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St Gerard’s Mirrabooka parishioners Duncan and Carmel McFarlane and their three children have this week gone to Cyprus as the first mission family of Australia from the Neocatechumenal Way to assist in evangelisation overseas.
Mr and Mrs McFarlane, who will live in Nicosia on the Greek side of Cyprus, together with another mission family from Malta, said they have felt the call to become a mission family for the last few years.
“Having seen other mission families of the Neocatechumenal Way who have gone before us to evangelise in other countries, including here in Perth, has been an inspiration,” Mr McFarlane said.
In June this year, Mr and Mrs McFarlane went to an international conference in Porto San Gorgio, Italy, together with 200 other families from around the world, at the request of their catechists, Toto and Rita Piccolo.
It was there that they learnt that the Parish Priest of Holy Cross Parish in Nicosia had made a request for English-speaking families to assist with evangelisation.
Mr McFarlane, an electrical engineer, said he was happy about his mission in Cyprus.
The primary aim of a mission family is to live as a Christian family in areas that need Christian witness.
The city of Nicosia is predominately Greek Orthodox, while the Continued on Page 2
Hollywood star Mickey Rourke insists his strong commitment to Roman Catholicism has saved him from slipping back into his formerly chaotic lifestyle. He made these comments to British gossip magazine Female First
The actor ensures he talks to his priest as often as possible, and the release of being able to offload his problems prevents him from having a mental “explosion”.
He says, “I’ve talked to my priest a lot. I used to have to call him or the shrink when there was an explosion, because I was really good at not talking to anybody until there was an explosion.
“My priest is this cool Italian from New York. We go down to his basement and he opens the wine. .
“We smoke a cigarette and I have my confession. He sends me upstairs to do my Hail Mary’s. I mean, I’m no Holy Joe, but I have a strong belief.”.
Mickey Rourke has revealed that he came close to committing suicide during his eight year addiction battle in a comment to Now Magazine, a British Gossip paper.
Continued on Page 7
Mother Teresa’s sisters hoping for a home in China, awaiting permission from Beijing.
Blessed Mother Teresa’s religious sisters have written a letter to the Beijing government for permission to open a home in China, says the superior of the Missionaries of Charity.
The Missionaries of Charity would be the first international Catholic congregation, since the times of Mao Zedong, to officially establish a location in the People’s Republic.
Significantly, it was the government of China which asked the Sisters to go to China.
“They asked us to go; for our part, we are glad to go,” Sister Nirmala Joshi, the superior, told AsiaNews.
German World War II Bishop Clemens von Galen was beatified in Rome last weekend. His heroic courage in denouncing Nazi barbarism is an example for our times. VISTA 1-3
The superior who succeeded Mother Teresa at the helm of the Sisters of Charity said that they were contacted last April by a government official who suggested that they open a home in China.
Beijing was still smarting at the time from the poor figure it cut for being absent from Pope John Paul II’s funeral, according to AsiaNews. Sister Nirmala thinks that, in making this suggestion, China
wished to “take a step towards opening diplomatic relations with the Vatican.”
When Benedict XVI heard of the news, he encouraged the religious to accept the invitation and to visit China.
In mid-July, Sister Nirmala went to China to look into the possibility of opening a home. On July 16, accompanied by two women religious and a priest, Sister Nirmala
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visited Qingdao, at the invitation of the government and local Bishop Joseph Li Mingshu.
The Sisters made plans to open a home for the elderly. On the bishop’s advice, Sister Nirmala wrote a letter to the Chinese government and has been waiting for a reply ever since. She told AsiaNews: “Pray for us, that we may be able to go to China and serve those who are most abandoned.” Zenit
James Stenson’s small but packed book on fathers outlines the powerful ways fathers can mould their children for their own passage through life. Available from The Record.
No looking back: The McFarlanes of Mirrabooka are taking up a lifetime appointment to assist evangelisation as a mission family in Holy Cross Parish, Nicosia, Cyprus. Mission families are a growing trend in the Church. When Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver visited Australia in 2000 to speak at a national family gathering called by Australia’s Catholic bishops, he called for families to reflect on whether they were being called to become missionary families in parts of the world where the Church has need of them. Photo: Jamie O’Brien
It’s a global success: started in a suburban garage and now transmitting around the world. EWTN is celebrating 25 years of Catholic television.
When Mother Angelica started her work to establish the Eternal Word Television Network, “she knew the Holy Father was calling us to evangelise,” said Deacon Bill Steltemeier, chairman of the US-based network.
“Every challenge has been met head-on. We are who we are, we tell the truth, and we’re in union with the Holy Father. We love the Blessed Mother and the Eucharist and that’s it,” he said.
The deacon made the comments during a two-day family celebration in Denver marking the beginning of a year-long celebration of EWTN’s 25th year.
The October 1-2 conference, one of several being held in cities around the US, featured prayers, opportunities for eucharistic adoration and seminars with some of the network’s hosts, including Marcus Grodi, host of “Journey Home,” and Jesuit Father Mitch Pacwa, host of “Threshold of Hope” and “EWTN Live.”
Also on hand was Raymond Arroyo, host of EWTN’s “The World Over” and author of Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and Network of Miracles
In his talk, Arroyo recalled how Mother Angelica repeatedly asked him not to sugarcoat her life so that “people can see that everything happened from God’s work” in her life.
Talking about her freewheel-
ing shows, Arroyo said, “There was no script, no producer’s questions. ... This worked for her, not necessarily for people like me who need to prepare.”
He praised Mother Angelica for creating the first nonprofit cable network, which has become one of the largest religious networks on the planet. He called her an “apostle of risk.”
Arroyo relayed stories of EWTN’s early days, when Mother Angelica created the station in a garage after leaving a local CBS affiliate station in protest over its airing of a movie called “The Word” that purportedly denied Christ’s existence.
Arroyo recalled her spiritual battle in building a full-fledged studio with no financial backing.
“She once said, ‘Some people
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think I’m a woman of great faith, but I’m a coward who keeps moving forward,’” he said.
Arroyo first met Mother Angelica 10 years ago when he was a Washington news correspondent assigned to do a story on her.
In an October 2 presentation, Father Pacwa described how this woman of faith, when confronted by an angel of the Lord, did not question or ask for any explanation. Rather she accepted what she was to face on faith, he said.
Not long after Ted Turner put his Super Station on the air in Atlanta, Mother Angelica, a Poor Clare of Perpetual Adoration, powered up EWTN’s first transmitter and the network was on the air in 1981.
By 1987, EWTN was reaching 10 million homes. Four years
later, it reached more than 22 million. Its programming is available on cable television and by direct broadcast satellite and is also carried by radio stations in the United States and abroad, including Canada, India, Japan and Australia.
Last year, the network hit the100-million-homes mark. The network’s monthly operating budget is US $3.5 million dollars; the budget is funded totally by donations.
In its early days, EWTN programming was mostly taped; the broadcast was only four hours long. Today, the network produces most of its own programming, which can be seen 24 hours a day.
■ EWTN programs can be seen in Perth between 1-2pm on Sundays on Access 31.
Continued from page 1
north of Cyprus is Islamic. The Catholic Church is present in both the Latin (Roman) and Maronite rites.
The couple have given the Neocatechumenal Way catechesis previously in Perth and around Australia, and said the call to follow Christ, doing the will of God for their family, is of utmost importance.
“We have seen that this is where we have found happiness,” Mrs McFarlane said.
Mr McFarlane, who joined the Neocatechumenal Way in 1988, is originally from Perth, while Carmel, who is originally from Wagga Wagga in New South Wales, joined the Way in 1986.
The couple were married in 1996 after meeting at the World Youth Day pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, in 1989.
The family will return to Australia periodically to visit their community in the Parish of St Gerard’s Mirrabooka.
“This connection is very important as without our community here we cannot be on mission there,” Mr McFarlane said.
Mr McFarlane said the couple’s extended families have been very supportive of them going to Cyprus.
Their children, James, 5, Thomas, 4 and Timothy, 3 are looking forward to meeting other children he said.
At present there are 20 mission families in Australia, including five in Perth.
A further 19 families have been assigned to Australia, and will live in various cities according the needs of evangelisation in the parishes with Neocatechumenal Communities.
The McFarlane family will travel to Rome in January next year to meet Pope Benedict XVI and receive his blessing.
Last Saturday, more than 200 people from Neocatechumenal communities in the archdiocese gathered for a Eucharist celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton to farewell the McFarlane family.
“I hope that some of you feel the same desire to go to a far off land and give your life to the service of Christ,” Bishop Sproxton said.
Catholic and Anglican leaders in Britain have united to condemn a new attempt to legalise euthanasia for the terminally ill.
Cardinal Cormac MurphyO’Connor of Westminster and Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, spoke out against euthanasia on the eve of a debate in the House of Lords.
The debate focuses on a House of Lords select committee report on the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill, which 73-yearold Lord Joffe plans to reintroduce at the end of October or beginning of November, according to reports in the British press on October 10.
Cardinal Cormac MurphyO’Connor, speaking on a British Broadcasting Corp. program on October 9, said he hoped politicians would argue against the bill.
“I would be totally against this law, not because I haven’t got sympathy, but I also have sympathy for the law which protects life,” he said. “And if that goes, I think a moral Rubicon will be passed in this country which we would live to regret.”
He added, “If this law is passed, it seems to me that the duty of the law to act on behalf of the people would be broken, because the law is there to protect life, and a right to die can become a duty to die.”
Archbishop Williams, writing in Britain’s The Mail on Sunday newspaper on October 9, said he had seen his mother, Nancy, suffer dur-
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ing her final months of dementia. He said he remained opposed to euthanasia “chiefly on the grounds of my religious commitments - the conviction that life is a gift from God that we cannot treat as a possession of our own to keep or throw away as we choose.”
Lord Joffe told reporters on October 9 that he is considering changes to the legislation in an attempt to win more support. He said he might model the bill on the 1997 Oregon Death With Dignity Act, under which doctors were allowed to prescribe lethal doses of medicine to terminally ill patients as long as they did not administer the drugs themselves.
On October 7, Britain’s religious leaders sent a joint letter to each member of the House of Lords and the House of Commons before the October 10 debate.
TThis beautifully illustrated book is an introduction to the basics of the Catholic Faith and is addressed above all to families, but could also serve as a basic text for laity, priests and religious involved in religious education. The publication of this book is a response to the 'growing demand' for a compact introduction to the full Catechism of the Catholic Church. The book has met with 'great interest' among the faithful and is aimed at young people and adults.
Inspiring illustrations give this catechism an added dimension to help convey the spirit of the Gospel along
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An overwhelming success in Australia with the previous edition of 20,000 copies selling out in less than 12 months.
with its message. The catechism is 208 pp and measures 210mm by 148mm. The first part of the book is based upon the Apostles Creed. Each article of the Creed is explained in a separate chapter and illustrated with examples from the Bible. The second part is devoted to the Sacraments, the life of Jesus, prayer in the Christian life and an explanation of the Lord's Prayer. The book is based on the universal Catechism and has been approved by the Catholic Church. A lovely gift idea and every copy you buy enables us to send more copies overseas to those who are hungry for the Word of God.
