The Record Newspaper 22 October 2008

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PERTH COMES ALIVE AS YOUTH CELEBRATE IN STYLE: STORY, PHOTOS  VISTA 23

THE R ECORD

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Greed’s at root of world food crisis: Benedict

Selfishness and speculation underpin global shortage while the poor remain forgotten by affluent societies, says Pope

■ By John Thavis

VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Pope Benedict XVI denounced the continuing shortages of food around the world and said the causes included selfishness and “unbridled speculation.”

At the root of global hunger is a prevailing materialist culture among developed countries, in which the needs of the poor are routinely forgotten, the Pope said. His comments came in a written message issued on October 16, World Food Day. The text was addressed to Jacques Diouf, directorgeneral of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.

The Pope said it was clear, even during recent months of food scarcity in places around the globe, that the international community has the resources to feed all the world’s people.

Instead, poverty coexists with abundance, he said, and he gave several reasons.

First, he pointed to the “race for consumption” that has not slowed even during the recent food shortages and that hurts the nutritional capacity of poorer countries.

Second, he said international negotiations have failed to “curb the selfishness of states or groups of countries or to put an end to the unbridled speculation that is affecting mechanisms

Continued - Page 6

Hunger’s face: A mother holds her severely malnourished child at an International Medical Corps outpatient program in Bolossa Sore, southern Ethiopia, on June 5. Drought and soaring food prices had triggered widespread starvation in the area, with new admissions at therapeutic feeding sites increasing more than 600 percent in the previous three months.

PHOTO: CNS PHOTO/REUTERS COURTESY OF INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS

“Be indefatigable in your purpose and with undaunted spirit resist iniquity and try to conquer evil with good, having before your eyes the reward of those who combat for Christ.”

-Bishop Matthew Gibney 

Western Australia’s award-winning Catholic newspaper since 1874 - Wednesday October 22 2008 Perth, Western Australia $2

Clare says Yes!

Religious life irrelevant? Hardly, and it’s attracting the young. Part of the proof: a new community in WA which is off and running as its founding member makes her final profession in front of a packed pro-Cathedral congregation of hundreds.

religious

■ By Anthony Barich

MArchbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide takes issue with ABC Radio National’s decision to axe its Religion Report. The move, reported around the country, indicates that media organisations have problems with belief, he writes.

On October 16, the thirtieth anniversary of the election of Karol Wojtyla

A reformed Dude

in a special Mass at St Joachim’s Pro-Cathedral in Victoria Park.

In doing so, she responded to

Continued - Page 5

As a scriptwriter, his highly sexualised - and often reviled - Hollywood movies read like a personal to-do list of the seven deadly sins. Now he’s returned to his Catholic faith.

Happy moment: Clare Pike receives the ring symbolising her spousal relationship with Christ, represented by Archbishop Barry Hickey, during her permanent profession of vows on Thursday evening, October 16, at St Joachim’s pro-Cathedral in Victoria Park. The Archbishop also presented Clare - now known as Sister Bernadette - with the distinctive blue habit and white veil that will distinguish professed members of her new

community founded in Perth, the Missionaries of the Gospel.

PHOTO: PETER ROSENGREN

urdoch University law graduate and Respect Life Office inaugural director Clare Pike is now known as

Sister Bernadette of the Cross after she made her permanent profession in the Missionaries of the Gospel on October 16. Sr Bernadette, 30, has spent years being formed in convents in Europe and WA, and being trained as Mother Superior of

the Missionaries of the Gospel – an Association of Christ’s Faithful, a step short of being a Religious order.

to the papacy as Pope John Paul II,

Sr Bernadette took vows of chastity, obedience and poverty before Archbishop Barry Hickey

Stewardship

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Both the first reading and today’s psalm say clearly that the Lord hears the cry of the poor. Have I been given the gifts – of time or money or abilities – to be the means by which God answers their need?

further information on how stewardship can build your parish

call Brian Stephens on 9422 7924.

Walking with Him

The Sabbath

28 T SS SIMON AND JUDE, Apostles, Feast Red Eph 2:19-22 God’s household

Ps 18:2-5 No speech, no word

Lk 6:12-19 Apostles chosen

29 W

Gr Eph 6:1-9 Children’s duty

Ps 144:10-14 The Lord supports all Lk 13:22-30 Last will be first

30 T

Gr Eph 6:10-20 Put on God’s armour

Ps 143:1-2.9-10 The Lord my fortress Lk 13:31-35

this place

31 F

1

Ps 110:1-6

PHOTO: PETER ROSENGREN

Masses offered for frost-devastated crops, farmers

■ By Robert Hiini

MASSES of consolation were offered last weekend for farmers whose crops were struck by a heavy frost in the Wheatbelt region of Corrigin, Kulin and Hyden.

Fr Nicholas Nweke had originally planned the Masses that took place over October 17-18 in thanksgiving for the plentiful rain the area had experienced this year until tragedy struck.

A severe frost hit the crops and froze the stems of the seedling plants. Many farmers have been hit by despair as they wonder whether they will be able to harvest enough grain to replace destroyed seed.

For six years, the Wheatbelt region southeast of Perth has suffered severe drought.

Battling farmers have had years of ruined crops and struggle to keep up with day-to-day life; many have taken huge loans to cover their losses, Fr Nweke said.

