The Record Newspaper 18 December 2003

Perth:

New cathedral

Parramatta Cathedral reopens eight years after destruction by fire

By Jane Favotto.

Pictures:Hamilton Lund

Nearly eight years after it was destroyed by fire St Patrick’s Cathedral in Parramatta re-opened on Saturday 29 November 2003 with a Dedication Mass. The Pope’s special envoy on the occasion, Cardinal Edward Cassidy, presided at the Mass. Guests included the Governor of NSW, Prof. Marie Bashir, the Federal Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, and the Premier of NSW, Bob Carr.

In his homily Cardinal Cassidy said the ceremony of dedication of a Cathedral was of great significance in the life of a particular or local Church. “The Cathedral Church is symbolically the very centre, one might say the heart, of the Diocese: a symbol of faith, a bond of communion, a visible challenge to the people of God belonging to that community to give priority in their

lives to the values of the Gospel. It is the local Bishop’s own church and it is the church of all the people of God entrusted to his pastoral care.”

More than 900 people attended the Dedication Mass, which was concelebrated by the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Francesco Canalini, the Bishop of Parramatta, Bishop Kevin Manning, Cardinal George Pell, Archbishops and Bishops, and Priests of the Diocese of Parramatta and beyond.

In his address Bishop Manning said the Rite of Dedication of a Cathedral was an event rarely seen in contemporary Australia.

“The life of the Catholic community is symbolised around you,” he said. “The eyes of everyone who enters this sacred space are drawn to the crucified Christ on the Cross. Here, you encounter Him and, in the Eucharist, are nourished with His Word and His Body. Inspired by the example of Christ, you go from here

Continued page 5

Catholic families from across Australia are being invited to make a pilgrimage to Sydney in April for a weekend of inspiration and celebration at the second National Catholic Family Gathering.

The invitation has been extended by Australia’s Catholic Bishops after their late November meeting in Sydney.

A top-class program of keynote speakers and seminar leaders from Australia and overseas will bring alive the Church’s vision for families as “an intimate community of life and love”.

Cardinal George Pell will speak at the Gathering, which has been convened by the Bishops’ Committee for the Family and for Life, under the patronage of Blessed Mary MacKillop.

Continued - Page 11

More

the Bishops’ meeting - Pages 2, 3 & 5

Australian Cardinal Edward Cassidy, representing Pope John Paul II, at microphone, prays with other Church leaders including the Bishop Of Parramatta, Kevin Manning, at right, and Cardinal George Pell of Sydney during the dedication of the new St Patrick’s Cathedral.

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Bishops prepare

Australia’s bishops are preparing, both physically and spiritually, for their ad limina visit to Rome from March 14 to 28.

Bishops are required to undertake an ad limina visit every five years, during which they meet with the Pope and deliver a report on their dioceses.

The Latin term ad limina means ‘to the threshold.’

The reports, which are being compiled now, will outline for the Holy Father the various aspects of the life of the diocese and the Church in Australia.

The journey is also a spiritual pilgrimage designed to celebrate and strengthen the Australian bishops’ communion with the universal Church and

the Successor of Peter, Pope John Paul II. The key event for Australia’s bishops will be a visit to the tombs of Sts Peter and Paul, pastors and founders of the Roman Church.

The visit is also seen as an important part of the Holy Father’s pastoral ministry, as he receives the bishops with whom he exercises pastoral ministry and listens and talks with them about their mission in their diocese.

Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference President Archbishop Francis Carroll of Canberra-Goulburn said he and his fellow bishops would be seeking the prayers of those in their diocesan community as they prepared for the ad limina pilgrimage.

“We have a deep and sincere

desire to involve the whole Catholic community in reflection and prayer, as we prepare for this spiritually significant event,” Archbishop Carroll said.

“We wish for all Catholics, through prayer and solidarity, to feel a part of the ad limina visit, which confirms and celebrates that which we profess each week when we express our belief in the ‘one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church’.”

“Our faith was handed down to us from Jesus by the apostles and as bishops we are charged with the enormous responsibility of continuing that tradition. The ad limina visit is an important physical and spiritual milestone in the carrying out of that ministry.”

While in Rome, the bishops will also make a pilgrimage to Assisi and will visit various Vatican organisations.

The Bishops’ Committee for the Media is to develop a kit for parishes to help them take advantage of opportunities to spread the Church’s good news to the local media. With much of the Church’s good news happening at parish level, the kit will help parish members identify a news story, write a concise press release, accompany it with a good, clear photo and place it with the local media outlet.

The committee is also working on a pastoral letter to examine the relationship between the Church and the media, which will concentrate on positive ways to develop this crucial area of the Church’s relations with society.

Poultry privileges prized by students

By Debbie Warrier

Good Shepherd Primary School in Kelmscott has a student-run chicken pen dubbed ‘The Holy Hen House’ which has worked wonders for the children’s confidence and responsibility. The school children have embraced the project to the degree that they have even decorated the pen with Christmas decorations and named some of the chickens after their teachers. Volunteer parent

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Mrs Rose Carling supervises students. Three of the six Grade 6 students who help with the care of the chickens, Alex Zagari, Tobi McCagh and Brayden Rose, were feeding the chickens at the time of the interview and were happy to tell The Record they enjoyed the project.

There are also six Grade Two students involved with The Holy Hen House. Seven-year-old Jordan Webb is one of the students and was holding onto the newest addition to the Holy Hen House, the first baby chick.

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The pilot project has been running for 10 weeks and was initiated to assist students in developing their social skills, said school principal Mr Red Berson.

He said the children’s enjoyment of school and their academic progress improved significantly.

The school also has a worm farm. Other students have expressed interest and parents are lobbying for their children to be involved.

The hen project has been such a success teachers have introduced the withdrawal of poultry privileges as a penalty for misbehaviour. The school principal said. They plan to add ducks, turkeys

and more chickens in 2004. Mr Berson praised the generosity of Mrs Carling in donating chickens, supporting the children and setting clear boundaries for student behaviour.

Further clergy changes for Perth

Archbishop Barry Hickey this week announced further clergy changes for the archdiocese of Perth.

Two perth priests are to leave soon to help other dioceses. Fr Steve Casey, or Northam, is being released to Geraldton for three years, and Fr Denis suddla, of Kelmscott, is going to Redfern in Sydney.

Archbishop Hickey siad that the transfers were part of a recent pattern of Perth helping other diocese

Fr Geoff Aldous, Parish Priest of Kellerberrin, has been appointed Parish Priest of Northam and Dean of the Avon Deanery from 30 January 2004. He will continue to be responsible for the Parish of Kellerberrin through Fr Son Kim Nguyen, Assistant Priest at Northam, who will reside at Kellerberrin as Priest-inCharge under Fr Aldous’ authority, from 30 January 2004.

Fr Phong Thanh Nguyen of Ocean Reef will be Priest-inCharge of Wiletton/Brentwood Parish, forming a team ministry with Fr Corran Pike from 30 January 2004.

Fr Russell Hardiman, lecturer in Liturgy and Sacramental Theology at Notre Dame University, has been appointed Dean of Studies at St Charles’ Seminary which he will carry out in conjunction with his duties at Notre Dame.

New Appointments for the Salvatorian Fathers from 24 January 2004 are as follows: Fr Franciszek Kot SDS, Parish Priest in Balcatta Parish Fr Boguslaw Loska SDS, Parish Priest in Bruce Rock Parish. Fr Dominic Su SDS, Assistant Priest in Greenmount Parish Fr Adam Babinski SDS, Assistant Priest in Ocean Reef Parish.

Good Shepherd’s Primary School Grade 6 students relaxing at the Holy Hen House

Witness to Hope: The life of Karol Wojtyla Pope John Paul II

Share this amazing video with family and friends! You will be inspired by this professional production!

New bishops appointed

Catholic Women’s Commission gets new member as well

Australian Bishops meet

The November Plenary meeting reflected recent changes to the Australian episcopate, with the attendance of three new bishops and a new cardinal in the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr George Pell.

A great Christmas present!

P“Be not afraid.”

ope John Paul II is a poet, playwright, actor, mystic, philosopher and pope. Shaped by the terrors of World War II and the subsequent brutalities of the Communist era in Poland Karol Wojtyla became one of the world’s great defenders of religious freedom and human rights.

Filmed on location in Krakow and Rome, this richly-textured documentary traces the personal life and struggles of the first non-Italian pope in more than 450 years.

Based on the best-selling book Witness to Hope by George Weigel, who also acted as histoirical consultant to the producers of this movie, this film is the most complete and intimate film ever made of Pope John Paul II.

Director and Writer: Judith Dwan Hallet

Producers: Catherine Wyler and Judith Dwan Hallet

Associate Producer: Martha Moon

Editor: Robert Zakin

Director of Cinematography: Eric Roland

Composer: Fred Karris

Historical consultant: George Weigel

Narrator: Rene Auberjonois

Ppost Production: Henniger Capitol

Executive Producers: Catherine Wyler Richard Rymland

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Running time: 116 minutes

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The new bishops were Bishop Julian Porteous and Bishop Anthony Fisher OP, Auxiliary Bishops of Sydney, and Bishop Max Davis, the Military Bishop. Bishop Porteous was appointed to the Bishops’ Committee for Evangelisation and Missions and the Bishops’ Committee for Liturgy. Bishop Fisher was appointed to the Bishops’ Committee for Doctrine and Morals and the Bishops’ Committee for Family and for Life. Bishop Davis was appointed to the Bishops’ Committee for Laity and the Bishops’ Committee for Migrants and Refugees.

The Membership Committee also appointed the Maronite Bishop, Bishop Ad Abikaram to the Bishops’ Committee for

Education. The Conference also approved the appointment of Sr Patty Fawkner SGS for three years to the Commission for Australian Catholic Women and Mr Philip McMillan’s reappointment as Chairperson of the Australian Catholic Commission for Employment Relations.

Sr Fawkner has considerable experience in Catholic adult education across Australia and participated in the “Woman and Man: One in Christ Jesus” research project.

From 1994 to 1999, she was on the Council of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan, a religious order founded in Australia and with communities in Japan, the Philippines and Kiribati.

She is the Director of the Uniya Jesuit Social Justice Centre in Sydney and has experience in media relations for the Australian Council of Leaders of Religious Institutes.

The Trustee of the KSC Education Foundation Inc (a project of the Knights of the Southern Cross) takes pleasure in announcing the award of scholarships to the following teachers of Religious Education in Catholic Schools for further study at the University of Notre Dame Australia in 2004.

