The Record Newspaper 19 October 2011

Impropriety’s Business

A co-editor of a new book about the disturbing extent of pornography’s reach subjects its seedy producers and sellers to the scrutiny they don’t need - Pages 14-15

2010 figures: Propagation of the Faith: $795,347; Holy Childhood: $372,039; Peter’s Pence: $73,831

Our million-dollar mission

CATHOLICS in the Perth archdiocese have donated more than $7.5 million – an average of more than $1 million a year – to missionary work around the globe since the Australian bishops’ last ad limina visit to Rome six years ago.

The figures are contained in a report by Catholic Mission director Francis Leong on missionary cooperation in the archdiocese, which Archbishop Barry Hickey has taken to Rome as part of his ad limina report to the Holy Father.

The ad limina (“to the threshold”) visits are required about every five years for heads of dio-

ceses. They include personal meetings for each bishop with the Pope and meetings with various Vatican dicasteries and congregations.

Between 2004 and 2010 the amount of money donated in the Perth archdiocese to the Church’s global missionary effort rose steadily; the annual totals were made up of three appeals mounted by Catholic Mission annually.

The main appeal, for the propagation of the faith, raised the lion’s share: an average annual figure of $720,479 totalling $5,043,355.

A separate annual appeal for the Holy Childhood Association, the

Church’s main missionary effort to raise children’s awareness of the faith, totalled $1,830,577 over the seven years, rising from $174,456 in 2004 to $372,039 in 2010.

Of this figure, students in Perth Catholic schools donated an average figure of $28,204, peaking in 2006 at $40,008 but dropping steadily since then to $20,321 in 2010.

The annual “Peter’s Pence” appeal for the upkeep of the Holy See in Rome has more than doubled from $32,395 in 2004 to $73,831 in 2010; all up, Catholics donated $434,958 over the seven-year period.

Mr Leong said he was deeply

grateful for the “tremendous” generosity of the archdiocese in giving to Church missionary activities.

“As someone who has come back home to Perth from eight years of missionary service overseas I’m totally moved and touched by the generosity and commitment of ordinary parishioners in our archdiocese,” he said. He said it was “gobsmacking to see the amount raised through our parishes, the majority of which are not wealthy - but people just give. People know how important the missions are.

“It’s a sign of the strength of faith

that’s out there. I have no doubt it has the effect of helping to strengthen and sustain the faith in other countries, far away,” he said.

Since 2008 Catholic Mission has also raised money for disaster relief, giving a total of $271,886 over three years to foreign counterparts for distribution according to the pastoral needs of disaster-hit areas.

The report also reveals there has been a steady increase in overseas lay missionary work; in recent years about a dozen people have taken the decision to serve as lay missionaries abroad for extended periods.

Why Mission Sunday? - Page 11

Youth recapture the spirit of Madrid

PHOTO: MICHAEL CONNELLY

Plight of Egypt’s Copts inspires moment of unity

By Tim Wallace

WITH Egyptian human rights organisations estimating 93,000 Christians have fled Egypt since March, with 14,000 of them seeking sanctuary in Australia, there was a rare piece of bipartisanship in federal parliament last week as the House of Representatives took a break from bickering over refugees. The house voted unanimously on a private member’s motion to acknowledge the plight of Egypt’s Coptic Christians and called on both the United Nations and the

Egyptian government to protect their rights. The vote was timely, coming just days after several dozen people, mostly Christians, were reported killed and hundreds injured after Egyptian security forces forcibly dispersed a rally by Coptic Christians in Cairo protesting against recent attacks on churches by Muslim extremists.

Ironically, though, the timing had much to do with the federal government deciding to abort its ill-fated plan to put to the vote legislation sanctioning the diverting of asylum seekers to Malaysia.

The resumption of the debate on the plight of Egypt’s Coptic Christians, adjourned in September, was thus sandwiched between debate on a national standard for fertiliser products and discusssion of a rebate for export services fees charged by the Australian

Quarantine Inspection Service.

Craig Kelly, the Liberal member for the Sydney seat of Hughes who had introduced the motion, said the situation could not be more serious, both for Egypt and the world – “for as the Copts go, so may go the entire Middle East”.

“If a Christian minority cannot live in a country with a Muslim majority population without suffering persecution and institutionalised discrimination our future looks bleak,” he said. “There is a real danger of this Arab spring falling into dark Islamic winter.”

Egypt’s Coptic Christians are the largest non-Muslim minority in the Middle East, comprising about 10 per cent of Egypt’s population of 83 million. About 90 per cent belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria; about 200,000 belong to the Coptic Catholic Church.

A participant, left, meditates during a retreat reflecting on the World Youth Day experience at Eagle’s Nest in early October.

Seminary opens its doors for men considering a call

By RoBeRt Hiini

DON’T waste your life wondering – step forward in faith.

That was a key message from Monsignor Kevin Long, the rector of Perth’s St Charles’ Seminary in Guildford – the place Catholic men go to find out if they are being called by God to be diocesan priests.

In a day of elegant worship and frank conversation, nine young men attended the seminary annual Enquiry Day on Sunday 16, October.

If they are being called, it is also the place where they will spend the bulk of seven years in residence.

In addition to in-house spiritual and intellectual formation, they will commute to the University of Notre Dame in Fremantle for study.

Morning and night, they will congregate in the seminary’s humble chapel to pray for guidance, for their loved ones and for the world.

Third-year seminarian and student president Grant Gorddard said seven years might sound like a long time, but he was far too busy to take much notice.

“It seems a long time but it goes quite quickly. You learn a lot but I’m sure after seven years I’ll think I still don’t know enough,” he said.

“If God is calling you he has a particular mission for you and he just keeps on calling.

“It’s a discerning thing. Your emotions can completely reverse and be all over the shop but the vocation will persist.”

But what a lot of people really

want to know is how he felt about a life without intimate female companionship. Mr Gorddard said priests were called to form intimate, chaste, relationships with all people.

“You have to have a real, genuine loving relationship with God, basically,” he said. “We’re called to be in intimate loving relationships and as a priest you are in an intimate loving relationship with God.”

The day began with morning prayer, followed by talks from seminarians on their own experiences approaching priesthood.

Mgr Long addressed seminarians and enquirers alike during his homily at Mass before much informal conversation ensued between the two groups of men during lunch.

The rector told the enquirers it was highly unlikely God would tell them what to do directly.

“Don’t expect God necessarily to knock you off the horse on your way back to Damascus this afternoon with the certitude that you should be in the seminary,” the rector said. Waiting for a definitive bolt from heaven was tantamount to impressing your own will on Christ, he said – something Catholics were meant to avoid in favour of the divine will.

“Look at [84 year old first year formator] Fr John and look at myself ... we are older men,” he said.

“I think we could have wasted our lives if we had waited for a certainty which perhaps is not given to us this side of heaven.”

Several existing seminarians have walked away from lucrative careers. If you were in desperate need of

Editor

Peter Rosengren office@therecord.com.au

Associate Editor/Journalist

Tim Wallace twallace@therecord.com.au

Journalists

Mark Reidy mreidy@therecord.com.au

Rob Hiini rthiini@therecord.com.au

Sub Editor

Chris Jaques

Advertising/Production

Mat De Sousa production@therecord.com.au

Accounts

June Cowley accounts@therecord.com.au

Classifieds/Panoramas/Subscriptions

Catherine Gallo Martinez office@therecord.com.au

Record Bookshop

Bibiana Kwaramba bookshop@therecord.com.au

Proofreaders

Eugen Mattes

Contributors

Debbie Warrier John

major dental work, engineering or information on the chemical makeup of pharmaceuticals, St Charles would be a good place to be. St Charles has 12 seminarians in residence with three on pastoral placement; five more are studying at pontifical universities in Rome. Since reopening in 1994, the num-

ber of WA locals has been supplemented by seminarians from overseas but local numbers are on the rise. The youngest seminarian is in his late teens; the oldest is 62. If last Sunday’s enquirers join their ranks, the average age will fall further still with the nine men aged from their late teens to their late 20s.

Exit house for working girls launches appeal

LINDA’S House of Hope is appealing for funds to cover renovations and to assist women and girls seeking to exit the prostitution business.

Linda Watson, the ex-madam who founded the house with Archbishop Hickey, said the situation is urgent and donations are needed to keep the doors of the agency open. She estimates at least $35,000 is required. Further information from Ms Watson on (08) 9358 1719.

St Jude’s to honour saint of desperation

ST JUDE’S Parish in Lynwood will begin celebrations of its feast day with a triduum of Masses.

Novena prayers and Masses will be held at 9am on Tuesday, 25 October, Wednesday 26 October and Thursday, 27 October with children from St Jude’s Catholic Primary set to join parishioners for the third Mass on Thursday. On Friday, 28 October the parish will celebrate St Jude’s feast with two Masses, at 9am and 7pm.

St Jude was one of the original Apostles, and brother of St James. He is thought to have suffered martyrdom in Armenia. In prayer, he is invoked in desperate situations; a reflection of his epistle in which he implores Christians to persevere in harsh environments and difficult circumstances. The parish has called for donations of flowers for the occasion.

We regret the error

IN THE article ‘The faith grows at Beverley’ (5 October 2011) we reported that Sunday Mass in Beverley was celebrated fortnightly. This was incorrect. Mass in Beverley is celebrated every Sunday at 8am. The Record regrets the error.

The old and the young: St Charles Seminary formator for first year students, Fr John O’Reilly, relaxes during lunch at the enquiry day. Behind him is seminarian Brennan Sia, a pharmacist before entering St Charles. PHOTO: ROBERT HIINI

Bishop’s time in a boat inspires talk

By tim Wallace

WHILE Australia’s Catholic bishops have welcomed the federal government’s decision to process onshore the claims of asylum seekers arriving by boat, in much the same way as it treats those who arrive by plane, a deeply personal plea for a more compassionate approach to refugees has been made by Melbourne’s Bishop Vincent Long van Nguyen, who himself escaped from Vietnam by boat.

Delivering the 2011 Rerum Novarum Oration for the

Melbourne archdiocese’s Office of Justice and Peace, Bishop Long related that he was a second-generation refugee. His parents, as a young couple with a toddler – his eldest sister –had escaped from Hanoi to South Vietnam in 1954 on a small boat.

“It was by a twist of fate that I would later follow in their footsteps, only this time it was a further and riskier journey,” he said.

In 1980 he escaped from Vietnam, standing upright with 147 other people on an eight-metre boat for eight days. With him on

the voyage were his sister-in-law and her two young children, an 18-month-old boy and a baby girl, barely six months old.

“I held her for the most part of the journey. It was the most distressing experience I ever encountered, and I am not talking about the lack of food, water, and exposure to the elements. It’s watching a young child suffer and you are totally helpless to do anything about it. But my experience was mild in comparison with so many other boat people whose cry could have pierced the heavens.”

The stories of many seeking refuge in Australia today were similar to those of the Vietnamese refugees who escaped the yoke of communism during the 1970s and 1980s, Bishop Long said.

While acknowledging the complexity of the asylum-seeker issue, he appealed for a positive narrative and the abandonment of a narrow and negative mentality that demeaned all Australians.

“Regardless of where we stand on the issue, it demeans us when fellow human beings are projected as less than human and danger-

ous. Surely, people who risk their lives for nothing more than a better future for themselves and their children deserve better treatment. Surely, a civilised migrant nation such as ours can conduct itself better even in respect of a very complicated issue,” he said.

The director of the Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office, Fr Maurizio Pettena, said more boats might come as a result of the federal government’s decision to revert to onshore processing, but this was no reason for alarm or community anxiety.

By RoBeRt Hiini

HE MAY be the only Franciscan Capuchin in Western Australia but Fr Kenneth D’Souza OFM Cap says he doesn’t feel like an orphan.

Fr D’Souza arrived in Perth from India three and a half months ago and has already made contacts with other orders derived from St Francis of Assisi as well as lay members of the Secular Franciscan Order.

“I don’t feel orphaned. God, in his plans, is doing wonders,” he said.

Ordained in 1995, Fr D’Souza first felt called to live for God while he was in Year 6.

“I’m a Bombay boy. Bombay is a hub for all the evils. I was swimming in that when God touched me and gave me a new life,” he said.

Fr D’Souza’s mother passed away when he was eight and his father “worked day and night” during his childhood to support the family. He and his seven brothers were living “wayward” lives when he had a particularly powerful experience in Year 8 during the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

“I got a message. God called me to serve. I admitted my sins and experienced God’s forgiving love and new life started. Praise God,” Fr D’Souza said. He has

been lent to the archdiocese for a year after being invited to serve by Archbishop Barry Hickey. Whatever comes, he has vowed to accept the will of God. That may have been how he came to be here. When he was in Year 12, Fr

D’Souza, now 46, got to know married couple Michael and Patricia D’Souza (no relation), at a charismatic prayer meeting they attended.

At the time, Patricia told him she had a dream he would one day become a priest. Ten years ago

and living in Perth, Patricia and Michael wondered what had happened to him; they discovered he had already become a priest. He was administering the sacraments at remote parish missions in Maharashtra - India’s second most

popular state. “She told me ‘we need priests in Perth. Come and serve’.”

“My response was, ‘you keep praying and I’ll keep praying and then one day God might bring me’ ... And now it’s become a reality,” Fr D’Souza said.

Fr Kenneth D’Souza in St Anthony of Padua Parish, Wanneroo. A powerful experience of the Sacrament of Reconciliation helped lead to priesthood.

PHOTO: R HIINI

By Mark reidy

Help needed for fitness of the future Look to the positive, says JPII confrere

TWENTY years ago, political correctness resulted in a generic and deficient approach to physical fitness, according to University of Notre Dame Professor Beth Hands.

UNDA’s Institute of Health, Rehabilitation and Research (IHHR), which Professor Hands leads, aims to turn that around with a new study, but they need help to do it.

The IHHR is looking for 200 teenagers to participate in a research project seeking to enhance levels of physical fitness in young people as well as preventing adverse health outcomes in adulthood, such as heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.

The pilot study requires 20 male and 20 female participants in each year group from the ages of 15–19, to undertake a range of fitness tests.

In a recent interview, IHRR director Professor Hands told The Record that the proposed study would attempt to follow Canadian developments in the area of physical fitness research.

“Twenty years ago political correctness motivated a generic approach to physical fitness, and the more specialised programmes for youth faded away,” Professor Hands said, “which were replaced by a very generalised, ‘keep active’, approach that has failed to address specific areas of physical development.”

Close collaborations with colleagues in Canada had indicated the benefits of monitoring specific aspects of fitness such as cardiorespiratory endurance, muscle

strength, flexibility and body composition.

Mapping fitness levels in these areas is particularly important for those in the 15-19 age group, Professor Hands explained. Many young people, she said, have been

identified as high risk due to physically inactivity.

“In the late teenage years people tend to focus their time on areas outside of sports or other physical pursuits. That is why we are asking this age group to undertake a range

of fitness tests in a fun and motivating environment”. For more information or to participate in the study, please contact Professor Beth Hands: 9433 0206, Ben Piggott: 9443 0961 or Tanya Blee: 9433 0120.

By Mark reidy

A POLISH archbishop who regularly worked alongside Pope John Paul II for over 40 years made a brief stopover in Perth on his way to celebrate the 140th anniversary of the Polish community in Adelaide.

Taking time to speak to The Record during a tour of St Mary’s Cathedral, only days before his 85th birthday, Archbishop Szczepan Wesoly shared his views on a number of issues concerning the worldwide Church.

He agreed there were challenges facing Catholics today, such as abortion and vocations, but was adamant the Church needed to focus on positive aspects such as the recent World Youth Day in Madrid.