The country priest says that the Masses were celebrated to express solidarity with farming communities and to recognise the dignity and nobility of their work, “...to show the people we are with them and to not lose hope.”

Mass in Corrigin was attended by the Voice of the Voiceless (VOV) – a group fostering global friendship and support to priests, Religious and the needy.

Several members from the music ministry of VOV were approached by Fr Nweke, their ministry leader, from the Corrigin and Kulin district to make a pilgrimage to the parish of Corrigin.

Musical director Andy Vernie said that initially members had planned a mission tour to celebrate a Mass of thanksgiving for the blessing of rain and hope for a bountiful harvest.

After the frosts struck, members were still determined to visit the area and to help offer up a Mass in support of the farmers who have suffered a major setback once again.

The parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was filled with music and singing as the choir and musicians led the congregation.

Fr Nicholas told farmers in his sermon that they were not alone in their suffering and the thoughts and prayers of many people were with them. He prayed that God would give them the strength for endurance once again.

Mr Vernie says that the VOV’s music ministry hope that next year they will be able to return to Corrigin to instead celebrate a bountiful harvest and to offer once again praise and thanksgiving to God.

Church beatifies parents of Saint of Lisieux

Six-year-old cured through Martins’ intercession present

■ By Catholic News Service

LISIEUX, France - Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins encouraged those present at the beatification of the parents of St Therese of Lisieux to thank God for their own parents.

Saraiva Martins, former prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Saints’ Causes.

“Receiving life is a wonderful thing. But it is still more admirable for us that our parents should have led us to the church, which alone is capable of forming Christians. No one can become a Christian by himself,” the cardinal said at the October 19 beatification Mass for Louis and Marie Zelie Guerin Martin in St. Therese Basilica.

at the beatification Mass, Pope Benedict XVI said that the Martins had “proclaimed the Gospel” through their exemplary lives, passing on their “ardent faith” to their children. The Pope said he hoped their example would be “a source of joy and hope for all parents and all families.”

Martins were a “gift to parents,” widows and widowers, and those facing illness and death.

“Louis and Zelie are a gift for spouses of all ages, through the esteem, respect and harmony with which they loved for 19 years,” the cardinal said. “They lived the promises of marriage, the faithfulness of engagement, the indissolubility of the bond, the fruitfulness of love, in happiness and in trials, in health and in sickness.”

“I have thought about my own father and mother, and I would like you also to think at this moment of your father and mother, so we will thank God together for having created us and made us Christians through the married love of our parents,” said Cardinal

Among the approximately 15,000 people attending the Mass was a 6-year-old Italian, Pietro Schillero. When he was 13 months old, his parents prayed for the intercession of the Martins to cure his fatal lung condition; in 2003, the church recognized the cure as miraculous. In a message read

Cardinal Saraiva Martins said St. Therese, who died of hemoptysis, or bleeding of the lungs, at age 24, had described her parents as “more worthy of heaven than earth.”

The “secret of success” of the Martins’ Christian life, the cardinal said, had been their readiness to “walk humbly with God in seeking the advice of the Lord,” while also “placing all aspects of their lives in harmony with church teachings.” He added that the

Marie Zelie Guerin married Louis Martin, a watchmaker and jeweler, in 1858. She died of cancer in 1877, at the age of 46, after giving birth to nine children.

Four of the Martins’ children died in infancy.

The five who survived all entered Religious life.

Farewell: Benedictines escort the coffin of Abbot Placid Spearitt OSB of New Norcia towards the sanctuary of St Joseph’s Church in Subiaco last Tuesday October 21. The Church was packed by a congregation of hundreds of mourners gathered to pray for the repose of the soul of Abbot Placid, who died suddenly at Ampleforth Abbey in England on October 4. Full report, photos in next week’s edition of The Record

Schools speak out against poverty

n By Bridget Spinks

Over 1000 students filled the Corpus Christi College gymnasium on October 17 to show their support for the ‘Make Poverty History’ campaign on the United Nations International Day for the eradication of Poverty.

This school, alongside thousands of others across Australia, ‘stood up’ to remind the world of the Millennium Development Goals which Australia signed at the Millennium Summit in 2000 with 188 other UN member states.

This social justice initiative came about after ten year 10 students with acting principal of curriculum, Ian Hagan, attended a Caritas-led ‘Just Leadership Day’ in August, in the wake of World Youth Day. Although held annually, this year’s day of ‘just leadership’ caught the students’ attention.

It centred on the ‘Make Poverty History’ campaign and the students were encouraged to get behind the issue and do something about it.

“The kids came back from that and said ‘Can we do this?’” Ian Hagan. Following on from that historic day, these students came up with a plan of what they could

do. To end last term, they showed a short video at assembly on the devastation poverty causes throughout the world. In the week leading up to the ‘Stand Up Against Poverty’ day, the focus of all the religion lessons for years 8–12 at Corpus Christi College was the ‘make poverty history campaign’ and was tied in with the theme of ‘social justice.’

“Australia signed up to that agreement in 2000 to halve world poverty by 2015: and the ‘stand up’ is linked in to continually reminding people about that issue and the aims of the millennium development goals … it’s not just a monetary thing,” Mr Hagan said.

The Stand Up Speak Out section of the Caritas website says the goals call for an increase in untied aid to poorer nations; justice in trade practice and negotiations; a wiping of the burdensome debt that so many countries find so oppressive; a chance for all children to complete primary schooling and the access to clean drinking water for all people.

