The Record Newspaper 18 August 2010

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THE R ECORD

‘Pray for politicians’

At a special Marriage Day Mass, Archbishop calls for prayer to save Christian founding principles of national life

BY PETER ROSENGREN

ARCHBISHOP Barry Hickey has called for Catholics to pray that those who will make up the new federal Parliament will safeguard traditional marriage and not give in to fashionable pressure or agitation to effectively redefine it out of existence. His call, he said, was not a political act but it was also important that the Church speak out on key matters such as the status of marriage in Australia. He made his comments at a special Mass in St Mary’s Cathedral on 12 August on the eve of National Marriage Day.

National Marriage Day was organised by the family and marriage lobby, the Australian Family Association, the Catholic men’s organisation, the Knights of the Southern Cross and a number of other organisations strongly supportive of the social importance of marriage.

Similar gatherings across the country were held this week to underscore the vital importance of marriage to individuals and to society; the main event was a National Marriage Day breakfast in Canberra on the morning of 13 August.

“This Mass is not a political act. Nevertheless, it has a lot to do with the social fabric of Australia, and our politicians and governments have much to do in preserving that fabric,” he told around 200 people who had braved a cold wet winter evening to attend.

“This Mass is also to do with raising our voice so that Parliament preserves marriage in its traditional sense,” he said, noting that there are now more forces and groups than ever before seeking to actively change the definition of marriage to include almost any relationship.

In fact, he pointed out, some are attempting to change things so far that they welcome the breakdown of marriage as an institution and argue that this frees people to engage in almost any kind of relationship as a substitute for traditional marriage, a relationship between a man and a woman based on fidelity to each other and open to the Please turn to Page 5

St Padre Pio still penetrates hearts, 42 years after his death

BY PETER ROSENGREN

From city corporate highflyers and business types to simple parishioners, hundreds surged forward after a special Mass in St Mary’s Cathedral last week to venerate first class relics of one of the greatest saints of the modern era.

The picture was repeated at several venues throughout Perth over the last week.

Visiting Franciscan Capuchin Fr Ermelindo Di Capua, OFM Cap had to repeatedly call for people to be patient as they crowded around the sanctuary steps to be blessed by the relics of St Pio of Pietrelcina, popularly known as Padre Pio.

An estimated 700 people or thereabouts converged on St Mary’s on Tuesday, 10 August to participate in a special Mass followed by veneration of and blessing by the relics. The Rosary, Eucharistic adoration and Benediction led by Mt Lawley parish priest Fr Timothy Deeter commenced the evening.

Padre Pio died in 1968 in his monastery in Pietrelcina, Italy, but global devotion to his holiness has continued to grow with every passing year; the saint’s life was filled with miracles that astonished even Vatican investigators and some clergy cynical of the reality of his supernatural experiences.

Perth has been the first stop in a national tour of the relics brought to Australia by fellow Capuchin Fr Ermelindo, who worked beside Padre Pio as his English translator from 1965 to 1968.

Three pieces of dried blood from Padre Pio’s Stigmata and a mitten he used to cover the wounds are the first and second class relics Fr Ermelindo brought for veneration.

It was clear from the crowds flocking forward in St Mary’s that many were hoping for cures to illness or infirmity.

Throughout his life Padre Pio accomplished many healings that flabbergasted contempoPlease turn to Page 4

The palliative care debate you won’t get to hear

BY ANTHONY BARICH

The Voluntary Euthanasia Bill 2009 currently before WA Parliament will have dire consequences for clinical care, Notre Dame Medical Professor David

Watson told a 12 August forum at the university’s Fremantle campus.

Barrister Peter Quinlan, who has acted for the Medical Board of WA, hospitals and health professionals, also said

the debate is too important to be emotion-driven. When one person from the audience of over 200 at the university’s Fremantle campus said the pro-euthanasia side was not represented at the debate, Mr

Quinlan said that, in the mediadriven debate, the pro-life side is rarely heard. LJ Goody Bioethics Centre director Fr Joe Parkinson also addressed the forum, which will be covered fully in next week’s The Record

Archbishop Hickey distributes his pastoral letter to worshippers attending the National Marriage Day Mass in St Mary’s Cathedral on 12 August. PHOTO: PETER ROSENGREN

Fr Ermelindo Di Capua is swamped by worshippers at St Mary’s Cathedral on 10 August wanting to be blessed with relics of St Pio of Pietrelcina, affectionately known the world over as Padre Pio, who died in 1968. Similar scenes were repeated in various locations around Perth during the week-long visit of Fr Ermelindo, who knew and worked with Padre Pio in the late 1960s. PHOTO: PETER ROSENGREN

AT A GLANCE

Forthcoming events around the Archdiocese

Notre Dame, Fremantle

Bible Study - Associate Professor Richard Matthews from King’s University College of Western Ontario will challenge how many think of the issues involved in the war on terror, including what is and is not acceptable, when he speaks at Notre Dame’s Conversations on Tap in Fremantle.

When: 5.30pm on 24 August, in the Education Auditorium, corner Cliff and Croke Streets, Fremantle.

the undercroft.

When: 7.30-9pm, 18 and 25 August and 1, 8, 15 and 22 September at St Paul’s Church, 106 Rookwood St, Mt Lawley.

Our Lady of the Mission, Whitford

Understanding Your Kids - Dr Ian Lillico, a leading expert on educational aspects that are affecting children today will present his ideas. Tickets are $10 per person/couple. For further details, contact Vilma Hall on 9447 7693. For information on Dr Ian Lillico, visit www.boysforward. com. All welcome.

When: 7-9pm on 25 August in Our Lady of the Mission Parish Hall, 270 Camberwarra Drive, Craigie.

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament

Medjugorje Evening of Prayer - On the last Friday of every month, different parishes host thanksgiving evenings of prayer to Our Lady for her reported apparitions at Medjugorje that have been said to occur since 1981. The evening includes Adoration, Rosary, Benediction and Mass.

When: 7-9pm on 27 August at Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Church, 175 Corfield St, Gosnells.

Little Sisters of the Poor, Glendalough

St Paul’s, Mt Lawley

Editor

Journalists

Bible Study - Mt Lawley parish priest Fr Tim Deeter is offering two mini-courses on Wednesday nights. The first three Wednesdays will focus on the three Letters of St John while subsequent Wednesdays in September will focus on the Letters of St James and St Jude. Bring your Bible to

Healing Mass - Anyone suffering any type of sickness whether it be spiritual, emotional or physical is invited to receive the Sacrament of Healing of the Sick on Saturday. This will be followed by morning tea in the parish centre.

When: 8.30am on 28 August at Our Lady of the Mission, 270 Camberwarra Drive, Craigie.

Mass for foundress’s feast day - The Little Sisters of the Poor will be celebrating St Jeanne Jugan’s feast day with Mass. St Jeanne Jugan was beatified in 1982 and canonised in 2009. Enq: 9443 3155.

When: 10.30am on 30 May at 2 Rawlins St, Glendalough.

Send your At a Glance items to baspinks@therecord.com.au

in brief Benedictines sue over coffins

NEW ORLEANS (CNS) - Standing behind a simple, cypress coffin, Benedictine Abbot Justin Brown asked a US federal court in New Orleans on 12 August to bury a Louisiana law allow-

ing only licensed funeral homes to sell coffins to the public. At stake, Abbot Brown said, is the monks’ ability to engage in free enterprise through the sale of the coffins, which range in price from US$1,500-2,000 but which are considerably less expensive than many of the coffins sold to bereaved families by funeral home operators. The simplicity of the coffins reflects the sacred Christian theology that at the end of

life, the body is returned to the earth but the soul lives on, Abbot Brown said. The Benedictines of St Joseph Abbey in St Benedict, Louisiana, have made the coffins for decades to bury their brother monks, but public interest in the coffins began in the early 1990s and has grown over the years. In 2007, the Benedictines launched St Joseph Woodworks, headed by Deacon Mark Coudrain, a master woodworker, to begin making coffins.

Bridget Spinks baspinks@therecord.com.au

Mark Reidy mreidy@therecord.com.au

Fr John Flader

Guy Crouchback

The Record PO Box 3075

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THE R ECORD New Contacts THE R ECORD

Democratic Labor Party

Fremantle

Official Engagements

AUGUST

20 Ordination to Diaconate, Ballajura –Archbishop Hickey

20 Confirmation, Karrinyup – Bishop Sproxton

21 Mass for Natural Family Planning Week, Catholic Pastoral Centre – Bishop Sproxton

22 Mass, Lesmurdie Parish – Archbishop Hickey

22 Cathedral Fundraising Lunch, Northbridge –Archbishop Hickey

22 Confirmation, Palmyra – Bishop Sproxton

22 Silver Jubilee Mass of Fr Patrick Lim, Thornlie –Archbishop Hickey, Bishop Sproxton

22-27 Clergy Retreat –Archbishop Hickey

27-29 Parish Visitation, Fremantle – Bishop Sproxton

28 100th Birthday Anniversary Mass, M Theresa of Calcutta, Bentley – Archbishop Hickey

rejects the proposed mining tax as it adversely affects the retirement income of our senior citizens.

Authorised by Eric Miller, 284 Grove Rd Lesmurdie WA 6076 Tel 08-9291 7580 www.dlp.org.au

29 Latin Rite Confirmation, Belmont – Archbishop Hickey

29-3 September Clergy Retreat – Bishop Sproxton

Contacts

The Parish. The Nation. The World. Read it in The Record.

Vietnamese delve into MacKillop’s life

BY SR JOANNE LINH LE RSJ

THE young people of the Vietnamese Catholic community celebrated on 7 August the Feast Day of their Patron Saint, Blessed Mary MacKillop, who will become the first Australian Saint on 17 October.

The celebration also marked the two year anniversary of World Youth Sydney 2008.

Each Saturday afternoon, about 300 young members of the Vietnamese Catholic community come together to learn Vietnamese in order to stay in touch with their own culture.

After this, most stay for faith formation and take part in activities run by the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement, which run from 4.15pm to 4.45pm followed by the Vigil Mass at 6pm.

For their Faith Formation session on 7 August, they invited the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart from Penola at Safety Bay to give a 45 minute talk about the life of Mary MacKillop.

Afterwards they participated in a Eucharist to honour her as their Patron Saint.

About 40 young people sang in the choir led by a music band of two acoustic guitarists, a bass gui-

tarist, a drummer and percussion.

Thuc Hoang, the Music Coordinator for VCYM (Vietnamese Catholic Youth Ministry), prepared the music and assembled the younger members of the community to play in the band.

He also taught others to sing solo or in parts and they sang most parts of the Mass and hymns in English.

The only prayers they recite in Vietnamese are the Nicene Creed, the Our Father and the Lamb of God.

A congregation of about 700 people, young and old, filled the big chapel and was united in prayer honouring Mary MacKillop.

Fr Huynh Nguyen, Chaplain to the Vietnamese Catholic community, has a vision to cater for the younger generation’s spiritual nourishment and he has accomplished this by organising one bi-lingual Mass in VietnameseEnglish on the last Saturday of each month.

Let us pray for our young generation, that through the life of Mary MacKillop, they will be inspired to fulfill her vision to relieve people’s suffering and bring hope.

Notre Dame announces midwifery course for 2012, Physio becomes School

BY ANTHONY BARICH

THE University of Notre Dame Australia’s Fremantle campus will launch a Midwifery post-graduate course by 2012 that will be the first of its kind in WA.

UNDA School of Nursing

Dean Prof Selma Alliex told The Record that the university has given the School permission to start the course, and that natural family planning will be included.

Currently, all midwifery postgraduate courses are 12 months but as entire health professions, including doctors and nurses, in WA will sign onto a national programme by October, new guidelines recommend the course be 18 months under the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Board.

Courses run in WA are currently accredited under the Nurses and Midwifery Board of WA, which will have other functions minus the accreditation once the professions sign onto the national body.

The University has also opened a new School of Physiotherapy this month, with Prof Peter Hamer as Dean.

The standing and reputation of UNDA’s Physiotherapy programme has provided the impetus for the University to open a new School of Physiotherapy.

Physiotherapy has been offered at Notre Dame since 2003, and the success of the popular programme was acknowledged earlier this year when it achieved the highest ranking from its

graduates across all Physiotherapy programmes in Australia in areas representing quality of teaching, the education process and overall satisfaction, according to Graduate Careers Australia Survey Results, 2009.

Previously, Physiotherapy was part of the School of Health and Sciences; now it is a School in its own right.

Prof Hamer said that for every student there are at least three to four times that number who apply to undertake the programme.

“Physiotherapy is one of those health professions that has wide appeal and application across the community from attending to injuries in the elite sportsperson to helping people restore function after work-related injuries,

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trauma, surgery, stroke and cardiovascular disease, to name just a few areas,” Prof Hamer said in a statement.

“The formation of our physiotherapy programme into the new School of Physiotherapy recognises the strengths of our staff in providing a high level of education and training, and the commitment of our students and graduates in providing exemplary service and care to the community.” The opening of the School of Physiotherapy will be celebrated at the Physiotherapy Special Alumni Function on 27 August.

Past graduates will network with the current fourth year students as they are about to complete their studies and transition to the workforce.

JohnHughes

Above: Members of the Vietnamese Catholic Youth Ministry; top left: Sr Kathleen Dawe RSJ with secondary school-aged students; bottom left: Sr Margaret Culhane RSJ with students in Years 1 to 3; below: the choir with the VCYM band.

Prof Peter Hamer

Vietnamese delve into MacKillop’s life

BY SR JOANNE LINH LE RSJ

THE young people of the Vietnamese Catholic community celebrated on 7 August the Feast Day of their Patron Saint, Blessed Mary MacKillop, who will become the first Australian Saint on 17 October.

The celebration also marked the two year anniversary of World Youth Sydney 2008.

Each Saturday afternoon, about 300 young members of the Vietnamese Catholic community come together to learn Vietnamese in order to stay in touch with their own culture.

After this, most stay for faith formation and take part in activities run by the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement, which run from 4.15pm to 4.45pm followed by the Vigil Mass at 6pm.

For their Faith Formation session on 7 August, they invited the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart from Penola at Safety Bay to give a 45 minute talk about the life of Mary MacKillop.

Afterwards they participated in a Eucharist to honour her as their Patron Saint.

About 40 young people sang in the choir led by a music band of two acoustic guitarists, a bass gui-

tarist, a drummer and percussion.

Thuc Hoang, the Music Coordinator for VCYM (Vietnamese Catholic Youth Ministry), prepared the music and assembled the younger members of the community to play in the band.

He also taught others to sing solo or in parts and they sang most parts of the Mass and hymns in English.

The only prayers they recite in Vietnamese are the Nicene Creed, the Our Father and the Lamb of God.

A congregation of about 700 people, young and old, filled the big chapel and was united in prayer honouring Mary MacKillop.

Fr Huynh Nguyen, Chaplain to the Vietnamese Catholic community, has a vision to cater for the younger generation’s spiritual nourishment and he has accomplished this by organising one bi-lingual Mass in VietnameseEnglish on the last Saturday of each month.

Let us pray for our young generation, that through the life of Mary MacKillop, they will be inspired to fulfill her vision to relieve people’s suffering and bring hope.

Notre Dame announces midwifery course for 2012, Physio becomes School

BY ANTHONY BARICH

THE University of Notre Dame Australia’s Fremantle campus will launch a Midwifery post-graduate course by 2012 that will be the first of its kind in WA.

UNDA School of Nursing

Dean Prof Selma Alliex told The Record that the university has given the School permission to start the course, and that natural family planning will be included.

Currently, all midwifery postgraduate courses are 12 months but as entire health professions, including doctors and nurses, in WA will sign onto a national programme by October, new guidelines recommend the course be 18 months under the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Board.

Courses run in WA are currently accredited under the Nurses and Midwifery Board of WA, which will have other functions minus the accreditation once the professions sign onto the national body.

The University has also opened a new School of Physiotherapy this month, with Prof Peter Hamer as Dean.

The standing and reputation of UNDA’s Physiotherapy programme has provided the impetus for the University to open a new School of Physiotherapy.

Physiotherapy has been offered at Notre Dame since 2003, and the success of the popular programme was acknowledged earlier this year when it achieved the highest ranking from its

graduates across all Physiotherapy programmes in Australia in areas representing quality of teaching, the education process and overall satisfaction, according to Graduate Careers Australia Survey Results, 2009.

Previously, Physiotherapy was part of the School of Health and Sciences; now it is a School in its own right.

Prof Hamer said that for every student there are at least three to four times that number who apply to undertake the programme.

“Physiotherapy is one of those health professions that has wide appeal and application across the community from attending to injuries in the elite sportsperson to helping people restore function after work-related injuries,

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

Is it true our company philosophy is “We are a friendly and efficient company trading with integrity and determined to give our customers the very best of service?”

Is it true I regularly publish testimonial letters from satisfied customers because of my tremendous reputation for outstanding service?

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

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

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

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

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

trauma, surgery, stroke and cardiovascular disease, to name just a few areas,” Prof Hamer said in a statement.

“The formation of our physiotherapy programme into the new School of Physiotherapy recognises the strengths of our staff in providing a high level of education and training, and the commitment of our students and graduates in providing exemplary service and care to the community.” The opening of the School of Physiotherapy will be celebrated at the Physiotherapy Special Alumni Function on 27 August.

Past graduates will network with the current fourth year students as they are about to complete their studies and transition to the workforce.

JohnHughes

Above: Members of the Vietnamese Catholic Youth Ministry; top left: Sr Kathleen Dawe RSJ with secondary school-aged students; bottom left: Sr Margaret Culhane RSJ with students in Years 1 to 3; below: the choir with the VCYM band.

Prof Peter Hamer

St Vinnies up and running in China

In a sign that things may be moving forward in China, the St Vincent de Paul Society has established charities in the atheist country - albeit under a nonCatholic name

BY ANTHONY BARICH

THE Society of St Vincent de Paul has established 20 parishbased charity centres in China, but must operate under a different name to placate a government suspicious of the charity organisation’s ties to the Pope.

The Society has established centres in and around the city of Guangzhou (Canton) in the Guangdong Province, China’s southernmost mainland province, run in collaboration with local Catholic charities aligned with the government-sanctioned Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.

