The Record Newspaper 14 December 2011

Message of appreciation: Our cathedral can bring people together

Saving the soul of a city at risk

By Ben sacks & sarah Motherwell

PERTH was in danger of becoming

“a city without a soul”, a congregation including prominent federal and state dignitaries was told at a service honouring contributors of the $33 million project to complete St Mary’s Cathedral.

The deputy chairperson of the Cathedral Appeal Committee, Maureen Colgan, said that, as well

Franciscans take on habit of daily life

By Peter rosengren

WHILE most of their Australian contemporaries would not, for the life of them, be able to comprehend why they were doing what they were doing, for three young Australian men in the rural town of Toodyay, Thursday, 8 December was a good day to die to self.

The three, including one from Perth, entered into a tradition more than eight centuries old when they took the habit of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate in front of family and well-wishers on one of the most special days in the Church year: the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Brothers Alex Bogoni, a former Perth computer programmer, David Dono, whose parents migrated to Australia from El Salvador, and Gabriel Pophillat, a Singaporean, received the distinctive blue-grey garment of the order during the rite of investiture with the Franciscan habit in the Toodyay parish Church of St John the Baptist.

The ceremony was held in the parish church because the

Continued on Page 4

as a Global Financial Crisis, the world was also experiencing another GFC – a Global Faith Crisis.

“Perth, both physically and metaphorically, was becoming a city without a heart, and therefore was in danger of becoming a city without a soul,” Mrs Colgan said.

“This place provides the opportunity for people to come together to stimulate the respect and mutual obligation which goes with a sense of community.”

The leader of the Federal Opposition, Tony Abbott, and prominent state and federal politicians were among dignitaries who attended the “Service of Appreciation and Recognition Memorial Dedication”, held on Tuesday, 6 December for those who contributed to the completion of St Mary’s Cathedral.

Mr Abbott said it was an honour to be invited to what was a beautiful service. “The new cathedral is

testimony to the strength and vigour of the Catholic community of Western Australia. It struck me as a wonderful way to give glory to God,” he said.

The invite-only service celebrated the generosity of the many thousands of people who donated money for the completion and restoration of the cathedral, which will soon mark its second anniversary since reopening. The St Mary’s Cathedral appeal

has raised $31.2 million since its launch five years ago. A further $1.7 million is needed to cover the total cost of the project.

Substantial donations came from state and federal governments, as well as from parishes in Western Australia.

The theme of the service was gratitude. It included the unveiling of a memorial wall displaying the

Continued on Page 6

Not aware: when human rights agendas conflict

By sarah Motherwell

A HUMAN rights group holding a stall in a hospital foyer to promote a campaign to stop violence against women would, in most circumstances, be uncontroversial.

But not when the hospital is St John of God Subiaco and the organisation running the stall is Amnesty International, whose decision in 2007 to regard abortion as a human right led Australia’s Catholic

bishops to declare that support for the organisation could no longer be reconciled with the Church’s understanding of human dignity and the sacredness of human life.

Amnesty International’s new policy, reversing the human rights organisation’s previously neutral position on abortion, had been adopted in secret by the group’s international executive committee and resulted in upheaval and significant withdrawal of memberships.

In particular, it ruptured a long association between it and Catholic individuals and groups that went back to Amnesty International’s founding in 1961 by Catholic layman Peter Benenson.

The policy change was initially said to have been introduced in response to the very specific circumstance of women raped as a weapon of war in places such as Dafur, but has subsequently been extended to include advocating

safe and legal abortion services in case of unwanted pregnancy as a result of sexual assault or incest, or if the pregnancy poses a risk to the woman’s life.

In October 2007, the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Archbishop Philip Wilson, said it was “with much regret” that the bishops had to advise that membership of Amnesty International was “no longer compatible with Catholic teaching and

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

This message, however, may have been obscured by time or failed to have filtered down to relevant Catholic organisations.

Happy: Br Alex Bogoni with his grandmother, Gigi Bogoni and mother, Verena Bogoni, after his investiture on 8 December at Toodyay.

PHOTO: ELIZABETH BOGONI

Radiant paradox a sign of redemption

Rockingham sends new priest off in style

Fr Richard Abourjaily reflects on a favourite work from the Mandorla Art Award collection

AMONG the many works displayed in the Mandorla retrospective exhibition, one piece stood out for its starkness, allowing a poignant message to issue forth for me.

When I first saw the work The enigma of Christ it reminded me of the coat of arms used by the Carthusian order and the motto associated with it. The Carthusian order is a contemplative order of monks founded by St Bruno in the 11th century. Its motto is Stat Crux dum orbis volvitur –The cross stands while the world turns.

The robustness of the cross on the metallic surface with the soft round shape encompassing it suggests the cross drawing the world and humanity, to be precise, to itself. The softness seems to be sustained by the strength of the cross. This strength is accentuated by the series of parallel lines through the cross.

The Latin inscription, which translates as “and all who believe in me will not die forever”, again reinforces that gathering in of humanity into the cross.

In Christian belief the cross is a paradox, recalling the death of Jesus but at the same time releasing humanity from the bondage of death as a consequence of sin. The burnished metal surface of the round shape allows the light to bounce off it. The radiance bespeaks of a redeemed humanity.

Fr Richard Abourjaily is attached to the Perth archdiocese’s new Faith Centre for Evangelisation and Catholic Culture.

To mark the Faith Centre’s first cultural evangelisation event, exhibiting the best of the Mandorla Art Award, we have seven more copies of the Mandorla Art Awards 2012 calendar. Put your name and phone number on the back of an envelope and post it to “The Record Mandorla Calendar Giveaway,” 21 Victoria Square, Perth, 6000, by 23 December.

Rob Hiini rthiini@therecord.com.au

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Sunday 18th - Violet (4th SUNDAY OF ADVENT)

1st Reading: 2 Sam 7:1-5, 8-12,14,16

David’s House

Respon. Psalm: Ps 88:2-5,27,29 A Dynasty for ever

2nd Reading: Rom 16: 25-27 Glory to God

Gospel Reading: Lk 1:26-38 Unending reign

Monday 19th - Violet

1st Reading: Judg 13: 2-7, 24-25

Birth of Samson

Respon. Psalm: Ps 70:3-6, 16-17 Rock of refuge

Gospel Reading: Lk 1:5-25 Elizabeth Conceives

Tuesday 20th - Violet

1st Reading: Isa 7:10-14

Ask God for a sign

Respon. Psalm: Ps 23:1-6 The Lord’s blessings

Gospel Reading: Lk 1:39-40 Mary Conceives

Wednesday 21st - Violet ( ST PETER CANISIUS, PRIEST, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH (O))

1st Reading: Song 2:8-14 Winter is past

A thanksgiving Mass on 20 November for recently ordained Father Wilson Martins was celebrated at Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Rockingham, the Parish where he served as a deacon. Fr Martins was one of three new priests of the Neocatechumenal Way ordained on 18 November. A choir from the parish’s primary school, Star of the Sea, led by Kate Lenton, provided music. Morning tea followed the Mass. Fr Wilson spoke about life in the parish, his ordination and thanksgiving Mass. He has been posted to the Cottesloe parish.

Christmas tales sought

Next week The Record hopes to run reports on how different Catholic rites and cultures celebrate Christmas. If you can help with a local angle or provide pictures of your community or family celebrations, please email editor@ therecord.com.au or call 9220 5900.

We regret the error 1

The Missionaries of God’s Love seminary was officially opened in the Melbourne suburb of Burwood on 5 November, not the Missionary of God’s Love seminary as reported on page 6 of our 23 November issue. We apologise to the Missionaries of God’s Love for the error.

We regret the error 2

The name of the Emmanuel Centre was misspelled in the headline and caption of our report on page 3 of our 7 December issue. The photo accompanying the story showed Anthony with his parents Tina and Joseph, not Jospeh as the caption indicated. We apologise to the Emmanuel Centre and to Joseph and his family for the errors.

Alt 1st Reading: Zeph 3:14-18 No evil to fear

Respon. Psalm: Ps32:2-3, 11-12, 20-21 Find joy in God

Gospel Reading: Lk 1:39-45

Mary greets Elizabeth

Thursday 22nd - Violet

1st Reading: 1 Sam 1:24-28 This is the child

Respon. Psalm: 1 Sam 2:1, 4-8

The childless wife

Gospel Reading: Lk 1:46-56

Great things for me

Friday 23rd - Violet ( ST JOHN OF KANTY, PRIEST (O))

1st Reading: Mal 3:1-4, 23-24

I will send Elijah

Respon. Psalm: Ps 24:4-5, 8-9,10,14

Teach me your paths

Gospel Reading: Lk 1:57-66

His name is John

Saturday 24th - Violet

1st Reading: 2 Sam 7:1-5, 8-12,14,16

A house of cedar

Respon. Psalm: Ps 88:2-5, 8-9,10,14

A dynasty for ever

Gospel Reading: Lk 1:67-79

Preparing the way

The enigma of Christ, by Brian McKay, oil on aluminium, 121cm x 101cm. Scripture theme: Images of Christ.

Greatest gift for the lonely is a friend to phone

By RoBeRt Hiini

WHEN the shopping hoopla ends and a sense of dread descends on so many this Christmas, Fr Michael Gatt and his team of volunteers will keep on going.

The Gatt Helpline has been fielding calls from the lonely and distressed over the Christmas and New Year period for the past two decades.

The Osborne Park priest and his team are preparing to open their phone lines on 19 December. They will be available, 24 hours a day, until 2 January.

“I’m so happy that we’ve made 20 years and I’m so proud of it,” Fr Gatt told The Record. “It’s one of those very rewarding things.”

Last year his team fielded about 60 calls. The average number over the past 20 years would be about 80,

Fr Gatt said. Loneliness, substance abuse, suicidal feelings and family breakdown make up the bulk of the issues callers want to talk about.

Fr Gatt said he felt confirmed in his work after seeing a report about the problem of loneliness in Japan broadcast by the ABC’s Lateline programme earlier this year.

He was amazed to learn there were pay-per-call services operating in Japan that offered what he

and his volunteers had been happy to offer for free for 20 years, he said.

The Gatt Helpline speaks to new callers each years but also gets regulars.

“It’s because I am a priest, you see, and I have something to add because I am a priest,” Fr Gatt said.

The service fields calls during the period in which mainstream welfare outlets are closed.

The parish is building up a store

of non-perishable items to provide emergency food assistance as part of the helpline’s work.

The Society of St Vincent de Paul said it had received more than 1,800 calls asking for assistance in the Perth metropolitan area last month; that was about 100 more than in November last year.

The team at the Gatt Helpline can be reached at 9444 1334 or 9444 8650 or at gattline@bigpond.com.

Change won’t halt perpetual motion

By RoBeRt Hiini

IF YOU have seen any sign of life in the Catholic Church in Perth over the past decade, there is a good chance Fr Hugh Thomas has had something to do with it.

The Redemptorist priest is booked solid for dinners this month with people wanting to wish him well as he prepares to depart for Sydney on 12 December after nearly 12 years in Perth.

A stalwart of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and, until recently, the principal organiser of the Marian Movement of Priests, Fr Hugh said he was sad to be leaving but believes the move to Sydney accords with the will of God.

“There’s always a sadness in leaving a place where you know a lot of people and many old friends, having to start up again,” Fr Hugh said. “I have mixed feelings but, predominantly, there’s a certain excitement about going to a new challenge.” He was recently pictured in The Record for his work in the charismatic healing group Love Ministry – the most recent iteration of his involvement with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement which dates back to the early 1970s. His work among young adults in the chastity group True Love Waits helped to shape many prominent leaders in the Perth archdiocese and further afield.

As the group’s chaplain, he worked closely with Lydia Stanley (nee Fernandez) and Bronia Karniewicz, both of whom went on to head Catholic agencies, as well as Clare Pike and Kevin Atherton, who went on to religious vocations.

Other former TLW leaders Grant and Stephen Gorddard are now St Charles’ seminarians while

Anthony Coyte teaches at the John Paul II Institute in Melbourne.

It is not the first time Fr Hugh has had to move after a long stint in one place. Prior to Perth, he spent 10 years in Newcastle. Prior to that, he spent two decades in the Philippines.

His first posting after ordination was to the Bikol-language area in the country’s southern Luzon region.

Fr Hugh prays his daily office in Indonesian to keep up his language skills for one of his other apostolates – perpetual adoration.

He and Glendalough priest, Fr Doug Harris have been giving retreats in Indonesia and Malaysia for several years, helping to establish nearly 30 perpetual adoration chapels in Indonesia. It is an apostolate he hopes to

continue in Sydney as well as promoting the monthly cenacle prayer of the Marian Movement of Priests.

