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Mandorla 2012 looms
The Annunciation by Bob Booth, one of the 65 finalists in this year’s 2012 Mandorla Art Award. The theme of the award, to be announced in August, is ‘Born of a woman’ - story page 4.
PHOTO: SUPPLIED
Religious charities to be exempt from reporting By Sarah Motherwell BASIC religious charities will be exempt from governance standards and financial reporting requirements in the Federal Government’s Not-for-profit (NFP) reform agenda. The draft legislation was referred to the Standing Committee on Economics for an inquiry by Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten last Friday and will give powers to the Australian Charities and Notfor-profit Commission (ACNC) to regulate the NFP sector. Former CEO of the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria, Susan Pascoe has been appointed
as interim Commissioner of the ACNC. As Commissioner, her powers will range from gathering information about registered entities to deregistering and sanctioning charities that breach standards or fail to report their financial situation. A targeted exemption from the governance standards and financial reporting has been given to basic religious charities, which are defined under sections 205-35 of the legislation. Small charitable entities with revenue less than $250,000 will not have to provide financial reports. Registration with the ACNC is voluntary, however entities that
are not registered will not be given access to government support. While the commission is currently only responsible for regulating charities, including public benevolent institutions, its scope of power is expected to expand over the
If COAG doesn’t deliver, duplication will occur and red tape, increase. next few years to cover all NFP entities. The Australian Taxation Office is currently the de facto Commonwealth regulator of char-
ities. Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury said “the Government has decided that is more appropriate to have an independent national regulator, with a greater focus on the particular needs of the NFP sector, to have the role of determining an entity’s charitable status.” CEO of Catholic Health Australia Martin Laverty said he welcomed the scaling back of powers for the ACNC but said the inquiry needed to develop an option for state and territory governments to retain their regulatory oversight of charities. “States and territories could retain authority but have the ACNC manage reporting on their
behalf. If the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) doesn’t deliver on this possibility, duplication will occur and red tape will increase.” The draft legislation also includes a definition of a charity, which will come into affect from July 1 next year alongside the governance standards and financial reporting framework. Charities are currently defined in common law but the definition is considered by many in the NFP sector to be unclear and out of date. The legislation will be introduced to Parliament later in the year, ahead of the ACNC’s October 1, 2012 start date.
THE RISE and RISE of South America’s EVANGELICALS - Pages 10-11
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July 11, 2012
Award for development
Round-Up MARK REIDY
Long night for LifeLink
Sign to come
Over 90 students and staff from Holy Cross College, Ellenbrook braved near freezing conditions when they slept out on the longest night of the year to raise funds for the Archbishop’s LifeLink Appeal. The group, which represented 40% of the school population, began the evening with a soup kitchen before sitting around a fire and sharing how they felt about spending the night in temperatures that would drop below two degrees. Before bedding down in cardboard boxes for the night ahead, participants acknowledged that such difficult conditions were a regular experience for those who were homeless. At the College assembly the following day several of the students shared their experiences, speaking of the empathy that was aroused for those who are homeless, as well as raising an awareness of social justice issues. The Sleep Out raised $5750 for LifeLink. Denise Moolla, spokesperson for Holy Cross, WA’s newest Catholic school, said that the night had been a powerful exercise for those involved, both as a fundraiser and in raising awareness for the plight of those who live each night without shelter.
Nurse awarded A ST JOHN OF GOD Health Care nurse from WA is one of three recipients of a professional devel-
A RELIGION Sign Language Workshop, designed to share and create signs for different religions, theological terminology and a glossary of religious words, will be held at the Emmanuel Centre in Perth on July 28. The “Deaf Church” invites Auslan teachers, Sign Interpreters, Teachers of the Deaf, Signing priests, parish priests, members of congregations, CODAS, Deaf, Hard of Hearing and the hearing interested to join them for this free event which will run from 9am – 12pm at 25 Winsdor St, Perth. Morning tea and lunch will be provided. RSVP by July 25. Those interested can email emmanuelcentre@westnet. com.au or phone 9328 9571(TTY) or 9328 8113 (voice).
RCIA offering Award-winning midwife manager Helen McAllister.
opment grant designed to enhance patient care through a skills exchange between hospitals. Murdoch Hospital’s Manager of Midwifery Services, Helen McAllister, received the award at the inaugural Australian Catholic University – Catholic Health Australia Nurse and Midwifery Unit Manager Professional Development
PHOTO: SJOG HEALTH CARE
Grant Program. Recipients are provided with the opportunity to visit other hospitals in Australia to gain insights into the functioning of units relevant to their clinical expertise. Ms McAllister chose Mater Mother’s Private Hospital in Brisbane, hoping that it will help further her research in Venous Thrombosis
Sunday 15th - Green 15TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 1st Reading: Am 7:12-15 The Lord called me Responsorial Ps 84:9-14 Psalm: God’s help is near 2nd Reading: Eph 1:3-14 Chosen Christ Reading: Mk 6:7-13 Preach repentance
Joachim and Anne first century July 26
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Monday 16th - Green OUR LADY OF MT CARMEL (O) 1st Reading: Is1:10-17 No to worhless offerings Responsorial Ps 49:8-9, 16-17, 21, 23 Psalm: Upright see salvation Gospel Reading: Mt 10:34-11:1 Jesus’ instructions
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Tuesday 17th - Green 1st Reading: Is 7:1-9 Have no fear Responsorial Ps 47:2-8 Psalm: The Lord is great Gospel Reading: Mt 11:20-24 Need for repentance
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Wednesday 18th - Green 1st Reading: Is 10:5-7, 13-16 Commission exceeded Responsorial Ps 93:5-10, 14-15 Psalm: Lord’s own not forsaken FW OO2 12/07
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Not mentioned in the Bible, Joachim and Anne are first named as the parents of Mary in the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James, which may date from the second century. In this story, they are old and childless, like the Old Testament Hannah, mother of Samuel, when angels deliver the news that Anne will conceive a child. Anne was an especially popular saint in medieval England, and her feast was celebrated in the West by 1350; Joachim’s feast was authorized or suppressed by various popes, but was joined with Anne’s in 1969. They are the patrons of married couples; Anne is also the patron of childless women, expectant mothers and miners.
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Telepace is here to help TELEPACE Australia is urging viewers to contact them if they are having problems with their signal. Telepace’s previous satellite provider UBI TV went into liquidation recently, leading to a drop in the signal. A representative from Telepace told The Record that the signal had already been reinstated but that some viewers may need to contact them to reconnect to it. The company said it was keen to prevent its viewers being tricked into replacing their televisions or receivers by unscrupulous repair companies. Telepace Australia may be contacted at 1300 663 502.
Correction ON page 3 of The Record (July 4, 2012) there was an error in the graphic for the story “Stats reveal Perth is not a Catholic city”. The graph “Change of religious affiliation in Australia” should be 2001 not 2006.
Gospel Reading: Mt 11:25-27 I bless you, Father Thursday 19th - Green 1st Reading: Is 26:7-9, 12, 16-19 We search for you Responsorial Ps 101:13-21 Psalms: Time for Mercy Gospel Reading: Mt 11:28-30 Come to me Friday 20th - Green ST APOLLIONARIS, BISHOP, MARTYR (O) 1st Reading: Is 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8 I will cure you Responsorial Is 38:10-12, 16 Psalm: My life half spent Gospel Reading: Mt 12:1-8 Disciples hungry Saturday 21st - Green ST LAWRENCE OF BRINDISI, PRIEST, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH (O) 1st Reading: Mic 2:1-5 Plotters of evil Responsorial Ps 9B:1-4, 7-8, 14 Psalm: Helper of the orphan Gospel Reading: Mt 12:14-21 A plot against Jesus
Send your Year of Grace stories to
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A COURSE designed to deepen and expand the understanding and practice of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) is being offered by the Centre for Liturgy. The Certificate II course for Adult Catechist Formation will run each Saturday throughout August from 9am – 12.30pm at the Siena Conference Centre in Doubleview. Karen Hart, Spokesperson for the Centre, said that the course would be available to Adult Catechists who had completed Certificate I in 2009 or 2011, but added that it was open to anyone interested in
enriching their understanding of the RCIA process. “There are a number of courses available for Children’s Catechism”, Ms Hart said, “But they are a bit thin when it comes to Adult teaching. We are hoping that this course will provide an opportunity for those wanting to further their development in this area.” Presenters, including Archbishop Emeritus Hickey and Bishop Sproxton, will focus on how the Year of Grace relates to the conversion process associated with the RCIA.The Course cost is $50. For further information contact 9207 3350 or email rcia@perthcatholic. org.au
READINGS OF THE WEEK
SAINT OF THE WEEK
Phil Van Reyk
Embolism – blood clots in the lungs and legs – in maternity patients. “I would also like to use the opportunity to gain insights into leadership strategies, maternal risk management, patient, doctor and caregiver satisfaction and workforce strategies,” Ms McAllister said.
Mariette Ulrich Fr John Flader Guy Crouchback
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Catholic clarity for complex times CATHOLIC families and those searching for truth need resources to help them negotiate the complexities of modern life. At The Record’s bookshop you can find great books for the family at good prices. Turn to Page 20 for some brilliant deals NOW!!
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Faith going strong in face of adversity By Robert Hiini REGULARS at Kelmscott’s fortnightly Latin Mass welcomed Archbishop Emeritus Barry Hickey as their guest celebrant, last Sunday. More than 50 people turned out to worship, including families with children, couples and single people. The Archbishop Emeritus had recently returned from a pilgrimage which took in the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin. Archbishop Hickey said he was pleasantly surprised by the experience. “I went there having read and heard that the faith was in some sort of trouble in Ireland because of the sinfulness of some high profile members of the Church and also, inadequate actions to respond properly by the hierarchy. What I saw and experienced did not support the impression I had been given,” he said. “Certainly numbers going to church had dropped. But I experienced no hostility only regret in the hearts of many that the boom times had shifted their values and undermined some of their faith in God. They were pleased that era was over that they could get back to a simpler life where people meant more than money.” Earlier this year the Latin Mass community celebrated the 48th anniversary of their regular celebrant, retired Salesian Father Lionel Henry SDB. Fr Henry has been saying Mass for the community for the past year. For more information about Kelmscott’s Latin Mass, contact Clive on 9495 1919.
Above, from left, regular Kelmscott Latin Mass-goers, Gabrielle O’Callaghan, Trisha Brown and Madeleine O’Callaghan. Below left, Archbishop Emeritus Barry Hickey blessing Fr Martin Roestenburg during the Extraordinay Form of Mass. Below, right, Fr Lionel Henry SDB preaching at Mass in May, and left, cutting a cake marking the 48th anniversary of his ordination. PHOTOS: ROBERT HIINI
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24 hours on-call well worth it By Glynnis Grainger ST JOHN of God Hospital Murdoch’s two Catholic chaplains are not alone in their work of pastoral care. Fr Richard Rutkauskas and Fr Hugh Galloway are assisted by two Religious Sisters, with a third on the front reception desk; there are 15 people of all denominations in the Pastoral Care office at the hospital. The two sisters are Dominican Sr Edith Murphy OP and Josephite Sr Eileen Johnson RSJ with SJOG Sister Graciae O’Shaughnessy a receptionist. Fr Richard told The Record: “If they come across a Catholic who needs help they will let me know. About 25 per cent of patients are Catholics and 75 per cent other denominations.” Fr Richard has been a chaplain at the hospital for 16 months. Vicar for Health, Fr John Ryan, is organising a committee to oversee the setting up of a Chaplaincy team for the new Fiona Stanley Hospital next door, which will have 800 beds, Fr Richard said. SJOG Hospital Murdoch has 370 beds now with another 120 beds to be added over the next two or three years, and will be over the “500 mark” by the time Fiona Stanley Hospital opens, he said. “My role is for the Catholic people who come in. Masses are at 11.30am Tuesday to Friday, televised through the hospital wards on Channel 16, and on Sunday at 9am, which is pretty full – it depends on the day. A number do watch it on
Sorrento hosts visitors from remote Australia
Students from Sacred Heart with visitors from nine remote central Australian schools. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
By Nicole Wilcox
St John of God Murdoch chaplain Fr Richard Rutkauskas in the hospital’s chapel. Behind him is a hand-painted icon of the hosital’s patron saint, St John of God. PHOTO: GLYNNIS GRAINGER
TV,” he said. “Every day except Saturday, Communion is taken around – the Pastoral people will do it if needed - and we have special ministers coming from Bateman and other parishes nearby.” Fr Richard also works with the Hospice for the terminally ill, though the bulk of his work is in acute areas such as the Intensive Care Unit and Emergency. He will celebrate his Silver Jubilee
this year on December 5, having been ordained in the Archdiocese of Perth in 1987. Together with fellow chaplain Fr Hugh from the Diocese of Bunbury, both are on 24-hour call and can be called back to the hospital at any time during the night. “A few times a week I might do anointing – someone going in for an operation might ask for anointing – it is not just a last minute
thing,” he said. Even though he lives nearby, it can take up to 20 minutes to get to the hospital if he receives a call, while at night the journey takes slightly less time, perhaps around 15 minutes. Clerical attire means he is usually recognised - but not always. “Our cross and collar are instantly recognised, especially in a crisis situation. But I get called ‘doctor’ sometimes,” he said.
65 artists wait on Year of Grace? Mandorla prize How are you celebrating the
send your stories to parishes@therecord.com.au
Maranatha Centre for adult faith forMation This term Maranatha is offering courses at Newman Siena Centre at 33 Williamstown Rd, DOUBLEVIEW or alternate venues as specified below. Maranatha offers courses for adults wishing to deepen their knowledge and understanding of their Catholic Faith and the living of it. Units for Term Three 2012 begin on Thursday 24th July. DAYTIME UNITS - 8 weeks cost $50.00 , 6 weeks Cost $40.00 Tuesdays 24th July – 14th August, and then Thursdays 23rd August & 30th August, 9.30am – 12.00noon (6 weeks) Catholic Moral Theology & Contemporary Issues with Fr Joseph Parkinson Alternate Venue: LJ Goody Bioethics Centre, 39 Jugan St, MOUNT HAWTHORN Tuesdays 31st July – 18th September, 1.00pm – 3.30pm (8 weeks) Engaging the Universe - Story 2 with Sr Shelley Barlow rndm
By Sarah Motherwell SIXTY-FIVE artists are waiting the to hear who amongst them will win their share in a $42,000 prize pool for the Mandorla Art Award next month. Australia’s most prestigious Christian art award, the winner of the Mandorla will be announced on August 10 with 45 artists vying for the main award and 20 for the youth award. The Mandorla Art Award commenced in 1985 and is based on a Scriptural theme. This year’s theme is ‘born of a woman’. Previous winners of the award include 2002 winner Julie Dowling, who has also been an Archibald
Portrait finalist, and 1996 winner John Coburn. This year’s judges are Rod Pattenden, Annette Pedersen and Rachael Kohn. Dr Kohn and Dr Pattenden will be speaking at Foley Hall in Fremantle on August 8 about the two different aspects of religious art - body and soul. Dr Kohn has previously worked producing documentaries for ABC TV’s Compass and Dr Pattenden is the Coordinator of the Institute for Theology and the Arts. Selected works from this year’s Mandorla exhibit will be on show at Perth Town Hall from August 10 to 19, after which it will tour at the New Norcia Museum and Art Gallery.