First name:Surname:School:Region:

MariaAllenSt Augustine's Primary Perth

Peter AllenSt Augustine's Primary Perth

VincentBelliniKolbe Catholic CollegePerth

PiaChielliniSt Jude's School LangfordPerth

Carmel CostinAssumption Cath PrimaryBunbury

SusanCoyleSt Mary's Primary SchoolPerth

KateCusackSt Mary's College BroomeBroome

RebeccaDel BorrelloOur Lady of Good CounselPerth

BeverleyEganUrsula Frayne Perth

HelenHartwigOur Lady Star of the Sea Bunbury

DeborahHawleyMatthew Gibney Perth

TracyHodgeMater Christi CPSPerth

JosephineHutchesonBunbury Catholic CollegeBunbury

ThomasKavanaghNagle Catholic College Geraldton

JoyKetteringhamSt Dominic's Perth

HelenaMartins-LambMater Dei CollegePerth

MariaMasatoraBirlirr Ngawiyiwu Broome

RemyMcGaviganLiwara Catholic SchoolPerth

JudyMiddletonSt Mary's School, MerredinPerth

RachelMooreCorpus Christi CollegePerth

DoraMotherwaySt Joseph's KalgoorliePerth

ShendelleMullaneDjarindjin Lombadina Broome

HeathNankivellSt Mary's School MerredinBunbury

RonaldNgSt Joseph's College AlbanyBunbury

BeverleyO'BrienMercy CollegePerth

KevinO'BrienSt Simon Peter Perth

CarolynPerliniUrsula Frayne Perth

MarianRoweSt Mary's College BroomeBroome

NatalieThomsonIona Primary SchoolPerth

MargaretValentineMary's Mount Primary Perth

Anne-MarieWadeSt Mary's Primary KalgoorliePerth

ColleenWheelerLa Salle CollegePerth

Paul WilliamsSacred Heart CollegePerth

SeminariansRedemptoris MaterMorley

The total amount distributed was $50,328.The Trustee would like to thank all applicants and congratulate the recipients.

Neville Ward, Secretary, KSC Education Foundation Inc

Sr Patty Fawkner

Although not as much in evidence today as in the past, clerical attire and religious habits are still worn, and they have a historical link to the clothing of the ancient Romans.

Every Roman, male or female, rich or poor, had a long tunic for a basic garment. This tunic was the ancestor of the cassock or soutane of the diocesan priest, as well as of the tunic or long robe that is a part of the habit of many religious communities. (It is also the forerunner of the white liturgical alb, worn by all bishops, priests and deacons as well as by some other liturgical ministers.)

Other outer garments (amictum, casula, stola, cappa) were also worn at various times, and these have come down to us as the liturgical amice, chasuble, dalmatic, stole and cope used by ordained ministers. For religious, the amictum or hooded head covering has its counterpart in the hood that is often attached to the

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short capuche or long cappa (cape) worn in the more ancient religious orders of men.

In the days of the Roman Empire, outer garments were often coloured according to a person’s status, wealth and solemnity. Dyeing was done by boiling fabric in diluted secretions of the Murex snail. Depending on the quantity of this extremely expensive dye, all colours were obtained.

Black was the most expensive, since it required the most dye. So anyone who could afford it wore black on festival days – and it remains the colour for men’s for-

Nearly 150 years of service

to God

Two sisters, both members of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (the Loreto Sisters) recently passed away within six weeks of each other, leaving behind a combined legacy of 147 years of religious life.

Sister Mercy (Kathleen) Hubery, aged 90, passed away on October 10, following 73 years of religious life. Her sister, Sister Winifred Hubery, aged 92 died on November 23 after 74 years in religious life.

The two sisters were the eldest of nine children born to English migrants, Frederick and Mary Hubery who settled in the Bridgetown area in 1911.

It was here ten miles south of Bridgetown that Fred carved a farm out of virgin bush. When he moved his family onto the property in 1916 the farm was called “Ladyvale” in honour of Our Lady. It was this devotion to Mary fostered within the family which was to lead

the eldest daughters to a life of service to God in the convent.

Both sisters gave service in the management of the domestic affairs of the communities in which they lived. Sister Winifred became well known in the houses at Toorak, Marryatville, Blackburn and at Thornlie here in WA.

Sister Mercy is well known to past residential students of St Mary’s Hall, Parkerville and boarders of Loreto Convent, Claremont.

In later years they were both members of the Nedlands community before moving to Margaret Hubery Village Shelley.

They will be remembered for their humble lives of service to God in the communities in which they lived and by their families for the individual interest and love shown to each member.

They are survived by their two sisters Ronnie and Mary.

mal dress even today. Thus black was adopted as the colour for clerical street dress, whether the cassock or business suit.

Since funerals are formal occasions, black was used in the Roman Empire for funerals, and this custom has lasted to modern times. The people of the Middle Ages, loving symbolism as they did, interpreted the black worn by priests and many monks and nuns as a reminder of the ‘death to self’ which they accepted in their religious calling.

Following the fall of the Roman Empire, the decline of culture and the lack of a market for the costly

Murex snail dye led to ‘cost-cutting’, and colours were obtained instead from vegetable dyes. But even this was considered unseemly for religious vowed to poverty. Instead, they used the colours of natural animal fibres for their habits. Thus most religious habits kept to shades of black, brown, gray or white. Purple was originally reserved for the imperial family and their household; thus the expression, ‘born to the purple’. Constantine extended the privilege of using purple to the nobility and to the Christian bishops who were born of noble families; other bishops had to wear green. This distinction based on rank perdured until 1803, when ‘commoner’ bishops were allowed to ‘assume the purple’. But it’s interesting to note that the cord of a bishop’s pectoral cross, as well as the hat and tassels on a bishop’s coat of arms, remain green. Cardinals wear red as a reminder of their oath to defend the faith even, if necessary, to the point of shedding their blood. The popes also wore red until the

election of Pope St Pius V in 1566. He was a Dominican friar, and he chose to retain his white Dominican habit as his everyday wear. Succeeding popes must have liked the idea of ‘standing apart from the crowd’ and have worn white ever since. But red remains the official papal colour, and we often see Pope John Paul II on various occasions wearing a red shoulder cape, stole, travelling cloak, and/or red leather shoes.

The ministers of a bishop’s or cardinal’s ‘chapel’ or liturgical household – servers and choristers – are allowed to wear the colour of their prelate. Thus the members of the Cathedral Choir in Sydney wear red cassocks (since their prelate is a cardinal). The members of the Cathedral Choir in Perth had bright purple cassocks years ago, since their prelate is an archbishop; but today’s boys vetoed that colour as being too gaudy, so they wear burgundy as a compromise. I guess that’s how traditions change!

Australian Bishops meet What it is to be human

Australia’s Catholic bishops have issued a concise new booklet setting out the Catholic teaching on the human person which underpins the Church’s response to modern ethical questions on such issues as human cloning, reproductive technology, marriage and sexuality.

The bishops approved the booklet during their twice-yearly plenary meeting in Sydney.

Recognising that the Church’s position on modern ethical questions is not always well understood by society, the reflection paper was commissioned by the Bishops’ Committee for Doctrine and Morals and prepared by Fr Gerald Gleeson of the Catholic Institute of Sydney.

It aims to offer a positive state-

ment of the Catholic understanding of humanity that underpins the Church’s ethical teachings by seeking to answer the fundamental question: What is it to be human?

“Competing answers are at work in debates about human cloning, reproductive technologies, care of the environment, marriage and human sexuality, the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, mandatory sentencing policies and approaches to the funding of education and health care,” the paper says. “We have tried to show that Catholic teachings are in accord with fundamental convictions about who and what we are as human beings, and about where we are going, that are worthy of

thoughtful inquiry and intelligent examination.”

The booklets can be ordered through the Diocese of Broken Bay (02) 9473 4500

Winifred, left, and Kathleen

Bishop David Walker of Broken Bay with the new booklet.

New cathedral

continued from page 1 committed to service, reconciliation and dialogue.”

In 1997, Design Architect Romaldo Giurgola and the firm MGT Architects was commissioned for the restoration and design of the new Cathedral complex. This international firm designed the new Parliament House in Canberra.

The brief for St Patrick’s was for the restoration of the original church as the Blessed Sacrament Chapel as well as the creation of a new extension accommodating 800 people. The Cathedral complex includes a cloister, new parish hall and historic Murphy House, the former presbytery.

Bishop Manning commissioned a program of major works of art, craftsmanship and special design for the Cathedral, ensuring there would be close integration between the art and architecture.

The main entry is from new entry door gates on the south wall of the old sandstone church. In the extension the

presence of daylight is an essential element of its design. The emphasis on the central Altar is made visually through a sculptural Aureole suspended above the Altar.

Three senior artists working in different artistic medium undertook the design and fabrication of the major works of art in the Cathedral.

They artists are Sydney sculptor Anne Ferguson working in stone, Tasmanian design/maker Kevin Perkins working in timber, and Sydney sculptor and jewellery designer Robin Blau working in metal.

Three musical works were commissioned for the Dedication Mass:

Mass setting: Light of the Nations by Fr Chris Willcock SJ, an Australian Jesuit priest living in Melbourne.

The title reflects the multicultural nature of the Diocese of Parramatta.

Lord God in the Simplicity of My Heart by Paul Stanhope, an Australian composer living in Sydney. Based on I Chronicles 29: 1718.

Praise the Lord Jerusalem by Paul Witney, an Australian composer living in the Diocese of Parramatta. Based on Psalm 147.

Bishop Manning said the new St Patrick’s Cathedral is more than the restoration of what was lost in the fire: it is a new creation.

“We sought to make the Cathedral:

● A tangible sign of the unity of purpose and solidarity within our diocesan community;

● A clear sign of God’s kingdom in the world;

● A dynamic centre for Christian worship, prayer, community and mission;

● A welcome to all men and women to discover God;

● A pledge to our forbears in the faith to carry on their memory and legacy; and

● A creation that speaks of meanings and values and will go on speaking.

“Mother Teresa spoke of doing ‘something beautiful for God’. I believe that together, we have constructed ‘something beautiful for God’ here in Parramatta.” The

Melkite bishop sets up Muslim-Christian group to foster peace amid shootings

Australian Bishops meet

While the Vatican recently released a message of peace to Muslims across the world, the Melkite Eparch in Australia, Bishop Issam Darwish, has been busy establishing and maintaining good interfaith relations in his own backyard.

Bishop Darwish gave a short report to the bishops’ plenary meeting on the efforts being made in his Sydney community to build a localised culture of

peace, as well as his personal efforts to help bring an end to the recent shootings within the Muslim community in south-west Sydney.

Bishop Darwish said the Melkite Church in Sydney had established an Arabic-speaking Christian-Muslim Friendship Society.

The Society aims to develop friendship between the Christian and Muslim

communities by working towards strengthening the relationship through discussions and to create cultural and social activities.

It will meet regularly with both Christian and Muslim religious leaders and organisations to build harmony among them and the community at large. Meanwhile, Bishop Darwish also said that all the Eastern Churches had been invited to prayers for unity at St Mary’s Maronite Church in Sydney on January 23, 2004 at 7pm.

Internet gateway to the Catholic Church in Australia

Australia’s Catholic bishops have given the thumbs-up to the design of a new website which will become the new gateway to the Church in Australia.

The Catholic portal page, to be launched around Christmas, will project a welcoming, active and informative image of the Church in Australia, with links to all key areas of the Church’s activities and mission.

It has a faith focus, with the readings for the day featuring prominently. There are also direct links to key Church organisations and services and a daily news component.

The site has been designed to reflect the unique character of the Church in Australia and will be a warm and vibrant entry point for anyone seeking to make contact with the Church or to gain information.

