DEAR PADRE: what Special Ministers should - and shouldn’t - do Page 7
Thursday March ,
Perth, Western Australia ● $1 Western Australia’s Award-winning Catholic newspaper
PERSEVERANCE: Strength gained from coping with mental illness Page 8
Seven people addicted to sniffing paint fumes slept on the verandah of Archbishop Hickey’s small house on Thursday night last week.
At 3am on Friday they began shouting and fighting, but the Archbishop resisted the temptation to go out and tell them to leave.
At 6am, his usual time for rising, he asked them to move on for the day, which they did, and he set about cleaning up the mess on the verandah. Among the debris were 10 empty cans of metallic paint that had been consumed during the night.
Early on Friday afternoon, Archbishop Hickey used the incident to illustrate to Year 11 students at CBC Fremantle the nature and importance of the Christian principle of love of God and love of neighbour.
He had been invited to the College to address the students on the beliefs and values of being a Catholic.
“Being a Catholic is about a person called Jesus, and once we make the choice to accept Jesus, his commandment of love calls on us to respect and defend the dignity of all human beings,” he said.
“This means we must accept the challenge to love people who appear to be very unlovable.
“The people on my verandah were homeless and addicted, not to alcohol or drugs but to sniffing substances that do terrible things to their brains.
“No one will provide for them. No one will provide a basic shelter.
“The challenge for me personally is to love them.
“Christ said, whatever you do for the least of my little ones you do for me – and these certainly are the
least in our society... Our challenge as Catholics is always to recognise the dignity of all people.
“It is recognition of the dignity of each person that leads us to be opposed to abortion and euthanasia. Old people have dignity and we
St Patrick’s Basilica in Fremantle was the logical point for an annual event that makes even the faintest Irish heart sentimental for Eire - the St Patrick’s Day Parade.
must recognise it.” The Archbishop told the students that some people, like himself, were born into a knowledge of Jesus and experience of the Catholic faith in prayer, family life, Mass, the sacraments, and the strong friendships that exist
with others who know and love Jesus.
But even people with that background needed to make a conscious choice to advance their faith to that of an adult.
Others encountered Jesus in a
variety of ways, but once they met him a real change happened in their lives. They not only wanted to be with Jesus, but also with his followers; and so we meet every week to worship Jesus.
Some, including many converts, go to Mass every day because they are so thrilled by what has happened to them.
A Catholic life consisted basically of three parts: the internal relationship with Jesus, the community life with other Catholics, and the witness to that faith in the life of society.
The Catholic Church traced its origins back to Christ, going back from the Pope through all his predecessors to Peter, and thus to the authority of Christ. Other Christian denominations existed but were not one with the Catholic Church.
Catholic life involves recognition that we need salvation and we need help to overcome our weaknesses, but it is not just about this life but also about the next life, after death. Life on earth is a journey to eternal life.
“We all must make the choice to accept or reject Jesus; it can’t be done for us,” the Archbishop said.
“Once we accept Jesus we are called to be holy, to draw strength from the sacraments Jesus and the Church give us, to pray, and to live a life of love of God and neighbour.
“Among the things we must defend are the dignity of all human beings, the proper use of human sexuality, and community worship at Mass and all that is around it.”
In relation to human sexuality, the Archbishop said that marriage is the way sexuality is properly
Continued on page 2
GPs may soon be able to test a fetus for chromosomal defect as early as 6 weeks into pregnancy. Fr JOE PARKINSON of the LJ Goody Bioethics Centre comments on this development.
The new test, similar to a pap smear, is undergoing clinical trial in Queensland under Prof Ian Findlay, chief scientific officer of Gribbles Molecular Science, who says that test results should be available to the patient within 24 hours.
This compares with existing diagnostic tests such as amniocentesis, which carries a 1-2% risk of miscarriage and takes up to a fortnight to deliver results.
Fr Joe Parkinson
The report makes it clear that the new test is designed to detect a number of fetal abnormalities, including Down syndrome and cystic fibrosis, and that it could be made available to all women regardless of age or degree of risk.
It is not clear whether a positive test result would require later diagnostic confirmation (through amniocentesis, for example) and, if so, what might be the additional benefits of such an early test.
“...it seems to pose ethical problems similar to other ante-natal screening programs...”
For example, other than detecting untreatable conditions such as Down syndrome, will the new test enable detection of other conditions for which early intervention
is possible? And should the new test become accepted in the profession as ‘best practice’, it is not clear whether a GP would have the right not to conduct it for a patient who wishes to terminate a ‘defective’ fetus, so that the GP can avoid cooperating in abortion.
Without more detailed information it is difficult to assess the moral implications of the new screening test, but at this distance it seems to pose ethical problems similar to other ante-natal screening programs designed to detect fetal abnormalities.
We can note at least three major areas of concern:
■ the connection between the new test and decisions to terminate a ‘defective’ fetus;
■ the provision of appropriate care for all patients, regardless of their moral choices; and
■ a Catholic GP’s rights and responsibilities in this regard.
We look forward to receiving more data on the new test as they come to hand, and to offering a more considered opinion on various ethical aspects of it.
The LJ Goody Bioethics Centre can be contacted on (08) 9242 4066.
Continued from page 1 expressed, because through marriage sexuality is connected to love, fidelity and new life.
The Catholic understanding of sexuality was not popular these days, but Jesus did not say it would be. “Going to Mass is part and parcel of being a Catholic; there is no way around it,” Archbishop Hickey told the students.
“If you go to Mass and find it unappealing, it is because you don’t know what it is all about.
“When you know and believe that Jesus is truly present on the altar and in the Blessed Eucharist, you will want to go to Mass.
“Pray, read the Gospels, talk to Jesus and both He and the Mass will come alive in you.
“It happens to lots and lots of people like you, and although it is sadly true that lots of young people are not drawn to the Church, I meet many young people, such as the Disciples of Jesus and other groups,
who are very enthusiastic about the Church.” In conclusion, Archbishop Hickey told the students that the Church offered them true spirituality, and inner life of prayer, reading
and a relationship with God. It was a community with the Pope as its head, the successor of St Peter, and Mass was the community’s celebration of the sacrifice and triumph of
Jesus.It provided a great opportunities for people to be active in the community through a whole host of welfare organisations, not only in Fremantle and Perth but also
around the world. “You will find the Church among the poorest of the poor in every part of the world,” he said. “This is the living Gospel of Jesus.”
In answers to questions from students, Archbishop Hickey said:
■ He would not become a Cardinal. Being a Cardinal is not an ambition. You don’t aim to be a bishop or a cardinal; it is just something that happens.
■ If the Pope was incapacitated the Cardinals would keep things going. It was said that there was a letter relating to the Pope’s resignation if he was permanently incapacitated, but he did not know whether that was true. The Pope’s perseverance was a great encouragement to people with disabilities
to keep going with their own lives.
■ In theory he could exorcise, but in practice he had never done so because he had not come across a case he thought was genuine possession. Before performing an exorcism a priest must first purify himself with prayer and the sacraments.
■ The respect shown for priests by his family and their friends and the work priests did for others attracted him to the priesthood. He was certain he had been called to be a priest and never thought he had made the wrong choice,
although there were times when he thought he was not worthy to be a priest or a bishop because of mistakes he had made, and felt that others would do a better job.
■ Perhaps marriage would have made him a better man – looking after a wife and children with love makes you a better man – but then he would not have had the time to do his job properly, to give himself totally to God and his people.
■ Jesus founded the Church and he had no doubt that it will go on forever. Many attempts had been made to crush the Church, but
they failed. There had been violent persecutions throughout the Church’s history, but they always resulted in greater love for God and the Church. He had recently returned from Vietnam where they had suffered persecutions, but the seminaries and convents were full; they knew the value of the faith.
The Church in the Ukraine had lost all its churches, schools, hospitals, clergy and lay leaders in Soviet persecutions, but the faith went undergound and emerged stronger than ever when Soviet Communism collapsed.
As one of the most multi-cultural Catholic Schools in Western Australia, Harmony Week was a special time for Aranmore College ‘to take away some of the differences and take a closer look at common humanity,’ according to Community Relations Officer Georgia Loney. To mark the beginning of Harmony Week, the school asked various religious leaders in Perth if they would share with them a simple breakfast, together with staff and students.
“Our hopes were that it would be a relaxed, sociable meal, followed by prayers for peace,” said Miss Loney, “The morning was more than we could have asked for.”
The distinguished guests included Archbishop of Perth Barry Hickey, the Dean of St George’s Anglican Cathedral Dr John Shepherd, Rabbi Freilich from the Orthodox Jewish Temple, Rev Josie Steytler from the Anglican Church, Brother Geoff
Seaman from the Christian Brothers Community, Rev Rosemary Miller, a Social Justice Consultant for the United Church and Fr Thi Lam, a former Aranmore student and now Catholic Priest at Our Lady of
Mercy Parish Girrawheen. As part of his reflection, Rabbi Freilich mentioned how in the Judeo-Christian tradition the world started with one human being, Adam and that no one can say their ancestor was bet-
Deysi Mejia is a member of the HIV and AIDS Prevention Program “Equipo Contra El SIDA” of San Salvador, El Salvador. Caritas Australia has been a major partner of this program since 1998.
Deysi has a long history of involvement in ‘grassroots’ movements. In 1989 she started working as a catechist and health promoter in the semi-rural outskirts of San Salvador city. Her main challenge was to feed babies and pre-school children who were suffering from malnutrition.
Deysi joined the “Equipo Contra El SIDA” program in 2000. Her role in the team is to coordinate the Accompaniment Program, walking with those who are living with HIV and AIDS. She attends weekly medical clinics and visits the homes of those too unwell to attend the clinic.
As access to a balanced diet is as important as medication to HIV patients, Desyi ensures that all patients are provided with
The prayers of Catholic Youth Ministry are going to be answered.
In response to Pope John Paul II’s invitation to celebrate the Year of the Eucharist, CYM is inviting people of all ages, to attend its Catholic Prayer Festival from 1417 April in the monastic town of New Norcia.
The festival is now in its sixth year of running, and is designed to be a ‘top of the mountain’ retreat experience, according to CYM director Fr Don Kettle.
Archbishop Barry Hickey and Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton will also participate.
The event has been organised during the middle week of the school holidays to give students
Deysi Mejia
fruits, vegetables and staple foods. As isolation from the community is a major issue for those living with AIDS, Deysi has formed and trained a group of volunteers who visit patients’ homes once or twice a week to maintain social contact and to attend to other needs.
the opportunity of learning what prayer is all about.
Organisers promise the Festival will include great talks, food, outdoor activities, fireworks and (naturally) prayer.
Fr Kettle said that although most people attending are from the younger generation, there is no set age limit and the festival is open to anyone who desires to deepen their spiritual life.
“To meet new people who share the same faith and ideals,” he said.
The cost of the festival is $150, which will include accommodation, meals and activities.
So if you’re looking for a great retreat experience, don’t hesitate to fill out the registration form and send it in.
Anyone interested in participating in the Catholic Prayer Festival can contact Tracey on (08) 9498
5841 or Lucas on 0401 294 942
Registrations forms are downloadable from: www.cym.perthcatholic.org.au
A very important aspect of Deysi’s work is to ensure that the children of families living with HIV and AIDS have the possibility of attending school.