“They don’t have any perpetual adoration chapels in Sydney,” Fr Hugh said. “So that might be a possible challenge I could work on.”

Fr Hugh Thomas: “There’s always a sadness in leaving a place where you know a lot of people and many old friends.”

PHOTO: ROBERT HIINI

Don’t forget where you came from, says Slovak priest

By RoBeRt Hiini

IF YOU are a migrant and you want to grow and contribute to your new home, don’t forget where you came from, says Lockridge assistant priest, Fr Pavol Herda.

The Slovakia-born priest hasn’t had time to forget. Within six months of being ordained for the archdiocese of Perth in June 2008, Slovakian migrants approached Fr Pavol for sacramental and pastoral support in their own home language and culture.

While Fr Pavol’s main focus is on wider Australian community, he says, he was happy to acquiesce to their requests. Fr Pavol has been celebrating Masses for around 60 Slovakian Catholics ever since, currently celebrating two Masses a month at Our Lady Queen of Poland Church in Maylands.

“So many Slovaks go to local churches and contribute to their own parishes but this represents a good opportunity for the people to come together,” Fr Pavol said.

“When we replant the tree into new ground we cannot forget our roots, our culture or our identity if we want to continually grow and flourish in the new ground.”

Although the Masses were initially advertised in a local Slovakian-language paper, numbers have grown mainly through wordof-mouth. Fr Pavol has nothing but gratitude for the Polish community who allows the Slovak Catholics to use their facilities.

Their Masses and social gatherings are also attended by a few Czech Catholics whose home language is very similar – “like Spanish and Italian are”, Fr Pavol said.

Even a few non-Catholics and non-believers join in, happy to enjoy the companionship of the ex-patriot fellows.

Everyone, Fr Pavol says, will be welcome at their Slovakian Christmas celebration, with an 11.15am Mass.

For more information on the Slovak Masses contact Fr Pavol on 0401 511 302.

Nuns bring grist to young adult meal

A SUBURBAN house crammed

about 30 people into its dining room for dinner with visiting members of one of the newest women’s religious institutes in Australia –possibly the newest of all. Sisters of the Immaculata, Mother Mary Therese and Sr Sari, were the first guests at St Bernadette’s Glendalough’s young adults ‘Supper Club’ on 5 December.

Everyone was invited to St Bernadette’s usual 5:45 Mass which was followed by a three-course meal held in one of the parish homes during which Mother Mary Therese gave a talk on holiness, “Going deeper in Christ”.

“The first person we go to who helps us go deeper in holiness is Mary; she was given the role as mother of Christ and mother of us all,” she said.

“The mystery of Jesus going through Mary is profound – when we give our lives totally to Mary she shows us how to imitate her son.”

Mother Mary Therese also touched on how reading the lives of the saints can help us to grow in holiness as does recognition of our own weaknesses and tendencies.

Reading the Gospels was also key to growing in holiness, she said.

“Through the Gospels we also learn the importance of forgiveness and repentance,” she said.

Almost 20 young adults from across Perth including one from Narrogin attended the night.

Sr Sari, who has been a postulant this year, is due to enter the novitiate on 11 February next year. During the ceremony she will take a

Cathedral appreciation: saving the soul of a city

Continued from Page 1 names of some of the major donors. However, Perth’s Archbishop Barry Hickey said in his address to the service that he wanted to make special mention of all those people whose names were not on the wall.

“They are the salt of the earth,” he said.

WA senator Mark Bishop, who represented the prime minister, Julia Gillard, at the service, said, “it was a pleasure to attend the ceremony in a Church over 2000 years old, see its universal message on display for a modern and varied community”.

“My congratulations to all of those involved in the project and in

particular my best wishes for those parishioners who will incorporate the church into their daily lives,” Senator Bishop said.

Every weekend, about 3,000 people attend services at St Mary’s Cathedral.

In October the Cathedral held a Commonwealth Prayer Initiative over the CHOGM weekend, which was attended by Heads of Government, delegates and officials.

The cathedral was built by Perth-based commercial building company EMCO, and designed by architect Peter Quinn. His design won the 2010 George Temple Pool Award, WA’s top public architecture prize.

new religious name and be clothed in the habit.

It was Sr Sari who introduced the Order to the diners.

The Sisters of the Immaculata are a new order, founded on 8 December 2009 by Mother Mary Therese who felt the call to found a religious order dedicated to parish renewal and revival.

Wine, summer and song on Subiaco green

By RoBeRt Hiini

WHETHER you were there for polished musical performance or the gourmet nibbles, St Joseph Subiaco’s Carols on the Piazza 2011 delivered in spades. Families, couples, children and young people packed the green on the eastern side of the basilica to delight in the sounds of the parish’s Schola Cantorum (a choir maintained by the church) and the St Joseph’s Youth Band.

The dulcet tones of 16 male and female voices rang out across the piazza, in spite of a slight breeze, as the schola worked through a repertoire of traditional carols and some, more recent favourites.

The youth band brought a modern twist, with drums, guitars, keys and bass adding contemporary zest to the likes of Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Good King Wenceslas and The Little Drummer Boy

An ever reliable Santa Claus stopped by to ply excited children with lollies. Older revellers availed themselves of the parish barbeque with salads, satays and cheese and cracker trays on offer.

New head for Good Sam’s body

By MaRk Reidy

A NEW entity within the Australian Catholic Church officially began on 13 November at St Scholastica’s Chapel in Glebe, Sydney. The Sisters of the Good Samaritan of the Order of St Benedict launched “Good Samaritan Education”, a body that will have canonical responsibility for the order’s 10 colleges.

Clayton Walsh, a member of St Bernadette’s Glendalough young adults and also an apprentice chef, designed and prepared a threecourse meal for the nightd. His fiancée, Anna Gelin, from Belgium, added her touch to the Supper Club, by concoting a Belgian family recipe for the coconut flan dessert.

The new entity, which had received approval from the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, in agreement with the archbishops and bishops of Melbourne, Brisbane, Wollongong and Broken Bay – dioceses where the colleges are located – will commence their jurisdiction on June 1 next year.

“This is an historic decision for the sisters and our partners in the ministry of education of the young”, said the order’s superior, Sister Clare Condon. “We are looking forward to this new direction and for the continuance and development of the Good Samaritan charism within each of the colleges”.

An evening on the green: Young and old at St Joseph’s, Subiaco, bask in the heavenly sounds of their parish choir. PHOTO: R HIINI

Diners get a look at possibly Australia’s newest religious order, the Sisters of the Immaculata. PHOTO: PATRICK LAUNDY

Left: Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott with his deputy, Julie Bishop. Right: Archbishop Barry Hickey with Mr Abbott and former cathedral dean Mgr Thomas McDonald.

PHOTO: RON TAN

First move: one down, eight to go

By Peter rosengren

THE ANNOUNCEMENT by Pope Benedict XVI’s personal representative in Australia of a new bishop for the NSW diocese of Armidale ends speculation in one of several dioceses awaiting a new bishop.

That leaves eight.

Bishop-elect Michael Kennedy, a priest who was ordained for the diocese of Wagga Wagga in 1999 after leaving a career as a high school teacher, will succeed Bishop Luc Matthys who has headed the

Not aware: when rights agendas are in conflict

Continued from Page 1

The Amnesty stall at St John of God Subiaco on 6 and 7 December, was part of “16 days of Activism” a global annual campaign to highlight violence against women

A series of stalls were hosted in Perth hospitals from 25 November to 10 December, coinciding with The International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women and International Human Rights Day respectively. St John of God Hospital Subiaco was the only Catholic hospital to host a stall as part of the campaign.

St John of God Health Care’s group director for marketing and public relations, Fiona Athersmith, said the Subiaco hospital “was not aware that the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference had in 2007 urged Catholics to seek other avenues of defending human rights”.

The hospital’s Social Outreach Department had been contacted by Amnesty International to set up a stall to promote the ‘Say No-Unite’ campaign, said the hospital’s marketing manager, Tara Power.

“From time to time, community organisations approach the hospital to set up a stall that provides information on key national and international health related days,” she said.

Ms Athersmith said Amnesty International had approached the Subiaco hospital to promote White Ribbon Day as part of its campaign to stop violence against women.

“Amnesty subsequently sold white ribbons and provided supporting literature to people within the hospital’s front foyer,” she said. “Neither St John of God Health Care nor St John of God Subiaco Hospital is a member of Amnesty International and is not involved in any ongoing partnership or relationship with the organisation.”

Despite the different views on abortion between Amnesty International and the Catholic Church, Amnesty continued to campaign for the immediate and unconditional release of a number of Catholic priests jailed worldwide, she said.

Multiple attempts were made to contact St John of God Hospital Subiaco’s mission group director, Jennifer Stratton but she was unavailable for comment

Reflecting the concern expressed by bishops conferences around the world, Sydney Jesuit Fr Chris Middleton established the Beneson Society as an alternative enabling Catholic schools and others that had supported Amnesty International to continue to campaign for human rights around the world.

Editorial – Page 16

rural northern NSW diocese since 1998. The news was released by papal nuncio Archbishop Giuseppe Lazarotto last week.

He is a rural-born priest who will head a mainly rural diocese, a fact both noted and welcomed by outgoing Bishop Matthys in his own statement of 7 November.

Bishop-elect Kennedy may be a rural bishop but he will also be one with a strong Roman perspective. In 1994, two years after entering seminary, he was sent to Rome where he completed a Licentiate in Theology

from Propaganda Fide, also obtaining a Diploma in Mariology from the Marianum.

Returning to Australia he served as an assistant parish priest and then as rector of St Francis residential college at Charles Sturt University; since 2000 he has lectured in moral theology, Mariology and church history at his old seminary, Vianney College. From 2005 to 2009 he was chairman of the Australian Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, one of two associations of priests in Australia.

With Bishop-elect Kennedy’s appointment, the five dioceses and three archdioceses waiting for news of appointments of bishops are: the archdioceses of Brisbane, Perth and Hobart; and the dioceses of Sandhurst and Ballarat in Victoria, Rockhampton and Toowoomba in Queensland and Wilcannia-Forbes in NSW.

The archdiocese of Sydney, meanwhile, is waiting on news of the appointment of an auxiliary bishop while the diocese of Lismore, whose bishop, Geoffrey Jarrett, was

appointed apostolic administrator of Brisbane last month, will also be due for retirement in approximately 18 months from now.

One of Brisbane’s auxiliary bishops, Brian Finnigan, was appointed apostolic administrator of Toowoomba in May following the removal by Pope Benedict XVI of Bishop William Morris from that diocese.

Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ouderman of Brisbane, meanwhile, is believed to have not enjoyed good health in recent months.

Filipino visitation for “Mama Maria”

By roBert Hiini

IF CHILDREN image the kingdom of God, Filipino Catholics in Perth are doing pretty well.

Archbishop Barry Hickey was swamped by kids when he offered them a blessing at the Filipino Chaplaincy Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral on 4 December.

The cathedral boomed with singing as the group Couples for Christ Australia led the congregation in hymns sung in English and Tagalog, the official language of the

Modern goths assail St Paul’s

ST PAUL’S in Mt Lawley is having trouble with vandals again.

“Our ‘friends’ struck the women’s toilet at church again, breaking a glass louvre and the top of the rubbish bin,” a recent parish newsletter said.

“A few weeks earlier they set alight a stack of toilet rolls, causing a commode to crack.”

Parishioners have been exhorted to keep the mens and womens toilets locked when not in use.

The Parish office has asked for suggestions in devising a system to open and secure the toilets before and after St Paul’s Saturday and Sunday Masses.

Philippines. Celebrations continued after the final blessing, with families and priests reconvening for Filipino food in the Cathedral’s parish centre.

It was the first Mass convened by the Filipino Chaplaincy since Archbishop Hickey agreed to its new constitution, which was launched at the event.

The chaplaincy has been granted permission to celebrate seven special Masses throughout the year with a down period between February and April so that Filipinos

can participate in parish Easter celebrations.

The chaplaincy will continue to be headed by senior chaplain Fr Armando Carrandang, who was installed in the role on 4 July 2010, with an assistant chaplain who is yet to be appointed.

The chaplaincy will be guided by the individual counsel of Filipino priests throughout Perth.

The special Mass was celebrated in anticipation of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception – a thanksgiving for “Mama Maria” in

the Philippines and a significant event for the Perth archdiocese.

The Immaculate Conception was the inspiration for St Mary’s Cathedral’s official name – the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary – with St Mary’s first iteration opening on 29 January, 1865, just over 10 years after Pius IX proclaimed it dogma.