“This is a sign of new hope,” the archbishop said enthusiastically, “but too often we focus on the darnel and do not see the wheat.”

Archbishop Wesoly, who has been a priest for 55 years and a bishop for 43, was appointed by Pope John Paul II to be the archbishop for all Polish communities outside Poland. Although he has now retired from this role, he continues to support these communities, as indicated by his visit to Adelaide. He also spent his several days in Perth with members of the Polish Franciscan community in Maylands.

Priest apologises for his abhorrent behaviour

By TiM Wallace

PRIEST

A

from the Sydney archdiocese jailed last year for using the internet to groom a 13 year old for sexual purposes has apologised to his fellow priests for having besmirched the image of the Catholic priesthood for the “many good faithful clergy”.

In a letter published in the latest issue of the The Swag, the quarterly journal of the National Council of Priests, Fr Robert Fuller writes that his offence “confirmed in the minds of many people images of clergy that they long held and which the many good faithful clergy continue to suffer for the actions of the few.”

“My actions added to their burden and increased their suffering as well as dismissed the efficiency of their good works and words,” the letter says.

Apologising for the pain caused by his actions and expressing his regret, though, was the secondary purpose of his letter; the primary purpose was to thank those who, in the spirit of the story in the Gospel of St John about the adulterous woman brought before Jesus by Pharisees, “did not cast the first stone.”

“This non-action, as I said about the actions of Jesus, does not mean support for my actions. They have all expressed their abhorrence and

their total disagreement, as well as confoundedness as to why I behaved in such an inappropriate manner,” Fr Fuller writes.

“In one of his novels, GK Chesterton, through the character of Fr Brown, tells us: ‘It is easy to forgive those whose sins we think we might commit – it is much harder to forgive those sins we think we will never or could never commit. This is the sign of the true Christian.’

“For this, I thank the support of the priests who, while suffering, because of my actions, never abandoned me or cast stones. I want to repeat this is not agreeing with or accepting my action was permissi-

SCHOLARSHIPS TO THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME AUSTRALIA

The Trustee of the KSC Education Foundation Inc (a project of the Knights of the Southern Cross) takes pleasure in again inviting applications from teachers of Religious Education in Catholic Schools in Western Australia to undertake further study for units in religious education and theology at the University of Notre Dame Australia in 2012.

Application forms and further information are available from:

The Trustee

KSC Education Foundation Inc. PO Box 136 BURSWOOD WA 6100 Telephone (08) 9470 4922

Applications close on 4th November 2011

ble – it was and can never be seen in any other light than a criminal action and morally wrong.”

The letter also expresses gratitude to “the many people, former parishioners and a good number of non-Catholics who have also never cast any stones. They too suffered the pains of disillusionment, anger, frustration and barbs from enemies of the Church. And for their actions which allowed God’s love to shine on me I will always be indebted.”

Fr Fuller was arrested in August 2009 in a Parramatta carpark where he had arranged to meet a 13 year old girl, who was in fact an undercover police officer with the Child Exploitation Internet Unit.

The police tendered evidence that in the preceding two months he had had 25 internet chats with the “girl”, which were sexually explicit and included him masturbating in front of a webcam.

“Adults might not like us to meet because I’m too old for you,” the 54 year old wrote in one message. “I have not dated someone so young.” He told the court the conversations were part of a fantasy and he did not really believe the girl was 13.

He was sentenced in February 2010 to 18 months in jail for grooming and procuring a child under the age of 16, but given a six month parole period and six months off his sentence for his early guilty plea.

Blessings for brother dog and sister cat

MAIDA VALE Parish celebrated the Feast of St Francis of Assisi on Tuesday, 4 October.

It marked the 55th Anniversary of the parish in the celebration of their patron saint.

The Feast of St Francis began with the Blessing of Pets at 4pm. Parish Priest Fr Elver Delicano conducted the ceremony with assistance from Fr Ranier Fernandez and Deacon Trevor Lyra.

There was a large turnout of owners and their pets, mainly dogs, rabbits and cats. It was a lovely occasion to see and realise how wonderful families and individuals build a strong relationship with their pets in a way that they become real friends and true companions.

At 7pm there was the celebration of the holy Eucharist. And after Mass an International Food Fair and fundraiser organised by the various committees of the Parish Council.

Indeed, a night of fun and enjoyment among fellow parishioners at St Francis of Assisi Church, Maida Vale.

Maida Vale Catholics celebrated a feast for humans and animals

The team at UNDA’s Institute of Health look to boost physical fitness in young people through a new study. PHOTO: UNDA

Bishops to Pope: receive Perth’s loyalty

By ArchBishop BArry hickey And Bishop donAld sproxton

AT THIS mid-way point in the ad limina visit of the Australian Bishops to Rome, we are happy to say the visit is going very well.

The “Indian Summer” Europe has been experiencing continues in Rome. Each day is clear and full of warm sunshine and the nights are cool. Autumn is slow in coming.

So far we have fulfilled the main purpose of the ad limina visit, which is to affirm our unity as a College of Bishops with the Bishop of Rome, Pope Benedict XVI. Some bishops have met him personally. The WA bishops are to see him later this week.

Meanwhile we continue to visit the various offices of the Vatican called “Dicasteries”. These include the Congregations for the Clergy; Divine Worship; Education and Bishops, the Councils of Social Communication; Laity and Family. There are more to come.

At these meetings we discuss matters to do with the Australian Church, and seek assistance or clarification on some issues. As expected there have been intense discussions about the departure of the former Bishop of Toowoomba from his diocese. This matter had already received some publicity in the Australian media.

We were honoured by a reception from the Australian Ambassador to the Holy See, Tim Fischer, who welcomed us at an impressive ceremony in the rooms of the Vatican Museum. It was interesting to see the collection of Aboriginal artefacts, mainly from the Kimberleys and Tiwi and Bathurst Islands, that have been at the museum since about 1926.

On Sunday, 16 October the bishops celebrated Mass at the altar of the recently opened Domus Australia, or Australia House, officially blessed and opened by Pope Benedict three days later. Australia House is already in use by pilgrims and others who wish to stay there. I

am sure it will be a most popular meeting place for Aussies for years to come. We have a number of seminarians and priests from Perth studying in Rome at the present time. We have already met most of them. The seminarians are Mark Baumgarten, Michael Cornell, Christian Irdi, Connor Steadman, Luke Makaritis and Patrick Toohey. The priests are Fr Manoel Lopes Borges, studying Canon Law and Fr John Piumatti, studying Spirituality.

Rome is a bustling place, religious and secular. It offers a living experience of many centuries of civilisation and is a good teacher of history.

Christian Rome was founded on the blood of the early martyrs, including St Peter and St Paul.

These sacred traditions will be remembered when we meet the successor of St Peter, Pope Benedict XVI next week. We will affirm our personal loyalty to him and the loyalty and love of the people of the Perth archdiocese and assure him of our prayers.

Servites serve up education nous

By MArk reidy

WHEN the Fifth International Conference of Servite Schools concluded in Italy in September, WA Principal Philip Cox was convinced his college in Tuart Hill was one of the world leaders in integrating the Servite charisms and values into college life.

Mr Cox was one of four staff members from Servite College to attend the conference in the town of Masano, which drew together 52 representatives from 11 countries, to discuss, exchange and share various aspects of the Servite tradition.

The 2011 Conference focused on three of the eight Servite values –

Compassion for the Poor, Service and Marian Identity, with all Perth representatives delivering presentations to the larger group.

The five other values: Evangelisation, Universality, Holistic Education, Community and Openness and Respect, will be the focus of the next Conference in Omaha, Nebraska in 2014.

Mr Cox, along with Mr Ryan Wiles, Head of Religious Education and Fra Gilbert, College Chaplain, explained to participants how the Australian Servite college had developed their Service Learning Programme.

Their presentation included DVD recordings of Year 12 stu-

dents who provided their views on the current curriculum.

The other member of the Perth quartet, College President Fra Ross, delivered one of the main talks at the Conference on Marian Identity.

During the conference, representatives from the Servite schools also met to discuss and organise exchange programmes involving staff, students and ideas.

The Servite Order began in 1233 in Florence and friars and sisters are now present in every continent, working in schools, hospitals and a range of mission activities. Servite friars arrived in Australia in the mid-50s in response to a call from the Bishop of Perth.

love

Brothers-in-holy-arms: Archbishop Barry Hickey, second from left, with Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart, Sydney Cardinal George Pell and Lismore Bishop Geoffrey Jarrett for the ad limina visit.

PHOTO: ACBC

Delegates were the very picture of diversity at the Fifth International Conference of Servite Schools. PHOTO: SUPPLIED

Young faith gets to firming

AROUND 25 World Youth Day pilgrims and young adults gathered at Eagle’s Nest retreat centre at Gidgegannup for a weekend away to build on the theme of World Youth Day in Spain, the exhortation to be ‘Firm in the Faith’.

The event was one of several organised by Perth’s Catholic Youth Ministry in the months since WYD concluded.

From 30 September to 2 October the group was challenged to think about Pope Benedict’s call to young people delivered at Cuatros Vientes airfield on the outskirts of Madrid: “Dear young people, today Christ is asking you the same question which he asked the Apostles: “Who do you say that I am?”

Drawing on their experience of being with an estimated 1.5 million other young pilgrims in August, the question for the retreat was how participants could deepen their personal relationship with Jesus.

One message of the retreat for participants was that regardless of their occupation, as young adults they are participants on a spiritual battlefield which will constantly distract them from faith; all Christians need to make their spiritual foundations firm and be ready for the spiritual ‘battle’.

Michael Connelly, a CYM staffer, used the image from the sixth chapter of St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians where Christians are urged to put on the ‘armour of God’ to demonstrate the spiritual and practical

ways retreatants could strengthen and support their faith life.

The weekend included a night around the campfire, personal prayer time and several hours for a silent retreat so that participants could rekindle and renew their relationship with Jesus by cutting out the noise and distractions of daily

Vietnam sojourn paved the way to Madrid

My World Youth Day 2011 Experience!

Emma Passmore, Greenwood Parish

FINALLY, after more than 100 meetings preparing for our trip, a group of 18 young adults from All Saints Parish, Greenwood and the Disciples of Jesus Covenant Community headed overseas for our 10 day mission to Vietnam and WYD pilgrimage. Our journey began in Vietnam, under the guidance of Fr Vinh Dong. We fundraised over $20,000, of which $8000 was set aside and we managed to also collect 10

huge bags of clothes and toys to give away. We stayed with the Dominican sisters in Saigon and ministered to children in orphanages, street kids, young Vietnamese workers, AIDS patients, children at boarding schools and the elderly.

One of the most profound moments came when one elderly lady asked through tears of joy, “How come you from the first world would come and visit me in my house?”

We would love to have done so much more but through sharing Christ’s light and joy so many seemed deeply affected by our visit,

life. Narrogin parishioner Brendan O’Reilly brought his parish’s own WYD cross which had been signed by parishioners and pilgrims throughout the WYD journey.

The cross eventually travelled throughout Madrid and, on the retreat, was signed by Perth Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton,

who had travelled to Gidgegannup to speak on the weekend; the cross was also signed by participants. CYM director Anita Parker said that following on from WYD Madrid the retreat participants are called not only to continue to strengthen their faith but to share it with those around them.

including ourselves. Next came Madrid, a chaotic change from the peace of Vietnam. Fortunately our lodging was very close to most of the action. Hearing from different bishops, we were

Soaked, shivering, praying the rosary... I grinned

Marcus

THE Websters Dictionary defines ‘fellowship’ as “a community of interest, activity, feeling, or experience.” And in August of 2011 I was part of one of the largest and most amazing fellowships I had ever witnessed - the Catholic Youth of the World.

To me, that’s what resonated the most - the fact while only a small part of a two million strong pilgrimage, like everyone else I brought my own history, prayers

and intentions to this multicultural sea of faith and hope.

I experienced love like I had never known, not the fickle bubblegum dime a dozen love that Hollywood portrays but real unconditional love. Love from people I had travelled with, just met, or just passed in the street.

Because despite where on Earth we called home we were all in this together.

This was most evident in the night of the vigil when, lashed by wind and rain, a group of pilgrims and I stood defiant and in prayer. There was no way we were going

to give in to the elements. We had already travelled such a great distance and, soaked and shivering as I was with head bowed praying the rosary, nothing could stop the huge grin on my face.

My joy at the vigil, and from World Youth Day itself came born out of overcoming hardships, only to find great peace and happiness at the end.

As St Padre Pio said: “The longer the trial to which God subjects you, the greater the goodness in comforting you during the time of the trial and in the exaltation after the combat.”

God’s grid powered up with witness of youth

My World Youth Day 2011 Experience!

Bede Gilbert, Whitford Parish

MY HUMBLE Acer laptop has a similar message to the way I see World Youth Day. The laptop flashes a message “Empowering people”.

From my home parish of Whitford to Madrid, Spain, one thing unites the young people, the Catholic Faith - our belief in Jesus Christ.

Asd a result of WYD I have been reconnected with the Church and started to understand the power of prayer.

The first experience that struck me while at World Youth Day was, no matter where you were from, no matter what language you spoke, whenever you were squashed next to someone on the train, or dancing and singing up a storm, every time you smiled or looked at someone, you knew that you were connected to this person through Catholic faith.

On our pilgrimage we had some amazing young people under the age of 18; it was inspiring to see how strong and proud they were to be Catholic.

The next experience was seeing the reverence shown by pilgrims every time we entered a cathedral.

It was so amazing to see youth individually choosing to build a relationship with God. Seeing two million people at the sleepout and how they reacted to the turbulent weather was proof that there is a belief that whatever happens happens for a reason, based the faith that God will be there.

So... be planted and built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith.

GOT A WYD STORY?

challenged to open our hearts to the Church on all sorts of issues facing the world today. These mornings filled us with hope and courage to stand firm in faith in an everchanging world.

How did it change you?

What did WYD2011 mean to you?

Send us YOUR WYD experience in 250 words and your best (hi res 300dpi) pic.

All for one: Retreatants embrace the cross a Narrogin parishioner took to WYD Madrid. PHOTO: MICHAEL CONNELLY

My World Youth Day 2011 Experience!

Beard, Whitford’s Parish

Emma Passmore, from Greenwood Parish, with two of the Vietnamese children the group met whilst on their 10 day mission.

PHOTO: COURTESY CYM

Some of the Perth group who attended the World Youth Day vigil and sleepout at Cuatro Vientros. PHOTO: COURTESY CYM

World

Fear of religious war in Syria

By Doreen ABi rAAD

BEIRUT – Pressure being put on the Syrian government could have very bad consequences, especially for Christians, warned the patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church.

Attempts to collapse the government “will very probably lead to chaos,” Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan told Catholic News Service.

“This chaos, surely – with no means to implement security – will lead to civil war,” said the patriarch, who stressed that a civil war in Syria would not merely be a struggle among political parties to control the power. “It will be confessional

Egyptians beset by government and troops

VATICAN CITY – Condemning an attack on unarmed Christians in Egypt, Pope Benedict XVI said that during the country’s transition to democracy, all its citizens and institutions must work to guarantee the rights of minorities.

At the end of his weekly general audience on 12 October, Pope Benedict said he was “profoundly saddened” by the deaths of at least 26 people, mostly Christians, after peaceful protesters were attacked by gangs, and then a speeding military vehicle ran into them and officers fired on the crowd.

The Pope said Egypt, which has been transitioning to democracy since the February ousting of President Hosni Mubarak, has been “lacerated by attempts to undermine peaceful coexistence among its communities.”

