The Record Newspaper 10 October 2007

FOCOLARE PHENOMENON : How a new movement changed me Page 7

WE’RE 40: Nollamara parish marks a special anniversary Page 13

CATHERINE PARISH: Marriage is still made in Heaven VISTA 4

Mum, Dad the key

Families are the missionaries we most need: Perth speakers

Pray Rosary

Blooms of Perth’s hills point to the universe’s Master artist

ritory’

for world peace: Pope

Call issued on Feast of great traditional prayer

■ By John

Thavis

VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Pope Benedict XVI urged Catholics to pray the Rosary for peace in the world.

Speaking to pilgrims on October 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, the Pope recalled that Marian apparitions at Fatima, Portugal, 90 years ago underlined the need to pray for the end of World War I.

“We too want to welcome the maternal request of the Virgin, committing ourselves to reciting the Rosary with faith for peace in families, among nations and throughout the world,” he told several thousand people in St Peter’s Square.

The Pope, noting that October was dedicated in a special way to evangelisation, said the Rosary can stimulate missionary action by leading Christians to meditate on the life of Jesus.

Australia’s bishops sever Amnesty ties

■ By Anthony Barich

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has severed all ties between Amnesty International and the Catholic Church in Australia due to the human rights organisation changing its neutral stance on abortion.

ACBC president, Archbishop

Continued - Page 5

Family: Byron and Francine Pirola speak at the Celebrate Families gathering organised by the Perth Archdiocesan Committee for Family and For Life held at Queen of Apostles Parish in Riverton last weekend. PHOTO: ANTHONY BARICH

PHOTO: PETER ROSENGREN

Visa procedures made easier for pilgrims

Visitors to Australia for World Youth Day 2008 (WYD08) in Sydney next year will enjoy smoother entry after the Australian Government last week simplified visa procedures.

Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on October 3, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship will:

● provide visas for registered pilgrims, free of government charges.

● offer pilgrims a three month visa allowing multiple entries, and

● not limit the number of visas granted overall or from a particular country.

The MOU was signed in Sydney on October 3 by WYD08 Local Organising Committee chairman Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, and Assistant Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Teresa Gambaro.

“This confirms the Federal Government’s strong support for a successful World Youth Day from 1520 July next year,” Cardinal Pell said.

“These initiatives will make it easier and more affordable for pilgrims to travel to Sydney to attend this historic event.

“On current indications, we are expecting around 140,000 international visitors to attend, almost half of whom will be from the United States, Italy and Germany.

“We hope they will be drawn not only by the beauty of Sydney and Australia, but also by the opportunity to experience the life-changing impact that World Youth Days have had on millions of

A LIFE OF PRAYER

NUNS

young people since the event was established by Pope John Paul II in 1986.”

More than 500,000 people are expected to attend the Final Mass at Randwick Racecourse and Centennial Park on Sunday 20 July, to be celebrated by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

WYD08 – hosted by the Catholic Church, but open to all - will mark the first visit to Australia by Pope Benedict XVI.

Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile, the senior Australian Government representative on the World Youth Day organising committee, says the MOU reinforces the already significant commitment from the Australian Government to World Youth Day.

“The Prime Minister’s recent announcement of a $15 million grant to assist in staging this wonderful event at Randwick Racecourse in July 2008 comes on top of our previous commitment of $20 million,” Mr Vaile said last week.

He admitted that the outbreak of horse flu that has brought the racing industry to its knees had caused some tremors, but he said it will still work out.

“Obviously the recent outbreak of Equine Influenza has brought significant challenges in managing the interests of all parties. I am confident all can work constructively to ensure preparations for the event can be carried out with minimal disruption and all parties comply with a workable quarantine protocol established by the NSW Department of Primary Industries. WYD presents a tremendous opportunity for young Christians from Australia and overseas to join together and celebrate their faith in the presence of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

“It is also a great opportunity for pilgrims to experience a taste of life in Australia, with many hopefully taking the opportunity to travel to our great attractions in regional Australia.”

Wanted: Australia’s best entertainers to wow the world

Australia’s best entertainers are wanted for the world’s biggest youth event in Sydney next year.

The international spotlight will be on Sydney in July 15–20, 2008 when over 500,000 people will be attending World Youth Day 2008.

A major component to the event is the Youth Festival, where organisers are calling all Australian entertainers and artists to apply before the deadline of 26 October 2007.

Applications can be made online at www.wyd2008.org, where the latest DVD about the Youth Festival is featured.

The music in the DVD is from a youth festival applicant, comedy act “Popple” from the United States of America.

“We have received some great entries so far, but want to make sure that all of that rare Australian talent is showcased at World Youth Day,” said Claire Atkins, Youth Festival Manager.

“We are looking for all unique Australian artists, especially in the categories of short film, music and

theatre,” she said. The three-day Youth Festival takes place on July 16, 17 and 18 next year and will feature music, performing arts, visual art exhibitions, debate, film, forums, conversations, community gatherings, street performers, workshops and a vocations expo.

World Youth Day 2008 will bring more people to Sydney than the Summer Olympics that the city hosted in 2000.

WYD, a celebration of Catholic community and Christian values, is organised by the Catholic Church, but open to all.

Some of the acts expected to appear at World Youth Day include Bronxbased rapper/preacher, Franciscan Father Stan Fortuna and Australian band Portico 77 – both of whom performed at a special one-off show outside St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney in early 2007.

WYD08 will also mark the first visit by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to Australia. Applications close on October 26. For enquiries on other events regarding World Youth day, contact the Perth WYD office on 9422 7944 or email wydperth@highgate-perthcatholic.org.au.

Art for good cause

Hearing that funds raised from Trinity College’s 4th annual Art Exhibition would go towards scholarships for those who otherwise could not attend the College, prominent artist, Arturo Cruz donated one of his prized paintings for auction. The exhibition will feature artists Murray Gill, Leon Pericles, Kelly Cocks, Maria Zeiss and Herman Pekel, as well as artworks in the form of paintings, photography, glassware, jewellery and sculptures.

The exhibition will be open to the public from 10am until 4pm Saturday, October 20 and again, during those same hours on Sunday October 21.

This year the exhibition will be part of the Trinity College Springtime Fair and Family Fun Day on Sunday October 21, which will be located on the College grounds. The fair is held every three years and will feature a Battle of the Bands, crafts, gifts, games, a large selection of plants, white elephant stall, books, gourmet baskets and much more.

For further information contact 9223 8132 or 9276 2846.

PHOTO

Here we come Perth

Swiss come early to prepare for Days in the Dioceses.

■ By Anthony Barich

To give but a glimpse of the anticipation that an estimated 3000 international pilgrims have about descending on Perth for Days in the Dioceses for four days of formation and fun before World Youth Day, two intrepid Swiss pilgrims have come here nine months early.

Jean-Marie Duvoisin, 29, and Thomas Stocker, 22, arrived in Perth for a two-day stopover last week on their way to Sydney to scope out the Harbour City before they return in July next year with 200 from the Swiss-German part of Switzerland they represent.

About 400 pilgrims aged 16-35, plus a few priests and four bishops are expected to attend World Youth Day from Switzerland next year –200 from the German-speaking part in the north and east of the country, 150 from the French-speaking part and 50 from the Italian speaking area.

While the other Swiss pilgrims chose places closer to Sydney for their Days in the Dioceses experience, Jean-Marie and Thomas chose Perth because they wanted to experience a different side of Australia

– literally – and because Jean-Marie had been just about everywhere else except here. Darwin was also an option, but they couldn’t find any international flights direct to the Northern Territory.

Though he’s never been to a World Youth Day before except for celebrations in his own region, he can’t wait for his Perth Days in the Diocese experience if only from what he’s heard about past events.

“People have come to a fuller understanding of other cultures and ways of life by sharing formation with other Catholics, then once they arrive at World Youth Day people have found their vocation,” Thomas says. “There are no doubt difficulties in organising Days in the Dioceses and World Youth Day events, but opportunities to talk about your faith with others from a different culture can only enhance your faith.”

Auxiliary Bishop of Basel, Switzerland, Denis Theurillat, made a speech that resonated with profound wisdom for Thomas, as the prelate spoke of the importance of bringing friends who feel distant from the Church to World Youth Day. The boys are planning a six-week pilgrimage that includes Perth’s Days in the Dioceses (July 10-14), then World Youth Day itself, then off to pilgrimage sites around NSW, the Blue Mountains and Canberra, then Brisbane.

Take care when

next to the WACA at the Causeway end of Hay St. Plenty of FREE Parking is available.

Enquiries: Fair Coordinator: 9276 2846

TOBA Art Exhibition Coordinator: 9223 8132

TOBA Art Exhibition A Fun Family Day Out!

Springtime Fair Family Fun Day Sunday, 21 October 2007 10:00am – 4:00pm.

Fun & Games, Exotic Craft and Gifts, Gourmet Baskets, Delicious Food, Plants, Fresh Produce and Preserves, White Elephant Stall, Pre-loved Books, Live Music and so much morCome and join in the fun. Entry is FREE

TOBA Art Exhibition Saturday, 20 October & Sunday, 21 October 10:00am – 4:00pm.

Guest Artist Arturo Cruz. A huge selection of Paintings, Ceramics, Jewellery and Glassware. Come and browse or start shopping for your Christmas Presents!

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Is it true that most of my sales are not from direct advertising, but from personal recommendation, repeat business and reputation?

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Is it true I sell over 1,300 vehicles every month in Victoria Park, and that is the biggest number from any one location in Australia?

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Is it true that when people come to do business with me, I guarantee they will be treated with courtesy, sincerity, professionalism and efficiency?

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Flaming inspired: Swiss World Youth Day coordinators Jean-Marie Duvoisin and Thomas Stocker take time out to reflect at the Eternal Flame at Kings Park’s War Memorial last week before heading to Sydney to scope out the city for their trip of a lifetime in July next year.

PHOTO: ANTHONY BARICH

Bishop defends plight of African refugees

■ Paul Gray

Adelaide Bishop Greg O’Kelly has slammed immigration minister Kevin Andrews from the pulpit in an impassioned defence of the right of African Refugees to live in Australia.

At the end of a Mass in Adelaide’s St Francis Xavier Cathedral last Sunday, Bishop O’Kelly addressed African and particularly Sudanese members of the congregation.

“I know from what some of you have been telling me that many

of you, especially the Sudanese, have been hurt by the words of Mr Andrews” the Bishop said.

“Reduce the proportion of African Refugees being admitted to Australia, from 70% to 30%.”

Bishop O’Kelly, a Jesuit, said the immigration minister has apparently decided to reduce the proportion of African Refugees being admitted to Australia, from 70% to 30% of

the annual intake of refugees and asylum seekers.

This is being done on the basis of stories that recently arrived Africans are having great difficulty settling into the Australian way of life, the Bishop said.

“Bad social behaviour” by Sudanese is one of the reasons listed by Mr Andrews for his decision, the Bishop said.

Addressing the Sudanese people present in the Cathedral, Bishop O’Kelly then said ‘In making his remark the minister has unwittingly but distressingly helped fuel the

racism of some in our community.

Some of you have been insulted in public in recent days.

“The police say their experience does not back up the Minister’s remarks.

“Not so long ago Senator Vanstone as Minister for Immigration just before Mr Andrews said that Australia should be looking to the Sudan rather that some parts of Asia for people in the greatest need for re-settlement.

She spoke of the desperate plight of the Sudanese in Darfur and misery of existence in the massive

Kakuma refugee camp. “We know that the misery is still there so there is no justification on that account to reduce the number of African people coming to Australia.”

Bishop O’Kelly ended his remarks with an expression of regret for the immigration minister’s words.

“I expressed my sorrow for the hurt you have suffered through the ministers remarks.

“This country is now your home and this is your Church.

“Thank you for coming to this land.

“You are God’s special gifts.”

Vatican newspaper’s survival depends on its revival

■ By John Thavis

The recent change at the helm of the Vatican newspaper marks an effort to revive a publication that has gone from glory days to malaise.

Founded 146 years ago, the daily L’Osservatore Romano once had a circulation of more than 60,000 and was considered a rich source of ecclesial news and critical commentary.

Today, the paper sells only a few thousand copies - on a good day. With few advertisements and more than 100 employees, it loses about US $6 million a year.

In early October, Pope Benedict named Giovanni Maria Vian, a 55-year-old Church historian and commentator, to replace Mario Agnes, 76, as the newspaper’s director. A new vice director also was named, adding to the expectation that L’Osservatore will get a serious makeover.

The newspaper functions in part as an official organ of information, publishing every word the Pope says or writes, often under eight-column banner headlines like the recent: “Communion Favours Missionary Dynamism.”

The photo below the headline showed the Pope addressing five bishops in a dimly lit room.

Some 46 years ago, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini - who later became Pope Paul VI - lamented that L’Osservatore’s grey pages and drab content were unlikely to

grab the attention of an average newspaper reader.

He pointed out that there was no coverage of theatre, sports, finance, fashion or criminal trials, and no comics or puzzles. Even the news stories, he said, were so sanitised that they seemed designed to shelter the reader from any distress or thrill and instead “train him in serenity and good mental hygiene.” Cardinal Montini’s remarkably candid arti-

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cle, recently resurrected in the Web log, or blog, of Italian reporter Sandro Magister, was printed in L’Osservatore on its 100th anniversary in 1961. It was a rare act of self-criticism.

The daily newspaper hasn’t changed much since those days, except for losing more circulation. It is published in Italian (except for original-language versions of papal speeches and documents) and its pages are overloaded with Italian news.

Although a recent full-page ad showed Pope Benedict reading the newspaper, he would no doubt learn more about world events by reading the daily press summary prepared by the Secretariat of State. There are two groups of professionals who

in brief

Sports stars can be role models for youths: Pope

Pope Benedict XVI said sports stars can be models for young people, but only if they remember that winning isn’t everything. “In the practice of sport at every level, one needs to preserve the inner harmony between body and spirit, and avoid reducing sport to the search for results,” he told members of Austria’s national Alpine ski team on October 6. The Pope said that when practised with the right spirit sports can help pro-

pore over the pages of L’Osservatore with special interest, however: diplomats and journalists.

Diplomats read the paper for telltale indications of political shifts on global issues. The lead paragraphs of international news stories, for example, can reflect high-level input from the Vatican’s foreign policy experts. Or maybe not - that’s the problem.

In 2002, for example, an Israeli diplomat was shocked to read a L’Osservatore article that described Israeli incursions in the Palestinian territories as “an aggression that is turning into extermination.”

After quietly consulting with the Secretariat of State, the diplomat concluded that in this case the newspaper and the Vatican’s foreign

mote human development and lead to the discovery of individual capabilities and talents. Human dignity should always be respected in these sporting activities, he said. Sports figures remain models for youths, he said, and therefore should exhibit the virtues that are associated traditionally with athletic contests: determination, a spirit of sacrifice, and inner and outer discipline, as well as respect for opponents and an awareness of one’s own limits. “At a time when there is a loss of values and a lack of direction, athletes can offer strong motivation to struggle in favour of good in various contexts of life, from the family to the workplace,” he said.

policy experts were not on the same page. Journalists read the newspaper for news, also presuming that the Vatican newspaper speaks for the Vatican.

In the 1990s, a diminutive Franciscan, Father Gino Concetti, churned out frequent commentaries on hot topics like abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, artificial procreation and capital punishment. Journalists reported on them, and their articles often began, “The Vatican today condemned...” That once prompted Father Concetti to remark with a laugh, “I am not the Vatican’s moral voice.”

When the newspaper does want to emphasise that it speaks with the authority of high Vatican officials, it has a code: three asterisks at the bottom of the article.

The confusion over which articles reflect input from “on high” was addressed by Cardinal Montini back in 1961. He said there was constant doubt about the weight that can be attributed to news stories and commentaries. Some readers, he said, presume a “halo of reverence” around everything printed in L’Osservatore

The newspaper’s new director, who takes office at the end of October, doesn’t want to talk about his plans yet. But many expect him to revamp L’Osservatore, shifting the focus from Italian to international events, making the paper more colorful and user friendly, and launching an expanded Web site.