The Society’s international President General Michael Thio, in Perth earlier this month, said that he made it clear to the Chinese government that the Society is present all over the world and that its main aim is to promote its mission to help alleviate the suffering of the poor, “and there is much to do in this area”.

The operations are the fruit of a year of planning before discussions with the Chinese government began three years ago, which Mr Thio said was receptive to the Society “so long as we followed the norms of the country – the (parish charities) must report to the parish community, which in turn reports to the local council”.

Mr Thio said that his recent visits to Canton have revealed that the Society’s collaboration with local Catholic charities in assisting the poor is doing well, and “so far we have not faced any problems as we don’t get involved in any political

activities but focus on helping the poor”.

The Society steers clear of the

“underground Church”, he said, which makes operations easier.

“When we go to a new country

Above:

Guangzhou,

China’s Guangdong

February 2007. A rare study done inside China found that 31 per cent of Chinese consider themselves to be religious, despite the country’s atheist status. According to the study results, the majority of all believers claim Buddhism or Taoism as their religion. About 12 per cent of believers - 40 million Chinese - claim Christianity.

PHOTO: CNS/REUTERS

we’re very careful we don’t get into any political sidings, we lean only towards our charitable leanings. That gives us the freedom to be able to do the work of the mission of the society,” Mr Thio said. He believes that it is only a matter of time before China establishes relations with the Holy See, as “the new breed of leaders in China are more open and always think in terms of progress”.

“They know they have to move forward and engage with the world. This is the feeling I get when I go there,” he said. “The present Holy Father is very open,

he knows China is going stay engaged with (the Holy See) and he’s looking forward to establishing ties in China.”

Recent events have had mixed responses.

In July, Chinese Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo of Zhengding was released after 15 months in detention and, in his first Mass upon release, made a point of stating that he had not accepted the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, nor the authority of the Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church in China, which are governmentapproved Church bodies.

China began suppressing the Church in the late 1950s when it established the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, whose members initially were asked to reject ties with the Vatican.

Catholics who refused to join the patriotic association and overtly maintained their loyalty to the Vatican suffered decades of persecution.

For decades, the Catholic Church in China has existed with two communities: one in which Catholics register with the Chinese authorities - and therefore operate under certain official limits - and one in which Catholics practise the faith in a more clandestine fashion, who are known as the “underground Church” which is loyal to the Pope.

Recent progress was made in April when two Bishops were ordained with both the Pope’s and the Chinese government’s approval – the first Bishops ordained in mainland China since December 2007.

A 2007 letter from Pope Benedict XVI to Chinese Catholics urged reconciliation between the communities, which in some parts of China operate in the same areas, and emphasised that some aspects of the patriotic association were incompatible with Church teaching and said the Holy See “leaves the decision to the individual Bishop,” having consulted his priests, “to weigh ... and to evaluate the possible consequences” of joining the association.

Thousands turn out around Perth for relics of Pio of Pietrecina

Continued from Page 1 -raries through his prayer and own suffering although he repeatedly pointed out that it was God, not he, who healed.

Along with Fr Ermelindo, several Perth clergy concelebrated the evening’s special Mass together with Monsignor Michael Keating, Dean of St Mary’s Cathedral and Archbishop Barry Hickey as the principal celebrant. Also concelebrating were Fathers Tiziano Bogoni, Jean-Noel Marie, Norbertine Fr Stephen Cooney O.Praem. of York and Salvatorian and Franciscan of the Immaculate clergy.

In his homily Fr Ermelindo, who worked beside Padre Pio for three years as his English translator until the saint’s death in 1968, said the saint’s legendary holiness was simple but profound and accessible to all. The key, elements were, first, Christ present in the Eucharist and the Mass, then the image of Christ suffering and dying on the Cross and deep personal prayer.

An indispensable element of Padre Pio’s spirituality was devotion to Mary, Christ’s mother, who he always regarded as the most beautiful of all women; the Rosary was one of his favourite prayers and he prayed it numerous times every day, Fr Eermelindo said. Along

PHOTOS: PETER ROSENGREN

with few other individuals in the history of the Church, Padre Pio was a stigmatist, one who bears the actual physical signs of the crucifixion. He shares membership of an extremely select group in Church history with other figures such as St Francis of Assisi, a key reformer of corruption and decay

in the Church in the late 12th and early 13th century, whose distinctive spirituality became a key force shaping the Church for centuries.

When regarded as authentic, the stigmata are usually seen as the sign of a deep intimacy with, and closeness to, Christ. While the wounds cause great suffering to

the individual who receives them they are regarded as a gift, a sharing by Christ of his own suffering and redemptive role with an individual. Both men and women have received the stigmata with women appearing to predominate, including St Catherine of Siena and St Gemma Galgani. Huge crowds

also turned out at a number of venues around Perth, especially at Whitfords Parish where Parish Priest Fr Jospeh Tran had distributed more than 2000 flyers in the leadup to the visit of the relics to his parish, and at Infant Jesus Morley on 14 August for the Italian community.

A woman prays at the newly restored Sacred Heart Cathedral in

in south

province in

Bishop Joseph Gan Junqiu of Guangzhou, where the Society of St Vincent de Paul has opened up 20 parish-based charity centres, stands with nuns and priests after posing for a picture following his ordination in Guangzhou, China on 4 December 2007. Bishop Gan was one of two Vatican-approved Bishops installed just days apart in China. On 30 November 2007, a new Bishop was installed in the Diocese of Yichang. The Bishops also are recognised by the Chinese government.

PHOTO: CNS/REUTERS

Archbishop Barry Hickey and Fr Ermelindo bless the hundreds of people in St Mary’s Cathedral with Padre Pio’s relics at the conclusion of Mass on Tuesday 10 August. After Mass, Fr Ermelindo and assisting priest Fr Tiziano Bogoni took turns individually blessing the hundreds who surged forward, many hoping for a cure to illness or infirmity.

Wheatbelt couple honoured for a life’s commitment to marriage

last Thursday evening in St Mary’s Cathedral for their 63-year commitment to marriage. John and

Irene Fuchsbichler (nee Rattray) of Bruce Rock in WA’s wheatbelt, who have been lifelong farmers, were presented with a special AFA Family Award and later congratulated personally by Archbishop Hickey and other clergy for their commitment to marriage.

John, who will be 94 in November but looks and talks like a man decades younger, told The Record he began farming when he left school at the age of 14.

He and Irene married in St Mary’s Cathedral in 1947; he was 30, she was 18. The couple had five children, three girls and two boys, and the family have been mostly located in and around Bruce Rock for a century. They have 15 grandchildren and eight greatgrandchildren. Irene said she was surprised by the presentation of the certificate, which she had not been expecting at all.

Archbishop urges prayer for politics

Continued from Page 1 possibility of life. Marriage, he told those present, not only provides for the needs of families and individuals but beyond the confines of the family circle into society and acts as a sign.

“It is a civilising vocation that reminds our society of God and of his love,” he said.

As reported in last week’s Record, Archbishop Hickey also issued a pastoral letter to the Archdiocese to coincide with the marking of National Marriage Day.

Entitled Pearl of Great Price, the 1,300 word document reiterates the importance of marriage not only for spouses and society, but especially for children.

A key concern in the Archbishop’s comments were the personal and social cost of marriage breakdown, now at almost pandemic proportions in Australia, and the largely ignored effects on children and how they suffer from this phenomenon.

The Archbishop told those in St Mary’s that there are now something like one million people in Australia from broken marriages.

Part of the cost is the children, who so often get caught in the hostility between spouses, a hostility which usually continues long after the actual separation.

He was particularly saddened by the unseen victims, including children who are placed in foster

care as a result of marital and family breakdown. The numbers are simply “frightening” he told worshippers, adding that he knew of cases where children were placed with up to 15 different families in succession.

“They emerge from the experience often with deep psychological problems, depressed and often violent. They haven’t had the love they need to have,” he said.

He urged Catholics to embrace the Church’s teaching on marriage as ‘a pearl of great price,’ the title he had given to his pastoral letter.

And while it was true that marriage is under great threat in Australia today, it was also under threat when Christ was alive, he pointed out.

Under the law of Moses, a man was permitted to divorce his wife for almost no reason at all, while in Roman culture, divorce had become common; it was Jesus who restored marriage to the lofty and original vision in God’s plan for human beings and raised it to a Sacrament.

The Archbishop ended his homily as he had begun it: urging those present to pray for the new Government and politicians “so that the Christian foundation of our nation will continue without change.”

His comments mirrored, in part, comments a fortnight ago raising his concerns at the encroachment of

secularism and the marginalisation of deeply held religious values in Australian political life and culture.

Then, he said, Christian voters were becoming concerned at the future direction of social policy in Australian politics and culture as the laws and policies erected generations ago on essentially Christian ethical principles were being eroded by a culture of materialism and moral relativism.

Focus on child migrants

THE Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, in conjunction with the Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office, has produced a Resource Kit to mark the 96th World Day of Migrants and Refugees on Sunday, 29 August.

The primary purpose of this annual Resource Kit, which is now in its third year, is to educate the public about Church teaching on migration and immigrants and to create a culture of welcoming. This year’s Kit, which focuses on child migrants and refugees, takes the form of an education-

al resource, primarily, but not exclusively, for children.

The Kit includes an address from Pope Benedict XVI and encourages educators and students to learn, embrace and celebrate the growing number of migrants in the Australian community by providing information, ideas and activities to guide them through the week leading up to 29 August.

To order the Resource Kit, email adminassistant@acmro. catholic.org.au or write to the Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office at PO Box 2720, Canberra, ACT, 2601.

A couple who married in 1947 were honoured at the conclusion of the National Marriage Day Mass

Children sit near a tent at al-Mazraq refugee camp near the Yemeni province of Saada in November 2009. Pope Benedict XVI urged governments and international organisations to give special attention to the rights of child immigrants in his annual message for the World Day for Migrants and Refugees, which was celebrated in January 2010 in most countries.

PHOTO: CNS/KHALED ABDULLAH, REUTERS

Johann and Irene Fuchsbichler in St Mary’s Cathedral on 12 August. PHOTO: PETER ROSENGREN

Leaders warn of neutral response for Christianity

FOLLOWING in the footsteps of the United States and United Kingdom, a group of interdenominational Christian leaders have launched the “Canberra Declaration”, a document addressing some of the key issues and values under threat in Australia.

The declaration mirrors those issues expressed in the Manhattan Declaration, launched on 29 November 2009 and the Westminster Declaration launched on 4 April this year, which address, in particular, religious freedom, marriage and family, and the sanctity of human life.

The immediate reason for the Declaration was the 21 August Federal election.

However, the principles enunciated on its website, www.canberradeclaration. org.au, are “timeless principles, and are relevant both for Australia’s short-term and long-term future”, a statement from the website said.

The authors of the Canberra version confirm the concerns of their overseas peers, believing that these three key aspects of society need to be vigorously and continuously championed.

The Canberra Declaration states: “Were we to undermine any one of these values, the social fabric of our nation would be seriously weakened, to our personal and collective detriment”.

The Declaration calls for Christians of all denominations to read and sign their support and encourages them to take action in promoting and preserving these values within their communities.

“With the challenges we face this day, a neutral response is a negative response. Inactivity is like floating in a row-boat, with the oars inside tucked comfortably under your feet. You can surely hear the waterfall in the not too-distant future. Inactivity is not a responsible option,” the website says.

- Go to www.canberradeclaration.org.au.

Controversial Jesuit at odds with Cardinal George Pell over whether Catholics can vote for Greens

BY ANTHONY BARICH

A CONSCIENTIOUS Christian can vote for the Greens in the 21 August election, leading Australian Jesuit Fr Frank Brennan said in the Jesuit online journal Eureka Street on 10 August.

His remarks will have astonished many observers of Australian politics, not least of all Christians and others concerned by the policies espoused by the Greens on a raft of issues from marriage to the sanctity of human life at all stages.

Fr Brennan, Professor of Law at the Public Policy Institute at Australian Catholic University, also publicly chided Cardinal George Pell for recently advising in a Sunday Telegraph column against voting for the Greens due to their “anti-Christian” stance.

While saying he “parts company with the Greens” on issues like abortion, stem cell research, same-sex marriage and funding for Church schools, Fr Brennan said that on “none of these issues will help the Greens carry the day given that policy changes in these areas will occur only if they are supported by a majority from both major political parties”.

Fr Brennan argued that “it is never a good thing for the government of the day to control the Senate”, claiming that the Greens are not in contest for government and unlikely to have much, if any, say in the House of Representatives although they will probably have the balance of power in the Senate.

Therefore, “a thoughtful Christian could give their first or second party preference to a minor party like the Greens confident that this minor party would hold to account whichever party is in power on contested legislative proposals”.

“Some Christians, myself included, think that the Greens are not classifiable as straight-out antiChristian,” Fr Brennan said.

“While some of their members may be (much like Mark Latham was in the Labor Party), others like Lin Hatfield Dodds (who is standing for election this week) have given distinguished public service

in their churches for decades. “On some policy issues, I daresay the Greens have a more Christian message than the major parties.”

Cardinal Pell’s 8 August Sunday Telegraph column called the Greens “sweet camouflaged poison”, saying he had recently urged parishioners to “examine the policies of the Greens on their website and judge for themselves how thoroughly anti-Christian they are”.

“Naturally the Greens are hostile to the notion of the family, man, woman and children, which they see as only one among a set of alternatives. They would allow marriage regardless of sexuality or gender identity,” the Cardinal said.

The Archbishop of Sydney also noted that in 1996 Green leader Bob Brown co-authored a short book The Greens with “the notorious philosopher” Peter Singer who rejects the unique status of humans and supports infanticide, as well as abortion and euthanasia.

“They claimed humans are simply another smarter animal, so that humans and animals are on the same or similar levels depending on their level of consciousness. This Green ethic is designed to replace Judaeo-Christianity,” Cardinal Pell said.

“Some Greens have taken this anti-Christian line further by claiming that no religious argumentation should be permitted in public debate.”

Fr Brennan called Cardinal Pell’s language in the column “unbecoming and unhelpful in the cause of the Church credibility in the public square”.

“Given that some of their policies, and on issues which will be legislated in the next three years, are arguably more Christian than those of the major parties, I think it best that Church leaders maintain a discreet reticence about urging a

vote for or against any particular political party,” Fr Brennan said.

“This is especially the case given that Green preferences are more likely to favour the major party headed by an atheist (Julia Gillard for Labor) rather than the one headed by a professed Christian (Tony Abbott for the Coalition). It would be very regrettable if an attack by Pell and the Christian Lobby on the Greens could be construed as an indirect shot across the bows of the atheist Prime Minister.”

Fr Brennan added that the Greens are “far more in synch with the periodic utterances of most Church leaders than either of the major political parties” on the issues of overseas aid, refugees, stewardship of creation and the environment, public housing, human rights protection, and income management.

This echoes Senator Brown’s claim last week that the Greens are much closer to mainstream Christian thinking than Cardinal Pell.

“That’s why he’s not standing for election and I am”, Senator Brown said. In February last year, the Greens passed a motion in the Senate calling on the government to overturn a ban on foreign aid being spent on abortion advice in developing nations, with Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young calling such laws “draconian”. By March last year, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, a West Australian Catholic, overturned the law enacted by the Howardled Coalition government 12 years prior, following the lead of US President Barack Obama, who had overturned a similar rule called the “Mexico City Policy” in January 2009.

The Greens have also been the

only party to hold back the tide against “the race to the bottom” in the asylum seeker debate since Kevin Rudd was replaced as Prime Minister, Fr Brennan said.

He also disputed Cardinal Pell’s claim that the Greens - who the prelate said are opposed to religious schools and would destroy the rights of those schools to hire staff and control enrolments –would bring funding for non-government schools back to 2003-04 levels.

“It is a complete furphy to suggest that the election of the Greens would threaten the funding of Church schools,” Fr Brennan said, as the funding formula for schools will be altered only if the government of the day wins support from the Opposition.

He called the Greens’ position on funding of Church schools “irrelevant”, saying they are unlikely to succeed using it as a bargaining chip for some other policy concession, provided the Church school lobby maintains its good standing with both major political parties.

If Federal funding was reduced to 2003/04 levels as Cardinal Pell suggested they would if the Greens gained control of the Senate, this alone would mean the Archdiocese of Sydney would need to raise school fees by about 20 per cent, a statement from the Archdiocese said, adding: “Perhaps some just can’t see the forest for the trees.”

Last week, both the Catholic Education Office in Sydney and the Director of Catholic Education with the Archdiocese of Melbourne and the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference all commented on either the Greens’ education platform or urged careful thought on voting and how politicians, political parties and political campaigns should be judged.

Fr Frank Brennan SJCardinal George PellSenator Bob Brown

Natural Family Planning Week August 2010

Per th Perth pioneers

One Per th couple bec ame

One Perth became trailblaz ers for natural trailblazers for approaches to fer tilit y when to fertility when they brought their small brought their small famil y, and the-then little family, and the-then little known Billings method to known method to WA.

- Pag e s -

- Pages -

T he C hinese lo ve it The Chinese love it

China now officiall y China now officially promotes an Aussie promotes an Aussie invention.

- Pag e s - Pages -

Hidden costs costs

Most of those wanting the Church to bless their marriage are cohabiting and contracepting, but research and social data increasingly back Church teaching.

- Page 

COVER: Jacinta Gresser. Special thanks to the Gresser, Laundy, McGinnity and O’Halloran families whose beautiful children appear in this Supplement.

Contents

8-9 Billings: the hidden success story

10 - 11 For Kathleen, the beauty is in the simplicity

God’s gift of love and life: NFP reaffirmed in Australian Bishops’ Pastoral

12 Societal perceptions askew on disabilities

Life, liberty and the pursuit of Truth

13 FertilityCare: reproductive technology is more than IVF

NFP: your questions answered

14 The hidden traps of cohabiting Education the key

It’s all about life...

While the Church’s strong belief about the relationship between fertility and marriage and family life may be unfashionable, many people are discovering that this is really the expression of an extraordinarily deep insight into the human person: who we are and how we are really meant to relate to each other.