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KURTATINSKOYE GORGE,
RUSSIA – Father Anthony and his tiny band of Orthodox monks have turned their backs on the wars and political turmoil shaking the Caucasus region of southern Russia. In a gesture as old as Christianity, they are retiring to this North Ossetian mountain valley to build an island of peace.
The small, fortified monastery they are raising amid the ruins of a remote mountaintop 19th-century cathedral, razed by the Bolsheviks 80 years ago, will be almost as isolated and self-sufficient as its medieval predecessors. Like them, it is devoted to seeking tranquillity in a region that is mired in brutal conflict.
“If you walk one day in any direction from here, you will find war and strife,” says Father Anthony, a grey-bearded and black-robed priest who, like most Ossetians, cleaves to Orthodox Christianity in a part of the world dominated by Muslim ethnic groups. “Society ... needs to be healed by spiritual means. Our mission here will be to spread God’s blessings and peace.”
Construction began last year amid grieving for the 331 people - half of them children - killed in a violent gun battle between terrorists and security forces at a
school in Beslan, just 25 miles away. Contributions have poured in from people who see the new Uspenskoye [Assumption] monastery not only as a revival of Christian traditions in the troubled Caucasus, but also as a symbol of Ossetian national survival.
Father Anthony says thousands of people have shown up in recent months to seek benediction at the monastery’s newly built chapel. That includes many from nearby South Ossetia, a breakaway republic locked in a simmering war of independence with the post-Soviet state of Georgia.
“The Ossetian people are one nation, one people, who have suffered terribly,” he says. “We are not broken. Now we are rediscovering the strength of our father and our traditions.”
But farmers in this high-range, steep-sloped river gorge, where the chief source of income is raising hardy mountain sheep, have complained that the new monastery itself has become the areas biggest source of discord.
“Grazing land is very scarce and is carefully apportioned among local people, and then along comes a bunch of monks who seize a big chunk of it,” says Taimuraz Pliyev, a historian in the regional capi-
tal, Vladikavkaz. “The Church is a big power these days and you cant argue with it.
But people there [in Kurtatinskoye] are upset and angry.”
Father Stefan, who meets with locals, admits there have been problems. “The old generation were brought up in an atheist state, the Soviet Union, and so it’s hard for them to understand what we’re trying to do,” he says. “When we started here, some of them accused us of being land-grabbers. But it has settled down now. People see we are reviving the place.”
A few young men from the tiny village of Latz, down the road, have found jobs at the monastery as stonecutters, carpenters, and labourers. “Some people are still griping, but what’s the point?” says Aslanbek Gariyev, a shepherd who has found temporary construction work at the monastery. “I think things will turn out well.”
The nine mainly youthful monks who have joined Father Anthony are committed to a rigorous regime of poverty, celibacy, and hard work. Some say they felt driven by the stresses and horrors of the postSoviet world to seek a life of seclusion. “I just dream of a quiet routine of work and prayer,” says Brother
While no one has a right to claim God’s gifts, Catholics do have a right to receive the Eucharist from the Catholic
Stefan, a young former distillery worker, who says modern life “ran out of meaning’ for him. “when we’ve finished construction of the monastery, I want to begin raising medicinal plants and herbs from the mountains around here. I think that would be a worthy life.”
The completed monastery will have space for 20 monks who will be expected to take on some sort of
Church, said the Vatican’s top expert on church law.
Cardinal Julian Herranz, president of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts, spoke on October 10 to the Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist.
Whether the faithful have a right to receive the Eucharist and, if they do, what the Church must do to ensure there are enough priests to celebrate Mass was a recurring topic of discussion at the October 2-23 synod.
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trade. “The first duty of a monk is to pray, and here in North Ossetia there is a great deal to pray for,” says Father Stefan. “But a monastery should also be self-sufficient, like a small country, with its own farming, weaving, and light production. By these means, we hope to light up the righteous path for all our brethren.”
- Christian Science Monitor
Italian Cardinal Angelo Scola of Venice, the synod’s recording secretary, had opened the synod saying the Eucharist was a gift, not a right, implying that a lack of priests was a motive for prayer, not for changing the church’s discipline on priestly celibacy to ensure greater access to the Eucharist.
The Vatican released summaries of the bishops’ talks and provided briefings on their full content.
- CNS
2136
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The official relief and aid agency of the Catholic Church in Australia has launched appeals for victims of two natural disasters on opposite sides of the globe.
Caritas Australia has launched a humanitarian appeal to help the victims of the Central Asia Earthquake which struck Pakistan on October 8, leaving as many as 40,000 people dead.
Caritas Australia is also accepting donations for the victims of the Central American disaster.
Volcanic activity and hurricane related floods and landslides have severely affected Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Mexico.
Hurricane Stan swept across Central America in early October, causing torrential rain and mudslides that have killed an estimated 1600 people and displaced possibly as many as half a million people.
The worst hit countries are Guatemala and El Salvador.
“In Guatemala, 508 people are confirmed
Grief expressed
LAHORE, Pakistan (CNS) - The president of the Pakistani bishops’ conference expressed his grief following the country’s worst-ever earthquake and urged all Pakistani Christians to contribute one day’s wages for relief aid.
Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore, conference president, expressed his “profound shock and grief at the large-scale destruction of life and property caused by the great earthquake” that struck Pakistan, India and Afghanistan on October 8. He said prayers were offered in all Pakistani Catholic churches the next day for the eternal peace of the deceased and
dead, 2000 people are missing, 117,000 are displaced and 85,000 people are living in temporary shelters.
In some instances entire villages are covered in mud and debris,” said Caritas head Mr Jack de Groot.
“In El Salvador six weeks worth of rain fell in the first five days of October. Approximately 80 per cent of the country was flooded or affected by flooding. The impact on people in El Salvador has been compounded by a second major disaster,” Mr de Groot said.
“The Ilamatepec volcano, 50 km northwest of San Salvador, erupted on October 2, triggering the evacuation of some 8,000 people,” he said.
“The people of Central America urgently need our financial support so that they can start to rebuild their lives,” Mr de Groot said.
To donate to the Caritas Australia Central Asia Earthquake Appeal please ring 1800 024 413 or donate on line at www.caritas.org.au
for the recovery of thousands of injured survivors, according to an October 10 statement issued by his office.
“This was the greatest natural disaster in our country’s history,” he wrote, calling upon all Christians “to do their part” in relief efforts. He urged them to contribute one day’s salary to the President’s Relief Fund and announced a donation of 500,000 rupees (US$8,357) from the Pakistani Catholic Church, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand.
The earthquake along the Pakistan-India border was magnitude 7.6. Its epicentre was near the town of Muzaffarabad, almost 60 miles northeast of Islamabad
Pakistan-administered Kashmir
Kabul
Jalalabad
Afghanistan
Balakot Muzaffarabad Uri Srinagar
Pakistan
• 35,000 estimated dead
• 51,000 injured
• 2 million estimated homeless
India
• 1,300 dead
• 4,500 injured
India-administered Kashmir Nepal
■ By Jamie O’BrienPerpetual Adoration in the parish of St Joseph’s Bassendean has now been running for a year.
The adoration roster at St Joseph’s is supported by 350 adorers from the parishes of Good Shepherd Lockridge, St Columba’s Bayswater and Holy Trinity Embleton.
The parish is now building a separate Chapel so that the current room can revert to its original purpose as a meeting room.
St Joseph’s Parish administrator Ivan Sands said he is happy the parish has been able to keep the Chapel open for worship 24 hours 7 days a week.
Organiser Tina Russo said she believes the program is working marvellously.
“We didn’t think it would get started,” Mrs Russo said.
“It has brought the surrounding parish community together.”
Christ the King Parish Beaconsfield also celebrated the second anniversary of its perpetual adoration chapel on September 30.
Seven Priests concelebrated Mass to mark the occasion
Parishioner Joe Migro believes that it has been proven not just at the parish of Christ the King but also at the other five parishes that have perpetual adoration in Perth that people who commit to a set time usually find they are able.
Perpetual Adoration is also
present at St Anne’s Belmont, Sacred Heart Highgate, St Gerard’s Mirrabooka and St Bernadette’s Glendalough.
“Many people undersell themselves because they are too frightened to make a weekly commitment to Jesus,” Mr Migro said.
in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. Father Sebastian Kalapura, principal of St Joseph School in Baramula, in India’s Jammu and Kashmir state, said the devastation is “very visible” in villages along the road between Srinagar, India, and Muzaffarabad. The priest had accompanied the Caritas India team to Uri, one of the worst-hit areas on the Indian side of the Line of Control that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
Father Kalapura told UCA News on October 10 that assessing the damage is difficult, because rain and landslides blocked roads to interior villages. Caritas India rushed a team to the Kashmir valley as the first step in preparing long-term assistance.
“Christ the King currently have 330 people on the Roster, four of these people actually coming from as far as Rockingham.”
“An additional 30 people have their names on the fill-in list to help out during holidays and emergencies.”
The Trustee of the KSC Education Foundation Inc (a project of the Knights of the Southern Cross) takes pleasure in again inviting applications from teachers of Religious Education in Catholic Schools in Western Australia to undertake further study for units in religious education, theology or campus ministry at the University of Notre Dame Australia in 2006.
Application forms and further information are available from:
The Trustee
KSC Education Foundation Inc.
PO Box 136
BURSWOOD WA 6100
Telephone (08) 9470 4922
China
• 32,000 houses damaged
Sources: Reuters and United Nations
©2005 CNS
For clergymen seeking to be on the front page of daily newspapers, the first rule is to deny some fundamental part of Christianity, such as the resurrection, and the second is that if you are not willing to do that, propose something ridiculous like more bars, looser liquor licensing laws and more grog. It works every time. It doesn’t achieve anything worthwhile, but it works if all you are looking for is a headline.
It worked again for Anglican Dean John Shepherd when he recently appealed for these spirituous things to enliven our city. It was even easier for him this time because he was cooperating with the morning paper’s PR campaign for a Vision 2021 Forum it has enthusiastically promoted. John Poynton did not make the front page, but was given the top half of page 13, complete with picture, to tell us that the salvation of the city lies in more beach bars and river cafes. He, too, is going to the forum.
Vision 2021 was just beginning when this editorial was written, so we can still hope that it will come up with something better than these tired platitudes for community development, but despite our best endeavours to resist cynicism we will be surprised if it does. According to the morning paper the forum is to debate how the city can rid itself of the “dullsville” tag pinned on it by some critics. Why? Why feel obliged to change the city when it is much easier and more productive to ignore such infantile critics.
