FUTURE IS HERE: St Vincent de Paul unveils Christmas Appeal Page 3
Western Australia’s Award-winning Catholic newspaper
SECRET ACT: Senators affect cloning vote by staying away Page 4
Thursday November ,
Perth, Western Australia ● $2
RENAISSANCE IS HERE: Claremont gets an upgrade and looks great Page 6
■ By Peter Rosengren
It’s here. More than 140 years after the first stage was completed, the final vision for Perth’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was unveiled at a private reception for patrons and key fundraisers last Thursday, November 9.
The wider public will get to see the details in February next year with the launch of the public fundraising appeal.
And a whopping 60 per cent of the $20 million needed for the completion of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Perth has already been secured, it was revealed last Thursday.
The announcement that $12.4
million has now been secured came at the private reception for patrons and key fundraisers hosted by Archbishop Barry Hickey at the new archdiocesan Pastoral Centre in Mary Street, Highgate.
The Perth archdiocese has set itself the goal of raising the remaining $7.6 million by approaching various sectors of the Church in Perth including the Catholic education community, religious orders, ethnic groups and the corporate sector.
But uppermost in everyone’s minds was one simple question: what will it look like?
It was an exciting moment.
Some of Perth’s best-known public figures who have agreed to become patrons or to assist with the
The Catholic Youth Ministry evangelises and raises funds by showing the different faces and personalities that reflect the West Australian priesthood.
St Patrick’s Cathedral to last 300 years PAGE 2
Archbishop Hickey’s sadness turns to joy VISTA 1
Br Basil Hickey remembers Cathedral choir VISTA 3
fundraising viewed a promotional DVD that includes computer-generated video footage of the completed St Mary’s.
This is the dvd that will be used throughout WA to seek donations for the completion.
High-tech renditions showed in stunning visual detail what Catholics, other Christians and members of the public will see if St
Mary’s is completed on schedule in 2008. The DVD will be presented to Perth Catholics and other donors when fundraising begins early next year.
Apart from endorsements from figures such as Perth Lord Mayor Peter Nattrass, the footage shows a more circular interior surrounding an octagonal altar, with room for 1200 people.
It can fit another 400, if necessary, using an outdoor piazza area.
Massive glass windows will suffuse the cathedral with light, doing away with the much darker current interior that has been badly eroded by time and the elements.
The current sanctuary of the altar where most worshippers are used to seeing the liturgy celebrated will become the Blessed Sacrament chapel, returning the Sacrament in the tabernacle to centre stage behind the new altar.
Meanwhile, the new sanctuary will be relocated to the centre of the cathedral and surrounded on three sides by pews radiating out from it.
One of the specifications for the new design was that visibility
Continued on page 8
Pope Benedict XVI appoints a Chaldean Eparchy of the Oceanian region for Christians from the Middle East, especially Iraq.
Bishop wants St Patrick’s Cathedral to withstand a “hostile environment” to last for three centuries
■ By Anthony BarichThe new and improved Bunbury St Patrick’s Cathedral will last for three hundred years, outliving its predecessor by over two centuries, says Bishop Gerard Holohan.
It was revealed earlier this week that the Bunbury diocese already has an $11 million kitty for reconstruction of the Cathedral Precinct, coming from federal and state government grants and insurance.
The new cathedral also needs to accommodate the substantially larger Catholic community compared to that which existed when St Patrick’s was first built in 1921.
The new cathedral precinct will need to cater for an expected population explosion over the next decade, which Catholic Education Office acting deputy director Tony Giglia says his office is well prepared for.
He said the CEO plans to build new schools both within the city of Bunbury itself and outside, including a secondary school in North Australind, for which land has already been purchased.
There are plans to build a new
school in Millbridge, and the CEO is also looking to the south of Bunbury at Gelorup, where it plans to build a new primary school.
“They’re on the medium term horizon,” Mr Giglia said, adding that the CEO has the capacity in existing schools in the diocese to increase their size to take additional enrolments, as has recently been done at Bunbury Cathollic College.
Despite the ‘hostile environment’ - a term Bishop Holohan says is purely technical - in which the cathedral will stand, he wants it to stand for 300 years.
He said the building will need to be resistant to the elements including strong winds, salt and damp air as well as tornados like the one that damaged the old precinct beyond repair.
The materials used will need to have a greater degree of durability than those used for ‘normal buildings,’ so limestone, he said, which gradually disintegrates, is out.
“As far as I know, no other Australian cathedral is so close to the ocean and its elements,” he said. “If more common materials were to be used, within decades the parish and diocese would be back in the same position we are in now. It would be an embarrassment to the whole community as well as to Catholics. Maintenance would not be cheap over time.”
He stressed that, according to recommendations from parishion-
ers, it will not be “an ugly thing on a hill”, but will still be “clearly recognised as a cathedral by its traditional lines”.
He said it was important the new cathedral is built, above all, for evangelisation – as a symbol to help people call to mind God’s presence in the city and in their life.
“It’s a traditional centre, so it’s important for the Catholic Church to have an evangelising role in the city,” Bishop Holohan said. “The cathedral is a reminder of God, and that’s important.”
Despite the harsh elements the cathedral will be exposed to, the bishop ruled out switching locations as “we simply couldn’t afford to move anywhere else”.
“Leaving aside financial responsibilities, it would be a real pity to relocate,” he said. After meeting with prominent Perth-based architect Marcus Collins last Monday morning, the bishop will receive an estimate of the construction duration in three months, but his initial estimate is that construction will take 18 months.
A start date is still unconfirmed pending discussions with the Bunbury City Council, but he dismissed rumours that the total cost would blow out to $20-30 million, and said final costings would not be known until building tenders have been finalised, saying: “There is no possibility of the parish or diocese being able to afford such amounts.”
■ By Anthony Barich
Former Dominican sister Beppie de Kuyer is an unassuming character, but four decades of children educated at several West Australian primary schools know her intimately, and have much to thank her for.
On November 24 Beppie will receive the Australian Scholarships Group Community Merit Award through the National Excellence in Teaching Awards program. She was nominated from about 1700 others.
Only three teachers in WA received the award, and Beppie is the only teacher from a Catholic school to be a winner one this year.
The award is granted to a select group of teachers who demonstrate initiative, concern and creativity in linking their school to the community.
Beppie has been a teacher for 40 years, having joined the Dominican Sisters at the age of 19 before leaving the order 10 years ago.
Teaching is what she thrives on. And not just teaching – interacting and helping the underdog, especially through Christian Brother Olly Pickett’s Wheelchairs for Kids program.
Now Beppie, 64, teaches Year One students at Our Lady of Mercy, Girrawheen, and still loves coming to work every day, shaping minds which still fill her with awe to this day.
“I really enjoy teaching year ones. You see such a tremendous growth and spirit of thirst for knowledge in them,” Beppie says.
“They’re like sponges – they soak
in so much information.” Beppie puts her longevity down to the “tremendous amount of energy that God has given me to keep going to do the job”.
“And of course I enjoy it – that’s half the battle,” says Beppie, who has taught at St John’s Scarborough, Santa Clara Bentley, St Dominic’s Innaloo and Infant Jesus Morley, among others.
She even taught Carissa, now 28, the daughter of Stan Grabski, Our Lady of Mercy’s principal.
But though she can see the finish line in sight, Beppie doesn’t want it to end just yet – she’s still loving the job.
She will only work three days a week next year to extend her career and prevent herself from becoming jaded.
“Some days are more trying than others, but right now I’ve got an ‘A1’ class,” she says.
“The students that stick in my mind are the ones who find it difficult to learn – and when I see them rise up and meet their potential, that’s what is most satisfying. It’s such a joy watching them learn.”
“I’ve been humbled by the award, but I’ve just been doing the job I love,” she says, baffled why officials would give an award to an “everyday person”.
Mr Grabski says students have always had a special connection with Beppie.
“Whenever students are taught by Beppie, they never forget her, even after leaving the school,” Mr Grabski says.
“And certainly the parents are 100 per cent behind her also.”
third century feast – November 22 Cecilia was honored as a martyr from about 545. According to a written legend, “The Passion of St. Cecily,” she was a Roman Christian of the patrician class betrothed to the pagan Valerian. But she told him she had made a vow of virginity, and persuaded him to convert. His brother, Tiburtius, also became a Christian; the brothers were martyred. When Cecily refused to perform an idolatrous act, she too was martyred. She is the patron of musicians; the Cecily “Passion” has her singing to God “in her heart” on her wedding day.
Saint Vincent de Paul Society WA unveiled the face of its future last week to appropriately launch its summer Christmas Appeal at Kings Park.
The heavens opened during the launch but rain did not dim the spirit of 14-year-old Leandra Ravenscroft, the Sacred Heart student who has been at the coalface of poverty most of her waking life.
Leandra grew up in Capetown, South Africa, where she joined her mother working for charity organisation Interact almost since she could walk.
It taught her valuable lessons about not taking life for granted and she made an impressive and impassioned speech to dignitaries at Kings Park to help St Vinnies smash through the $500,000 barrier – something they have never managed to do during the Summer Appeal.
“I was eight when we came to Australia, but still strong in my mind is the visible poverty I encountered in South Africa - people living in the streets without food and shelter,” Leandra said.
“As young as I was, I was aware of their situation; it remains with me today, has shaped who I am and has strongly influenced my decision to assist people in need. The St Vincent de Paul Society through its Vinnies Youth school program has given me that opportunity and has helped me to understand the social justice issues that occur in our community here in Western Australia.”
But St Vinnies is currently on a high. With its 800 members and 2500 volunteers in WA alone, St Vinnies helped over 300 students return to school by handing out over $20,000 to help pay for school uniforms and for emergency relief funding – paying bills and rent assistance for those who can’t afford it.
During this year’s Winter Appeal they raised $618,000 – a record for that period.
But summer is a whole different period – families are either on
holidays or under pressure to keep up with the Joneses in buying the latest, greatest toys for kids and credit card expenditure is always at an annual high.
As St Vincent de Paul Society particularly focuses on disadvantaged youth during its summer campaign, WA president Genevieve De Souza is expecting another influx of calls for help after the Reserve Bank of Australia last week put interest rates up for the third time this year; this time by 0.25 per cent, bringing the official interest rate to 6.25 per cent.
“Life in many houses in Western Australia is not calm and life is not good,” she said.
“Poverty does exist in this booming State and the gap between the haves and have nots continues to grow. On Wednesday interest rates rose again and the St Vincent de Paul Society is bracing itself for the impact.
“We will have more people call on us for help, we will be required to provide more financial and material assistance to people in need this Christmas and we call on the peo-
ple of Western Australia who can give, to give generously through the Society’s 2006 Christmas Appeal, so we can assist those most vulnerable in our community.
“Some of the vulnerable we witness are the young people caught up in the cycle of poverty – we see children caught by their families’ circumstances, becoming the caretakers in their homes, providing for themselves and often any other
younger brothers and sisters and then trying to attend school and learn.
“The incredible effect poverty has on the young and their future wellbeing is all too well known and the St Vincent de Paul Society through its Home Visitation and Youth Special Works are committed to providing assistance, support and development to disadvantaged Youth in our community.”
Food vouchers would do very little to overcome the poverty and neglect experienced by some Australian children, says Catholic Social Services Australia Executive Director Frank Quinlan.
He was commenting on an article in Wednesday’s Daily Telegraph about how drugaddicted and alcoholic parents could have 30 per cent of their welfare payments delivered as food and clothing vouchers from next year under a Federal Family Services plan.
Mr Quinlan said if children are at risk because their parents or carers have an addiction or other problem, then the whole family needs help.
“Families in crisis need access to voluntary case-managed support services, not one-off, punitive measures like compulsory food and clothing vouchers,” Mr Quinlan said.
“Children at risk must be the focus of the Government’s efforts, and addressing the problem demands a coordinated, long term approach that involves service providers and all levels of government,” Mr Quinlan said.
“Low income earners face very real poverty traps. Single parents and people with a disability face effective marginal tax rates of around 70 per cent as they move from welfare payments to work.”
Do I guarantee that when people come to do business with me, they will be treated with courtesy, sincerity, professionalism and ef ciency?
I say “I want your business and I m prepared to pay for it” and “I stand behind every car I sell”. Is that really true?
Is it true that I have over 40 technicians who are dedicated to getting my used cars in rst class condition before sale?
Is it true that every year for the last 17 consecutive years I ve been Australia s top selling Hyundai dealer?
Is it true that if somebody buys a used car from me, I will pay for a pre-purchase RAC or similar inspection?
I have a warehouse selling cars under $10,000. Is it true that I offer a full money back guarantee within one week?
T
show
The bartender says alright. So the man puts a hamster and two frogs on the bar and all of a sudden the two frogs jump up and start into a broadway medley.
Well,a man at the end of the bar said, “That’s amazing, I’ll give you $1,000 for the frogs.” The man agreed the guy took off.
The bartender said to him, “You could have gotten more for the frogs.”
The man said, “Frogs are easy to come by, the hamster’s a ventriloquist.”
While most schools were hosting their annual fundraising fetes, Trinity College had a very different vision in mind as they celebrated their annual Un-fair Day on November 2.
One of the College’s three major fundraisers for Christian Brothers in India, Un-Fair Day ensured that the main focus of the day was the importance of social justice.
Through food, fun and festivities students and staff managed to raise almost $8,600 in support of some of the most destitute and disadvantaged people.
“Un-fair Day is also a particular time in the year when we are all encouraged to think about that question in the gospel: “Who is my neighbour?”
“It’s a time when we become more conscious that we live in a global village, and those of us who are better off are called to share what we have with those who are most needy,” said Br Robert Callen, who was director of campus ministry at Trinity College in 2005.
Senior school students ran food and activity stalls to raise money and the junior school students wore free dress and supported the food stalls during their lunch period.
Prior to this year’s Un-fair Day, the junior school also hosted a cake stall on November 1, contributing to the school’s mission appeal.
“The main objective of the day is to highlight the need for understanding and tolerance for those who are less fortunate,” said community relations officer for Trinity College, Sandra Doick.
A Christian Brothers school, Trinity College works hard to ‘give to the poor in handfuls,’ as requested by founder Blessed Edmund Rice.
Earlier in the year the school raised funds through Project Compassion and over $28,000 for Christian Brother’s projects in India through their annual Fun Run.
Marya Stewart, director of Christian service at Trinity College recalled that the Christian Brothers, who used to teach at the College, would collect ‘mission money’ from students each day. That money would then be sent to fledgling
schools in Africa, South America and India. “This was a deliberate attempt to challenge the boys to think daily about little acts of self denial. When we see how much young people spend on themselves it seems appropriate that we ask them to give generously to the missions. As mother Theresa said ‘give of your essence not of your excess,’” said Ms Doick.
Forging even stronger ties with India, nine year 11 students and three teachers will travel there early in December for a five-week immersion experience.
These young ‘missionaries’ have been in preparation for twelve months and have paid their own fares for a chance to work first-hand with the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta. Commencing in 1991, this will be the College’s eighth pilgrimage through India.
“At Trinity, we try to point out that our luck and good fortune is simply an accident of history and geography. We have no more right to our affluence and wonderful opportunities than those who are born into poor countries,” concluded Mrs Stewart.