These are just a few of the things that the Make Poverty History Campaign is trying to achieveand all by 2015, the Caritas website said.

Our Lady’s Assumption stands up

T H e 517 students of Our Lady's Assumption School in Dianella stood up to be counted on October 17 as part of World

Pray your own prayer in a very special way. Pray Patience (Solitaire) and on completion you have said the Rosary.

You receive TWO beautiful Holy Decks of Cards plus simple instructions.

Fr Rick McCann, parish priest of The Oaks (NSW), has developed these cards in order to encourage prayer, and also help fund a desperately needed new church.

The cards are of good quality and the picture cards are adorned with religious symbols. The king is represented by Jesus, our Lady is the queen and the jack is illustraed with the Holy Spirit.

For your boxed set, send a cheque or money order with your name, address and phone number to

Fr Rick McCann

Po box 169, The Oaks, NSW 2570

For more details call (02) 4657 1191

Visit www.prayingcards.net.au

Only $20 (includes postage and handling)

Poverty Day. All students came together on the school oval and formed the letters ‘stand up’ as a human chain in an attempt to remind world leaders of their commitment to halving world poverty by 2015.

World leaders met in 2000 and decided upon what they referred to as eight Millenium Development Goals which, when followed through by nations of

JohnHughes

the world, would reduce world poverty by half by 2015.

Our Lady’s Assumption School principal Paul Hille said that this was one small way that children could actively take part in a global action.

Mr Hille was extremely pleased with the whole hearted response and support of the school community, and said that this typifies the spirit of the school.

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

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

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

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

Is it true I say this, because of my reputation for honesty, fair dealing, huge range of vehicles and non pushy salespeople.

Is it true when people do business with me, I guarantee they will be treated with courtesy, sincerity, professionalism and efficiency?

Is it true that I have over 40 technicians who are dedicated to getting my used cars in first class condition before sale?

All together now: Over 1000 students of Corpus Christi College in Bateman make an impressive collective stand against poverty.

United: Our Lady’s Assumption School in Dianella spell out ‘stand up’ on their school grounds in the name of charity.

Schools speak out against poverty

n By Bridget Spinks

Over 1000 students filled the Corpus Christi College gymnasium on October 17 to show their support for the ‘Make Poverty History’ campaign on the United Nations International Day for the eradication of Poverty.

This school, alongside thousands of others across Australia, ‘stood up’ to remind the world of the Millennium Development Goals which Australia signed at the Millennium Summit in 2000 with 188 other UN member states.

This social justice initiative came about after ten year 10 students with acting principal of curriculum, Ian Hagan, attended a Caritas-led ‘Just Leadership Day’ in August, in the wake of World Youth Day. Although held annually, this year’s day of ‘just leadership’ caught the students’ attention.

It centred on the ‘Make Poverty History’ campaign and the students were encouraged to get behind the issue and do something about it.

“The kids came back from that and said ‘Can we do this?’” Ian Hagan. Following on from that historic day, these students came up with a plan of what they could

do. To end last term, they showed a short video at assembly on the devastation poverty causes throughout the world. In the week leading up to the ‘Stand Up Against Poverty’ day, the focus of all the religion lessons for years 8–12 at Corpus Christi College was the ‘make poverty history campaign’ and was tied in with the theme of ‘social justice.’

“Australia signed up to that agreement in 2000 to halve world poverty by 2015: and the ‘stand up’ is linked in to continually reminding people about that issue and the aims of the millennium development goals … it’s not just a monetary thing,” Mr Hagan said.

The Stand Up Speak Out section of the Caritas website says the goals call for an increase in untied aid to poorer nations; justice in trade practice and negotiations; a wiping of the burdensome debt that so many countries find so oppressive; a chance for all children to complete primary schooling and the access to clean drinking water for all people.

These are just a few of the things that the Make Poverty History Campaign is trying to achieveand all by 2015, the Caritas website said.

Our Lady’s Assumption stands up

T H e 517 students of Our Lady's Assumption School in Dianella stood up to be counted on October 17 as part of World

Pray your own prayer in a very special way. Pray Patience (Solitaire) and on completion you have said the Rosary.

You receive TWO beautiful Holy Decks of Cards plus simple instructions.

Fr Rick McCann, parish priest of The Oaks (NSW), has developed these cards in order to encourage prayer, and also help fund a desperately needed new church.

The cards are of good quality and the picture cards are adorned with religious symbols. The king is represented by Jesus, our Lady is the queen and the jack is illustraed with the Holy Spirit.

For your boxed set, send a cheque or money order with your name, address and phone number to

Fr Rick McCann

Po box 169, The Oaks, NSW 2570

For more details call (02) 4657 1191

Visit www.prayingcards.net.au

Only $20 (includes postage and handling)

Poverty Day. All students came together on the school oval and formed the letters ‘stand up’ as a human chain in an attempt to remind world leaders of their commitment to halving world poverty by 2015.

World leaders met in 2000 and decided upon what they referred to as eight Millenium Development Goals which, when followed through by nations of

JohnHughes

the world, would reduce world poverty by half by 2015.

Our Lady’s Assumption School principal Paul Hille said that this was one small way that children could actively take part in a global action.

Mr Hille was extremely pleased with the whole hearted response and support of the school community, and said that this typifies the spirit of the school.