We’ve been through all this before. The redevelopment of Northbridge, combined with almost endless changes in liquor licensing laws, was supposed to give the city a thriving centre for nightlife and entertainment. In almost no time at all, it has given us a thriving centre for night crime, drugs, gangs, and brutal assaults, not to mention the corruption of young.
Before this ‘development’ process started about 25 years ago and possibly even before it was given the ‘sophisticated’ name of Northbridge, the area had decent restaurants where you could get meals well into the night and walk down the streets without a qualm about being accosted by anyone with improper intent or so spaced out as to have no capacity for real intention.
The process has largely failed in Northbridge, but rather than acknowledge it we are off and running to try to transfer the illusion and fantasy to the city – and to the river and the beaches.
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The problem is that the fantasy is always built on the premise that we need more alcohol –more places where we can get it, more hours in which we can get it, and more varieties of entertainment to go with consuming it. It is never put that way exactly – alcohol and denial are the original bedfellows – but that it is what it is about. The Dean put it this way: “It’s all about the quality of people’s leisure time and we have somehow got it into our minds that if we make liquor less available we’ll improve our lifestyle.” That totally ignores the fact that over the last 25 years we have made alcohol vastly more available (not less) than ever before and, according to the Dean and others championing the same cause, it has done nothing to “improve the quality of people’s leisure time”. Their solution is to deny reality and demand more of the same.
Deeper down, the problem is that optional drugs, including alcohol, are not the pathway to the improvement of human life. This is not a plea for prohibition, collective or personal. It is a call for recognition of the fact that we enrich our lives in family, leisure, work or service only to the extent that we commit ourselves to growing in the fullness of our humanity – living in and living out all of who we are, and have the potential to be.
The problem is that the fantasy is always built on the premise that we need more alcohol – more places where we can get it, more hours in which we can get it, and more varieties of entertainment to go with consuming it.
Alcohol, or any other recreational drug, does not help us to do that. This is not an argument that can be won merely with words, only with self-awareness. A very helpful exercise for regular drinkers to undertake over a period of time is to ask and observe: “How many of my decisions in favour of alcohol ensure that I have the opportunity to drink, instead of ensuring that I can make the fullness of my personality and love available to my family or my community, or even to myself in terms of developing my hobbies and interests?”
Too many of us find it just too hard or tiresome to take on the job of being ourselves all the time. We think we need a break. Well, it is important to have a break from work, and even from the things we think about most of the time, but taking a break from being ourselves is always counter-productive. And when the break from being ourselves is drug-induced, it is always damaging and frequently destructive. Anyone who is not sure about this should spend some time observing the confusion small children suffer when they see mum or dad begin to disappear from view the closer they get to being completely drunk.
It is the fullness of our humanity that counts – physical, mental, emotional, social, moral and spiritual - and it can only be developed in some form of community where the adventure of being human is more important than the ‘buzz’ of illusion.
People must look beyond their fears and recognise the consolation of God, participants were told at a Charimatic Conference in Willetton on October 7-9.
J osephine Bendotti, Co-leader of the Holy Spirit of Freedom Community (HSOFC), said that in today’s climate of uncertainty it is imperitave that Christians set their
eyes firmly on God and do not allow themselves to be overwhelmed by disasters that mightsurround them.
Up to 150 participated at various times thorughout the weekend, which was a joint effort by the HSOFC and the Apostles of Christ Prayer group which is based at the Sts John and Paul parish in Willetton.
The conference, entitled “Prepare the Way for the Lord”, consisted of praise and worship sessions, talks, personal testimonies, and prayer over participants for healing.
Reconciliation and Mass were also celebrated. Participants were challenged throughout the weekend to become beacons of Christ’s light for others, to evangelise through love, and to not set limits on trusting in him.
They were also urged to discover a deeper relationship with God through Scripture and the reality of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
Members of HSOFC shared their experiences of reaching out to the poor on the streets, a special work of the community.
Christian meditation and transcendental meditation may sound similar but are really very different, says Perth woman Rosemary Chandler.
Ms Chandler has been running Christian meditation groups for several years and is keen to hear from those who are interested in discovering or furthering the experience of this ancient practice.
Three Christian meditation meeting times are available in the south-western suburbs.
Ms Chandler said the subject was addressed by the-then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, in an interview he gave before he was elected to the papacy.
Cardinal Ratzinger had pointed out that the goal of transcendental meditation is “that man divests himself of his own ‘I.’ [and] unites with the universal essence of the world – therefore he remains a bit depersonalised.”
However in Christian meditation
“For all Christians facing the threat of secularism: may they trust in God and be courageous witnesses of faith and hope.”
Mission intention: “For all Christians: besides praying for the missions may they also support missionary activity with material offerings.”
the individual does not lose his or her personality; instead, they enter into relation with the ‘you’ of Christ – in this way the ‘I’ is not lost,’ and maintains their identity and responsibility, the Cardinal said.
Christian meditation is personalising rather than depersonalising
and “open to a profound union that is born of love” he had said during the interview.
The meeting times for Ms Chandler’s meditation groups are: Sundays 4-5pm, Tuesdays 9-10am and 5-6pm.
Ms Chandler can be contacted on (08) 9319 9560.
For those who missed Archbishop Hickey’s address on Channel Nine the text is below:
Welcome. A word about justice today. Justice is more than decisions delivered by our courts. Justice is something personal – the resolve to be just in all we do and to seek justice for others. Justice means living life in accord with God’s laws. Justice is also one of the marks of God’s kingdom. God
wants us to be passionate in the defence of the weak because of their dignity as human beings. The pursuit of justice takes courage and tenacity when we risk our own wellbeing and safety - but it is worthwhile.
Jesus said, ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted in the cause of right, theirs is the kingdom of heaven’.
I’m Barry Hickey, Catholic Archbishop of Perth.
For current and past talks visit www.perthcatholic.org.au.
Eat the Bread of Heaven in a spiritual way. Come to it freed from sin. Even though your sins occur daily, at least see to it that they be not mortal sins.
– St Augustine
– Thomas à Kempis
That just man, Noah, toiled for a hundred years to build the ark so that he could be saved. How then can I, in just one hour, prepare myself to receive the Creator of the world with due reverence?
German Catholics who this year have seen the election of a German Pope, and the jubilant celebration of a spectacular World Youth Day with more than a million young people from across the world gathering in Cologne, now have another cause for enthusiasm. Large numbers of them were in Rome last weekend to see a famous German bishop honoured: Cardinal Count von Galen, the “Lion of Munster”, was beatified, the penultimate step on the road to his being proclaimed a saint.
Bishop Clemens von Galen was the heroic voice of Germany’s Christian conscience during the Second World War. In defiance of the Nazis - and in daily expectation of being taken away to prison or a concentration camp - he hurled criticism at the country’s euthanasia program, and demanded that the killing of the disabled and the sick be stopped.
Born into an aristocratic family at the end of the 19th century, Count von Galen had worked as a young priest in Berlin before returning to his native Rhineland where he was appointed Bishop of Munster, presiding over a Catholic community with deep roots where families cherished their unbroken religious tradition and its associated customs and folklore.
As bishop, von Galen was greeted with festive garlands and local hymns when he went to country parishes for confirmations. The youth movements, women’s groups and parish organisations associated with the Church represented a challenge when the Nazis, gaining power in Germany, sought to nationalise all community organisations and marginalise the Church.
Copies of von Galen’s sermons, smuggled out of the country, were reprinted in Britain and dropped by the Royal Air Force so that they circulated all over Germany. In dramatic language, Bishop von Galen used the imagery of Christ weeping over Jerusalem to describe his sorrow at the state of Germany.
Although von Galen has historically been seen simply as an anti-Nazi figure, today his opposition to euthanasia, and also to the Nazis’ racial policies, rabid nationalism and anti-Church stance, has a new significance.
In the years immediately following the war, euthanasia was regarded with abhorrence. But today it is legal in some European countries, is openly discussed as a policy option in others, and has gained an acceptability once regarded as unthinkable. Similarly, attacks on the Church for being outdated, irrelevant, opposed to progress and promoting hide-bound beliefs at variance with the needs of a forward-looking community, also have an uncomfortably familiar ring. Bishop von Galen’s robust defence of the right and duty of Christians to stand up for traditional values seems right up to date.
It is interesting that the Nazi propaganda
machine in Germany seized on instances of priests and members of religious orders being involved in paedophile activity to promote the idea that this was a widespread problem involving vast numbers of clergy.
There were also attempts to replace traditional Christian celebrations with secular ones, to emphasise young people’s independence from their parents and from family bonds, to direct them towards youth leaders who would instruct them in very different values. Bishop von Galen, in a 1941 sermon, denounced euthanasia policies, which gave “legal sanction to the forcible killing of invalids, the disabled, the incurable and the incapacitated”.
As Bishop of Munster, and a member of a family which for centuries had played a leading role in public life, he spoke with authority and when he gave details of what was taking place in local hospitals it caused uproar.
“I have discovered,” he said on one occasion, “that the practice here in Westphalia is to compile lists of such patients who are to be
removed elsewhere as ‘unproductive citizens’ and after a period of time put to death. This very week, the first group of these patients has been sent from the clinic of Marienthal, near Munster.”
He pointed out that murder was still, officially, illegal in Germany.
“It is in order to protect the murderers of these poor invalids - members of our own families - against legal punishment, that the patients who are to be killed are transferred from their domicile to some distant institution. Some sort of disease is then given as the cause of death, but as cremation immediately follows, it is impossible for either their families or the regular police to ascertain whether death was from natural causes.
“Once we admit the right to kill unproductive persons - then none of us can be sure of our lives. We shall be at the mercy of any committee that can put a man on a list of unproductives ... If this dreadful doctrine is permitted and practised it is impossible to
conjure up the degradation to which it will lead. “Woe to us German people if we not only license this heinous offence but allow it to be committed with impunity! ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ God engraved this commandment on the souls of men long before any penal code laid down punishment for murder, long before any courts prosecuted and avenged homicide. Because of his love for us God has engraved these command- ments on our hearts and has made them manifest to us. They are the unchangeable and fundamental truths of our community life grounded on reason, well pleasing to God.”
Describing the fate that awaited a country which allowed the murder of its disabled citizens and the destruction of its moral values, Bishop von Galen used dramatic biblical language, quoting Christ’s prophesy that Jerusalem would be destroyed “not leaving one stone upon another”. When the
Continued from Vista 1 Allied bombing raids reduced Munster and other German cities to rubble, people remembered his words and regarded him as a prophet.
In addition to opposing euthanasia Bishop von Galen denounced the Nazis for introducing pagan ideas of worshipping nation and race, for promoting adultery and sexual licence, and for mocking God and the Church. He called on faithful Catholics to oppose all who “revile our faith, who hate God’s commandments, who associate with those who alienate young men from their religion, who rob and drive out monks and nuns, who condemn our innocent brothers and sisters”.
He said that the new ideas in Germany meant that people were breaking the commandment to honour their parents and also the commandment about the Sabbath - Sunday as a day for church was being deliberately undermined by the promotion of other activities on that day.