SCAPULA’S NOW ON SALE AT THE RECORD BOOKSHOP
Thursdays 26th July – 13th Sept, 9.30am -12.00noon (8 weeks) Sisters in Spirit Therese of Lisieux & Ruth Burrows with Dr Michelle Jones Thursdays 2nd August - 6th Sept, 1.00pm – 3.30pm (6 weeks) Gospel & Letters of St John with Sr Shelley Barlow rndm Alternate Venue: Faith Centre, 450 Hay St, PERTH Fridays 27th July – 31st August, 9.30am – 11.00am (6 weeks) “Who Do You Say I Am?”: Exploring the Person, Message and Life of Jesus with Dr Michelle Jones Venue: Infant Jesus Parish, 47 Wellington Rd, MORLEY (For enquiries or to register Ph: 9276 8500)
EVENING UNIT - 8 weeks Cost $40.00 Thursdays 26th July – 13th Sept, 7.00pm – 9.00pm (8 weeks) The Spirituality of Health with Fr Steve Astill SJ Alternate Venue: Parish Hall, Immaculate Conception Parish, 154 Canning Highway, EAST FREMANTLE To Register or for more information, contact the Maranatha office Ph : (08) 9241 5221, Fax :(08) 9241 5225 Email: maranatha@ceo.wa.edu.au Or check our website: www.maranathacentre.org.au
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A GROUP of Indigenous students from schools in Central Australia visited Sacred Heart College, Sorrento, last week for an afternoon of fun and artistic activities. Children from both schools participated in an art class together, working on a large canvas depicting the schools close relationship. The canvas featured Uluru, representing the Ngaanyatjarra Lands School and the ocean, representing Sacred Heart College, located minutes away from Hillary’s Boat Harbour. The visiting students came from amongst the nine campuses making up the Ngaanyatjarra Network of Schools in remote Central Australia. Students from schools in that network visit Perth twice a year. Sacred Heart College Young Vinnies group have developed a strong partnership with the Ngaanyatjarra Lands School over the years. In 2008, the Sacred Heart College supplied a group of Indigenous grandmothers, known as the ‘Breakfast Ladies’, with an industrial toaster, sandwich maker, kitchen utensils and recipe books after seeing an article in “The West Australian” highlighting the great work being done by the parents and families of their community. The grandmothers used the resources given to them by the College to provide fresh and healthy breakfasts for the children attending the remote school. Last year a group of students from Sacred Heart visited Warburton for the Desert Dust Up festival. In September, another group of students will attend this year’s Desert Dust Up and camp with the local community under the stars.
therecord.com.au July 11, 2012
50PORN Shades of
By Robert Hiini
A
LOCAL
MORLEY woman has come out swinging against the best selling book Fifty Shades of Grey, saying erotic fiction is not the harmless fun it purports to be. Consecrated virgin Maureen Togher shared her personal experience with hundreds of online friends last week, citing the book’s massive sales and her own desire to prevent harm to others. Dubbed “mummy porn” by much of the mainstream media, the book tells the tale of a female university student who interviews a male billionaire entrepreneur for a campus magazine. She quickly becomes ensconced in many sex acts with the character, including acts of sadomasochism. Ms Togher said the sentence in the book’s blurb saying it was “a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever”, was accurate. Prior to returning to the faith in 2003, and dedicating her life to God as a consecrated virgin in 2008, Ms Togher said her life had been plagued by sexualised media. “Erotic fantasy is really just pornography, with detrimental effects on families and marriage. It does not discriminate when it comes to becoming addicted,” Ms Togher said. She had her first encounter with erotic fantasy as a ten-year-old while playing in the school playground. “There was a huge cement pipe we kids used to climb in and around and I came across a book, partially hidden, and I picked it up and started reading,” Ms Togher said. The book was called The Happy Hooker, written by former prostitute and madam, Xaviera Hollander, which its author continues to tout as “one of the modern classics of the sexual revolution”. “At the age of 10, I found myself feeling aroused and yet, I felt ashamed because of these sexual feelings. I lost my innocence the day I read the book, because I would go back and regularly find it still hidden in the same spot,” Ms
Consecrated Virgin, Maureen Togher says people who read erotic fantasy get far more than what they bargain for.
Togher said. She later found out the book belonged to one of her neighbour’s teenage sons. “Their house was always full of playboy magazines. The book led me to believe that was a normal thing that adults did. “To cut a long history short, I was later sexually abused by the same neighbour’s boarder and I blamed the feelings and abuse on myself,” Ms Togher said. She kept what she described as “a dark secret” for many years because she thought God would send her to hell and her parents would feel ashamed and not believe her. “I feared relationships with men and would use alcohol and pot to
bury the pain of being treated as a sexual object.” “I abstained from any relationship for ten years because whatever self-esteem I had left, didn’t want
I found myself feeling aroused and yet ashamed ... I lost my innocence the day I read that book. to be used and seen as an object of some man’s gratification,” she said. While debate has raged over the past century as to whether or not
pornography and erotica can be linked to sexual abuse, Ms Togher believes it is part and parcel of a culture that sees people as objects for gratification. Erotic fiction, far from providing a means of fulfilment, drove her sexuality further inward, Ms Togher said. “My ongoing saga from a so called harmless fantasy book left me scarred and took me into a dark world of self-pleasure,” she said. “The good news is that my Lord God has healed me in all these areas of abuse and now I live my life for Him as a Consecrated Virgin. “My virginity was stolen from me in the natural world, but it has been restored to me in the supernatural
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PHOTO: ROBERT HIINI
love of God.” In 2008, Ms Togher was consecrated as a Consecrated Virgin, before Bishop Don Sproxton at her local parish church, Infant Jesus, in Morley. Consecrated virginity is a distinct form of consecrated life in the Church. Consecrated Virgins are irrevocably consecrated to God and commit themselves to perpetual virginity and a life dedicated to the service of the Church and of others. She is also a member of the Holy Spirit of Freedom community, a charismatic group committed to ministry with the homeless. More i n f or m at i on on Consecrated Virginity can be found at www.consecratedvirgins.org.
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July 11, 2012
The bicycle sealed it
A gentleman who lived a life of faith, hope, family
By Juanita Shepherd SURROUNDED by an assortment of children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, family and friends, Sid and Marie Gasper celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Mr and Mrs Gasper grew up together in a small town called Syriam in Burma; they have known each other since they were five and six years old respectively with only four houses separating the two families. With the beginning of the Burma Campaign in 1942 in the South East Asian theatre of the Second World War, Mrs Gasper and her family fled to the relative safety of Calcutta, India. Mr Gasper, along with his parents and siblings, stayed behind and both believed that they would never see each other again but that was not to be the case. Following the end of the war, Mrs Gasper and her family returned to their home town and, at the age of 16, Mrs Gasper was reunited with her childhood friend, Sid Gasper. Sparks flew immediately but Mrs Gasper owes her marriage to her beloved bicycle which she used to ride all the time. The chain on Mrs Gasper’s cycle broke so Mr Gasper offered to fix it for her; it was the beginning of their relationship, their childhood friendship blossomed into love and marriage was on the horizon; but marriage would’ve been out of the question had Mrs Gasper chosen a different vocation in life. Before Mrs Gasper got reacquainted with Mr Gasper she was a postulant with the Little Sisters in Calcutta. “I wanted to become a nun,” she said. However, the Little Sisters suspected that Mrs Gasper had tuberculosis; they thought it was best she return home and take care of her health as life in the convent was very demanding. It turned out that Mrs Gasper did not have tuberculosis, but it made her realise that God had other plans for her. “The Lord wanted me for Sid,” she said. Their relationship became even more serious through a series of letters, the only means of keeping in touch when Mr Gasper travelled to Singapore as part of a training program to aid him in becoming a mechanical engineer. He came back to Syriam nine months later faced with the nerve-racking challenge of seeking permission from Mrs Gasper’s father for her hand in marriage. Despite the nerves, Mr Gasper was aided by Mrs Gasper’s sister. “Marie’s sister played a big role in the proposal,” Mr Gasper said. “She played the role of negotiator when I was going to ask Marie’s father if I could marry her.” Mrs Gasper simply laughs. She had a feeling that Mr Gasper was
Witches on stage at Sacred Heart Megan Symonds IRENE McCormack Catholic College, in the northern Perth suburb of Butler will be transformed into the Emerald City during August as the school puts on its musical production of The Wizard of Oz. Drama teacher and musical director Jessica Dixon said The Wizard of Oz was chosen for this year’s production because the school wanted to perform a more classical play, contrary to its repertoire of modern performances.
By Glynnis Grainger FRANK HACKETT lived a life of faith, love and family. After celebrating 60 years of marriage to his wife Pat on May 17 at St John of God Hospital Murdoch, he passed away peacefully on June 27 at Frank Prendergast House, Southern Cross Village, at Success. His Requiem Mass was celebrated by Pat’s cousin, Fr Peter Whitely, parish priest of St Benedict’s Church, Applecross, at that church which was part of their life for 59 years. About 400 relatives and friends and fellow parishioners attended his funeral Mass, where the choir of which he and Pat were members
Frank Hacket passed away just a month after celebrating his 60th wedding anniversary. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Sid and Marie Gasper of Good Shepherd Parish in Kelmscott have been married for six decades.
Mr and Mrs Gasper on their wedding day in 1952. A bicycle helped direct the young couple to the Sacrament of Marriage. PHOTO: SID AND MARIE GASPER
going to propose to her and knew that her family would have no objections. Apart from the fact that they knew each other very well as their fathers worked for the Burma Oil Company, Mrs Gasper describes herself as ‘daddy’s girl’; she always got what she wanted from him.
Although no one will be lifted away in a hot air balloon at the end of the story, Year 12 student Hollie Hines is set to lift the spirits of the audience with her performance as the main character, Dorothy. Playing Dorothy’s companions Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion are Anissa Abdenebbi, Rachel Elson and Bethany Cunningham. The Wizard of Oz musical is based on both the children’s novel of the same name, written by L. Frank Baum in 1900 and the wellknown 1939 film adaptation staring Judy Garland as Dorothy. The performances dates are August 8, 9 and 10. Tickets are available on the school website.
They were married at St Francis Xavier’s Church on June 25, 1952 and arrived in Australia in 1967, where they were met by Father Foley at the airport, who sponsored them into the country. Fr Foley remained a close friend of the Gaspers; he married three of their children and the Gaspers
PHOTO: JUANITA SHEPHERD
were personally invited by Fr Foley to Geraldton in 1981 when he was ordained bishop; they were also present in 1983 when Fr Foley became Archbishop of Perth. Mr and Mrs Gasper are active members of the Church, and have attended Good Shepherd Parish for the past 45 years. Mr Gasper was an acolyte for eight years at St Mary’s Cathedral while Marie Gasper has led the morning Rosary for over 25 years. “We feel very blessed and thank God for our blessings,” Mrs Gasper said. Sixty years later they celebrated their love with a special gathering of family and friends. The occasion was marked with a letter of congratulations from Pope Benedict XVI in honour of their 60th anniversary. “Monsignor Thomas, who married us, wrote to the Pope and asked for it,” Mr Gasper said. Mr and Mrs Gasper share their secret of a successful and happy marriage. “You have to be tolerant, patient, listen to each other, have love in your heart and, above all, have God in your life; without religion, marriage cannot work.”
Births, deaths, marriages, anniversaries ...
MILESTONES Send your milestones to parishes@therecord.com.au
for 50 years sang in full voice, led by soloist and composer Joe Orifici. Deacon and principal of St Benedict’s School, Mark Powell, assisted Fr Whitely. Francis Patrick Hackett, 87, one of four children, was born in Shenton Park on August 18, 1924 to Irish parents Norah and Paddy Hackett, formerly of Kilkenny, Ireland. His sister Pat was the eldest, followed by brothers Martin and Bernie (all deceased) and then Frank. At the age of 15, after leaving St Patrick’s School in Perth, he began working for United Artists TransAmerican Film Company, also working as a projectionist at night to supplement his income. He and his wife Pat (nee Collins) first met at the Signals office at Swan Barracks, Perth, while Frank was awaiting discharge from the Army where he served in the 4th Field Survey Unit. After Army service, he returned to United Artists and became state manager, retiring at 57. Shortly afterwards, he was invited to work at Hoyts on a part-time basis, to set up a distribution side for them. Frank re-met wife-to-be Pat five years after their initial meeting at the Stella Maris Seaman’s Institute, Fremantle where Frank was with the young St Vincent de Paul men from Shenton Park parish and Pat was a hostess. They were married at St Patrick’s Church in Fremantle on May 17, 1952 and went on to have four daughters: Ann-Maree, Bernadette, Louise and Donna; 14 grandchildren and six greatgrandchildren. Both Frank and Pat and their daughters played tennis at St Benedict’s Tennis Club as their family home was five doors down from the church and they were foundation parishioners. They prayed the Rosary every night together and Frank held tight to his Rosary beads at the end. A true gentleman with a great sense of humour, warmth, kindness and sincerity. May he rest in peace.
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Family hopes in autism’s challenges By Julie Filby DAMIEN O’Connor believes his 10-year-old daughter, Mary Rose, is the happiest child he’s ever met. She loves to dance in the backyard with her favourite stuffed animals. And when she prays the Rosary, she doesn’t say it, she sings it. When Mary Rose was a year and a half old, literally overnight she stopped responding in ways she had previously. Three psychologists confirmed she had an autism spectrum disorder with developmental disabilities that can cause significant social, communication and behavioural challenges. “We were devastated,” said O’Connor, of the diagnosis revealed to him and his wife, Monica. About nine months later, 3-year-
old Damien Jr began acting unusually. “We never dreamed it would be the same diagnosis,” he said. But it was. Two out of three of the couple’s children are autistic. Mary Rose also has a twin sister, Ana Theresa. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about one in 88 children have been identified with an autism spectrum disorder. “Nobody wants this for their children,” said O’Connor, whose family resides in Milford, Connecticut. “I think the hardest thing for parents is you have to mourn the fact that they’re not going to be who you thought they were going to be.” Through their Catholic faith, and support from doctors, local schools, and their parish, St Michael’s, they
can see their children’s disabilities not only as challenges, but blessings. “(Though) our family situation is nowhere near perfect,” he said. “I love and adore (my children) for who they are.” He described Mary Rose and Damien Jr as high-functioning. Spectrum disorders affect each person differently, with symptoms ranging from very mild to severe. Their children have received their first Communion and are otherwise being catechised in the Catholic faith. Damien Jr, now 12, is an altar server at the parish. “Parents can be paranoid; it can be hard to bring (children with autism) to Mass, not knowing when they might have an outburst,” he said. Their family was welcomed
unconditionally at the parish. “We felt welcome – and boy, does that go a long way!” he said. “If parishes can make families feel welcome, and just start with that, God takes care of the rest.” O’Connor is working to help find ways to effectively catechise children with autism spectrum disorders in his role as director of pastoral services for the Diocese of Bridgeport. “I realise full well how difficult it can be, but it’s so worth it,” he said. “These children have a right to receive the sacraments.” The Diocese of Bridgeport is in the process of developing two mobile applications to be released by the end of May: the Sacraments of Initiation app, and a guided tour through the Mass.