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

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

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

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

Is it true I say this, because of my reputation for honesty, fair dealing, huge range of vehicles and non pushy salespeople.

Is it true when people do business with me, I guarantee they will be treated with courtesy, sincerity, professionalism and efficiency?

Is it true that I have over 40 technicians who are dedicated to getting my used cars in first class condition before sale?

All together now: Over 1000 students of Corpus Christi College in Bateman make an impressive collective stand against poverty.

United: Students of Our Lady’s Assumption Primary School in Dianella spell out ‘stand up’ on their school grounds in the name of charity. Around the world millions of people live in dire poverty while developing nations live in what can only be called affluence. How can this be a good thing?

Youth plan how to energise the Church

n By Robert Hiini

Three months after the largest public event in Australia’s history, over 60 young leaders came together at the Activ8 PostWorld Youth Day Conference to learn how to make their next move in ministering to young people.

After leading some of the more than 2500 pilgrims who departed Perth for WYD in Sydney from July 15-20, participants gathered at Chisholm Catholic College between October 10-12 to attend talks and workshops designed to both inspire and instruct their peers.

Conference participants came from schools, youth movements and Catholic parishes throughout metropolitan and regional WA.

The conference continued the theme of the WYD in Sydney, taken from Acts 1:8: “You will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses.”

Participants were offered workshops in five different streams of training – faith development, leadership development, ministry in the Mass, prayer experiences and social justice and community service.

Administered by the Perth World Youth Day Office, the workshops were facilitated by leaders from the Catholic Youth Network – a body made up of organisations actively involved in ministering to youth in the state.

Apart from Perth WYD Office staff, facilitators included Mario Borg from Acts2Come Bible College, Marie raheb from the Young Christian Workers, Leonard Ong from the Young Christian Students, Sr Kerry Willison rSM from the Centre for Liturgy, Stephen Gorddard from True Love Waits, Tom Gannon from Notre Dame Univeristy’s chaplaincy and Bronia Karniewicz from the respect Life Office.

Anita Parker, the Coordinator of the Perth World Youth Day Office, opened the conference by calling to mind her own experience of getting involved at her local parish in music ministry and as a young representative on the parish council.

She spoke enthusiastically of WYD as being an integral part of her own growth in faith, telling participants that WYD had taught her two central truths - that genuine Catholicism involves a lot of joy and that she isn’t alone in being a young disciple of Jesus.

Ms Parker reiterated the questions that Pope Benedict XVI asked WYD pilgrims in his homily at the WYD Mass:

“Are you living your lives in a way that opens up space for the Spirit in the midst of a world that wants to forget God, or even rejects him in the name of a falsely-conceived freedom? how are you using the gifts you have been given, the “power” which the holy Spirit is even now prepared to release within you? What legacy will you leave to young people yet to come? What difference will you make?”

Conference goers explored the practical side to answering this call in workshops examining the ins and outs of the Mass and music ministry, the best ways to go about attracting and retaining youth leaders as well as helping young people to affect change through service.

Conference goers also had the opportunity to worship together with Archbishop Barry hickey when he celebrated Mass on the second day of the conference – a part of a range of worship and prayer activities interspersed amongst its talks and workshops.

The conference also provided an opportunity for the Catholic Youth Network to canvass a draft of their “Archdiocesan Youth Vision” amongst the local leaders, submitting it to them for comment.

The local vision initiative was prompted by efforts at a national level to formulate an Australian youth vision – a process that has been underway for the past 18 months – as well as the existence of similar documents published by the US and New Zealand bishops.

The eventual archdiocesan youth vision will be accompanied by an implementation plan detailing the strategies that members of the Catholic Youth Network will use to make the vision a reality.

Conference participants were told that the draft vision document would be updated in December to incorporate feedback in preparation for its eventual launch next January.

As local leaders on the frontline of youth ministry, participants were invited to fill in a questionnaire asking them to identify goals the Archdiocese should pursue over the next 3-20 years.

It wasn’t all business however as conference participants flocked to Burswood Casino on October 11, joining 191 people for the third annual WYD Ball, also staged by the Perth WYD Office and timed to coincide with the Activ8 event.

The next day of the conference began at a leisurely 2pm to allow participants to adjust to the previous night’s proceedings.

The conference was also addressed by Perth Auxiliary Bishop Don Sproxton, who shared his hopes not only for the weekend but also for the future of the Church in the archdiocese.

Bishop Sproxton spoke of his own positive experience of WYD but described it as “only a part of the bigger pilgrimage we are on”.

Despite the relative prosperity of Australia, rates of drug abuse and suicide among youth as well as increasing fear and anxiety in the community indicate an absence of hope and a nation in need of Jesus Christ, Bishop Sproxton said.

Bishop Sproxton said that post-World Youth Day, Chirst will give young Catholic leaders many opportunities to share the Good News they have heard at the weeklong WYD event in July.

he’s going to lead us into situations where we can have an incredible effect on many people in this generation. That then will give you an incredible moment of witnessing to bring them out of darkness.”

Youth ministry must involve community

n By Robert Hiini

YOUTh ministry isn’t just the business and responsibility of youth ministers and young people but must involve the whole community, according to Mario Borg, a lecturer at Acts2Come Bible College.

Mr Borg was speaking at the Activ8 Young Adult World Youth Day Conference in a workshop he co-presented with Marie raheb of the Young Christian Workers (YCW) and Leonard Ong of the Young Christian Students (YCS).

