The Record Newspaper 15 September 2010 by The Record

15 September 2010

The science of love science

An anti-establishment doctor is changing the lives of many Perth couples.

An anti-establishment doctor is the lives of many Perth PAGES 12-13

Euthanasia: the other side of the story - Pages 1-3

AMA opposes WA Green’s push for euthanasia

The AMA is flatly opposed to euthanasia, its national president has told The Record. One reason why: doctors should never have anything to do with situations where the express intention is to end a person’s life.

BY ANTHONY BARICH

The Australian Medical Association is against euthanasia and its President believes doctors should not be expected to decide whether a person requesting euthanasia is under duress.

Dr Andrew Pesce, AMA national president, responded to The Record’s enquiry regarding the Voluntary Euthanasia Bill 2009 to be debated in WA Parliament from 21 September which stipulates that two doctors unrelated to the patient must assess the eligibility of the applicant for the administration of euthanasia.

This includes judging whether the patient is under duress or undue influence, which Liberal MLC Nick Goiran, a lawyer, told The Record are contract law concepts that doctors are ill-equipped and likely unwilling to make judgments on.

Dr Pesce, an obstetrician and gynecologist, told The Record last week that doctors are “not in a position to assess a person’s social circumstances”.

The doctor’s position is especially difficult if the doctor is the family GP, knows them well and is likely to be the one administering the euthanasia, he said.

We need a society that cares, not kills, says Wanneroo author

Wanneroo author Dr Erik Leipoldt, a man with quadraplegia and advocate for those living

disability,

his Wanneroo home this week. Dr Leipoldt is the author of a book of 28 in-depth interviews with people

in the Netherlands and Australia and leaders in the disability movement published this year. PHOTO: ANTHONY BARICH AMA National President Dr Andrew Pesce

“If they’re the GP for the family members that makes it a more complex decision on behalf of the doctor,” Dr Pesce said.

“Doctors are placed to make medical assessments of the nature of the illness; maybe whether it’s an illness which would be one whether you’d consider euthanasia an option, and make medical assessments.

“But they’re not in a position to make such a significant assessment of the patient’s social circumstances. Perhaps as the family doctor they have insights and can provide, but if that will be used as a yardstick (as to the patient’s eligibility for euthanasia), it should be made by someone apart from the medical dynamics of the patient.”

He said England’s current proposal to appoint a tribunal to judge whether a patient is under duress is preferable to treating physician.

However, he said the AMA is flatly against euthanasia.

“We believe that doctors should not have to do anything where the only intention is to end life. Our obligation is to relieve suffering, and while doctors must do things which sometimes end up hastening death in pain relief, sedation etc, euthanasia is a treatment whose express purposes is to end life,” he said.

Mr Goiran said that if the Voluntary Euthanasia Bill Please turn to Page 2

“...Government-mandated euthanasia is too dangerous for vulnerable people, in an uncaring society that already devalues them, for example because it abhors dependence, fragility and vulnerability. Instead we would be more constructively engaged by working towards excellent care in everything we do for others - ie, a caring society.”

- Dr Erik Leipoldt, author of Euthanasia and Disability Perspective

Dr Erik Leipoldt acquired quadriplegia in 1978 after a diving accident. He has just published a book on attitudes of Dutch and Australian people with quadriplegia towards euthanasia. Here he asks whether we really need to legalise euthanasia.

In Australia and other Western countries, suffering is a subjective and private experience leading to the invocation of individual rights to do away with one’s life should it become unbearable. The life of a person who suffers is of no consequence to others.

When we look closer, however, we see that this private domain is an illusion. Suffering is not an individual, isolated experience. No one is an autonomous entity. Suffering, and its amelioration, is largely a dynamic process involving others.

(2010)

Here in Australia, as elsewhere, some press for legislation to provide euthanasia to persons of sound mind in response to “pain, suffering or debilitation” that is judged “considerable” in the presence of a terminal illness. Vague and broad as this description is, it invites anyone with a heart to say “yes, of course we should help”.

But what is suffering? And what is the difference between killing the sufferer and attending to the sufferer’s needs?

It is in interactions between people, in injurious events, and in our values and practices that suffering is created and experienced. Pain is experienced differently by people who have good care and by people who feel abandoned. Mental anguish can arise from unresolved conflicts in close relationships, even relationships which are far in the past.

Wednesday,  THE P ARISH . THE N ATION . THE W AU

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Emily de Rodat

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Euthanasia: the other side of the story

Medico urges all specialists to learn palliative approach

BY ANTHONY BARICH

Specialist physicians across all fields need to learn to prepare people for death and “think palliatively” with the projected dramatic rise in people over 65, Palliative Care Australia vice president Dr Scott Blackwell said.

Perth-based Dr Blackwell, who will take over as PCA president next month, told The Record that physicians have become so good at curing and helping people live longer that they are often unwilling to admit they can do no more for patients and help them live the rest of their lives in dignity and comfort.

This would placate the perceived need for euthanasia in a country that sees up to 80 per cent of those being surveyed saying they accept euthanasia being legalised, yet case studies in countries where it is legalised show less than two per cent of people who have died actually used it.

“What people are ‘voting’ for is peaceful death,” Dr Blackwell said. “It’s one of those times in life where I tell people often, you’ve given so much of yourself to others for so long, maybe it’s time to receive (help across all aspects of their lives that palliative care can facilitate), and it takes them a while to cotton on to that concept.”

A White Paper released on 12 July by The Economist Intelligence Unit said that for the first time in the history of humanity, people over the age of 65 will soon outnumber children under the age of five.

rates, particularly in the developed world.

“It’s this argument that makes me certain of the importance of all health professionals becoming aware of palliative care and to be able to recognise when it’s time to think palliatively,” said Dr Blackwell, a Perth GP who worked for Silver Chain

for 15 years. “If we don’t take that attitude we’ll never have enough palliative care services to look after all the people who’ll die over the next 50 years. It’s got to become a mainstream service.

“They’ve got to understand that part of their job is about living and part of their job is about dying.”

Palliative care was forced to emerge as a specialist service in the post-World War II era as it coincided with rapid advances in medical science, and “people providing those very high-level specialist services have actually lost touch with the person they’re dealing with”, he said.

“The next 20 to 30 years is about getting back the concept that palliative care advanced – the holistic view that treatment is about body, mind and spirit –across the whole breadth of medical services, so the patient is not just what illness they have.”

If all medical professionals are able to “think palliatively” and are willing to admit at a certain stage that further treatments may be unnecessarily burdensome, may actually make things worse and incur exorbitant costs, the patient can be helped to tie up loose ends, mend relationships and die a dignified death, he said.

AMA President warns on euthanasia

THE R ECORD New Contacts

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Peter Rosengren editor@therecord.com.au

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“This will happen some time during the next few years,” the EIU said. By 2030, the number of people aged 65 and older is projected to reach 1 billion, or one in eight of the global population, rising even more sharply by 140 per cent in developing countries.

Compounding the effects of an ageing population, the EIU said, are falling birth

Continued from Page 1

2009 were to become law, people will make these decisions under duress or undue influence, and they can’t be protected, because “if you want to remedy it after the event you can’t go to court”.

“It’s a legal impossibility to protect people from involuntary euthanasia once you allow voluntary euthanasia,” Mr Goiran said.

He said that Greens MLC Robin Chapple, who introduced the Bill, attempted to address these issues in the Bill by saying the doctor who has to make the decision must take into consideration whether the person is under duress, “but that’s just a cheap one liner, because what if the doctor doesn’t address that; how do you remedy that situation after the event?”

Mr Goiran added.

“Is that doctor qualified to determine if the person is under duress? It’s a legal concept; and I don’t know that doctors want to be making those kinds of decisions.”

bill, he confirms the point that it’s impossible to protect such people,” Mr Goiran said.

“The person is the only other witness apart from the doctor when the decision is being made, and what if after the event the family is upset and believes the grandmother was under duress?”

In a letter sent to Mr Goiran on 11 September, 2009 advising him of the Bill he intended to introduce into Parliament, the Greens MLC said the Bill will provide immunity from criminal and civil liability to a medical practitioner who administers euthanasia to a terminally ill person in accordance with that person’s wishes, provided that euthanasia is administered strictly in accordance with the requirements of the Bill.

Mr Goiran said the very fact that Mr Chapple includes these clauses in the Bill shows he accepts it’s a concern and a problem that people enter into the situation under duress.

“By trying to draft laws like that into the

One of the six “safeguards” Mr Chapple says the Bill has in place is that two medical practitioners must, independently of each other, assess the eligibility of the applicant for the administration of euthanasia If the two medical practitioners determine that the applicant is eligible for euthanasia, the applicant may sign a second notice of consent indicating that euthanasia should be administered.

Page 2

15 September 2010, The Record

THE PARISH SAINT OF THE WEEK

1787-1852 September 19

headstrong

Emily was brought

the age of 17 she practiced charitable works

three different convents but did not stay in any of them. With support from Abbe Marty, in 1815 she opened a free school to teach poor children at Villefranche-de-Rouergue; the Congregation of the Holy Family and 38 additional foundations grew from this first one. Mother Emily, outwardly dour and intensely prayerful, led her congregation for 30 years. Saints Crosiers

by one French contemporary as “a saint, but a

saint,”

up by her grandmother. From

and entered

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THE R ECORD New Contacts SEPTEMBER 15 Confirmation, Mirrabooka –Bishop Sproxton 16 Confirmation, Mt Lawley –Mgr Brian O’Loughlin VG 18 75th Anniversary of Lord of the Harvest Church, Bencubbin –Archbishop Hickey Confirmation, Joondanna –Mgr Brian O’Loughlin VG 19 25th Anniversary of Our Lady of Mercy Church, Girrawheen –Archbishop Hickey Combined Church Service, Narembeen – Bishop Sproxton 22 National Primary Principals’ Conference Mass, St Mary’s Cathedral – Archbishop Hickey 23 Festival Day Mass, Corpus Christi College – Archbishop Hickey 24 Mercedes College Mercy Day Mass, St Mary’s Cathedral – Archbishop Hickey 26 Focolare Mass, St Mary’s Cathedral – Archbishop Hickey Feast of St Michael, Mass and Procession, Highgate – Mgr Michael Keating 27 Mass and Life Commitment, Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart – Archbishop Hickey 28 Vincentian Community Feastday Mass, Shenton Park –ArchbishopVisitHickeyof students from Quairading to St Mary’s Cathedral –Bishop Sproxton 200 St. George’s Terrace, Perth WA 6000 Tel: 9322 2914 Fax: 9322 2915 Michael Deering 9322 2914 A division of Interworld Travel Pty Ltd ABN 21 061 625 027 Lic. No 9TA 796 michael@flightworld.com.au www.flightworld.com.au • CRUISING • FLIGHTS • TOURS • FW OO2 12/07 Thinking of that HOLIDAY ? • Flights • Cruises • Harvest Pilgrimages • Holiday Tours • Car Hire • Travel Insurance Personal Service will target your dream.