The Sacraments of Initiation app will help prepare children for Baptism, Communion and Confirmation; while the latter will break Mass down into 27 parts with voice over explanations. The apps were inspired by an October 2011 segment on the CBS news program 60 Minutes called “Apps for Autism.” In the segment, correspondent Lesley Stahl reported that touch-screen apps designed for tablet computers, such as an iPad, can provide some people with autism a new way to express themselves. Teachers and parents have hailed the technology. “We hope it’s a powerful tool,” said O’Connor, “and helps people keep their hearts open ... and think ‘outside the box.’” - CNS
New particle discovery also rewards science’s faith By Carol Glatz THE DISCOVERY of a new subatomic particle – the so-called Higgs boson – may help scientists discover how the hidden structure of all matter in the universe works, a Vatican astronomer said. “It indicates that reality is deeper and more rich and strange than our everyday life,” US Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno said. When people go about their everyday business working or relaxing, they don’t think about the tiniest building blocks of physical matter, but “without these underlying little things, we wouldn’t be here”, he said. Physicists working with the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research laboratory in Geneva, announced on July 4 that they were 99.999 per cent certain they found evidence of a new particle that might be key to the structure of the universe and to understanding nature. British physicist Peter Higgs first hypothesised the existence of the particle in the 1960s as the final missing element in a framework called the Standard Model, which explains how sub-atomic particles and forces interact. Over the decades, with the help of increasingly powerful and sophisticated high-energy particle accelerators, scientists have been searching for what atoms are made up of, what the smaller components of atoms are made up of, what the nature of those smaller components is, and so on, Br Consolmagno said.
The apparent discovery of the long-sought Boson-Higgs particle indicates that reality is richer and deeper than our everyday life says Jesuit astronomer Br Guy Consolmagno, pictured here at the Vatican Obervatory with its meteorite collection in 2006. PHOTO: ALESSIA GIULIANI, CNS
But it wasn’t clear why some materials, such as protons and electrons, have mass and therefore are attracted to each other by gravity, while other materials, such as photons, have no mass, he said. “Higgs, 50 years ago, worked out a model called the Standard Model, that would provide reasons for attraction and why there is mass,” the Jesuit said. Higgs predicted that if a particle that produced the effect of mass existed, it should be “visible” after
Pope backs Secretary from Italian media criticism POPE Benedict XVI reaffirmed his trust in the Vatican’s secretary of state and defended him against a barrage of “unjust criticism” in the Italian media. In a letter addressed to “dear brother”, Italian Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, 77, the Pope expressed his “profound appreciation for your discreet presence and wise counsel, which I have found particularly helpful over recent months.” The Vatican has had to face a number of challenges recently, including leaks of confidential correspondence to the Pope and secretary of state; the arrest of the Pope’s personal assistant in con-
nection to the leaks; and ousting of the Vatican bank’s president, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, for neglecting his duties amid worsening management problems. Italian media had been speculating that Cardinal Bertone would soon be replaced as secretary of state because of the Vatican infighting revealed in the leaks scandal. “Having noted with sorrow the unjust criticisms that have been directed against you, I wish to reiterate the expression of my personal confidence,” the Pope wrote in the letter, dated July 2. The Vatican released a copy on July 4. - CNS
two atoms were smashed together at high enough speeds. Experiments at CERN have revealed that “there is something that looks something like the Higgs-boson,” Br Consolmagno said. The new data “will be used to test the Standard Model and how sub-atomic particles work,” he said. The Higgs-boson had been nicknamed “the God particle” as “a joke” in an attempt to depict the particle as “almost like a gift from God to help explain how reality
works in the sub-atomic world”, he said. Because the particle is believed to be what gives mass to matter, it was assigned the godlike status of being able to create something out of nothing. But such “God of the gaps” conjectures are not only bad reasons to believe in God, they are also bad science, Br Consolmagno said. “You’ll look foolish in, say, 2050, when they discover the real reason” for a phenomenon that was explained away earlier by the hand
of God, he said. However, another kind of faith and hope does exist in the scientific community, he said. “No one would have built this enormous experiment,” tapping the time and talents of thousands of scientists around the world, “without faith they would find something”, he said. “My belief in God gives me the courage to look at the physical universe and to expect to find order and beauty,” he said. “It’s my faith that inspires me to do science.” - CNS
Higher Certificate in Biblical Studies
Hosted by The Faith Centre in conjunction with Lebone Catholic Bible College, Johannesburg
Out of Africa ... An information session presented by Br Joe Murphy, cfc, will be held on
Saturday, 28th July, 2012 at The Faith Centre, 10am -11.30am.
This is a distance education program that can be done: • in your own home • at your own pace • by choosing the Modules you wish to do • with periodic face-to-face contact workshops or tutorials. The purpose of this course is to foster the intellectual, personal and spiritual growth of learners through up-to-date Bible education offered by guided learning. Applicants may decide to do part of the course for personal development without completing the full certificate. This course is also suitable for teachers who wish to renew their accreditation.
To register or for further information please contact: The Faith Centre, 450 Hay St, Perth WA 6000 Tel: (08) 6140 2420; E-mail: info@thefaith.org.au; Website: www.thefaith.org.au
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WORLD
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July 11, 2012
US bishops end ‘freedom’ fortnight By Daniel Linskey DEFENDING religious liberty is part of the bigger struggle to “convert our own hearts” and “live for God completely”, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput told America’s Catholics on their nation’s most sacred day – July 4 – in Washington at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. He delivered the homily at the Mass that brought the US bishops’ “fortnight for freedom” to a close. “The political and legal effort to defend religious liberty – as vital as it is – belongs to a much greater struggle to master and convert our own hearts, and to live for God completely, without alibis or selfdelusion,” the archbishop said. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops called for the fortnight in March, outlining several instances of “religious liberty under attack”, including the federal contraceptive mandate. They asked dioceses to plan Masses, prayer services, educational events and other activities from June 21 to July 4. Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington was the main celebrant of the Mass. Concelebrants
included Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the apostolic nuncio to the US, and Baltimore Archbishop William Lori, chairman of the US bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty. Outside the national shrine before Mass, the crowd joined in the singing of patriotic hymns. The heat was daunting, and the clergy, dressed in heavy white vestments, fanned themselves with missals as they waited to process into the shrine. Once inside, the pews of the 3,500-capacity of the shrine’s upper church quickly filled; other congregants stood, filling the side chapels dotting the church. The crowd, estimated at 5,000, ranged from the Knights of Columbus honour guard with their feathered chapeaus to brothers in humble brown robes with dirtstained sandals. Archbishop Chaput began his homily with a quote from Paul Claudel, a French poet and diplomat who once described the Christian as “a man who knows what he is doing and where he is going in a world (that) no longer (knows) the difference between good and evil, yes and no. He is like a god standing out in a crowd
of invalids ... He alone has liberty in a world of slaves.” The archbishop talked about the idea of freedom of conscience, of knowing right and wrong, equating it with the greater idea of liberty. Archbishop Chaput said Claudel “spoke from a lifetime that witnessed two world wars and the rise
US bishops called the campaign to address religious liberty under attack - including from President Obama. of atheist ideologies that murdered tens of millions of innocent people using the vocabulary of science. He knew exactly where forgetting God can lead.” The modern indifference to morality and the growing sense of moral relativism Blessed John Paul II warned of in the 1993 encyclical Veritatis Splendour (“The Splendour of Truth”) can be countered with the values both Americans and Christians hold. Drawing on the day’s Gospel, Archbishop Chaput pointed to
Jesus’ words: “‘Render unto Caesar those things that bear Caesar’s image, but more importantly, render unto God that which bears God’s image’ – in other words, you and me. All of us.” “The purpose of religious liberty is to create the context for true freedom,” he said. “Religious liberty is a foundational right. It’s necessary for a good society. But it can never be sufficient for human happiness. It’s not an end in itself.” He continued, “In the end, we defend religious liberty in order to live the deeper freedom that is discipleship in Jesus Christ. What good is religious freedom, consecrated in the law, if we don’t then use that freedom to seek God with our whole mind and soul and strength?” Archbishop Chaput closed his homily by urging listeners to, “fulfill our duty as citizens of the United States, but much more importantly, as disciples of Jesus Christ.” He received a standing ovation from the congregation, with some in the crowd waving American flags. At the end of the Mass, Cardinal Wuerl addressed the congregation, tasking his listeners with carrying forth the message of the “fortnight for freedom.”
In organising the “fortnight”, foremost among US bishops’ concerns is the US Department of Health and Human Services’ mandate that employers, including most religious ones, provide insurance coverage for contraception, sterilisation and abortion-inducing drugs which Catholic teaching considers “morally objectionable.” Other concerns include court rulings and policy decisions that have forced Catholic institutions out of adoption, foster care and refugee services. Threats abroad include attacks on churches in Iraq, Nigeria and Kenya. Ongoing events include a text campaign. Participants can text the word “Freedom” (or Libertad in Spanish) and receive regular updates on bishops’ efforts to promote and protect religious freedom. Cardinal Wuerl echoed Pope Benedict’s warning of “radical secularism” that threatens to divorce Christians from their freedom of conscience. “The Holy Father’s answer to this radical secularism is, as he explained, ‘an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity’,” the cardinal said.
- CNS
Community throws down gauntlet to strip club By Michelle Martin THE MISSIONARY Sisters of St Charles Borromeo and scores of their neighbours in Chicago are really hoping that the owners of a nearby soon-to-open strip club will “get it”: they don’t want that kind of business in their backyard, and they are not going to be quiet about it. The Scalabrini sisters and more than 100 neighbours in Stone Park and Melrose Park and their supporters gathered on July 2 to pray that the club – to be called Get It – will not open. The bar backs up to the convent’s property line, looming over the sisters’ vegetable garden. An adjoining block of neat, modest, single-family homes runs along its side. The club will feature alcohol and partially nude dancers on a site that was formerly a factory. The sisters say the club will degrade the community, depress property values and create dangerous situations for children who sometimes play in the alley that runs along the property. It will also further harm the reputation of the community of about 5,000 people, which already has at least five adult entertainment venues, according to a community group calling itself United for a Better Stone Park. “We want to create a safe, secure community for our children,” Scalabrini Sr Alma Rosa Huerta Reyes said. The July 2 vigil started with participants releasing white, helium-filled balloons into the hot evening sky. Markers were available for people to write their prayers on the balloons before sending them heavenward. “For justice and love,” one read. “Peace,” read another. After the balloon launch, the group moved into the convent’s basement, where the air still felt cool despite the power having been out since a violent storm tore through the area the day before. A petrol generator powered emergency lights behind the altar on which the Eucharist was exposed while most of the room stayed in darkness. Representatives of local groups – from the Sons of Italy to the Hispanic charismatic prayer group
David Cao, a novice in the Society of the Divine Word, joins a community prayer vigil to reject the opening of a strip club in Stone Park, Illinois, on July 2. Scalabrini sisters, whose convent is nearby, and their neighbours have been protesting the opening of the Get It club. PHOTO: NATALIE BATTAGLIA, CATHOLIC NEW WORLD
at St Charles Borromeo Parish in Melrose Park – took turns coming forward to lead prayers and hymns. “Today is a testimony of spiritual courage” said Scalabrini Sr Noemi Silva. “We come together as a community with prayer and hope, for the safety of the community, its children and its aged, to eject the strip club and others of its kind. We are a people of hope, hope for a better Stone Park.” Pat Zito, who lives in Melrose Park across from the convent, doesn’t want to see any more adult entertainment in the area, and especially not adjacent to the convent where she attends daily Mass. Zito is especially concerned about the message that will be sent
to the novices, young women who have come from countries including India, Mexico, the Philippines and South Africa. “They are missionaries who have come to us,” she said. “They depend on us to support them.” Melrose Park Village Trustee Arturo Mota also attended the prayer vigil, saying that he will continue fighting the establishment. “It’s right in their backyard,” he said. Get It received approval from Stone Park in 2010. The village had initially turned down the proposal but reversed course after the club’s owner sued. The village said it sent out courtesy letters about the necessary zoning change to neighbours,
but the sisters never received theirs, apparently because the village had the wrong address. Such letters are not required by law. It was originally rumoured that the club would open in April – perhaps on Good Friday – but it remains closed and road construction on Lake Street, which the front of the bar faces, makes it difficult for drivers to get access to the site. The club’s website says only that it is “coming soon,” and it touts the contributions the club will make to the local tax base and charitable contributions to the Stone Park Fire Department. It also says the property is “fully fenced”, the building is soundproofed and outdoor lights are
directed away from neighbouring property. While the club is in Stone Park, the convent property straddles the property line between Stone Park and Melrose Park. It is home to about 30 women, including active and retired sisters and six novices from all over the world. Peter Breen of the Thomas More Society, a Chicago-based public interest law firm, sent the club owners a “cease and desist” letter, claiming that Get It would violate an Illinois law that does not allow such businesses near churches because of the convent’s chapel. There has been no response to that letter, according to United for a Better Stone Park. - CNS
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Philippines
Sister tagged for her activist stance ENVIRONMENTAL activism is a dangerous vocation in the Philippines, but a Catholic religious in Mindanao is defying those who want her to return to her convent and stop raising her voice in defence of creation. Benedictine Sister Stella Matutina works in Mindanao, the most conflictive island in the southern Philippines. Now 44, she spent 18 years studying and performing pastoral work in Europe before returning to Mindanao in 2007, when she says she quickly realised an environmental crisis was at hand. Last December, Typhoon Sendong killed more than 1,000 people, most in areas downstream from where hillsides have been logged, often in connection with mining. Hundreds of thousands were left homeless. “Sendong is the apocalypse. It’s doomsday. It is a sign of our fate if we continue with mining and logging,” said Sr Stella, secretary-general of an environmental activist group.
Bishops urge change to Bosnia peace deal THE PRESIDENT of the Bishops’ Conference of Bosnia-Herzegovina called for renegotiation of the 1995 US-brokered peace deal which ended the country’s bloody fouryear war. Bishop Franjo Komarica of Banja Luka told the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France on July 3 that a revision of the Dayton Agreement reached at the height of the war “would be needed for Bosnia-Herzegovina to become a united, sovereign, peaceful, secular country. The Dayton agreements stopped the war but didn’t help create democracy and peaceful cohabitation,” he said of the accord. He said Bosnia-Herzegovina’s “social, political, legal and economic situation” remained unsatisfactory 16 years after the war, which cost more than 100,000 lives.
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Coming home the beginning By Denis Grasska TWO ANGLICAN communities from Southern California are now in full communion with the Catholic Church. Members of the St Augustine of Canterbury and Blessed John Henry Newman communities, based in Oceanside/Carlsbad and Santa Ana respectively, were received into the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter during a July 3 liturgy at Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano. Established by Pope Benedict XVI, the Ordinariate is essentially a diocese for former Anglicans throughout the United States who wish to be fully Catholic while retaining their rich Anglican traditions and liturgical practices. Bishop Tod Brown of Orange was the presiding celebrant at the liturgy. His concelebrants were Mgr Jeffrey Steenson, a former Anglican bishop who heads the Ordinariate;
and Father Andrew Bartus, a former Anglican priest and administrator of the Blessed John Henry Newman community, who was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in the same liturgy. In addition to ordaining Fr Bartus, Bishop Brown also received and confirmed members of the Blessed John Henry Newman community, including Fr Bartus’ wife, Laura. Bishop Flores similarly received and confirmed members of the St Augustine of Canterbury community. In his homily, Mgr Steenson reflected on the ongoing challenge “to be people – men and women – of communion.” While noting the significance of their reception into full communion, he reminded the former Anglicans that their pursuit of unity must continue. He explained that all Christians must spend their lives working toward an ever deeper sense of communion with God and one another.