The Church’s consistently courageous insistence on the significance of our fertility has been the butt of endless bad-taste jokes and jibes. Hardly a day goes by without someone on television, radio or the web seeming to almost sneer at Catholic beliefs about fertility, in particular.

The remarkable news is, however, that growing numbers of people around the world - and not just Catholics - are discovering that medicine and science are increasingly vindicating not the sceptics but rather the Church’s stance. In the last decade, the Chinese government, for example, has begun investing millions in establishing Billings Ovultaion Method centres around the world’s most populous nation after discovering the huge advantages it offers.

The Indian Government was so impressed by field trials involving 100,000 couples in the late 1990s they are going down the same road.

Over the last 20 years Australian natural fertility educators have noted an interesting phenomenon - a steady rise in interest in natural approaches to fertility from those for whom the environment is a key concern - Greens and others of like mind. Increasingly, people are beginning to realise that a woman’s regular indicators of fertility are not an illness that needs to be

medicated by contraception and that this should not be a necessary precondition of marriage, a long-term cohabitational relationship, a successful career or a fulfilling life. But almost no-one is offering alternatives other than the relatively small numbers of natural fertility practitioners.

It will take some time for the clear benefits of a natural approach to fertility to gain traction with key communicators such as the media who are usually slow to catch on to really big developments. And then there are the vested interests of multi-national pharmaceutical companies with which to contend.

The Church’s message on fertility is actually rooted in its vision of the dignity of woman and man and in the beauty of spousal love, marriage and family life. What the Church believes - and why - as opposed to what most people think it believes are actually two completely different things. When people discover this, they usually want to know why someone didn’t give them the good news earlier.

In this edition of The Record we have decided to support the nation’s natural fertility educators as best we could, by showcasing some of their remarkable achievements and programmes. These include the great Australian success story of the Billings movement, the Natural Fertility Services movement, and the remarkable developments expressed by the FertilityCare medical clinic now established here in Perth.

It is, we believe, a message worth considering, and sharing. It’s a message that leads to life and happiness.

Arecently released five year study showing remarkable success, yet deplorable lack of knowledge among women of the Billings Ovulation Method, has prompted its teachers to launch a new web site.

The study revealed great success with couples from all backgrounds and age groups achieving pregnancy and live birth, including those typically classified as “sub-fertile” or “infertile”. Pregnancy was achieved by older women and by some who had been unsuccessful with IVF procedures. In these cases, providing information of the significance of the changing pattern of fertility, with an emphasis on the recognition of optimum fertility by the vulval sensation of slipperiness, proved to be the key to success.

One of the most significant findings

of this study was the lack of knowledge of fertility, which applied across all groups.

A “staggering” 18 per cent only had correct information about the signs and symptoms of fertility. This is a remarkable statistic in an age of information and indicates that there is a definite lack in the provision of education and accurate information on this important subject, said Marie Marshell from the Ovulation Method Research and Reference Centre of Australia.

The old website, www.woomb.org, still functions as an information site,

Billings: the unknown outstanding success

especially for the “scientifically inclined” health professional, with an internet teaching service where people can register and be put in touch with a personal instructor and chart online.

The modern new site, www.billingslife.org, is linked to Twitter and Facebook and is constantly updated with fresh information, while constantly sending out reminders and information to its ‘followers’ and ‘friends’ on the social networking site.

The new site is also less specifically Catholic in its content and is targeted at a wider audience, and also has a facility to download a chart to email to a teacher, but has the added bonus of a teaching service. It also lists on its “Resources” page teaching centres around Australia and all affiliated teaching services around the word where people can get individual instruction.

While the old site will be redesigned and will continue, organisers plan to have a “single landing site” directing people to both the new, more personal user-friendly site and the old, more formal site that has more in-depth information.

The study demonstrated that a noninvasive method of couple instruction from trained teachers of the Billings Ovulation Method can empower couples and improve pregnancy outcomes for many who considered they had little chance of conceiving their baby, she said.

“Stress is relieved when couples learn that there are times when ovulation is delayed, such as when breastfeeding or recovering fertility after ceas-

ing chemical contraception. They will be able to identify infertility and the signs of returning fertility,” she said.

“This finding alone gives us good reason to recommend that there is a need for the promotion of services which empower couples and women.

“Promotion of this essential knowledge should be seen as part of the range of reproductive choices available to all couples.

“However, it seems that a request for referral to reproductive technology is often the first route considered by the couple experiencing difficulty in achieving a pregnancy.

“It is well documented that the increase of invasive therapies continues to rise despite considerable physical, emotional and financial cost. Alternatively, the low costs involved in learning to understand your own fertility will be with you for life, regardless of your reproductive life stage.

Joan Clements, director of WOOMB International (World Organistaion of the Ovulation Method) told The Record that the study’s findings “did give us a kick up the backside, but emphasised to us how little women know about their fertility, so we needed to get our message across better”.

If you are interested in learning more, contact Billings LIFE in Perth on bnfpwa@westnet.com.au or call 0409 119 532. Its national office is 4B/303 Burwood Hwy, East Burwood 3151. Phone 03 9802 2022 Email: the billingsmethod@woomb. org Website: www.billingslife.org.

Billings

Health bureaucrats should take note: natural approaches such as the Ovulation Method can offer a more focused health dollar

The Billings Ovulation Method movement is urging more doctors consider recommending the method after a five year study found that subfertile women achieved a known pregnancy rate of 65 per cent using the Method.

While IVF remains the main course of action referred to by doctors for infertile couples, Billings is accredited by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners to provide continuing professional development courses for GPs.

GPs need to attain a certain number of points every three years to maintain their membership. The Billings course gives GPs some of these points. The Australian College of Midwives has a similar arrangement.

The five year study involved 449 participants, of which 207 women had previously been classified as sub-fertile. Twenty couples in the study had been unsuccessful with IVF orArtificial Insemination but seven of these couples achieved pregnancy using the Billings Ovulation Method.

Significantly, 66 per cent of

over 38 year olds in the study also achieved a pregnancy using the Billings Ovulation Method.

On average, couples had tried to conceive for a period of 15 months before participating in the study.

The average period from initial instruction in the Billings Ovulation Method to conception

was 4.7 months. Kerry Bourke, President of the Ovulation Method Research and Reference Centre of Australia which conducted the study, hopes that women who have concerns about their fertility will be encouraged by the findings to seek natural fertility counselling with Billings consultants and that

more GPs will recommend it as an option for sub-fertile women.

Aside from success rates, the economic arguments are also stacking up in favour of Billings playing an increasingly important role in addressing fertility problems.

From 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2005, the Australian

Government spent, via Medicare, $584.6 million on Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).

In 2007, 22 per cent of the Extended Medicare Safety Net (EMSN) benefits went towards ART.

The average cost of ART per live birth is approximately $33,000.

The live birth rate for women aged 30 to 34 using IVF is approximately 24.7 per cent, while for women aged 35 to 39 the live birth rate is approximately 24 per cent.

The live birth rate for women aged 40 to 44 is approximately six per cent.

The cost of a live birth using IVF increases with maternal age. By comparison, the average cost of the Billings Ovulation Method per live birth is approximately $1,100.

A proposal to conduct a three-year pilot programme in Melbourne, using the Billings Ovulation Method to assist subfertile women, has been forwarded to the Department of Health and Ageing for consideration.

The basis of the Billings Ovulation Method is helping women to observe and interpret personal patterns of fertility and infertility which are individual to each woman.

When a woman learns the signs of fertility she can easily learn to understand and use these to achieve or avoid pregnancy, regardless of the length of her cycle.

The study by the Ovulation Method Research and Reference Centre of Australia is being prepared for publication.

For Kathleen, the beauty’s in the simplicity

BY BRIDGET SPINKS

Kathleen and Tom Kearns have known about the Billings method of natural family planning (NFP) for the whole of their married lives.

They’ve not only used it but Kathleen Kearns has voluntarily been a pioneer in educating women about the Billings method in Western Australia.

Nearly 1,000 couples in the last 31 years have come to understand the woman’s reproductive physiology, their combined fertility, and to appreciate the marvel of their fertility with Kathleen as their teacher.

Kathleen and Tom first learnt the method during their marriage preparation in late 1964, not long after Australian Dr John Billings’ first book, The Ovulation Method of Family Planning was released in London.

During their 14 month engagement, they attended the Benedictine-run parish of Ealing Abbey where parish priest, Fr Gregory, prepared them for marriage.

“He was very competent,” Kathleen said, adding that they met him twice a week and he took a personal interest in who they were, especially since his uncle was a doctor in Ireland’s Sligo town where the pair had grown up.

During the marriage preparation, Fr Gregory introduced the couple to the available natural methods of fertility control including the Basal body temperature (BBT) method developed in

London by Dr John Marshall as well as they new Billings method, since Billings’ first book about the method hit London bookshelves in 1964.

“In those times, you wouldn’t talk about such matters, especially with a priest,” Kathleen said. “But

he was a wonderful mentor. We felt very supported and quite at ease talking about this with him.”

In 1965, the Billings method was one of a number of options available to help women manage their fertility. This followed the 1961 general release of ‘the pill’ that had

just begun to be sold as a ‘contraceptive’.

“The Billings book was groundbreaking in that time but among our friends, no one was talking about how to manage their fertility,” Kathleen said.

“People weren’t quite sure what

Children: Gifts from God

the outcome of the ‘pill’ would be. They were saying, ‘How could people ruin their bodies by taking it?’ and, ‘Oh, that awful contraceptive’.”

But once the Kearns obtained a copy of The Ovulation Method of Family Planning, Kathleen said they were intrigued. “It was like our Bible from there on in,” she said.

For the first five years of their married life Kathleen and Tom lived in London.

They had been married 15 months when the first of their six children, Jackie, came along. Eighteen months later came their second daughter, Pauline, and another eighteen months later, Ursula.

In 1970, the family moved to Perth and soon after that Helena was born.

Kathleen said they wanted to have a large family. When Helena was two and a half, their first boy, Kieran, was born.

They then thought they would like to have another boy but when Kieran was four, their fifth daughter, Dympna, was born.

“It’s not that it didn’t work, it just didn’t go the way we thought it would,” she said. “It’s funny, we have all this information but it’s really God who decides who is born.”

In the early 70s, Kathleen was amazed to find that Billings was relatively unknown among various groups of ladies in her parish. When Fr Pat Harney came to the Carmelite parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Hilton in 1978, he was fresh from the 10 year anniver-

Australia’s Bishops have lent their support to spreading the good news on natural fertility methods

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s Commission for Pastoral Life has affirmed the use of natural fertility methods for married couples in a new release of the pastoral letter entitled God’s gift of life and love

The letter was first published in 1995 by the Bishops Committee for the Family and for Life.

The Commission decided to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Papal Encyclical Humane Vitae in 2008 by embarking on a project to re-release the pastoral letter in a new, more modern format.

The letter affirms couples choosing to use natural fertility methods, and explains some of the theological and pastoral reasons behind the Church’s teaching. The unitive and procreative aspects of marital love are a focus for this pastoral letter, and the letter explains how couples can grow in

mutual love and respect through open communication about procreation. In the foreword to the latest edition of the pastoral letter, Bishop Eugene Hurley, the Chairman of the Bishops Commission for Pastoral Life, said the letter affirms that deep satisfaction can be found in truly knowing one another, body and soul. “It recognises the sacredness and beauty of each person and it recognises that our sexuality is part of who we are,” he said.

“We live in a world where we find that often sex and sexuality are separated, which demeans the beauty and sacredness of each person and can lead to seeing people as objects.

God’s gift of Life and Love – Natural Family Planning reaffirmed in Australian B

“The work of researchers has refined n fertility methods to a high degree of relia making their practical application a grea easier than was the case in the 1960s.”

Ron and Mavis Pirola, co-chairs o Australian Catholic Marriage and F Council (and former members of the Pon Council for the Family) are delighted th pastoral letter has been re-released in an a tive format.

“The Church has a great vision for mar It helps us to recognise that our marriag sexual sacrament and sexual intercourse of the sacred language of the body,” they s

Tom and Kathleen Kearns, who now live in Samson, stand in front of a mural of the shores of Lough Arrow and Lough Key in County Sligo, Ireland. (Lough is Gaelic for Lake). The pair grew up in towns near these lakes and would often cycle round them. Artist Rose Hill painted the mural in 2005 for the occasion of Kathleen and Tom Kearns’ 40th wedding anniversary.

PHOTO: BRIDGET SPINKS

sary conference of Humanae Vitae where there had been talk of the Billings method and news that a teacher would be coming to Perth.

Billings educator, Karen Brown, came to Perth when her husband was transferred for work. Before he was transferred again, Karen trained Kathleen and Kathleen became an accredited Billings educator in 1979.

By the mid-1980s, there were four trained Billings educators in the west.

Over the next 30 years, Kathleen worked hard to raise awareness of the “Billings method” of natural family planning.

To educate women about the Billings method, Kathleen facilitated the establishment of the Fremantle Ovulation Method Centre.

Over time this led to the development of several sub centres in St John of God Hospitals in Subiaco and Murdoch; and centres in Rockingham, St Anne’s Hospital in Mt Lawley and Kelmscott Community Centre.

Kathleen has also organised several State tours to raise awareness of Billings in WA.

In 1979 and 1989, she arranged to bring Drs. John and Evelyn BIllings to WA to speak directly to the public of advances in the scientific application and understanding of the method.

In 1995, Kathleen facilitated a special training session with Mrs Gillian Barker in the use of the ovarian monitor.

Ten years ago, the Chinese government invited Drs. John and Evelyn Billings and a host of teachers including Kathleen Kearns to come to China and take part in a two-week teacher-training programme there.

Today, Kathleen continues to teach the Billings Ovulation Method in the evenings at St John of God Murdoch and every Monday at Pregnancy Assistance in East Perth.

She said, the women she teaches cannot believe that there’s a method to manage fertility that doesn’t require “drugs or devices”.

“Women who’ve been on the ‘pill’ and had bad reactions really appreciate the method and realise it is healthy, natural and normal.”

The Billings method of natural family planning is not just about avoiding pregnancy.

NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING WEEK

“If you understand your fertility then you can plan to have your family when you want to,” she said.

When Kathleen takes couples to teach them the method, she said she usually spends three quarters of an hour with them and spends time getting to know them, “with a general interest in their affairs”.

“Somehow or other they’re more friends than clients,” she said.

“When I start teaching, I see them once a month.

“Our chart goes for six months and after four they come back and say they want to try for a baby now,” she said.

“Generally people who are interested in natural family planning accept children as a natural consequence, rather than ‘we mustn’t have a baby regardless’.”

She said, the Billings method is “simple”, because “the signs are easy to interpret”.

“In the book there are 18 variations of the woman’s cycle. Some people say it’s too complicated but it’s simple once you understand what your own body is saying,” she said.

Australian NFP advice available online

Couples anywhere in Australia with Internet access can learn Natural Family Planning (NFP) with a new educational website launched in October last year.

The website gives couples all the information they need to start using the method and will connect them via email with an accredited educator to provide them with ongoing support for the first six months.

“It’s an exciting new development bringing NFP into the 21st century”, said Evelyn Brien, President of the Australian Council of Natural Family Planning (ACNFP).

“It will also give access to fertility education to many regional and rural couples wishing to use NFP to achieve or avoid pregnancy,” she said.

Sharon Young, Manager of Natural Fertility Services at CatholicCare Sydney said the website would teach couples the Sympto-Thermal Method, which is a multi-indicator approach to natural fertility management.

“Couples often confuse modern NFP methods with the Rhythm Method, which was used 50 years ago,” she said.

A recent study by the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology involving 900 women who contributed 17, 638 cycles of information confirmed that the Sympto-Thermal Method, a multi-indicator approach to fertility was 99.6 per cent effective when used to avoid pregnancy, an effectiveness level that put it on a par with hormonal methods of contraception.

“Increasingly though, couples are seeking NFP as a means of achieving pregnancy”, said Evelyn Brien.

“Current ABS statistics show that one in six Australian couples experience difficulty in becoming pregnant.”

Natural Fertility Education is highly effective for achieving a pregnancy and is also equally effective for avoiding a pregnancy.

It has no side effects, it is cost effective and promotes couple communication.

On registering as a client, couples receive a comprehensive introduction to fertility and instruction on the indicators and how to chart them. The indicators can be recorded online. One simple payment covers the client for six months who will be assisted by an educator during that timeframe.

The Federal Department of Health and Ageing provides funding to the Australian Council of Natural Family Planning to ensure Natural Fertility educators meet standards and accreditation requirements.

Bishops’ Pastoral Letter

The Australian Council for Natural Family Planning has also recently made their resources available online, meaning that information about these methods is more readily accessible to couples. Natural Fertility Methods celebrate the life-giving nature of conjugal love.

The concept of giving to each other, wholly and freely, of laying down our lives for one another is the guiding principle of Natural Family Planning.

“The life-giving nature of marital love can be felt in many ways, but it has a special significance in the procreative element of married life,” the letter affirms.

Societal perceptions still askew on disabilities

People with disabilities and natural family planning

BY BARBARA HARRIS Emmanuel Centre

The issue of people with disabilities and Natural Family Planning is a complex one and the variables for any situation are practically infinite.

For many in the community, Natural Family Planning is often seen only as a method of contraception in a marriage situation. People with disabilities are generally seen as a homogeneous group and are generally not considered as marriage candidates, although over time there has been some realisation that a person with a physical disability may marry, want children and have children.

It has been my experience that many people in society and Church have the perception that people with disabilities do not have the aspirations to belong, to love, to feel, to express their emotions, to understand and appreciate their bodies, to marry, to have children.

Furthermore, there has been an isolation of sexuality from a human and spiritual context which means that little is done to address the issue or even ask questions about the issue.

People with disabilities are generally seen as vulnerable and words like “fear” and ”protection” are often used.

Sterilisation is still quite a com-

mon response. I shall never forget the situation of a young girl with an intellectual disability who was a volunteer at Emmanuel Centre. This young girl was a ward of the state and sent to a doctor for an hysterectomy “in order to protect her.” The poor girl didn’t know what was happening. This same girl demonstrated many mothering skills whenever anyone with young children or babies came to the Centre.