The site will take on the www.catholic.org.au address, which has been used by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference site for several years.

The ACBC site is to be redesigned and will take on a new address.

new St Patrick’s cathedral in Parramatta shows what is possible.

Photo:Hamilton Lund

Saddam’s capture revives questions

The capture of Saddam Hussein is welcome news, even if the only positive outcome from it is the removal of an occasion of great fear among many of the people of Iraq. Letting go of fear is always a step towards love, but whether letting go of this particular fear will take the Iraqis much closer to the capacity to live in a free and peaceful democratic society is an unanswerable question.

Iraq has been a place of brutality, bloodshed, intimidation and revenge for so long that it will require a major healing of heart and mind before a great many of its people will be able to place their trust in democracy and the rule of law. Democracy depends not on the desire to demand freedom, but on the capacity to grant freedom to others in your society. That is a big challenge for people who have lived the reality of a brutal dictatorship for nearly 25 years and who have no real tradition of self government.

However, the questions that come closer to the surface because of the capture of Saddam are not related to Iraq alone. There are intense questions waiting in the wings about the United Nations, and a few that are a bit more personal for Australians to consider.

The major unresolved issue the world, and therefore the world forum the United

discovery’s best edition yet

Congratulations on this month’s publication of discovery. This must be one of the best editions since its inception. The wide range of topics covered should appeal to all age groups including our youth. I sincerely hope that all Religious Education teachers in our Catholic schools have read this issue. They would be doing their students a great service if they encouraged them to read discovery from start to finish and then discussed its contents during their RE periods. Keep up the good work.

Dudley Carr

Churchlands

Beautiful cathedral

Congratulations to the Archbishop and Dean of St Mary's Cathedral and best wishes for the great initiative and confidence shown in the completion of the most beautiful Cathedral in Australia. The designs appear exciting and imaginative and I look forward with all Western Australians to the project's completion.

Fr N FitzSimons Waroona.

Challenged by Bishop

At the bottom of Page 12 in The Record (Nov. 27) was an article which quoted a Mexican Bishop. I have rarely been so challenged.

He observed “If going to Mass and receiving Communion does not transform individuals and communities into those who welcome all who are suffering, including migrants, then the full meaning of the Eucharist is being missed.

What this Bishop is saying could be applied to other areas as well.

We give a few dollars to Lifelink or a favourite mission and think we have done our bit. Do we give further thought to the people who are actually working in the various organisations of our City – devoting time, expertise, talents (and sometimes considerable personal finance) for little or no recognition. We often moan about the

POBox

Nations, must confront consists of the parallel problems of dictators and war. When the biggest dictatorships were the Soviet Union and its related Communist states, it was easy to ignore the issue.

Now that the dictatorships are relatively small (China excepted) and major power bloc confrontations are not inevitable, the world is struggling whether it is trying to avoid or to come to grips with the inadequacy of the previous belief that what went on within a country was entirely its own business.

Pope John Paul put it in a nutshell a decade ago when he reminded the world that human rights are not determined by national boundaries. Inalienable human rights belong to all people regardless of where they live, and the world at large has a responsibility to protect those rights. He did not tell us precisely how to protect them, but he made it clear that he did not favour the “Iraqi method” adopted by the Coalition of the Willing, and his own methods worked in eastern Europe

and South America.

In the decade since then, the world has struggled to create a coherent sense of what it is do. The Balkan States created great problems before the forceful military intervention to save the remnants of Kosovo, but the future of that hate-filled region remains highly uncertain. The Afghanistan answer was force. Several African disasters have seen military intervention, and several even more urgent cases, such as Sudan, are still being ignored.

Australia’s struggle to get “permission” to go into East Timor, and its “invitation” to lead an intervention in the Solomon Islands emphasise the world’s uncertainty. One cannot help but wonder, for instance, what would have happened if the brigands had taken over in the Solomons before a legitimate government could issue its invitation.

Behind all of these power plays is the fact that ordinary, innocent people have lost their basic human rights, elementary freedoms and any real prospect of recovering them. But human rights are not defined by national borders.

Prime Minister John Howard was not discussing the point, but he made it anyway when he said he wanted the story of Saddam’s regime to be told in detail, “slaughter by slaughter, death by death”. It is impossible at the moment to know,

but one seemingly intelligent estimate suggested that the regime had killed an average of 45,000 of its own people each year since the Gulf War which left Saddam in authority.

It is a fair question to ask our media and ourselves as individuals whether we attached, then or now, the same significance to these deaths as we attached to the far fewer civilian deaths during the war, or to the civilian deaths caused by Iraqi suicide bombers and random rocket launchers since the collapse of the regime. How much difference do borders make to the meaning of death?

With its present structure and its disregard for basic human rights in its behaviour in many third world countries, it is hard to put much trust in the United Nations to come up with an effective solution, but it seems to be the best international organisation we’ve got for the purpose.

Certainly, we cannot go on asking the Americans to do it because those remarkable people might end up putting their faith in military power instead of in the power of democratic freedom which has, by and large, characterised them up to now.

All in all, it is just one more reason to put our faith in the one who put his faith in us when he came as a helpless baby on the first Christmas Day.

state of our society, the crime, the injustice and the eroding of our moral laws, but we don’t want to know when these dedicated people send out information to help us fight pernicious legislation which is undermining our Christian way of life. We don’t bother taking up pen and writing to our politicians to object to proposed changes. A pro-life rally at Parliament House is –well – not my cup of tea. We shelter in our personal, familial or parochial cocoon and “let them get on with it.”

The Mexican Bishop went on to say “The Eucharist increases charity and inflames the hope of believers to the point that they become witnesses of the invincible love of God which is manifest in the paschal mystery of Christ. Participation in the Eucharist would not be real – something vital would be missing – if it did not culminate in loving commitment to one’s neighbours, especially to the poorest and most vulnerable.”

I suggest that a pro-life mentality will prompt us to commit ourselves to the “poorest and most vulnerable.”

Rosemary Chandler Palmyra

Help needed for Linda’s House of Hope

L inda’s House of Hope is run by Linda Watson to help girls and women who want to escape the world of prostitution. Linda knows the problems facing these people because she has been there and when she wanted to leave that world there

was no one to help her. With the help of Archbishop Hickey, she set up Linda’s House of Hope. The Catholic Church through the Archbishop supplies Linda with two houses and a sum of money each month to operate these homes. Despite this grant, Linda needs more to carry out her ministry. While Linda does not receive wages for this work, she has to pay wages to some of those helping her. It is a known fact that drug addiction and prostitution go hand in hand and she organises rehabilitation for the girls with drug and alcohol problems, which most of them have. Some of these girls end up in prison, Linda visits them and tries to help them financially. She then houses the girls when she can. She is helping so many that she would need a large hostel to house all of them, so most are living elsewhere. She also tries to set the girls up in training courses for suitable employment. Some of the women who come to her have children so she also has to try to find suitable accommodation

for them. Linda has made some enemies because of her work, a firebomb was thrown through the window of one house; on another occasion shots were fired. She has attended funerals of girls who she tried to help but who didn’t make it.

It is a tough job, full of stress. With Christmas on the horizon, the call upon her funds is going to climb further. It would be a tragedy if she had to close her doors to desperate women and girls because of a lack of funds. Please help Linda to keep this vital work going by making a donation.

Any donation is greatly appreciated. When this appeal was issued last year we were overwhelmed with the generosity of people, so we are asking again for your help.

Donations are tax deductible and cheques or money orders should be made payable to Linda’s House of Hope and should be sent to PO Box 5640, Perth, St Georges Tce, WA 6831

Terry Ryan Thornlie

KIDSHOLIDAY MOVIEGUIDE

This summer’s movies offer some of the biggest and most expensive films of the year - including the much anticipated Return of the Kings and Peter Pan. Neither of these films is available for review until next week, so see our extended coverage in The Record Christmas edition. The other big hit of the season is Brother Bear as well as Looney Tunes: Back in Action, which get good ratings by the the USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting and good reviews by CNS. Unfortunately it is the older kids who miss out with the innane Dumb and Dumberer. We can assure parents that it is one kids are able to miss - taking apparent cheap-shots at the disabled and Mother Teresa. The other let down for the teen market is Scary Movie 3 - which misses the mark. While the first two movies had some substance this one apparently has none. Perhaps all will be redeemed when Return of the Kings is released and young people can at least be entertained without the need for toilet humour.

Good Boy!

I n C i n e m a s N o w

Ayoung boy adopts an extraterrestrial mutt and discovers that Earth has literally gone to the dogs in the fun-filled comedy "Good Boy!" (MGM).

Director John Hoffman gives the old boy-and-his-dog story a humorous new twist in this sweet, well-groomed tailwagger, which should leave viewers with wet noses -- and even a few moist eyes. The story revolves around a friendless 12-year-old dog-walker named Owen Baker (Liam Aiken), whose parents (Molly Shannon and Kevin Nealon), a pair of itinerant house renovators, reward his industriousness with a scruffy -- and scrappy -- stray which he names Hubble.

But when Owen wakes up one morning and finds out he is suddenly fluent in doggie talk, he starts wondering just which end of the leash is calling the shots. As it turns out Hubble, whose real name is Canid 3942 (voiced by Matthew Broderick), is actually on an intergalactic reconnaissance mission from the Dog Star Sirius in order to gather data about Earth dogs, who, according to the pugnacious pooch, came to Earth from Sirius thousands of years ago to colonize and dominate the planet.

Try as he may, Owen is unable to convince Hubble that dogs are men's pets, not their masters. The shattering truth of domesticity becomes painfully apparent, however, when Hubble actually meets the motley crew of neighborhood dogs which Owen walks daily. They include a slobbering boxer (voiced by Donald Faison), a prissy Italian greyhound (voiced by Brittany Murphy) and a flatulent Bernese mountain dog (voiced by Carl Reiner).

Hubble explains that the sorry state of dogdom will most probably get him

sent to the cosmic doghouse.

Owen and his four-legged posse must ready the neighborhood for a visit from The Greater Dane (Vanessa Redgrave), the top dog in the universe, who, unless convinced that canines -- not humans -- run the show, will recall man's best friend en masse back to Sirius.

While Hoffman keeps his hand on the narrative's leash, making sure it doesn't go astray, his decision not to curb his political correctness may get some parents barking. His inclusion of an evidently gay couple in the group of dog owners serves only to normalize homosexuality among the film's targeted young viewers. To be fair, the couple's innocuous narrative presence is peripheral at best, but the very fact that Hoffman made a conscious choice to

include a gay couple in a family movie shows how the tail of moral relativism is wagging the Hollywood dog.

On a positive note, the film's "E.T."with-a-flea-collar premise imparts a family-friendly message about love, loyalty and friendship. It also touches on the true meaning of "home," emphasizing its interpersonal dimension and stating several times throughout: "It's not where you are, it's who you are with."

Despite a formulaic premise and some mawkish moments, including a syrupy sermon -- which sounds like it was penned by Lassie's speechwriter -"Good Boy!" still gets two paws up. Due to minimal mildly crude language and humor, the USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II -adults and adolescents.