The idea is to make better use of L’Osservatore’s position at the centere of the Universal Church and its potentially rich network of sources.

Naturally, L’Osservatore Romano is not trying to remake itself as a typical Italian daily. The new management team knows the newspaper always will be an instrument of formation as well as information - but only if people read it. - CNS

Prayerful presence a reminder of purpose

More than enforcing a dress code and broadcasting a multilingual reminder that St Peter’s Basilica is a church, seeing people praying in the basilica reminds tourists that the magnificent building is designed to give glory to God, Pope Benedict XVI said.

“In this sacred place where thousands of pilgrims and tourists from all over the world come each day, there must be a stable community of prayer,” the Pope told the priests who form the chapter of St Peter’s Basilica.

- CNS

Hoping for a change: An advertisement used by L’Osservatore Romano featured this picture of Pope Benedict XVI reading the newspaper, which has been criticised for its drab apprearance and focus on primariliy Italian news. A new director and vice-director may just prove to be what the newspaper needs to raise its flailing readership. PHOTO: CNS.

Bishops’ decision marks turning point

Analysis

There is extra significance to the Australian Bishops’ statement on Amnesty, writes Record national affairs editor, Paul Gray

The bishops’ statement opposing Catholic membership of Amnesty International is a stepping-stone on the path to a harder pro-life line by church leaders in Australia.

The statement follows recent controversies in which prominent bishops have attracted angry com ments, and even implied threats of legal action, because of their prolife public statements.

In the most significant of these, Cardinal George Pell found himself under investigation by a privileges committee of the NSW parliament after making comments reminding parliamentarians, and particularly Catholic parliamentarians, of the seriousness of the Church’s emphasis on the need to protect human life at every stage.

It’s over: Archbishop Philip Wilson, right, of Adelaide concelebrates Mass with Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver and Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Fisher for Australian Catholic youth and tertiary students at St Christopher’s Cathedral in Canberra in July. Speaking on behalf of Australia’s bishops, Archbishop Wilson has declared that membership of Amnesty is incompatible with Christianity’s embrace of the sanctity of all human life.

PHOTO: CNS/KERRY MYERS

through the media from interest groups who are seeking to change society’s traditional non-acceptance of the violation of human life in various ways, such as through cloning and the further extension of abortion rights around the world.

The flak which is coming their way testifies to the fact that the Catholic bishops are now easily the most identifiable and influential group within the Australian community who are continually and clearly opposing the destruction of human life.

In issuing a new statement which, in effect, calls on Catholics to resign their membership of Amnesty International because of Amnesty’s campaign for abortion rights, the bishops are making their boldest pro-life statement yet.

This is not immediately obvious from the way the statement is worded. But reading between the lines, the bishops are clearly urging Catholics to avoid membership of the well-known human rights organisation.

The message to all Catholics here is unmistakeable. As with the cloning issue, the Catholic teaching on the sanctity of human life from conception onwards must be held uppermost in the mind when considering public policy in relation to abortion.

Such a strong statement contradicts the pattern of recent decades when other Church leaders of many denominations have often adopted a relativistic tone when speaking of some contentious moral matters.

Recognising that large swathes of modern society are not remotely religious, or even respectful of the intellectual position of Christianity, the temptation for many Christian leaders has been to offer bland statements on “hard” problems like abortion.

The Catholic bishops are reversing this pattern, openly confronting those ideological positions which they believe contradict central Christian beliefs.

Made in the context of an impending NSW parliamentary vote on cloning, the Cardinal’s comments were widely interpreted as a threat to excommunicate Catholic MPs who did not vote against cloning, and hence as an interference with the freedom of parliamentarians to perform their duties in the public inter-

Prelates

Continued from Page 1

Philip Wilson of Adelaide, announced on October 5 that “it is with much regret that we are now in a position of having to advise that membership of Amnesty International is no longer compatible with Catholic teaching and belief on this important point”.

The move will cost Amnesty International thousands of dollars from the amount that Australian Catholic schools alone raise for the human rights advocate.

The 59-year-old prelate urged Amnesty International last month to return to its neutral stance on abortion, warning of possible ramifications, saying in a September 9 statement: “We will now consider the situation carefully, in consultation with the Catholic education sector and the many other arms of the Catholic Church in Australia which have had association with Amnesty International.”

In response to this warning, an Amnesty International Australia spokesperson told The Record that there was no chance the organisation would revert to its neutral stance on abortion.

The spokesperson also said “to date, feedback received from across the global Amnesty movement has indicated that in most countries where AI is based, more people have joined because of our support for sexual and reproductive rights than have left in opposition”. The spokesperson said that during AI’s two-year

est. Even a possible jail term for the Cardinal was mooted in the media. Members of the Greens party were prominent in fanning the flames of ire against Cardinal Pell. However, after a months-long investigation, the privileges committee found that the Catholic leader had no case to answer.Other Australian bishops have also made strong statements this year on the need to

protect human life at every stage.

Western Australia’s Archbishop

Barry Hickey was another who spoke out on the Church’s view that legislation allowing the creation and destruction of human embryos should not be passed, and drew attention from the WA Parliament’s Privileges Committee for this.

The pattern here is that the bishops are now drawing regular flak

end Amnesty tie

consultation process on abortion, “many members were, and still are strongly opposed to AI’s adoption of a policy on any respect to abortion”.

But the spokesperson added that consultation showed the majority of members supported the development of a policy on selected aspects of abortion, provided they were careful, considered and complied with international human rights standards.

Amnesty International logo.

understanding of the dignity of the human person and the sacredness of life,” Archbishop Wilson said. “This has been a great sadness for the many Catholic people, including hundreds of Australian Catholic school students, who have been members of Amnesty International.

“Some of these groups and individuals have already severed ties with Amnesty International.

The Catholic Bishops of Australia said on October 5 that by imposing a new policy in favour of abortion, Amnesty International had taken a tragic turn and effectively created a human rights organisation, which excluded Catholic members.

“Because of this change in policy, membership of Amnesty International is no longer compatible with Catholic teaching and belief on this important point,”

Archbishop Wilson said.

Amnesty International, started by an English Catholic convert Peter Benenson, who died in 2005, is mentioned in the religious education textbook used in the Archdiocese of Melbourne called, “To know, Worship and Love”, but it is understood this will be removed in the next reprint.

“Amnesty International has now adopted a position which goes against the Catholic

“After due consideration, we now also urge Catholics, and all people who believe in the dignity of the human person from natural conception until natural death, to seek other avenues of defending human rights.”

Archbishop Wilson said that one such avenue endorsed by the bishops was a new organisation being formed by the staff and students of St Aloysius College in Sydney following their split with Amnesty International.

The new organisation is to be named the Benenson Society, after Peter Benenson, the Catholic lawyer who founded Amnesty International.

The new society will be open to all and will allow school groups and individuals to continue to be involved in fighting injustice, ending human rights abuses and standing in solidarity with the imprisoned and the oppressed.

They say that after “due consideration,” they now “urge Catholics, and all people who believe in the dignity of the human person from natural conception until natural death, to seek other avenues of defending human rights” (other than through Amnesty, that is.) In their Amnesty statement, the bishops also mention that some Catholic people, including school students, “have already severed ties” with the organisation.

World’s oldest Jesuit dies

WASHINGTON

(CNS) - Jesuit Father James A. Martin, believed to be the world’s oldest Jesuit at age 105, died at the Jesuit residence at Georgetown University in Washington on October 1. A funeral Mass was celebrated on October 4 for Father Martin, who had been ill with pneumonia. A member of the Society of Jesus since 1921 and a priest since 1934, his career included work as a teacher of history and catechism at the Ateneo de Manila University, run by his order in the Philippines; service as an Air Force chaplain in France, North Africa and Italy during World War II; and 45 years in academia.

This is in keeping with similar actions by bishops in the United States and, more broadly, with the thoughts of Pope Benedict.

In a famous sermon delivered before the conclave which elected him Pope, Benedict argued that the relativism of the contemporary West was the main problem to be confronted by the Church of the 21st century. The fruits of the Benedictine war on relativism are now appearing in several countries, including Australia.

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St Joseph - aid for sick, dying, the Church

Devotion to last of the Patriarchs encouraged by visiting London-based priest

■ By Matthew Biddle

Visiting priest Father Fredrick de l’Orme has urged Perth Catholics to start prayer groups to Saint Joseph. London-based Fr de l’Orme finished his two-week visit to Australia last Friday with three well-attended reflection days at WA parishes.

During his time in the State he visited St Jerome’s Parish in Spearwood, St Patrick’s Parish in York and St Bernadette’s Parish in Glendalough.

The aim of Fr de l’Orme’s visit was to promote the Apostolate of Saint Joseph of the Eternal Family, which he established with the permission of his Bishop in 1998.

It was at that time Fr de l’Orme was in a spiritual mess.

“To me at the time the only thing important about being a priest was how much was in the collection,” he said.

“I asked God what he wanted me to do as a priest.

Death can lead to new beginning

Asia Pacific Conference shows God’s grace is not letting up in helping people find peace after losing a spouse

■ By Anthony Barich

Last week’s bi-annual Asia Pacific Conference of Beginning Experience at Rossmoyne showed the charismatic movement is as strong as ever.

Beginning Experience, started by an American nun, is a support network rooted in the Catholic faith that helps people deal with the grief of being alone as a result of death, divorce or separation, and moves them to a ‘new beginning’.

“The priesthood is one of service, like Saint Joseph, not one of domination. I’ve based my priesthood on his charisms.”

The Westminster Diocesan priest, who was born in Mumbai, India, is a chaplain at two hospitals on the outskirts of London. He requested parishes pray for three things in particular.

“For the defence of all families, for the sick and dying and for the universal Church, because those are the three charisms of Saint Joseph,” he said.

Fr de l’Orme said prayer groups would only need to meet once a month for an hour, perhaps on the first Wednesday of each month.

“We are called to pray for our brothers and sisters who are being terribly persecuted for their faith,” he said.

“Your parish can become a powerhouse of prayer for families.

“Saint Joseph desperately needs you.”

As part of his Australian visit, Fr de l’Orme also spoke in the Tiwi Islands, Darwin and Adelaide.

During his four days in Darwin he conversed with several members of the ‘Stolen Generation’.

“Being with them was very moving,” he said.

Last week’s meeting, the ninth bi-annual event on that scale, saw BE representatives from Singapore, Auckland, Wellington, Lismore, Brisbane, Canada and Northern America gather to discuss the progress of the movement in the Asia-Pacific region.

As BE is an ecumenical movement, Anglican Father Robert Graue, speaking in the place of Archbishop Barry Hickey, applauded the members present and the leadership that has grown out of the BE weekends.

Fr Graue, who has been involved in BE for many years as a pastor, said he “greatly admires…the participants who have come to find healing and restoration; and the expectation of a fresh start, a new beginning and the skills to move on from a loss or separation or difficult past”.

Each group and weekend is led by those who have been inspired by their own healing experience so much that they want to bring that same healing to others who are damaged, so they can learn to love again, or at least be at peace with themselves.

“I admire those who come because I know it takes enormous

courage and soul searching to get to the point of acknowledging that ‘I can no longer do this on my own. I need the help and fellowship of other human beings who are experiencing something of what I am going through. I do not have to work through this thing on my own’,” Fr Graue said.

Ilene Bennett, president of the BE’s International Board of directors from Winnipeg, Canada and Kathleen Murphy, executive director of BE’s International Ministry Centre in the United States also made the conference, where workshops were held regarding spirituality, personal development and BE issues like how to grow a team, fundraise and resolve conflict in groups. The first Beginning Experience was held in October 1974 after professional family counsellor Sister Josephine Steward counselled laywoman Jo Lamia to write a letter to her ex-husband after her divorce.

Now it provides a chance for people experiencing grief to share their lives in a way that helps them get on with their daily life.

The movement has existed in Perth for 23 years, and currently runs two weekends a year – the bedrock of their ministry - offering

support to widows and men. While it is not a social club, people invariably develop lifelong friends, as testimonies at the conference proved. BE weekends are for people who are separated, divorced or widowed; for persons who are past the initial feelings of severe anger, depression and despair which naturally follow the loss of a spouse.

BE’s international website advises that those who are still deeply depressed or still extremely angry should wait a while in order to get the most out of the weekends.

It also advises people to wait six months after their loss before planning to attend a weekend, but confiding in a BE representative can help set people on a course of healing none the less.

People in therapy need the approval of their therapist, which simply requires his or her signature on a form certifying that he or shee feels the person would benefit at that time.

People in therapy are, however, accepted, so this should not be a deterrant. It is understood that most therapists are happy for their clients to attend BE weekends because they see the benefits – as has been the case in the United States.

“I encouraged [the Aboriginal community] to pray for the defence of families, especially for those afflicted by drugs and violence.”

During his talks at St Jerome’s Parish, Fr de l’Orme spoke about Saint Joseph’s role in helping to restore the family.

“He is the guardian and the defender of families,” he said.

“Joseph will never let us down … what he’s achieved in my life is beyond words.”

The day of reflection included praying the Rosary, Holy Mass, Benediction and a special blessing for parishioners with holy oil from St Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal, Canada. The basilica, which was dedicated to Saint Joseph, was built by Blessed André Bessette in 1904 and many miracles have occurred inside its walls.

Two years ago when Fr de l’Orme visited the Tiwi Islands he met a young woman who was pregnant, but doctors had advised her the baby would be born with its organs on the outside of its body. The woman was blessed with the oil of Saint Joseph and parishioners asked to pray for her.

When he returned there this time the woman had given birth to a perfectly healthy child.

In brief

Business people carry out God’s plan for the world when doing their work

TURIN, Italy (Zenit.org) - Professional businesspeople cooperate with God’s plan for the world when they do their work, said the Pope’s secretary of state. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said this at the 60th meeting of the Christian Union of Entrepreneurs and Managers, which ended Sunday. Cardinal Bertone said that business activities, even though they follow market laws, help to bring about the fulfillment of God’s plan for the world. Thus, he contended, the Church cannot remain quiet when seeing the dignity of the human being attacked. Respect for the working person’s inalienable rights is a need that must not be forgotten, especially in dealing with the young, the cardinal said. Cardinal Bertone encouraged respect for the education and formation offered by the Church and giving volunteer workers and nonprofit businesses professional experience in the market. Giancarlo Abete, the vice president of the group, said, “Man must not serve the economy; rather the economy must be at the service of man,” since the role of the businessman is twofold: on one hand, to make profit, but on the other, to be responsible in dealing with the society around them.

Important guidance: Beginning Experience’s Perth president Bev Antipas with Anglican Fr Robert Graue and Bernadette Douglas, vice-president of BE’s Perth team at the Asia Pacific Conference.

PHOTO: ANTHONY BARICH

Seeking the man: Fr de l’Orme stands near a statue of St Joseph in St Jerome’s parish Spearwood.

PHOTO: MATTHEW BIDDLE

A Catholic priest blesses a dog outside St Francis Church in Lima, Peru, during an October 7 celebration of the October 4 feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

Focolare experience brought me back

The new movements in the Church are a fascinating phenomenon. Here, Perth man Sean Mousley writes of his experience of the Focolare movement following a recent gathering here in WA

If I didn’t believe in Jesus, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

To be honest, I don’t actually know where I’d be, but I shudder to think.

And make no bones about it, Focolare played no small role in bringing me back to Jesus.

I’m still struggling with having the label “bipolar disorder” attached to me two years ago. I see in the news about people who have been killed by people who have been diagnosed with mental illness, or are suicidal.

But I’m not like that, and can’t say I’ve had any criminal undertakings, yet this is what some people think.

It’s fair to say I had a bit of a tough time at school.