Could this young girl have used natural family planning? Could she even have an understanding of her menstrual cycle and the wonder of male and female fertility? Could she have married and had

her own children? Unfortunately, we will never know.

Natural Family Planning cannot be seen in isolation from relationships and relationships are very complex in any situation.

Given the vulnerability of some people with disabilities, I often spend time with parents who are confused about what is best to do when their son or daughter indicates that they are in love and want to get married and have babies like their sister or brother or like they see on TV.

How do people with disabilities handle Natural Family Planning? That would be an easy question to answer if every person was just like

the next person. No one description will fit every person with a disability.

The methods employed by natural family planning require the participants to have a certain understanding both of their bodies and of their environment. Such understanding is not always available to some people with disabilities.

One of the saddest times for me was to walk with a couple wanting to start a family. They sought my help to understand their fertility time, as things were not happening for them. The wife did not know that she had been sterilised as a young teenager. Her parents felt that she would never marry and she would be at risk of advances from “over-sexed” males.

Over the years various methods to engage people with disabilities in the Natural Family Planning process have been tried.

We all have a right to a basic understanding of how our body works and the gift of male and female fertility regardless of whether we will enter into marriage.

Over the years the concept of “rights” is well advocated. Not always is the push for “rights” in the best interest of everyone. It has happened that the “right to experiment with one’s sexuality” has meant a person with a disability being taken to a brothel “for therapy.”

Natural Family Planning looks at the whole person in the context of Christian intimacy, and the notion of surrender, belonging and faithfulness.

Some couples with disabilities

can certainly show us that intimacy does not necessarily mean sexual intimacy. Words like “loving relationship”, “friendship”, “spontaneity” and “sheer joy of living” come to mind. We are aware that “biological parenting” is no longer connected to fatherhood and motherhood in today’s society.

The Church, as a whole, has not addressed the issue. We come from an era that refused to see people with disabilities as sexual beings to “fixing them up” before they “got into trouble”.

The issue is not about “How to …” but the deeper meaning of what intimacy is about. Intimacy is for all, marriage is for some and not everyone will have children. It is pleasing to note that Natural Family Planning is being offered to schools through the Archdiocesan Office and those involved in the Billings Method.

This means that students with disabilities who are in mainstream classes are able to get involved.

Each person’s needs are unique so we have never been able to find a single programme that is suitable in every circumstance. One programme that offers a glimmer of hope is called My Body: What I need to Know (2007).

This was developed with funding from the Commonwealth Government for teaching people with a mild intellectual disability.

The resource has four modules covering cycles of life, self awareness, physical awareness and male/ female fertility and includes many charts, drawings and activities. Selections can be made according to needs.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of Truth

Conference participants pursue truth about women’s health, fertility

GREENVILLE, South Carolina (CNS) - Doctors from around the world came to Greenville in late July to present the latest breakthroughs in helping improve women’s health, fertility and overall well-being.

On the theme Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Truth,” the 29th annual meeting of the American Academy of FertilityCare Professionals was held in conjunction with the Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska. The conference, open to medical professionals and the general public, included three days of education about women’s health issues and fertility as well as building happy, healthy and holy families.

Topics ranged from Adrenal Fatigue and Research Assessment and Connection to NaProTechnology by Dr Thomas Hilgers, director of Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction in Omaha, to Family-Centred Chastity Education: The Family Honour Model presented by Brenda Cerkez, executive director of Family Honour, a South Carolina organisation that promotes family-centred programming on chastity and other issues.

“The conference has provided such a broad scope of topics relating to the theology of the body that virtually every participant will be able to take back to their

ministry or family (some) spiritual, philosophical and intellectual treasures,” Cerkez said.

Expounding on the life theme of the meeting, Creighton-trained Dr Ingeborg Collins, an obstetrician-gynaecologist from Shelby, North Carolina, spoke on coeliac disease, an inherited autoimmune disease caused by a reaction to gluten, a type of protein commonly found in grains such as rye, barley and wheat.

Collins said it is hard to detect the disease because the symptoms may vary, but studies have shown a correlation with problems such as increased rate of infertility, increased rate of miscarriages, delayed menses and early menopause.

Coeliac disease affects 20 per cent of those of Irish descent, according to research.

In his keynote address on “Christianity and Culture,” Fr Dwight Longenecker, an author and pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Greenville, spoke about the different ways people see Christ and themselves as Christians interacting in the current culture.

“Following the footsteps of our Lord Jesus, we are called to be in this world but not of this world,” he said. “Sometimes we are in conflict with culture and sometimes the relationship is easier.”

Fr Longenecker challenged the participants to continue to live in that tension as Christians and

encouraged the medical professionals in their work, saying it can lead to a transformation of the culture.

Sr Renee Mirkes, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity and director of the Pope Paul VI institute’s Centre for NaPro Ethics, spoke about how medical professionals can protect their rights to conscientious objection in health care, a topic of grave concern with the new health reform bill.

She urged them to understand the nature of a well-formed conscience and its rightful exercise; follow all reasonable American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists requirements for conscientious refusal, including

comprehensive notification of what medical services they offer and what they don’t; and exercise a political strategy to protect health care conscience rights.

“Studying human nature and its needs lead us to certain conclusions,” Sr Mirkes said. She went on to say that medical professionals should not have to violate natural law by being forced to do procedures or take action against their formed conscience.

Art Bennett, an author and marriage therapist who recently was named president and CEO of Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, gave two talks to help couples understand each other.

Marriage and Temperament provided practical tools for spouses to improve marital communication by learning about each other’s temperament - which falls in four main categories: choleric, sanguine, melancholic or phlegmatic.

“Understanding our temperament helps us grow in self-knowledge, improves our relationship with our spouse and can deepen our spiritual life,” he said.

In a talk on “The Impact of Pornography on the Person and the Family,” Bennett refuted the argument that pornography and sexual addiction do not hurt anyone.

“The biggest victim of sexual problems is the family,” he said, adding that pornography has been found to hurt intimacy between spouses, cause neglect or abuse of children, hurt vocations and affect job performance. He also provided resources for people struggling with the addiction.

Barbara Harris, coordinator of the Emmanuel Centre, run for and by peope with disabilities, their carers and their families.

Societal perceptions still askew on disabilities

People with disabilities and natural family planning

BY BARBARA HARRIS Emmanuel Centre

The issue of people with disabilities and Natural Family Planning is a complex one and the variables for any situation are practically infinite.

For many in the community, Natural Family Planning is often seen only as a method of contraception in a marriage situation. People with disabilities are generally seen as a homogeneous group and are generally not considered as marriage candidates, although over time there has been some realisation that a person with a physical disability may marry, want children and have children.

It has been my experience that many people in society and Church have the perception that people with disabilities do not have the aspirations to belong, to love, to feel, to express their emotions, to understand and appreciate their bodies, to marry, to have children.

Furthermore, there has been an isolation of sexuality from a human and spiritual context which means that little is done to address the issue or even ask questions about the issue.

People with disabilities are generally seen as vulnerable and words like “fear” and ”protection” are often used.

Sterilisation is still quite a com-

mon response. I shall never forget the situation of a young girl with an intellectual disability who was a volunteer at Emmanuel Centre. This young girl was a ward of the state and sent to a doctor for an hysterectomy “in order to protect her.” The poor girl didn’t know what was happening. This same girl demonstrated many mothering skills whenever anyone with young children or babies came to the Centre.

Could this young girl have used natural family planning? Could she even have an understanding of her menstrual cycle and the wonder of male and female fertility? Could she have married and had

her own children? Unfortunately, we will never know.

Natural Family Planning cannot be seen in isolation from relationships and relationships are very complex in any situation.

Given the vulnerability of some people with disabilities, I often spend time with parents who are confused about what is best to do when their son or daughter indicates that they are in love and want to get married and have babies like their sister or brother or like they see on TV.

How do people with disabilities handle Natural Family Planning? That would be an easy question to answer if every person was just like

the next person. No one description will fit every person with a disability.

The methods employed by natural family planning require the participants to have a certain understanding both of their bodies and of their environment. Such understanding is not always available to some people with disabilities.

One of the saddest times for me was to walk with a couple wanting to start a family. They sought my help to understand their fertility time, as things were not happening for them. The wife did not know that she had been sterilised as a young teenager. Her parents felt that she would never marry and she would be at risk of advances from “over-sexed” males.

Over the years various methods to engage people with disabilities in the Natural Family Planning process have been tried.

We all have a right to a basic understanding of how our body works and the gift of male and female fertility regardless of whether we will enter into marriage.

Over the years the concept of “rights” is well advocated. Not always is the push for “rights” in the best interest of everyone. It has happened that the “right to experiment with one’s sexuality” has meant a person with a disability being taken to a brothel “for therapy.”

Natural Family Planning looks at the whole person in the context of Christian intimacy, and the notion of surrender, belonging and faithfulness.

Some couples with disabilities

can certainly show us that intimacy does not necessarily mean sexual intimacy. Words like “loving relationship”, “friendship”, “spontaneity” and “sheer joy of living” come to mind. We are aware that “biological parenting” is no longer connected to fatherhood and motherhood in today’s society.

The Church, as a whole, has not addressed the issue. We come from an era that refused to see people with disabilities as sexual beings to “fixing them up” before they “got into trouble”.

The issue is not about “How to …” but the deeper meaning of what intimacy is about. Intimacy is for all, marriage is for some and not everyone will have children. It is pleasing to note that Natural Family Planning is being offered to schools through the Archdiocesan Office and those involved in the Billings Method.

This means that students with disabilities who are in mainstream classes are able to get involved.

Each person’s needs are unique so we have never been able to find a single programme that is suitable in every circumstance. One programme that offers a glimmer of hope is called My Body: What I need to Know (2007).

This was developed with funding from the Commonwealth Government for teaching people with a mild intellectual disability.

The resource has four modules covering cycles of life, self awareness, physical awareness and male/ female fertility and includes many charts, drawings and activities. Selections can be made according to needs.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of Truth

Conference participants pursue truth about women’s health, fertility

GREENVILLE, South Carolina (CNS) - Doctors from around the world came to Greenville in late July to present the latest breakthroughs in helping improve women’s health, fertility and overall well-being.

On the theme Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Truth,” the 29th annual meeting of the American Academy of FertilityCare Professionals was held in conjunction with the Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska. The conference, open to medical professionals and the general public, included three days of education about women’s health issues and fertility as well as building happy, healthy and holy families.

Topics ranged from Adrenal Fatigue and Research Assessment and Connection to NaProTechnology by Dr Thomas Hilgers, director of Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction in Omaha, to Family-Centred Chastity Education: The Family Honour Model presented by Brenda Cerkez, executive director of Family Honour, a South Carolina organisation that promotes family-centred programming on chastity and other issues.

“The conference has provided such a broad scope of topics relating to the theology of the body that virtually every participant will be able to take back to their

ministry or family (some) spiritual, philosophical and intellectual treasures,” Cerkez said.

Expounding on the life theme of the meeting, Creighton-trained Dr Ingeborg Collins, an obstetrician-gynaecologist from Shelby, North Carolina, spoke on coeliac disease, an inherited autoimmune disease caused by a reaction to gluten, a type of protein commonly found in grains such as rye, barley and wheat.

Collins said it is hard to detect the disease because the symptoms may vary, but studies have shown a correlation with problems such as increased rate of infertility, increased rate of miscarriages, delayed menses and early menopause.

Coeliac disease affects 20 per cent of those of Irish descent, according to research.

In his keynote address on “Christianity and Culture,” Fr Dwight Longenecker, an author and pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Greenville, spoke about the different ways people see Christ and themselves as Christians interacting in the current culture.

“Following the footsteps of our Lord Jesus, we are called to be in this world but not of this world,” he said. “Sometimes we are in conflict with culture and sometimes the relationship is easier.”

Fr Longenecker challenged the participants to continue to live in that tension as Christians and

encouraged the medical professionals in their work, saying it can lead to a transformation of the culture.

Sr Renee Mirkes, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity and director of the Pope Paul VI institute’s Centre for NaPro Ethics, spoke about how medical professionals can protect their rights to conscientious objection in health care, a topic of grave concern with the new health reform bill.

She urged them to understand the nature of a well-formed conscience and its rightful exercise; follow all reasonable American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists requirements for conscientious refusal, including

comprehensive notification of what medical services they offer and what they don’t; and exercise a political strategy to protect health care conscience rights.

“Studying human nature and its needs lead us to certain conclusions,” Sr Mirkes said. She went on to say that medical professionals should not have to violate natural law by being forced to do procedures or take action against their formed conscience.

Art Bennett, an author and marriage therapist who recently was named president and CEO of Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, gave two talks to help couples understand each other.

Marriage and Temperament provided practical tools for spouses to improve marital communication by learning about each other’s temperament - which falls in four main categories: choleric, sanguine, melancholic or phlegmatic.

“Understanding our temperament helps us grow in self-knowledge, improves our relationship with our spouse and can deepen our spiritual life,” he said.

In a talk on “The Impact of Pornography on the Person and the Family,” Bennett refuted the argument that pornography and sexual addiction do not hurt anyone.

“The biggest victim of sexual problems is the family,” he said, adding that pornography has been found to hurt intimacy between spouses, cause neglect or abuse of children, hurt vocations and affect job performance. He also provided resources for people struggling with the addiction.

Barbara Harris, coordinator of the Emmanuel Centre, run for and by peope with disabilities, their carers and their families.

Thinking of IVF? There’s more to science than that...

For some people, trying to conceive is not easy. It is emotionally and physically taxing - even more so if the couple or individual goes down the road of IVF, which can take months and is exhorbitantly expensive.

Sadly, IVF is often the first port of call that GPs refer to for such people, when one Perth agency, FertilityCare, endeavours first to identify the cause for a couple’s infertility, and to directly treat this cause.

Many couples enter FertilityCare’s treatment programme with a diagnosis of ‘unexplained infertility’, which can add frustration to their experience.

The FertilityCare programme offers an opportunity for a closer evaluation of one’s reproductive health, and can lead to the detection of problems which may previously have been overlooked.

FertilityCare combines natural fertility awareness with a medical treatment programme (NaProTechnology) to help people reach full procreative health. This can be used successfully by:

• Married couples having difficulties achieving a pregnancy.

• Married couples who have experienced miscarriages or ectopic pregnancy.

• Women wishing to care for their own gynaecological health, including those with problems such as Premenstrual Syndrome, irregular cycles, unusual bleeding, polycystic ovarian syndrome, ovarian cysts, endometriosis, postnatal depression and other conditions.

• Couples wanting to learn about their fertility and plan their families.

The work of FertilityCare and NaProTechnology was pioneered by Dr Thomas Hilgers MD, obstetrician-gynaecologist and reproductive endocrinologist, who is the director of the Pope Paul VI Institute, Omaha, Nebraska, USA.

He has been working with FertilityCare since 1976, and now trains students from all over the world in NaProTechnology medical and surgical techniques.

The first centre for FertilityCare and NaProTechnology in Australasia opened in Perth, Western Australia in 2002, by Amanda Lamong, who worked at Ireland’s FertilityCare clinic. Similar centres have since opened in Sydney, Brisbane, Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia.

About FertilityCare

FertilityCare is a programme of integrated health education in the area of fertility, using the Creighton Model FertilityCare System.

FertilityCare increases a couple’s awareness of and apprecia-

tion for their fertility, enabling them to be active participants in caring for their particular fertility situation or women’s health issue.

The Creighton Model FertilityCare System teaches a woman or couple to accurately identify the time of ovulation in each of their own cycles. The naturally occurring times of fertility and infertility in each cycle can be pinpointed with ease using this method, and couples can use this information to achieve or avoid a pregnancy.

The system is also very useful for arranging medical investigations such as blood tests and ultrasound scans to correspond with the time of the woman’s ovulation in the cycle. A medical interpretation of the woman’s chart can itself give valuable clues in the diagnosis of fertility and women’s health problems.

For family planning purposes, the Creighton Model FertilityCare System is 99.5 per cent methodeffective and 96.8 per cent use-effective for avoiding pregnancy (TW Hilgers, JB Stanford; Creighton Model NaProEducation Technology for avoiding pregnancy: use effectiveness; J Reprod Med 1998; 43: 495-502).

These statistics are equal to those described with the use of the oral contraceptive pill, and greater than those attributed to barrier methods of contraception.

The real benefits of this method for family planning, however, lie in the areas of the woman’s health and the couple’s relationship. As a natural method of family planning, there are none of the physical side effects commonly associated with the contraceptive pill or other contraceptives.

In fact, the FertilityCare charts can actively assist in the early detection and prevention of gynaecological problems.

In the hands of a trained medical consultant, the charts can also be used in the investigation and treatment of many medical conditions.

This system brings a new fertility awareness to couples, encouraging new levels of understanding and communication between man and woman.

The responsibility for family planning becomes truly shared, and the couple together determines their times of fertility and infertility within the cycle.

One of the great strengths of the natural methods of family planning is the fact that the fertile time of the cycle requires a time of genital abstinence if it is the couple’s intention to avoid pregnancy. Couples report new depths of ‘non-genital’ expression of their love during the fertile times, together with a ‘honeymoon effect’ of renewed appreciation for intercourse when the time comes.

FertilityCare and NaProTechnology can help you with:

Fertility

● understanding your fertility and any fertility problems you have

● monitoring your fertility each cycle

● achieving a pregnancy

● avoiding a pregnancy

● overcoming infertility

● preventing miscarriage

Women’s health

● Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

● Premenstrual Syndrome

● Unusual bleeding

● Ovarian cysts

● Irregular cycles

● Chronic discharges

● Postnatal Depression

Natural Family Planning questions answered

What is NFP?

An umbrella term for methods used to achieve and avoid pregnancies. The methods are based on observation of the naturally occurring signs and symptoms of the fertile and infertile phases of a

woman’s menstrual cycle. Couples using NFP to avoid pregnancy abstain from intercourse and genital contact during the fertile phase of the woman’s cycle.

No drugs, devices or surgical pro-

cedures are used to avoid pregnancy.

Why use NFP?