Liam Aiken stars in the new family adventure comedy "Good Boy!"

KIDSHOLIDAYMOVIEGUIDE

This summer’s movies are a mixed bunch - with lots of misses and a few hits

Brother Bear

ANative American boy on the cusp of manhood learns his place in the circle of life by becoming a bear in the delightful animated fable "Brother Bear" (Disney).

Directors Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker combine timeless themes with stunning scenery to craft an allegorical tale about love, forgiveness and man's fellowship with nature.

Set among Inuit tribesmen in the Pacific Northwest at the close of the Ice Age, the story centres on three brothers: Sitka (voiced by D.B. Sweeney) the eldest, Denahi (voiced by Jason Raize), and Kenai (voiced by Joaquin Phoenix), the youngest. The film opens on the day of Kenai's coming-of-age ceremony, a ritual dur-

ing which Tanana (voiced by Joan Copeland), the tribal shaman, will bestow on the young warrior his totem -- a symbol revealed by the Great Spirits to help guide him through life.

At their initiations, Sitka and Denahi had received symbols of an eagle (representing guidance) and a wolf (for wisdom), respectively. Tanana presents Kenai with a carved bear -- the symbol of love. Kenai can't mask his disappointment over such a seemingly unmanly totem.

Denahi adds insult to injury with some good natured ribbing. Humiliated, Kenai impetuously steams off, ready to prove his bravery as a warrior by stalking a bear who had stolen a basket of fish left unattended during the rite. When the confrontation with the ferocious beast turns deadly, Kenai is rescued by his two older brothers, but in saving Kenai's

life, Sitka makes the ultimate sacrifice.

The bear escapes and Kenai, against Denahi's counsel, vows to avenge their brother's death.

Kenai manages to hunt down and kill the bear atop a mountain, yet at his moment of victory Kenai is transformed into the creature he just slayed.

Denahi, who had been tracking Kenai, arrives at the scene right after the metamorphosis and seeing the bear -- whom he does not know is really his brother -standing over Kenai's spear and shredded clothes, he assumes the worst. Forswearing his former pacifism, Denahi now takes up Kenai's vendetta.

Barely escaping with his life, Kenai learns from the wise Tanana that it was the spirit of Sitka who caused the transformation in order that Kenai learn an important lesson. She also tells

Scary Movie 3

I n C i n e m a s n o w

Hollywood once again places whoopee cushions under the geese that lay its golden eggs by lampooning some of the most successful recent horror and sci-fi movies in "Scary Movie 3" (Dimension).

The humour ranges from the witty to the witless and from slapstick silliness to distasteful irreverence. Serving as the narrative spit upon which the chosen fright flicks will be roasted is a loosely sketched storyline involving airhead ace TV reporter Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) as she tries to score a major scoop for sweeps week. Following her keen journalistic instincts, she uncovers a convergence of cosmic calamities, including a set of mysterious crop circles signaling an imminent alien invasion, and a

him that the only way to change back into his human form is to travel to a sacred mountain "where the light touches the earth."

With Denahi hot on his furry heels, Kenai, accompanied by a precocious bear cub named Koda (voiced by Jeremy Suarez), sets out on a journey of self-discovery, during which he learns that you can never judge another person- or bear -- until you have walked a mile in his or her, er, paws. He also learns to live according to his totem -- love -- the gift of the Great Spirits which binds all things together.

While the main characters are engaging, the real scene-stealers are the hilarious bunch of prehistoric peripherals, including a pair of dimwitted moose with Canuck accents named Rutt and Tuke (voiced by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas) and two bighorn

sinister videotape which, after watching it, merits viewers a phone call from a creepy dead girl with a lousy wireless provider. Along for the wacky ride is an eclectic cast, including Queen Latifah, Pamela Anderson, George Carlin and Charlie Sheen - all of whom weather the lunacy with mock seriousness. Leslie Nielsen plays the president.

Primed for the rotisserie this time around are such blockbuster hits as M. Night Shyamalan's "Signs," "The Ring" and "The Matrix Reloaded," as well as the Eminem pseudo-biopic "8 Mile." Widening its satiric sights, the film also locks its comedy cross hairs on pop culture, poking fun at TV's "American Idol," Michael Jackson and even popular beer commercials. Much of the film’s humour is fuelled by a lowest-commondenominator gutter mentality in which the punch lines of jokes

rams, whose bada-bing braggadocio suggests that their herd's migratory route passed through stone-age Brooklyn.

Though the film contains some intense scenes that may prove scary to tykes, violence is kept to a minimum, with much of it offscreen. In "Brother Bear," Disney returns to familiar thematic waters, touching on coming-ofage issues and the emotional devastation caused by a parent's death.

Based on traditional Native American folklore, the transformation tale is underpinned by an almost Franciscan spirituality which imparts a strong message about the interconnectedness of all living things, reminding us of our responsibility to live in harmony with the rest of God's creation. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is AI -- general patronage.

more often than not involve a bodily fluid or sexual innuendo. Sight gags include projectile vomiting, equine excretion, dogs in heat, big bosoms and extraterrestrials that urinate through their index fingers. No sacred cow escapes ridicule, as the film takes cheap shots at the disabled and Mother Teresa.

However, while the clever sendups do provide moments of guilty amusement, the film takes an outright ugly turn when -- crossing the boundary of good taste -- it makes light of the priest sexual abuse scandal and twists the tragedy of paedophilia into an occasion for laughter.

Pervasive crude and sexual humour, comic violence, scattered drug references, crass expressions, as well as rough language and profanity. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is O -morally offensive.

The talkative bear cub, Koda, entertains his extended family with tales of adventure in the animated Disney movie, "Brother Bear."

Simon Rex, Anna Faris and Charlie Sheen star in a scene from "Scary Movie 3."

Spy Kids 3-D: Game

Over I n C i n e m a s 1 J a n u a r y 2 0 0 4

"Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over" (Dimension) is, as advertised, 3-D -- those three D's being, dull, dumb and disappointing.

Director Robert Rodriguez scored big in 2001with the original "Spy Kids," which followed the exploits of the clandestine Cortez clan, a family of secret agents whose idea of "quality time" was saving the world from zany villains. The series stutterstepped in 2002 with the less-than-impressive sequel, "Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams," and has fallen flat on its sprockets with the third installment.

This time around, young Juni Cortez (Daryl Sabara), who, for some unspecified reason has opted for very early retirement, disenchanted with the whole spy gig, is running a private-eye operation out of his top-secret treehouse. But he is recruited back into service by the OSS when he learns that his big sister, Carmen (Alexa Vega), is in peril. During a debriefing he discovers that Carmen -- actually, just her mind -- was captured while on assignment to hack into and shut down a dangerous video game which controls the consciousness of any child who plays it, the dastardly handiwork of an evil mastermind known as the Toymaker

(Sylvester Stallone). At OSS headquarters Juni is hooked up to a pair of high-tech glasses which will allow him to enter into the computer-generated world of the

ahead and the loser is deleted from the program -- game over. Accompanying him on his mission is his grandfather (Ricardo

released on the market -- who mistake him for "the Guy," a player of unparalleled skills, who will lead

Looney Tunes: Back in Action

I n C i n e m a s n o w

Finally, a film that understands that all audiences really want is to watch a rascally rabbit and a game bird with an inferiority complex save the world from an evil genius bent on turning every man, woman and child on earth into rhesus monkeys.

Throw in clever dialogue, liveaction co-stars willing to be upstaged by frenetic farm fauna, and a riotous romp -- literally -through modern art and you'll send viewers home smiling, which is precisely what director Joe Dante does in "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" (Warner Bros.).

Based on the characters created in the 1930s and '40s by the Warner Brothers animation team of Tex Avery and Chuck Jones and voiced by the late Mel Blanc, the screwball adventure blends live action with traditional cartoon animation along the lines of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (1988) and "Space Jam" (1996).

"Back in Action" opens with a disgruntled Daffy Duck, frustrated over playing second fiddle to his cotton-tailed confrere, demanding that studio suits give him star, er, billing in their upcoming feature. Instead, he is given his waddling papers by the studio's new all-business vice president of comedy, Kate Houghton (Jenna Elfman).

Charged with escorting the toona-non-grata from the premises is D.J. Drake (Brendan Fraser), a hunky security guard and stuntman. Drake's father, Damian (Timothy Dalton), is the studio's top draw, staring in its series of James Bond knockoffs.

After his expulsion nearly

destroys the Warner back lot and gets his escort fired, Daffy follows his webbed feet to Drake's doorstep. To his surprise, Drake discovers that his dad is in fact a real international man of mystery and is being held by the nutty chairman of Acme Industries (Steve Martin, doing his best Dr. Evil impersonation), who is trying to find out the whereabouts of a mysterious gem known as the Blue Monkey Diamond. Once found, the chairman plans to use the precious stone as part of his plan for world domination, which among other things will send the cost of banana stocks skyrocketing.

Drake and Daffy take off to save the day, joined soon after by Bugs and Houghton. The foursome quickly becomes entangled in a wacky web of globetrotting adventure which takes them from Las Vegas to Paris to the deepest jungles of the Dark Continent. Of course, travel time is reduced considerably when one can simply lift up the corner of the backdrop and step into a different scene.

To be honest, even back in their heyday, plot was never high in the cosmic pecking order of the Looney Tunes universe, occupying a level of importance somewhere between the laws of physics and political correctness, both of which are pleasantly flouted throughout the film. Porky Pig still stutters and Elmer Fudd, even in our postColumbine environment, gets to keep his hunting rifle.

The human cast members seem to take extreme pleasure in the uninhibited zaniness their roles afford them. However it is Bugs and Daffy -- the best pairing this side of Crosby and Hope -- who steal the show, turning mayhem

Toymaker, who had once worked for the OSS before turning to a life of crime, is the man responsible for his grandfather's crippled condition. What Juni doesn't know is that the Toymaker is leading him to his lair in order to escape out of the game, which the Toymaker himself is imprisoned in, and wreak more havoc on the outside world.

The film quickly plummets toward its ridiculous climax, a silly let's-all-save-the-day-together scene which allows brief, perunctory cameos by the adult Cortez couple, Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino, as well as by characters from the two previous films. It also provides the perfect opportunity for the obligatory Cortez hugfest, with heavy-handed lessons learned about family and forgiveness.

The first installment struck boxoffice gold by cleverly marrying imaginative special effects to a smart, entertaining story which did not insult the intelligence of its young viewers. The secret of its appeal was that it resisted the emptation to put the visual cart before the narrative horse. This time around the narrative horse is nowhere to be found.

As in the earlier films, "Spy Kids 3-D" imparts a positive message about the importance of family, clearly condemning vengeance and extolling forgiveness.