The workshop was conducted under the title “Leading in parish ministry: effectively engage and retain young leaders,” exploring the many challenges confronting young Catholic leaders in the Church today.

The presenters began by painting a picture of the cultural context that youth ministers are operating in, describing “Generation Y” as experientially motivated, ambitious, flexible in their employment and relationships and technologically savvy.

In a time when less than five per cent of school leavers practise their faith, the witness and outreach of young leaders and parish communities are central to evangelising disaffected Catholic youth, Mr Borg said.

“We have a whole generation of people who don’t know what it means to have an engaged faith level. They don’t know who God is and why he is so interested in them and why they need a relationship with him”.

Mr Borg, a former primary and high school teacher, says that youth ministry should be seen as a career pathway and that parishes should ideally employ

trained and qualified youth ministers. he encouraged conference participants who weren’t already doing so, to meet regularly with their parish council so that youth ministry is seen as the business of the whole parish. regular meetings allow youth leaders to update parish councilors on youth activities and to tap into the talent and gifts that parishes have already in their parishioners.

Borrowing from the megachurch pastor and best-selling author rick Warren, Mr Borg said that youth ministry initiatives must contain five elements:

l Discipleship – leaders must help young people to grow into followers of Jesus Christ through teaching and mentoring,

l A plan to evangelise – young people must be encouraged to be welcoming and to share the Good News with other youth,

l Fellowship – youth initiatives should provide an opportunity for young people to have fun together,

l Youth involvement in ministry –young people need to be given roles of responsibility,

l A sense of worship

“If you take one of those things out, you prevent it from being Christian,” Mr Borg said, concurring with Mr Warren.

“Our leaders have to know what those five things are and how they can go about them,” Mr Borg said.

he encouraged conference participants to expose young people to as many forms of worship as possible, pointing to the array of worship experiences pilgrims encounter at WYD such as Mass, adoration, rosary, lectio divina and praise and worship. Several conference participants said that they had encountered difficulty in trying to encourage young people to take up leadership positions.

Ms r aheb described the efficacy of YCW’s “See, Judge, Act” methodology in helping young people to feel involved - assessing youth needs, designing initiatives and making them a reality.

She described the importance of “walking with” local youth leaders through every stage of the development of a youth initiative, keeping regular contact with organisers once a project is up and running.

Leonard Ong explained the work of the YCS in engaging young people in high schools who may not have any connection to a parish, alerting conference participants to the resources that have been developed by YCS and YCW over the past year.

All three facilitators stressed the importance of nurturing and supporting youth leaders, with Mr Borg describing time spent mentoring and affirming young leaders as “our investment in the Church”.

“If you invest in them they don’t care how old you are, they don’t care how you look. They’ll listen to you and ask you questions. If you invest in them they will love you forever.”

SCHOENSTATT ANNUAL SPRING FAIR

10am - 2pm

SUNDAY 2ND NOVEMBER 2008

9 Talus Drive, Armadale.

Various Stalls

Silent Auction

Food & Drinks

Bargains & Prizes

Lots of fun for all the Family. Visit our beautiful Shrine. Walk in the bush & see the Kangaroos

Contact Mary 0400 553 140 for further information.

Interfacing: Diosecan priest Fr Paul Pitzen, chaplain of the Emmanuel Centre - a self-help centre run for and by people with disabilities, the families and those who work with people with disabilities - signs for participants during a workshop at the Post-WYD Activ8 Conference.

Photo: Rob ER t h iini.

Telling it like it is: Mario b org said youth ministry must involve the whole community for young people to feel part of a living Church.

Good times: Conference participants enjoy some post-WYD fellowship. Photos: Rob ER t h iini

Budding fashion designers generate Gold Fever

Santa Maria creations

n By Bridget Spinks

THIS year’s annual Santa Maria College Art Exhibition and Fashion Parade on October 18 was a glamorous affair as it took a ‘Gold Fever’ theme.

WA fashion designer and Santa Maria artist in residence Angela Ferolla officially opened the exhibition that showcased the artistic creations of close to 200 years 9-12 Santa Maria College girls.

Budding fashion designers at the school produced ‘wearable art’ and were required to follow a highly structured project brief that ensures modesty.

“One of the things we stipulate is that the garment must capture the

theme but they need to be aware of the body and self-respect and they need to be aware of the audience - especially being in a Catholic school,” said Santa Maria visual arts coordinator, Lisa Bowdon.

While the brief is specific in the requirements, it allows for a lot of self expression and individuality and is always guided by the teacher.

The Olympic inspired evening also showcased sculpture, digital graphics and textiles inspired by the Beijing Olympics such as trophies, medallions and paintings using Chinese painting style.

Grecian based outfits made by the girls that paid homage to the first Olympics in Greece were also on display.

Ms Bowden said that the idea behind the showcase and teambuilding exercise is to build self-

confidence, self-esteem and an awareness of others.

“We wanted to look at the major world event because of the collaborative-ness of it, many cultures appreciating each other at different levels,” she said in reference to the Beijing Games.

While the overarching theme also incorporated the ‘Saturday Night Fever’ 70s buzz to mark the college’s 70th anniversary, it also served to highlight the way the school appreciates its students’ qualities.

“We consider our girls to be winners regardless of whether they come first second or last, and they are our gold stars – that’s the idea behind the theme gold,” Ms Bowdon said.