Dr Scott Blackwell, incoming President of Palliative Care Australia. Palliative care needs to become a mainstream aspect of health care in Australia, he says, especially given the ageing population.

AMA National President Dr Andrew Pesce adressing the National Press Club earlier this year. He told The Record last week the AMA is flatly opposed to euthanasia and listed the organisation’s concerns at the dangers involved in legalising the killing of individuals on medical grounds.

Euthanasia: the other side of the story

Volunteer dispels ‘end of the road’ myths

A nine-year veteran volunteer at St John of God Community Hospice in Murdoch says the benefits of Palliative Care, seen and unseen, are extensive.

BY ANTHONY BARICH

Patients develop an enhanced sense of self-worth through the experience of palliative care, contrary to claims from euthanasia advocates that palliative care is the end of the road and undignified, long-term hospice volunteer Dale Henshaw said.

Mr Henshaw, who has seen over 1800 admissions during the past nine years at St John of God Murdoch’s Hospice centre, said many patients enter determined not to be kept alive any more than necessary, but after experiencing palliative care they become determined to “live until they die”.

Addressing the 18 July Right to Life Association annual dinner at the Esplanade Hotel in Como, Mr Henshaw also dispelled several

Around Perth

Seek2010 calls for helpers

SEEK2010, the Archdiocesan conference on Scripture and Prayer for Everyday Life from 7-9 October is seeking volunteers to help at the event.

Areas requiring helpers include the crèche (Working with Children Certificate required) the car park and hospitality. This is a wonderful opportunity for Catholics to use your time, talent and treasure to serve the community of the Perth Archdiocese.

Entitled SEEK2010 – Seeking the God who is seeking you – the conference will be held at Queen of Apostles Parish, 57 Tudor Ave, Riverton.

It gives everyone – adults, youth and children – the chance to learn, experience and grow in a warm, supportive and enjoyable environment.

Even the little ones are not forgotten as there will be a crèche for the 0-2 year olds.

Topics which will be covered at the conference include Experiencing Lectio Divina, Mary in the Scriptures, Importance of Scripture in Life, Prayer in the Family, Worship with Music, Getting online with God and Imaginative Meditation

There will also be a special programme for youths, entitled Connecting with God Daily and displays by many of the organisations and agencies in the Archdiocese of Perth.

Mass will be celebrated on Saturday morning by Bishop Don Sproxton, Chairman of the Committee For Family and For Life, the conference organisers.

The conference will culminate on Saturday afternoon in an Enthronement Ceremony when families are invited to bring forward their Bibles for a special blessing and to “enthrone” them in a place of honour in their homes.

Brochures containing the full conference programme and registration forms are available from your parish office or on the con-

myths pushed by euthanasia advocates about palliative and hospice care, including:

● Being referred to palliative care means the doctors have given up on you. This is untrue, he said, as the doctor cares enough

ference website www.seek2010.org, or call Barbara Harris/Su Goh on 9328 8113.

Registration is $20 for individuals and $25 for families and entitles entry to all conference events. Facilities for people with vision, hearing or other special needs will be made available if requested in advance on registration.

Josephites to offer series at UNDA

Sisters from the Religious Order that Blessed Mary MacKillop founded will give a series of weekly

about the person he or she is treating to want them to receive “the very best care aimed at improving quality of life”.

● You lose your dignity when you have to depend on others to do everything for you. While

Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, will be on: The Road to Sainthood: What does canonisation entail? (14 Sept) The life of Irene McCormack (21 Sept), What’s the place of saints in the Church today? (28 Sept), Praying with the saints (5 Oct) and Virtues of Mary MacKillop (12 Oct).

ABC TV to feature Mary MacKillop

The ABC’s weekly all-Australian programme Travel Oz will feature Mary MacKillop’s early work in its episode scheduled for screening on ABC1 at 6pm on 11 October.

The programme shows Mary’s work at Penola South Australia where she began and taught in her first school, the sisters of Saint Joseph.

The Woods MacKillop

it is “traumatic to lose control of your personal hygiene”, Mr Henshaw said, most patients “get an enhanced sense of their worth when so much is done by so many to make the quality of their living as good as possible”.

● Dying usually involves unbearable pain so they dope you up like a zombie. In his experience patients seem “very normally alert and active” he told those attending the dinner. Even euthanasia advocate Dr Philip Nitschke, who used to include “unendurable pain when dying” as one of the major reasons to support legal euthanasia, now acknowledges that medical progress in pain treatment has eliminated this as a significant factor.

● Going into a hospice is the final step. Over 60 per cent of the 1800 admissions he’s seen have been discharged home. Many, he said, are “completely independent, often on the phone and their computer conducting their affairs.

“Even if they have a long-term, life-threatening condition and they were probably there for symptom control, they are often back to their everyday activities, including work, before very long,” he said.

Mr Henshaw has volunteered at Murdoch Community Hospice since euthanasia was being debat-

Schoolhouse still stands proudly in Penola, more than 140 years since Mary MacKillop founded the uniquely Australian Sisters of St Joseph, along with Julian Woods, a priest and brilliant scientist.

By all accounts, she was an outstanding young teacher, who provided a free Catholic education, initially for the isolated bush children of Penola. Travel Oz producer Greg Grainger visits with historian Margaret Muller the Penola centre she founded.

At the Mary Mackillop interpretive Centre, there are ample reminders of Mary’s early work in Penola, including a replica of the bark hut in which she first began teaching.

On the outskirts of Penola, there’s a series of wooden statues dedicated to Mary Mackillop, a memorial on the property of local farmer Michael Gartner. The feature concludes with a vocal tribute to Mary Mackillop.

ed in WA nine years ago when Perth doctor Daryl Stephens was charged with the murder of Frieda Hayes in a hospital in February 2000.

He said given that receiving palliative care is generally the first time most have experienced it, anxiety and concern about knowing what is happening and what can be done is a “very real factor, both for the patient and the family”.

“A very significant feature of palliative care is the ready involvement of family and friends. At Murdoch, family and friends have access to the patient at all times, including boarding arrangements,” he said.

The Murdoch Community Hospice has 20 beds, and makes approximately 450 admissions each year. Patients are referred to the Hospice by their doctor or specialist. Reasons for their admissions include:

● to address the symptoms and return home;

● re-admission to revise the symptom control;

● to enable respite for the carers, (often they are family members);

● for terminal care.

A typical stay for the majority of admissions would be around seven to 14 days, he said.

Cathedral organ concert

Oxford College Masters graduate Andrew Cichy is performing an organ recital of French repertoire from the 18th and 19th centuries in an event that will see the St Mary’s Cathedral organ “at its best”.

Mr Cichy - who completed a Masters of Studies in Musicology at Oxford in July and studied previously with Anne Goerke, St Mary’s Cathedral organist for 40 years –will give the performance at the Cathedral on 26 September at 3pm.

“Though the organ is English, it has a much wider repertoire than its origins, and this recital, with pieces from Felix Alexandre Guilmant and Jacques Boyvin, should show the instrument at its best,” said Mr Cichy. For more information contact Mr Cichy on 0439 922 446.

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Is it true I believe that before anyone buys a pre-owned vehicle they should choose their dealer before they choose their car and that dealer should be me?

Is it true that in 2008 I was Australia’s top selling Mitsubishi, Hyundai and Kia dealer?.

workshops on the first Australian saint at the University of Notre Dame Australia in Fremantle on Tuesdays.

The sessions, from 12.35pm1.05pm, which started on 14 September, will run until 12 October, five days before Pope Benedict XVI canonises Blessed MacKillop in Rome.

The sessions, to be held at the university’s Holy Spirit Chapel on Mouat Street and presented by

Is it true that Park Ford have just been awarded dealer of the year?

Is it true that from January to December 2008 we sold 16,881 vehicles, which was an all-time record?.

15 September 2010, The Record Page 3 THE PARISH

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Dale Henshaw, who has worked as a volunteer at St John of God Community Hospice in Murdoch, has seen overwhelming evidence of the benefits of Palliative Care. People are often frightened by euthanasia advocates who claim Palliative Care is the sign nothing more can be done for them, he told those attending a Right to Life dinner in July. In fact, he said, palliative care often enable people to return to the routines of their daily lives. PHOTO: ANTHONY BARICH Blessed Mary MacKillop is pictured in an undated photo from the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart, the Australian order she co-founded. Blessed MacKillop is set to become Australia’s first saint when she is canonised on 17 October. CNS

Kelmscott celebrates Mary’s Birthday in true style

Kelmscott Parish marked the Feast of Our Lady’s Birthday last Sunday with a special Mass, a procession along Albany Highway and a Parish social day.

All normal Sunday Masses were cancelled and replaced with a 9.30am Mass to so that everyone could come together for the event.

After Mass, parishioners gathered outside the Church as outgoing parish priest Fr Francis Sundararajan, who will take up a missionary role in New Guinea in October, blessed the statue of Our Lady and led a procession through the streets of Kelmscott together with Assistant Priest Fr Andrew Loton, acolyte Gerard Voysey and altar servers.

As the procession wound its way through Kelmscott parishioners prayed the Rosary in honour of Mary. Singers also led the procession in singing Marian hymns between decades of the Rosary.

Police were on hand to escort the procession, especially where there were no footpaths.

After returning to the Church grounds parishioners and all those present were treated to a barbecue and social activities including line dancing, colourful and eye-catching Bollywood dancing, folk music, rock music and even some impromptu singing performances from audience members.

The event has been held for several years under the leadership of Fr Francis and fellow clergy and has proved a popular social and meeting point for the Parish every September. A highlight of the day was the colourful presence of many parishioners who have come to Australia from all over the world, some choosing to wear national costume for the special occasion.

Page 4 15 September 2010, The Record THE PARISH

Scenes from a day for Mary: Men carry the statue of Our Lady through the streets of Kelmscott, above. After the Rosary procession a day of numerous activities for parishioners, including a barbecue, dancing and singing, was held. PHOTOS:ELIZABETHBOGONI

Choir’s little voices a mighty hit for all concerned

BY MARYANN HEREDIA Children’s choir co-ordinator Canning Vale Parish

Canning Vale Parish has achieved yet another milestone in the history of their church. Besides having the new church of St Emilie’s blessed and inaugurated by Archbishop Barry Hickey in May, they now have a children’s choir.