NFP reflects the dignity of the human person within the context of marriage and family life, pro-

motes openness to life, and recognises the value of the child. By respecting the love-giving and lifegiving natures of marriage, NFP can enrich the bond between husband and wife.

Who uses NFP?

Any married couple can use NFP. A woman need not have “regular” cycles. NFP education helps couples to fully understand their combined fertility, thereby helping them to either achieve or avoid a pregnancy.

The key to the successful use of NFP is cooperation and communication between husband and wife - a shared commitment.

What are the benefits of using NFP?

Both spouses are taught to understand the nature of fertility and work with it, either to plan a pregnancy or to avoid a pregnancy.

Couples who use NFP soon learn

that they have a shared responsibility for family planning. Husbands are encouraged to “tune into” their wives’ cycles and both spouses are encouraged to speak openly and frankly about their sexual desires and their ideas on family size.

Other benefits include:

● Low cost.

● No harmful side effects.

● Effective in spacing or limiting pregnancy.

● Can be used throughout the reproductive life cycle.

● Marriage enrichment and mutu al understanding.

● Appreciation for the value of children.

● Fosters respect for and accept ance of the total person.

● Moral acceptability.

How effective is NFP?

When couples understand the methods and are motivated to follow them, NFP is up to 99 percent successful in spacing or limiting births.

— From the US Bishops’ website

Drs James and Jing-Man Kho with their son Xavier. James currently works at FertilityCare, while Jing-Man (aka Madeline) has in the past. The couple also used the Creighton Model.

PHOTO: ANTHONY BARICH

The hidden traps of cohabiting

People cohabiting before marriage often contracept, both of which are dangerous for the relationship

BY ANTHONY BARICH

The majority of Australians believe the lie that cohabitation will improve their chances of a good marriage, the national Catholic Society for Marriage Education president said.

Over 70 per cent of Australians believe that cohabitation is likely to improve their chances of having a good marriage, Derek Boylen, who is also the Perth Archdiocesan director of Catholic Marriage Education Services (CMES), told local Billings educators on 16 July at the Doubleview Catholic pastoral centre.

This social trend exists despite Australian Government statistics released in Australian Families 2008 showing that de facto couples are three times as likely to end their relationship within a fiveyear period as those who are married.

More disturbing, he said, was the fact that between 76 and 80 per cent of couples marrying in the Catholic Church are cohabiting, and many more than that, he says, would already be sexually active.

Coupled with this, 80 per cent of natural family planning users are non-Catholic. However, through NFP promotion around the Archdiocese that ratio is now 60 per cent non-Cathoics - doubling the number of Catholics that Natural Fertility Services (the Archdiocesan agency of which Mr Boylen is also director) are seeing. Catholics are also encouraged to promote NFP themselves.

“It’s disturbing that it’s such a trend and sad that, in many ways, being Catholic hasn’t made a difference on their choice; (the rate) is on par with the general community. Choosing to get married in Catholic Church clearly hasn’t impacted their decision,” Mr Boylen later told The Record

Mr Boylen said that the percentage of CMES clients already cohabiting reflects the societal trend that

has seen the number of couples cohabiting before marriage rising sharply from five per cent in 1960 to 78 per cent in 2009.

“Couples just aren’t aware of the constraints they put on their relationships by cohabiting, and that often in these circumstances, when they get married it’s not for the right reasons,” he said.

These constraints are reflected in Australian and US data showing that premarital cohabitation is associated with more negative communication in marriage, as issues like shared finances are often not discussed as de facto couples often find themselves “sliding into” the live-together scenario, having slept together already.

Cohabiting couples on average score lower on a wide range of indices of marital quality compared to those who only lived together after marriage. These associated risks have not abated over the last 20 years, Mr Boylen said.

Premarital cohabitation is also linked to lower levels of marriage satisfaction, while higher numbers of premarital partners are associated with higher risks of divorce.

Through his own experience at CMES and data reflected in Australian and US studies, Mr Boylen has found that couples experience “wedding day blues”, as nothing has changed in their lives after the big day when they’ve already lived together, as opposed to higher satisfaction levels among couples who did not cohabit prior to marriage. Such evidence of the link

between premarital cohabitation and poorer marital outcomes has become known in the social science fraternity as “the cohabitation effect”, he said.

Premarital cohabitation is also associated with lower levels of dedication to one’s spouse for men, but not for women, who often had a high level of commitment prior to the marriage.

The very poor, he said, also tend to believe it’s better to have financial security before getting married, “so they tend to cohabit longer before possibly entering marriage”.

Understanding commitment

Understanding the nature of commitment and the crucial difference between ‘deciding’ and ‘sliding’ in relationships is key to understanding the ‘cohabitation effect’, Mr Boylen said.

He addressed Billings educators on 16 July about ‘commitment theory’, an emerging area of marriage and relationship study that differentiates between factors that motivate connection (called dedication) and factors that increase the costs of living (called constraints).

The talk was organised by Billings LIFE WA – an education service assisting couples to achieve or avoid pregnancy using the Billings Ovulation Method of Natural Family Planning.

“Researchers are now asking questions about the difference

dedication and constraint makes,” he said. Couples who share a higher level of dedication tend to have a strong sense of ‘couple identity’, or a ‘we-ness’ that pervades how they approach life, he added.

Constraints, meanwhile, help explain why some people remain in unhappy relationships.

Men, however, on average see marriage as a bigger decision than women as it requires a greater change in their identity and way of living. Studies show, he said, that, after marriage, cohabiting men rate their level of commitment well below women and non-cohabiting men, whose commitment level shoots up after marriage compared to before.

The concept of ‘relationship inertia’ is also key to understanding the phenomenon of the ‘cohabitation effect’, he said – the idea that some couples who otherwise would not have married end up married partly because they cohabit and have much to lose, as Australian law says they can still lose half their possessions after living just six months as de facto.

“Cohabitation, however, may not cause risks for the relationship as much as make it harder to terminate a riskier union, thus constraining the search for a better partner fit,” he said.

“Many couples do not consider the effect of increasing constraints prior to a more dedication-based relationship being formed.”

Derek’s tips for young lovers:

● Get to know the person very well before deciding to marry. Think about it and discuss your core expectations to see how compatible you are

● Do not make this crucial decision in a period of emotional infatuation

● Observe how the person treats not only you but his or her friends

● Learn as much as you can about the person’s priorities and values

● Give more weight than your heart may want to how closely the person shares your most essential values in life

● Wait until you are 22 or older to make such an important decision. What you think you are looking for can change a lot through postschool university time and starting in the workforce

● Get the opinion of friends and family who are not likely to tell you only what you want to hear.

One of the most valuable insights emerging from research in Australia and the US is that most couples “slide” into cohabitation before fully realising what is happening.

In Australia, most couples say that cohabitation ‘just happened’, which indicates a lack of decisionmaking about the transition and sets a precedent for future uncertainty between the couple about the relationship, he said.

Stanley, Rhoades and Markman, in their 2007 US paper Sliding vs Deciding, have put forward the “convincing hypothesis” that regardless of income, race and culture, ‘sliding’ will be associated with more risk than deciding. They also say that ‘deciding’ will be universally associated with lower risk due to the mutual clarity and resulting follow-through in the relationship.

Education the key for school and tertiary students

BY ANTHONY BARICH

CATHOLIC education – both secondary and tertiary – has a crucial role to play in dispelling the myths perpetuated by a relativistic society that does not see beyond individual desires to the greater good, the Perth Archdiocesan director of Catholic Marriage Education Services (CMES) said.

Derek Boylen told Billings educators on 16 July that, increasingly, young women in high school are less likely than young men to believe that marriage has advantages over cohabitation or staying single, he said, which is why education is so crucial at both secondary and tertiary level in Catholic institutions.

Therefore, “better education in schools is the number one priority to change this perception,” he said.

“A lot more education is needed in Catholic schools and in our universities to educate people

about cohabitation and its possible effects.” Such data needs to be in the curriculum in Catholic schools, he said.

It is also to communicate to students and parents that there is no research to suggest that there are any negative factors linked with not living together prior to marriage, he said.

Educating parents is crucial also, he said, as many young couples are being pressured by their own family to live together, as “parents aren’t encouraging them to make healthy decision for their lives”. “There’s definitely a place through campus ministry

and the Department of Education in Catholic universities; and in school psychology departments, to talk about the research around cohabitation effects,” he said.

“The information provided needs to be rigorous and scientific, then students will be more open to hearing it, otherwise they switch off as they just think it’s ‘Catholic propaganda’.

“Forming teachers is also important, as they need to be aware of this information so that when they talk to students they have the right information.”

WA Catholic Education Religious Education direc-

tor Debra Sayce said schools throughout the Archdiocese have units in Religious Education that teach about relationships from the younger primary years, and units on sexuality, looking at men and women, on being a girl and a boy and units on vocations and marriage as a Sacrament, especially in the year 10 and year 12 programme. Asked whether students are taught the social science data that Mr Boylen mentioned showing the dangers of cohabitation, Mrs Sayce said students have access to media to locate that information and “it may be touched on”, but “our main emphasis is why the Church teaches what it does on the sanctity and Sacrament of Marriage and why children should be had within the context of marriage. The “vocation element” is particularly important in Catholic education, she said, as vocations for single people are just as valid as that of Marriage and Holy Orders. In this context, she said, teachers could present

social data around cohabitation in a contemporary context.

Health education units also look at relationships and sexuality, she said, and “I’m certain that teachers even in other subjects like English would incorporate the religious dimension in the Catholic traditon. I would hope they would get that Catholic dimension in the other subjects as well,” she told The Record.

The health syllabus focuses on “right and respectful“ relationships. “The ‘whole person’ is taught rather than one dimension of the person; and how we teach it is very important, as we’re called to be whole people,” she said. How this is done varies between teachers, she added.

“Parents are the primary educators of their children and much depends on how a child is brought up at home,” she said. “We know it’s tough with some families but we’re there to support parents in their role by teaching the children about the Catholic tradition.”

Derek Boylen pictured previously with his son Caleb, who who is now 5.

Debra SayceDerek Boylen

US lawsuit vs Vatican dropped

VATICAN CITY (CNS)

- While underlining its condemnation of “the horror” of the sexual abuse of minors by clergy, the Vatican welcomed as “good news” the imminent end of a lawsuit against the Holy See in a US court.

The Vatican spokesman, Fr Federico Lombardi SJ, told journalists on 10 August that “the Holy See is satisfied to hear the news” that a lawsuit in a US court against the Vatican was being dropped by the plaintiffs.

Three men in Louisville, Kentucky, filed a motion on 9 August requesting a federal judge drop their case.

The men, who were abused by priests in the Archdiocese of Louisville, filed a suit against the Vatican in 2004 claiming it was liable for actions by Bishops in failing to prevent sexual abuse by priests. They argued that the Bishops who supervised the abusive priests were employees of the Holy See.

However, the men’s attorney, William F McMurry, told media that as an earlier court ruling recognised the Vatican’s sovereign immunity, he was going to drop the lawsuit. A judge must now rule whether the case can be dismissed, but lawyers for both sides told Associated Press it had virtually ended.

The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act protects governments from being hauled into US courts. The law previously has been found to apply to efforts to sue the Holy See, exempting it from tort claims.

In June, the US Supreme Court left standing a lower court ruling that will allow an Oregon man to try to hold the Vatican financially responsible for his sexual abuse by a priest, if he can persuade the court that the priest was an employee of the Holy See.

By declining to take Holy See v John Doe, the court left intact the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that said because of the way Oregon law defines employment, the Vatican is not protected under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act from potential liability for the actions of a priest who Doe, the unidentified plaintiff, said sexually abused him in the 1960s.

The case will now go back to US District Court, where Doe’s attorneys will attempt to prove that the late Andrew Ronan, a former Servite priest who was laicised in 1966, was a Vatican employee at the time the events took place.

Jeffrey Lena, the US-based attorney for the Holy See, said in a 10 August statement that the Kentucky case does not change the legal situation in Oregon. The Oregon and Kentucky cases are similar “insofar as the sole remaining jurisdictional issue in both cases is whether the Holy See is an “employer” under the tort exception to the foreign sovereign immunities act,” Lena said. “But in the Kentucky case, the question was whether the Bishop was an employee. In the Oregon case, the question is whether the priest himself is an employee of the Holy See.”

Lay Eucharistic ministry a privilege, not a right: prelate

Lay Eucharistic ministers not entitled to position: US Archbishop

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - The rights of girls and Catholic lay faithful to carry out certain roles on the altar are not prescribed as “rights” within the Church, according to the Church’s top legal authority, Archbishop Raymond Burke.

The statement came in a clarification he wrote about the consequences of the reintroduction of the Latin Rite Mass by Pope Benedict XVI.

The Catholic Church in Germany recently printed a commentary on the application of Benedict XVI’s 2007 motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum, which made Pope St Pius V’s Latin Rite Mass more widely available.

In the preface of the volume, printed for the third anniversary of the motu proprio, Archbishop Raymond Burke clarified some confusion about the legislation’s practical use.

Archbishop Burke is the prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, which is often described as the supreme court of the Catholic Church.

According to Vatican Radio, the Archbishop explained in the preface that due to the motu proprio’s papal origins, it is not just an act of legislation brought about as a “favour” to a specific group for the celebration of the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, the Mass in Latin, but one that applies to the entire Church.

Archbishop Burke wrote, “it is about a law whose finality is the protection and promotion of the life of all the mystical body of Christ and the maximum expression of this life, that is to say, the

Sacred Liturgy.” It implies an obligation of the Church “to preserve liturgical tradition and maintain the legitimate celebration of both forms of the Roman Rite, that preceding the Second Vatican Council and that which followed it,” he said.

Archbishop Burke pointed out that the Holy Father himself explained that for the communion of the Church in the past and the future, “universally accepted uses of uninterrupted apostolic tradition” must be observed. This, he he pointed out should be done “not only to avoid errors, but also to transmit the integrity of the faith, so that the law of the prayer of the Church might

correspond to her law of faith.” The American Archbishop went on to point out that certain elements may need to be clarified in this regard. For example, he wrote, among the “rights” of the baptised, assistance by “persons of the feminine sex” at the altar is not included. Additionally, serving as a lector or as an extraordinary distributor of communion is not a right of the laity, he noted.

As such, out of respect for the integrity of the liturgical discipline within the Roman Missal of 1962, these more modern modifications are not observed in the extraordinary form.

This clarification comes just a week after L’Osservatore Romano

writer Lucetta Scaraffia published an article on the altar server pilgrimage to the Vatican which drew thousands of boys and girls alike. She drew some attention as she proposed that the introduction of girls into the position of serving at the altar “meant the end of every attribution of impurity to their sex ... it meant a different attention to the liturgy and an approach to the faith in bringing it near to their very hearts.”

Archbishop Burke clarified, however, that the reality of the matter is that neither the presence of girls at the altar, nor the participation of lay faithful “belong to the fundamental rights of the baptised”.

Pope declines Irish Bishops’ resignations

BY MICHAEL KELLY Catholic News Service

DUBLIN - Pope Benedict XVI has decided not to accept the resignation of two Dublin auxiliary Bishops who resigned in the wake of the Murphy Report investigation into clerical child abuse in the Archdiocese.

Auxiliary Bishops Raymond Field and Eamonn Walsh resigned on 24 December after coming under intense pressure because they served as Bishops during the period investigated by the Murphy Commission.

In an 11 August letter to priests of the Dublin Archdiocese, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin confirmed the development.

“Following the presentation of their resignations to Pope Benedict, it has been decided that Bishop Eamonn Walsh and Bishop Raymond Field will remain as Auxiliary Bishops,” he said.

Archbishop Martin said the two men are “to be assigned revised responsibilities within the diocese.”

Both Bishops initially resisted calls for their resignation.

However, both sent resignation letters to Rome after Archbishop Martin apparently failed to give them his total support.

When asked in December 2009 whether he had confidence in his Auxiliaries, Archbishop Martin said he had confidence “in their ministry,” but did not go further. Within 24 hours, both Auxiliaries announced they had sent their letters of resignation to Rome.

Bishops Field and Walsh were among four Irish Bishops who offered their resignation after a judicial report found that there had been a culture of cover-up of child sexual abuse in Dublin over several decades.

Early last week, a respected Vatican journalist, Andrea

Tornielli, reported that Bishops Field and Walsh had sent detailed reports to the Vatican on the circumstances surrounding their resignations - in effect arguing that they should not be required to step down.

Earlier, Pope Benedict accepted the resignations of Bishops Donal Murray of Limerick and James Moriarty of Kildare and Leighlin. Bishop Murray’s failure to properly investigate an allegation of sexual abuse was described in the judicial report as inexcusable.

Bishop Moriarty said he resigned because he had failed to challenge

the prevailing culture within the Church.

Andrew Madden, who was abused as an altar boy in Dublin, said he was “disappointed” by the Pope’s decision not to accept the Auxiliary Bishops’ resignations.

However, he said, “I am not surprised; I have long since given up hope of the Catholic Church getting its act together when it comes to child protection.

“The Catholic Church, right from the Vatican down, has refused to fully acknowledge this problem,” Madden said.

Reacting to Archbishop Martin’s announcement, Barbara Blaine, president and founder of the US-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, issued a statement saying: “By rejecting the resignations of two complicit Irish Bishops, the Pope is rubbing more salt into the already deep and still fresh wounds of thousands of child sex abuse victims and millions of betrayed Catholics.

“He’s sending an alarming message to Church employees across the globe: even widespread documentation of the concealing of child sex crimes and the coddling of criminals won’t cost you your job in the Church,” the statement said.

The Vatican’s 2004 document on liturgy, Redemptionis Sacramentum (“The Sacrament of Redemption”), written by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, insists that lay people delegated to assist with the distribution of Communion be referred to as “extraordinary ministers of holy Communion” and that they be called upon when there are an insufficient number of ordinary ministers - priests or deacons - to give Communion. The document addresses liturgical abuses and says Mass norms must be followed exactly to ensure reverence.

PHOTO: CNS/OCTAVIO DURAN

Bishop Eamonn WalshBishop Raymond Field

The hidden traps of cohabiting

People cohabiting before marriage often contracept, both of which are dangerous for the relationship

BY ANTHONY BARICH

The majority of Australians believe the lie that cohabitation will improve their chances of a good marriage, the national Catholic Society for Marriage Education president said.