Many of these children work in markets, selling lollies and matches on street corners in a desperate bid to provide a meal for their families. As part of the outreach program of Equipo Contra El SIDA, Deysi enrols these children at school and provides them with books and school equipment. She maintains contact with them through home visits, encouraging them to continue their study.
Why is Deysi so committed?
“Nearly thirty years ago Archbishop Oscar Romero challenged all in the Church of El Salvador to be totally immersed in the lives of the poor and marginalised. Who today in El Salvador are the poorest of God’s poor, if not individuals and families living with HIV and AIDS?”
Continued on page 7
The five winners of The Record Reader Survey dinner for two draw were:
● LA Chan of Morley
● Mrs C Perreau of Balcatta
● Mr B Johnston of Doubleview
● Mr A Noonan of South Perth
● M&W Prichard of Bunbury
The winners will all receive a voucher for dinner for two, redeemable at Apparacida’s Café Emporium in Victoria Park.
sense of unity and harmony and respect.” “This is needed more in the world today where there is so much mistrust and turmoil.
“Functions like these should be encouraged and be an example to other educational institutions.”
Campus Minister Chris Brennan, with the help of students, opened the morning with grace, after which guests, students and staff sat at small tables to enjoy breakfast.
“We were also honoured by the 40 students who volunteered to come and help at the breakfast, who sat with our guests, and acted as perfect hosts in our school community,” Miss Loney said.
ter because we are all brothers. “We are all one,” he said. “Is it wonderful to see the school fostering that
Archbishop Hickey, Dr John Shepherd and Rev Rosemary Miller also offered their own prayers on peace, which focused on their belief in the One God, and a shared desire for a world free of hatred and intolerance.
Volunteer Managers for Epiphany Retreat Centre
The management committee is seeking a live-in Catholic couple (or single) to be responsible for the management of the Centre. Some experience in hospitality, catering and ground management. A small allowance will be provided.
Enquiries to Denise 9354 0200.
Apply to: President, Epiphany Retreat Centre 60 Fifth Ave, Rossmoyne 6148
A Catholic seminar in April will offer married couples a chance to deepen their intimacy and passion
■ By Mark ReidyMarried couples will be offered another chance to rediscover the intimacy and passion in their marriage when Sydney couple Byron and Francine Pirola return to Perth in April.
Last October, 22 Perth couples experienced a rediscovery of marriage during a two-day “Celebrate Love” seminar run by the Pirolas.
The Pirolas, who designed the ‘Celebrate Love’ seminars, will share their insights on all aspects of marital intimacy.
“Celebrate Love” is designed to lead married couples into deeper intimacy and a greater understanding of self-giving.
It has its spiritual foundations in what has come to be popularly known as Pope John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body,” and has evolved since the early 1990’s into the practical and user-friendly resource that it is today.
The ‘Celebrate Love’ series is suited to couples of all ages and, although presented in a Catholic context, couples of all faiths and practices are most welcome.
This year’s presentation will run over the weekend of the 9-10 April in Belmont and will consist of a series of presentations which will
In 2004 over 140 couples from three states, including WA, participated in a Celebrate Love seminar. Here are comments from some of those who attended:
“It has rekindled our passion and brought a new level of communication to us.”
“Helped us to realise that there are tools to strengthen our love and commitment to each other. It really has opened our eyes to areas in our marriage that need healing.”
“I came along this weekend with lots of issues to be sorted out and quite a troubled marriage (we are actually separated). The issues haven’t been resolved but I feel more positive about the future. Thank you.”
“It has reminded me of a quote I once read, “How great is God’s love to have given you to me to love for a lifetime”. How appropriate!”
encourage couples to discover and explore the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of their relationship.
These will be interspersed with moments of reflection, prayer and sharing (all sharing is specifically between husband and wife; there
“I found the seminar both powerful and painful. It was a ‘wake up’ call for me. I realised how selfish I can be at times. On the other side it uprooted the deep love I have for my spouse and made me realise I did deeply and truly love him. There were many tears as the hurt came to the surface. At the end though, I felt really peaceful and content.”
“It has brought up issues we had previously not discussed at great depth (very important issues). It has allowed us to spend quality time together as a couple. It has made a great marriage better.”
“It gave us an awareness of sexuality in the context of spirituality in the Church. It also showed how inadequate our marriage has been because of past family history and blockages.”
“That we as a couple are REALLY meant for each other. It made
are no group discussions). The Pirolas are hoping that the fruits of this year’s presentation will prove as positive as last year’s.
me realise my partner was a gift and to understand the female perspective on sexuality. It showed me not to be controlling, judgmental or conditional in my love and to listen more and try to understand how my partner feels, not just hear what she is saying.”
“Given us a very deep understanding of sexuality, tools to increase our passions and to be aware of what God has called me into.”
“We have reconnected. We have moved from taking each other’s love and life for granted to cherishing each other and the gift we are to one another.”
“The seminar reminded me what a precious asset that God has given me and showed me what a jerk I have been sometimes in not treasuring something so precious in my very midst – my friend, lover and mother of our children – my wife.”
The best way to love your children is for husband and wife to constantly demonstrate their love for one another. This is a claim supported by both secular and Christian organisations.
Recent research by the Office for National Statistics in the UK found that the average couple spends only 15 minutes each day socialising together. Commenting on these results Counsellor Paula Hall said that the time couples are spending apart is one reason for the soaring divorce rate.
“Time together is incredibly important, “ she said. “The less time couples spend together the more distance grows between them”. Such secular findings confirm the insights of Pope John Paul II’s ‘Theology of the Body’.
The Pope describes marriage as a union of mutual self–giving and emphasises that if the gift of self is not practised in all aspects of a marriage then love is not being provided with a fertile ground in which to grow.
“The Pope describes marriage as a union of mutual self–giving”
“Celebrate Love” addresses this ever-increasing dilemma in relation to its effect on children. It claims that the most significant influence on our sexual identity comes from our families, particularly our parents. To allow children to witness the love of their parents will provide them with
more security than anything that could be done for or with them individually. Younger children specifically need to see this love demonstrated in practical ways.
If children do not see their parents displaying intimacy through emotional sharing and physical touching then they will form their own definitions of love based on the absence of it. It is vital that parents begin to understand, not only their own attitudes to marriage and intimacy, but also to be aware of the lifelong ramifications that these will have on their children.
“Celebrate Love” is designed to explore these and many other issues relevant to the impact of marriage on individuals, the family, and the broader Church body.
Over 140 couples across three states participated in a Celebrate Love seminar in 2004
To meet the growing demand Byron and Francine Pirola convened an intensive training weekend for Celebrate Love on the threshold of Valentine’s Day and Marriage Awareness week in February.
Byron and Francine Pirola
Sixteen couples converged on Sydney, travelling from Perth, Melbourne, Newcastle and regional NSW to join local Sydney couples for the event.
“Normally, we train our presenters in an apprenticeship system, where couples are coached individually over the course of three or four seminars” say the Pirolas.
“This has been fine to date, but our rapid expansion to remote areas has made this more difficult. We needed to accelerate the induction of our presenters so that we could meet the immediate needs for seminars scheduled for the coming year.
“An intensive weekend was the best way to do this, and it also had the benefit of helping us develop a sense of common mission across the national network. For most of the couples attending, the opportunity to meet the other presenters was a real highlight.”
Michael and Tricia Casey from New South Wales’ Central Coast recounted how Celebrate Love had provided a break-through in their relationship.
“When we did the Seminar six years ago, we were a typical married couple – we were happily married, but had ‘settled’. We didn’t realise that there was so much more intimacy and joy available to us. The seminar was like a fresh start for us. It was just too good not to share.”
Michael and Tricia were responsible for sensitising the presenting couples to issues relating to the duty of care and to developing a service mentality among the Celebrate Love team.
Presenters Luke and Vanessa Van Beek of Perth describe the seminar as being timely, for their own relationship, and for society generally.
“The power of Celebrate Love is that it equips you to view everything through the
lens of sexuality. We are so much more conscious of the sexual atmosphere between us on a daily basis. It’s also helped to expand our appreciation of how important sexuality is to a healthy marriage. With marriages breaking down in large numbers, the message of Celebrate Love for society is urgent.”
For new presenters James and Tricia Button, CL was not just about improving their marriage.
“The CL seminar was great for us, giving us practical tools for our relationship. The unexpected bonus was that it started me on a journey to becoming a Catholic,” said
James. “When we saw how shared faith was such a gift to the other couples, we decided to explore the issue and, with the support of the CL community, I was received into the Church last year.”
The weekend included input on the roles and responsibilities of presenters, video coaching in presentation skills by a professional speech and drama trainer, and the
writing and workshopping of talks. Fr Vince Casey of Chatswood parish, affirmed the couples for their role.
“The people of the Church urgently need the message of Celebrate Love. The Church is becoming increasingly irrelevant to them and you are important in calling people back into the truth and beauty of God’s plan for marriage.”
The Record will be presenting more specific details of “Celebrate Love” over the coming weeks. If you require further information contact Brad and Mary Prentice on (08) 9401 0596. Or visit the Celebrate Love website at: www.celebratelove.com.au
First published in 1999, this second edition contains new material and a chapter for children of First Communion and Confirmation age.
(10th October 04 - 29th October 05)
“The Church and the world have great need of Eucharistic Worship. Jesus waits for us in the sacrament of love. Let us be generous with him in going to meet him in adoration and in contemplation that is full of faith and ready to make reparation for the great faults and crimes of the world.”
(John Paul II: Dominicae Cenae 3)
“This book ... contains a wealth of prayers, thoughts and meditations, all centred around the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament ....It is a privilege for us to be able to spend time before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. During those precious moments we sense Jesus' tremendous love for us. We bring to Him our joys and our sorrows, we talk to Him about the needs of those around us, and we ask for that deep conversion of the heart and mind that will make us one with Him ... I commend this book to all, especially to those who have rediscovered the beauty and joy of Eucharistic adoration..."
Most Rev. B. J. Hickey - Archbishop of Perth
A beautiful set of Vatican Rosary beads will be sent to all those who give an additional charity donation of $10.00 or more to help the projects of Aid to the Church in Need for the persecuted Church in Sudan*. Please tick the box below if you would like to receive the Papal Rosary beads.
Shane Warne is a remarkable leg spin bowler, a handy batsman for a bowler, an excellent fieldsman, and a very good leader of men as a stand-in captain of the Australian cricket team. He may have many other admirable qualities that his family and friends know more about than the rest of us. He has given huge pleasure to millions of Australians and many times more millions of Indians and other cricket enthusiasts who admire not only his great skill, but also the strength of character that enables him to produce special performances at times when disappointment and fear of imminent defeat would diminish the performance of lesser players. He has never been expected to be a spiritual or moral leader – except within his own family where his roles as husband and father require him to be so, just as they do all of us. However, his announcement of the family’s intention to set up home in England has provided an opportunity for the media to give us yet another classic illustration of where not to look to find meaning in life. Every news report we encountered repeated every piece of destructive gossip they thought they could use without fear of libel suits, and none that came to our attention made any reference to his remarkable cricketing career – and it is only his cricket, not his private life, that makes him newsworthy in the first place.
Yet the media, as they so commonly do, pretend that the meaning of the man can be found in what they believe is wrong with him. This pernicious habit of giving credit to what is wrong rather than to what is right is not confined to the media. It haunts all of us. The media just provide us with public demonstrations of what limits all of us in private.