I know, we all deal with bullies etc, but when you have a mental illness like Attention Deficit Disorder, which I was diagnosed with aged 10, you can be a bit more of a target. Having dyslexia made learning a big struggle. When I left school I attended World Youth Day in Rome and the Olympics in Sydney in 2000, which were both great events.

My parents separated in 2001 when I was 19, so I moved out and rented on my own, which gave me

Together: Pictured at the Focolare

conference she attended in Rome this year; their father Laurie; Sean, who played music on the day; and Joe O’Brien, a Focolare volunteer.

great freedom, but it was also quite boring. I didn’t really attend Mass at all, even though I lived right across the road from a Catholic church.

Three years later, I ended up attending the Embrace The Grace youth conference, run by the Archdiocesan Respect Life Office, taking the place of my younger brother Christopher, who was supposed to go but couldn’t.

After the conference a friend from my school (Sacred Heart College), Clare Pike, who is four years older than me, helped bring me back to my faith. We both volunteered with

St Vincent de Paul, and through her meeting and talking with me, she convinced me to go to Embrace the Grace, though I was struggling with my mental illness and my parents’ breakup.

After this she cared for me, and brought me back to the faith.

Since I was young, people at our family parish, Our Lady of Good Counsel in Karrinyup, had been involved in Focolare, an international ecumenical movement, and invited us to be involved.

Mum wanted me to be part of a faith group to get me out of the

Movement grew out of war

■ By Anthony Barich

It is often in the fires of human suffering that the Holy Spirit mani fests itself, and the human spirit is inflamed, spurred into action.

The papacy of John Paul II was forged in the underground resist ance to Communist and Nazi rule in Poland in World War II; Benedict XVI saw his German homeland in the grip of Nazi repression.

Around the same time, a hum ble primary school teacher in the small northern Italian city of Trent discovered the Gospel and in it the building blocks of human dignity, which was being shattered before her very eyes.

In the Gospel, Chiara Lubich and a small group of companions found a way to live the Word on a daily basis that could contribute to rebuilding the human family in brotherhood and unity out of so much chaos.

simple as “when someone takes the last sausage role in the tuck shop, what would Jesus do?”

Being around families and older people who are so visibly living out their faith really helped me, along with the friendship and mentorship.

Above all, it taught me how to live the Scripture in my own life. It helps calm you down and helps you think things through more. It’s the principles and teachings of Focolare – living as Jesus taught us – that has helped me be in a better place today than I ever have been before in my life. That, and the treatment I’m getting…

house once in a while as I tended to veg out a bit.

At that time I wasn’t overly keen on it as I was still getting teased and bullied, but one of the people there, called Yob was a good support to me, and a mentor.

They had this “Word of Life” reflection based on Scripture by Focolare foundress Chiara Lubich that was tailored to older and younger groups. The one for the younger groups was kid-friendly. Everyone in the group would talk about how the reflection applied to their own life – and it could be something as

As my father used to be a Christian Brother based in India for seven years, I have a special affinity for different cultures, which, I think, is why Focolare works so well for me. It’s an ecumenical group that brings different faiths and cultures together. I believe we are all called to dialogue so we can understand each other better, and find common ground so that the world can be made a better place.

But the ecumenism of Focolare doesn’t mean the truth I hold in my Catholic faith is pushed to the background. Rather, the truth of my Catholicism is what I bring to the table.

Knowing that Focolare is an international movement, I get a real sense that as Catholics we aren’t just here in Perth, we are part of a global Church. Many in the local Focolare movement speak Italian, so I don’t feel like I’m just living in a local community, I’m getting involved in the world.

me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one.”

So it is that Focolare members are involved in almost every level ofishes: Planned Giving programs, Liturgical ministries, readers, counters, bulletin team, piety stalls, choir, acolytes… the list goes on. But it permeates the world beyond

This was the humble beginning of Focolare, the Italian word for “hearth”, the source of heat centrally located in a house. In just over 50 years it has led to the spiritual and social renewal of an estimated five million people of every age, race and culture: among young people, in families, in the worlds of economics, politics and art; in the ecclesial world among priests, religious and bishops.

Focolare exists in 182 countries, gathering together members of the Roman Catholic Church with 350 other churches and Christian communities; faithful of other religions plus those of no particular religious

Recognised: Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare Movement, receives an honorary doctorate in 2000 from The Catholic University of America.

PHOTO: CNS PHOTO/NANCY WIECHEC

conviction. Lubich realised that God is the only ideal worth living for, so she and her companions focused their lives on the Gospel. Their goal was to fulfill the prayer of Jesus to the Father: “May they all be one” (John 17:21).

Further reflection is required here on the full context of what Jesus said: “I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

The glory which thou hast given

At the heart of the movement are the Focolare Centres, men’s andprising of celibate and married lay people, who have given their lives totally to God, according to their state in life. It is, in a real sense, a new vocation in the Church. The Catholic Church first approved its statutes in 1964, and again in June 1990, with a Decree of the Pontifical Council for Laity which recognises the ‘Opera di Maria’, The Work of Mary (Focolare Movement), as a “Private, Universal Association of Faithful of Pontifical Right.” Through its 18 branches and six “mass movements”, the Focolare spirituality impacts family life, the world of youth and all areas of ecclesial and secular life.

This sounds grand, but it’s simply what much of the Church is about – people gathering at grass-roots level in Christian community finding their way to the Father through Jesus. In Perth, Focolare has sprouted in 16 suburbs, with participants meeting once a month to read scripture, reflect on it according to the writings of Lubich, and discuss how to apply it to their own lives.

For details on local groups, contact Mario on 08 6278 3425 or Aida on 08 9349 4052.

Role of Catechists will broaden, re-awaken faith

The vital task that Catechists have in bringing the liberating message of the faith to young people and their families was recognised recently at a special Thanksgiving and Commissioning Eucharist held at Infant Jesus Catholic Church in Morley. Adding to the significance of the event was the awarding of Papal Blessings and Archbishop Awards to commissioned Catechists with 15 and 10 years of service respectively – awards made once every four years. In front of a congregation of about 400 people, Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton reaffirmed the Catechists and members of the Personal Advocacy Service in their ministries.

“The role of the Catechist is going to become very significant and will broaden,” he told them.

“The new ventures into Family and Parish based Catechesis promise the re-evangelisation of entire families and the re-awakening of faith lived daily by every member of those families. The Parish Catechist is going to be key to this essential work of evangelisation.”

“The Catechist can take Ezra as a model,” he continued. “Ezra, we are told, read the Book of the Law all through the day to the assembled people. They listened, it seems, riveted to every word he

pronounced because they realised these were the Words of God and Ezra was helping them to understand. Ezra was interpreting the Words of God and giving them meaning. He was able to relate the scriptures to the lives of the people.

“The Catechist is called to do the same: to learn to discern how God speaks in their life and to begin to see the parallels between each human life and the life of Jesus Christ. In this way, the teaching by a Catechist will be marked by an authenticity. Teaching and catechising by the Catechist will make sense to the one who is listening,” he added.

A total of 42 Catechists were commissioned during the Eucharist. Papal Blessings were presented to 19 people (have achieved Catechist Certificates 1 and 2) while a further 26 received Archbishop Awards (Catechist Certificates 1).

Many others were acknowledged for commencing their training as Catechists or for completing certificates and tokens of recognition were also presented to Catechists and Advocates from 41 parishes.

Joining Bishop Don in celebrating the Eucharist were 20 priests from the Archdiocese and 1 Deacon. Pina Ford, Coordinator of the Catechist Service Team, said their presence and support was very much appreciated by the Catechists and their families.

Open Day on September 23 at Little Sisters of the Poor convent in Glendalough (L-R), Sean’s brother Christopher Mousley spoke at the Open Day about volunteering with Focolare aid agencies in the Philippines; their sister Anne-Marie Mousley spoke of an artists’

PHOTO: COURTESY SEAN MOUSLEY

■ By Phil Bayne, CEO media

Perspectives

The Beatitudes letters to the

The Record continues its series of reflections by Archbishop Barry Hickey on on the greatest sermon ever given - the Beatitudes. These reflections can be viewed on the Archdiocese of Perth’s website at www.perthcatholic.org.au

The peacemakers

The first place we need to make peace is within ourselves.

The true peacemakers are those who by commitment and perseverance have established in themselves the deep peace that goes beyond joy and sorrow.

It is peace beyond the reach of any of the emotional programs of the false self system, and it comes from cultivation of all the previous beatitudes.

It begins with poverty of spirit, which means emptying ourselves of attachment to things and false images which distort the meaning of who we are, in order to create space for the gifts of God to come into our life.

Those who develop this peace – the peace that Jesus left us – carry it with them and can profoundly influence the peace of those around them.

It is particularly valuable in parents because peaceful parents tend to have peaceful children.

Whether we know it or not, for each of us the self is the point of reference from which we see, experience, and respond to everything that goes on around us.

Development of this deep peace marks the loss of the self as a fixed point of reference and the beginning of seeing as God sees.

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This is evident in the lives of the saints, including such moderns as St John Vianney, St Therese of Lisieux, St Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, the former slave girl St Josephine Bakhita, and in Pope John Paul II.

The peacemakers are called the Sons of God because in a special way they express the life of God - they “look like” God in the way a son looks like his father – and they pass on that life to those around them.

It may be hard for most to see themselves as peacemakers in that sense, but every step we take towards making peace within ourselves will be worth the effort and will change the world around us.

Every choice for kindness instead of criticism, for calmness instead of anger, and forgiveness instead of resentment will enrich our lives.

The persecuted

Welcome as we come to the last of the beatitudes “Blessed are those who are persecuted for my name’s sake; theirs is the kingdom of heaven”.

This is the last of the beatitudes because very often it is the last decision for God we will have the opportunity to make.

This beatitude applies first to those who are persecuted by others, and particularly those who are persecuted and put to death.

Calvary is the supreme example, when Jesus was mocked, scourged, derided and persecuted in every part of his being before being put to death.

It is followed by the long and glorious tradition of Christian martyrdom beginning with St Stephen and continuing in all centuries and on all continents through to the present day.

It applies not only to those who die, but also to those who suffer scorn, ridicule, torture, imprisonment, and other forms of deprivation and injustice while standing up for truth or standing in solidarity beside others who are victims of persecution.

We should remember that all goodness is contained in the name of God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – and therefore this beatitude applies to all who are persecuted in any way for standing up for goodness even if they have never heard of God. If it is good they are defending, it is “for my name’s sake”.

The second aspect of this beatitude refers to those who work diligently to eradicate the last vestiges of the false self system. The self resists mightily because it sees this “persecution” as the death and destruction of the person. But it isn’t.

It is the ultimate death of the false self and the resurrection of the true self as Jesus requires of us: “He who seeks only himself brings himself to ruin, whereas he who brings himself to nought for me discovers who he is.” (Matthew 10:39)

This is the trial and the triumph of the beatitudes.

Every little step you take along the way will lead you on to another, and Jesus will be beside you all the way.

Do not be afraid of your weaknesses. His strength is stronger by far. When you rely on his strength, the triumph will be not for the self but for the glory of God.

editor Around t he tabl e dnuorA t eh

Missing Mass

In your Feature ‘Five women walk into an abbey’ (The Record October 3, 2007) one of the women who stayed at the Abbey says that she was educated by nuns in Melbourne in the 1960s and states “In those days we were told it was a mortal sin to skip Mass on Sunday, the consequence being an eternity burning in the fires of hell”.

I know full well that some Catholic nuns in those days and earlier, went over the top in declaring the inevitable terrible punishments due to mortal sin, not taking into consideration mitigating circumstances etc etc, but I should like to point out that the Church still teaches that attendance at Sunday Mass is obligatory and that skipping Sunday Mass is a “grave sin” (Catechism of The Catholic Church 2181).

Too many people today seem to think that the Church no longer teaches that they are bound to go to Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. Also for their information she teaches that “Mortal sin...results ...in the privation of sanctifying grace...If it is not redeemed by repentance and God’s forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ’s kingdom and the eternal death of hell...”. (Catechism 1861).

I hasten to add that this same paragraph 1861 of The Catechism also says: “However, although we can judge that an act is in itself a grave offence, we must entrust judgment to the justice and mercy of God”.

Jerome Gonzalez Willetton

Well done, Record

Iwould like to congratulate you on the contents of the Record of October 3. There is a real ground swell in the community to protect and help those who are caught up in prostitution with over 300 attending Ms Ekberg’s meeting.

I wonder if Mr McGinty would get 300 people for any meeting he called?

Archbishop Hickey has spoken on this subject but I have not heard it from the pulpit by the priests in the archdiocese. Some people would say that we as a Church should not get involved in politics. Have we not heard of the story of the Good Samaritan?

Are we going to be the people who passed the injured person because it was too hard to put ourselves out or because it may have been dangerous or are we going to be the Samaritan who

A letter from Fr Ruiz

The Record recently received this letter from Fr Luis Ruiz SJ updating us on his recent activities. We publish it here for the benefit and interest of our readers.

Iwant to express my grateful thanks to you for publishing articles about my work in your Record, which indeed have interested and moved your readers as a lot of them have sent me donations to help our poor leper brothers and sisters in China. Daily in my Masses I pray for you, asking Our Lord to bless you abundantly for what you do to His little ones. I recently come back from China feeling very well and very happy and the lepers also very happy to see me.

I was so happy to visit again my dear brothers and sisters in the leprosariums of Seak-Peng and Man-Shan, sitting in the car for 5 hours. Never mind, I offered to the Lord with my prayers for you and your family, And it is worth, the consolation I received from the patients.

When the old patients told me the loving service the good young Sisters give to them, to wash, to cleanse, change clothing…. Really I was moved. I admired the nice meal with beer that all the patients enjoyed. “Please, Father don’t leave, but stay with us.”

In Seak-Peng, the road was repaired, so it is easier to go. We have to admire that garden with so many beautiful flowers all around. Here we are going to build rooms for another 40 patients. It will be too much work for the four Sisters to take care of nearly 100 patients. Our Lord will provide what we need to build, around EUR 25,000.

In our travels we visited several centres of Aids. We are invited to help the mothers who cannot feed their children to prevent the virus contamination, so we are sending milk for the children. Later visited the family centre in Nanning to see how the project works. The visit to Aids Care China, founded and directed by Thomas Tsai gave us an overview of their operation, which provides shelter and food for Aids patients and advises their families.

One of his best visions is to hire HIV patients and advise their families to work for him counselling people. They call it The Red Ribbon Centre inside the hospital. We informed Thomas of some of our projects with lepers.

Two months ago the hospital sent him one Aids orphan because nobody wants to adopt him, not even the grandparents.

The goal of Aids Care China is for adult parents, yet Thomas did not have the heart to turn the baby away as he has no place to go, so the child stayed. However during two months they have five HIV children, which makes the living conditions very crowded. Thomas is in desperate need of funds. HE has not the budget to relocate the kids. He knew that Casa Ricci has planned for HIV orphanages.

We prepare a centre for children, but the government doesn’t want Sisters to take care of them. Now Thomas is asking for Sisters. We five gave him two Sisters…. Slowly, the project will develop…. and teach the Sisters how to take care of the HIV children step by step. They are already working in Lufeng for the school’s dormitory.

The new centre of Bolo is really very expensive so we want to make it cheaper, re-newing the roof and make the residence for the Sisters.

With much love, gratitude and prayers.

overcame his fears and complacency and helped someone in need. Our Priests should be challenging our faith every week to stand up and be counted in today’s world. Governments today are moving away from the good Christian values that have kept our democracies operating and are moving towards a society that responds to money and “I’m alright Jack be it done unto you, not me.”

If we do not respond in some way to those in our society who are broken and held prisoners because of their hurts or if we stand by and let politicians keep passing unjust laws we need to ask the question; am I Catholic, do I follow the teachings of

Jesus? You state “The Church in Australia is a sleeping giant waiting to be awoken”. I thank God that the Record is starting to wake up, well done. I also want to agree with Mark Reidy in his article on the ‘Prosperity Gospel.’ I normally point out to those who preach this that of the twelve men who were closest to and much loved by Jesus, one betrayed him and committed suicide, ten of the others were tortured and executed while only one died of old age after he was tortured earlier in his life.