“At so many points in our common life, we encounter forces and attitudes which have the effect of dividing God’s people,” Mgr Steenson said. “Because of sin, it is all too easy to fall into these habits and behaviours, which are com-
After Mass, I hugged each and every parishioner and said, “We’re home. Our ministry has begun.” pletely antithetical to the blessed, priceless gift of communion that we celebrate this morning. “It is by grace that we have come to this moment,” he added. “Our hearts are full of joy and thanksgiving. But let us be careful of each step that we take from this time forward, so that our lives will bear
witness to this gift of unity. And always remember the Church, this household of faith. Do your part to build her up and to guard her unity. “Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,” he concluded, “welcome to your new home.” George Ortiz-Guzman, a former Anglican priest who had served as pastor of the St Augustine of Canterbury community, hopes to be ordained soon as a Catholic priest. He told The Southern Cross, San Diego diocesan newspaper, that he was among a group of about 60 men who have completed a pre-ordination course, about 30 of whom have already been ordained. He said the next group is expected to be ordained by December 30. “Right after the Mass ended,” Ortiz-Guzman said, “I made sure I hugged every one of the parishioners and said, ‘We’re home’ ... Being home, now our ministry has begun.” - CNS
Holocaust museum alters Pius XII text
Polish Catholic, Orthodox statement Catholic and Orthodox leaders from Poland and Russia will issue a joint statement committing their churches to fostering reconciliation between the two historically feuding countries. Archbishop Henryk Muszynski, Poland’s former Catholic primate, said the text could be compared to a famous 1965 declaration by Poland’s Catholic bishops to their German counterparts; that document contained the words “we forgive and ask forgiveness”. However, he cautioned that Polish-Russian ties had not yet “matured sufficiently” for a comparable pledge of mutual forgiveness and said it was still “very difficult to reach a common position with Russians” on historical issues.
Sudan prelates speak out on problems One year after achieving independence, South Sudan remains plagued with corruption and ethnic discontent, prompting Catholic and Anglican bishops to challenge the fledgling country’s political leaders to “a change of heart leading to a change of behaviour.” In a message marking the July 9 anniversary, Archbishop Paulino Lukudu Loro of Juba, South Sudan’s capital, and Anglican Archbishop Daniel Deng, expressed concern about reports of money being stolen by the country’s high-ranking officials. “Corruption has become endemic within certain classes. This is unacceptable,” the Church leaders said. The archbishops also cited rising ethnic tensions in local communities as well as growing concerns throughout the country about the ethnic makeup of government institutions. - CNS
A visitor stands near photographs at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem. Until now, some displays in the museum have been critical of wartime Pope Pius XII but these have recently been toned down as more and more evidence comes to light of Pius’ record saving Jews from the Holocaust. PHOTO: BAZ RATNER, REUTERS
By Judith Sudilovsky NEW TEXT in an exhibit at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial offers a less-critical assessment of the actions of Pope Pius XII in dealing with the Nazi persecution of Jews during World War II. While the new text still points to Pope Pius’ prominent role in the Church’s negotiations with Nazi officials, it paints a more complex picture of the situation decades ago. Still, the new text includes criticism of the Vatican for not opening its archives to allow historians to research the actions of the Holy See at the time, noting that until researchers have access to “all relevant” materials the topic will “remain open to further inquiry”. Archbishop Antonio Franco, papal nuncio to Israel and the Palestinian territories, who in 2007 had threatened to not take part in Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony because of the exhibit’s text, told Catholic News Service the move was “a step forward”. “It is an opening, very impor-
tant in the sense of attention to the documents and a more accurate search to try to understand really from the inside what the behaviour was of the Holy Father and the Catholic Church,” he said in a July 3 telephone interview. The change demonstrated “an effort” in seeking the truth, he added. “It is very difficult to read ... another perspective, another culture. This effort is being done in good faith in the search for the truth,” he said. Archbishop Franco explained that the Vatican’s archives continue to be catalogued and will be open to the public once the work is finished. He offered no timeline for completion of the work. While the old text noted the controversy surrounding Pope Pius XII’s actions during World War II, it maintained that the Pope signed an agreement with the German regime to preserve the Church’s rights in Germany, “even if this meant recognising the Nazi racist regime”. The text also said that upon his election as Pope in 1939, he shelved a letter against racism and anti-Semitism
that his predecessor, Pope Pius XI, had written. The new museum panel is titled “The Vatican” instead of “Pope Pius XII.” The new text reduces the role of Pope Pius XII in negotiating the agreement, explaining that it was reached under Pius XI. Pope Pius XII served as secretary of state under his predecessor. The new text reads in part that Pope Pius XII “did not publicly protest” when Jews were deported from Rome; the old text said he “did not intervene”. In a July 1 statement regarding the text change, officials at Yad Vashem noted that exhibit texts were based on documents available in the first years of the 21st century. The update was undertaken following the recommendation of the Yad Vashem International Institute for Holocaust Research, the museum emphasised, and not as a result of Vatican pressure, as has been reported. “This is an update to reflect research that has been done in recent years, and presents a more complex picture than previously
presented,” the statement said. While new research based in part on the opening of archival collections including parts of the Pope Pius XI archive and other academic information has “clarified certain issues,” the Yad Vashem statement said many questions remain. Yad Vashem said the new wall panel now presents the controversy over Pope Pius XII’s actions during WWII in more detail, helping visitors to better understand the context surrounding the issue. In its statement, the museum said it “looks forward to the day when the Vatican archives will be open to researchers so that a clearer understanding of the events can be arrived at”. Though he is “satisfied” with the “step forward”, Archbishop Franco said he would have liked to have seen the panel “written differently”. “My vision is the vision I have been struggling for (in which) I am convinced that the behaviour and activity (of Pope Pius XII) have been strong and positive in favour of the Jews during World War II,” he said. - CNS
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VISTA
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July 11, 2012
VISTA
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Way forward is glimpsed in the nature of the challenge
Latin America was once numerically Catholic in an overwhelming sense, but not any more. For decades, evangelical Christian groups based on strong, vibrant styles of worship have been flourishing, attracting new adherents and expanding at a seemingly unstoppable rate. Catholic numbers, on the other hand, have been steadily decreasing, presenting the Church in Latin America with a real problem: how to compete with this new form of Christianity ...
The success of evangelical groups in Latin America cannot be ignored, Pope Benedict told Colombian bishops in June, urging them to take up the challenge of revitalising and making parishes more welcoming – and stronger centres of formation.
People attend a prayer service, above, at an evangelical church in Leon, Mexico in March. Across Latin America, evangelical Christianity has made massive inroads in a region once overwhelmingly Catholic. Among the reasons, a vibrant style of worship emphasising a personal relationship with Jesus.
PHOTO: LEFT: CNS, EDGARD GARRIDO, REUTERS
Battling the Evangelical influence By Ezra Fieser and Lise Alves
T
HE World Church of the Power of God opened an L-shaped, one-storey, corrugated metal megachurch on the outskirts of Sao Paulo on New Year's Day, expecting around 100,000 people to attend. Few were prepared for the more than two million people who actually showed up. The crowd clogged the highway between the city and international airport, causing a six-hour traffic jam. Hundreds of passengers ditched their taxis and cars and walked miles to catch their flights. "Nobody expected that," said the Rev Luiz Medeiros, a senior pastor at the neo-Pentecostal church. "It shows how attracted people are to joining the church." The church has the capacity to hold 150,000 people, making it one of the largest religious gathering places in South America. Preachers regularly draw 30,000 people, Rev Medeiros said. What makes the church's popularity remarkable is that it has swelled to such numbers 14 years after its establishment, and it did so in the world's most Catholic country, Brazil, which the Vatican says has 163 million Catholics. Evangelical churches like the World Church Power of God have made inroads in Latin America and the Caribbean, long a Catholic stronghold. Relatively obscure decades ago, evangelicals – including Pentecostals, Baptists and others – now count roughly 97.5 million followers in the region, according to data provided by a coalition of evangelical churches. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life's 2011 report on Christianity around the world does not differentiate between mainline
Men, at right, listen to an evangelical preacher during Christmas Eve at a migrants' shelter in Tultitlan, on the outskirts of Mexico City, last year. Relatively obscure decades ago, evangelicals – including Pentecostals, Baptists and others – now count roughly 97.5 million followers in Latin America and the Caribbean. A megachurch, above, in action. PHOTO: CLAUDIA DAUT, REUTERS
and evangelical Protestants, but found 94 million Protestants in Latin America and the Caribbean. The growth of the evangelical movement in Latin America has come as the number of Catholics has fallen. While about 432 million people – 74 per cent of Latin Americans – identify themselves as Catholic, countries that have long been Church strongholds are seeing numbers decline. "Clearly, the phenomenon of the growth of these sects is affecting us," said Bishop Hector Lopez Hurtado of Girardot, Colombia. "In the last several years, you've seen it spread to all parts of Latin America." The growth of the movement has caused consternation within CELAM, the Latin American bishops' council. A 2006 publication looking at the issue called the "new religious movements ... one of the problems of greatest concern to those
engaged in the process of evangelisation in the Catholic Church." In Mexico, the world's secondmost-Catholic country, 96 per cent of the population identified themselves as Catholic in 1970. Last year, the number had fallen to 82.7 per cent. Mexico's southern neighbour, Guatemala, was 90 per cent Catholic as of the mid-1950s. Today, it's closer to 50 per cent. More than one in three are evangelical Christians. Well-financed churches in the US, where one in four adults are evangelicals, initially pushed Latin America's evangelical movement. Today, however, Latin Americans raise money to build churches, and local ministers have risen to celebrity status. The movement's growth has left a trail of skyline-changing megachurches and humble prayer halls scarcely bigger than living rooms in Latin American cities and the
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countryside. In the capital of the predominantly Catholic Dominican Republic, Jose Marti attends a raucous service twice a week in a small church that sits atop a grocery store parking garage off a busy highway. "I was raised Catholic and some of my family is still Catholic," said Marti, 38. "I just don't feel like the Catholic Church has kept up with the times. It is not exciting, like here." Inside, a set of drums sat on a small platform and upholstered bench seats lined the hall. Evangelical "churches adopt lessrigid rules than the Catholic Church ... they adapt to the customs and values seen today in our society, such as the importance of financial prosperity, importance of entrepreneurship to reach this prosperity, importance of discipline," said Christina Vital, an anthropologist at the Institute of
Studies of Religion in Rio de Janeiro. "There are today dance parties which are supported by evangelical churches and even held inside these churches." For Marti, the difference is simple: "I come here and I enjoy it," he said. "I feel like I have my own relationship with Jesus." His sentiment touches a central theme in explaining the evangelical growth. Rather than having a priest interpret Scripture for them, evangelical Christians take an active role in forming their relationship with Jesus. "They are able to meet in small groups with their neighbours and a pastor who is from the area and knows them," said Maarit Forde, a professor at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad who studies the spread of evangelical Protestantism
in the Caribbean. "That allows them to focus on some of the issues that are pressing for them, like poverty or domestic violence." More recently, evangelical groups have successfully employed the Internet to attract followers, said Fernando Altemeyer, professor of theology at the Catholic University of Sao Paulo. "They adapted much faster (than the Catholic Church) to the new technologies, and were quickly on Twitter, Facebook, blogs and such," he said. That tactic has helped evangelical churches reach young Brazilians and swell the church ranks. In the past decade, the Catholic Church lost six million followers in Brazil. Those Catholics did not all flock to the evangelical churches, however; the number of agnostics
has grown, Altemeyer said. Brazil is an example of changes in the religious makeup of Latin America and of how the Catholic Church is adapting. Pentecostal groups first arrived in the country in the early 1900s, but the movement surged in the 1970s. It was helped by an urbanisation that sent poor Brazilians into cities to look for better jobs. They settled in the outskirts of large cities, where Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal churches had taken hold. Today, roughly 40 million Brazilians identify themselves as evangelicals. That number is expected to grow to more than 109 million by 2020, according to the Servindo aos Pastores e Lideres, an evangelical group linked to One Challenge International, a missionary organisation. In Sao Paulo, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God is building a 10,000-seat replica of Solomon's
Temple for a reported $200 million. In Recife, new churches will have the capacity for up to 35,000 people. In Sao Paulo, Catholics will open their own megachurch big enough for 100,000 people. The Mother of God Sanctuary will be a venue for a Father Marcelo Rossi who sings, dances, appears in movies and fills soccer stadiums with his masses. Proceeds from his best-selling books are paying for most of the church's construction. The Catholic Church has focused on Latin America's youth and on creating dialogue between Catholics and evangelical movements, said Fr Jose Gregorio Melo Sanchez, director of CELAM's Department of Ecclesial Communion and Dialogue. "It's important to remember that the Church isn't a reactionary church," Fr Melo said. "The approach in this case is to focus on pastoral lines and on interreligious dialogue." - CNS
T
he increasing number of Pentecostal and evangelical communities in Latin America cannot be ignored or taken too lightly, Pope Benedict XVI told bishops from Colombia. Catholics are "called to purify and revitalise their faith" as well as strengthen pastoral programs to improve formation and help people feel welcome in the Church, he said. The Pope made the remarks in a talk on June 22 to a group of Colombian bishops making their ad limina visits to the Vatican to report on the status of their dioceses and hold discussions with Vatican officials. "Growing religious pluralism is a factor that requires serious consideration," he said, as the increasingly active presence of "Pentecostal and evangelical communities, not just in Colombia, but also in many regions of Latin America, cannot be ignored or underestimated." The Pope repeated the assessment made by Latin American bishops in 2007 in explaining why Catholics leave the Church to join other religious groups. Oftentimes, Catholics leave, "not because of what non-Catholic groups believe, but fundamentally for what they live"; they leave not for doctrinal or theological reasons, but because of the "methodological problems of our Church," the Pope said, quoting the concluding document of the bishops' general conference in Aparecida, Brazil. Pope Benedict said what is needed is "to be better believers and more devout, affable and welcoming in our parishes and communities, so that no one feels far-removed or excluded." Educating people in the faith must be strengthened with special attention paid to teens and adults, homilies
need to be prepared very carefully and the teaching of Catholic doctrine should be promoted in schools and universities, he said. Reviving Church traditions, particularly involving Marian devotion, is important as well, he said. The aim should be to help baptised Catholics rediscover a sense of belonging to the Church and reawaken a desire to share the joy of Christ with others as members of "his mystical body" in the Church, he said. Bishops also should try to facilitate "serene and open" dialogue with other Christian communities, "without losing one's own identity", so as to improve relations and "overcome distrust and
Catholics should become better believers, less exclusive and better formed in their faith. Doctrine should be taught in schools and universities, he said. unnecessary confrontations," he said. Pope Benedict also highlighted the plight of numerous Colombians who are kidnapped or "have fallen into the infamous networks of drugs and weapons traders". Insurgent groups in the country have turned to the drugs and arms trade, and kidnapping for ransom to fund their efforts. Attention must be paid to those who are forced to emigrate in search of employment and to those forced to flee, leaving behind their families because of "the threat of the dark hand of terror and crime," he said. - CNS
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VISTA
therecord.com.au
July 11, 2012
BATTLE for the
HEART of a
MAN
Many men are as much a mystery to themselves as they are to those around them. Missing from churches and from many families, menALIVE co-founder Robert Falzon says there is only one way out of the mire - a relationship with Jesus Christ. He spoke to The Record’s Robert Hiini during a recent trip to Perth.