PO Box 75, Leederville, WA 6902
Tel: (08) 9227 7080, Fax: (08) 9227 7087 cathrec@iinet.net.au
It began with Adam and Eve. When God finished creation he saw that it was good, but Adam and Eve chose to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and bad, and there has been trouble ever since.
The trouble with looking for what is bad is that it closes our minds to what is good. Jesus reminded us of this many times, and St Paul urged us to “think only of things of good repute” – an injunction that would put an end to about 90 per cent of all conversation if it were applied. It would also put an end to the same amount of discord, drama, anxiety and other useless states of being.
When spouses begin to focus on faults in one another, they suffer great pain and sometimes even run from the pain by divorce, which creates only greater pain. It is a simple fact that when they change their focus and begin to look for the good in one another, they rediscover the joy of the wonderful mystery that God has provided in each of them the one other who can perfectly share their weaknesses and strengths even though it takes a lifetime to do so.
When parents focus on what they see wrong in their children, they create great pain and confusion that actually works to prevent the children learning and growing in the goodness that should be theirs. That goodness should come primarily from the love of their parents, but when that love is lost in repeated criticism the children simply do not gain the strength that should be theirs.
The same is true of those Catholics whose constant mindset is to criticize the Church, as though in some way that would lead them to understand the truth and beauty of who she is. It is pathetically sad and painful to hear it because it almost guarantees (never forgetting the grace of God) that the critic will never see the wonder of Him who founded the Church and dwells in it and enlivens it around the world. How different is the view of the distinguished English writer and convert Maurice Baring. When that even more distinguished writer G.K.Chesterton entered the Church, Baring, a good friend who had helped him on the journey, wrote him a letter of congratulation which included these words: “Every day I live, the Church seems to me more and more wonderful; the Sacraments more and more solemn and sustaining; the voice of the Church, her liturgy, her rules, her discipline, her ritual, her decisions in matters of Faith and Morals more and more excellent and profoundly wise and true and right, and her children stamped with something those outside her are without. There I have found Truth and reality, and everything outside Her is to me compared with Her as dust and shadow.”
They are the words of a man who could see clearly, who lived in the joy of what he could see, and who, in his autobiography, described his entry into the Church as “the only action in my life which I am quite certain I have never regretted”.
While the problem of looking for meaning in what is bad began in the Garden of Eden, the ultimate antidote is provided on the Cross on Good Friday … but it is not only in the suffering and death of Jesus. Listen for it as the Gospel of the Passion is read on Sunday and again on Good Friday: There were two thieves crucified alongside him. One joined in the criticism and attack on Jesus, but the other saw his goodness and proclaimed it. His reward? “This day you will be with me in paradise.”
Jesus opens the door to paradise, but we must make our own choices, every day.
The cloning of human embryos for reproduction or stem cell research must be banned because human life will be intentionally destroyed by it.
Some claim the “right” to pursue the “imperative” of scientific research. There is no such right.
Science must be ethically responsible. The right to human life is prior to all other rights obviously. It is the basis of the UN Declaration of Human Rights.
All UN delegates at a recent meeting on this matter agreed that reproductive and therapeutic cloning (research) were against the law of nature (Oct 04).
Millions of cloned human embryos would be needed to treat even one disease like diabetes. And there is still no success in experiments using the cloned embryonic cells of animals.
However adult stem cells have already been used ethically to save thousands of lives in the treatment of ‘leukaemia and other cancers. And there is great hope with Parkinson’s, spinal cord injuries, heart damage and other conditions - in due course.
So why the clamour? To divert attention and resources to the cloning of human embryos, for stem cells? The end does not justify the means. (Their killing)
We cannot “progress” at any price, as the recent history of totalitarian tyrants and ideologies shows.
And we must resist the headlong rush of unbridled capitalism and the consumer mentality to treat sex as recreation, and human embryos as merely marketable and disposable commodities in our society today.
Where are our basic values? Is nothing sacred anymore?
The sights and sounds of savagery are never far away from fallen human nature.
This is not just a religious belief, but also the logic of scientific reason and the knowledge of man’s baser instincts to greed, lust and violence, unless held in check.
The rule of law is essential in promoting and protecting the basic right and dignity of human life from its earliest embryonic stage.
Fr Bernard McGrath Inglewood, VICTucked away at the end of your editorial, “ The wisdom of grace before meals.” (The Record, March 10 2005) you state, “ if we believe and reason that the earth is our mother and giver of life, we would have to acknowledge the sun as our father because without the sun the earth would be sterile
As a cradle Catholic I sympathise with Geoff Snell (letter dated 3/3/05) regarding the points of concern he has raised.
It all gets down to respect and reverence for the presence of God resident in the Blessed Sacrament. Surely we come to Mass so that each one of us can have a conversation with Jesus and join collectively in the beauty and drama of the Mass.
Are we such a nervous, undisciplined generation that we have to relieve our feelings by chattering before Mass and especially after the Last Blessing when the real hubbub starts. Whatever has happened to Silence?.
Maureen Taylor Dunsboroughand barren. We might even end up sacrificing infants to such a father.”
This is a puzzling and disturbing declaration and not theologically consistent with traditional beliefs or current ideology.
That the earth is our mother is a deeply held truth among native peoples throughout the world.
The great twelfth century Rhineland mystic and prophet, Benedictine abbess, Hildegard of Bingen teaches: “The earth is at the same time mother, she is mother of all that is natural, mother of all that is human. She is the mother of all, for contained in her are the seeds of all.”
In his Canticle of Brother Sun, St Francis of Assisi sings out his love for God revealed in all his creatures.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through all that you have made, and first my lord Brother Sun Who brings the day; and light you give to us through him.”
“All praise be yours, my lord, through Sister Earth, our mother who feeds us in her sovereignty and produces Various fruits and coloured flowers and herbs.”
Regrettably, centuries of missmanagement, wars, greed and neglect have depleted our planet’s resources-, we have seen the extinction of biological species, disturbance of the ecological balance and weather patterns thrown into turmoil. Do we no longer acknowledge our oneness with all of creation? As Hildegard said eight centuries ago, “in the midst of all other creatures humanity is the most significant and yet the most dependent upon the others.”
Aware of this fragile balance we can no longer take Mother Earth and her abundance for grantedShe is feeling the pinch right now and no one is more aware of her demise than our youth whose legacy it is to inherit. Perhaps 10 year old Eric Hogle’s poem will alert us and move us to a change of heart?
Nature is beautiful and kind, She is always on my mind.
But I’m afraid She’s getting ill, She’s suffering an oil spill. Her ozone layer comes to mind, It’s getting very hard to find.
She’s got a fever (global warming), She’s getting hotter every morning,
She has congestion, acid rain,
She says she has an ocean pain.
She has pollution, nonbiodegradables;
Her trees have been made into chairs and tables.
Her rain forest lungs are getting smaller,
And smoke stacks yet are being built taller.
She’s sick and if something’s not done fast,
Mother Nature may not last.
Angela King NOLLAMARAThere is only one joy - the joy that God exists.
Everything in the world speaks of God to him who keep God’s reality uppermost in mind.
Spiritual joy is a serenity in the middle of life’s changes - such as a mountain has when a storm breaks over it.
Pleasure comes and goes. Joy is a habit - consistent, permanent - a gift of God’s grace.
Joy isn’t something to strive after, it comes as we go about living unselfishly and self-forgetfully day by day.
The Bible says, “ A patient man will endure until the right moment, and afterwards joy will burst upon him.” (Sirach, chapter 1)
Arnold Jago
Mildura
In our opinion the editors “childish, disrespectful attempts at humour “(letters 24th February) pale into insignificance when compared to some articles published in the secular media including the West which not only ridicule The Catholic Church but are often downright blasphemous.
May we also say how helpful and refreshing it is to be able to read, among other mature and theologically literate articles, excerpts of Apostolic Letters, Encyclicals and other material - often a development of Vatican 2 documents.
Gillian & Jerome Gonzalez
Stewardship really is a leap of faith. The hard part is believing that God will provide. Perth Archdiocesesan Planned Giving Office Director Brian Stephens is trying to raise awareness that giving back to God in even the smallest ways can reap many more rewards than we think.
■ By Jamie O’BrienAdopting stewardship, little known in Australian parishes as a way of life, changes people and changes the life of parishes as a whole. And it’s not all about money.
Once, there was a woman living in a region
plagued by drought.
For several years, rainfall had been scarce, but days burned sunny and hot.
As the drought continued, local governments imposed water restrictions and, to conserve water, limited each household’s consumption.
Forced to conserve, she began to value water.
She no longer let the tap run so frequently, and tried to save by washing her car less. She placed buckets below leaking taps. She was amazed at how much water she accumulated, and soon she was able to use it on her garden.
After calling a plumber to fix leaks and then receiving her water bill she was astounded at how it had decreased.
Yes, the topic of conversation is Stewardship, a relatively unknown concept in Australian parishes.
The concept of the good steward is an important one for our spiritual growth as Catholics, both as individuals and as parishes, Mr Stephens said.
According to Mr Stephens, money is the result of stewardship, not the reason.
For one parish in Kansas, America, stewardship has lead to an average collection of US$90,000 a week. It is a unique opportunity to share your gifts with God.
Like marriage or parenthood, it is a joyful expression of the love that we have been given by God and that we lovingly return to him.
“It is about people being able to understand their relationship with God and that everything comes from Him,” Mr Stephens said.
These are some examples of how specific career persons can enter into the life of a steward.
❈ Teachers, Educators
Offer your services in your local parish to tutor students or a student on a weekly basis.
Becoming involved in teaching afterschool catechism classes for government school children can also be of benefit to the parish.
❈ Mechanics, Plumbers, Electricians, Gardeners
Discuss with the parish priest if parish property needs maintenance work.
❈ Writers and Artists
Find out whether your parish is in need of public relations guidance, such as assisting with the parish newsletter. Help organise advertising for upcoming social or seasonal events.
❈ Nurses and Doctors
Volunteer as a minister to the sick and elderly. If you bring Holy Communion to the sick, you can also assist them with their physical needs.
Approach you daily work with a spirit of stewardship.
Recognise your skills and abilities as gifts from God and perform your duties with gratitude for the opportunity to use them.
If you enjoy financial success from your work as a result, do not hesitate to give what you can back to God – through his Church.
It is a way of life that recognises God’s abundance, trusts in his love and responds by returning those gifts in every day life situations.
“It is a belief that God has given everything we have and in stewardship we are returning our time, our abilities and our resources to continue God’s work but not only in the parish.”
In this way, Christians are called to be stewards in their personal vocations, be it as a teacher, gardener, carpenter, electrician, lawyer or nurse.
God wants us to cherish and serve a broad range of interests and concerns for the benefit of all in life and health, along with the intellectual and spiritual well being of ourselves and others; material goods and resources, the natural environment and the cultural heritage of humanity.
The Call
A Pastoral Letter issued by the US Bishops in 1992 describes Stewardship as part of discipleship.
It begins with a call to follow Christ and his intimate way of life.
In their letter the Bishops said that the linked relationship of discipleship and stewardship make up the fabric of a Christian life in which every day is lived in an intimate, personal relationship with God.
This Christ-centred way of living has its beginnings in Baptism, the Sacrament of the sign of faith.
As Vatican II says, Christians are bound by the example of their lives and by the witness of their speech to provide a new life of faith for the world.