Geoff Lucey Bassendean

Fr Luis Ruiz SJ, Casa Ricci Social Services, Macao, China

Vista

Perth’s hills explode with nature’s joyful glory

The loquat tree in the garden is heavy with small globes of fruit that seem a slightly deeper golden colour every morning. The fruit-laden branches bend down further each day, looking as if they will snap under the burden. At the bottom of the garden the bees emerge from the hives and rocket off at a steep incline into the morning sky seeking the harvest of the day. Down the road the orchardists are thinning out the pear trees so that the coming harvest is optimised. Spring is definitely here.

But who needs the bees or the loquat tree to know that? Once off the beaten road, the visitor to almost any part of the Perth hills at the moment can feel guilty by simply taking a wrong step. Carpets of close-packed tiny, delicate flowers spread as far as the eye can see, making it easy in some places to accidentally crush hundreds with a single footstep.

Oddly, nature’s dazzling display can be spot ted here and there from the car but it’s not until you pull over to the side of the road and go for a walk that you realise what you have been miss ing.

In every direction there are a remarkable variety of wildflowers where you might expect just one or two. They are all shapes, all sizes, all colours.

“Most of us will probably not see these miniature masterpieces”...

But will anyone see them? It’s an interesting question. The truth is that we are a strong young vibrant nation - of TV watchers. Most of us will probably not see these miniature masterpieces of creation because you can’t fit our main spiritual diet - nightly news, current affairs programs focussing on weight loss, or soap operas - into one evening and still take a drive into the countryside as well. It’s what we do, who we are. We have priorities.

Of course, it’s silly and old-fashioned to think that any of what you can see within a few steps

of the car has any connection to anything eternal or spiritual or divine. But that’s now. Spend a few minutes gazing at these masterstrokes set against the red-brown and drab olive canvas of the Western Australian bush on the edges of our suburbs and you may find youself wondering about the thing, the... well, the mind, that has created them. These are no accidents of blind indifferent fate, of no significance at all. Or if they are, I prefer the ignorance of religion. PR

Spring in the hills: Nature’s delights can be seen within metres of most roadside verges in the hills at the moment and those pictured on this page are only a few of the immense variety waiting to be found by the casual explorer.

Families will re-Christianise Australia

Continued from Page 1

But first, “housekeeping needs to be done within ourselves”.

The brokenness of society, they said, means that people – Christians included – are crying out for a model on which to live their lives.

The future, therefore, lies in the family: the new form of evangelisation.

“Fantastic families are needed to make the reality of what happens in marriage and family visible to others,” they said.

“We carry a wonderful gift in our family life. Until, as a Church, we see the family as a source and resource to show God’s love to the world, we won’t be effective members of the Church.”

But it’s not all beer and skittles.

”The more intimate your relationship, the more often and deeper you may hurt each other,” the Pirolas said, “but forgiveness, then, is more powerful within such a marriage,

and the love is enhanced. Marriage preparation often tells people it’s important to say sorry, but that doesn’t take ownership of the situation, it invokes no response. Asking for forgiveness makes us vulnerable but how it pans out is entirely in the hands the other person to invite you back into the relationship. “So asking for forgiveness is much more powerful and restores unity in the relationship.” Crucially, the Pirolas also explained the link between the love embodied in the Eucharist and the wedding vows.

They quoted John Paul II in saying that human life, in all its complexities, depends on who the man is to the woman and vice versa.

This means marriage is a declaration of the Church, where the way a married couple lives out their vows makes more the invisible reality of God more visible. The “sacred words” of marriage, they said, say the commitment:

● must be freely given and without reservation

● must be total

● is faithful and ● is lovingly open to new life. This is reflected, they said, in the Eucharist, because each point listed reflects the love Jesus shows for us by giving us Himself in the Eucharist – the new life in this context is the Holy Spirit that baptism brings and the graces the Eucharist brings.

The wedding vows, therefore, reflect Christ’s love for us; so too, then, does the gesture of sex between married people reflect this because it is a “total and mutual gift of self”; an exchanging of vulnerabilities.

When bringing this Truth to Catholics who are skeptical about the Church’s teachings on sexuality, the Pirolas said these same people then say “Why isn’t the Church telling people this”. Mr Pirola said that he responded to these people

by saying: “You are the Church. Lay people make up 98 per cent of the Church. Clergy, Bishops and religious make up such a small per centage. While the clergy have a

■ By Anthony Barich

FTrusting the Lord is the secret: Bishop Gathering

amilies, have confidence in the Lord and He will fill your life with a love you didn’t think was possible.

That was the message Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton of Perth gave at the closing Mass of the “Celebrate: Life, Family, Journey” conference at Riverton last weekend, run by the Committee for Family and for Life that he chairs.

The Mass readings for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time in Year C, on which the culmination of the conference fell, proved a superb

Changing nappies more than just a chore; you’re building the future of the world.

■ By Mark Reidy

Emptying the nappy bucket was the common thread running through the Saturday morning presentations at the Celebrate Family Weekend.

Keynote speakers, Jonathan and Karen Doyle of Choicez Media (specialists in Values Based Sex Education seminars and resources) and Byron and Francine Pirola, Australian pioneers of “Celebrate Love” (a marriage enrichment program) both made reference to the nappy ritual in relation to discovering lifegiving moments in even the most mundane aspects of family life.

The Doyles told the audience that each person had the choice to either sew a famine or a feast into their family. By honouring, blessing and serving one another, even in the most thankless tasks, they said, an individual can bring life to the heart of the family.

Jonathan shared his own experience of growing up in a family that was dominated by death, both metaphorically and literally

choice – through either divine providence or brilliant planning – as they involved God reassuring mankind that He delivers on His promises. With all that surrounds them, Catholic families today – which provided up to 200 participants over the weekend of the conference - face a tough task of bringing up children with a full and unflinching grasp of the fullness of the Truth. On a weekend, then, that was 18 months in the making, specifically designed to celebrate and empower the very unit that two keynote speakers said was the “powerhouse of the Church”, the readings provided some comfort and strength

for those who struggle. The First Reading from the Prophecy of Habakuk described a cry to the heavens for help by the afflicted; and the Lord answering that His promises will be fulfilled, “for come it will, without fail”.

Even if it comes slowly, the Prophecy urges the afflicted to wait, and have confidence in God.

Then, in the Second Reading, Paul, in his second letter to his convert Timothy, reassured him, in case his strength was understandably wavering as Paul was imprisoned. “God’s gift is not a Spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power, and love and self control,” Paul reassures Timothy.

“So you are never to be ashamed of witnessing to the Lord, or ashamed of me for being his prisoner; but with me, bear the hardships for the sake of the Good News, relying on the power of God.” This was just what the doctor ordered. And Bishop Sproxton jumped on it.

“In marriage, God makes a promise to the couple that they can rely on,” he said. “When they make their vows, they know God will give them that strength to fulfill their vows, to serve each other and to sacrifice things they held dear because of the love they have for one another.” The Holy Spirit, he said, “will enable you to know yourself and grow in your knowledge of God through your marriage,” he said, referring to what Celebrate Love marriage enrichment program founders Byron and Francine Pirola told married couples about how they have great power to evangelise through living out their wedding vows.

and how his life was changed through being embraced by families who were characterised by their welcoming hearts of love.

The Pirolas spoke of the need for parents to prioritise their marital vows and not allow them to be relegated by the busyness of life. This, they said, did not mean that couples should attempt to avoid the inevitable busyness, but rather, should surrender to it and find God within it. They pointed out that we would not expect a Priest or Nun to separate their faith from the practical realities of their lives, yet we accept this within the equally important Sacrament of marriage. This is particularly relevant, they said, in the context of sexual intimacy, which they described as the most profound aspect of marriage. It is through this, “sacred body language”, they claimed, that God is able to reveal His loving and life-giving nature. God should be as real in our bedrooms and kitchens, Byron stated, as He is in our churches and altars and we must learn to find Him in all aspects of our lives. The Pirolas, who have five children, reminded the audience once again, that the emptying of a nappy bucket can become a spiritual experience if it is performed as a loving act of service and selfsacrifice.

was occassion of fun, festivity and family celebration

“You can be an instrument of the love of God to your family and to the world around you,” the Bishop said. In doing this, he said, married couples will see Christ in the midst of the daily joy and struggles, “seeing Him as the rock on which you build your marriage. We also are helped by reflecting on what God is saying to us in our daily lives.

“You can see life much clearer in marriage, because your spouse is a mirror for you – they help you see what needs to change.”

As much as they are an integral part of society, they are rarely highlighted and celebrated as such, said Barbara Harris, director of the Emmanuel Centre that helps people with disabilities help themselves, and one of the chief organisers of the family weekend. In an emotional testimony at the closing of the conference, Mrs Harris said the openness and love that the Riverton parish showed, especially parish ‘contact point’ Ernest John, was overwhelming. “They are so welcoming it’s awe inspiring,” she said of her experience of working with the parish to organise the conference, which she said “started off as a thought and ended up as a full-blown event”. The conference also ran like clockwork due to the cooperation of other Catholic and Christian organisations including the Bethel Community, which ran formation for children, Flame Ministries, which provided inspired and empowering music plus a workshop leader in evangelist Eddie Russell; Emmanuel Centre volunteers, who Mrs Harris said would need a fair rest after the conference, and City Impact ministries.

Special intercession: Conference participants pray over two of the keynote speakers, Byron and Francine Pirola, on the last day of the Celebrate Family weekend. PHOTO: ANTHONY BARICH

The future of the Church: Mark Langlois and his two-year-old daughter Julia enjoy the conference at Riverton parish. PHOTO: ANTHONY BARICH

Awesome: Keynote speaker Francine Pirola addresses the conference as her husband Byron looks on. PHOTO: ANTH ONY BARICH

Opinion

Unlikely saints of the hidden Church

Being Heard

■ By John Heard

“There are more ways of being a Catholic Christian than either the Vatican rule-makers or the secularist ideologies have yet imagined”.

- CHARLES TAYLOR

Last week I read an article by the philosopher Charles Taylor on sex and Christianity. It was in the magazine Commonweal. Because of the quotation above, I have been thinking about modernity and faith ever since.

However, when rigorously interrogated secular modernity left me

standing (to be honest, trembling) in a dark, wan-glittering space where the Christian world, our world, was destabilised.

It was a place, however I tried to conceive of it, of no-faith.

All the old certainties were challenged and order, all order - the possibility of order - was either overturned or else negated.

It would be silly then to take Taylor’s quote and his juxtaposition as a recommendation. He is not saying that secular modernity is a witness as credible about Christianity as – say - the current Pope.

Indeed, in many instances it seems one must reject secular ideologies, particularly late-Capitalist, secular modernism, if one is going to be any kind of Christian at all.

So, with Taylor, I can believe that there are ways of being a Catholic Christian that the secularist ideologies have missed. They appear to have missed most of them.

What then of the ‘Vatican rulemakers’? What might they have missed?

Of course, such characterisations are crude. The ‘rule-makers’ are, we know, love-keepers and lightspinners. But they are also, it is

uncontroversial to say so, mere men.

The Church, understood for the moment as just its historical complement of human beings – why else would Taylor use ‘yet’ - is only reliably the sum of its human inputs.

There is, on that view, something to be said about the possibility thrown up by Taylor’s quote.

There may indeed be more ways to live an authentic Catholic Christianity than either the current Pope or else the popes, Curia or Curiae, etc. through history have yet imagined.

It is, without doubt, an exciting idea – it is a cause for great hope, a way of imagining Christianity that doesn’t limit heroic virtue to some glass case in a museum.

But it is also rather obvious and firmly orthodox. For it is not really shocking to say that there are more ways to be a Catholic Christian than might be learned from current Vatican texts or codes of canon law.

When GK. Chesterton said that ‘the Catholic Church is the only thing that saves a man from the degrading slavery of being a child of his age’ he meant the Popes too,

and he didn’t make the mistake of reducing the Church down to, or equating the Church with, mere instruments of power or particular human teachers.

Indeed, not even the Vatican rulemakers live by Vatican rules alone, certainly not if whatever it is that makes up Vatican rules doesn’t also include Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium. Those three, which make the merely human Church vulnerable to super-human revelation, eternity and the Holy Spirit, are the important things about the deposit of faith.

They are the things that make the Catholic Church… Catholic.

This is why, and it is something Taylor describes in a very clear way, the Church could re-examine herself, during the Second Vatican Council (or any other Council, for that matter) and decide that there were some areas associated with some Catholic practices and culture that had become, or never really were, authentically Christian.

We only find this idea troubling if we’ve latched onto an overly legalistic, or positivist, conception of authority. Such a view, that something is right, true or good only

because it is promulgated, is not the Catholic view.

For these reasons, the modes of Catholic Christianity mapped by the Vatican ‘rule-makers’ are almost always going to be more promising than those offered by a necessarily hostile modernity, but they are not the limit of sanctity. Not by a long shot.

Certainly what the Vatican prohibits cannot be – in good conscience – held out as a valid path to Christian perfection. There is no self-service withdrawal from the deposit of faith.

But between the rock of hypocrisy - those places where the Church as a human institution stumbles, where we as individual Christians fail - and the hard place of modernity, there is a fertile patch of ground - and it is already Christ’s.

It is a place that is also, in a profound sense, occupied by the Catholic Church. And there are people; ideas and ways of being that already flourish there.

It is among them that we will find the unlikely saints, the hidden holy men and women, of the Third Christian Age.

John Heard is a Melbourne writer.

Marriage is still made in heaven

Catherine Parish @ home

We went to a wedding recently. A bit unusually these days, it was a Nuptial Mass, complete with a rather good choir singing some of the beautiful old harmonised Latin hymns.

But it wasn’t a stuffy old Mass where you would be ashamed if your baby let out a squeak – or a kind of

laid-back, groovy affair filled with sentimental nonsense and madeup promises. It was a truly joyous, life-filled event where the happiness of the marrying couple was patent but placed in the wider context of a serious yet vibrant and faith-filled Mass.

You really do notice a difference not only in the actual time we all spend at the important part, which is the marriage, but in the very quality of the ceremony.

We have been to some weddings where if you were five minutes late you would have missed the whole show. And worse, sometimes people don’t even come to the wedding ceremony, just turn up at the reception afterwards.

To me that is a bit of a disappointment not only for the marrying couple but for the guests.

At the most venal level, the bride and groom are the centre of attention for a whole hour or more at a Nuptial Mass – now that is worth spending hundreds on a dress for; I still can’t see the point of agonising for months over a dress people hardly get to see before you are married and on to the reception. And you certainly feel well and truly married after all that time in the Church.

Seriously, though, the very public and solemn commitment the couple are making to each other before God is sealed solemnly by the Mass within which it takes place. It seems far more suitable to surround this joyful but serious commitment with the strength of another powerful Sacrament - the Eucharist. The reminder that joy and fulfilment always travel hand in hand with

sacrifice is a trenchant one for any couple embarking on the great adventure of marriage.

The eternal life-giving power of a life willingly laid down for another is so central to a true understanding of marriage.

And the fact that, as a sacramentally married couple, you have all the great well of grace and strength that comes from the sacrament to draw upon to help you through is something that comes out more patently in a Nuptial Mass – married couples need all the help they can get and a Nuptial Mass is a great way to place your marriage squarely within that all-important economy of grace.

And it is not all solemnity by any means – the reception was great fun too; Jesus himself thought lots of wine at a wedding reception was a

Imagine if all our kids became martyrs...

■ By Derek Boylen

Last year, my six year old niece announced to mum in the car that when she grew up she wanted to be a martyr. Since first hearing this story I have had a lot

of cognitive dissonance - the source of this dissonance being the idea of a young, innocent child apparently wishing upon herself a grizzly, gruesome death.

