The Record Newspaper 14 November 2007

‘Teachers’

Archbishop urges

Warns against “rising tide of secularism”, urges teachers and catechists to protect our youth.

■ By Anthony Barich

Archbishop Barry Hickey has identified key priorities for Religious Education in the Archdiocese of Perth.

Addressing teachers, catechists and youth workers at the Catholic Pastoral Centre on November 3, the Archbishop said RE teachers must be practising Catholics; need ongoing formation, training and an informed understanding of catechesis and evangelisation; he also stressed the system atic use of Religious Education textbooks.

Linking these points with John Paul II’s New Evangelisation, the Archbishop said he was pleased that these foundational areas were already present in the Archdiocese, but urged educators to be conscious of the “rising tide of secularism that threatens both societal and personal wellbeing”.

To combat this, he said, the vocation and catechetical efforts of teachers must always be Christo-centric.

So that young people are not lost to a Catholic culture, Archbishop Hickey implored that “we must ensure that they have solid, not shallow foundations” that need to be strengthened through Catholic education.

“Although there are many challenges, especially external ones, we must always work in response to these challenges, work ing for the mission of the Church,” the Archbishop said.

He emphasised the need to “commit new energies and vigor in proclaiming Christ to all people”, and said that the rising tide against Christianity makes this task all the more urgent.

Continued - Page 12

vital duty’

teachers, catechists, to lay solid foundations for young

Gerry steps into server’s shoes

■ By Sylvia Defendi

When long-serving acolyte

Felix Notarangelo, of St Francis Xavier’s Church in East Perth, passed away after over 30 years of service, the small parish felt a loss that was only filled by its youngest parishioner.

Hector Gerard (Gerry) Divinagracia, was only seven years old when he took a great interest in what he describes as “uncle Felix’s job.” He would often help Felix and his wife Maria with many odd jobs to help keep the small church looking tidy throughout the week. But it was not until Felix died at the end of last year that Gerry said he felt a calling to serve his parish. Now eight years old, Gerry describes his simple but foundational role within the parish community as one of service to the king of kings. Although his service only spans a few years, he is admired by parishioners for his generous nature and commitment to his job.

Recalling that same service, which her husband gave until his death, Mrs Notarangelo said Felix would only be too happy to know that Gerry had taken over.

“Felix and I had been parishioners for almost 50 years, when he passed away. It brings me such joy to see Gerry doing his best to see that the work Felix put into this church never fades,” she said.

Sisters reach out to the unloved

But of course, the problem won’t happen here

n By Victor Gaetan

ROME (CNS) - With her hair dyed an unnatural shade of red and a thin green shawl draped over her, Carmelite Sister Begona Arroya stands out among nuns in a convent overlooking St Peter’s Square.

But when she is ministering in southern Spain to prostitutes from all over the world, she blends right in.

“I dress so I won’t intimidate the women I need to reach,” said Sister Begona, 41, with a smile. “I have no office, just a mobile phone and a car.”

Good Shepherd Sister Magdalena Barsan Bilibok, 28, of Romania is studying in Italy. She participates in a street outreach group in Rome that befriends exploited women.

“There are places in Rome where men in cars come to buy sex and there are many, many women, all from foreign countries, lined up to go with them,” said Sister Magdalena. “Of course, pimps are behind almost all the girls on the streets.

“It is so terrible. The girls get in the car, and when they come back, most look completely gone, like

Continued - Page 12

inside

HER LOVE WILL TRIUMPH

The new Chapel of the Innocents at Yangebup’s Mater Christi parish, erected through the generosity of so many, is close to completion and will be dedicated on November 18. Despite the tragedy of her death, Sofia Rodrigues-Urrutia Shu has united thousands. Page 9

PHOTO: SYLVIA DEFENDI

I ndex Index

Refugee story - Page 5

New Catholic online journal - Page 7

Editorial/Letters - Page 8

‘Bella’ film review - VISTA 1

Blessed Jagastatter - VISTA 2-3

Opinion - VISTA 4

A day with Sr Damien - Page 13

Panorama - Page 14

Classifieds - Page 15

Ursula Frayne students ready for WYD

Students at Ursula Frayne Catholic College have had a taste of what it will be like to be at WYD 2008 by participating in a formation weekend last week.

The College is sending 28 students, 5 staff and 2 parents to the international event in Sydney in June next year.

Rosa Ranieri, the Religious Education Coordinator, saw the need to prepare the pilgrims logistically and spiritually for this significant event.

Together with Vicky Burrows, Young Christian Students’ co-ordinator for Perth, they produced a four-part program titled ‘Young Christian Students Centred in Christ - Towards World Youth Day’.

The aim of the program was to make World Youth Day a meaningful experience through reflection and action and to prepare them for the logistic and pastoral dimension of Sydney 2008.

The pilgrims slept on the floor in the College gym on Friday and Saturday night.

Anita Parker, WYD Co-ordinator for Perth, opened the weekend by sharing her own experiences on WYD and wished them well on their journey. Vicky Burrows then led them through 3 sessions until Saturday afternoon.

Three key areas were focused upon:

l Our lives as young people

Ursula Frayne students prepare for WYD

Pilgrimage

Ursula Frayne students prepare for WYD

Being Church.

The Parish The Nation The World

Pilgrims spent the rest of Saturday planning fundraising ideas, designing the pilgrim windcheater and looking at ways to bring the WYD experience to the College community.

As an extra activity the WYD office in Perth requested that the pilgrims come up with a banner that could be used to show other

schools what they will be asked to do next year. The students were enthusiastic in their approach to this and came up with a slogan, ‘Think as One, Work as One, Walk as One’, showing that as a group centred in the one body of Christ we can achieve great things together.

One of the highlights of the weekend was experiencing the practice of Adoration. Deacon Aaron Peters led them through a very meditative and creative session.

On Sunday morning they listened to a testimony by Clare Cole who attended WYD at

Cologne. This was useful, as Clare outlined the need to have patience and embrace every moment and opportunity.

The weekend concluded with the students attending Mass with their parents at St Joachim’s Pro-Cathedral followed by a shared lunch.

Pilgrims will have similar weekends in March and June 2008.

The whole Ursula Frayne Catholic College community is involved in this program, as WYD is about empowering everyone, parents students and teachers.

A range of internal chapel, external garden and family crypts set within a dignified and restful ambience. A beautiful place for eternal repose.

A limited number of crypts are priced from $15,250.00. Pre-purchasing is advised to secure a preferred location.

Please contact Fremantle Cemetery on (08) 9319 0400 to schedule a private consultation.

Addicts need God, say researchers

Addicts may need God to overcome their compulsive behaviour, some New Zealand academics have conceded.

Writing in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, Professor Doug Sellman and colleagues at Otago University say that a defining feature of a drug addiction is that “behaviour appears to become increasingly driven by forces outside the person’s conscious control… No wonder some believe that only a force as big

as God is sufficient for recovery to occur.”

This has been the experience of Alcoholics Anonymous, they argue, and counsellors should be careful not to dismiss such beliefs in their clients.

The authors told an addiction conference in Auckland that belief in an ideal imbued with spiritual meaning was “a universal human trait found in every human society throughout recorded time”.

“It’s tapping into that, and helping people get a new vision of themselves as people, a new future for their lives, that is an important part of what is behind recovery,” said Dr Sellman.  FAMILYEDGE

Ready to go: The Ursula Frayne Catholic College World Youth Day pilgrims pose in the school’s grounds with their replica of the WYD Cross, which is currently travelling around Australia.

PHOTO: COURTESY URSULA FRAYNE COLLEGE

Walking With Love symposium postponed

■ By Anthony Barich

Walking With Love, the National Symposium discussing alternatives and responses to abortion, has been postponed from November 17 to February 16, as further logistical preparation is required. It will be held as planned at the Boulevarde Centre, on the lower level of of the Floreat Forum Shopping Centre.

The educational symposium’s title, Walking with Love, describes the loving, gentle way in which we are called to support vulnerable pregnant women including their husbands, partners and families to choose life.

Bishop Eugene Hurley of Darwin, the chair of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference’s Commission for Pastoral Life, who launched the symposium, was in Perth recently to film the DVD - that will accompany the forums - at the University of Notre Dame Australia in Fremantle.

The symposiums involve the embrace and support of those who

suffer the effects of an abortion.

Walking with Love is a call to each and every Catholic to offer positive ways of freeing women to make life-affirming decisions when they are pregnant to offer real alternatives to abortion through assistance, support during pregnancy and after birth and embrace all who suffer after an abortion.

Walking with Love seeks to educate all people of goodwill about the Church’s teaching and pastoral responses to pregnancy and abortion by illuminating the way in which we are to live this in reality through walking with love with others who need our love and support.

Through education and dialogue, Walking with Love seeks to foster closer working relationships and support for women, their husbands or partners, families, friends, parishes, service providers, professionals, and pro-life groups.

Symposia are being conducted in every capital city of AustraliaFor more info log on to walkingwithlove.org.au.

King

Staunch adorer retires

Betty Goddard, a great adorer and model for people young and old shares her love for the Eucharist.

“Eucharistic

Adoration is a wonderful privilege.”

These are the words uttered with great animation by soft-spoken Betty Goddard, who has made the Blessed Sacrament the centre of her personal life, but is now retiring as an adorer of the Blessed Sacrament at St Joseph’s Bassendean.

“Adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament is different from Holy Mass,” she says, “with its intimate feeling when sometimes being the only one there with Jesus.”

For Betty, it is a “wonderful

Here at the Bullsbrook Shrine Sunday 21st November at 2.30pm

privilege to be able to just kneel in front of the Blessed Sacrament.”

Although born in Edinburgh, Scotland, she celebrated her first birthday in Bayswater, WA where she has continued to live her life of 85 years - “a happy life and beautiful parents”, she says as the sole family survivor of five sisters and one brother.

Her mother was a convert from Methodism.

She attended Queen of Martyrs Parish School in Maylands and St Joseph High School at Victoria Square in Perth before attending Business College.

She worked from the ages of 16 to 19 and then joined the air force and served four years during WWII until 1946.

She married William Joseph Francis Goddard in 1948. Betty has fond memories of their aroundthe-world cruise together in 1967.

Of their three children, a son lives in Canberra and an unmarried daughter still lives with her in Bayswater.

She has served as a volunteer with Shopfront, Maylands.

She has been a frequent adorer of the Blessed Sacrament at All Saints Chapel, Allendale Square on St George’s Terrace, Perth, through

past years. But what is remarkable is her dedication to the roster at St Joseph’s Perpetual Adoration Chapel.

From the very first day of the Chapel’s inauguration three years ago on the Feast of Corpus Christi, on June 13, 2004, she has never missed her hour of adoration.

At 85, rain or shine, every Saturday she walks 15 minutes to the Bayswater train station to travel to the Bassendean train station and walks nearly another 15 minutes to the Perpetual Adoration Chapel for her 11am Holy Hour. Her dedication inspires many of the younger persons to imitate her fidelity. All the Adorers salute her as does St Joseph’s Parish in asking God to bless her and keep her well. There is always the need for persons to fill-in, particularly holiday time.

The Adoration Chapel of St Joseph’s Parish is grateful for people wishing to help as regular Eucharistic Adorers or substitutes.

Any interested or potential adorers are asked to call Tina Russo 6278 1013/0419 004 944, email marianfaithful@hotmail.com.

For details of Adoration in other suburbs contact Fr Doug Harris 9444 6131.

I’m John Hughes, WA’s most trusted car dealer

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

Is it true I have my own finance company to assist good people with poor credit to buy cars from me?.

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

Is it true that I refuse to sell any vehicle that has had previous major accident damage?

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

Is it true “I want your business and I’m prepared to pay for it” and “I stand behind every car I sell”?

Is it true that every year for the last 20 consecutive years I have been Australia’s top selling Hyundai dealer?

Holy Mass, Eucharistic Procession and Consecration.

Holy Mass, Eucharistic Procession and Consecration.

Bishop P. Quinn and Rev Fr Tobin Concelebrating. Everyone is most welcome.

Bishop P. Quinn and Rev Fr Tobin Concelebrating. Everyone is most welcome. At the Bullsbrook Shrine 36 Chittering Road, Bullsbrook Sunday 25th November at 2pm

Christmas tree ornaments from Caritas Australia give you the chance to change the lives of people right across the world.

Christmas is about giving and sharing and Caritas Australia’s Global Gifts will enable you to give the gift of Play to children in Bolivia, the gift of Joy to Indigenous Australians in Balgo, the gift of Peace to the child victims of war in Northern Uganda and the gift of a healthier Environment to the people of India. When you purchase our Global Gifts you receive a packet of five Christmas tree decorations which you can give to loved ones as a present, or hang on your own family tree. For a tax deductible gift of just $50 support Caritas Australia and change the world.

