The Record Newspaper 10 August 2006

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FROM FIJI

Archbishop Barry Hickey writes this week from Fiji, where Bishops from the Oceanian region have been grappling with the challenges facing the Church. Page 2

THE OTHER BROTHER

We continue our series with Pope Benedict XVI as he reflects on the apostles one by one. This week the Holy Father discusses St Andrew, also honoured as ‘the first-called.’ Page 12

GIVENCHY, DARLING

Teaching teens fashion is important - it starts with helping them to see through the fashion iundustry’s manipulation, as Mercatornet’s Michael Cook finds out. Vista 1

The Parish. The Nation. The World.

PARENTS UP IN ARMS: Applecross parents protest crossing closure Page 3

Water a poignant tale of child widows in India in the 1930s - Page 10

Thursday, August , 

Perth, Western Australia ● $2 Western

IN THE SCHOOLS: State school chaplains mark 25 years of service Page 5

ANNA KROHN: Harvesting eggs from poor women: where will it end? VISTA 4

Catholics, Protestants divide over Vic vilification laws

Islam is the issue which splits fundamentalists and Catholics

Priest sides with Muslims against Christian evangelicals

■ By Paul Gray

A Catholic-Protestant divide has emerged over recent religious vilification laws in Victoria this week regarding the appropriate attitude to adopt towards Islam.

Hundreds of Victorian Christians rallied on the steps of their State parliament to protest against the controversial law.

Pastor Danny Nalliah of the evangelical Protestant group ‘Catch the Fire Ministries,’ who was a keynote speaker at the rally, was prosecuted for vilification of Islam under the Victorian law during 2005.

He spoke passionately at the rally about having left a Muslim country to live in Australia so that he would have freedom of speech.

The Victorian law under which he was prosecuted had now denied him this freedom, Mr Nalliah said. His words were loudly cheered by other protestors.

But some members of the Catholic and Uniting Churches have lined up on the opposite side to Christians protesting the vilification law.

In legal proceedings against Pastor Nalliah which took place before Victoria’s Civil Appeals Tribunal, a Muslim group, the Islamic Council

of Victoria, claimed to have been vilified by Pastor Nalliah and others at an information session

about Islam run by Catch the Fire Ministries.

A number of Catholics, includ-

Humanism on march among the young

Study

presents Australian churches with size of task facing them among youth

■ By Paul Gray

A significant national study has confirmed that secular humanism - involving an explicit rejection of faith in God - is the growing, though not yet the largest major faith among young Australians today.

The study confirms a worsening trend, from the point of view of the churches, in relation to the contest between the spirituality of Christianity and the spirituality of God-rejecting humanism.

At its best, the study presents the churches with further concrete evidence of the size of the task facing

them as they try to communicate church teachings to all Australians, especially the young.

The study, jointly conducted by researchers at Australian Catholic University, Monash University and the Christian Research Association, asserted that there are three main forms of spirituality among young Australians.

These are described in the study as Christian, eclectic and humanist.

The “Christian” population is the largest, representing 44 per cent of young Australians today.

Humanists are in second place, well ahead of those classified as “eclectic.” Only 17 per cent

of Australians were classified as eclectic, with 31 per cent being described as humanist. Humanists are defined as “rejecting the idea of God” in the study.

“Of these secular-minded young people, almost half believe that there is very little truth in religion, and less than a quarter believe in life after death,” the study found. Those with eclectic beliefs are those who believe in “two or more New Age, esoteric or Eastern beliefs.”

These beliefs include reincarnation, psychics and fortune tellers, ghosts and astrology, and may involve engaging in “alternative spiritual practices” such as yoga, Tarot and tai-chi, the study said. continued - Page 4

SEE ALSO: National Church Life Survey - Page 4

ing Fr Pat McInerney, a Columban priest from Sydney, appeared before the Tribunal to testify on behalf of

■ By Sherrilee Kingston

Caritas Australia is inviting the people of Western Australia to participate in a Middle East Peace Prayer day this Sunday, August 13, to be held in parishes across the state.

Urged by Pope Benedict XVI and supported by the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference with the endorsement of Bishop Donald Sproxton, the Middle East peace Sunday is an opportunity for all to stand in solidarity with the victims and the partners that Caritas works with in the Middle East.

Archdiocesan Director of Caritas in Perth, Ann Fairhead, told The Record that this Sunday is an opportunity to “pray, reflect on the facts,

the Islamic Council. Fr Peter Kenny, the Episcopal Vicar for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, also sought to make an intervention at the Tribunal on behalf of the Islamic Council. In a later statement explaining these Catholic actions on behalf of the Muslim community, Melbourne’s Catholic interfaith commission said that the intention behind its attempted intervention into the case was to show the respect the Catholic Church has towards Islam. The Commission said it believed that Muslims in Victoria had indeed been vilified by Catch the Fire Ministries.

Catholics “will be able to remember a time not so long ago when it was common for the Catholic Church to be the object of similar vilification,” the Commission said.

“Indeed, anti-Catholic vilification still occurs in some corners of our society.

“Our sympathies therefore naturally lie with any who find themselves victims of such conduct.”

In their own defence, Catch the Fire Ministries said that their activities had consisted primarily of drawing attention to certain quotations from the Koran. Since the Koran is a legally available book in Australia, this activity should not be illegal, they argued.

The issue has continued to draw strong interest, particularly among evangelical Protestants, not only continued - Page 7

become informed, and advocate for all parties to reflect on international humanitarian law and an immediate ceasefire as the first step towards reconciliation and lasting peace.”

Pope Benedict XVI has repeatedly urged people throughout the world to take part in the prayer vigil; “what we can do is to give witness of love, witness of faith and, above all, to raise a cry to God - we can pray!” she said.

The Middle East Prayer for Peace Sunday arranged by Caritas Australia will emphasise the power of prayer, and provide an opportunity for those who wish to support Caritas’s appeal for funds. A presentation of reflections has also been sent to schools in Perth asking them to respond to the need for prayer in a time of conflict.

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A Letter from Archbishop Hickey PARADISE

“You have come to Fiji to relax” said the glossy tourist brochure in my room. Everything around me invited me to take it easy and relax, the aptly named Pacific Ocean wrapping itself around the Tradewinds Hotel, the tiny tree-covered islands a few metres from the shore, the lazy clouds in the blue skies and the balmy air. It’s winter here. Just warm days that seem to be never ending. The people in their Fijian wraparounds smile at you and make you welcome.

On paper this Conference of Bishops looks like serious business. In reality it is a time to meet one another, share pastoral experiences and discuss how the Church is going in this vast area covered by the four Conferences of Bishops from New Guinea, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and Australia.

We meet every four years somewhere. In 2010 we will meet in Australia. For the Australian Bishops’ it is an opportunity to get to know more about life on the far-flung islands of the Pacific. Places like Papeete, Aitape, Tonga, Honiara, Samoa, Rabaul, Noumea and the Marshall Islands pepper the conversation.

One Bishop talked about the complexities and current problems and successes of New Guinea as it struggles to look beyond tribal issues to national identity and self-sufficiency.

In between my departure from the Philippines and my arrival here in Suva, Fiji, I attended, in Melbourne, an ecumenical convention of Christian women called Aglow. “Be aglow with the Spirit” was St Paul’s invitation to his people, and is the inspiration for these women to come together in Australia and internationally to live their Christian faith and to sing the praises of God.

I was invited to address them. I spoke to them about the various experiments the world has made over the recent past to live without God, like communism, the atheistic humanism of

A warning not to wait too

■ By Sherrilee Kingston

‘Make the time to manage your fertility’ is the Australian Council of Natural Family Planning’s theme for National Family Planning week which will be held from August 13 to August 19.

ACNFP is the leading authority in Natural Family Planning in Australia that teaches people to learn about and understand their fertility to either achieve or avoid a pregnancy, without the use of drugs and devices.

When these methods are taught correctly by a qualified teacher and used according to the recommended rules they are 98 per cent effective in helping couples.

President of ACNFP Mrs Noelle Melrose says, “NFP Week is an opportunity to increase the community’s awareness of the important work that we do. It also provides an opportunity to remind us all to respect our natural fertility, not to take it for granted and for those planning a pregnancy not to leave it until too late.”

Derek Boylen, Director of Natural Fertility Services in Perth said that, “unfortunately many couples leave it too late to have children.” A recent study shows that 42 percent of couples believe that they would use IVF if they encountered difficulties having children. Mr Boylen said that he “encourages couples not to leave having children too late.”

One method taught by the ACNFP is the Sympto-thermal method, which can be utilised across a variety of life situations including breastfeeding, after changing from hormonal contraception, and menopause to achieve or to avoid pregnancy.

ACNFP has a number of affiliate centres Australia wide. A toll-free hotline has been set up to take enquiries: 1800 114 010. Callers will be directed to the nearest NFP Centre in their state where a teacher will be happy to assist them.

ACNFP Centres will distribute postcards titled “Make the time to manage your fertility” during NFP week for distribution to clients, parishes, doctors surgeries and pharmacies.

the Enlightenment and the modern experiment, not unknown here, of pushing God to the fringe of human affairs. They have all failed and must fail because our hearts are empty without the divine, and ever restless without the Good News of Jesus Christ.

So we sang and prayed that Australia restore the primacy of God in our nation’s affairs and that the Risen Lord live in our hearts and on our lips.

Most of the Australian Bishops are here for the Federations Conference, including Bishop Gerard Holohan and Bishop Justin Bianchini from Western Australia. Unfortunately Bishop Don Sproxton and Bishop Chris Saunders cannot be here.

We have been looking at ways in which the Bishops of Oceania can cooperate with one another in the exchange of Seminary staff, pastoral experience for young priests and religious and the provision of pastoral resources for the remote islands where the local catechists must do most of the work of Christian formation.

I am still at the beginning of my sabbatical of three months. I think of the Diocese each day and pray for the priests, religious and the lay people. I pray too for Bishop Sproxton who, with the help of the Vicar General, Fr Brian O’Loughlin, has the responsibility for the daily administration of the diocese. They have my full confidence.

Sadly I will miss the closure of the Cathedral for extensive work, and my contact with relatives and friends. I also find it difficult to follow the fate of one or two local football teams especially as the Grand Final comes closer.

At the end of this week I will fly to Tel Aviv and go to Jerusalem for the next two months for prayer, study and reflection, surrounded by the vivid reminders of the early life of Jesus. The New Testament comes to life in Jerusalem and surrounding towns, lakes and mountains.

The sad reality of armed conflict in Israel is a reminder of how much we need the peace of Christ and how far we are from achieving it. We yearn for a definite and profound transformation of hearts and a realisation that violence is not the way of Christ.

Most Rev B J Hickey

Archbishop of Perth

7 August 2006

Clever: A reminder, not to delay having children

Centre sparks controversy on death claims

Sydney Edmund Rice Centre

blames deaths on federal policies

■ By Paul Gray

The Edmund Rice Centre - a social justice advocacy organisation named after the founder of the Christian Brothers - this week sparked a further round of heated political debate over refugees and asylum-seekers.

The Centre revealed claims that at least three former asylum-seekers from Afghanistan who had sought refuge in Australia but were refused it were later murdered after their repatriation to Afghanistan.

Confronted with the Edmund Rice Centre’s claims on ABC Television’s Lateline program, the Federal Immigration Minister Senator Amanda Vanstone, reacted caustically.

She said the claims would need close investigation before she would make any authoritative comment, and suggested that revelation was a concoction by activists and the ABC to cause political embarrassment to the Howard Government.

The Centre’s claims were released soon after the Prime Minister, Mr Howard, had reiterated his Government’s commitment to its most recent “Pacific solution” policy, a bill which, if passed, would mean that claims made by asylum-seekers would be processed in detention centres outside Australia.

Backbenchers within the ranks

of the Howard-led Coalition parties, including Western Australia’s Judi Moylan, have signalled their personal opposition towards the Migration Amendments bill on conscience grounds.

National Party Senator Barnaby Joyce has also expressed doubt over the Migration Amendments bill, highlighting concerns that “people aren’t left an indefinite period to languish in a detention centre if they’re proven to have bona fide concerns.”

The question of bona fide concerns lies at the heart of the claims made this week by the Edmund Rice Centre.

A delegation including the Centre’s Director, Mr Phil Glendenning, and Mr Paul Lane from the Lingiari Foundation in Broome recently visited Afghanistan where, they claim, it was discovered that several former asylum-seekers had been killed.

The delegation found that “as many as nine men returned from Nauru may have been killed, and 3 children of people sent back from Nauru can be confirmed as having been killed,” a press release from the Centre said.

The delegation had spoken with family members of Mohammed Moussa Nazaree and Yacoub Baklri who confirmed that both men had been killed by local militias after returning from Nauru, the Centre claimed.

Mr Glendenning also spoke of a man called Abdul who, he said, had told Australian officials that his family would be targeted if they were repatriated to Afghanistan.

“The only children of Abdul,

his daughters Yolanda, nine years, and Rona, six years, were killed when their house was bombed,” Mr Glendenning said. “Newspaper reports verify this. The only child of Mohammed Amin, his son, was killed, as was his mother.”

“Abdul, a Block Leader on Nauru, was initially accepted as a refugee on Christmas Island. He had the offer withdrawn after the arrival of the Tampa into Australian waters. His father and uncle had been members of the Russian-backed Najibullah Government. He told Australian officials that if he was sent back he and his family would be targeted as communist. He was not believed and as he was on Nauru he had no right to a lawyer.”

“His house was bombed and his children were killed after he was returned to Afghanistan,” Mr Glendenning said. “He told officials this would happen and it did. Both his children are now dead.”

“The families had been told on Nauru by Australian Immigration officials that Afghanistan would be safe. It clearly was not. It clearly is not.”

Mr Glendenning blamed the deaths on Australian policy.

“Any public policy that has as its end result the death of innocent people, and especially children, is a policy that no civilised nation can possibly consider,” he said. “The socalled Pacific solution is no solution at all.”

“In our experience in 18 countries there is too much evidence that we are getting it wrong, and on this issue if you get it wrong, people get killed.”

Parents protest crossing removal

■ By Bronwyn Clune

Parents and friends of St Benedict’s Primary School, Ardross have erected 252 white road-side crosses outside their school along Canning Highway to try and pressure the State Government to reverse its decision to remove the school’s supervised crossing.

Each cross symbolises any one of students at the school whose life could be lost if the decision to remove the crossing goes ahead.

The school community, including the Grim Reaper, were protesting at the crossing site every morning this last week between 8.20am and 8.50am.

They have also erected a sign on a coffin with a grim message for the Premier – “We may need A Carpenter to make one of these.”

Recent statistics indicate that at least 7,800 cars pass this section of

the Canning Highway every morning during hours of the crossing’s operation. Despite this and repeated pleas from the school community the government will be closing the crossing at 3.50am Friday, 11 August.

World Apostolate of Fatima

Sunday August 13 at 3pm

St Gerome’s Church, Troode Street, Munster.The Australian National Pilgrim Virgin Statue will be present.

The debate on the Government’s latest bill for dealing with asylumseekers is expected to resume in Federal Parliament this week.

Meanwhile the Catholic Church in Australia has set aside Sunday August 27 as Refugee and Migrant Sunday in recognition of the church’s pastoral care of migrants and people on the move.

The bishop responsible for migrant and refugee matters, Bishop Joe Grech from the Sandhurst diocese in Victoria, drew attention to the debate on the Government’s latest bill in a public letter highlighting the importance of Refuge and Migrant Sunday. Bishop Grech said that during their plenary meeting last May, Australia’s Catholic Bishops wrote to the Prime Minister on the issue of the bill.

“We acknowledged the need to safeguard national security, but urged the government not to sacrifice compassion for those who are in genuine need of help and asylum,” Bishop Grech said.

“We expressed our concern about the decision to process refugee claims of boat people at detention centres beyond Australia’s shores, where they will have no access to proper legal advice or the human support they need.

School parents who use the crossing say they will now be forced to drive their children to school, which is contrary to the government’s push to get children to exercise.

A flyer distributed to the school community from the School Crossing and Road Safety Committee said it had installed pedestrian crossing signals at traffic lights near the school.

However, the school community does not believe this is a suitable option as the lights are a good distance from the school and involve crossing an even busier intersection.

The government’s reasoning is that not enough children use the crossing to justify the cost of the attendant. But school principal Darryl Winsor rejected the argument saying that “the annual salary of the Traffic Warden would not cover the funeral costs of a child.”

“We expressed special concern that women and children may again be held in detention for an unspecified period of time. Finally, we urged the Prime Minister to reconsider the proposed legislation.”

Referring to the Church’s liturgical readings for Refugee and Migrant Sunday, Bishop Grech said listeners would be invited “to respond to the word of God by changing our way of thinking and even our way of life.”

The Bishop commented: “While society and the political climate may encourage us to look after ourselves as a first and only goal, as Catholics we are asked always to choose what is for the common good. Otherwise we will be selfcentred, over-protective of our way of life, and wishing to exclude others from our country.”