Comboni Father Luciano Verdoscia, a missionary in Egypt, said over the past 40 years successive governments had exploited differences between Christians and Muslims. Tensions were increased by foreign Islamic groups.

Fr Verdoscia said Western countries also shared some of the blame. “I fear that Western governments are interested in preserving their economic interests at the expense of individual rights. They do not have the ethical strength to denounce discrimination against minorities in Middle Eastern countries,” he told the Fides agency.

Fr Rafic Greiche, a spokesman for the Catholic Church in Egypt, told Vatican Radio: “At the time of the old regime of Mubarak, there were also churches being burned and it was the security forces that always used to take care of us. Now even the government does not give a damn about what is happening.” CNS

(religious), and war in the name of God is far worse than a political struggle. And this is what we fear.”

Patriarch Younan was one of several Christian leaders who spoke with Catholic News Service about the situation facing Syrian Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the nation’s population.

He told CNS that Syria needs a lot of reforms, a multiparty system of government and freedom of speech. He said the church “is all for reforms” and does not support a particular regime. “But those reforms have to be executed or accomplished through dialogue,” he said, expressing a need for a neutral

third party “that could unite those who are in conflict,” the government and the opposition.

The patriarch said the West should push for true democratic reforms rather than just trying to change political systems, which they believe are dictatorial, “into an unknown system where the very, very respect of civil rights is absent.”

“By civil rights, we mean not only the freedom of speech ... but civil rights to implement the religious freedom for all,” Patriarch Younan said. “That means to implement a civil society that respects the charter of human rights as already

stipulated by the UN in 1948,” he added.

The patriarch said a society that respects all is “absolutely vital,” and the civilised world should uphold this, not just take the position that the majority should rule the country. This is especially the case if the majority is of the conviction that there is no separation between religion and state, he added.

“This would surely result in discrimination against those who do not share their religion. The church has always defended, and it stands for, the civil rights of all human beings,” Patriarch Younan said. While it would take time to make

the needed reforms in the case of Syria, those seeking change for the good of their country “have to be kind of patient and find a way to make those needed reforms.

“However, it doesn’t look feasible that these reforms will come out of violence,” he said. Maronite Catholic leaders have also called for dialogue on the situation in Syria. “We’re neither for nor against a regime,” said Archbishop Paul Sayah, vicar general of the Maronite Patriarchate in Beirut and former archbishop of Haifa. “We judge a regime on its merits and how it deals with the values of freedom, democracy and rights.” CNS

Thai floods worst in decades: 250 dead

BANGKOK – The Catholic Church has mobilised all available resources to help people badly affected by what has been described as Thailand’s “worst flooding in decades.”

“Caritas has been responding by collaborating with various religious congregations as well as Diocesan Social Action Centres [DISACs] in affected areas,” said Father Pairat Sriprasert, the general secretary of Caritas Thailand.

Many parts of Thailand are prone to flooding every year

during the rainy season, but this year’s floods have been described as the worst in half a century, with flood water several metres deep in some areas.

Thirty of the country’s 77 provinces have been badly hit and more than 250 people have died, local media has reported.

“DISAC people are the first contact points with the communities. They forward information to us and we send relief materials such as drinking water, sandbags, medicine and money,” Fr Pairat said.

In the worst-hit province, Ayutthaya in the flat river plain of the Chao Phraya river valley, almost every church and Churchrun school had been affected.

“We are using the second floor of our schools for Sunday Mass. The schools also serve as relief centres and shelters for villagers whose homes are inundated,” said the Bangkok archdiocese’s DISAC director, Fr Thanu Jedsadaphongpakdee. “We may have to postpone the start of the new school term.”

Bishop Phibul Visitnonthachai of Nakhon Sawan (“Heavenly City”) said his cathedral and a Carmelite convent had been flooded. La Salle school and St Joseph Convent escaped serious flooding and have served as relief centres as shelter for 100 villagers.

“We have launched an appeal for donations to help affected people and publicised it through Udomsarn [the Thai Church’s weekly newspaper]. Presently we have enough resources to help people for one month,” he said. UCAN

Italian survivor of clerical sexual abuse calls on Pope to meet the victims

By CinDy WooDen

VATICAN CITY – Francesco

Zanardi walked almost 560km to deliver a letter asking Pope Benedict XVI to meet Italian victims of clerical abuse and to work harder to ensure bishops around the world follow Vatican norms for dealing with accusations of abuse. Mr Zanardi, 41, set off from the city of Savona on 22 September and

walked almost all the way to Rome. He said he was abused by a priest when he was about 10 years old, but by the time he reported it to police in 2007 the statue of limitations had expired.

Although more victims of the same priest came forward in 2010 and police are now investigating, Mr Zanardi said, “this priest is still free. He lives in an apartment owned by the Church.”

The Italian police who patrol St Peter’s Square stopped Mr Zanardi and Alberto Sala, the president of an Italian organisation that cares for abused children, on 11 October at a checkpoint. The men were unable to deliver Mr Zanardi’s letter to the Bronze Doors of the Apostolic Palace, but a Vatican employee accepted the letter.

“All accusations should be investigated and accused priests should

be isolated from children during the investigation,” Mr Zanardi said.

In addition, he said, “it’s important to respond to the victims - they need an incredible amount of help. It’s taken me 20 years to overcome the trauma and that’s fast.

“I wanted to die. Victims feel they are at fault, that they are dirty. They need help.”

Mr Zanardi said it wasn’t right that Pope Benedict had met with

victims from the United States, Australia, England and Germany, but not victims from Italy. In fact, he said, while his registered letters had reached the Vatican, he had never had a response.

He said in his experience, guidelines issued by the Vatican over the past 10 years to improve child protection and deal with accusations of abuse “are not being applied. They exist only on paper.” CNS

The worst floods in the past 50 years have affected 8.2 million people in 61 of Thailand’s 77 provinces.

PHOTO: CNS/DAMIR SAGOLI

Trafficking aid hits full stop

By Carol Zimmermann

WASHINGTON – Since 2006, the US Catholic bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services (MRS) has helped more than 2,700 victims of human trafficking obtain food, clothing and access to medical care.

That service has come to a halt because the agency recently learned it did not receive a new grant from the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement. MRS’ prior contract for the trafficking programme ended on 10 October.

Mercy Sister Mary Ann Walsh, director of media relations for the

US Conference of Catholic Bishops, said she hoped the Catholic Church’s “position against abortion, sterilisation and artificial contraception had not entered into this decision” by the HHS refugee office to reject MRS’ application for a new grant, “especially since this administration has said it stands fully behind freedom of conscience.” She noted the MRS’ antitrafficking programme “ran quite well without these services” and it would be “tragic if abortion politics harmed the men, women and children already at risk because of the crime and scandal of human trafficking.”

MRS officials had no immediate comment. A spokesman for HHS simply told CNS in an email that the “grantees were awarded funding through a competitive grant process to provide comprehensive case management services for human trafficking victims through the National Human Trafficking Victim Assistance Programme.” He added that the “competitive grant process is used across the government and allows federal agencies to consider a broad range of potential applicants and select those that can deliver services most effectively and efficiently.”

In 2009, the American Civil

Liberties Union of Massachusetts filed a lawsuit against HHS for not making the Catholic bishops’ agency include referrals for abortion, sterilisation and artificial contraception in its anti-trafficking programme. That case is still pending.

The Church’s role in ending human trafficking could not be overlooked, the US ambassador to the Vatican, Miguel H Diaz, said at a conference in May.

The only way to end this global human rights violation was for governments to enlist the help of religious leaders, businesses, consumers and other private entities. CNS

Holy catch begets centuries of celebration

Javanese churches celebrate

SURABAYA – Catholic and Protestant Indonesians are squaring off in a battle aimed at preserving Javanese traditional culture.

Groups representing 22 Catholic and Protestant churches in East Java province are taking part in a macapat (Javanese poetry) and gendhing (a form of Javanese traditional music) festival in the Redemptor Mundi Parish hall in the town.

“This is proof that we Christians are willing to preserve noble Javanese arts,” said Dominican Fr Adrian Adirejo in opening the event.

The values of the Gospel, he said, could be presented through macapat and gendhing performances.

Fr Yosef Eko Budi Susilo, one of the organisers, said the churches were staging the event because “we are concerned that traditional culture and arts may disappear as a result of modern-day distractions.”

The festival, with the theme Katresnan Tanpa Wates (endless love), ends on 30 October with performances by the finalists. UCAN

Episcopal parish formally received into Catholic Church

By mark Zimmermann

WASHINGTON- During a Mass marked by a joyful homecoming of faith, Cardinal Donald W Wuerl welcomed 71 members of a former Episcopal parish into full communion in the Catholic Church with the rite of reception at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.

“Today is a day of rejoicing for all of us,” Cardinal Wuerl said in welcoming the St Luke community. He noted that during that Mass, new Catholics from St Luke, and other Catholics in attendance, could come together “to the altar of the Lord, filled with joy and gratitude.”

“The Church is the body of Christ, the beginning of the kingdom, the family of God, and the way to salvation,” the Cardinal said in his homily.

“Today, as part of your faith journey, you come to the church to complete your initiation into the body of Christ.”

“The heart of our communion, our bonding, our spiritual life, is this altar,” Cardinal Wuerl said, adding, “today, we will invite everyone to that table of the Lord, to receive that Communion that bonds us with Christ and one another.”

Mark Lewis, former rector of the St Luke community, who as an Episcopal priest shepherded his parishioners through the process of joining the Catholic Church, said after the Mass, “I’m so glad to be home.”

Row by row, members of the community filed up to be confirmed as new Catholics by Cardinal Wuerl, who made the sign of the cross with sacred chrism on each person’s forehead, saying his or her name and the words “be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

After his former parishioners had received the sacraments of initiation, Lewis - who hopes to begin studying for the Catholic priesthood next year - walked up to be confirmed and later to

TROUBLE IN KANSAS Bishop denies wrongdoing

Bishop Robert W Finn and the Diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph have been charged with failing to report child abuse in relation to the diocese’s handling of the case of Father Shawn Ratigan who was arrested in May on charges of possessing child pornography. “Bishop Finn denies any criminal wrongdoing and has cooperated at all stages with law enforcement, the grand jury, the prosecutor’s office” and the independent commission appointed by the diocese to study the matter, said the Bishop’s attorney. “We will continue our efforts to resolve this matter.” In early September, an independent report commissioned by the diocese said “diocesan leaders failed to follow their own policies and procedures for responding to reports” relating to abuse claims.

ARCHBISHOP’S GAMBIT Society determined to maintain tradition

ROME - Leaders of the traditionalist Society of St Pius X, after meeting to review the Vatican’s conditions for full reintegration into the Catholic Church, said a response would be given after further study. A brief statement from the society said participants “manifested a profound unity in their will to maintain the faith in its integrity and its fullness, faithful to the lesson which Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre left them. In an interview published on the society’s website, Fr Niklaus Pfluger said “corrections” to the doctrinal preamble might be necessary. “It is our duty to send Rome an answer that reflects our position and unambiguously represents the concerns of tradition. We owe it to our mission of fidelity to Catholic tradition not to make any compromises,” he said.

MONASTIC REFLECTION

Silence and solitude essential to find God

receive his first Communion as a new Catholic, following his parents, wife, their daughter and grandson.

“I was brought to tears several times,” Lewis said. “As I watched my people come forward for their first Communion, I was praying and thanking God. They’re so open to what God is doing in their lives. I’ve been honoured to be their pastor.”

Under Anglicanorum coetibus, an apostolic constitution issued by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009, the Church has provided a way for entire Anglican parishes or groups to become Catholic while retaining some of their Anglican heritage and liturgy.

“This is the first former Episcopal parish (in the United States) to be formally received into the Catholic Church since the announcement of Anglicanorum coetibus,” said Fr Scott Hurd, a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington and former Episcopal priest now serving as chaplain of the St Luke community. CNS

Endless news, noise and crowds have made people afraid of the silence and solitude essential for finding God’s love and love for others, Pope Benedict XVI has said. Progress in communications and transportation had made life more comfortable, but also more “agitated, sometimes frantic”. There was a growing risk that people were more immersed in a virtual world rather than in reality because of the constant stream of “audiovisual messages that accompany their lives from morning to night,” he said during a visit to an Italian monastery on 9 October. Monasteries reminded people of the need for silent reflection, which let people delve into the apparent emptiness of solitude and experience real fullness, that is, God’s presence and true reality, he said.

POLITICAL ADVICE

Pope calls for protection of weakest

Pope Benedict XVI called on Italian public officials to exercise their offices with dignity and responsibility. The Pope met on 14 October with Roberto Maroni, Italy’s interior minister, and about 200 prefects, who represent the interior ministry in Italy’s provinces and have special competence in matters dealing with public order. Pope Benedict told the prefects that their role is to protect the weakest members of Italian society, which is a task that is more important and more difficult in “the present circumstances of social and economic uncertainty.”

Confetti is thrown as a priest holds an image of Our Lady of Aparecida during a Mass in Brazil’s Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida. Since 1717, when three local men fished an image of Mary from the Paraiba River, Aparecida has been a pilgrimage destination. More than seven million people now visit the basilica every year. PHOTO: CNS/NACHO DOCE

Editors depart over Legionaries of Christ link

By John thavis

ROME – The six editors of Catholic news agency Zenit have resigned, saying the agency has become too closely identified with the Legionaries of Christ.

“The initial vision of Zenit was never to make it a service of a particular congregation, but rather of the universal Church. This has been the spirit with which we have worked throughout the years, and the spirit we could not betray,” said a statement issued by the editors of Zenit’s French, Italian, Spanish,

English, Portuguese and Arabic services.

Their departure follows the resignation in late September of Zenit’s director, Jesus Colina. Colina, who founded Zenit in 1997 and helped build it into an agency with about 450,000 email subscribers, said he was forced out because he resisted pressures to identify the agency and its work more closely with the Legionaries order.

At that time, Colina said there had been a loss of mutual trust and transparency in the agency’s relationship with the Legionaries.

In their statement, the six editors cited “years of fruitful collaboration” between Zenit and the Legionaries of Christ, but said they disagreed with the order’s decision to “underline the institutional dependence of the agency on the Legion.”

The statement said that, from Zenit’s inception, the Legionaries of Christ had acted as “spiritual advisers” to the agency “to ensure fidelity to the magisterium.” For the past 14 years, it said, the agency has worked independently of the religious order.

Colina told CNS that the Legionaries had not financed Zenit during that period, but did control the board that oversees the agency.

A spokesman for the Legionaries, Father Andreas Schoggl, said the order had “always been involved with Zenit” in strategic decisions. At the same time, he said, Zenit’s journalists operated with “editorial independence.”

Fr Schoggl said the decision to ask for Colina’s resignation was not part of a policy change or a change in Zenit’s editorial line. But he said it provided an opportunity to

The past looms for Honduras

By Paul Jeffrey

SANTA ROSA DE COPAN

– Father Fausto Milla, 83, has returned from exile to help the Central American nation face its past.

A member of an alternative truth commission established by human rights groups, Fr Milla fled Honduras in July after a series of threats and other acts of intimidation against him and his assistant. He wanted to keep his return quiet, hoping to continue work without attracting attention, but it’s hard to keep his presence a secret. He helps celebrate Mass at a local parish and runs a store selling herbs for healing.

Fr Milla is no stranger to controversy. In 1980, scores of Salvadoran refugees were massacred along the SalvadoranHonduran border in a combined operation of the two countries’ militaries. Fr Milla’s parish was nearby and he widely condemned the massacre and participated in an international tribunal to investigate the crime.

In response, he was threatened repeatedly and finally kidnapped in 1981. Following international outcry, he was released after five days. Later that year, he was forced into exile for four years, allowed to return to his parish only after lengthy negotiations between the Honduran military and his bishop.