St Vinnies get in the trenches to help migrants flee desperate situations

Despite the unthinkable and upsetting nature of her family story, 20year-old Rwandan Sara sat bravely with her brother to share the story of her family journey to Perth.

Sara, one of ten extended family members to settle in Australia in February last year, was one of six siblings living with her parents when the Rwanda Genocide hit in 1994. The St Vincent de Paul Society has been helping migrants and refugees like Sara since 1948 by supplying them with household goods, emergency clothing, emergency loans, advocacy, friendship and support as they start their new life in WA.

Over the last financial year a wide range of household goods was provided for 1605 Refugees, including 831 children. The refugees assisted came from 21 different ethnic groups, including Sudanese, Burmese, Liberian,

Congolese, Burundian, Afghani, Sierra Leonean, Eritrean, Somali, Iraqi, Iranian, Ethiopian, Rwandan and Togolese. It is a timely reminder of the needs of those without our everday luxuries, then, that the Society launches its 2007 Christmas Appeal with the opening of the new Bunbury Depot and Vinnies Centre on November 30 in Bunbury.

When the genocide hit, Sara recalls people running for their lives through bushland. Separated from her parents, Sara ran away with her three sisters and baby brother; and as the attackers were killing boys and men first, they dressed their baby brother David as a little girl.

Amid all the chaos, a person from Sara’s village told her that her mother had been killed and thrown down a deep toilet shaft. The killers disposed of many bodies this way, she said. Sara’s mother was believed to have been carrying her baby sister at the time.

Until this day Sara and her sur-

viving siblings do not know what happened to their father. The last time they saw their older sister she was badly injured in a forest needing medical attention that simply wasn’t available at the time.

As they fled to escape the slaughter, Sara and her two siblings were found and taken in to the care of Catholic nuns in a very large Mission. Their third sister was missing; unbeknown to them she was elsewhere in the same Mission. The Mission was very crowded with orphans and people in danger and Sara remembers that it wasn’t long before the Mission was desperately short of food and water.

In 1996 when the Genocide was over and it was safe to move, Sara and her 2 siblings were taken to an orphanage where they were reunited with their other surviving sister. After one year their auntie came and found them and they returned to Rwanda to live with their auntie and uncle, but there was very little food for everyone.

In 2003 Sara, her two surviving siblings (excluding younger brother, David) and her extended family fled to Uganda where their Uncle applied for visas to enter Australia as refugees.

Sara said the time following the Genocide in Rwanda and Uganda was awful, but they had little choice for their lives, as they had no parents and no money. She worried the whole time about her young brother who had been left in Rwanda with members of their father’s family. Through a lengthy and very lucky turn of events, David was eventually smuggled to them, hidden under a seat on a truck that was travelling across the border to Uganda.

Shortly after David was reunited with Sara and her two sisters, the family visas arrived. David had however arrived too late and was without a visa so he went in to care at a school in Uganda while his sisters and extended family boarded the plane for Perth.

A few months after their arrival in Australia the St Vincent de Paul Society’s Migrant and Refugee Committee met with Sara and her sisters and began to support them in the process of bringing their brother to join them in Perth. This was done through the Christian Brothers Loan Scheme. The process was lengthy and expensive; involv-

The Liberal Government:

ing the immigration application and subsequent travel.

These considerable costs would have been impossible for the girls to meet had it not been for the support of the Interest Free Loans Schemes that are provided through the St Vincent de Paul Society and Christian Brothers. Eventually David was granted a visa and arrived in Australia in September 2007.

Now happily reunited, Sara and her siblings have started to rebuild their lives in Australia.

The Migrant and Refugee Committee, a Special Work of the St Vincent de Paul Society works tirelessly to welcome and support newly arrived families and individuals. A vital element of this support is the help provided through the Interest Free Loans Schemes that meant so much for Sara and her siblings. The Welcome to Australia Picnic is another of the Committee’s initiatives where refugees come together to make friends and share experiences in a day of festivities. Sara and her siblings attended the most recent picnic held in Carine, some weeks ago.

Briefly...

Last call for Bill

Arally from Wesley Church in Perth city to Parliament House will be staged this Thursday (November 15) from 12pm to 1pm in a final community effort to mobilise forces to protest against WA’s Parliament decriminalising brothels.

The procession from Wesley Church (corner William St and Hay St) will arrive at Parliament House at 1pm to coincide with the Bill being debated in Parliament.

Debate on the Prostitution Amendment Bill started on Tuesday this week and is expected to continue throughout the week.

Attendance in the public gallery of Parliament House is encouraged to show politicians the strength of community opposition to the Prostitution Amendment Bill.

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament to pray for the Bill is available from 5.30pm-11pm at All Saints Chapel, Allendale Square, 77 St George’s Terrace (entrance by pathway at left side of Allendale Square).

Supporting Australian families

With its proven experience of growing our $1.1 trillion economy, a re-elected Liberal Government will continue to support families by:

� Maintaining education standards and committing to record funding for Catholic schools and the School Chaplaincy Programme;

��Delivering $30 billion in Family Tax Benefit assistance to low and

��Combating illicit drug use by being tough on drugs.

We want you: Migrants enjoyed a warm welcome at the recent Welcome to Australia Picnic. PHOTO PROVIDED BY ST VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY

Patron still inspires current, future clergy

During the Catholic CounterReformation an astonishingly young Milanese Cardinal helped lead the charge for the Catholic Church. Five hundred years later, his prayer life remains an inspiration to Australian priests, and those in training.

By Anthony Barich

The feast of the archdiocesan seminary’s patron, St Charles Borromeo, saw over 130 bishops, priests and our future clergymen unite in a special way last Sunday.

November 4 marked the feast day of a man who became Cardinal-deacon at the age of just 20.

It was also the day on which priests and bishops from around Western Australia gathered for the biggest annual gathering of WA clergy at St Joseph’s Church in Bassendean.

Even Oblate of Mary Immaculate Father Don Hughes, the St Charles Seminary rector who recently celebrated 50 years of priesthood at St Patrick’s Basilica in Fremantle, said he still gets a “spiritual lift” every time this Mass is celebrated.

For the occasion, Archbishop Barry Hickey gave a sermon that focused on St Charles Borromeo’s renowned prayer life, which underpinned his pastoral care of people not only in the Vatican but in his massive Archdiocese of Milan.

Fr Hughes told The Record that although St Charles Borromeo is not the patron saint of seminarians or

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priests, he is an appropriate “unofficial” patron of priests and seminary students primarily because he made putting the decrees of the Council of Trent into practice, espepcially those affecting the training of priests, a personal priority.

He was also one of the key players in the Catholic CounterReformation.

That he achieved all of this, and more, before his death at the age of 46, is “an outstanding example for our priests and students”, Fr Hughes said.

When he became Cardinal-deacon at age 20, several orders were placed under his protection, including the Franciscans, the Carmelites and the Knights of Jerusalem.

“It’s a great lift,” Fr Hughes said.

“I hear that so many times from the priests at this Mass; it’s the only gathering of clergy on that scale, and they come from all the dioceses, even from Broome, Geraldton and Bunbury.

“It also gives a lift to the students to see and serve the Mass, to be an integral part of the life of the Church.”

The attending bishops included former Bishops of Bunbury Myles McKeon and Peter Quinn (retired), Auxiliary Donald Sproxton of Perth, Justin Bianchini of Geraldton and Christopher Saunders of Broome.

Jubilarians were also acknowledged and blessed by almost 130 priests and bishops, including Bishop McKeon, the former Auxiliary Bishop of Perth and first Bishop of Bunbury.

The golden jubilarians who received the blessing were Mgr Peter McCrann, Frs Don Hughes OMI, John Reynolds OPraem, Tom Gaine (from Ireland but absent).

Meanwhile, Mgr Tim Corcoran, Frs Vincent Conroy, Brian Ahern, Marcellinus Meilak OFM, Placid Spearritt OSB and Leo Curran OFM (absent) celebrated 40 years while Paul Raj and Peter Stiglich (OPraem), who were absent, Tony Chiera, Vincent Glynn, Tom Smith, Anthony Lovis OSB, Gaetan Pereira SJ and Paul Maunder OCD each marked 25 years in the priesthood over the past year.

Band of brothers: Priests and bishops form all over Western Australia gather to mark the feast of the patron of St Charles Seminary in Guildford. Here, the priests stand to pray over the Jubillarians who have celebrated 50, 40 and 25-year anniversaries of their priesthood in 2007.

Catholic tertiary students unveil new online journal

The Australian Catholic Students Association (ACSA) last week unveiled its latest project, the bi-monthly online journal New Springtime

A collaborative effort between ACSA and the Australian Catholic Young Adults Network (ACYA), New Springtime is intended to be a forum for students and young adults to read about and contribute to Catholic life, and particularly the expression of faith in society and the wider culture.

James Baxter, managing editor of New Springtime, said that “as young Catholics, we are often uninspired by much of the content and opinions expressed in the mainstream press, and of course on the Internet.

Our aim is to counter that by publishing articles which express the truth and joy of the Christian message.”

A variety of topics are covered in the inaugural edition of New Springtime , including ‘Human Rights…Where did they go wrong?’ by David Collits, and ‘The Practice of Modesty’ by Helen Sidhu.

The journal’s title is a phrase often used by Pope John Paul II in anticipation of a Catholic renaissance that lies ahead for the Church, and most famously used in his 1979 encyclical Redemptor Hominis

Earlier this year in Loreto, Italy, Pope Benedict XVI also called on pilgrims to prepare for World Youth Day “by meditating on the message

which examines in depth the theme of the Holy Spirit, to live together a new springtime of the Spirit.”

ACSA President Camillus O’Kane said that “the impact of next year’s World Youth Day will continue to be felt in Australia for years to come. It will usher in a new springtime for Australian Catholics.”

“With the launch of this journal, ACSA has planted a seed which we hope will grow in the future, to help students and young adults across Australia in their spiritual and intellectual formation, and to enhance their ability to proclaim the Christian message with strength and clarity,” he said.

The journal New Spingtime can be found online at: www.newspringtime.org.au

WA schools mark day for those who suffer

By Francis Leong, Catholic Mission

Student leaders from 81 Catholic metropolitan and country primary and secondary schools gathered to celebrate the Church’s mission work for children. The annual Feast of the Missionary Childhood, also known as Children’s Mission Day, was marked on October 24 in Perth with students from the the Archdiocese of Perth and the Diocese of Bunbury.

Participants gathered at Our Lady of the Mission Church in Craigie to express their support for the hundreds of Australian

missionaries currently serving in poverty-stricken and war-torn countries overseas and their solidarity with the millions of children throughout the world who are suffering every day because of poverty, preventable diseases and violence.

Perth Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton, the main celebrant, complimented the large gathering of students for their genuine and passionate concern for children who are the victims of injustice. Their presence was a clear sign of their growing and authentic faith in Christ, and augurs well for the spiritual preparation of Australia’s young people for World Youth Day 2008, he said.

Online: This is the home page of the New Springtime journal launched by the Australian Catholic Students Association.

Solidarity: Perth and Bunbury students mark Children’s Mission Day.

PHOTO: COURTESY CATHOLIC MISSION PERTH

Perspectives

Belief: Understanding

UArchbishop Barry Hickey has started a series of talks on Belief and the Catholic faith.The new series and all his previous talks can be viewed on www.perthcatholic.org.au.

nlike the perfect faith of Mary, ours tends to be somewhat erratic, open to challenge and to apathy. However, there is much we can do to protect, strengthen and develop our faith. Religious lifeprayer, Mass, the Sacraments – is the surest aid because these things build our personal relationship with Jesus, who is the reason and purpose of our belief.

But sometimes people abandon religious practice at the first sign of difficulty or the first rebellion of self.

Knowledge and understanding are natural allies of faith. Human reason and will must be fed by the intellect with trustworthy knowledge.

If we let knowledge of our faith stop at the point where it was when we left school, the few intellectual resources we have will fade and we will have little to fall back on when the inevitable criticisms, distortions and challenges flood in from the media and other sources.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a great resource to have at home whenever matters of belief arise in our own minds or the minds of others.

Catholic books, newspapers and magazines are also valuable because they keep us aware of the life of the Church around the world.

This is known as the information age because we are flooded with information through the means of mass communication. We need to take positive steps to ensure that we get a steady diet of information that really matters from reliable sources.