❈ Time
A true understanding of stewardship begins with taking care of and sharing the gift of time.
Stewardship of time involves the realisation that no one owns time.
Each of us is given only so much of it and planning a careful schedule in order to have the time to work, rest, play and pray is vital in the stewardship of our physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual lives.
The scripture reading of 1 Corinthians 12:5
❈ Talent If stewardship means taking care of, and sharing all God’s gifts, then stewardship of the gift of talent means nurturing, developing and using the God given abilities and characteristics that help to define ‘who we are’ as individual human persons.
Scripture reading 1 Corinthians 12:6
Our talents are the special blessings that each of us has received from a loving creator who prizes the diversity and abundant variety of all creation.
❈ Treasure
Scripture reading 1 Corinthians 12:7
True Stewardship is taking care of, and sharing all that we have and all that we are – time, talents and treasure.
Money and all of the things that we possess (our treasure) are gifts from God that we are asked to care for and generously share for our own benefit and the good of others.
According to Bishop Eugene Gerber, formerly of the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas in the United States, embracing the concept of stewardship will bring a parish to the threshold of a truly significant spiritual journey.
“It will carry you to a new level of understanding, to a new level of living your faith.”
In addition to this, Catholics have a duty to be stewards of their church, as a community of disciples, towards the Body of Christ of which they individually and together are the members and in which “if one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honoured, all the parts share its joy.”
As an important start, Stewardship involves intentional, planned and proportionate giving of our time, talent and treasure.
Do the Americans do better than us when it counts?
According to Bishop Gerber, the good and faithful steward walks proudly through the pages of the Gospels.
A letter from the US Bishops said ‘giving up’ in the way of the steward means receiving more, including more responsibility.
Stewardship is seen as a way of thanking God for all his blessings by returning to him a portion of the time, talents and treasures he has given us.
The concept of Stewardship was more formally introduced in Bishop Gerber’s diocese in 1985. Under the new policy 90 per cent of any money raised would be made available as a service to the individual parish while the remaining 10 was distributed to meet wider diocesan needs.
The response?
The income of the diocese doubled in the first seven years, from $15 million in 1985 to just under $30 million in 1993. The diocese has established a Director of Stewardship and Finance to help institute the concept, making himself available to the parishes to help set realistic goals and set up the practical tasks that will achieve them.
Evangelization and Stewardship
Stewardship plays an important role
in the lives of people who seek to follow Christ.
Every member of the Church is called to evangelise; the practice of authentic Christian stewardship inevitably leads to evangelisation, a task for all members of the Church repeatedly highlighted by Pope John Paul II. It can involve catechesis, such as programs after-school for government school children and adult education programs, proclaiming the good news to the far away or through works of social justice.
Parents, for example, have a work of the greatest importance in the family home.
They must be encouraged to instruct their children and share with them the Christian values in the face of a secular society; initiating them to the practise of stewardship in all its dimensions, contrary to today’s widespread consumerism and individualism. This may require adjusting the family’s own patterns of consumption and lifestyle – including the use of television and other media which
sometimes preach values in conflict with the message of Christ.
Above all it requires that parents themselves be models of stewardship, especially through their selfless service to each other, to their children, the church and their community.
Parishes too, can become a place in which the Christian way of life is learned and practised.
Parishioners must accept responsibility for their parishes and contribute generously – both in personal service and
Joy of giving starts with God himself. Our lives, time, talents, family, relationships, emotions, health, material goods are all given freely to us by God, who trusts us to be good stewards of this abundance. Here are the four essentials of joyful giving.
❈ We must receive God’s gifts gratefully
financially. The success or failure of parish programs and efforts to administer services to parishioners and the community depends on the parish as a whole.
Stewardship versus fund-raising
There are some, said Bishop Gerber, who mistakenly believe that stewardship is a gimmick for raising more money for the Church.
It’s not that simple.
Stewardship is based on the references in scripture to stewardship, and Christ talks about it in a number of his parables.
The Gospel of Mark 10 illustrates this perfectly.
“There is no one who has given up house or brother or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age.”
By addressing Stewardship directly, Jesus made it clear how he wanted us to live.
One of those ways is to become involved with others and share with them what we have; not only our treasure, but our time and special talents as well.
Stewardship is based on God’s word, not on the fund-raising needs of the Church.
So then, what does it all mean?
So you’re thinking, how on earth is any of this possible? There are a couple of points that could help a person see that stewardship is a likely reality.
■ It must be planned
While the financial aspect of stewardship is the most obvious, planning how to give time and talent is just as important.
If we don’t, it’s all too easy to let our ideas go to waste.
Set aside a time in your diary or calendar and stick to it.
It will only happen if you want it to.
■ It must be sacrificial
There is no point giving out of excess.
In this way the action is not an act of faith. We must learn to give in a way that costs. There are different ways of doing this.
Some people are better off financially than others, and are therefore called to be more financially generous.
Others have gifts that can be put to good use in a specific nature.
Others have the gift of time and it is precisely that gift we are asked to share.
Regardless, however, we are all called to share.
In the end, however, stewardship comes down to one very simple concept, “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.”
Stewardship is our way, as Catholic Christians, of doing that every day, in every way that we can.
For more information contact Brian Stephens, at the Planned Giving Office on 08 9422 7924
We are good stewards when we recognise and rejoice in our utter dependence on God, when we praise and thank the Lord for the many gifts we have been given. One of the best ways to demonstrate our gratitude is to use those gifts – to cultivate the talents and take advantage of our opportunities.
❈ The good steward cherishes and tends God’s gifts responsibly.
If I believe that all I have is a gift, that it is not mine by right or entitlement but rather it is on loan to me from the Lord, I begin to understand how important it is to use God’s gifts wisely and to be accountable for the ways I use them.
❈ We are to share God’s gifts with others.
Good stewards know that the gifts God has given them are to be used to meet not just their own needs, but also the needs of their brothers and sisters in Christ.
Knowing this helps them to generously share what they have with others.
❈ Good stewards return God’s gifts with increase to the Lord
When we realise that all we have and are comes from God, we not only seek to use those gifts wisely and share them lovingly with others, we also want to give back to God, who has given us so much.
Stewardship is not a tax-deductible term for tuition.
Tuition is a fee for a service.
Stewardship is a free choice by active parishioners to respond to God’s goodness by sharing their time, talent and treasure.
Stewardship does not consist of lay finance committees to judge who is to be considered an active or inactive Catholic.
Stewardship is a good-faith pledge which cannot be judged simply by whether or not it meets a set standard minimum such as 5% or 8% of a person’s income.
Stewardship is not a device for laundering money.
Stewardship does not distinguish between school families and non-school families in regard to expectations or services.
■ With Derek Boylen
As I have mentioned before, the day my Father announced that our family would say prayers together before school and in the evenings was a shock to my system: another means by which my parents would inflict spiritual torture on their children. Thank God they did!
It didn’t really occur to me what a gift my parents had given me until my early twenties. I was in a Catholic youth group called Antioch and we had a talk one night on prayer. In the share group afterward I met a new guy, it was his first time at Antioch. He had never ever prayed in his life before. I began to appreciate what my parents had given me.
Prayer is the life blood of a practicing Christian. It helps to give meaning to all that we do, keeps us on track and gives us an opportunity to reflect. Men and women of faith are men and women of prayer.
Introducing prayer into your home is just a matter of doing it. It may seem strange at first but you’ll be amazed at how quickly it becomes a normal part of family life. Karen and I have a very simple prayer routine for our sons. We always have prayer right before bed time and follow a simple pattern. We recall some of the things that happened during the day and say “thank you Jesus.” Then we think about what is going to happen tomorrow and ask Jesus to bless it. Next we pray for our family asking God to help them and bless them and then we pray for ourselves asking God to help us.
Lastly, we finish by asking Jesus to look after us while we sleep. With one nearly three years, the second just turned one and the third less than three months that’s pretty huge. Usually we end up saying most of it for them but Elijah finishes with a simple “I love you Jesus.”
Don’t be afraid of a few formal prayers either. When our oldest was nearly two we introduced the Our Father. Elijah just about has it down pat, with a little prompting. The Sign of the Cross he had mastered by eighteen months. Oh and we can’t forget Grandma. I always ask him what he wants to say thank you for and the response is always the same “Grandma.”
Each day lends itself to other little prayers too. If we see an
(contemporary human mobility and the stand of the Church)
■ With Tony Paganoni, CS
To observe that immigration, particularly undocumented immigration, involves risk is to state the obvious: deaths along the MexicoUnited States border, drownings in the Rio Grande, deaths from hypothermia in the mountains or dehydration in desert crossings are common occurrences. Many refugees face piracy, assault, rape and extortion, and danger to life and limb as they approach Australian shores or are pushed by ethnic and political conflicts across national boundaries in Africa. All these events smite and challenge our conscience.
Our emotional, ethical and practical responses have varied from time to time. But one thing has remained fairly constant: the inabil-
ity to sort out the reality of immigration in a unified manner by governments, non-govermental organisations, churches and religious groups. Could it be that in an effort to understand this movement of men, women and children in the world of today we come to understand ourselves? We stand to gain a lot by such reflection. Immigration is not a temporary phenomenon, affecting only some nations on our planet. There is an increasing realisation that immigration is one of the most salient characteristics of the increasingly globalised world we live in.
Particularly in developed industrialised societies like ours the term
The da Vinci Code may have done a little unintended good if it has alerted us to a new and dangerous phenomenon. That is, the multiplication of books purporting to expose various conspiracies and mysteries. According to Amazon. com these books sell very well indeed.
They are, for the most part, utter rubbish, and harmful and dangerous rubbish at that. Perhaps I am looking at the past through rosecoloured spectacles, but it seemed to me there used to be less of them, and they used to occupy a much more marginal place. There was Mr Adamski with his flying saucers, and fantasy that made no bones about being fantasy. Was this because people previously were better able to recognise scientific nonsense, bad history, the confusion of cause and effect, and bad logic than they are today?
would be communicated by one ambassador to another in a neutral country. Hess was wildly brave but bonkers. Air-raids on Britain did not stop because there was a defacto armistice while Britain considered the proposal. but because the German Air Force was being transferred to the East.
Of course this is mild compared to some of them: according to some George Bush Senior and Junior and the British Royal Family are space-aliens and drug-traffickers who hold secret rites under the Great Pyramid. This was communicated to me by the chief vocational guidance advisor at a major high school.
Then, of course, there are the arguments that because pyramids are found in both Egypt and Central America they must have been built by the lost civilization of Atlantis, despite the fact they were built thousands of years apart. And Atlantis itself? Apparently it slipped down the globe at a rate of knots similar to that of a speedboat and became Antarctica - the Atlanteans, despite having a super-civilization, didn’t happen to notice and get off.
ambulance while driving we say a little prayer for the people it is servicing. If we are out in the garden we will often say a little thank you God for a frog or a beautiful flower. And the boys and I are always saying thank you God for mummy!
Don’t forget to start meals with grace too. That was a tricky one. As soon as Elijah saw food hit the table there was no time for prayer. Often grace was accompanied by a demanding chorus of “dinnnnnaaaaah!”