Over 70 per cent of Australians believe that cohabitation is likely to improve their chances of having a good marriage, Derek Boylen, who is also the Perth Archdiocesan director of Catholic Marriage Education Services (CMES), told local Billings educators on 16 July at the Doubleview Catholic pastoral centre.

This social trend exists despite Australian Government statistics released in Australian Families 2008 showing that de facto couples are three times as likely to end their relationship within a fiveyear period as those who are married.

More disturbing, he said, was the fact that between 76 and 80 per cent of couples marrying in the Catholic Church are cohabiting, and many more than that, he says, would already be sexually active.

Coupled with this, 80 per cent of natural family planning users are non-Catholic. However, through NFP promotion around the Archdiocese that ratio is now 60 per cent non-Cathoics - doubling the number of Catholics that Natural Fertility Services (the Archdiocesan agency of which Mr Boylen is also director) are seeing. Catholics are also encouraged to promote NFP themselves.

“It’s disturbing that it’s such a trend and sad that, in many ways, being Catholic hasn’t made a difference on their choice; (the rate) is on par with the general community. Choosing to get married in Catholic Church clearly hasn’t impacted their decision,” Mr Boylen later told The Record

Mr Boylen said that the percentage of CMES clients already cohabiting reflects the societal trend that

has seen the number of couples cohabiting before marriage rising sharply from five per cent in 1960 to 78 per cent in 2009.

“Couples just aren’t aware of the constraints they put on their relationships by cohabiting, and that often in these circumstances, when they get married it’s not for the right reasons,” he said.

These constraints are reflected in Australian and US data showing that premarital cohabitation is associated with more negative communication in marriage, as issues like shared finances are often not discussed as de facto couples often find themselves “sliding into” the live-together scenario, having slept together already.

Cohabiting couples on average score lower on a wide range of indices of marital quality compared to those who only lived together after marriage. These associated risks have not abated over the last 20 years, Mr Boylen said.

Premarital cohabitation is also linked to lower levels of marriage satisfaction, while higher numbers of premarital partners are associated with higher risks of divorce.

Through his own experience at CMES and data reflected in Australian and US studies, Mr Boylen has found that couples experience “wedding day blues”, as nothing has changed in their lives after the big day when they’ve already lived together, as opposed to higher satisfaction levels among couples who did not cohabit prior to marriage. Such evidence of the link

between premarital cohabitation and poorer marital outcomes has become known in the social science fraternity as “the cohabitation effect”, he said.

Premarital cohabitation is also associated with lower levels of dedication to one’s spouse for men, but not for women, who often had a high level of commitment prior to the marriage.

The very poor, he said, also tend to believe it’s better to have financial security before getting married, “so they tend to cohabit longer before possibly entering marriage”.

Understanding commitment

Understanding the nature of commitment and the crucial difference between ‘deciding’ and ‘sliding’ in relationships is key to understanding the ‘cohabitation effect’, Mr Boylen said.

He addressed Billings educators on 16 July about ‘commitment theory’, an emerging area of marriage and relationship study that differentiates between factors that motivate connection (called dedication) and factors that increase the costs of living (called constraints).

The talk was organised by Billings LIFE WA – an education service assisting couples to achieve or avoid pregnancy using the Billings Ovulation Method of Natural Family Planning.

“Researchers are now asking questions about the difference

dedication and constraint makes,” he said. Couples who share a higher level of dedication tend to have a strong sense of ‘couple identity’, or a ‘we-ness’ that pervades how they approach life, he added.

Constraints, meanwhile, help explain why some people remain in unhappy relationships.

Men, however, on average see marriage as a bigger decision than women as it requires a greater change in their identity and way of living. Studies show, he said, that, after marriage, cohabiting men rate their level of commitment well below women and non-cohabiting men, whose commitment level shoots up after marriage compared to before.

The concept of ‘relationship inertia’ is also key to understanding the phenomenon of the ‘cohabitation effect’, he said – the idea that some couples who otherwise would not have married end up married partly because they cohabit and have much to lose, as Australian law says they can still lose half their possessions after living just six months as de facto.

“Cohabitation, however, may not cause risks for the relationship as much as make it harder to terminate a riskier union, thus constraining the search for a better partner fit,” he said.

“Many couples do not consider the effect of increasing constraints prior to a more dedication-based relationship being formed.”

Derek’s tips for young lovers:

● Get to know the person very well before deciding to marry. Think about it and discuss your core expectations to see how compatible you are

● Do not make this crucial decision in a period of emotional infatuation

● Observe how the person treats not only you but his or her friends

● Learn as much as you can about the person’s priorities and values

● Give more weight than your heart may want to how closely the person shares your most essential values in life

● Wait until you are 22 or older to make such an important decision. What you think you are looking for can change a lot through postschool university time and starting in the workforce

● Get the opinion of friends and family who are not likely to tell you only what you want to hear.

One of the most valuable insights emerging from research in Australia and the US is that most couples “slide” into cohabitation before fully realising what is happening.

In Australia, most couples say that cohabitation ‘just happened’, which indicates a lack of decisionmaking about the transition and sets a precedent for future uncertainty between the couple about the relationship, he said.

Stanley, Rhoades and Markman, in their 2007 US paper Sliding vs Deciding, have put forward the “convincing hypothesis” that regardless of income, race and culture, ‘sliding’ will be associated with more risk than deciding. They also say that ‘deciding’ will be universally associated with lower risk due to the mutual clarity and resulting follow-through in the relationship.

Education the key for school and tertiary students

BY ANTHONY BARICH

CATHOLIC education – both secondary and tertiary – has a crucial role to play in dispelling the myths perpetuated by a relativistic society that does not see beyond individual desires to the greater good, the Perth Archdiocesan director of Catholic Marriage Education Services (CMES) said.

Derek Boylen told Billings educators on 16 July that, increasingly, young women in high school are less likely than young men to believe that marriage has advantages over cohabitation or staying single, he said, which is why education is so crucial at both secondary and tertiary level in Catholic institutions.

Therefore, “better education in schools is the number one priority to change this perception,” he said.

“A lot more education is needed in Catholic schools and in our universities to educate people

about cohabitation and its possible effects.” Such data needs to be in the curriculum in Catholic schools, he said.

It is also to communicate to students and parents that there is no research to suggest that there are any negative factors linked with not living together prior to marriage, he said.

Educating parents is crucial also, he said, as many young couples are being pressured by their own family to live together, as “parents aren’t encouraging them to make healthy decision for their lives”. “There’s definitely a place through campus ministry

and the Department of Education in Catholic universities; and in school psychology departments, to talk about the research around cohabitation effects,” he said.

“The information provided needs to be rigorous and scientific, then students will be more open to hearing it, otherwise they switch off as they just think it’s ‘Catholic propaganda’.

“Forming teachers is also important, as they need to be aware of this information so that when they talk to students they have the right information.”

WA Catholic Education Religious Education direc-

tor Debra Sayce said schools throughout the Archdiocese have units in Religious Education that teach about relationships from the younger primary years, and units on sexuality, looking at men and women, on being a girl and a boy and units on vocations and marriage as a Sacrament, especially in the year 10 and year 12 programme. Asked whether students are taught the social science data that Mr Boylen mentioned showing the dangers of cohabitation, Mrs Sayce said students have access to media to locate that information and “it may be touched on”, but “our main emphasis is why the Church teaches what it does on the sanctity and Sacrament of Marriage and why children should be had within the context of marriage. The “vocation element” is particularly important in Catholic education, she said, as vocations for single people are just as valid as that of Marriage and Holy Orders. In this context, she said, teachers could present

social data around cohabitation in a contemporary context.

Health education units also look at relationships and sexuality, she said, and “I’m certain that teachers even in other subjects like English would incorporate the religious dimension in the Catholic traditon. I would hope they would get that Catholic dimension in the other subjects as well,” she told The Record.

The health syllabus focuses on “right and respectful“ relationships. “The ‘whole person’ is taught rather than one dimension of the person; and how we teach it is very important, as we’re called to be whole people,” she said. How this is done varies between teachers, she added.

“Parents are the primary educators of their children and much depends on how a child is brought up at home,” she said. “We know it’s tough with some families but we’re there to support parents in their role by teaching the children about the Catholic tradition.”

Derek Boylen pictured previously with his son Caleb, who who is now 5.

Debra SayceDerek Boylen

US lawsuit vs Vatican dropped

VATICAN CITY (CNS)

- While underlining its condemnation of “the horror” of the sexual abuse of minors by clergy, the Vatican welcomed as “good news” the imminent end of a lawsuit against the Holy See in a US court.

The Vatican spokesman, Fr Federico Lombardi SJ, told journalists on 10 August that “the Holy See is satisfied to hear the news” that a lawsuit in a US court against the Vatican was being dropped by the plaintiffs.

Three men in Louisville, Kentucky, filed a motion on 9 August requesting a federal judge drop their case.

The men, who were abused by priests in the Archdiocese of Louisville, filed a suit against the Vatican in 2004 claiming it was liable for actions by Bishops in failing to prevent sexual abuse by priests. They argued that the Bishops who supervised the abusive priests were employees of the Holy See.

However, the men’s attorney, William F McMurry, told media that as an earlier court ruling recognised the Vatican’s sovereign immunity, he was going to drop the lawsuit. A judge must now rule whether the case can be dismissed, but lawyers for both sides told Associated Press it had virtually ended.

The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act protects governments from being hauled into US courts. The law previously has been found to apply to efforts to sue the Holy See, exempting it from tort claims.

In June, the US Supreme Court left standing a lower court ruling that will allow an Oregon man to try to hold the Vatican financially responsible for his sexual abuse by a priest, if he can persuade the court that the priest was an employee of the Holy See.

By declining to take Holy See v John Doe, the court left intact the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that said because of the way Oregon law defines employment, the Vatican is not protected under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act from potential liability for the actions of a priest who Doe, the unidentified plaintiff, said sexually abused him in the 1960s.

The case will now go back to US District Court, where Doe’s attorneys will attempt to prove that the late Andrew Ronan, a former Servite priest who was laicised in 1966, was a Vatican employee at the time the events took place.

Jeffrey Lena, the US-based attorney for the Holy See, said in a 10 August statement that the Kentucky case does not change the legal situation in Oregon. The Oregon and Kentucky cases are similar “insofar as the sole remaining jurisdictional issue in both cases is whether the Holy See is an “employer” under the tort exception to the foreign sovereign immunities act,” Lena said. “But in the Kentucky case, the question was whether the Bishop was an employee. In the Oregon case, the question is whether the priest himself is an employee of the Holy See.”

Lay Eucharistic ministry a privilege, not a right: prelate

Lay Eucharistic ministers not entitled to position: US Archbishop

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - The rights of girls and Catholic lay faithful to carry out certain roles on the altar are not prescribed as “rights” within the Church, according to the Church’s top legal authority, Archbishop Raymond Burke.

The statement came in a clarification he wrote about the consequences of the reintroduction of the Latin Rite Mass by Pope Benedict XVI.

The Catholic Church in Germany recently printed a commentary on the application of Benedict XVI’s 2007 motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum, which made Pope St Pius V’s Latin Rite Mass more widely available.

In the preface of the volume, printed for the third anniversary of the motu proprio, Archbishop Raymond Burke clarified some confusion about the legislation’s practical use.

Archbishop Burke is the prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, which is often described as the supreme court of the Catholic Church.

According to Vatican Radio, the Archbishop explained in the preface that due to the motu proprio’s papal origins, it is not just an act of legislation brought about as a “favour” to a specific group for the celebration of the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, the Mass in Latin, but one that applies to the entire Church.

Archbishop Burke wrote, “it is about a law whose finality is the protection and promotion of the life of all the mystical body of Christ and the maximum expression of this life, that is to say, the

Sacred Liturgy.” It implies an obligation of the Church “to preserve liturgical tradition and maintain the legitimate celebration of both forms of the Roman Rite, that preceding the Second Vatican Council and that which followed it,” he said.

Archbishop Burke pointed out that the Holy Father himself explained that for the communion of the Church in the past and the future, “universally accepted uses of uninterrupted apostolic tradition” must be observed. This, he he pointed out should be done “not only to avoid errors, but also to transmit the integrity of the faith, so that the law of the prayer of the Church might

correspond to her law of faith.” The American Archbishop went on to point out that certain elements may need to be clarified in this regard. For example, he wrote, among the “rights” of the baptised, assistance by “persons of the feminine sex” at the altar is not included. Additionally, serving as a lector or as an extraordinary distributor of communion is not a right of the laity, he noted.

As such, out of respect for the integrity of the liturgical discipline within the Roman Missal of 1962, these more modern modifications are not observed in the extraordinary form.

This clarification comes just a week after L’Osservatore Romano

writer Lucetta Scaraffia published an article on the altar server pilgrimage to the Vatican which drew thousands of boys and girls alike. She drew some attention as she proposed that the introduction of girls into the position of serving at the altar “meant the end of every attribution of impurity to their sex ... it meant a different attention to the liturgy and an approach to the faith in bringing it near to their very hearts.”

Archbishop Burke clarified, however, that the reality of the matter is that neither the presence of girls at the altar, nor the participation of lay faithful “belong to the fundamental rights of the baptised”.

Pope declines Irish Bishops’ resignations

BY MICHAEL KELLY Catholic News Service

DUBLIN - Pope Benedict XVI has decided not to accept the resignation of two Dublin auxiliary Bishops who resigned in the wake of the Murphy Report investigation into clerical child abuse in the Archdiocese.

Auxiliary Bishops Raymond Field and Eamonn Walsh resigned on 24 December after coming under intense pressure because they served as Bishops during the period investigated by the Murphy Commission.

In an 11 August letter to priests of the Dublin Archdiocese, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin confirmed the development.

“Following the presentation of their resignations to Pope Benedict, it has been decided that Bishop Eamonn Walsh and Bishop Raymond Field will remain as Auxiliary Bishops,” he said.

Archbishop Martin said the two men are “to be assigned revised responsibilities within the diocese.”

Both Bishops initially resisted calls for their resignation.

However, both sent resignation letters to Rome after Archbishop Martin apparently failed to give them his total support.

When asked in December 2009 whether he had confidence in his Auxiliaries, Archbishop Martin said he had confidence “in their ministry,” but did not go further. Within 24 hours, both Auxiliaries announced they had sent their letters of resignation to Rome.

Bishops Field and Walsh were among four Irish Bishops who offered their resignation after a judicial report found that there had been a culture of cover-up of child sexual abuse in Dublin over several decades.

Early last week, a respected Vatican journalist, Andrea

Tornielli, reported that Bishops Field and Walsh had sent detailed reports to the Vatican on the circumstances surrounding their resignations - in effect arguing that they should not be required to step down.

Earlier, Pope Benedict accepted the resignations of Bishops Donal Murray of Limerick and James Moriarty of Kildare and Leighlin. Bishop Murray’s failure to properly investigate an allegation of sexual abuse was described in the judicial report as inexcusable.

Bishop Moriarty said he resigned because he had failed to challenge

the prevailing culture within the Church.

Andrew Madden, who was abused as an altar boy in Dublin, said he was “disappointed” by the Pope’s decision not to accept the Auxiliary Bishops’ resignations.

However, he said, “I am not surprised; I have long since given up hope of the Catholic Church getting its act together when it comes to child protection.

“The Catholic Church, right from the Vatican down, has refused to fully acknowledge this problem,” Madden said.

Reacting to Archbishop Martin’s announcement, Barbara Blaine, president and founder of the US-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, issued a statement saying: “By rejecting the resignations of two complicit Irish Bishops, the Pope is rubbing more salt into the already deep and still fresh wounds of thousands of child sex abuse victims and millions of betrayed Catholics.

“He’s sending an alarming message to Church employees across the globe: even widespread documentation of the concealing of child sex crimes and the coddling of criminals won’t cost you your job in the Church,” the statement said.

The Vatican’s 2004 document on liturgy, Redemptionis Sacramentum (“The Sacrament of Redemption”), written by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, insists that lay people delegated to assist with the distribution of Communion be referred to as “extraordinary ministers of holy Communion” and that they be called upon when there is an insufficient number of ordinary ministers - priests or deacons - to give Communion. The document addresses liturgical abuses and says Mass norms must be followed exactly to ensure reverence.

PHOTO: CNS/OCTAVIO DURAN

Bishop Eamonn WalshBishop Raymond Field

Research key to build on moral tradition

Higher Education

Prof Jan Thomas

Professor Thomas, appointed as the University of Notre Dame Australia’s Deputy Vice Chancellor of its Fremantle campus this month, writes on the education mission of the Catholic university

Universities serve three broad functions in society. First, they educate the next generation of citizens and leaders.

They provide a social and scientific critique of society. And they create and disseminate new knowledge through research.

These functions are all connected with discovering the truth and identifying elements of the com-

mon good by which we measure the contribution our society makes within our globalised world.

They are necessary for a mature democratic society to function. Australia is rightly proud of its international reputation for university education.

Unlike other Western nations, however, the vast majority of Australian universities are secular and government owned.

The establishment of two Catholic universities in Australia in recent decades builds on the rich, centuries-old tradition of Catholic universities elsewhere, and provides a welcome choice for Australian citizens that has been available internationally for centuries.

Notre Dame embraces Catholic intellectual and moral tradition and believes this has something unique to offer to broader academic debate.

By all measures, Notre Dame has established an outstanding record in educating the next generation of citizens and leaders.

Along with its other Objects, our University seeks to provide an excellent standard of research, creating new knowledge for the benefit of our students and the nation more broadly.

So, what is research?

In short, it is the systematic pursuit of new knowledge and understanding in a discipline area and/

In professional areas, it is expected that the dissemination of these research outcomes will affect professional practice.

It is expected that research outcomes will be used and cited by others as the general body of human knowledge expands.

These endeavours will normally involve research students and the development of clusters of academics with particular recognised research expertise and the ability to supervise.

The Vice Chancellor, Professor Celia Hammond, has set a clear strategic direction for the University.

A core element is that its research is recognised as excellent nationally and internationally in focused areas.