The story of our faith is the most complete, beautiful and joyful description of the value and purpose of human life. It reveals how all things are related to the love of God in a harmony that is neither understood nor proclaimed elsewhere.

THE RECORD

PO Box 75

Leederville, WA 6902

cathrec@iinet.net.au

Tel: (08) 9227 7080

Fax: (08) 9227 7087

As well as the beauty it offers us in this life, our story gives us a sense of the incomprehensible wonder of the next life.

Our faith is one of mysteries, but a mystery is not something we cannot understand. It is something we cannot understand fully at any given time. Learning and living our belief opens the mysteries little by little.

Belief: Morality

One of the forces undermining belief is the current misunderstanding of morality and the tendency to resent the idea that there could be a moral law which a rational person would give assent to and do his best to live up to.

It is not possible to live a spiritual life without living a moral life.

All of humanity has a natural sense of right and wrong, and all societies expect their members to abide by some moral principles.

That sense of right and wrong, or the moral sense, is not as well developed in some societies as in others – and our ability to abide by what we know is right and wrong also fluctuates.

Nevertheless, human reason can arrive at a heightened and clear sense of what is true according to our nature, and can propose this understanding for the good of the individual and of society.

Fundamental to this moral standard is respect for human life – each and every human life from conception to natural death. If we do not value life, we do not have a foundation for valuing the way people choose to express their life.

Then comes the truthfulness of our word, our undertakings and our behaviour towards one another, truthfulness that respects the value of the other person as well as our own integrity.

Perhaps the highest commitment to truth is marriage – when two people agree to combine in love the fullness of their lives and to commit themselves to the care of their children.

Christian morality, which combines both reason and revelation, leads us to the realisation that God’s love for us is the foundation of all goodness and is therefore the greatest moral guide.

letters

to the editor Around t he tabl e

Where have they gone?

Adisturbing and disappointing feature of the Federal Election is that there are few Catholics standing as candidates. To the best of knowledge only four (7.4 per cent) of the 54 candidates for the Senate are practising Catholics. They are Bob Boulger and Eric Miller for the Democratic Labor Party (DLP); Peter Watt for the Christian Democratic Party (CDP) and Senator Bishop for the Australian Labor Party (ALP).

I say to the best of my knowledge with the reservation that

Journal looks for a home

St Charles’ Seminary Library has an excess of back numbers of the Australasian Catholic Record. Some issues go back as far as the 1920s. We would be happy to give copies to a deserving and caring home. No charge although a donation would be accepted. I am contactable on 9279 1310 or through admin@seminaryperth.org.au

Dianne Harper

Librarian

Editor: The ACR should not be confused with this Record.

there may be some others who may be Catholics, but I have seen no indication of their public proclamation.

That the percentage is so low reveals that the good Catholics do not participate in the political fabric of the country.

There is no Catholic social apostolate, which is a reason why the Parliaments have been able to pass laws that have hurt families and destroyed many marriages; legalized the killing of unborn babies; flooded the country with destructive pornography and most recently allowed the creation of human embryos with

the determination that they be killed.

It is predictable that we will soon see our Parliaments legalise prostitution, euthanasia and homosexual marriages.

We should support those courageous Catholics like Boulger, Miller and Watt who have put their heads on the block without seeking reward and applaud the long struggle of Senator Bishop, who has won selection against powerful and determined opposition.

Brian A Peachey Woodlands

Life’s struggles no match for committed couple

By Sylvia Defendi

To their family and friends Mac and Margaret MacFarlaine are a constant in an ever-changing world.

Yet as the couple prepares to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary they recall the many obstacles they faced as a young couple.

A British soldier, Mac was stationed in Penang, Malaysia during 1947, when he met Margaret. It was love at first sight and he reportedly told his army buddy that this was the lady he was going to marry.

“Fundamental to to this moral standard moral is respe ct for human is respect for human life – each and e ver y life – each and every human life from human life conception to natu- to natural death. If we do ral death. If we not value life, we do not value we do not have a founda- not have a tion for valuing the tion for the way pe ople choose way people choose to express their life.” to express their life.”

With that understanding we come full circle so that belief guides our moral choices, and morality leads us ever deeper into belief and relationship with love itself.

There are many forces at work against morality in our society, but this means only that we must work harder to strengthen its place in our lives and to stand firm against falsehood and scorn.

However, Margaret was a Catholic, while Mac was Anglican. He was from India and she from a small Malaysian village, and neither had any money. Challenges aside, they decided to get married within a few weeks.

Mac wanted to get married in his church, while Margaret in hers, but a novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help changed all that. On the third day, Margaret’s prayers were answered when Mac came to her one night asking to see a Catholic priest.

Mac became part of the Church on November 15, 1947 and the couple was wed two days later with a very simple ceremony at the early hours of 6.30am.

Since that day the couple have lived in India and many parts of Malaysia but moved to Perth in 1978, where they have lived since with their four daughters, four sons, 14 grand-

children and five great grandchildren. “Dad was always a very hard working man and even had to leave his family for years at a time to provide for them. It was very difficult, but to their credit, the family has remained very united,” daughter Yolanda Vyner said.

At 86 and 79 respectively, Mac and Margaret will be celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary almost a month later, on December 16 with family and friends visiting from across the globe. Asked for their secret to a happy and life-long marriage, Margaret said simply, “never let the sun set on an argument and remember that true love is commitment.”

Forever: Mac and Margaret - still full of love for one another (above) and as a newly wed couple below.

PHOTO:SYLVIA DEFENDI.

Vista 1

Hero

Before October almost no-one had ever heard of him. Now this motorbike-riding Austrian farmer who stood against the whole Nazi agenda, even when pressured by bishops and priests, has been declared Blessed by the Church.

More than just a love story

Against the odds, a Latino love story won the People’s Choice Award at Toronto. Don’t be surprised if it turns up at this year’s Oscars.

Bella takes place on a typical weekday in New York City, where everyone is in a hurry to get somewhere, oblivious to the troubled woman who doesn’t make it to work on time. Nina (Tammy Blanchard), a waitress in an upscale Mexican restaurant, is overwhelmed by the discovery that she is pregnant, and stares at the test in disbelief, as the clock ticks.

Arriving late to work the second day in a row, she gets into an argument with Manny (Manny Perez), the restaurant owner, and is fired. Jose (Eduardo Verastegui), Manny’s brother, who works as the restaurant’s chef, goes outside to see what the trouble is, and impulsively follows Nina into the subway, abandoning the lunch shift and offering to help her find a job.

The emotional complexity of Bella far surpasses the formulaic plots which have lately stunted romantic drama in Hollywood.

At first, things are awkward between Nina and Jose, who despite working together, are

virtual strangers, but soon their journey takes on a life of its own. Jose, whose eyes are haunted by tragedy, begins to see the beauty in life - which he, in his grief, has missedthanks to an outspoken blind man who asks Nina to describe in detail what she sees.

The conversation between the couple deepens as they leave the city and Jose finds himself admitting the source of shame he has carried for four years, the tragic mistake which cut short his promising career as a professional soccer player.

This searing disclosure stuns Nina and challenges her assumptions about where her own life is going. She discovers there is more than one tragedy stalking the residents of New York and risks becoming hurt in another relationship. Eduardo Verastegui, popular Mexican pop-star and television novella actor, breaks free of the playboy stereotype of his first Hollywood film, Chasing Papi, by playing the reclusive, vulnerable Jose.

Tammy Blanchard is compelling as Nina, the hardened New Yorker. The pair’s riveting chemistry is one reason why Bella won the coveted People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival.

The emotional complexity of Bella far surpasses the formulaic plots which have lately stunted romantic drama in Hollywood, and which, light on plot, tend to rely too heavily on body heat and star power for interest.

The audience is challenged to reconcile recurrent flashbacks, discerning between fantasy and reality, piecing together events in a demanding intellectual style reminiscent of

a Bergman film. The lighthearted interaction of veteran actors Angelica Aragon and Jaime Terelli as Jose and Manny’s parents presents an engaging view of Latino families rarely depicted in Hollywood, where family dysfunction, violence, and juvenile delinquency are seen as the norm.

Bella was awarded the Legacy Award for emerging talent by the Smithsonian Institute Latino Centre for contribution to Latino culture, and won high praise by Latino icon Edward James Olmos at this year’s Miami International Film Festival.

Visually impressionistic, with edgy cinematography, and jarring cross-cutting camera technique, Bella is interwoven with evocative ethnic imagery, which, supported by a powerful score, insures that the impact of the film will remain with the audience long afterwards. Bella is the first feature film of director Alejandro Monteverde, a childhood friend of Verastegui, who, with former Fox business manager, Leo Severino, formed an independent film company called Metanoia Films. Their aim was to create films which have a positive impact on society.

In their first attempt at a film together, the three amigos have achieved cinematic gold. Look for future productions of Metanoia Films, and don’t be surprised if Bella follows in the footsteps of Life is Beautiful, another Toronto Film Festival award winner, and gets in line at this year’s Oscars.

Velasquez is a homeschooling mother based in the US and part time college professor of English as a Second Language - Mercatornet

Leticia

Watch this space: Mexican pop star Eduardo Verastegui plays Jose in Bella, a movie that is already being talked about as a dark horse for the Oscars - surprisingly because of its pro-life inspiration and theme, not popular in a shallow industry that avoids tough ethical dilemnas like abortion and goes in far more for sweet, syrupy moralising.

In October Cardinal Saraiva Martins, head of the Vatican’s Congregation for Saints’ Causes, presided over the beatification of a little-known figure: Franz Jagerstatter.

An Austrian farmer, Jagerstatter was executed by the Nazis in 1943 for refusing to fight in Hitler’s army on the grounds that it was against his faith. This is his story...

Franz Jägerstätter 1907 – 1943

Making decisions and taking responsibility based on faith

Franz Jägerstätter was born on 20th May 1907 in St Radegund, Upper Austria (Diocese of Linz), as the child of the unmarried farm maidservant Rosalia Huber.

Being a maid and a farm labourer, she and the father, Franz Bachmeier, could not afford to marry. The child’s grandmother, Elisabeth Huber, a loving, pious woman of wide interests, undertook to bring up the child.

There was a great deal of hunger and hardship in the region during the First World War. At school, Franz suffered discrimination because of his poverty.

everyday life. Franziska says of this time: “We helped one another go forward in faith.”

From 1941, Franz was also the sacristan at St Radegund. Three daughters were born to the couple: Rosalia (1937), Maria (1938) and Aloisia (1940). Franz once said: “I could never have imagined that being married could be so wonderful.”

Right from the very beginning, Jägerstätter refused to cooperate or support the Nazis, who took over power in Austria in 1938, as he viewed Christianity and Nazism as being completely irreconcilable. In fact, he had a dream which he felt was a warning to him against Nazism: in it, he saw a train carrying innumerable people to perdition, and its meaning was “unveiled” to him as representing the Nazi Party with all its attached organisations.

In 1940, Jägerstätter was conscripted to perform military service, but was twice brought home by the authorities in his home village, on the grounds of his “reserved civilian occupation” as a farmer. He did not wish to obey a third conscription order, for he regarded fighting and killing so that Hitler could rule the whole world as a sin.

In 1917, his mother wedded the farmer Heinrich Jägerstätter, who on marrying her, adopted his wife’s son. Inspired by his (adoptive) grandfather, Franz showed great interest in books as an adolescent, including religious literature. He inherited the farm from his adoptive father.

From 1927 to 1930, Franz Jägerstätter worked in the iron ore industry in Eisenerz (Styria, Austria). There, he felt spiritually and religiously uprooted and went through a crisis which made him question his faith and the meaning of life. In 1930, he returned to his home village with a deepened belief in God.

In 1933, Franz fathered a child out of wedlock, Hildegard. The mother of the child was Theresia Auer, a maidservant on a farm in the neighbourhood; she later said “We parted from one another in peace; he begged my forgiveness.” Father and daughter enjoyed a good relationship.

In 1935, he met Franziska Schwaninger, a farmer’s daughter from the neighbouring village of Hochburg. They married on Holy Thursday, 1936. At his suggestion, they traveled to Rome for their honeymoon.

“I could never have imagined that being married could be so wonderful.”

Back in Austria they ran the Leherbauernhof farm together. His marriage marked a turning point in Franz Jägerstätter’s life. According to his neighbours, he became a different man. Franz and Franziska prayed together, and the Bible became their book of reference for

His mother, relatives and several priests who were his friends all tried to change his mind. Even though his wife Franziska hoped there would be a way out of the situation, she stood by him in his decision: “If I hadn’t stood by him, he wouldn’t have had anyone at all.”