The five month old church celebrated the birthday of The Blessed Virgin Mary with splendour.

A concelebrated Mass was offered by Parish priest Fr Robert Carrillo and assistant priest Fr Dennis Sudla who inaugurated the newly formed children’s choir.

The atmosphere was filled with harmonious angelic voices. The celebration was joyful and spiritual with various hymns sung to Our Lady, much to the delight of the parents and the congregation.

Some parents along with the choir co-ordinator assist with the smooth running of this group.

The choir is made up of around 45

children who come from diverse backgrounds. They range from Pre-Primary to upper school. The children meet every Friday night at the church for choir practice. They are delighted to praise and serve God through song, on behalf of their parish Community.

The choir is scheduled to sing this year for the feast of the Holy Rosary (7 October), All Saints Day (1 November) and for the children’s Christmas Eve Mass (24 December).

They look forward to sing on a regular basis for the Sunday evening Mass commencing in the near future. It’s a real pleasure to be part of this vibrant and enthusiastic group of singers.

Children to me “are like flowersboth bring fragrance to our lives”.

Praise in song: The children’s choir at St Emilie’s Parish in Canning Vale has won enthusiastic members, who range from pre-Primary to upper school in age. The choir meets every Friday night at the Church for practice.

Five cents here, five cents there...

BY MARK REIDY

What started out as a fundraising idea to collect loose change developed into an opportunity to involve male prisoners.

St John the Baptist Parish, Toodyay made the most of a five-cent fundraising idea from St Bernadette’s, Port Kennedy after reading about it in The Record two years ago.

her fellow parishioners embraced the fundraising idea of encouraging families to take home small cartons and jars to collect their loose change for the parish.

The money raised was used to beautify part of the parish with the help of men from a low security prison; an area previously thought unsightly which is a space for private reflection and parish social activities.

Veronica Dymond and several of

“Our numbers are considerably smaller than Port Kennedy but our enthusiasm is no less and in the two years we’ve been collecting we have just reached the fine figure of $449.20,” Ms Dymond said.

“Overall, it has been an extremely rewarding and painless method of fundraising. Thank you Port Kennedy for the idea,” Ms Dymond said. She said the prisoners also benefited from the opportunity to enjoy some typical country hospitality.

Clergy Appointments

Archbishop Hickey has announced a number of clergy appointments. They include: Fr Philip Fleay has been appointed Parish Priest of Sacred Heart, Mundaring, Fr Arulraj has been appointed Parish Priest of Our Lady Help of Christians, East Victoria Park, Fr Elver Delicano has been appointed Parish Priest of St Francis of Assisi, Maida Vale, Fr Nelson Po has been appointed Parish Priest of Notre Dame, Cloverdale, Fr Blasco Fonseca has been appointed Parish Priest of St Mary’s, Guildford, Fr Lionel Henry SDS is to retire soon, but will be available for supply work, even live-in supply.

Fr Stephen Astill SJ has been appointed Parish Priest of Immaculate Conception, East Fremantle. Fr Andrew Lotton has been

appointed Parish Priest of Good Shepherd, Kelmscott,

Fr Francis Sundararajan will leave on October 3 for New Guinea, Fr Benny Calanza has been appointed Assistant Priest at Our Lady of Lourdes, Rockingham, Fr Rodrigo Tomala has been appointed Assistant Priest at St Mary Star of the Sea, Cottesloe,

Fr George James has been appointed Assistant Priest at St Mary’s Cathedral, Fr Dominic Savio CSsR has been appointed Assistant Priest at Our Lady of the Mission, Whitford,

Fr Jeronimo Flamenco Castillo has been appointed Chaplain to Royal Perth Hospital, Fr Joseph Kum Htoi has been appointed Chaplain at Little Sisters of the Poor Nursing Home, Glendalough, Fr Greg Donovan is preparing for a sabbatical after some health procedures, Fr Paul Baczynski is overseas on study leave.

A Catholic men’s association has bucked the general decline of Catholic groups, beginning a new chapter in Busselton Parish.

The Catenian Association inaugurated the new group at a gathering on 30 August at The Esplanade Hotel with nearly one hundred existing ‘brothers’, their wives and several guests in attendance.

The new group is part of a global association begun in Manchester, England in 1908 encouraging Catholic men to develop strong social bonds, supporting one another in the practise of their shared faith. Brother Director Gerry Barton officiated, presenting the

group’s charter granted to them by the Catenian’s Grand Council.

Group President Tony Smurthwaite thanked everyone for coming to the group’s celebratory gathering, welcomed the brothers’ wives and thanking them for their abiding patience. He paid tribute to Brother John Monkhouse whose endurance, he said, had transformed the idea into reality while also expressing appreciation for the support given by parish priest Fr Wally Kevis. The new group will hold meetings at 6.00pm on the last Monday of the month at The Esplanade Hotel in Busselton.

Page 5 THE PARISH

15 September 2010, The Record

popular new CD Music for church, home and school as featured in The Record. Recorded by Filipino priest Fr Robert Romano, Pat Leahy

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Catenians begin

Busselton Very

and

Bruce MeGinn.

New Catenians in Busselton: Back row, left to right, John O’Neil and Lyall Fowle. Middle Row, L to R: George Bazzica (Vice President); Peter Nash; Paul Trainor; Michael Tonks (Registrar); Jack Stretch; John Monkhouse (Provincial Officer); Barry Cruikshank; John van Beek (Secretary); Tony Drew; Ed Whitely (Treasurer. Front row L to R: Barry O’Malley (Chamberlain): Terry Pilcher (Provincial President Province 20); Tony Smurthwaite (President) and Brother Director. PHOTOS:COURTESYBUSSELTONCATENIANS PHOTO: CANNING VALE PARISH

Sister renews vows as catechetical act

BY ANTHONY BARICH

Sister Jean Wojcik, a member of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, renewed the vows she took after entering Religious life 50 years ago at Masses celebrated at Mater Dei College in Edgewater and Our Lady of Grace Parish in North Beach.

Each celebration was a catechetical act showing that for Catholics, career is only part of a vocation, she said. This past week has prompted her to reflect that while secularists would define a career as “one’s entire life until death”, “a Christian lives a vocation, our baptism through our lifestyle, be it Religious, married or single”, she said.

The Golden Jubilee Mass on 8 September had a dual purpose: “To thank God for what He did for me, and as a catechetical moment for students, as they1d never see a profession of a Religious making vows of chastity, poverty and obedience.

Sr Jean was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania in June, 1944, joining the Congregation after her 16th birthday. Today, she advises people considering marriage or Religious life to wait until they’ve travelled and get a job, where they learn to deal with people.

“Today people bring those skills to the community, where as when I was 16 we developed those skills in the community,” she said.

“Jesus calls us to discipleship, sharing our gifts. That’s why, in discussing career options with students, we discuss where their gifts and interests lie, so they can best serve the community and live out the plan God has for them,” she said.

“The greatest thing of being a professed Religious is that God calls you to live out that plan He has for you, so it’s not so much what you’re doing for God, but what He’s doing for you in what you1re being and doing.

“As a professed Religious, it1s God helping you fulfil His plan for the world, and for you in the creation He’s making you.”

Sr Jean has travelled the world since joining the Congregation in 1960.

She first spent 18 months in Rome for her novitiate, returned to Michigan to do a Bachelor of Arts. She worked in primary schools in Michigan and worked for a year in the Order’s school for emotionally disturbed children in Pittsburgh before arriving in Sydney in 1972.

This is Sr Jean’s third posting in North Beach. She taught Grade 5 at Our Lady of Grace School in North Beach in 1979.

She started Our Lady of Grace Catholic Primary School1s music programme during her second stay here. In 2005 she returned to work at Mater Dei College as the school’s Career Development Officer.

Forming people in Truth delights Fr Foley

BY ANTHONY BARICH

Fr Daniel Foley’s greatest joy in his 80 years of life and 55 of priesthood is the formation of people – and many who grew out of the Young Christian Workers movement still practicing their faith today have him to thank.

Fr Foley - the second cousin of the late Perth Archbishop William Foley - who celebrated his 80th birthday at Lockridge on 26 August, clearly remembers legendary YCW founder Cardinal Joseph Cardijn of Belgium standing on the dais at Leederville and declaring himself “80 years young”.

Back then, the YCW and NCGM (National Catholic Girls Movement) were a powerhouse of apostolic work, bringing their lapsed Catholic friends back into the faith and defending Christian values.

“Many of the young people who took up leadership in the diocese were schooled in the ‘See, Judge, Act’ ethos of the YCW movement, and a great many young people came through,” Fr Foley aid.

Some of his eager young men of the YCW took action when they tore down all the provocative posters of a young lady called Sabrina from His Majesty’s Theatre who was performing there and brought them back to him.

“I put them on top of the wardrobe at Leederville and they’re probably still sitting there – I didn’t know what to do with them,” he said. This was but a microcosm of the “very apostolic sort of work” the YCW was involved in.

“There were many young men and women who are practicing Catholics around the place who owe their Catholicity to the YCW,” he said.

Like Cardinal Cardijn, Fr Foley, who just moved into the Little Sisters of the Poor retirement home, also saw forming youth in

the Gospel as a priority. To this end, continuing the evangelistic legacy of Lockridge founding priest Fr Terry Cahill was his top responsibility.

“I would say from my point of view I’ve found tremendous satisfaction in the formation of people, and I saw that as my first job going to Lockridge, to carry on the work done in that field,” said Fr Foley, one of the first students of St Charles Seminary who entered within five years of its inaugural Rector, Archbishop Launcelot Goody, founding it.

“There was a tremendous

amount of good will and talent there that needed to be tapped into, and I saw my task as tapping into it. “My part was to harness something of that talent, and they were harnessed very willingly.”

When Lockridge started it was under the auspices of Morley, and Fr Foley said that Fr Cahill “spent a tremendous amount of time and effort in schooling people of Lockridge in Vatican II documents and developing their spirituality”, as did his successor Fr Charles Tory.

Fr Foley built on this, moving

the parish into a bigger church.

“There was a stigma attached to Lockridge at one stage about the demographics, unemployment etc, but I think it’s grown out of that now,” he said.