Now, Fr Milla wants to know the truth about what happened before and after the 2009 military coup that overthrew Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.

In May 2010, international pressure led the Honduran government to create a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that includes Honduran and foreign members. Yet many Hondurans doubted that such an official commission would produce anything critical of the coup plotters and, with violence increasing across the country, human rights groups created an alternative commission that June. They called it the “True Commission.”

Fr Milla is one of two Hondurans on the alternative commission. “The official commission was created by the delinquents who carried out the coup. If I kill you but also function as judge in my trial, my verdict isn’t going to be legitimate,” Father Milla told CNS.

The alternative commission’s creation put pressure on the official commission to produce a more balanced report, Fr Milla said, admitting he was pleasantly surprised at the Truth Commission’s final report.

“We were surprised because they recognised what happened was a coup d’etat. The coup plotters had worked hard to convince the world it was a legitimate change of presidents. And now even (current Honduran President Porfirio) Lobo has recognised it

was a coup,” Fr Milla said.

“They pointed out the (postcoup) government of Roberto Micheletti was illegal, a serious charge, and a variety of crimes

“A variety of crimes need to be processed, but that won’t happen because there’s complete impunity here.”

need to be processed, but that won’t happen because there’s complete impunity here,” he said.

Since the 2009 coup, the security situation in Honduras has deteriorated dramatically.

Demonstrators protesting what they consider to be an illegitimate

government have been beaten and killed. Journalists asking hard questions have been frequently threatened and landless peasants seeking rich farmland they claim is rightfully theirs under agrarian reform laws have been assassinated and had several of their settlements burned.

Thelma Mejia, independent journalist and political analyst, said the official commission’s report is a good contribution to resolving the country’s many problems, if anyone would pay attention. “The report is wellwritten and very professional. It says a lot about where the country should be headed. But there was no reaction to it.

“Its recommendations, such as the creation of a constitutional court, are being ignored,” Mejia said. CNS

offer a more transparent explanation about the involvement of the Legionaries of Christ with Zenit.

“We see a need to do so, because the stress on journalistic independence (which is still the case) might have induced people to think that Zenit was just a private initiative of Catholic journalists,” Fr Schoggl said.

As for the departing editors, Father Schoggl said the Legionaries were grateful for their collaboration with Zenit in the past and wished them the best in their future endeavours. CNS

Benedict XVI applauds stability in Honduras

By Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY - In a meeting with Honduras’ first president elected after a 2009 military coup, Pope Benedict XVI said he was pleased the Central American nation had found stability.

Porfirio Lobo Sosa, 63, a member of the conservative National Party, had a 23-minute closed door meeting with the Pope.

Presisdent Lobo won a November 2009 election five months after the Honduran military overthrew and forced into exile democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya.

Before President Lobo and the Pope began their private talks, the Pope told the president, “I am happy that after the problems of the past two years, you have found stability” in Honduras.

The divorced president gave the Pope a silver bas relief depicting the Last Supper, saying Honduran artisans created the piece using local materials.

President Lobo also met with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, and Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican’s top foreign affairs official, for talks. Later, President Lobo hosted a luncheon for the cardinal at the “Pius IV House” in the Vatican Gardens.

According to a written statement issued by the Vatican after the meeting, the talks with the Pope noted that Honduras’ relations with other countries had “brightened,” a reference to the strained relations the interim government had faced after the coup.

The “cordial talks” included mention of “the great contribution the Church offers to the development of the country, especially in education and health care, and it was noted the importance of continuing to promote in Honduras reconciliation and mutual understanding.

Assisi encounter marked by Pope’s modifications

By John thavis

VATICAN CITY – Slowly and carefully, the Vatican is setting the stage for the third edition of the interreligious “prayer for peace” encounter in the pilgrimage town of Assisi.

The 27 October event marks the 25th anniversary of the first such gathering.

As in 1986, it is expected to draw representatives from many Christian denominations and more than a dozen other faiths.

In convening the prayer summit, Pope Benedict XVI is clearly reaf-

firming the ecumenical and interreligious outreach of his predecessor, Blessed John Paul II.

But the Pope has also marked out his own course, with modifications and additions that, in the Vatican’s view, leave the event less open to misinterpretation.

For one thing, participants will not pray together – at least, not in a formal fashion.

They will gather at the end of the day for a moment of silence and testimonials to peace.

Although the border between prayer and reflection may be

ambiguous in such encounters, it appears that Assisi 2011 will not repeat the formula of 1986, when representatives of each major religion offered a prayer at a final joint service.

Just as 25 years ago, participants will break off during the day for separate prayer services.

But the difference is this time around the prayers will be private moments in a cloistered monastery, not public performances throughout the town of Assisi.

In 1986, what generated the most interest among media were

these very colourful and distinct forms of prayer, many of which took place inside Catholic places of worship and left some critics with the impression that Christian and non-Christian elements were being mixed together inappropriately.

The programme for this year’s encounter appears designed to ensure private prayers will not have a public audience.

Perhaps the most striking element of Pope Benedict’s Assisi gathering is the Vatican has invited five prominent nonbelievers to participate, including well-known British

philosopher AC Grayling, who has argued that religion has had a disproportionately large influence in society.

The Vatican made a point of inviting them because, although nonbelievers, they are seen as actively engaged in a debate over ethics, metaphysics and truth.

On his recent trip to Germany, the pope shocked many listeners when he declared that agnostics who struggle with the question of God are closer to the kingdom of God than “routine” Catholics whose hearts are untouched by faith.

Family and friends dress the body of Carlos Martinez, a 23-year old farmworker shot to death on the La Lempira Co-operative outside Tocoa, Honduras. The members of the co-operative are among thousands of activists who have seized plantations they claim were stolen from them by wealthy Honduran businessmen. PHOTO: CNS/PAUL JEFFREY

gypt’s

Exodus next

The outbreak of sectarian violence in Cairo could signal a major flight of Coptic Christians from Egypt, says an expert on religious freedom.

VIOLENT clashes between Christians, Muslims and the military in Egypt’s capital last week, in which 26 people – mostly Christians – were reported killed and an estimated 500 injured, was the latest bloody chapter in a deteriorating climate for Egypt’s Christian minority, which comprises about 8 million of the country’s 82 million inhabitants.

Pope Benedict XVI has called on all Catholics to pray that Egypt will “enjoy true peace based on justice and respect for the freedom and dignity of every citizen”. The Vatican’s apostolic vicar of Alexandria, Egypt, Bishop Adel Zaky, has said Egypt needs prayers, encouragement of the international community to respect human rights and protect minorities, and an elected government to replace military rule. “One cannot rule with an iron fist,” Bishop Zaky said. “For too long there has been a climate of violence which has led to the burning of churches, to maltreatment, but especially to the death of many innocent people.”

While the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Pope Shenouda III, announced three days of mourning, praying and fasting, the Coptic Church issued a statement that “strangers got in the middle of our sons and committed mistakes to be blamed on our sons,” reflecting a belief among Copts that anti-Christian forces had infiltrated a peaceful march and fuelled violence as a pretext for intervention by Egyptian security forces.

Last week’s violence, following a year of sporadic attacks against Christian churches, does not bode well for a hamonious future, according to Nina Shea, international human-rights lawyer and director of the Hudson Institute’s Centre for Religious Freedom in Washington.

The co-author of Silenced: How Apostasy & Blasphemy Codes Are Choking Freedom Worldwide explained her fears for Christians in Egypt to National Catholic Register senior editor Joan Frawley Desmond.

Q: What happened in Cairo?

A: Coptic Christians organised a protest against religious persecution. It was announced in advance and was a march to the state broadcasting station to protest recent burning of churches by Salafi Muslims. There have been sporadic church burnings

over the past year. The Copts felt they were not being protected, the government was not guarding the churches.

The armed forces ruthlessly crushed this protest. There is videotape of an armed personnel carrier going into the mob and crushing six people — running them over. Others were killed as well.

I have a Coptic Christian working for me, and we were getting reports last night that after the military police showed up at the march Muslims had come into the streets to support Christian marchers.

Q: As an expert on religious freedom throughout the world, what is your assessment of the situation?

A: The real significance of this is that it signals the future treatment of the Christian Coptic community by the state. The military was their last hope in protecting them from lawless forces in society that were religiously motivated to [eradicate] them, namely the Salafis.

I think we can expect to see a major exodus of Coptic Christians from Egypt. This is a watershed moment. The whole reason they were in the streets was to protest lawless forces. It extinguishes all hope for them. They are utterly vulnerable.

Q: How did the collapse of the Mubarak government change the status of Christians in Egypt?

A: Under the Mubarak government, Salafi Muslims were kept in check. They followed their Salafi practices in their villages, but did not exert real political influence.

In the transition to democracy, the Salafis have started to get organised. They are trying to shape society more assertively. They have held joint rallies with the Muslim Brotherhood. What they want is a more Saudi Arabian model, where the country is cleansed of religious minorities, and there would be coerced Islamic practice — in dress, in no co-mingling of the sexes, and in enforced prayer and fasting.

Egypt has a large population of Muslims who do not practise their faith so rigorously. Now there is a push for forced orthodoxy according to the most rigid Salafi teaching.

Q: Is that why some Muslims had joined the Christian marchers when the military police showed up?

A: Other Egyptians are frustrated and angry with the military for a variety of reasons. There is frustration that state security laws still apply and there is brutality. While the Muslim Brotherhood wants quick elections, the military is trying to delay elections.

precarious for Christians. Last February, Coptic Christians joined other protesters in Tahrir Square, where demonstrations took place. The Christians were hopeful; they wanted a democratic opening.

“There has been a climate of violence which has led to the burning of churches, to maltreatment.”

Q: What will happen to Christians in Syria if that government falls?

Q: How has the Arab Spring influenced the status of Christians in the Middle East?

A: Right now, it is extremely

A: Many Christians who left Iraq have found refuge in Syria, where about a million Christians now live. About 50 per cent of

Iraq’s Christian population has left since the 2003 US invasion.

While we were told by the Bush administration the surge would be the solution, it helped everyone but the Christians.

The surge drove al Qaeda to the north, where the Christians were living.

Since then, Christians have been selectively targeted and driven out. Now that they are scattered, many fear they will lose their ancient culture, which goes back 2,000 years.

The Syrian government has been more liberal regarding religious freedom because it is secu-

PHOTOS CLOCKWISE FROM TOP:

A violent protest march of Egyptian Christians in Cairo occurred after an attack on a church in Southern Egypt on 9 October; A Christian woman mourns over the coffin of Mina Demian, one of 26 killed in clashes between protestors and troops; Another Egyptian Christian woman shows a picture of her son during the funeral held on 10 October; Emotions are ripe at a funeral held the day after 26 died and more than 500 were injured PHOTO: CNS/REUTERS

Who are the Copts?

The Coptic Church, known formally as the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, originated in Egypt and traces its establishment to the very beginnings of Christianity after the evangelist St Mark established Christian communities in that country.

A fragment of the Gospel of St John, written in Coptic, is believed to date from around the year 125AD. The first Christians in Egypt spoke the common language known as Egyptian Coptic – hence the name of the Church.

An estimated nine per cent of all Egyptians are members of the Coptic Church which is headed by Pope Shenouda III.

The Coptic Orthodox Church split from the Catholic Church following the Council of Chalcedon in 451. The division between the two churches, as in so many other disputes of the first centuries of Christianity, was over Christological definitions.

The Coptic Church is generally regarded as being monophysite (Christ has only one nature, which is divine) while Catholic and Orthodox Christians are regarded as believing Christ has a human and a divine nature, however Coptic Christians dispute the monophysite tag.

The Coptic Church uses, among other forms of worship, a liturgy it traces back to St Mark.

There are an estimated 20 million Orthodox Copts in the world today, with an estimated 7-10 million living in Egypt.

A chance to give back on Mission Sunday

This particular Sunday is a celebration of the heart that also helps build God’s kingdom, writes Francis Leong.

In his World Mission Sunday (WMS) address to the Catholic faithful in every parish throughout the world, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, reminds us that “… WMS itself is not an isolated moment in the course of the year but a precious occasion to pause and reflect on how we respond to the missionary calling …” in our everyday lives as a baptised person and as ecclesial or parish communities. WMS has always been an occasion for the affirmation of our solidarity and connectedness to Catholic communities throughout the developing world so as to reach out to each other as one Church in Christ.

Our Holy Father further reminds us that “… we are Church: Let us be Church ... precisely by opening ourselves and stepping outside ourselves and being Church with others throughout the world …”

Most of us have responded to our missionary calling, at least in part, through our generous and in many cases, regular, donation to Catholic Mission’s Propagation of the Faith Appeal during the year. WMS offers us the opportunity to say a heartfelt thank you for your generous support on behalf of our Holy Father, and on behalf of all our missionary priests, religious sisters and brothers, catechists and lay volunteers in every Catholic parish throughout the developing world. Your support sustains and strengthens the work and presence of our missionaries and their outreach to vulnerable people.

total amount raised is for the missionary work and presence of our Church globally, so too is the ‘faithraising’ that accompanies such fundraising.

In a very special way, your contribution to our Holy Father’s universal Missionary Appeal is a deliberate act of faith in which we “… give back to God what belongs to God …” As this specific act of giving reinforces our sense of faith here, so too it does the same in far off places across the globe.

Meanwhile, $271,886 was raised for Catholic Mission during this five year period and sent directly to the Mission directors of countries affected by disasters. Not a lot of money over five years, this may seem a little strange given Caritas is the lead Catholic agency for disaster relief. However, the money donated to Catholic Mission during disaster appeals is different because it is specifically used to strengthen the small scale, personalised pasto-

“World Mission Sunday is not an isolated moment ... but a precious occasion to ... reflect on how we respond to the missionary calling.”

ral work of the Church in caring for victims and survivors, and thus compliments the large scale humanitarian relief work of Caritas.

lar. But if the Syrian government falls, we have to start preparing to help Christians in the aftermath. They were protected by the Assad regime, but the majority of Syria’s population is Sunni. If they come to power, there could be a bloodletting against the Christian minority, which, in their eyes, is associated with the Assad regime.

A: Christians were among the leaders of the Arab nationalist movement that was the ideology of Iraq and Syria. That ideology of Arab nationalism has been replaced by Islamism, where

“Christians were a moderating influence ... a bridge between East and West.”

Q: What had been the political role of Christians in this region?

there is no role for Christians. In the past, Christians were able to establish some of the premier universities in the region. Christians have been skilled professionals. They were a moderating influence, and thus a bridge between

East and West, because of their treatment of women and their knowledge of foreign languages.

Q: What is the Vatican’s policy?

A: The Vatican wants to defuse the situation and maintain a presence. It does not see asylum as an easy solution.

But when the Pope spoke out in January, Egypt broke off both secular and religious dialogue with the Vatican. The Vatican got a slap in the face.

This article first appeared in the National Catholic Register.

In this month of October, Archbishop Hickey and Bishop Sproxton are on their ad limina visit to Rome. It will be with some degree of pride they will be able to say that $7,580,776 was raised from the parishioners of our archdiocese over the last five years in support of our Holy Father’s universal Mission Appeal. This figure includes those giving on a regular monthly basis, which amounts to more than 30 per cent of the final total, those who give anything between $2000 and $150,000 on an annual basis, and bequests which amount to around 20 per cent of the final total. Such regular giving is so important in sustaining the work of our overseas missionaries.