The Family First party has completed a close analysis of the recent Senate vote on cloning to reveal the secret votes by some Senators on the issue.
The Senate narrowly passed the bill, which allows for the destruction of human embryos for research purposes, by a narrow margin of 34 votes to 32.
However the voting intentions of several Senators were not included in the official parliamentary report (Hansard) because of the process of using “informal paired votes.”
Paired voting is a system conventionally used in parliament to allow Senators to effect a vote without actually being present in the chamber itself when the vote is taken.
Under this system, by prior arrangement, a Senator who wishes to vote a particular way is “paired” with an opposing Senator who wishes to vote the other way. For the historical record, their decisions can then officially be viewed as abstentions.
In this way, both Senators are able to influence the outcome of the vote without actually participating in the formal vote itself.
Because the vote on cloning was a conscience vote, “pairs” were not recorded in Hansard.
However Family First Senator Steve Fielding revealed a list of the informal cloning pairs this week.
This showed that West Australian Liberal Senator Ian Campbell, Queensland Liberal Senator Ian McDonald, Victorian Labor Senator Stephen Conroy, NSW Labor Senator George Campbell and NSW Nationals Senator Fiona Nash all supported the passing of the legislation.
On the “No” side of the vote, Liberal Senators Helen Coonan, George Brandis and Brett Mason and NSW Labor Senator Michael Forshaw all opposed the passing of the legislation using the informal paired system.
Commenting on the vote, Senator Fielding, who voted against the legislation, said that two-thirds of Coalition Senators voted against the bill while twothirds of Labor Senators had voted in favour.
“There were stark differences between the parties state by state, with 60 per cent of NSW Labor Senators voting against the bill compared to every Labor Senator from Victoria voting for the bill,” Senator Fielding said.
According to Family First, half the Liberal Senators in South Australia and Western Australia voted for the bill. “South Australia was the strongest pro-cloning state with eight votes,” Senator Fielding said.
It’s just the beginning as Notre Dame
Students at The University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle have formed a new campus ministry group aimed at making a positive contribution to the University community by helping students live and celebrate their particular faith.
UNITAS (Latin for unity) was formed with the support of the Chaplain and Campus Minister with the idea of supporting the values shared by the University itself and to find out what that means for all students.
Publicity chair of the new group, Ms Frayann D’Souza, said: “In all our actions in relation to UNITAS, we seek to learn, act and celebrate – learning through bible study, faith sharing and the campus; acting out our faith through service
based activities and social justice advocacy.
“Besides aiming for all of the above, we consider having a good time and enjoying life a priority.
“We look forward to building strong and lasting friendships and being there for one another through the camaraderie of studying at Notre Dame,” said Ms D’Souza.
UNITAS president Marc Danctoc emphasised the group is for everyone no matter what their religious disposition may be.
“Our objectives do not seek to convert anyone to any one faith. UNITAS exists for the service of others, to act as a hand and guide, for those looking for answers to the types of questions young people are challenged with,” Mr Dantoc said.
The faith of Catholics from the Middle East, particularly Iraq, has been helped in Australia and New Zealand after Pope Benedict XVI last month created the Chaldean Eparchy of Oceania.
The Pope appointed the Most Reverend Djibrail Kassab, to head the new Chaldean Eparchy of Oceania with the title of “St Thomas the Apostle of Sydney of the Chaldeans”, who has been transfered from the See of Bassorah.
The Prelate retains his title of Archbishop “ad personam”.
An Eparchy in the Chaldean Rite corresponds to a Diocese of the Latin Rite, and the new jurisdiction embraces the Chaldean Communities both in Australia and in New Zealand.
The President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Adelaide-based Archbishop Philip Wilson, welcomed the creation by the Pope of the Chaldean Eparchy of Oceania, and the appointment of Archbishop Djibrail Kassab, as the the first Bishop of the new Eparchy.
“On behalf of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and the Catholic Church in Australia I welcome the creation of the Chaldean Eparchy and look forward to welcoming the arrival of Archbishop Kassab,” Archbishop Wilson said.
“It is important that Catholics who belong to the Chaldean Church have the opportunity to celebrate their faith and worship according to their own rituals and laws and the creation of a Chaldean Eparchy will help facilitate this.”
The Chaldean Church is an Eastern Church of the Catholic Church.
Today, as in ancient times, its presence is centred on the Middle East, particularly in Iraq.
Other Eastern Catholic Churches,
the Ukranian, Maronite and Melkite churches, have been present in Australia for almost a century and each has its own bishop.
Eastern Churches are in communion with the Roman Catholic
Church, but have distinct liturgies, according to their tradition, as well as some different emphases in theology and canon law. Immigration to Australia has increased their numbers.
CatholicCare, the charitable arm of the Bunbury Diocese, will this year raise funds for the St John of God Hospital’s Community Drug Service operating throughout the Bunbury Diocese.
Announcing the launch of his 2006 Christmas Appeal for CatholicCare, Bishop Gerard Holohan said the proceeds of this year’s appeal will go towards the St John’s drug and alcohol service.
“This service provides drug and alcohol counselling and support to other service providers and community groups involved in drug and alcohol issues. Their aim is to reduce the harm associated with alcohol and other drug use in south west communities,” Bishop Holohan said.
CatholicCare was established in 2003 to provide for Church assistance for social needs throughout the Bunbury Diocese. The funds raised through CatholicCare remain within the Diocese.
“The Bishop’s Christmas appeal for CatholicCare is the only appeal made each year for the needs of people within our own Diocese,” Bishop Holohan said.
“This makes the annual CatholicCare appeal special.”
The Bishop’s Christmas appeal letter, to be distributed at all Masses
this weekend, tells of how approximately one third of people who are helped by this service make significant changes to their lives, while one third make some changes and may reduce their drug or alcohol intake.
“People of all ages use the service to receive assistance to stop using drugs. Sometimes the process is difficult and takes time and commitment,” he said.
“Other times, the person follows the program more easily and really makes amazing progress with significant changes to their lives.”
Often, the service will have to deal with an individual who has acquired a mental health condition as a result of their use of amphetamines, cannabis or alcohol.
The family may be unable to get the help needed from main stream health sources, and often the doors are closed on them because the condition is drug induced.
It can take many hours to advocate for the client and their family.
“Without a place to go for assistance in this process, people find it difficult to stop their drug or alcohol intake” he said.
This service also provides assistance to spouses, children and extended family members who have suffered from the affects of drug
From Kunnunurra to Albany and inland Kalgoorlie young people are leaving their homes and settling into life as a boarder at Clontarf Aboriginal College in Manning. Amidst homesickness and language barriers, 21 students were honoured on November 1 with a graduation ceremony befitting their hard work and efforts.
Six of these students had been at the college since year 10.
Clontarf staff member Lyndsay Haji Ali welcomed family, friends, staff and students with his dijeridoo playing.
An official welcome was then given by Aunty Janett Collard, who recited a traditional ‘welcome to country’ in her native tongue and in English.
Both academic and sporting achievements were recognized with wonderfully crafted PowerPoint presentations and awards. Jasmine Yarran receieved her award as college dux; Correne Finlay was rewarded with the principal’s award; this year’s
board quiet achiever award went to Joshua Koenig and the citizenship award went to Trent FranklynSmith. Guests at the graduation ceremony included, Province Indigenous Consultant, Kylie Agale; Coordinator of the Clontarf Girls Foundation, Ricky Grace; Provincial Leader of the Christian Brothers, Br Kevin Ryan; Director of the Clontarf Football Academy, Rob Sols; Fr Michael McMahon and City of South Perth Mayor, John Collins.
Mayor Collins spoke to the community on the importance of supporting youth who have come from far and wide and of establishing a fruitful rapport with distant places and homelands.
Concluding the formalities students, staff, parents and guests mingled over a shared morning tea.
“Learning is not only measured in a marks book, but in the development of a student. The achievements of this group were many and varied, from academic to athletic. I have no doubt that this group of students will make a difference in whatever endeavour they choose,” commented principal at Clontarf College, Tony Chinnock.
and alcohol use, including violence and crime.
Bishop Holohan called on all parishioners in the Bunbury Diocese to give generously to this year’s appeal.
“As individuals we can do little,” he said.
“However, by supporting CatholicCare, we give the St John’s service the opportunity to provide assistance to those influenced by drugs and alcohol including affected spouses, children and extended family members.”
Donors to CatholicCare have the option to make donations into the CatholicCare Foundation.
Donations into the CatholicCare Foundation will be invested in perpetuity with the resulting interest earned used to fund the various needs of people within the Bunbury Diocese.
Donations received by CatholicCare of $2 or more are tax deductible and will be used exclusively within the diocese.
All donations will be quarantined from, and accounted for independently, of other diocesan and parish funds.
Distribution of funds will be under the control of the Bishop of Bunbury.
Mass at Our Lady of the Mission Parish last Sunday was attended by dogs, cats, guineapigs, rabbits, chickens, mice, hermit crabs, and a bobtail goanna, among others.
It was the second annual pets Mass at Our Lady of the Mission Parish on November 12. Held on the adjoining oval, the evening Mass was host to all manner of pets.
When the Our Lady of the Mission Primary School students
were told about the Mass by Fr Joseph Tran, one child asked, “I don’t have pet – can I bring my teddy?”
“Of course,” replied Fr Joseph. The Mass was celebrated by Frs Joseph Tran and Benedict Lee. The Mass was advertised during weeks leading to the event and Fr Joseph said that he was very pleased with the turnout.
Besides the blessing of the pets, all weekend Masses celebrated Remembrance Day and concluded with a blessing of the cars of the parishioners.
■ By Anthony Barich
St Thomas the Apostle parish in Claremont is bringing the Renaissance back into evangelisation to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the completion of its church.
On November 25 Archbishop Barry Hickey will bless and dedicate the church’s new stained glass windows, the centrepiece of which is a close-up of The Incredulity of St Thomas (1601-02) as he is greeted by the risen Christ, modelled on a classic painting by Renaissance artist Michelangelo Caravaggio (1571-1610).
To this scene has been added the symbol for St Thomas - a builder’s square.
Tradition has it that St Thomas journeyed to India, where it is said he built a church.
Since he was martyred by spearing, the means of his death is added.
Coincidentally, the same image by Caravaggio is used by St Thomas Diocese in Las Vegas, Nevada, as its website banner.
At the recent parish annual general meeting St Thomas’ assistant priest Fr Gavin Gomez reminded parishioners how visitors to the church, especially during baptisms and weddings, comment on its beauty and the attractiveness of the garden, especially the Rosary Garden.
“Centuries ago in Europe, not everyone could read and write, so stained glass windows were teaching instruments, which is why churches in Europe are resplendent with them,” said St Thomas the Apostle parish priest Fr Brian O’Loughlin.
“In medieval times, the great Cathedral of Chartres in France, which is well known for its stained glass windows, tells the history of salvation in pictures very similar to the way in which Michelangelo’s frescoes on the ceiling and walls of the Sistine Chapel do the same.
“When I say to people who remark on the beauty of the church that we are soon to add stained glass windows, they say that will be absolutely beautiful, and so I see the stained glass windows as a teaching and evangelisation tool.”
Fr O’Loughlin asked parishioners for donations for the restoration and installation costs and came up with $80,000, including $2000 each from 10 parishioners to pay for each of the 10 windows
from Adelaide, which were transported thanks to a donation from Warners Transport.
The windows, made between 1885 and 1964, were rescued from a Uniting Church in Adelaide’s Parkside suburb.
The Parkside church has since been turned into apartments. In St Thomas’ they are arranged in triptych style, like the windows of the 70-year-old nave of the church.
But to hold the new windows, it was necessary to have speciallymade, four metre-high galvanised steel lintels, which were lifted by a crane into holes which had been cut through the exterior and inte-
rior walls.
A major addition was made to the church in 1963, and despite the suggestion of Archbishop Redmond Prendiville at the time, no stained glass windows were included in the additions.
In 2003, when St Thomas’s acquired a highly-acclaimed JE Dodd pipe organ from the same recently closed church, interest was shown in the redundant church’s stained-glass windows.
In 2004, the windows were acquired by St Thomas.’ Parishioners rallied and contributed to the restoration of the vintage windows.
These feature Christ the Good Shepherd and the Light of the world; The Good Samaritan; St Paul; The Angel of Peace and Crusader windows were created in memory of those who died in the First World War.
Since the windows commemorate the 70th anniversary, a time capsule containing copies of the parish census, newsletter, magazine, a daily paper, the November 25 All souls Day special edition of The Record and the Western Suburbs Weekly was placed in the wall cavity.
Archbishop Hickey will bless and dedicate the windows during the 70th anniversary Mass on November 25 at 6pm, and those who were baptised, married or whose relatives were buried from St Thomas’ parish are welcome to attend.
Following the Mass, Victorian organist Thomas Heywood will perform a pipe organ concert.
Tickets at $20, or $15 for concessions, will be available at the door. Children accompanied by an adult are free.
For details phone Fr Brian O’Loughlin or Fr Gavin Gomez on 9384 0598 or visit www. claremontcatholic.org.au.
What started off as a cheeky dare to get pictures of people sleeping on buses while on pilgrimage to World Youth Day in 2005 has become 12 snap-shots into the lives of our diocesan priests.
“It was a game we played to pass the time on long bus trips,” said Catholic Youth Ministry’s (CYM) Caroline Watson. “When a couple of priests were photographed it was jokingly said that one day the shots would make it into a calendar.”
Needless to say they did not, but this experience did prompt Ms Watson to explore the possibility of showcasing the beneficial, and often-unseen works of ‘ordinary’ priests throughout the state.
“We at CYM really wanted to show the diversity, individuality and amazing works each priest accomplishes daily unbeknown to most,” Ms Watson said.
Priests and sponsors were contacted, some accepted and others declined; then copious pictures were taken and, after eight weeks, 12 priests were selected based on the quality of images taken by Paul Bui of Monk Media.
The result was CYM’s 2006 edition of the Priests for all Seasons Calendar, which sold 1400 copies and made it interstate and overseas as an interesting Christmas present.
Two thousand copies of the 2007 edition of the calendar have been printed and already 1000 of those have been sold.
“We are really hoping to be able to file a second print order,” Ms Watson commented.
This year’s calendar is selling for five dollars and features a sneakpeek into the lives of Frs Peter
Bianchini, John Sherman, Oscar Aguilera, Paul Raj, Hugh Thomas, Thai Vu, Michael Moore, Joe Walsh, Anthony Van Dyke, Corran Pike, Paul Maunder, as well as the 14 permanent deacons who were ordained this year.
Asked whether the printing of priestly calendars will become an annual task for CYM, Ms Watson
said she would be thrilled to continue producing an insight into the lives of priests who are an inspiration to so many and at the same time as diverse as the seasons. Parishes or individuals wanting to purchase calendars can contact Ms Watson at CYM on 9422 7912. Profits from sales will go towards the running costs of events at CYM throughout the year.
“We really wanted to show the diversity, individuality and amazing works of priests”
“I think the truth of the matter is, though, that the Labor Party has never dealt with this issue. It’s suppressed it. It’s never dealt with this issue, it never tried to move on.”