More recently though I’ve begun to put my mind at rest and in some ways become enamoured of the idea.

Don’t get me wrong! I’m not wishing a gruesome death on my niece. I love her dearly. Rather, I’m taken with her desire to be a witness to God’s love through his Son.

Our contemporary association with the word “martyr” is usually along the lines of someone who dies for their faith. Because so many of the early martyrs died for their faith, we can be forgiven for losing a sense of the original meaning of the word.

However, “martyr” was originally a word coined by the ancient Romans and it meant one who gives witness. To me it’s a beautiful thought to think of a child who wants to be someone who gives witness to Jesus. This should be an aim of every Catholic parent; to raise children whose desire when they grow up, is to be people who give witness through their lives and words. This is a good reason why, as parents, we need to talk and get to know about Jesus in our homes. It’s very difficult to be a witness for someone if you don’t know them.

While it is important to teach our children what the Church believes and why, it is crucial for parents to introduce their children to the person of Jesus. One way to do this

is through the Sunday Gospel readings. Make a point each Sunday to chat about what happened in the Gospel and what you thought about it; ask them what they thought about it. Every Sunday, on the way home from Mass, Karen and I ask the boys what they did in children’s liturgy.

“Did you have a story about Jesus? What happened in the story? What did you think about it? Why do you think Jesus said/did that?” We want our children to think about Jesus, ask questions about Jesus and to get to know Jesus.

We also, introduce Jesus into other conversations too. “Do you think Jesus would have taken his brothers toys without asking? What do you think Jesus would have done?” All of Christendom grew out of a relationship with the per-

good thing, and a happy day for the newlyweds important enough to form the basis of his first recorded miracle!

The whole day was a wonderful re-living of our own wedding, a day of solemnity and celebration spent with family and friends who wished you nothing but good, sharing your overflowing joy with the people who have all helped to bring you to this point in your life.

It is so affirming to see a young couple willing to begin this journey into the future together, seeing their commitment to each other as really important and something that sets them apart in a special category of “married people”.

It makes you remember what it is all about and that PC not withstanding, marriage is still very special.

son known as Jesus; people who shared meals with him, walked and talked to him, people who were his friends.

All that the Church believes and teaches comes to us though the person of Jesus, God incarnate. Many saints have testified to the fact that in order to live a holy Christian life one must primarily focus on Christ. Keep one’s sight set on Jesus. It heartens me to see that one of the first things Pope Benedict XVI has done is reintroduce us to the person of Jesus in his book “Jesus of Nazareth.” I think it’s wonderful that my niece wants to be a witness to Jesus. I hope my children become witnesses to Christ’s love in their lives too. What an amazing place the world would be if all our children became martyrs.

The World FEATURE

Who needs global warming?

Anti-family policies are making us extinct quite nicely, thanks

Decades of declining birthrates are causing a rapid aging of many nation’s populations. Rome-based Fr John Flynn, LC analyses the economic and social impact of ageing societies, and paints a grim picture of the future our children are inheriting.

Romanian President Traian Basescu recently warned that his country’s population was declining and that more needs to be done to support women who have children, the Associated Press reported on September 18.

“Romania urgently needs to revise its demographic policies,” he told participants at a conference on population and development in the city of Sibiu.

The nation has four million people in the work force, while retirees number six million, according to the Associated Press.

Germany is another country feeling the pinch of a declining and older population, the New York Times reported on September 23.

The population started declining in 2003, with a drop of 5000 that year. By 2006 the decrease reached 130,000.

The German population is experiencing “exponential negative growth,” Reiner Klingholz, director of the Berlin Institute for Population and Development, told the New York Times

The situation in Japan is also causing widespread concern, reported the British newspaper the Telegraph in a June 1 article. The population peaked at 128 million in 2005 and some forecasts expect it to drop below 100 million by 2050.

These demographic changes are not only a problem for rich countries, noted an Associated Press report on April 11.

Some countries “’will grow older before they grow richer,” said Somnath Chatterji, team leader of the World Health Organisation’s Multi-country Studies Unit, at a UN conference earlier this year.

“Something that took France over a century,” Chatterji said, “has happened in a matter of two decades in other countries.”

China, for example, has one of the fastest-growing older populations in the world.

The number of people more than 65 years old is growing at nearly three per cent a year, compared with a rate of less than one per cent for the overall population, Jiang Fan, China’s vice minister of national population and family planning, told the conference.

In a number of countries, births have increased but even so, remain at a low level.

The government agency Statistics Canada released on September 21 the population data of its country for 2005.

Births reached their highest level in seven years, mainly due to an

increase in childbearing by women in their 30s.

2005 was 1.54 children per woman, an increase from 1.53 in the previous year, and the highest rate since 1998.

Nevertheless, Statistics Canada added that this is still well below what is known as the replacement level fertility, normally set at 2.2 children per woman.

Some countries

“’will grow older before they grow richer... Something that took France over a century has happened in a matter of two decades in other countries.”

Italy also recorded a slight increase, reported the agency ANSA on May 5.

In 2006, the total fertility rate per woman rose to a 16-year high of 1.35.

This is still below the European Union average of 1.52 and well below replacement level.

The European demographic situation was the subject of this year’s Munich Economic Summit, held on June 21-22.

The summit brings together academics and leaders from politics, industry and finance.

It is organised by Germany’s CESIfo economics think tank and backed by the BMW Herbert Quandt Foundation.

“The demographic changes that Europe experiences today are without precedent in its history,” said Jürgen Chrobog, chairman of the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt, in his opening speech.

The low birthrates in Europe will lead to a decline of the labour force

nomic output and competitiveness.

A combination of increasing longevity and low fertility constitute a “demographic time bomb” due to deficiencies in pension and family policies, warned Edward Palmer of Sweden’s Uppsala University.

Generally speaking, he noted, countries in Europe with higher fertility rates, such as France and the Scandinavian countries, are the ones with the most generous family policy.

Given that the birth of each child involves a potential loss of income during the early years of childhood as well as the risk of missing out on work opportunities, Palmer called for family policies to provide adequate compensation.

Vladimir Spidla, European Union commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, also spoke at the meeting. Currently 16 per cent of the European population is over the age of 65.

If there are no changes in birthrates and immigration, by 2050, the proportion of old people will have almost doubled, he observed.

To help Europe bring about a demographic renewal, Spidla, among other points, recommended a greater attention to family needs.

The decision to have children is a private matter, he acknowledged.

He observed, however, surveys show that many women and men want more children than they actually bring into the world.

“Potential parents are afraid that looking after children would be a problem, or that they would have to decide between career and time with their children, or that it would be too expensive,” Spidla explained.

“It is thus imperative that we improve the social and economic conditions for families and children.”

A global overview of aging came in a recent report by the Population

Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

In its study “World Population Ageing,” the agency highlighted the unprecedented nature of rapid aging in many nations.

At the world level, the number of persons aged 60 or over is expected to exceed the number of children for the first time in 2047.

Already, in 1998, in the more developed regions, the number of children - those aged under 15dropped below that of older persons in 1998.

“At the world level, the number of persons aged 60 or over is expected to exceed the number of children for the first

time in 2047.”

In 2000, the population aged 60 years or over numbered 600 million, triple the number present in 1950.

In 2006, the number of older persons had surpassed 700 million.

By 2050, two billion older persons are projected to be alive, implying that their number will once again triple over a span of 50 years.

In the more developed regions, more than one-fifth of the population is currently aged 60 years or over, and by 2050 nearly one-third of the population in developed countries is projected to be in that age group.

In the less developed regions, older persons account today for just

eight per cent of the population, but by 2050 they are expected to account for one-fifth of the population.

The Population Division also cautioned that the pace of population aging is faster in developing countries than in developed countries.

Moreover, the aging in developing countries is taking place at lower levels of socioeconomic development than has been the case for developed countries.

Then there is the number of people potentially in the work force as a ratio to those who are already retired.

The number of persons aged 15 to 64 per each older person aged 65 or over, has already declined from 12 to 9 between 1950 and 2007. By 2050, this is expected to drop to only four potential workers per older person, which will have a severe impact on taxation and social security policies.

In addition to the economic impact, the changes caused by aging will have a major influence on intergenerational questions of equity and solidarity, the UN report commented.

It is also unlikely, the UN agency continued, that fertility levels will rise again to the high levels common in the past.

Therefore, the aging trend looks like it might be irreversible, making the young populations (that were common until recently) likely to become rare over the course of this century.

The anti-family policies of many governments and international agencies are indeed set to bear bitter

in coming

fruit

decades.

This must be our future, or else...: The World Youth Day cross is taken through the streets of Cairns, Australia, by local Catholics on September 22. Church and lay leaders of Australia told a youth conference in Canberra earlier this year that Christianity must be stood up for, and that its principles are indeed the way forward to address many of the world’s problems, including an ageing population, which has been propagated by the anti-family policies of many governments and international agencies. . CNS

JPII did not refuse nutrition support

Late Pope’s physician

denies John Paul refused nutritional support

■ By John Thavis

ROME (CNS) - Pope John Paul II’s personal physician has vehemently denied an Italian doctor’s claim that the late Pope refused nutritional support that would have prolonged his life.

Dr Renato Buzzonetti said Pope John Paul II had a feeding tube inserted when he needed it in his final days and received an intravenous drip “right up until the end, without any interruption.”

He said the Pope was never “without medical aid and assistance, as someone erroneously wants to insinuate.”

Dr Lina Pavanelli, an Italian anesthesiologist who neither treated Pope John Paul nor had access to his medical records, argued that when doctors outfitted the Pope with a feeding tube a few days before his death, it was too late to help him.

She concluded that the Pope himself must have refused such treatment earlier, and that as a result he suffered from a serious “nutritional deficit.” She said she reached her conclusion on the basis of the Pope’s

TV appearances, press reports and comments from the papal medical team. The allegation, first made in a magazine article, was repeated at a Rome press conference, where Pavanelli said the Pope’s treatment, or lack of it, constituted “a real act of euthanasia, according to the criteria established by the Catholic Church.”

The Vatican had no official comment. Buzzonetti rejected the accusations in an interview with the Rome newspaper La Repubblica.

Buzzonetti said the nasal feeding tube was permanently applied on March 30, 2005, four days before the Pope’s death, when he was no longer able to nourish himself by eating and drinking.

Other Vatican sources have said the feeding tube also had been used on a temporary basis several times prior to that date. Buzzonetti said the phrase the dying Pope is said to have whispered to one of the Polish nuns at his bedside - “Let me go to the house of the Father” - should not be understood as a refusal of medical care.

“It was certainly not a manifestation of renunciation or a form of premature surrender of life, and much less an invitation to his doctors to ‘pull the plug’ or interrupt assistance, as if an indirect choice of euthanasia,” he said. He said the Pope’s own decision not to return

to the hospital during the last few days of his life was made with the knowledge that he could receive complete and specialised medical treatment in a facility set up inside his apartment. Pope John Paul’s final days, Buzzonetti said, demonstrated that the Pope “never gave up” and showed people “how deeply he loved life, right up to the last instant.”

The renewed discussion about the late Pope’s medical treatment came in the wake of a recent Vatican document that said it was generally a moral obligation to provide food and water to patients in a persistent vegetative state.

The principles underlined by the document apply to patients who are comatose but with regular metabolic functions and not those suffering from a terminal shutdown of organ functions, which the Pope experienced as a result of worsening illness and septic shock.

Italy, meanwhile, has been involved in its own debate about assisted suicide. Last December, Piergiorgio Welby, who was paralyzed and kept alive by a breathing machine for nine years, had the device turned off and died. The Diocese of Rome refused Welby a Church funeral, saying he had committed suicide. Welby’s widow was at the September 26 press conference with Pavanelli.

Vatican responds to global ‘right to die’ lobby

Rome tightens rules as ‘right to die’ laws spread across the globe, forcing the Vatican to change its tactics as movement grows

It’s no accident, experts say, the Vatican began to tighten its position on the obligation to provide food and water to patients in a persistent vegetative state in the late 1980s, at the same time that some Western nations first began to experiment with decriminalising euthanasia.

Movements pushing for assisted suicide and euthanasia have “affected the whole discussion,” said Redemptorist Fr Brian Johnstone of The Catholic University of America.

“That’s what has changed since 1957,” when Pope Pius XII laid out the distinction between

ordinary and extraordinary means to preserve life. Many theologians who support withdrawal of artificial nutrition and hydration for patients in a vegetative state have cited a 1980 “Declaration on Euthanasia” from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which stated that patients and medical professionals can make decisions by studying the type of treatment, its complexity or risk, and its costs, comparing those elements with the result that can be expected.

Just a year later, however, the first Vatican document to refer to provision of food and water as obligatory basic care came in a text titled “Questions of Ethics” prepared by the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, the Vatican’s charitable agency.

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences reiterated that position with respect to comatose patients in 1985.

John Paul II’s 1995 bioethics encyclical Evangelium Vitae limited the refusal of normal treatments to situations in which “death is clearly imminent and inevitable.”

Over the same period, social acceptance of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide has gathered momentum:

• In 1993, the Netherlands became the first nation to officially decline to prosecute cases of doctors assisting terminally ill patients to end their lives.

In 2002, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide were formally legalised. In the same year, Belgium adopted a similar law.

• In Switzerland, suicide was dropped from the criminal code as early as 1937.

In the mid-1980s, organisations were formed to exploit that provision in order to offer life-ending drugs to patients who requested them.

US Bioethics Centre warns against

Market-driven medicine threatens human dignity, bioethicists say

SAN FRANCISCO (CNS)Market-driven medical technology applied at the beginning and end of life is a growing threat to human dignity, speakers for the National Catholic Bioethics Centre told a conference in San Francisco. Catholics must counter with an uncompromising defense of Christian ethics that also encourages lawful innovation to nurture and sustain life, the speakers said, adding that Catholic teaching provides

the most reasonable framework for decisions about human life in any clinical or research setting.

“I always encourage people that if you’re ever confronted with a teaching of the Church you don’t understand and that at first looks problematic, stop and ask yourself what dimension of human dignity the Church sees being threatened in this procedure that we won’t allow,” said John Haas, president of the bioethics centre. The Philadelphiabased centre is a scholarly institution that advises the Vatican and the nation’s bishops. Oakland Bishop Allen Vigneron told Catholic San Francisco, archdiocesan newspaper, that the main issues on which the

• Albania legalised euthanasia in 1999, including cases in which the patient is not capable of expressing a direct wish for death but three or more family members make the request.

• Japan does not have a formal statute legalising euthanasia, but two court decisions, most recently in 1995, have set out criteria under which doctors will not be prosecuted for helping terminally ill patients to end their lives.

• In 1994, Oregon passed a ballot measure that allows physicians to prescribe life-ending drugs requested by terminally ill patients with six months or less to live. The law took effect in 1998. In the nine years since then, public records show that 455 people have requested lethal drugs from their physician, and 292 people have died from using them.

BY JOHN L ALLEN JR, NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER

market-driven sentimantality

Church finds itself “at odds with a lot of the trends in our culture” were in-vitro fertilisation, embryonic stem-cell research and end-oflife issues. Attracting 200 Catholic educators and health-care workers from throughout the Bay Area, the conference took place in the city that hosts California’s US$3 billion stem-cell research institute.

Dr Vincent Fortanasce, a neurologist and medical ethicist, expressed alarm about research involving human embryonic stem cells and cloning. He said ethical concerns are being overshadowed by the potential economic benefits from the patenting of new technologies that involve creation, manipu-

lation and destruction of embryos. Twelve other states are following California’s lead in supporting cloning and embryonic stem-cell research, Fortanasce said, arguing that the trend is driven by economics. “Scientists are no longer pure scientists,” he said. “What they are is entrepreneurs.”