Of tall and commanding appearance, the bishop was known for his austere life especially during the war when food was short and he refused any small luxuries that could instead be given to children or to the sick - and for his dedication to prayer and his reverence for the Eucharist. He especially liked traditional devotions and old-fashioned hymns which helped people
to associate their faith with family and community memories. His opposition to the Nazis centred not only on their contempt for the sanctity of life and their reviling of non-German races but also on their open dislike of old traditions, and the morals and family life of Catholics.
Today one of Bishop von Galen’s nieces, Countess Johanna von Westphalen, runs a pro-life lobby group “Christian Democrats for Life”, which plays a major role in campaigning against euthanasia and abortion.
The church in Munster where the Bishop preached and where he is buried has become a place of pilgrimage, and there are always flowers and votive offerings on his grave. Officially silenced by the authorities, Bishop von Galen was due for arrest but - as revealed in papers captured by the Allies after the end of the war - there was concern about an uprising in Westphalia if he were taken away.
With war on two fronts - against the western Allies and the Soviet Union - the Nazis could not hold down unrest in a central part of Germany.
But while the Bishop remained in Munster (he was almost killed when the cathedral and his adjoining residence were destroyed) the Nazis organised a round-up of several of his priests and a number were taken away to concentration camps, never
to return. Trying to discover their whereabouts. and to protect other clergy and church workers from a similar fate, occupied much of the Bishop’s time, in addition to relief work for people made homeless by raids.
He died shortly after the end of the war, just one month after having been made a cardinal in recognition of his faithfulness and the stance he had taken on the moral issues confronting Germans.
Pope Benedict, who was a teenager during the Second World War, has spoken about the way in which the Church, because of bishops like von Galen who had opposed the Nazis, was able to rebuild moral values in Germany after the war.
In The Ratzinger Report he pointed out that while Vatican II emphasised the role of bishops and their authority, in practice this “risks being smothered by the insertion of bishops into episcopal conferences that are ever more organised, often with bureaucratic structures”.
By today’s secular standards he might be considered too ‘inflexible’ or too insensitive to ‘morally grey areas,’ but Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran theologian and minister executed by the regime in the dying days of the war is still one of the best known and most outstanding Christian opponents of Nazism.
The liturgy scene in the US is buzzing, says a Perth liturgical musician just back from a visit. Are there lessons for Australia?
words. When we sing, we express who we really are.” Quoting from another document, “Music in Catholic Worship”, Angela emphasised that, “Good celebrations can foster, nurture and nourish faith, poor celebrations can weaken and even destroy it.”
■ By
Mark ReidyMost ten-year-old girls dream of becoming ballerinas or princesses - Angela Bendotti dreamt of one day travelling to America to learn about liturgy and music.
Angela has since established her own ministry, “Shine Creations”, which educates and facilitates individuals and groups toward a greater understanding of and involvement in liturgy and liturgical music. This year she finally fulfilled her dream.
Returning from an eight-week trip to the US in August, Angela said that she had received far more than she could ever have imagined.
“The experience has given me a greater excitement for liturgy and its potential”, she said.
SHINE is an acronym for Something Hidden In Everyone; Angela believes every individual has a unique gift intended to shine out in the world.
She believes that the fullness of this light will come forth when one is connected to Jesus through the Holy Spirit.
Similarly she recognises that the Church can more fully realise this connection through the meaningful celebration of liturgy.
She says the US bishops have recognised and utilised this fullness and this has been reflected in their prompt adaptation of relevant Vatican documents.
One of the most precious memories of her time abroad was to witness the beauty and power of this adapted liturgy.
She says that in the parishes she visited, all aspects of the Mass were taken very seriously - from the proclamation of the Word and strong preaching to sincere hospitality.
He expressed concern that bishops would forget their grave personal responsibilities, especially on difficult questions, and lapse into bland anonymity. “The really powerful documents against National Socialism were those that came from individual courageous bishops.” he said. “The documents of the conference were, on the contrary, often rather wan and too weak with respect to what the tragedy really demanded.”
Catholic Herald
Dietrich Bonhoeffer - along with his twin sister, Sabine - was born on February 4, 1906, in Breslau, Germany. Later a student in Tubingen, Berlin, and at Union Theological Seminary in New York - as well as a participant in the European ecumenical movement - Bonhoeffer became known as one of the few figures of the 1930s with a comprehensive grasp of both German- and Englishlanguage theology.
His works resonate with a prescience, subtlety and maturity that continually belies the youth of their author.
He wrote his dissertation at the end of three years at the University of Berlin (1924-1927) and was awarded his doctorate with honours. His qualifying thesis, allowing him to teach at the University of Berlin, was accepted in July 1930. The following year, 1930-1931, Bonhoeffer spent a postgraduate year at Union Theological Seminary in New York.
He assumed his post as a lecturer in theology at the University of Berlin in August 1931.
In the winter semester 1931-1932 Bonhoeffer presented the lectures that were published as Creation and Fall.
Bonhoeffer served as a curate for a German congregation in Barcelona during 1929-1930. Following his ordination in the Lutheran church at St Matthias, Berlin, in November 1931, he was to help organise the Pastors’ Emergency League in September 1933, prior to asssuming the pastorate of the German Evangelical Church, Sydenham, and the Reformed Church of St Paul in London.
After the anti-Nazi Confessing Church was organised in May 1934 at Barmen, Germany, Bonhoeffer returned from England in the spring of 1935 to assume leadership of the Confessing Church’s seminary at Zingst by the Baltic.
Out of the experiences at Finkenwalde emerged his two well-known books, The Cost
of Discipleship and Life Together as well as his lesser known writings on pastoral ministry such as Spiritual Care.
His work to prepare pastors in the Confessing Church continued all the way to 1939.
Bonhoeffer’s theologically rooted opposition to National Socialism first made him a leader, along with Martin Niemueller and Karl Barth, in the Confessing Church (bekennende Kirche), and an advocate on behalf of the Jews.
Indeed, his efforts to help a group of Jews escape to Switzerland were what first led to his arrest and imprisonment in the spring 1943.
His leadership in the anti-Nazi Confessing Church and his participation in the Abwehr resistance circle (beginning in February 1938) make his works a unique source for understanding the interaction of religion, politics, and culture among those few Christians who actively opposed National Socialism, as is particularly evident in his drafts for a posthumously published Ethics
His thought provides not only an example of intellectual preparation for the reconstruction of German society after the war but also a rare insight into the vanishing social and academic world that had preceded it. Bonhoeffer was also a spiritual writer, a musician and an author of fiction and poetry.
He was hanged in the concentration camp at Flossenbürg on April 9, 1945, one of four members of his immediate family to die at the hands of the Nazi regime for their participation in the small Protestant resistance movement. The letters he wrote during these final two years of his life were posthumously published by his student and friend, Eberhard Bethge, as Letters and Papers from Prison His correspondence with his fiance, Maria von Wedermeyer, has been published as Love Letters from Cell 92 - edited excerpt from the website of the International Dietrich Bonhoeffer Society
The trip allowed her to participate in music and liturgy conferences in three states, meet with numerous priests, musicians, liturgists and singers, as well as to spend time with a number of composers such as David Haas, Bob Hurd and Fr Michael Joncas, whose music is played in churches across Australia and around the world.
At the National Association of Pastoral Musicians Conference in Wisconsin there were over 3500 in attendance.
Through such conferences Angela was exposed to a deeper understanding of the Church’s teachings, rites and repertoire in the areas of music and liturgy.
“Liturgy is the public prayer of the Church,” she said, “It is both God’s action and our action.”
Her experience in the US increased her understanding of something she had always sensed.
“I have always felt something deep within as I have participated in liturgies throughout my life, but now I have language to describe it,” she says.
“Our celebrations of liturgy give us the opportunity to become something almost incredible. For example, if we celebrate the Eucharist with openness, care and grace, it forms us into what we receive – the Body of Christ.”
She believes that music is vital in the facilitation of this transformation.
She describes herself as an expressive and joyful person and finds that she can develop and express her passion for God through music.
“It is like saying the words of ‘Happy Birthday’ - we can’t express the fullness of our intentions by just saying these
Individuals were employed to ensure that areas such as music and liturgy preparations were treated with the utmost importance and reverence.
She says parishes rely on their own funding for these ministries through a stewardship program that is actively supported by parishioners.
The motivation for her tour was a growing desire to see the potential of the liturgy lived out in the Australian Catholic Church in a deeper way.
With a degree in education, a graduate diploma in theology and many years experience with music and teaching, Angela feels that God has always been gently guiding her in the area of understanding the liturgy and nurturing that desire to share this understanding with others.
She believes that the US approach to liturgy is working.
“There is a sense of people wanting to be excellent in their music and liturgy, in celebrating their faith, without losing the true spirit and purpose of liturgy,” she says.
Having played music in Mass from the age of 10, Angela says she has always had a sense of feeling the transforming power of God at work when the liturgy is celebrated well and, conversely, when it is not.
Her trip has given her a renewed passion to assist the Church in Perth and across Australia in these areas.
She is looking forward to seeing what doors God will now open.
For further information on Shine Creations contact Angela on 0407 389 751 or email angelabendotti@hotmail. com.
■ With Mark Reidy
Have you ever thought that life would be more fulfilling if you looked like Brad Pitt, had a figure like Elle McPherson or played football like Chris Judd? Beware! You may be coming down with the psychological condition known as Celebrity Worship Syndrome. Psychologists at the University of Leicester in the UK recently discovered that 36 per cent of the population is affected by this growing phenomenon.
And Australian psychologist Jackie Engel warns that our country is not immune to the trend.
“Our culture responds to celebrities like a form of spirituality,” she says.
“We are conditioned to believe that looking like or following the same path will bring meaning and direction to our lives.”
So what motivates one human to
aspire to be like another? I believe
Ms Engel, has identified the source of this drive when she says our current attitude to movie stars and the sporting elite is akin to spirituality. She is right.
When God created humans in His own image, we were perfect. There was no desire to be anything else. But since turning away from Him our own spirits have continuously yearned for that wholeness once more.
We are each innately aware of our incomplete nature, but in the absence of God, many look to the world around to fill the void.
So it is understandable that, as society portrays movie stars, musicians and elite athletes as ideals of success, certain individuals will equate them to the wholeness they are searching for.
If people are being constantly exposed to this mindset, they can become conditioned to believing that fulfilment is found outside themselves.
They believe that by mirroring the lives and values of celebrities they will find the answer to their emptiness.
But it is not just obsession with fame, fortune and appearance that can trap us in this lie.
There are countless band-aids that we can apply in our attempt to heal the gaping wound left by God’s absence.
We can seek our fullness in work, relationships, family, religion, food,
Worship this Worship this or worship Jesus?
alcohol, sex, television, social recognition, charitable works etc. etc.