As someone who has returned from nearly eight years of service in Africa, I can’t help but be truly moved and touched by such generosity and commitment. To be able to thank people in person for your support is a privilege and honour. As important as the

When describing the difference, I often like to use the analogy of the human body: The work of Caritas is akin to our arms and legs, necessary for much heavy lifting and moving. A lot of energy is required, but the effect is significant, effectively targeted and very important. The work of Catholic Mission sustains the heart which pumps lifegiving blood to all parts of the body, addressing universal rather than targeted needs. The heart doesn’t require much to keep going, but without it the work of the arms and legs has no meaning. Without arms and legs, the heart is debilitated but can still function.

Celebrating WMS is a celebration of the heart, the heart of our Church, and the Love at the heart of our Church which sustains our Faith and strengthens the work we are all committed to as Christians in preparing the world for God’s Kingdom.

Catholic Mission can be contacted on (08) 9422 7933

The fortunes that were won and lost in gold rush Perth were not merely financial. The case of Irish Catholic businessman and politician Hugh McKernan is an example of the kinds of divisions that can easily arise in a small migrant community.

Born in Ireland in 1858, Hugh McKernan came to Perth from the eastern states in 1889. He set up as a land agent and auctioneer in what was then a very small city, and quickly won the confidence of the new Bishop Matthew Gibney, who came to rely heavily on him in his acquisition of land for churches and schools.

One of the biggest projects in which Hugh McKernan was involved was the development of Mount Heart Estate at Highgate Hill, a residential subdivision with two acres in the centre reserved for a church and school.

The reserve (called Alacoque Square in honour of St Margaret Mary Alacoque) is now occupied by Sacred Heart Church; the Archdiocesan Archives in the Highgate Parish Hall; the Catholic Pastoral Centre of Our Lady of the Mission (formerly the Convent); and Sacred Heart Primary School.

Hugh McKernan advertised the development for sale by auction in January 1892, with glowing descriptions of its attractions. Approximately half the lots sold

at auction, and the remainder slowly but steadily over the next few years.

The first church was opened in April 1897, first school in October 1897, and the convent and permanent school buildings in January 1899.

Meanwhile, McKernan’s political star had risen steadily. As a well respected local businessman and member of the Catholic community, he was easily elected to the Legislative Council in 1894 and to Perth City Council in the same year.

He was an obvious inclusion in the party to welcome Irish

from Grace

Fall Irish troubles in early Perth

McKernan’s notes had been an important part of the evidence against him. At the Criterion gathering Hugh McKernan reminded the distinguished guest of their previous encounter.

Davitt rounded on him and very publicly denounced him as to blame for his imprisonment.

One can only imagine the moment of acute communal embarrassment. But probably no one, least of all Davitt, could have foreseen the lasting consequences.

“Slowly but surely Hugh McKernan came to be shunned, first by his own community and eventually by the community at large.”

hero Michael Davitt to Perth later that year. But a chance comment made to Davitt at the reception for him at the Criterion Hotel (still in existence) brought about McKernan’s social and political downfall.

Before coming to Australia Hugh McKernan had, as a very young man, served with the Royal Irish Constabulary and been given the task of recording a meeting at which Davitt had spoken. Davitt had eventually been imprisoned, and he at least believed

Slowly but surely Hugh McKernan came to be shunned, first by his own community and eventually by the community at large. Denounced as an informer in a community that identified with Irish nationalism with all the uncritical fervour of a community in exile, he quickly lost political, social and economic support.

Even so he still appeared regularly as both guest and donor at Catholic events for the following decade and there is no evidence to suggest Bishop Gibney himself turned against him.

McKernan also managed to alienate leading Catholics such as Timothy Quinlan in the course of

petty squabbles within the Perth City Council. In such a climate the label “informer’’ could be used to devastating effect, since respect and trust were so central to life in a small city.

By 1907 McKernan’s political career was well and truly at an end, and he had already become a figure of fun (having at one stage advertised for a wife) when, in a final blow to his reputation, he crossed swords with wellknown lawyer Richard Septimus Haynes.

It was Haynes who branded McKernan a “political poltroon”, and his unfortunate victim reacted so violently he was temporarily detained as insane.

The incident featured prominently in the local and interstate press, and at this point some Perth residents came to his defence. The incident with Davitt over ten years previously came out into the open and Davitt’s hasty condemnation was seen to be unwarranted.

To his credit Haynes then issued a very public apology.

Hugh McKernan continued in business on a small scale for a few years after this, but tracking him through the Post Office Directories reveals his increasingly impoverished circumstances.

He died in March 1929 and although, as was customary, a newspaper advertisement advised his friends and invited them to his funeral he was buried in an unmarked grave at Karrakatta.

ABOVE LEFT: Advertisement advising of sale of the Mount Heart development as “Lands for Everybody”; ABOVE MIDDLE: Early studio portrait of Hugh McKernon by F W Niven & Co; ABOVE RIGHT: locally sketched map of the 1892 Mount Heart estate. PHOTO: COURTESY OF ARCHDIOCESAN ARCHIVES

The rise of Irushman Hugh McKernan as an auctioneer and politician in early Perth society and his subsequent fall from grace is a sad tale of a talented man who was shunned because of a few words. Margaret Ker delved into the Archdiocesan Archives to research his case.

Life cause an ongoing struggle for many

Avoiding the reality of an abortion experience may result in an antidepressant script, reveals Bernard Toutounji in his discussion of the morality involved.

ABORTION is one of those topics that makes people really, really uncomfortable. Nothing destroys the conversation at a pleasant weekend barbeque more than talk about abortion. A couple of incidents recently made me consider why it might be that the topic is so divisively painful. I thought they were worth sharing.

If you approach a Sydney train station on a weekday afternoon, chances are you will have a complimentary copy of MX newspaper flung into your hands. There are regularly articles in the MX commenting on moral/ethical issues so I often text in a couple of sentences for the feedback pages. A while ago I sent in a comment regarding a story they ran about hundreds of mothers in India giving their baby girls sex change operations. I questioned which was worse, the goings on in India or the 90,000 annual abortions taking place in Australia. The message was published and expectedly attracted a barrage of messages both for and against abortion. To the credit of the newspaper they published messages on both sides for several days during which there was a definite progression of thought. Initially there were angry messages that the ‘foetus’ is not a human life; then messages from others how science unequivocally states the unborn baby is indeed human. Lastly there were messages which stated even if the unborn baby was ‘human’ it was certainly not a ‘person’. In reading the messages what struck me was the length people would go to to justify the notion that abortion could be acceptable. The second incident was also a few months ago when the director of Family Life International Australia, Paul, was taking calls on a popular talkback station about the work they do in praying and offering material support outside abortion clinics. One woman, Sarah, called in to speak to him. She was obviously angry at what was being said and explained she was now a mother of three children but before she was married she fell pregnant and was simply “not ready to be a mother”. As part of his response, Paul pointed out to Sarah that actually she became a mother with that first pregnancy and she was in fact the mother of four children. It was obvious with those words Paul had struck a chord. Sarah’s voice because audibly upset as she rejected the notion she was

Foolish Wisdom

(1 Cor 1:25)

By Bernard Toutounji

the mother of an aborted child.

What became obvious in both those incidences was how raw the issue is in our society and how much people will do to block out the reality. Even though there is a lack of consistent data around abortion numbers, it is estimated that since 1994, there have been close to 1.3 million abortions in Australia. This means there is on average one aborted baby for every three babies born.

What that figure of 1.3m

Australia’s total war dead is around 100,000 yet every year we lose close to that many lives through abortion.

equals is a lot of hurt in our society, of people who have been touched by abortion. That is a lot of mothers (and fathers) who may be feeling much sorrow, guilt and hurt. Is it little wonder so many people need to (indeed have to) for their own mental wellbeing, deny abortion is actually the death of a young human life? Can you imagine if 1.3m mothers interiorised the foetus they aborted yesterday, last month or 40 years ago was a human life with a beating heart, active brain and living soul? The grief in the streets would be unbearable. Australia’s total war dead is around 100,000 yet every year we lose close to that many Australians through abortion. I can’t help but wonder how many of 12 million antidepressant scripts written each year in Australia are linked somehow to this silent tragedy.

The point is that condemnation of the objective act of abortion must always be swiftly followed by the mention of the subjective healing that is possible and available for those who have had an abortion. Abortion will always be wrong but, sadly, the baby is not the only life affected. See www.rachelsvineyard.org.au for advice.

Propriety Limited

ANEW analysis of the porn industry’s penetration of Australian society is shaking the industry’s foundation. Big Porn Inc: Exposing the Harms of the Global Pornography Industry is a sharp analysis of and protest against “colonisation” of the world’s markets, cultures and interpersonal relationships by exponentially violent, dehumanised and dehumanising pornography.

“The book idea evolved from a conversation with Dr Renate Klein of Spinifex Press about 1½ years ago,” said co-editor Melinda Tankard Reist. “We felt a new compilation and analysis of pornography was needed to confront the massive developments in online porn. We wanted to expose the true nature of pornography as not just about ‘naughty pictures’ but increasingly about violence, degradation, torture and suffering. We wanted to make known the commercialised, industrialised nature of modern porn and how it is colonising the world and shaping the sexuality of young people,” she said.

Far from being passively depressed about the new technology, Collective Shout and some of the other activist groups mentioned in Big Porn Inc harness for anti-porn activism the very technologies which make hyperpornification of culture possible.

“Collective Shout has been able to respond to the mainstreaming of violent and sexually exploitative advertising, products and images within a matter of minutes thanks to new forms of social media,” said Melinda.

She feels, “the website and Facebook contacts also act as virtual meeting points and enable instant brainstorming for action. Major corporations and organisations such as Bonds, Harvey Norman and others have been pressured to remove offending products or services because of Collective Shout-led protests.”

Collective Shout has also formed alliances in global antisexploitation campaigns such as that worldwide protest, initiated by CS and Adios Barbie to MTV against the American rap-musician’s Kanye West’s Monster music clip which simulates the lynching and decapitation of women.

“In Big Porn Inc, Susan Hawthorne calls this a dangerous morphing of the music industry’s imagery into sexualised torture and violence. She and others argue that video productions like this are not merely abstract or simulated artforms (or animations) but catalysts for the escalation of the desire to hurt real women,”Melinda said.

This book brings together a diverse anti-porn critique with some notable national and international contributors. Different chapters are ordered into five different sections: one analyses the process of pornification of cultures; the second offers critiques of pornography as an industry fuelled by marketing paradigms; the third links the harm of pornography to the abuse of children; papers in the fourth identify the failures of state in relation to porn-ploitation and the last looks at successful strategies against pornography.

The book includes sociological,

political and legal analysis along with moving narratives from women hurt by the porn industry.

Achieving editorial harmony in the book “was the easy part,” said Melinda. “The contributors are all experts and replied to the project so willingly. Their work brings so much richness and credibility to the table, it made it all come together quite smoothly.”

“The premise of this project flowed logically from the research in Getting Real: Challenging the sexualisation of girls.”

“We get accused of creating ‘moral panics’ all the time,” laughed Melinda. “This is a tactic of those who prefer not to address the arguments, often those with vested interests. It’s a diversion, an attempt to try to paint us as moralising wowsers and prudes, hung up about sex, who want to put all women in chadors.

“The really disturbing thing, though, is how they gloss over the reality of the industry, the fact that child porn is now a $23 billion a year industry. The rape sites, torture pages, sites celebrating the degradation and humiliation of women. There are websites inciting crimes of violence against women and girls. I think what we are seeing is more a moral picnic than a moral panic.”

“Pornography ... damages women and girls ... colonises and destroys real intimacy and human connection.”

However, there has also been very constructive discussion and commentary to the collaboration, commented Melinda.

“I think many people who might disagree on other things are responding very positively to Big Porn Inc. They recognise the need to destroy the dominant idea that porn is a private and victimless hobby; to expose the reality of porn as a public health hazard affecting everyone in some way. They are united by the shared desire to see women and children treated with greater dignity and respect.

“Pornography draws everyone into its extremely callous and hate-filled version of masculinity; it damages women and girls with its hyper-plasticised, pain-filled and vapid images of female sexuality; it colonises and destroys real intimacy and human connection.”

Big Porn Inc provides its readers with valuable (though disturbing) data, some original but insightful political analyses and a vocabulary with which to join the resistance to globalised porn. It identifies, often with shattering evidence, the trail of damage and harm from prostitution to stripping to sexualised images of the girl-child.

As one of the book’s activists, Anna van Heeswijk expresses it: “…sexual objectification exists on a continuum, with images and messages stemming from pornography increasingly seeping into all aspects of popular culture.” There

is growing evidence that children are being groomed at an early age to approach their own sexuality with the attitudes and behaviour of porn.

Melinda added, “A study of Canadian boys with an average age of 14 found a correlation between their frequent consumption of porn and agreement with the

idea that it is acceptable to hold a girl down and force her to have sex.

Another study of Italian adolescents 14-19 found an association between porn use and sexually harassing a peer and forcing someone into sex. Thirty three studies show increased aggression connected to viewing porn.”

Although all the contributors write with remarkable restraint, and the reader is spared the images of degradation and violence increasingly common in contemporary pornography, it is clear contributors have been exposed to some appalling instances of systematic misogyny and abuse.

Melinda said she did not cope

Co-editors

Melinda Tankard

Reist, social commentator and writer, top and Dr Abigail Wray, left, Perth-based social justice academic.

Melinda Tankard Reist chats to Anna Krohn during the launch tour of the book she edited with Abigal Bray, Big Porn Inc: Exposing the Harms of the Global Pornography Industry, on the background to its publication and issues it uncovers.

with the traumatising aspects of research of this kind and the awareness that so many “average” people are habituated to such images very well.

“Some days I had to drag myself to the computer … someone called it ‘a terrible knowledge’ and there is so much I wish I didn’t have to know.”

However, soul-destroying stories and data are countered by courage, insight and even humour that sustained the making of this book.

Can God’s image be destroyed by a tattoo?

Dear Father, in recent years I have seen more and more young people with large tattoos and earrings on all parts of their face. Personally, I find them repugnant. Are they immoral?

Tattooing is an ancient practice.

The body of a man found frozen in a glacier between Italy and Austria in 1991, dating to around 3300BC, had several tattoos on it and tattooed mummies have also been discovered in Egypt, dating to around 2000BC.

Because the practice was widespread among the peoples around the Israelites and sometimes associated with idolatry or other immoral practices, God specifically forbade certain body markings at the time of Moses, around 1200BC: “You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh on account of the dead or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the Lord” (Lev 19:28).

The general moral framework within which tattoos, other body markings and piercings are to be evaluated is the fact that man is made in the image and likeness of God and should reflect this image in all his actions. Not only the soul but also the body is a masterpiece of God and should be treated with great respect, reflecting the beauty God gave it. Even more, as St Paul teaches, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? ... So glorify God in your body” (1 Cor 6:19).

Q&A

By Fr John Flader

tians may have discreet tattoos of symbols including the Cross, Our Lady, etc. If other moral criteria are fulfilled, such tattoos may be morally acceptable. However, many choose to depict symbols of death, evil, violence or even Satan in their tattoos. These often manifest a rejection of God and his love and are, of course, sinful.

In general, anything which truly enhances the beauty of the body, made in the image of God, will reflect God himself and be acceptable. But some body markings are in bad taste and an attempt to destroy the beauty of God’s creation, thus

Not only the soul but also the body is a masterpiece of God, and it should be treated with great respect, reflecting the beauty God gave it.

What constitutes pornography? A range of images, from Bratz dolls to Playboy, Nandos to Dolce & Gabbana, all help contribute to the sexualisation of girls and women, albeit in such common ways that viewers become desensitised. www. collectiveshout.org has more images an d discussion relating to exploitation.

and working against what Robert Jensen calls “the eroticising of oppression” so real justice is possible.