Bishop Grech also quoted from a message earlier this year from Pope Benedict XVI, in which the Pope warned against disregarding the reasons why asylum seekers and refugees leave their native land.

“The Church sees this entire world of suffering and violence through the eyes of Jesus, who was moved with pity at the sight of the crowds wandering as sheep without a shepherd,” said the Pope.

TWENTY THIRD ANNUAL NOVENA OF OUR LADY OF GOOD HEALTH VAILANKANNI. WEDNESDAY 30th AUGUST TO FRIDAY 8th SEPTEMBER 2006.

Holy Trinity Church 8 Burnett Street Embleton Preacher: Father Albert Saminedi SDB

Day 1: WEDNESDAY 30th AUGUST 7:00pm

Holy Mass followed by Novena devotions, Benediction, procession and hoisting of the banner of Our Lady of Food Health, Vailankanni. Concluding with a social get together to welcome Fr Albert Saminedi. PLEASE BRING A PLATE.

Day 2: THURSDAY 31st AUGUST 7:00pm

Novena devotions, Homily, blessing of Children followed by Benediction.

Day 3: FRIDAY 1st SEPTEMBER 6:00pm

6:00pm Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Rosary, Litany of the Most Sacred Heart. Divine Mercy Chaplet. Silent adoration. 7:00pm Holy Mass concluding with Novena devotions.

Day 4: SATURDAY 2nd SEPTEMBER 6:00pm

Vigil Mass, Novena devotions and Benediction, followed by Food Fete at the Parish Hall.

Day 5: SUNDAY 3rd SEPTEMBER 6:00pm

Holy Mass followed by Novena devotions.

Friday September 8 7:00pm

Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Concelebrated Mass and candlelight procession to the Grotto. All present are invited to join in the celebration of Our Heavenly Mother’s Birthday and to thank and farewell Father Albert Saminedi and all the devotees.

Please bring a plate of finger food.

Further enquiries please to:

Monsignor P McCrann 9271 5528

George Jacob 9272 1379

Martin MacDonald 9342 1053

Gordon Davies 9377 4472

Open protest: Parents fear for their children’s safety.

Centre offers hands-on social justice opportunity

■ By Sylvia Defendi

While most people support the concept of social justice and human rights in principle, actually doing something about it seems altogether more difficult, states the Fremantlebased Edmund Rice Centre for Social Justice.

Under the principle that handson experience could highlight the need for social justice in various nations world-wide, not least our own, the Centre has developed a unique program fuelled by the principle that complete immersion is the key to understanding.

The program, aptly named Immersions, provides a brief period of engagement with, and immersion in, another culture - typically one that is poor in comparison to Australia.

“Our Centre seeks to promote action and thought that might gen-

erate better outcomes for entire societies, and for the least fortunate in particular,” said director for the Edmund Rice Centre in Perth, David Freeman.

Destinations include Broome, Perth city, India and Timor-Leste, and include cultural preparation, debriefing and optional membership of a friendship-driven; ongoing network of ‘Immersion graduates’ who gather bimonthly at the Centre.

Immersion activities include meeting non-government organisations and participating in a range of projects, such as teaching English as a second language and assisting in orphanages.

Responding to the need for an ‘Immersion’ in Perth City, Mr Freeman said that poverty existed in all countries, rich and poor.

“We are looking for people who will be stretched but not fractured

when outside of their comfort zone. This does not mean that we seek only those who know about other cultures or are seasoned travellers. Rather, we deliberately combine a diverse pool of applicants, whose only shared template is openness to gaining from the experience,” he said.

The Centre aims to apply to have participation in Immersions accredited as Professional Development with various agencies and employers.

“This may be useful to many, not least secondary, TAFE and University teachers looking to develop requisite skills to provide Service Learning and similar programs to students,” concluded Mr Freeman.

For more information contact Immersions

Coordinator Maria Madeira on 9335 4353 or visit www.ercfremantle.org.

Humanism’s march presents churches with a challenge

continued from page 1

Amongst the 44 per cent of young Australians who are classed as Christians, the study noted a marked trend away from involvement or identification with a church, and even from “religious belief.”

Less than half of young Christians are actively engaged in participation in a church to the extent of attending religious services once a month or more.

The highest rates of church attendance, by far, are among those young Christians who belong to “conservative Protestant denominations,” the study says.

A larger percentage of Christians “believe in God and Jesus, and pray regularly,” the study found. Generally, among young people who are classified as Christian, religion is seen as a private matter,

the study found. This suggests that young Christians, like other young Australians, do not see religion or spirituality as public issues.

The study divides Australians born since 1961 into two generations of Australians, called Generation X and Generation Y.

The study focuses on Generation Y - those born between 1976 and 1990. Generation X represents their parents’ generation, born between 1961 and 1975.

The raw material for the study was made up of surveys of representative samples drawn from the two generations, combined with extended, face-to-face interviews.

The study’s authors claimed that 23 per cent of the parents of young Australians are also humanists. With young humanists at 31 per cent of the population, this sector of

belief is clearly growing. The study examined the question of belief in God, or in a higher being, separately from the question of spirituality.

Overall, it found that 48 per cent of young Australians (members of Generation Y) believe in “a God,” while 20 per cent do not and 32 per cent are unsure.

Many of those who do not believe in God, or are unsure, do believe in a “higher being or life-force,” the study found.

Popular media reports dealing with the study last week focused on such phenomena as tarot card reading among young people.

While understandable, this media focus missed the point that the more significant underlying trend in Australia is towards a kind of humanism which rejects all religion, both “alternative” and “organ-

ised.” At 31 per cent of the young Australian population, humanists are not only uninterested in God, but they are also uninterested in “alternative spiritualities,” according to the study.

This suggests that rather than seeking desperately to fill the void left by the absence of belief in God by embracing alternative religions, many young Australians are simply apathetic toward religious questions.

The study’s authors claim that young Australians “are what their parents and Australian culture have made them.”

Young Australians believe that an individual’s views and preferences should not be questioned or constrained provided they harm noone else, the authors say.

Young Australians also believe

spiritual and religious beliefs and practices are purely “personal lifestyle choices” and “in no way necessary.”

Within the Roman Catholic communion in Australia, a great deal of collective effort is currently being poured into making a success of 2008 World Youth Day in Sydney, which Pope Benedict XVI has indicated he will attend.

The event will draw young people from around Australia and other countries, in an effort to strengthen their commitment to Christian faith and to participation in the life of the Church.

The study on the spirituality of Generation Y clearly underlines the relevance and timeliness of the efforts to promote World Youth Day.

- Paul Gray

Parishes urged to join Survey

■ By Sylvia Defendi

Western Australian churches have until September 14 to participate in the largest interchurch event in 2006 – the National Church Life Survey 2006.

A semi-trailer load of National Church Life Survey forms was posted to around 7000 local churches across 22 denominations earlier this year.

Of these merely 24 Catholic Churches have opted to participate.

Fr Patrick Cunningham of the Pastoral Data Project in Perth said that this was the largest number of participants from the Archdiocese to date.

Having only participated in the last two surveys, the Catholic Church may not be used to participating in religious research, Fr Cunningham said.

“Those parishes who completed the survey last time, may not be inclined to participate this year, thinking that the results they obtain will not display anything new,” he said.

Cinemas for prams

“Baby-friendly” movie theatres catering to young parents are catching on in Germany.

The “stroller cinemas” offer young families with babies the most current movies in an atmosphere where they can expect not to attract glares if their baby cries.

What parents spend on the movie they

For Western Australia, the month of August has been set aside to participate in the survey, which seeks to help churches assess their health and build on their strengths.

“We’ve dispatched over 200,000 survey forms so far to Queensland, Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia,” said Kathy Jacka, NCLS Logistics Manager.

“I’m more excited about the opportunities this will be giving churches,” she said.

Every church that takes part in NCLS 2006 will receive a kit of results, containing a 28 page Church Life Profile including their unique results, as well as other resources.

However, as Fr Cunnningham stated, “while the survey could prompt parish reassessment, it is really up to each parish whether they choose to implement any change or not. The surveys in themselves do not necessarily mean change.”

To place an order for survey forms or for more information, visit the Surveys and Planning section at www.ncls.org.au.

save on a baby-sitter, and they are able to meet people with common interests.

The idea is borrowed from Sweden and the US.At Babylon movie theatre in Berlin, strollers can be brought into the theatre and parked in loges or off to the side of the rows.

Free nappies are available at the ticket counter and there is access to a changing table. - FamilyEdge

First-hand experience: A collage of images from previous Immersions.

Chaplaincy - here to stay!

■ By Sylvia Defendi

With 140 chaplains serving 150 Western Australian schools, The Churches Commission on Education were proud to celebrate 25 years of chaplaincy in government schools and the various achievements that have resulted in merely one generation.

Since piloting the project in 1981, a chaplaincy position has been established in every senior high school in the state, with over 10 chaplains in district high schools, and a growing number in middle schools and senior campuses. North-east regional manager for the Commission, John Clapton, said that while there was no local evidence, there was a

range of national and international research, which suggested that in government school settings, the relationship between a chaplain and a student could have a life changing impact.

“The Journal of the Medical Association of America states that all youth need at least two ‘connections’ in order to eliminate the risk of them adopting criminal lifestyles as adults; be that a connection to family, one with school or one with religion,” he said.

“Chaplains effectively seek to give youth who may be relying on merely one of these protective factors, the opportunity to find support in another,” Mr Clapton commented. The Commission celebrated the 25-year anniversary on July 20, with a thanksgiv-

Tindari to draw many

■ By Sylvia Defendi

Approximately 3000 people are expected to flood the streets of Fremantle, on September 10, in a colourful display of faith and devotion to the Black Madonna of Tindari.

The procession will leave St Patrick’s Basilica in Fremantle at 2pm and will march through the streets to the Esplanade, where there will be a brief pause for a daytime fireworks display.

The statue will then return to the Basilica for Benediction.

Mr Joe Franchina, secretary of the Association of Maria Santissima del Tindari, said that according to the popular legend, the Black Madonna arrived in the small Sicilian town of Tindari through miraculous circumstances, after a merchant ship sailing from the east sought shelter in the bay.

The Association will be celebrating the annual festival with a Solemn Triduum at the Basilica from September 7 to 9.

The festivities will then continue with a concelebrated Solemn Mass, presided by Monsignor Michael Keeting at 9.45am, September 10, at

the Basilica, culminating with the procession. For further information, contact Joe Fanchina on 93351185.

“Youth need more support,” says Catholic school chaplain

■ By Sylvia Defendi

As one of only four Catholics working as chaplains in Western Australian state schools, Loreto Bennetts, who works at Lynwood Senior High School, wishes she had entered the challenging, yet immensely rewarding position sooner.

“Today’s youth need someone who doesn’t judge them, to talk and listen; someone who will accept and love them for who they are,” said Mrs Bennetts, who began working at Lynwood SHS in October 2005.

Equipped with an office full of games and lollies, Mrs Bennetts runs group activities and discussions while keeping her door open for any students, staff or parents who need to talk with her personally.

“The students needn’t be in trouble to come to my office. They know they are welcome to say hello and discuss any problems they may be facing,” Mrs Bennetts commented.

Loreto Bennetts

schools for practical reasons. However, I guarantee that every church in the area, Catholic or not, will have a child in a public school,” she said. Due to lack of funds, Mrs Bennetts is only able to work at the school three days a week, yet acknowledged the support she continues to receive from her local parish, The Churches Commission on Education, Lynwood SHS staff and her family.

ing service at St Mary’s Anglican Girls’ School in Karrinyup.

Nearly 60 new and recently appointed chaplains were commissioned during the event, one of whom was Loreto Bennetts from Good Shepherd Catholic Parish in Kelmscott. Today, approximately 50 primary schools have chaplains working in them. However, as Mr Clapton remarked, “that’s barely 10 per cent of the primary schools in this state.”

“What we need to do is find ways to provide all primary schools with this service. As research indicates, the earlier the intervention the less likely children will enter into delinquent life,” Mr Clapton concluded. For further information log on to www. youthcare.org.au, or phone: 9286 0280.

Asked what was the most rewarding part of being a school chaplain, Mrs Bennetts said she felt privileged to be trusted by the youth at Lynwood SHS.

“Youth are very smart and honest. They can tell when you’re genuine, and when you truly respect them, in turn they also respect you. They take you as you are and that is very special in itself,” she said. Reflecting on the lack of Catholics willing to support youth in public schools through chaplaincy, Mrs Bennett said that it is often difficult for parish communities to realise that not all their youth are attending Catholic schools.

“Not all families can afford attendance at a private school. Some may even attend public

PRINCIPALSHIPS

ST JOSEPH’S COLLEGE,ALBANY

“It really helps to have a principal who understands the value of a chaplain and a good supportive staff, all of which I have,” she said. Chaplaincy could not be done without a belief in God, stated Mrs Bennetts, who firmly believes that God is with her throughout her day and is very much a part of her role within the school.

“I think it’s sad when people don’t have faith, something to pull them through difficult times in their lives. It’s important to believe that there is something better,” she said. Of her role as chaplain within Lynwood SHS, Mrs Bennetts concluded, “You may never know if you’ve helped someone until many years have passed, but the knowledge that you tried to help and the smiles you often get from students is all worth it – there is a real sense of gratitude and accomplishment.”

For further information on school chaplaincy contact John Clapton on 9286 0280.

St Joseph’s College is a Catholic K–12 College located in Albany, on the south coast of Western Australia, 400 kms from Perth. St Joseph’s was established in 1978 through the amalgamation of Ave Maria College (Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition), Pius X College (Christian Brothers) and St Joseph’s School. The College has strong links with the Holy Family Parish and the local community.

The College is coeducational and caters for 550 students from Kindergarten to Year 12 and is organised into three subschools: Junior School (K–6), Middle School (7–9) and Senior School (10–12). A diverse and balanced curriculum offers learning opportunities appropriate to each stage of schooling and an important feature is that students and staff interact meaningfully across all sections of the College.

A comprehensive building program over the last few years has resulted in the construction of a new Junior School building and the development of other College facilities. Parents are actively involved in the College community through the College Board and the Parents and Friends’ Association.

ST FRANCIS XAVIER PRIMARY SCHOOL,GERALDTON

Saint Francis Xavier Primary School is located in the centre of Geraldton, a vibrant coastal city approximately 430 kms north of Perth. The school was opened in 1978 by the Presentation Sisters, after the amalgamation of Saint Patrick’s and Stella Maris Primary Schools.

The school is a double stream coeducational primary school catering for 530 students from Kindergarten to Year 7. Specialist teachers are employed in Music, Physical Education, Theatre Arts, Library and ICT.

St Francis Xavier is staffed by an energetic, enthusiastic staff with a strong commitment to the Raising Achievement in Schools (RAISe) program. Teachers are also accredited in the Bluearth Physical Education program.

A strong sense of pastoral care permeates the community. The school has a strong link with the Cathedral Parish and a very active Parents and Friends’ Association and School Board, all of whom are committed to providing the best possible education for the students.

The successful applicants will be expected to take up these positions on 1 January 2007. 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 Learning Area and Accreditation to Teach Religious Education or their equivalent.

A current Federal Police Clearance/100 Point Identification Check and a WACOT membership number 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 under Employment. Enquiries regarding both positions should be directed to Helen Brennan, Consultant, Leadership Team on (08) 9212 9268 or email sch.personnel@ceo.wa.edu.au

All applications, on the official form, should reach The Director, Catholic Education Office of Western Australia, PO Box 198, Leederville 6903 no later than 29 August 2006.

Making a difference: Bunbury SHS chaplain Richard Waddy with students from the public school.

Perspectives

Saints - an example of God’s wonder in human life

The sole reason for venerating saints is that they reveal to us how powerfully God will work in human lives when he is given the opportunity, and how wonderful is the human heart when it becomes the kingdom of God. This is most wonderfully revealed in Jesus himself, the union of God and man, and remarkably in his Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose complete and lifelong surrender to God gave us the Incarnation – her son, Jesus.

In the 2000 years since then, God in his extraordinary goodness has immersed (baptised) millions upon millions of people in the life of the Blessed Trinity and has given every one of them some awareness of his presence and his love for them. Beyond this, he has revealed his presence even more powerfully in the lives of those who freely give themselves to him, the people we call saints. What we see in them is not the wonder of their lives, but the wonder of God in their lives. The saints come in all shapes and sizes, all levels of human skills, and all circumstances of human life from wealth and status to poverty, disability and slavery. And always we see the wonder of God in their lives.

Last Tuesday (August 8), we celebrated the feast of Blessed Mary MacKillop, the first Australian to be beatified. She is a great reminder that God is alive and well in the Great South Land of the Holy Spirit, and that there is nothing about being Australian that is a barrier to sanctity. Mary MacKillop lived a remarkable life of trust in God and devotion to the poor. She suffered many hardships, which is common though not compulsory for sanctity, and put up with insult, slander and rejection, which are also common though not compulsory for sanctity. She never responded in kind, which is common and compulsory for sanctity, and never wavered in faith in God and her devotion to the poor, and particularly to the education of the poor, which is also common and compulsory for sanctity.