Thankfully, it didn’t take long for things to change. Elijah and Isaiah now accept it as part of the dinner routine. We usually hold hands for grace and of course we always get a prompt that we need to remember “Grandma.”
is closely related to notions of insecurity, danger and uncertainty. In discussions about public security, national sovereignty, the environment, food, health and immigration, the word ‘risk’ somehow gets embedded in the collective imagination of western societies. The association between immigration and risk sets the movement of people in the whirlpool of contradictions and complexities inherent in the current phase of globalisation. So immigration runs the risk of becoming a metaphor for risk. This is not just a play on words: we may unwittingly slide from viewing immigrants at risk to immigrants as risks! These two perspectives frequently figure in discussions on international migration today and underlie many of the assumptions made in Australia.
To suggest that immigrants live at risk encourages us to look at the human dimension of contemporary mobility: the migrants’ own aspirations, dreams and suffering as a reflection of our universal drama as women and men. It takes us beyond the narrow confines of a country to a consideration of the human con-
The flight to England of Nazi politician Rudolf Hess during World War II is an example. It has been suggested in more than one recent book that Hess was not a lone madman, but was carrying an official, carefully-worked-out proposal from Hitler to make peace with Britain, thus giving Hitler a free hand to attack Russia, and that Britain seriously considered it. That is, that a proposal of this magnitude would be communicated by a middle-aged politician who stole an aircraft, risking being shot down by both sides, flew to Scotland, turned the aircraft upside-down and parachuted out of it, risking death every step of the way, and then asked to see the Duke of Hamilton, under the impression that British foreign policy was made by Dukes. Hardly.
A proposal of such magnitude
dition, of the rights arising from the fact that we all belong to the same human species. These are the natural rights we all possess, whether recognised by governments or not.
Looking at immigration
through the lens
of human
rights we
can enter into the plight of others and make it our own
Far from highlighting our diversity and putting us on the defensive, this vision emphasises our common humanity, enabling us to recognise it in the lives of every member of our species, not only those belonging to our extended family, or our own neighborhood, city and country. Looking at immigration through the lens of human rights we can enter into the plight of others and make it our own. And in so doing we reveal what we are and want to make of ourselves, and what we would like to cultivate in our communities and churches to respond to the opportunities and limitations of this specific period
The re-hashings of Gnosticism of which The Da Vinci Code is a prime example are at the centre of the boom in conspiracy theories. This is hardly surprising, as Gnosticism is predicated upon some sort of “Secret Knowledge”, unlike the Christian Church, whose great “Mysteries,” like Mass, are celebrated in public, in, as Evelyn Waugh put it, a “flood of light” and do not contain or purport to contain “secrets.”
Some of these conspiracy theories and mysteries are slickly written by able writers. They plainly appeal to certain spiritual appetites deprived of proper spiritual nourishment. Some of them possibly contain among the rubbish some grains of truth, for there are mysteries in the world, though they should be investigated with the proper tools and methods of science. But by and large they are pernicious nonsense, and it would do no harm for the Church to consider some serious strategies to counteract them.
of global capitalism. And while we recognise that we spend a good deal of our time protecting our status quo, it also reveals our urge to live in solidarity with one another. Our common survival may depend on it. As prisoners in solitary confinement know only too well, isolation can literally kill or drive a person mad, in itself a kind of death.
If we restrict ourselves to cultivating a hostile, segregated world of insiders and outsiders, a world marked by distrust and remoteness, we turn our common human heritage into a bundle of self-interest, fears, hatred and greed. In short, we annihilate ourselves and our historical heritage.
In recognising our universal humanity, we are also reminded that there is no place on earth that has not either received or sent out people, and that throughout history migration has been one of the most fundamental of survival strategies for all human beings and indeed all living things. As a result we are all children of migrants and the outcome of migration, however recent or distant our migratory past may be.
Question: After reading your article on the duties of acolytes, I am inspired to ask you to comment on the duties of extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist. And regarding acolytes being able to expose the Blessed Sacrament for adoration but not being permitted to bless the people with the Host - is that anywhere in church law? You didn’t make a reference.
Regarding the duties of extraordinary ministers, note their title; hence these words in Redemptionis Sacramentum (Instruction on Certain Matters to be Observed or to be Avoided Regarding the Most Holy Eucharist, 2004):
They are extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, and not “special ministers of Holy Communion” nor “extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist” nor “special ministers of the Eucharist.” Those other names unnecessarily and improperly broaden the meaning of their function. (no. 156)
The 2001 General Instruction of the Roman Missal refers to extraordinary ministers only fleetingly: In the absence of an instituted acolyte, lay ministers . . . may be commissioned to distribute Holy Communion as extraordinary ministers. (no. 100) If other priests are not present and there is a very large number of communicants, the priest may call upon extraordinary ministers to assist him, i.e., liturgi-
cally instituted acolytes or also other members of the faithful who have been commissioned by a liturgical rite for this ministry. In case of necessity, the priest may commission suitable members of the faithful for the occasion. (no. 162)
So what do extraordinary ministers do? They assist the priest in distributing Holy Communion to the assembly. No more – no less.
Do they distribute Communion in place of the priest – that is,
he sits down and they give Holy Communion? No: The practice of those priests is reprobated who, even though present at the celebration, abstain from distributing Communion and hand this function over to laypersons. (RS 157)
Do they assist in breaking large consecrated Hosts before Communion? No: This gesture of Christ at the Last Supper gave the entire Eucharistic action its name in apostolic times (i.e., The Breaking of
the Bread)... This rite is reserved to the priest and deacon. (GIRM 83)
Do they receive the Sacred Host from the priest before he himself has received Communion? Do they hold up the Host as the priest does at the words “This is the Lamb of God . . .”? Do they all consume the Host together at the same moment as the priest? No to all: They should receive sacramental Communion of the Eucharist from the hands of the priest or deacon . . . at the moment
Yes, it is a precept of church law that acolytes may not bless the people with the Host at the end of Eucharistic adoration.
That action is the actual ‘Benediction’, and is reserved to those in Holy Orders. The pertinent references are these:
From The Code of Canon Law: The minister of exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament and of Eucharistic Benediction is a priest or deacon. In special circumstances, the minister of exposition and reposi-
tion alone without Benediction (my emphasis) is the acolyte, extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, or someone else designated by the local Ordinary (Bishop). The prescripts of the diocesan bishop are to be observed. Canon 943
In other words, an acolyte, extraordinary minister or other deputised lay person may open the tabernacle, put the Host in the monstrance, and place It on the altar.
At the end of the adoration they
may replace the Eucharist in the tabernacle, but they may not give the blessing (Benediction) with the Sacred Host.
This is repeated in the liturgical book Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist outside Mass (published 1973 – so this is not new!), which repeats all of the above, ending with this admonition: It is not lawful, however, for them (an acolyte or extraordinary minister) to give the blessing with the Sacrament. (no. 91)
Catholic family’s campaign for justice pressures Sinn Fein, IRA
A Catholic family’s campaign for justice has put increasing pressure on the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein and its military wing, the outlawed Irish Republican Army. As pressure escalated, family members of murdered Catholic Robert McCartney said they have been invited to the White House in the US for St Patrick’s Day.
McCartney, 33, a forklift driver from the small Catholic enclave of Short Strand in Belfast, was stabbed to death after a pub brawl on January 30. McCartney’s five sisters and his fiancee maintain that more than 70 people witnessed the incident, but because the murder involved IRA members,ߺ witnesses are afraid to give evidence to police.
Family members says the IRA is involved in a cover-up, and they rejected an IRA offer to shoot those involved in the killing.They say they want those responsible for the murder to be tried in a court of law. The IRA says it has expelled three people involved in the kill-
ing. In its campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland, the IRA does not allow those living in the areas it controls to have any dealings with the police.
Instead, the organisation has its own “justice system”: punishment beatings, expulsion orders or
laid down by the rite of celebration, i.e., just after the priest celebrant’s Communion. (RS 88)
Do they take sacred vessels – ciborium, paten or chalice – themselves from the altar when distributing Communion? No: These ministers should not approach the altar before the priest has received Communion, and always accept from the hands of the priest celebrant the vessel containing either species of the Most Holy Eucharist for distribution to the faithful. (GIRM 162)
Do they cleanse the sacred vessels, either immediately after Holy Communion or after Mass? No: The priest . . .purifies the paten or ciborium over the chalice, then purifies the chalice . . Where a deacon is present, he returns to the altar with the priest and purifies the vessels. It is permissible . . . for the vessels to be purified by the priest or deacon immediately after Mass . . . Moreover, a duly instituted acolyte assists the priest or deacon in purifying and arranging the sacred vessels . . . In the absence of a deacon, a duly instituted acolyte carries the sacred vessels from the altar to the credence table, and there purifies, wipes and arranges them in the usual way. (RS 119)
Extraordinary ministers are privileged to assist the priests and deacons in administering Holy Communion, and I believe that most do see it and treat it as a privilege. However, it is not a right of theirs – and that is why they are called “extraordinary” ministers. They do not have a “right” to distribute Communion whenever they are present at Mass – only when they are called upon to do so by the priest, and by necessity of very large numbers of communicants.
Why all these regulations?
Precisely for this reason: To be avoided is the danger of obscuring the complementary relationship between the action of clerics and that of laypersons, in such a way that the ministry of laypersons undergoes what might be called a certain “clericalisation”, whilst the sacred ministers inappropriately assume those things that are proper to the life and activity of the lay faithful. (RS 45)
Continued from page 3
executions of those it deems guilty of crime.
Sinn Fein refuses to be involved with the Northern Ireland police, and its position has been a major obstacle in the regional peace process.
The British and US governments expressed outrage at the IRA’s proposal to shoot responsible parties.
In an ecumenical lecture in Dublin, Ireland, on March 3, Archbishop Sean Brady of Armagh, Northern Ireland, said: “The courage and determination of the McCartney family to ensure justice for their brother, Robert, has been an outstanding example of how the power of love, the love of another person, the love of noble ideals such as justice, fairness and freedom, can rise up and render transparent and weak the efforts of others to bully, frighten and control whole communities.” - CNS
“We the people of El Salvador are facing hard times in eliminating poverty in our country. Our government is not interested in improving the lives of the poor; they are more interested in privatising our assets, our health and education systems, even our water.
“It is true that for a number of years after the death of Archbishop Romero we were afraid to speak out because we saw so many people lose their lives or disappear. However, his death has sown a seed in the hearts of many Salvadorans.We must stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters who suffer and so we continue to work to alleviate suffering and oppression. This is our challenge,” said Deysi.
And so Deysi, with her companions in Equipo Contra El SIDA, continues to walk with and stand in solidarity with her brothers and sisters who are living with HIV and AIDS.
With the greatest formality or the most relaxed familiarity, with hints of amazement at modern technology or total ease, tens of thousands of people sent e-mail messages to Pope John Paul II.
They offered prayers for the Pope’s health, expressed hope that he would be released soon from Rome’s Gemelli hospital, but also asked to be remembered in his prayers.
The Pope was hospitalised on Feb. 24 and underwent a tracheotomy to help ease breathing difficulties; he returned home to the Vatican on Monday.
The Vatican Secretariat of State reported that between March 1-10, more than 43,500 email messages had been sent to the Pope’s six electronic addresses: john_paul_ii@vatican. va, juan_pablo_ii@vatican.va, as well as the Portuguese, Italian, German and French versions of the Pope’s name.
They begin “Your Holiness,” or “My very, very dear John Paul II,” “Esteemed Holy Father,” or simply “Hola” (Hello).
