those discerning vocations to the priesthood or Religious life hear clearly God’s loving call to them.

EVERY MONDAY

Evening Adoration and Mass

7pm at St Thomas Parish, Claremont, Cnr Melville St and College Rd. Begins with Adoration, Reconciliation, Evening Prayer and Benediction. Followed by Mass and Night Prayer at 8pm. Enq: Kim 9384 0598, claremont@ perthcatholic.org.au.

LAST MONDAY OF EVERY MONTH

Christian Spirituality Presentation

7.30-9.15pm at the church hall behind St Swithan’s Anglican Church, 195 Lesmurdie Rd, Lesmurdie. Stephanie Woods presents The Desert Period of Christianity, 260 to 600AD. From this time period came the understanding of the monastic lifestyle and contemplative prayer. No cost. Enq Lynne 9293 3848.

EVERY TUESDAY

Novena and Benediction to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

6pm at the Pater Noster Church, Marmion and Evershed Sts, Myaree. Mass at 5.30pm. Enq: John 0408 952 194.

Spirituality and The Sunday Gospels

7-8pm at St Benedict’s school hall, Alness St, Applecross. The power of the Gospel message; How can we live meaningful and hope-filled lives? Presented by Norma Woodcock. Donation for The Centre for Catholic Spiritual Development & Prayer. Enq: 9487 1772 or www.normawoodcock.com.

Bible Teaching with a difference

7.30pm at St Joachim’s Parish Hall, Shepparton Rd, Victoria Park. Exciting revelations with meaningful applications that will change your life. Novena to God the Father, followed by refreshments. Bring Bible, a notebook and a friend. Enq: Jan 9284 1662.

EVERY WEDNESDAY

Holy Spirit of Freedom Community

7.30pm at The Church of Christ, 111 Stirling St, Perth. We are delighted to welcome everyone to attend our Holy Spirit of Freedom Praise Meeting. Enq: 0423 907 869 or hsofperth@gmail.com.

Holy Hour at Catholic Youth Ministry

6pm at 40A Mary St, Highgate, Catholic Pastoral Centre. 5.30pm Mass followed by $5 fellowship supper. Enq: Stefania 9422 7912 or www.cym.com.au.

EVERY FIRST WEDNESDAY

Holy Hour prayer for Priests

7-8pm at Holy Spirit Parish, 2 Keaney Pl, City Beach. All welcome. Enq: Linda 9341 3079.

SECOND WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH

Chaplets of the Divine Mercy

7.30pm at St Thomas More Church, Dean Rd, Bateman. Chaplet will be accompanied by Exposition followed by Benediction. Monthly event. All welcome. Enq: George 9310 9493 or 9325 2010 (w).

EVERY THURSDAY

Divine Mercy

11am at Sts John and Paul Church, Pinetree Gully Rd,

Willetton. Pray the Rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and for the consecrated life especially here in John Paul Parish, conclude with veneration of the First Class Relic of St Faustina. Please do come and join us in prayer. Enq: John 9457 7771.

Fr Corapi’s Catechism of the Catholic Church

7.30pm at St Joseph Church, 20 Hamilton St, Bassendean - Parish Library. Enq: Catherine 9329 2691.

FIRST THURSDAY OF THE MONTH

Taize Prayer and Meditation

7.30-8.30pm at Our Lady of Grace Church, 3 Kitchener St, North Beach. Prayer and meditation using songs from the Taize phenomenon. In peace and candlelight we make our pilgrimage. All are invited. Enq: Joan 9448 4457 or Office 9448 4888.

FIRST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH

Holy Hour for Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life

7pm at Little Sisters of the Poor Chapel, 2 Rawlins St, Glendalough. Mass, followed by Adoration with Fr Doug Harris. All welcome. Refreshments provided.

Catholic Faith Renewal Evening

7.30pm at Sts John and Paul’s Parish, Pinetree Gully Rd, Willetton. Songs of Praise, sharing by a priest followed by Thanksgiving Mass and light refreshments after Mass. All welcome to attend and bring your family and friends. Enq: Kathy 9295 0913, Ann: 0412 166 164 or catholicfaithrenewal@gmail.com.