While the Church requires confirmation of the presence of God by way of a miracle after the death of the person before she can be declared Blessed, and another for final canonisation, it is often overlooked that the first requirement is that a careful examination of the person’s life reveals that they practised virtue to an heroic degree. It is this heroic commitment to God’s way instead of man’s way that leads to a person being declared Venerable, worthy of admiration and emulation. It is also this commitment that opens the way for God’s grace to flood into that life and use it to produce the goodness that is God’s will at that time in that place.

PO Box 75, Leederville, WA 6902

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

In the readings for Mass on Tuesday, the Church reminded us of the teachings of Jesus that summarise the attitudes necessary for such a life. Referring to the life of the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, Jesus reminds us that we should not worry about food or clothing or shelter “because your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added.”

The saints show us this kingdom of God, and how it works, and how vastly superior it is to the kingdom of man. They are constant encouragement to us to take up the task of putting aside our ‘self’, our trust in our self, our preference for our own way of thinking, in order to take up the way of God. Jesus told us that if we seek our own life, we will lose it, but if we surrender ourself to him, we will find out who we really are.

The saints keep showing us that Jesus meant what he said.

One of the other great demonstrations of this truth is that when Jesus calls someone to a task that requires many labourers, he calls them and they answer him. In the 140 years since the founding of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart (rsj), the aptly named “Brown Joeys” have hopped all over Australia and New Zealand to emulate the faith and carry out the work that Jesus first gave to Blessed Mary MacKillop.

It is one of the oft-repeated patterns of the kingdom of God. With a touch of irony the celebration of Mary MacKillop on Tuesday in the Australian Church replaced the more ancient celebration of the feast of St Dominic, who about 800 years earlier had followed a similar path and whose followers are still circling the globe to continue the work that God first gave to Dominic.

The kingdom of God is a truly wonderful, mystical kingdom. All it requires is faith and the works of faith, and God will do the rest in the individual and in the world.

This week’s quiz

When counting the deaths in the current Middle East conflict, how does the Lebanese Government (or our news mediums) tell the difference between civilians and members of Hizbollah?

Why do our news mediums constantly refer to ‘stemcell research’ when they are talking about ‘embryonic stemcell research’? Or do they really not know the difference?

How did Treasurer Eric Ripper keep a straight face when he said he can’t lower stamp duty on houses because it would only lead to higher house prices? And how did he avoid choking on his own contradiction when he said that if real estate agents lowered their fees it would have the opposite effect?

Why does the UN keep referring to ‘reproductive health’ in third world countries when it actually means death for babies, sterilisation for women, and refusal to fund treatment for conditions that kill mothers in childbirth or cause them serious internal problems that affect them permanently?

Anyone knowing any or all of the answers, please go straight to the top of the class.

letters to the editor

Around t he tabl e dnuorA t eh lbat e

Church vs Opinion

Fr Brennan SJ is at it again, coaching his hearers in justifications for following their own opinions (‘mature reflection’) rather than the teaching of the Church (‘Vatican declarations’). But his own teaching is delivered in the ex cathedra tone that we have come to expect from him: bishops ‘may not’ deny Holy Communion to Catholic politicians who deny the protection of the law to human beings before birth by voting to legalise abortion.

I propose a thought experiment to Father Brennan - what if a Catholic politician voted ( after ‘mature reflection’, of course) to withdraw protection of the law from some other category of human beings, making it legal to kill them - let’s say Aboriginal people - or Timorese people - or lawyers - or Jesuits? Would he still confidently pronounce that such a politician must be allowed to receive Holy Communion, and that his bishop ‘may not’ refuse?

The Church has always held that only people who are in communion with the Church may receive Communion. And if anyone votes to legalise the killing of any group of innocent human beings, how can we say that he is in communion with the Church? It is not his bishop who excludes him. He has excluded himself.

Ted Watt

Claremont

Evil compromise

I was interested to read that “high-profile Jesuit” Father

Brennan wrong on abortion issue

I am compelled to critically comment on two articles in the edition 3 August 2006.

Father Frank Brennan SJ in “Brennan sets his criteria for how to reject Church” is reported as saying that law reform issues, including abortion law are not moral issues.

How can a Catholic priest believe that abortion law is not a moral issue?

Passing an abortion law by any parliament is to approve the killing of a human being, the most innocent and defenceless of all human beings.

The Parliament of Western Australia, in 1998, passed an abortion law that legalised the killing of unborn human beings for any reason.

Would Father Brennan also agree that if the same Parliament passed a law that legalised the killing of say Australian Aborigines for any reason was not a moral issue?

Such a law would be abhorrent and immoral, as is the law that legalises the killing of unborn babies

He is also quoted as saying that authoritative Church teaching can be rejected by a committed Catholic so long as they have engaged in mature reflection and discernment first.

This is an opinion expressed by the dissenting Catholic priests who did much harm to thousands of Catholics when they campaigned against the moral teaching of the Church in the 1970s. It raises questions about Father Brennan’s own acceptance of the Church’s moral teaching. Does he dissent from the teaching of Pope Paul VI in the encyclical, Humanae Vitae? And is he anti anti-abortion?

The second Vatican Council declared that abortion was an abominable crime. (Gaudium et spes n.51). Surely, after not much mature reflection, any practising Catholic politician would vote against the legalising of such an abominable crime.

In the article, The Oath Betrayed, by Michael Cook, the medical ethicist Steven Miles, who published a book of the same title, in an interview with MercantorNet, questions the cooperation of American doctors in the alleged abuse and torture of suspected terrorists. In reply to questions he says: “Physicians are frontline human rights monitors…their ethical duty to report abuses comes from their primary obligation to the health of disarmed and captive people.”

I make no comment on or defend the torture of prisoners. My reason for raising the statements of Steven Miles is to draw attention to his naivety in his judgment of the modern medical profession and the widespread rejection of the Hippocratic Oath.

It also relates to Father Brennan’s claim that abortion is not a moral issue.

It is estimated that doctors and medical staff last year performed 40 million medical abortions throughout the world.

Brian Peachey, Woodlands

Frank Brennan says ‘Catholic politicians should have a “readiness to compromise” with nonCatholic points of view on issues like abortion and euthanasia.’

(Record, 3 August). Perhaps save a word or two? “Catholic politicians should compromise with evil,” says it all and more clearly.

Hal Colebatch Nedlands

Should children help support unemployed parents?

A German politician has stirred up controversy with a proposal to extend children’s financial responsibility for their unemployed parents. Currently the German government reduces unemployment payments to parents who have children living at home and earning, where there is no clear separation of finances. The law even applies to unemployed siblings, uncles, aunts and nonrelatives living in the same household.

Now, the secretary general of the Christian Democrats Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party wants to extend the law to children and parents not sharing the same house.

Ronald Pofalla said that, just as a working father supports his son under 25, so should a “30something son support his unemployed father over 50 if he is financially able to do so.”

Fellow CDU members are among critics of Pofalla’s pro-

India’s problems hurt marriage

India is seeing a negative trend in marriages, according to Lamat R Hasan, writing for the IndoAsian News Service.

“Two day old marriages falling apart.

“A few hundred couples queu-

ing up at the courts every day dying to go to splitsville. Is this a sign of traditional India society fraying at the edges, or does it indicate progress?” he asks.

Experts put a cavalier attitude to spouses and family down to

posal, saying it will make young people think twice about whether it is worth trying to make a living in Germany.

Others say 30 year olds cannot begin their careers, start families, support their parents and still save for retirement.

The president of the German Association for Social Affairs says the social welfare system, not the family, is responsible for supporting the unemployed.

 FAMILYEDGE

wealth, work stress and high expectations, among other things. Couples are not willing to invest in each other emotionally, says one commentator, and “tolerance levels are at an alltime low.”

 FAMILYEDGE

Love is in the Web

Catholic singles increasingly resort to the Internet to find their future spouse.

Vista 2

Thanking her

The international statue of Our Lady of Fatima will be visiting Perth very soon.

Vista 3

Smart priest, full Church

One priest in Rome has set an example for filling the pews with youth.

Vista 3

Te a c h i n g a d o l e s c e n t s f a s h i o n Teaching adolescents fashion from the inside

Adolescents like to think that they are in charge of themselves and their image. But all too often they are slaves to fashion, unhappily conforming to trends that do not reflect their own values and feelings. In this interview with MercatorNet, Maria del Carmen Bernal, a Professor of Education at the Panamerican University in Mexico, talks about the need for teenagers to get to know themselves and to find their own authentic style. Dr Bernal presented a paper on this theme at the international Congress on the Emotional and Sexual Education of Adolescents held recently in Mexico.

MercatorNet: When a teenage girl gets into her tight jeans and skimpy top and hits the streets with her snazzy little cell phone, what is she intending to say about herself?

Dr Bernal: The reasons are quite variable. Sometimes they do

D eveloping an authentic personal st yle Developing an authentic personal style requires both self knowledge and the requires both self knowledge and the education of taste. taste.

it to imitate their friends or simply because they want to show off their body and feel accepted in their social group. In either case we are not learning very much about who she really is, and neither are her friends.

MercatorNet: On the other hand, could the way she presents herself reveal something she is not aware of and doesn’t really intend?

Dr Bernal: Yes, indeed. Fashion is one of the main ways of expressing how we feel towards others and how we want to relate to them. These feelings include desire, love, hatred, passion, admiration, seduction and rivalry. Our body language, especially the way we dress, may express these things without our saying a word, or even without our admitting these feelings to ourselves.

In this way our appearance has a major influence on how others perceive us. It also has a big influence on a person’s self-esteem. This explains why some people who feel ugly or unattractive choose a more sensual look through their clothes in order to feel more attractive.

Opening the eyes of young people to this connection between feeling and fashion is an important part of education. They need help to develop an authentic personal style.

MercatorNet: Fashion itself reflects broader cultural trends. How would you describe this wider environment today?

Dr Bernal: We are living in an environment that entices us all the time with external things. It stops

people getting in touch with their own feelings and thinking about things deeply. People are looking for a playful approach to life, to make fun and pleasure a way of life.

MercatorNet: How does this show up in the world of fashion?

Dr Bernal: The constant search for new sensations leads to an unrealistic look. The way people appear has less and less to do with their personal identity, and this is a very worrying issue. Anxiety among young people to achieve the “right look” while suppressing their natural inclinations leads to loss of selfesteem, dissatisfaction and permanent frustration.

At the same time as they are losing touch with their inner selves, they develop an obsession with the physical self - with their health, diet and exercise, which is all part of this obsession with appearance as a medium to connect with others and feel part of the group.

A perfect example would be tattoos and piercing. The theory is that among youth this is more than a fashion statement, it’s a statement about control over the body, another symbol that one is capable of having his or her own suffering under control. Adolescents are driven to follow this trend even if it is not consistent with their personal identity.

MercatorNet: What problems do you see arising from the trends?

Dr Bernal: I see different consequences taking their toll on many people’s lives. There is a pervasive infantilism, a refusal to grow up

that is seen in the irrational eagerness to consume, in the eating disorders anorexia and bulimia, and in various addictions, especially to sex. There is emotional dependency, weakened willpower and a confusion about the meaning of such key concepts as love, sexuality and personal identity.

We urgently need an educational approach that includes reflection on these areas. Developing and creating a personal lifestyle is essential to counteract the seductive power of popular culture.

MercatorNet: How can you get teenagers to see through the manipulation?

Dr Bernal: We have to educate children in aesthetics, or taste. This means facilitating contact with nature and the arts. Developing their powers of observation and the capacity for amazement. Feeding the imagination and memory by means of literature and good movies. Encouraging self-knowledge, and helping young people to be original, not letting them fall into the uniformity that exists today.

Along with this we have to show children how to achieve self-control, so that they are not carried along by a situation but are able to assert their personality and their values. Self-control is the art of conquering and governing yourself - not forgetting the fact that we are vulnerable to crashes and will probably need to bounce back countless times.

Adela Lo Celso and Alegria Duran-Ballen represent Attex Communication & Consulting and write from Rome.

■ By Adela Lo Celso and Alegria DuranBallen

■

Searching for a spouse? Check the web

Catholic, secular Web sites for singles unite Catholic couples

By

Erin Maguire

WASHINGTON (CNS) - The use of Catholic singles’ Web sites has risen dramatically since the genesis of such sites in the late 1990s, helping many who are looking for friendship, a date, marriage or even support with religious discernment.

Catholic singles who become members of these sites create profiles and can elect to meet potential partners or friends in a specific area or age range or according to other defining characteristics. They may also meet people of like interest in religion-related chat rooms; they can build a network of Catholic singles around the globe. According to its Web site, CatholicMatch.com is “not just another ‘matchmaking service’; you can share and grow in your faith while building lifelong relationships with people of similar beliefs and values.”

Chris Jones, from Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, and Marjorie Faia, from Williamstown, New Jersey, met as members of CatholicMatch.com, and they are getting married next May. After talking online for a

month, Jones, with his friend, and Faia, with her sister, went on a bowling date.

To “make sure we were normal guys,”

Jones said, he went to Faia’s house with his friend before the date started to meet Faia’s mother. Upon her approval, the group went bowling. The evening ended with ice cream at a Friendly’s restaurant and a game of foosball at Faia’s house.

Faia, a student at LaSalle University in Philadelphia, was persuaded to use CatholicMatch.com by her mother, who saw an advertisement for it in Faith & Family magazine.

“My mum searched the site and said it looked like there were good people on it. I didn’t want to do it, but finally I looked at it after school one day. I had little expectations.

I thought maybe I would meet some friends in the area,” Faia said in an interview with Catholic News Service.

Jones, a graduate of DeSales University in Centre Valley, Pa., who had looked at other dating sites such as CatholicSingles. com and AveMariaSingles.com, started using CatholicMatch.com as a trial member. When he saw Faia’s profile, he sent her a smiley face. Faia, who was into the second week of her membership, returned the greeting. Jones decided to buy a monthlong membership.

NATURALLY EFFECTIVELY

Contact Billings WA: 0409119532

Free call State Wide 1800 819 841 www.woomb.org

Supported by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing and administered by Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference.

Jones and Faia were both drawn to CatholicMatch.com because it is a Catholic Web site.

“I was not just looking for someone who was Catholic, but for someone who was practising and proud to be Catholic,” said Jones.

Faia said that it was encouraging to know that other people were “out there practising their faith.”

“My faith is a big part of my life. It’s good when people are able to share that,” said Faia.

While Jones and Faia were glad to find a site that asked questions to match people with similar views on Catholic teaching, Kevin, who did not want his last name used in this article, told CNS he switched to a secular site after CatholicSingles.com added questions on Catholic teaching to its profile questionnaire. Kevin was a member of CatholicSingles.com, but met his wife after he switched to eHarmony.com.

“Both CatholicSingles.com and AveMariaSingles.com had questions I did not want to answer,” he said.

Specifically, CatholicSingles.com asks potential members to describe what type of Catholic they are from a list of options: “conservative,” “moderate,” “progressive,” “I am a catechumen,” or “I am not a Catholic.”

■ By Elizabeth Lev

While Frenchmen and Romans alike gathered at the French embassy on July 14 to celebrate Bastille day, a few blocks away at the church of St Mary Magdalene, souls gathered to celebrate another kind of heroism.

July 14 also marked the feast of St Camillus de Lellis, patron of the sick, healthcare workers and hospitals, and his remains are buried at the church of St Mary Magdalene.

Born in 1550, St Camillus’ early years were inauspicious to say the least. A compulsive gambler, he habitually dissipated his pay as a professional soldier on cards and dice. After he lost his sword, uniform and gear to gaming, he was reduced to begging on the streets. An abscess on his foot brought

Kevin said he did not want to label himself as a type of Catholic and sees the question as “divisive.”

On eHarmony.com, Kevin chose the “Roman Catholic” religious option.

Kevin, who works in Washington, said he would recommend eHarmony.com to other Catholics because it has more members and allows Catholic users to find other Catholics.

He also said CatholicSingles.com did not have many people in his geographic area.

On eHarmony.com, Kevin said, he could choose to be matched with people who were Catholic and find out about their personalities and values, “not just their interests,” as opposed to his experience with CatholicSingles.com, which he felt “was more interest-based than value-centered.”

Jones did not know about eHarmony.com when he started using a dating site, but said he has heard “it does a good job at narrowing down important questions.”

He said he is glad he used CatholicMatch. com, however, and both Jones and Faia would recommend it to others.

Faia, who was at first skeptical about using CatholicMatch.com, has some advice for others thinking about using online dating sites: “Be honest, have confidence and be yourself. It’s not a guarantee that you’ll meet someone, but just be open.”

International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Fatima to visit WA

Four days of continuous prayer will accompany the Pilgrim Virgin statue of Our Lady of Fatima during its stay in Perth from August 19-23. The statue, which has been travelling the world for 60 years, will appear at nine churches during its time in the Perth Diocese.

Yolanda Nardizzi, a member of the committee organising the visit, believes that many graces will be gained for the Diocese, especially as Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration will occur at each of the places that the statue will stay overnight. She said that conversions and a return to the Sacraments were the fruits of the statue’s visit to Australia 10 years ago and the Committee is hoping for an even greater outpouring of graces.