PREMIER ALAN CARPENTER, STATELINE, FRIDAY NOVEMBER 10, 2006.
‘This issue’ is the problem with integrity that has dominated the Labor Party for more than 20 years. Despite the fact that two Royal Commissions – one into WA Inc and one into the Penny Easton matter – laid the problem out for all to see, the Labor Party has never truthfully acknowledged it or done anything to change its standards.
The Labor Party has acknowledged that ‘‘mistakes were made’’, but there has never been an admission of the underlying problem.
Premier Carpenter’s acknowledgement last Friday night came as something of a surprise. Earlier in the interview when asked why he appointed Norm Marlborough, he had followed the tired old line “.....he had given me categorical assurances, he was strongly supported by caucus, and I thought it was time that we moved on from the ghosts of the past, and I still think it is for god’s sake, let’s move on.”
Shortly afterwards, the interviewer said of Geoff Gallop “during his five years as Premier he did everything to distance modern Labor from the WA Inc years...”
Carpenter replied: “Geoff’s a very good man, I loved working with him and I appreciated what he was trying to do, I think the truth of the matter is, though, that the Labor Party has never dealt with this issue. It’s suppressed it.” He went on talking, but, sadly, the interviewer missed the significance of the moment and interrupted with a question we could have done without.
She should not feel too bad about it; as far as we can tell no other journalist has followed it up.
Carpenter made one other attempt to get to the crux of the problem “...I think this is the first time quite frankly, this is the first time we have stood up openly and said its time to deal with this matter, flush it out in the open, draw a line in the sand, get rid of the people who can’t move on, and go forward.” By piling cliché on cliché he managed to avoid describing what “this matter” is in his view, and the interviewer went on and on about Brian Burke, and so, perhaps, we will never know what Carpenter might have said. That is, if Carpenter really knows.
PO Box 75, Leederville, WA 6902
Tel: (08) 9227 7080, Fax: (08) 9227 7087 cathrec@iinet.net.au
The best way to summarise the ongoing problems of the Labor Party is not Brian Burke. It is what happened late in the Carmen Lawrence period when she blatantly misled the Legislative Assembly very shortly after the Brian Easton petition (better known as the Penny Easton matter) was raised in the Legislative Council.
More than half her Cabinet knew immediately that what she said was untrue, and just about everyone else knew soon after, but none of them did anything to get her to correct her “mistake”. Several of her staff (concerned for her) told her she must go back into the House to correct the record, but she didn’t. Her Deputy Premier, Ian Taylor, threatened to resign, but not because she had misled Parliament; it was because she had gone back on her word to take the matter back to Cabinet before a decision was made to allow it to be raised in Parliament.
The cancer of denial continued, and both the lay Party and the Parliamentary Party (which included such notables as Gallop, McGinty and Ripper) allowed her to lead them into the next election.
It can be argued an MP is responsible only for his own honesty in Parliament, but when it comes to tacit approval of a leader’s dishonesty each one makes that his own standard.
After 10 years of the dreadful dishonesty of WA Inc, and in the face of the WA Inc Royal Commission Report, that became the Labor Party’s declared standard of integrity. Regardless of who is or is not aware of it, that is what the Party’s endorsement means to this day.
That is what Carpenter was revealing when he said “The Labor Party has never dealt with this issue. It’s suppressed it.”
Gallop, of course, promised an honest government and the tightest ministerial code in history, but the ink was barely dry before both he and it failed on the subject, and the problems continued.
Carpenter failed the same test when he encountered it.
He became only the second Premier (Burke was first) to appoint his Party president to a sinecure. It was only when his ministerial ‘rising star’ threatened to become a black hole engulfing the entire government that he stirred his principles into action.
The fact he even considered appointing Norm Marlborough to Cabinet shows that he went straight back to sleep on the integrity front.
His response (to create a register of lobbyists) is a case of punishing the citizens in the hope it will make his Ministers honest. Worse still, the Premier – who has already demonstrated his incapacity to tell an honest man from any other sort – will decide who is to be allowed to be on it, an extremely undemocratic notion.
Honesty in public life requires both the determination to be honest and the ability to recognise what honesty requires.
Truthfulness is neither required nor encouraged in dictatorships. It is essential in democracies.
And it is possible. Western Australia enjoyed an unbroken 90 years of essentially honest government and parliamentary integrity leading to a worldwide reputation for honest government, before Labor under Brian Burke and others gave us WA Inc. If Alan Carpenter is prepared to let the cat out of the bag completely, the State may have its best chance to clean out and clean up the Labor Party.
Bishop Quinn marks special occasion for class of ‘56
A retired bishop made October 14 a very special day for 30 women last month.
The women who attended Sacred Heart High School in Highgate gathered in the school chapel on that day to celebrate the golden anniversary for the Class of 1956. Bishop Peter Quinn, the retired bishop of Bunbury who celebrated the Mass to mark the golden anniversary, has a special connection with the area.
He grew up in Highgate and began his association with the college run by the Sisters of Our Lady of Missions (Notre Dame de Mission) as an altar boy.
In 1935 he began primary school at Sacred Heart and 27 years later he returned as a Bishop to the parish of Highgate. His association with some of the graduating class of 1956 has been a life-long journey. Barbara Scott MLC (nee Barnett), a member of this class, spoke of her association with Bishop Quinn from her days as a boarder at Highgate and afterwards when Bishop Quinn was the parish priest of Nedlands where he baptised her four children and gave first communion to two of them.
Ex-students travelled from all over WA to be there, including
Continued from page 1 of the liturgy and the sanctuary were to be vastly improved.
What worshippers should experience is a clear view of proceedings in the cathedral from almost any vantage point.
The choir loft and organ will be relocated to the city-end of the cathedral so that choristers’ voices and accompanying music will travel towards the altar along the body of the cathedral.
Meanwhile, a covered undercroft area will house meeting rooms, a music rehearsal room, conveniences, a covered walkway, an office and various storage facilities.
A new crypt will hold the mortal remains of previous Bishops of Perth, while the current bell tower foundations will experience major reinforcement as the current foundations are considered almost unsafe.
The grounds of the cathedral will be re-landscaped to make it one of the most attractive locations in the city of Perth.
Extensive repairs to existing structures will be undertaken including one feature that undoubtedly sticks in the minds of most visitors: the cracked mosaic floor of the old Blessed Sacrament chapel and the sanctuary. This was cracked down the middle by the 1968 Meckering earthquake.
The St Therese of Lisieux and Mary chapels, beloved features of the cathedral, will also be restored.
Speaking to patrons and fundraisers before the presentation (see feature on VISTA 1), Archbishop Barry Hickey said he had experienced a variety of emotions regarding the project
Joanne Hawtin travelling from Sydney and Kay Ridge from Melbourne.
Among the graduating class was Sr Marie Therese, formerly Maureen Ryder, now head of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions.
Beverly Erickson, who is now Mother Prioress of the Carmel Community, was in this class as was Margaret Hammond who also followed a call to religious life and the late Pat Hogan.
Sr Theresa, who taught many of the girls, was not well enough to travel from Melbourne to join her former pupils on this special occasion, but Sr Gemma (Patricia Byrne) who taught French and German, was welcomed by her former students.
Jan Healey, who was Director
of Nursing at Murdoch prior to her retirement, and Dr Flora Franzinelli were among the “old girls”.
Robin (Chaney) Beech moved a vote of thanks to Sandra Gorringe who taught speech and drama to many in the class of ’56.
Imelda Plummer (nee Moffat) and Helen (Oswald) Hille who were responsible for organising the event were congratulated on a successful reunion.
Stephanie Gooch (daughter of Sue Oswald), a member of the WA Opera Chorus, sang at the Mass accompanied by Margaret Henshaw (Wade) on the organ. The Class of 56 gives an annual prize to an outstanding student at Sacred Heart College in Sorrento.
– sadness that it is now closed and unable to be used, but deep gratitude for the way people have donated time and talents to get the cathedral project finished at long last.
And architect Peter Quinn had given the Church “a most beautiful design,” he added.
It is 77 years since the last time a Bishop of Perth appealed for funds from the Catholic community for St Mary’s.
That was when Archbishop Clune appealed for funds to complete the building. But then the Depression hit and work dried up almost overnight, leaving the ugly protruding ironwork on the north and south side of the current building and a cathedral that was really two-in-one: the 1865 western end and the eastern end opened by Archbishop Clune in 1930.
The 21st-century fundraising drive seeking to raise the remaining $7.6 million throughout all sectors of the church, as well as the wider Western Australian community, will be launched at John XXIII College in Mt Claremont next February.
Organisers hope to raise $2.5 million from parishes, while the Catholic education sector has shouldered the task of raising $2.1 million.
Other sectors from which donations will be sought include multicultural groups, religious orders and the leadership and corporate sector.
Some of Perth’s best-known legal, educational, and corporate names have been garnered by the Church to lead the appeal (see VISTA).
Speaking on the DVD, Perth Lord Mayor Peter Nattrass urges
all West Australians who have an affinity with St Mary’s to get behind the public appeal.
“This is an example of how the refurbishments have undoubtedly enhanced the appeal of the building,” he says.
Archbishop Hickey, Bishop Donald Sproxton, Catholic Education Director Ron Dullard and Cathedral Dean Monsignor Thomas McDonald are also featured on the professionally-produced presentation explaining different aspects of the completion project and why it is so important to complete now that the chance is here.
A website - www.stmarysappeal.com.au - has already been launched ahead of next year’s appeal.
When it is all completed it will be a momentous occasion in the history of the Church in Western Australia.
Catholicism faces serious challenges from a society that has become increasingly indifferent to formal religious belief.
Not only will it be the conclusion of a process that has lasted nearly 150 years, since the first opening of a cathedral in Perth, it will also be a statement from hundreds of thousands of ordinary people – men, women and children – that belief in God is worth expressing in the magnificent soaring architecture of a cathedral.
It will be a boon to the city of Perth, and an enduring statement that may last hundreds of years long after those who built – and completed it – are gone.
And the bishops of Perth, one imagines, will rest easy beneath the floor of a cathedral that is at last finished.
Terminated?
Alfonso Cuaron’s latest film paints a bleak picture of a future we know.
Page 14
Bound for sainthood
The case for Pope John Paul I’s canonisation has been sent to the Vatican.
Page 10
Paul Gray says...
Australian Muslims should be wary of being vehicles for Arab nationalism.
Page 13
When Perth’s Archbishop Barry Hickey walked through St Mary’s Cathedral earlier this year as the current restoration work had just begun, he allowed himself a moment of reflection, then a hint of sadness overcame him.
The cathedral that had been so much a part of his life since he was concecrated Archbishop of Perth in 1991 was unrecognisable. There were digging machines everywhere as the cathedral was boarded up and closed off to all bar workers and volunteers.
The dirt under the floor had broken through and resurfaced for the first time in almost a century. The organ that had enchanted thousands of worshippers – and not all of them Catholics – for decades was gone for repairs, and the choir loft and pews were missing.
“I felt... sad. It looked a bit of a mess,” the Archbishop said, reflecting on his first impressions of the cathedral that has been the centre of his ministry.
But the tinge of sadness in his heart didn’t last long. The very same digging machines represented a process underway that ignites a passion not unlike Easter – new life is beginning. The new life of St Mary’s.
“But I’m excited too. Things are underway, and I’m privileged that this work has begun in my time,” he told a private audience when
When St Mary’s Cathedral is finally finished, the dream of a succession of lay people, bishops and archbishops over three centuries will be realised. Peter Rosengren and Anthony Barich tell the amazing story.
unveiling the final grand plan of the cathedral to key patrons and fundraisers.
The Archbishop was humbled by the generosity of time, talents and resources that have been offered for the restoration and completion of the cathedral.
It is time that has proved the archbishop’s greatest ally. A handful of great men had overseen the development of the cathedral as it stands today, and it is one B J Hickey that will, God willing, witness its completion.
On April 18, 1859, Bishop Jose Maria Benito Serra, Apostolic Administrator for the-then Perth diocese, requested that Arthur Kennedy Esq., WA Governor, provide a vacant block located within Victoria Square. Back then it was an open space – the sand of which may well have been that which was exposed as the floorboards were removed during recent works.
The land was granted and Bishop Serra
set about gathering donations and materials in Italy for the cathedral’s interior. The Benedictines of the Monastery of St Paul’s Outside the Walls donated the marble for the Alas, Bishop Serra never saw his vision realised, having been sent to Spain by the Holy Father where he founded the women’s religious order, the Oblates of the Holy Redeemer.
In Bishop Serra’s absence the acting Apostolic Administrator Fr Matthew Griver oversaw the construction and funding, including the first foundation stone laid by Bishop Salvado of New Norcia on February 8, 1863. Fr Griver blessed The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary in January 29, 1865 – barely two years later.
Appropriately, Bishop Griver’s body was recently recovered from the crypt beneath the main central aisle by archaeologist Fr Robert Cross together with students from the archaeology department at the University of WA. It was Sir Frederick Broome, WA Governor of the day, who allowed Bishop Griver to be interred in “his cathedral”. As the 20th century loomed, WA experienced a boom unseen in its history, with the discovery of gold at Kalgoorlie. Immigrants flooded in and most were Catholics. In 1905, a new-look St Mary’s Cathedral emerged after Bishop Matthew Gibney decided alterations and additions were needed.
Continued over page
Archaeologist and Perth priest
Fr Robert Cross stands dressed in dirt-covered shorts and sweaty t-shirt surveying the scene. A special filtered mask he normally wears to keep the dust out of his face as he sifts through the sand beneath the floor of the cathedral dangles from one hand.
Anyone who has ever visited St Mary’s, spent a few quiet moments in silent prayer or worshipped there would be surprised and fascinated to see how much has changed.
Almost everything inside the cathedral has gone in preparation for restoration and completion works.
But Fr Cross’s special interest at the moment is the floor – or what lies under it. All the floorboards are gone, revealing a sea of sand running between brick foundations from the back to the front of the cathedral.
Fr Robert is looking for clues – anything that will help build the historical and archaeological history of St Mary’s. So far he has had a few finds – a ha’penny, among them – which will be assessed later. He is also looking for help from Perth’s public – especially anyone who has photographs of St Mary’s from 1905 or before. It’s all about time. These will help him to
Ready
assess or cross-reference anything he discovers during the current archaeological assessment of the cathedral. He has also discovered what he thinks might be the original brick steps to St Mary’s (they appear worn down by the tread of worshippers over years) and possibly the original floorline, several inches beneath the current one.
On this dig, he is assisted by University of WA archaeology students Adam Margetts and Vivien Lengkeek. The three are methodically working their way
along the sea of sand, removing it metre by metre.
Already numbered bags of sand stand stacked in rows behind the trio. These will be assessed for the minutiae of history at a later stage. The discoveries so far raise all sorts of questions – hence Fr Robert’s appeal for early photographs anyone may have in their possession.
Whether they supply the answers, only time will tell. Fr Robert can be contacted at the cathedral offices on 9223 1351.