None of these are wrong in themselves, but if our attitude of heart sees us seeking our wholeness in them, then they can become obsta-
cles to God rather than gifts from Him. If the search for inner peace falls outside the parameters of God it will inevitably fail. Our lives are diminished to the pursuit of false
promises and we live in a perpetual state of, “I’ll be happy when…”
St Augustine recognised the problem a long time ago. He simply said, “My heart will not rest Oh Lord, until it rests in you.”
■ With Derek Boylen
Parents see a lot of poo in their first few years as a new Mum or Dad. If they have several children they will endure many years of poo. Next to the well aimed wee it is among the least exciting aspects of parenting in the early years.
I often ask myself, “What is the deeper meaning of poo?” God can do anything. If he wanted, he could have made people without bowels. It would add years to our lives and, aside from the sleepless nights, make parenting in the early years a dream.
Lately, I’m telling myself that nappy changing is the natural way that God breaks us in for some of the greater challenges of being a parent.
When you first find out you are going to be someone’s Mummy or Daddy you walk around, chest puffed out, full of pride, for nine months. However, your first meco-
nium poo, black and squelching out the sides pretty quickly brings you down to earth.
As far as I am aware, nothing in the Bible or Church teaching really prepares you for the daily grind of nappy changing.
I think there is something to be learnt though.
Nappy changing reminds me that the lofty hopes and dreams we have for our children become realities in the gritty, everydayness of their lives: the scraped knees, failed exams, family disagreements, changes of puberty, moving house, etc.
All these awkward, uncomfortable moments are opportunities for growth.
These are the times when parent/child interactions can become strong, enduring and mutually nourishing relationships. So next time you are faced with one of those awkward moments I offer you this POO acronym.
Patience: Take a deep breath (except when nappy changing), swallow your pride and recognise the opportunity as a chance for growth. Often when frustrating or infuriating moments occur we respond with the first thing that comes to mind. Having a little patience sometimes helps us to see that there are usually a variety of ways to respond to any given situation.
Openhearted: It’s always good to ask whose needs are going to be met by the following course of action?
Sometimes they may legitimately be our own. Other times they may be our children’s or ideally a mix of both. The act of asking helps to minimise the possibility that we are simply reacting out of anger. The Christian challenge is, as always, to act out of love. If we try to remain openhearted then we have the best chance of doing just that.
Opportunity: See it as an opportunity for growth both for you and your child. These events are
opportunities for our children to grow into Christian adults and us to become better Christians. From a Christian perspective I like to think of these times as the small crosses parents are called to take up each day in following Christ. When we swallow our pride, and remain patient and openhearted, God is somehow present, somehow transforming that small cross into grace by the power of the resurrection.
If you are still at the nappy chang-
ing stage though, here is my advice for making the most of it. Put a mobile above the nappy change table and change it from time to time. Children love to have something to look at; it can be as simple as balloons or streamers. Make it an opportunity to sing songs, play games and tickle.
And, if all else fails, on really bad days, remind yourself that even God’s favourites, Mary and Joseph, had their fair share of poo too.
Somphone Vilavongsy omi made his perpetual vows as an Oblate of Mary Immaculate in June and was ordained a deacon in the following month in Melbourne.
Somphone was born in 1973 and grew up in Laos, a predominantly Buddhist country of about six million people wedged between China in the north, Cambodia in the south, Vietnam in the east and Thailand in the west.
Over 100 Oblates, mainly French and Italian, worked in Laos from 1935 to 1975 when the communist
Pathet Lao took over the country. A small but vibrant Christian community developed under the care of the Oblates, with some villages becoming almost entirely Catholic.
During the war with the communists, seven Oblates were killed and, with the communist victory, the remaining Oblates were expelled.
One Laotian Oblate remained, however, and he is now bishop of Vientiane, the capital of Laos. He is Bishop Jean Khamse Vithavong omi. He has laboured long and hard in a hostile environment for the last
30 years. At present, he has only one old priest to help him.
For Bishop Vithavong, Somphone’s perpetual vows and diaconate are signs of hope for the future. God has not forgotten the poor, small, struggling Church in Laos.
Like many others, Somphone’s family was caught up in the turmoil of the war with the communists.
His father, being on the losing side of the war, was made to do forced labour and had to shift from his predominantly Catholic village
to a village with no Catholics. His mother, six brothers, and two sisters eventually moved to the same village and the family has lived there ever since.
To attend Mass, the family had to travel 40 kilometres into Vientiane and the children studied catechism with some nuns in Vientiane over their holidays to prepare for their first communion and confirmation.
In 1988, Somphone moved into the Bishop’s compound in Vientiane and completed his high school education in 1992. He then helped Bishop Khamse in various ways for several years before asking about training to be a priest.
After another six years helping the Bishop and learning English, Somphone came to Australia with another Laotian student, Bennakhone Inthirath, to study with the Oblates at St Mary’s Seminary in Melbourne.
People came from near and far for Somphone’s vows and ordination. The Laotian Catholic community in Sydney and Canberra sent representatives while the Laotian Catholic community in Melbourne helped with the arrangements, especially with catering.
It was a source of great joy for all concerned that Bishop Khamse could come from Laos to ordain Somphone to the diaconate.
The Superior of the Oblates in Thailand, and Laos, Father Pricha Thamniyom omi, also came to receive Somphone’s perpetual vows and to present him with an Oblate cross. The Oblate cross which is received at perpetual profession is a constant reminder of the love of the Saviour
who wishes to draw all hearts to himself and sends us out as his coworkers,” says the Constitutions of the Oblates.
There is also a tradition in the Oblates of passing on the Oblate cross of another Oblate.
Somphone’s Oblate cross was that of Father Pierre Chevroulet omi, a French missionary who worked for many years in Laos and was expelled when the communists took over.
He worked for the rest of his life in Thailand and died last year.
Father Pricha Thamniyom omi brought this Oblate cross to Australia to present it to Somphone. While Father Pierre was forced to leave Laos with his Oblate cross, Somphone will take it back to Laos.
Somphone left Australia at the end of August and it is envisaged that he will be ordained a priest in December.
Please keep him and the Church in Laos in your prayers.
- MAMI Newsletter of the Missionary Association of Mary Immaculate, August 2005
“For too many people God is not a relationship but a concept. The reality is that God wants to fill us with his love and by this grace to transform us,” he said
■ By Jamie O’BrienAll Saints Chapel Priest-in-Charge Fr Jim Shelton will be leaving his position in November to become assistant parish priest of St Joseph’s Bassendean.
Fr Shelton, who has been Priest-inCharge at All Saints Chapel for nearly five years, said he believes the Chapel to be an oasis in the city.
“It is right in the heart of the city, opposite London Court and the stock exchange, accessible to visitors, workers and shoppers,” he said.
“However it’s a little hidden behind the ANZ bank.”
Fr Shelton said more than 100 people attend the two daily Masses, one at 12.10pm, the other at 1.10pm.
W ork at the Pregnancy Assistance Centre was back to normal last week with the blessing of the storage area that was destroyed by fire earlier this year.
The storage room contained baby clothes and other items, which were destroyed by vandals in the early hours of Holy Saturday morning in March.
The fire in March was the second attack on Pregnancy Assistance Centre in the past year.
Archbishop Hickey celebrated Mass for the staff before blessing the new storage area.
In his homily for the occasion, the Archbishop said there are many forms of prayer.
“To pray is to grow in union with God, it is our channel of communication.”
Office Manager Lydia Fernandez said the knowledge of the difference the centre has made in the lives of the women who have come for help is what inspires the staff to continue with this work.
In the past year, the centre has had more than 1000 calls about pregnancy and abortion.
More than 50 of those calls alone have been to provide alternative information for women seeking an abortion.
A further 43 per cent of the calls received were for assistance with furniture and clothing.
“Through the great generosity of people in the Catholic community we have been able to replenish our supplies that were destroyed by the fire,” Ms Fernandez said.
People working in the city on their lunch break and the elderly who can’t get to Mass on the Sunday because of a lack of transport are the most regular of attendees, Fr Shelton said.
Reconciliation services are also available Monday to Friday from 10.30am to 11.45am. Fr Shelton said he usually hears about 12 to 15 confessions on a daily basis.
“However during Advent and Lent, this number usually increases to 20 or 25 and then in Holy week to 35–40 people,”
The Chapel was originally located at 81 St George’s Terrace before it moved to 77 St George’s Terrace in 1977.
Services at the Chapel will be looked after by priests from the Cathedral from November until a replacement can be found.
Continued from page 1
The Nine 1/2 Weeks star, who suffered addictions to drugs and alcohol, said he was only saved from shooting himself in the head because of his faith in God.
He said: “If I wasn’t Catholic I would have blown my brains out.
“I would pray to God. I would say ‘Please can you send me just a little bit of daylight.’” .
Mickey Rourke tried to commit suicide - but was saved at the eleventh hour by a priest.
The Hollywood star, who at one time ruined his career through self-destructive behavior, says he was close to shooting himself when he went to confession and asked for God’s approval of his sinister plan.
Fortunately, the priest counseled Mickey out of his depression and helped him come to terms with his life.
“He talked me out of it and we started meeting.His name is Father Pete and he lives in New York.
“Father Pete put me back on the right track,” the actor concluded. - CNS
The Synod of Bishops’ first week of discussion focused on how to make the Eucharist available to all Catholics and how to improve the way it is celebrated and understood.
In individual speeches and free-discussion period between October 3-8, the bishops addressed a multitude of topics ranging from falling Mass attendance to the degree of Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist.
Pope Benedict XVI presided over most sessions of the synod but only once joined the debate. About 240 bishops were present; for almost half of them, it was their first synod. Among those missing were four bishops from mainland China, who were invited by the Pope but were not allowed by the Chinese government to travel to Rome. Four empty seats in the synod hall marked their absence.
From the outset of the synod debate, it was clear that a primary concern was the shortage of priests that makes it impossible for Catholics in many areas to attend Mass regularly and receive Communion.
One Honduran Bishop told the synod that his diocese had 16,000 Catholics for every priest, a situation that required the faithful to walk hours to attend Mass.
Several bishops called for better global distribution of priests. Others cautiously suggested a new look at the Church’s rules on priestly celibacy and wondered whether married men might be ordained, at least in areas where priests are lacking.
The calls to re-examine priestly celibacy came primarily from developing countries, where church communities often go weeks or months without seeing a priest. Coadjutor Bishop Arnold Orowae of Wabag, Papua New Guinea, asked the
synod how Catholics in remote villages could make the Eucharist the “source and summit” of their lives if they don’t have access to Mass.
But other bishops, including some from Eastern Catholic Churches where a married clergy is allowed, warned that it can be difficult for a priest to balance his pastoral workload with family demands.
An emerging and complex topic at the synod was how the Eucharist is viewed and experienced - as a gift or a right, for example. Italian Cardinal Angelo Scola, the synod’s recording secretary, found himself challenged by several bishops after he said the faithful have no real “right to the Eucharist.” A similar question was whether the Eucharist should be understood more as a sacrifice or as a communal meal.