Mrs Nardizzi said that when visiting the statue, “… people are inexplicably moved and feel her maternal love.” She says that Mary’s call to prayer and penance allows people to accept their daily crosses and to offer them in union with Christ.

Fellow organiser, Margaret Bowen, said that Mary’s message to pray for world peace during her appearances in Fatima in 1917, were especially relevant today.

“People need to take time out to stop and listen to what Our Lady is saying” Mrs Bowen said. She believes that the peace Mary speaks of needs to begin in our families and then be taken out into society. The statue began its journey in Australia on August 1 in Sydney

and travels through NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia before arriving in WA.

For further details contact Yolanda Nardizzi on 0413 707 707 or Margaret Bowen on 9341 8082.

Italian churches are anything but empty

■ By Elizabeth Lev

Fewer and fewer people attend Sunday Mass in Italy, or so they say.

While Mass attendance has certainly dropped over the years, the image of Rome’s nine hundred churches sitting empty is just plain wrong. Many local parishes have lively Mass attendance and work hard at keeping young people in and around the church.

At my own church of the Protomartyrs, the 10am Sunday Mass is standing-room-only and the other five Masses throughout the day are well-attended. The draw isn’t the music, or the coffee and doughnuts; it is the untiring efforts of the parish priests to keep every one involved with the church.

Roster of visit

Saturday 19th August

St Patrick’s Basilica, Fremantle: 16:00 Portugese Community

18:00 Vigil Mass (English)

19:00 Fatima Talk (Custodian)

All night Eucharistic adoration.

Sunday 20th August

St Patrick’s Basilica, Fremantle: 07:00 & 08:30 Holy Mass (English)

09:45 Holy Mass (Italian)

St Brigid’s Church, Aberdeen Street, West Perth: 11:30 Indonesian Community St Jude’ Church, Lynwood: 16:30 Rosary & Fatima Talk

17:30 Holy Mass

St Joseph’s Church Bassendean: 19:30 Rosary & Fatima Talk All night Eucharistic adoration.

Monday 21st August

Redemptorist Monastery, North Perth: School children invited

10:30 Procession, Welcome, Rosary & Talk

12:10 Holy Mass

Program repeated in the afternoon

19:00 Rosary

19:30 Holy Mass

St Bernadette’s Church, Glendalough: All night Eucharistic Adoration

Tuesday 22nd August – Feast of the Queenship of Mary

07:30 Holy Mass & Rosary (Glendalough)

St Mary’s Cathedral: 10:00 Procession, Welcome & Rosary Fatima talk by Custodian 12:10 Holy Mass

Rosary hourly until 18:30

19:30 Queenship Mass

St Anne’s Church, Belmont:

22:30 All night Eucharistic adoration

Wednesday 23rd August

08:30 Holy Mass & Rosary (Belmont)

St Gerard Majella Church, Westminster (Mirrabooka Parish):

10:30 Procession, Welcome & Rosary Fatima talk by Custodian

11:30 Holy Mass

13:00 Repeat of morning program & Veneration

15:00 Our Lady leaves for the airport

Act of Consecration to Our Lady, Scapular Enrolment and Reconciliation at all venues. Part sponsored by Harvest Pilgrimages

Millions gather: The Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in central Portugal.

Camillus to the hospital of St James of the Incurable in Rome. There, his foot found only temporary solace, but his spirit was cured. In 1575, he became a lay brother of the Capuchins; in 1584 he was ordained and in 1586 he founded the “the Fathers of a Good Death.”

The charism of Camillus’ order was to care for the poor and ill. Furthermore, the members of his congregation took a vow to devote themselves to the plague-stricken. They didn’t limit themselves to hospital work, but went out into the world looking for the sick. The order’s first martyrs of charity died in 1588, when they boarded a ship quarantined off Naples for plague, and nursed the dying until they themselves succumbed to illness.

St Camillus died in 1614 in the convent attached to the church of Saint Mary Magdalene. He is buried

in a splendid urn under the altar in the right transept. On his feast day, the reliquary containing his heart is placed on the altar and special Masses are offered for the sick.

Anywhere there were sick and suffering, the Camillans could be found. On battlefields or in the wake of disasters, the sight of their dark habits emblazoned with red crosses brought relief and hope to the sick and wounded.

Camillus revolutionised the care of the sick by treating the incurable, the disfigured and the suffering with love and tenderness. He brought a smile to the sickroom even when his own physical ailments caused him great pain. In seeing in every ailing patient the person of Jesus, Camillus de Lellis gave a far deeper meaning to liberte, egalite and fraternite. - Zenit.org

I spoke to our parish priest, Don Carmelo Giarratana, about getting people to come to church.

Don Carmelo (In Italy “Don” is used in place of “Father” for addressing diocesan priests) has been at the Church of the Protomartyrs since 1990. Born in Sicily, he was ordained 42 years ago in the midst of the Second Vatican Council. Don Carmelo told me that the spirit of renewal during Vatican II shaped his life as a diocesan priest.

“I see the role of the priest as among the people,” he explained.

“From when I first began parish work, I visit the families at their homes, I go to the parks where the kids hang out and to the snack bars where workmen eat their lunches. I try to be in touch with as many people as possible.” As anyone living in the area can attest, Don Carmelo

practices what he preaches. He is a familiar figure on the local scene. With only 8,000 families, the Protomartyrs is one of the smallest parishes in Rome, yet also a very active and lively one. The parish organises a Eucharistic procession for the Feast of Corpus Christi down the main thoroughfare of Via Gregorio VII, with hundreds of faithful walking down the street singing and praying. A few weeks later for the feast of the Protomartyrs, the parishioners go to Vatican City and walk in procession around the Vatican gardens where Nero’s circus once stood.

Don Carmelo explained that, “The Vatican hill is where the first Roman martyrs died, where St Peter was crucified. Where else would we go?”

Don Carmelo has done everything in his power to put the church at the heart of community life. The church sits at the end of Via Innocenzo XI, dominating the road. “On the right we have our social services centre and on the left there is the playground and the sports fields,” says the parish priest, “but in the centre, there is the church.”

“The door is always open here,” affirmed Don Carmelo.

“Daily Masses are offered several times a day and the church is ready to welcome anyone who wants to just stop by.”

One striking thing about the parish is the availability of confessors for the sacrament of reconciliation.

Whereas back in the US, confession is often “by appointment only” or during a 45-minute time slot on Saturday afternoons, here the sacrament of penance is offered every day and several confessionals at a time are at work

on Sundays. To meet all the needs of daily Masses, confessions and spiritual direction, Don Carmelo recruits priests from all over the world, offering them hospitality if they are in Rome to study or simply asking visiting priests to come and help out. He has seven priests assisting at the parish, four Italians as well as priests from the Philippines, Poland and Brazil. Don Carmelo takes as his model Pope John Paul II, whom he met for the first time in 1975 in Krakow. “John Paul II went out among the people to bring the

Church to them, on a much larger scale of course. I’m just following his example.”

Over the years, Don Carmelo and Pope John Paul developed a fast friendship, due in part to Don Carmelo’s project to involve the parish in missionary work in Belarus.

Every year, 30 Belarusan children come to Rome and stay with parish families and the parish is building schools and orphanages there.

Like Pope John Paul II, Don Carmelo shows special attention to young people. “Kids receive

their confirmation and then don’t show up in church again until they want to get married,” explained the priest.

“The Belarusan project helps keep kids around, as counselors or hosts or just to play in the soccer court, so it helps on both fronts, evangelising both here and there.”

“The Good Shepherd doesn’t hang around the sheep fold waiting for the sheep to arrive,” concluded Don Carmelo. “He goes out there and finds them wherever they may be.”

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life, the universe and everything

Opinion

Trafficking motherhood in a globalised trade

■ With Anna Krohn

“The genius of commerce is that it tames remarkable things: it makes past transgressions normal.” So observes Eric Cohen in a thoughtful article, “Biotechnology and the Spirit of Capitalism” in the Spring edition of the e-journal New Atlantis.

The ultimate market demand and commodity, says Cohen is the body itself. Those wanting a “better body”, the only “salvation” our secular culture can envisage, need only tap on-line to see how many elixirs promise “better love lives”, “instant weight loss”, “younger skin” - where as if to parody the great psalm… “Every wrinkle will be wiped away…”

More alarmingly, if these magical potions are not enough, bits of the body and access to other “bodies” are on sale in this global supermarket as well.

the family is the future

The genius, and the danger of

capitalism, is that it can make anything marketable. It can find you a product and a buyer, a commodity and a demand. If there were a market you could sell your own grandmother.

The trouble is that human dignity, ethics and social justice often receive little attention in the exchange.

Of particular concern are the many women desperate for financial resources or for a baby, who are willing to trade in the biological elements of motherhood itself.

Reproductive scientists and childless couples pay high prices for even one human egg (ova).

In Britain last month, the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority (HFEA) permitted researchers hungry for women’s eggs to promote a deal which infertile couples would find hard to refuse - a sort of “trade in” – on spare human eggs.

The plan is, that couples wanting to undergo IVF and other fertility treatments, could have the con-

The value of nothing

■ With Derek Boylen

One thing my parents taught me is the value of nothing. Every Sunday after Mass we would come home and Mum and Dad would do nothing. Well, maybe not quite nothing. Sometimes they did nothing in the backyard with a cup of tea and a good book. Certainly they did nothing of particular note.

It’s only now a couple of decades later that I appreciate the value of this lesson. Sometimes, it is very nice to do nothing. To not have any plans, goals, jobs to do, but to simply be. Recently, Karen and I have started to plan “do nothing” time as a family, into our diary. Surprisingly, we have discovered that it is somewhat challenging to find time to do nothing. It seems there is always something to do, or something that must be done.

Just a thought...

■ By Fr Paschal Kearney CSSp

His name sounds very Irish, but in actual fact Cairon O’Reilly is an Australian – from Mitchelton in Brisbane. Cairon recently made the headlines in Ireland and other parts of the world. He and four colleagues were on trial for disarming a US warplane parked at Ireland’s Shannon airport. That was in February 2003, when the US was completing its build up for ‘Shock and Awe’ invasions of Iraq. Damage to the plane came to approximate-

ly $3.5 million. These five peace activists call themselves the ‘Pitstop Plough-shares’ and follow the biblical mandate in Isaiah to beat swords into Ploughshares – or in modern terms, to dismantle military and nuclear arms equipment.

These five activists literally took a hammer to the nosecone of this US warplane and disabled it! The group never denied that they were responsible, but claimed they needed to do what they did to protest against the damage being done in the Iraq war. If convicted, they faced a maximum of ten years’ jail. The five accused

siderable treatment costs reduced by half, if the women agreed to hand over “spare eggs” so that the researchers could use the ova to create cloned human embryos from which stem cells could be harvested. Simple really.

Notwithstanding the preciousness to their own fertility that these ova represent to these women, or the dangers and discomfort involved in egg harvesting, there are many critics who point out that this “offer” is a bald form of emotional blackmail.

Fran Abrams of the UK’s Daily Mail, recently exposed the trafficking of human ova between wealthy professional women in Britain and resource-poor women in Eastern Europe. There is the case of Patti Farrant, a professional and well-established psychiatrist and Britain’s oldest new mother at 62 years of age. Patti escaped the restrictions of the UK’s reproductive technology regulations, by negotiating for ova and

treatment via internet brokers to the tune of 11,000 pounds sterling. Her baby’s biological mother lives in relative poverty in Eastern Europe.

Many young women in Romania are reported to be undergoing risky and uncomfortable hormone treatment and surgery, handing over the stuff of their own genetic maternity, while endangering their own future fertility to meet this market demand.

Shadowy internet agencies working via consortiums of globalised doctors, post advertisements on the internet and collect the “goods” from clinics established in cities such as Bucharest and Kiev. The girls receive a mere 150-300 pounds sterling on the deal - but it sounds at first like more money than they have ever seen.

As Eric Cohen notes in his article, the global market is adept at hiding the human cost of such trade, while it fuels “the cannibalism of the weak by the strong.”

Do-nothing-time is very important for family relationships. It is a time when we stop focusing on things external to the family and we simply try to enjoy each others’ company. It’s not a new idea.

Somewhere along the way, long before Christ came along, the Jews realised that they spent too much time doing and not enough time being. It occurred to them that part of celebrating the Sabbath should also include limiting how much we do. We should factor time in each week to take a break, make time for prayer and spend time building relationships with those we love. Sounds good to me.

Unfortunately, we don’t often stop and take a break. We rush instead. We become anxious. We worry needlessly. We get caught up on the weekend running around doing all the things that we didn’t get time to do during the week and we forget to simply stop. Have a rest. Pause. Reflect. Do something

we enjoy. Jesus also thought that we need to keep things in perspective. In Matthew 6:34 Jesus says “do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” This is a message to slow down, take stock and make the most of each day. I recommend you take the time to read Matthew 6:25-34.

There is a beautiful phrase in the second Eucharistic prayer in which we pray: “Lord, protect us from all anxiety.” I think it’s a beautiful prayer and I pray it often.

There is a big difference between time spent doing nothing and time wasted. Time doing nothing is time that we fill with the things we like doing with the people that we love. Simply living life to the full. Time wasted is time that we fill with things that are not life-giving. Things that are meaningless.

In a world of endless entertainment it is also important to teach our children the value of spend-

ing time doing nothing. Time just being. If you don’t want to hear the catch cry “I’m bored” though, I suggest that you spend your nothing time with them.

Chat about the day or the week. Talk about your plans for the future and theirs. Play a board game. Help it to become an experience that is rewarding in its simplicity. As kids we did a lot of camping as a family. One of the things I really appreciated about our family camps was that we didn’t waste a lot of time rushing around sightseeing. Instead we spent plenty of valuable time simply sitting around a campfire chatting, reading and swimming in the river.

Helping our children to appreciate nothing-time is a gift. It will gift them with skills to become peaceful, reflective individuals for the future.

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

were represented by three of the most talented barristers in Ireland, one of whom, a Mr Nix, in his final summations to the jury urged them not only to ask whether the defendants were right to take action, but also to ask “why is it that the rest of us haven’t acted?!”

He further challenged the prosecutor’s description of the actions of the accused as ‘political’, as if that were a bad thing! And he continued: “I’ll tell you of someone who made a great political speech – the greatest political speech of all time – and that’s Jesus Christ.” He went

on to quote the Sermon on the Mount!

It is reported that there was absolute silence in the court, a silence that deepened as Mr Nix spoke about being in a park recently, listening to children laugh and play. He thought the sound of universal happiness must be that of children playing. He continued: “Lebanon is burning, and today children in a swimming pool were bombed. That pool is now filled with burning children. This is war!”

Mr Nix then asked the jury: “What would raise you to action?”

And that is a question we all need to think about. The ‘Pitstop Ploughshares’ weren’t the only ones on trial – today every peace movement is. And so are we, every time we make a decision to get involved or to sit back and watch from the sidelines.

What will raise us to action?

PS Ireland is a neutral country. In accord with its constitution, it would not participate in US war plans. But thousands of US troops have passed through Shannon en route to the Gulf. The acquittal of these five peace activists has sent a message that Ireland wanted no part in waging war on the people of Iraq.

Retreat opens doors to the possibility of religious life

■ By Sherrilee Kingston

A silent retreat will be conducted from Saturday August 19 to Sunday August 20 at Penola St Joseph’s in Safety Bay for young men and women wishing to explore and understand religious life and priesthood.

The retreat is aimed at people wanting to pursue or enquire about joining a religious order and to find

their life’s true vocation, with the main focus on giving one’s all as in the call to discipleship in Mark’s Gospel.

The weekend will be full of personal prayer time, Reconciliation Mass, quiet adoration and input by Sr Clare Sciesinski PBVM.

On Saturday night there will be an open forum that will give participants the chance to ask questions and to share and reflect what they have encountered throughout

the day. Organiser for the event Sr Terri Emslie PBVM commented that it is for people to “come and take some time apart to listen to God speaking in your heart and your story”.

The retreat will cost $65 and begins at 9am August 19 and concludes at 2pm August 20. For further information or bookings contact Sr Terri Emslie on 9384 5433, or Br Bernard White CFC on 0439 948 981.

Jesuit’s talk to explore Xavier’s legacy

■ By Sylvia Defendi

The patron saint of missions, St Francis Xavier, will be remembered on the 500th anniversary of his birth with a free public lecture at the Barry Gonzaga Lecture Hall, John XXIII College, Mt Claremont, on August 25.

The lecture, aptly named Mission in a Media-Saturated World: St Francis Xavier’s Legacy in the 21st Century, will explore the context in which mission work is undertaken in Australia, and the steps that can be taken to recover a sense of personal and communal evangelisation.

“St Francis Xavier did not wait for the new world to come to him; he went out and faced it head on. We are similarly sent out to confront our culture,” Francis Leong, Director of the Catholic Mission Office in Perth, said.