Due to some menace as well as some mild action sequences, the USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II -- adults and adolescents.

into an art form. Hollywood's three-dimensional talent pool could learn a lot about comedic timing from watching these two old pros, who have more in common with vaudeville than the video game-inspired pabulum of contemporary cartoons. While young viewers will enjoy the zany onscreen antics, adults along for the ride will be equally entertained by the witty innuendo-laced dialogue -- most of which will be lost on tykes too busy watching Daffy remove his own beak -- and hidden humour (such as the corporate nameplates at Acme identifying board members as "V.P. of Bad Ideas" and "V.P. of Rhetorical

Questions"). And though some parents may object to the considerable roughhouse violence -- anvils and incineration are still the methods of choice among toons -- the film faithfully echoes the tenor of the earlier-era cartoons, making it suitable for all but the youngest children.

As in the original cartoons -which introduced classical music to generations of children without their knowing it -- "Back in Action" takes the opportunity to educate in between exploding carrots and mallet melees. As Bugs observes, "I think when you go to the movies you should learn something."

Adhering to that advice, "Back in Action" contains a toon-torial in modern art. The inspired sequence involves Elmer Fudd chasing Bugs and Daffy through various paintings in the Louvre's galleries -- with the animation reflecting the style of each -including Edvard Munch's "The Scream," Seurat's pointillist "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" and Dali's surreal masterpiece "The Persistence of Memory." Due to cartoon violence, minimal mildly crude language and innuendo, the USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II -- adults and adolescents.

Daffy Duck and Brendan Fraser star in a scene from "Looney Tunes: Back in Action"

Elf I n C i n e m a s N o w

An orphan raised by Santa's tiny toymakers journeys to New York City in search of his real father in the goofy yuletide comedy "Elf" (New Line).

Despite narrative holes more glaring than Rudolph's shiny nose, director Jon Favreau, trying to jump-start the holiday way too early, crafts a family-friendly fable, but uses the secularising sieve of jingle bells and mistletoe to filter out any explicit religious references about the true meaning of Christmas.

Will Ferrell plays Buddy, a foundling who, as an infant, crawls into Santa's sack of toys during a stopover at an orphanage and accidentally winds up being taken back to the North Pole. The stowaway is adopted by the workshop's pointy-eared foreman, Papa Elf (played with droll sobriety by Bob Newhart), who raises Buddy as one of the Keebler kin.

Though popular among the pint-sized population of Christmas Village -- especially his teammates on the Billy-Bartyish basketball squad -- Buddy, who grows into Ferrell's uber-elf frame, realises he will never quite fit into their Lilliputian world.

After Papa Elf tells him the truth about his past, Buddy decides to travel to New York and search out his biological father. His voyage of elf-discovery leads him to Walter (James Caan), a workaholic publisher of children's books who perennially makes Santa's "naughty" list. Ignorant of having fathered a child in his youth, Walter, now married (to Mary Steenburgen) with a 10-year-old son (Daniel Tay), dismisses Buddy's story, convinced there is more nut than nutcracker to the oversized elf.

As much an outcast in the big city as in the North Pole, Buddy lands an appropriate job in the toy department of Gimbel's -- standing in for Macy's --

Uptown girls

I n C i n e m a s n o w

Abut is fired when he gets into a riotous brawl with the store's Santa after alerting a line of anxious children that the counterfeit Claus is an impostor.

After bailing Buddy out of jail and confirming his paternity via a DNA test, Walter reluctantly agrees to let his sugarplum scion move in. Buddy's boundless energy -- fuelled by an all-sugar diet which designates candy an

elf by injecting some holiday cheer into Walter's cynical heart -- and possibly saving Christmas in the process.

Ferrell is convincing as the socially inept man-child, bringing both a disarming credulousness and an unfettered wackiness to the role.

spoiled New York party princess is transformed into a responsible grown-up by an unlikely, pint-sized fairy godmother in the contemporary storybook comedy "Uptown Girls" (MGM). While clearly geared toward young audiences, director Boaz Yakin's otherwise effervescent tale is tarnished by a sexual permissiveness that seems to run counter to the film being marketed as family fluff, pushing the limits of its PG-13 envelope.

Molly Gunn (Brittany Murphy) is the 22year-old freewheeling daughter of a late rock-guitar legend. Her life of privilege consists of one big party, with time taken out only for shopping sprees which would give Elle Woods of "Legally Blonde" a run for her daddy's money, jumping into bed with rock 'n' roll musicians, and walking her pet pig. But fate pours a healthy dose of reality into her silver spoon when her accountant makes for the border with her inheritance, leaving Molly flat broke and up to her eyeballs in debt.

Forced to enter the workforce, Molly lands a position as nanny to the precociously uptight, 8-going-on-40 Ray (Dakota Fanning). Neurotic and Napoleonic, Ray initially responds to Molly's friendly overtures with derision and distrust.

Through a formulaic series of personality clashes -- which feel less forced and cliched in large part due to the genuine on-screen chemistry between Murphy and Fanning -Molly discovers that Ray's guardedness is a defense erected as a way of dealing with her absent, workaholic mother (Heather Locklear), a high-powered record-producer. Anxiety over her father's terminal comatose condition has also driven Ray further into her emotional shell.

As Ray's iciness slowly thaws, the two girls

Though well cast as the mirthless malcontent, Caan is not given much to work with. Unlike Scrooge's metamorphosis which unfolds slowly during his three ghostly visitations, Walter's turnaround from Grinchy to gracious

Apart from a scene where Buddy innocently gets drunk with a mailoom clerk and a few tame sight gags, the candy-cane humour is less "naughty" than "nice." Most of the film's ho-ho-hos are generated by hing the gangly Ferrell prancing around Manhattan in Regrettably, while "Elf" is ull of Christmas spirit, spirituality is noticeably absent. Searching for a Nativity or another even remotely eligious symbol in the film's winter wonderland is like trying to find a wrapped gift in Whoville after the Grinch came to town.

Due to minimal mildly crude language and humour, the USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II -adults and adolescents.

begin to pick up the pieces of their mutually fractured lives, leading to mawkishly predictable epiphanies about family and friendship. Ray, who seems to have been born mature, learns to enjoy being a child, while Molly, who has yet to stop acting like one, decides it is time to grow up.

Murphy, whose facial elasticity is at once both buoyant and grating, brings a bubbleheaded bliss to her role, but it is Fanning's germ-obsessed enfant terrible -- think Woody Allen in pigtails -- who steals the show.

The film suffers from a bipolar narrative, never establishing a tone or target audience, seesawing awkwardly between light-

hearted comedy and drama.

At its heart the film offers a positive, family-values message, touching on weighty issues like emotional healing and parental neglect. Regrettably, these themes must compete with a subplot involving Molly's relationship with a British guitarist (Jesse Spenser), which adds a lewd sexual element to the story, proving the movie's breezy family-targeted promos grossly misleading.

Due to several implied sexual encounters and dark emotional themes, as well as sporadic crude language, the USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -adults.

Dumber and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd

I n C i n e m a s N o w

Rarely does a movie's title also serve as an apt review of the film itself, but such is the case with "Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd" (New Line).

Directed by Troy Miller and full of flat jokes and vulgar humour, this mindless prequel to the equally inane 1994 "Dumb and Dumber" fails on every level and even invents some brand new levels on which to fail.

Making a dumb plot short, the new film explores the "formative years" of the title halfwits played by Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels in the original. This time around, we go without the only two things that made the earlier film barely funny -- namely, Carrey and Daniels. In fact, much of what passes as humour in this bone-brainer has about the same comedic effect as a whoopee cushion in a school for the deaf.

While on route to his first day of high school, the mop-headed Harry (Derek Richardson) turns a corner and collides with the bowl cut, chiptoothed Lloyd (Eric Christian Olsen, a ringer for a young Carrey). The two immediately bond, realising theirs is a match made in idiot heaven. Lloyd, whose delusional savour faire has made him a legend in his own mind, takes the socially inept Harry -- the product of home-schooling mum (Mimi Rogers) -- under his wing, teaching him the ropes of surviving in the "big show" and educating him on how to be "cool." Lesson No. 1 ends with the two simpletons being strung up a flag pole by the school bully.

Corrupt principal Mr. Collins (Eugene Levy) and his gal pal Ms. Heller (Cheri Oteri) quickly peg the dimwits as the perfect patsies for a scam they concocted to abscond with thousands in grant money if the school can claim a "special needs" class. Harry and Lloyd are put in charge of rounding up more losers for the class, paving the way for much of the film's silly sophomoric antics. During the recruitment they run into Jessica (Rachel Nichols), the beautiful ace investigative reporter for the school newspaper who senses something fishy. She wants to blow the lid off Collins' plot but needs Harry and Lloyd's cooperation, leading the dunces to confuse journalistic interest for romantic attraction.

The only thing this clunker succeeds at is making the original stinker look almost Shakespearean by comparison. The film relies on crude humour to conceal its overall lack of anything resembling comic wit, resorting to gross sight gags to elicit cheap, forced laughs. This pandering to the lowest common denominator is nowhere better illustrated than in one scene in which Harry mistakes a melted chocolate bar in his back pocket for his own excrement. Audiences must also endure a crass adolescent-malefantasy sequence in which bikini-clad Nichols and Rogers catfight in a pool over Lloyd's affections and end up liplocked.

The film's tagline -- "The Evolution of Dumb" -- is indication enough that this is one link worth missing. Due to some profanity, much crude bathroom humour, an instance of same-sex kissing, exaggerated violence played for laughs and recurring sexual innuendo, the USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults.

Brittany Murphy stars with 9-year-old Dakota Fanning in the comic film "Uptown Girls."

‘Mandurah students did not cause riot’

The Immigration Department has used Mandurah Catholic students as scapegoats, says Mission Director

By Debbie Warrier

The Catholic Mission Director in Perth, Francis Leong, has rejected attempts by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) to blame Mandurah Catholic College Year 11 students for the recent riot in the Port Hedland detention centre.

The students were on a missionary experience field trip and were not on site when the riot occurred, Mr Leong said.

Catholic Mission arranges missionary field trips which involve students accompanying pastoral workers in remote parishes on their daily mission with the marginalised and under-privileged in WA communities.

Mr Leong said that the Port Hedland mission experience involved accompanying Fr Tom Kessy in his work with indigenous communities and the Council of Elders; the staff at St Cecilia’s College in their work with indigenous children and refugee children from the Port Hedland detention centre; and Fr Des Reid and Sr Mary Keely who provide a pastoral service to

detainees inside the detention centre.

Catholic Mission had organised similar trips for Year 11 students from Newman College on two previous occasions.

The involvement of school students had the continuing support of Bishop Justin Bianchini, of Geraldton, whose diocese includes the Pilbara.

The school had applied to make a group visit to the centre, but this was denied.

One teacher and one student were permitted to visit under the official visiting policy which allows people to book visits a day in advance. They were able to leave Christmas gifts for children and families at the reception desk, but did not see any of the residents. That was their only visit and they were not at the centre when the trouble started two days later.

Statements made by DIMIA on December 5 claiming that the catalyst for the riots was the visit of the Mandurah students were misleading and inflammatory.

“It must be recognised that the riots are a consequence of the long-term and indefinite incarceration of people while they await a decision on their visa applications, and the resulting physical, emotional and mental strain on them,” Mr Leong said.