According to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, 5,958 people born in the Philippines settled in Australia in 2009-2010.

To have life and to have it abundantly: Archbishop Barry Hickey gives a general blessing at the Filipino Chaplaincy’s special Mass.

PHOTO: R HIINI

Journey for new priest began after Vietnam war’s end

By Bridget SpinkS

FR JOSEPH Anh Do CSsR was born the same year the Vietnam War ended. In 1954, his Catholic parents, born in North Vietnam, moved to South Vietnam where they married and began raising their family.

Growing up in the aftermath of the war, Fr Joseph had a “very hard life as a little boy”, he said, but how his parents handled difficulties and lived their faith journey was part of his inspiration to become a priest.

But this inspiration came slowly. His parents always encouraged him to go to church and going to Mass and learning about God – somewhat incomprehensible at the time, he said – caused the seeds of faith to be implanted.

As he grew older, he imagined pursuing a career, an education and earning money so he could have a “better life” but found he was searching for something more than money or job could satisfy.

“Joining a religious life was a response to what I got from my family and the blessings they received throughout the difficult times after 1975, following the war in Vietnam,” he said.

The joy he found in the mission of the Redemptorist order confirmed this was the mission he was been called to carry out. Before

joining the order, he frequented the monastery on a weekly basis for four years while at the same time attending university and earning a degree in teaching.

He wanted to join religious life but the call was not clear as he graduated from university. Then aged in his early twenties he taught for a short while before joining the order in 1999.

After two years as a postulant, he took his first vows with the Redemptorists in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam in 2001. He studied philosophy until 2003 followed by three years of theology.

He moved to Australia in 2006 in accordance with an invitation from the Australian province of the Redemptorists to assist the province.

Fr Joseph had studied English before joining the order but continued doing so for three months on arrival before going on to earn a Master’s degree in theological studies in Melbourne.

His pastoral work in WA includes three weeks in Port Hedland where he assisted the parish in the town and gained some experience of Australian life in the outback.

He also spent about five weeks at the Redemptorist Monastery in North Perth in 2010.

After exploring and learning about his mission and work here,

Fr Joseph has discerned his priesthood mission is to serve people and those in need of spiritual direction or help in building their faith.

As well as walking with people in their faith journey, Fr Joseph said his priesthood is also about administering the sacraments.

“We believe through sacraments we receive blessings and grace from God and so the priests are there to do that job, that task,” he said.

While his priesthood is to serve God through the people – and to bring them the good news of the Gospel and hope in life, he is also aware he is on his own

Franciscans take the habit

Continued from Page 1

Franciscan Friary in the rural town was not big enough to hold all the visitors, including seminarians from Perth.

For the Franciscans of the Immaculate, one of the many reforms in the history of the Franciscan family, the day had a double significance.

Their branch of the Franciscans, which was established in 1990, has named itself for the patronage and protection of Our Lady who is theologically, Immaculate.

It was on her feast day the three aspirants were taking the significant step in their journey.

Their order also draws its inspiration from the life and spirituality of St Maximilian Kolbe.

He was a Polish Franciscan who died in Auschwitz in 1941 after offering his life in the place of another prisoner condemned to death.

The ceremony was presided over by Australian born Fr Sharbal Hayward FI, the superior of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate in Australia, who is also originally from Perth.

Being invested with the habit means that Brothers Bogoni, Dono and Pophillat, who have all been living the Franciscan life over the last year or so, have gone from being aspirants to postulants.

In Australia, the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate are based in Perth at Munster and Toodyay.

The order began in Italy with approximately 30 friars in the early 1990s and has rapidly grown to several hundred members spread over five continents.

In 1998, the Friars were erected as a pontifical institute of religious life by Pope John Paul II.

This occurred on another great Marian feast day, 1 January, the solemnity of the Mother of God.

New Geraldton priest’s first rector was... his mother

By Fr John Jegorow

DEACON Joseph Tai Trinh, the smallest priest in the world, was ordained for one of the largest dioceses in the world - Geraldton.

Ordaining prelate Justin Bianchini was overjoyed to be ordaining for the second time in 18 years. Some said he was even happier than the candidate.

Bishop Justin thanked Fr Tai’s mother in his homily, for giving her only son to the Church of Geraldton.

Mrs Trinh brough up her family on her own as her husband died while the children were still young.

Fr Tai himself called his mother his first rector. She would wake him up at 4am to go to Mass as a young person. He called his sister (one

of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity), who came especially from Hong Kong, his ‘vocational model’.

He also enjoyed the support of his other sister Cecilia who came to Perth during his eight years of preparation.

Fr Tai, a fully qualified vet, spoke no English when he first arrived in Australia.

Bishop Justin said the Church needs good people in every walk and vocation of life, but the priest must remember he is sent for all people, the good and not so good. He is to be a pastor to all the sheep, black ones included.

Fr Vinh Dong of Greenwood recruited Tai from Vietnam for the Geraldton diocese, and looked after him during his eight years of preparation.

Fr Joseph Tai Trinh blesses his sister after his ordination in Geraldton’s St Francis Xavier Cathedral on 1 December.

PHOTO: FR ROBERT CROSS

Aspirants become postulants: Brothers Pophillat, at left, Bogoni and Dono during the rite of investiture with the Franciscan habit.

PHOTO: ELIZABETH BOGONI

Fr Joseph addresses the congregation in front of Archbishop Hickey and fellow clergy.

PHOTO: REDEMPTORIST MONASTERY

Fear own sin, not persecution

By Carol Glatz

ROME – The Church should fear the sin of its own members more than hatred against Christians, Pope Benedict XVI has said. While the Church had suffered from persecution throughout its history, it was “supported by the light and strength of God” and would always end victorious, he said.

Overcoming trials and outside threats shows how the Christian community “is the presence, the guarantee of God’s love against all ideologies of hatred and selfish-

Prepare for evangelising through silent prayer

By CiNdy WoodeN

VATICAN CITY – The Catholic Church’s project of “new evangelisation” faces two dangers: people thinking others will do the work and people so fired up to preach the Gospel, they forget to pray, said the preacher of the papal household.

Fr Raniero Cantalamessa, a Capuchin who preaches to the Pope and top Vatican officials on the Fridays of Advent and Lent, dedicated his December 2011 series to lessons from the Church’s own history of evangelisation efforts.

Focusing on the contribution of monastic orders from the 5th century, Fr Cantalamessa said their example was a reminder of “the importance of the contemplative life in view of evangelisation.”

The first of the dangers facing today’s efforts to re-proclaim the Gospel is “inertia, laziness, not doing anything and letting others do everything,” he said.

“The other is launching oneself in a feverish and empty human activism, which results in losing contact little by little with the source of the word and its effectiveness.”

Fr Cantalamessa said people sometimes told him it was hard to stay still and silent and pray when the world so obviously needed ministers and missionaries.

“It’s true. But imagine what would happen if a squad of firefighters runs so fast at the sound of an alarm to put out a fire, but once on the scene realises they have no tanks, not even a drop of water with them,” he said.

“That’s how we are if we run out to preach without praying,” he told the Pope and curia officials. “One who prays without speaking does more evangelisation than one who speaks without praying.” CNS

ness,” he said on the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

“The only danger the Church can and should fear is the sin of her members,” the Pope said.

Pope Benedict marked the feast day by making an afternoon visit to a statue of Mary erected near the Spanish Steps.

He went from the Vatican to the heart of Rome’s tourist and shopping district to pay homage to Mary by praying before the statue which commemorates Pope Pius IX’s proclamation in 1854 that Mary, by special divine favour, was with-

out sin from the moment she was conceived.

The Pope offered a large basket of white roses which was then set at the foot of the column topped by the statue. He also greeted and blessed the infirm and their caregivers. He told the crowds gathered for the event that Mary is “free from every stain of sin (and) the Church is holy, but at the same time is marked by our sins.”

For that reason, Christians often turn to Mary for help and encouragement in living a truly Christian

life, he said. She also gives hope, “which we really need, especially at this very difficult time for Italy, Europe and different parts of the world.”

“Mary helps us see that there is a light beyond the blanket of fog that seems to envelop reality,” he said.

Earlier in the day, the Pope led the Angelus prayer with those gathered in St Peter’s Square.

Before the prayer, the Pope said that, like Mary, “we, too, are given the ‘fullness of grace’ that we must let shine in our lives.”

God “has blessed us in Christ

Chip and grind ... but no flight

with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him,” the Pope said, citing St Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians.

“In her sinless perfection, Mary is a great sign of hope for the Church and for the world, a sign of the marvels that God’s grace can accomplish in us, his human creatures,” the Pope said.

He asked that during the days of Advent, people prepare to welcome Mary’s son into their lives and hearts. CNS

US airstrike in Pakistan results in protest and drone ban

KARACHI - Pakistan’s Catholic justice and peace commission organised a protest condemning a US airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Holding pro-army banners and national flags, more than 50 protesters from several Catholic institutions gathered outside Karachi’s press club on 2 December, Asian church news agency UCA News reported. They shouted slogans,

prayed and lit candles for the “faithful martyrs”.

The protesters, including two priests and 10 friars, expressed outrage at what they called an attack on their country’s sovereignty and demanded justice for the families of those killed.

Helicopters attacked two Pakistan border posts on 26 November, killing 24 soldiers. The attack prompted Pakistan to pull out of talks in

Germany about neighbouring Afghanistan’s future. The Pakistani government also blocked NATO supply routes to Afghanistan and demanded the US leave a remote airbase used for drone flights.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has pledged a thorough investigation into the airstrikes. A statement from the justice and peace commission said: “It is time to take our airbases back

from foreign armies. The government should press for a transparent investigation into the NATO raid.”

Capuchin Fr Abid Habib, president of the Major Superiors Leadership Conference of Pakistan, said the cost in civilian lives from the war against the Taliban was unacceptable. “The war on terror has killed over 30,000 civilians and there are many miles to go in a conflict that is not ours,” he said. CNS

CNS top story of 2011 new Roman missal intro

By NaNCy Frazier

WASHINGTON – The introduction of the English translation of the Roman Missal topped US religious news stories of 2011, and Pope Benedict XVI was again the top newsmaker, according to the annual poll conducted by Catholic News Service (CNS).

The continued effect of the global economic downturn was second among the 30 news stories on the

ballot. The democracy movement in the Middle East dubbed the Arab spring took third place.

Among the 24 newsmakers on the ballot, the president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, was second. US president Barack Obama was third.

Blessed John Paul II, who was beatified in May, and Fordham University theologian Sister Elizabeth Johnson, whose 2007

book Quest for the Living God was declared “seriously inadequate as a presentation of the Catholic understanding of God” by the bishops’ Committee on Doctrine, were fourth and fifth, respectively.

The poll was the 50th annual survey conducted by CNS. When the editors’ poll was first conducted in 1962, the overwhelming choice for top story was the opening of the Second Vatican Council.

Last year, editors chose the

recovery and rebuilding effort that followed the devastating January earthquake in Haiti as the top religious story of the year and Pope Benedict as the top newsmaker. Editors were asked to vote for the top 10 news stories from a list of 30, and the top five newsmakers from a list of 24. Votes were weighted by the rankings editors gave: 10 points for a first-place vote, nine points for second, etc; and five points for top newsmaker, four for second, etc.

With 29 editors and CNS staff members submitting ballots, the maximum points a story could have received was 290. The most a newsmaker could receive on the five-point scale was 145.

Rounding out the top five for religious news stories were the Irish Church’s sex abuse scandal and the issue of religious freedom.

Pope Benedict has been the top religious newsmaker in the poll every year since 2006. CNS

A sculptor works on statues of angels in an outdoor studio in the town of Baoding, Hebei province, China. The town, which has a history of stone carving dating back more than 2,000 years, is finding business in the current economic climate tough. Religious statues and copies of ancient Roman busts now far outnumber the workers who chip and grind away in small workshops.

PHOTO: CNS/DAVID GRAY

Migrants can improve society: Pope

By Kristin GoBBerG

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI has expressed concern for the millions of migrants around the world, and encouraged the agencies trying to help them.

“I entrust to the Lord all those who, often forcibly, must leave their homeland, or who are stateless,” he said on 4 December. “While I encourage solidarity for them, I pray for all those who are doing their utmost to protect and assist these brothers and sisters in emergency situations, even if it means

Protests in Syria aim for better future and stability

By John thavis

VATICAN CITY – A Vatican official has deplored growing violence in Syria and called on political leaders there to enact “real reforms.”

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi made the remarks on 2 December to a special session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, which was discussing the Syrian crackdown on regime opponents that has left an estimated 4,000 people dead in recent months.