To achieve the goals it has set for itself, the University will be working to support and develop staff as active researchers and supervisors.

Notre Dame will be seeking additional funding from a range of sources to offer additional scholarships and stipends for high potential research students.

Specifically, building collaborative links with other international Catholic universities in key areas of research will strengthen the University’s aspiration to be a leading Catholic university.

With the University’s emerging strengths in research, some may wonder about the potential dilution of its absolute commitment to the highest possible education experience for its coursework students.

The University remains passionate and committed to providing an outstanding and unique student learning environment built on the core curriculum and infused at all levels with the Catholic ethos and values.

All our undergraduates will benefit from the climate of critical enquiry that is created in an institution strong in research and from being taught by teachers at the cutting edge of their discipline.

or in professional practice. The outcomes of research are typically expressed in publications either as theses or in relevant refereed journals and academic books (whether undergraduate texts that summarise a discipline, or at the cutting edge of new insights).

The University will pursue funding for the research itself and for contemporary facilities and equipment.

Fundamental to achieving these outcomes will be an active collaboration with other universities, both within Australia and internationally.

Priesthood is gratuitious and generous

That radical call

Fr James Valladares

Fr James Valladares, assistant priest at Adelaide’s St Francis Xavier Cathedral parish, begins a new column for The Record on The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus

On the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Friday, 19 June 2009, Pope Benedict XVI inaugurated a “Year for Priests” in celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the death (dies natalis) of John Mary Vianney, the Patron Saint of Parish Priests worldwide. His objective was clear and definite – to deepen the commitment of all priests and to emphasise the paramount importance of an internal renewal so as to ensure a more forceful and incisive witness to the Gospel in today’s world.

Wisely quoting the saintly priest, our Holy Father said: “The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus.”

This penetrating insight makes it crystal clear that a priest is indeed a very precious gift both to the Church and to God’s people.

Said Jesus to his first priests: “You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go out and bear fruit, fruit that will last” (Jn 15:16). Fully appreciative of this gratuitous and supernatural gift, Pope Benedict adds: “How can I not pay tribute to their apostolic

labours, their tireless and hidden service, their universal charity?

And how can I not praise the courageous fidelity of so many priests, who, amid difficulties and misunderstandings, remain faithful to their vocation as ‘friends of Christ,’ whom he has called by name, chosen and sent?”

The Significance of a Gift

There are two very striking features of a genuine gift; it is gratuitous and generous. In other words, in spite of the fact that the recipient has no claim whatsoever, the benefactor gives it willingly and with no strings attached – it is gratuitous.

Then the gift is given as a gesture of unfeigned goodwill regard-

less of the cost to the benefactor – it is generous. Such is the priesthood – it is a gratuitous and generous gift of our Triune God.

These two features of a genuine gift are very vividly manifested in the heartwarming story of the widow in the Gospel.

The wealthy came forward and ceremoniously made an ostentatious display of their largesse by putting their handsome gifts into the treasury.

Their sole intent was to draw attention to themselves; theirs was a gift but with a string attached –self-centred and pretentious pride. By contrast, a poor widow crept up to the temple treasury; very hum-

bly and inconspicuously she put in two small copper coins – that was all she had. Her gift was both gratuitous and generous.

First, she was under no obligation whatsoever to put in anything, as she was extremely poor and was justifiably exempt. Second, she put in all that she had because of her heartfelt gratitude to God, and God deserved nothing short of the best she could offer.

Commending her generosity, Jesus said: “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on”(Mk 12:44).

Moreover, for the institution to grow in reputation internationally and to forge new avenues for Catholic higher education in Australia, Notre Dame needs to be a university engaged effectively in high quality teaching and research.

To do less undermines its potential to be one of the leading Catholic universities in the world.

Professor Thomas has the university-wide responsibility for research and research development.

The ups of Down’s

The tumultuous feelings parents have when they first learn their child will be born with Down syndrome give way to joy and resilience, according to researchers at Kansas State University and Texas Tech University. Briana Nelson Goff and Nicole Springer, both mothers of a child with Down syndrome, have based their findings on an online survey of parents.

“The goal of our study is to help parents and professionals understand that having a child with Down syndrome isn’t the end of the world; it can be a very positive experience,” says Dr Goff .

Initially, most parents feel deeply shocked. “The majority said it was very devastating, and went through periods of depression, grief, mourning and shock, and felt scared, angry, disappointed or helpless,” Goff said. But when those feelings subsided, parents reported that raising a child with special needs was a joyful experience. Around 20 per cent of the parents reported negative experiences with their doctors, compared to 8% who said their experiences were positive. Medical professionals often mentioned abortion as the only option or parents felt pressured into making a decision to abort.

“This was the biggest surprise to come from the results,” Goff said. “I would expect this answer from parents who had their child 20 years ago, but not from parents who had their child within the past five years. Eventually the researchers will publish a book with statistical information and personal stories from parents.

St Thomas Aquinas, the “Angelic Doctor”, patron of Catholic universities. As a Catholic university, Notre Dame has something unique to offer broader academic debate as it embraces Catholic intellectual and moral tradition, said UNDA’s new Deputy Vice Chancellor Jan Thomas.

Pope Benedict XVI waves as he arrives for a prayer vigil with some 10,000 priests as part of the closing of the Year for Priests in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican on 10 June.

PHOTO: CNS/ PAUL HARING

Just what is ‘The Vatican’ anyway?

Q&A

By Fr John Flader

What is the Vatican?

Q: Could you please clarify what we mean by “the Vatican”? For example, we say that the Pope lives in the Vatican, but we also say that some new document has been issued by the Vatican. What exactly is the Vatican?

As you suggest in your question, the phrase “the Vatican” refers to a number of different but related realities.

When we say that the Pope lives in the Vatican, we are referring to the buildings and land occupied by the central government of the Church in Rome. This is more properly called the Vatican City State. It is in reality a sovereign state, the smallest in the world, with an area of just over 40 hectares. Some one thousand people normally live in the Vatican.

The Vatican is best known as the territory where St Peter’s Basilica is located, but it also has numerous other buildings, including the papal apartments, offices of the Roman Curia, the Vatican Museum, the Paul VI Audience Hall, the Vatican Gardens, etc.

The Vatican City State also has rights over other buildings in Rome, including the major basilicas of St John the Lateran, St Mary Major and St Paul Outside the Walls, office buildings for various Congregations of the Roman Curia and the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo, southeast of Rome. While the Pope is the head of the government, the Vatican City State is administered by the Pontifical Commission for the State of Vatican City. The Pope thus has two major roles: he is the visible head of the Catholic Church, and he is also the head of the Vatican City State.

When we say that the Vatican is a sovereign state, we mean just that. It has its own postage stamps, security personnel, etc. But of course it is completely surrounded by Italy, or more properly by the city of Rome, and it depends on Italy for most of its services.

The Vatican City State was established as recently as 1929, as part of the Lateran Treaty that regularised the relationship of the Holy See with the government of Italy. The Pope had, of

course, been a temporal sovereign, presiding over the extensive Papal States that occupied a large part of present-day Italy until the fall of those States in 1870.

The Lateran Treaty recognised the Vatican City State as an independent political entity, with its own small territory, that guaranteed the freedom of the Church to function independently of any other State.

If someone writes to the Pope, or to anyone else living or working in the Vatican, the last line of the address is not Italy, but Vatican City. And the last letters of Vatican websites are “va”.

When we say that the Vatican has released a document or a statement, we are referring to the Pope and the offices that assist him in governing the Catholic Church. A more correct term for this is the Holy See.

Canon 361 of the Code of Canon Law says that “the terms Apostolic See or Holy See mean not only the Roman Pontiff, but also, unless the contrary is clear from the nature of things or from the context, the Secretariat of State, the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church, and the other Institutes of the Roman Curia.” These offices are also known as the Roman Curia.

For information, the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church has now been incorporated into the Secretariat of State as its Second Section, and it deals with relations with civil governments.

Even though a particular document may come from one or another of the offices of the Curia, as for example the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, or the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, these documents are always deemed to have come from the Pope himself.

This is clarified in Canon 360: “The Supreme Pontiff usually conducts the business of the universal Church through the Roman Curia, which acts in his name and with his authority for the good and for the service of the Churches.”

The Curia includes many offices, the principal ones being those mentioned above, nine Congregations, three Tribunals, and eleven Pontifical Councils.

Record was right: abuse is a pandemic - check stats

Confronting the

By Anthony Paganoni CS

Relevance of statistics

Every year the Vatican publishes the Annuario Pontificio, a remarkable collection of data concerned with almost every aspect of the Church life.

Several local churches, particularly in the English speaking world, have been developing ever more sophisticated tools to assess issues such as the level of participation in Sunday Mass.

Australia is no exception: on the basis of statistical evidence, resulting from several Church Life Surveys, the International Congregational Life Survey and the regular Mass Count, the level of participation of Catholics in parish affairs and attendance at Mass is now well-known.

I still remember the remark made by an Australian Bishop, who, after canvassing the latest findings and being saddened by a slightly diminished level of participation, said: “Where is the good news in all this?”

At least we know that the Mass Count gives us an indication that the numbers at Mass are definitely shrinking, but that does not prevent us from believing that the quality of worship should not improve.

Hard and cold statistical data need to be taken several steps further.

Statistics are like a door, opening up spaces of inquiry into human behaviour: its extent, geographical spread and impact. What was inferred when The Record introduced the word “pandemic” about the sex abuse in the world in one of its recent issues devoted to sex scandals in the Church?

It was simply uncovering what several reports to the United Nations have been revealing:

● The Report of the Independent Expert (Paulo Sergio Pinheiro) for the United Nations Study on Violence against children (A/61/299), while acknowledging that the global problem remains “hidden, unreported and underrecorded”(II, A, p 8), speaks of

I say I say

By Mark Reidy

MOST of us are aware of the power of the spoken word, but do we ever consider the power of the unspoken thought? Jesus certainly did. “What I say to you is: anyone who

looks lustfully at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt 5:28).

These are powerful or, rather, terrifying words because Jesus does not counteract them by pointing out that lustful thoughts have the potential to become sinful acts.

He is saying that unbridled sinful thoughts equate to sinful acts.

And Jesus’ words refer not only to our sexual attitudes, but to all sinful thoughts that we allow to harbour in our minds.

If we choose to allow anger against another to fester, He says, then we are just as liable to judgement as the person who physically commits murder (Matt 5:22).

So how are we to get through each day without violating most of the Ten Commandments by lunchtime?

God is well aware of our human imperfections, but He obviously doesn’t want us to lock ourselves in a cupboard or to walk around with a blindfold on. So how are we to avoid sinning, especially in our

hundreds of millions of abuse cases reported to the United Nations agencies: Unicef, WHO and the ILO. This particular report highlights two immediate needs:

1 In view of the importance of multi-sectoral coordination in addressing violence against children, I recommend that the General Assembly request the Secretary-General to appoint a special representative on violence against children, to act as a highprofile global advocate to promote prevention and elimination of all violence against children, encourage international and regional cooperation …

2 The special representative should disseminate and promote the recommendations of the Study in different international, regional and national forums … (p 33).

The widespread dissemination of these sources appears to be critically urgent. In the case of the abuse of children, at the moment, if we are to believe extensive media reports, the Catholic Church and,

THE RECORD

to a lesser degree, some Protestant Churches, should sustain the blame for an unacknowledged world-wide pandemic.

In the case of the Catholic Church, which, over the last two decades, has been under constant surveillance by the international media, we can speak of roughly several thousand (about 3,000, to be more precise) reported cases annually for a community which represents 18 per cent of the world population.

On the basis of credible information, I have no doubt that the problem of the mistreatment of adolescents in the world is by far more acute and widespread than the one existing within the Catholic community.

If some Church leaders have been accused and found guilty of covering up and malgovernance, what should one say about the inexplicable silence in relation to the millions of cases that have been revealed in several United Nations Reports?

Power of unspoken thought just as devastating as spoken words

thoughts, when we live in a world where we are increasingly exposed to its temptations? The answer lies in our choice to always remain vigilant of our thought processes.

Our spontaneous cerebral reaction to a given situation is not considered sin - that is merely an unfortunate consequence of our inherited humanity - however, our choice to entertain these thoughts is what leads us down the path of iniquity.

It may not be possible to avoid

the driver who cut us off or the raunchy billboard, but we do have control of where we next allow our thoughts to wander.

We can either allow ourselves to freefall with the momentum of emotion that has been aroused within, or we can respond to the Divinely inspired words of St Paul who exhorts us to “… bring every thought into captivity to make it obedient to Christ” (2Cor 10:5).

That’s the beauty and the problem of free will … the choice belongs to us.

PANORAMA

Panorama entries must be in by 12pm Monday.

Contributions may be emailed to administration@therecord.com.au, faxed to 9325 4580, or mailed to PO Box 3075, Adelaide Terrace, Perth WA 6832.

THURSDAY, 19 AUGUST

Healing Mass

7pm at St John and Paul Church, Willetton. Mass in honour of St Peregrine, patron of cancer sufferers and helper of all in need. There will be veneration of the Relic of St Peregrine and anointing of the sick. Please note change of date from 12 August.

THURSDAY, 26 AUGUST

Morley Mental Health Support Group

7-8.30pm at Infant Jesus Parish Hall, 47 Wellington St, Morley. Guido Vogels will talk about dealing with conflict and how to identify triggers and defences. The meeting will be conducted as a workshop. Enq: Thelma 9276 5949, Darren 9276 8500 or Barbara 9328 8113.

FRIDAY, 27 AUGUST

St Peregrine - Healing Mass

7pm at Pater Noster Church, Evershed and Marmion Sts, Myaree. Sacrament of Reconciliation with Healing Mass. Sacrament of Anointing and Veneration of the relic of St Peregrine, Patron Saint of those suffering from cancer. Light supper provided. Enq: Father Roy Pereira 0417 936 449.

Medjugorje – Evening of Prayer

7 - 9pm at Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Church, 175 Corfield St, Gosnells. Thanksgiving for Our Blessed Mother’s reported daily apparitions at Medjugorje with Adoration, Rosary, Benediction and Holy Mass. Free inspirational DVD on Fr Donald Calloway’s conversion from drugs and self-destructive lifestyle to the priesthood available on night. Enq: Eileen 9402 2480 or 0407 471 256.

FRIDAY, 27 TO SUNDAY, 29 AUGUST

Post-Abortion Hope, Reconciliation and Healing Weekend Retreat

The Rachel’s Vineyard Retreat is for anyone suffering the spiritual and psychological effects of a past abortion experience. The Retreat starts at 5pm. The Archdiocese of Perth sponsors this confidential and beautiful healing ministry. Enq: Jenny (08) 9445 7464.

SATURDAY, 28 AUGUST

Healing Mass for Voice of the Voiceless

12 noon at St Brigid, 69 Fitzgerald St, Northbridge. Healing Mass. There is plenty of parking available behind the Church. Bring a plate for us all to share after Mass.

SUNDAY, 29 AUGUST

Annual Saint Dominic Commemorative Lecture

3pm at Our Lady of the Rosary Church parish hall, Angelico St, Woodlands. Initiative of the Dominican Laity of Our Lady of the Rosary Chapter, presentation by Sr Maree Riddler on Blessed Mary MacKillop. Enq: Jeff 9446 3655.

MONDAY, 30 AUGUST TO TUESDAY, 8 SEPTEMBER

27th Novena to Our Lady of Good Health, Vailankanni

7pm at Holy Trinity Church, 8 Burnett St, Embleton. Mass, Novena, and procession. Bring a plate. 31 August 7pm, Novena, and children’s blessing. 1 September, 7pm Novena and blessing of sick and elderly. 7pm, 2 September, Novena. 6pm, 3 September, Exposition, 7pm Mass, anointing of the sick and Novena. 6pm, 4 September, Vigil Mass and Novena. Food Fete. 5 September, 6pm, and 6 to 7 Sept 7pm Novena. 8 September, 7pm, Concelebrated Mass and candle light procession. Please bring a plate. Enq: Church Office 9271 5528 or Gordon Davies 9377 4472.

FRIDAY, 3 SEPTEMBER

PRO-LIFE WITNESS

9.30am at St Brigid’s Church, Midland. Mass followed by Rosary procession and prayer vigil at nearby abortion clinic, led by the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. All welcome to come and pray for the conversion of hearts. Enq: Helen 9402 0349.

SATURDAY, 4 SEPTEMBER

WITNESS FOR LIFE

8.30am at St Augustine’s, Gladstone Rd, Rivervale. Mass celebrated by Fr Paul Carey, followed by Rosary procession and prayer vigil at nearby abortion clinic. All welcome to come and pray for the conversion of hearts. Enq: Helen 9402 0349.

SUNDAY, 5 SEPTEMBER

Divine Mercy

1.30pm at St Francis Xavier Church, 25 Windsor St, Perth. An afternoon with Jesus and Mary. Main celebrant (to be decided) will give homily on the Birth of Our Lady. Enq: John 9457 7771.

SUNDAY, 5 SEPTEMBER TO TUESDAY, 7 SEPTEMBER

48 Hours Perpetual Rosary Bouquet Commencing 6pm, Rosary can be said anywhere during the 48 hours. Birthday Gift to our Lady, phone or e-mail your time for saying Rosary, or fill in roster from Record, 4 August. All intentions are for Her. Scroll to be taken up during Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral on 8 September at 12.10pm, Celebrant Archbishop Hickey. Meditative Rosary, 11.30am led by Fr Paul Carey. Enq: Margaret 9341 8082, bowen@iinet.net.au, Legion of Mary 9328 2726, perthcomitium@bigpond.com.au.

MONDAY, 6 SEPTEMBER

Divine Mercy Mass and Healing Service

4pm – 6.30pm at St Jerome’s Church, 36 Troode Street, Munster. Celebrated by Vincentian Priests Fr Joshi Kochukudiyattil VC Director of Tabore Divine Mercy Centre, Mumbai, India and Fr Antony Parankimyalil VC Kenya, includes preaching, praise, worship and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Enq: Connie 9494 1495 or Edita: 9418 3728.