Continued from Vista 1
Bishop Matthew Gibney Made significant additions including electricity
He added a porch, the slate clad steeple, the gargoyles, electricity and, most notably, the statue of Our Lady that is still the all-seeing icon which looks over the City of Perth down Murray Street. After reducing crushing debt in the archdiocese, Archbishop Patrick Clune, who shared his successor Barry Hickey’s passion for St Mary’s, set about “building a cathedral worthy of Almighty God, of the Archdiocese and of the City of Perth”, employing architect MF Cavanagh to design a “beautiful” rather than just a “functional” cathedral.
Cavanagh included the altars and shrines in honour of the Sacred Heart, Our Lady and the saints, plus the sanctuary and trancept and the stained glass windows which served as teaching instruments for the European Church for centuries through the Renaissance and Medieval days.
Though Archbishop Clune laid the stone for the third stage of St Mary’s Cathedral’s development on April 25, 1926, and on May 4, 1930, an estimated 17,000 faithful watched as he officially opened the cathedral, it was still considered unfinished - the Great Depression of the ‘20s and ‘30s forcing work to an unplanned and abrupt halt. For many, all this work remains unfinished business.
Archbishop Hickey knew it. “It’s time for us, now, to complete the cathedral,” Archbishop Hickey told key fundraisers and patrons at the recent reception in Highgate.
“For a city, a cathedral is prized,” he said, adding that, in a sense, this particular cathe-
The current $12.4 million has come from five sources: a generous bequest from Alice and Jim Hassell of $2.4 million, $5 million from the archdiocese of Perth, $3 million from the federal government and $2 million from the
State Government. The goal now is to raise $7.6 million from the public. The archdiocese sees this as feasible and has won support from key community leaders to help it reach its goal.
The Chief Justice of Western Australia, the Honourable Wayne Martin, is one of the patrons of the appeal. Other key contributers include Malcolm McCusker QC, Mrs
Annabel O’Connor, Mr Terry O’Connor QC, Mr Denis Cullity, Mrs Anne Cullity, Mr Quang Nguyen, Mrs
dral really spans three centuries – the 19th through until the 21st. The first church – and first cathedral – of Perth was St John’s procathedral, built opposite the current cathedral and archdiocesan offices in Victoria Square in 1846. Today it stands on Victoria Avenue and backs into the grounds of Mercedes College.
The challenge of completing St Mary’s Cathedral is not without its anxieties, but at the same time Archbishop Hickey felt “buoyed up by all the generous people helping with every detail”.
He recalled perhaps the most famous church architect in Western Australia - Monsignor John Hawes, the architect priest who changed the face of Catholic churches in rural WA, mostly around the diocese of Geraldton.
Patrick
1862
The original site of St Mary’s Cathedral
With his hands he built churches and hermitages built out of local stone in a style which still stops travellers and students of history dead in their tracks with admiration.
Fr Hawes’ own plans for St Mary’s, which were ultimately rejected, were truly beautiful and can still be seen today.
Fr Hawes, who was deeply disappointed his own plans had been rejected, had once said of a cathedral that, from the outside, it should be a poem to inspire - but from the inside it should be a prayer.
And what does Archbishop Hickey want to see when St Mary’s is completed? His vision is clear: “It will have the atmosphere of the transcendent, it will be a place of tranquillity, a place of prayer.”
Who could ask for more? One imagines that Perth’s previous bishops would be happy with that.
Christian Brother Basil Hickey, the archbishop’s cousin, fondly recalls the man who built St Mary’s famous choir
■ By
Anthony BarichSt Mary’s Cathedral has seen its share of influential characters – bishops, archbishops, cardinals – but none have touched people’s hearts quite like legendary choirmaster Fr Albert Lynch.
Brother Basil Hickey, the cousin of Perth Archbishop Barry Hickey who is barely a month his junior, remembers fondly the instruction of Fr Lynch, the convert from Anglicanism and a well-known musician around Perth.
Fr Lynch was ordained in Rome and undertook liturgical music studies in Rome and France.
Br Hickey, who with his cousin turned 70 this year, was a parishioner of Subiaco, but he remembers like it was yesterday the way the sound of the choir’s music carried from the back of the cathedral, bounced off the walls and created an appropriate environment conducive to spirituality and prayer.
“We used to sing down the back, and I really thought that’s where the sound did carry much better than in later days,” said the retired Br Hickey, who now does part-time chaplaincy at Osborne Park Public Hospital.
“I go there now and I think the choir is so close, the organ so loud up the front and, in my mind, it didn’t always come through (that
well). But that’s my biased opinion. But Br Hickey has a right to be biased. He served in the choir under Fr Lynch from age nine to 13, while studying Latin at school which helped him understand the lyrics to the hymns the priest made them learn by rote.
“I’m glad he made us really learn each hymn – and not just learn the words, but he taught us to have a complete understanding of exactly what you were singing, so it was a prayer and not just singing,” he said.
This instruction in turn helped Br Hickey teach his own students at various schools he taught at which were scattered not only around WA but interstate in South AustraliaCBC Leederville (now Aranmore), Highgate, Geraldton, Fremantle and Trinity to name a few.
“I would be very confident in saying that the cathedral choir, which was established strongly in Fr Lynch’s time, has been a big feature of the cathedral for a long, long time.
He was quite a figure,” Br Hickey says.
“He was a real musician himself, and it was good singing – we were only kids but we knew we sang very well, we certainly think so – its conducive for prayer.”
Br Hickey also added with a smile that Fr Lynch tried to crack the whip to get his message across, “but we weren’t too fooled by that”.
One of his fondest memories was of Christmas Eve, singing the carols for half an hour before Midnight Mass, where the choir would really come into its own.
We’re sure he’s not alone in having the glorious Midnight Mass as their favourite memory.
1865
St Mary’s Cathedral
1904
St Mary’s Cathedral
The opening of St Mary’s Cathedral
The Vatican’s revealing exhibition shows how power struggles led to saving grace
■ By Elizabeth Lev , ZENITSadly, many people who don’t know the name of the present Pope turn out to be quite well versed in the more scandalous papacies of centuries past. Yet that same mentality that takes a gossip magazine as seriously as a history text never fails to be taken aback by the number of people thronging St Peter’s Square today, traveling thousands of miles to see the Successor of St Peter.
For them, it seems inexplicable that after such human frailty, the Church can still be vibrant and active 2000 years later. For Catholics, however, this comes as reassuring, daily proof that the Holy Spirit is constantly sustaining the Church.
St Peter’s Basilica itself presents a splendid example of the gentle guidance of Divine Providence toward greatness. The (relatively) new St Peter’s took 120 years and about 10 architects to build, while vicious rivalries and disastrous setbacks coloured the history of the construction. All this is recounted in the recently-opened exhibition in the Charlemagne wing of St Peter’s Square. This stunning show, “Petros Eni,” or “Peter is Within,” presents the Popes, architects and saints involved in the history of this church, marking its 500th anniversary this year. Ancient yellowed documents, artistic masterpieces and unique artifacts are on display in this exhibit open until March 8.
Near the entrance, the first object on display is the astounding walk-in model of St Peter’s dome designed by Michelangelo from 1559-61. It is about 15 feet high and represents the dome cut in half. It captures and thrills the visitor from the threshold of the show and provides a glimpse into the excitement aroused by this project that propelled the work through thick and thin for over a century.
The show itself is broken up into three parts - the construction, the presence of St Peter, and the saints the basilica has inspired. It seems appropriate that the discussions of the show follow the same pattern.
The building site of St Peter’s often became an arena for professional rivalry or self-aggrandisement. These tensions are hinted at throughout the first rooms, although we are constantly reminded of how pettiness was overcome in favour of the greatness of the project.
The exhibit opens with the busy and momentous year of 1506, when Pope Julius II decided to destroy the millennium-old St Peter’s, built by Constantine in the fourth century, to
build a newer, better church.
While the Pope may have indeed been motivated by a desire to have a fitting cornice for his splendid new tomb (being designed by the 30year-old Michelangelo and intended to be placed on top of St Peter’s grave), the fact was that the old church was crumbling and unsafe and several architects had already called for drastic intervention.
A cabinet displays the medal struck in commemoration of April 18, 1506, when Julius II laid the foundation stone of the new basilica. Nearby, a letter from Julius II to King Henry VIII of England proudly informs the then loyal supporter of the Church of the undertaking.
Long before the completion of St Peter’s, Henry would separate from Rome and found his own church.
Julius II greets visitors from his masterly portrait by Raphael done
the year before his death. He looks depleted and pensive, clearly aware that he will never see his project finished. Although spurred by a desire for grandeur, this man gave the Church some of its most lasting treasures: the Sistine Chapel, the Raphael Rooms and of course St Peter’s.
The early plans for St Peter’s by Bramante as well as his immediate successors were elaborate and very complex constructions. A myriad of different ideas for the basilica, from Bramante’s original design to the work of Fra Gerard and Giuliano Sangallo, show a certain streak of searching for personal greatness - to the detriment of St Peter’s role as a gathering point for pilgrims.
Some plans envision numerous interlocking spaces and chapels but don’t allow for gathering around St Peter’s tomb. One looks like a Romanesque monastery’s dream cathedral, but doesn’t take into account the history and place of St Peter’s. The works fall short of the mark because they are more about the glory of the architects than the glory of God.
Bickering among architects flared regularly and the enmity between Michelangelo and Bramante was legendary. A letter from Antonio Sangallo (a cousin of Giuliano’s) lists complaints regarding Raphael’s work, while it is well known that Bramante was dubbed by contemporaries as “Bramante, Maestro Ruinante” for the destruction of the old basilica.
One of the funniest things in the exhibit is a satire written in 1516 by Guarna da Salerno. It imagines Bramante trying to get into heaven and St Peter demurring after Bramante has destroyed his church. Bramante offers to rebuild heaven for him saying that he could make it more modern and functional. When Peter refuses, Bramante offers to rebuild hell which has been worn down by the flames and is in need of repair. Exasperated, St Peter tells Bramante he can just wait outside the gates until his last building project (St Peter’s) is finished.
Raphael’s breathtaking portrait of “Leo X and Two Cardinals” provides the backdrop for this period of internecine strife at St Peter’s. A masterpiece of colour and ornament, it shows the Medici Pope, pausing momentarily in his examination of an exquisite illuminated manuscript. Raphael painted it in 1518, as Martin Luther was rapidly gaining ground in Germany. The battles among the workers at St Peter’s were but a faint echo of the greater disturbances further north.
The old church was being dismantled but nothing was surging up to take its place. A few drawings by Martin Van Heemskerck record the protective shrine that kept the rain off Peter’s grave as it stood uncovered between Bramante’s massive piers. Thirty years and the building had not progressed.
The turning point was reached in 1545. Titian’s brilliant portrait of the forceful Pope Paul III shows neither a tired and aged Pontiff nor a pampered and delicate one but piercing eyes and hawklike features indicative of a strong will. Not a saintly man, as any papal scandal monger will be glad to recount, but the man who managed to call and assemble the Council of Trent as well as persuade Michelangelo to take over the helm of building St Peter’s.
Paul III began the process of reconstruction of the church, both
spiritually and physically, aided by Michelangelo, aged 70 at the time, who also rose to the occasion with grandness of spirit.
Michelangelo retrieved the aged yellowed plan for St Peter’s of Bramante, his archrival, from the dozens of drawings, and modified that design. Refusing all payment, Michelangelo gave the last 19 years of his life to the construction of the church, for the “glory of God, the honour of St Peter and the salvation of his own soul.”
“Peter, do you love me?”
Archbishop Angelo Comastri’s address during the inauguration of the “Petros Eni” exhibit quoted this question Christ asked St Peter three times. Last month, Archbishop Comastri was appointed the archpriest of St Peter’s Basilica and after his rousing and often moving talk at the opening, there can be no doubt why.
The archbishop spoke of St Peter’s profession of love even unto his crucifixion which took place almost 2000 years ago just a few feet from the exhibition space.
The second part of the exhibit revolves around St Peter as the fulcrum of this great church. Dominated by three exceptional paintings, this section invites viewers to reflect on the origins of the church, a simple hole in the ground where the body of St Peter was deposited after the first of what would be many Christian persecutions.
El Greco’s intense canvas of “Peter Penitent” is the first work on display and reveals the apostle alone and weeping after having denied Christ. Next, the powerful Caravaggio work, “The Crucifixion of St Peter,” confronts viewers showing the aged, yet rugged apostle doggedly accepting death just as he stubbornly followed Jesus in life. Caravaggio’s light effects highlight the sense of mission in Peter’s martyrdom; eager to prove his love of Christ, the apostle seems to clasp the nail driven through his hand.
In the wake of these dramatic canvases, it would be easy to overlook the little Rembrandt treasure of “St Peter in Prison.” This small oil painting presents a touching vision of Peter, old and weak, praying in
his prison cell. The warm light that bathes Peter’s wrinkled face and hands helps us to understand the solace that God’s love brings to him.
The most extraordinary object in this part of the show is also the humblest. At first glance it appears as a tiny piece of painted plaster, scratched with ancient graffiti. But a closer look reveals the words “Petros eni,” Peter is within. Poor, humble and broken like St Peter’s body, this fragment on an ancient buttressing wall brought 20th-century excavators to the grave of the Prince of the Apostles.
So what does St Peter’s Basilica mean to us today? A stop on a
tourist itinerary? A holding pen for unruly pilgrims? The last room of the exhibit renders homage to three great pilgrims who came to Rome, prayed at St Peter’s grave and drew strength from his example. St Thérèse of Lisieux’s handwritten account of her pilgrimage in 1887, St Francis’ tunic from Verna (the site where he received the stigmata) and the sandals of Mother Teresa of Calcutta are displayed. The sandals have particular meaning for Archbishop Comastri. The archpriest explains that these relics serve to remind us today that at St Peter’s we must “don the sandals of the pilgrim, and allow ourselves to be reinforced in our faith” before heading out fearlessly into the world to “love Jesus as Peter did,” even unto death.
Elizabeth Lev teaches Christian art and architecture
■ By Mark Reidy
There’s a growing hole in the protective layer that surrounds childhood that no one seems to notice. We hear or read each day of the ozone damage that has resulted from our misuse of the planet, but there doesn’t seem to be the same outcry for the polar caps of childhood that have been rapidly melting over the past few decades.
The two extremes of humanity are already victims of the phenomenon. The increasing rate of abortion has terminated the lives of millions at one end of the spectrum and the pressure of euthanasia is mounting on those at the other. These destructive powers have even been given legal foundation. And as with its environmental equivalent, once these corrosive forces are unleashed, they focus their attention on the next weakest link, which is children.
Innocence, the very core of childhood, has already been destabilised. Corporate greed and media influences have combined to ensure that adult concepts have been able to permeate minds and hearts that are not yet ready. Protective barriers have been weakened and premature exposure has caused spiritual and emotional damage. The seasons of childhood are changing and the darkness of winter has already begun to infiltrate the springtime of youth.
Sexual connotations pervade fashion, music and entertainment as corporate vultures hover above
this endangered phase of childhood. Capitalistic opportunists create “Tweenies”, a new phase of life, where the protective cocoon of childhood is shed and the young are encouraged to actively explore adult ideas in dress, image and, through association, behaviour. Insidious forces of advertising and the rising tides of materialism exacerbate this blurring of developmental stages and increase pressure on parents to conform to the selling out of their children.