Archbishop Tomasi, the Vatican’s representative to UN and other agencies in Geneva, said the Vatican was following “with great concern the dramatic and growing episodes of violence in Syria, which have caused many victims and grave suffering.”

He said anti-government protests arose from legitimate aspirations for a “better future of economic wellbeing, justice, freedom and participation in public life.”

“They point to the urgent necessity of real reforms in social, economic and political life,” he added.

It was important such changes take place without intolerance, discrimination or conflict, through respect for truth and the “legitimate rights of individuals and groups.”

“Such principles must guide leaders while taking account of the aspirations of civil society as well as the instances of the international community,” he said.

“May peace soon prevail and allow a renewed society to look with hope to a future where the innate dignity of every person is respected,” he said.

The Arab League has threatened new sanctions against Syria unless it allows international observers into the country. The government of President Bashar al-Assad has so far refused to comply. CNS

exposing themselves to serious hardships and dangers.”

The Pope noted the upcoming 60th anniversary of the Convention on the Status of Refugees and the 50th anniversary of the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

This year marks the the 60th anniversary of the International Organisation for Migration, which the Vatican this month announced on 5 December had accepted the Holy See as a full member state.

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican representative to international organisations based in

Geneva, told Vatican Radio that for centuries Catholics had generously assisted migrants and refugees “independently of their religious faith, their colour and their legal situation. It is the human person, the dignity of the human person that counts and frequently is at risk in the situations of marginalisation created in moving from one country to another.”

Being a full member of the IOM, rather than a permanent observer as with many UN agencies, would give the Vatican a stronger voice in an area where politics was not as

important as meeting real human needs, the archbishop said. Participating in the general debate at the organisation’s 5 December session in Geneva, he called for greater efforts to promote “a positive perception of migrants” at a time when economic hardships have led to a false impression that newcomers are taking people’s jobs and are a burden on society.

“There is clear and accumulating evidence about the positive economic contribution made by migrants to their new countries through the taxes they pay, the

National conciliation called for in Yangon across all society

By thomas toe

YANGON – Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with the Vatican’s envoy to Myanmar on 8 December at celebrations marking the centenary of St Mary’s Cathedral in Yangon.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino spoke for several minutes ahead of the celebration.

Her visit underscored her call for national conciliation to include all in society no matter their ethnic or religious background.

Before the ceremony, Yangon’s Archbishop Charles Maung Bo

told the Vatican news agency Fides: “It will be an important moment for the Christian community: for its history and faith, but also for its future, for the role Christians wish to play in a free and democratic country.”

Also attending the celebration was an official from the Ministry of Religious Affairs, who read out a letter calling on Christians to “involve themselves in the country’s development as much as they can” as they are also good citizens of Myanmar.

The official left following Cardinal Martino’s homily in which he called on local Catholics

to work with other faiths for the education, health care and social welfare of the people for the country’s development.

“Catholics in Myanmar must be the light and strength of the country according to the will of God,” the cardinal added.

A priest from Yangon archdiocese read out a letter from Pope Benedict XVI in which he called on Cardinal Martino to convey his greetings to the clergy, religious and lay Catholics in Yangon and to offer his goodwill to members of other faiths and to those who cherish religious freedom and the wellbeing of all people. CNA

Phoenix excommunication reversed

PHOENIX – A Mercy sister automatically excommunicated because of her role on the ethics committee that allowed an abortion to be performed at a Catholic hospital in Phoenix in 2009 is reportedly back in good standing with the Church.

In May 2010, officials at St Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Centre acknowledged that an abortion had occurred at the hospital in late 2009. Officials said the woman was 11 weeks pregnant and suffered from pulmonary hypertension, a condition the hospital said carried a near-certain risk of death for the mother if the pregnancy continued. It also was revealed at the time

that Mercy Sister Margaret McBride had incurred automatic excommunication because of her role on the ethics committee that sanctioned the abortion. In December 2010, Phoenix Bishop Thomas Olmsted announced the hospital could no longer identify itself as Catholic.

In an 8 December statement, the hospital said Sr Margaret had since “met the requirements for reinstatement with the Church and she is no longer excommunicated. She continues to be a member in good standing with the Sisters of Mercy and is a valued member of the St Joseph’s executive team.”

Sr Margaret is currently the

medical centre’s vice-president for organisational outreach.

The statement, emailed to Catholic News Service in response to a query about her status, provided no more details and the hospital had no further comment.

When Bishop Olmsted issued his decree revoking the 116 year old hospital’s affiliation with the Catholic Church, he said he could not verify that the hospital provided care consistent with “authentic Catholic moral teaching.”

After he learned of the abortion, Bishop Olmsted said at the time he had met with hospital officials to learn more about the case.

new businesses they start and the variety of services they provide that range from jobs that are considered socially less attractive, although necessary, to the care of family members who are disabled, elderly or very young,” the archbishop said. Migrants made visible “the link that binds the whole human family together,” he said. Their potential to improve society became a reality as “they too open themselves to receive and appreciate the basic values of the new society so that a common and richer future may be built together.”

BELARUS

Archbishop: abolish capital punishment

Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of Minsk has urged his country to abolish capital punishment after two 25 year olds were sentenced to death for killing 15 people in a metro bomb attack. “No terrorist act can be justified, and the perpetrators should receive just punishment,” he told the Belarussian Church’s online news agency. “But the Church calls for bloodless methods for restraining and punishing offenders, best suited to the common good and human dignity. Given the opportunities available to the state for preventing serious crimes, cases where the death penalty is absolutely necessary are very rare, even nonexistent.” He appealed to President Alexander Lukashenko and the parliament to impose a moratorium on the death penalty, “then abolish it completely, replacing it with life imprisonment and pardoning those sentenced to capital punishment”.

CONGO

Prelate condemns election attacks

The Church in Congo was unable to confirm or refute preliminary results of November elections, president of the Congolese bishops’ conference, Bishop Nicolas said, with electoral observers from the Church’s justice and peace comission able to cover only 23 per cent of the country’s polling stations. While Church organisations have largely applauded the fact that elections went smoothly in most places, Archbishop Marcel Madila Basanguka of Kananga condemned mob attacks on nuns and on a convent and Church-run school in response to unsubstantiated rumours of Church collusion in fraud. “I strongly condemn all such wicked acts, which are only an attempt to discredit the Catholic Church and its pastoral agents,” he said.

ITALY

Pope taps tablet to light up Christmas

“It became clear that, in their decision to abort, the equal dignity of mother and her baby were not both upheld,” he said. The baby “was directly killed,” which violated ethical and religious directives. He said it was his duty to strip St Joseph’s Hospital of its Catholic identity because its leadership, as well as that of its parent organisation, San Francisco-based Catholic Healthcare West, was not committed to “following the teachings of the Catholic Church.”

“I really want to have Catholic health care,” he said. “We should be working together, not against each other.” CNS

Pope Benedict XVI tapped a tablet computer and successfully lit the world’s largest electronic Christmas “tree” located in the Italian town of Gubbio. Before turning on tree lights, he addressed the citizens of Gubbio via a video link from his apartment in Vatican City, calling on Christians to serve as a light in the lives of others. Just as the tree design in Gubbio was made up of tiny individual lights, each person needed to bring light to others. “Every small act of kindness is like a light in this big tree: together with the other lights it can bring light to even the darkest of nights,” he said. Located on the face of Mount Ignio, the electronic tree extends more than 2,000 feet and contains more than 900 lights, illuminating the side of the mountain.

People greet Cardinal Renato Martino, special Vatican envoy to Myanmar, following a Mass to mark the 100th anniversary of the St Mary’s Cathedral in Yangon on 8 December, Feast of the Immaculate Conception. PHOTO: CNS/SOE ZEYA TUN

A House of Heaven

Conception from Western Australia’s

The history of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception church, Western Australia’s first Catholic church built outside the metropolitan area, has enriched Dardanup since its beginnings in 1854, writes

Gwen Wells

WITH the recent celebration of the December 8 feast day honouring Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception, this week The Record focuses on the history of the old church at Dardanup.

The first Catholic church completed outside the Perth metropolitan area, it was dedicated to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception before this title was proclaimed by the Pope on 8 December 1854.

From the very early days, Dardanup Catholics celebrated this feast day with great ceremony. A procession around the town was a tradition in the 1880s. Those old enough to remember the 40s and 50s will recall the big, colourful processions. Always held on the Sunday within the octave, local numbers were boosted with Mary’s devotees from Bunbury and neighbouring rural parishes. Those afternoons had a gala atmosphere and always concluded with afternoon tea for everyone.

Thomas Little was a staunch Catholic resident in Dardanup.

On 19 October 1852 he drew up a deed and presented 50 acres of land from his own estate at Dardanup to Bishop Serra. Included in the gift were 100,000 bricks and 50 bushels of lime with which to build a church and a monastery for a religious community of men. All he asked in return was the celebration of Mass, twice a year, for his intentions. He was backed financially by the bishop and subscriptions were forthcoming from the 80 or so parishioners of the district.

The foundation stone of the church was laid on Saturday, 25 March 1854, the Feast of the Annunciation of Our Lady. The ceremony was performed by Bishop Salvado of New Norcia, in the absence of Bishop Serra, the Apostolic Administrator of the Perth Diocese.

The church was named in honour of Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception before the Dogma of Faith was proclaimed by the Pope on 8 December 1854. Canon Martelli, Acting Assistant Priest, recorded the event by saying, “In the midst of the woods, under a canopy of Heaven and surrounded by a small group of pious congregation, the bishop accomplished the sacred ceremony, not in pomp but in great spiritual joy.”

From 5 December 1855, Father Peter Garrido OSB, who was the second resident priest accepting accommodation from Thomas Little, was in charge of building the church. Fr Garrido’s ministry extended from Australind to

held for the church and later for the Sisters of Mercy Convent. He records the various priests who visited from time to time and also the Sodalities of men and women. Also noted was the procession held each year around the town on 8 December to mark Our Lady’s feast day.

as possible to its original appearance. It would then be used as the resource centre at the school.

In 1979, the old church was fully restored. 125 years after its foundation. It was re-dedicated and re-named “The Thomas Little Memorial Hall” in memory of the parish’s earliest and illustrious benefactor, Mr Thomas Little. Once again it was fully used by the school as a library, for assemblies and art exhibitions. With the help of grants from several sources, further restoration was carried out in 1993.

Busselton. Before the completion of the church he had many difficulties, particularly financial ones. It was finally blessed and opened on 19 April 1857 and was the first country Catholic church completed outside of Perth. It was opened a few months before the Albany church which had its foundation stone laid before the Dardanup one. The builder at Dardanup was a Mr Brown. The church was built of bricks being clad with a lime cement render. It had a high, shingled steeple roof, no doubt of English origin, for easy shedding of snow and ice. Internally, there were plaster walls with a timber dado halfway around the walls of the building. It had slim, high windows with green and gold stained glass. The flooring was of timber. The church is 44ft long and 18ft wide. It cost approximately £300. From 1857 the church was used for worship when the priest came

to visit and was also used as a classroom to educate the children of Irish Catholics of the district. This situation continued until Thomas Little made available for education a small cottage next to the church. From 1881 to 1895 education was taken over by the government in the cottage, until a brick school was built opposite the church.

The church was named in honour of Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception before the Dogma of Faith was proclaimed on 8 December 1854.

In 1856, a committee led by Thomas Little collected subscriptions from the pioneer parishioners in order to complete the church. Pledges were received for a period of three years to be paid on the first Friday of a quarter by the donor. A list of subscribers was recorded. Mr Thomas Little died on 5 November 1877.

George Fee records in his diaries the many activities that went on in the church. From these diaries we learn that the old church was re-shingled and re-roofed with galvanised iron in 1884. Various fundraising events were

In 1938, a new Church of the Immaculate Conception was built. This was needed because of the increase in the number of parishioners in the district. The old church was used once again for the education of children by the Sisters of Mercy as their facilities were overcrowded. It was also used for social gatherings, card evenings and fundraising.

In 1948, new classrooms were built for the parish and the old church was used for storing building materials. In 1949, after the classrooms were completed, the old church was once again used for the school. It was used as a gymnasium, for dancing and singing, woodwork, needlework and all kinds of cultural activities. Centenary year, 1954, was a grand year of celebrations in the parish. Our Lady’s Feast Days were celebrated in a special way and the grand finale of course was on 8 December, feast of the Immaculate Conception.