R
obert Falzon seems to have hit a nerve. He has just asked a room full of men for a show of hands but no hands are forthcoming. He has asked them to remember back to the time of their adolescence and their first stirrings of sexual attraction. “How many of you men, at that point in your lives, had a primary male figure come to you - someone who was wise in the mystery of women and sex - and say, “young man” or “my son”, even better, “let me tell you a few things about the strange and delicate territory you are about to enter. “Let me tell you about the heart of a woman, and some things that are going on inside of you; let me tell you some things that might work and some that will not work. Let me tell you that I will be a friend in your journey and you can come to me anytime you want and ask me difficult questions. “How many of you had that type of discussion as you were growing up? Please put up your hand.” Similar questions about whether they felt invigorated about life; whether they felt they had reached their potential; and whether their lives had any great sense of purpose, met with similarly muted yet clearly pensive replies. Mr Falzon was speaking at a men’s breakfast held at All Saints Parish in Greenwood on June 16, facilitated by Perth-based menALIVE organisers. Since co-founding menALIVE in Brisbane in 2003, Robert Falzon has been criss-crossing Australasia, inviting men to join him in what he calls “the masculine journey”; to a rediscovery of their “strength”. “We have a wildness that has been planted in us by God that drives us toward quest and the call to do something that will leave a legacy,” he said. “We are earthy and
outdoor. We like adventure. We like risk but we have been taught not to be risk takers … We have had all of these good things which God has placed in us restrained. “What we have now, with respect to the good men in this room, is passive, domesticated, tame, insipid, lukewarm, fearful, broken and lonely men. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want that. I want to be fully alive.” Men dominated every indicator of social malaise, he said, and were a missing force in the life of the Church, with men making up around 39 per cent of regular Mass attendees. In an hour-long interview with The Record, Robert Falzon gave his thoughts on the problem, and what his organisation was doing to bring about change.
most of the time - a position and a task. We have not given men roles meaningful enough to bring their strength and their vitality to, that’s one. Two, men have lost touch with that strength and vitality. It’s either become broken or it is repressed. We become aggressive, angry, against lots of things (that’s not a useful power to bring to anything), and in being so, we separate ourselves. It’s them and us. It’s “those people over there”. Or, there’s a repression process: “Because I don’t want to be like that, and because my strength and power has caused me to do some bad things – some moral breakdown or inappropriate behaviours - what I’m going to do is contain it, repress it, and quarantine it so
Why are men absent from the Church? Is the problem with men or what they find in the Church?
We have men who are passive, insipid, tame, domesticated, fearful. I don’t want to be like that. I want to be alive.
Well, you are asking two “too hard” questions right there (laughs). There’s a historical and cultural development in the absence of men - men are absent, not just from Church. They’re absent from fathering, from husbanding, from courageous activities and endeavours. They’re absent from primary involvement in society … The “too hard question”, in relation to the Church, is “why are they absent?” Well, a man won’t give his strength to something where he doesn’t see that there is a meaningful role and a meaningful outcome whereas a woman will intuitively give herself because she is generous. She is, intuitively, nurturing and caring, regardless of role and regardless of result. A woman will give her strength simply because the concept of the group she is giving her life to has a benevolent possibility. Man needs a role and result
that it doesn’t mess up my life. So now, here I am. I look and act more passive and feminine – I’m softer and nicer - but I’m useless. There are many secular writers who talk about the castration, the emasculation of the masculine soul … Christians are exhorted to attend to their own sin first. But what about when men have “fixed” themselves only to find their masculinity is unwelcome. What are men supposed to do? One of the things menALIVE doesn’t do, is we don’t try and “fix” men. To think about a person or a group as needing “fixing” means
you are broken, and incomplete, and you’re inadequate and not good enough. I see it more as a masculine journey. The journey of a man has some necessary requirements so that a man would be able to fully express himself and bring his person to the call of life. It’s not about “fixing” them in the sense of a car engine which needs fixing because it’s stuffed, but of modelling that there is a way to live that’s much fuller and much bigger and that they have got much more already inside of them. So rather than fixing them, it’s about releasing them. And menALIVE is not about bringing women down and “putting them in their right place”. That’s not what we are about. The flourishing and the growing of femininity and the growing of women in the world is a great result for the last hundred years. But the typical scales way of viewing everything is actually inappropriate … Men and women are equal, but different. There seem to be two major camps in the men’s movement. Those who say “masculinity is bad, we should be more like women” and those who are hyper-male and exhort men to ‘manly’ activities. Where does menALIVE fit? You put that really well. Like everything, where there is a drama or a problem, there are two extremes, and it takes time to find a happy, wholesome medium. Men acting more like women is one reaction. “Women have got it right, maybe that’s the way we should be.” On the other hand, [Christian men’s author] John Eldridge is okay, but even further along than that is the Iron John men’s movement that runs off into the bush, takes their clothes off, paints their bodies in different colours and bangs on drums and lights
fires, thinking “if I act like a man, I might become a man”. We’ve gone into survival mode there to save manhood … to extreme manhood. There’s nothing wrong with being in touch with intuition, tenderness, nurturing and affection. But if that’s all we become, then we become like a woman. What we are doing is trying to come back to being the whole person – a man who is fully aware of his masculinity, his strength and his power but in control of that and releasing it in appropriate and relevant moments in his life, and not the wrong moments. And if you bring that power to intuition, nurturing and caring, then your responses actually look like manly responses, rather than a woman’s response. What we are looking for is to stop this pendulum over history, to bring it back to the middle, and to start to articulate what a real man is. How does menALIVE work? We start with a weekend experience. It’s a parish-based ministry. Generally we get about 30 men; 76 men is our highest number. We create a team of 4 or 5 men in a parish. We give them a process, a method, a procedure to get men to the weekend. And then those men go through a weekend experience and you watch the lights go on. (Men have often been told before) that their role as a spiritual man is to get their sin sorted out and they’ll be useful. Just get your sin sorted out and then you’ll be fine. That’s the message. Well, that’s a lie. That’s pelagianism; the gospel of sin management. If that’s all you’ve got, you’re never going to have real men who are going to rise up because you are never going to get the “sin thing” fully sorted out. We don’t say ignore the sin – definitely not – but what we say is, the purpose of trying to
VISTA
therecord.com.au July 11, 2012
13
Four Things Boys Learn From Their Fathers It may not be popular to say it, but boys obtain their idea of masculine behaviour from their father, Tom Steenson.
1
HOW TO DEAL WITH, LOOK AT, AND THINK ABOUT WOMEN
As our society more and more tries to pass off hypersexuality as manly, one of the first and best antidotes to this is the father’s own chastity. Although it may seem like a near-lost battle, being one of the few voices singing the virtue of pure love, there is a factor that tilts that balance in Dad’s favour: to a growing boy, there is no greater authority on manliness than his father. So, dads, take heart: you can have a great effect on your son in the area of keeping a chaste heart. Teach him the precautions one should take to guard the eyes, mind, and heart. Let him know that you pray daily for purity. Most of all, speak to him with your actions, whether or not he is watching you; if you live the virtue of chastity yourself, he will be more likely to follow you in it.
2
The number one factor which influences a boy’s confidence is his relationship with his father. This is not to minimise the love and care of the mother, for she plays an equally important, but perhaps differently oriented role in her son’s self-confidence. Yet, there is no replacing the positive, and necessarily sincere, encouragement of a boy’s father. Why? A boy is constantly assessing himself, testing himself, not only with regard to who he is, but with respect to who he will become. As he will some day become a man, he finds the easiest measure in that regard to be his own father. For not only is Dad the model of masculinity, but in a very real way, he is the family’s own representative of the outside world. If the son’s truest boyhood hero thinks he is good, capable, and worthy, the boy himself is most likely to believe it.
Above, menALIVE co-founder, Robert Falzon speaking at the menALIVE breakfast at All Saints, Greenwood on June 16. PHOTO: R HIINI
move the sin out of the way is to get to God. The purpose is a relationship with Jesus. Jesus came to reveal God. To be a full man, a real man, you need a relationship with Jesus. Jesus is the model for how man can be. To be fully a man – fully engaged in your marriage, the raising of your children, your church, your workplace, and fully engaged with ourselves. I need to know who I am and where I am going, and I discover that it is already in me, and I discover that through looking at Jesus and finding the way I am meant to live. In the process of building your relationship with Jesus, the sin will be dealt with but if you make sin the focus, you make this a negative, dark, difficult and impossible
INSTILLING UNSHAKABLE CONFIDENCE
3 religion to follow. But if you make it about a relationship, one that’s a wholesome and balanced one, in the process of that relationship, the sin will fall away. You will be transformed. That’s not to say that some people who have addictions, in the process of wanting a relationship with Jesus, won’t need some help with dealing with those issues, but the issues aren’t the focus. Loving
God, Loving your neighbour and loving yourself is the focus. MenALIVE hold their next weekend on September 8-9 at St Denis Primary School Hall, Joondanna. Contact Ben on 0407 088 431 or bensinagra@iinet.net.au. For more information about menALIVE, visit www.menalive. org.au.
STRENGTH, SACRIFICE AND SERVICE
As noted earlier, the first and truest hero a boy can have is naturally and properly the boy’s own father. This is especially key if the young man is to learn the virtue of sacrifice. We may fool ourselves into thinking there is nothing heroic in our daily lives. After all, our day-to-day is hardly newsworthy, nor does it approach the level of notice reserved for medals and public honour. But just as there is a white martyrdom, the silent and bloodless
giving of one’s life for Christ, so also there is an everyday heroic, which often finds itself played out in the silent offering of one’s daily life and work to God. Although the world’s noise blares tales of its supposed heroes from myriad near-ubiquitous loudspeakers, the father’s quiet giving of himself, day after day, and year after year, is still noticed by the son. The quiet shouldering of burdens, the anticipation of someone’s needs, the use of strength to defend the weak: these are the lessons sons learn from watching their father’s daily life.
4
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE LOVED BY THE FATHER
St Paul reminds us that the first, and truest, fatherhood is not that of men in this life, but rather that of God the Father. We fathers are mere imitators of the eternal Father begetting his Son; the primary fatherhood is in heaven, not on this earth. And yet, the order in which we learn of fatherhood is inverted: our first knowledge of a father comes from our earthly dad. This makes the role of the human father that much more important. If Dad is cross, stern, and overly demanding, won’t it be hard for a child to imagine God’s intense and personal love for him? Yet, if the father can better emulate the loving nature of our Father in Heaven, so much more can the child grasp just how loved he is. The son who is sure of his father’s love is much more likely to become a loving father, in whatever vocation.
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CROSSWORD Across 2. So they set off to ____ repentance. 4. And if any place does not ____ you and people refuse to listen to you, as you walk away shake off the dust under your feet as evidence to them. 5. Then Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to ___ them out in pairs, giving them authority over unclean spirits.
PROCLAIM JOURNEY
Then he summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs, giving them authority over unclean spirits. - Mark 6: 7-13 WORD LIST
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Down 1. And Jesus instructed them to take nothing for the ____ except a staff -- no bread, no haversack, no coppers for their purses. 3. And Jesus said to them, ‘If you enter a ____ anywhere, stay there until you leave the
SICK HOUSE
district. 4. They were to ____ sandals but, he added, ‘Don’t take a spare tunic.’ 5. And they cast out many devils, and anointed many ____ people with oil and cured them.
VISTA
therecord.com.au July 11, 2012
A tradition that’s truly great The Great Tradition - Classic readings on what it means to be an educated human being Edited by Richard M Gamble Publisher: ISI Books Pages: 669
Line through the human heart The author of a book on natural law sees the issue as really being about the law of the heart. The Line Through the Heart by J Budziszewski. ISI books (2012). 368 pp, available in two weeks.
four witnesses? I hope they aren’t four experts. NO, NOT four experts. I’m speaking of witnesses built into the very design of creation, where they are available to everyone. The famous line in Psalm 19, “The heavens are telling the glory of God,” calls attention to what might be called the witness of “designedness.” Another witness to natural law - another way that we become aware of it and learn about it - is the details of the creational design. In my answer to one of your previous questions, I’ve already mentioned one such detail, the complementarity of the sexes. Another detail is so important that I treat it as a witness in its own right: The deep structure of the moral intellect, which we call conscience. The final witness is the natural consequences of violating natural law, the fact that we reap as we sow. Sometimes we can push the consequences of our actions onto other people or other generations - for instance my generation has pushed the worst consequences of our sexual revolution onto our children but these consequences pile up, and eventually there comes a reckoning.
Your book is about natural law natural moral law, so we’re not talking about Newton’s Laws of Motion. Would you please explain what “natural law” means? Is it really natural, and is it really law?
I F
rustrated with the continuing educational crisis of our time, concerned parents, teachers and students sense that true reform requires more than innovative classroom technology, standardised tests, or skills training. An older tradition — the Great Tradition — of education in the West is waiting to be heard. Since antiquity, the Great Tradition has defined education first and foremost as the hard work of rightly ordering the human soul, helping it to love what it ought to love, and helping it to know itself and its maker. In the classical and Christian tradition, the formation of the soul in wisdom, virtue and eloquence took precedence over all else, including instrumental training aimed at the inculcation of “useful” knowledge. Edited by historian Richard Gamble, this anthology reconstructs a centuries-long conversation about the goals, conditions and ultimate value of true education. Spanning more than two millennia, from the ancient Greeks to contemporary writers, it includes substantial excerpts from more than sixty seminal writings on education. Represented here are the wisdom and insight of such figures as Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle, Seneca, Cicero, Basil, Augustine, Hugh of St Victor, Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Erasmus, Edmund Burke, John Henry Newman, Thomas Arnold, Albert Jay Nock, Dorothy Sayers, CS Lewis, and Eric Voegelin. In an unbroken chain of giving and receiving, the Great Tradition embraced the accumulated wisdom of the past and understood education as the initiation of students into a body of truth. This unique collection is designed to help parents, students and teachers reconnect with this noble legacy, to articulate a coherent defence of the liberal arts tradition, and to do battle with the modern utilitarians and vocationalists who dominate educational theory and practice.