Stem cells hold great promise because they can potentially cure chronic diseases by differentiating into the cells of any damaged organ. But Fortanasce said no one has been cured by a product of human embryonic stem-cell research and speculated that the research is a bridge to human cloning. “Not only are we in charge of life,” he said,

“but we’re the creators.” Fr Tadeusz Pacholczyk, the bioethics centre’s education director, said advocates for embryonic stem cells maintain that 100 million people could benefit in the United States alone. The claim is overstated, he said. “There’s a good deal of overselling, overbilling, overpromising and outright hyping that is occurring and has been occurring for so long that it is conditioning all of us whether we realize it or not,” he said. “We need to distinguish the truthful claims from the incredible hype that is going on all around us.” Fr Pacholczyk said it is a myth that Catholic teaching warns against stem-cell research.

Young prayer: A young girl holds a poster during a Mass in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican in memory of Pope John Paul II on April 2, 2005. As he lay dying, the Pope reached out to young people for the last time, saying “I have looked for you. Now you have come to me. And I thank you.” The Pope’s words were pieced together, as he had much difficulty speaking. CNS

Teresa’s sainthood to cross last hurdle

From excruciating pain to healing, Indian priest claims cure

Indian priest says his cure was miracle through Mother Teresa.

GUWAHATI, India (CNS) - The sainthood cause of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta could cross its last hurdle if the Vatican approves an allegedly miraculous cure a priest claims he experienced on the 10th anniversary of her death.

Salesian Father VM Thomas says Mother Teresa’s intercession was responsible for the disappearance of a half-inch kidney stone in his lower ureter, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News.

The stone disappeared in an inexplicable manner after Fr Thomas celebrated Mass and prayed to Mother Teresa on September 5, the day before he was scheduled for surgery.

UCA News reported that Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil of Guwahati gave the agency a copy of the priest’s files and medical records and, according to the priest’s notes, the surgeon affirmed “the disappearance of the calculus (stone) was beyond medical explanation.”

Fr Thomas, 56, was associated with Mother Teresa from 1979 until her death in 1997.

The priest had been suffering from severe abdominal pain since February 13.

Medical examinations in a Guwahati hospital revealed he had renal colic and calculi, and doctors advised him to take medicine to help dissolve the kidney stones.

But recurring pains took him to at least four other hospitals elsewhere. On July 26, surgeons in Guwahati advised surgery, but Fr Thomas wanted to wait. On August 27, he met doctors again after he said he was overcome with “excruciating” pain.

He was admitted to a hospital in Guwahati on September 4. Tests confirmed the presence of the stone, and doctors set on

September 6 for its surgical removal. Fr Thomas said that on the morning of September 5, before preparations for his surgery, his doctor allowed him to leave the hospital to celebrate Mass at Shishu Bhavan, a home for abandoned children Mother Teresa started in Guwahati.

At the Mass, he asked those present to pray for him, especially through the intercession of Mother Teresa.

The priest later affirmed his belief that Mother Teresa’s miraculous intercession caused the stone to disappear.

Surgical preparation began late on September 5, but on the afternoon of September 6, when the final presurgical x-ray was taken, the doctors could not locate the stone.

A repeat X-ray also proved negative. The chief surgeon then ordered another ultrasound by the same radiologist who did the September 4 tests, but that also proved negative.

Subhash Khanna, the surgeon who treated the priest, said in his case summary that Father Thomas was under his treatment for three months.

He was diagnosed as having lower ureteric calculus with diabetes and hypertension, the records showed.

The surgeon further noted that on September 5 the priest went to Shishu Bhavan to celebrate Mother Teresa’s feast day. On his return, the priest had a feeling of wellbeing and slept peacefully, Khanna reported.

Repeated investigations prior to the scheduled surgery left the doctors surprised, because “the calculus was no longer there in the ureter, and moreover he had not passed out the calculus in urine,” the doctor confirmed.

“So the operation was canceled.”

In the case summary, which the surgeon signed on September 11, he stated: “It indeed seemed like a miracle and unique incident as the

Luminous prayers (above): Volunteers, slum dwellers and nuns from the Missionaries of Charity gather beside the tomb of Blessed Mother Teresa for a special prayer in Calcutta, India, on the 10th anniversary of her death on September 5. Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950. The order now has a worldwide presence in serving those who suffer, including the homeless, the dying and AIDS victims. CNS

They’re everywhere (at right): Missionaries of Charity nuns gather for a special prayer in Calcutta, India, on the 10th anniversary of Blessed Mother Teresa’s death. Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950.

PHOTO: CNS/JAYANTA SHAW, REUTERS

stone, which could not be dissolved with medicine, just vanished on that particular day.”

According to standard Vatican procedure, a miracle that occurred following Mother Teresa’s beatification on October 19, 2003, would be required for her to be canonised, or declared a saint. In cases of alleged medical miracles, the Vatican has a commission of medical specialists review the case.

War not the solution to national security: Vatican

War cannot be means to promote national interests, Vatican tells United Nations General Assembly.

UNITED NATIONS (CNS) - War and armed conflict are no longer sustainable means for promoting or protecting national interests, the Vatican’s top foreign affairs official has told the UN General Assembly. United Nations agreements concerning disarmament and the nonproliferation of weapons and plans to create “a standing team of expert mediators” to prevent conflict should receive increased support, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican’s top foreign affairs offi-

cial said on October 1 at UN headquarters in New York.

Speaking during the general debate marking the opening of the 62nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, the Archbishop said the values upon which the United Nations were founded should be reaffirmed so as to “deliver a forceful ‘no’ to war and an equally forceful ‘yes’ to human dignity.”

He said respect for human dignity “is the deepest ethical foundation” upon which peace and fraternal relations between nations are built.

“Forgetting, or partially and selectively accepting” this principle of respect “is what lies at the origin of conflicts, of environmental

degradation and of social and economic injustice,” he told assembly members.

A nation’s interests are never absolute and must never be defended in a way that harms “the legitimate interests of other states,” he said, adding that nations have a duty to promote the common good around the world.

Archbishop Mamberti said, “In the difficult crossroads in which humanity finds itself today, the use of force no longer represents a sustainable solution.”

He urged nations to save the UN Conference on Disarmament from a decadelong impasse and ease the “severe strain” on its treaty on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons.

He also urged nations to give added support to a nuclear test ban treaty and other measures for arms control.

He called for renewed commitment in bringing peace and moral, political and economic reconstruction to “long-suffering Iraq.”

He also asked for concerted efforts to bring peace to the Darfur region of Sudan, bring stability to Lebanon, and bring Israelis and Palestinians to negotiations that would result in a solution that recognises “the legitimate expectations of each side.”

The archbishop praised UN plans to devote more resources to preventing conflict by creating a team of expert negotiators. He also supported UN initiatives to further

interreligious and cultural dialogue, saying such a conversation is “indispensable for peace” and cooperation.

He warned that “the right to religious freedom continues to be disregarded and even violated in certain places” around the world.

“If religious leaders and believers expect states and societies to respect them and acknowledge their religions to be truly instruments of peace, they themselves must respect religious freedom,”

Archbishop Mamberti said.

Religious leaders must promote peace, shun violence, and show that religion is not an excuse for violence since justifying or fueling conflict in the name of religion is a “blatant contradiction,” he said.

Standing on the shoulders of giants

■ By Anthony Barich

Over 300 people stood “on the shoulders of giants” as they celebrated the 40th anniversary of Our Lady of Lourdes church in Nollamara on September 23.

Fr Brian O’Loughlin, Perth’s Vicar General, was but a young man fresh out of St Charles’ Seminary when he received his first pastoral placement as assistant priest (curate) to Nollamara on September 16, 1974.

That was seven years after the parish church, built in 1967, was blessed by then-Auxiliary Bishop Myles McKeon.

As principal celebrant of the Mass celebrating 40 years since the blessing, Fr O’Loughlin reflected on the countless faithful who have “gone before us in faith, lifting their minds and hearts in confident prayer” in the sacraments of marriage, baptism and reconciliation, and concluded that “we stand on the shoulders of giants”.

The Vicar General has seen plenty of parishes in his time in the Perth Archdiocese, but the passion which Fr Rupert Kelly, the parish priest he served under, had for the liturgy was certainly unique.

Fr O’Loughlin said that Fr Kelly, who was Nollamara parish priest for 33 years, literally put hours into the preparation and training of altar servers – some of whom, who were

present at the first blessing 40 years ago, were present on September 23.

“Fr Kelly loved the liturgy with a passion, so it is fitting that the choir is up to his standard and that there are a good number of servers and acolytes assisting at the altar,” Fr O’Loughlin said.

Fr Kelly’s model was the Good Shepherd, who said, “I know mine and mine know me”. Almost every day Fr Kelly visited homes in the parish and worked closely with the Sisters of Mercy who conducted the school.

Some Mercy Sisters acknowledged this link with their presence at the anniversary Mass.

The parish actually started in 1958; so until 1967, Masses were said in Nollamara primary school. That makes 2008 the 50th anniversary of the parish itself.

In 1958 the parish site was mostly cleared land consisting of sand. As some finances became available, Fr Kelly built a school-church. Later the school library consisted of two rooms and a bathroom, which is now the school canteen.

Fr Kelly’s parents lived on Waterloo Crescent, above Gloucester Park and nearby what is now Trinity College in East Perth. When they traveled out to visit their son in his new parish Mrs Kelly was horrified to find her son living in what she regarded as a ‘lean-to’.

Fr O’Loughlin recalled that as she lived in the Cathedral parish,

Prendiville, Mrs Kelly decided that the living conditions were not up to scratch, so asked the Archbishop’s permission that if Syd, her husband, and herself sold their home and built opposite the church, would Fr Kelly have permission to live there as the presbytery.

“Archbishop Prendiville was too wise to decline the very determined Mrs Kelly, and so it happened,” Fr O’Loughlin said. That decisive action meant that the parish was spared the expense of building a presbytery, which gave the parish a start to build the existing church before other parishes had the chance.

It’s all changed now, though. While the intriguing octagonal shape of the church remains, over $700,000 has gone into a new ground-level porte cochere (covered entry where wedding and funeral cars park), new sacristy, vesting room for servers and acolytes, meeting room and offices for the parish preist

sary celebration day. Fr O’Loughlin said Fr Kelly wanted the unusual octagonal shape as Jesus had the Apostles gathered around Him at the Last Supper, so he told architect Raymond Jones that he wanted the people gathered likewise around the altar.

Things have since been shifted slightly so everyone enters the church from in front of the altar and fewer people are behind him when he stands at the altar.

Reflecting the importance of the thousands of people on whose shoulders Fr O’Loughlin said today’s parishioners stand, priests concelebrated the anniversary Mass who had a special interest in the place.

They included current parish priest Salvatorian Fr Laurence Murphy; Fr Michael Gatt, parish priest of Osborne Park, “of which this parish is a daughter”; Girrawheen parish priest Fr Tony Vallis, who entered St Charles’ Seminary from Nollamara

Lourdes school.

Fr O’Loughlin’s association with the parish also runs deep.

Although, in his days, students rarely left the seminary grounds, Fr Kelly liked a proper liturgical celebration, so a few weeks after Bishop McKeon blessed the church, the students of St Charles were there to sing the Mass for the Golden Jubilee of Fr Kelly’s parents, Mary Angela and Sydney.

The Vicar General had no inkling that seven years later he’d be stationed there. But providence is like that. And, considering countless volunteer hours were put into constructing the new driveways, earthworks, reticulation and gardening by parishioners, it is clearly providence – and hard work – that will sustain Our Lady of Lourdes parish well into the future.

Keep religion out of politics: Apostolic Nuncio

Apostolic Nuncio defends seperation of Church and State.

■ By Sylvia Defendi

Apostolic Nuncio

Archbishop George Antonysamy has opened discussion on the role of the Church in state matters by saying discretion is in order when imposing religion on government rule can create social unrest. Archbishop Antonysamy, who stopped over in Perth in early September to visit a friend on the way to New Zealand for a personal visit, said that by keeping religion personal and not allowing it to permeate government, many nations would find harmony.

As Apostolic Nuncio to Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Gambia, Archbishop Antonysamy acts as a representative of the Pope and ambassador for the Holy See and thus works with the local and universal Church as well as with each country’s government.

While Liberia is considered a Christian country, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Gambia are Muslim nations.

Yet Archbishop Antonysamy said there was no form of persecution in any of these countries.

Indeed, he told The Record of a family living in Sierra Leone whose mother is a Catholic and father a Muslim.

“They all live in extraordinary peace and perfect harmony – It is nothing like that in India, for example,” said Archbishop

Antonysamy, who is of Indian origin, adding that he believed such harmony existed between religion, politics and personal life because in each instance faith was considered a personal matter, not to be imposed on others through governmental rule.

So strong is this distinction between religion and politics that Archbishop Antonysamy commented at the lack of Muslim leadership candidates in Sierra Leone, even though the nation is considered Muslim.

“Religion is a relationship between God and man, and therefore, should not interfere with politics,” he said.

Regarding the lack of persecution within these countries, Archbishop Antonysamy said there was a great respect for Christians because of the work they had done in rebuilding many of these nations.

“The Church is regarded as a key player in developing many countries and is consulted regularly by the government,” he said.

Yet, Archbishop Antonysamy said the faith was still in its fledgling stages within his territory.

“Faith is not very well rooted at the moment because most people have other things to focus on, like gaining education, shelter and even food,” he said.

While religious persecution may not exist, Archbishop Antonysamy said political corruption and economic instability were major problems facing each country.

“Everything is affected by this, even seminary formation,” he said.

Archbishop Antonysamy said the Church has concentrated on providing proper instruction for priestly and lay formation,

instruction on how to build a Church after civil war and organise that Church, re-build health and provide free education; not only for Christians but for all in the area.

“We have to face lack of education and employment properly or another civil war could easily break out,” he said.

“We are also focussing on the development of women, by encouraging them to send their young girls to school because in many of these nations women are considered secondclass citizens.”

To those who wonder whether these conflicts will ever be resolved, Archbishop Antonysamy said he had seen a great improve-

ment. “Liberia, has recently appointed its first female president,” he said.

“We have to remain positive in our outlook, because it is easy to get carried away with everything that needs to be done. There has been an improvement but it is a slow improvement.

“Economic stability is possible when political stability comes,” he said. Reflecting on Africa’s journey to peace, Archbishop Antonysamy said it was only possible to plan the present. “I have planted change, but as the missionaries have said to me before, ‘don’t try to change things. Prepare the way and the change will come.’

parish priest of Mirrabooka, “a daughter of this parish”; Fr Paul Maunder of Morley and Fr Vincent Glynn who attended Our Lady of

Looking good: Fr Rupert Kelly, who served Our Lady of Lourdes parish for 33 years, was passionate about the liturgy, and spent hours preparing altar servers like these boys from Nollamara to get it right. PHOTO

Interesting: Archbishop George Antonysamy, while in Perth visiting a friend in September, told The Record that religion must not be imposed on people through governments.

PHOTO: SYLVIA DEFENDI

Standing on the shoulders of giants

■ By Anthony Barich

Over 300 people stood “on the shoulders of giants” as they celebrated the 40th anniversary of Our Lady of Lourdes church in Nollamara on September 23.

Fr Brian O’Loughlin, Perth’s Vicar General, was but a young man fresh out of St Charles’ Seminary when he received his first pastoral placement as assistant priest (curate) to Nollamara on September 16, 1974.

That was seven years after the parish church, built in 1967, was blessed by then-Auxiliary Bishop Myles McKeon.

As principal celebrant of the Mass celebrating 40 years since the blessing, Fr O’Loughlin reflected on the countless faithful who have “gone before us in faith, lifting their minds and hearts in confident prayer” in the sacraments of marriage, baptism and reconciliation, and concluded that “we stand on the shoulders of giants”.

The Vicar General has seen plenty of parishes in his time in the Perth Archdiocese, but the passion which Fr Rupert Kelly, the parish priest he served under, had for the liturgy was certainly unique.