But with the passing years the old church gradually fell into disrepair. Over the years little maintenance had been carried out and its fate was on the line. Demolition was threatening. In April 1978, Cyclone Alby dealt it a severe blow, necessitating a new roof and guttering. Fortunately, these were covered by insurance. At this time a dedicated group of people, together with the parish priest, teachers and a government grant, raised finance to set about the mammoth task of restoring the old church as near

One long term goal with the restoration was to use the building to house historic and heritage items of the parish and district.

In 1994, the old church, now known as Thomas Little Hall, celebrated 140 years since its foundation.

A short summary of the use made of the old church since 1994: For some years it was fully utilised as a classroom by students at Our Lady of Lourdes school. It was also used for art exhibitions each year by the Dardanup Bull and Barrell Festival Committee and also for special parish celebrations.

This year, 2011, Our Lady of Lourdes school has a new school hall so does not require the old church, but it is still proving a useful building. The parish has begun using it for Sunday miniworship for the children. It is used for morning teas on special occasions.

Plans are under way for more repairs and restoration work in hope of turning it into a museum type place, occasionally open to the public. Meanwhile, it looks good. It is tidy but needs a kitchen revamping but with the floor all nicely polished. Overall, as it celebrates 157 years, its condition is not too bad.

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Dardanup.

PHOTO: COURTESY DARDANUP ARCHIVES

This plaque was placed upon the first stone blessed and laid by Archbishop Prendiville in 1937 at the beginning of construction of the new church which was completed in 1938.

PHOTO: VIRTUALTOURIST.COM

Baby Billion Welcome

7

Worldwide population trends are decreasing while the standard of living has been getting dramatically better, writes

‘Afew seconds after midnight a baby emerged from the womb of her mother, drew her first breath, and announced her arrival into the world with a tiny cry. This is Baby Seven Billion. Today, 31 October 2011, is her birthday.’

This piece appeared in the Washington Times on 31 October 2011.

The day — the day our planet became home to seven billion humans — marked an important milestone. But is it a milestone on humanity’s upward path we should celebrate, or a warning of impending catastrophe over which we should despair?

For the population controllers at the UN Population Fund and the Planned Parenthood Foundation of America, the answer is clear: they would have preferred Baby Seven Billion had never been born.

We, on the other hand, celebrate the birth. This little child has been born into a world that is

more prosperous than our forebears could ever have imagined.

As our numbers have grown, incomes have soared. In 1800, when there were only one billion of us, per capita income worldwide was a mere $100.

Steven Mosher

explosion in health and longevity. As late as the 19th century, four out of every 10 children died before reaching age five. Today, under-five mortality is under six per cent and falling. Human life expectancy 200 years ago was under 30 years. Today, it is 69 and climbing. As people live longer, naturally there are more of us around at any given time.

Underpopulation is the real threat much of the world faces today.

By 1927 our numbers had doubled, but incomes had already increased five times to $500. By the time we reached three billion in 1960, income had tripled again to $1,500.

Today, as we pass the seven billion mark, per capita income has soared to $9,000.

In 2100, when the population will be between seven and eight billion (and falling), it is projected to be $30,000 in current dollars.

Driving the so-called “population explosion” has been a real

By nearly every measure of well-being, from infant mortality and life expectancy to educational level and caloric intake, life in Africa, Asia and Latin America has been getting dramatically better. According to the World Bank, the average income in the developing world has quadrupled since 1960.

Enough grain is produced for every person on earth to consume 3,500 calories daily. There is no need for anyone to starve in the midst of this plenty.

Population has more than doubled since 1960 but crop yields per hectare have kept pace. World food and resource production has

never been higher. Economies continue to expand, productivity is up, and pollution is declining.

Life spans are lengthening, poverty is down and political freedom is growing. The human race has never been so well off.

In fact, underpopulation, not overpopulation, is the real threat much of the world faces today. Some 80 countries representing over half the world’s population suffer from below replacement fertility - defined as less than 2.1 children per woman.

This is tantamount to saying only the wealthy should have children.

Populations of developed nations today are static or declining. The UN predicts that, by 2050, Russia’s population will have declined by 25 million, Japan’s by 21 million, Italy’s by 16 million, and Germany’s and Spain’s by nine million each. Europe and Japan are projected to lose half their population by 2100.

Countries with below replacement rate fertility will eventually die out. It’s just a question of time.

Even in the developing world family size has shrunk, from around five children per woman in 1960 to less than three today. And the decline continues.

According to the UN’s “low variant projection” — historically the most accurate — the population of the world will peak at eight plus billion in 2040 or so, and then begin to decline. High fertility rates are becoming rare. The UN numbers for 2010 show only 10 countries with population increase rates at or

above three per cent. By 2050, persons aged 65 and above will be almost twice as numerous as children 15 years and younger.

The economic consequences of population ageing will be closing schools, declining stock markets and moribund economies. Ignoring these facts, the population controllers continue to spread their myth of overpopulation.

The UNFPA and other population control organisations are loath to report the truth about falling fertility rates worldwide, since they raise funds by frightening people with the spectre of overpopulation. They tell us too many babies are being born to poor people in developing countries.

This is tantamount to saying that only the wealthy should be allowed to have children, and is a new form of global racism.

We should stop funding population control programmes, and instead turn our attention to real problems such as malaria, HIV/ AIDS and infectious diseases. As mortality rates fall, so will birth rates.

Let us also join together in celebrating the birth of Baby Seven Billion. He or she is a sign of our future, our hope and our prosperity.

People are our greatest resource. Extraordinarily gifted people have helped to enrich civilisation and lengthen life spans. But the fact is, everyone, rich or poor, is a unique creation with something priceless to offer to the rest of us.

Baby Seven Billion, boy or girl, red or yellow, black or white, is not a liability, but an asset. Not a curse, but a blessing. For all of us.

US scholar Stephen Mosher is the President of the Population Research Institute.

Danica May Camacho, born in October in the Philippines, became the symbolic baby taking the world’s population to 7 billion.

PHOTO: PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER

Global fertility rates

IVF process places technology over humans

Dear Father, I know several women, including Catholics, who have had children through IVF. Why is the Church opposed to this?

You are not alone in wondering why the Church is opposed to in vitro fertilisation (IVF). I suspect there are many Catholics who are unaware of the teaching on this issue, so it is good to answer your question for the benefit of others as well.

The expression “in vitro fertilisation” means fertilisation “in glass”. A woman with blocked Fallopian tubes or who is infertile goes into a clinic where several eggs are extracted from her ovaries through a needle. These are placed in a liquid medium in a glass vessel, and sperm from her husband or another man is then added to the dish. In due course, one or more eggs will be fertilised.

If the man’s sperm is not able to fertilise the eggs, it may be injected into the eggs by a procedure known as Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). This is a variation of IVF with the same moral considerations.

After fertilisation, one or more eggs are inserted into the womb, where it is hoped they will implant and the woman will be able to give birth. Unused embryos are frozen for future use or discarded. It should be remembered that once fertilisation has taken place the embryo is now a human being and must be treated with the same respect as a child or an adult.

Why is the Church against this procedure? The reasons are given in the Instruction Donum vitae of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, dated 22 February 1987 and signed by the Prefect, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.

The document quotes Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Humanae vitae (1968) which established the important principle that the unitive and procreative meanings of the marriage act can never be separated. The unitive meaning is the physical one flesh union of husband and the wife who give themselves to each other in an act of mutual love; the procreative meaning is the openness of that act to life. “By safeguarding both these essential aspects ... the conjugal act preserves in its fullness the sense of true mutual love and its ordination toward man’s exalted vocation to parenthood” (HV 12; DV II, 4).

If parents resort to IVF there is no one flesh union since the sperm and egg are brought together by scientists in a laboratory. God intended chil-

Q&A

By Fr John Flader

dren should come into being through an act of mutual love of the parents, not through an act of technicians.

When fertilisation takes place in this way, the child becomes more a product of science than a human being with the dignity of a person: “The one conceived must be the fruit of his parents’ love. He cannot be desired or conceived as the product of an intervention of medical or biological techniques; that would be equivalent to reducing him to an object of scientific technology.” (DV II, 4).

A child has a right “to be the fruit of the specific act of conjugal love of his parents” and to be respected from conception as a person.

Through IVF, fertilisation “is brought about outside the bodies of the couple through actions of third parties whose competence and technical activity determine the success of the procedure.

“Such fertilisation entrusts the life and identity of the embryo to doctors and biologists and establishes the domination of technology over the origin and destiny of the human person. Such a relationship of domination is in itself contrary to the dignity and equality that must be common to parents and children” (DV II, 5).

While infertile couples suffer if they cannot have children, they should always remember that “a child is not something owed to one, but is a gift. The ‘supreme gift of marriage’ is a human person. A child may not be considered a piece of property, an idea to which an alleged ‘right to a child’ would lead.

In this area, only the child possesses genuine rights: the right ‘to be the fruit of the specific act of the conjugal love of his parents,’ and ‘the right to be respected as a person from the moment of his conception’” (CCC 2378; DV II, 8).

An infant, below, is held up as Pope Benedict XVI leads the Angelus prayer from the window of his private apartment overlooking St Peter’s Square at the Vatican on 3 July.

PHOTO: CNS

The graphic above depicts how fertility rates will go down across the globe by 2100. Europe is the one region in the world to see its population decline by 2100. GRAPHIC: THEGUARDIAN.CO.UK

It’s our sins, not persecution, that are

Oto be feared

N THE great Marian feast of the Immaculate Conception, Pope Benedict pointed out that the Church should fear the sins of its own members rather than persecutions from without. Possibly he was responding to a growing awareness of the range and nature of apparently increasing persecutions of Christians throughout the world, not only in places such as India, Pakistan and the Middle East, where intolerance of different ideas of God find expression in physical violence, but also, more subtly, in places like Europe, the United States and Australia where the very idea of belief in God is increasingly the subject of fashionably cosmopolitan cultural ridicule.

There is a tremendous temptation, universal to humans, to regard the sins and transgressions of others as far worse than our own. Even when we are seeking to be virtuous we are capable of blindness, or hypocrisy, or both. One of the greatest saints in the history of the Church, St Therese of Lisieux, spent much of her short life being subjected to precisely this sort of judgement and painfully learning how to avoid falling into this trap herself. Her autobiography relates how she forced herself daily to deal lovingly with an older Carmelite who regarded her with contempt. Carmelite priest Fr Marc Foley recounts, in The Love that Keeps us Sane: Living the Little Way of St Therese of Lisieux, that even as she lay dying of consumption, other Carmelites stood near her deathbed criticising her lack of sanctity.

For any seriously believing Christian there can only be one conclusion: that of the entire human race, the sinner about who we should be most concerned, and whose faults we should be most interested in correcting, is ourselves. Whatever others do with their own lives, the supreme question is: How do I live my own life? How do I live from day to day? Do I love God? Do I love others? Do I treat family members as servants? Do I treat people as objects to be used rather than desiring their happiness and fulfilment? In this sense, it is our own behaviour and thoughts, not that of others, that should always be the overriding issue.

There is a tremendous temptation universal to the human race to experience revulsion or outrage at the sins of others while ignoring one’s own transgressions.

THE RECORD

PO Box 3075

Adelaide Terrace

PERTH WA 6832

office@therecord.com.au

Tel: (08) 9220 5900

Fax: (08) 9325 4580

As the Pope has said, the greatest danger to the Church is not that which comes from without but the actions of its own members. The revelations of the past decade, exposing the the scandalous extent of sexaul and other abuse committed within the Catholic Catholic, has been the perfect example of those calling themselves Christians doing far more effective and widespread damage to the name and reputation of the Church and the Gospel than any persecutions from outside.

True faith is acceptance of whatever transpires, knowing that death is not the end and that one has only to love God and to love others to win eternal life. True faith is to to be willing to pass through any suffering in this life knowing that, even if it ends in death, it is merely a passing thing. What comes after the suffering is the joy of eternity. True faith means focusing on one’s own heart, not that of others. Whether one talks of the individual or the whole Church, it is always true that the real enemy is within.

Benenson Society alternative

THAT St John of God Hospital in Subiaco hosted an Amnesty International stall on its premises on 7 December highlights how easily official Catholic institutions can be drawn, unwittingly, into supporting agendas incompatible with their core beliefs. It also highlights that, in this age of information overload, the Church must devote greater attention to its own information systems, to better ensure those employed in its diverse institutions are fully informed on issues that might impact on their decisions.