Technological advances are adapting to appeal to an increasingly younger audience. Overuse of the Internet, television, ipods, mobile phones, X-Boxes etc are creating a social drought by robbing children of productive time with significant adults. Time together as a family unit is being eroded by self-indulgent entertainment, and the ensuing decrease in physical activity is contributing to health issues such as diabetes and obesity. Children are being overloaded with incessant input and this is having detrimental effects on their developing brains. Opportunities for creativity and imagination are dwindling and behavioural and developmental problems such as Attention Deficit Disorder, depression and higher levels of aggression are affecting children at increasingly younger ages.
At the beginning of childhood we have a growing number of children spending less time with their parents during the most vital years of their emotional development. Either through necessity or choice
Mind-numbing: Our kids are being robbed of time with role models.
the number of pre-schoolers being placed in daycare is increasing. The social cocoon, which once protected and nurtured a child, it seems, is fraying around the edges. We rightly protest at the environmental damage being imposed upon our planet and are concerned for the physical welfare of future generations, yet we seem to be
unperturbed by the spiritual and emotional damage that is being inflicted on our children today. Perhaps we need to ponder the passionate words of Jesus when he said: “It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea, than he should cause one of these little ones to stumble” (Luke 17:2).
Recently, I have been struck by St Paul’s idea that homosexual acts can arise among people who worship the creature rather than the Creator: “...because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie...for this reason God gave them up to dishonourable passions. Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another...” – 1 Romans 1, 22-28. And I wonder, as a man sometimes consumed with passion for other men and also as someone who has experience in the trenches of the debates about human sexuality, whether contemporary activists and the Rainbow Sash movement, certainly those who agitate for ‘gay marriage’ and other novelties, haven’t exchanged the truth about God for a lie? The nature of the error is reasonably clear. Those who argue for ‘gay marriage’ or the Rainbow Sash Movement when it argues for a non-Biblical shift in the Church’s teaching on homosexual acts ignore, distort or are ignorant of, an anthropology that considers man in the full light of his gifts and responsibilities. Often slaves to moral relativism, neo-paganism and other nihilisms, they can see
no purpose for man and refuse to look deeply into the origins of the person. Such people are unsure of where man came from and clueless as to where he is going. They are blind. It makes sense then, if you’re made suddenly blind, to take care of immediate concerns. On a desert island one would see to it that the fire is put out or that the bedding is dry. The legislative equivalent of this narrow-mindedness would see one try to legislate for the perceived immediate comfort/pleasure of the individual. Taken to a ridiculous extreme, such a philosophy would include making laws to satisfy, or facilitate the satisfaction of any desire no matter how idiosyncratic. Any bar to such laws would be considered unfair, a brazen display of unwelcome paternalism or bigotry.
This would explain why ‘gay marriage’ agitators continue to press the case when it is deeply unpopular with the vast majority of the electorate in Australia, the US and elsewhere. They are convinced that their cause is just. It also explains why they persist even though the only robust, university-backed survey of the issue – the 2006 Private Lives Survey issued by LaTrobe University – found that most men who identified as ‘gay’ were not interested in ‘formalising’ their relationships and most were not in any relationship at all.
For ‘gay marriage’ agitators what is truly good for man is not the issue, nor even what men say they think is good for them. What does that matter when one worships the creature? Rather, the freedom for any man to pursue any course of action, no matter how morally harmful, becomes the key. The focus shifts from proper discussions of the ends of human life/loving and how to legislate for the common good in this regard to a false argument about merely widening the choices available. A law that allows a man to choose what is harmful to him in a radical sense, a ‘gay marriage’ regime that militates against a proper understanding of the human person and the place of sexuality in the order of the universe, however, is not a law. It is an injustice. Such ideas do not deliver more freedom; they merely adopt the language of freedom to suggest changes that would shackle man to an anti-human, anti-family regime.
Many Australians like to think that they are open-minded and generous toward others, even if they don’t share their preferences. Thus, when asked, a significant number of people will say ‘gay marriage’ should be allowed, often right before adding that they would never get one. This was the gist of the argument put by High Court Justice Michael Kirby recently. But such a position
demonstrates a preference for libertarianism; it does not indicate support for social engineering and ‘gay marriage’ changes that would radically alter the social understanding and legal standing of families.
Catholics know the truth about human nature. The remarkable fact of God’s love for man and man’s love for others is written into the very stuff of our being. The natural law is written on every human heart. This love-fact, the historical and religious reality of the Incarnation, is the pinion point of history and the Cross is at the centre of Catholic life. We are not a people to worship the creature. We worship the Creator. We must hold onto these truths and the related facts of human nature whenever confronted by nihilisms and contemporary activists’ antihuman ideas. We must be especially alert when these ideas are couched in the language of freedom or marching into our cathedrals wearing a colourful sash. We must be prepared to remind a sometimes cynical society of the wonder of human life and the privileged place sexuality retains as a demonstration of God’s mercy.
Those who want to do away with the truth; movements that consider the facts of human nature embarrassing, or bigoted or weak are distractions. Such ideas promise freedom, but they are impostors.
Nearly 30 years after he died, following a brief but in some ways revolutionary papacy, Pope John Paul I’s cause for beatification has been signed off by the Italian diocese in which he was born.
BELLUNO, Italy, NOV. 12, 2006 (Zenit.org) - The case for the beatification and canonisation of Pope John Paul I has been sent to the Vatican.
The cause opened in Belluno, Italy, three years ago, the diocese in which Albino Luciani, the future Pope John Paul I, was born on October 17, 1912.
The diocesan phase of the investigation ended last Friday in the cathedral of Belluno.
Cardinal Luciani was elected Bishop of Rome on August 26, 1978, and chose the name John Paul I. He
died 33 days later. The tribunal’s last session was presided over by Bishop Giuseppe Andrich, the head of the diocese of Belluno.
At the session the history of the process was summarised and its phases read out.
Following this, all the documentation examined by the tribunal was closed and sealed before before being sent to the Vatican Congregation for Saints’ Causes, which now oversees the cause.
The postulator of the cause, Father Enrico Dal Covolo, described the key characteristic of Pope John Paul I in the newspaper Avvenire as “the figure of the Good Shepherd who gives his life, without holding anything back, for the flock entrusted to him.”
The paper recently reported Father Dal Covolo’s words about John Paul I: “I see embodied in him the famous maxim of St Augustine: ‘It is a duty of love to feed the flock of Christ.’”
For Luciani’s beatification to be proclaimed, a miracle - usually a cure for which there can be no other explanation - attributed to his intercession is necessary.
There already is “a case of cure” which might have such characteristics, Fr Dal Covolo said.
ROME (Zenit.org) - Another recent episode in the Muslim world has ricocheted around the world and found itself at the heart of yet another debate here in Rome.
The discussions surfaced when Australia’s most senior Muslim cleric blamed immodestly dressed women who don’t wear Islamic headdress for being preyed on by men.
He likened them to abandoned “meat” that attracts voracious animals.
Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali’s comments followed a series of rapes and brutal attacks on women by a group of young Lebanese men in Australia.
Yet, while Muslim women leaders expressed outrage at the Ramadan sermon, some secular feminist groups shrugged it off saying the imam was “entitled to his beliefs.”
Some Christian groups even went so far as to say that, on the issue of “modesty,” the sheik had a point.
Catholic academic women in Rome, while not opposed to the ideal of modesty, said this attitude of blaming women for any violence committed against them is a far cry from what true Christian feminism should be.
They encouraged us to return to the teachings of Pope John Paul II for a deeper response.
Erica Laethem composed the introductory text for the Endow organisation’s study guide to John Paul II’s 1995 Letter to Women
She is completing a master’s in bioethics at one of Rome’s pontifical athenaeums.
She says that, in light of the recent controversy, the Pope’s words from 1995 still ring out with remarkable relevance.
“Here, Pope John Paul II wrote
that women’s dignity has often been unacknowledged and their prerogatives misrepresented,” Laethem explained.
“They have often been relegated to the margins of society and even reduced to servitude.
“The Pope adds that this has prevented women from truly being themselves and it has resulted in a spiritual impoverishment of humanity.”
Laethem says it boils down to a bigger issue than “modesty.”
It hinges on others - in this case, some men-taking responsibility for their actions and for perceiving women as mere objects of pleasure.
Cristina Zucconi Galli Fonseca, the president of the Institute for Women’s Studies at the Regina Apostolorum university in Rome, clarifies this stance.
She says here that from the standpoint of Christian anthropology, as depicted in Genesis, people are all too often reduced to objects to be used.
“The original relationship
The evaluation of the miracle would take place only after the Vatican Congregation for Saints’ Causes proclaims the heroic virtues of Albino Luciani.
The case he was referring to occurred in Puglia, southern Italy.
A man was reportedly cured of a tumor, without any possible scientific explanation, after praying to God through the intercession of
the deceased pope. On Friday, after the closing of the diocesan phase of the cause, holy cards were distributed at the entrance of the Belluno cathedral with the prayer that the local bishop composed to obtain Albino Luciani’s beatification (see box below).
The holy cards have a small relic from the clothing of Pope John Paul I.
“O Lord, be always near me. Rest your hand on my head, but make me also hold my head under your hand. Take me as I am, with my defects, with my sins, but transform me as you will and as I also desire.”
With these words your Servant Albino Luciani, Pope John Paul I, prayed to you. His desire for holiness was heard: he became your generous and faithful disciple, and you willed that he be your Shepherd and Vicar for the universal Church.
He had the grace to be an exemplary communicator to give us, in simplicity and joy, what is true, beautiful and good,
Make me aspire to what you desire, also in the particular graces I ask for:
Following the example of the Servant of God, make me communicate intensely with you and with my neighbour to receive and to give, with humility and simplicity, the light and love that radiate from You. Amen.
■ By
Catherine SmibertROME, NOV. 9, 2006 (Zenit. org) - At a recent event in Rome a prominent promoter of the market economy rooted in faithbased values underlined the vital importance of Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Centesimus Annus
The encyclical was written in 1995 to mark the 100th anniversary of one of the landmark encyclicals of Catholic social teaching, Rerum Novarum
The interesting thing was that he wasn’t your average Catholic thinker, but rather, an Anglican businessman.
just in time for the tide of a major new development: the collapse of communism. Two subsequent developments - the growth of globalisation and the scandal of world poverty - mean that the encyclical is as relevant as ever, Griffiths believes.
“Today,” he warns, “the great danger, from a Christian point of view, is that the whole debate on globalisation is seen almost entirely in secular terms.
“The debate is conducted merely based on money, foreign aid, and is about trade liberalisation … but we know as Christians that the heart of life is fundamentally spiritual.”
between the first couple was one of mutual trust and self-giving,” says Zucconi.
“It was free from shame - even in nakedness - and free from lust.
“Therefore, it was only after the fall that Adam and Eve felt shame of their bodies, and they hid from God.”
Zucconi insists that we must avoid the temptation to place the burden entirely on the woman.
Adam tried to do this as well when he used the excuse: “She made me do it.”
“When it comes to setting women free from every kind of exploitation and domination,” the professor says, “the Gospel contains an ever relevant message which goes back to the attitude of Jesus Christ himself.”
Erica Laethem adds: “Jesus transcended the established norms of his own culture.
“In this way he honoured the dignity which women have always possessed according to God’s plan and in his love.”
Before his presentation on “Globalisation, Centesimus Annus and International Development,” at the event organised by the Acton Institute, Lord Brian Griffiths told me how Catholic social thought has had a great impact on him personally.
When he was advising then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, he says, “it was a frame of reference for me - a way of thinking about social, economic and political problems which I think is profound.”
This vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International recognised how Centesimus Annus arrived
Here Griffiths encourages all to turn, interestingly, to Catholic apologetics where we “can discover that the true challenge is how we as Christians express our concern as Jesus did, for the poor or others.”
Such trepidation must go beyond what governmental or nongovernmental agencies do, he adds: work for the poor must transmit something of the spirit of Christ.
For this Anglican, the Catholic response “is the most relevant to our current economic challenges.”
- Zenit.orgBOSTON (CNS) - Evidence of an alleged miraculous cure in the Archdiocese of Boston attributed to the intercession of Cardinal John Henry Newman has been sent to the Congregation for Saints’ Causes in Rome.
The Roman postulator of the cause, Andrea Ambrosi, flew from Boston to Rome to congregation officials at the Vatican carrying the sworn testimonies and the medical evidence of the healing of Deacon Jack Sullivan, 68, of Marshfield. Deacon Sullivan had a severe spinal disorder, but was restored to full mobility in 2001 after praying for Cardinal Newman’s intercession.
Cardinal Newman’s canonisation cause was opened in 1958 in Birmingham, England, his home diocese.
St PAUL, Minn. (CNS) - During the last 40 years, an increasing number of US Catholic politicians have demonstrated a willingness to separate their faith from their public service. And that, according to Colleen Carroll Campbell, “has been very damaging to the Church’s witness in the world and in the public square.”
Campbell is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Centre in Washington and also host of the Eternal Word Television Network show “Faith and Culture.” She is also a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, whose Republican Party has lost control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives for the first time in 12 years to the Democrats in the US November elections.
She made the comments in a telephone interview with The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the St PaulMinneapolis Archdiocese.
She is scheduled to address the intersection of politics and religion during a talk on November 21 at the Cathedral of St Paul.
The theme of her presentation will be “The Kennedy Compromise: How America’s First Catholic President Inaugurated an Era of Compartmentalised Faith in Politics.”
Campbell’s talk is rooted in a speech that then-presidential candidate John F. Kennedy delivered in September 1960 to Protestant ministers worried by the prospect of a Catholic becoming President. At that gathering, Kennedy declared: “I want a chief executive whose public acts are responsible to all groups and obligated to none ... and whose fulfillment of his presidential oath is not limited or conditioned by any religious oath, ritual or obligation.”
Kennedy said he was not “the Catholic candidate for president” but “the Democratic Party’s candidate for president who also happens to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my Church on public matters - and the Church does not speak for me.”
Campbell told The Catholic Spirit that Kennedy may have felt that drawing a sharp line between his
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A small group of US Catholic volunteers working in Baghdad has coordinated the overseas donation and distribution of hundreds of kilograms of children’s shoes, clothes and school supplies to a Chaldean Catholic parish.
The group, an unofficial council of the Knights of Columbus, is made up of temporary workers living in the International Zone, said Alexander Von Plinsky, who started the group. Some of the members are Knights, and some are interested in joining the Knights, he said.
The supplies included children’s rosaries and money to offset future costs.
faith and public service was the only way a Catholic politician could gain higher office in an era when Catholics felt excluded from the political process.
“But today I think the question is... more about whether this faith you profess shapes your decisions on a day-to-day basis,” she said.
“If it doesn’t on crucial moral questions, then do you really have a right to appeal to the Catholic vote
on the basis of your identity as a Catholic politician?”
Campbell, herself a Catholic parishioner, identifies today’s crucial moral issues as the “life issues” - abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem-cell research and cloning - as well as the defence of the family and traditional marriage.
Other Catholic politicians have subsequently drawn on Kennedy’s example, Campbell said, especially
Catholic politicians who promote a right to abortion.