In extensive writings, Franz explained the reasons for his actions: for him, to fight and kill people so that the godless Nazi regime could conquer and enslave ever more of the world’s peoples would mean becoming personally guilty. Franz prayed, fasted and sought advice.

He also requested a talk with the Diocesan Bishop of Linz, Joseph Calasanz Fliesser. Among other things, the Bishop told Franz that, as the father of a family, it was not his task to decide whether the war was righteous or unrighteous. Franziska accompanied her husband to Linz, but did not take part in his talk with the Bishop.

She remembers the moment when her husband came out of the Bishop’s consulting room: “He was very sad, and said to me: ‘They don’t dare themselves, or it’ll be their turn next.’ Franz’s main impression was that the Bishop did not dare to speak openly, because he didn’t know him – after all, Franz could have been a spy.”

After being conscripted once more, Franz reported to his regular military company at Enns on March 1, 1943, but immediately told his superiors: “that, due to his religious views, he refused to perform military service with a weapon, that he would be acting against his religious conscience were he to fight for the Nazi State... that he could not be both a Nazi and a Catholic... that there were some things in which one must obey God more than men; due to the commandment ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’, he said he could not fight with a weapon. However, he was willing to serve as a military paramedic.” (Excerpt from the reason given for the judgment of the Reich Court-Martial, dated July 6, 1943.)

Franz was then taken to the military

The farmer

The life of Blessed Franz Jagerstatter

remand prison in the former Ursuline convent in Linz. Two months’ prison in Linz, with all the torture and bullying, precipitated a great crisis. The young farmer was in danger of losing his faith. Yet the experience of happiness with Franziska remained with him as a lasting sign of God’s presence.

At the beginning of May, Franz was transferred to the military remand prison in Berlin-Tegel. He asked to be allowed to serve as a paramedic: this request was denied. On July 6, 1943, Franz Jägerstätter was condemned to death for “undermining military morale” and was also “stripped of his worthiness to

serve in the army and of his civil rights.”

Through Father Heinrich Kreutzberg, he learned that one year before the Austrian Pallottine priest Father Franz Reinisch had refused to perform military service for the same reasons and had died for his convictions.

This news gave Franz support and comfort in his situation. The Eucharist, the Bible and a picture of his children became even more important to him during this time.

On August 9, 1943, Franz was taken to Brandenburg and beheaded. Two priests, Father

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Scenes from a life: Franz Jagerstatter, above, third from left, on training exercises in the winter of 1940-41. Sixty seven hangs in Mainz Cathedral during his beatification ceremony, below. He loved the vocation of marriage and family life, onc have imagined that being married was so wonderful.”

Recognition: The highest leaders of the Church in Austria gathered for the occason of Blessed Farnz Jagerstatter’s beatif Church, where he served as sacristan before his imprisonment and execution. Franz Jagerstatter is regarded as a shining

Blessed Franz Jagerstatter

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assumption that the Second World War had not served the interests of the people but, rather, the Nazis’ striving for power. Anyone who, like Jägerstätter, opposes a crime cannot be a criminal, the court said.

From 1989 onwards, the testimonies of those who had known Franz Jägerstätter were gathered. After the Austrian Bishops’ Conference, a historical-theological commission and the Linz Cathedral Chapter had all voted in support of the step, the procedure to beatify Franz Jägerstätter was officially opened in 1997 and was concluded at the diocesan level in June 2001.

The records were then consigned to the Congregation for Sanctification and Beatification in Rome. On June 1, 2007, the Vatican officially confirmed the martyrdom of the Austrian conscientious objector Franz Jägerstätter. His beatification took place in St Mary’s Cathedral (known as the ‘Mariendom’) in Linz on October 26 this year.

In a written statement issued prior to the beatification Bishop Ludwig Schwarz of Linz and Bishop Manfred Scheuer, Postulator of the beatification procedure, said:

“The Church is hereby expressly recognising the courageous attitude of this

faithful man, who still has so much to say to us today.

“The commemoration of Franz Jägerstätter stands within the context of many interrelated aspects: his wife, his children and his family, the Church, through his beatification, questions of saintliness and martyrdom, social and political issues in the examination of our own wartime past, the war generation, inhumanity and the terror of the Nazis, and the ethical and educational issues of war and conscientious objection, nonviolence, peace education and disarmament, of authority, conscience and obedience.”

His own words

These quotes are taken from one of Franz Jägerstätter’s last letters.

“Just as the man who thinks only of this world does everything possible to make life here easier and better, so must we, too, who believe in the eternal Kingdom, risk everything in order to receive a great reward there. Just as those who believe in National Socialism tell themselves that their struggle is for survival, so must we, too, convince ourselves that our struggle is for the eternal Kingdom. But with this difference: we need no rifles or pistols for our battle, but instead, spiritual weapons - and the foremost among these is prayer.... Through prayer, we continually implore new grace from God, since without God’s help and grace it would be impossible for us to preserve the Faith and be true to His commandments....

Franz’s

“Let us love our enemies, bless those who curse us, pray for those who persecute us. For love will conquer and will endure for all eternity. And happy are they who live and die in God’s love.”

In othersʼ eyes

“Franz Jägerstätter is a prophet with a global view and a penetrating insight which very few of his contemporaries had at that time; he is a shining example in his fidelity to the claims of his conscience, an advocate of non-violence and peace, a voice of warning against ideologies, a deep-believing person for whom God really was the core and centre of life. His prophetic witness to Christian truth is based on a clear, radical and far-sighted analysis of the barbarism of the inhuman and godless system of Nazism, its racial delusions, its ideology of war and deification of the state, as well as its declared program of annihilating Christianity and the Church. His educated, mature conscience led him to say a resolute ‘No’ to Nazism and he was executed due to his consistent refusal to take up arms as a soldier in Hitler’s war.”

The face of love: Despite her own great loss, Franz’s wife Franzsiska stood by him when he took his decision. She was present for his beatification and presented some of his relics. Franz’s identity papers and wedding ring are on display in their original home, top right. Meanwhile the photos below show their daughters holding a banner they made for their father while he was in prison. Another shows the Jagerstatter family.

ication. Franz loved life and was keen on motorcycles, being the first person in his village to own one, bottom, centre. His grave today lies against the wall of St Radegund example of the lay vocation and of courage, in contrast to bishops and clergy who were fearful of being seen to disagree too openly with the Nazis.

BEATIFICATION PHOTOS: CNS/REUTERS, FAMILY PHOTOS: DIOCESE OF MAINZ

Diocesan Bishop Ludwig Schwarz and Bishop Manfred Scheuer (postulator of the beatification procedure) in: Franz Jägerstätter – Martyr. A Shining Example in Dark Times

Prophetic?:

letter describing his dream of people on trains going to their destruction

Opinion

An instrument of your peace Be not afraid, kindness wins out

Being

Heard

By John Heard

The Muslim world is

It contains the fruit and strife of 1300 years of history, politics, culture and belief.

There are, on most estimates, 1.3 billion Muslims. Most of these are adherents of the Sunni denomination (85 per cent, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Indonesia), while the rest number between the Shi’a (14 per cent, Persia/Iran, Pakistan, Lebanon) and various other branches, including the mystical Sufi and the obscure Ibadi Muslim ideas sustain a global economy of influence and power.

Muslim thinkers in philosophy, engineering, medicine and literature feature prominently in the history of those disciplines and contemporary Muslim countries like the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan oversee an impressive, and expanding, sphere of economic interest.

Yet Muslims are unlikely to number among most Westerners’ - certainly many Catholics’ - close friends, daily associates and family members.

This is, of course, mainly because of factors beyond ordinary individuals’ control.

Immigration laws across the West remain tight, and are becoming tighter.

There is a sometimes-nasty international suspicion of all things Middle Eastern.

This is fed and carried forward by the irresponsibility of many Muslim groups and the murderous actions of some Muslim individuals.

(As intently as we guard against terrorism, however, we must work to ensure our processes and practices remain as free and fair as Christian charity demands).

Certainly, there are barriers of language, class and religion. Many Westerners find the Muslim world alien.

Muslims remain, as a people, a distinctly unknown quantity. This makes them prone to stereotyping and in some Western nations Muslims suffer outrageous persecution.

Good people cannot mark this gap between Muslims and Westerners, however, and decide to do nothing about it. Inaction is neither morally praiseworthy, nor is it a safe, neutral position to occupy.

Rather, as Christians, we are called into a radical dialogue with our Muslim brothers and sisters.

Certainly we are, as obedient children of the Holy Father and as students of John Paul the Great, challenged to reach beyond our cultural and political limits, and to reach out in love.

For wherever there persists a deep divide between man and man, at those crucial stress-points where

great civilisations butt up against one another, Christians must stand ready to prepare the ground for peace. As St Francis of Assisi prayed:

‘Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy’.

It is of course hope, spoiled by pride, that encourages some Western leaders to harangue their Middle Eastern counterparts to solve, preferably within the relevant political cycle, great, seemingly intractable conflicts. Christians must not offer only that necessarily selfish sort of ‘help’.

Rather, we can discern the chances for peace in the tiny places first, especially where it makes no immediate difference to our wellbeing, then work hard to push love through on a political level.

We can, for instance, complain when we see a racist spoof linked to a devotional Islamic video on YouTube

We can try to shorten the profound distance between Jewish Israeli and Muslim Yemeni colleagues at work.

We can also look within ourselves for the hate we contribute to the wider chaos.

For a shameful racism too often makes Christians ineffective tools for peace in the Muslim world.

By learning more about our Muslim brothers and sisters, we can change our hearts and prepare the way for more fruitful interaction.

It is always harder to ignore someone’s suffering if that person is your friend and it is much easier to stand between two warring parties, to be a true peacemaker, when both sides have come to trust in your integrity and fairness.

Certainly, by becoming skilled in Arabic and Farsi, by exploring the great works of Arab and Muslim culture, by putting off those irrational feelings that are more proper to brute nationalism, secular greed and jingoism, Christians everywhere can demonstrate to an otherwise cynical Muslim world that we are willing to meet them in truth, engaged intensely with those things they wrap up in hope.

Learning and talking does not, of course, mean converting to Islam and/or adopting mistaken postures. The task is not to become part of the problem.

But when we are strong in Christ, and free to follow where the Holy Spirit leads us, we will always call our Muslim friends to the best, the brightest future and carry with us the irresistible promise of peace.

John Heard is a Melbourne writer.

@home

By Catherine Parish

Recently my husband and his colleagues were discussing some of the many tragic stories of the day - the attacks on children, sport star indiscretions, thefts and stabbings on Cottesloe Beach and the sad neglect of a child in the suburbs.

These stories which inevitably receive saturation media coverage make a lasting impression on all of us. Someone asked the general questions to the table,

“What is your opinion of people these days? Are you positive about humanity or are you negative about people? Do you trust others or do you think most people these days are a threat?”

When we are bombarded by tragic news about abuse and corruption, it is a powerful temptation to succumb to a feeling of deep mistrust of our fellow man.

I have seen it myself at my children’s school where more and more parents are approaching interactions with teachers and other parents as a potential combat based on suspicion.

These parents rush frantically about trying to protect their child from everything only to become more and more frustrated as they fail again and again to avert every perceived disaster.

Terrified to let their children be at risk of harm from strangers, other children and unsympathetic care facilities or schools, they make their own lives miserable and instil in their own children a mistrust of others that may blight their lives forever.

My husband then told this story to his colleagues. When we were first married we moved into a little house. Poor but happy, in our naivety we did not realise that the large and beautiful trees that surrounded the property were not so attractive to the council and we reeled when we received an order to have them trimmed away from the power lines.

The tree loppers duly arrived early one morning. The supervisor took one look at us all – me holding our 12-month-old and with another child very obviously on the way - and suggested we go out while they did the job and they would forward us the bill.

We packed into our rusty old car and went off to roam a park and contemplate how we would pay the bill (at that time we used to think we had done well if we had

$20 left at the end of the week!). We returned several hours later to find all the trees neatly lopped and the back garden also trimmed up beautifully.

We looked for the invoice, but all we found was a little note left wedged in the front door. “Buy something for the new baby” was all it said.

We have seen so many similar acts of kindness during our lives from friends, relatives and comparative strangers, from that generous act, to a 90-year-old woman who despite being nearly blind takes books to other elderly people who can’t leave their rooms, that it would be a sin not to see most people as they really are - potentially kind, generous beings who only need the right circumstances to show what love lies within their souls.

We must be positive about people; after all, God created us and I hope that my family and everyone else will continue to practise those spontaneous acts of kindness so typical of people at their best, and so often unrecognised.