Leederville was Fr Foley’s first posting after being ordained by Archbishop Goody with Fr Anton Hesse and Fr Michael Brown OFM, who concelebrated Fr Foley’s 80th birthday Mass with current Lockridge parish priest Fr Francis Ly, his predecessor Fr Vinh Dong and Redemptorist Father Hugh Thomas, who was giving a parish retreat. Archbishop Barry Hickey attended the festivities after.

After assisting Mgr John Moloney at Leederville, “who was very particular about the way the bell was rung in the church”, he assisted Mgr Edward Kennedy at Subiaco, where he was flat out with weddings and hospital ministry to Princess Margaret, Charles Gairdner and King Edward.

After a short stint with the well-known Fr Edward Power at Kensington he spent time with Mgr John Wallace at Nedlands, who retired due to ill health, before taking on the new parish at Kambalda.

There, he enjoyed a few “very happy” years of fraternity among the Goldfield priests of Frs Maurice Toop (Boulder), Frank Dillon and Tim Corcoran (Kalgoorlie).

From there he came down to Attadale for the best part of 10 years, then did a short stint filling in at St Kieran’s Osborne Park before arriving at Lockridge, where he spent over 10 years, “enjoying every moment”.

At Lockridge he succeeded Fr Hesse, who was ordained with him and, like Cardinal Cardijn - who he described as a “sprightly man who left his mark on the world” - many Catholics today arguably owe their Catholicity to the Perth priest.

Australians

top give list

BY ANTHONY BARICH

Australia has topped the list of the world’s most generous donor countries as compiled by the British-based Charities Aid Foundation (CAF).

The survey, conducted in 153 countries and covering 95 percent of the world’s population, found 70 per cent of Australians had given money to a charity. Thirty-eight per cent had donated their time in the month before they were surveyed with almost twothirds saying they had given assistance to a stranger.

Released on 8 September, the World Giving Index placed Australia and New Zealand as equal first in giving with Canada and Ireland tying for third, the US coming fifth and the United Kingdom, eighth.

Jack de Groot, Chief Executive of Caritas Australia told The Record that Australians give close to or over AUS$800 million a year to all international aid agencies. “I’m always moved both by the level of generosity of contributions people make year in year out”, Mr de Groot said. “[Australians] see the fundamental need of people in poverty throughout the world. Even through the time of global financial crisis Australians were still generous. I felt the overwhelming nature of the response, and was humbled in the face of it.”

The World Giving Index also revealed a few surprises with poverty-stricken Sierra Leone coming in at number 11, far above wealthier nations such as Denmark and Germany, which tied at 18. Australians have a history of giving in difficult times.

Page 6 15 September 2010, The Record THE PARISH

Archbishop Barry Hickey, left, with Fr Dan Foley, centre, and Fr Hugh Thomas at Fr Foley’s 80th birthday. Sr Jean Wojcik of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth is congratulated by her fellow Religious Sisters based at North Beach and students of Mater Dei Catholic College, where she is a Career Development Officer. She said it was important to renew her vows of chastity, poverty and obedience in front of the students as a catechetical act.

Same-sex adoption legalised ‘for benefit of kids’

Politicians including Catholic NSW Premier Kristina Keneally who voted to pass the controversial Same Sex Adoption Bill on 9 September, giving gay couples the legal right to adopt children, claim the best interest of children was their primary concern.

Chris Meney, Director of the Archdiocese of Sydney’s Life, Marriage and Family Centre, said that much of the debate in Parliament prior to the Bill becoming law professed to be along the lines of what was in the best interest of children, “but there is much to suggest the pursuit of rights for same sex adults is a significant part of the agenda”.

Many now fear the Bill, which enables homosexual and lesbian couples to legally adopt children, is a precursor to the legalisation of same sex marriages by NSW Parliament.

But whether same sex marriage eventually becomes law or not, there is concern children will suffer as a result of this new legislation and will be denied the right of ever knowing what it is to have a father and a mother.

“Essentially what the passage of this Bill has done is to give the message to the wider community that having both a mother and a father is unnecessary, given in terms of the intrinsic differences of what they can offer children in their care, women cannot father nor can men be mothers. Even single parents raising a child acknowledge this,” Mr Meney said.

Cardinal George Pell has described it as “bad social engineering” and that, beyond inner Sydney, was not only unpopular but should have been soundly defeated by the Legislative Council as well as the Legislative Assembly.

Described by many as little more than a stunt to seek votes from minority groups by a government facing an election in less than six months with its popularity at an all time low, the passage of the Bill came as a surprise, particularly after the first vote the previous week which only narrowly passed it, with a vote of 45 to 43. Had two absent MPs been present it may well have been a different story.

“My opposition to the Bill is not an attack on homosexual persons or on the ability of a homosexual person to love and care for a child. That is not in question. The Commonwealth and State laws that have enabled same-sex parenting acknowledge that.”

Instead Cardinal Pell said his criticism of the legislation was that it denied the right of every child to know, and where possible, be raised by his or her natural parents, which comprised a mother and a father. This right for children, he said, was not only recognised by major religious traditions but is affirmed by the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child.

Chris Meney agrees and says he finds it a great shame that by passing this Bill, the wants and desires of adults have been placed above the importance of the rights of children, robbing them of the experience of having both a mother and a father.

“There are those people who will argue there is no difference in terms of parenting between heterosexual and same sex couples. But these arguments fail to appreciate

that to date, there are no long term studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of same sex parenting.”

But what we do know, he says, is that mother and father arrangements have done “a very good job across all societies for a very long time.”

“What we also know is the damage experienced by children as a result of divorce or marriage breakdown and how this often is not manifested until the child is well into his or her 20s or even older.”

The Same Sex Adoption Bill, which is now law, was introduced by independent MP Clover Moore, whose inner Sydney electorate includes Oxford Street and where the annual Gay Mardi Gras is held. MPs were permitted a conscience vote on the issue with both Premier Keneally and NSW Opposition Leader Barry O’Farrell voting for the Bill and Nationals leader, Andrew Stoner voting against.

Last minute amendments to the Bill were made by Environment Minister Frank Sartor so the wishes of birth parents of a child up for adoption could be taken into account without them breaching the anti discrimination act by refusing to have their children adopted by same sex couples.

This followed an earlier amendment from Clover Moore to exempt faith-based adoption agencies such as two of the State’s largest, Anglicare and CatholicCare, from breaching the same anti-discrimination laws and being sued for refusing to provide services to homosexual or lesbian couples.

This makes it very difficult and somewhat confusing to understand remarks from the Attorney General, John Hatzistergos who said: “First, it is not correct that the faith-based agencies have not been consulted about the proposed narrowing of the amendment.

“I specifically had my office consult both Anglicare and CatholicCare. Anglicare did not have an issue and CatholicCare expressed no position. In fact it specifically said that that was its position and indicated no opposition to the legislation. The text of the amendment was brought to their attention. Indeed, if I had been aware that either organisation opposed any aspect of my proposal I would have considered that and modified it accordingly.”

Those not in favour of same-sex adoption said support of any modification would have given tacit support to the Bill and this was probably known by those in support. Catherine Cusack MLC, who described herself as a community leader, used her time to launch an attack on the Catholic Church, or rather the “two Catholic Churches in Australia”.

Another politician said: “Hansard can make for some very difficult to understand reading at times, especially if you don’t know the subject being debated.”

“Before the passage of the Bill, the law as it stood, already enabled the same sex partner of a biological mother to take out a parentage order and take on the full responsibilities if necessary until the child was 18, when they could make up their own mind,” Mr Meney said.

“The fact same sex couples nevertheless went ahead and demanded full adoption rights, shows there is a wider agenda.”

Resource for new Mass texts out soon

ICEL catechetical resource to be launched on 30 September in Melbourne

The new catechetical resource Become One Body, One Spirit in Christ will be launched by Archbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide, President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, in Melbourne on Thursday 30 September at the Academy of Mary Immaculate in Fitzroy.

The resource, which includes an interactive DVD was developed and produced by Fraynework Multimedia (a ministry of the Sisters of Mercy) at the request of the International Commission for English in the Liturgy (ICEL).

Director of Liturgy for the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Fr Peter Williams said that the new wording may take some time to implement at a parish level, but will ultimately raise the quality of liturgy.

“The new texts will take some getting used to, but contain beautiful language that allows for reverent praise of God”, said Fr Williams, who was in Perth recently to brief local liturgists on the resource. The project was commenced several years ago

at the request of Bishop Arthur Roche of Leeds in the United Kingdom who brought together a small group of international liturgists to formulate the foundational material. The resource is now available in all eleven member conferences of ICEL.

Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne who is the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

representative on the ICEL will also speak at the launch.

At the same time Archbishop Wilson and Archbishop Hart will outline the implementation process for the Church in Australia of the new Missal.

Results of the recommended new musical settings to the Mass by Australian composers will also be announced.

Page 7 15 September 2010, The Record THE NATION Aid to the Church in Need …. a Catholic charity dependent on the Holy See, providing pastoral relief to needy and oppressed Churches

The Become One Body, One Spirit in Christ interactive DVD resource as it was previewed at a national liturgy conference in Perth in February. The resource will help parish liturgists and priests get to know the newly translated Misal texts and music, as well as a comprehensive history of the Missal. PHOTO: ANTHONY BARICH

Same-sex adoption legalised ‘for benefit of kids’

Many now fear the Bill, which enables homosexual and lesbian couples to legally adopt children, is a precursor to the legalisation of same sex marriages by NSW Parliament.

“There are those people who will argue there is no difference in terms of parenting between heterosexual and same sex couples. But these arguments fail to appreciate

that to date, there are no long term studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of same sex parenting.”

But what we do know, he says, is that mother and father arrangements have done “a very good job across all societies for a very long time.”

Another politician said: “Hansard can make for some very difficult to understand reading at times, especially if you don’t know the subject being debated.”

“The fact same sex couples nevertheless went ahead and demanded full adoption rights, shows there is a wider agenda.”

Resource for new Mass texts out soon

ICEL catechetical resource to be launched on 30 September in Melbourne

Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne who is the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

representative on the ICEL will also speak at the launch.

At the same time Archbishop Wilson and Archbishop Hart will outline the implementation process for the Church in Australia of the new Missal.

Results of the recommended new musical settings to the Mass by Australian composers will also be announced.

Page 7 15 September 2010, The Record THE NATION Aid to the Church in Need …. a Catholic charity dependent on the Holy See, providing pastoral relief to needy and oppressed Churches

Not the environment first, just death

Afortnight ago this editorial argued that the highest priorities for the Greens and associated environmental activists following the recent federal election would not be the environment but completely different issues such as the redefinition of marriage. That column could well have added the words ‘and euthanasia’ as well. The following weekend, while the country was still waiting to see who would form the next federal government, The Weekend Australian newspaper’s front page headline was ‘Greens push same-sex laws.’ It took no particular prescience to know what kinds of issues the Greens would move on first, only a clear understanding that children can swing in a moment from sweetness to viciousness.