Most are text messages, but a few, like the one sent by Sister Sylvia, are e-cards.
The Spanish-speaking nun’s card was illustrated with a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She wrote, “Holy Father, May God bless you. I pray for your health. I keep you in my prayers and ask for yours.”
With no dedicated address for Polish writers, the Vatican said it is impossible to give an accurate count of messages from the 84-yearold Pope’s compatriots; their messages are scattered throughout the six inboxes.
The Vatican’s e-mail server is handling a constant flow of messages from around the
world; for example, between midnight and 9.45am on March 11 another 283 messages in English and 170 in Spanish arrived.
The messages are distributed to the appropriate language desk in the Vatican Secretariat of State. Each one is read, a summary is prepared for the Pope and sample messages are printed for him.
The Vatican released some samples to journalists on March 11, blacking out the sender’s e-mail address and last name.
The e-mail messages come from individuals, families and groups, including ones from
a seminary in South Africa, a retreat centre in Ireland and the staff of a parish in Mexico.
A message dated March 10 came from 14 second-graders in Louisiana who are about to make their first Communion.
“We saw on television that you were in the hospital and not feeling very well,” they wrote.
They told the Pope that when they receive their first Communion “April 3 at the 9am CST Mass” they would be praying for the Pope and hoping he would be praying for them.
A Mexican woman named Maria wrote on March 11 that she had sent her personal greetings a week earlier, but when she told the residents of a home for the elderly that it was possible to e-mail the Pope they demanded she write on their behalf.
“It was a motive of happiness and comfort for them to know they could send you a message by e-mail,” she wrote. “Here, like throughout Mexico, we intensely love our Pope, the image on earth of Jesus, our lord and Saviour.”
A woman from the Archdiocese of Atlanta wrote, “I know that you are going through many struggles, but you are an amazing man and God has surely given you the grace to carry on the good fight.”
She prayed God would give him the strength to continue his ministry and added that she hoped she would be able to see him in June when she plans to attend the June 29 Vatican Mass during which Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta will receive the pallium, a woollen stole given to archbishops.
Other messages read:
■ “We need your guidance in this tumultuous world.”
“We pray for the miracle of your recovery and all your intentions, especially to go to Russia.”
■ “Thank you for being a model of prayer and of strength amid trial.”
■ “I just found your e-mail address and wanted to tell you I pray for your health.”
■ “Your courage in the face of physical suffering is a good example for all of us and particularly for our son, Guillaume, who has been in a psychiatric hospital for two years.”
■ “We are confident that with the help of heaven, a bit of medicine and your robust Polish spirit you will return quickly to showing us the path of light.”
■ “I want to take this opportunity to ask you to bless me in my university studies, health for my family, a job for my unemployed brothers and blessings for my house and my country, Colombia.” CNS
Leslie Byers had been through enough.
For eight years she watched as mental illness nearly destroyed her daughter’s life and her own.
She and her husband, Steve, struggled to find answers to their child’s manic-induced rages and suicidal depression, brought on by what was eventually diagnosed as bipolar disorder, a chemical imbalance in the brain that results in the inability to control moods and thoughts.
And just when they thought things could not get any worse, the couple was forced to relinquish custody of their daughter because they could not afford the proper medical care she needed.
“That was probably the lowest point in the whole ordeal,” said Byers, who chronicled her daughter’s illness in her book, “Heather’s Rage,” published by Brown Books.
Through it all, Byers, who is a member of St. James Parish in Omaha and lives in Fort Calhoun with her family, said she never lost hope and found comfort in her faith.
“My faith was certainly challenged and tested through this process,” she told The Catholic Voice, newspaper of the Omaha Archdiocese.
Heather, whose name has been changed, is the second of Byers’ three children. As a 16month-old, she suffered severe trauma after swallowing a large number of iron pills.
Three months later, Byers said she noticed
a significant change in her daughter’s behaviour. Instead of being quiet and fun-loving, she was becoming defiant and anxious.
Through the years, Heather’s mood swings became more extreme and her actions more violent. By the age of 10, she already had experienced numerous school suspensions, suicide attempts and hospitalisations.
Eventually she was forced to live in a residential treatment centre.
A few months later, Heather’s need for medical attention became so extreme that Byers and her husband were forced to make their daughter a ward of the state because they could not afford the proper treatment.
They had used all of their in-patient hospitalisation benefits and could not stand to see Heather’s fits of rage end in struggle and tranquilisation.
“When your child is being treated inhumanly, when your family is living in crisis from day to day, you have to do what I think is the unthinkable,” Byers said.
“I just can’t fathom that good, loving parents have to give up custody.”
The process was excruciatingly painful for the family, Byers said.
“Our lives had spiralled into such a black hole of despair that soon bitterness and
anguish made up the pattern of our everyday lives while I desperately fought to hold on to my faith that we would, somehow, get through this,” she wrote in her book.
Byers said she always wondered if Heather had bipolar disorder, but it wasn’t until several misdiagnoses and negative reactions to medications that Heather was finally diagnosed, at the age of 11, with the disorder.
Even though there have been setbacks, including another suicide attempt and a stay at a residential treatment centre, Heather has learned, with the proper treatment and medication, to live successfully with the disease.
Because they relinquished custody on a no-fault basis, the Byers eventually regained custody of their daughter, who now holds a full-time job and lives at home.
Byers said the only way she made it through the battle of dealing with her daughter’s extreme behaviour was by clinging to her faith in God.
Although she admits struggling to understand why God would allow this to happen, she never lost hope that things would eventually get better.
“For me, it was the hope to keep moving forward every day, every hour, sometimes every moment,” she said.
Byers initially began writing to relieve her own anxieties and stress.
Now she hopes her story, published last year, will help others.
“I know firsthand the stigma and ignorance of mental illness and the challenges that families face as a result of that stigma,” she said.
“I chose to write a book about how we overcame our challenges through faith and perseverance, and recovered and healed as a family.”
Byers also hopes the book will encourage early mental health screening and provide an opportunity for the faith community, especially those in the Archdiocese of Omaha, to educate themselves about mental illness.
To that end, she is helping facilitate a program called Creating a Circle of Caring, a Scripture-based curriculum developed by the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill that sensitises the faith community to the plight of those who experience mental illness.
“Being able to educate the faith community so that they can be better prepared to know how to pray and how to support and understand those with mental illness is very important,” she said, noting a recent joint statement made by Nebraska’s three bishops that called for better understanding and more support for those with mental illness.
Information about purchasing “Heather’s Rage” is available on the publisher’s Web site, www.brownbooks.com.
Programs that link economic aid to family planning are “affronts to the dignity of the person and the family” and must be resisted, Pope John Paul II said in a written message to bishops from Tanzania.
“The unjust practice of linking programs of economic assistance to the promotion of sterilisation and contraception must be strenuously resisted,” he wrote.
Such programs “threaten to undermine the authentic Christian understanding of the nature and purpose of marriage,” which must always be open to the generation of new life, said the text.
The Pope, from his 10th-floor room at Gemelli hospital, personally delivered his written message to Tanzanian Cardinal Polycarp Pengo of Dar es Salaam and Bishop Severine Niwemugizi of Rulenge.
The Vatican released a copy of the message on March 11.
Bishops from Tanzania were in Rome for their ad limina visits, required of heads of dioceses every
five years to report on the status of their dioceses.
When Cardinal Pengo and Bishop Niwemugizi visited the Pope at the Rome hospital, they concelebrated Mass with the Holy Father in the chapel located next to his hospital room.
Vatican television was allowed to film the Mass. “While I regret I cannot receive you in the Vatican at this time,” the message said, “I greet
you from Gemelli hospital, where I offer my prayers and my sufferings for you: In these days I feel especially close to you.”
The Pope urged the bishops to take special care in promoting “genuine family values” because of “the terrible scourge of AIDS” afflicting Tanzania “and so much of the African continent.”
Part of the Church’s response to this epidemic must be to commu-
nicate that “fidelity within marriage and abstinence outside it are the only sure ways to limit the further spread of the infection,” the Pope wrote. An estimated 2 million of Tanzania’s 32 million people are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Seventy percent of those infected with HIV/AIDS worldwide live in Africa. CNS
Providing English-speaking Catholics with accurate, updated Mass prayers is a priority that must be backed up with the resources necessary to complete the project, a group of English-speaking cardinals and bishops said.
The group, members of the Vatican-appointed “Vox Clara” committee, met on March 8-10 to review proposed prayer texts, continue working on specific translation and style guidelines and discuss ways to improve cooperation with bishops’ conferences and with other Christian communities.
The Vatican established “Vox Clara,” a 12-member committee led by Australian Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, in 2001 to advise the Congregation for Divine Worship
and the Sacraments on matters related to the translation of Latin liturgical texts into English.
The major project the committee, the congregation and Englishspeaking bishops are dealing with involves the translation into English of the third edition of the Roman Missal, which was published in 2002. The Roman Missal contains the texts of the prayers used for Mass in the Latin rite.
According to a March 10 press release, “Vox Clara” members reviewed “a selection” of proposed
In keeping with Church teaching, John Paul II issued a reminder that no one who is aware of being in a state of mortal sin can go to Communion.
The Pope confirmed the traditional teaching of the magisterium in a message published by the Holy See on Saturday. The message was addressed to young priests who attended a course last week on the “internal forum” - questions of conscience - organised by the tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary.
The Holy Father dedicated his letter, signed on March 8 in the Gemelli Polyclinic where he was hospitalised, to the relationship that exists between the Eucharist and confession. “We live in a society that seems
translated prayers; Catholic News Service was told the selection included about 100 “collects” or opening prayers for Mass.
The translations were prepared by the International Commission on English in the Liturgy, a body established by English-speaking bishop’s conferences to promote uniformity in the prayer texts used by English-speaking Catholics.
The ICEL texts are submitted to each participating bishops’ conference, which must adopt them for use in its own country. Once
frequently to have lost the sense of God and of sin,” writes John Paul II. “In this context, therefore, Christ’s invitation to conversion is that much more urgent, which implies the conscious confession of one’s sins and the relative request for forgiveness and salvation.
“In the exercise of his ministry, the priest knows that he acts ‘in the person of Christ and under the action of the Holy Spirit,’ and for this reason he must nourish [Christ’s] sentiments in his inner being, increase within himself the charity of Jesus, teacher and shepherd, physician of souls and bodies, spiritual guide, just and merciful judge.”
Woman is a leader in the building of peace to the extent that she protects life, said
a bishops’ conference adopts the text, it is submitted to the Vatican for approval. The establishment of “Vox Clara” means that the Vatican is, in effect, examining texts before the bishops adopt them and submit them for final approval.
“The timely completion of an English-language edition of the ‘Missale Romanum’ remains the highest priority and the members urged that all possible resources should be devoted to the expeditious completion of a vernacular edition, which is at once precise in its rendering of the Latin texts and appropriate for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist in English,” the members of “Vox Clara” said in their March 10 statement.
participants at an international symposium in Rome.
The symposium on “Woman and the Culture of Peace” was held on March 10 and organised by the Institute of Higher Studies on Woman of the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University, and the European University of Rome.
Cristina Zucconi, president of the Institute of Higher Studies on Woman, opened the meeting by pointing out that behind violence lies injustice, and “behind injustice, unjust behaviour is always hidden, there is always an unjust person.”