We have to keep making the effort to see beyond the few highly publicised stories of human tragedy and help restore the faith and trust of those whose lives have been blighted by disillusionment and fear.

Getting to the heart of the matter

By Stephen Gorddard

Is Jesus locked out? When we think about it, “God loves you” is a wellworn cliché to be sure. Everyone knows that by now, right? Yet somehow we can still end up looking for love in the wrong things. Somehow we can still experience an ache of loneliness or sometimes even pangs of depression or despair. God’s love can be an idea of the head, but not a reality of the heart. How can we trust in someone, we can’t seemingly see or

hear? We hunger for God to reassure us of His love, but our crying out often seems to echo in an abyss of silence. We can begin to believe that God no longer cares for us or is interested in our lives, and can seek out affirmation and “love” from others, who ultimately can’t satisfy a void that God alone was meant to fill.

The Catechism says that “Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God’s command. This is what man’s first sin consisted of. All subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his goodness”.

This is the basis of True Love Waits’ up and coming seminar: The Love of God. Drawing upon scripture, the teachings of the

Church, the writings of the Holy Father among others, the seminar seeks to bring participants to a deep understanding of God’s love and restore and extend trust in His Goodness. It’s important to address obstacles to trust head on. Often when we encounter suffering or evil in the world, God can suddenly seem very removed from our lives. It is then that we sometimes decide to take control of things ourselves rather than to abandon ourselves to God’s care and providence. This often lies at the heart of some our disordered attitudes towards sexuality.

The seminar will begin at 7.30pm on November 26 at the Catholic Pastoral Centre in Highgate. For more info contact Stephen by email at truelovewaitswa@yahoo. com

vast.

Remembering Sofia Closure to come via new chapel

■ By Sylvia Defendi

After more than a year of mourning the loss of murdered school girl Sofia Rodriguez-Urrutia Shu, parish priest Fr Bryan Rosling says that some much-awaited closure will come with the soon-to-be dedicated Chapel of the Innocents in Yangebup.

Construction on the small chapel began in May and while the project has struggled under the current building boom, the dedication of volunteer labour from the local, parish and school communities has ensured the project’s completion.

“The overwhelming support the family received in the weeks following their daughter’s murder has continued on till this day.

“It amazes me that many of those still putting the finishing touches on the chapel have walked away from potential jobs in the construction industry to voluntarily ensure Sofia’s memory lives on,” Fr Rosling told The Record

However, labour was by no means the only support the project received as many companies donated materials for construction and over 300 people donated cash.

Fr Rosling said he was surprised to discover that this generosity had superseded the project’s budget.

Stonemason Peter Scaturro, who has taken the project on board in many ways, said he had never experienced anything like it in the building industry.

Indeed the $150,000 project, which will house Sofia’s remains, has had many positive repercussions, Fr Rosling said.

“Sofia’s father, Gabriel, who will soon become an Australian citizen, told me that he had never understood the concept of mateship until after Sofia’s death.

“These small acts of kindness have given him a deep love of this country and all it stands for,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sofia’s maternal grandparents were so touched by the faith of the community following their granddaughter’s death, that they were received into the Catholic faith in December 2006.

“They are so glad to be able to share in eternal life with their granddaughter one day and feel as though they have found a home in the Church,” Fr Rosling said.

But the Chapel, which will soon be dedicated by Bishop Donald Sproxton, is not only a tribute to the short life Sofia led.

“This Chapel is in memory of all children who died. It is a chapel for children and adults, with and without faith, to mourn a loss and join in celebrating life,” Fr Rosling said.

While the coming dedication ceremony will undoubtedly evoke much emotion, Sofia’s life will be remembered and celebrated also, as her family rests her remains and lights an eternal flame.

“With the dedication of the Chapel, we will lay Sofia and our pain to rest,” Fr Rosling said.

In memory: A plaque in memory of Sofia (top) will be placed in the Chapel of the Innocents at the dedication ceremony this week. Stonemasons Peter and Joe Scaturro stand by the nearly completed altar in the Chapel (above). PHOTOS: SYLVIA DEFENDI.

Soaring high: The Chapel’s spire rises high in recognition of Sofia’s eternal life (top). Fr Bryan Rosling (left) stands near the space where Sofia’s remains will be housed within the new Chapel. The Chapel as it currently stands (middle). A new stained glass window (right) features Jesus surrounded by school children and Sofia’s puppy ‘Cookie.’

No Brady bunch here, Bishop is one for all

Australia’s newest Bishop is a builder’s son who was inspired by Pope John XXIII, writes Paul Gray

Bishop-elect Terence Brady, a longtime parish priest and volunteer at the St Vincent de Paul Society’s Mathew Talbot hostel for the homeless, is to be consecrated Auxiliary Bishop for Sydney by Cardinal George Pell on Friday November 16.

In an exclusive interview with The Record, the Bishop-elect remembered his late father plus the Pope who called the Second Vatican Council, John XXIII, as inspirational figures in his career.

“My father was a very earthy guy, and he used to talk about ‘this Pope of the people,’ a Pope who could be seen on the streets, a Pope who visited prisoners,” Bishop-elect Brady said.

Cardinal Pell, he says, Cardinal Pell, he says, had a simple reply. had a “You’ ll be so busy now “You’ll be so busy now you won’t e ven notice!” you won’t even notice!”

“There was a great sense of ordinariness about him,” Bishop Brady said. “John XXIII was a real shepherd to his flock.”

Whether through ordinariness or humility, Bishop Brady projects an image which is a far cry from the days when bishops were seen as princely and remote.

A former Religious Brother with the Missionaries of the Sacred

Heart, he worked as a social worker before taking on priestly studies and, finally, being ordained by Cardinal Edward Clancy in 1983.

The Bishop-elect said that he told Cardinal George Pell that his biggest regret about being raised to the episcopate was that he would miss being in a busy parish.

Cardinal Pell, he says, had a simple reply. “You’ll be so busy now you won’t even notice!”

“I’ve always been a parish person,” Bishop-elect Brady says. While many see parish life as draining, hard work – especially with the shortage of priests in some areas – Bishop-elect Brady says he sees

the average Catholic parish today as “such a base of support.”

Church and parish life is not without problems, he says. But “you learn the tricks” of how to cope with difficulties.

“Ultimately, in most Catholic communities, people can see the bigger picture. I detect very little ill will towards the Church. People know we are here on a mission. They know the Church is where people can hear about the Lord.”

Bishop Brady says the biggest advantage enjoyed by the Catholic communities today is the authority associated with Catholic tradition.

“If we were a Bible-based Church,

we’d struggle more,” he told The Record

He believes that despite declining church attendances, a strong sense of Catholic identity remains around Catholic communities.

“Even people who can’t make it to church every Sunday – they’d be mightily offended if you said they weren’t Catholic,” he says.

Asked if he had been “drafted” into his new job, Bishop-elect Brady says he has never been an ambitious man, and was “taken aback” when the Apostolic Nuncio told him he was to be Sydney’s new auxiliary, alongside Bishops Anthony Fisher and Julian Porteous.

A six-day coastal retreat with retired Sydney Auxiliary and old friend Bishop David Cremin was a turning point for him.

“David said what you’ll be doing now as a Bishop is very much a continuation of what you’ve been doing as a parish priest for the past 25 years,” Bishop-elect Brady said.

This thought pleased him.

“I think we’ve gone way past the era of princely bishops.

“A bishop today needs to be very, very, very much with his priests and people.

“You need to be around, and without too much razzamataz. It’s important to go into parishes, not just for confirmations but on ordinary Sundays too.”

One big concern the Bishopelect has is the shortage of younger priests.

“I believe that parish priest is very much a young man’s job,” he says. He remembers priests who

in their late 20s were “dynamos” in parishes. “With a young priest you get young people hanging around the church. It gets much harder as you get older.”

He notices that e ven in He notices even in strong Catholic fami- strong Catholic families, it is rare to hear it is rare to hear boys and young men boys and young men say that the y want to be say that they want to be a priest. a priest.

He notices that even in strong Catholic families, it is rare to hear boys and young men say that they want to be a priest.

He thinks that some young people today may get involved in ministry “in some way” in the future.

“I am absolutely confident that the Spirit is at work,” he says, referring to the issue of vocations in today’s Church. “But I’m not sure where it’s moving.”

His late father, Bernard, was another who believed in trusting God to provide for the future.

When he was a child, the Brady family had no car, but his father would carry window frames and shelves on a wheelbarrow for several kilometres to install them in a presbytery that was being built for the Church.

He says he became closer than ever to his father after his ordination.

“My father had tremendous faith,” he says. “When I was studying for the priesthood, he would say to my mother, ‘you should never interfere with the work of the Lord’.”

JPII inspires new movement to boost seminarians

Perth Priest Fr Nicholas Nweke has launched an initiative with fellow WA Catholics to assist seminarians in Perth and poverty-stricken countries make it to the priesthood.

Last December he formed Voice of the Voiceless, a movement he hopes will evolve into an international effort to help seminarians by encouraging them in their vocations, spiritually and materially.

The young movement is inspired in part by an encounter the young Fr Nweke had with Pope John Paul II in Rome in 2001 and by a document the late Pope addressed to the Church in Africa.

Having spent 14 years growing up in a minor, then major, seminary in Nigeria from the age of 13, Nicholas feels a special connection with the late Pontiff, though he only met him once.

Aside from JPII’s charism, Fr Nicholas draws special inspiration from the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation “Ecclesia in Africa” – a document issued by the late Pontiff to the Church in Africa regarding its evangelising mission in the lead-up to the Great Jubilee Year of 2000.

In his exhortation, JPII said that the Church Fathers at the Synod had declared, “The Church must continue to exercise her prophetic

role and be the voice of the voiceless, so that everywhere the human dignity of every individual will be acknowledged”.

Fr Nicholas is from the eastern Enugu State of Nigeria, a country full of seminaries with 800plus students, yet some don’t make it through to ordination for lack of funds for basic necessities like books. So on December 17, 33 people whose hearts had also been touched by the late Pope joined Fr Nicholas to start mobilising a way to give friendship to grow the

faith, both locally and internationally. Fr Nicholas is in contact with priests in Africa, Asia, North and South America who are waiting to help him once he starts a website to mobilise support.

The inauguration will take place early next year but the process has already begun. Believing that charity begins at home, Fr Nicholas is starting with his Alma Mater, St Charles Seminary in Guildford.

He sent three volunteers to help St Charles’ international students learn English; he has also set about

working for JPII’s canonisation through prayer with his group.

Despite the tyranny of distance, his recent appointment as parish priest of Kulin-Corrigin, about 250km southeast of Perth, has not slowed his drive. He still comes down to Belmont in the fourth Saturday of each month to celebrate adoration and a healing Mass, and on every second Wednesday of each month for faith development.

On November 24 over 70 members of his ministry will embark on a two-day pilgrimage from Belmont

to Corrigin, Hyden and Kulin, with a special ceremony at Kulin and an experience at the natural wonder Wave Rock.

The next day they will celebrate a Mass of Solemnity of the feast of Christ the King before the grotto of Our Blessed Lady in Kulin.

The pilgrimage will cover hundreds of kilometres but will only cost pilgrims $10 for the stay at Wave Rock Resort – despite the hotel usually costing $120 per night; the hoteliers support Fr Nicholas’ work and want to assist him.

The pilgrimage is planned to be the first of many, hoping to attract those inspired by the late Pope.

“I want to nurture young people in their relationship with Christ,” Fr Nicholas said. “In my search for ways in which Voice of the Voiceless can service the needs of the Church, it became clear that encouraging vocations is crucial.

He studied Communications at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome when he met the late Pontiff, and completed two months’ work experience at Channel 7 Perth while at St Charles’ Seminary.

Apart from encountering Kieran Perkins and Mark “Chopper” Reid during his time at Channel 7, he also witnessed the sections of society that most need God’s love. Having been principal of one of Nigeria’s vocation schools for a year, he knows what today’s youth need – Christ. The challenge is to bring them to Him. So by holding healing Masses and starting up Voice of the Voiceless, he is answering God’s call to help those nuns and seminarians training in their vocation.

To help Fr Nicholas contact him at jr_nnweke@yahoo.co.uk or 98801436.

Looking up: Bishop-elect Terence Brady says his own father and Pope John XXIII were his inspirations, in their humiliity. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY

■ By Anthony Barich

Without limit: Women and children walk outside the Church of the Holy Trinity in Onitsha, Nigeria, in this 2005 file photo.