We have no doubt that whoever at St John of God gave permission for Amnesty International to set up a stall as part of its campaign to stop violence against women did so with the very best of intentions. Nor do we doubt that the vast bulk of this campaign’s objectives, and of Amnesty International’s advocacy work, are worthy of support. But it is also true that Amnesty International, an organisation founded by British Catholic layman Peter Benenson, chose to alienate many supporters, including significant support in Catholic circles, with its 2007 decision (imposed in secret and with desultory consultation with its membership) to turn its back on its previously unassailable reputation as a human rights defender. By jettisoning the most fundamental of human rights – life – for the most innocent and voiceless – the unborn–it breached a fundamental principle. Two wrongs cannot make a right. This episode, at least, is an opportunity to commend the work of the Benenson Society, founded by former Amnesty supporters, to enable all of us to support human rights advocacy with a clear conscience.

Brady fog thinner than was thought

The Record (30 November) report entitled “Fog lifts on first bishop’s lost years”, quotes Archdiocesan Archivist Sr Frances Stibi saying Bishop Brady “was still calling himself Bishop of Perth and he wasn’t retired.” The fact is that Bishop Brady never surrendered the title Bishop of Perth and neither was he deprived of the title by the Pope.

The Pope could have deprived Bishop Brady of the title but did not do so. Given the sad behaviour of Bishop Brady mentioned in the timeline on pages 14 and 15, it may surprise some that the Pope did not deprive Bishop Brady of his title, but he did not do so. Therefore, Bishop Brady was able to attend the First Vatican Council as Bishop of Perth and be recorded as such.

It fell to the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) to set a mandatory retiring age for bishops. Such a step was unprecedented in the history of the Church, and certainly was inconceivable at Vatican Council I.

The fact that Bishop Brady, at the Vatican’s insistence, received an annuity from the funds of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith destined for the Diocese of Perth, is further proof of Bishop Brady’s hold on the title ‘Bishop of Perth’, even though he was banned from returning to the See.

Bishop Serra had been appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Temporal Affairs, but not Bishop of Perth. After his departure from Perth in 1859 and his resignation in 1861, Bishop Martin Griver administered from the See as a titular Bishop and only succeeded as second Bishop of Perth in 1873, following the death of Bishop Brady on 3 December 1871.

Bishop Brady’s contribution to the founding of the Diocese of Perth is well presented in Our Cathedral by John Winship.

Rev Mgr Brian G O’Loughlin, VG Chairman of the Perth Archdiocesan Historical Commission

Cardinal Pell’s ground is solid

WHEN developing his critique of Cardinal Pell’s views on climate change, Tim Wallace (The Record, 23 November) refers to chaos theory. He marks the theory as ‘a paradigm shift in scientific understanding rivalling quantum and relativity theory’.

Yet, Einstein’s relativity theory also represents a paradigm shift in scientific understanding. For, as Thomas Kuhn explains in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, paradigm shift is the way that science progresses. Normal science underpins appropriate programmes for research and teaching; however, this normality is called into question as research uncovers anomalies, thereby prompting a quest for a new normality.

Hence, the scientific landscape is littered with superseded theories. As Tim Wallace notes, chaos theory “put the last nail in the coffin of the Cartesian universe”. Even so, there is likely to be some resistance to this process, particularly when ideology is involved. Indeed, Einstein had bitter personal experience of this very problem.

In his The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William Shirer records that in Nazi Germany “great teachers such as Einstein and Frank … were fired or retired … Einstein, with his theory of relativity, was the archvillain.”

German academics saw “Jewish physics [as] a phantom and a phenomenon of degeneration of fundamental German Physics.” In short, some scientists have difficulty

retaining a suitable detachment to a paradigm shift taking place in scientific understanding.

In this regard, there are allegations about extensive manipulation of data by the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. Clearly, these allegations cast doubt upon some IPCC sources and the openness of the inquiries conducted by these sources.

Tim Wallace accepts that prudent policies based on the precautionary principle “require that decisions be based on a comparison of the risk and benefits foreseen for the various possible alternatives, including the decision not to intervene”.

One need not hope that the IPCC is wrong. However, Cardinal Pell is on solid grounds advocating that due precaution be exercised until the extent to which the paradigm shift, underpinning climate change, becomes clearer.

John H Cooney COWWARR, VIC

Public grace a public blessing

WOULDN’T it be lovely to witness people blessing themselves with the sign of the Cross at restaurants and in public places and saying grace.

Another lovely practice was people bowing their heads on hearing the name of Jesus – not only in churches but everywhere.

Mrs Klomp PERTH, WA

Republic is really a fee simple matter

MARTIN Drum’s belief that “we should have a republic one day” (The Record, 23 November) is, I suggest, well worth addressing.

No Australian armed service personnel or police officers work for any Australian governing political party.

They are the servants of the Crown whereas in a crown-less republic, they work for whichever political party was last elected to govern – as is the case in the United States and any other republican country, where they likewise work for the ruling political entity.

During Richard Court’s premiership a rogue ex-soldier stole an armoured vehicle and drove it around Perth wrecking police vehicles and property.

The police had no means to stop him. Mr Court was asked by police to call out armed soldiers to stop the vehicle and capture the rogue. The premier had no executive power to do so alone. He sought and obtained the assent of the WA governor and thereafter soldiers went onto Perth streets, stopped the vehicle and arrested the driver.

In a republic, this does not happen because there is no Crown entity. The Crown in Australia is not a

facile figurehead as sometimes portrayed. Prior to Australia becoming a republic I earnestly urge that all privately owned land here become owned freehold, as it is in the US.

Here it is owned in fee simple and the Crown can send you a letter telling you it needs some, or all of it, for its needs.

Either the state governor may resume it or the federal governorgeneral may compulsorily acquire it. Why? In Australia only the Crown can be the absolute owner of land.

If, in the US, you refuse to sell to a government entity, the ruling political party must take you to court and win the case under a Right of Eminent Domain.

In republics there is no third force such as the Crown, so nepotism and corruption can and do spread. When an incumbent political party loses an election in the US – its members lose their power as does the bureaucracy they employed while in power.

The new ruling party sweeps into power and brings its bureaucracy with it, so ending any chance of ongoing nepotism or corruptionbecause there is no such thing as a Crown shield for bureaucracies. Even the president must resign at the end of a second term irrespective of party voting results.

My belief is that freehold land ownership is far better than fee simple because anything within freehold land, be it coal, gold or dinosaur bones, is the property of the land owner – not the Crown, which is the fee simple case here.

Paul Clune

Roleystone WA

A long way to recovery

RECENTLY, I watched the Journey Home programme on EWTN when host Marcus Grodi spoke with three English people who converted to Catholicsm. At one stage it was deplored that so many Catholics today just don’t know their faith.

During this part of the discussions, one of the participants, an Englishman of French descent, hit the nail on the head: “We lost the plot in the 70s”, he said.

The “aftermath” of Vatican II was a disaster for the Western Church. People just didn’t know what was believed and what wasn’t.

My wife and I, for example, had our parish priest in a suburb of Jakarta (I was an expatriate in the oil industry there) visit one afternoon and inform us that we didn’t have to go to Church (Mass) every Sunday. We were very sceptical of what he said, but didn’t argue with him. It seemed that everything was up for grabs!

In 1993, we obtained a copy of the new Catechism of the Catholic Church in French. We looked up what it had to say about Sunday Mass. To our reassurance (and a bit of surprise), we read that those who deliberately miss Mass on Sundays without a good reason commit a grave sin.

When we told an Australian parishoner in his sixties of this, he said “Really? Good to know that hasn’t changed” And so on ...

A generation was lost then indeed. It took over 30 years for the Catechism to be published after Vatican II and even then it was not yet available in English although that translation came out not too long after the French one.

I could go on and on, but a long way has still to be travelled before the faithful are once more properly catechised.

One still hears some priests “teaching” 1970s-era stuff, but it’s way off line.

MJ Gonzalez WILLETTON, WA

In order to downgrade love, downgrade marriage

Debate about the meaning of marriage is missing the daily sacrifice at the heart of the relationship between man and woman.

IT’S TIME to come out with it, gloves off, so to speak. What is going on in our political arena at the moment is a spiritual war against marriage and it is reaching a zenith.

Indeed, there is no surer measure of the immense spiritual and material value of marriage for human beings than these concerted and unrelenting attacks on it. There must be a lot of salvation or damnation hanging on it for the attacks to be so persistent and virulent.

If you want to pervert the meaning of love, pervert the meaning of marriage. Trying to make marriage irrelevant hasn’t worked; so Old Nick must try to change – not its essence, for that is immutable – but people’s perceptions of its essence, so that the understanding of the relevance of marriage is also perverted. He truly is the father of lies and empty promises.

The subeditor of The Record encapsulated a great truth in last week’s front page headlines.

“Marriage is always unique” was

with Catherine Parish

juxtaposed with the smaller far right column, “Daily dramas inspire a Way of the Cross to console”.

Though they both referred to quite different news stories, those two headlines sum up the central core of the meaning and the value of marriage.

It is unique in its Trinitarian creativity and fecundity, the joining of two persons with the inherent possibility of creating another person. It is also a Way of the Cross, lived and walked daily.

Millions of married men and women are intimately sharing in this redemptive miracle that Christ worked on the Cross, and bringing

forth life, not with water only but with water and blood.

It is not for nothing that Christ became incarnate in a human family, for that is where, in this most selfish and pagan world, you are still very likely to find self-sacrificing love in abundance. And authentic, selfless love is total anathema to the devil.

The family is truly the school of real love. It is where we learn what love is and how it works. Where we experience love, discover its meaning and its ramifications, not just with our minds but with our hearts.

It is where we come to understand from our experience what the love of God for us really is. Where we can begin to realise the depthless, yearning, desperate, passionate love that he has for us, that love that is admixed with sorrow which just makes it sweeter.

We learn first what it is to be a beloved child, receiving the unsolicited and unconditional love of mother and father, so that when we are adult we can still understand

what Our Lord meant by “it is to such as these (little children) that my Kingdom belongs”. A mother can understand with her body as well as her heart the meaning of the saying “does a mother forget her baby, or a woman the child within her womb? Even if these forget, I will never forget you”.

Parents who have created children in concert with God and striven to care for them and bring them up well can know with their whole being the real import of the words “I have carved you in the palm of my hand”.

All love is hard, and it is an act of the will that must be renewed every moment of every day; and married love is no exception.

Just ask Our Lady as she and Joseph trudged to Bethlehem in obedience to the civil law of an occupying power. As they went from door to door seeking somewhere for her to have her baby. As they fled Herod’s wicked slaughter and lived as refugees in Egypt. As they came home to Nazareth when

it was safe, and started life afresh. As they sought their lost 12 year old in Jerusalem. As Mary followed her son’s ministry and watched and shared his pain and his Passion. Ask Our Lady as she held her dead, disgraced and derided son in her arms. Yes, love is hard.

It is not for nothing that Christ risen still bears the scars of his physical suffering; the suffering that saves because it was undertaken with pure love and in pure obedience to God’s Will. Those wounds are his glory, just as the wounds and scars of a marriage lived out in mutual love and openness to new life, in forgiveness, in selfless giving, are the glory of the husband and wife.

No wonder the devil wants to efface the meaning of a sacrament that enables us in our comfortable, soft and secular world to still learn of and choose the narrow path of faithful marriage and enter the mystery of the love and the suffering of the Son that bears so much fruit for the salvation of the world.

New Evangelisation depends on us

The Church faces a worsening situation but can’t lose hope, Archbishop Barry Hickey told the Synod of Bishops for Oceania.

IT IS 10 years since the publication of Ecclesia in Oceania, following the Synod of Oceania in 1998 in Rome.

The Holy Father’s Exhortation was warmly welcomed in the countries of Oceania and its recommendations eagerly taken up.

Each country implemented it according to the specific needs and character of that country.

In Australia the Exhortation inspired parishes, schools, apostolic and charitable organisations to move forward with greater zeal.

I wish to refer to three major areas in which the Exhortation sought to implement the theme of the Synod: Walking his Way, Telling his Truth and Living his Life.

They were:

• The Call to Mission

• Inculturation

• A New Proclamation.

This brief paper seeks to make comments not on the implementation of this agenda, as much has already been done, but on the new challenges that have arisen in Australia which have made the task of the New Evangelisation far more difficult than appeared at the time of the Synod and, precisely because of that, have become far more urgent.

The Call to Mission: This was a call to nations that had received the Good News of Jesus Christ from foreign missionaries, to continue their work now as part of the mission of the local Church.

This call was also received by Australia, which had a history different from the islands of the Pacific. The call was interpreted as a missionary effort to a secularised society. Over the past decade the secularisation of Australia has increased rapidly, and is now being reflected in government and social policies, in the prevailing culture and in the daily lives of its citizens, as will be outlined below.

Inculturation: It is heartening to observe that the Christian Faith, including the Catholic Faith, has become fully accepted in most of the nations of the Pacific. Those countries still hold religion in high esteem and resist to a great extent the secularisation and other

destructive influences from the deChristianised West.