In political terms the Greens are the childish nightmare of Australian life, literally. Although they loudly proclaim themselves as the only defenders of the environment, as a political party they have rapidly become the foremost foe of human life. Their philosophy begins with a good intention: the awareness that we can’t treat the earth as we do, hence their growing political success and influence. But it arrives at a subsequent embarrassment about human beings who they regard (and portray) as sucking creation dry. This simplistic and unscientific premise (human beings cause environmental damage, therefore human beings must be bad) has become a hallmark of their whole political approach and it is this, not their position on environmental issues, that is the real and sinister problem of the Greens. While they ceaselessly proclaim their own importance and their own solutions as the only ones that are acceptable they consistently campaign primarily for the ending of human life in an ever-widening definition of categories of people who can be done away with, presumably in order to make our lives a little easier and to make us less taxing as a species on the environment. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the looming State parliamentary debate, moved by Greens Upper House member Robin Chapple in an attempt to have euthanasia legalised in WA.

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If Mr Chapple is to succeed in having the killing of the elderly, the sick, the very young and the disabled legalised, which is what euthanasia has become wherever it is legalised (inquirers, please check the Netherlands) he will only be able to do so by obscuring for the community, for journalists seeking to dissect the issues and state legislators the one distinction that makes his legislation redundant: that between palliative care and its associated pain control on the one hand, and euthanasia on the other.

What is the distinction? Palliative Care is the medical approach to caring for the terminally ill which is devoted to giving every individual the best possible quality of life up until and including the moment of death. When pain relief is provided to someone suffering a terminal illness and an unintended consequence of this is that death is hastened, no euthanasia has occurred. Most critically for the euthanasia debate palliative care is able to guarantee that no individual with a terminal illness needs to die in any pain at any time and this assertion is confidently backed by oncologists and palliative care specialists the world over.

Euthanasia is completely different. It is the decision, taken with or without the consent of an individual suffering from depression or illness, terminal or otherwise, to end that person’s life. In WA the euthanasia proposed by Mr Chapple is the form which depends (but only for the time being) on consent of the person who is to die.

The danger is obvious. The moment such a law is passed, euthanasia becomes immediately prone to manipulation by any one or more of the numerous parties connected to the process of dying. It also reveals how fraught with danger is the position of the individual who is dying, already in a weakened state and prone to pressure from any of those surrounding them. Legalisation of euthanasia creates a legal and moral nightmare for patients, the terminally ill, medical practitioners, hospital administrators and the legal system. It is, in a real sense, exactly the human and moral mess that the Greens are so predictable at creating.

It is also exactly the sort of mess which easily morphs into situations where others begin to decide when the vulnerable will die.

The distinction between palliative care and euthanasia is the crux of the issue which those in WA’s Parliament who oppose euthanasia must communicate with limpid clarity to their colleagues. When the all-important difference (that hastened death as an unintended consequence of pain relief is not euthanasia and is morally acceptable) is made clear, support for euthanasia becomes redundant.

In fact, because the euthanasia lobby, including the Greens, has confused the issue by Disneyfying and sentimentalising the debate an additional obstacle that now needs to be overcome by euthanasia’s opponents is that many people now confuse the two things. If those opposed to Mr Chapple’s Bill can clarify what the fundamental difference between the two is, Mr Chapple’s Bill will rightly collapse.

On every occasion that has arisen in Australian state and federal politics, Greens have voted to widen the legal definition of who can be done away with. In this regard their record is consistently anti-human and appallingly ignorant. The gaping weakness in their outlook is that while the environment is sacrosanct they are prepared to facilitate at every turn the process of doing away with people. Their philosophy and policies in relations to human beings make them the intellectual lightweights of Australian politics, but it would not be the first time in history that such uninformed children have gone on to do such awful, thoroughly terrible collateral damage to those around them.

host of others instead of the clap hands hum drum that we often get these days.

Noel Bourke Heathridge

SacroPop, no... and yes

IHooray for Dr Rowland

Hooray and hallelujah for Tracey Rowland and her splendid article on Sacro Pop, regarding the soppy music that we often have to sing in the alleged praise and glory of our God (The Record, 8 September).

Some of the greatest music ever composed was written as songs of praise, ranging from the Hallelujah Chorus to simple songs like Silent Night. Unfortunately many modern “hymns” are really dumbing us down instead of lifting us up.

Many hymns now being sung sound like “Merry go round music” or “Cowboy music” at the end of which I have to strenuously resist the urge to yell “Yee har, odee odle lay ee too” in my best Roy Rogers impression.

Then there are the other hymns that must have been written by a marketing agency for soap suds. They all have very mushy words and nondescript tunes that make elevator music sound like Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

I do appreciate the steps taken recently by the Archbishop of Melbourne to put a stop to pop music being played at funerals. I remember a few years ago attending a Requiem Mass that concluded with the coffin being carried out of the church to the tune of Roll out the barrel; apparently a favourite song of the deceased.

I greatly appreciate the huge amount of time and effort that members of church choirs devote to learning and singing hymns that will enhance the liturgy of the Mass. What I would really appreciate, however, is some balance between the Sacro Pop and some more traditional hymns. How I long to belt out Faith of our Fathers, Sweet Sacrament Divine, Hail Redeemer, King Divine, Hail Queen of Heaven, Mother of Mercy Day by Day and a

am just an ordinary baby boomer Catholic with no theological knowledge. I love my God, my faith and my Church. Being a baby boomer I was brought up in the pre-Vatican II Church with all the solemn organ music and the ceremonies, celebrations and usual liturgical life that was practiced in the 50s and 60s. We accepted it all because there was nothing else available.

Then came the late 60s and the ‘renewal’ that swept through the Church. Guitars and ‘rock’ masses were the in-thing. Yes, it was appealing to me as a teenager. It didn’t change my perception of God as my heavenly Father but it certainly made Mass more inviting, understandable and friendly.

The years passed and I became involved in parish music.

Sometimes things didn’t turn out quite the way they were supposed to but the aim of my music planning was always to complement the Mass theme or season and also bring a positive feeling – joy, peace, comfort – to the congregation. I would aim to help them leave Mass feeling uplifted and possibly happier than when they arrived.

Trite though the words may be to many ‘sacred’ songs (and I agree there are some shockers), I personally feel that I have received far more comfort at times that I would from the old hymns with often lugubrious words and ponderous music. I am not trying to trivialise God but show there can be another way of praising Him in today’s world without being disrespectful.

Music lifts my soul and soothes my spirit. I doubt I am alone in this. There will always be a place for the liturgical standards in certain celebrations but I question whether regularly returning to music that may be three centuries old will revitalise parish congregations.

Maybe the aim should be to compose better modern sacred music. In the world of today there is enough gloom, uncertainty, sadness etc. We should be able to look forward to Mass with joy and anticipation. Music can certainly help raise our hearts and spirits and

give glory to God without being dirge-like with ancient lyrics. Above all things, I believe God wants us to be happy – not the ‘happiness’ that the world expects but joy in his love, excitement and anticipation at attending Mass and the peace that comes with following His will. For me that can be expressed with appropriate music.

I respect the years of study that theologians have undertaken but surely ordinary people should be able to voice and have acknowledged their simple part in Church life without being made to feel we are not worshipping God in a correct manner because we prefer a more modern form of music.

Pat Sousa Byford

Palace title a bit out of date

Iwould like to see the title of the Archbishop’s residence in Victoria Square changed to something more meaningful for today’s society.

When I saw the images of the Bishop’s “Palace” recently on the front page of The Record I felt decidedly uncomfortable. To me it smacks of a bygone era of wealth and political power and gives a very mixed message indeed.

We try to present ourselves as a caring and compassionate Church towards the homeless, the marginalised and the poor, in the image of the poor Jesus who by choice became a homeless, wandering preacher.

This is juxtaposed with a Cathedral that cost over $35 million and a “palace” opposite it.

While I am proud of our beautiful new Cathedral and acknowledge our Church leads the way in many areas of care for those who suffer in our society, by using such outmoded language we distance ourselves from the very people we are trying to minister to.

It makes our preaching of the Good News of the humble and poor Jesus sound a little hollow and gives the cynics of the Church a little more leverage

Even though the building is heritage listed, I see no reason why the name cannot be changed so that it better resonates in our time. Otherwise we run the risk of further alienating ourselves in a society that already sees us as a fossilised symbol of the past.

Fran Ellyard

North Perth

Social justice, the effective way: expert

Leading activist shares insights on advocating for social justice in Fremantle workshop

Australian human rights activist Phil Glendenning is imparting insights on how to become a more effective advocate for social justice causes at a 24 September workshop.

Advocacy and Media Skills for Social Justice will be held at the Edmund Rice Institute for Social Justice in Fremantle from 10am until 5pm.

Director of the Edmund Rice Centre, Sydney, Mr Glendenning is immediate past President of Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation.

Mr Glendenning has also been the recipient of an Honorary

PhD for his international human rights work from the Australian Catholic University.

This interactive workshop provides participants with skills on successful advocacy and media techniques for social justice work via extensive case studies and group discussions.

Dynamics of the media cycle will be covered, along with important differences between radio, TV and print media.

Participants will learn how to prepare strong advocacy messages and give effective interviews in all mediums.

Tickets are available from $25 for unwaged/students, up to $150 for government and corporate.

To book call the Edmund Rice Institute for Social Justice on 9432 2400, or email admin@ erisj.org.au. To download the event flyer or register online go to: www.erisj.org.au. You can also follow @erisj_au on Twitter.

Page 8 8 September 2010, The Record THE PARISH Letters to the editor Around t he tabl e dnuorA t eh lbat e LETTERS TO THE EDITOR editorial

Leading human rights activist Phil Glendenning will present a workshop on 24 September. BY ERIKA BACHIOCHI

Despite boasting onefifth of the world’s population, the Catholic Church is by no means a “popular” institution. Classical teachings on abortion, premarital sex, divorce, and especially contraception are thought by many - both outside the Church and within - to reek of old-fashioned ideas of sex at best and, at worst, patriarchal views of women. The reservation of the priesthood to men, for its part, is often simply regarded as male chauvinism. These Church teachings lead many to wonder how any self-respecting woman (or woman-loving man) can stay and pray within the Catholic Church.