Traditional Catholic theology highlights
both aspects, although some people felt the Second Vatican Council tipped the balance toward the shared banquet. Several bishops said the aspect of sacrifice needs more emphasis today.
The revival of Eucharistic adoration also elicited differing perspectives. Italian Cardinal Camillo Ruini said the rediscovery of Eucharistic adoration has helped young Catholics establish a visible relationship with the divine.
But others cautioned that adoration could become too individual a practice. Father Mark R. Francis, superior general of the Viatorians, criticised the synod’s working document for appearing to give the same importance to Eucharistic adoration and the celebration of the liturgy - in opposition to the teachings of the Council of Trent and the Second Vatican Council.
Father Francis and others said a key for improving devotion to the Eucharist is to improve the way it is celebrated, with improved preaching and better executed liturgies.
The question of how to improve liturgies drew numerous comments. One Bishop wanted an end to general Communion distribution at huge Masses. A few wanted a re-evaluation of Communion in the hand, saying it was seen by some as disrespectful.
South Korean Bishop Peter Kang U-il told the synod bluntly that many young people simply find Mass too tedious and boring. To increase liturgical participation, he said, pastors need to increase the sense of unity in parish life.
Mass attendance was a cause for concern. Archbishop Agostino Vallini, head of the Vatican’s top court, said low statistics on Mass participation were “hardly comforting.” He said the causes were competition between the old and modern religious beliefs, growing secularisation and pervasive relativism.
Throughout most of Europe, fewer than 20 percent of Catholics go to Mass regularly. But the problems of Mass attendance and church membership extend to other continents, too. Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes told the synod that in Brazil- the most populous Catholic country in the world - the number of Catholics was declining by about 1 percent each year, with many lost to Protestant sects.
“We have to wonder: How long will Brazil be a Catholic country?” he said.
Cardinal Hummes, noting Protestant missionary activity, said the Catholic Church should underline the importance of missionary action nourished by the Eucharist. Several bishops agreed, with one recommending specific new Mass prayers with a missionary theme.
Other synod participants said the Eucharist must be understood as a spiritual catalyst in the contemporary world, with a deep connection to issues of social justice and stewardship of creation, for example.
A leading expert on church law said Catholics are not necessarily sinning if they vote for a candidate who supports legal abortion.
Cardinal Mario Pompedda, the retired head of the Apostolic Signature, the Vatican’s supreme court, said Catholics might find sufficient reasons to consider such a candidate a “lesser evil” in a field of imperfect choices.
The cardinal made the remarks in an interview published on October 6 by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, following a discussion at the Synod of Bishops on the question of Communion, politics and human life issues.
Cardinal Pompedda said that while the church punishes the act of procuring abortion with automatic excommunication voting for a candidate who supports legal abortion is an indirect act that should be viewed differently.
“I would be cautious in applying the word ‘sin,’ which implies intentionality. It would be more accurate to speak of risk or imprudence,” he said.
“Of course, whoever votes for a
‘pro-abortion’ candidate assumes a responsibility, but it does not necessarily involve sin as an immediate consequence,” he said.
The cardinal said a Catholic voter might choose such a proabortion candidate as a “lesser evil, when there are no candidates who respond more fully to his scale of values. He might choose him, let’s say, for other aspects of his (political) program that the voter supports.” Catholics who do vote for such a politician might carry out their own pro-life responsibilities in other ways, for example, by working against abortion through political or cultural initiatives, he said. Cardinal Pompedda said voters typically choose candidates for a variety of reasons.
“I think that rarely or never is there a candidate who presents himself solely on the basis of his support for abortion. And I think it’s very unlikely that a voter would vote for him solely for this reason,” he said.
Cardinal Pompedda echoed two points made in 2004 by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now
Pope Benedict XVI, in a memo to US bishops:
- A Catholic who deliberately voted for a candidate precisely because of the candidate’s proabortion (or pro-euthanasia) stand would be guilty of “formal cooperation in evil.”
- When a Catholic does not share a candidate’s stand in favour of abortion but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered “remote material cooperation,” which is permitted when there are proportionate reasons.
Cardinal Pompedda’s interview came as church officials at the Vatican and in Italy were reacting to the announcement that the northern Italian region of Piedmont would begin distributing the abortion pill RU-486. The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, condemned the move and said use of the pill was “really and truly murder.” Cardinal Pompedda said the Church was right to condemn all forms of abortion, but he said he would not call abortion “murder,” because of respect for language. CNS
German Cardinal Clemens von Galen of Munster, an outspoken critic of Adolf Hitler’s regime, “feared God more than man,” Pope Benedict XVI said moments after the cardinal was beatified.
“All of us, but especially we Germans, are grateful that God gave us this great witness of faith who shone the light of the truth in dark times and demonstrated the courage to resist tyranny,” the Pope told German pilgrims on October 9.
Cardinal von Galen, who served as Bishop of Munster from 1933 until his death in 1946, was beatified in St Peter’s Basilica during a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes.
At the end of the Mass, Pope Benedict entered the basilica, praying before the Cardinal’s relics and greeting the thousands of pilgrims who participated in the beatification of the Cardinal.
The Cardinal was known as the “Lion of Munster” for his defence of the Church under Nazism and his denunciations of Hitler’s racial policies and of the regime’s program
of medical experimentation on the sick and handicapped.
Pope Benedict said Cardinal von Galen’s courage was particularly remarkable at a time when “even strong people demonstrated weakness and cowardice.”
The Cardinal, he said, drew strength “from faith, which showed him the truth and opened his eyes and heart because he feared God more than man.”
“In the name of God, he denounced the neopagan ideology of national socialism, defending the freedom of the Church and human rights which were being seriously violated, protecting the Jews and the weakest individuals, whom the regime considered garbage to be eliminated,” the Pope said.
Pope Benedict said the message of Cardinal von Galen’s life, a message still valid today, is: “Faith cannot be reduced to a private sentiment, perhaps to be hidden when it becomes uncomfortable, but requires consistency and bearing witness - including publicly - on behalf of man, justice and truth.”
Santa Barbara City College marketing and e-commerce professor Julie Ann Brown is the Internet goto person for holy cards.
Brown, 45, is on a mission to preserve and share what she calls “God’s calling cards” lovingly made more than 75 years ago by European nuns and clergy.
“My quest remains the same: to spare and share the beautiful holy images from those who have loved and lived before us,” said the Catholic mother of two college students. Visitors to Brown’s Web site, www.holycards.com, can e-mail a free virtual holy card to friends or download a Christian image for a one-time fee of $2 to $3, no royalty strings attached.
During a 1996 shopping trip to an antique mall in Palmdale, Brown happened upon a collection of holy cards. “That day, I found the buried treasure of memories,” Brown told The Tidings, newspaper of the Los Angeles Archdiocese.
“It was my collection of penny holy cards purchased after Mass that brought the Scriptures alive to me; like many others, I am a
visual and kinesthetic learner,” she said. After learning from a graphic arts teacher how to scan and digitally preserve the antique holy cards, which are royalty-free because copyright law classifies them as being in the public domain, Brown decided to post her growing collection on the Internet. She called her business Chant Art, combining her love of Gregorian chant with the “visual prayer” of holy cards. According
to Brown, holy cards were considered Catholic “people’s art” that was affordable and easily transportable in pockets or prayer books. “It was a German tradition to hand out holy cards at funerals. The Belgians and the French distributed them on feast days and also passed them out at first holy Communion services. The Irish and British loved Marianand Christmas-themed holy cards,” explained Brown. To finance trips to
buy holy cards in Austria, Belgium, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Switzerland, Brown sold her mother’s heirloom jewellery. She owns one of only three US copies of “Lives of the Saints” that were chromolithographically illustrated by renowned Flemish artist Father Kellerhoven. She also has a German “Catholic Family Book” published in 1910, which she obtained in Switzerland. CNS
The nations of the world “have a duty” to work for disarmament, the Vatican nuncio to the United Nations said on October 3.
“The great majority of states want to move the disarmament agenda forward surely and speedily,” Archbishop Celestino Migliore said at a meeting of the General Assembly’s First Committee, which handles disarmament and security issues. He called arms control and disarmament “fundamental pillars of the architecture for peace” and criticised the recent UN 60th anniversary summit of world leaders for failing to act on draft proposals
that would have pressed for global progress toward disarmament and the strengthening of international conventions or treaties against nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Archbishop Migliore called it “deplorable” that last May’s conference to review the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty “ended without a single substantive decision.”
“Nuclear weapons are becoming a permanent feature of some military doctrines and there has been a dramatic 20 percent increase in world military spending in the past two years,” he said.
“Small arms kill at least 500,000 people per year and the UN conferences on this subject have still not produced a legally binding instru-
Pope Benedict XVI called on the world community to be “swift and generous” in its help to South Asian countries overwhelmed by an earthquake that left tens of thousands of people dead and tens of thousands more injured.
The magnitude 7.6 earthquake hit Pakistan, India and Afghanistan on October 8, and officials said the death toll could top 40,000.
Pope Benedict said “it was with deep sadness” that he learned of the earthquake that caused “great damage and loss of life.” After praying his October 9 noonday Angelus with the faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square, he commended “to God’s loving mercy all those
ment on small-arms transfers,” he added. “The legal arms trade is once more on the rise and the illegal flow of arms to the world’s conflict zones is responsible for countless deaths. Terrorist attacks using assault rifles, automatic weapons, hand grenades, land mines, shoulder-launched missiles and small explosives are mounting.”
Speaking of the duty of nations to work on the disarmament agenda, Archbishop Migliore said, “This duty becomes more relevant since we all know that security for all is enhanced when disarmament and development steps complement one another. The United Nations pioneered studies which show the integral relationship between disarmament, development and security.”
who have died” and expressed his “deepest sympathy to the many thousands who are injured or bereaved.”
An emotional account of how Catholics in communist Romania held fast to their faith despite persecution and humiliation drew resounding applause from some 240 participants at the world Synod of Bishops.
Romanian-rite Archbishop Lucian Muresan of Fagaras-Alba Iulia underlined the great hopes of the Catholic community despite past hardships and present challenges.
According to information released by the Vatican, his October 6 talk, four days into the synod sessions, was the first to draw applause
“This committee bears a special responsibility this year to repair, to the extent possible, the omission of disarmament from the summit’s outcome document,” he said.
He urged support for special working committees dealing with nuclear arms limitation and nonproliferation, citing signs that most nations are serious about working toward a world free of nuclear weapons. “Similarly, there is an urgent need to work locally, nationally, regionally and globally to eradicate small arms and light weapons,” he said. “Multifaceted action incorporating arms control, crime reduction and peace-building components will advance human security.”
from the bishops who were gathered at the Vatican for three weeks to discuss the role of the Eucharist in the life of the Church. People’s hunger for the bread of God could not be quashed, not even when the Church was brutally repressed from 1948 to 1990 by the communists, Archbishop Muresan said. “The communists tried to give man material bread alone and wanted to chase the ‘bread of God’ from society and the heart of the human person,” he said.