In Australia the picture is not so pleasing, especially when one considers what is happening among the Indigenous Aboriginal population,

ing of religious input and character and the gradual withdrawal of religious missionaries.

The results in terms of social cohesion have been poor to tragic, with the development of a culture of

support almost to nil. Hence, the handing on of the Christian faith has been inadequate, even to the neglect of baptism of children.

While Catholic chaplaincies have sought to respond to this present situation, they find it difficult to maintain the close relationships once formed in the missionary communities.

The work of the Church is therefore twofold – to draw the people into the full life of the local Church, and to reach out to those who still live in a culture of poverty and marginality.

The New Evangelisation: The Synodal document Ecclesia in Oceania expresses well the optimism of the New Evangelisation, although it also lists some of the obstacles or challenges that must be faced. In truth, the challenges are far more serious and widespread today than at the time of the Synod.

Speaking here only for Australia, we are now faced with huge cultural shifts that must be taken account of in the New Evangelisation.

In the area of human sexuality we have seen a greater acceptance of homosexuality and the homosexual lifestyle. The traditional difference the Church makes between orientation and sexual activity is not seen as relevant by many young Catholics who have been brought up to condemn discrimination and to accept differing views.

In this climate of acceptance, attempts are being made to give legal status to same-sex “marriages”. The power of the homosexual lobby has increased significantly as a consequence of the easy acceptance today of alternative lifestyles.

The work of the Church in advocating a Christian and biblical

We must pray that God will raise up missionaries, preachers, confessors and martyrs to proclaim the victory of Jesus Christ over the powers of evil.

many of whom were influenced by earlier missionaries and usually lived in missions throughout the country. With the closure of the missions, many became registered communities under Government supervised management. This led to a lessen-

poverty, unemployment, the breakdown of family structures and the abandonment of formal marriage.

In terms of faith and religious practice, the results have been equally poor. As the communities declined, a diaspora was created which lessened the religious

understanding of the purpose and meaning of human sexuality has been made far more difficult as a result. This phenomenon also indicates a rise in rejection of religion as irrelevant and a rise in atheism. Even the environment movement,

endorsed by the Church as respect of God’s creation, has become radically anti-religious and even anti-human when human beings are seen as the main threat to the environment. This gives rise to an anti-natal stance on population.

The New Evangelisation must also take into account the following cultural shifts:

• the spread of illegal drugs and consequent damage and death to individuals and family life, especially the young,

• the rise of violence fuelled by the drug culture,

• the breakdown of family life which has many causes,

• the increasing rejection of marriage in favour of cohabitation and the consequences on children, many of whom grow up without a father,

• the almost total acceptance of contraception and abortion, including what is known as “backup abortion” when contraception fails.

When we hear the call of the New Evangelisation, we receive it with enthusiasm, knowing that the truth of Jesus Christ is the only salvation of the world.

At the same time the size of the challenge facing us in this part of the world indicates that the New Evangelisation will take great courage, steadfastness and love to make an impact.

A naïve view of the New Evangelisation is not enough. We face a serious battleground, but we do so knowing that our strength and our “weapons” come from God and must be accompanied by prayer and the virtue of hope.

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12).

Sadly but truthfully we must recognise the reality of the present worsening situation and pray that God will raise up missionaries, preachers, confessors and martyrs to proclaim the victory of Jesus Christ over the powers of evil.

Most Rev Barry James Hickey Archbishop of Perth Western Australia

FRIDAY

FRIDAY, 16 DECEMBER

Singing for the poor - ANCOP concert

7-9pm at St Peter’s Parish, Bedford, 93 Wood St, Inglewood. ANCOP (Answering the Cry of the Poor) has organised the concert and proceeds will be for the education of poor children of the Philippines, Solomon Islands, P&G and Cambodia.

Enq: ANCOP: Sunbeam De Jesus 0402 368 448 or Ramil 0412 543 903.

Medjugorje Evening Prayer

7-9pm at All Saints Chapel, Allendale Sq, 77 St George’s Tce, Perth. Includes: Eucharistic adoration, rosary, benediction and Mass. Free DVDs on conversions available. Followed by refreshmentsbring a plate if you wish. Enq: Eileen 9402 2480 or 0407 471 256 or medjugorje@y7mail.com.

Preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ

5.30am at St Jerome’s Parish, Spearwood. There is a Portuguese tradition of having Mass every morning for nine days ending on Christmas Eve. Mass will be in English and the choir will sing songs dedicated to the birth of Christ in Portuguese.

NEXT WEEK

SATURDAY, 24 DECEMBER

Extraordinary Rite Latin MassChristmas Eve

8.30pm at the Good Shepherd Parish, Streich Ave, Kelmscott. Enq: John 9390 6646.

NEXT YEAR

FRIDAY, 6 JANUARY 2012

Pro-life witness

9.30am at St Brigid’s Parish, cnr Great Northern Hwy and Morrison Rd, Midland. Begins with Mass followed by rosary procession to the nearby abortion clinic, led by the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. To end to abortion and for the conversion of hearts. Enq: Helen 9402 0349.

SATURDAY, 7 JANUARY 2012

Day with Mary

9am-5pm at Our Lady Queen of Poland Parish, 35 Eighth Ave, Maylands. Day of prayer and instruction based on the Fatima message. 9am video; 10.10am Mass; Reconciliation, procession of the Blessed Sacrament, eucharistic adoration, sermons on Eucharist and on Our Lady, rosaries and stations of the Cross. BYO lunch. Enq: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286.

SATURDAY, 7 JANUARY 2012

Vigil for life

8.30am at St Augustine’s Parish, Gladstone St, Rivervale. Begins with holy Mass followed by rosary procession and vigil at nearby abortion clinic, led by Fr Paul Carey SSC. Weekly prayer vigils: Monday, Thursday and Saturday 8.30 to 10.30am. Enq: Helen 9402 0349.

SUNDAY, 8 TO SUNDAY, 15 JANUARY 2012

Summer School

59 Kelvin Rd, Wattle Grove. One week, one life changing experience. Enq: www.summerschool. org.au or Marty 041 7637 040.

MONDAY, 9 JANUARY TO MONDAY, 16 JANUARY 2012

Summer School

The Royal School of Church Music in Australia (RSCM) will be hosting a summer school for all

denominations next year. The programme will include workshops for church musicians and singers to help them inspire their congregations towards a more enjoyable and meaningful participation in Church liturgy. Enrolments are now open and interested parties can find out more by going to www. rscmaustralia.org.au. Enq: Deirdre on 9457 4010.

SUNDAY, 15 JANUARY 2012

75th Celebration St Theresa’s Parish

11.30am at St Theresa’s Parish, 678 North Beach Rd, Gwelup. Begin with Mass followed by lunch at Croatian Club, Wishart St, Gwelup. Tickets $35 with drinks available at the bar. Tickets may be purchased from Margaret Pavicic, 9448 7708, Gloria Cicci, 9446 6215 or Paul and Judy Woodward, 9446 6837. RSVP 3 January.

SATURDAY, 25 FEBRUARY 2012

A Reunion for Holy Cross Primary School, Kensington

Any ex-students or family members, please contact Julie Bowles (nee O’Hara) on 9397 0638 or email jules7@iinet.net.au.

REGULAR EVENTS

EVERY SUNDAY

Gate of Heaven Catholic Radio

Join the Franciscans of the Immaculate from 7.309pm on Radio Fremantle 107.9FM for Catholic radio broadcast of EWTN and our own live shows. Enq: radio@ausmaria.com.

Pilgrim Mass - Shrine of the Virgin of the Revelation

2pm at Shrine, 36 Chittering Rd, Bullsbrook. Commencing with rosary followed by benediction. Reconciliation is available before every celebration. Anointing of the sick administered during Mass every second Sunday of the month. Pilgrimage in honour of the Virgin of the Revelation last Sunday of the month. Side entrance to church and shrine open daily between 9am-5pm. Enq Sacri 9447 3292.

EVERY FIRST SUNDAY

Divine Mercy Chaplet and Healing Prayer

3pm at Santa Clara Church, 72 Palmerston St, Bentley. Includes adoration and individual prayer for healing. Spiritual leader Fr Francisco. All welcome. Enq: Fr Francisco 9458 2944.

St Mary’s Cathedral Youth Group –Fellowship with Pizza 5pm at Mary’s Cathedral, 17 Victoria Sq, Perth. Begins with youth Mass followed by fellowship downstairs in parish centre. Bring a plate to share. Enq: Bradley on youthfromsmc@gmail.com.

FIRST AND THIRD SUNDAYS

Latin Mass

2pm at The Good Shepherd Parish, Streich Ave, Kelmscott. Enq: John 9390 6646.

EVERY THIRD SUNDAY

Oblates of St Benedict Meeting

2pm at St Joseph’s Convent, York St, South Perth. For all interested in studying the Rule of St Benedict and its relevance to everyday life. Vespers and afternoon tea follows. Enq: Secretary 9457 5758.

EVERY FOURTH SUNDAY

Holy Hour for Vocations to the Priesthood, Religious Life 2-3pm at Infant Jesus Parish, Wellington St, Morley. The hour includes exposition of the Blessed Eucharist, silent prayer, scripture and prayers of intercession. Come and pray that those discerning vocations can hear clearly God’s call.

EVERY MONDAY

Evening Adoration and Mass 7pm at St Thomas Parish, Claremont, cnr Melville St and College Rd. Eucharistic adoration, reconciliation, evening prayer and benediction, followed by Mass and night prayer at 8pm. Enq: Kim on 9384 0598 or email to claremont@perthcatholic.org.au.

The Life and Mission of St Mary MacKillop

9.30-11.30am at Infant Jesus Parish Centre, cnr Wellington Rd and Smith St, Morley. Cost: $15.

Enq: Shelley 9276 8500.

LAST MONDAY OF THE MONTH

Be Still in His Presence –Ecumenical Christian Programme

7.30-8.45pm at St Swithun Anglican Church, 195 Lesmurdie St, Lesmurdie (hall behind church). Begins with songs of praise and worship, silent time, lectio divina, small group sharing and a cuppa at the end. Enq: Lynne 9293 3848 or 043 5252 941.

EVERY TUESDAY

Bible Teaching with a Difference

7.30pm at St Joachim’s parish hall, Victoria Park. Exciting revelations with meaningful applications that will change your life. Bring Bible, a notebook and a friend. Enq: Jan 9284 1662.

Novena to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

6pm at the Pater Noster Church, Marmion and Evershed Sts, Myaree. Mass at 5.30pm followed by benediction. Enq: John 040 8952 194.

EVERY WEDNESDAY

Holy Spirit of Freedom Community

7.30pm at The Church of Christ, 111 Stirling St, Perth. We are delighted to welcome everyone to attend our Holy Spirit of Freedom praise meeting. Enq: 042 3907 869 or hsofperth@gmail.com.

Bible Study at Cathedral

6.15pm at St Mary’s Cathedral, 17 Victoria Sq, Perth. Deepen your faith through reading and reflecting on holy scripture by Fr Jean-Noel. Meeting room beneath Cathedral. Enq: Marie 9223 1372.

Holy Hour - Catholic Youth Ministry

5.30pm at Catholic Pastoral Centre, 40A Mary St, Highgate. Begins with Mass, 6.30pm holy hour of adoration, followed by $5 supper and fellowship. Enq: cym.com.au or 9422 7912.

EVERY FIRST WEDNESDAY

Holy Hour Prayer for Priests

7.30-8.30pm at Holy Spirit Parish, 2 Keaney Pl, City Beach. All welcome. Enq: Linda 9341 3079.

Novena to St Mary of the Cross MacKillop

7-7.45pm at Blessed Mary MacKillop Parish, cnr Cassowary Dr and Pelican Pde, Ballajura. Begins with Mass, novena prayers and benediction. Followed by healing prayers and anointing of the sick. Enq: Madi 9249 9093 or Gerry 041 7187 240.

EVERY SECOND WEDNESDAY

Chaplets of the Divine Mercy

7.30pm at St Thomas More Parish, Dean Rd, Bateman. A beautiful, prayerful, sung devotion. It will be accompanied by exposition and followed by benediction. Enq: George 9310 9493 (h) or 9325 2010.

EVERY THURSDAY

Divine Mercy 11am at Sts John and Paul Church, Pinetree Gully Rd, Willetton. Pray the rosary and chaplet of divine mercy and for the consecrated life, especially here in John Paul Parish. Concludes with veneration of the first class relic of St Faustina. Please do come and join us in prayer. Enq: John 9457 7771.