“This means that peace cannot be improvised because it is a style of life oriented to justice and forgiveness, and it is a value that must be transmitted through education from childhood in the school and in the family, first school of socialisation, and first and fundamental school of peace,” said Zucconi.
Catholic bishops in Slovakia will vet their priests after new claims that clergy who acted as agents for the former communist regime are still active.
Father Marian Gavenda, spokesman for the Bratislavabased Slovak bishops’ conference, told Catholic News Service on March 7 that, although the Church said it would require an “explanation and atonement” from priest-collaborators, bishops also would interview priests from their dioceses after demands for more “concrete steps.”
“Although most real collaborators are no longer in pastoral work here, society is sensitive to this issue,” he said.
“We decided that each bishop should speak personally to priests working for him, to identify possible collaborators.”
Around 10 percent of priests in the then-Czechoslovakia are believed to have been agents and informers under communist rule, which lasted from 1948 to 1989.
From 1965 to 1989, the plainclothes StB police force monitored any activity considered anti-state or anti-communist.
The country’s bishops urged “forgiveness and reconciliation” in a 1992 pastoral, after replacing former members of a communist-backed church association, “Pacem in Terris.”
In February, Slovakia’s government-funded National Remembrance Institute said the names of Archbishop Jan Sokol of Bratislava-Trnava, retired Bishop Jan Hirka of Presov and the head of the country’s Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Nikolai, had appeared on a list of former agents of the Czech secret police.
Father Gavenda said in March that Bishop Hirka, who retired in 2004, had denied “direct collaboration” and was widely believed to be the victim of a secret police grudge. CNS
Pope John Paul II has named four cardinals and an archbishop to lead the discussions at October’s world Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist. The Vatican announced on March 12 that the Pope had chosen Italian Cardinal Angelo Scola of Venice to be the synod’s general rapporteur, or recording secretary, introducing and later summarising the bishops’ discussion. The Pope also chose three cardinals to take turns presiding over the synod’s daily sessions. They are: Cardinals Francis Arinze of Nigeria, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments; Juan Sandoval Iniguez of Guadalajara, Mexico; and Telesphore Placidus Toppo of Ranchi, India. The synod’s special secretary will be French Archbishop Roland Minnerath of Dijon, the Vatican said.
If you ever think you have problems, think about the experiences that DENIS LUGOR, now living in Perth, has gone through.■ By Mark Reidy
On August 16, 1993, under the protection of darkness, 14-year-old Denis Lugor left behind his family in the town of Juba, Sudan, and began a 1000-kilometre trek to the border of Uganda. His flight to freedom finally ended in Perth in January, 2005, but the memories of his horror-filled journey will stay with him forever.
Since the age of five Denis had only ever known a life of war. Government soldiers from the north had been at battle with the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army of the south since 1983, but by the time he turned 12 the fighting had escalated. Government troops had completely surrounded Juba and its suburbs, in an effort to ensure that people of the town would not escape and join the rebel forces.
Denis recalls incidences of heavy shelling and the resulting lack of food. There were times when people had only sweets to survive on.
Then in 1991 the Government implemented a program to Islamise the south. They began by changing the language in schools from English to Arabic and by enforcing Islamic dress codes over Christian students. Denis claimed that this forced local citizens to fight for the survival of their faith and culture. Some churches were demolished and the bricks used to build
mosques. The soldiers became even more brutal. Men were taken away and tortured; some where never seen again. Young women were used as sexual slaves and he knew of priests who were brutalised.
On two occasions Denis was arrested and threatened with death. He believes that it was only his mother’s pleas that saved him.
After avoiding arrest on several other occasions he knew he had to leave Juba. It was then that he met a small group from outside the town who guided him and several others in their escape through the net of government soldiers and landmines.
However on their journey they were captured by rebel troops who
stole everything they had. A young soldier who had been ordered to kill them led Denis, along with a mother and her baby, into the jungle. The soldier, for reasons unknown to Denis, informed them that he was setting them free and told them to run into the jungle.
Terrified, he took off, waiting for the sound of the AK-47 machine gun or the explosion of a landmine underfoot, but neither eventuated. He did not stop until he slumped to the ground exhausted. He never knew what became of the mother and baby.
For the next two and a half months inhabitants of small villages aided Denis as he edged his way toward Uganda. He was always on the lookout for rebel soldiers who he knew would forcefully conscript him. He often came across atrocities in the villages he passed through, where only the dead remained, often entire families.
He had heard that Rebel soldiers would torture and kill relatives of any young men who were hiding, until they showed themselves and joined the army.
As he continued his journey he was often hungry, thirsty and tired and there was always the threat of wild animals.
Denis finally arrived across the Ugandan border on October 25, 1993 and entered Kiryandongo Refugee Camp, 225 kilometres from Kampala. Here he lived for over 11 years in mud huts that refugees built themselves. There was one medical dispensary, which served not only the 17,000 Sudanese refugees in the Camp but also another 7,000 Ugandan refugees who had settled themselves nearby. With only one meal a day and disease always threatening, there were often
deaths amongst the elderly and very young. They also lived with the threat of invasion from Uganda’s own rebels, the Lord’s Resistance Army. LRA soldiers came only three or four times during Denis’s time but at camps further north the threat was constant, with attacks every few weeks.
LRA fighters would enter the camps at night and kidnap children; boys to use as soldiers and girls as sex slaves. They would pierce the skin of their stomachs, thread a rope through and join them together for the march up north.
Those who couldn’t keep up were slain, usually with a machete. The soldiers often made the other captives carry out the executions.
As a result of this danger, children in the more northern camps left each night and trekked into the closest town, usually five to ten kilometers away, to sleep on the streets. They would then return in the morning.
Now, Denis considers himself one of the fortunate ones. He married while in the camp and was accepted into Australia two years after he applied with his wife Hellen, threeyear-old daughter, Carol, and his brother, James.
A friend, Waden Yugusuk, who he met on his journey from Sudan but who ended up in a camp in Kenya, has sponsored them. Waden was accepted into Australia in 2001.
Denis is excited at the chance of a new life in Australia and plans to continue the Law studies that he began three years ago at a university in Uganda.
But he also knows that there will always be a heaviness in his heart that will remind him of the family and friends that he has left behind.
Vatican bioethicist says removing Schiavo’s tube ‘direct euthanasia’
■By
Cindy WoodenRemoving the feeding tube from Terri Schindler Schiavo, a braindamaged Florida woman, or other patients in a similar condition amounts to “direct euthanasia,” a “cruel way of killing someone,” said the Vatican’s top bioethicist.
Bishop Elio Sgreccia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, said the academy usually does not comment on specific cases before courts, but “silence in this case could be interpreted as approval.”
The bishop told Vatican Radio on March 11 that withdrawing Schiavo’s gastric tube would not be a matter of allowing her to die, but would “inflict death.”
Judge George W. Greer of Florida’s Pinellas County Circuit Court ruled on Feb. 25 that Michael Schiavo, Terri Schiavo’s husband, could order doctors to remove the feeding tube on March 18. Her parents, Bob and Mary
Schindler, have opposed their sonin-law’s efforts.
Bishop Sgreccia spoke to Vatican Radio the day after Greer ruled the state’s Department of Children and Families could not intervene in the process.
Schiavo, 41, has been impaired for the past 15 years. She can breathe on her own but requires nutrition and hydration through a
feeding tube. Bishop Sgreccia told Vatican Radio, “Terri Schiavo must be considered a living human person, deprived of full consciousness, whose juridical rights must be recognised, respected and defended.
“The removal of the gastric tube used for nourishing her cannot be considered an ‘extraordinary’ measure or a therapeutic measure,” he said.
“It is an essential part of the way in which Mrs Terri Schiavo is nourished and hydrated.
“As far as we are concerned, denying someone access to food and water is a cruel way of killing someone,” he said. Bishop Sgreccia said he did not want to get into questions about Schiavo’s husband, parents or economic situation.
“Taking into account only medical and anthropological considerations,” he said, “we feel an obligation to affirm that such a decision violates the rights of Terri Schiavo and, therefore, constitutes an abuse of judicial authority.”
Bishop Sgreccia said he also was concerned about the precedent the court’s decision could set in the United States, creating a situation in which euthanasia is seen “as a right.”
“For these reasons we consider illicit the decision to remove Mrs Terri Schiavo’s gastric feeding tube,” he said.
Bishop Sgreccia told Vatican Radio that the Catholic Church does not support keeping people alive at all costs, going to extraordinary and even painful means to postpone death.
However, he said, keeping a patient clean, warm, fed and hydrated is not the same thing as “therapeutic obstinacy” or the refusal to accept death.
Feeding and hydration are “signs of respect for the human person,” whether young or old, healthy or sick, he said.
■ BOOK KEEPING SERVICE
All aspects of small business bookeeping, monthly bank rec, BAS, PAYG, my office or yours. Very reasonable rates. Ph: Margaret 9459 5866, MOB: 0403 778 426
■ BRICK REPOINTING
Phone Nigel 9242 2952
■ GUTTERS/DOWNPIPES
Need renewing, best work and cheapest prices. Free quote. Ph: Ad 9447 7475 or 0408 955 991 5008.
■ PICASSO PAINTING
Top service. Phone 9345 0557, fax 9345 0505.
■ PERROTT PAINTING PTY LTD
For all your residential, commercial painting requirements. Phone Tom Perrott 9444 1200.
■ RESPITE OR LONG STAY
Respite or long stay. I am a qualified carer and have vacancies in my home for frail and aged. Twenty-four hour care. Further information and brochure please contact 9397 7037 mob. 0402 265 952.
■ RETAILER OF CATHOLIC PRODUCTS Specialising in gifts, cards and apparel for baptism, communion and confirmation. Ph: 9456 1777. Shop 12A, 64-66 Bannister Road, Canning Vale. Open Mon-Sat.
■ WORK FROM HOME
Around your children & family commitments. My business is expanding and I need people to open new areas all over Australia. Training given. Highly lucrative. www.cyber-success-4u.org
■ ALL AREAS Mike Murphy 0416 226 434.
■ DENMARK Holiday House 3bdr x 2bth, sleeps up to 8. BOOK NOW. Ph: Maria 0412 083 377
■ DUNSBOROUGH
New 4 x 2, great location, sleeps 9. Ph: 0414 579 215
■ RECOVERY PROGRAMME
Hennie facilitates a successful recovery program to help one come to terms with, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by reaching the core of this disorder at it’s origin. This Program is outlined in three stages to re-establish a normal life. It is specially designed for people that have been affected by physical and or emotional abuse, been in an accident or some sort of disaster such as the recent Tsunami Indonesia. Price: $45 a session or $22 for Concession card holders. Enquiries 9525 0292
■ SUCCEED FROM HOME Call Christine on Tel: 9256 2895
■ PASCHAL/RCIA CANDLES 2005
Carefully hand crafted by Benedictine
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Ph: 02 4236 0011 Fax: 02 4236 0041
■ THE HUMBLE MESSENGER
Shop 16/80 Barrack Street (inside Bon Marche Arcade) PERTH. New Stock
Just Arrived from overseas i.e books, tapes, videos, statues etc. Bus hrs 10am-5pm Mon-Fri Ph: 9225 7199 / 0421 131 716
■ APARACIDA'S CAFE EMPORIUM
Delicious meals, unique giftware for all occasions. Regular workshops and seminars, catering for office and other groups, giftware for schools, parishes, individuals. Ph: 9470 1423, 0414 624 580, email: aparacidas@myaccess. com.au. See ad page 5
Saturday March 19
SEVEN CHURCHES WALK
This year’s walk commences with Holy Mass in the Cathedral at 8.30am. The walk starts from the Pro Cathedral at 9.15am and visits All Saints Chapel, Greek Orthodox Cathedral, St. Brigid’s, W. Perth, Redemptorist Monastery, Sacred Heart, Highgate and finishing at the Cathedral. BYO lunch. Enq Tony 9450 2627 or Fred 9245 4843
Saturday March 19
SCHOENSTATT PILGIMAGE
9 Talus Drive Armadale at the Shrine from 3pm. Divine Mercy Novena followed by Adoration and Devotion to honour St Joseph on his feast day. We will also say the Stations of the Cross using writings of St Therese of Lisieux.