Sister Mary Keely is a volunteer teacher at the detention centre and helped the girls to follow the existing protocol regarding detention centre visits, “These are lovely, mature girls. They had a beau-

tiful manner with the children they visited at St Cecilia’s Primary School,” she said of the students.

Detention Centre chaplain

Father Des Reid told the girls that when good intentions are misconstrued it is similar to Christ’s experience on earth. Fr Des described the students as highly motivated about their visits with Father Tom Kessy and his work with the indigenous communities. The students also attended the Seafarers’ Centre.

Comparing the detention centre to a maximum security prison centre, he added he had been unable to say Mass for the detainees who were incarcerated for a period after the riot.

Mandurah Catholic College

Principal Mr Graeme Mander said “From our perspective the Port Hedland trip was a huge success. The visit to the detention centre was a crucial part of the students’ missionary experience, but it was only one part.”

Mr Mander said three of the eight students on the mission and one of the teachers were given official permission to visit the detainees. When they were at the Port Hedland detention centre only one of the students was allowed to visit with one of the teachers.

Mr Mander said the school was happy to continue with its biannual missionary visits and hoped to return to Port Hedland detention centre under more appropriate circumstances.

Bishops call families gathering

continued from page 1

It will be held at St Joseph’s College, Hunter’s Hill from April 16-18.

Making a return visit to Australia for the Gathering will be the popular Christopher West, internationally acclaimed US speaker and author on Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body

Also on the program is US speaker on child development, fatherhood and family issues, Dr Wade Horn, as well as Australian speakers including Sydney Bishop Anthony Fisher OP, Glenn and Trish Mowbray, the Rev Tim Costello, Byron and Francine Pirola and Fr Peter McGrath CP.

Workshops will be available

on topics including: The Church’s vision for families; building healthy families; Parenting and passing on the faith; When relationships fail; Divorce and beyond – healing and growth; The vocation to be single; Education for marriage; Ethical issues for marriage and family; Spirituality and sexuality; and Interdenominational marriages.

The bishops, at their plenary meeting, were asked by the committee to encourage families to make the journey to Sydney as a pilgrimage, not just of the heart, but physically, to sites of special spiritual significance for Australian Catholics.

These sites include the tomb of Blessed Mary MacKillop, St Mary’s Cathedral and

Archbishop asks Perth priests to follow the rules

Liturgy

Archbishop Barry Hickey has asked all priests in the Archdiocese to follow the official instructions for the Mass as laid down in the General Introduction on the Roman Missal (GIRM).

In his regular letter to all priests, the Archbishop said that many people rightly complain that some priests disregard these provisions and make them more liberal or more restrictive than they are.

“For the good of the faithful, and for good order and the

dignity of the celebration, I ask all priests to follow what is officially laid down,” he wrote.

“We are not free to make arbitrary changes simply because we think they are better than what has been mandated.

“Certain freedoms and options are already indicated in the General Introduction. We may use these but should not introduce idiosyncratic changes.”

He said a new English translation of the Roman Missal and a new GIRM could be available in as little as two years, although it was likely to be longer.

John Paul II calls for an examination of conscience on liturgical reform

John Paul II has called for an examination of conscience on the application of the Second Vatican Council's constitution on the sacred liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium

In this connection, the Pope has written an apostolic letter on "the 40th anniversary of the conciliar constitution 'Sacrosanctum Concilium' on the liturgy," published last Friday by the Vatican press office.

The text, published only in Italian for now, was signed by John Paul II last Thursday, the actual anniversary of the constitution's publication.

The examination is to "verify the road travelled so far" in regard to the "reception of Vatican Council II," especially with respect to the "liturgicalsacramental life" of the Church, the Holy Father wrote.

while offering guidelines for the "conscious and active participation in liturgical celebrations desired by the Council."

This is why the Pontiff considers that a "liturgical pastoral program" is necessary in fidelity to the new documents issued by the Holy See which regulate it.

In addition, the Pope says that liturgical reform calls for the rediscovery of Sunday -- "synthesis of the Christian life and condition to live it well" -- and of the"art of prayer" -- "not only through the Liturgy, but also through pious practices."

The thirst for God that contemporary men and women experience, despite secularisation, must be slaked by intimate contact with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, the Pope explains.

Parramatta’s new St Patrick’s Cathedral.

“Family is where we have our deepest experiences of human relationships, our warmest, most intimate moments of love, our deepest hurts and disappointments. It can be a great source of comfort and strength and also a place where dreams are shattered,” the bishops’ committee said.

“This conference is convened in the confident belief that wherever family members choose to hope, love, persevere, trust, courageously try again, the presence of Jesus is felt and the Spirit is moving, the Gospel is alive!”

For more information, log onto www familygathering com au

"Is the liturgy lived as the 'source and culmination of ecclesial life,' according to the teaching of 'Sacrosanctum Concilium'?" is the first question in the apostolic letter.

"Has the rediscovery of the value of the Word of God brought about by the liturgical reform found a positive acceptance in our celebrations?" the Pope asks. "Up to what point has the liturgy become a part of the concrete life of the faithful and marks the rhythm of each one of the communities?"

"Is the liturgy understood as the path of holiness, inner force of apostolic dynamism and of the Church's missionary character?" he adds. The liturgical renewal needs a "proper formation of ministers and of all the faithful," the Holy Father says,

Therefore, the Holy Father calls for the promotion of "fitting celebrations, paying due attention to the different categories of people: children, youths, adults, the elderly, the handicapped."

"All should feel welcome in our assemblies, to be able to breathe the atmosphere of the first believing community," he writes.

John Paul II also encourages the rediscovery of the "experience of silence" in Christian communities.

"In a society that lives ever more frenetically, often deafened by noise and distracted by the ephemeral, it is vital to rediscover the value of silence," he says.

In a word, the Pope says that "the pedagogy of the Church must 'dare' to present lofty objectives as, for example, the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours."

Zenit

Christmas Recipes from Around the World

Want to cook up a storm at Christmas?Try food instead, says ANN BALL. And to make it fun, all measurements are imperial.

Peanut Soup

Yield: serves 4.

4 beef (or chicken) bouillon cubes

1 qt. water

1 medium carrot, diced

2 or 3 green onions with tops, chopped

1/4 c. rice

1/4 tsp. ground red pepper

1 cup raw peanuts, ground into a fine powder*

Place all ingredients in a heavy 2-3-qt. saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 30 minutes until rice is tender. Add water if soup becomes too thick.

(I grind peanuts in a coffee grinder; a blender will do fine.)

Aigo Boujilido (Boiling Water)

Yield: serves 4.

2 large cloves garlic

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 bay leaf

2 eggs

1 tsp. salt

4 cups water

Boil all ingredients except eggs for about 15 minutes. Break the eggs into a soup tureen and pour the boiling water over them. Beat for a few moments with a wooden spoon.

Cranberry Sauce

1 c.water

3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

1 cup sugar

Combine water and sugar in saucepan and stir to dissolve sugar. Bring to a boil and add cranberries, reducing heat to medium low. Cook until skins pop. Cool at room temperature. Refrigerate till firm.

Pirohy (Polish: Pirógi) (Egg Dumplings)

1 cup flour cheese, potato, or sauerkraut filling

1 egg

4 tbsp. water

Mix flour and egg with enough water to make a soft dough. Knead well. Roll out on floured board until thin. Cut into threeinch squares. Place one tsp. filling on each square. Fold in half, making a triangle.

Pinch edges well to keep filling inside.

Drop into boiling salted water and cook until dumplings rise to surface. Cook five minutes longer. Rinse in colander with hot water. Drain. Pour melted butter over dumplings and serve. P i r o h y F i l l i n g s :

Cheese Filling:

1/2 cup dry cottage cheese 1 egg yolk

1 tsp. butter pinch salt

P o t a t o F i l l i n g :

1 large potato, cooked and mashed

1 tablespoon butter grated cheese to taste

Drain and rinse sauerkraut in cold water. Brown diced onion in margarine and add to sauerkraut. Cook for a few minutes.

Boiled Custard

Yield: 1 quart.

3/4 cup sugar

4 eggs, separated

4 tbsp. (rounded) flour

1/2 pt. whipping cream, whipped 1 qt. cold milk

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

Sift together first three ingredients. Pour one qt. cold milk gradually into dry ingredients, stirring well. Beat egg yolks and stir into mixture. Put on low heat and cook, stirring constantly until thick. Beat egg whites until stiff. Pour hot custard over whites and beat together. Add vanilla. Before serving, fold in whipping cream. Serve alone or over mince or apple pie.

Wassail

Yield: serves 6 to 10

2 qts. apple cider

1 cup sugar

2 cups pineapple juice

2 sticks whole cinnamon

1 & 1/2 cups orange juice

1 tsp. whole cloves

1/2 cup lemon juice

Combine ingredients and bring to boil. Serve hot. Garnish with cinnamon sticks if desired. Wassail is one of those things that good cooks argue about the traditional components of. Our version is simple and quick.

Check entries in a number of cookbooks for interesting variations.

Cauliflower Relish

1 head cauliflower

1 or 2 small hot peppers

1 tsp. dill seed, or fresh dill vinegar

1 tsp. salt

Boil head of cauliflower until just tender. Separate into flowerlets, reserving water. Pack into a clean glass jar. Add 1 tsp. dill seed or, preferably, several fresh heads of dill, 1 tsp. salt, and one or two small fresh red chillis or other hot peppers, cut into fourths and with seeds removed. Fill jar 2/3 full with plain white vinegar, and complete with the water reserved from boiling the cauliflower. Seal and store in refrigerator at least a week prior to eating.

(adapted from a recipe from the 1600s)

Hogmany

Yield: serves 4 to 6.

1 cup honey

2 cup Scotch whiskey

2 cups heavy sweet cream

Heat honey over low heat and when it thins, stir in the cream. Remove from heat and slowly stir in the whiskey. Serve hot in mugs.

Springerle (Aniseed Biscuits)

Yield: about 40 small cookies.

4 & 1/2 cups flour

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. powdered aniseed

In a large bowl, beat the eggs until fluffy and then beat in the sugar, a little at a time. Continue beating until the mixture falls back on itself in a slowly melting ribbon. Beat in the aniseed.

Mix the dry ingredients and beat them into the egg mixture a little at a time to form a firm dough.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is smooth and pliable, working in a little more flour if it is too sticky. Chill for about two hours.

On a well-floured surface, roll the dough about 1/2 inch thick.

In Germany, the cookies are patterned with a patterned board or rolling pin and cut into 1 1/2" squares. Arrange on cookie sheets lined with baking parchment. Set the prepared cookies aside to dry at room temperature for a day before baking them in a slow oven, 300 degrees, for 30 minutes. They are cooked when the tops whiten and the bottoms are slightly golden. Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container

WORD Sunday

Tby Norma Woodcock

he readings from the Mass during the day shout out the good news, God has taken our flesh and has been born like us, for us.

The Second Reading, Hebrews1:1-6, ‘But in our own time, the last days, God has spoken to us through His Son.’

The Gospel, John 1:1-18, ‘In the beginning was the Word: the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things came to be, not one thing had its being but through Him.’ ‘Indeed, from His fullness we have, all of us, received – yes, grace in return for grace.’