Fr O’Loughlin said that Fr Kelly, who was Nollamara parish priest for 33 years, literally put hours into the preparation and training of altar servers – some of whom, who were

present at the first blessing 40 years ago, were present on September 23.

“Fr Kelly loved the liturgy with a passion, so it is fitting that the choir is up to his standard and that there are a good number of servers and acolytes assisting at the altar,” Fr O’Loughlin said.

Fr Kelly’s model was the Good Shepherd, who said, “I know mine and mine know me”. Almost every day Fr Kelly visited homes in the parish and worked closely with the Sisters of Mercy who conducted the school.

Some Mercy Sisters acknowledged this link with their presence at the anniversary Mass.

The parish actually started in 1958; so until 1967, Masses were said in Nollamara primary school. That makes 2008 the 50th anniversary of the parish itself.

In 1958 the parish site was mostly cleared land consisting of sand. As some finances became available, Fr Kelly built a school-church. Later the school library consisted of two rooms and a bathroom, which is now the school canteen.

Fr Kelly’s parents lived on Waterloo Crescent, above Gloucester Park and nearby what is now Trinity College in East Perth. When they traveled out to visit their son in his new parish Mrs Kelly was horrified to find her son living in what she regarded as a ‘lean-to’.

Fr O’Loughlin recalled that as she lived in the Cathedral parish,

Prendiville, Mrs Kelly decided that the living conditions were not up to scratch, so asked the Archbishop’s permission that if Syd, her husband, and herself sold their home and built opposite the church, would Fr Kelly have permission to live there as the presbytery.

“Archbishop Prendiville was too wise to decline the very determined Mrs Kelly, and so it happened,” Fr O’Loughlin said. That decisive action meant that the parish was spared the expense of building a presbytery, which gave the parish a start to build the existing church before other parishes had the chance.

It’s all changed now, though. While the intriguing octagonal shape of the church remains, over $700,000 has gone into a new ground-level porte cochere (covered entry where wedding and funeral cars park), new sacristy, vesting room for servers and acolytes, meeting room and offices for the parish preist

sary celebration day. Fr O’Loughlin said Fr Kelly wanted the unusual octagonal shape as Jesus had the Apostles gathered around Him at the Last Supper, so he told architect Raymond Jones that he wanted the people gathered likewise around the altar.

Things have since been shifted slightly so everyone enters the church from in front of the altar and fewer people are behind him when he stands at the altar.

Reflecting the importance of the thousands of people on whose shoulders Fr O’Loughlin said today’s parishioners stand, priests concelebrated the anniversary Mass who had a special interest in the place.

They included current parish priest Salvatorian Fr Laurence Murphy; Fr Michael Gatt, parish priest of Osborne Park, “of which this parish is a daughter”; Girrawheen parish priest Fr Tony Vallis, who entered St Charles’ Seminary from Nollamara

Lourdes school.

Fr O’Loughlin’s association with the parish also runs deep.

Although, in his days, students rarely left the seminary grounds, Fr Kelly liked a proper liturgical celebration, so a few weeks after Bishop McKeon blessed the church, the students of St Charles were there to sing the Mass for the Golden Jubilee of Fr Kelly’s parents, Mary Angela and Sydney.

The Vicar General had no inkling that seven years later he’d be stationed there. But providence is like that. And, considering countless volunteer hours were put into constructing the new driveways, earthworks, reticulation and gardening by parishioners, it is clearly providence – and hard work – that will sustain Our Lady of Lourdes parish well into the future.

Keep religion out of politics: Apostolic Nuncio

Apostolic Nuncio defends seperation of Church and State.

■ By Sylvia Defendi

Apostolic Nuncio

Archbishop George Antonysamy has opened discussion on the role of the Church in state matters by saying discretion is in order when imposing religion on government rule can create social unrest. Archbishop Antonysamy, who stopped over in Perth in early September to visit a friend on the way to New Zealand for a personal visit, said that by keeping religion personal and not allowing it to permeate government, many nations would find harmony.

As Apostolic Nuncio to Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Gambia, Archbishop Antonysamy acts as a representative of the Pope and ambassador for the Holy See and thus works with the local and universal Church as well as with each country’s government.

While Liberia is considered a Christian country, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Gambia are Muslim nations.

Yet Archbishop Antonysamy said there was no form of persecution in any of these countries.

Indeed, he told The Record of a family living in Sierra Leone whose mother is a Catholic and father a Muslim.

“They all live in extraordinary peace and perfect harmony – It is nothing like that in India, for example,” said Archbishop

Antonysamy, who is of Indian origin, adding that he believed such harmony existed between religion, politics and personal life because in each instance faith was considered a personal matter, not to be imposed on others through governmental rule.

So strong is this distinction between religion and politics that Archbishop Antonysamy commented at the lack of Muslim leadership candidates in Sierra Leone, even though the nation is considered Muslim.

“Religion is a relationship between God and man, and therefore, should not interfere with politics,” he said.

Regarding the lack of persecution within these countries, Archbishop Antonysamy said there was a great respect for Christians because of the work they had done in rebuilding many of these nations.

“The Church is regarded as a key player in developing many countries and is consulted regularly by the government,” he said.

Yet, Archbishop Antonysamy said the faith was still in its fledgling stages within his territory.

“Faith is not very well rooted at the moment because most people have other things to focus on, like gaining education, shelter and even food,” he said.

While religious persecution may not exist, Archbishop Antonysamy said political corruption and economic instability were major problems facing each country.

“Everything is affected by this, even seminary formation,” he said.

Archbishop Antonysamy said the Church has concentrated on providing proper instruction for priestly and lay formation,

instruction on how to build a Church after civil war and organise that Church, re-build health and provide free education; not only for Christians but for all in the area.

“We have to face lack of education and employment properly or another civil war could easily break out,” he said.

“We are also focussing on the development of women, by encouraging them to send their young girls to school because in many of these nations women are considered secondclass citizens.”

To those who wonder whether these conflicts will ever be resolved, Archbishop Antonysamy said he had seen a great improve-

ment. “Liberia, has recently appointed its first female president,” he said.

“We have to remain positive in our outlook, because it is easy to get carried away with everything that needs to be done. There has been an improvement but it is a slow improvement.

“Economic stability is possible when political stability comes,” he said. Reflecting on Africa’s journey to peace, Archbishop Antonysamy said it was only possible to plan the present. “I have planted change, but as the missionaries have said to me before, ‘don’t try to change things. Prepare the way and the change will come.’

parish priest of Mirrabooka, “a daughter of this parish”; Fr Paul Maunder of Morley and Fr Vincent Glynn who attended Our Lady of

Looking good: Fr Rupert Kelly, who served Our Lady of Lourdes parish for 33 years, was passionate about the liturgy, and spent hours preparing altar servers like these boys from Nollamara to get it right. PHOTO

Interesting: Archbishop George Antonysamy, while in Perth visiting a friend in September, told The Record that religion must not be imposed on people through governments.

PHOTO: SYLVIA DEFENDI

October 11, 12 and 13

PANORAMA a roundup of events in the archdiocese

TRIDUUM TO CELEBRATE 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FATIMA APPARITIONS

Holy Trinity Church, Embleton. 7pm Holy Mass followed by Rosary, Litany, Marian Prayer and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament on Thursday and Friday respectively. Saturday 13th, Vigil Mass at 6pm followed by devotions as above, concluding with candle light procession and fellowship at the hall to thank and farewell Franciscan Friar of the Immaculate the Preacher Fr John Josep. Please bring a plate. Enq: Mons McCrann 9271 5528 or Judy David 9275 5827 or George Jacob 9272 1379.

Monday October 15

SOLEMNITY OF ST TERESA

A Solemn Concelebrated Mass will be offered at the Carmelite Monastery, 100 Adelma Road, Nedlands at 9.30 am. Bishop Quinn will be the main Celebrant. All are welcome, morning tea afterwards. Enq: 9386 3672.

Monday October 15

ST TERESA OF AVILA, FEAST DAY CELEBRATIONS

The Discalced Carmelite Friars and the Infant Jesus Parish Community at 47 Wellington Road, Morley warmly invite you all to join in our celebrations with a Mass at 7am, a Sung Mass at 9am and a Talk on St Teresa by Fr Paul Maunder O.C.D. at 7.30pm. Enq: Darren 9276 8500 or ijparish@carmelite.com.

Wednesday October 17

TAIZE MEDITATIVE PRAYER

7.30pm to 8.30pm at St Thomas More Catholic Church, 100 Dean Road, Batemen. All welcome to come and spend an hour in Group Prayer and relax after a busy workday in a candle light atmosphere of prayer, song and meditation. Eng: Daisy/Barney 9310 4781.

Friday October 19

CATHOLIC FAITH RENEWAL

Fr Greg Donovan will lead you through Scriptures – Genesis to Apocalypse held at St John and Paul’s Parish Hall at 7.30pm. All welcome. Enq: Rita 9272 1765 or Rose 0403 300 720.

Friday 19 - Sunday 21 October

MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER WEEKEND

When You Care Enough. Looking for a new way to let your spouse know you love them in the midst of your jobs, the kids, sport and trying to keep up with your house, pool and garden? Tell him or her they’re still No. 1 in your life. To love the very best in your marriage, treat yourselves to a Marriage Encounter Weekend. Register now for the last weekend for the year 2007. Contact Joe & Margaret Cordina on 9417 8750 for further details and bookings.

Saturday October 20

ST JOSEPH’S YOUTH GROUP, QUEENS PARK, 30 YEAR REUNION

All past members of the St Joseph’s Youth Group are invited to attend a reunion. If you would like to attend or know of someone who was a member, please contact Wayne McGoorty on 9351 9563 or email dmcgoorty@upnaway.com or Carolyn Pen on 0411 133 465 or email penpc@optusnet.com.au for further details of this event.

Saturday October 20

INDONESIAN CATHOLIC YOUTH ORGANISATION PRESENTS:

SWARA PERDANA -A Chorale Performance of Classical, Contemporary & Indonesian Repertoire. Time 7.30pm. Place St Joseph’s Church, 1 Salvado Road, SUBIACO WA. Admission: $15. All proceeds go to charity. Enq: Leonard 0433 068 970 or Adi 0433 452 339.

Saturday October 20

SOLEMN PONTIFICAL MASS AT THE THRONE

In The Traditional Latin Rite and Confirmation

Celebrated by His Grace, Archbishop BJ Hickley. St Michael the Archangel Chapel, 50 Ruislip Street, Leederville at 9.30am. All welcome. Music: Renaissance Polyphony and Gregorian Chant. Confessions heard before Mass. Enq: Fr Michael Rowe 9444 9604.

Saturday October 20

TRINITY COLLEGE SPRINGTIME FAIR AND ART

EXHIBITION.

A Fun Family Day Out!. Art Exhibition and Sales open to General Public 10am to 4pm. Sunday 21 October 2007. Trinity Springtime Fair Family Fun Day 10am to 4pm. Art Exhibition and Sales 10am to 4pm. Trinity College is located next to the WACA at the Causeway end of Hay St. Free parking is available. Enq: Fair Coordinator: 9276 2846 or TOBA Art Exhibition Coordinator: 9223 8132.

Saturday October 20

JUMBLE SALE

Come along to The Living Centre, 31 Stiles Avenue, Burswood. Doors open at 8am until 2pm. Enjoy a continental breakfast or lunch for a small donation. Enjoy the Tombola, face painting, bric a brac stalls, clothes stall and more. Remember the early bird catches the worm, so bring you friends along. All money raised will be used for The HIV/AIDS Pastoral Care Centre.

Saturday October 20

MEDJUGORJE: MORNING OF PRAYER

A morning of Prayer with Our Lady Queen of Peace at St Bernardette’s Church, Glendalough. Start 10am. Adoration, Meditation and Rosary. Holy Mass at 11.30am. Celebrant Rev. Fr Mcilak Marcellinus (OFM). Lunch at Church Centre, 39 Jugan Street. Bring plate along. Tea/Coffee supplied. Enq: Margaret 9341 8082.

Friday October 26

HEALING OF THE FAMILY TREE

Our Lady of the Missions Church, 270 Camberwarra Drive, Whitfords/Craigie. Change of Date. Don’t miss this opportunity to be set free from generational sins and sicknesses. Jesus says I have come to give you life in abundance. Presiding celebrant is Fr Hugh Thomas CSsR. Family Tree Booklets available from the Healing Fire Burning Love Ministry during their Services for $2. Or contact Jenni Young on 9445 1028

Friday - Sunday October 26-28

CATHOLIC FAITH RENEWAL: RETREAT BY FATHER GINO HENRIQUES

God and Your Inner Self. Fr Gino Henriques CSsR is a Catholic priest of the Redemptorist congregation. Ordained in 1960 and studied Sacred Scripture and Theology in Rome and Mass Media in Canada and the USA. He is an international speaker who has preached to Bishops, Priests, Religious and laity. Enq: Rita 9272 1765, Rose 0403 300 720, Maureen 9381 4498.

Saturday October 27

MUSIC IS MAGIC

Invites you to a One Day Play-In for all string players, wind players and pianists. Professional tutors. Subiaco Church, 260 Bagot Road, Subiaco at 10am to 6pm. Coffee/Tea provided. Registration forms from Sonia Letourneau, 9382 4509 or 0405 570 045.

Sunday October 28

REGIONAL ELECTIONS FOR THE SECULAR FRANCISCAN ORDER OF WA

All professed Secular Franciscans are encouraged to attend the Regional Elections to be held at the Edel Quinn Centre, 36 Windsor St. East Perth. Arrive at 10am for a 10.30am start. The day will conclude with Mass at 3pm. Please bring a plate to share. Visitors are welcome. Enq: Michael 9275 2066.

Sunday October 28

WYD GOLF TOURNAMENT

Sign up for 3 Parish WYD Golf Tournament. Starting at 1pm, 18 hole at Collier Park Golf Course and dinner at Holy Family Parish. $100 per person. Enter a team or individually. Enq: Martin 0410 52 1073.

Sunday October 28

JENNACUBINE

An invitation is extended to all persons who have any links to St Isidore’s Church, Jennacubbine to attend the 100th Anniversary Celebrations at 10am. Celebrant: Archbishop B J Hickey. We would appreciate the offer on-loan of any memorabilia or photos

Panoramas

Panorama entries must be in by 12pm Monday. Contributions may be faxed to 9227 7087, emailed to administration@therecord.com.au or mailed to PO box 75, Leederville, WA 6902.

Events charging over $10 constitute a classified event, and will be charged accordingly. The Record reserves the right to decline or modify any advertisment. Please do not re-submit Panoramas once they are in print.

of interest. Contact: Joe & Cathie Bowen 9623 2264 cbowen@wn.com.au.

First Friday November 2

ALLIANCE AND TRIUMPH OF THE TWO HEARTS

Holy Mass and Eucharistic vigil at St Bernadette’s Church Glendalough. Confessions at 5.15pm. Parish Mass at 5.45pm (Celebrant: Rev. Fr Doug Harris) followed by exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, hourly rosaries, hymns and reflections etc. Vigil concludes with midnight Mass in honour of the BVM (Celebrant: Rev. Fr. Hugh Thomas CSSR). Enq: Fr Doug Harris 9444 6131 or Dorothy 9342 5845.

Saturday November 3

DAY WITH MARY

Holy Family Church, Lot 375 Alcock Street, Maddington at 9am to 5pm. A video on Fatima will be shown at 9am. A day of prayer and instruction based upon the messages of Fatima. Includes Sacrament of Penance, Holy Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Sermons, Rosaries, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Stations of the Cross. BYO lunch. Enq: 9250 8286.

Saturday November 3

PINNAROO VALLEY ALL SOULS MASS

Mass to commemorate the souls of all the faithful departed will be celebrated at Pinnaroo Valley Memorial Park Crematorium Chapel starting at 1pm. All welcome. Enq: Our Lady of the Mission Parish Office 9307 2776.