Perth priest Fr Nicholas Nweke has begun an initiative to help seminarians around the world materially and spiritually. PHOTO: CNS

Fr Nicholas Nweke

Church central to European policy debates

■ By Victor Gaetan

BUCHAREST, Romania (CNS)The Catholic Church’s stand against prostitution and trafficking puts it in the middle of public policy debates heating up in Eastern Europe.

Pope Benedict XVI’s homeland, Germany, has legalised prostitution and is accused of luring women from poorer countries - mainly the Czech Republic, Moldova, Romania and Ukraine - into brothels and sex clubs.

Earlier this year in Bulgaria, legislation proposing the legalisation of prostitution emerged from a working group involving the Interior Ministry and the National Tourism Board.

In Romania, a top adviser to the president began advocating legalised prostitution a year ago. A draft law was circulated through ministries and was signed by a high-

profile female minister of justice who is currently an official of the European Union.

In Moldova, the media reported in February that a law to legalise prostitution was under consideration by the government. To date, it has not been formally proposed.

The Catholic Church opposes moves to legalise prostitution in each country. Typically, proponents argue that by regulating prostitution and collecting taxes they can control the industry, improve the health of prostitutes and drive out organised crime.

Besides referring to theological, biblical or moral motives for this opposition, church leaders refer to the real impact of prostitution on individuals and families.

“In our region, there have been thousands of girls hoping to get baby-sitting or waitress jobs who are tricked and wind up prostituted in Italy, Greece, Spain or who

knows where,” said Bishop Petru Gherghel of Iasi, Romania. “The spiritual and physical trauma is tremendous. Many of these women never recover, even if they make it back home.

“Legalising prostitution would serve to legitimise this abuse of integrity. It would help criminals ruin more lives,” said Bishop Gherghel.

Father Benone Farcas, vicar general of the Diocese of Chisinau, Moldova, emphasises the brutality of prostitution.

“This is a very, very dangerous world. The criminals engage in rampant dehumanisation. The women and girls are badly abused. Only misery would come from elevating prostitution to legal status,” said Father Farcas.

Catholic organisations are involved in efforts to oppose government plans to legalise prostitution and warn the public of the

link between prostitution and sex trafficking.

The Sisters of the Good Shepherd led a major campaign to write to the Bulgarian government to oppose legalised prostitution as a violation of human rights and human dignity. The sisters, active in more than 70 countries, made fighting the sexual exploitation of women and girls and the normalisation of prostitution one of their top priorities for global engagement in 2003. In Romania, the Catholic aid agency Caritas is leading an effort to educate the public about the strong link between normalising or legalising prostitution and facilitating sex trafficking. “As prostitution is accepted, especially if it is legalised, organised crime is empowered. Demand from sex buyers increases and there is more demand than supply of women and girls,” said Gabriela Chiroiu, project manager at Caritas Bucharest. She said

Caritas receives more and more police referrals of victims of sexual exploitation abroad who are sent back to Romania.

Caritas Bucharest is the local agency of Caritas Internationalis, a confederation of Catholic relief, development and social service organisations working in more than 200 countries. In Bulgaria, the US bishops’ Catholic Relief Services is implementing a $1.5 million antitrafficking program, funded by the US government. The program focuses on providing employment skills to at-risk girls so they avoid being trafficked into prostitution.

To date, Christian Churches and organisations are clearly the most powerful opponents of prostitution.

“We will legalise prostitution even if we enter into conflict with the Church,” said Vasile Blaga, general secretary of Romania’s presidential party, addressing a summer conference of women.

YCS provides link between social justice and Faith

■ By Anthony Barich

High school students who have a passion for making the world a better place but don’t necessarily connect that idea with the Catholic faith have a unique opportunity to make that link, thanks to the Young Christian Students.

The Perth branch of YCS, an international organisation set up in the wake of World War II in the spirit of Catholic Action movements inspired by Belgian Fr Joseph Cardijn, is hosting two camps that will not only provide students with the chance to make new friends but to grow in solidarity with other Catholics and learn more about applying their faith with their everyday lives.

The YCS, run by high school students for students, is hosting a Life Long Leaders Summer Camp that will help students become leaders in all areas of their life – even if they don’t have the “badge”.

The Lifelong Camp started as a Summer camp last year primarily for actual YCS leaders. But Vicky Burrows, the 20-year-old coordinator of YCS, says that as Christians we are called to be leaders in every aspect of our lives, “whether we’ve

got the badge or title or not”. “We want to bring high school students together and share their faith and learn how they can be leaders in their communities, schools, sporting clubs, whereever they are,” Vicky said.

Nuncio ‘gentle in character’

■ By Anthony Barich

US-born Archbishop Ambrose De Paoli, the Apostolic Nuncio to Australia and Titular Bishop of Lares, has been remembered by his personal assistant in Canberra as a prayerful man, strong in his faith right to the end.

The Archbishop, who died on October 10 in his home diocese of Miami, Florida, “aged very fast” over the last two years of his life, according to Monsignor Jude Thaddeus Okolo, but “his energy at work did not diminish”.

“While still in hospital, we brought him work twice a day, and every aspect got its due attention,” Mgr Okolo said of the Archbishop, who also had impaired hearing.

“Replies to correspondence were not delayed unduly.”

When he returned home from hospital, Mgr Okolo said the Archbishop continued to find time to do garden work regularly – lawn mowing, clearing leaves during autumn, helping with planting in anticipation of spring.

“We all worked together as a

team,” Mgr Okolo said, “especially in the office.

“Until the day before he left, he was always in the office trying to finish the various pending matters.

“In fact, he wanted to continue with his normal duty until weakness obliged him to give up – or rather, more correctly, his oncologist strongly advised him otherwise.”

Mgr Okolo said that Archbishop De Paoli was assiduous in prayer, gentle in character and had a great sense of humour.

He never missed his mid-afternoon Rosary or in the chapel, his early morning meditation or daily Masses.

“When he was hospitalised, he told us, ‘Bring me my breviary and my Rosary,” Mgr Okolo said.

The Monsignor added that Archbishop De Paoli was “intelligent and diplomatic both in speech and in writing”.

“He excelled especially in handling delicate matters and difficult people,” Mgr Okolo said.

He was born in Jeannette, Pennsylvania and ordained on August 18, 1960, entered the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See

in 1966 and served in the Apostolic Nunciatures in Zambia, Venezuela, Canada and in the Secretariat of State, Vatican City.

In 1983 the Archbishop was appointed Titular Bishop of Lares and Apostolic Nuncio to Sri Lanka, before being appointed the Representative of the Holy Father in South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana and Namibia in 1988.

From 1997 to 2004, he served as Apostolic Nuncio to Japan before the Holy Father named him as his representative in Australia on December 18, 2004.

Archbishop De Paoli arrived in Australia in 2004 a few months after undergoing a bypass heart operation when he was Nuncio in Japan.

Five months later, during a routine check, it was observed that he had leukemia, so he underwent chemotherapy.

He was also a stickler for keeping promises.

Catholic Religious Australia president, Jesuit Father Mark Raper, said the Archbishop had made a point to attend three of the annual assemblies of the leaders of Australia’s religious congregations in the past two years.

The camp will also focus on various issues that students are often passionate about, like Make Poverty History, and educate them on exactly why these causes are worth fighting for – because they are intricately linked to the mission of the Church.

The specific focus in this case will be indigenous poverty, and will awaken students to realise how to raise awareness of this, and its link to the Catholic faith.

Body image – an issue central to YCS’s mission of late – will also be a focus, and again the camp will seek to form leaders in the way they conduct and grow their relationships and their sexual identity in the ethos of the Catholic Church.

And because the YCS has international reach – like the Church – the camp will awaken in students a sense of solidarity and exactly what it means to be a part of the universal Church.

The students will experience all this, while gaining new friendships

and return to school knowing they have peers in their own school and elsewhere who can strengthen them in the faith.

“Anything you’re involved in stems from our faith and God’s creative gift, so whatever social action we take, the focus has to come back to why we’re doing it,” Vicki says.

From January 21-22, YCS is also running a Transition to High School Camp, again to awaken in students a sense of a Catholic peer community in which to ask questions about any expectations or difficulties that moving into high school from primary school involves.

This will keep them in contact with a group linked to the Church at a time when it is all too easy to fall away from one’s faith with the pressures and increased number of extra-curricular activities on offer in high school. “It’s a great chance for leaders to share their experiences and demystify the experience of high school, and for students to build relationships,” Vicky said.

UN neglects women

The United Nations’ non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from the United States, Europe and Latin America have accused the recent UN’s “Women Deliver” Conference in London of promoting abortion at the expense of women’s real needs.

“Regrettably, the conference agenda was so preoccupied with promoting the ideology and practice of abortion that the genuine healthcare needs of women and children were virtually ignored in the plenary sessions and overwhelmed in the panel discussions,” the NGOs said in their joint letter to the conference’s Organising Committee.

The NGOs also said that the conference sidelined the main issues related to maternal mortality – basic health conditions based on vaccine availability, clean water, sanitation, basic nutritional supplementation, primary medical post-natal and peri-natal care, fistula, female genital mutilation, haemorrhage, sepsis, obstructed labour and eclampsia.

“Such sidelining is a serious act of negligence which leads not only to continuing, but increasing the risks associated with maternal health,” the NGOs’ letter said. The

UN’s “Women Deliver Conference: Saving Mothers and Babies”, held in London on October 18-20, was attended by about 1700 and sponsored, the NGOs said, by proabortion groups like International Planned Parenthood Federation and Marie Stopes International, along with UN agencies UNICEF, the UN Population Fund and the World Health Organisation. The joint letter was issued from London on October 20 by 14 organisations, including the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), United Families International (US), Concerned Women for America (US), World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations, Institute for Family Policy (Spain), Instituto Mujer y Vida (Spain), Comite Nacional Provida de Mexico, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (UK). C-FAM’ said the opening plenary set the tone as the conference organisers and speakers announced that abortion rights were the number one solution to the global problem of maternal mortality – even before skilled birth attendants and emergency obstetrics care.

Endless fun: Steph Ball and Georga Todd from Prendiville Catholic College enjoy a Young Christian Students camp. PHOTO COURTESY OF YCS

‘How are you?’ ‘Nearly dead, thank God’

By Sian White

Beyond the gum trees that line the boundary of our property, a familiar scene of serenity greets me. It has neat lawns, garden beds in full flower and white archways leading to God’s door.

As I walk up the pathway next door I am greeted by a kind face and open arms. Sister Damien’s gait is slightly slower than at our last meeting. “My, how you have grown,” she reminds me politely.

It has been a while since I did the neighbourly thing and dropped in. Nowadays I am normally just another car passing by St Emilie’s Convent for retired nuns of the order of St Joseph of the Apparition in Kalamunda. They remember me with blonder hair and a smaller stature weaving in and out of their orange trees and ducking between flower-covered archways towards holy grottoes. “How are you?” I ask. “Nearly dead, thank God,” she replies with a wry smile.

She fusses over me like I’m still that young girl and directs me to the door and a waiting cup of tea.

Inside it is just how I remember it. The walls are adorned with crucifixes and holy images. In the corners of many rooms stand towering religious statues that solicit “devotedness unto death” from behind fibreglass eyes.

Within moments all the other nuns descend into the dining area, apparently eager to discover the person the little girl next door had become.

I had grown up thinking these ladies in grey and white were not an unusual sight to behold over the fence. But the 20 or so ladies who once walked the convent corridors are quite literally a dying breed. Nowadays there are just nine sisters left.

As we sip our tea I can’t help but notice the Dockers sticker on their hot water urn. “We used to go for the Eagles,” Sr Damien informs me. “But then the Dockers seemed to be going through a rough patch so we thought our prayers and support were better with them.”

I wonder if it works the same for politics? Apparently most of them are still swinging on their election preferences. But they do have a bone to pick with Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews over his recent decision to cut back the African refugee intake. For the sisters at St Emilie’s this is a personal issue. They may be retired but they still seek to engage with the community where they can and have recently taken a Sudanese family under their wing.

“The family arrived three years ago with horrific memories, no English and no understanding of our foreign culture,” Sr Gemma explains. “We helped them adjust, and learn the language and they picked up everything so fast.

“The young boy who is now about four, loves coming here. He is very adorable - we spoil him really. Not surprisingly he has begun calling me ‘Gemma Chocolate’.”

Sr Gemma pauses; her lined hand fondles the silver crucifix around her neck. “Sometimes I don’t think politicians under-

stand. These refugees are such beautiful people; it must be terribly hard for them,” she says. Sr Kathleen interjects and comments how lovely it is to be enjoying morning tea.

“In the old days we just didn’t have tea and we certainly wouldn’t be able to have toast with jam - it was all so strict you see.”