Sponsored by the Catholic Mission Office, the Inigo Centre and the Christian Life Community of Perth, the lecture will be delivered by Fr Richard Leonard SJ, director of the Australian Catholic Film Office and Catholic Church Television Australia.

For further information on the 7.30pm lecture, contact Francis Leong at Catholic Mission on 9422 7933 or email: catholicmissionperth@bigpond. com.

Fr Richard Leonard SJ

Christians split on vilification law

Continued from page 1 in Victoria but around the world. Many have expressed the concern that the law is a “thin end of the wedge” instrument which could be used by anti-religious forces to silence the voice of religion altogether in society.

Media reports said 400-500 Christians attended this week’s Melbourne rally, which was sponsored by a group calling itself the Coalition for Free Speech. Organisers put the figure at around 2000.

Thirteen speakers including a National Party MP, a Labor Party local councillor and a member of the Greens Party spoke against the vilification laws at the rally. Members of Family First and the Christian Democratic Party also spoke.

Apart from Pastor Danny Nalliah, two Christian pastors, one from the Uniting Church and one Presbyterian, added their voices to the Victorian protest as well.

A number of prominent legal counsel also appeared. A petition containing 17,000 signatures and

urging repeal of the law was presented to the parliament, following earlier petitions on the same theme which carried 10,000 signatures.

Federal Treasurer Peter Costello, who has attended the Protestant Hillsong church in Sydney, also sent a public message of support to the protestors.

Rally organiser Jenny Stokes, a member of the Protestant Saltshakers ministry, says the rally has sent a loud message to Victoria’s Government that amending the vilification law is not enough, and it should be entirely scrapped.

“The Coalition maintains that the best way to develop harmony in the community is through education and urging people to get on together, not by encouraging people to make complaints against other people and organisations through this law,” Mrs Stokes said.

In its earlier statement about the Catch the Fire case, the Catholic interfaith commission said Christians should never find themselves in breach of anti-vilification laws.

The Commission “is concerned

Join Pope Benedict XVI in prayer - August

450 years of inspiration

■ By Michelle Jones

Over 1500 people, representing a multitude of nations, gathered for Mass in Rome to celebrate the feast of St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, on July 31.

Members of the congregation flocked to the Church of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, the Mother Church of the Jesuits, where Fr Peter Hans Kolvenbach, Father General of almost 20,000 Jesuits worldwide, celebrated Mass.

During his homily, Fr Kolvenbach spoke of how Ignatius, through his life and writings, highlighted that to be a Christian means to have a deep and loving personal relationship with Jesus that is lived out

in solidarity with, and a sense of responsibility for, all people in the world.

Monsignor Richard Mahowald, spiritual director of Casa Santa Maria, a house of studies for priests in Rome, reflected on Ignatius’ life, saying, “the witness of one living in an intimate relationship with Jesus that flows out into a communitarian embrace is compelling.”

Western Australia’s Jesuits, who are focused on the mission of chaplaincy, recalled the extraordinary life of St Ignatius through the words of WA superior, Fr John Prendiville SJ.

“If Ignatius were alive today, I believe he would be asking all to remain focused on Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life,” he said.

that when Christians speak about other faiths they do so in a way that befits their vocation as disciples of Jesus Christ,” it said.

It said that “the Catholic Church welcomes robust debate and does not deny the now classical points of theological disagreement between Muslims and Christians. But we are concerned at the implications of the comments made by ‘Catch the Fire Ministries for the progress of interfaith dialogue to which the Catholic Church is fundamentally and formally committed.

“We would feel thwarted if such statements prevented people of good faith from entering into reasonable and constructive dialogue.

Indeed we wish in every way to develop and deepen the friendship, which already exists between the Catholic Church and the Muslim Community.”

The Commission quoted the words of the Second Vatican Council which stated that the Catholic Church “rejects nothing that is true and holy” in nonCatholic religions.

General intention: That orphans may not lack the care necessary for their human and christian formation.

Mission intention:That the christian faithful may be aware of their own missionary vocation in every place and circumstance.

Fr John Chauncy dies

Fr John Philip Chauncy died at Nazareth House on Tuesday morning, August 8, at the age of 80.

Fr Chauncy was born in Kawieng, New Ireland, in Melanesia on January 27, 1926, but the family moved to Perth during his childhood.

He was educated at Christian Brothers College Perth and gained a BA at the University of WA and became a teacher before deciding to enter the priesthood.

He did his seminary training at Manly in News South Wales and was ordained on July 27, 1957.

Fr Chauncy began his first appointment in Perth as an assistant priest at South Perth on December

20, 1957. This was followed by appointments to Sacrborough in April 1960, East Fremantle March 1964, Kensington June 1966.

He served briefly again at East Fremantle before becoming priestin-charge at Cunderdin on March 5, 1967, at Mundaring pro tem on May 18, 1969, and at Norseman on September 28, 1969.

Fr Chauncy became parish priest at Hamilton Hill on September 19, 1971 and remained there until he retired to Nazareth House in April 1986. The funeral was to be held at the Redemptorist Monastery, North Perth, onFriday 11 August at 9 am, and the burial at Karakatta Cemetery.

Music influences teens’ behaviour

Teenagers whose music players are full of music with sexual lyrics start sexual activity earlier than those who prefer other songs, according to a new study by the Rand Corporation. It is the latest and among the most rigorous studies in a growing body of research that suggests media have a significant impact on young people’s behaviour.

The new study found songs that portray men as “sexdriven studs”, women as sex objects and with explicit references to sex acts were more likely to trigger early sexual behaviour than those where sexual references are more veiled and relation-

ships appear more committed.

Teens who said they listened to a lot of music with degrading messages were almost twice as likely to start having intercourse or other sexual activities within the following two years as other teens who listened to little or no sexually degrading music 51 per cent as opposed to 29 per cent. The study, based on telephone interviews with 1461 participants aged 12 to 17, appears in the August issue of Pediatrics. Lead researcher Steven Martino says it is better to listen to some of the music with teenagers and discuss it with them rather than simply banning it. – FamilyEdge

Veneration: Two sisters pray before the relics of St Ignatius of Loyola in Rome.

The World

Humanity continues to suffer in Lebanon

Relief work nearly impossible without cease-fire, says CRS official

■ By Agostino Bono

Without a cease-fire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, establishing humanitarian corridors to get relief supplies to hundreds of thousands of displaced people is near impossible, said a Catholic Relief Services official.

“Humanitarian corridors have never been put into place,” said Adib Faris, security manager for the CRS office in the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

“The issue is access to those areas in the south where the conflict is,” he said.

Faris told Catholic News Service in an August 4 telephone interview that relief organisations want humanitarian corridors, but without a cease-fire “there can be no guarantees by either side that relief workers can travel safely.”

There are about 900,000 displaced people in Lebanon because of the fighting in the southern portion of the country “and the number is increasing every day,” he said.

The figure cited by Faris is almost 25 percent of the 3.8 million Lebanese population.

CRS is the overseas relief and development agency of the US bishops.

Pope Benedict XVI has been among the world leaders who have

called for a cease-fire and the establishment of humanitarian corridors.

Faris said UN officials in Lebanon have been able to get guarantees from the Israeli military on a caseby-case basis for some relief convoys to get through but have gotten no formal agreement to establish humanitarian corridors.

Without humanitarian corridors relief agencies risk having their supply trucks bombed as enemy targets, said Faris.

To lessen the probabilities that its trucks are targeted, CRS and other relief agencies are using small flatbed trucks about the size of a minivan, with clear organisational markings, he said.

“A larger truck is considered a target,” said Faris. As much of the supplies as possible are uncovered so that they can be visible from the air, he added.

Another mobility problem is that major bridges and transportation routes have been bombed, making

them virtually impassable to large vehicles, he said.

“We are relying on old mountain roads,” said Faris, meaning that a normal 40-minute trip takes two hours.

A major CRS concern is trying to feed 30,000 displaced people who have fled to the Mediterranean port city of Sidon, he said.

Sidon is located about 35 miles north of the Israeli border and 25 miles south of Beirut along the Mediterranean coast.

Each day the fighting continues, the number of displaced people in Sidon grows, he said.

There is a need for the displaced people to move further north for their own safety and because Sidon’s resources are stretched, but they are reluctant, he said.

“The last thing they want to do is move again,” he said because they feel they will be exposed again to attacks.

Because of security problems throughout Lebanon, CRS officials in Beirut are travelling only to Sidon, he said.

The fighting also has left stranded tens of thousands of immigrant workers from countries too poor to have the financial and material resources to evacuate them, said Faris.

“Lebanon relies on migrant workers. They are housekeepers and gas station attendants,” he said.

Many domestic workers were left behind when the families they worked for abandoned their homes to escape the fighting, Faris said.

CRS has helped about 3,500 immigrants leave Lebanon through assistance with travel documents and transportation, he said.

According to information provided by CRS headquarters in Baltimore, there are about 100,000 immigrant workers in Lebanon in need of assistance with about 90,000 of these from Sri Lanka. Other immigrants are from India, Philippines, Ethiopia and Bangladesh, said CRS.

Pope’s foreign policy revealed More hope out of China

Seminar marks first Catholic agency registered nationally in China

A seminar on the work of social agencies was held to mark the firstever registration on the national level of a Catholic nonprofit organisation with China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The director of the nonprofit Jinde Charities, Father John Baptist Zhang Shijiang of Xingtai Diocese, told the seminar the legal identity provided by the registration gives it tax-exempt status and allows it to open bank accounts.

Father Zhang said this shows that Jinde Charities’ operation is becoming “more professional, systematic and transparent,” reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand.

Jinde Charities, based in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province, 200 miles southwest of Beijing, was registered with the government in mid-April.

The seminar on social charities in Shijiazhuang and three separate formation programs - for university students, priests and church workers who minister to the elderly - was held to mark the registration in mid-July.

The Jinde Charities celebration, attended by more than 300 people, also provided a chance for exchange

among various local church-run agencies and priests who are starting agencies in their own dioceses.

The celebration also highlighted the 10th anniversary of the “Vocation and Education Fund,” which operates under Jinde Charities, formerly called Beifang Jinde Catholic Social Service Centre.

In May 1997, Hebei’s Catholic Church set up Jinde Charities, named for Bishop Hou Jinde of Xingtai, to provide disaster relief services, social development projects in education, health care, poverty eradication, services for the disabled, and to support churchrun projects.

Following the local government’s approval of Jinde Charities in August 1998, the organisation has funded the education of 6,551 schoolchildren, built 20 primary schools and aided victims of at least 35 disasters in the country.

In recent years, Jinde Charities also reached beyond China and made its first overseas donation for relief after the 2004 tsunami.

At the opening of the seminars, Ren Jiyuan, director of the Bureau for Religions and Ethnic minorities of Hebei, praised Jinde Charities for its work.

He said it has “built up a positive image of the Catholic Church in Hebei province.”

Mideast war brings Pope’s foreign policy agenda into clearer focus

■ By John Thavis

With the war in Lebanon, the Vatican’s Middle East policies under Pope Benedict XVI have come into clearer focus.

To the surprise of some, they look just like the policies of Pope John Paul II.

The Vatican’s insistent call for an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon has highlighted a basic disagreement with the United States and some other Western governments. Backing Israel, the US wants a cease-fire conditioned on a wider accord ultimately aimed at disarming Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon.

The Pope, on the other hand, has urged all sides to lay down their weapons now, saying nothing can be gained by the current fighting.

In a sense, the root difference may be over the usefulness of war - or the lack thereof.

When US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in late July that the fighting in Lebanon represented “the birth pangs of a new Middle East,” it caught the Vatican’s attention. A week later,

the Pope offered a strikingly different assessment, saying the conflict was feeding hatred and the desire for vengeance.

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

Pope Benedict’s heartfelt pleas to stop the carnage, particularly after an Israeli air raid killed many civilians in Qana, Lebanon, have echoed the dramatic appeals of Pope John Paul during times of Mideast conflict.

“Our eyes are filled with the chilling images of people’s bodies - especially children’s - torn apart,” Pope Benedict said. “I want to repeat that nothing can justify the spilling of innocent blood, no matter which side does it.”

In private talks, Vatican officials have asked that the US government use its influence with Israel to bring an immediate halt to hostilities. To the Israelis, the Vatican has made it clear that it views its military offensive in Lebanon as a disproportionate use of force. Israel’s ambassador to the Vatican, Oded Ben-Hur, has made counterarguments.

“I say two things: first, that the proportion is to the amount of threat, and (Hezbollah) is putting the north of Israel, a million people, under the threat of missiles,”

Ben-Hur told Catholic News Service in an interview.

“Secondly, what is the right proportion? Give it to me. What is it, 10 to five? One to one? One hundred to 1,000? There is no such thing,” he said.

The Ambassador said he thinks that on a practical level the Vatican understands Israel’s motives in Lebanon, and is even sympathetic to Israeli concerns, but because of moral objections, he said, the Vatican asks Israel to “find a way not to retaliate.”

“I say, tell us what the formula is,” the Ambassador said. He argues that Israel’s actions are essentially self-defence against an enemy that must be hit wherever they are found.

As for civilian deaths, Israeli officials say Hezbollah is ultimately responsible because it uses civilian areas to stage rocket attacks.

Throughout his papacy, Pope John Paul warned against military solutions to international problems. His condemnation of war was sometimes discounted by political commentators as idealistic morality.

When elected, Pope Benedict was seen by many observers as more of a hard-nosed realist. Some have described him as tougher on terrorism and more wary of radical Islam than his predecessor, factors thought to make him more sympathetic to Israel. 0CNS

Devastated: A woman cries outside her destroyed home in Beirut.

PHOTO: CNS

The World

Japanese Bishops raise alarm on change

Japan’s Catholic bishops oppose changing constitution’s peace clause

■ By Jerry Filteau

Japan’s Catholic bishops strongly oppose efforts under way to change their nation’s constitutional renunciation of warfare, the president of the bishops’ Japan Catholic Council for Justice and Peace said during a visit to Washington.

In an interview on August 2 with Catholic News Service, the council head, Auxiliary Bishop Michael Goro Matsuura of Osaka, said North Korean sabre-rattling and pressures from the Bush administration were contributing to the erosion of the commitment to nonbelligerency that Japan has upheld as part of its constitution for the past 60 years.

“More people are beginning to think we shouldn’t have Article 9,” he said, referring to the anti-war provision in the Japanese constitution. It says in part that “the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes. ... The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognised.”

Bishop Matsuura said the closer collaboration of US armed forces in Japan with the Japanese SelfDefence Force and other measures established by a US-Japanese agreement last October threaten to draw the Self-Defence Force out of its traditional limited posture - in which

not a single Japanese soldier has killed or been killed in combat for more than 60 years - into a new posture as combatants in the U.S. global war on terrorists.

Accompanying Bishop Matsuura on his US visit were Deacon Masataka Nagasawa, the council’s executive secretary, and Mercedarian Sister Filo Shizue Hirota, president of the Association of Major Superiors of Religious Women of Japan and a council board member, who served as translator during the interview. Jean Stokan, policy director of Pax Christi USA, was also with the delegation, which over the previous weekend participated in

Pax Christi’s national meeting in Pittsburgh.

In a speech there on July 29, the bishop said: “There are substantial grounds for believing that the U.S. government is encouraging and even pressuring Japan to change the peace clause of its constitution” because of dissatisfaction over the level of Japan’s contribution in the Gulf War and recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“Changing Japan’s peace constitution and integrating Japanese military forces with the US military is the primary goal of the movement for constitutional change and an integral part of US strategy,” he

said. In the interview he said the Self-Defence Force’s operations “are very restricted and limited” under the current constitution. “There are many things they cannot do,” he said. In essence, it is a civilian-run military force that can enter combat only to protect Japan against attack. But last October’s agreement integrates the Japanese and US military in ways that will make the defense force “part of the US armed forces” and available “to be deployed outside Japan,” Bishop Matsuura said.  CNS

You are Jesus’ friends: Pope tells altar servers

Pope tells 42,000 altar servers they are Jesus’ friends

■ By John Thavis

Although billed as his weekly general audience, Pope Benedict XVI’s on August 2 appointment in St Peter’s Square was mainly an audience for 42,000 European altar servers. And, in fact, there was a special focus on the 35,000 altar boys and

the world in brief

altar girls from Germany. “Because most of the servers gathered in this square today are German-speakers, I will address them first in my mother tongue,” the German-born Pope explained at the beginning of the audience.

Instead of giving his main audience talk in Italian, as is customary, the Pope delivered his speech in German, then offered short greetings in Italian, French, English, Spanish, Polish and seven other languages.

Including the altar servers, about

Lebanese Catholic laments

Sharbel Salameh, a Maronite Catholic and Lebanese refugee living in Hadera, Israel, grew up thinking Israeli soldiers were the good guys.

Salameh said he remembers his father’s stories about when his family was still in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1982, and Israel was trying to evict the PLO.

“We brought the Israeli soldiers flowers, threw rice on them, a symbol of blessings, and sang them songs,” he told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview on August 3.

Later the family moved to Klayaa near the south Lebanese army base in Marj Uyun. The army worked to prevent Hezbollah out-

55,000 people had gathered in St Peter’s Square on a hot, humid day for the audience.