In certain cultures, body markings such as cuts in the skin, marks on the forehead, tattoos and piercings for earrings are regarded as manifestations of beauty, or may signify something about the status of the person within society. As long as they are not dangerous to health and not extreme, they are morally acceptable.

But there can be reasons why some tattoos and body piercings are immoral, and hence each case must be evaluated on its own.

The first consideration to bear in mind is the motivation for having the tattoo or body piercing. While some people may do so moved by the desire to enhance beauty or standing in the community, others may do so moved by a rejection of society, or by self-hatred or loathing, just as they may deprive themselves of food or cut their skin, leaving scars, for this reason. This latter motivation is certainly sinful, as would be mere vanity or the immature desire to be accepted by others.

A second consideration is what is depicted. Historically, and even today, some Chris-

becoming an attack on God himself.

Third is the extent of the tattooing or body piercing. While one or two discreet tattoos may be acceptable, tattoos covering a great part of the body are excessive and can hide the body’s natural beauty. Similarly, while piercings for earrings are common and acceptable, other facial piercings only detract from natural beauty and some are downright ugly. Moreover, many such body markings are not socially acceptable and may prevent the person from obtaining a job or position in society.

A fourth consideration is possible danger to health. Some tattoos and facial rings are prone to infection and constitute an unnecessary danger to health. Also, they are often permanent, or removal can itself be a danger to health and leave permanent scars. As such, they are forbidden by the fifth commandment.

While the Catechism of the Catholic Church says nothing about tattoos or body piercings, the criteria just mentioned can be useful in evaluating their morality in individual cases.

Is a new way possible in this country’s politics?

IT MAY or may not be mere imagination, but there are some indications that increasing numbers of Australians are beginning to search for a different alternative in the political and cultural landscape. There is a growing sense among many that the hopes cultivated and stoked so assiduously by political parties and the media are turning out to be false in every direction. Both in Australia and around the world, to nominate just one example, political leaders regularly enter office with sometimes stellar approval ratings generated mainly by professional makers of image, only to see them plummet rapidly and, unexpectedly, suddenly lose office when the public perception of the difference between rhetoric and substance crystallises. This has been the boom to bust pattern of significant episodes in Australian federal political life in recent years and even at the moment. The politics of bread and circuses is beginning to wear thin.

Another indication (in Australia) is the near obsession with one or two issues relentlessly, incessantly, treated as the only important issues facing the nation, and the anger generated around both. The sheer narrowness of Australian politics now indicates the underlying problem of paradigm. Other sparks point to something afoot as well. On the world stage, the Occupy Wall Street movement which has seen thousands of protesters converge on Wall Street to denounce the ethic of greed which underpins its daily operation and whose logic delivered the Global Financial Crisis is, for the US, a truly remarkable sight.

Au contraire, Fr Flader on TFP

I REPLY to Fr John Flader’s remarks about the Australian branch of the Tradition, Family and Property movement (Q&A, The Record, 3 August) in order to set things straight.

One sentence may cause serious misunderstandings: “… TFP was never officially approved by the Church and, in fact, the Brazilian Bishops Conference on 18 April 1985 formally disapproved of it and ordered Catholics to have nothing to do with it.”

Australian TFP is a civil association of Catholic inspiration that carries out an apostolate called ‘Australian Needs Fatima’. While not formally approved by the Australian hierarchy, we enjoy good relations with it. It is erroneous to think that not having official status bars us from carrying out our apostolate. According to Canon Law (canons 215, 225-1, 2, 298–1) we are free to do so and the Church encourages lay movements like ours.

Juxtaposing this implied disapproval with a reference to the 1985 statement by the Brazilian Bishops’ Conference adds to the confusion.

what could have happened to the meaning of marriage in Australia, were it not for the resolute leadership of Cardinal George Pell?

In opposing pornography, society must win the battle against the insidious ‘colonisation’ of our culture by barons of evil in order to protect the family which, from earliest creation, has been every community’s basic building block.

misinterpreting Christian charity. It is an applied science and it is multidimensional.

Dark forces are shouting from the rooftops. Our silence is deafening. Are we, the laity of our Church, willing to speak out and stand and be counted? Or will we maintain a politically correct dignified silence?

Where are the people from our charitable organisations? The banner ‘Catholic’ under which they work is under assault and their help is needed now. Where are our Catholic politicians at this time of crisis? Are they all going to remain ‘politically correct’? It is time to stand up and be publicly counted.

Graham Spurling BRIGHTON, SA

A Samaritan too far

A new party

Given that both the Coalition and the Labor Party are largely governed by poll-driven politics, there is now a case in Australian politics for a new political party which campaigns for policies based not on the ideologies of the left or the right but on concepts based in the natural law and the concept of the common good. One of the interesting possibilities is that such a new force could be, in a very real sense simultaneously conservative and progressive, so to speak, right and left, without any risk of placing itself in the impossible contradictory situations so typical of recent Australian leaders and political parties. Rather than borrowing bits from political rivals and syncretising them into a new conglomerate, it could instead offer a largely new and original solution to the entrenched problems of political life. Such a development might be called a politics of the third way.

could

be conservative and progressive, right and left, without placing itself in impossible contradictory situations so typical of recent Australian political leaders.

THE RECORD

PO Box 3075

Adelaide Terrace

PERTH WA 6832

office@therecord.com.au

Tel: (08) 9220 5900

Fax: (08) 9325 4580

A new third force would be highly unlikely to win government. But the growing disenchantment with even the new political forces such as the Greens, who are increasingly regarded as naive and unrealistic idealists coupled with the extinction in recent years of the once-influential Australian Democrats, indicates that a moment of opportunity is at hand. A third force in Australian political life does not have to win government in order to have an effect.

It is less and less clear that either the Coalition parties or the Labor Party are really substantially different from each other on almost all major points of contention and that the victories of each have more to do with degree or style than actual substance. Both proclaim they are fundamentally different from each other but in reality both shadow each other unceasingly. What is really important is that there is a sense that growing numbers are beginning to apparently feel that this is the case as well.

The shape of a new political force, a third way, would possess features that would distinguish it clearly from its contemporaries. It would be a party which assumes as obvious that the stability and solidity of the family unit in Australia is essential and that efforts to minimise this will also detract from the national interest; the underpinning of the stable, intact, nuclear family would be a matter of great seriousness. In an unusual new sense for Australia, such a movement could be prowoman and pro-child.

Human stewardship of the environment, which fosters responsible exploitation of natural resources without relegating human beings to second-class status, as radical environmentalists effectively propose, or as corporatised servants of exploitation, as capitalism practises, would be a key factor in creating a new social organisation and paradigm.

Economically, a new party could start a new approach, not based on the current generally accepted principle of allowing the market to substantially determine many aspects of social policy. The market is not only incapable of providing stability, it has no interest in caring for the person other than as a means to a particular end: itself. Given that capitalism was once touted as the victor over state-run economies, it is now clear from several gobal economic crises that this particular god has only ever had feet of clay; an economic system founded on the principle that the economy exists to serve the individual rather than vice versa is, in the Australian context, a radical departure from standard operating procedure but an achievement that is possible to pull off. These are but a few of the distinctive features which could be generated.

In 1985, the Brazilian Bishops’ Conference passed a motion recommending Catholics neither join nor support the Brazilian TFP on the vague grounds that the association was “not in union” with them. Only two thirds of the bishops were present and a number abstained or voted against.

The 1980s was a decade of upheaval in the Brazilian Catholic Church due to Marxist-inspired Liberation Theology and TFP was at the front of a Catholic response to it. TFP published several wellresearched books on the subject while its campaign exposing communist tendencies of the so-called ‘base communities’ was very successful. Bishops sympathetic to Liberation Theology became hostile to TFP.

In 1984, Cardinal Ratzinger of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, with Blessed Pope John Paul II’s approval, issued an Instruction on certain Aspects of the Theology of Liberation, cautioning against Marxist influence in the movement.

Many bishops expressed disappointment with Rome, some declared they did not recognise Rome’s authority on the matter and others made provocative declarations in the media.

These prelates censured TFP for lack of union with them while themselves showing little union with Rome.

Paul Folley AUBURN, NSW

Pornography’s barons of evil

OF LATE it has been increasingly difficult to put aside The Record even for a moment, when reports such as that by Anna Krohn fast become compulsory reading. Yes, pornography is the satanic scourge of a modern political state. It devalues the moral norm of intrinsically decent human behaviour to do with relationships; pornography in all its manifestations is the pursuit of evil.

This severe credo about such a widespread iniquity can be made because, as Clive Hamilton states, pornography “brings prostitution into every home”.

Today’s consumer-saturated pornographication of culture is being propelled through the media of mass communication.

The media facilitates creeping cultural change by conducting daily forays against standards of acceptability. Even words tend to get debased. During the current year,

It would do well for us to reflect that God, who as Father begets the Son, then, proceeding from both, the Holy Spirit. This tremendous truth about the Trinity says to me that God manifests God’s self as love. Applying such wonderment in my own humble way, I shall always, in thanks, love the mother who gave me life.

These concepts to do with God and motherhood are what I understand the power of procreation to be about.

Therefore, let us now together, in all our diverse community gatherings - Latin Mass, Family Association, Faith and Light, Focolare Movement, Flame ministry, and Neocatechumens - deliver a resounding no to pornography.

Joseph Sutherland KELMSCOTT, WA

Calumnies against my friend

A VERY good and trusted friend of mine is being publicly pilloried by an opportunistic politician, a sensationalist press and a bishop. My friend is the Catholic parish priest of the parish of Brighton in South Australia. This unlikely trio clearly has an agenda based on an assertion of guilt.

The assertion is totally false and unfounded. I know that, because my friend has personally told me so. I have no doubts on that subject. Many others across the county share my confident assertion. The ongoing public accusations have broadened to include the Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide and the Vicar General of the Adelaide Archdiocese.

Is the damage being inflicted on them collateral damage as a result of the targeted attack on my friend or is there a strategic target selected in what is a serious battle?

The immediate outcome so far is that the Prime Minister has effectively sacked the Vicar General from a position he was eminently qualified to fill, to satisfy the political whim of a group of advisors.

At the same time our Archbishop is being accused of incompetence, bias and foot dragging. We, especially the Catholics of the Adelaide Archdiocese, are under attack. Our leaders are being targeted – and all one can hear from our laity is the sound of silence.

The Southern Cross editor, a woman of high ethical standards and extensive experience, published her opinion editorial in the journal. She was met with a very public and vituperative attack accusing her of bias and of lacking professionalism. I am sure she will not be silenced. All our clergy is under assault. They are unable to defend themselves.

Still we retain our composure and take it all on the chin. We are

IN MELISSA Kelly’s otherwise excellent article “Good Samaritan clause does not go far enough “ (The Record, 12 October), with respect she went too far and erred when she said: “If duty to assist or notify isn’t enshrined in law, I believe it makes failure to assist or notify legally, and therefore morally sanctioned.”

Whether something is legal or moral are two different questions involving totally different considerations. If the law does not provide that something is a legal obligation or duty, that says nothing about whether it is moral. It is certainly not the case that if something is legal, it is “therefore” moral.

For example, before abortion was allowed by law, it was not moral to undergo an abortion. Nevertheless, the fact that abortion can now be availed of legally does not change the fact that it is still not moral.

Enacting a law making something previously not dealt with by law either legal or illegal does not alter the moral position in the matter.

The morality of failing to assist or notify is not dependent on whether the law makes it a duty to assist or notify.

When I was a tax barrister advising on, among other things, the legality of proposed tax avoidance schemes, the only question was whether the proposed arrangements were caught by the relevant tax laws enacted by Parliament, and never whether it was moral to engage in the proposed tax avoiding arrangements.

Whether the proposal was moral would have raised the question “Whose morals?” and the only answer to that had to be the taxpayer proposing to enter into the arrangement.

My role was to advise on the legal position and leave it to the taxpayer to consider whether morally he or she should enter into the arrangement in the light of my advice on the law.

This view, which I expressed as a witness before the Senate Economics References Committee inquiring into mass-marketed tax effective schemes and investor protection, was accepted by the Committee (Report, February 2002, paragraph 2.52, and minority report, paragraph 1.97).

Rob O’Connor SOUTH PERTH

Answered, but not convinced

TONY Meyrick answers my letter on the new cathedral, (The Record 12 October), but, alas, with a non sequitur. My position is unchanged. Delendum est

Youth turn on to a truer love

When it comes to romance, youth find meaning in an old Pole’s thoughts, writes

Mat De Sousa

WITH studies showing that most couples do not feel that they experience emotional intimacy in their relationship, it is evident that a great marriage is not one that simply stays together, but one in which spouses experience deep personal communion with each other.

But with every third marriage, according to current statistics, ending in divorce, young couples must wonder how, 30 years into married life, they will be able to say, “I love my spouse more now than I did when we were first married.”

Trying to understand this in light of the deterrent statistics was the topic discussed at the ‘Love and Responsibility’ forum, conducted over six consecutive Tuesday evenings from 13 September to 18 October in Sydney.

The final session was held at the University of Notre Dame Australia’s Broadway campus in Sydney. In the university courtyard hundreds of young Catholics gathered together to read the sixth chapter of Men, Women and the Mystery of Love by Edward Sri.

Like a growing number of works in recent years, Sri’s book was inspired by John Paul II’s 1960 publication Love and Responsibility

The chapter read on the final night was entitled ‘Love and Responsibility? Building trust, intimacy and a mature love.’

After reading, the young adults discussed issues of love and responsibility in a society where views such as Sri’s and the late Pope’s seem largely irrelevant.

The weekly discussion forum for students and young adults in Sydney was originally inspired by a similar event held in New York in July and August, ‘Love and Responsibility in NYC.’

The American event had been hugely successful and received lots of interest from young adults, affirming John Paul II’s observation that “young people want to be challenged, to lead lives of heroic virtue, in which the search for love is the search for a pure and noble love”.

Like the New York event, the Sydney forum also took its title from the book on relationships written by Bishop Karol Wojtyła, later Pope John Paul II; it was this book that became a foundational text of the Theology of the Body.

UNDA Sydney’s Chaplaincy convenor, Jessica Langrell, wanted to provide a casual yet challeng-

ing weekly discussion group for personal formation and growth in terms of living out genuine relationships and authentic friendships.

With, on average, 160 young adults showing up weekly to hear

Pope John Paul II I feel more mature and more capable when approaching the reality of friendships and relationships.”

Sri’s book Men, Women & the Mystery of Love read aloud at the

Young people want to be challenged, so that the search is for a pure and noble love.

and discuss the issues, the experience has been uplifting, positive and a testimony to the relevance of John Paul II.

Madeleine Vella, 19, a History and Education student and participant in the forum, commented on the effect it has had on her.

“Love and Responsibility has allowed me to not only deepen but better understand my faith. By exploring the teachings of Blessed

weekly sessions adds a practical insight into to the teachings of John Paul II, challenging readers to grow in their understanding of the real, deeper meaning of relationships.

At each session participants read a chapter of Sri’s book and then joined group discussions. Topics included ‘Sense and Sentimentality’; ‘The Proper Role of the Emotions’; ‘Avoiding Fatal Attractions’; ‘The Law of the Gift’;

and ‘Understanding the Two Sides of Love.’

Living in an age where relationships begin with ease, usually end with broken hearts and the usual advice is ‘Just do what feels right,’ it’s no surprise so many are drawn to an event searching for answers that can’t be found elsewhere because society’s own views on love are so blurred.

The sessions were hosted by the UNDA Sydney chaplaincy, the Archdiocese of Sydney’s Life, Marriage and Family Centre, the University of Sydney chaplaincy and Theology on Tap.