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s natural law really law? Certainly. A law is a rule and measure of action, addressed to the mind, directed toward the common good, made by legitimate authority, and promulgated or made known. Take the precept never to deliberately take innocent human life. It is not just a whim, but something the mind can grasp as right; it isn’t for a special interest, but for the universal good; it was made by the public authority of the universe, who “enacted” it by making life good; and since he has designed that part of his creation we call our minds in such a way that we can recognise it, it really has been promulgated. Is natural law really natural? Yes, again. We aren’t speaking here of “nature” in the sense of the infamous pop lyric, “You and me baby ain’t nothing but mammals, so let’s do it like they do on the Discovery Channel”. Natural law is “natural” in the deeper sense that it is rooted in the creational design, including the design of our intellects and the rules for the flourishing of creatures of our kind, mammals who aren’t just mammals but much more. What would be a good summary of the natural law? THE BEST summary I know is the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments. The fact that it is part of revelation makes it divine law, but the fact that the mind can recognise it as right independently of revelation makes it natural law. It is only a good summary, though, if we pay attention to its spirit, not just to its letter. Literally, the command against bearing false witness prohibits only lying to get my neighbour in trouble, but it presupposes institutions for public justice and suggests a broader norm of truthfulness. Literally, the letter of the command against adultery prohibits only unfaithfulness to my spouse, but it presupposes the institution of marriage and suggests a broader norm of sexual purity. You say that natural law provides all human beings with a moral common ground. But you also say that it’s a slippery common ground. Why is it slippery? THE FIRST thing that makes it slippery is latency: I might know something about natural law without knowing that I know it. Another reason is denial: I might know something about natural law and yet tell myself that I don’t. A third reason is rationalisation: I may make excuses for doing wrong, not because I don’t know that it is wrong, but just because I do. In fact, the knowledge of right and wrong provides the very material for our excuses. Can you give me an example of this slipperiness? Maybe from law or politics? FOR AN example of latency, consider the complementarity of the sexes. I might never give it a thought, but as soon as someone calls it to my attention, I say “I knew it all along”. That might serve as an example of denial, too, because
I see that the book has two parts. Part I is about ethics, about how to live. Part II is about law and politics, about how to live together. What are some of the subjects you deal with in Part I?
these days we are all under pressure to pretend that we don’t notice that men and women are different, and to pretend we don’t notice that they need each other. For another example of denial, consider how hard we try to convince ourselves that we don’t know that abortion is wrong,
For example, these days we are all under pressure to pretend that we don’t notice that men and women are different and that they need each other. even though we concede that it is always wrong to deliberately take innocent human life. For an example of rationalisation, consider the argument of one feminist lawyer that abortion is all right because babies in the womb aren’t innocent, that they are aggressive intruders who “make” their mothers pregnant against their wills. Notice that rationalisation makes use of moral knowledge (in this case, the wrong of deliberately taking innocent human life) even while playing tricks on this knowledge (I have to pretend that I don’t know that babies are innocent). This does terrible violence to the intellect. Just now you were talking about moral evasion and subterfuge, about all the ways we try to fool ourselves, pretending that we don’t know what we really do know. Does that have something to do with the title of your book, The Line Through the Heart? By the way, is that your own phrase? THE WAYS that we deceive ourselves have everything to do with the title. I’ve addressed moral evasion and subterfuge before, but in this book I press the discussion much farther and into new terri-
tory. The phrase “the line through the heart” comes from Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who wrote that “The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being”. I see that your book has a subtitle: Natural Law as Fact, Theory, and Sign of Contradiction. “Fact”, I get it’s really real. “Theory”, I get we have to describe the fact carefully and work it out. But why “Sign of Contradiction”? What’s that all about? NATURAL LAW is about the design of creation, but as Benedict XVI has remarked, “Human existence is no longer what was produced at the hands of the Creator. It is burdened with another element that produces, besides the innate tendency toward God, the opposite tendency away from God ... This paradox points to a certain inner disturbance in man, so that he can no longer simply be the per-
The title was inspired by Alexander Solzhenitsyn who wrote that “The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being”. son he wants to be .... There is a collective consciousness that sharpens the contradiction .... [T]he stronger the demand made by the law, the stronger becomes the inclination to fight it”. You might say, then, that my book explores not only the natural law itself, but also the inclination to fight the natural law. How do we find out what the natural law is? At one point you talk about “the four witnesses”. Do you mean something like four pieces of data, or pieces of evidence? What are the
ONE QUESTION I explore is how much we can know about good and evil without knowing about God. Another is how the knowledge of God deepens the knowledge of good and evil. Still another is the mystery of how things that seem to run against the grain of human nature can become ‘second nature.’ That’s a big one, and if you don’t believe it, just listen in on the sexuality debates, in which it is common for someone to say that a practice that used to be called unnatural is “natural for me.” Finally, I ask whether natural law can be reconciled with Darwinian evolution. Yes, yes, we all know that the Darwinian mechanism explains things like the length of finch beaks, but that is not the question. Some people, convinced that the mechanism explains everything about us, proclaim a new day of “evolutionary ethics”. Are they wonderfully right, or dreadfully wrong? What are some of the subjects you deal with in Part II? TURNING to politics, I take up such topics as who counts as a human person, whether human dignity is compatible with capital punishment, what courts have made of the United States Constitution, and how an ersatz state religion can be built in the name of toleration. In various ways, each of these questions sprouts from the subject of natural law, and they are also related to each other. Why should people want to read this book? PEOPLE should want to read this book because of the suicidal proclivity of our time to deny the obvious. They should want to read it because our hearts are riddled with desires that oppose their deepest longings, because we demand to have happiness on terms that makes happiness impossible. Why? And what can we do about it? We need to understand these things just because we are human beings. - ISI BOOKS
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OPINION
therecord.com.au
July 11, 2012
EDITORIAL
Two ways to see the Catholic Church
T
o look at the Church as it is portrayed globally, one would think we are all dealing with an institution mired in corruption and irrelevancy to modern life, to be approached only with suspicion. Outside the Church, it would not be hard to conclude that there is nothing much there worth being interested in. The average Australian today looks at the Church and sees an institution – not Jesus Christ. But in the last fortnight it has been two young women who have expressed with tremendous elegance, beauty, poise and – above all – grace, what the real Catholic Church and the authentic Christian mind look like. Both went against the tide of a global culture that seems increasingly antithetical to the Christian vocation. Both took life-changing decisions for the Gospel and specifically for the Catholic Church that society and our cynical media find incomprehensible – one at the cost of her own life. Chiara Petrillo now seems set firmly on the path to official sainthood because of her heroic decision to give life to her unborn son rather than end his life in her womb in order to treat the grave illness which proved terminal. Her story has captured the imaginations of people around the world since her funeral and part of it is the obvious beauty of a young, utterly convinced Christian woman and mother who saw not only the beauty of the life within her but the One who gives it. The other chose to reject the simplistic morality of the media and popular culture – Leah Libresco, the atheist American blogger who announced she had entered the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults in the Archdiocese of Washington. Her choice was the result of years of toil, debate and, above all, searching for intellectual and moral truth. In the end, a seemingly chance comment made in passing caused her to stumble upon the fact that the author of morality must love her. There are therefore two perspectives of the Church that anyone can adopt. One is the perspective of a perpetually shrill media, driven almost frenetically by the need to remain in the glare of the public spotlight, ready to pounce upon the Church for the slightest perceived error or the undeniably evil actions of some within its ranks. In this perspective, the whole Church is always assessed by the evil acts of its worst members. The other is expressed by Chiara Petrillo and Leah Libresco, and might be described as the Christian mind. The Christian mind sees that the Church is for sinners. That there are certainly some spectacular sinners in its ranks does not mean that every Catholic is a child molester. The Christian mind sees truth, beauty and goodness as interconnected and coming from God. In Australia, this is the Year of Grace called by our bishops. Whatever exactly the PO Box 3075 bishops had in mind when they Adelaide Terrace called it, it is certainly an opporPERTH WA 6832 tunity, a teaching moment and our hearts should be fired as office@therecord.com.au we seek to live it by these two Tel: (08) 9220 5900 beautiful young women who so Fax: (08) 9325 4580 remarkably chose the Church.
In this perspective the whole of the Catholic Church is always assessed by the evil acts of its worst members.
THE RECORD
Guides’ hope may be forlorn L
ast week, the Australian Girl Guides abandoned their century old pledge “to do my duty to God” with a promise “to be true to myself and develop my beliefs”. In the Guide notebook the word “loyalty” was replaced with “respect,” “helpful” with “considerate.” “Obedience” was removed altogether. But if the Guides hope to lift flagging membership with such changes, their hope may be a forlorn one. Three decades of blending into the background and using contrived and morally empty language in Catholic Church circles have constituted a massive “miss” with young people around the world, even as Catholicism has grown in leaps and bounds. David Burchell from the University of Western Sydney put it well in relation to the sharp decline of religious affiliation among the young, as reflected in recent census data: “We have now come to a point ... where an entire culture is actually physically dying out. Young people nowadays are living with a kind of post-Christian morality which is now so distant from its Christian origins that they struggle to understand what it means,” Burchell said on Radio National’s Counterpoint. “(This) is not to say that they don’t have a morality, but they find it very difficult to tie it down and work out where it comes from and how it fits together.” One wonders where Girl Guides’ beliefs, which they are exhorted to “develop”, will come from. By what criteria will they judge some principles worthwhile, and others not and from where will the ability to discern those things come? In almost every sense, the Guide’s changes are understandable. Why would a generation, and no doubt, a great many of their adult leadership, pledge their allegiance to a God they don’t know? Nevertheless, there is great sadness to be found in ruminating on the symbolism of the Guides’ choice. To be free, to be true to one’s self, one must turn away from God. Our first parents discovered the illusory nature of that promise; that they once had freedom in the presence of their Father, and that, in rejecting the source and summit of love, they had trampled their own dignity under foot.
Letters TO THE EDITOR
Mark Reidy is not Hu Jintao I FIND IT somewhat disingenuous of Mark Reidy (I Say, I Say July 4) to compare himself with the leader of one of the most oppressive regimes in the world. While he certainly has a point re: the disintegration of Western society, I doubt that Hu Jintao’s actions are totally altruistic. From the government-sponsored atrocities such as forced abortion, brutal suppression of dissident thinking and displacement of ordinary citizens when it suits, the retention of power seems paramount. The Chinese President presides over a regime that denies people the right to openly practise religion. Although the standard of many television shows is abysmal, associated communication technology must be largely responsible for opening up the world to oppressed peoples, and played a part in the dismantling of the Iron Curtain. The trivialising of “news” by said technology is another symptom of secularisation, but the rulers of States like China are quite happy to use aspects of Western society that suit their agendas. Yes, any country has a right to preserve its traditional values, but brutality and disregard for basic human rights are no substitute for education and conversion, the latter needing the prayers of the entire Christian community. J Stanley APPLECROSS WA
Let’s rename ‘Marriage’ YOUR editorial “Should we drop the word ‘marriage’?” (June) was not only timely but reasonable. I would answer an emphatic “Yes!” to your question for the following reasons. Over time, the meaning of some English words has changed considerably. For example, the word ‘silly’, which originally had the positive meaning of blessed or happy, went through a number of changes over the centuries to now have the nega-
tive meaning of foolish or stupid. The modern meaning of the word ‘gay’ is an excellent example of this change. We in the Catholic Church can pre-empt the bastardisation of the word ‘marriage’ by politicians, by moving away from it entirely. Because of potential legal challenges we also need to move away from the word ‘marriage’ so that advocates of polygamous marriages and suchlike can be legitimately denied religious services by our Church. Activists can be a perverse group, and with a compliant media, cause mischief just for the sake of publicity. As a final reason, ‘marriage’ itself has become debased in modern society, with ‘co-habitation’ becoming the norm, and the terms ‘husband’, ‘wife’ and ‘spouse’ rapidly disappearing and being replaced by that God-less term ‘partner’. What can be done? Bishops’ conferences in English-speaking countries could work together towards adopting new words for what we now know as the Sacrament of Matrimony. The International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) exists and can be utilised for this purpose. I would like to suggest that the following be included in any brainstorming session on which words could replace marriage in the liturgy. The phrase “Sacrament of Cana” could replace “Sacrament of Matrimony” because it was at Cana that Our Blessed Lord elevated marriage to a sacrament. In addition, it is there that we have the last recorded words of Our Lady in the Bible, words which every husband and wife should take to heart. Recently, when speaking to an engaged couple, Pope Benedict XVI expressed some lovely thoughts on the wedding feast of Cana which are definitely true for all married couples. (See The Record, June 13, 2012, page 8). The wedding service could be named “The Sacred Commitment of a Man and a Woman to Each Other for Life to
Something to say? Put it in a letter to the Editor office@therecord.com.au
the Exclusion of All Others”. This is to emphasise to the participants the type of commitment they are making to each other, a point which is sometimes lost in the modern world’s view of the word “marriage”. It also limits the scope of the service to one man and one woman. As a shortened version, the service could be named the “Cana Service”, and to answer the underlying question of the editorial, instead of becoming married, couples can now become “Cananised”, a word which can have an unique Catholic meaning. Graham Geoghegan STIRLING WA
Editor: The Record will shortly open a competition for readers to rename ‘Marriage.’ Details will be announced soon.
The GFC circuit breaker FRANCIS Rocca’s article in the record (July 4), though easygoing in tone, clearly contained an agenda. 1. He speaks of the vast majority of catholics having accepted the Mass in its current form, as though this were a matter of some kind of vote, each parish deciding what it wants in the matter of liturgy. This is not catholic teaching but often justified as the “spirit of Vatican II”. 2. He says that it is not true that the new English Mass has turned the Mass into a common meal at the expense of being a sacrifice. Maybe, but that is exactly what you will be told when you talk to parishioners at the ground level. Again ‘the spirit of the Council.’ 3. The priest facing the altar or the people is a matter of flexibility, as is taking communion standing and on the hand? Rather it is one way or the other a serious matter of liturgical misdirection. 4. The liturgy is a work in progress? Only in the very long term, and that does not mean constant or radical innovation. The impression when reading the article is that conservative liturgists and innovators are simply two sides of an ongoing debate. Yet it is this idea itself that is quite in opposition to Catholic teaching. But what else can we expect when we have produced a whole generation of Catholics who do not know the Catechism. Peter Gilet BELMONT WA
OPINION
therecord.com.au July 11, 2012
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Dying to self is way hard - but totally necessary Often it’s our deepest aspirations for how we want our lives to turn out that can be the obstacle to making us truly happy.
I
CAN be quite good at ‘virtual generosity’. Sometimes, in my more silly moments, I like to imagine how bighearted I would be to charities, relatives and friends if I won a large lottery, or had a lot of time on my hands. Not long ago, a friend (and Mac user) entered a contest to win a MacBook Pro laptop, and she offered to give it to me, a deprived PC owner, if she won it. I don’t know what her children, gamers all, would have had to say about that, but that is neither here nor there. She did not win the prize, but at the time she’d remarked, “It’s easy to give something away when you don’t actually have it”. But is it? Oh sure, we can imagine giving away millions of fantasy dollars (well okay, maybe thousands …) but there are other things that are not so easy to let go. For some of us, hopes and desires are
@ Home MARIETTE ULRICH
just as real and dear to our hearts as solid, three-dimensional stuff we clasp in our hands. Let me give you a personal example. During my university-student years, I called myself a “small-f feminist” (never could quite swallow the whole philosophical package, and was more than willing to get married and be supported financially). I guess you could call me a pseudo-feminist, since I was all into girl power, as long as it didn’t require changing flat tyres. But I digress. As a newly married pseudo-feminist, I thought I could make career plans that did not necessarily take into account the wishes of my husband and baby daughter—yet I fully
expected to have everyone’s support. I wanted my Master’s degree (English Lit) and nothing and no one was going to stand in my way. Tiny hitch: grad school was a three hour commute from the city where we lived. Following this dream would have entailed maintaining two separate households (on one income), liv-
I had a re-conversion experience and embraced not just my faith but my vocation. ing apart during the week, commuting and daycare costs—to say nothing of the human cost in terms of how it would have affected our family life. It was not financially or logistically feasible, so it didn’t
happen. But I continued to hope that I would, someday, go back to school. Through four years of my marriage I clung tenaciously to my plan and resented my husband (and motherhood) for delaying it. I couldn’t relinquish the dream until I had a re-conversion experience and embraced in a new way not just my Catholic faith, but also my vocation. At last I was actually willing to listen to what the Lord might want for my life. Before that point, I had little interest in God’s will because I was pretty sure it did not conform to my plans. During the process of this faithrenewal experience, I’d heard and seen a phrase repeated: “God will not be outdone in generosity”. It gave me great solace and helped me realise that no matter what I let go, gave up, or offered to God, he would find a way to bless me in “good measure, pressed down,
Being where I’m meant to be A theologian’s joy is seeing students’ eyes open in wonder at the coherence of Christian faith.