The Pope explained to the altar servers that he was in the midst of a series of audience talks about the Twelve Apostles.

“The apostles were friends of Jesus,” he said. “He himself called them that during the Last Supper.

“They were apostles and witnesses of Christ because they were his friends, united to him by a bond of love enlivened by the Holy Spirit,” the Pope said. Pope Benedict told

posts from growing near the Israeli border, but things changed in May 2000 when Israeli forces withdrew from Lebanon.

Pressured by Syria and Hezbollah, the Lebanese government endorsed Hezbollah’s claims that Israel still occupied Lebanese land even after Israel’s withdrawal. Salameh and his family of five, along with 7,000 Maronites, other Christians, Muslims and Druze, fled Lebanon, seeking political asylum in Israel.

Salameh, 24, said he doesn’t agree with a Beirut Center for Research and Information report that said 80 percent of Christians in Lebanon support Hezbollah, as reported July 28 by The Christian Science Monitor.

“There is no way. This makes me angry,” Salameh said. “None of my friends in Lebanon support the Hezbollah.

the young people that Jesus also calls them his friends and wants to transform them into courageous witnesses of the Gospel.

The Pope asked them to listen to Jesus’ voice and to be open to his call, particularly if he is calling them to “give yourself without reservation” in the priesthood.

“Dear friends, in reality you already are apostles of Jesus,” he said. “When you offer your service at the altar, you give a witness to all. Your attitude of prayer, your devotion that comes from the heart and

Iraqi Christians flee

Half of all Iraqi Christians have fled their country since the 2003 US-led invasion, said the auxiliary bishop of Baghdad.

Chaldean Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Andreos Abouna of Baghdad said that before the invasion there were about 1.2 million Christians in the predominantly Shiite Muslim state.

Since then the overall number has dropped to about 600,000, he said. “What we are hearing now is the alarm bell for Christianity in Iraq,” the Bishop said.

“When so many are leaving from a small community like ours, you know that it is dangerous - dangerous for the future of the church in Iraq.”

The bishop said 75 percent of Christians from Baghdad had fled the capital to escape the almost daily outbreaks of sectarian vio-

Pope Paul VI remembered

Pope marks 28th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s death

Pope Benedict XVI marked the 28th anniversary of the death of Pope Paul VI, calling him a gift of God to the Catholic Church.

Addressing visitors at his summer villa in Castel Gandolfo on August 6, Pope Benedict said some of the townspeople present probably had wanted to pray the midday Angelus with Pope Paul on the same date in 1978.

But the ailing Pope Paul could not join his guests and died a few hours later, Pope Benedict said.

“We remember him on this anniversary with hearts grateful to God, who gave him as a gift to the church in the very important years of the (Second Vatican) Council and following the council,” the Pope said.

Pope Paul, elected to succeed Pope John XXIII in 1963, presided over the last sessions of the Second Vatican Council. He died on August 6, 1978, at Castel Gandolfo.

In 1977 he named the thenMgr Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, as archbishop of Munich and Freising, Germany, and inducted him into the College of Cardinals later that year.

- CNS

is expressed in gestures, song and responses, all this is apostolate.”

Pope Benedict asked the altar boys and altar girls to be on guard against becoming too used to serving at the altar and, instead, to let themselves marvel again and again at the love of Christ who sacrificed himself on the cross and sacrifices himself on the altar.

“That love which you receive in the liturgy, carry it to everyone, especially to those places where you see love lacking,” he said.  CNS

lence. Since the beginning of the war, the number of Chaldean Catholics, who make up the country’s most numerous Christian denomination, had dropped below half a million from 800,000, he said.

Many sought new lives mostly in the neighboring countries of Syria, Jordan and Turkey, he added. Bishop Abouna said he thought it was unlikely that many of those who had emigrated would return.

Bishop Abouna spoke on August 1 from Iraq with Aid to the Church in Need UK, a Catholic charity that supports the Chaldean Catholic community in Iraq.

About 97 percent of the country’s total 27 million Iraqis are Shiite and Sunni Muslims; Christians make up the majority of the remaining 3 percent.

The Chaldean Catholics speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus.

Japanese Auxiliary Bishop Michael Goro Matsura of Osaka PHTO: CNS

Plight of Indian widows, not to be missed

This deeply moving story about the fate of widows in 1938 India is a film with universal appeal.

■ By Justin Myers

Chuyia has learned that her husband has died from an unnamed illness. This is cause for sorrow, correct? Yes, but not in the way you might expect. It is 1938 in India, Chuyia is seven years old, and she remembers neither having married nor having met her recently-deceased husband. According to the contemporary interpretations of the Hindu scriptures, Chuyia now has three options: She may burn in effigy along with her beloved, marry her husband’s younger brother (if his family consents), or finish her life in rigid self-denial and partial isolation, never seeing her parents again. The latter is chosen for her and she is whisked away to a squalid ashram for widows.

This is the premise of Water, the latest film by Indian-born, Torontobased, writer-director Deepa Mehta. With this effort she has completed what is now being called her Elements Trilogy, following Fire (1996) and Earth (1998). Do not be

discouraged if you have never seen or even heard of the first two films. This is not a trilogy in the vein of The Lord of the Rings, which tells one long story cut into three pieces. It is more like Kieslowski’s Colors trilogy in which many of the major themes recur, but little else. Fire, Earth, and Water each has a different narrative arc, different characters, even a different setting and may be enjoyed individually as distinct works.

Sarala, the young actress who plays Chuyia, issues a performance of endearing informality. Apparently, she does not know a word of Hindi, the primary language of the film, and delivered her lines through rote memorisation, a fact not at all detectable to an unknowing viewer.

When she arrives at the home for widows, Chuyia learns that she must shave her head, remain chaste, exist under barely livable conditions, and be miserable for the rest of her life. “We can endure such a life,” one of the older widows explains to her, “because half of ourselves was intertwined with our husbands. When you are half-dead, how can you truly feel pain?” “Because I’m still half alive,” Chuyia retorts - and is briskly rebuked.

Initially, Chuyia is convinced that her mother will rescue her, “if

not today then surely tomorrow”. But gradually she accepts her new life. The widows at the home are a twisted and dysfunctional, but earnestly devoted family. They care for their fellow widows - mainly by

Though set in 1938 in India, Water raises questions easily universalised. To what level and at what cost does each individual deserve to be happy?

virtue of being able to share their misery with each other. There is the acerbic, ornery Shakuntala (Seema Biswas) who manages the home with an elevated nastiness, the elderly but winsome “Auntie” (Vidula Javalgekar), the gloomy, but cautiously admirable Didi (Waheeda Rehman), and the beautiful and kind Kalyani (Lisa Ray). Shakuntala allows Kalyani to grow her hair long so she can send her down the river to work as a prostitute. Although widows are supposed to remain chaste, they have to survive

somehow, and in the sanctimonious world in which they live, no one can begrudge them this. So Kalyani supports the entire household.

Through her daily travels down the river, Kalyani meets Narayan (John Abraham), a gentle, pensive young lawyer who is intrigued by Mahatma Ghandi’s new ideas of progressivism and liberation from England. Narayan is not afraid to question traditional interpretations of the Hindu scriptures. The two soon fall in love and wish to marry, but this of course is forbidden and therein lies the major complication of the film’s plot.

However, there is a great deal more to this than “does the guy get the girl?” Like the quaint Indian locomotive in a later sequence, the movie begins leisurely and methodically. But stick with it. It soon chugs along at a brisk pace. There are plenty of unforeseeable twists and the climax is cathartic and ultimately satisfying.

The last time I travelled to 1930’s India via the movie theatre I was heading toward a Temple of Doom. (Earlier in her career Mehta herself actually directed a few episodes of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, but that is beside the point.) If you go to the theatre only to see Indiana Jones and his inferior imitators in movies that beset you

The wisdoms of adulthood

■ By Sylvia Defendi

Queensland Doctor of Theology, Drasko Dizdar, has a rather blunt statement to make – “you are not that important.”

The author of the small book, of the same name, certainly believes it is a message our society is in dire need of.

As Christians we all too often hear that we should care for others, to “serve rather than to be served,” yet the complementary advice to suppress one’s ego is not as often

heard. Dr. Dizdar conversationally recounts the tale of his chance encounter with a young boy, who is living a rather “normal” life. His mother is absent, father slightly troubled and eviction from households seems routine.

Yet this young boy’s fledgling manhood eventually spurs the author, who was completing a study on the male spiritual journey at the time, to share with this youth the simple wisdoms of true manhood in the form of a letter.

The small book of 32 pages, brightly coloured and illustrated,

could almost pass as merely a children’s book on the do’s and don’ts of being a good boy. Although easy to read, the insightful messages and deep propositions offer much more than that.

The book acknowledges an increasing lack of purpose associated with current masculinity; and through its often-simple tone sheds light on some common insecurities and misunderstandings upon entering the adult world.

While probably aimed at young teenage boys or those entering that age bracket, the book seems as

though it could be enjoyed by a variety of age groups, despite its initial appearance. As the author states, “A man is not a finished product,” but rather a work in progress.

At a time when texts focusing on the psychology of females, whether through identity in fashion or the effects of poor self-esteem, are abundant, it is refreshing to see that there are those who realise that our society is not only producing insecurity and confusion in women but also in men, and that the effects, such as the increase in male suicide, are just as devastating.

with scene after scene of heartpounding action, perhaps Water is not the film for you. But if you go to be transported to another time and place to empathise with authentic characters, then you will certainly appreciate it.

The deft cinematography brings us into this distant world with exuberance. The camera goes right down on the floor where the widows sleep and plunges amid the squalor of their lives. Interspersed with these are astonishing shots of India’s landscape, especially of the water. There is a particularly beautiful scene, unlike any I have seen before, of raindrops pattering upon the water.

Though set in 1938 in India, Water raises questions easily universalised. To what level and at what cost does each individual deserve to be happy? To what extent should we challenge traditions? What responsibility does each of us hold for those close to us?

There are still movie-goers (though fewer and fewer) who shy away from subtitled films. Some avoid movies whose time, place, language and culture are remote and unfamiliar. But Water simply portrays genuine human emotion. And this is neither remote nor unfamiliar to any of us. This is a film not to be missed.

PANORAMA a roundup of events in the archdiocese

July - September

CROSS ROADS COMMUNITY

Tuesdays 5.30-7.30pm Substance Abusers Support Group & 7pm Lectio Divina at Immaculate Conception Church. Wednesdays 7-9pm Family & Friends Support Groups. Fridays 9.30am-2pm

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

Sunday August 13

ETERNAL WORD TELEVISION NETWORK ON ACCESS 31

10-11 am: United Kingdom / Scott Hahn and Jeff Cavins [Our Father’s Plan: 7]

1-2 pm: Turn down Pride and you’ll find Mercy / Scott Hahn [EWTN Silver Jubilee address]

Sunday August 13

SOLEMNITY OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN MARY INTO HEAVEN

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

come. Reconciliation available at 1.30pm. Enq: 9447 3292.

Sunday August 13

HOLY HOUR

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

Tuesday August 15

SUNG LATIN MASS

For the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Benediction, St Francis Xavier Church, Corner Windsor Street & West Parade, East Perth, at 6:30pm. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, St Francis Church after the 1.10pm Mass until the Sung Mass at 6.30pm. Enquiries: Fr Michael Rowe 9444 9604.

Tuesday August 15

REMEMBRANCE MASS

Held at the Good Shepherd Church in Lockridge,

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

Saturday August 19 - Wednesday August 23

INTERNATIONAL PILGRIM VIRGIN STATUE

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

Saturday August 19

LAST HIGH MASS IN ST MARY’S CATHEDRAL

Victoria Square, Perth at 10am. A special last High Mass in the Traditional Latin Rite before the closure of the Cathedral at the end of August. In celebration of the 25th anniversary of Fr Timothy Deeter. All welcome. Confessions heard before and after Mass. Enquiries: Fr Michael Rowe 9444 9604.

Saturday August 19 - Sunday August 20

GIVING ONE’S ALLTHE CALL TO DISCIPLESHIP IN MARK

Young Adult Weekend Retreat. A silent Retreat Weekend for those young men and women wishing to explore and understand Religious Life and the Priesthood at Penola, Safety Bay. Cost $65 (negotiable). Offered by Western Australian Vocations Network. Guest speaker Sr Clare Sciesinski. Take time apart to listen to God speaking in your heart. BYO Musical Instrument. Enquiries: Sr Terri Emslie h: 9384 5092 or w: 9384 5433, Sr Margaret Kane 9401 9916 or margk2@bigpond.net.au

Friday August 25

FR GREG DONOVAN SILVER JUBILEE

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

BUILDING TRADES

■ BRICK REPOINTING

Phone Nigel 9242 2952.

■ PERROTT PAINTING PTY LTD

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

■ PICASSO PAINTING

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

FURNITURE REMOVAL

■ ALL AREAS

Mike Murphy 0416 226 434.

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

■ DENMARK

Holiday House 3bdr x 2bath, sleeps up to 8. BOOK NOW.

Ph: Maria 0412 083 377.

13 Farewell Mass of St Mary’s Cathedral - Bishop Sproxton

Enquiry Day, St Charles’ Seminary - Bishop Sproxton Mass & Procession for Feast Day of Balcatta Parish - Bishop Quinn

Wednesday August 23

ACWL AGM

RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

■ CATHOLICS CORNER

Retailer of Catholic products specialising in gifts, cards and apparel for baptism, communion and confirmation. Ph: 9456 1777. Shop 12, 64-66 Bannister Road, Canning Vale. Open Mon-Sat.

■ REPAIR YOUR LITURGICAL BOOKS

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

OFFICIAL DIARY

RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

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

RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

■ HUMBLE MESSENGER

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

Trading Hours: Tues-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 10am-3pm. Ph/Fax 9225 7199, 0421 131 716.

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

15 Official Opening of Angelico Art Exhibition - Fr Chris Ross OSM

17 Installation of Bishop Coleridge as Archbishop of Canberra-Goulburn - Bishop Sproxton

19/20 Episcopal Visitation, Gingin - Bishop Sproxton

PANORAMA a roundup of events in the archdiocese

The Archdiocesan Catholic Women’s League AGM will be held at the Catholic Pastoral Centre, 40A Mary Street, Highgate, commencing with Mass in the Chapel at 10am. All welcome. Please BYO lunch to share. Enquiries: Margaret 9328 8978 or Fay 9284 3084.

Sunday August 27

TAMMIN HOLY FAMILY CHURCH ANNIVERSARY

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

August

CATHOLIC BIBLE COLLEGE

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

August 30 to September 8

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF GOOD HEALTH, VAILANKANNI

7pm Holy Mass. Holy Trinity Church, 8 Burnett Street, Embleton. Hoisting of Our Lady’s Banner followed by celebration at the Hall. Please bring a plate. Friday 8 September at 7pm Holy Mass, candle light procession and celebration of Our Lady’s birthday. Enq: 9271 5528 / 9272 1379 / 9342 1053

Friday September 1

CATHOLIC FAITH RENEWAL  PRAISE & WORSHIP

St John and Paul’s Church, Pinetree Gully Road, Willetton, at 7.30pm. There will be Praise and Worship evening followed by a talk given by Fr Paul Baczynski titled “Coming to the Quiet” and thanksgiving Mass. All welcome. Enquiries: Rita 9272 1765, Rose 0403 300 720, Gertrude 9455 6576.

Saturday September 2

DAY WITH MARY

Our Lady’s Assumption, 4 Stevenson Street, Mandurah, 9am to 5pm. A day of prayer and instruction based upon the messages of Fatima. Includes Reconciliation, Holy Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Sermons, Rosaries, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Stations of the Cross. Please BYO lunch. Enquiries: 9250 8286. Bus services: 9367 1366.

Sunday September 3

DIVINE MERCY

An afternoon with Jesus and Mary will be held at St Joachim’s Church, Corner Shepperton Road and Harper Street, Victoria Park at 1.30pm. Program: Holy Rosary and Reconciliation, Sermon with Fr Doug Harris on St Gregory the Great, followed by Divine Mercy prayers and Benediction. Enquiries: John 9457 7771 or Linda 9275 6608.

Sunday September 3 - Thursday September 7

Parish Mission Our Lady of Lourdes, Rockingham.

World renowned Franciscan Father Justin Belitz will lead the Parish Mission with the theme Success: Full Living. Sessions will be 7pm Sunday to Thursday and 9.30am Monday to Thursday. All welcome. Further Details see article in The Record or contact 9527 1605.

Thursday September 7

MASS OF THE ASSOCIATION OF CATHOLIC POLICE

OFFICERS OF WA INC

Held at Our Lady Help of Christians Parish, 43 Camberwell Street, East Victoria Park. Commences 7pm. Light supper and refreshments following the Mass. For catering purposes RSVP by 1 September to either Peter Browne (9321 2155), Inspector Paul Newman (9222 1474) or Des Noonan (9291 8641).