Saturday March 19
MONTHLY NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF GOOD HEALTH
VAILANKANNI
Novena will be held at 5pm followed by the Vigil Mass at 6pm in the Holy Trinity Church Embleton. Enq 9272 1379-9272 4180
Saturday March 19
DAY OF PRAYER FOR YOUNG MEN
On the Feast of St Joseph and the eve of Holy Week, Fr Hugh Thomas will conduct a day of prayer and reflection for young men considering their vocation. Redemptorist Monastery 190 Vincent Street North Perth 9am-5.30pm. Enq 9328 6600
Saturday March 19
HOLY HOUR FOR VOCATIONS
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at Redemptorist Church 10am-11am.
Sunday March 20
GLOBAL CATHOLIC RADIO
Please join us this Sunday at 7.30pm on 107.9 FM, Radio Fremantle, for more Global Catholic Radio. This week we will feature: Servant of God Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen “The Entry of Our Lord Jesus Christ Into Jerusalem”, Fr. John A. Hardon “There is no Stopping Abortion Without the Eucharist”. Donations toward the program may be sent to Gate of Heaven, PO Box 845, Claremont, WA 6910.
Sunday March 20
ALPHA IS UP AND RUNNING
A great Course, guaranteeing you make new friends, enjoy a great meal and see your faith in a new, wonderful way. At St John’s Centre, 16 Aberdeen St, Northbridge on Sundays. Entrees served at 5.30pm. Enq Harry 9444 4626
Monday March 21
LEEDERVILLE MENTAL HEALTH FRIENDSHIP GROUP
Our group has coffee, chat and a few laughs at St.Marys Parish Centre, 40 Franklin St, Leederville
from 10am to 12noon. Enq Harry 9444-4626
Sunday March 20
TAIZE MEDITATIVE PRAYER
Come along and join in a Prayerful atmosphere and candle lit chapel from 7pm to 8pm
Sisters of St Joseph Chapel, 16 York St, South Perth Enq Sister Maree 93340933, 94573371
Sunday March 20
ETERNAL WORD TELEVISION NETWORK
1 - 2 PM ON ACCESS 31. The Passion narrative of St John by Timothy O’Donnell, followed by The Sufferings of Christ by Fr Angelus Shaughnessy and Sacred Songs filmed in the Holy Land by Marilla Ness. The Rosary Christian Tutorial Association relies totally on Divine Providence to bring you these inspiring programs. Please send donations to PO Box 1270, Booragoon 6954. For information on free video lending libraries, see web site http://www. cathworld.org/worlds/org/media/ Enq 9330-1170.
Sunday March 20, 23 and 25
CCTVA FOXTEL AND AURORA
10am Mass for You At Home, 10.30am The Pilgrimage, 11am Food.
Sunday March 20
ST JEROMES SCHOOL PARISH FETE
Stalls, rides, hot food, refreshments, raffles from 9am-2pm. Auction at 12noon and much more. Corner Rockingham Road and Troode Street Munster.
Sunday March 20
PEACE BE STILL EVENT
Wendy Gellard will be professed into the secular Franciscan order, during Mass. All welcome at Peace Be Still, Chittering from 3pm.
Tuesday March 22
HISTORICAL DETAILS OF THE TRIAL & CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS
Presented by Dr Jennifer Carroll from 4pm to 5pm, at Disciples of Jesus Covenant Community’s new Catholic Bible College, Acts 2 College of Mission and Evangelisation, 67 Howe Street, Osborne Park. Attendance fee: $5. Info: Jane 0401 692 690
Friday March 25
GOOD FRIDAY CEREMONIES
Catholic Agricultural College, Bindoon 11am
Stations of the Cross, 2.30pm Solemn ceremony. The Lord’s Passion. Confessions from 10.30am & after Stations of the Cross. All are welcome!
Those who require transport please contact Francis Williams ph: 9459 3873 mob 0404 893 877. For more details contact Fr Paul 9571-1839 or Christine 9576-1040
Friday March 25
STATIONS OF THE CROSS AT PEACE BE STILL
From 11am we will be walking 13 km up the hill
from Bullsbrook to Chittering Road.
Saturday March 26
EASTER VIGIL MASS
Feel like doing something different for Easter this year? The UWA Catholic Society is hosting an Easter Vigil Mass from 7.30pm for 1 hour at UWA Tropical Grove. See www.ucs.org.au for more details
Sunday March 27
BULLSBROOK SHRINE PILGRIMAGE
The next monthly pilgrimage in honour of the Virgin of Revelation will be held at the Shrine from 2pm at 36 Chittering Rd, Bullsbrook. All welcome. Bus services for the Pilgrimage depart Barrack St at 12.30pm for Bullsbrook via Highgate, Guildford, and Midland. For bookings contact Mrs Haddon 9277 5378. Enq Sacri 9447 3292
Friday April 1-4
CATHOLIC FAITH RENEWAL RETREAT
Fr Vincent Lee will be in Perth to conduct a Sin and Repentance Retreat at Advent Park, 345 Kalamunda Rd, Maida Vale. Fr Lee is well known for his evangelical mission. Come and experience the power of the Holy Spirit. Cost Includes meals and accommodation. Enq 9272 1765, Gertrude 9455 6576, Rose 0403 300 720
Monday April 4
COUNTRY DAY OF REFLECTION
St Anne’s Church, 6549 Great Northern Hwy, Bindoon, Feast of the Annunciation, 9.30 am - 3pm. Holy Mass 2pm. Guest Preacher Fr Hugh Thomas CssR. Enq 9571-1839 or Jean 9576-0006.
Friday April 8 to 10
PILGIMAGE TO GOD’S FARM
Don’t miss this glorious opportunity to experience the real truths and riches of the Risen Christ and His Blessed Mother with Fr Noel Tobin, retreat director. Daily Mass, Reconciliation and encouraging talks are included in the retreat at God’s Farm, 40km south of Busselton from Friday 7pm to Sunday 2pm. Luxurious bus reserved. To book please contact Yvonne 9343 1119 or Betty Peaker 9755 6212
Sunday May 1
THE BOVE FARM MAY ROSARY RALLY 25TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
25th Anniversary Celebration in Honour of Our Lady to be held at the Queen of the Holy Rosary Grotto, Bove’s Farm, Roy Road, Jindong. Hymn singing commences at 12.30pm. Holy concelebrated Mass led by Bishop Gerard Holohan commences 1pm, followed by Rosary Procession and Benediction. Afternoon tea provided. All welcome bus bookings from Perth to Bove Farm can be made with Francis Williams ph 9459 3873.
CROSS ROADS COMMUNITY
Term 1 – 31st January to 8th April for Family & Friends Support Groups of Substance Abusers on Wednesdays 7pm – 9pm, Substance Abusers Support Groups on Tuesdays 5.30pm – 7.30pm & Fridays All day Group for Substance Abusers 9.30am – 2pm including Healing Mass, Fridays 12.30pm, Women’s Wellness Group: Tuesdays 12.30pm. Daily Rosary: 12.30-1pm. Exercise program on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10am to 11am.
DIVINE MERCY HOLY HOURS
The Divine Mercy Apostolate invites you all to come and join us by rolling out the red carpet for Jesus in the following churches, St Mary’s Cathedral each first Sunday of the month from 1.30pm-3.15pm with a different priest each month . St Frances Xavier Church, Windsor St East Perth each Saturday.
HOLY WEEK TRIDUUM IN THE TRADITIONAL LATIN RITE St John’s Pro-Cathedral, Victoria Ave, Perth. Maundy Thursday 6.30pm. Latin Mass followed by Adoration. Good Friday 1.30pm Stations Of The Cross, 3pm Fast and Abstinence. Holy Saturday Vigil 10pm. Easter Sunday 7.30am, 9.15am and 11.15am Latin Mass. Enq Fr Michael Rowe 94449604.
ANCIENT CEREMONIES OF TENEBRAE IN HOLY WEEK
Sung at the close of day, in order to signify the setting of the Sun of Justice and the darkness of those people who knew not our Lord and condemned Him to the gibbet of the Cross. Candles are extinguished gradually as the office is a funeral service commemorating the death of Jesus Christ, as indicated by the sung Lamentations of Jeremiahs the Prophet. Sung Tenebrae responsories were written by Tomas Luis de Victoria (d.1611). Wednesday 23 March at 8.30pm, Maundy Thursday 24 March at 9pm, at St Francis Xavier Church, East Perth. Good Friday 25 March at 6pm at Immaculate Conception Chapel, Mercy Convent, Mercedes College, Victoria Square, Perth. Enq Fr Michael Rowe 9444-9604
50TH ANNIVERSARY OF OUR LADY OF HELP OF CHRISTIANS CHURCH
Mukinbudin Catholic Church invite all past parishioners and religious to attend. Names, photographs and memorabilia are needed as soon as possible for a short history. Please inform if attending. Marle McInnes 9048 4011. Box 34 Mukinbudin 6479
EASTER PROGRAM YANCHEP, TWO ROCKS, GUILDERTON, LANCELIN
Yanchep, Thursday March 24, 6pm Mass. Friday March 25, 4pm the Passion. Saturday March 26, 6.30pm Paschal Vigil. Guilderton, Saturday March 25, 1pm the Passion. Sunday March 27, 9am Mass. Lancelin , Friday March 25, 10am Stations of the Cross. Sunday March 27, 9am Mass
Archbishop Hickey and Fr Sherman, parish priest of St Patrick’s, follow the banners into the church.
With St Patrick watching quietly, Archbishop Hickey gives a final blessing to the big crowd in The Esplanade while state ministers and local dignitaries sit in the shade of the big tent behind.
SPatrick’s Day
and
is an annual event in Fremantle that many Irish and people of Irish descent (and even those who are not Irish at all) look forward to. March 13 was a beautiful day and, thankfully, not too hot.
Long before the beginning of Mass at 11am at St Patrick’s Basilica in Fremantle, floats were prepared,
kisses Archbishop Hickey’s hand as he is pushed out of the Church after Mass.
a
with paintings, balloons and flowers.
The Irish are very proud of their heritage and even Archbishop Hickey, in his sermon, acknowledged his Irish roots.
Well behaved Irish wolfhounds were led behind St Patrick’s statue as it was driven slowly through the streets of Fremantle.
to find a way around the blocked centre of Fremantle.
Participants in the procession and many more Irish people ended up at The Esplanade, where, after Archbishop Hickey’s final blessing, the fun really started. - Eugen Mattes