Their approach, however, damages the Church’s witness in the world, she said.
“This has in many ways given even non-Catholics a sense that these issues really don’t matter all that much to the Church and that they’re not all that central to Christianity - that the right to life is in some ways something that can
be overlooked or compromised,” she said. The separation of faith from politics also risks damaging the influence of Catholic voters, according to Campbell.
“If Catholic politicians can get away with this, and Catholic voters either overlook that or directly support them, the Catholic vote becomes diluted to the point ... that it begins to resemble the votes of Americans at large,” she said.
■ By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) - If famine and malnutrition are to be alleviated, funnelling most of the earth’s resources to a select few must end, and individuals need to adopt less consumerist lifestyles, Pope Benedict XVI said.
The unjust distribution of the world’s resources not only creates “the scandal of hunger,” it also plays a role in today’s environmental and energy crises, the Pope said during his November 12 Angelus address in St Peter’s Square.
More than 860 million people around the world suffer from malnutrition, and “too many people, especially children, die of hunger,” the Pope said.
Every five seconds a child dies from starvation, according to the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation.
Jacques Diouf, head of the UN organisation, said the number of people who go hungry is increas-
ing by 4 million each year. Pope Benedict said, “Certainly the structural causes linked to the system of governance of the world economy, which allocates the majority of the planet’s resources to a minority of the population, need to be eliminated.”
The Pope said to make a large enough impact on the growing tragedy of hunger and environmental and energy crises “it is necessary to convert the model of global development” to one that is more just, equitable and sustainable.
Individuals and families also “must do something to alleviate hunger in the world (by) adopting a style of life and consumption that is compatible with safeguarding creation” and treats farmers fairly, he said.
The Pope’s appeal came the day Italian Catholics celebrate thanksgiving.
He said the faithful need to “get into the habit of thanking the Creator for everything” - even for air and water.
He urged families to teach children to say grace before meals so that they learn not to take God’s gifts for granted.
Christians need to make sure “no one lacks what is necessary to live,” he said, adding that the earth’s resources are God’s gift “to the whole human family.”
He asked everyone to make concrete efforts “to beat the scourge of hunger” and “promote justice and solidarity around the world.”
Meanwhile, Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said the widening gap between rich and poor is “intolerable for humanity.”
A recent report released by the UN Development Program said the total annual income of the richest 500 people of the world is greater than the total annual income of the poorest 416 million people. Such gaps between “those who lack the necessary means and others who lavishly waste
them” must be erased, Cardinal Martino said during an October 30-November 4 meeting on world food security at UN Food and Agricultural Organisation headquarters in Rome.
“The right to have enough to eat is fundamental and inalienable for every person and for their family,” he said on November 4.
He urged governments and economic policies to promote “a more equitable sharing of resources” including “true agrarian reform,” since “in some countries, only 1 percent of the population controls 50 percent of the land.”
The Vatican’s foreign affairs minister, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, denounced the wealthiest countries’ exploitation of the poorest countries. Africa is particularly exploited, he said in a speech released by the Vatican on November 6.
Rich countries that benefit from African resources must remember to redistribute equitably the wealth they are reaping, he said.
Meanwhile, many people, including priests, fail to use the Sacrament of Reconciliation, he says■ By Jerry Filteau
BALTIMORE (CNS) - A growing “coarseness” in US society has had its impact on the Catholic Church, Bishop William Skylstad warned the US bishops as they began their autumn national meeting on November 13 in Baltimore.
Bishop Skylstad, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the country has had a long history of vigorous, free exchange of ideas, but “there is a difference between spirited debate and debasing personal attacks.”
“Today vulgarity is common, hardly noticed. Even the name of God is disrespected in everyday speech,” he said.
“We confront this coarseness on a daily basis in the newspapers, on television and on the radio,” he said.
“I would suggest to you that the phenomenon is symptomatic of a growing failure in our society: the lack of respect for one another, to see each other as being made in the image and likeness of God.”
In film and on television, he added, “there is a cruel celebration
of violence. There is a mocking reduction of sexuality, debasing it from God’s beautiful gift of creation to little more than casual chemistry and inconsequential recreation.”
“It would be naive to think this descent into coarseness has neither social nor spiritual consequences,”
HONG KONG (CNS) - The Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Xi’an, China, have reached a settlement with men who had attacked the nuns over a land dispute.
Sister Maria Yang Conghui, superior general of the convent in the Xi’an Diocese, said on November 7 that the settlement was reached on October 27 between the order and the nine defendants, including the owner of the security company involved in the incident.
Sister Maria spoke to UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand.
She said the nuns had sought
US$63,000 in compensation for medical expenses but settled for US$44,000.
Bishop Anthony Dang Mingyan of Xi’an said on November 6 that the case’s legal process was fair, and the diocese will not pursue the case.
The nuns said in an October 30 statement the defendants “realised they caused severe physical and psychological harm to our nuns and expressed a sincere wish for repentance.”
The nuns said they “would forgive and reconcile with” their assailants. They also said they hoped “the court would give the defendants a lenient sentence” to give them a chance to return to society and rebuild their lives.
Public security officers detained the nine men, aged 24 to 28, a few days after 17 nuns were assaulted on November 23, 2005.
The nuns were attacked as they tried to stop dozens of men from demolishing a wall separating their convent and Wuxing Primary School, a former church school taken by the government during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution.
The land is within the compound of St Francis Cathedral in downtown Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi province.
Soon after the attack, the diocese paid the government US$850,000 for the land on which the school sits. The Xi’an Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus community has about 290 nuns.
he said. He said he sees it in harsh and divisive debates within the Church and even in “judgmental and uncharitable commentary” in some Catholic media.
Bishop Skylstad urged his fellow bishops to “foster attitudes and discourse based in charity.”
“The call to love is as challenging as it is radical. ... We are all on the learning curve of profound love of neighbour,” he said.
One of the challenges facing the Church in restoring church unity is to “encourage and foster devotion to and the regular reception of the sacrament of reconciliation,” he said.
Many people, including priests, go to confession rarely, if at all, he said. “The graces of this sacrament, and the consequence of the unity it brings, cannot fail to be felt by individuals, within families, and in our society,” he said.
Archbishop Pietro Sambi, papal nuncio to the United States, also addressed the US bishops in the opening session of their November 13-16 meeting.
Noting that the bishops were marking the 200th anniversary of
the dedication of the nation’s first Catholic cathedral in Baltimore, Archbishop Sambi recalled some of the historic US church events that occurred in that city, including the country’s first seven provincial councils and three plenary councils.
He noted that American Cardinal James Gibbons once compared the place of Baltimore in US Catholicism with that of Jerusalem for Jews or Rome for Catholics in general.
Archbishop Sambi cited the “quality and quantity” of US priests in coming years as “a pressing problem that we cannot ignore.”
He noted that Pope Benedict XVI, speaking to bishops from Ireland, recently addressed the problem of clergy sexual abuse of minors and urged bishops to take all steps necessary to prevent such abuse and to bring justice and healing to abuse victims.
He said as the US church goes through a time of purification on that issue, bishops should encourage all their priests “always to seek spiritual renewal.”
- CNS■ By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) - In preparation for the 2008 International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec, Pope Benedict XVI asked Catholics around the world to deepen their appreciation of the value and importance of the Eucharist in their lives.
“How great is the need of modern humanity to rediscover in the eucharistic sacrament the source of its hope,” the Pope said on November 9.
Pope Benedict said he hoped that as the Quebec congress draws near, more and more Catholic parishes would teach their members about eucharistic adoration and make time for parishioners to contemplate, adore and spend time with Jesus
present in the sacrament. The Pope said the preparation also should be helped by his forthcoming document on the Eucharist, a document containing his reflections on points raised during the 2005 world Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist.
Eucharistic congresses, he said, are important celebrations and occasions for Catholics to show the world how they respond “to the love of the Lord supremely manifested in the eucharistic mystery.”
They help people better understand “the most holy Eucharist, which is the most precious treasure left to us by Jesus,” the Pope said.
Because Jesus gives himself in the Eucharist, Pope Benedict said, it is a sign of his great love for all men and women, a love that Catholics are called to share with the world.
LOURDES, France (CNS) - The French bishops’ conference has pledged to support Pope Benedict XVI’s attempts at reconciliation with traditionalists who rejected Second Vatican Council liturgical reforms, but warned that the return of the Tridentine Mass should be regulated.
The bishops said they “share the desire for reconciliation with priests and laity who separated from the ecclesial communion after this council.”
In a November 9 statement issued after a bishops’ plenary meeting in Lourdes, France, the bishops said they “also expect from these faithful an unequivocal gesture of assent
to the teachings of the Church’s authentic magisterium.”
The return of the pre-Vatican II Mass, which is celebrated in Latin and follows the Roman Missal of 1962, should be regulated, rather than left to “personal tastes and choices,” the bishops said.
They said they would welcome traditionalists and “work for reconciliation in truth and charity,” but also recognise “the riches of Vatican II teachings” and believe the implementation of Vatican II’s liturgical renewal “testifies to the fidelity of priests and communities.”
The statement was released amid controversy over recent efforts to reach out to followers of the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who was excommunicated in 1988. Archbishop Lefebvre’s followers,
who form the Society of St Pius X, have strongly pushed for wider use of the Tridentine rite.
In early September, the Vatican approved a new religious community, the majority of whom were members of the Society of St Pius X. The Good Shepherd Institute, a society of apostolic life that will use the traditional Mass in Latin according to the Tridentine rite, is located within the Archdiocese of Bordeaux, France.
More than 1,600 Catholics in the Archdiocese of Bordeaux have signed an open letter to Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard of Bordeaux, president of the French bishops’ conference, protesting the creation of the Good Shepherd Institute.
In an October 30 statement, bishops from eastern France said
they wished to “make their concern known to the Holy See” that they feared church unity could be damaged by relaxing restrictions on the Tridentine Mass.
In a November 9 speech closing the bishops’ meeting, Cardinal Ricard said French church leaders were aware that differences with Archbishop Lefebvre’s followers were theological, not liturgical, and extended to the issues of “religious freedom, ecumenism, and interreligious and political dialogue.” He said reconciliation would be damaged by viewing “all relations in the Church in terms of strategies to follow, battles to fight, victories to gain and polemics to intensify.”
“Diversity is possible, but it should be regulated,” said Cardinal Ricard. “A church where everyone
built his chapel according to his personal tastes, sensibility, choice of liturgy or political opinions would no longer be the church of Christ. Today we must resist the temptation of an a-la-carte religion.”
Speaking earlier, Cardinal Ricard said Pope Benedict had prepared a draft document setting out terms for followers of Archbishop Lefebvre to return to the Church, but had not yet consulted with the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” set up in 1988 by Pope John Paul II to offer pastoral care to the former followers of Archbishop Lefebvre.
He added that the document would scrap the current requirement to obtain a local bishop’s permission to celebrate the Tridentine Mass, but would not call into question Vatican II reforms.
In the second of a two-part feature on Islam in Australia today, national affairs editor Paul Gray says Australian Muslims must avoid the danger of becoming vehicles for Arab nationalism.
Sophisticated commentators on Arab politics, such as the British writer David PryceJones - author of Closed Circle: an interpretation of the Arabs - have highlighted the internationalist potential of Arab nationalism.
Recent dramatic manoeuvres by Iran’s fundamentalist government - like the escalation of Hezbollah’s war with Israel - are intended, Pryce-Jones suggests, to bolster Iran’s authority as the representative authority of the international Islamic faith today.
The prophet Muhammed himself viewed internationalisation as the destiny of the Arab nation - a destiny signed, sealed and vindicated in the form of a direct revelation from God.
This combination of the universalist power of a “divine revelation” message, with the sectarian, nationalist aspirations of one particular part of the earth, is a key part of the historical strength of the Islamic religion.
However it is clearly not the entire story of the faith. Wahabbism, with its fundamentalist, militaristic orientation, stands in stark contrast to the mystical Sufi tradition embedded in Muslim countries such as Turkey, and some parts of the Islamic sector of the former Soviet Union.
The Sufi tradition, which is strong in the Turkish Muslim community in Australia, emphasises messages of peace and universal brotherhood, extending to all human beings regardless of faith, colour and national origin.
The Sufi tradition is undoubtedly one example of what the Israeli Holocaust scholar Prof Yehuda Bauer had in mind when he defined Islam as “a universalist world religion which can be interpreted and has been interpreted and is being interpreted as a peaceful belief system or faith.”
Bauer, the author of Rethinking the Holocaust, is an acknowledged authority on totalitarian political violence, in both its historic and present-day forms.
His study of the roots of currentday Islamic terrorism led him to make the above assessment of the Islamic faith.
He contrasts that faith itself with what he calls “radical Islam.” The latter, Bauer says, is the source of today’s international terrorism problem.
“Radical Islam is a new form of totalitarian ideology,” he says. “I
make a very clear differentiation between Islam and radical Islam.” Radical Islam aims for “a totalitarian world ruled by clerics, according to laws that were enunciated 800-900 years ago.”
According to this assessment, then, today’s world faces a problem not from the Islamic faith itself but from a distinct ideology which grows out of it. This argument holds that a distinction must be drawn between the totalitarian virus (embodied in figures such as Osama bin Laden) and the Islamic faith itself.
Other critics do not accept this perspective. Scarrabelotti, for example, in his Oriens article quoted in part one of this article, claims that “moderate Muslims” are in fact Muslims who have “ceased to believe in the religion of Muhammed.”
were condemned “by all Muslim organisations across Australia.”
It added the claim that “the diverse multicultural Muslim communities in Australia do not recognise Sheik Hilaly as Mufti of Australia and we are asking the media not to represent him as such.” No one person can represent all the Muslims in Australia, the Society added.
At present, moderate Islamic voices such as those of the Australian Intercultural Society and Waleed Aly of the Islamic Council of Victoria, continue to be drowned out by noisier radicals such as Hilaly and Sheik Muhammed Omran, and their supporters.
The Sufi tradition, which is strong in the Turkish Muslim community in Australia, emphasises messages of peace and universal brotherhood
This shift away from Islam within Islam itself (so to speak) “is a shift that we ought to encourage,” he argues.
Another feature of the present debates about and within Islam in Australia is the distinction between overseas-born radical clerics and the opinions of some native-born Australian Muslims.
Though not widely reported, for example, the Australian Intercultural Society, a Muslim organisation, issued a vigorous denunciation of Sheik Hilaly’s comments when they were made public recently.
“AIS condemns the outrageous and extreme views of Al-Hilaly,” the media release, dated October 27, said in its headline. “Muslims in Australia do not accept him as Mufti or as spokesperson for the community.”
The Society said that the comments of Sheik Al-Hilaly about rape
The key issue for the future is whether or not Australian-born moderates are, in time, able to supplant foreignborn radicals as leaders and undoubted representatives of the Islamic community in Australia.
This is more than just a question of image. While radicals remain in position, the danger grows that a London-style sub-culture of terrorist-supporting local Muslim youth will emerge.
The London bombers of July 2005 were all native-born Britons who had come under the influence of foreign radicals. None of the bombers had drawn attention to themselves with fiery public comments about Western society.