September 7-10

FEAST OF OUR LADY MARIA SS DEL TINDARI

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

Sunday September 10

ST ISIDOR E’S PARISH OF JENNACUBBINE ANNUAL PICNIC

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

September 15 to 17

A WEEKEND WITH ST FRANCIS

All welcome. All those interested in learning more of St Francis and the spirituality of his followers are welcome to attend. The retreat will be held at the Redemptorist Retreat House. The retreat will be given by Fr Michael Brown OFM. For information and bookings please contact Mary on 9377 7925 by 31st August.

Saturday September 16

FEAST OF THE STIGMATA OF ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI

The Secular Franciscan Order in WA will be celebrating the Feast with the readings of the Stigmata of St Francis. All welcome. The celebrations will be held at the chapel of the Redemptorist Retreat House, North Perth at 3pm and will conclude with afternoon tea. Enquiries contact Mary on 9377 7925.

Sunday September 17

KOORDA CHURCH 50TH ANNIVERSARY

Our Lady of the Assumption Church at Koorda’s Golden Anniversary this year. Past Priests and parishioners are invited to come and join celebrations. Those with photos to include in a display is welcome to send them to Kath Gosper, PO Box 68, Koorda 6475. Send copies or we will copy and return them. Day commences with Mass at 10.30am, followed by lunch at Recreation hall.

Sunday September 24 to Saturday September 30

FIVE DAY DIRECTED RETREAT

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

Sunday October 15 HEALING MASS

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

Sunday October 29

WORLD CENTENARY OF CATHOLIC WOMEN’S LEAGUE

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

AL ANON FAMILY GROUPS

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

ATTENTION COUPLES

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

TUESDAY NIGHT PRAYER MEETINGS

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

EVERY SUNDAY

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

FIRST SUNDAY OF THE MONTH

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

YOUNG CATHOLIC WOMEN’S INTERFAITH FELLOWSHIP

The Council for Australian Catholic Women seeks to promote participation of women in the Australian Catholic Church. CACW is pleased to announce the

2007 application package for the Young Catholic Women’s Interfaith Fellowship is now available. It may be downloaded from: www.cacw.catholic.org. au. Enquiries: Michelle Wood, michelleww@iinet. net.au or 9345 2555.

NEW WEBSITE

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

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

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

BLESSED SACRAMENT ADORATION

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

Wednesdays SIGN LANGUAGE COURSE

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

QUEEN OF APOSTLES SCHOOL

Those with information on Queen of Apostles School, Riverton, please tell the extension group – Call 9354 1360 and ask to speak to Veronique or email your information to veronequeregnard@gmail.com. au or janellekoh@yahoo.com.au or you can put your information into the box in the office at Queen of Apostles School. Thanking you in anticipation.

LINDA’S HOUSE OF HOPE APPEAL

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

Panorama

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

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

The Last Word The other brother

Continuing the series on the apostles is the following talk given by Pope Benedict XVI at his Wednesday general audience in Rome which he dedicated to a meditation on “Andrew, the Protoklitos.”

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

In the last two catecheses we have spoken about the figure of St Peter. Now, in the measure the sources allow us, we want to know the other 11 apostles a bit better. Therefore, today we speak of Simon Peter’s brother, St Andrew, who was also one of the Twelve.

What first impresses one about Andrew is his name: It is not Hebrew, as one would expect, but Greek, indicative of a certain cultural openness of his family. We find ourselves in Galilee, where the Greek language and culture are quite present.

In the lists of the Twelve, Andrew is in second place in Matthew (10:1-4) and in Luke (6:13-16), or in the fourth place, in Mark (3:13-18) and in the Acts of the Apostles (1:13-14). In any case, without a doubt he had great prestige within the early Christian communities.

The blood tie between Peter and Andrew, as well as the joint call addressed to them by Jesus, are mentioned expressly in the Gospels. One reads: “As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men’” (Matthew 4:18-19; Mark 1:16-17).

From the fourth Gospel we know another important detail: At first, Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist; and this shows us that he was a man who was searching, who shared Israel’s hope, who wanted to know better the word of the Lord, the presence of the Lord. He was truly a man of faith and hope; and one day he heard that John the Baptist was proclaiming Jesus as “the Lamb of God” (John 1:36); then, he moved, and together with another disciple, whose name is not mentioned, followed Jesus, he who was called by John “Lamb of God.” The evangelist says: “They saw where he was staying; and they stayed with him” (John 1:40-43), demonstrating immediately an uncommon apostolic spirit. Andrew, therefore, was the first apostle who received the call and followed Jesus.

For this reason the liturgy of the Byzantine Church honours him with the nickname “Protoklitos,” which means the “first called.”

Because of the fraternal relationship between Peter and Andrew, the Church of Rome and the Church of Constantinople regard themselves as sister Churches. To underline this relationship, my predecessor, Pope Paul VI, in 1964 returned the famous relic of St Andrew, until then kept in the Vatican basilica, to the Orthodox metropolitan bishop of the city of Patras, in Greece, where, according to tradition, the apostle was crucified.

The Gospel traditions mention Andrew’s name particularly on three other occasions, allowing us to know something more about this man. The first is the multiplication of the loaves in Galilee. On that occasion, Andrew pointed out to Jesus the presence of a young boy who had five barley loaves and two fish: very little, he said, for all the people that had gathered in that place (cf. John 6:8-9).

It is worthwhile to underline Andrew’s realism. He had seen the boy, that is, he had already asked him: “But, what is this for all these people?” (ibid.) and he became aware of the lack of resources. Jesus, however, was able to make them be sufficient for the multitude of people that had gone to hear him.

The second occasion was in Jerusalem. Leaving the city, a disciple showed him the spectacle of the powerful walls that supported the temple. The Master’s response was astonishing: He said that of those walls not one stone would remain upon another. Then Andrew, along with Peter, James and John, asked him: “Tell us, when this will be, and what will be the sign when these things are all to be accomplished?” (Mark 13:1-4).

As a response to this question, Jesus pronounced an important discourse on the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world, inviting his disciples to read with care the signs of the times and to always maintain a vigilant attitude. From this episode we may deduce that we do not have to be afraid to ask Jesus questions, but at the same time, we must be ready to accept the teachings, also astonishing and difficult, which he offers us.

Recorded in the Gospels, finally, is a third initiative of Andrew. The setting continues to be Jerusalem, shortly before the Passion. On the occasion of the feast of Passover, John recounts, some Greeks had come to the Holy City, perhaps proselytes or God-fearing men, to worship the God of Israel during the feast of Passover.

Andrew and Philip, the two apostles with Greek names, were the interpreters and mediators for Jesus of this small group of Greeks. The Lord’s answer to his question seems enigmatic, as often happens in John’s Gospel, but precisely in this way it is revealed full of meaning.

Jesus says to his disciples and, through their mediation, to the Greek world: “The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:23-24). What do these words mean in this context?

Jesus wishes to say: Yes, my meeting with the Greeks will take place, but mine will not be a simple and brief talk with some persons, moved above all by curiosity. With my death, comparable to the fall into the earth of a grain of wheat, the hour of my glorification will come. From my death on the cross great fruitfulness will stem. The “dead grain of wheat” - symbol of my crucifixion - will become, in the Resurrection, bread of life for the world: It will be light for peoples and cultures.

Yes, the encounter with the Greek soul, with the Greek world, will take place in that profundity to which the grain of wheat refers,

New Rainbows: minority status - curse or choice

■ By Tony Paganoni CS

The minority status of the Church may be regarded by some as a lamentable fact, which can be addressed in one of two ways. This minority status may be regarded as one of the many historical phases the Church has had to grapple with, or as a call to implement initiatives to counteract the eventual slide into a state of feared irrelevance. However, it may be perceived, the minority status of the Church is resolutely knocking at the door

of Catholic communities in Australia and Western Europe.

This is not to deny that there are still areas of fruitful and critical collaboration between government authorities and Church leaders, particularly in the field of education, welfare and health. However, there are certain aspects of the Church, such as evangelisation, administration of sacraments as well as radical choices made in the name of the Gospel, that evade any possible link with government institutions.

These and other such projects cannot be

undertaken with a view to either please or displease public authorities. Cardinal Carlo Martini states that the realisation of being a “little flock” implies a specific ethos. Such an ethos calls for an attitude of humility, forgiveness and recognition of one’s own historical failings, as suggested by the Year of the Jubilee in 2000, as well as a vibrant sense of mission and acceptance of diversity. This new Church ethos will have an impact on the manner in which the Church negotiates its presence in the social and political field anywhere. To be and to act as a “little flock” means the

which attracts to itself the forces of the earth and of heaven and becomes bread. In other words, Jesus prophesies the Church of the Greeks, the Church of pagans, the Church of the world as fruit of his Pasch.

Very ancient traditions believe that Andrew, who transmitted these words to the Greeks, not only is the interpreter of some Greeks at the meeting with Christ, which we have just recalled, but he is considered as the Apostle of the Greeks in the years that followed Pentecost; they tell us that for the rest of his life he was the herald and interpreter of Jesus for the Greek world.

Peter, his brother, arrived in Rome from Jerusalem, passing through Antioch, to exercise his universal mission; Andrew, on the contrary, was the Apostle of the Greek world.

In this way, both in life as in death, they appear as authentic brothers, a fraternity that is expressed symbolically in the special relationship of the sees of Rome and Constantinople, Churches that are truly sisters.

A subsequent tradition, as I was saying, recounts the death of Andrew in Patras, where he also suffered the torture of crucifixion. However, in that supreme moment, as his brother Peter, he asked to be placed on a cross different from that of Jesus. In his case, it was a cross in the shape of an X, that is, with the two beams crossed diagonally, which for this reason is called “St Andrew’s cross.”

This is what he would have said on that occasion, according to an ancient narrative (of the beginning of the sixth century), entitled “Passion of Andrew”: “Hail, O cross, inaugurated by the body of Christ, which has become adornment of his members, as if they were precious pearls. Before the Lord mounted you, you caused an earthly terror. However, now, gifted with a celestial love, you have become a gift. Believers know how much joy you possess, how many gifts you offer. Confident, therefore, and full of joy, I come so that you will also receive me exultant as disciple of him who hanged from you. … Blessed cross, which received the majesty and beauty of the members of the Lord …, take me and lead me far from men and hand me to my Master so that, through you, he will receive me who through you has redeemed me. Hail, O cross, yes, truly, hail!”

As we can see, we are before an extremely profound Christian spirituality, which sees in the cross, beyond an instrument of torture, the incomparable means of a full assimilation with the Redeemer, with the grain of wheat fallen into the earth. We must learn a very important lesson: Our crosses have value if they are considered and welcomed as part of the cross of Christ, if they are touched by the reflection of his light. Only through that cross our sufferings are also ennobled and attain their true meaning.

May the Apostle Andrew teach us to follow Jesus with promptness (cf. Matthew 4:20; Mark 1:18), to speak with enthusiasm of him to all those with whom we meet and, above all, to cultivate a relationship of authentic familiarity with him, conscious that only in him can we find the ultimate meaning of our life and death. TRANSLATION

conscious adoption of the separation existing between spirituality and the world and the ability to offer specific services to society.

What may initially seem a disadvantage may very well turn out to be an opportunity for the Church. A genuine Church experience can become a reservoir of meaning and relevance in a world starved of both.

“See how they love one another,” used to be a common refrain in the early times of the Church. With the foundations of its tradition, the Church can keep offering a strong value system to communities.

BY ZENIT.ORG

Andrew’s successor: Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople places candles as he celebrates a special liturgy on the feast of St Andrew in the Church of St George in Istanbul, Turkey

PHOTO: CNS/REUTERS

The Record - The PArish. The NAtion. The world.

Kalgoorlie-Boulder

Kalgoorlie - St Mary’s

Sun: 10:00am and 5:30pm

Ph: 9021 2100

Boulder - All Hallow’s

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 8:00am

Coolgardie - St Mary’s

Sat: 6:00pm (Jan to Mar & July to Sept)

Sun: 9:00am (Apr to June & Oct to Dec)

Norseman - St Joseph’s

Sat: 6:00pm (Apr to June & Oct to Dec)

Sun: 10:30am (Jan to Mar & July to Sept)

Kalumburu

Our Lady of the Assumption

Sat: 5:30pm

Sun: 7:00am

Ph: 9161 4342

Karratha St Paul’s

Sat: 6:00pm

Sun: 9:00am

Ph: 9185 1406

Dampier - St Peter’s

Sun: 7:30am

Karrinyup

Our Lady Good Counsel

Sun: 8:00am

Ph: 9446 1666

Katanning

St Patrick’s

Sat: 6:00pm (1st)

Sun: 10:30am (2nd, 3rd and 4th)

Ph: 9821 4675

Broomhill - Our Lady of Fatima

Sat: 6:00pm (2nd and 3rd)

Sun: 9:30am (5th)

Kellerberrin St Joseph’s

Sun: 8:00am

Ph: 9045 4061

Trayning - St Joseph’s

Sat: 6:00pm

Cunderdin

Sun: 11:00am

Tammin

Sun: 9:00am

Kelmscott

Good Shepherd

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 8:00am, 10:00am and 6:00pm

Ph: 9495 1204

Karragullen - Sacred Heart

Sun: 9:30am

Kojonup

St Bernard’s

Sat: 6:00pm (4th)

Sun: 8:30am (1st, 2nd and 3rd)

Ph: 9831 1135

Tambellup - St Michael’s

Sun: 8:30am (4th) and 10:30am (1st)

Kununurra

St. Vincent Pallotti

Sun: 8:30am

Ph: 9168 1027

Kwinana

St Vincent’s

Sat: 6:00pm

Sun: 7:30am and 9:30am

Ph: 9419 2920

LLa Grange-Bidyadanga

St John the Baptist

Sun: 9:00am

Ph: 9192 4950

Lake Grace - Maria Regina

Sun: 8:00am (2nd), 9:00am (5th), 10:00am (4th) and 6:00pm (1st and 3rd)

Ph: 9865 1248

Lake King

Sun: 10:00am (1st)

Leederville St. Mary’s

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 8:00am, 9:15am (Italian) and 10:30am

Ph: 9444 9624

Leonora-Laverton-Leinster

Leonora - Sacred Heart

Sun: 9:00am (4th)

Ph: 9963 4050

Laverton Christ the Redeemer

Sat: 6:00pm (4th), 6:00pm

Liturgy of the Word and Communion (2nd)

Leinster - Chrisitan Centre

Sun: 4:30pm (4th), 4:30pm

Liturgy of the Word and Communion (2nd)

Leschenault

Christ the Living Vine

Sat: 6:00pm

Sun: 8:30am

Ph: 9797 1684

Lesmurdie

Our Lady of Lourdes

Sat: 6:00pm

Sun: 8:00am, 9:30am and 5:30pm

Ph: 9291 6282

Pickering Brook - Our Lady of Grace

Sun: 8:30am

Ph: 9291 6282

Lockridge Good Shepherd

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 8:00am and 9:30am

Ph: 9279 8119

Lynwood-Langford

St Jude’s

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 7:30am, 9:00am and 5:30pm

Ph: 9458 1946

MMaddington

Holy Family

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 7:30am and 9:00am

Ph: 9493 1703

Maida Vale

St Francis of Assisi

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 8:00am, 9:30am and 6:00pm

Ph: 9454 6385

Mandurah

Our Lady’s Assumption

November to April

Sat: 6:00pm

Sun: 7:30am and 9:30am

May to October

Sat: 6:00pm

Sun: 8:00am and 9:30am

Ph: 9581 2061

Manjimup

St. Joseph’s

Sat: 7:00pm

Sun: 8:30am (1st, 3rd and 5th) and 10:00am (2nd and 4th)

Ph: 9771 2873

Manning St Pius X

Sat: 6:00pm

Sun: 7:30am and 9:00am

Ph: 9450 4171

Margaret River St Thomas More

Sat: 6:00pm

Sun: 10:00am

Ph: 9757 2264

Maylands

Queens of Martyrs

Sat: 6:00pm

Sun: 9:30am

Ph: 9271 3731

Merredin

St. Mary’s

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 8:30am

Ph: 9041 1118

Midland

St. Brigid’s

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 9:30am and 6:00pm

Ph: 9274 1495

Gidgegannup

Sun: 9:30am (1st)

Herne Hill - St. Michael’s

Sun: 8:00am

Mirrabooka

Westminster - St. Gerard Majella

Sat: 6:00pm

Sun: 8:00am, 9:30am and 6:00pm

Ph: 9349 2315

Balga - Majella Mass Centre

Sun: 9:00am

Moora

St John the Baptist

Sat: 6:30pm

Ph: 9651 1054

Badgingarra - Community Hall Mass Centre

Sun: 8:00am (1st and 3rd)

Bindi Bindi - Our Lady of Lourdes

Sun: 8:00am (4th and 5th

Alternate with Miling)

Cervanties - Ambulance Centre

Sun: 10:00am (2nd)

Dandaragan - St Anne’s Anglican

Church

Sun: 8:00am (2nd)

Jurien Bay - CWA Hall Mass Centre

Sun: 10:00am (1st and 3rd)