Communion of Reparation All Night Vigils

7pm-1.30am at Corpus Christi Church, Lochee St, Mosman Park. Enq: Vicky 0400 282 357 and at St Gerard Majella Church, Ravenswood Dr and Majella Rd, Mirrabooka, Enq: Fr Giosue 9349 2315, John or Joy 9344 2609. The Vigils consist of two Masses, Adoration, Benediction, Prayers and Confession in reparation for the outrages committed against the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary. All welcome.

Healing Mass

7pm at St Peter’s Parish, Wood St, Inglewood. Reconciliation, praise and worship, Exposition of Blessed Sacrament, Benediction, Anointing of the Sick, and special blessing. Celebrants Fr Sam and other clergy. All welcome. Enq: Priscilla 0433 457 352, Catherine 0433 923 083 or Mary-Ann 0409 672 304.

Healing and Anointing Mass

8.45am at Pater Noster, Myaree. Reconciliation, followed by Mass including Anointing of the Sick, Praise and Worship to St Peregrine and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. All welcome. Enq: Joy 9337 7189.

EVERY FIRST SATURDAY

Healing Mass

12.35pm at St Thomas, Claremont Parish, cnr Melville St and College Rd. Spiritual leader: Fr Waddell. Enq: Kim 9384 0598, claremont@perthcatholic.org.au.

FRIDAY, 8 TO WEDNESDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER

Cruise on the River Nile

14-Day package. Includes Tour/Sightseeing of Jordan and Egypt. Cost: $4,900 per person twin share (22 people). Accompanying priest: Fr Joe Carroll. Itinerary and Enq: Fadua 9459 3873 or 0404 893 877.

FRIDAY, 11 NOVEMBER TO TUESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER

Pilgrim Tour To The Holy Land

Jordan, Israel and Egypt. Spiritual Director, Fr Sebastian Kalapurackal VC from St Aloysius Church Shenton Park. Enq: Francis – Coordinator, 9459 3873 or 0404 893 877 or Skype ID: perthfamily.

PILGRIMAGE TO PRAGUE, POLAND AND AUSTRIA

St Jude’s parish, Langford is organising a 13-day pilgrimage departing 1 October. Pilgrimage will include visits to the Shrines of Divine Mercy, Infant Jesus, the Black Madonna, St Faustina, the birthplace of Pope John Paul II and the Museum at Auschwitz. Total cost per person $5,800. The Spiritual Director, Fr Terry Raj. Enq: Co-ordinator John Murphy 9457 7771, Matt 6460 6877 mattpicc1@gmail.com.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO PRAY

WA has five Parishes with Perpetual Adoration with some having ten hours a day or more. When Our Lord is exposed in the Monstrance, Our Lord must never be left alone. Therefore, people are needed to be on call to fill in when rostered people cannot attend their weekly Holy Hour. If you have time to spend with Jesus call Fr Doug 9444 6131.

7 Catholic pastime?

8 ___ succession

10 Catholic actor, Liam ___

12 He is ___!

13 Holy ___

16 Biblical measure

18 Agape ___

20 Tribe of Israel

21 Bishopsʼ headdresses

22 11th century theologian

25 Catholic actor Mineo

26 “Give us ___ day our daily bread”

27 Catholic creator of Sherlock Holmes

28 Brother of Cain

29 ___ Carmel

31 Level of reverence reserved to God alone

34 Certain part of the Mass

35 The wine, after the consecration

DOWN

1 Island converted in the 5th century

2 “…all ___ to come shall call me blessed” (Magnificat)

3 Diocese, in an Eastern rite

4 Doctrines

5 Biblical instrument

6 Ezekiel was told to eat this

9 Perfumed the altar

14 Saintly convert executed in Auschwitz

15 Prayer spot?

17 ___ being

18 Ite, ___ est

19 Administer extreme unction

23 “Come to me all you that ___ and are burdened…” (Mt 11:28)

24 The ___ of faith

26 Diocese in Arizona

29 They will inherit the earth

30 “___ to us a child

LAWN MOWING

WRR LAWN MOWING & WEED SPRAYING Garden clean ups and rubbish removal. Get rid of bindii, jojo and other unsightly weeds. Based in Tuart Hill. Enq 9443 9243 or 0402 326 637.