One could assume that many ordinary Catholics dispensed with the teachings on sex and marriage during the turbulent 1960s for the simple reason that these teachings are difficult to live - that they require, for some of us, a degree of self-control and selflessness that is beyond ordinary means.

But history reveals another force at work as well.

For just as the world was coming to believe that there was more intrinsic value to sex than procreation, and that there is more to being a woman than birthing and nurturing children, the Church, too, was articulating a more nuanced understanding of human sexuality and the nature of women.

A substantial number of vocal theologians believed that such development of doctrine was a sure sign that, at long last, the Church would “modernise” its teachings on abortion, sex, and marriage - and on the priesthood as well.

This hoped-for view prevailed among progressive-minded academics and activists to such an extent that the Church was illprepared to handle their immediate protest of Humanae Vitae, the 1968 encyclical reaffirming the

It’s time

...for a pro-woman defense of controversial Catholic teaching

Church’s prohibition of contraception. Almost overnight, Catholics, whether in the pews or in the seminaries, received the strong impression from dissident theologians (through the mouthpiece of the media and the lecterns of the Catholic colleges at which they taught) that the Church was wrong

about its teaching on contraception - and perhaps about much else when it came to human sexuality. The only responsible thing for a thoughtful Catholic to do, according to these academics, was to ignore Church teachings and “follow one’s conscience.”

To be fair, the Church did give

these theologians a foothold for their views in the Vatican’s modern reconsideration of sex and women.

While the Church had always prioritised the procreative, or “baby-making,” aspect of conjugal sex, buttressed by theological treatises that derided sexual pleasure even within marriage, she began to draw much more attention to the unitive, or lovemaking, aspect of marriage in the modern period.

Similarly, the Church’s views on the nature of women also shifted. Increased papal attention just prior to the Second Vatican Council to the dignity and equality of women was ratified in the Council’s denunciation of sexual discrimination and support for greater recognition of the rights of women.

In the wake of these changes, many waited with bated breath for the Church to dismantle restrictions on abortion, contraception, divorce, and sex outside of marriage, and to clear the way for a married priesthood open to women.

But no change came - or has come in the decades since. Indeed, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have taken every opportunity to reaffirm the Church’s constant teaching on abortion, sex outside of marriage, divorce, contraception, and the priesthood.

They have done this even as they continue to articulate, and rearticulate in new ways, the Church’s modern recognition of the dual purposes of sexuality and of women’s fundamental equality with men.

John Paul II has been called John Paul the Great in part because he began the difficult task of reexamining and rearticulating biblical truths and Church teaching in light of modern philosophical insights into the human person and human experience, foremost among them freedom and equality.

John Paul’s Theology of the Body, and the “new feminism” he championed, have afforded many intellectually curious Catholics a

strong theoretical explanation for many truths of the faith that have been challenged in recent decades, especially those concerning sexuality and the role of women in the Church and in the world.

And yet, despite the rich theological explanation of these controversial topics in recent years, as well as a vibrant orthodox faith practiced by many John Paul II-inspired young Catholics, the Church continues to be perceived as anti-woman and anti-sex, sometimes virulently so. It’s as though some inside (and outside) the Church cannot fathom how the Catholic Church can so appreciate the dignity of women and the beauty of sex, and yet still stand firm in her views on abortion, sex, marriage, and the priesthood.

For many, a deep disconnect remains between the Church’s new, modern emphasis on equality and freedom and her continued adherence to traditional teachings.

A practical, pro-woman defense of these controversial teachings is required to bridge the gap. As the late and beloved Elizabeth FoxGenovese wrote: “A viable new feminism must directly confront the realm of practice ... the real terrain of struggle ... for most women understand their lives within [that] context” (Women in Christ). Ordinary Catholics (and non-Catholics alike) need to understand, in non-theological terms, why selfrespecting women and womenloving men can faithfully live these controversial Church teachings in the modern world.

Abundant empirical evidence now exists that corroborates Church teaching on sex and marriage: straying from such teaching harms women, while embracing it helps women to flourish. John Paul II supplied the theology. Secular researchers substantiated it in practice. It’s now up to us to boldly proclaim it.

This essay is an excerpt from Women, Sex & the Church: A Case for Catholic Teaching, now available from Pauline Books & Media.

We need a society that cares, not one that kills the vulnerable

Continued from Page 1

Feelings of unbearable dependence or loss of dignity can be provoked by the attitudes of others as well as our own.

Being inherently social, human beings feel best under conditions of positive, caring relationships.

For example, in a study that I conducted involving people with quadriplegia in the Netherlands and Australia, it was only those who lacked supportive relationships who wanted euthanasia for themselves.

This idea of suffering as a social, rather than a purely private, experience can help us decide what we will do about it. The palliative care journey is to address the person’s suffering by caring for them. The euthanasia option is to do away with the suffering by killing the sufferer.

A bill presented recently in the parliament of Western Australia, where I live, attempts to accommodate both options. It tries to respect “consumer” rights to choose assisted death while acknowledging the value of palliative care. It attempts to address concerns often raised against state-sanctioned euthanasia by including provisions against profiting from a euthanasia death.

It attempts to address concerns about exploitation by ruling out euthanasia for those who feel burdensome and those who are under 21. It attempts to ban euthanasia “tourism”. It involves a multi-tiered application and compliance process.

But experience shows that no safeguards are strong enough to hold out against an inevitable call from the public for a relaxation of the law to cover the “considerable suffering and debilitation” of people in these excluded categories.

In any case, is a doctor really able to assess whether someone wants euthanasia to stop being a burden to others? In the Netherlands safeguards have not stood in the way of, for example, 12-year-olds applying for euthanasia. People who are not terminally ill have ended their lives under euthanasia provisions.

At the same time, people fear slow deaths on machines or after exhausting treatment. And anomalies under the present regime do exist where medical staff actively hasten death illegally. Does that mean we should simply make this legal?

We should really ask, is it responsible to hurry to the legal

euthanasia option, before, as a society, we have done everything possible to practice all the care and support that we are capable of. Patently, we are a long way off this point.

We do not live in caring societies. We live in societies where social bonds are fraying. Individual autonomy, contractual relations between rational consumers, and consumerism get in the way of us acting as social, caring, human beings.

Legalising euthanasia fails to address the suffering that underlies patients’ requests for it. Often cited are: dependence on others, pain, and loss of dignity. All of these can be ameliorated through good care. Dependence on others is only undignified in the absence of caring support. Of course there may always be pain that cannot be treated other than by sedation, but extreme cases make bad law. In the end, there are no perfect solutions.

For some euthanasia is compassionate because it avoids situations where people end their own lives. But this is misreading the nature of compassion, as well as being unrealistic. Compassion requires personal engagement with the suffering of another - the “cares”

of care – in an imperfect world, something which euthanasia practice does not do. Euthanasia is basically a contractual arrangement between detached individuals, within certain rules, to end a life. It is a technical procedure, not an act of compassion.

An ethics of care pays attention first of all to the need underlying the request. it accepts responsibility for meeting that need and attends to it competently (Tronto, 1993). It is a participative two-way relationship with, in this case, a terminally ill patient. This care is not paternalistic and involves being with the suffering person, using thoughtful communication, trust, love, respect, and even humour. These help to preserve meaning and purpose in the end stage of life which is often seen as meaningless in our rationalistic world.

Another response is to encourage both options: palliative care and euthanasia. But before we consider giving State sanction to euthanasia let us first become a caring society. We might then find that the question no longer arises. There is a lot of work to be done. At the present, most of us continue to devalue aged, frail,

and highly dependent people who embody those parts of the human condition that we do not like. In a utilitarian consumer society, statesanctioned euthanasia carries risks of serious misuse.

Legislatures should reject legalised euthanasia as an inappropriate route to relief of suffering. But they should also ask questions about their own health care policies and practices as potential contributors to requests for euthanasia. How to treat every life as valuable and deliver excellent care? How to strengthen palliative care?

If we paid attention to human needs at every turn; if we took responsibility for them; if we did so competently and in participation with patients, what would that look like?

The character of a nation is revealed in the way it treats its most vulnerable people. Terminally ill people are highly vulnerable. Rejecting state-sanctioned euthanasia is not insensitive. On the contrary, it should affirm our determination to work towards a caring society.

Dr Leipoldt, who holds a PhD from Edith Cowan University, published Euthanasia and disability perspective in 2010. His blog can be found online at: www.ndisonline.blogspot.com

8 September 2010, The Record Page 9 VISTA

BY ANTHONY BARICH

AParishes and schools join s

rchbishop Barry Hickey declared devotion to Our Lady is “essential” for priests and laity alike as a record number of schools and participated in the annual 48 Hour Rosary Bouquet.

“Our devotion to Mary must be very strong, as she was chosen by God to be the mother of our Saviour and was prepared by God as the greatest among us,” Archbishop Hickey told participants at Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in honour of her birthday on 8 September.

During the Mass, Gabriella McGinnity and Luke Ratajczak presented Archbishop Hickey with the scroll of the names of all who participated in the Rosary Bouquet for Mary this year, with the Ratatczak family presenting the Offertory gifts.

Those participating in the Rosary Bouquet included 14 schools – a record in the WA-organised event’s 21st year.

Marian Movement of Priests member Fr Paul Carey, who concelebrated the Mass with the Archbishop and Cathedral assistant priest Fr Jean-Noel Marie, told The Record that devotion to Mary is “essential”, as “the mother holds the family together – and the family is under attack today”.

The Marian Movement of Priests consists of dozens of priests who meet on the first Thursday of each month at the Edel Quinn Centre, East Perth, the Legion of Mary headquarters.

Fifteen schools and seven parishes covered the 48 hour Bouquet this year; for St Anthony’s parish in Greenmount it was the tenth year the parish has participated. Parishioner Jan Mackin said the early hours of the morning were “so fulfilling” because she knew others throughout the State were praying as well.

“It was like small lights throughout the State uniting as one for Our Lady,” Mrs Bowen said.

Small country parishes such as Mukinbudin, Bolgart, Brookton, Southern Cross among others committed between one and four hours, linking the Rosary chain with the universal Church.

Bouquet organiser Margaret Bowen told The Record that families and individuals felt it was important to have their names on the Roster to be part of the State’s birthday gift to Mary.

The participating schools were La Salle College, Midland, Santa Clara in St James, Ursula Frayne College in Victoria Park, St Maria Goretti Primary School in Redcliffe, Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Hilton, Sacred Heart in Mundaring, St Paul’s in Karratha, St Paul’s Primary in Mt Lawley, St Mary’s in Northampton, St Kierans in Tuart Hill, Leschenault Primary in Australind, Holy Spirit Primary in City Beach, St Bernadette’s in Port Kennedy and St Anthony’s in Greenmount, Birlirr Ngawiyiwu Catholic School near the Northern Territory border.