You can follow the thoughts of the young who participated on the Love and Responsibility Facebook site: www.facebook.com/loveandresponsibility.

Mat De Sousa is a designer at The Record

Anarchy showed how deep rot goes

Did London’s riots reveal something about faith’s declining influence? asks Guy Crouchback

THE RECENT riots in Britain were, socially and morally, a worse symptom of societal failure than the atrocious Norwegian gun-massacre. The latter, though it took more lives, was the work of a lone madman. The British riots were the work of a sick culture.

There appears to have been a radical aspect to the riots, but people of different races and all levels of class were involved. As well as children (where were their parents?) some of the rioters were affluent, even professional people.

Middle-class, middle-aged people wrecked little corner shops where they had been customers for years, and ruined the lives of shopkeepers who perhaps regarded them as friends. Some shops may have been insured but this would fall far short covering the total damage.

While much has been written in recent years abut the moral pathology affecting large areas of British culture, no-one, I think, fully realised that so large a part of the population were apparently either incapable of distinguishing good

being robbed by people who pretended to be helping him. It would be interesting to know the influence of religion in the lives of those involved.

One senior churchman has stated: “Are we prepared to think not

We have all seen the pictures of a bleeding man being robbed by people pretending to help him.

from evil, or willingly and consciously embraced destruction and nihilism, free from any feelings of restraint, decent behaviour or common humanity.

Every large-scale riot I have examined in the past has had some sort of cause even if a bad or indefensible one. These riots have no cause at all except theft and destruction for its own sake.

We have all seen the pictures of an injured man, streaming blood,

only about discipline in classrooms, but also about the content and ethos of our educational institutions –asking can we once again build a society which takes seriously the task of educating citizens, not consumers, not cogs in an economic system, but citizens?” Perhaps he should first address failures a little closer to home.

As a lawyer of 30 years’ experience and a journalist before that, I have met many criminals. Even

Get dressed or get lost

An Irish farmer has more sense than a whole record company

EVEN people who abhor the unrelenting sexualisation of Western culture are generally reluctant to speak out on the topic. Who needs the attention? Who wants to be called a prude?

So there is a lesson for all in the simple protest of a Northern Ireland farmer who recently told pop superstar Rihanna to put on a shirt or get off of his land.

“I do not believe young ladies should have to take their clothes off to entertain,” he said. “I’m entitled to hold that opinion.”

But by voicing that opinion –by defending common decency – Alan Graham, 61, landed in an international media storm. He was ridiculed worldwide for his “oldfashioned” notion of propriety and mocked because, shame of shames, he didn’t realise the half-naked woman cavorting in his barley field was a music diva who is idolised by a generation of young women and teens. He had rented his property for production of a music video, and although singing and dancing were surely anticipated, he never imagined a young woman might rent a farmer’s muddy field in chilly September to make music naked above the waist. During filming, a vehicle got mired in the mud and

“I do not believe young ladies should have to take their clothes off to entertain.”

Graham was summoned with his tractor for a tow. That’s when he saw the topless singer.

“I realised, hold on, this is getting to a stage I am uncomfortable with and I can’t allow this to go on,” he told the BBC. “From my point of view, it was my land, I have an ethos and I felt it was inappropriate.”

It would have been easy for Graham to avert his eyes, turn around his tractor and get on with his life in silence. Instead, he barged into a maelstrom. He demonstrated a moral conviction once commonplace, in a culture that idolises celebrity and supports a media that parades the anti-values of permissiveness, vanity and vulgarity.

the professionals – like the female shoplifters who pile their hair in chignons to hide items, or wear reversible coats with hidden pockets for ease of shoplifting, have often, under a mask of bravado, felt guilt, regret or shame.

The British rioters interviewed showed no trace of this. It is as if a whole community, or a large part of it, had become moral imbeciles.

It is easy to blame the political class for the appalling example they have set, as well as a culture, which glamorises “badness” and a rotten education system.

It would be interesting to know more about the rioters’ religious beliefs, if any.

One of the groups, which emerged with credit and manliness, were the Sikhs, hundreds of whom turned out to defend their temples. Were there Christians out defending Christian churches?

Society’s failing morals are particularly evident in the disgraceful way media interacts with young females. Even before they are teenagers, girls are bombarded by suggestive images through television, videos, magazines and, of course, the Internet. The message delivered by such millionaire pop celebrities as Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Beyonce is that sex and sexiness bring acceptance and happiness.

In this coarse world, young women routinely see modesty and virtue give way to indecency and impurity. Seldom does anyone speak out. As one commentator put it, society rages at the degradation of the natural environment of our planet but largely accepts the degradation of the moral environment of our young women. That’s shameful.

Then Alan Graham told a pop star to get dressed or get lost. His message was long overdue.

The above unsigned editorial, titled ‘Stand up for modesty,’ appeared in the 4 October issue of The Catholic Register in Toronto.

Young Catholics gather at Sydney’s UNDA to discuss topics from JPII’s “Love and Responsibility”.

PHOTO: PATRICK J LEE

SATURDAY

SATURDAY, 22 OCTOBER

Fifteenth Anniversary - Immaculate Heart of Mary Group

3.30pm at Sts John and Paul Parish, Pinetree Gully Rd, Willetton. Includes procession of Our Lady, rosary and benediction. Followed by supper in church hall. Enq: Anna aab610@hotmail.com.

CHOGM - Unity Commands the Blessing

7.30pm at St Mary’s Cathedral, 17 Victoria Sq, Perth. The CHOGM prayer initiative culminates with a combined denominations service to pray for blessings and protection on the coming together in Perth of the leaders of 54 Commonwealth nations. Enq: Flame Ministries International 9382 3668.

NEXT WEEK

MONDAY, 24 OCTOBER

Walking with Love – Life Inc

1.30pm at the Newman Siena Centre, Williamstown Rd, Doubleview. RSVP: Friday, 21 October. Enq: Mandie bnfpwa@westnet.com.au or 040 7577 435 or 9399 3140.

TUESDAY, 25 TO FRIDAY, 28 OCTOBER

Feast Day of St Jude – Celebration

9am at St Jude’s Parish, Prendiville Way, Langford. Triduum from Tuesday to Thursday beginning with Mass, followed by Novena prayers. Friday, 28, the feast day of St Jude: Healing Masses at 9am and 7pm. Enq: Secretary 9458 1946.

FRIDAY, 28 OCTOBER

Medjugorje Evening of Prayer

7-9pm at Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish. Cnr Beatrice St and Phillips Gr, Innaloo. Includes Eucharistic adoration, rosary, benediction and holy Mass. Free testimonial DVDs. Enq: Eileen 9402 2480 or 040 7471 256 or medjugorje@ y7mail.com.

Charismatic Healing Mass

7pm at Good Shepherd Parish, Cnr Morley Drive and Altone Rd, Lockridge. The evening will commence with prayer and praise, followed by the celebration of the Mass, anointing and healing prayer. Celebrant Fr Jean-Noel. Enq Colleen 9377 5133 (after 6pm) or Shirley 9279 9165.

SATURDAY, 29 OCTOBER

Mercedes College Perth - Graduating Class of 1990 Reunion

7.30pm Rosie O’Grady’s, Northbridge, cnr James and Milligan Sts. Enq: kathleen.bryce@yahoo. com.au.

Disciples of Jesus Celebration Ball

7.30pm at Rendezvous, Scarborough. Annual ball - beautiful food, live music. Cost: $70. Enq: Janny 042 0635 919 or Margaret 040 8689 873.

Calling all Mothers to come and Pray in Solidarity for their Children and for all Children throughout the World

9.30am at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, 100 Fern Rd, Wilson. Special Mass for all mothers and children. Please bring along your family and friends. Enq: Mary-Ann 9354 1699.

UPCOMING

SUNDAY, 30 OCTOBER

Farewell to Fr Michael Brown

“A time to remember”

10am at Edel Quin Centre, 36 Windsor St, East Perth. A day to reflect with gratitude on the ministry of Fr Michael to the Secular Franciscan Order in WA. Begins with morning tea followed by morning prayer at 10.30am. Mass at 2.30pm. Bring a plate to share for lunch. Enq: Angela 9275 5658.

Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition –Meeting 2.30pm at Christ the King Parish, cnr Lefroy and Moran Sts, Beaconsfield. Discuss progress of Klong Lan project. Bring plate to share. Enq: Germaine 042 1306 006 or 9335 1639.

Food Fare and Fun Day 10am-1pm at Holy Family Parish, Lot 375 Alcock St, Maddington. Enq: Francis 040 4893 877.

FRIDAY, 4 NOVEMBER

Vigil for Life with Archbishop Hickey 9.30am at St Brigid’s Parish, cnr Great North Hwy and Morrison Rd, Midland. Begins with Mass followed by a rosary procession to nearby abortion clinic. Peaceful and prayerful vigil witnessing to the dignity of human life. Enq: Helen 9328 2926. Healing Mass and Farewell to Fr Hugh Thomas 7pm at St Peter’s Parish, Wood St, Inglewood. Includes: Mass, benediction, anointing of the sick and farewell in the hall. Reconciliation available

PANORAMA

What’s on around the Archdiocese of Perth, where and when

at 6.40pm. Bring a plate to share. Refreshments available. Enq: Gertrude 041 1262 221 or Mary Ann 040 9672 304.

FRIDAY, 4 TO SUNDAY, 6 NOVEMBER

Prayerful Weekend Retreat for Women 7pm at the Little Sisters of the Poor, 2 Rawlins St, Glendalough. Includes: prayer, rosary, Mass, reflections and time to experience a life of service. Women aged 18-40 yrs old. Free. Enq: Sr Marie 9443 3155 or admin.perth@lsp.org.au.

SATURDAY, 5 NOVEMBER

Day with Mary 9-5pm at St Thomas More Parish, cnr Dean and Marsengo Rds, Bateman. Day of prayer and instruction based on the Fatima message. 9am video; 10.10am holy Mass; Reconciliation, procession of the Blessed Sacrament, Eucharistic adoration, sermons on Eucharist by Bishop Sproxton and on Our Lady, rosaries and stations of the Cross. BYO lunch. Enq: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286.

Vigil for Life - Pro-Life witness

8.30am at St Augustine’s, Gladstone St, Rivervale. Begins with Mass, followed by rosary procession and vigil at nearby abortion clinic, led by Fr Paul. Weekly prayer vigils: Monday, Thursday and Saturday 8am to 10am at Rivervale. Enq: Helen 9402 0349.

The Legion of Mary Perth Comitum – Annual Mass 1pm at St Joachim Parish, Shepparton Rd, Victoria Park. Begins with rosary and Mass 1.30pm. Main celebrant: Archbishop Hickey. Followed by light refreshment. Enq: 9328 2728 or 042 1580 783.

SUNDAY, 6 NOVEMBER

All Souls’ Day Memorial Service

2.30pm at Pinnaroo Valley Memorial Park Crematorium Chapel. Please note, the memorial service will not include Mass. Enq: Whitford’s parish office 9307 2776.

Divine Mercy

1.30pm at St Francis Xavier Parish, 25 Windsor St, Perth. Main celebrant Fr Anthony Van Dyke.

“All Saints and Holy Souls” Homily. Refreshments afterwards. Enq: John 9457 7771.

WEDNESDAY, 9 NOVEMBER

Council of Christians and JewsCommemoration Kristallnacht

4.30pm at Sylvia and Harry Hoffman Hall, Carmel Primary School, Woodrow Ave, Yokine. ‘Night of Broken Glass’ - guest speaker: Professor Kenneth Chern, former US Consul General to Perth. Light refreshments. Enq: Marie ccjwa@aol.com.

SATURDAY, 12 NOVEMBER

St Padre Pio day of Prayer

8.30am at St Anthony Parish, Dundebar Rd, Wanneroo. Begins with DVD. 10am – exposition of Blessed Sacrament, rosary, divine mercy, adoration and benediction. 11am – Mass with confession available. 12pm – bring a plate to share for lunch. Enq: Des 6278 1540.

Divine Mercy –Healing Mass

2.30pm at St Francis Xavier Parish, 25 Windsor St. Perth. Main celebrant: Fr Marcellinus. Chaplet of divine Mercy followed by benediction and veneration of first class relic of St Faustina Kowalska. Reconciliation available in English and Italian. Refreshments afterwards. Enq: John 9457 7771.

SUNDAY, 13 NOVEMBER

Balcatta Parish 50th Anniversary Mass and dinner. 4pm at St Lawrence Parish, 392 Albert St, Balcatta. Begins with Mass followed by dinner at 5.30pm at the Sicilian Club, Fortune St, Balcatta. Cost: $70pp. Enq: Office 9344 7066 or office@stlawrence.org.

au.

FRIDAY, 18 TO SUNDAY, 20 NOVEMBER

“Creation - The Web of Life”

Reflective Weekend 6pm at St John of God Retreat Centre, 47 Gloucester Cr, Shoalwater. This reflective weekend will provide you with an ethic of environmental sensitivity as you further develop the model of stewardship in God’s creation. Finishes 1.30pm Sunday. Enq: Sr Ann 9310 8248 or 040 9602 927 or Sr Kathy 041 8926 590.

SUNDAY, 20 NOVEMBER

The SACRI Catechetical Association 2pm at Our Lady’s Shrine Parish. Chittering Rd, Bullsbrook. Begins with Mass, procession and rosary. Main celebrant: Archbishop Hickey. Enq: Fr Nishan 9315 4580.

NEXT YEAR

MONDAY, 9 JANUARY TO MONDAY, 16 JANUARY 2012

Summer School

(RSCM) will be hosting a summer school for all denominations next year. The programme will include workshops for church musicians and singers to help them inspire their congregations towards a more enjoyable and meaningful participation in Church liturgy. Enrolments are now open and interested parties can find out more by going to www.rscmaustralia.org.au. Enq: Deirdre 9457 4010.

SATURDAY, 25 FEBRUARY 2012

A Reunion for Holy Cross Primary School, Kensington Any ex-students or family members, please contact Julie Bowles (nee O’Hara) on 9397 0638 or email jules7@iinet.net.au.

REGULAR EVENTS

EVERY SUNDAY

Gate of Heaven Catholic Radio

Join the Franciscans of the Immaculate from 7.309pm on Radio Fremantle 107.9FM for Catholic radio broadcast of EWTN and our own live shows. Enq: radio@ausmaria.com.

Pilgrim Mass - Shrine of the Virgin of the Revelation

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

EVERY FIRST SUNDAY

Divine Mercy Chaplet and Healing Prayer

3pm at Santa Clara Church, 72 Palmerston St, Bentley. Includes adoration and individual prayer for healing. Spiritual leader Fr Francisco. All welcome. Enq: Fr Francisco 9458 2944.

St Mary’s Cathedral Youth Group –Fellowship with Pizza

5pm at Mary’s Cathedral, 17 Victoria Sq, Perth. Begins with youth Mass followed by fellowship downstairs in parish centre. Bring a plate to share. Enq: Bradley on youthfromsmc@gmail.com.

EVERY SECOND SUNDAY

Healing Hour for the Sick

6pm at St Lawrence Parish, 392 Albert St, Balcatta. Begins with Mass, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and prayers. Enq: Fr Irek 9344 7066 or ww.stlawrence.org.au.

EVERY THIRD SUNDAY

Oblates of St Benedict Meeting

2pm at St Joseph’s Convent, York St, South Perth. For all interested in studying the rule of St Benedict and its relevance to everyday life. Afternoon tea. Enq: Secretary 9457 5758.