How I Pray
False faith syllogisms can never hold water By Mark Shea
I
DEBBIE WARRIER
am perpetually amazed when Americans, with the historical perspective of fruit flies, announce that since the sex scandals, the bishops have lost their “moral authority” and therefore the Church no longer has any right whatsoever to talk about (insert pelvic/just war/ gay “marriage”/random social justice issue here). Excuse me, but the bishops lost their moral authority when the apostles fled Gethsemane like the pack of cowards they were, Mark ran off into the night buck naked, and Peter denied Jesus Christ three times. The authority of the Church comes, not from the dazzling sanctity of her bishops, but from Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit preserving the integrity of Christ’s teaching
Neil Ormerod
M
Y professional life is as a theologian, currently at Australian Catholic University as Professor of Theology. Over the past 25 years I have had the privileged position of teaching theology to priests, seminarians and laypersons, and reading, researching and writing about our Christian faith. I have written a number of books, both academic and popular, and a larger number of articles, both academic and popular, for Australian and international audiences. One of my most recent books, A Trinitarian Primer, is a popular account of the Catholic tradition on the Trinity. In one way or another, I spend a good deal of my working time thinking about God, Jesus, grace, the Church and how it all fits together. One of the joys of teaching is watching the eyes of students open wide with wonder at the coherence of our faith. My theological studies have given me a deep appreciation of our Catholic faith and the riches it contains. However, none of this would make much sense to me if it were not based in a personal relationship with God in prayer. Prayer is part of the rhythm of my life. I usually go to Mass two or three times a week; I enjoy getting to Sunday Mass early and slowly going over the Scripture readings and prayers in my missal, turning them over in my mind, reading then slowly to fully appreciate their meaning. During the day, going to and from work, and when I wake in the middle of the night (which often happens), I’ll turn my thoughts to God, give a moment of prayer, or an expression of concern for someone in need. On rare occasions I’ve had quite intense experiences of God’s presence, sometimes in prayer, or as an invitation to prayer. These have been important affirming moments where I’ve had some sense of what St Paul means when he talks about “the love of God flooding our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us” (Romans 5:5). I often look over my life with a sense of gratitude for such moments and other things that have happened. With all
shaken together, running over” (Luke 6:38). It is a truth of which we need to remind ourselves daily. Not only do we sometimes cling a little too steadfastly to our superfluous resources and possessions, but also to our dreams, our hopes, our time schedules, and perhaps even our fears. Whether it’s something big, like a career change or our hopes for our children’s future; or something relatively less weighty (but almost as costly) such as a home renovation; or something small, such as our plans for the weekend, we need to stay practised at the art of dying to self, “offering it up” and trusting in the wisdom and providence of God. His generosity working through us allows our own selfgiving to move from the virtual to the actual in our daily lives. And in the long run, that’s better than winning the lottery.
The bishops lost their moral authority when the apostles fled Gethsemane...
Academic and theologian Neil Ormerod says that despite all of life’s twists and turns it is possible to discern God’s providence at work. He has, he says, a strong sense that he is where God wants him to be in his life. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
life’s twists and turns it is possible, I think, to discern the hand of God’s providence at work. I have a strong sense that I am where God wants
four children and a fourth grandchild on the way. Life has had its challenges and, at times, our relationship with the Church has been
aspects of our faith. In the most difficult times, when we have just been hanging in, these are the things that have kept us faithful to the practice
On rare occasions I’ve had quite intense experiences of God’s presence, sometimes in prayer, or as an invitation to prayer. me to be, even though I know I make mistakes along the way. Thea and I are now coming up to our 35th wedding anniversary, with
strained, especially in relation to the sexual abuse issue. But we have always kept our focus on God, on Jesus and his message as the central
of our faith. Our marriage is integral to our life of faith and prayer together, full of mutual challenge and support.
despite our best efforts to screw everything up. The teachings of the Church are not the personal property of the bishops. They no more depend on the “moral authority” of bishops than the multiplication table depends on the “moral authority” of a math teacher. Until the critic of the abundant moral failings of Catholics from Pope to dog catcher grasps that, he can’t hope to understand why his “Bishops are moral failures, therefore the teaching of the Church is worthless” arguments make so little impact on any educated Catholic. The Church’s teaching does not come from the Pope or the bishops. It comes from Jesus and the apostles. The bishops are the often reluctant and frequently inept transmitters of that tradition, not the originators. The integrity of the teaching is guaranteed, not by the fact that the Pope and the bishops are awesome saints (sometimes they are, usually they are not), but by the Holy Spirit. Mark Shea blogs at: markshea.blogspot.com
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PANORAMA
SATURDAY, JULY 14 Divine Mercy 2.30pm at St Francis Xavier Parish, Windsor St, East Perth. Main celebrant: Fr Marcellinus Meilak. Reconciliation in English and Italian available. Divine Mercy prayers followed by Veneration of First Class Relic of St Faustina Kowalska. Refreshments afterwards. Enq: John 9757 7771. 8.30am at St Bernadette Church, 49 Jugan St, Glendalough St Padre Pio DVD in parish centre. 10am Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Rosary, Divine Mercy, silent Adoration and Benediction. 11am holy Mass, St Padre Pio Liturgy, Confession available. 12 noon lunch, BYO; tea and coffee provided. Enq: Des 6278 2540.
NEXT WEEK SUNDAY, JULY 15 Feast Day of Our Lady Of Mt Carmel - Mass 9am at Our Lady of Mt Carmel, 82 Collick St, Hilton. The main celebrant will be Archbishop Costelloe. Enq: Fr Paul 9314 7733. Latin Mass 2pm at the Good Shepherd Parish, Streich Ave, Kelmscott. Enq: Clive 9495 1919. MONDAY, JULY 16 11am at the Carmelite Monastery, 100 Adelma Rd, Nedlands. A solemn concelebrated Mass for the Solemnity of Our Lady of Mt Carmel is to be offered; Bishop Sproxton will be the main celebrant. All are welcome to the Mass and refreshments afterwards. TUESDAY, 17 JULY “Near restful waters, He leads me” Seminar 7-8pm at St Benedict’s School Hall, Alness St, Applecross. Presented by Norma Woodcock. Cost: collection. View a weekly short video broadcast at www.thefaith.org.au. Accreditation recognition by the CEO. Enq: Norma 9487 1772 or www. normawoodcock.com. FRIDAY, JULY 20 TO SUNDAY, JULY 22 The Spirituality of Compassion: Befriending Life and Presence 6pm at St John of God Retreat Centre, 47 Gloucester Cr, Shoalwater. For women working in the health profession - exploring questions such as “How can health professionals consistently provide ‘care’ and ‘presence’ in current challenging climate” and “Is it possible to respond to people’s suffering with the many challenges that othercenteredness involves?” Enq: Sr Ann on 0409 602 927 or Sr Kathy on 0418 926 590.
UPCOMING THURSDAY, JULY 26 Charismatic Renewal CCR Together 7.30pm at Good Shepherd Church, Altone St, Lockridge. All are invited to CCR Perth’s prayer night. Evening includes prayer and praise, and teaching,“CCR in the Year of Grace”, followed by Prayer Team Ministry. Light supper will conclude the evening. Enq: Dan 9398 4973 or dhewitt@ aapt.net.au. FRIDAY, 27 JULY “Holy Hour Adoration” - Holy Trinity Community 7pm at St Benedict Parish, 115 Ardross St, Ardross. Enq: Adri 0412 948 688. SATURDAY, JULY 28 Religion Sign Language Workshop 9am-12pm at 25 Windsor St, Perth. Share and create signs for different religions, theological, terminology and glossary of religion words. Cost: free. Morning tea and lunch provided. RSVP by July 25. Enq: Admin 9328 9571. SUNDAY, JULY 29 Love Ministry Healing 6pm at St Denis Parish, 60 Osborne St, Joondanna. Mass followed by healing. Love ministry healing, Catholic Charismatic Renewal team includes clergy. All welcome, come and be prayed over, healed from the past or present issues or stand in for a loved one who may be ill or facing problems at this time. Enq: Gilbert 0431 570 322 or Fr David Watt 9376 1734. THURSDAY, AUGUST 2 50th Anniversary of Aloysius Parish - Mass 6.30pm St Aloysius Parish, 84 Keightley Rd, Shenton Park. 50th Anniversary of Blessing and opening of St Aloysius Church by Archbishop Prendiville in 1962. Mass celebrant: Archbishop Costelloe. Followed by a light supper in the parish centre. If transport is required, let us know. RSVP by July 19 for catering purposes. staloysius@westnet.com.au. Enq: Admin on 9381 5383.
Service. Tea provided. Transport booking: Francis 9459 3873 / 0404 893 877 or Laurie 0448 833 472. Day with Mary 9am-5pm at St Emilie de Vialar Parish, 151 Amherst Rd, Canning Vale. Day of prayer and instruction based on the Fatima message. 9am Video; 10.10am holy Mass; Reconciliation, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament, Eucharistic Adoration, sermons on Eucharist and on Our Lady, Rosaries and Stations of the Cross. BYO lunch. Enq: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286. SUNDAY, 5 AUGUST Divine Mercy 1.30pm at St Francis Xavier Parish, 25 Windsor St, Perth. The priest for the afternoon will be Fr Peter Meo. Includes Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Homily: Our Lady of Assumption. Followed by holy Rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy and First Class Relics of St Faustina. Refreshments afterwards. Enq: John 9457 7771. FRIDAY, AUGUST 10 TO SUNDAY, AUGUST 12
therecord.com.au
July 11, 2012
EVERY SECOND AND FOURTH MONDAY A Ministry to the Un-Churched 12.30-1.30pm at St John’s Pro-Cathedral, Victoria Ave, Perth (opposite church offices). With charismatic praise, and prayer teams available. Help us ‘reach out to the pagans’ or soak in the praise. Enq: Dan 9398 4973. EVERY LAST SUNDAY OF THE MONTH Filipino Mass 3pm at Notre Dame Church, cnr Daley and Wright Sts, Cloverdale. Please bring a plate to share for socialisation after Mass. Enq: Fr Nelson Po 0410 843 412, Elsa 0404 03 8483. EVERY MONDAY Evening Adoration and Mass 7pm at St Thomas Parish, Claremont, cnr Melville St and College Rd. Eucharistic Adoration, Reconciliation, evening prayer and Benediction, followed by Mass and night prayer at 8pm. Enq: Kim on 9384 0598 or email to claremont@perthcatholic. org.au.
and silence in candlelight – symbol of Christ the light of the world. Taizé info: www.taize.fr. Enq: secretary 9448 4888 or 9448 4457. EVERY FIRST FRIDAY Healing Mass 7pm at St Peter’s Parish, Inglewood. Praise and worship, Exposition and Eucharistic Adoration, Benediction and anointing of the sick followed by holy Mass and fellowship. Celebrants Fr Dat and invited priests. 6.45pm Reconciliation. Enq: Mary Ann 0409 672 304, Prescilla 0433 457 352 and Catherine 043 3923 083. Holy Hour for Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life 7pm - Little Sisters of the Poor Chapel, 2 Rawlins St, Glendalough. Mass followed by Adoration with Fr Doug Harris. All welcome. Refreshments provided. Healing and Anointing Mass 8.45am Pater Noster Church, Evershed St, Myaree. Begins with Reconciliation followed by 9am Mass of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, anointing of the sick and prayers to St Peregrine. Enq: Joy 9337 7189.
Renewing the Light of Hope - Separated, Divorced, Widowed 7.30pm at Epiphany Retreat Centre, Rossmoyne. Beginning Experience is running a weekend program designed to assist and support people in learning to close the door gently on a relationship that has ended, in order to get on with living. Registration: Josie 9285 8661 or Mauz 0419 928 110. www.beginningexperienceperth.org.au.
LAST MONDAY OF THE MONTH
Catholic Faith Renewal Evening
Be Still in His Presence – Ecumenical Christian Program 7.30-8.45pm at St Swithun Anglican Church, 195 Lesmurdie St, Lesmurdie (hall behind church). Begins with songs of praise and worship, silent time, lectio divina, small group sharing and a cuppa at the end. Enq: Lynne 9293 3848 or 043 5252 941.
7.30pm at Ss John and Paul Parish, Pinetree Gully Rd, Willetton – Songs of Praise and Prayer, sharing by a priest followed by thanksgiving Mass and light refreshments after Mass. Enq: Kathy 9295 0913 or Ann 0412 166 164 or catholicfaithrenewal@gmail.com.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 11
EVERY TUESDAY
Friends of L’Arche Retreat 10am at Infant Jesus Parish Hall, Wellington St, Morley. Learn more about the worldwide family of L’Arche and explore how we can live the essence of L’Arche locally at retreat by Archbishop Roger Herft. No charge, please bring a plate to share for lunch. Nora 9440 1046 or 0408 865 899, Evelyn 9370 2541 or 0432 451 171, or tierneyfamily@ gotalk.net.au.
Novena to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal 6pm at Pater Noster Church, Marmion and Evershed Sts, Myaree. Mass at 5.30pm followed by Benediction. Enq: John 040 8952 194.
REGULAR EVENTS
EVERY FIRST TUESDAY
EVERY SUNDAY Gate of Heaven Catholic Radio Join the Franciscans of the Immaculate from 7.309pm on Radio Fremantle 107.9FM for Catholic radio broadcast of EWTN and our own live shows. Enq: radio@ausmaria.com. Pilgrim Mass - Shrine of the Virgin of the Revelation 2pm at Shrine, 36 Chittering Rd, Bullsbrook. Commencing with Rosary followed by Benediction. Reconciliation available before every celebration. Anointing of the sick administered during Mass every second Sunday of the month. Pilgrimage in honour of the Virgin of the Revelation last Sunday of the month. Side entrance to church and shrine open daily between 9am-5pm. Enq Sacri 9447 3292. EVERY FIRST SUNDAY St Mary’s Cathedral Youth Group – Fellowship with Pizza 5pm at St Mary’s Cathedral, 17 Victoria Sq, Perth. Begins with youth Mass followed by fellowship downstairs in parish centre. Bring a plate to share. Enq: Bradley on youthfromsmc@gmail.com. Singles Prayer and Social Group 7pm at All Saints Chapel, Allendale Sq, 77 St George’s Tce, Perth. Begins with Holy Hour (Eucharistic Adoration, Rosary and teaching) followed by dinner at local restaurant. Meet new people, pray and socialise with other single men and women. Enq: Veronica 0403 841 202. Divine Mercy 1.30pm at St Francis Xavier Parish, 25 Windsor St, East Perth. Homily: The Body and Blood of Jesus. Main celebrant: Fr Johnson Malayil. With Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Reconciliation, holy Rosary, Chaplet of Divine Mercy and Divine Mercy prayers, followed by Benediction and Veneration of First Class Relic of St Faustina Kowalska. Refreshments afterwards. Enq: John 9457 7771. EVERY SECOND SUNDAY Healing Hour 7-8pm at St Lawrence Parish, Balcatta. Join us for songs of praise and worship, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and prayers for the sick. Enq: Fr Irek Czech SDS or parish office Tue-Thu, 9am2.30pm 9344 7066. EVERY THIRD SUNDAY Oblates of St Benedict – Meeting 2pm at St Joseph’s Convent, York St, South Perth. For all interested in studying the Rule of St Benedict and its relevance to the everyday life of today for laypeople: Vespers and afternoon tea afterwards. Enq: Secretary 9457 5758.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 4
EVERY FOURTH SUNDAY
Divine Mercy Pilgrimage – with Br Stanley Villavicencio 11.30am BYO lunch, Divine Mercy Church site, cnr Muchea East Rd and Santa Gertrudas Dr, Lower Chittering. 12.30 pm Exposition, Rosary and Benediction, 1pm Holy Mass. 2pm Br Stanley’s talk, 3pm Chaplet of Divine Mercy and Veneration
Holy Hour for Vocations to the Priesthood, Religious Life 2-3pm at Infant Jesus Parish, Wellington St, Morley. The hour includes exposition of the blessed Eucharist, silent prayer, scripture and prayers of intercession. Come and pray that those discerning vocations can hear clearly God’s call.