WEDNESDAY, 8 SEPTEMBER

The Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary –Pilgrimage to Bindoon

9am bus departs at St Jerome’s Church. All Divine Mercy Groups, other Religious groups and everyone invited. Fr Paul Fox will be Mass celebrant and guide the day retreat, Exposition and Benediction. Tea provided, lunch BYO. Enq: Connie 9494 1495 or Edita 9418 3728.

THURSDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER TO SUNDAY, 12 SEPTEMBER

Feast of Our Lady Maria Santissima Del Tindari

7.30pm at Basilica Saint Patrick, Adelaide St, Fremantle. Triduum celebrated by Fr Giovanni Gandini. Sunday at 9.45am concelebrated Mass, principal celebrant, Fr Gaetano Nanni, followed at 2pm with procession through the streets of Fremantle. Enq: Joe 0404 801 138 or 9335 1185.

FRIDAY, 17 SEPTEMBER TO SUNDAY, 19 SEPTEMBER

Annual Secular Franciscan Retreat - The Spirit of St Francis for Today 6.30pm at the Redemptorist Retreat House, North Perth. All those interested in learning more of Franciscan spirituality are invited. Fr John Spiteri OFM cap will conduct the retreat. Enq: Angela 9275 2066 by 31 August.

SATURDAY, 18 SEPTEMBER

Feast of the Stigmata of St Francis of Assisi

2.30pm at Redemptorist Retreat House, North Perth. All are invited to join the Secular Franciscan Order in celebrating the Feast with the readings of the Stigmata of St Francis. Tea provided. Enq: Angela 9275 2066.

FRIDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER TO SUNDAY, 26 SEPTEMBER

Inner Healing Retreat

7.30am at the Redemptorist Retreat House, North Perth. A live in retreat for a closer encounter with Jesus and experience spiritual, physical and emotional healing. Enq: Holy Family Church Maddington 9493 1703.

GENERAL NOTICES

Perpetual Adoration

Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is in its seventh year at Christ the King Church, Beaconsfield. Open 24 hours except at Mass times. All welcome.Enq: Joe 9319 1169.

Perpetual Adoration

Sacred Heart Church, 64 Mary St, Highgate. All that is needed is for each one of us to be willing to spend one hour a week with Jesus so that all the hours are covered with one person in the Chapel. Available times, Monday 2-3am, 4-5am, Saturday 11am-12 noon, Tuesday 11am12 noon, Sunday 2-3pm, 3-4pm; Thursday 7-8pm. Enq: Helen 9444 7962.

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land

The Church of St Jude in Langford is seeking to put together a visit to Jordan, the Holy Land and Egypt, leaving 8 September 2010. The duration of pilgrimage is expected to be 15 days and could accommodate 28-30 people. Fr Terry Raj will be the Spiritual Director. Enq Matt 6460 6877, mattpicc1@gmail.com.

EVERY SUNDAY

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

EVERY SUNDAY AND MONDAY

Extraordinary Form of Latin Holy Mass 11am Sunday and 7.30pm Monday except 3rd Monday of the month, at St Joseph’s Parish, 20 Hamilton St, Bassendean.

EVERY 3RD SUNDAY OF THE MONTH

Oblates of St Benedict

2pm at St Joseph’s Convent, York St, South Perth. Oblates affiliated with the Benedictine Abbey New Norcia welcome all who are interested in studying the rule of St Benedict and its relevance to the everyday life of today for lay people. Vespers and afternoon tea. Enq: Secretary 9457 2758.

EVERY FOURTH SUNDAY OF THE MONTH

Holy Hour for Vocations to the Priesthood, Religious Life

2-3pm at Infant Jesus Parish, Wellington St, Morley. The hour includes Exposition of the Blessed Eucharist, silent prayer, Scripture and prayers of intercession. Come and pray that those discerning vocations to the priesthood or Religious life hear clearly God’s loving call to them.

LAST MONDAY OF EVERY MONTH

Christian Spirituality Presentation

7.30-9.15pm at the Church hall behind St Swithan’s Anglican Church, 195 Lesmurdie Rd, Lesmurdie. Stephanie Woods will present The Desert Period of Christianity, 260 to 600AD. From this time period came the understanding of the monastic lifestyle and contemplative prayer. No cost. Enq Lynne 9293 3848.

EVERY TUESDAY NIGHT

Novena and Benediction to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

6pm at the Pater Noster Church, Marmion and Evershed Sts, Myaree. Mass at 5.30pm. Enq: John 0408 952 194.

EVERY WEDNESDAY

Holy Spirit of Freedom Community

7.30pm at The Church of Christ, 111 Stirling St, Perth. We are delighted to welcome everyone to attend our Holy Spirit of Freedom Praise Meeting. Enq 9475 0155 or hsofperth@gmail.com.

EVERY THURSDAY

Catholic Questions and Answers

7-7.30pm at St Joseph’s Parish Centre, 20 Hamilton St, Bassendean. Catechesis learned easily with questions and answers. The Catechism of the Catholic Church. Adult learning and deepening of the Catholic Faith, with Fr John Corapi DVD series, 7.30-9pm.

Divine Mercy

11am at St John and Paul Church, Pine Tree Gully Rd, Willetton. Pray the Rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and for the consecrated life especially here in John Paul parish, conclude with veneration of the First Class Relic of Saint Faustina. Please do come and join us in prayer. Enq: John 9457 7771.

EVERY FIRST THURSDAY OF THE MONTH

Taize Prayer and Meditation

7.30-8.30pm at Our Lady of Grace Church, 3 Kitchener Street, North Beach. All are warmly invited to prayer and meditation using songs from Taize. In Peace and Candlelight we make our pilgrimage. Enq: Joan 9448 4457.

FIRST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH

Communion of Reparation All Night Vigil

All warmly invited 7pm-1am at Corpus Christi Church, Lochee St, Mosman Park. Mass, Rosary, Confession and Adoration. Enq Vicky 0400 282 357.

Mass for Vocations

7pm at the Sisters of the Poor, 2 Rawlins St, Glendalough. Celebrated by Fr Doug Harris, followed by Holy Hour and Benediction, refreshments will follow.

Healing Mass

7pm at St Peter’s Church, 93 Wood St, Inglewood. Benediction, Praise and Worship followed by Mass with Fr Sam and Fr Joseph Tran as celebrants, later fellowship. Enq: Priscilla 0433 457 352.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

BIRTHS BAPTISMS IN MEMORIAM MARRIAGES

DEATHS

CONFIRMATIONS

Text only: $10.00 Text with photo: $20.00 Limit of 30 words per announcement.

To place an announcement in next week’s issue, please contact production@therecord.com.au.

ACCOMMODATION

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

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

GUADALUPE HILL TRIGG www.beachhouseperth.com

Ph 0400 292 100.

HEALTH

PSYCHOLOGY and PSYCHOTHERAPY www.peterwatt.com.au

Ph 9203 5278,

LOSE WEIGHT SAFELY WITH NATURAL PRODUCTS. Free ongoing support. 02 9807 5337.

BOOK BINDING

BOOK REPAIR SERVICE

New book binding, general book repairs, rebinding, new ribbons; old leather bindings restored. Tydewi Bindery 9377 0005.

TRADE SERVICES

BRENDON HANDYMAN

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

BRICK RE-POINTING

Ph Nigel 9242 2952.

PERROTT PAINTING Pty Ltd For all your residential, commercial painting requirements.

Ph Tom Perrott 9444 1200.

PICASSO PAINTING Top service.

Ph 0419 915 836, fax 9345 0505.

CLASSIFIEDS

Deadline: 11am Monday

of Catholic products specialising in gifts, cards and apparel for Baptism, Communion and Confirmation. Ph 9456 1777. Shop 12, 64-66 Bannister Rd, Canning Vale. Open Mon-Sat.

OTTIMO Convenient city location for books, CDs/DVDs, cards, candles, statues, Bibles, medals and much more. Shop 108, Trinity Arcade (Terrace level), 671 Hay St, Perth. Ph 9322 4520. Mon-Fri 9am-6pm.

RICH HARVEST YOUR CHRISTIAN SHOP Looking for Bibles, CDs, books, cards, gifts, statues, Baptism/Communion apparel, religious vestments, etc? Visit us at 39 Hulme Ct (off McCoy St), Myaree, Ph 9329 9889 (after 10.30am Mon to Sat). We are here to serve.

KINLAR VESTMENTS Quality hand-made and decorated vestments: Albs, Stoles, Chasubles, altar linen, banners etc. 12 Favenc Way, Padbury. By appointment only. Ph Vicki 9402 1318 or 0409 114 093.

GARAGE SALE

OUR LAST AND GREATEST from 8am – 12 noon Saturday and 10am - 12 noon Sunday at St Bernadette’s, 49 – 51 Jugan Street, Glendalough. Need donations of goods and volunteers to help. Enq: Father Doug 9444 6131.

SETTLEMENTS

FOR SALE

PEEK-A-BOO CORNER

Good quality & affordable branded kids’ clothing. For boys & girls 0 to 6 years. Don’t miss out 20% discount for first 20 customers. Errina: 0401 454 933. Email: peekaboo.corner@gmail.com or visit www.peekaboo-corner.blogspot.com.

ORGAN FOR SALE Old fashioned chamber organ. Wilcox and White. Meridian Gonn USA. Photo and details email:gschaefer@ amnet.net.au or call George on 08 9386 1695.

ART FOR THE CATHEDRAL www.margaretfane.com.au.

CHURCH KNEELERS

Pair of splendid jarrah three metre kneelers. Photo and details email: gschaefer@amnet.net.au or call George on 08 9386 1695.

MAZDA 626 TURBO 1990

229,000km, regularly serviced, $2,400 ono. Hamilton Hill. Tel 9418 7497.

WANTED

“The Woman Shall Conquer” by Don Sharkey. Photograph of Pope John Paul celebrating Mass in WA. Contact: email rodway@iinet.net. au.

THANKSGIVING

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

22

LAWN MOWING

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

RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

CATHOLICS CORNER Retailer

ARE YOU BUYING OR SELLING real estate or a business? Why not ask Excel Settlements for a quote for your settlement. We offer reasonable fees, excellent service and no hidden costs. Ring Excel on 9481 4499 for a quote. Check our website on www excelsettlements.com.

SINE FURNITURE REMOVAL

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

THANKS TO INFANT JESUS OF PRAGUE, OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP and St Jude for a special favour granted.

THANKS TO OUR LORD AND BLESSED MOTHER, Saints Joseph, Anthony, Jude, Therese of Lisieux, Blessed Mary Mackillop and St Philomena for a great favour granted.

Witness my glory

Ps 116 Acclaim the Lord!

Heb 12:5-7.11-13 Encouraging text

Lk 13:22-30 The narrow door

23 M St Rose of Lima, virgin (0)

Gr 2 Th 1:1-5.11-12 Constancy and faith

Ps 95:1-5 The Lord is great

Mt 23:13-22 Blind guides

24 Tu ST BARTHOLOMEW, APOSTLE (Feast)

Red Rev 21:9-14 Crystal-clear diamond

Ps 144:10-13.17-18 Mighty deeds

Jn 1:45-51 Heaven laid open

25 W St Louis(0), St Joseph Calasanz, priest (0)

Gr 2 Th 3:6-10.16-18 No burden on anyone

Ps 127:1-2.4-5 The Lord bless you

Mt 23:27-32 Finish off the work

26 Th 1 Cor 1:1-9 Witness to Christ

Gr Ps 144:2-7 Greatness and might

Mt 24:42-51 A day not expected

27 F St Monica (M)

Wh 1 Cor 1:17-25 Sent to preach

Ps 32:1-2.4-5.10-11 Justice and right

Mt 25:1-13 Ten bridesmaids

28 S St Augustine, bishop, doctor of the church (M)

Wh 1 Cor 1:26-31Wisdom of the cross

Ps 32:12-13.18-21 The lord is our help

Mt 25:14-30 Talents traded or hidden

The Last Word Renaissance man:

What will Benedict XVI, the teacher full of surprises, do in his coming encyclical?

Expect the unexpected: Benedict’s past work may provide the key to his fourth encyclical ... and Mary

BY KEVIN M C LARKE Zenit.org

SAN MARCOS, California - In recent weeks, Benedict XVI has been “resting” at Castel Gandolfo and, according to media reports, working on a third volume of Jesus of Nazareth and a new encyclical on faith. Many thought that the third encyclical would be on the topic of faith, but the Pope as pastor of the Church believed a more needed letter was Caritas in Veritate (“Charity in Truth”)

Thus, the arrival of a faith encyclical may be more anticipated than at first glance.

The goal of this article is not to anticipate the work of the Holy Spirit or the words of the Holy Father, but to look at what the pontiff has already spoken concerning faith in his previous encyclicals. And indeed there is much to focus upon as we look back. What better way to get into a “faith-ful” state of mind for the coming encyclical?

“Deus Caritas Est”

A common thread throughout Deus Caritas Est (“God is love”) and Spe Salvi (“On Christian Hope”) is the interconnectedness between all the theological virtues. Faith gives certain hope that God has given Himself in love to us.

He writes in Deus Caritas Est: “Faith tells us that God has given His Son for our sakes and gives us the victorious certainty that it is really true: God is love. It thus transforms our impatience and our doubts into the sure hope that God holds the world in his hands and that, as the dramatic imagery of

the end of the Book of Revelation points out, in spite of all darkness He ultimately triumphs in glory. Faith, which sees the love of God revealed in the pierced heart of Jesus on the Cross, gives rise to love” (No 39).

He also wrote that faith, which is an encounter with the living God in itself, opens “new horizons extending beyond the sphere of reason” but also purifies reason of any blindness. Thus “faith enables reason to do its work more effectively and to see its proper object more clearly” (No 28).

“Spe Salvi”

Now would be a great time for a close rereading of Spe Salvi, for of his three encyclicals none is as focused on faith as this one. The reason lies in the profound unity in the New Testament between the concepts of faith and hope. Faith is hope’s “substance” which leads to eternal life (cf No 10).

Commenting upon the Letter to the Hebrews, Benedict XVI explains the nature of faith: “Faith is not merely a personal reaching out towards things to come that are still totally absent: it gives us something. It gives us even now something of the reality we are waiting for, and this present reality constitutes for us a ‘proof’ of the things that are still unseen. Faith draws the future into the present, so that it is no longer simply a ‘not yet’” (No 7).

In the present time, the Holy Father identified a faith-hope crisis, which he traced from the time of Francis Bacon to the present day: faith in progress is an attempt to build the kingdom of man. But faith in progress has failed man, showing itself to be a “threat” that betrays man’s dignity and freedom (No 17-23).

Later in the encyclical, he developed an eschatological theme of faith - looking “forward” in trust to the coming resurrection of the body and judgement as the path

and an indispensable setting” for faith’s formation (No 15).

Echoing Pope Paul VI, Benedict XVI pointed out that while reason can grasp the equality of peoples, it cannot establish brotherhood without faith. Only faith in Divine Revelation enables us to perceive that we are one family under the Father (No 19). He also emphasised the need for dialogue between faith and reason in authentic human development (Nos 56-57).

Many false forms of faith threaten development - faith in human progress, faith in institutions, faith in political structures, faith in technology. But without faith in God, all of these “faiths” use, reduce or destroy man. Faith in God’s presence in the mission of development gives purpose and hope to those who face such a great amount of work.

Can a faithless humanism work for the greater good of man in development?

The Holy Father often has commented upon Mary’s faith, a model for the Christian confession and response to God’s call. At the close of the Year for Priests, Benedict XVI called Mary the “great woman of faith and love who has become in every generation a wellspring of faith, love and life” (Homily, 11 June 2010).

He has often emphasised her assent to God’s plan in the Annunciation, her journey of faith to share the good news with her cousin Elizabeth, her unwavering presence at the foot of the Cross, and her hope throughout the darkness of Holy Saturday awaiting the dawn of the fulfilment of the promises of her Son.

to definitive justice. God is the one who brings justice; faith gives the certainty that death is not the end and that God will do so. In this certainty, we also have certainty in eternal life (cf Nos 41-44). He wrote, “Only in connection with the impossibility that the injustice of history should be the final word does the necessity for Christ’s return and for new life become fully convincing” (No. 43).

“Caritas in Veritate”

The Holy Father wrote in Caritas in Veritate that it is the truth that in charity reflects the twofold dimension of faith, one that is both personal and public (No 3). Furthermore, the Church’s social doctrine is an “instrument

To this question, the Holy Father gave a striking answer: “A humanism which excludes God is an inhuman humanism” (No 78). True development does not neglect man’s spiritual dimension. Thus, only development that is open to God is true to man.

The Holy Father concluded his encyclical with the essential truth that development needs prayer (No. 79).

Imitating Mary’s Faith

The need for a full development of the essence of faith is a need for the Church and the world.

I hesitate to say what Benedict XVI will say in his coming encyclical, but I can say that he will give us a rich theology of faith. Of that, we can be certain.

But surely in his encyclical he will bring to the forefront, as he has often done, a model for faith. She is Mary, to whom the Pope has typically devoted the final paragraph of each encyclical.

In Spe Salvi he asked: “Could it have ended before it began? No, at the foot of the Cross, on the strength of Jesus’ own word, you became the mother of believers. In this faith, which even in the darkness of Holy Saturday bore the certitude of hope, you made your way towards Easter morning” (No 50).

No matter what, we will come to a deeper understanding how to live “the faith” in the virtue of faith following the faith of the Virgin Mother, of whom Elizabeth said, “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord” (Luke 1:45).

It certainly is a tall task for a papal retreat to compose a third volume of Jesus of Nazareth and an encyclical - all the while being sure to work in some well-deserved piano time. But if there is any man who can pull it off, have faith that he is none other than our Holy Father.

Kevin M Clarke has a master’s degree in theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville, and teaches religion at St Joseph Academy in San Marcos, California. He is the author of a chapter on Benedict XVI’s Mariology in De Maria Numquam Satis: The Significance of the Catholic Doctrines on the Blessed Virgin Mary for All People (University Press of America, 2009), and is a recent contributor to the New Catholic Encyclopedia.

The Theotokos of Vladimir, one of the most venerated of Orthodox Christian icons of the Virgin Mary, who Pope Benedict XVI holds up as a model of faith.