Before finding out more, I ask the obvious question - what made all of them want to become nuns? Sr Damien replies hastily:

“Someone was holding a gun to my head at the time.” I spill my tea laughing along with the rest of the nuns.

None of the nuns trace their decisions to great awakenings, epiphanies or miracles performed before their eyes. Rather it was

We poke our heads into the TV room. Sr Emmanuel struggles to get up and plonks a kiss on my cheek. She begins by telling me about this wonderful new donation to their convent - the television complete with DVD and video player.

“In the old days we didn’t have any communication. No newspapers, no radio. We didn’t know what was going on in the world,” she said. At 95, Sr Emmanuel astounds me with her ability to recount decades gone by as if they were yesterday.

Following in the footsteps of some of WA’s great pioneer women, she came to Australia from Malta in 1936.

She tells me the first four nuns of the order of St Joseph of the Apparition arrived from France just 20 years after the settlement of Perth.

On arrival they set up a basic school and church in Fremantle. With Perth then a day trip away, the sisters lived in extreme isolation, hardship and poverty.

But soon they had students from all over the colony, even the Governor’s daughters. In 1948 St Emilie’s Convent was established as a convalescent home for elderly sisters. By the 1970s things were starting to change. Nuns wishing to enter the vocation were harder to find.

Society was moving away from the strictness of traditional religion and it became necessary for the nature of religious life to change too.

Sr Damien explains: “It was time we flung the windows open and let new air, new life, into the Church.”

The days when the morning bell tolled at 5am slowly ebbed away, along with the starch of their whale-boned black and white bonnets.

Today veils are optional and the “great silence” and routines of the past have given way to greater freedoms.

I ask Sr Emmanuel what role nuns play in today’s society. “Well, us old girls have a lot of time to pray. Other people - people in the world we tend to say - don’t have that time,” she says.

“But when I was younger, when I was teaching, it was all about instilling good morals in our students.”

Sr Damien jumps in: “She must have made quite an impact on her students because many still come up here to visit her.”

The bell rings for lunch. We pray, assume our seats and the nattering begins.

Conversations are hard to follow as the ladies vie for a word, complete each other’s sentences and quibble over dates and facts.

The talk turns yet again to the old days when Sr Mary was responsible for washing the clothes and Sr Dominique had to sweep up the leaves outside.

“Of course every morning Sr Mary would pray that there would be wind to dry the clothes,” Sr Damien says.

Sr Aloysius cuts in: “However, Sr Dominique would be praying that there wasn’t a wisp of air all day so that she had no leaves to sweep.” “I don’t think God knew what to do,” Sr Damien replies.

These nine “brides” of Christ have collectively given a startling 550 years of their lives to the sisterhood.

They have lived through wars, poverty and famine. But in the periods of peace they have observed the rise of a culture of consumption and pay TV.

the women around them, their teachers and families who inspired and encouraged them to enter religious life. None have regrets. I offer to wash up but am whisked away by Sr Damien who leads me down a maze of corridors filled with damp smells and dust.

The convent’s sole male resident jumps out of bed to greet me. He looks inquisitively into my eyes and brushes his tail against my legs.

Samuel the cat adopted the sisters 12 years ago has never looked back. Indeed his waistline would suggest he is the only resident who doesn’t maintain a vow of poverty.

A voice calls out from above: “Is that you?” “Yes, yes,” Sr Damien replies. “We are coming like Christmas.”

These women are highly educated, each with university degrees. Highly skilled too, all their habits and garments are sewn by hand.

The afternoon is cooling but Sr Damien walks me right to the end of their garden path.

I look back at their multi-million dollar property which dwarfs the frail figure before me. “On a day as beautiful as this it is hard to imagine that other countries are at war,” my holy host says. I nod in agreement.

As I leave I receive a hug and a blessing. She receives a toot from a P-plate driver with dreadlocks and pounding speakers.

She shrugs her shoulders, then turns and heads inside - just in time for another cup of

Holy Order: Sister Emmanuel, aged 95, one of nine nuns at St Emilie’s Convent.

Sisters: Sisters Emmanuel, Damien, Aloysius and, at rear, Kathleen.

PHOTOS: SIAN WHITE

November 15 – 22

BROTHER ELIA VISITS PERTH

PANORAMA a roundup of events in the archdiocese

Founder of The Apostles of God, this 44-yearold mystic/stigmatist of our times, whose gifts are to bring the presence of God and His Mercy, through his Healing and profound spirituality visits Perth. November 15, St Jerome’s church, Spearwood, 5.30-8pm. November 16, St Joseph’s church Bassendean, 5.30-8pm and Indonesian Community, Corpus Christi Church, Willagee 9.30am-12.30pm. November 17, Holy Spirit church, City Beach, 9am-12noon. November 18, St Brigid’s church, West Perth, (Italian only) 4pm-7pm. November 19, St Lawrence’s church, Balcatta, 9.30am-12 noon. November 20, St Bernadette’s church, Glendalough, 9.30am-12 noon. November 21, St Mary’s church, Leederville, 9.30am-12noon and St Simon Peter church, Ocean Reef, 6pm-8.30pm. November 22, Legion of Mary, East Perth, (priests only), 9.30am-noon (lunch included) – RSVP: Joan: 9447 3711. Please contact: Kathe: 9356 3722 or George: 9440 3371 for more information.

Friday November 16 to Sunday November 18

WEEKEND RETREAT: DANCING THE PSALMS

Friday November 16 starting at 7.30pm and Sunday November 18 ending at 2pm. St Joseph’s Retreat Safety Bay Enq: Sr Shelley Barlow 9271 3873.

Saturday November 17

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS CELEBRATES 60 TH ANNIVERSARY IN WA

Perth Town Hall, starts at 7.30pm. Public awareness meeting. All welcome. Enq: AA Central Service Office 9325 3566.

Sunday November 18

ETERNAL WORD TELEVISION NETWORK

Every Sunday, 1 - 2 pm on Access 31

November 18: Come be my Light : Mother Teresa’s dark night of the soul / Fr Benedict Groeschel [Sunday Night Live]. Presented by The Rosary Christian Tutorial Association. Please send donations to keep EWTN on air, comments and queries to PO Box 1270, Booragoon 6954. Enq: 9330 2467.

Sunday Novembe

OPENING AND BLESSING OF THE NEW HOLY SPIRIT

PARISH CENTRE

By Bishop Don Sproxton, with Holy Mass at 9.30am, blessing at 10.30am. Address: 2 Keaney Place, City Beach. Old and new parishioners all welcome.

Sunday November 18

PARENTS ARE INVITED TO DEDICATE THEIR CHILDREN TO OUR LADY OF SCHOENSTATT

To all parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts a special invitation to dedicate those God has entrusted to you, to Our Lady. (No age limit!). Starting at 3pm at the Schoenstatt Shrine 9 Talus Drive, Armadale. This day marks the 16th Anniversary of the Blessing of the Shrine! Enq: 9399 2349 email shrine@elink,net. au.

Monday November 19

CARITAS AUSTRALIA PERTH ANNUAL GETTOGETHER

Guest speakers Duncan MacLaren past SecretaryGeneral of Caritas Internationalis (CI) 1999-2007 and Jack de Groot (CEO Caritas Australia), 5.15pm (Registration) – 7.30pm, Catholic Pastoral Centre Seminar Room, 40A Mary Street Highgate (Entry off Harold St), No charge, refreshments provided, hear up-to-date information on Caritas Australia’s work and its role as a member of CI, RSVP: Essential by Thursday 15 November, Tel 9422 7925.

Friday November 23

WYD FUNDRAISING EVENT FOR ROCKINGHAM PILGRIMS

TECHNOLOGY NIGHT

Do you need help with your: Mobile, iPod/MP3 Player, Camera, Computer? YOU DO? Then come along to our Technology Night where you will be shown everything you need to know. WHERE: Parish Hall, Lady of Lourdes Rockingham, TIME: 6.30pm - 9pm, COST: $5. Enq: 041 20 88 269 or 043 32 44 973.

Friday November 23 to Sunday November 25

RETREAT FOR MEN “THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT”

Starting at 6pm Friday and ending at 1.30pm

Sunday. Preached by Fr. Angelo Mary Geiger F.I. (from Los Angeles, California) Venue: Our Lady Help of Christians Retreat Centre, 36 Stirling Terrace, Toodyay. Hosted by Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. *RSVP* 9574-5204 (head count ends on 21st November). Meals provided, bring bedding, Donations gratefully accepted to defray costs.

Saturday November 24

A MORNING RETREAT: “ GROWING IN FAITH”

Presenter: Murray Graham (Inigo Centre Director)

Cost: Donation for Inigo Centre. MacKillop Room

(Multi-Purpose) John XXIII College. Starting at 9am – 12pm. For registration phone Murray 9383 0444.

Saturday November 24

NOVENA  EMBLETON

Venue Holy Trinity Church, Embleton commencing at 5pm. Novena devotions to our Lady of Good Health, Vailankanni. Followed by Vigil Mass at 6pm.

November 23 - 24

CHRIST THE KING: RETREAT & HEALING RALLY

A Retreat & Healing Rally presented by the Holy Spirit of Freedom Community will be held in the Sacred Heart Church, Pemberton. Bookings and Information: Marcelle 9776 1542.

Sunday November 25

HOLY HOUR FOR VOCATIONS TO THE PRIESTHOOD AND RELIGIOUS LIFE

“Let us continue to implore our God to rain down an abundance of new life into our Church, and to open our hearts and those of the young people of the world to really hear His Word for us now, today”(Presentation Sister). Holy Hour for Vocations starting 2pm to 3pm Morley Parish Church, 47 Wellington Rd, Morley. Includes Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. All Welcome. Enq: 9276 8500

Sunday November 25

FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING

To be held at the Holy Trinity Church, Embleton. There will Eucharistic procession after the 9am Holy Mass, followed by Benediction of The Most Blessed Sacrament thereafter followed by fellowship at the hall. Please bring a plate of finger food. Enq: Mons P McCrann 9271 5528 or Judy David 9275 5827 or George Jacob 9272 1379.

Sunday November 25 ST PAUL’S PARISH GOLDEN JUBILEE  MT LAWLEY

Parish of St Paul’s Mt Lawley will be celebrating their 50th Anniversary with a Jubilee Mass starting at 9.30am. Mass will be celebrated by Archbishop Hickey. The Mass will be followed by a light lunch at St Paul’s Primary School. All current and former parishioners are invited to attend. Enq: 9271 5253.

Sunday November 25

CHRIST THE KING  PILGRIMAGE

St Anne’s, Bindoon. Program: 12pm - 1pm lunch. 1pm-1.30pm Eucharistic Procession, 1.45 pm Holy Mass concluding with Adoration, Chaplet of Divine Mercy. 3pm prayers, Consecration and Benediction. 3.30pm - 4.30pm afternoon tea provided. Depart for Perth 4.30pm. Coach transport $15 per person (return). Bookings: Francis Williams 0404 893 877. Enq: Fr Paul 9571 1839 or Paul & Vicky 9576 0975.

Sunday November 25

LATIN MASS KELMSCOTT

Latin Mass has been postponed until further notice. Apologies for any inconvenience

Sunday November 25

CHRIST THE KING: EUCHARISTIC PROCESSION

The Sacred Heart Parish Pemberton, in conjunction with the Holy Spirit of Freedom Community, invite you to join the 10.30am Parish Mass followed by a Eucharistic Procession to Karriholm-God’s Sanctuary, Benediction and a light lunch.

Friday November 30

HEALING FIRE BURNING LOVE MINISTRY

7.30pm – 9.30pm, Our Lady of the Missions, 270 Camberwarra Drive, Whitford/Craigie. Open wide your hearts this Advent and prepare to receive a personal encounter of the healing and redeeming love of Christ Jesus. This is our final Charismatic Mass and healing service for the year and will be back at Whitfords in 2008. Enq: Jenni Young 9445 1028 or 0404 389 679.

Saturday December 1

“DAY WITH MARY”

Our Lady, Queen of Apostles Church, 57 Tudor Avenue South, Riverton 9am – 5pm. A video on Fatima will be shown at 9am. A day of prayer and instruction based upon the messages of Fatima. Includes Sacrament of Penance, Holy Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Sermons, Rosaries, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Stations of the Cross. Please BYO lunch. Enq: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286.

Sunday December 2

DIVINE MERCY

An afternoon with Jesus and Mary will be held at St Joachim’s Church, on the corner of Shepperton Road and Harper Street in Victoria Park, at 1.30pm. Program: Holy Rosary and Reconciliation, Sermon on Holy Family with Fr Tizani Bogoni followed by Divine Mercy prayers and Benediction. Afterwards refreshments in the parish hall, followed by a video/DVD: Holy Eucharist and The Family with Fr John Corapi. Enq: John 9457 7771 or Linda 9275 6608.