More needs to be done to help the mentally ill and to support programs of early diagnosis and prevention of mental illness, said a top Vatican official.
Brazilian Bishop Luis Cappio, weakened and suffering from memory lapses and dizziness, ended his 11-day hunger strike to protest government plans to divert some of the water from the Sao Francisco River to irrigate the arid northeastern region of the country.
The announcement of the end of the hunger strike came after five hours of negotiations between Brazil’s Institutional Relations Minister Jacques Wagner and Bishop Cappio, 59.
The government agreed to further discuss the project with Brazilians before starting the operation; continue and intensify efforts to revitalise the Sao Francisco River by trying to approve legislation that would assure annual investments of approximately $133 million in the revitalisation of the river; and set up a meeting between Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Bishop Cappio as soon as the Bishop has fully recovered his health. Just two days earlier, on Bishop Cappio’s birthday, some 2,000 visitors travelled to the small town of Cabrobo, in northeastern Brazil’s Pernambuco state, to show support for his efforts to protect the river known as “Old Chico.”
Bishop Cappio, who has lived on the banks of the Sao Francisco for the past 26 years, left his home diocese of Barra, in neighboring Bahia state, to go to Cabrobo, the starting point for the rerouting project. The Bishop, known to many as the river’s guardian angel, started his hunger strike on September 26 and had said he would continue until da Silva agreed to halt the project.
The Bishop had said the government’s project would only benefit big agribusiness companies, leaving the poor people, who rely on the river for their survival, in an even more difficult situation than now exists. In 1992, Bishop Cappio, a Franciscan, spent 12 months following the river’s course between the states of Alagoas and Sergipe.
Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, head of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, appealed to public health officials worldwide “to find urgently needed help” for those with mental disorders.
Many of these people are “on the streets or with their families where they cannot receive the (proper medical) help they need,” he said in his message for World Day of Mental Health celebrated on October 10. He asked that health and government officials make mental health care more accessible and equitable and that treatment be “in full respect for the integrity and dignity of the sick.”
According to the World Health Organisation, some 450 million people worldwide suffer from a mental disorder and 873,000 people commit suicide each year, the cardinal said in his text.
■ Reviewed by David DiCerto
In 1989 British animator Nick Park received an Academy Award nomination for his claymation short, A Grand Day Out, about a fanciful flight to the moon, which first introduced us to the darling duo of cheese-loving inventor Wallace and his faithful pooch, Gromit. He repeated the feat in 1993 with The Wrong Trousers and again in 1995 with A Close Shave (winning Oscars for both).
Park - and his puppet palsseamlessly make the jump to feature-length films in the frolicsome and visually delightful Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the WereRabbit
And while the early odds-on favourite to win “Best Animated Feature” may be Tim Burton’s recent Corpse Bride - which also uses stop-motion animation - Park’s
film (co-directed with Steve Box) is captivating fun.
Billed as a “the world’s first vegetarian horror movie,” Curse of the Were-Rabbit finds the twosome running a pest control business (“AntiPesto”) in a northern English town where the residents are obsessed with growing oversized veggies.
With the annual “Giant Vegetable Competition” swiftly approaching, Wallace (voiced, as usual, by Peter Sallis) and Gromit find themselves in a “hare-y” situation, as the town is infested with rabbits feasting on the jumbo harvest.
After an experiment to break the critters of their binging goes awry, a monstrous “were-rabbit” begins to ravage neighborhood gardens, despoiling them of their prize produce.
Wallace and Gromit are hired by Lady Tottington (voiced by Helena Bonham Carter), a batty blueblood with a soft spot for bunnies, to catch the floppy-eared fiend before it jeopardises the big contest.
Rounding out the voice talent are Ralph Fiennes as Victor
Quartermaine, Tottington’s gloryseeking suitor who sets out to kill the creature; and Nicholas Smith as Rev. Clement Hedges, the town’s daffy parson who provides Quartermaine with special gold bullets (24 “carrot,” of course).
The film incorporates elements of classic Universal monster movies like The Wolfman and Frankenstein,
Sunday October 16
with comic nods to King Kong and Watership Down as well. The characters and miniature sets are lovingly rendered down to the smallest detail, giving the film a disarming “handmade” charm, rather than the sterile slickness of more recent animation. (If you look close enough, you can see the artists’ fingerprints on the clay figures.)
Apart from a few “naughty” jokes that will probably go over the heads of most children, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is recommendable family entertainment.
The film contains some double entendres and a brief, mildly irreligious sight gag. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-I - general patronage. - CNS
ANNUAL CATHOLIC DOCTORS ASSOCIATION CDA MASS
Notre Dame University chapel, 9.30am. The CDA welcome all health care professionals and health care students to join us for Mass and morning tea.
Sunday October 16
TAIZE MEDITATIVE PRAYER
Third Sunday of the month, 7pm - 8pm. Come along and join in the prayer with the Sisters at St Joseph Chapel, 16 York Street, South Perth. For more information contact Sr Maree on 9457 3371.
Sunday October 16
ETERNAL WORD TELEVISION NETWORK 1 2PM ACCESS 31
The Holy Eucharist / Fr Charles Connor [Sacraments through the Ages], followed by the meaning of participation at Mass / Fr John Perricone [Most Glorious
Act] Brought to you by The Rosary Christian Tutorial Association. Please send donations and suggestions to RCTA, PO Box 1270, Booragoon 6954. Enquiries: 9330 1170.
Sunday October 16
GOSPEL OF LIFE
Bishop Don Sproxton will be giving a homily on ‘The Gospel of Life’ in order to promote this Encyclical in the year of its 10th anniversary. This will be on Sunday 16 October at the 10.00am Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral, Victoria Square, Perth. All welcome.
Sunday October 16
ST GERARD MAJELLA 40TH ANNIVERSARY
Celebrations commencing 9.30am with Mass followed by lunch in St Gerard’s school grounds, Westminster, meat provided bring salads and dessert to share. BYO Drinks. Enq 9349 2315.
Friday October 21
HOLY MASS AND HEALING SERVICE TOUCH OF HEAVEN
With Alan Ames at St Brigid’s Catholic Church 69b Morrison Road, Midland. Time: 7pm followed by talk and Healing Prayers. For details contact Loretta on 9444 4409.
Friday October 21
REUNION THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION
Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish and School, Miles St, Karrinyup, invites Priests, past parishioners, teachers, pupils and anyone who has ever been a part of our past to celebrate our 40th Anniversary. Please bring photos with you. Commencing with Mass at 6pm followed by light supper and drinks. RSVP John Reid 9341 2895, OLGC School Secretary 9341 3148.
Friday October 28 til Sunday October 30
CATHOLIC FAITH RENEWAL
Retreat by Fr Gino Henriques CSSR. Contemplate the Face of Jesus. See him more clearly, love him more dearly and follow him more closely. Fr Gino is a Catholic Priest of the Redemptorist Congregation. He is an international speaker who has preached to Bishops, Priests, Religious and laity through retreats, seminars and conferences. For more information contact Maureen on 9381 4498, or Rose on 040 330 0720.
Saturday October 29
YOUTH WITH A MISSION OPEN DAY
Youth With A Mission has existed in Perth for over 20 years equipping young and old alike with the
■ WEDDING
Mr Barney and Mrs Sheila McCarthy celebrate their 60th Wedding Anniversary on the October 28, 2005. Ralph and Roseline.
■ BRICK REPOINTING
Phone Nigel 9242 2952.
■ GUTTERS/DOWNPIPES
Need renewing, best work and cheapest prices. Free quote. Ph: Ad 9447 7475 or 0408 955 991 5008.
■ MJP PAINTING & DECORATING REG:
6197
“South of the River” quality work guaranteed. Phone Michael - 041 796 8802
■ PERROTT PAINTING PTY LTD
For all your residential, commercial painting requirements. Phone Tom Perrott 9444 1200.
■ PICASSO PAINTING
Top service. Phone 9345 0557, fax 9345 0505.
■ RETAILER OF CATHOLIC PRODUCTS Specialising in gifts, cards and apparel for baptism, communion and confirmation. Ph: 9456 1777. Shop 12, 64-66 Bannister Road, Canning Vale. Open Mon-Sat.
■ WORK FROM HOME
Around your children & family commitments. My business is expanding and I need people to open new areas all over Australia. Training given. Highly lucrative. www.cyber-success-4u.org
■ FIRE ENGINE PARTIES
Children of all ages. Child care, kindy and Santa visits includes rides and squirting. Discount to readers. Call fire Chief David 0431 869 455
■ LUMEN CHRISTI HOMES
Augusta Life Time Lease. Enquiries Catholic Diocese of Bunbury 9721 0500.
■ AAA SLIPSTREAM
Piano removal, sales and hire. Special discount for schools. Contact Tony 0418 923 414
■ ALL AREAS
Mike Murphy 0416 226 434.
OCTOBER
14-16 Parish Visitation and Confirmation, Port Kennedy - Archbishop Hickey
15 Eucharistic Celebration for Religious to mark Year of the Eucharist, Como - Bishop Sproxton
16 Mass to celebrate Encyclical “Gospel of Life”, St Mary’s Cathedral - Bishop Sproxton
19 Holy Hour for Priests, St Thomas More College - Archbishop Hickey Ecumenical Service for Anti-Poverty Week, St Mary’s Cathedral - Archbishop Hickey
20 St Luke’s Day Service, UWA - Bishop Sproxton
Launch of “Directory of Services for New Arrivals in Western Australia” - Fr Antonio Paganoni CS
21 40th Anniversary Mass for Parish of Karrinyup - Archbishop Hickey Confirmation, Woodvale - Bishop Quinn
youth group. Date: 29th October 2005... time: 10am - 4pm... location: 150 Claisebrook Road, Perth... contact: (08) 9328 5321... hope to see you there.
Sunday October 30
51ST ROSARY RALLY, DIOCESE OF BUNBURY
St Bernard’s school grounds Kojonup. Program 11am Mass with Bishop Holohan, 12.30pm BYO lunch (tea/ coffee provided), 1.30pm Rosary Procession, homily Rev. Brian Doro CSsR, Benediction concluding with afternoon tea. All welcome. Enq 9821 4675.
Wednesday to Sunday November 9 - 13
CATHOLIC FAITH RENEWAL
Retreat by Fr Vincent Lee. Come and experience the power of the Holy Spirit. A retreat, accompanied by St Jude’s Choir, on Sin and Repentance. Fr Lee, from Singapore, is currently on mission in Africa and is well known for his evangelical mission around the world. He has conducted many spiritual and healing retreats and Life in the Spirit Seminars in Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, China, India and Kenya. His zeal and love for spreading the good news have touched and reached the hearts of many who have come to listen to him. For more information contact Maureen on 9381 4498, or Rose on 040 330 0720.