All expressed pleasure to have their students involved in praying the Rosary for Our Lady, Mrs Bowen said.

Readers of The Record are invited to the launch of A New Wine & Fresh Skins

by Auxiliary Bishop Julian Porteous of Sydney hosted by The Record newspaper & ofﬁcially launched in Western Australia by Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton

Wednesday 6 October, 6.30pm-8pm

St Mary’s Cathedral Parish Centre (downstairs in the newly completed Cathedral)

Parking

at ground level from Murray Street.

Page 10 15 September 2010, The Record THE PARISH

Special day for Mary: Archbishop Barry Hickey receives a scroll containing the names of all who participated in the Rosary Bouquet from Gabriella Mc.Ginnity and Luke Ratajczak, with the Ratatczak family taking up the Gifts in the Offertory Procecssion, during the special Mass on 8 September. This year saw the highest participation from schools in WA ever. Students from St Paul’s Mt Lawley, above, participated by praying th Rosary in class. Other schools included St Mary’s School at Northampton, opposite page at top, Our Lady of Mt Carmel (second from top at left), St Bernadette’s Catholic Primary in Port Kennedy (second from top at right) and Santa Clara Catholic Primary in St James. Many other schools participated this year as well. PHOTOS: ANTHONY BARICH/SCHOOLS “In his reﬂection on the Ecclesial Movements in the life of the Church, Bishop Porteous opens a window on the creative and transforming power of the Holy Spirit working in the Church in our day. In many diﬀerent and unique ways, the message is the same - lives are transformed and in the process a new missionary energy is ignited.” - Ralph Martin, co-founder of Word of God Community, Ann Arbor, US

available

Page 11 15 September 2010, The Record THE PARISH statewide Rosary Bouquet OPENING S OON The Record Bookshop 21 Victoria Square, Perth (Opposite St Mary’s Cathedral)

The medicine of life: a hidden success

Earlier this month, fertility specialists gathered at a conference in Omaha, USA. Observing was Perth’s own DR AMANDA LAMONT writes exclusively for The Record about how the radical work by a self-described ‘antiestablishment Med student’ is changing the lives of many Perth couples

In September 2010 Omaha celebrated 25 years since the opening of the Pope Paul VI Institute by Dr Thomas Hilgers, an obstetrician gynaecologist who has dedicated his life’s work to fulfilling the mandate of Humanae Vitae released by Pope Paul VI in 1968. His work so far has resulted in the development of the Creighton model FertilityCare system (in Australia and increasingly in the US, it is simply known as ‘FertilityCare’, with his approval), a charting system designed to provide a daily accurate record of a woman’s reproductive health, and subsequently NaProTechnology, a new reproductive medical science which is now in use all over the world to help women and couples experiencing subfertility and womens’ health problems.

NaProTechnology evolved from the standardisation of the FertilityCare system, which for the first time allowed the accurate comparision of womens’ charts, so that reliable indicators for normal and abnormal reproductive function could be determined.

Dr Hilgers is often quoted as describing the FertilityCare charting system as ‘a gynaecologist’s dream’. In trained medical hands it is an outstanding tool in the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of reproductive health problems.

Partnered with FertilityCare,

NaProTechnology provides a treatment programme which is both natural and medical, minimally invasive, highly effective, ethically sound, and enriching for marriages.

It truly represents medicine at the service of the human person, at the service of nature, at the service of marriage and at the service of Life.

At an education programme in Omaha many years ago I was one of many who had the opportunity to publicly honour Dr Hilgers for his work during the recording of a segment for local TV.

I hadn’t realised until that moment how much this man and his faithfulness to God’ call on his life had impacted on my life.

Little did I know then that this impact would spread all the way to Perth, Australia and Australasia. I could honestly testify then that he was the only reason I was still practicing medicine.

I first heard about FertilityCare at Craig Lodge, in Dalmally, Scotland. I was doing some admin work at the Catholic retreat house, having left Australia on a one-way ticket with a deep disenchantment

with medicine in general, after working in hospitals and as a GP in Perth for several years.

I had started GP training parttime in Scotland but resigned before the end of the year, convinced that this type of medicine was ‘not for me’. I felt I could have been more useful to my patients in any other role than being their doctor, as most of my prescriptions and advice seemed simply to be facilitating a way of life which was causing them such pain.

I wrote in my journal: ‘it is a medicine for Life that I am seeking’, not believing that it actually existed. In FertilityCare and NaProTechnology I have found this and more.

Actually, I say that ‘FertilityCare found me’, the answer to my prayer, as I had given up on medicine completely. I am deeply grateful to Dr Thomas Hilgers for giving me the opportunity to practice a true ‘medicine for Life’.

In our work at the Magnificat FertilityCare centre in Yokine I am reminded of this phrase ‘a medicine for Life’ on a regular basis.

Everything that we offer, from the decor of the practice to the

administrative care, to the work of the charting teachers to the extended length of medical appointments, all are geared towards caring for each person in their own unique set of circumstances.

NaProTechnology is a fantastic medical tool, leading us through a logical pathway of diagnosis, treatment and monitoring, using standard medical techniques and medications including some natural hormones, and surgery when required.

Each couple experiencing subfertility are offered specific treatments for their own individual reproductive issues, aiming to diagnose and fix the subfertility problem, so that they can conceive naturally and maintain their pregnancy to full term. Similarly, women’s health problems are treated with the aim of restoring full gynaceological health without suppressing the natural procreative cycles.

Long appointments and frequent contact with caregivers offers the opportunity for a strong therapeutic relationship between the couple and their doctor and team.

This relationship in itself is often part of the healing process.

The response of our couples is overwhelming: ‘Why didn’t someone tell me this before?’ (on learning how to chart cycles using the FertilityCare system), ‘Why didn’t someone do these tests before?’ (on being investigated for hormonal causes of miscarriage) and ‘We feel like you actually care about us’ (on the nature of the FertilityCare treatment program in comparision with previous IVF treatment).

We hear from couples that their marriages become stronger through their use of the system (to quote one couple ‘even if we never conceive a baby, we are glad we have used this system because it has taught us so much about each other and ourselves that we could otherwise not have learned’).

This is truly a medicine for Life in the gospel sense of ‘Life to the full’ cf John 10:10. FertilityCare and NaProTechnology are not only statistically highly effective in helping couples to hold their own beautiful baby in their arms, they also innately serve to magnify the beauty of the human dignity of each person involved.

It is estimated that approximately 40 to 50 per cent of couples will conceive a baby and maintain their pregnancy using FertilityCare and NaProTechnology. This is an approximation because each treatment programme is specific to the reproductive health problems of each couple, so the exact pregnancy rate will vary from situation to situation.

Since the opening of the first FertilityCare and NaProTechnology centre at St John of God Subiaco in Perth in 2002, similar centres have now opened in Melbourne, regional Victoria, Sydney, regional NSW, Adelaide, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Canberra, Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia.

There will be three doctors offering NaProTechnology at the Magnificat FertilityCare centre from October this year, when Dr Catherine Hurworth will be joining the team. Three FertilityCare Practitioners (teachers of the charting system) and two administrative managers complete the team at the centre, with a specialist surgeon and team of counsellors and dieticians located off-site.

For more information call Ella at the centre on 9440 4530.

Church has greater insight on sexuality than it’s given credit for: expert

FertilityCare founder reflects on Pope’s 1968 appeal to men of science

OMAHA, Nebraska (Zenit. org) - Why would an antiestablishment medical student of the 1960s, who once seriously questioned the Church’s teaching on pre-marital sex and divorce, take up the challenges posed by Humanae Vitae to men of science and make it his life’s work?

Dr Thomas Hilgers posed this question about himself on the 25th anniversary of the institute he founded as a direct response to that appeal, spoke on the pastoral directives of Humanae Vitae, which kicked off the fourday Celebration of Love and Life seminar. On 4 September, Hilgers’ book titled The NaProTechnology Revolution: Unleashing the Power

in a Woman’s Cycle was launched at the conference. The Paul VI Institute aims to build a culture of life in women’s health care. Among other accomplishments, it has developed a method of natural family planning called the Creighton Model FertilityCare System and NaProTechnology.

In a personal account of his journey in responding to the encyclical’s appeal to scientists, an area that he believes “has been greatly ignored”, Dr Hilgers explained that responding to Paul VI’s challenge to men of science has been his life’s work since he was 25, but characterised himself as “the last person in the world that you would think would respond to this.”

Hilgers recounted that in his college days, he went through “a process for a couple of years asking questions” about pre-marital intercourse and divorce. He noted

that his intention wasn’t that of disagreeing with the Church or “rebellion,” but that he just “wanted to think these through” so as to understand the issues.

“Eventually,” he continued, “when I was done with that, I came out at where the Church was.” Hilgers reflected that this experience, which led him to not think of the Church as “scary” or “dictatorial,” may have prepared him for what was to come with the publication of Humanae Vitae

After relating how he almost got kicked out of medical school, the doctor affirmed that he was “the epitome of the anti-establishment guy of the mid 60s.”

The difference, he conceded, was that “instead of protesting the Vietnam War, I was out protesting abortion.”

When Humanae Vitae was published in 1968, Hilgers said he was convinced that the Church

would change its mind regarding its position on contraception.

While admitting he was more shocked by the reaction to the encyclical than by the document itself, he did acknowledge that “he may have missed something” in his thinking about contraception.

“I only had to read it once before it expressed basic truths that were magnetically compelling,” he noted, adding later that he “realised the Church had greater insight than it was being given credit.”

“After reading [Humanae Vitae], and more importantly after believing it, and that is where faith comes into play, the ultimate conclusions of Humanae Vitae were inescapable, and I wasn’t even at the paragraph yet where it said you couldn’t use contraception,” Hilgers said.

When reading the pastoral directives, he said he was struck

by the appeal to men of science: “[Paul VI] seemed to recognise that scientific work was still necessary to show that as the Church teaches, no true contradiction exists between the divine laws for transmitting life and those for fostering true conjugal love.

“Once one begins to understand the importance of the teachings of Humanae Vitae, the challenge to the public authorities, to men of science, Christian spouses, apostolate of spouses, priests and bishops, becomes inevitable.

“I am deeply grateful for having responded to the appeal of Pope Paul VI to men of science; it has enriched my life in ways that, in spite of lots of struggles and difficulties [...] it has been meaningful, it has been joyful, it has been incredibly enriching.