So while the readings are different, i.e. at the Christmas vigil we hear about the virginal conception of Jesus, at Midnight Mass we hear of His birth at Bethlehem and at Dawn Mass we hear the story of the homage of the shepherds, it is in a more contemplative mood that Jesus’ eternal existence as the Word of God is the focus of Mass during the day.

I would like to illustrate this coming of God into our world with a story I heard many years ago.

It is about a Methodist Minister who ran a home for disadvantaged youth. One Christmas Eve he was in his office trying to write his Christmas Sermon and thinking about how he could present this truth in a fresh way.

There was a shout outside his office door, calling him to come quickly.

He rushed outside and was told that one of the few remaining youths had climbed under his bed and wouldn’t come out. Most of the other young ones had gone away for Christmas and for the few that were left it was a sad and lonely time.

The Methodist Minister walked into the dormitory, all the beds were stripped and empty but there was one bed made up, the quilt falling half off, but no one was to be seen.

The Minister addressed the young boy under the bed, ‘Come out,’ he said, ‘It’s Christmas and we have a lot of good food to eat.’ Not a sound was heard. ‘Come out, won’t you,’ he said, ‘We have candles and a Christmas Tree.’ Not a sound from under the bed. ‘Do come out.’ He called, ‘There are presents and some have your name on.’ No response.

So the Minister got down on his belly and began to gently, slowly, ease himself under the bed where the young boy lay.

The springs of the bed pulled at his clothes as he squeezed, eased himself into the small space. Then he just lay there and didn’t say a word, just lay next to the young lad in his pain.

After a while a cold small hand eased it’s way into his, he just held it and then a little time later he said, ‘lets get out from under this bed shall we.’

The Minister stood up and looked at the small boy whose hand he still held and realised that God had given him his Christmas Sermon because that is exactly what God had done that first Christmas: eased Himself, squeezed Himself into our world through the humanity of Jesus. He just lies there, next to us in our pain and waits for us to put our small cold hand into His.

&

OpinionReflection &

Catholic opinions from around Australia

on I Say, I Say....

May the good God bless you and your loved ones this Christmas Day, a Happy and Holy Christmas.

Norma Woodcock is the Director of The Centre for Catholic Spiritual Development and Prayer. Website: www.normawoodcock.com

The Nazi war criminal and Luftwaffe chief, Hermann Goering, is credited (wrongly) with saying that when he heard anyone talk of Culture, he reached for his revolver. I reach for my imaginary revolver when I hear anyone talking of change. When people argue, as they do, that change is inevitable and therefore it is better to welcome it than to resist it, I feel in my pocket for my gun. By inference those who resist change are dinosaurs, or worse, conservatives.

I needed my revolver recently when I listened to a homily at Mass - not a suitable occasion, you may think, for even an imaginary revolver (traditionally, firearms are left in the porch). However, the priest, a good and holy pastor, was quite safe from me. He was merely trying to reassure people who are unhappy with some of the changes in the Church in recent years. ‘Change’, he said expansively, ‘is inevitable; We should welcome it. The world cannot stand still, and neither can the Church.’

Which is true, up to a point.

But the current exaltation of change for change’s sake - the meek acceptance of changeis more problematic than that. And it starts with syntax.

The word ‘change’ is a transitive verb. When it is used as a noun it has no meaning unless it is attached to something else, in other words it is left suspended in the air, entirely neutral.

Change means nothing unless it is defined. Therefore the statement that change is inevitable is nonsense. We cannot have an opinion about change of itself - whether it is good or bad - unless it is defined.

To imply that ‘change’ is axiomatically a good thing, or inevitable, without qualifying what we mean by change is nonsense. Clearly some things that change are good; but others are bad, as anyone knows whose cold changes to pneumonia.

Syntax may be technical, but the ‘inevitability argument’ is political. If you desire a particular social, political, or even religious outcome which doesn’t have popular support, and you convince people that, historically, change is inevitable,

Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition, says TONY EVANS (sans revolver)

you are half way to winning your argument. Those who feel they should resist what you are proposing are silenced. I have always suspected people who use this ‘change is inevitable’ argument.

Usually they are advancing the particular changes they happen to support (The priest at Mass was known for his enthusiastic changes in the Liturgy).

Those who support abortion and euthanasia, for example, have argued that public perception of right and wrong inevitably changes with time. You cannot put the clock back, they say, or even stop the clock. Best to accept the changes now; don’t be a dinosaur. And although dinosaurs are popular with the young at the present time, adults are uncomfortably aware that to be likened to one means they are heading for extinction.

GK Chesterton, in his wisdom, argued that of course you can put the clock back; man can alter the clock and can even re-introduce horsedrawn buses and a host of other impractical things if there is a general will to do

so. He was not being facetious, he was pointing out that we do not need to accept meekly all the changes that powerful authorities tell us we should accept because change is inevitable.

Of course inevitably some things change – the weather cycle, the seasons; the age of the human body; and the physical world around us. But man-made things and man-made institutions only change when we want them to change: their change is not inevitable.

Turning to Chesterton again, he stated that the human mind was unique in being designed to consider the evidence, the facts of any proposition, and come to conclusions based on those facts, and “if [the mind] does not do this it is not doing its job’.

Whenever you feel uncomfortable about a piece of legislation or social engineering, or deplore certain changes that have occurred, and are told in justification and in a most superior manner, ‘Change is inevitable, and anyway, change is good for us’, then it’s time to reach for your gun – metaphorically, of course.

At a preview of a “rough cut” in early December a small group of people got to see Mel Gibson’s Passion movie. Here, art historian ELIZABETH LEV writes about what she thought of it all.

Reviews

For a fortunate few of us Rome dwellers, the most exciting event of this week was the advance screening of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ.

In a small basement cinema of Rome’s Prati district, producer Steve McEveety tersely introduced the film, explaining that we would be seeing a mere rough cut of the newest Gibson opus. From the stream of articles and testimonies this movie has spawned, it seems that most

then turn to me for an explanation. Contemporary society is not used to having to look at something long enough to let it sink in. Mel Gibson gets around this in part through the use of Aramaic and Latin in the film. He offers some subtitles, but not many, and the viewer finds himself searching the faces on the screen for responses, for personal interaction to try to understand visually what he cannot grasp otherwise.

The Caravaggesque play of light and dark across Pilate’s tortured face as he struggles to

people who have previewed the film didn’t know what to expect. I did. I am a diehard Mel Gibson fan, and I expected the best. He didn’t let me down.

What did surprise me was that the person I always associated with the entertainment side of my life crossed over into my professional world. As a Renaissance art historian, I analyse art on chapel walls, above altars or in museums. Though film is arguably the world’s greatest art medium, I generally turn off these faculties on entering the movie theatre, as they are rarely called upon for today’s films.

In the case of The Passion, every scene, every frame, is richly crafted to draw the viewer deeper and deeper into the story. A masterpiece of religious art — of the most powerful sort — The Passion involves the viewer to the point that he or she becomes part of the story.

Gibson’s filming stands in the High Renaissance tradition. The figures fill the screen, they loom over us, threatening to enter our space. When Christ falls for the last time on the road to Calvary, he turns towards us, the viewers, and slowly tumbles, arms outstretched, right over us.

understand “what is Truth,” reveals more than the dialogue itself. In some cases, translation proves unnecessary. The scoffing and jeering of the brutal soldiers becomes feral barking, underscoring the meaninglessness of the violence it accompanies.

seeing the passion

The flashback to Christ and Peter produces a similar effect. The camera is placed to capture the face of Christ in profile, while Peter faces us full on. We are seated to the right of Christ, witnessing Peter’s solemn promises to follow Jesus even to death. Then the camera pans around so that Christ looks straight at us as he tells Peter that before the night is over he will have denied him three times. From bystander to protagonist in the blink of an eye.

The most compelling interplay between viewer and film occurs, however, during Gibson’s representation of Michelangelo’s Pietà.

Mary holds her Son in the exact same manner, one hand cradling his body and the other hand open toward the viewer. The variation comes in that while Michelangelo’s Mary gazes solemnly down at her Son, Gibson’s Mary looks straight out at us. The movie draws to a close provoking a full and conscious acknowledgment of whom this suffering has been for.

Now it is one thing to fashion a work of art, and another thing altogether to get people to look at it. Every semester I host a crop of visiting college students, here to get a dusting in art history, eager to view the beauties of Rome. Yet on entering the Sistine Chapel they typically look up for just a moment or two and

During my formative teen years, Mel Gibson accompanied me with his portrayals of reluctant heroes and good-hearted rebels. His best characters, such as Mad Max or Guy Hamilton in The Year of Living Dangerously, always walked a fine line between what was right and what was comfortable or convenient. When the character finally had to wrench himself toward selfless good, the effort was always visible, almost painful. Concealed in unlikely shells, the hero emerges at the time of necessity.

In The Passion of the Christ, Gibson has made the ultimate hero movie. In the opening scene in the Garden of Gethsemane, we see Jesus suffering with the foreknowledge of his imminent passion, pleading to be spared this task. The eerie figure of Satan, who would be distressingly at home in an MTV video, softly tempts and dissuades. “No man can bear this burden,” he whispers while Jesus lies prostrate, seemingly helpless on the ground. But Jesus lifts himself up, and with a decisive crack that makes the audience jump, he crushes the head of the serpent Satan has sent to tempt him.

Another classically heroic Gibson moment finds Christ on his knees, crippled under the weight of the cross. His mother runs to comfort him, whereupon he smiles bravely and promises, “See Mother, I make all things new.” The camera follows him up as he again shoulders the cross and struggles forward with renewed vigour.

Spurious charges of anti-Semitism have upstaged more important debate regarding the religious and artistic value of this film. The intensity with which Gibson forces us to think about Christ’s passion highlights the power of cinema as an art medium, as well as a tool for evangelisation. Personally, perhaps the sweetest note on seeing this movie was that my adolescent hero has become a hero in my adult life, showing courage and vision in professing his belief in Christ’s salvific sacrifice against formidable odds. Hats off to Mel.

Elizabeth Lev teaches Christian art and architecture at Duquesne University’s Rome campus. She can be reached at lizlev@libero.it.

In a scene for Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion," Jesus (Jim Caviezel) is approached by his mother Mary (Maia Morgenstern) as he carries his cross to the crucifixion. Photo: CNS/Icon Pictures

BUILDING TRADES

BRICK re-pointing.Phone Nigel 9242 2952

ELECTRICIAN, Power/light points from $50 each. Rewiring our speciality. 0418 941 286, 9279 5008.

LIC.PLUMBER/gas fitter, Contact John on 9457 7771, Mobile 0412 185 209.

PICASSO Painting.Top service.Phone

PERROTT PAINTING Pty

Ltd for all your residential, commercial painting requirements.Phone Tom Perrott 9444 1200.