OPPORTUNITIES

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

Work from Home - P/T or F/T, 02 8230 0290 or visit www.dreamlife1.com.

TRADE SERVICES

BRENDAN HANDYMAN

SERVICES Home, building maintenance, repairs and renovations. NOR. Ph 0427 539 588.

PROPERTY MAINTENANCE. Your handyperson. No job too small. SOR. Jim 0413 309 821.

BRICK RE-POINTING Ph Nigel 9242 2952.

PERROTT PAINTING Pty Ltd

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

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

WANTED

CARPENTER TO MAKE PEWS for church. Tel 0427 08 5093.

WE ARE SEEKING DONATIONS of old Chalices and Patens for parishes in the Philippines. If you could assist, please contact Fr Robert Carrillo on 9456 5130.

FURNITURE REMOVAL

ALL AREAS. Competitive Rates. Mike Murphy Ph 0416 226 434.

Deadline: 11am Monday

FOR SALE

FOR SALE CHEAP & VARIOUS Catholic/Protestant Books New/ secondhand - 94404358.

BOOK BINDING

NEW BOOK BINDING, General Book Repairs; Rebinding; New Ribbons; Old Leather Bindings Restored.

Tydewi Bindery 0422 968 572.

COURSES

PASTORAL CARE COURSE

For ministry with the mentally ill

For those wanting to know about mental illness, this 17 week course will run on Fridays, 8.45am to 3.30pm from 3 June to 23 September 2011. This course involves information sessions on schizophrenia, bipolar, suicide awareness, eating disorders etc plus group work and ward visits. Course donation of $100 is invited. Applications close 13 May. For information, contact Bob Milne, Graylands Hospital, Pastoral Centre 9347 6685 (0413 32 5486 mob).

ACCOMMODATION

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

ESPERANCE 3 bedroom house f/furnished Ph 09 9076 5083.

MATURE AGE single gentleman looking for a room. Non-smoker, and works fulltime at Royal Perth Hospital. Has been a house friend for two elderly people over the past 20 years, carrying out light house-duties and gardening when required. If you can help, please call Greg O’Brien on mob: 0413 701 489.

SETTLEMENTS

ARE YOU BUYING OR SELLING

real estate or a business? Why not ask Excel Settlements for a quote for your settlement. We offer reasonable fees, excellent service and no hidden costs. Ring Excel on 9481 4499 for a quote. Check our web site on www.excelsettlements.com.au.

RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

CATHOLICS CORNER Retailer of Catholic products specialising in gifts, cards and apparel for Baptism, Communion and Confirmation. Ph 9456 1777. Shop 12, 64-66 Bannister Rd, 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 Ct (off McCoy St), Myaree, Ph 9329 9889 (after 10.30am Mon to Sat). We are here to serve.

KINLAR VESTMENTS

Quality hand-made and decorated vestments: Albs, Stoles, Chasubles, Altar linen, banners, etc. 12 Favenc Way, Padbury. By appointment only. Ph Vicki on 9402 1318 or 0409 114 093.

OTTIMO Convenient location for Bibles, books, cards CD/DVDs, candles, medals, statues and gifts at Shop 41, Station St Market, Subiaco. Fri-Sun 9-5pm.

PERSONAL

I AM KATHY, 59 YEARS. INDONESIAN LADY , single/ caring, looking for friendship with genuine, loving Catholic/Christian man. I will visit my sister in Albany in April 2011. Send message or ring on 0011-62-8118-60911, (H) 0011-62-21-5400 249.