The exhibition will be on show at Santa Maria College until October 23.

Clare says yes to Christ’s radical call, ‘differently from how the rest of us live’

Continued from page 1

the radical call of Christ’s that is “different from the way that the rest of us live our lives”, as Archbishop Hickey said.

For Sr Bernadette, the “romance of being a Religious and wearing the habit” wore off long ago, and, despite having been formed by some of the most highly regarded congregations in Europe, she was still petrified of taking vows just two weeks ago.

That was until a retreat run by a local Religious Order, where her trust in God grew to the point where she was no longer worried.

“I realised at that retreat that God said to me, ‘even your yes to me comes from me. Stop trying so hard to put everything into place’,” she told The Record

She compared it to a bride-to-be fussing over wedding arrangements, not realising that her own bridegroom had “taken care of absolutely everything”.

Sr Bernadette has been inspired for a long time by the late Pope John Paul II, having started under Archbishop Hickey’s instruction the Respect Life Office, which promotes and defends all issues relating to the ‘culture of life’ that the pontiff often referred to.

The Missionaries of the Gospel’s charism is, in short, following Christ in the footsteps of JPII.

“We want to help people encounter Christ and live the Gospel, primarily through our own living out of the Gospel in loving them, listening and supporting without judging,” she said.

“If there’s a need to speak about the faith then we are to share the Gospel in a way that relates to their human experience so that it is relevant.”

She believes that through JPII, the Holy Spirit is calling the Church to reflect upon the way it presents the Good News to the world.”

The Missionaries of the Gospel community currently consists of Natalie Thomas, who was accepted as a postulant by Archbishop Hickey on October 12, and Beatrice Yong, another postulant. Both are in their 20s.

The community is based at a house adjacent to Willagee parish, supported by parish priest Fr John Piumatti. Fr Anthony Van Dyke OP is the community’s chaplain and Sr Berndatte’s spiritual director.

The community’s apostolate is currently minimal as Beatrice and Natalie are still in formation, Sr Bernadette envisages a future where they facilitate retreats, seminars, spiri-

EIGHT

tual direction and spend time with families, especially on special occasions or in difficulties.

The community is unique, “it feels very different from other things in the Church”, she says, and presently has no special apostolate like teaching.

Rather, “ours is a common way of being in relationship with others and with God”, according to JPII’s charism of always maintaining a personal way of affirming people’s dignity and freedom and giving them hope.

“We think we’ve been given the same charism to continue the work of the Holy Spirit in that way,” she says.

Sr Bernadette met JPII in 2003 by chance in Rome, and has since spent time in 10 communities being formed for this role.

She says that just as God the Father initiated the gift of His Son to the world, who then gave His whole life and suffering to the Father and the Holy Spirit springs forth, so too will we – God willing – see what the Missionaries of the Gospel are called to be: a total gift of self to the other.

Archbishop Hickey said in his homily during the Mass where she made her perpetual profession that her act is significant for WA’s youth as she is a young person who is taking Jesus’ words in the Gospel literally.

The Gospel for the Mass was from Matthew, where a young rich man asked Jesus what he must do to possess eternal life, apart from following Moses’ Commandments, and Christ called him to sell all his possessions and follow Him. The man could not do it.

“God’s ways are not our ways. The call to a life of utter self-giving needs to be followed and needs enormous trust that God will be faithful to His word,” the Archbishop said.

Moment of truth: Archbishop Barry Hickey reads a blessing to Sr Bernadette of the Cross as she takes her vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, while her spiritual director Fr Anthony Van Dyke OP and Beatrice Yong, a postulant in the Missionaries of the Gospel.

P HOtO Peter rOS en G ren

Ethereal: Year 11 students ella Liascos, Julia Patterson and nikita Anderson model fashions designed by students for the Gold Fever fashion parade.

‘Youth need our best formation on life’

Yet another group of young Australians have started up a forum to have Church teachings discussed in local pubs.

n By Bridget Spinks

Equipping young Catholics with knowledge on the nature of life of the human person is critical to the Church’s mission, Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Julian porteous told a packed function room in a pub on October 14.

He was addressing the second theology initiative to be held in a pub in Sydney, called urban Theology, at the Brooklyn Hotel, down the road from St patrick’s Church, Churchill on the city circle train line, which has a thriving young adult network.

For over 90 minutes, Bishop porteous held almost 100 savvy youth riveted, saying that, in the wake of World Youth Day, bringing our faith to the marketplace (which today is the pub) is what the Church needs to do now.

“i suggested the topic because i think we need to get back to basics and understand the nature of human life,” the prelate said. “These are critical issues young people get asked about in the tea room and at uni,” said the Episcopal Vicar for Renewal and Evangelisation, whose own interests are as diverse as his audience – long-range walking, swimming, tennis and following the Wallabies national rugby team.

“We need to clarify them now so we get the core ideas right - that is: the nature of the life of the human person and the nature of human life.”

He said that the Church and science are not in competition with each other.

“The Church has infallibly defined that the universe was specially created out of nothing,” he said quoting the Canons on god the Creator of All Things, Canon 5.

Greed is at the heart of world food crisis: Benedict

Continued from page 1 ing the mechanisms of pricing and consumption.”

The pope also cited the lack of proper administration of food resources caused by corruption in public life, as well as increasing expenditures on weapons and sophisticated military technology to the detriment of basic necessities.