EVERY FOURTH SUNDAY

Holy Hour for Vocations to the Priesthood, Religious Life

2-3pm at Infant Jesus Parish, Wellington St, Morley. The hour includes exposition of the Blessed Eucharist, silent prayer, scripture and prayers of intercession. Come and pray that those discerning vocations can hear clearly God’s call.

EVERY MONDAY

Evening Adoration and Mass

7pm at St Thomas Parish, Claremont, cnr Melville St and College Rd. Eucharistic adoration, Reconciliation, evening prayer and benediction, followed by Mass and night prayer at 8pm. Enq: Kim 9384 0598, claremont@perthcatholic.org.au.

The Life and Mission of St Mary MacKillop

9.30-11.30am at Infant Jesus Parish Centre, cnr Wellington Rd and Smith St, Morley. Cost: $15. Enq: Shelley 9276 8500.

LAST MONDAY OF THE MONTH

Be Still in His Presence –Christian Programme 7.30-8.45pm at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, cnr Lesmurdie and Glyde Rds, Lesmurdie. Begins with songs of praise and worship, silent time, lectio divina, small group sharing and a cuppa at the end. Enq: Lynne 9293 3848 or 0435 252 941.

EVERY TUESDAY

Bible teaching with a difference 7.30pm at St Joachim’s parish hall, Victoria Park. Exciting revelations with meaningful applications that will change your life. Bring Bible, a notebook and a friend. Enq: Jan 9284 1662.

Novena to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal 6pm at the Pater Noster Church, Marmion and Evershed Sts, Myaree. Mass at 5.30pm followed by benediction. Enq: John 040 8952 194.

Norma Woodcock’s Teaching Session

7-8pm at St Benedict’s school hall, Alness St, Applecross. Be empowered by the Gospel message each week in a personal way. How can we live meaningful and hope-filled lives? AccreditedCEO: Faith Formation for ongoing renewal. Catholic Education staff: $10 for accreditation. Cost: donation. Enq: 9487 1772 or www.normawoodcock. com.

EVERY WEDNESDAY

Holy Spirit of Freedom Community

7.30pm at The Church of Christ, 111 Stirling St, Perth. We are delighted to welcome everyone to attend our Holy Spirit of Freedom praise meeting. Enq: 042 3907 869 or hsofperth@gmail.com.

Bible Study at Cathedral

6.15pm at St Mary’s Cathedral, 17 Victoria Sq, Perth. Deepen your faith through reading and reflecting on holy scripture by Fr Jean-Noel. Meeting room beneath Cathedral. Enq: Marie 9223 1372.

Holy Hour - Catholic Youth Ministry

5.30pm at Catholic Pastoral Centre, 40A Mary St, Highgate. Begins with Mass, 6.30pm holy hour of adoration, followed by $5 supper and fellowship. Enq: cym.com.au or 9422 7912.

EVERY FIRST WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH

Holy Hour Prayer for Priests

7.30-8.30pm at Holy Spirit Parish, 2 Keaney Pl, City Beach. All welcome. Enq: Linda 9341 3079.

Novena to St Mary of the Cross MacKillop

7-7.45pm at Blessed Mary MacKillop Parish, cnr Cassowary Dr and Pelican Pde, Ballajura. Begins with Mass, novena prayers and benediction. Followed by healing prayers and anointing of the sick. Next one: 2 November. Enq: Madi 9249 9093 or Gerry 041 7187 240.

EVERY SECOND WEDNESDAY

Chaplets of Divine Mercy

7.30pm at St Thomas More Catholic Parish, Dean Rd, Bateman. A beautiful, prayerful, sung devotion accompanied by exposition and followed by benediction. Enq: George 9310 9493 or 9325 2010 (w).

EVERY THURSDAY

Divine Mercy

11am at Sts John and Paul Church, Pinetree Gully Rd, Willetton. Pray the rosary and chaplet of divine mercy, and for the consecrated life, especially here in John Paul Parish. Concludes with veneration of the first class relic of St Faustina. Please do come and join us in prayer. Enq: John 9457 7771.

St Mary’s Cathedral Praise Meeting

7.45pm every Thursday at the Legion of Mary’s Edel Quinn Centre, 36 Windsor St, East Perth. Includes praise, song and healing ministry. Enq: Kay 9382 3668 or fmi@flameministries.org.

EVERY FIRST THURSDAY OF THE MONTH

Prayer in Style of Taize

7.30-8.30pm at Our Lady of Grace Parish, 3 Kitchener St, North Beach. Includes prayer, song and silence in candlelight – symbol of Christ the light of the world. Taize info: www.taize.fr Enq: secretary 9448 488 or 9448 4457.

Group Fifty – Charismatic Renewal Group

7.30pm at The Redemptorist Monastery, 150 Vincent St, North Perth. Includes prayer, praise and Mass. Enq: Elaine 9440 3661.

EVERY FIRST FRIDAY

Communion Reparation All-Night Vigil

7pm-1.30am at two different locations: Corpus Christi Parish, Lochee St, Mosman Park and St Gerard Majella Parish, cnr Ravenswood Dr and Majella Rd, Westminster (Mirrabooka). In reparation for outrages committed against the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Enq: (Mosman Park) Vicky 040 0282 357 and Fr Giosue 9349 2315 or John 9344 2609.

Healing Mass

7pm at St Peter’s Parish, Inglewood. Praise and worship, exposition and Eucharistic adoration, benediction and anointing of the sick, followed by holy Mass and fellowship. Celebrants: Fr Dat and invited priests. 6.45pm Reconciliation. Enq: Mary

Ann: 0409 672 304, Prescilla: 043 3457 352 and Catherine: 043 3923 083.

Holy Hour for Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life 7pm at Little Sisters of the Poor Chapel, 2 Rawlins St, Glendalough. Mass followed by adoration with Fr Doug Harris. All welcome. Refreshments provided.

Catholic Faith Renewal Evening

7.30pm at Sts John and Paul Parish, Pinetree Gully Rd, Willetton. Songs of praise, sharing by a priest followed by thanksgiving Mass and light refreshments afterwards. All welcome to attend and bring your family and friends. Enq: Kathy 9295 0913, Ann 041 2166 164 or catholicfaithrenewal@gmail.com.

Healing and Anointing Mass

8.45am Pater Noster Church, Evershed St, Myaree. Begins with Reconciliation followed by 9am Mass of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, anointing of the sick and prayers to St Peregrine. Enq: Joy 9337 7189.

EVERY FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH

Healing Mass

12.35pm at St Thomas Parish, cnr Melville St and College Rd, Claremont. Spiritual leader: Fr Waddell. Enq: Kim 9384 0598, claremont@perthcatholic.org. au.

EVERY FOURTH SATURDAY

Voice of the Voiceless Healing Mass

12pm at St Brigid Parish, 211 Aberdeen St, Northbridge. Bring a plate to share after Mass. Enq: Frank 9296 7591 or 040 8183 325.

GENERAL

Free Divine Mercy image for parishes

High Quality Oil Painting and Glossy Print – Divine Mercy Promotions. Images are of very high quality. For any parish willing to accept and place inside the church. Oil paintings - 160 x 90cm and glossy print -100 x 60cm. Enq: Irene 922 1247 or 9417 3267 (w).

Sacred Heart Pioneers Is there anyone out there who would like to know more about the Sacred Heart pioneers? If so, please contact Spiritual Director Fr Doug Harris 9444 6131 or John 9457 7771.

St Philomena’s Chapel 3/24 Juna Drive, Malaga. Mass of the day: Monday 6.45am. Vigil Masses: Mon-Fri 4.45pm. Enq: Fr David 9376 1734.

Mary Mackillop 2012 calendars and merchandise

2012 Josephite Calendars with quotes from St Mary of the Cross and Mary MacKillop merchandise. Available for sale from the Mary MacKillop Centre. Enq: Sr Maree 041 4683 926 or 08 9334 0933.

SSRA’s Parish Missions

Saturday, 15 to Sunday, 16 October: Our Lady of Mercy Parish, cnr Girrawheen Ave and Patrick Ct, Girrawheen. All Masses. Saturday, 22 to Sunday, 23 October: St Brigid’s Parish, 69 Fitzgerald St, Northbridge. All Masses. Sunday, 30 October: St Bernadette’s Parish, 49 Jugan St, Glendalough. 9am Mass.

SSRA’s City Missions

Tuesday, 1 to Wednesday, 2 November: All Saints Chapel, Allendale Sq, 77 St George’s Tce, Perth. 12.10pm and 1.10pm Masses.

SSRA and the Community of the Archdiocese of Perth’s Traditional Latin Mass Centre Saturday, 5 November, St Anne’s Parish, 11 Hehir St, Belmont. 9am Mass with veneration and blessing with relics. Cost: free. Enq: Giovanny 0478 201 092 or ssra-perth@catholic.org.

Saints AND Sacred Relics Apostolate Parish

Missions - October change of dates

Saturday, 29 to Sunday, 30 October - St Brigid’s Parish, 69 Fitzgerald St, Northbridge, all Masses; Saturday, 5 to Sunday, 6 November - St Bernadette’s Parish, 49 Jugan St, Glendalough - all Masses. Enq: Giovanny 047 8201 092 or ssraperth@catholic.org.

Saints AND Sacred Relics Apostolate – Latin Feast of all Holy Relics

SSRA Perth invites interested parties: parish priests, faithful association leaders, etc, to make contact to organise relic visitations to their own parishes, communities, etc. We have available authenticated relics, mostly first-class, of over 200 Catholic Saints and Blesseds, including Sts Mary Mackillop, Padre Pio, Anthony of Padua, Therese of Lisieux, Maximilian Kolbe and Simon Stock. Free. Enq: Giovanny 047 8201 092 or ssra-perth@ catholic.org.

St Denis 60th Anniversary St Denis Catholic Parish in Joondanna will celebrate its 60th Anniversary on 16 December 2011. We are collecting photos, memorabilia and stories for display during the celebration. Enq and arrangements: Barbara on 040 1016 399 or emmanuelcentre@westnet.com.au or 9328 8113 (w).

Panorama Editorial Policy

The Record reserves the right to decline or edit any items submitted for publication in Panorama.

Deadline: 11am every Monday.

RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

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

RICH HARVEST YOUR

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

KINLAR VESTMENTS

Quality handmade and decorated vestments: albs, stoles, chasubles, altar linen, banners, etc. 12 Favenc Way, Padbury. By appointment only. Ph Vickii on 9402 1318, 0409 114 093 or kinlar.vestments@gmail.com.

TAX SERVICE

Quality tax returns prepared by registered tax agent with over 35 years’ experience. Call Tony Marchei on 0412 055 184 for appt. AXXO Accounting & Management, Unit 20/222 Walter Rd, Morley.

ACCOMMODATION

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

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

MATURE AGE GENTLEMAN looking for a room, single, nonsmoker, and works fulltime at Royal Perth Hospital. Has been a house friend for two elderly people over the past 20 years, carrying out light house-duties and gardening when required. Greg O’Brien: mob 0413 701 489.

FURNITURE REMOVAL

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

CLASSIFIEDS

FOR SALE

CHEAP, VARIOUS CATHOLIC/ PROTESTANT Books New/2nd hand/DVDs/CDs 9440 4358.

ONE TO THREE STATUES. 1-2m high of our Lady, Jesus and Saints. Crucifix available (same height) Contact: Brother JohnCarmelite professed hermit (08) 9853 3112 or johnw9765@optusnet.com.

BOOK BINDING

NEW BOOK BINDING, General Book Repairs; Rebinding; New Ribbons; Old Leather Bindings Restored.Tydewi Bindery 0422 968 572.

SETTLEMENTS

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

THANKSGIVING

OH, MOST BEAUTIFUL FLOWER OF MT CARMEL, fruitful vine, splendour of Heaven. Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity, Oh Star of the Sea, help me and show me here you are my Mother. Oh Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth, I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succour me in my necessity (make request). There are none that can withstand your power. Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee (say three times). Holy Mary, I place this prayer in your hands (say three times). Amen.

TRADE SERVICES

BRENDAN HANDYMAN

SERVICES

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

PR OPERTY MAINTENANCE

Your handyperson. No job too small. SOR. Jim 0413 309 821.

BRICK RE-POINTING Ph Nigel 9242 2952.

PERROTT PAINTING Pty Ltd

For all your residential, commercial painting requirements. Ph Tom Perrott 9444 1200.

PICASSO PAINTING Top service. Ph 0419 915 836, fax 9345

SERVITE VILLA

THIS WELCOMING FACILITY has several lounge areas, a communal dining room, a lovely community room and small chapel. Surrounded by attractive grounds with barbeque facilities, residents and families can always enjoy a private visit. At Servite Villa all our food is cooked fresh on site. Every room at Servite Villa has built-in robes, individual access to outdoor patios, a shared toilet between two rooms and a communal bathroom. A podiatrist and hairdresser visit on a regular basis. Servite Villa organises bus trips each week as part of our active social programme. Catholic Mass is celebrated

1 They will inherit the earth

2 Church toppers

3 “His ___ is on the Sparrow”

4 Word of praise

5 Adjective for Esau

6 Magi leader

7 ___ Thomas

8 St Edith’s surname

14 Birth month of Mary (abbr)

15 Donation to the poor

18 Abbr for two OT books

19 “There is a ___ in Gilead”

21 Member of an order of St Angela Merici

22 David asked Saul if he pursued a “___ dog” (1 Sam 24:14))

23 Genesis event

24 Hell

27 “Salve ___”

28 Catholic author of Brideshead Revisited

30 St Philip’s surname

33 Josephite letters

34 A Old Testament high priest

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

St Josemaria Escrivá in the Vatican

In Spanish, Italian, English

RRP $30

Benedict XVI presides over the emotional ceremony inaugurating a marble statue of St Josemaria on the outside of St Peter’s Basilica. Included is the testimony of Opus Dei prelate, Javier Echevarria, successor of the saint, and Italian sculptor, Romano Cosci, who give their take on what goes beyond admiring the statue at first glance.

Holy Week in Rome: A Journey with the Pope

In Italian and English

RRP $30

See how Holy Week is commemorated in Rome. Hear from theologians, professors, art historians, and Vatican officials about Jesus’ last days on earth and how those moments have been relived throughout the centuries in Church ceremony and art. From the washing of the feet to the walk to Calvary, Pope Benedict XVI takes us step-by-step through these symbolic events as played out in the Eternal City.

The Holy Cities: Jerusalem, Rome, Assisi

In Castellano, English, Spanish, Italian and Polish

RRP $87 - Set of three

The land of Christ, the See of Peter and, finally, the humble dwelling of Francis. These three places embody the values of Christian spirituality and provide the historical, artistic and cultural background for the HOLY CITIES series.

Jerusalem, Rome and Assisi represent three stages in a geographical and spiritual odyssey.

PAUL OF TARSUS: Messenger of Jesus Christ

In Spanish and English

RRP $34

Widely considered Christianity’s greatest evangeliser, Paul of Tarsus dedicated his life to spreading the Gospel, travelling far and wide to deliver the Word of God. His journeys ultimately brought him to the heart of the Roman Empire, where Christianity took root. Shot on location in Rome, this documentary takes you to the places where he taught, lived, worked, was martyred and buried.

BAD APPLES Dealing with Sex Abuse in the Church

In Spanish and English RRP $48

Referring to clerical sex abuse, Pope Benedict XVI said, “The greatest persecution of the Church does not come from external enemies, but is born of sin within the Church. Thus the Church has a profound need to relearn penance, purification, forgiveness and justice.”

In Bad Apples, television news agency Rome Reports documents this problem and the responses from the Vatican during the last decades. It also analyses the failure of management in Ireland, based on lies, and tracks the successful ‘zero tolerance’ policy put into action in the United States.