Saturday November 12
AFTERNOON REFLECTION
You are warmly invited to an afternoon reflection on the Word of Life “...to possess the only life that is real,” (1Tim6:19). Commencing1.30pm at the L.J. Goody Bioethics Centre, (39 Jugan St, Glendalough) for Rosary and Reflection. Followed by a short walk to St Bernadette’s Church, Glendalough (cnr Leeder and Jugan Sts) for Adoration and Benediction at 3pm. Concluding with Mass at 3.30pm celebrated by His Grace, Archbishop Hickey and Fr Doug Harris. Afternoon Tea will be served at the Bioethics Centre. All welcome. Please RSVP by 10 November to Rosa on 9378 3044 or Bernadette on 9275 7765.
DIVINE WILL RETREATS
Two weekend retreats revealing the wonders and richness of the “New and Divine Holiness” as the Holy Spirit gave it to Luisa Piccarreta, the retreat will be held at God’s Farm, Gracewood, 40k’s south of Busselton. Both retreats will be presented by Fr
Hugh Thomas CSsR. Retreat No. 1 “Introduction to living the divine will” 14-16 Oct. Retreat no. 2 “Our Lady and the divine Will” 21-23 Oct. Retreats begin on Friday at 7pm and conclude Sunday at 2pm. We can meet buses by arrangement. Enq Michael after 12pm 9434 6331 or Betty 9755 6212.
BULLSBROOK SHRINE MASS PROGRAM
Shrine of Virgin of the Revelation, 36 Chittering Rd. Bullsbrook. 2pm Holy Mass, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Holy Rosary. Reconciliation available in Italian and English. A monthly pilgrimage is held on the last Sunday of the month in honour of the Virgin of the Revelation. Anointing of the sick is administered for spiritual and physical healing during Holy Mass every second Sunday of the month. All enq SACRI 9447 3292.
SCHOENSTATT FAMILY MOVEMENT: MONTHLY DEVOTIONS
An international group focussed on family faith development through dedication to our Blessed Mother. Monthly devotions at the Armadale shrine on the first Sunday at or after the 18th day of the month at 3pm. Next event: October 23. 9 Talus Drive Armadale. Enq Sisters of Mary 9399 2349 or Peter de San Miguel 0407 242 707 www.schoenstatt.org.au
ST CLARE’S SCHOOL, SISTERS OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD
A short history of St Clare’s School is being prepared to celebrate 50 years of its work in WA. Any past students, staff, families or others associated with the school - from its time at Leederville, at North Perth, at East Perth or at Wembley - are invited to contact us with photographs, or memories. Privacy will be protected, in accordance with your wishes. Please contact Nancy Paterson on 0417 927 126, (email npaters@yahoo.com.au) or St Clare’s School, PO Box 21 & 23 Carlisle North 6161. Tel: 9470 5711.
ALL SAINTS CHAPEL
CONFESSIONS: 10.30 to 11.45am and two lunchtime
MASSES: 12.10 and 1.10pm Monday through Friday.
Easy to find in the heart of Perth , 77 ALLENDALE SQUARE, St. George’s Terrace, Perth, WA. Exposition: 8am - 4pm. Morning Prayer: 8am (Liturgical hours).
Holy Rosary daily: 12.40pm. Divine Mercy Prayers and Benediction: Mondays and Fridays 1.35pm. St Pio of Pietrelcina Novena to the Sacred Heart and
21-23 Parish Visitation and Confirmation, Osborne Park - Bishop Sproxton
22 Mass and Blessing of Memorial Wall, Bayswater - Archbishop Hickey
22 & 23 Confirmation, Clarkson - Mgr Thomas McDonald
23 Mass and Induction of Fr Quadros as Parish Priest, Dianella - Archbishop Hickey
Confirmation, St Mary’s Cathedral - Archbishop Hickey
Confirmation, Lockridge - Fr Greg Carroll
24 Bible Ceremony, Cottesloe - Archbishop Hickey
26 Children’s Mission Mass, Greenwood Parish - Archbishop Hickey Liturgical Launch of Archbishop’s LifeLink Christmas Appeal, Catholic Pastoral Centre - Archbishop Hickey, Bishop Sproxton
27 Diaconate (Redemptoris Mater) at St Gerard’s Mirrabooka - Archbishop Hickey
Benediction: Wednesdays 1.35pm. Lending Library of a thousand books, videos, cassettes at your service. Tel: 9325 2009. www.allsaintschapel.com
INDONESIAN MASS
Every Sunday at 11.30am at St Benedict’s church Alness St, Applecross. Further info www.waicc.org. au.
PERPETUAL ADORATION
Christ the King, Lefroy Rd, Beaconsfield. Enq Joe Migro 9430 7937, A/H 0419 403 100. Adoration also at Sacred Heart, 64 Mary St Highgate, St Anne’s, 77 Hehir St Belmont. Bassendean, 19 Hamilton St and Mirrabooka, 37 Changton Wy.
PERPETUAL ADORATION AT ST BERNADETTE’S
Adoration: Chapel open all day and all night. All welcome, 49 Jugan St, Glendalough, just north of the city. Meanwhile, Masses every night at 5.45pm Monday to Friday, 6.30pm, Saturday and the last Sunday Mass in Perth is at 7pm.
BLESSED SACRAMENT ADORATION
Holy Family Church, Alcock Street, Maddington.
Every Friday 8.30 am Holy Mass followed by Blessed Sacrament Adoration till 12 noon. Every first Friday of the month, anointing of the sick during Mass. Enq. 9398 6350.
SUNDAY CHINESE MASS
The Perth Chinese Catholic Community invite you to join in at St Brigid’s Church, 211 Aberdeen St (Cnr of Aberdeen and Fitzgerald) Northbridge. Celebrant Rev Fr Dominic Su SDS. Mass starts 4.30pm every Sunday. Enq Augustine 9310 4532, Mr Lee 9310 9197, Peter 9310 1789.
LITURGY OFFICE OFFERING EXCELLENT WORKSHOPS
Cantors for the Country: To give people confidence and practical skills to lead the singing in country parishes, 22 October. Phone: 9422 7902.
CONFRATERNITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Confraternity of the Holy Spirit has been sanctioned in the Perth Archdiocese, our aim is to make the Holy Spirit known and loved, and to develop awareness of His presence in our lives. If you would like more information please call WA Coordinator
Frank Pimm on 9304 5190.
First Sunday of each month
DEVOTIONS IN HONOUR OF THE DIVINE MERCY
Fr Douglas Hoare and Santa Clara Parish Community welcome anyone from surrounding Parishes and beyond to the Santa Clara Church, Bentley. The afternoon commences with the 3 o’clock prayer, followed by the Divine Mercy Chaplet, Reflection, and concludes with Benediction.
THE DIVINE MERCY APOSTOLATE
St Mary’s Cathedral, Victoria Square, Perth – each first Sunday of the month from 1.30pm to 3.15pm with a different priest each month. All Saints Chapel, Allendale Square, 77 St George’s Tce, Perth - each Monday and Friday at 1.35pm. Main Celebrant Fr James Shelton. St Francis Xavier Church, 25 Windsor Street, East Perth - each Saturday from 2.30pm to 3.30pm, main celebrant Fr Marcellinus Meilak, OFM. Saints John and Paul Church, Pinetree Gully Drive, Willeton - each Wednesday from 4pm to 5pm. All Enq John 9457 7771.
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The subtle but powerful ways fathers mould their children’s characters
ByJamesStensonPublishedbyScepterPublishers
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■ Reviewed by Mark Reidy
“They are so gorgeous when they’re babies that you just want to eat them”, a stranger once commented while admiring my daughter.
After a pause she then added “And then they grow up and you wish you had!”
Such seems to be the attitude of an increasing number of today’s parents, but US educator and author James Stenson believes that the adolescent/ parent relationship does not have to be a traumatic experience for familles.
In his book, Successful Fathers, Stenson outlines how fathers can powerfully mould their children’s characters to ensure they are given the best opportunity to develop into confident and responsible adults.
In a concise 71-page format, Stenson begins by acknowledging the lack of parenting information specifically for fathers, despite research indicating that they are a key link to the increasing troubled behaviours of young people today.
He points out that not only was the phenomenon of this generational breakdown relatively unheard of prior to WWII but that it is western cultures that are most predominantly affected.
Stenson believes that the development of the virtues of faith, hope, charity, prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance are not being instilled into young children as they once were; consequently adults of weak character are emerging in our societies.
It is Stenson’s belief that it is primarily the father’s responsibility to teach such attributes, but he observes that over the past few generations this role has been increasingly ignored, often unwittingly.
According to the author the reasons for the lapse stem from western society’s preoccupation with materialism and comfort and an unhealthy exposure to television and other electronic sources of information.
In contrast to past centuries little is expected of children today other than the pursuit of all things recreational. This unprecedented materialism
has served to discourage self-reliant responsibility and has increased the likelihood that they will remain consumers often into their 20’s.
The rise in mass electronic communications has not only contributed to diminished family interaction but it has introduced powerful images, ideas, values and authority figures into the lives of children and adolescents.
With fathers spending less time with their children, Stenson warns of the danger of characters becoming moulded by “celebrities” and peers rather than the practical example of the father.
Stenson encourages minimal television time and more father/child interaction where family history, viewpoints, opinions and the formation
of virtues can be relayed to the next generation.
James Stenson’s message is one of hope. He believes that fathers can draw closer to their children as they approach adulthood, rather than expect the relationship to be one of constant conflict.
In his “12 commandments” for successful fathering, he presents the reader with suggestions on how to form and guide children in their character development as well as providing fathers with an opportunity for selfanalysis.
He is adamant that a child’s earthly and eternal happiness depends significantly on their father’s influence and that most only have one chance to get it right.
Married people live longer than do otherwise similar people who are single or divorced. Husbands as well as wives live longer on average, even after controlling for race, income and family background. In most developed countries, middle-aged single, divorced, or widowed men are about twice as likely to die earlier as married men, and non married women face risks about one and a half times as great as those faced by married women.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that the median age of death for non-married men in 1992 was 52.2 years, but the figure leaps to 72.5 years for married men. However, never-married Australian women live slightly longer than married women (74.2 years to 70.1 years). Findings of the Australian National Health Strategy show that: “Both men and women who are married have much lower standardised death rates than those who are not. Compared with their married counterparts, never-married men have a death rate which is 124% higher and divorced/widowed men have a death rate which is 102% higher; never-married women have a death rate which is 91% higher and divorced widowed women have a death rate which is 49% higher.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare study of 1994 found that never-married and previously married people had mortality rates twice that of married people. An Australian Bureau of Statistics study reported the following: “In 1996 married people overall experienced lower death rates than those who were divorced, widowed or never married. Males aged between 20 and 69 years who had never married experienced death rates two to four times higher than those who were married.”