First Friday December 7

ALLIANCE AND TRIUMPH OF THE TWO HEARTS

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

Friday December 7

SILVER JUBILEE OF PRIESTLY ORDINATION: FR PETER STIGLICH O PRAEM

The Norbertine Canons and the Parishioners of East Cannington/Queens Park invite past parishioners, friends and supporters to celebrate with them Fr Peter Joseph’s Ordination Anniversary at 7.30 pm, with Solemn Mass in St Joseph’s Church, 135 Treasure Rd, Queens Park, followed by Supper at St Norbert College. RSVP 9458 2729 ext 238 by November 30.

Friday December 7

CATHOLIC FAITH REVEWAL  PRAISE AND WORSHIP

Starting at 7.30pm at St John and Paul’s Church, Pintree Gully Road, Willetton. There will be Praise and Worship followed by a talk and Thanksgiving Mass. There will be light refreshments after Mass. All welcome. We encourage you to bring your family and friends to this evening of fellowship. We look forward to see you there. Enq: Rita 9272 1765 or Rose 4043 300 720.

Saturday December 8

SINGLES CHRISTMAS PARTY

Three course meal. Inc wine, tea and coffee. $25/ head $20 conc. Venue: Integrity House, 67 Howe Street, Osborne Park. Run by Disciples of Jesus Catholic Community Reach Out Ministry. Come along & meet new friends. RSVP Barbara 9341 5346 by 18 November.

Sunday December 9

GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS  OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP, WILSON

The Catholic Parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (formerly Castledare Boys’ Chapel), 14 Castledare Place, Wilson, will be celebrating its Golden Jubilee with a Mass at 9.30am, officiated by Archbishop Hickey, followed by a morning tea in the Community Centre of Castledare Retirement Village. All past and present parishioners, and anyone with any association with our community over the years, would be most welcome at attend our celebrations.

Saturday December 15

GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATION MASS  BRENTWOOD

Starting at 9.30am at Regina Coeli Catholic Church Brentwood. To mark the Golden Jubilee of our church, dedicated on 15th December 1957, past & present parishioners are invited to participate in Mass to be concelebrated by Bishop Don Sproxton and Priests ,who have served our community over the past fifty years. Refreshments will be shared following Mass. RSVP (for catering purposes) by Saturday 8th December to Marie Hill 9364 6042 or email reghill@optusnet.com.au

Sunday December 16

SILVER JUBILEE OF PRIESTLY ORDINATION: FR VINCENT GLYNN

The parish of Floreat/Wembley invite you to join with Fr Vincent Glynn as he celebrates his 25th anniversary of Ordination to the Priesthood. A special invite to all past parishioners and friends of Fr Vincent. An anniversary Mass of Thanksgiving will be held at 9.30am at St Cecilia’s Church, Grantham St, Floreat. It will be followed by a morning tea. RSVP florcath@iinet.net.au by Dec 5th.

First Sunday of Every Month

HEALING FIRE BURNING LOVE MINISTRY

Celebrates the Sunday Mass at St Bernadette’s Church, Cnr Jugan and Leeder Streets, Glendalough commencing with praise and worship at 6.30pm and Mass at 7pm. We have healing prayers after the Mass so please invite all those in need of the healing love and power of Jesus. Enq: Jenni Young 9445 1028 or 0404 389 679.

Third Sunday of the Month

OBLATES OF ST BENEDICT MEET

Venue: St Josephs Convent, York Street, South Perth at 2pm. An annual Retreat is held at New Norcia, Trinity Sunday Weekend. Oblates are affiliated with Benedictine Abbey New Norcia. We celebrate our 50th Anniversary September 2008. A golden celebration. All welcome. Vespers and afternoon tea conclude monthly meeting. Enq: Secretary 9388 3026.

Every Tuesday

JESUS THE WAY

Starting at 7pm at St. Mary’s Cathedral Parish Centre, 450 Hay Street, Perth. Appreciate the heritage of the Faith united with others asking Jesus and Mary to overcome burdens in life. Receive healing in prayer through the Rosary, Scripture, meditation and praise in song. Followed by friendship and refreshments. Prayer is powerful. Come join us!! Every First Friday and First Saturday of Each Month COMMUNION OF REPARATION  ALL NIGHT VIGIL Corpus Christi Church, Mosman Park 7pm-1am. 46 Lochee Rd, Mosman Park. Mass, Rosary, Prayers, Confessions and silent adoration. Contact: Catalina 0439 931 151.

First Sunday of each month

DEVOTIONS IN HONOUR OF THE DIVINE MERCY

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

Every Saturday PERPETUAL HELP DEVOTIONS

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

Every Sunday

BULLSBROOK SHRINE

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

Every Sunday

LATIN MASS

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

Every First Friday HOLY HOUR FOR VOCATIONS TO THE PRIESTHOOD AND THE RELIGIOUS LIFE

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

Second Friday of each Month

GENERAL PRAYER ASSEMBLY

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

Every Fourth Sunday

SECULAR FRANCISCAN ORDER

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

Every Fourth Sunday

WATCH AND PRAY

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

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

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

BOOK DONATIONS WANTED

We are seeking donations of Catholic books, Bibles, Missals and Divine Office books any age, any condition. If you can help, please tel: 9293 3092

Every Wednesday

HOLY HOUR, BENEDICTION

Holy Hour 4pm to 5pm. Held at St Thomas, 2 College Road, Claremont. Followed by Evening Prayer and Benediction. Personal prayer before the Blessed Sacrament is Adoration of Jesus’ gift of Himself, of His love for you, for your loved ones and for our world. Come and thank Him.

ACCOMMODATION

■ DENMARK

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

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

BUILDING TRADES

■ BRICK REPOINTING Phone Nigel 9242 2952.

■ PERROTT PAINTING PTY LTD

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

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

BUSINESS OFFER

■ BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

Extra income from your own home-based business. Work part-time without disturbing what you are doing now. Call: 02 8230 0290 or 0412 518 318

FURNITURE REMOVAL

■ ALL AREAS

Mike Murphy 0416 226 434.

IMMIGRATION

■ MIGRATION TO AUSTRALIA

Guidance and visa processing for Skilled, Family or Study Visas . Call Michael Ring or Ajay Trehan Registered Migration Agent (MARN # 0212024) - Phone: 02 8230 0290 email: michael.ring@bigpond.com

RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

■ CATHOLICS CORNER

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

■ RICH HARVEST  YOUR CHRISTIAN SHOP

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

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

■ THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Volunteers required for Polling Day. Paul Connelly 0414 247 286 or pmjconnelly@hotmail.com

Classifieds

BLINDS

■ BLINDS SPECIALIST

Call AARON for FREE quotes 0402 979 889.

TO LET

Mogʼs Place, Guilderton. Self contained cottage available for holiday rental. Sleeps 6. Contact Mog 0419 926 280.

Share House - spacious rm avail in large house available for working Catholic lady. Privacy, BIR, garage, close to shops & bus. Nice area in Balcatta. $130pw plus utils. Phone Susan Maria Vestment Studio 9345 0520.

PREMISES REQUIRED

We are looking for premises either North or South of Perth where we can hold daytime clinics for our clients. We require premises for a period of three to four hours during one day of the week; where we can see the clients privately and also have a waiting room. A Doctors surgery would be ideal. Similar offers would be appreciated.

Our teachers are highly qualified in the field of Fertility education and management in the Billings Ovulation Method. Please contact Billings WA 0409 119 532 Marilena Scarfe.

THANKSGIVING

O Holy St Jude Apostle and Martyr great in virtue rich in miracles. Near Kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke your patronage in time of need. I have cause from the depths of my heart to humbly beg you to whom God has given such great power to come to my assistance. Help me now in my urgent need and grant my earnest petition. In return I promise to make your name known and cause you to be invoked.

HEALTH

■ HEALTH AND WELLNESS

A Free Sample pack of Wellness, Weight loss and energy products. Natural products – not a medicine Call 02 9807 5337

■ ACHES, PAINS, STRESS???

Indian mature male masseur offers Reflex Relax Massage at $30 for 60mins. Phone Jai 0438 520 993.

■ DEMENTIA REMISSION

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

LITURGICAL SINGING TEACHER

To commence Feb 2008. 2-2 1/2 hrs/pwk, times, days flexible. Knowledge & understanding of Liturgies. Able to teach Liturgical songs to Primary Sch chn; play keyboard/organ or guitar for school Masses & lead chn in singing. Must be fully supportive Of the objectives & ethos of Catholic Education. Send CV to the Principal, include names & contact noʼs of 2 Referees, including

current employer & police & WWC clearance or WACOT by 23 November 2007. St Lawrence PS 386 Albert St, BALCATTA 6021 9344 4944

BIRTHDAY WISHES

■ HAPPY 16TH BIRTHDAY JESSICA!

We hope that, despite your year 11 exam preparation, you will have the opportunity to take some time out and share in the great love so many have for you and all that you do. Love, Sylvia and Michael.

■ HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY SYLVIA!

For the 20th November. Wishing you all the best on your Birthday from the Staff at The Record

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

NOVEMBER ENGAGEMENTS

16 Ordinations to the Priesthood and Diaconate, Infant Jesus Church, Morley - Archbishop Hickey, Bishop Sproxton

17 First Profession of Sr Vidette, Good Shepherd Church, Lockridge - Archbishop Hickey

17 Ukrainian Migrants “Then & Now” Exhibition

- Rev Fr Anthony Paganoni CS

18 Adult Confirmation, St Joachim’s Pro-Cathedral - Archbishop Hickey

18 Mass and Blessing of MultiPurpose Centre, City Beach Parish - Bishop Sproxton

18 Dedication of the Chapel of the Innocents - Bishop Sproxton

20 Opening of Extensions, Clontarf Aboriginal College - Archbishop Hickey

20 Blessing of Building Project, Irene McCormack Catholic College - Bishop Sproxton

23 Principal’s Annual Thanksgiving Mass, CEO Chapel - Archbishop Hickey, Bishop Sproxton

25 Mass to celebrate 50th Anniversary of St Paul’s, Mt Lawley - Archbishop Hickey

26-30 Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Sydney - Archbishop Hickey, Bishop Sproxton

Executive Assistant/Office Administrator

Are you looking for a role that allows you to do a bit of everything? This is a wonderful opportunity for a highly organised Executive Assistant/Office Administrator to join a “Not for Profit” organisation that makes a very real difference in the community.

This position will have you responsible for duties from reception to executive assistant and office management requirements.

Reporting to the Executive Director, you are expected to have a professional approach to work, along with a “Can-Do” attitude.

Providing support to the Executive Director, as well as supervising 2 administration staff, the successful candidate will require the following:

§ A minimum of three years experience at a senior level, with exposure to Agenda and Minutes, publication preparation, records management and updating websites.

§ Excellent communication and interpersonal skills that reflect the Catholic ethos of the organisation along with a flexible attitude as you will be required to liaise with clients and team members in a mature and confident manner.

§ Attention to detail, with extensive knowledge of MS Office products, particularly Word, Outlook and FrontPage.

§ Drivers Licence and Police Clearance are essential.

A job information package can be downloaded from our website at www. identitywa.com.au or phone Leah Colman on 9474 3303. Applications together with resume can be submitted to Human Resources Manager, i.d.entity. wa, PO Box 5, South Perth, WA 6951 or via email to hrassist@identitywa.com.au

Every Day of Advent & Christmas Year A

A colourful book filled with activities to help children aged 5-8 years learn the Catholic traditions of Advent and the significance of the birth of Christ for their own lives. Includes Advent calendar.

$4.95+postage

Every Day of Advent & Christmas Year C

A continuation of the Every Day of Advent & Christmas series, to help children explore more of the glorious Birth of Christ.

$4.95+postage

My Catholic Advent & Christmas Activity Book

A wonderful activity book for children aged 8-12 years, to help them grow deeper in their understanding the significance of the birth of Christ through the 24 days of Advent.

$11.95+postage

Let’s Go To Christmas Wipe-off Activity book

Filled with great activities and short explanations of Catholic Christmas Traditions, this book is fun for all children aged 6-10. Includes wipe-off pages that can be used over and over again.

$9.95+postage Fun

E duc ational Educational Family-base d Family-based activ ities! activities!

OPEN FOR SATURDAY CHRISTMAS TRADING 10am-2pm, Saturdays, November 3 - December 22