7 2011 Catholic Schools’ Staff Breakfast –Bishop Sproxton

10 Solemn Sung Mass, for The Military And Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, St Mary’s Cathedral – Bishop Sproxton

11 State Reception to Farewell Governor of WA –Archbishop Hickey

12 Student Mass, UWA – Archbishop Hickey

14 Council of Priests Meeting, Cathedral Presbytery – Archbishop Hickey, Bishop Sproxton Reconciliation, Bateman – Bishop Sproxton

15 Opening and Blessing, Mercy College –Bishop Sproxton

17 Mass of Palm Sunday, 11am, St Mary’s Cathedral – Archbishop Hickey

19 Chrism Mass, 7pm, St Mary’s Cathedral –Archbishop Hickey, Bishop Sproxton

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20 Heads of Churches Meeting, Bishop Sproxton

21 Mass of the Lord’s Supper, 7pm, St Mary’s Cathedral – Archbishop Hickey

22 Solemn Celebration of the Lord’s Passion, 3pm, St Mary’s Cathedral –Archbishop Hickey

23 Easter Vigil, 7.30pm, St Mary’s Cathedral – Archbishop Hickey

24 Solemn Sung Mass of Easter, 11am – Archbishop Hickey

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You will learn the truth

14Th Gen 17:3-9 My covenant with you

15 F Jer 20:10-13 Sing to the Lord

Ps 17:2-7 God is my shield

16 S St Bernadette Soubirous (O) Vio Ezek 37:21-28 I shall make them one

31:10-13 Guardian Shepherd

11:45-56 High priest’s prophecy

The Infant Jesus of Prague

Rev Ludvik Nemec

RRP $8.95

Fr Ludvik Nemec, a noted historian-theologian, had done extensive research on the devotion of the Infant Jesus of Prague. In this new book, he places the fruits of his studies at the disposal of all Catholics. He gives a concise history of the devotion and provides a multitude of prayers to the Infant Jesus for all occasions and various states in life. This beautifully illustrated book is certain to win many new clients for the miraculous Infant.

Praying Constantly

Father Benedict J Groeschel, CFR

RRP $27.35

Just what did the Apostle Paul mean when he said, Pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17)? In this perceptive and timely book, celebrated spiritual teacher Benedict Groeschel demonstrates how the combination of grace with enduring Christian truths and practices will enable you to experience a deep, rewarding prayer life that, in effect, permeates everything you do. But Groeschel points out that half of the communication equation has already been solved by ordinary Christians. God, who created humans in His image, is constantly trying to get in touch with us. He uses the gift of our senses, the beauty of creation, and the riches of music, art, and literature as a kind of celestial call-waiting system.

The Rosary Chain and Hope

Father Benedict J Groeschel, CFR

RRP $30.95

Responding to the Pope’s Apostolic Letter on the Rosary, his five new “Luminous Mysteries”, and declaration of 2003 as “The Year of the Rosary”, Fr Groeschel presents this book of meditations on all 20 mysteries of the Rosary. Drawing on his vast personal experiences as well as the grand traditions of the Church, he takes us on a spiritual journey that will inspire us to greater depths of prayer. This special book includes the Pope’s Letter on the Rosary, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, and is lavishly illustrated with 20 classic colour paintings.

Praying with Saint Paul Using LECTIO DIVINA

RRP $7.95

An inspirational way to practise lectio divina through the person of St Paul, the great Christian proclaimer of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, using the Acts of the Apostles.

Consoling the Heart of Jesus

Michael E Gaitley, MIC

RRP $33.65

Endorsed by EWTN hosts Fr Mitch Pacwa SJ and Fr Benedict Groeschel CFR, this doit-yourself retreat combines the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius with the teachings of Saints Therese of Lisieux, Faustina Kowalska and Louis de Montfort. The author, Br Michael Gaitley MIC, has a remarkable gift for inspiring little souls to trust in Jesus, The Divine Mercy. As Danielle Bean, editorial director of Faith & Family magazine, puts it: “The voice of Christ in these pages is one that even this hopelessly distracted wife and mother of eight could hear and respond to”.

“Michael

Gaitley, MIC, has given us a very special gift in his thoughtful and prayerful Do-It-Yourself Retreat. He brings together several spiritual traditions and blends them in the pattern of the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius. We will find inspiration in the quotations from the saints which he gathers carefully and in his deep, but humble, understanding of the principles of holiness that they proclaim. This is a good way for a soul to begin the journey in responding to the call to embrace the Divine Mercy of the Lord. “

- Cardinal T E McCarrick