These causes find their origin in a “false sense of values” in international relations, and “especially in that widespread attitude in contemporary culture which privileges only the pursuit of material goods, forgetting the true nature of the human person and his deepest aspirations,” he said.

For these reasons, he said, a campaign against world hunger demands much more than scientific studies over climate change or biofuels. instead, he said, the world needs to recognise that the goods of creation are destined for everyone, and that “in the world community, economic life should be oriented toward the sharing of these goods, toward their long-term usage and the fair distribution of the resulting benefits.”

He said one essential condition to raising food production and preserving the identity of indigenous communities was to guarantee access to land in a way that favours agricultural workers and protects their rights.

“Concerning biological evolution, the Church does not have an official position on whether various life forms developed over the course of time. However, it says that if they did develop, then they did so under the impetus and guidance of god, and their ultimate creation must be ascribed to him.”

“Concerning human evolution, the Church has a more definite teaching. it allows for the possibility that man’s body developed from previous biological forms, under god’s guidance, but it insists on the special creation of his soul,” Bishop porteous said.

The talk began by explaining classic (non-

Catholic) approaches to the universe including Dualism, Manacheanism (which St Augustine followed for a while), gnosticism and Deism before discussing the Catholic position on the universe and the creation of man and woman.

“Humanity is made in the ‘image of god’. Of all visible creatures, only human beings are able to know and love god,” the 59-year-old prelate said.

“We are the only creature on earth that god has willed for its own sake and we alone are called to share, by knowledge and love, in god’s own life.”

Vietnamese live out Bible in pro-life movement

VATiCAn CiTY (CnS) - Decades of persecution have made Catholics in Vietnam fiercely committed to living out what they read in the Bible, and one of the results has been an active pro-life movement, said Bishop Joseph nguyen Chi Linh of Thanh Hoa, Vietnam on October 14. Addressing the world Synod of Bishops on the Bible, the bishop said, “unfortunately, Vietnam currently holds first place for the number of abortions performed.”

international organisations have estimated that between one-quarter and one-third of all pregnancies end in abortion in the country. in 2006, there were more abortions than live births in Ho Chi Minh City.

Bishop Linh told the synod: “paradoxically, this catastrophe has given rise to the pro-life movement among Catholics, a movement that particularly is involved in going to hospitals, recovering aborted babies, baptising them if there is even the smallest sign of life and creating cemeteries to bury them. “initially, this practice was

considered a crime by the civil authorities and hospital directors,” he said.

now, while the practice is not authorised, it is tolerated, the bishop said, and documentary filmmakers and journalists have written about it.

“Why this progress? The response is that the witness of Christians - those who live from the word and in light of the word, (who) respect lifeis increasingly recognized,” Bishop Linh said.

The word of god, he said, “has never ceased to be a moral and spiritual support” for Vietnamese Catholics, who have endured decades of oppression.

in the midst of “hatred, ideological wars and discriminatory limitations, our Christians increasingly have been convinced that only the word of god can preserve them in love, joy, peace, communion and tolerance,” he said.

Canadian Basilian Father Thomas Rosica, the synod’s English-language briefing officer, told reporters the synod members applauded Bishop Linh’s talk.

Cable TV journo starts up Urban Theology

n By Bridget Spinks

On the east coast of Australia, the theology-and-drinks formula has succeeded in several capital cities, such as in Sydney with Theology on Tap, in Melbourne with Theology @ the pub and more recently in Brisbane with Faith on Tap emerging in the wake of WYD08.

university of notre Dame Australia’s Fremantle campus also holds monthly Conversations on Tap at various locations, from Santa Maria lecture theatre to the Fremantle Hotel.

urban Theology is the latest offering to young people at the Brooklyn Hotel in Sydney but it is “not in competition,” say its organisers.

However, given Sydney does have ‘Theology on Tap,’ urban Theology differs in the crowd it brings in: young professionals in business attire after work.

A journalist for the Sky news Business Channel, Ky Chow, who initiated the CBD theology talk series, said the inspiration came from the wildly popular Theology on Tap and says ToT organisers are very supportive of the venture.

“urban Theology is in no way competing with Theology on Tap,” he stressed. “it’s an alternative for those who want it to be, but people should try to get to both –the more good Catechism and Catholic company, the better,” he said.

“i go to Theology on Tap pretty regularly and Theology on Tap has shown us that you can have good traditional Catholic teaching, yet delivered in an intellectual way that suits thinking young adults today.

“To me, it’s no secret that the Church has had difficulty retaining the youth with its more controversial teachings. Some of it may have been watered down in the past, no doubt with the best of intentions, but i don’t think a whole lot of people have found fulfilment in that convenient type of Catholicism. On the other hand, an inquisitive young mind isn’t built to have beliefs imposed on it either. So i can understand why Theology on Tap has been so successful with its approach of converting a regular social environment into a place where people can learn orthodox Catholicism, but in an intelligent way.”

One loyal Theology on Tap devotee who hopes she won’t have to choose between ‘Theology on Tap’ and ‘urban Theology’ came to the first ‘urban Theology’ talk on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old high school teacher, Sarah Saccasan, appreciated urban Theology for what it had to offer alongside other events for young people have ‘on tap’ at the moment in Sydney.