Saturday-Friday November 10 - 16

THE 2007 BUNBURY CATHOLIC COMMUNITY RENEWAL

Success Full: Relationships will be the subject for Fr Justin Belitz OFM during the week-long Renewal at St. Mary’s Church beginning with the Parish Masses November 10 and 11, followed by sessions on November 11 to November 15, beginning at 9.45 to10.45am each morning and 7.30pm to 8.30pm each evening. All welcome. Enq: Dick 9721 4651.

Friday November 17

INTERCESSION FOR WORLD YOUTH DAY 2008

All night prayer vigil. St Bernadette’s, Jugan St, Glendalough. 8pm-6am. Begins with Mass ends with Breakfast. All are welcome to come to pray and intercede for World Youth Day 2008. Come for an hour, stay the night.

Every First Friday and First Saturday of Each Month COMMUNION OF REPARATION ALL NIGHT VIGIL

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

First Sunday of each month

DEVOTIONS IN HONOUR OF THE DIVINE MERCY

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

Last Sunday each month

HEALING FIRE BURNING LOVE

Charismatic Mass celebrated at the Holy Spirit Chapel, 85 Boas Avenue, Joondalup at 5.45pm. Worshipping the Father in Spirit and in truth John 4:23-24. St Bernadette’s, 6.30pm – 8.00pm. Cnr Leeder and Jugan St Glendalough.

Every Saturday

PERPETUAL HELP DEVOTIONS

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

Every Sunday

BULLSBROOK SHRINE

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

Every Sunday

LATIN MASS

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

Every fourth Monday SCRIPTURAL PRAYER PROGRAM

7.30-9pm. Venue: St Mary’s Parish Centre, 40 Franklin St, Leederville. The Council for Australian Catholic Women (CACW) is offering a scriptural prayer program developed in the Jesuit tradition. This form of prayer can lead to more reflective living, greater spiritual depths and promotes lay spiritual leader-

ship in the Church. Led by Kathleen Brennan (ibvm). Enq: Michelle Wood 9345 2555.

Every Wednesday HOLY HOUR, BENEDICTION

Holy Hour 4.30–5.30pm, St Thomas Church, 2 College Road, Claremont each Wednesday, followed by Evening prayer and Benediction. Personal prayer before the Blessed Sacrament is Adoration of Jesus’ gift of Himself, of His love for you, for your loved ones and for our world. Come and Thank Him.

Second Wednesday of Each Month

CHAPLETS OF THE DIVINE MERCY

A beautiful, prayerful, sung devotion to be held at St Thomas More Catholic Church, Dean Road Bateman commencing at 7.30 pm. The next devotion is to be held on Wednesday 14 November 2007. All welcome. Enq: George Lopez 9310 9493

Every second Wednesday FORTNIGHTLY BIBLE REFLECTIONS

Workers in the Garden of the Holy Family are conducting Bible Reflections at St Mary’s Church, Parish Centre, 40 Franklin Street, Leederville. Commencing 7pm with Rosary, refreshments provided afterward. Dates: October 17, 31, November 14, 28, December 5. Enq: 9201 0337.

EUCHARISTIC ADORATION

Holy Trinity Church, 8 Burnett Street, Embleton. Every Monday to Thursday after the 8.30am Mass untill 10am. Every Thursday night from 11pm to midnight. Every Friday Eucharistic Adoration after the 8.30 Mass untill 6pm. Enquiries: Mgr McCrann on: 9271 5528 or George Jacob on: 9272 1379.

Every First Friday

HOLY HOUR FOR VOCATIONS TO THE PRIESTHOOD AND THE RELIGIOUS LIFE

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

Every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month CATHOLIC FAITH RENEWAL

Every 1st Friday - Praise and Worship evening held at St John and Paul’s Church, Pinetree Gully Rd, Willetton at 7.30pm. Every 3rd Friday Catholic Faith Education by Fr Greg Donovan, LJ Goody Bioethics Centre, 39 Jugan Street, Glendalough at 7.30pm. All are welcome. Enq: Rita 9272 1765 or Rose 0403 300 720.

Second Friday of each Month GENERAL PRAYER ASSEMBLY

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

Every Fourth Sunday SECULAR FRANCISCAN ORDER

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

Every Fourth Sunday WATCH AND PRAY

A Holy Hour is held at Infant Jesus Parish, Morley from 2-3pm with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. The hour consists of some prayers and Scripture but mostly the hour is silent prayer for Vocations. All are welcome. Please encourage others to come and pray. Prayer - it works! Enq: 9276 8500.

Every Monday

WEIGHT MANAGEMENT FOR THOSE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS

The Emmanuel Centre are offering to help people who gain weight because they are using medication for their mental illness. The group helps participants to manage their weight safely and healthily. Mind-Body-Life meets at the Emmanuel Centre on Mondays from 12.30-2.30pm. Free. The group starts with a weigh-in, then a talk on nutrition and healthy eating tips, goal setting and then half an hour of exercise. Enq: Amanda - Emmanuel Centre, 9328 8113.

BOOK DONATIONS

We still seek donations of books and thank you and bless you for your kind, generous contributions of Bibles, Missals and Catholic books on the faith. We are now able to offer a selection of second-hand, pre-loved books to the community in return for a small donation. Enq: 9293 3092.

WINDOW FUND DONATIONS WELCOME

St Catherine’s Catholic Church, Gin Gin. Parishioners are currently fundraising to restore the church windows. The cost of each window is $1500.

PANORAMA continued

If anyone is able to assist our fundraising efforts please telephone Fr Paul 9571 1839.

CLUB AMICI

Club Amici aims to build community amongst Catholic singles, couples and families (aged 25 and up) by organising social events. If you would like a copy of our new calendar of events or would like to be on our mailout list please contact Therese 9437 5349 or email clubamiciwa@yahoo.com.au.

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

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

REUNION

John and Marie Acland are planning to hold a reunion later this year of all past and present members of the Apostles of Christ Prayer Group Willetton and all other persons who took part in their Meetings, Fellowship Nights, Life in the Spirit, and supplementary Seminars, the Alpha Course and other group activities. Details will be advised when full numbers are known. Enq: Marie Acland. Tel/fax 9537-3390. Email jmacland@bigpond.com or Dianne McLeod 9332-0829. Email danielmcleod@bigpond.com

OUR LADY QUEEN OF PEACE HOUSE OF PRAYER

Archbishop Hickey, at the end of 2006, approved a House of Prayer in the Archdiocese of Perth. The house must be fully purchased or donated and operational by the end of November 2007. All donations may be deposited at the CDF (Catholic Development Fund), 61 Fitzgerald Street, Northbridge. Ph: 9427 0333 Fax: 9427 0379 Email: cdf@archdiocese-perth. org.au. All donations will be fully refunded in the first half of December 2007 should a suitable house not be found and purchased. Please enquire about Tax Deductibility and General Enquiries: 9444 1940.

DONATION WANTED: THE CHAIN OF MARY

From 2004 up until now the Chain Of Mary has had a positive response throughout Australia and is now making its way overseas. We are now looking for anyone who can help with donations towards the continued printing and distribution of these Booklets. If you can assist Please call Rose on 0437 700 247.

THE JULIAN SINGERS

Do you like singing and music? We will be presenting ‘A musical presentation of Christ the King’ on 18 November, 25 November and 2 December. Fourth term commences 17 October on Wednesday evening from 7.30pm to 9.30pm at 36 Windsor Street, East Perth. All welcome. Enq: Chris 9276 2736 and Angela 9275 2066

The Parish The Nation The World

OCTOBER ENGAGEMENTS

11 National Confraternity of Christian Doctrine Conference, Eucharist and DinnerBishop Sproxton Council of Priests’ meeting at the Vietnamese Catholic Community Centre - Archbishop Hickey, Bishop Sproxton

Visit Confirmation candidates, Como Parish - Bishop Sproxton

Parish Visitation, Bassendean - Archbishop Hickey

The Eternal Word Television Network

On Access 31 every Sunday 1pm - 2pm

7: Exploring Biblical Jordan /presented by David Nunn [Blue Skies Production]

14: Psychological and theological issues of the apparitions at Fatima /Fr Benedict Groeschel [Sunday Night Live]

21: Guests Fr Frank Pavone and Janet Morana speaking about Pro-life and the USA elections with Fr Mitch Pacwa [EWTN Live]

28: 3 min segment on WYD 2008 [Vaticana] followed by Power to the people / Laura Ingrham, author and political talk-back host, with Raymond Arroyo [World Over]

We now have 100 members of the 300 Club, which enables us to renew the contract for the remainder of this year and into 2008. Thank you for helping us keep Catholic Programs on TV. If you can afford $1 a week,

Classifieds

ACCOMMODATION

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

■ FAMILY GROUP ACCOMMODATION Visit http://www.beachhouseperth.com Call 0400 292 100

BLINDS

■ BLINDS SPECIALIST Call AARON for FREE quotes 0402 979 889.

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.

EMPLOYMENT

■ BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

Extra income from your own home-based business. Work part-time without disturbing what you are doing now. Call: 02 8230 0290 or 0412 518

318 Events

■ AUTO DISMANTLER

We require a person to dismantle parts from motorcars. An experienced person would be preferred, but not absolute necessity. 2. Auto Parts Sales Person. We require a person to sell Auto Parts. These are mainly off damaged vehicles to suit recycling. We sell to all trade and retail customers. All enquiries to Kevin McAuliffe 9459 4111 or 0408 940 599 or kevin@magnawreck.com.au.

FURNITURE REMOVAL

■ ALL AREAS Mike Murphy 0416 226 434.

HELP WANTED

■ THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY Volunteers required for Polling Day. Paul Connelly 0414 247 286 or pmjconnelly@hotmail.com

■ HEALTH AND WELLNESS

A FREE Sample Pack of wellness, weightloss, and energy products. DVD and product brochure also enclosed. (Only while stocks last - hurry!!) Call 02 8230 0290 or 0412 518 318.

HEALTH

■ ACHES, PAINS, STRESS??? Indian mature male masseur offers Reflex Relax Massage at $30 for 60mins. Phone Jai 0438 520 993.

■ DEMENTIA REMISSION

Do you, or your loved one, suffer Dementia. Get into Dementia Remission like me! http://www. wgrey.com.au/dm/index.htm or (02) 9971 8093.

MIGRANTS

■ MIGRATE TO AUSTRALIA

For guidance and visa processing, Skilled or Family Visas and Study visas. Call Michael Ring or Ajay Trehan Registered Migration Agent – (MARN # 0212024). Phone: (02) 8230 0290 or 0412 518 318 for a no-obligation assessment, please call or email: michael.ring@bigpond.com

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.

SERVICES

■ BOOKS BOOKS 2ndhand quality Catholic reading at reasonable prices. Also Bibles and Missals. Ph: (08) 9293 3092.

IN MEMORIAM

■ BRIAN JOSEPH CANNY

Remembering Brian Joseph Canny on his 5th Anniversary, Oct 18th. Dearly loved husband, Dad and Pa of Janet, David, Janine, Paul and Greg and their families. May his dear soul rest in peace.

GARAGE SALE

St Joachim Church, Victoria Park. October 21st at 7am to 2pm. Require plants and re-sellable items for donation. Please bring on day. Enq: Lourdes 0400 988 422.

TO LET

Spacious room in large house available for quiet, conservative, working Catholic lady. Nice area in Balcatta. Close to shops & bus. $150pw plus utils. Phone Susan Maria Vestment Studio 9345 0520.

FUTURE OF PARISHES COMMITTEE

■ EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

This committee is seeking to appoint new members who will contribute to its work of supporting new growth and pastoral opportunities within the Archdiocese by: Working with parish priests and parish pastoral councils. Making recommendation to the Archbishop on parish matters. Members are appointed by the Archbishop on a voluntary basis. The committee meets six times yearly. For expressions of interest or further details please contact Julie Williams on 9422 7900 or email: padperth@highgate-perthcatholic.org.au <mailto:padperth@highgate-perthcatholic.org.au> by November 9, 2007.

BAPTISM

“Levi Reuben Jolliffe was welcomed into the Catholic Church at New Norcia on Sunday 7 October 2007, with family, Godparents (Chris Furey, Jason Smith and Nicola Frew), and friends present. Thanks to Fr John Herbert OSB who presided.

Photo - Fr John Herbert baptises Levi Reuben Jolliffe in New NorciaOctober 7.

Baby Brandon at 3 weeks age as photographed by Justine Stevens

The Last Word

Looking for a once-in-a-lifetime job?

If you are looking for a challenging and exciting job, the Perth World Youth Day office is hiring 3 new fulltime Project Officers and a fulltime Administrative Assistant (re-advertised) for a 12 month contract. The Administration position requires basic administration skills and the Project Officer jobs will require a combination of a range of skills. There is a need for event planning and logistics, technical support including multimedia tasks, filming and photography for events, website development and maintenance, marketing and merchandising, finance skills with budgets, accounts and sponsorship experience. Applicants need to be reliable and dedicated workers. If you have a combination of these skills, please send in your CV with a cover letter and 2 referees to Miss Anita Parker by Monday 22nd October, 2007.

Administrative Assistant for Perth World Youth Day office

The Catholic Archdiocese of Perth -World Youth Day office is seeking a full time administration assistant, 14 month contract.

The Perth World Youth Day office is in charge of coordinating Catholic youth events pre-WYD 08 in Perth and arranging young people from parishes and schools to attend the Sydney event in 2008. The office will also be liaising with overseas groups of young Catholics who will be visiting Perth on their way to the Sydney event.

Duties include reception, assistance with accounts and banking, data entry and database maintenance.

The position requires excellent computer and customer relation skills, attention to detail, and a mature and professional outlook. Skills with MS Office – Access, Word and Excel are required. Knowledge of MYOB is desirable.

Applicants must be supportive of the Catholic ethos and have a minimum one year experience in the administration field. The successful applicant will also need to obtain a Working With Children Card.

Please forward your CV with 2 referees included to Miss Anita Parker anita.parker@highgate-perthcatholic.org.au by Monday 22nd October, 2007.

For any queries please call 9422 7944.

Project Officers for Perth World Youth Day office

If you looking for a challenging and exciting short-term job, the Catholic Archdiocese of Perth -World Youth Day office is seeking 3 full time Project Officers, 12 month contract.

The Perth World Youth Day office is in charge of coordinating Catholic youth events pre-WYD 08 in Perth and arranging young people from parishes and schools to attend the Sydney event in 2008. The office will also be liaising with overseas groups of young Catholics who will be visiting Perth on their way to the Sydney event.

The Project Officers will take on various tasks and roles to cover event preparation, coordination and running. Pastoral programs for parishes, schools and other Catholic organisations will also be developed and implemented by the Project Officers.

Applicants must have a combination (not necessarily all) of the following skills:

● Work in a team to develop the events and implementation of WYD associated programs across the Perth Archdiocese involving Parishes, Schools and other organisations.

● Marketing: preparing media releases, promotions for events and managing merchandising.

● Finance: maintaining control of budgets, preparing monthly BAS, and project cost forecasts.

● Gaining Corporate Sponsorship.

● Multimedia preparation such as DVD projects, provide filming and photography archives of events.

● Website development and maintenance.

● Prepare and update schedule of events, determine and coordinate event logistics. (Including manage occupational health and safety matters)

● Booking and coordination of performers and suppliers.

Applications will include a cover letter that addresses the particular skills that the applicant possesses and how this will assist the preparations of the Perth WYD office.

The positions require dedicated and reliable workers with excellent computer and customer relation skills, attention to detail, and a mature and professional outlook. Skills with MS Office – Word and Excel are required. Knowledge of MYOB is required for finance work.

Applicants must be supportive of the Catholic ethos and the successful applicants will also need to obtain a Working With Children Card.

Please forward your CV with 2 referees included to Miss Anita Parker wydperth@highgate-perthcatholic.org.au by Monday 22nd October, 2007.

For any queries please call (08) 9422 7944.