St Mary’s Cathedral Praise Meeting

7.45pm every Thursday at the Legion of Mary’s Edel Quinn Centre, 36 Windsor St, East Perth. Includes praise, song and healing ministry. Enq: Kay 9382 3668 or fmi@flameministries.org.

EVERY FIRST THURSDAY OF THE MONTH

Prayer in Style of Taize

7.30-8.30pm at Our Lady of Grace Parish, 3 Kitchener St, North Beach. Includes prayer, song and silence in candlelight – symbol of Christ the light of the world. Taize info: www.taize.fr Enq: secretary 9448 4888 or 9448 4457.

Group Fifty – Charismatic Renewal Group

7.30pm at the Redemptorist Monastery, 150 Vincent St, North Perth. Includes prayer, praise and Mass. Enq: Elaine 9440 3661.

Priest Cenacle

Every first Thursday at Legion of Mary, Windsor St, East Perth. Enq: Fr Paul 0427 085 093.

EVERY FIRST FRIDAY

Communion of Reparation - All Night Vigil

7pm-1.30am at two different locations: Corpus Christi Parish, Lochee St, Mosman Park and St Gerard Majella Parish, cnr Ravenswood Dr and Majella Rd, Westminster (Mirrabooka). In reparation for outrages committed against the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Enq: (Mosman Park) Vicky 040 0282 357 and Fr Giosue 9349 2315 or John 9344 2609.

Healing Mass 7pm at St Peter’s Parish, Inglewood. Praise and worship, exposition and Eucharistic adoration, benediction and anointing of the sick, followed by holy Mass and fellowship. Celebrants Fr Dat and invited priests. 6.45pm reconciliation. Enq: Mary Ann 0409 672 304, Prescilla 043 3457 352 and Catherine 043 3923 083.

Holy Hour for Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life

7pm at Little Sisters of the Poor Chapel, 2 Rawlins St, Glendalough. Mass followed by adoration with Fr Doug Harris. All welcome. Refreshments provided.

Catholic Faith Renewal Evening

7.30pm at Sts John and Paul Parish, Pinetree Gully Rd, Willetton. Songs of praise, sharing by a priest followed by thanksgiving Mass and light refreshments afterwards. All welcome to attend and bring your family and friends. Enq: Kathy 9295 0913, Ann 041 2166 164 or catholicfaithrenewal@gmail.com.

Healing and Anointing Mass

8.45am Pater Noster Church, Evershed St, Myaree. Begins with reconciliation followed by 9am Mass of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, anointing of the sick and prayers to St Peregrine. Enq: Joy 9337 7189.

EVERY FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH

Healing Mass

12.35pm at St Thomas Parish, cnr Melville St and College Rd, Claremont. Spiritual leader Fr Waddell. Enq: Kim 9384 0598, claremont@perthcatholic.org. au.

EVERY FOURTH SATURDAY

Voice of the Voiceless Healing Mass

12pm at St Brigid Parish, 211 Aberdeen St, Northbridge. Bring a plate to share after Mass. Enq: Frank 9296 7591 or 040 8183 325.

EVERY LAST SATURDAY

Novena devotions – Our Lady Vailankanni of Good Health

5pm at Holy Trinity Parish, 8 Burnett St, Embleton. Followed by Mass at 6pm. Enq: George 9272 1379.

GENERAL

Free Divine Mercy Image for Parishes

High quality oil painting and glossy print – Divine Mercy Promotions. Images are of very high quality. For any parish willing to accept and place inside the church. Oil paintings - 160 x 90cm and glossy print - 100 x 60cm. Enq: Irene 9417 3267 (w).

Sacred Heart Pioneers

Is there anyone out there who would like to know more about the Sacred Heart pioneers? If so, please contact Spiritual Director Fr Doug Harris 9444 6131 or John 9457 7771.

St Philomena’s Chapel 3/24 Juna Drive, Malaga. Mass of the day: Monday 6.45am. Vigil Masses: Mon-Fri 4.45pm. Enq: Fr David 9376 1734.

Mary Mackillop 2012 Calendars and Merchandise

2012 Josephite Calendars with quotes from St Mary of the Cross and Mary MacKillop merchandise. Available for sale from the Mary MacKillop Centre. Enq: Sr Maree 041 4683 926 or 08 9334 0933.

Saints and Sacred Relics Apostolate – Latin Feast of all Holy Relics

SSRA Perth invites interested parties: parish priests, faithful association leaders etc to make contact to organise relic visitations to their own parishes, communities etc. We have available authenticated relics, mostly first-class, of over 200 Catholic Saints and Blesseds, including Sts Mary MacKillop, Padre Pio, Anthony of Padua, Therese of Lisieux, Maximilian Kolbe and Simon Stock. Free. Enq: Giovanny 047 8201 092 or ssra-perth@ catholic.org.

St Denis 60th Anniversary

St Denis Catholic Parish in Joondanna will celebrate its 60th Anniversary on 16 December 2011. Enq and arrangements: Barbara on 040 1016 399 or emmanuelcentre@westnet.com.au or 9328 8113 (w).

Financially Disadvantaged People requiring Low Care Aged Care Placement

The Little Sisters of the Poor community - set in beautiful gardens in the suburb of Glendalough. “Making the elderly happy, that is everything!” St Jeanne Jugan (foundress). Registration and enq: Sr Marie 9443 3155.

Pilgrim Mass - Shrine of the Virgin of Revelation Programme scheduled for Sun, 25 Dec and Sun, 1 Jan 2012 will not be celebrated on these days. Normal programme recommences 8 Jan 2012. Enq: SACRI 9341 6139.

Faith Centre Courses 2012 - 450 Hay St, Perth

1) RCPD2 ‘Internalise Principles of Successful Relationships and Use Emotional Intelligence and Communication Skills’. Mondays 5-7pm. Beginning 20/02/2012. Enq: Paul 040 2222 578.

2) RCPD4 ‘Increase Personal and Spiritual Awareness and Improve Relationships’. Study of psychology in theology. Mondays 10am-12.30pm. Beginning 20/02. Enq: Eva 040 9405 585.

3) The Holistic Health Seminar ‘The Instinct to Heal’. 197 High St, Fremantle - Tuesdays 34.30pm. Beginning 21/02. Enq: Eva 040 9405 585. Bookings are essential.

SACRI New Year’s Eve Mass

SACRI Catechetical Association will not hold the New Year’s Eve midnight Mass event: Mary, the Holy Mother of God at the Shrine on Saturday, 31 December. Enq: SACRI 9341 6139.

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 Rd, 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 Ct (off McCoy St), Myaree. Ph 9329 9889 (after 10.30am Mon to Sat). We are here to serve.

KINLAR VESTMENTS

Quality handmade and decorated vestments: albs, stoles, chasubles, altar linen, banners, etc. 12 Favenc Way, Padbury. By appointment only. Ph Vickii on 9402 1318, 0409 114 093 or kinlar.vestments@gmail.com.

OTTIMO @Station St Market, Subiaco @Wanneroo Market, Wangara

Come to see us for your nativity sets, calendars, cards, books and gifts. Open Friday-Sunday.

MISSION ACTIVITIES

Learn how to make rosary beads for the missions and special rosaries for family and friends. Phone: (02) 682 2 1474 or visit our website: OurLadysRosaryMakers.org.au.

BOOK BINDING

NEW BOOK BINDING, general book repairs; rebinding; new ribbons; old leather bindings restored. Tydewi Bindery 0422 968 572.

SETTLEMENTS

ARE YOU BUYING OR SELLING real estate or a business?

Why not ask Excel Settlements for a quote for your settlement. We offer reasonable fees, excellent service and no hidden costs. Ring Excel on 9481 4499 for a quote. Check our web site on www.excelsettlements.com.au.

FOR RENT

ROOMS FOR RENT for young (18-35) Catholic women. House (Mt Hawthorn) walking distance to Glendalough parish and train station. Applicants should have a Catholic/Christian outlook on life.

Two rooms available from Jan/ Feb 2012. Contact 0408 496 610 or 0421 818 887.

FURNITURE REMOVAL

ALL AREAS. Competitive rates. Mike Murphy Ph 0416 226 434.

TRADE SERVICES

BRENDAN HANDYMAN SERVICES

Home, building maintenance, repairs and renovations. NOR. Ph 0427 539 588.

PROPERTY MAINTENANCE

Your handyperson. No job too small. SOR. Jim 0413 309 821.

BRICK RE-POINTING Ph Nigel 9242 2952.

PICASSO PAINTING Top service. Ph 0419 915 836, fax 9345 0505. 9440 4358.

PERROTT PAINTING Pty Ltd

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

LAWNMOWING AND WEED

SPRAYING Garden clean ups and rubbish removal. Get rid of bindii, jojo and other unsightly weeds. Based in Tuart Hill. Enq: 9443 9243 or 0402 326 637.

WANTED

ONE TO THREE STATUES.

1-2m high of Our Lady, Jesus and saints. Crucifix available (same height). Contact: Brother John - Carmelite - professed hermit (08) 9853 3112 or johnw9765@ optusnet.com.

ACCOMMODATION

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

ESPERANCE 3 bedroom house f/furnished Ph 08 9076 5083.

PILGRIMAGE TOURS

NEWSFLASH - PILGRIMAGE - PARIS, LOURDES, MEDJUGORJE MAY 2012. Spiritual Director Fr Bogoni. ‘YES,’ Paris is expensive but not with us. Bargain price. Contact Eileen on 9402 2480, mobile 0407 471 256 or email medjugorje@y7mail.com.

THANKSGIVING

THANKSGIVING TO GOD for the safe arrival of Zacchaeus Gabriel BARICH on 4 December. Very proud grandparents Dawn and John Barich with Deirdre and Trevor Lyra. Deo Gratias!

POSTIONS AVAILABLE

CARETAKER/GROUNDSMAN for church and school at Lower Chittering. Suit active pensioner. Accommodation provided. Tel: Fr Paul 042 7085 093.

POSITION AVAILABLE AT OUR LADY OF GRACE CHURCH 3 Kitchener Street, North Beach WA 6020

ADMINISTRATION SECRETARY

2 DAYS PER WEEK (9am–3pm) For details please visit our website at www.ourladyofgrace. com.au and select “Upcoming Events”.

FOR SALE

CATHOLIC AND OTHER CHRISTIAN BOOKS FOR SALE. All donated. Donations appreciated. Balcatta. Call Colourful Dave: 9440 4358.

PICTURE FRAMING

Christmas special 25% off all custom framing till end Jan. Quality guaranteed. PRIME ART FRAMERS, 240 Main St, Osborne Park. 9344 8641.

TAX SERVICE

QUALITY TAX RETURNS PREPARED by registered tax agent with over 35 years’ experience. Call Tony Marchei on 0412 055 184 for appointment. AXXO Accounting & Management, Unit 20/222 Walter Rd, Morley.

Papua New Guinea, Sydney – Archbishop Hickey Feast of St Lucy at St Jerome’s, Spearwod – Bishop Sproxton

19 Christmas Function ItaloAustralian Welfare and Cultural Centre - Mgr Brian O’Loughlin VG

14 ___ Meal

16 John’s symbol

18 Slave of Philemon (Philem 15–16)

20 Wounds of Our Lord

21 “…as for ___, they will cease” (1 Cor 13:8)

22 Pope of the fifth century

11 A creed

13 Fruit of the Holy Spirit

15 “God, be merciful to me a ___” (Lk 18:13)

17 Gibson’s “The of the Christ”

19 Section in the Bible

22 Papal emissary

24 Made a priest

27 The gifts

29 The California mission road, El ___ Real

31 The of David

32 “…and there was no man to ___ the ground” (Gen 2:5)

33 Plant in the story of the fall

34 Fr Junipero

DOWN

1 This shone on Moses after he spoke with the Lord (Ex 34:29)

2 Arianism and Gnosticism

3 Israelite leader betrayed by Delilah

4 Muslim opponent of a Crusader

5 Return of our Lord

6 St of Tours

7 We should enter by the narrow one

10 Charitable group (abbr)

12 OT wisdom book

18

ST PAUL LITURGICAL CALENDAR 2012

ONLY $5 Popular pocket-size calendar, indicating readings and themes for Mass every day of the year. Presented in two-colour format.

23 Catholic actor of “Cocoon” fame, Don

25 ___ of the Church

26 “Gloria in excelsis ___”

28 Number of horsemen in Revelation (Rev 6:2–8)

30 The daughter of Pharaoh found a baby here (Ex 2:5–6)

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

This two-colour Missal contains the Order of Mass, all the scripture readings and prayers for each Sunday of 2012 in calendar sequence, the complete Easter liturgy and a treasury of prayers.