From a counter-terrorism point of view, this secretive phenomenon is the real danger. A potential increase in influence from Saudi Arabia, which is strongly linked with the promotion of Wahhabist influence worldwide, is of particular concern. This may be one consequence of the current controversy over Sheik Hilaly at Lakemba mosque.
Most commentators are agreed that the promotion of moderate views - whether or not those views are authentically in tune with the teachings of Islamic scripturemust be encouraged.
Australia does not appear to have reached the same stage as the United States, where many locally born Muslims are now proudly identifying with the American anti-terrorism effort. A statement issued in time for September 11, 2006 by American Muslim journalist Aslam Abdullah, highlights this.
The editor of two Islamic papers, the weekly Muslim Observer and the monthly Minaret, Abdullah denounced the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq saying that if al-Qaeda wishes to harm Americans, it must target Muslim Americans.
“Well, Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, I am an American too. Count me as one of those you have asked your supporters to kill,” Abdullah wrote.
“America is our home and will always be our home. Its interests are ours and its people are ours. When you talk of killing Americans, you first have to kill six million or so Muslims who will stand for every American’s right to live and to enjoy the life as commanded by God.”
Islam demands peace and respect for life, Abdullah argued. (Abdullah’s words were reported by the Middle East Media Reserarch Institute, MEMRI.)
This message stands in sharp contrast to the message emerging from radical clerics in many countries, Australia included.
For whatever reasons, Australia’s Islamic community has yet to successfully communicate the message of its own diversity of opinion, in relation to violence and hostility towards the West. This is its pressing challenge.
Paul Gray is a national affairs writer for The Record and author of Nightmare of the Prophet, a study of terrorism, with Foreword by Prof Yehuda Bauer.
A study of the contraceptive mindset gives us a bleak image of our future.■ By Michael Cook
Children of Men
Starring Clive Owen; Julianne Moore; Michael Caine; Chiwetel Ejiofor; Charlie
HunnamWhat would life be like if women stopped having children? Like Baghdad today, according to Alfonso Cuarón’s latest film. Ah, England, grey England, with your grey skies, your grey shingle beaches, your damp grey streets. What better place to make a film about the extinction of the human race? At least - apologies to readers in fair Albion - that is the impression given by Alfonso Cuarón in his new film Children of Men. This opened recently in the UK and Australia, but will premiere in the US around Christmas time. Why Christmas is puzzling, as it’s not exactly Yuletide fare. It depicts an ageing England in the year 2027, 18 years after the last child on the planet was born. The whole world has been afflicted by a mysterious and insoluble epidemic of infertility. There are no children. None at all. Nowhere. In about 50 years’ time everyone knows that men will have vanished from the earth. It’s a fascinating premise drawn from a 1992 novel by the British mystery writer PD James, now Baroness (Phyllis Dorothy) James of Holland Park. Global sterility is science fiction, of course, but it is a projection of current trends towards lower and lower birth rates throughout the world. In 20 years’ time in many countries in Europe and Asia, the largest age group will be the over-65s, with the average age approaching 50 - the age of the hero of Children of Men. Some countries are actually depopulating. Japan’s population began to fall this year.
Russia’s population is shrinking, due not only to a birth rate of about 1.3 per woman, but also to shockingly poor health, especially amongst men. Mediterranean countries like Spain, Italy and Greece have about the same birth rate, although their populations are healthier. No European Union country produces enough children even to maintain its current population level without immigration. Gloomy officials are talking about “turning the lights out”.
As in the film, no one knows how to boost the birth rate. Demographers used to think that after birth rates fell below replacement level, they might continue to drop but would eventually rebound. They haven’t. Instead, they continue to slide down to levels never seen in history before. As a consequence, there are suburbs in every developed country where the mysterious sterility of the Children of Men seems almost believable. What the film and novel show is how much we all need children, not just to create future workers, but to maintain optimism and joy. Without children hope vanishes. In fact, I felt that England without children was far more disturbing than the zombies and madmen of a Stephen King novel. Those terrors give a delicious frisson of fear - universal childlessness chills the heart to the core. Cuarón is a talented Mexican who directed Y Tu Mama Tambien and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. All the customers are riveted by the news that the youngest person on earth, has just been killed in a brawl in Buenos Aires. Nuclear war and other mysterious
catastrophes have broken out elsewhere. England has survived but law and order are threatened by vast numbers of illegal immigrants seeking refuge from chaos elsewhere. Middle-aged soldiers are armed to the teeth against a shadowy terrorist group fighting for ‘fugee rights. Where does this bleak scenario take us? Into withering political satire on neo-con politics. Cuarón, obviously a reader of the Guardian, hasn’t been consulting Mark Steyn’s doom-laden columns in the London Telegraph about effete Europeans who have forgotten that demography is destiny. Childlessness is clearly too trivial a theme to serve
- is discovered by the terrorists, who try to smuggle her out of the country to scientists who will use her to break the curse. In a classic Hollywood plot, Theo becomes a reluctant knight errant escorting a young Nigerian woman (ClareHope Ashitey) with a nearly unintelligible accent to the seacoast, pursued by both vicious terrorists and the brutal police. They end up in Bexhill-on-Sea, a sort of Gaza Strip run by the Ministry of Homeland Security. Thousands upon thousands of refugees from every nation on earth are packed into decaying apartment blocks in streets strewn with rubbish and corpses. Just so that we don’t forget the real message of the film, Theo stumbles into a Muslim burial parade, complete with scarved militants firing Kalashnikovs into the air to the chant of Allah akhbar!
Though the film is essentially about sex, or rather the failure of sex, Cuarón resists the temptation to sensationalise. The novel is quite different. PD James does believe that childlessness is a substantial topic. There is a deep moral seriousness about her novel, which is imbued with a pessimistic, but con-
as anything more than a pretext for nail-biting action and brilliant cinematography. The film’s real topic is the Iraq War, the Palestinian conflict and European attitudes towards refugees. Cuarón is a visual, not a cerebral, director. Even Mark Steyn will appreciate his images of a senescent Europe. Nearly everyone looks over 35. Children are just gutwrenching memories. Inevitably, a single pregnant woman - a ‘fugee
Following a disappointing setback in March this year saw an attempt by an Australian firm, to negotiate a deal for carriage of the EWTN signal on the Optus B3 satellite, failed to materialise, it was welcome news when a multiyear contract between EWTN and Globecast was signed on June 7 for transmission totally free-toair throughout Australia and New Zealand, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
This means that an average family may receive a huge range of inspiring, informative and entertaining programs, catering for every interest and age group. What a blessing to stem the tide of messages that run counter to the Gospel message so prevalent in the secular media!
EWTN has been described as the
last hope for Australia in halting an alarming loss of faith, especially among the young. But programs are enjoyed also by non-Catholics and non-Christians.
People of no faith appreciate TV fare that promotes family values.
Hitherto the only means of receiving EWTN was by means of a large, costly and cumbersome satellite dish. Now reception is available by a small affordable rooftop dish, for which installation is the only cost, with no ongoing payments. Other channels are also available on Optus B3. Installation may be carried out by any reliable installer, one of whom advertises in The Record.
Since Vatican II, our Popes have encouraged use of the powerful medium of TV to evangelise.
Twenty-five years ago a Franciscan Abbess, Mother Angelica, in America founded the Eternal Word Television Network. Now transmission reaches millions of homes throughout the world, bringing countless souls closer to God, and is international in character, including some Australian content, with more to come.
For further information visit the EWTN web site http://www.ewtn. com/ and a local site, http://www. bonamedia.iinet.net.au/ewtn.html.
There you will find information about EWTN weekly programs on Community TV and Radio.
Enquiries may be made of the Rosary Christian Tutorial Association, PO Box 1270 Booragoon 6954, or by phone on 9330-2467.
country car chase, as the Warden of England, a sort of 21st century Oliver Cromwell, pursues Theo and the world’s last pregnant woman to cement his grip on power. As in the film, the ending is unsatisfactory and implausible: how can the birth of a single child possibly save humanity from extinction? It’s more likely that she will spend 50 years of her life in Robinson Crusoe solitude, hoping for an interstellar Friday to keep her company.
Cuarón’s future is grim and violent, but James’s is almost unbearably sad as she imagines how we would get on with life. The swings are removed and the playgrounds paved over. Barges filled with senile elderly are sunk offshore to the strains of “Somewhere over the rainbow”. Anglican clergymen baptise kittens for parishioners. She has obviously pondered the meaning of sexuality for the contraceptive mindset. “Even those men and women who would normally have no wish to breed apparently need the assurance that they could have a child if they wished,” Theo observes in his diary. “Sex totally divorced from procreation has become almost meaninglessly acrobatic.”
vinced, Christianity. She certainly has a deeper sense of what life is about. For instance, Theo points out to the mother - in this case, an English dissident - that the government is at least “ensuring that the race dies with some dignity”. She responds, “Dignity? How can there be dignity if we care so little for the dignity of others?” But the novel falters in its downhill run, lapsing into a humdrum cross-
When there are no children, no one is going to give a damn about democracy. What point is there in justice if there is no future? All people want is “freedom from fear, freedom from want, freedom from boredom” - no one cares what happens to criminals, refugees and the demented elderly. As Theo is told by one of the Warden’s council: Whatever man has done for good or ill has been done in the knowledge that he has been formed by history, that his lifespan is brief, uncertain, insubstantial, but that there will be a future, for the nation, for the race, for the tribe. That hope has finally gone except in the minds of fools and fanatics.
Man is diminished if he lives without knowledge of his past; without hope of a future he becomes a beast.In other words, demography is destiny. The human race is in no danger of extinction, thank God, but these sobering words ought to be sent to politicians everywhere. Michael Cook is Editor of MercatorNet.
The Eternal Word Television Network
On Access 31 every Sunday 1pm - 2pm Coming Programs
November 12 Cloning, stem cell research and related issues / attorneys Nikolas Nikas and Dorinda Bordlee of the Bio-Ethics Defence Fund, with Fr Benedict Groeschel [Sunday Night Live]
19 Radical Feminism and its Consequences / Kate O’Beirne with Raymond Arroyo [World Over]
26 Authentic femininity: Women of Grace with Host Johnnette Benkovic [The Abundant Life]
December 3 Addictions / Fr J Corapi [Immortal Combat]
10 Family Retreat / Archbishop Fulton J Sheen with kind permission of the Fulton J Sheen Society Inc
17 Songs (including The Angelus with children) / Dana with guest Christopher Walker [Say Yes] Plus another half-hour program not yet selected
24 Our Lady of Guadaloupe/Mother Angelica dancing with a Mexican Band
31 Feast of the Holy Family: G.K. Chesterton on the Christian family / Dale Ahlquist with the Panel [Franciscan University Presents]
■ BRICK REPOINTING
Phone Nigel 9242 2952.
■ PERROTT PAINTING PTY LTD
For all your residential, commercial painting requirements. Phone Tom Perrott 9444 1200.
■ PICASSO PAINTING
Top service. Phone 0419 915 836, fax 9345 0505.
■ ALL AREAS
Mike Murphy 0416 226 434.
November
■ DENMARK
Holiday House 3bdr x 2bath, sleeps up to 8. BOOK NOW. Ph: Maria 0412 083 377.
■ FAMILY/GROUP ACCOMMODATION
Luxury f/f beach house complex Perth. www. guadalupehill.com. 0400 292 100.
■ CATHOLICS CORNER
Retailer of Catholic products specialising in gifts, cards and apparel for baptism, communion and confirmation. Ph: 9456 1777. Shop 12, 64-66 Bannister Road, Canning Vale. Open Mon-Sat.
■ REPAIR YOUR LITURGICAL BOOKS REPAIRS to all sorts of books and leather bindings; reliable, reasonable rates. Ph. (08) 9293 3092
■ IRISH ECHO NEWSPAPER
Give your friend or relative the Gift that lasts a year. A subscription to Australia’s only Irish newspaper costs just $80, we’ll even send them a card for you. Call 1300 555 995 (Toll-free) or email: sueb@irishecho.com.au. www.irishecho.com.au
18 Memorial Mass for Sr Carmeline OSM, Joondanna - Archbishop Hickey
19 Mass to celebrate 25th Anniversary of Vietnamese Community, Westminster - Archbishop Hickey
21 Vocations Dinner - Archbishop Hickey
23 Award for Committee for Family and for Life logo, Glendalough - Archbishop Hickey
Institution of New Acolytes, St Mary’s, Leederville - Archbishop Hickey
Sunday November 19
Classifieds
Classifieds must be submitted by fax, email or post no later than 12pm Tuesday. For more information contact 9227 7778.
24 Presentation of LifeLink Day cheque from St Simon Peter Primary School, Ocean Reef - Archbishop Hickey
Principals’ Thanksgiving Mass, CEO Chapel - Archbishop Hickey
25 10th Anniversary Mass for Pregnancy Assistance, John XXIII Chapel - Archbishop Hickey
70th Anniversary of St Thomas’ Church, Claremont - Archbishop Hickey
Breakfast for International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women - Michelle Wood 26 - 1 Bishops’ Conference, Sydney - Archbishop Hickey, Bishop Sproxton
ST JOACHIM’S CHURCH GOLDEN JUBILEE
Victoria Park - Celebrate with sung Mass at 11am followed by a “bring and share international lunch”. Also seeking memorabilia of the opening and events over the years. All former and present parishioners and friends invited. Enquiries: Mary 9361 9732.
Sunday November 19
TAIZE MEDITATIVE PRAYER
Come and join in the prayer with scripture and song in a candle lit St Joseph’s Chapel, 16 York St, South Perth. 7pm-8pm. All welcome. Bring a friend and a torch.
Wednesday November 22
DEATH AND DYING SEMINAR
Catholic Women’s League is holding a Seminar on Catholic teaching on Death and Dying from 11.30am to 2pm at 49A Vincent Street, Mt Lawley. Speakers: Fr Greg Donovan and Fr Joe Parkinson. Enquiries: Margaret 9328 8978. All welcome.
Thursday November 23
ATHOL BLOOMER
Athol Bloomer, a Hebrew Catholic is speaking at Casa di Luisa Piccarreta, 59 Newton St Spearwood. Mass at 11am, light lunch and then talk at 12.45pm - 2pm. All welcome. This will be Athol’s last talk before he goes to the USA and Europe in a few weeks time. Further inquiries phone Jenny/Michele on 9494 2604.
Thursday November 23
PRESENTATION SISTERS’ 50TH ANNIVERSARY
St Augustine’s School Community invites all interested parties to attend a celebration to acknowledge the service to St Augustine’s School, Rivervale. This will take place in the school grounds at 9am, followed by morning tea. For catering purposes, RSVP on 9361 6158.
Friday November 24
HEALING OF THE FAMILY TREE
7.30-9.30pm, Our Lady of the Missions Church, 270 Camberwarra Drive, Craigie. Come and celebrate a Healing of the Family Tree Mass with Fr Michael Brown OFM, Fr Antony Van Dyke OP, Fr Irek Czech SDS and Fr Eugene McGrath. Praise time, confession and healing prayer. Enquiries: Jenni Young 9445 1028 or 0404 389 679. Family Tree booklets available for $2 prior to the Mass.