Novena to God the Father 7.30pm at St Joachim’s parish hall, Victoria Park. Novena followed by reflection and discussions on forthcoming Sunday Gospel. Enq: Jan 9284 1662. Short MMP Cenacle for Priests 2pm at Edel Quinn Centre, 36 Windsor St, East Perth. Enq: Fr Watt 9376 1734. EVERY WEDNESDAY Holy Spirit of Freedom Community 7.30pm at The Church of Christ, 111 Stirling St, Perth. We are delighted to welcome everyone to attend our Holy Spirit of Freedom praise meeting. Enq: 042 3907 869 or hsofperth@gmail.com. Bible Study at Cathedral 6.15pm at St Mary’s Cathedral, 17 Victoria Sq, Perth. Deepen your faith through reading and reflecting on holy Scripture by Fr Jean-Noel. Meeting room beneath Cathedral. Enq: Marie 9223 1372. Holy Hour - Catholic Youth Ministry CYM is back in 2012. Mass at 5.30pm and Holy Hour (Adoration) at 6.30pm at the Catholic Pastoral Centre, 40A Mary St, Highgate. Enq: www.cym.com or 9422 7912. Adonai Ladies Prayer Group 10am in the upper room of St Joseph’s Parish, 3 Salvado Rd, Subiaco. Come and join us for charismatic prayer and praise. Enq: Win 9387 2802 or Noreen 9298 9938. EVERY FIRST WEDNESDAY Holy Hour Prayer for Priests 7.30-8.30pm at Holy Spirit Parish, 2 Keaney Pl, City Beach. All welcome. Enq: Linda 9341 3079. Novena to St Mary of the Cross MacKillop 7-7.45pm at Blessed Mary MacKillop Parish, cnr Cassowary Dr and Pelican Pde, Ballajura. Begins with Mass, novena prayers and benediction. Followed by healing prayers and anointing of the sick. Enq: Madi 9249 9093 or Gerry 0417 187 240. EVERY SECOND WEDNESDAY Chaplets of Divine Mercy 7.30pm at St Thomas More Parish, Dean Rd, Bateman, on the second Wednesday of each month. A powerful, prayerful, sung devotion accompanied by exposition and followed by Benediction. Enq: George 9310 9493 or 6242 0702 (w). EVERY THURSDAY Divine Mercy 11am at Ss John and Paul Church, Pinetree Gully Rd, Willetton. Pray the Rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy and for the consecrated life, especially here in John Paul Parish. Concludes with veneration of the first class relic of St Faustina. Enq: John 9457 7771. St Mary’s Cathedral Praise Meeting 7.45pm every Thursday at the Legion of Mary’s Edel Quinn Centre, 36 Windsor St, East Perth. Includes praise, song and healing ministry. Enq: Kay 9382 3668 or fmi@flameministries.org. Group Fifty - Charismatic Renewal Group 7.30pm at the Redemptorist Monastery, 150 Vincent St, North Perth. Includes prayer, praise and Mass. Enq: Elaine 9440 3661. EVERY FIRST THURSDAY OF THE MONTH Prayer in Style of Taizé 7.30-8.30pm at Our Lady of Grace Parish, 3 Kitchener St, North Beach. Includes prayer, song
Communion of Reparation All Night Vigils 7pm-1.30am at Corpus Christi Church, Lochee St, Mosman Park or St Gerard Majella Church, cnr Ravenswood Dr/Majella Rd, Westminster (Mirrabooka). The Vigils consist of two Masses, Adoration, Benediction, prayers and Confession in reparation for the outrages committed against the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Enq: Vicky 0400 282 357 or Fr Giosue 9349 2315or John/Joy 9344 2609. EVERY SECOND FRIDAY OF THE MONTH Discover the Spirituality of St Francis of Assisi 12pm at St Brigid’s Catholic Parish Centre. The Secular Franciscans of Midland Fraternity meet for lunch followed by 1-3pm meeting. Enq: Antoinette 9297 2314. EVERY FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH Healing Mass 12.35pm at St Thomas Parish, cnr Melville St and College Rd, Claremont. Spiritual leader Fr Waddell. Enq: Kim 9384 0598, claremont@perthcatholic.org. au. EVERY LAST SATURDAY Novena Devotions – Our Lady Vailankanni of Good Health 5pm at Holy Trinity Parish, 8 Burnett St, Embleton. Followed by Mass at 6pm. Enq: George 9272 1379. EVERY FOURTH SATURDAY OF THE MONTH Voice of the Voiceless Healing Mass 12pm at St Brigid’s Parish, 211 Aberdeen St, Northbridge. Bring a plate to share after Mass. Enq: Frank 9296 7591 or 0408 183 325.
GENERAL Free Divine Mercy Image for Parishes High quality oil painting and glossy print – Divine Mercy Promotions. Images are of very high quality. For any parish willing to accept and place inside the church. Oil paintings - 160 x 90cm and glossy print - 100 x 60cm. Enq: Irene 9417 3267 (w). Sacred Heart Pioneers Is there anyone out there who would like to know more about the Sacred Heart pioneers? If so, please contact Spiritual Director Fr Doug Harris 9444 6131 or John 9457 7771. St Philomena’s Chapel 3/24 Juna Drive, Malaga. Mass of the day: Mon 6.45am. Vigil Masses: Mon-Fri 4.45pm. Enq: Fr David 9376 1734. Mary MacKillop Merchandise Available for sale from Mary MacKillop Centre. Enq: Sr Maree 041 4683 926 or 08 9334 0933. Financially Disadvantaged People Requiring Low Care Aged Care Placement The Little Sisters of the Poor community set in beautiful gardens in suburb of Glendalough. “Making the elderly happy, that is everything!” St Jeanne Jugan (foundress). Registration and enq: Sr Marie 9443 3155. Resource Centre for Personal Development The Holistic Health Seminar “The Instinct to Heal’’, every Tuesday 3-4.30pm; and RCPD2 “Internalise Principles of Successful Relationships and Use Emotional Intelligence and Communication Skills” every Tuesday 4.30-6.30pm, 197 High St, Fremantle - Tuesdays 3-4.30pm. Enq: Eva 0409 405 585. Bookings are essential. Courses held at The Faith Centre in 2012 450 Hay St, Perth 1. RCPD2 - Internalise Principles of Successful Relationships and Use Emotional Intelligence and Communication Skills This course provides knowledge of principles that, if applied, will improve all relationships. Skills of self-analysis are taught as well as communication
skills. Mondays: 5-7pm, until 10 Dec. For enquiries or bookings ph Paul 0402 222 578. 2. RCPD4 – Increase Personal and Spiritual Awareness and Improve Relationships This course promotes self-awareness and spiritual growth. Emotional development is explained in order to improve understanding between persons. Study of Psychology and Theology. Mondays: 10am–12.30pm, until 10 Dec. For enquiries or bookings ph Eva 0409 405 585. 3. Higher Certificate in Biblical Studies The Higher Certificate of Biblical Studies is a distance education program that can be followed in your own home at your own pace with periodic face-to-face contact workshops. Tutorial assistance is available as required. It is equivalent to a one-year tertiary course, although it is recommended that you aim to complete it in two years. For enquiries and enrolment, ph The Faith Centre on 6140 2420. Is your son or daughter unsure of what to do this year? Suggest a Certificate IV course to discern God’s purpose for their life. They will also learn more about the Catholic faith and develop skills in communication and leadership. Acts 2 College of Mission & Evangelisation (National Code 51452). Enq: Jane 9202 6859. AA Alcoholics Anonymous Is alcohol costing you more than just money? Enq: AA 3253 5666. Saints and Sacred Relics Apostolate Invite SSRA, Perth invites interested parties, parish priests, leaders of religious communities, lay associations, to organise relic visitations to their own parishes, communities, etc. We have available authenticated relics, mostly first-class, of Catholic saints and blesseds including Sts Mary Mackillop, Padre Pio, Anthony of Padua, Therese of Lisieux, Maximilian Kolbe and Simon Stock and Blessed Pope John Paul II. Free of charge and all welcome. Enq: Giovanny 0478 201 092 or ssra-perth@catholic.org. Enrolments, Year 7, 2014 La Salle College is now accepting enrolments for Year 7, 2014. For a prospectus and enrolment form please contact college reception on 9274 6266 or email lasalle@lasalle.wa.edu.au. Pellegrini Books Wanted An order of Sisters in Italy is looking for the following: The Living Pyx of Jesus, Fervourings From Galilee’s Hills, Fervourings From the LoveBroken Heart of Christ, Fervourings From the Lips of the Master, Listening to the Indwelling Presence, Sheltering the Divine Outcast, Daily Inspection and Cleansing of the Living Temple of God, and Staunch Friends of Jesus, the Lover of Youth. If you are able to help, please contact Justine on 0419 964 624 or justine@waterempire.com. Secondhand Electric Organ Good working condition. Angela Vigolo would like to give it away to a good home; maybe a parish would like it? Enq: Angela 9276 9317. Acts 2 College, Perth’s Catholic Bible College, is now pleased to be able to offer tax deductibility for donations to the College. If you are looking for an opportunity to help grow the faith of young people and to evangelise the next generation of apostles, please contact Jane Borg, Principal at Acts 2 College on 0401 692690 or principal@ acts2come.wa.edu.au. Divine Mercy Church Pews Would you like to assist, at the same time becoming part of the history of the new Divine Mercy Church in Lower Chittering, by donating a beautifully handcrafted jarrah pew currently under construction, costing only $1,000 each. A beautiful brass plaque with your inscription will be placed at the end of the pew. Please make cheques payable to Divine Mercy Church Building fund and send with inscription to: PO Box 8, Bullsbrook WA 6084. Enq: Fr Paul 0427 085 093. A Testimony on Divine Mercy Powerful testimony of Brother Stanley Villavincencio. After being pronounced ‘clinically dead’ in 1993, Stanley has been travelling the world sharing his amazing spiritual encounters with Jesus. Sessions last for 2 hrs. Tuesday, July 31 10.30am – Mass followed by talk. St Paul’s, Rookwood St, Mt Lawley. 7.30pm – talk. St Bernadette’s, Jugan St, Glendalough. Wednesday, August 1 10.30am - talk. All Saints Chapel, 77 St George’s Tce, Perth. 7.30pm – talk. St Joseph’s, 19 Hamilton St, Bassendean. Thursday, August 2 9am – Mass followed by talk. St Lawrence, Albert St, Balcatta. 7.30pm – talk. Our Lady of Mercy, 5 Patrick St, Girrawheen. Friday, August 3 9am Mass followed by talk. St Jerome’s, Troode St, Spearwood. 7.30pm - talk. Gosnells Catholic Church,175 Corfield St, Gosnells. Saturday, August 4 11.30am Divine Mercy Pilgrimage. BYO lunch Maryville, Chittering. Contact: Francis 9459 3873 / 0404 893 877 Enq: Paulyne: 9364 4228
Panorama Deadline Friday, 5pm
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RICH HARVEST YOUR CHRISTIAN SHOP Looking for Bibles, CDs, books, cards, gifts, statues, Baptism/Communion apparel, religious vestments, etc. Visit us at 39 Hulme Ct (off McCoy St), Myaree. Ph 9329 9889 (after 10.30am Mon to Sat). We are here to serve. KINLAR VESTMENTS www.kinlarvestments.com.au Quality handmade and decorated vestments: albs, stoles, chasubles, altar linen, banners. Ph Vickii on 9402 1318, 0409 114 093 or kinlar. vestments@gmail.com.
BOOK BINDING RESTORATION BOOKBINDING and Conservation, General Book Repairs, Bibles, Breviaries, sad, old and leather bindings renewed. Tel: 0401 941 577.
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ACCOMMODATION HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION Esperance holiday accommodation, three bedroom house, fully furnished. Phone 08 9076 5083.
TAX SERVICE QUALITY TAX RETURNS PREPARED by registered tax agent with over 35 years’ experience. Call Tony Marchei on 0412 055 184 for appointment. AXXO Accounting & Management, Unit 20/222 Walter Rd, Morley.
TRADE SERVICES BRENDAN HANDYMAN SERVICES Home, building maintenance, repairs and renovations. NOR. Ph 0427 539 588. PROPERTY MAINTENANCE Your handyperson. No job too small. SOR. Jim 0413 309 821. BRICK RE-POINTING Ph Nigel 9242 2952. PICASSO PAINTING Top service. Ph 0419 915 836, 9345 0557 or fax 9345 0505. PERROTT PAINTING Pty Ltd For all your residential, commercial painting requirements. Ph Tom Perrott 9444 1200. WRR LAWN MOWING AND WEED SPRAYING Garden clean ups and rubbish removal. Get rid of bindii, jojo and other unsightly weeds. Based in Tuart Hill. Enq: 9443 9243 or 0402 326 637.
FURNITURE REMOVAL ALL AREAS. Competitive rates. Mike Murphy Ph 0416 226 434.
HEALTH ACHES, PAIN, STRESS Indian mature male masseur. Reflex Relax Massage $30 per hour. Jai 0438 520 993.
BIRTHDAY FRANCIS JOHN AZAR: To my precious darling son, Francis – wishing you a very happy birthday with Almighty God’s love, peace and every blessing on your 26th birthday, 15 of July, 2012. I’m thinking of you and Michael today and every day. I’m here for you always and I wait with open arms to greet you both. I love you and Michael with all my heart and I’m longing to see you. Holy Mass will be offered for you today, Francis, on your special day and also for Michael: 10am at St Peter’s Church. My two darling sons! Your loving mother, Janet. “Jesus, I trust in You” FRANCIS JOHN AZAR: wishing you a very happy 26th birthday, Francis, my darling grandson. Thinking of you and Michael today and every day. Longing to see you both. Take care and God bless you both. “Love you heaps” Your loving nanna, Doreen Lockyer
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all.” - Titus 2:11
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