FURNITURE REMOVAL

Sunday

Sunday

DECEMBER

19Mass

21Mass at St Gerard's,MirrabookaBishop Sproxton

22Mass at Foundations Catholic MinistryBishop Sproxton

24Christmas Family Mass,Lockridge

25Midnight Mass,St Mary's CathedralArchbishop Hickey Midnight Mass,Kwinana - Bishop Sproxton

27Eucharist,Mirrabooka - Bishop Sproxton

28Mass for Feast of the Holy Family, Allendale Square - Archbishop Hickey

31New Year's Eve Vigil and Midnight Mass, St Mary's Cathedral - Archbishop Hickey

Sunday December 21

GATE OF HEAVEN

Please join us this Sunday at 7:30pm on 107.9 FM,Radio Fremantle, for more Global Catholic Radio.This week we will feature:(1) Household of Faith with Steve Wood and (2)Life on the Rock;A program for youths.

Sunday,December 21

ETERNAL WORD TELEVISION NETWORK:

1 - 2 pm on Access 31:Christmas message from Archbishop Hickey. Followed by:What will you give Christ for Christmas? Mother Angelica.St Nicholas,the boy who became Santa [CCC animated film for children] The Rosary Christian Tutorial Association wish all viewers every joy and blessing of the Holy Christmas Season.Postal address:PO Box 1270,Booragoon 6954.

Wednesday December 24

OUR LADY’S ASSUMPTION MANDURAH

Christmas Eve Open Air Youth Mass & Carols by Candlelight,6.30pm. Bring Candles,Chairs and Rugs.MandurahCatholic College, Coodanup.Christmas Mass Times at Church:Creery St.Midnight Christmas Eve 7.30am and 9.30am Christmas Day.Falcon Mass Centre 7pm Christmas Eve,8.30am Christmas Day.

Thursday December 25

SUNG LATIN MASSES

Christmas Masses at St John’s Pro-Cathedral,Victoria Ave,Perth. 12am Sung Midnight Mass preceded by Rosary and Carols at 11pm. 7.30am Dawn Low Mass.9.15am Sung Day Mass.All welcome.Enq: Fr Michael Rowe 9444 9604.

Sunday December 28

BULLSBROOK SHRINE PILGRIMAGE

Shrine of Virgin of the Revelation,36 Chittering Rd,Bullsbrook.The next monthly pilgrimage in honour of the Virgin of the Revelation,will be held at the Shrine on the last Sunday of the month,at 2.00pm. Pilgrimage Mass at 2.30pm.All are most welcome.Reconciliation is from 1.30pm prior to the Pilgrimage.Bus transport for the Pilgrimage departs Barrack St at 12.30 for Bullsbrook via Highgate,Guildford and Midland.For bookings tel.0409 296 810 or 9277 5378 For further information contact SACRI on 9447 3292.

Wednesday December 31

NEW YEAR’S EVE MASS

11.30pm Sign of Peace Midnight.Start the New Year with Reception of Holy Communion.Holy Spirit Chapel,85 Boas Avenue (opposite Public Library) Joondalup.Enq 9301 4111.

Wednesday December 31 - Thursday January 1

NEW YEAR’S EVE ALL NIGHT VIGIL & MIDNIGHT MASS

Principal Celebrant:Archbishop Hickey.St Mary’s Cathedral,Victoria Square,Perth.Begins 11pm with Rosary,midnight Mass & prayer of Dedication of the New Millennium to the protection of Mary,followed by Exposition,prayers and Benediction till 7am Holy Mass.Tea/coffee provided.Parking in Cathedral grounds.

Thursday January 1

BULLSBROOK SHRINE MIDNIGHT MASS

SACRI:Fervent Soldiers Of Christ The Immortal King warmly invite you to celebrate on New Year’s Eve,the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God at the Pilgrim Shrine,Virgin of the Revelation,36 Chittering Rd, Bullsbrook.A Candlelight Rosary procession commences at 11.30pm followed by Midnight Mass.All are invited to welcome in the New Year by Honouring Mary,the Mother of God.at her Shrine.Enquiries:Tel.

SACRI 9447 3292.

Saturday January 3

DAY WITH MARY

Blessed Mary MacKillop Church,16 Pelican Parade,Ballajura.9am -

a roundup of events in the archdiocese

5pm.A video on Fatima will be shown at 9am.A day of prayer and instruction based upon the messages of Fatima.Includes Sacrament of Penance,Holy Mass,Eucharistic Adoration,talks,rosaries,procession and Station of the Cross.Please BYO.Enq:Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate 9574 5204.

Sunday March 7

50th ANNIVERSARY

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary School - Hilton will celebrate its 50th Anniversary.All are invited to celebrate this historical occasion.Past families,students,staff and volunteers are welcome to send in their memorabilia,photographs or memories of events over the years.Please contact the school by phone 08 9337 7066,fax 08 9314 6005 or email admin@olmchilt.wa.edu.au

HOLY HOUR

Every Wednesday at St Mary’s Cathedral we have a holy hour from 11am to 12noon.For all sick people and especially for our young people including the drug addicted and street kids.Please come and join us in prayer.Those who wish may also bring along a list of names of all the sick people they would like to pray for.

ALL SAINTS CHAPEL

Centre of Spirituality and peace in the heart of Perth.77 Allendale Square,St Georges Tce,Perth.Fr Jim Shelton,Chaplain-93252009.

Morning Prayer 8am (Liturgical Hours).Confessions 10.30am11.45am.Masses 12.10pm and 1.10pm.The Holy Rosary daily 12.40pm.Divine Mercy Prayers and Benediction Mondays and Fridays 1.35pm.St Pio of Pietrelcina Novena to the Sacred Heart and Benediction Wednesdays 1.35pm.Chapel closed weekends.

SEPARATED,DIVORCED,WIDOWED

The Beginning Experience is running Coping programs designed to assist people in learning to close the door gently on a relationship that has ended in order to get on with living.The next courses will be held North and South of the river commencing January 19,2004.For further information and registration contact:Elva 9444 6579 or Lyn 9307 8640.

DIVINE MERCY

The Divine Mercy Apostolate invites you all to come and join us by rolling out the red carpet for Jesus in the following churches:St Mary’s Cathedral each first Sunday of the month 1.30–3.15pm,with a different priest each month.St Francis Xavier Church every Saturday, 2.30–3.30pm.All Saints Chapel,Allendale Square,Perth,Monday & Friday 1.35pm.Our Lady of Lourdes Church Rockingham,every second Sunday of the month,2.15-3.15pm.Sts John & Paul Church Willetton every Wednesday 11am-12noon.Our Lady of Mercy Church Girrawheen every Wednesday 2-3pm.St Francis of Assisi Parish Maida Vale every Monday 7.30-8.30pm.St Bernadette’s Church Glendalough every Sunday 3-4pm.St Joseph’s Church Bassendean every Thursday 3-4pm.Church Presbytery 39 Brearley Ave Bullsbrook,every Friday 3pm.All enquiries John 9457 7771.

ATTADALE PARISH GOLDEN JUBILEE 2004 St Joseph Pignatelli parish,Attadale,was created in 1954,the year that Joseph Pignatelli SJ was canonised.Jubilee celebrations are planned next year,and the parish council would like to hear from former parishioners and others who have been associated with the parish in the past.In particular stories,photos and memorabilia will be welcome.If you can assist,please contact Helen and Noel Golding (phone 9330 4128) or send an email to: attadale@perthcatholic.org.au

CROSS ROADS COMMUNITY

Healing Masses at E.Frem & Spearwood will resume May 2004 - Nov 2004.Term ends December 19 for:Family & Friends Support Groups on Wednesdays 7pm-9pm,Substance Abusers Support Groups on Tuesdays 5.30pm-7.30pm & Fridays 2pm-3.30pm & All day Group for Substance Abusers on Fridays 10.30am-3.30pm,Spirituality: Tuesdays 7pm-9pm & Healing Mass:Fridays 12noon.

The Nativity around the world

Creches

from around the world give various

By Gerard Perseghin

Christmas creches - some looking like lively theatrical tableaux, some baroque and mannerist, and some naive in style - are on display at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Centre in Washington through until January 25.

The creches in the exhibition, called "Joy to the orld: The Third Annual International Nativity Exhibit," all define the spirit of Christmas, the birth of Christ, through the eyes and experience of the cultures where they were made, whether it is Nigeria, Poland or Alaska.

The centre is showing 177 creches from 58 countries, said P enelope Fletcher, deputy director, as she walked through the exhibition located this year in a spacious, upper gallery of the centre.

The Nativity scenes were selected from the collections of Msgr. Adam McCloskey, ther James Profota, and James and the late Emilia

Govan. It is the third year that creches from the Govan collection are being shown.

The president and co-founder of the national Friends of the Creche Society, Govan now commissions artists around the world to create creches that reflect their local cultures. The Govans amassed a collection of more than 300 Nativity scenes from nearly 80 countries.

One of the most beautiful is a tall terra cotta sculpture tableau that reflects the influence of the mannerist period and the sophisticated techniques of Italian artists.

The creches collected by Msgr. McCloskey, pastor of All Saints Church in Houston, Texas, reflect the Southwest and Hispanic cultures. The one with which he began his collection in 1965 was a delicate wooden creche from Germany, and it is on display along with the Costa Rican "Nativity in a Walnut" with the Holy Family nestled in a hollowed-out walnut shell. Another is a minute one resting inside a small bird's eggshell.

Father Profota, pastor of St Basil Parish in Eastpointe, Michigan, has donated almost 300 creches to the John Paul II centre.

One from Alaska shows Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus in Inuit outfits in front of an igloo accompanied by a wolf and moose.

Other Nativity scenes on display include a Brazilian one

which features Joseph holding the infant Jesus in the air while Mary watches, a Botswanan creche showing a shepherd graciously bowing and offering a lamb to the Christ child, and an Asian creche in terra cotta with a pagoda-roofed shelter and the figures outfitted in elaborate headdresses.

One of the most inventive is a Peruvian scene with doors to the front which, when opened, reveal a boisterous scene with strong figures painted in reds and blues.

Another creche from Croatia reveals a psychedelic-coloured scene of sacred repose. The background is formed by multistorey buildings.

The tradition of displaying a creche scene at Christmas began with St. Francis of Assisi, the 13th-century saint who wanted to revive the excitement of Christmas. He wanted it to be a reverent expression though, so he sought and gained the permission of the pontiff. The tradition of displaying a creche has continued since.

The Vatican displays an

enormous, larger-than-life-size Nativity scene in the square in front of St Peter's Basilica until late January.

At the cultural centre, Fletcher said, "We're growing our own collection of creches now. People are beginning to give us creche collections."

The creches of Father Profota, including one of all Teddy bear figures, lead to the children's gallery at the end of the

Top: Figures of shepherds, kings, Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus in a wooden Nativity scene from Poland: Middle Left: An angel with Asian features is part of a larger creche made in Singapore: Middle right: One of the three Magi is shown in a Nativity scene created of painted metal from the Philippines. Bottom Left to right: Tiny figures of Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus rest inside a hollowed-out walnut shell, in a Nativity scene from Costa Rica; Part of a folkloric creche from Portugal features a slumbering infant Jesus; A choir of angels in a wooden Nativity scene from Poland.

Photos:CNS