November 24 to 26
CHRIST THE KING
A Retreat and Healing Rally at The Sacred Heart Church, Guppy St, Pemberton on 24th & 25th November, presented by the Holy Spirit of Freedom Community. A Eucharistic Procession and Celebration of the Feast of Christ the King will be held on 26th November in conjunction with the Sacred Heart Parish. Bookings and information: Marcelle Batticci Ph 9776 1542 or Meryl Giumelli 9772 1172.
November 25 & 26
ALLIANCE OF THE TWO HEARTS SEMINAR
Seminar by Priest from Delaware, USA with a team
of six will present a seminar on: Saturday 25th 9am – 5pm (4pm mass) Sunday 26th 10am – 12pm (11am mass). B.Y.O lunch. All welcome! Contact Vicky: 9364 2378 or 0400 282 357, Catalina: 0439 931 151. St Bernadette’s Parish, Glendalough, evening Mass Monday to Friday 5.45pm, 49 Jugan Street, Glendalough.
Sunday November 26
CHRIST THE KING EUCHARISTIC PROCESSION
Schoenstatt Shrine, 9 Talus Drive, Armadale. Invitation to all First Communion children who received Jesus for the first time in 2006 and their families to celebrate our friendship feast with Jesus. Please BYO afternoon tea to share. Enquiries: 9399 2349 or shrine@elink.net.au
Sunday November 26
SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING
Most Rev. Peter Quinn, retired Bishop of Bunbury, will preside over ceremonies to celebrate the Solemnity. Commencing 2pm at the Shrine of Virgin of the Revelation, 36 Chittering Road, Bullsbrook. Including: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, followed by a procession, Holy Mass and Consecration to the Sacred Heart, Christ the King. Ample parking and lawn areas available for picnics.
Enquiries: SACRI 9447 3292.
Saturday December 2
DAY WITH MARY
Our Lady of the Mission Church, 270 Camberwarra Drive, Craigie, 9am to 5pm. A video on Fatima will be shown at 9am. A day of prayer and instruction based upon the messages of Fatima. Includes Sacrament of Penance, Holy Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Sermons, Rosaries, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Stations of the Cross. BYO lunch. Enquiries: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286.
Sunday December 3
DIVINE MERCY
An afternoon with Jesus and Mary will be held at St Joachim’s Church, Corner Shepperton Road and Harper Street, Victoria Park at 1.30pm. Program: Holy Rosary and reconciliation, sermon with Fr Andre Maria FFI on the Holy Family followed by Divine Mercy prayers and Benediction. Enquiries:
John: 9457 7771 or Linda 9275 6608
Sunday December 3
ANNUAL ROSARY PROCESSION
In honour of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, 2:00pm, St Joseph’s Parish Church, Hamilton Street, Bassendean. Followed by Benediction. In preparation a tridium of Rosaries will be held: Wednesday November 29, 7pm, Thursday November 30, 7pm and Friday December 1, 7pm. Enquiries: Jude Rodrigues 0408 541 459, Colin Caputo 9279 9750 or Renato Passamani 0419 924 633.
Tuesday December 5
CHARISMATIC RENEWAL MASS
Catholic Charismatic Renewal end-of-year Mass celebrated at Holy Family Church, Cnr Canning Hwy/Thelma St, Como. Commencing 7pm with Prayer & Praise. Evening concludes with a light sup-
per (approx 9.30pm). Please bring a plate (finger food) to share.
Wednesday December 8
MASS IN HONOUR OF BLESSED MARY MACKILLOP
At 6pm, Sisters of St Joseph Chapel, 16 York St, South Perth. Everyone welcome. Also now available Josephite/Mary MacKillop 2007 Calendar with inspirations from the writings of Blessed Mary MacKillop. Contact 9334 0999.
December 12 to 15
PARISH MISSION KALAMUNDA
Fr Brian and Sr Ngaire Roil, the Directors of Spirituality Centre, Perth Archdiocese will lead Parish Mission in Holy Family – Kalamunda Parish between 7.30-9pm. The theme of the mission is “People of Advent”. Second Rite of Reconciliation will be celebrated on Thursday night. All are welcome.
Wednesday December 13
FULTON J SHEEN SOCIETY MASS
Archbishop Barry Hickey Celebrant. Trinity College Chapel 10.00am. Followed by Lecture “Archbishop Fulton J Sheen The Complete Apostle. Is his legacy appropriate for today?” Delivered by Fr Scott Armstrong Vianney College Wagga Wagga. All welcome. Enquiries: 9291 8224 or email sheensociety@globaldial.com
DIVINE MERCY
Every Saturday afternoon at St Francis Xavier’s Church, 25 Windsor Street, East Perth from 2:30pm. Holy Hour will be held with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Holy Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet and prayers plus Reconciliation and Benediction. A Holy Mass is also held every second Saturday including Sacrament of Healing. Enquiries: John: 9457 7771 or Linda 9275 6608.
TUESDAY NIGHT PRAYER MEETINGS
St Mary’s Cathedral Parish Centre, 450 Hay Street, Perth, 7pm. Come join us! Overcome the burdens in life making prayer your lifeline with Jesus. Personal healing in prayer, Rosary, meditation, Scripture, praise in song, friendship, refreshments. Be united with Our Lord and Our Lady in prayer with others. Appreciate the heritage of the Faith.
First Sunday of the Month
DEVOTIONS IN HONOUR OF THE DIVINE MERCY
The Santa Clara Parish Community welcomes anyone from surrounding parishes and beyond to the Santa Clara Church, corner of Coolgardie and Pollock Sts, Bentley on the 1st Sunday of each month. The afternoon commences with the 3 o’clock prayer, followed by the Divine Mercy Chaplet, Reflection and concludes with Benediction.
BLESSED SACRAMENT ADORATION
Holy Family Church, Alcock Street, Maddington. Friday 8.30 am Holy Mass followed by Blessed Sacrament Adoration till 12 noon. Every first Friday of the month, anointing of the sick during Mass. Enq. 9398 6350.
Every Friday Bible Study & Novena to God, Our Father. Every
Friday, 7.00pm at All Saints Chapel, Allendale Square, Perth. Bible study on Genesis followed by Novena to God, Our Father, both conducted by Fr Douglas Rowe. Enquiries to Yit 9310 1392, 0432 344 570, 0401 674 302.
Wednesdays SIGN LANGUAGE COURSE
Australian Sign Language (Auslan) Classes are offered free of charge at Emmanuel Centre on Wednesdays at 1pm. If this does not suit you, other arrangements can be made. Please contact Fr Paul or Barbara at Emmanuel Centre, 25 Windsor St Perth 9328 8113.
QUEEN OF APOSTLES SCHOOL
If anyone has information on Queen of Apostles School, Riverton, used to go there or knows anyone who did please do one of the following to tell the extension group – Call 9354 1360 and ask to speak to Veronique or email your information to veronequeregnard@gmail.com.au or janellekoh@yahoo.com.au or you can put your information into the box in the office at Queen of Apostles School. Thanking you in anticipation.
ST COLUMBA’S BAYSWATER
Information is sought from past and present parishioners of St Columba’s Catholic Church (Roberts St Bayswater) for inclusion in a written history (1905 – 2007) of the parish. Photographs of Parish Priests, parishioners and events depicting the original and current Church greatly appreciated. Contact: Carolyn Kelly, St Columba’s History, PO Box 47 Bayswater 6053 WA. Telephone: 9271 1988.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
Is alcohol costing you more than just money?
Alcoholics Anonymous can help. Ring 9325 3566.
ATTENTION COUPLES
Have you or your spouse been diagnosed with a mental illness? Depression? Anxiety/Panic Attacks? etc. Could you do with some help in understanding your/their illness? Do you know how to get help when you need it? We can help you to help each other through the Unconditional Love Program. For more information contact Amanda Olsen: 0407 192 641, or email: mandyfolsen@bigpond.com.au.
AL ANON FAMILY GROUPS
If a loved one’s drinking is worrying you – please call Al Anon Family Groups for confidential information meetings etc... Phone Number 9325 7528 – 24 hrs.
LINDA’S HOUSE OF HOPE APPEAL
Panorama entries must be in by 5pm Monday. Contributions may be faxed to 9227 7087, emailed to administration@therecord. com.au or mailed to PO box 75, Leederville, WA 6902.
To enable us to continue to provide and offer support for girls wishing to leave the sex trade we need your help. We have achieved already new offfices which are now complete at the rear of the shelter and are fully functional. Donations are also required to complete the internal layout of the shelter itself. Please send donations to Linda’s House of Hope PO Box Z5640, Perth, St George’s Tce 6831. Ph: 0439 401 009. All donations over $2 are tax deductible.
Submissions over 55 words will be excluded. Inclusion is limited to 4 weeks. Events charging over $10 constitute a classified event, and will be charged accordingly. The Record reserves the right to decline or modify any advertis-
Last week Pope Benedict XVI reflected on how we can learn from the way Paul of Tarsus lived his life for Christ
We have seen how the encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus literally revolutionised Paul’s life. Christ became his reason for being and the profound motive of all his apostolic work.
In his letters, after the name of God, which appears over 500 times, the name most often mentioned is that of Christ - 380 times. Therefore, it is important that we realise how Jesus Christ can influence a person’s life and, hence, also our own life. In fact, Jesus Christ is the apex of the history of salvation and therefore the true discriminating point in the dialogue with other religions. On seeing Paul’s example, we can thus formulate the basic question: How does the human being’s encounter with Christ take place? In what does the relationship that stems from it consist? The answer Paul gives can be understood in two ways.
In the first place, Paul helps us to understand the fundamental and irreplaceable value of faith. In the Letter to the Romans, he writes:
“For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law” (3:28). And in the Letter to the Galatians: “a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, in order to be justified by faith in Jesus Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified” (2:16).
“To be justified” means to be made righteous, that is, to be received by the merciful justice of God, and enter into communion with him and therefore to be able to establish a much more authentic relationship with all our brothers: and this in virtue of a total forgiveness of our sins.
Paul says with all clarity that this condition of life does not depend on our possible good works, but on the pure grace of God: We “are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).
With these words, Paul expresses the fundamental content of his conversion, the new direction his life
took as a result of his encounter with the Risen Christ. Before his conversion, Paul was not a man estranged from God or his law. On the contrary, he was observant, with an observance that bordered on fanaticism. However, in the light of the encounter with Christ, he understood that with this he only sought to make himself, his own righteousness, and with all that righteousness he had lived only for himself. He understood that his life needed absolutely a new orientation. And he expresses this new orientation thus: “The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
Paul, therefore, no longer lives for himself, for his own righteousness. He lives from Christ and with Christ: Giving himself, he no longer seeks or makes himself. This is the new righteousness, the new orientation that the Lord has given us, which gives us faith. Before the cross of Christ, highest expression of his self-giving, there is no longer any one who can glory in himself, in his own righteousness.
On another occasion, Paul echoing Jeremiah, clarifies his thought: “Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:31; Jeremiah 9:22f); or also: “But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world!” (Galatians 6:14).
On reflecting what it means not to justify oneself by works but by faith, we have come to the second element that defines the Christian identity described by St Paul in his own life. Christian identity which is made up in fact of two elements: not to seek oneself, but to be clothed in Christ and to give oneself with Christ, and in this way participate personally in the life of Christ himself to the point of being immersed in him, sharing both in his death as well as his life.
Paul writes this in the Letter to the Romans: We were “baptised into Jesus Christ, we were baptised into his death ... we were buried with him ... we are one with him ... So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:3, 4, 5, 11). Precisely this last expression is symptomatic: For Paul, in fact, it is not enough to say that Christians are baptised, believers; for him it is equally important to say that they “are in Christ Jesus” (cf. also Romans 8:1, 2, 39; 12:5; 16:3,7,10; 1 Corinthians 1:2,3, etc.).
On other occasions he inverts the terms and writes that “Christ is in us/you” (Romans 8:10; 2 Corinthians 13:5) or “in me” (Galatians 2:20). This mutual understanding between Christ and the Christian, characteristic of Paul’s teaching, completes his reflection on faith. Faith, in fact, although it unites us intimately to Christ, underlines the distinction between us and him.
However, according to Paul, the Christian’s life also has an element which we could call “mystical,” as it entails losing ourselves in Christ and Christ in us. In this connection, the Apostle goes so far as to describe our sufferings as the “sufferings of Christ in us” (2 Corinthians 1:5), so that we always carry “in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies” (2 Corinthians 4:10).
We must apply all this to our daily life following the example of Paul who always lived with this great spiritual horizon. On one hand, faith must keep us in a constant attitude of humility before God, more than that, of adoration and praise in relation to him.
In fact, what we are as Christians we owe only to him and to his grace. Given that nothing and no one can take his place, it is necessary therefore that we render to nothing and no one the homage we render to him. No idol must contaminate our spiritual universe; otherwise, instead of enjoying the freedom attained we will again fall into a humiliating slavery. On the other hand, our radical belonging to Christ and the fact that “we are in him” must infuse in us an attitude of complete confidence and immense joy.
In short, we must exclaim with St Paul: “If God is for us, who is against us?” (Romans 8:39). Our Christian life, therefore, is based on the most stable and sure rock imaginable.
From it we draw all our energy, as the Apostle in fact writes: “I can do all things in him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).
Let us face our lives, with its joys and sorrows, supported by these great sentiments that Paul offers us.
Experiencing this, we can understand that what the Apostle himself writes is true: “I know whom I have believed, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me,” that is, until the definitive day (2 Timothy 1:12) of our encounter with Christ, judge, saviour of the world and of us.
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Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In our catechesis today we continue our reflection on the Apostle Paul and his dramatic conversion to Christ. As a result of this experience, Christ became Paul’s very life and the inspiration of all his apostolic labours. By his words and example, Paul teaches us that through faith we are made “righteous” before God; we encounter his merciful justice, enter into fellowship with him and are enabled to build a more authentic relationship with others.
Our justification is pure grace, an unmerited gift of God’s radical love manifested in the Cross and Resurrection of Christ.
Like Abraham, whose faith in God was credited to him as righteousness (cf. Romans 4:3), we are justified by grace and not by our own works; hence, our only boast must be in the Lord! Through faith and Baptism, we share in the Lord’s death and rising to new life; we now live “in Christ,” just as he lives “in us,” in a mystical union which does not dissolve the distinction
between him and us. Saint Paul’s example shows us that faith must be expressed in a daily life marked by humble adoration and praise of God, constant gratitude for his mercy, and a spirit of joyful trust in his gracious love, revealed to the world in Christ Jesus his Son.
I am pleased to greet the young people of different nations and religious traditions who recently gathered in Assisi to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the Inter-Religious Meeting of Prayer for Peace desired by my predecessor, Pope John Paul II. I thank the various religious leaders who enabled them to take part in this event, and the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue which organized it.
Dear young friends: our world urgently needs peace! The Assisi meeting emphasised the power of prayer in building peace. Genuine prayer transforms hearts, opens us to dialogue, understanding and reconciliation, and breaks down the walls erected by violence, hatred and revenge. May you now return to your own religious communities as witnesses to “the spirit of Assisi,” messengers of that peace which is God’s gracious gift, and living signs of hope for our world.