Sun: 9:00am (Liturgy of the Word and Communion Service) (4th and 5th)

Miling - Holy Rosary

Sun: 8:00am (4th and 5th

Alternate with Bindi Bindi)

Morawa-Three Springs

Holy Cross - Sat: 6:00pm (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th)

Ph: 9971 1150

Three Springs - St Paul’s

Sun: 10:00am (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th)

Perenjori - St Joseph’s

Sat: 6:00pm (3rd and 5th)

Sun: 8:00am (1st and 4th)

Morley

Infant Jesus

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 7:30am, 9:30am, 11:30am

(Italian) and 6:00pm

Ph: 9276 8500

Mt Barker

Sacred Heart

Sun: 8:00am (2nd and 4th) and 10:00am (1st, 3rd and 5th)

Ph: 9851 1119

Cranbrook - St Anne’s

Sat: 5:00pm (1st)

Frankland - St Margaret Mary

Sat: 5:00pm (3rd)

Mt Lawley

St Paul

Sat: 6:00pm

Sun: 8:00am and 9:30am

Ph: 9271 5253

Mt Magnet-Cue-Meekatharra St Brigid’s

Sun: 10:00am (3rd), 10:00am

Liturgy of the Word and Communion (1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th)

Ph: 9963 4050

Cue - St Patrick’s

Sun: 8:00am (3rd), 10:00am

Liturgy of the Word and Communion (1st, 2nd, 4th and

5th)

Meekatharra - Christ the King

Sat: 6:30pm (3rd), 6:30pm

Liturgy of the Word and Communion (1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th)

Mullewa-Mingenew

Our Lady of Mt Carmel

Sun: 8:00am

Ph: 9961 1181

Mingenew - St Joseph’s

Sat: 6:00pm (2nd and 4th)

Sun: 6:00pm (1st, 3rd and 5th)

Mundaring

Sacred Heart

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 9:15am

Ph: 9295 1059

Chidlow - Our Lady of Good Counsel

Sun: 7:30am

Myaree

Corpus Christi

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 7:30am and 9:30am

Ph: 9330 3584

NNarrogin

St Mathew’s

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 9:30am Communion

Service (1st) and 9:30am Mass

(All other Sundays)

Ph: 9881 1153

Williams - St. Mathew’s

Sun: 8:00am (2nd and 4th)

Nedlands

Holy Rosary

Sat: 6:00pm

Sun: 8:00am and 9:30am

Ph: 9386 1870

Dalkeith - Carmelite Monastery

Sun: 11:00am

Newman

St Joseph’s

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 8:30am

Ph: 9175 1030

New Norcia

Abbey

Sun: 9:00am

Calingiri - St Anselm’s

Sun: 9:30am (2nd)

Yerecoin - St Benedict’s

Sun: 9:30am (4th)

Nollamara

Our Lady of Lourdes

Sat: 6:00pm

Sun: 8:00am and 10:00am

Ph: 9345 5541

Northam

St. Joseph’s

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 8:00am

Ph: 9622 5411

Baker’s Hill - St. John the Baptist

Sun: 9:30 am (1st, 3rd and 5th)

Northampton

Our Lady of Ara, Coeli

Sun: 8:00am

Ph: 9934 1190

Kalbarri - Our Lady Help of

Christians

Sun: 5:00pm

Nanson - Our Lady of Fatima

Sat: 6:00pm

North Beach

Our Lady of Grace

Sat: 6:00pm

Sun: 7:30am, 9:30am and 5:30pm

Ph: 9448 4888

North Perth

Redemptorist Monastery

Sat: 6:30am and 5:00pm

and 6:00pm

Ph: 9328 6600

OOcean Reef St Simon Peter

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 8:00am, 10:00am and 6:00pm

Ph: 9300 4885

Ongerup

St John Vianney

Sun: 10:00am (2nd)

Ph: 9837 4091

Osborne Park

St Kieran’s

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 8:30am and 10:00 am (Italian)

Ph: 9444 1334

PPalmyra

Our Lady of Fatima

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 7:30am, 9:45am, 12pm noon (Latin) and 6:30pm

Ph 9339 1298

Pemberton Sacred Heart

Sun: 8:30am (2nd and 4th) and 10:30am (1st, 3rd and 5th)

Ph: 9776 1711

Northcliffe - St Joseph’s

Sun: 6:00pm (4th)

Perth

St Mary’s Cathedral (moving to St Joachim’s, Victoria Park, from September onwards - see entry for Victoria Park)

St Francis Xavier

Sun: 9:30am

Subiaco - Catherine Laboure

Sun: 8:30am

Pinjarra

St. Augustine’s

Sat: 6:30pm (2nd and 4th)

Sun: 10:00am (1st, 3rd and 5th)

Ph: 9531 1227

Boddington - St. Joseph’s

Sun: 8:00am (1st and 3rd)

Dwellingup - St. Patrick’s

Sun: 8:30am (1st and 3rd)

Port Hedland St Cecilia’s

Sat: 6:00pm

Sun: 8:30am

Ph: 9173 1687

Port Kennedy St Bernadette’s

Sat: 6:00pm

Sun: 7:30am and 9:00am

Ph: 9593 4670

QQueen’s Park-East Cannington

Queens Park - St Joseph’s

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 8:30am

Ph: 9451 5586

East Cannington - St Francis of Assisi

Sun: 10:00am

RRangeway St John’s

Sun: 8:30am

Sat: 6:30pm Sun: 7:30am 9:00am and 7:00pm

Ph: 9354 0707

Rivervale St Augustine’s Sat: 6:00pm Sun: 7:30am and 9:30am Ph: 9361 2271

Rockingham Our Lady of Lourdes Sat: 7:00pm Sun: 7:30am, 9:30am and 7:00pm Ph: 9527 1605

Safety Bay - St Joseph’s Convent Sun: 8:00am

Rottnest Island Holy Trinity Sun: 9:00am Ph: 9292 5052

SScarborough Immaculate Heart of Mary Sat: 6:00pm Sun: 7:30am and 9:30am Ph: 9341 1124

Shenton Park St Aloysius Sat: 6:00pm Sun: 9:30am Ph: 9381 5383

Southern Cross Our Lady of Montserrat Sat: 6:30pm Sun: 8:30am Ph: 9049 1049

Westonia - St Lucy’s

Sun: 10:45am (1st, 3rd and 5th)

South Hedland St John the Baptist

Sat: 7:00pm

Sun: 8:30am and 10:00am Ph: 9172 1254

South Perth St Columba Sat: 6:30pm Sun: 7:30am and 9:30am Ph: 9367 3950

Spearwood St Jerome Sat: 6:00pm Sun: 8:00am and 10:00am Ph: 9418 1229

Subiaco St. Joseph’s Sat: 6:00pm Sun: 8:00am and 10:00 am Ph: 9381 0400

TThornlie Sacred Heart St: 6:00pm Sun: 8:00am and 10:00am Ph: 9459 4459

Tom Price St Thomas’ Sat: 5:00pm Sun: 8:00am Paraburdoo - St Teresa’s Sun: 10:30am

Toodyay

St John The Baptist Sat: 5:00pm Ph: 9622 5411

Sun: 7:00am, 9:00am, 10:30am

Riverton Our Lady Queen of Apostles

The Record - Mass Times 2006

Brookton

VVictoria Park

St. Joachim’s parish - pro Cathedral

Sat: 6:00pm

Sun: 8:00am, 9:30am, 11:00pm and 6.00pm

Ph: 9361 1057

WWagin

St Joseph’s

Sun: 8:30 (1st) and 6:30pm (All other Sundays)

Ph: 9881 1153

Dumbleyung - St John the Baptist

Sun: 10:30am (1st)

Wanneroo

St. Anthony of Padua

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 7:30am and 9:00am

Ph: 9405 1110

Waroona-Yarloop

Waroona - St Patrick’s

Sat: 7:00pm (1st and 3rd)

Sun: 10:00am (2nd and 4th)

Yarloop - St Joseph’s

Sun: 8:30am (2nd, 4th and 5th)

West Perth St. Brigid’s

Sat: 6:30pm (Spanish)

Sun: 8:30am, 10:15am (Italian), 11:30am (Polish) and 5:00pm (Chinese)

Ph: 9328 6938

Paul and Leisa Thigpen write about some of the ways they have tried to make the Sabbath a living reality for their family

According to Church tradition, every Sunday is a “little Easter,” with the Mass a joyful celebration of our Lord’s victory over death. From biblical times, it has been known as “the Lord’s Day” (see Revelation 1:10) because Christ rose from the grave on a Sunday morning; its

Whitford

Craigie - Our Lady of the Mission

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 8:00am, 9:30am, 11:00am and 5:45pm

Ph: 9307 2776

Wickham

Our Lady of the Pilbara

Sun: 10:00am

Ph: 9187 1525

Willagee

Our Lady Queen of Peace

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 7:00am, 9:30am and 7:15pm

Ph: 9337 1949

Willetton

Saints John and Paul

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 7:30am, 9:00am and 10:30am

Ph: 9332 5992

Wilson

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Sat: 7:00pm

Sun: 9:30am

Ph: 9458 6586

Wongan Hills-Dalwallinu

St Gregory’s

Sun: 8:00am (1st, 2nd and 3rd)

Ph: 9671 1202

Ballidu

Sat: 11:00am (1st and 3rd)

Sun: 10:00am (2nd)

Dalwallinu

Sat: 9:00am (1st and 3rd)

Woodvale

name in languages such as Spanish (“Domingo”) still reflect that designation. Above all, Sunday is a day for worship and communion with God.

Scripture and prayer.

For that reason, Sunday Mass is obligatory for Catholics, and many Catholic families have developed customs that help them give due honor to this Holy Sacrifice and prepare them to draw greater spiritual benefits from it.

In some homes, for example, the custom on Saturday evening is to read together the Scripture lessons for the next morning. Then a simple discussion may follow. Other families have chosen to forgo con-

St Luke’s

Sat: 6:00pm

Sun: 8:00am and 9:30am

Ph: 9409 6291

Wyndham

Queen of Apostles

Sun: 5:00pm (June to October) and 6:00pm (November to May)

Ph: 9191 1242

Warmun - Bower Shed beside the School

Sun: 5:00pm (1st and 3rd)

Halls Creek - St Mary’s Church Hall

Sun: 8:30am (if the Priest is unavailable a Eucharistic Service will be held)

YYanchep-Lancelin

St Anne’s

Sat: 6:00pm

Ph: 9561 2172

Lancelin - Our Lady of Fatima

Sun: 9:45am

Guilderton - Community Hall

Sun: 8:00am

Yangebup

Mater Christi

Sat: 6:00pm

Sun: 8:00am, 10:00am and 5:00pm

Ph: 9417 4763

York

St Patrick’s Sun: 9:30am

Beverley Sun: 8:00am

Sat: 6:30pm (6:00pm in Winter) (Alternate with Pinjelly)

Pinjelly

Sat: 6:30pm (6:00pm in Winter) (Alternate with Brookton)

Other Mass Centres

Bullsbrook

Shrine of Virgin of the Revelation, Mother of the Church

Sun: 2:00pm

Ph: 9571 1699

Crawley

St Thomas More College Chapel

Sat: 5:45pm (During academic year)

Sun: 5:45pm (During academic year)

Ph: 9386 0111

Fremantle

Holy Spirit Chapel

Sun: 6:00pm (No Mass in January)

Ph: 9433 0551

Inglewood

All Hallows - Melkite Rite (Eparchy of St Michael, Archangel)

Sun: 10:30am

Ph: 9345 0517

Joondalup

Holy Spirit Catholic Chapel

Sat: 9:00am

Ph: 9301 4111

Maylands

Our Lady Queen of Poland - Polish

Community

Sat: 6:30pm

Sun: 8:00am, 9:30am and 7:00pm

Ph: 9272 2451

St John the Baptist - Ukranian Rite (Eparchy of Sts Peter and Paul)

Sat: 7:00pm

Sun: 9:30am

Sun: 4:00pm (2nd Sunday in Northam)

Ph: 9271 4711

North Fremantle

St Anne’s - Croatian Community

Sat: 6:00pm

Sun: 8:15am (English) and 10:00am (Croatian)

Ph: 9335 4485

Perth St John’s Pro-Cathedral - Traditional Latin

Rite

Sun: 7:30am, 9:15am and 11:15am

Ph: 9444 9604

Westminster Vietnamese Catholic Community Centre

Sat: 6:00pm

Sun: 9:00am and 5:30pm Ph: 9440 1678

Father’s will for her at every step of her life.

The triangular symbol above Jesus, known as the Father symbol, is also a symbol of the Trinity. Below, the Son hangs upon the Cross with His Mother at His side, while the dove-like shape of the Cross represents the Holy Spirit.

The Schoenstatt Shrine in Armadale is open from 8am to 8.30pm Monday to Friday. On Fridays, Holy Mass is celebrated at 10am, and is open for Eucharistic Adoration from 11am to 9pm. On weekends the Shrine is open until 8.30pm. Every thrid Sunday of the month, the 3pm Covenant devotion is conducted by members of the Schoenstatt movement. Locatede in the picturesque foothills above the Southwestern Highway just outside Armadale, the Shrine makes an ideal and peaceful destination for parish and personal or family pilgrimages. The Sisters who administer the Shrine welcome welcome all visitors and can be contacted on: (08) 9399 2349 or via email: shrine@elink.net.au

versation on the way to Mass and to fill the time instead with prayers of preparation.

Mass intentions.

An especially worthy custom is to have Masses offered regularly for various family intentions. Perhaps family members might take turns choosing the intention.

Thanksgiving.

Parents also do well to encourage in their children the custom of making a proper Thanksgiving after Holy Communion. They might pray the Anima Christi or another prayer typically found in the back of hymnals. If the parents set the example, such prayer can become a natural habit of devotion with countless benefits.

In ancient times God commanded the Jewish people to observe a weekly Sabbath, or day of rest (see Exodus 20:8), and the Church has obeyed that commandment as well. Catholics are expected to refrain from all unnecessary physical labor on Sundays (for the Jews, it was Saturdays).

Sadly, Sunday is typically viewed even by many Catholics as a time for catching up on chores that weren’t taken care of in the previous week. Meanwhile, many people have jobs that require them to work through the weekend.

Of course, we don’t want to be like the religious people Jesus reprimanded for making the Sabbath into a legalistic burden full of petty regulations (see Matthew 12:1-14).

Nor do we want to insist as some Christians in earlier generations did that recreation should be outlawed on the Sabbath; having fun can certainly be restful and refreshing.

Nevertheless, we’ve come to see that the principle of a regular Sabbath rest remains integral

to God’s plan for his creation (see Genesis 2:2-3). If the Lord Himself rested after his labors, shouldn’t we do the same?

Sabbath preparations.

Sometimes, of course, we have to labour to enter into rest. By that we mean that we may have to prepare ahead for the day — in fact, Friday was known to the ancient Jews as the “Day of Preparation” for that very reason.

In our home, we do all we can to take care of necessary business on Saturday so that Sunday remains free for relaxation.

Once Sunday comes, we like to postpone every possible chore till another day. The rule in our house is that no one cleans rooms, makes beds, or performs other household duties on Sunday. We eat leftovers using paper goods so there is no food to prepare and no dishes to wash.

The Sabbath meal.

Some families we know like to begin their Sabbath at sunset on the evening before the day, as was the ancient Jewish custom. They light a candle as they sit down to the Saturday evening meal, and the candle remains lit until sunset on Sunday.

They have other customs as well for this Sabbath dinner: a table grace sung only on that weekly occasion, a Sabbath blessing spoken by the parents to the children, and even a menu item prepared exclusively for the Sabbath, such as a particular kind of bread.

However you choose to make the Sabbath a weekly tradition in your home, you’ll find that the pause refreshes and strengthens you for your labors throughout the rest of the week.

The Last Mass

Don’t want to be caught out? In the Archdiocese of Perth, the last Masses on a Sunday can be found at...

Wembley – Our Lady of Victories

Sun: 7:30pm

Willagee – Our Lady Queen of Peace

Sun: 7:15pm

Beaconsfield - Christ the King

Sun: 7:00pm

Glendalough - St Bernadette’s

Sun: 7:00pm

Maylands - Our Lady Queen of PolandPolish Community

Sun: 7:00pm

Riverton - Our Lady Queen of Apostles Sun: 7:00pm

Rockingham - Our Lady of Lourdes

Sun: 7:00pm

LATEST SATURDAY VIGIL MASS TIMES

Cloverdale - Notre Dame

Sat: 7:00pm

Maylands - St John the Baptist - Ukranian Rite (Eparchy of Sts Peter and Paul) Sat: 7:00pm

Rockingham - Our Lady of Lourdes

Sat: 7:00pm

For the early birds

Shift workers, those who rise early and others In the Archdiocese of Perth, the earliest Masses on a Sunday can be found at...

Fremantle - The Basilica of St Patrick

Sun: 7:00am

North Perth - Redemptorist Monastery

Sun: 7:00am

Willagee - Our Lady Queen of Peace Sun: 7:00am