“It has paid itself back in ways that you absolutely cannot imagine.”

Page 12 8 September 2010, The Record FERTILITY

A graphic showing a NaProTechnology specialist doctor working with a woman’s chart according toFertilityCare.

NaPro strides ahead as IVF flounders

Women ‘pushed into IVF’ without exploring options

OMAHA, Nebraska, (Zenit. org) - Couples suffering from infertility might think their only option for having children of their own is to seek artificial fertilisation treatments such as in vitro fertilization (IVF). The Pope Paul VI Institute, however, wants them to know that there is an alternative, and it’s coming to a city near them.

The increasing availability of Natural Procreative Technology (NaProTechnology) was one topic addressed at the international medical conference as part of the Celebration of Love and Life seminar organised by the Omaha-based Pope Paul VI Institute to mark its 25th anniversary.

NaProTechnology, developed by Dr Thomas Hilgers, provides medical and surgical treatments that seek to work with the reproductive system, as well as remaining consistent with Catholic teaching. Since its development, NaProTechnology methods have become available in several cities in the United States, as well as in Europe, Australia and Asia.

Dr Phil Boyle, founder and director of the Galway NaProTechnology Clinic in Galway, Ireland, said that in Ireland, NaProTechnology methods have resulted in some 240 conceptions in six years, but noted that the couples he treats are often older - the average age of the woman is 36.7 years old - and they are couples who have been trying to conceive for an average of more than five years.

According to the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology, in vitro fertilisation treatments in Europe have a 30 per cent success rate for in vitro fertilisation, Boyle cited. That success rate doesn’t into account a 14-24 per cent miscarriage rate.

He reported a 43.6 per cent live birth rate using NaProTechnology for women between the 35-37 age group, the highest of any age group he treated.

For women over 43, he reported a live birth rate of 21 per cent. Boyle said that when he started practicing NaProTechnology 12 years ago, women normally didn’t worry about being too old to get pregnant until they were in their 40s. “Now,” he said, “there is panic at 35.”

He attributed this new perception to the IVF mindset, and lamented that women are often pushed into IVF treatments “much too quickly.”

He encouraged couples to be “patient, and to wait” in order to be able to “optimise fertility” so as to be able to get pregnant naturally. “Our whole goal with NaProTechnology is to optimise physiological conditions for preconception, to restore normal function,” he said.

“Slow down, establish your diagnosis, get a relaxed, calm environment, and allow 12 full cycles; and remember that conception is a fruit of love, and not your labor.” Sr Arlene Te, of the Sisters of the Society Devoted to the Sacred Heart and a family doctor at the Cardinal Tien Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan, noted that those who approach her for treatment are normally women from 35-45 who are seeking help to get pregnant, and have normally already undergone an IVF treatment.

Given that only about 1.2 per cent of the population of Taiwan is Catholic, she stated that couples

don’t seek out NaProTechnology due to its consistency with Catholic teaching, but rather because they are looking for an alternative to failed IVF treatments.

She noted her success for achieving pregnancy for couples who undergo treatment up to 24 months is 48.6 per cent, with a 3.9 per cent miscarriage rate.

She spoke of several success cases she has had with NaProTechnology, including a woman, 34, who had been trying to get pregnant for seven years. After observing her cycle for three months, Sr Te prescribed her to take vitamin B and a month later she got pregnant and carried the baby to term.

A second woman, 36, had been married for 10 years, undergoing six unsuccessful artificial insemination treatments and eight unsuccessful IVF treatments. She diagnosed the woman with polycystic ovary syndrome. After undergoing a laparoscopic surgery, the woman was able to get pregnant three cycles later. Sr Te said that one of her greatest challenges is that women in Taiwan opt very quickly to seek IVF treatments because “they have no patience. They want an instant result.”

“Doing the NaProTEchnology has helped them to understand and appreciate their own fertility.

“Many couples found that the Creighton Model system helped them to have better communication, respect for each other, and promote marital bonding.”

Sr Te said they also like the system as it promotes a “natural way of achieving pregnancy,” as opposed to IVF, which is “very hard on their bodies.”

The physician underlined that she always emphasises to her patients that they are at a Catholic hospital, and that as they undergo fertility treatment, she says a prayer for them.

“They realise that when they get pregnant, it is a gift from God,” she said.

Dr Bogdan Chazan, director of Holy Family Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital in Warsaw, Poland, sent a paper to the conference on establishing NaProTechnology in Warsaw, noting that since the introduction of NaProTechnology in his country it has been growing steadily. Conferences on NaProTechnology have been held all over Poland, including one in Warsaw that drew some 600 attendees.

There are now 12 trained medical consultants, including eight doctors of obstetrics and gynecology, who are trained in NaProTechnology, as well as 30 practitioners of the Creighton Model FertilityCare System, and several medical centres in Poland offering natural infertility treatments, including the John Paul II Institute for Marital Infertility Treatment in Lublin.

NaProTechnology gives Polish doctors a chance to practice gynecologic medicine in peace with their consciences, he said.

Although noting that NaProTechnology enjoys a “friendly atmosphere” in Poland in general, the doctor noted that there is a threat coming from IVF practitioners who are currently seeking to discredit NaProTechnology, comparing it to homeopathy, and asserting that is ideologically driven. “It is important,” he emphasised, “that we continue to present the opportunities and limitations of NaProTechnology with honesty and accuracy.”

On the Net - Paul VI Institute:

Science backs Catholic teaching - and works

FertilityCare and NaProTechnology Medical Consultant DR JAMES KHO writes about how an emerging technology not only reflects the beauty of Catholic teaching on sexuality, it actually works

The

Magnificat FertilityCare Centre is a clinic dedicated to helping couples conceive naturally and women wanting to have a deeper understanding of their reproductive health.

In 2002, Amanda Lamont, with the support of St John of God Health Care Subiaco, established the first FertilityCare Centre in Australia, to provide a life-giving and ethical approach to fertility and reproductive health.

The Creighton Model FertilityCare System (CrMS) teaches couples to track the biological markers of their fertility, allowing for the interpretation of various aspects of the woman’s fertility and reproductive health.

It was developed by obstetrician and gynaecologist, Prof Thomas Hilgers at Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, USA.

Naprotechnology is the new medical and surgical women’s health science that developed from research in the CrMS and is designed to cooperate with the body’s natural cycle.

It was Professor Hilger’s response to the appeal of Pope Paul VI when he stated in Humanae Vitae:

“We hold those physicians and medical personnel in the highest esteem who, in the exercise of their profession, value above every human interest the superior demands of their Christian vocation.

“Let them persevere, therefore, in promoting on every occasion, the discovery of solutions inspired by faith and right reason. Let them strive to arouse this conviction and this respect in their associates. Let them also consider as their proper professional duty the task of acquiring all of the knowledge needed in this delicate sector, so as to be able to give to those married persons who consult them wise counsel and healthy direction, such as they have a right to expect.”

Woven into the very fabric of the CrMS, is a Catholic understanding of the personal nature of our human sexuality and the challenge to respect one’s spouse, to respect the workings’ of one’s body. In doing so this allows for further understanding and nourishment of the relationship between the couple.

In the CrMS fertility is observed as part of health and provides information dealing with the complete dimensions of procreative ability. By empowering the couples with knowledge and understanding of their naturally occurring phases and fertility and infertility, they are able to make decisions regarding the achievement and avoidance

of pregnancy, and in addition, women are able to monitor and maintain their procreative and gynaecological health over a lifetime.

NaProTechnology involves a complex of medical and surgical interventions promoting gynaecological health that obviates the need for either reproductive techniques that exclude marital intercourse or the prescription of oral contraceptives for therapeutic or contraceptive purposes. It is a reproductive health care that assists and optimises, rather than obviates and/or suppresses, the natural procreative system.

● It allows a woman to maintain her obstetric and gynaecological health and helps couples to understand and respect the full psychosomatic truth of their fertility.

● It is obstetric and gynaecological medicine that accurately evaluates and effectively treats a host of abnormalities which could be causes of infertility, miscarriage or general women’s health problems.

● It promotes fertility awareness that enables couples to avoid or achieve pregnancy in a way consonant with the comprehensive meaning of their conjugal union.

NaProTechnology is an example of where cooperation exists between science and faith. The Catholicism behind NaProTechnology has confidence in reason, and its human intellectual component is open to Catholic theology. The vision of its faith puts reason and faith at the service of the human family.

As Catholic doctors we are called to use science for the good of mankind and for the glory of God. In Fides et Ratio (“Faith and Reason”), John Paul II states: “I cannot fail to address a word to scientists, whose research offers an ever greater knowledge of the universe as a whole and of the incredibly rich array of its component parts…so far has science come… that its achievements never cease to amaze us.

“In expressing my admiration

and offering encouragement to those brave pioneers of scientific research, to whom humanity owes so much of its current development, I would urge them to continue their efforts without ever abandoning the sapiential horizon within which scientific and technological achievements are wedded to the philosophical and ethical values which are distinctive and indelible mark of the human person.

“Scientists are well aware that the search for truth, even when it concerns the finite reality of the world or of man, is never-ending, but always points beyond to something higher in the immediate object of study, to the questions which give access to mystery.”

Staff at the Magnificat Fertility Centre offer educational and medical appointments to couples and women.

In the words of Dr Lamont, “FertilityCare is one tangible service which hopefully brings life to people, in a physical sense in helping them restore their health and receive the gift of a child if that is their aim, but also assisting them to be fully alive in the psychological, emotional, and spiritual senses, which may have been wounded by their experience of subfertility or illness.”

I myself was drawn to the work at FertilityCare when I observed the holistic approach and its correspondence with the Catholic ethos.

Not only does it cooperate with the body physically, it also strives to optimise and be in harmony with a person’s psychological, emotional and spiritual health. I believe that physical health is very much tied into the person’s spiritual and emotional health and to heal we need to encompass the whole person.

Most importantly, anything we do as doctors should be to uphold the dignity of each and every person involved, the woman, the couple and the unborn child, and this is the principle on which FertilityCare is based.

This article was first published in the Catholic Doctors Association Newsletter. Used with permission.

8 September 2010, The Record Page 13

http://www.popepaulvi.com/ FERTILITY

Above, Drs James and Jing-Man Kho, both doctors at FertilityCare in Yokine. Their son Xavier is living proof that the Creighton model works. Left, Dr Thomas Hilgers meets Pope John Paul II. PHOTOS: ANTHONY BARICH/COURTESY FERTILITYCARE