“it’s nice that it’s an older crowd [at urban Theology]. it’s affirming to come and see other young Catholics. it’s a feel good experience but also formation,” Ms Saccasan said. The theme for the first talk of the series was no oneoff idea. next month’s talk will be a follow on from porteous’ “back to basics” beginning. The speaker is yet to be announced.

For more info visit http://www.facebook.com/ group.php?gid=32556642026.

Spelling it out: Sydney Auxiiary Bishop Julian Porteous addresses the inaugural Urban Theology session at the Brooklyn Hotel in Sydney on October 14, while its organiser, Sky News Business Channel journalist Ky Chow, watches on in the background.

P HOTO : Gi O vANN P O r T elli

Protest: Catholic priests and laypeople attend a rally in front of St Joseph Church in Hanoi, vietnam, on September 25. The vietnamese Catholic community had been protesting to demand the return of the site of the former vatican embassy in Hanoi.

P HOTO CNS/ r e UT er S

God, not people, made Church: Pope

VATICAN CITY (CNS) - The church is not a club founded by people with a common interest; it is a living body convoked and created by God, Pope Benedict XVI said.

It is through the proclamation of the living Christ that “God comes to all peoples and reunites them as one people of God,” the pope said on October 15 at his weekly general audience.

The pope focused on St Paul’s teachings on the church and its meaning during the audience with 25,000 people gathered in St Peter’s Square.

The Greek word “ekklesia,” which is translated as assembly and church in English, was used in the Old Testament to mean an assembly of the people of Israel summoned or called upon by God, the Pope said.

In his writings, St Paul used the term to mean “the new community of believers in Christ” and “the new convocation of all peoples by God and before God,” the Pope said.

St Paul realised “the God of Israel, through Christ, came to the people... and became the God of all peoples,” the Pope said. Different languages and cultures could not separate the people of God; “everyone was called in their diversity to become part of the one people of God, in the church of God, in Christ,” said the Pope.

This was the essence of St Paul’s evangelical mission - to “embed the community of believers in Christ,” he said.

For St Paul, the Pope said, church meant both an assembly of God’s people in a particular place, city or home, and it also meant “all the church in its entirety.”

The church is not just “a sum of different local churches,” he said. Each local church is in itself a reflection or “realisation of God’s one church,” Pope Benedict said.

Peruvians celebrate beloved image

St Paul presents this one church of God as “the bride of Christ” that forms, “in love, one body, one spirit with Christ himself,” said the Pope. St Paul also formulated the concept of the church as the body of Christ, said the Pope.

Each individual Christian, no matter how small and seemingly insignificant, is an integral part that is necessary for the life and functioning of the body as a whole. And the church is not just a gathering of individuals but “truly

becomes the body of Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist where everyone receives his body and we truly become his body,” he said.

He said in this way St Paul shows people that the church does not belong to a particular person or group but is precisely the body of Christ, “the church of God, God’s field, God’s building.”

God is no longer confined to sacred places, the Pope said. “God does not live in buildings made of stone; rather God’s presence in the

world is in the living community of believers,” he said.

St Paul also referred to the church as the “house of God,” thus adding to it an original sense of community, familiarity and warm personal relationships, said the Pope. Pope Benedict called on Christians to remember “we are temples of God in the world, places where God truly lives, and we are at the same time a community, a family of God.” - Carol Glatz, CNS

Identical twins ordained

New priest says following vocation comes from encountering Christ as the one who gives the reason for your existence

TENERIFE, Canary Islands, Spain (CNA) - Identical twin brothers Cristobal Jose and Diego Jesus Rodriguez were ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Bernardo Alvarez of Tenerife on October 11 at the parish of the Immaculate Conception.

The ordination of the Rodriguez brothers was attended by Bishop Emeritus Felipe Fernandez and Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras.

Cristobal and Diego, 24, hail from the island of Tenerife. Cristobal said: “When you consider as a young person saying ‘Yes’ to the Lord forever, you do it from knowing that you have discovered Christ who gives reason to your existence and gives hope to your life.”

His priestly journey began 12 years ago, motivated by the attractive lives of a priest and a nun.

“Their example, the way they carried out their ministries, everything spoke to me of Christ.

“Thanks to these people, I fell in love with the Gospel to the point of surrendering my life totally to Christ.”

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Greeting: Believers throw flowers and balloons as Peru’s most revered Catholic religious icon, the Lord of the Miracles, passes in procession through Lima, Peru, on October 18. Each year thousands of Catholics in Lima commemorate the image’s survival in a devastating 17th-century earthquake that destroyed Lima. Ph OtO : CNS/Pi L ar O L ivar ES rE ut E r S

Sydney gets new priest-maker

Seminaries are a not only a place of discernment. Skills are to be developed and honed, spiritual muscles are built up, so they can serve the people of God with joy.

ACardinal George Pell plucked Fr Anthony Percy from the Canberra-Goulburn Archdiocese to be rector of his seminary, and sent him on a global tour to learn more about what makes seminaries and their students come alive with the faith. Fr Percy gave The Record journalist Anthony Barich an exclusive insight into what he learned.

DEEP faith in Christ and the ability to communicate it to the faithful is the key to the ministry of the priests that Fr Anthony Percy will help form as the new rector of the Seminary of the Good Shepherd in Homebush, Sydney.

Fr Percy, who did Doctoral Studies in the Church’s Social Doctrine at the John Paul II Institute in Washington, DC, was hand picked by Sydney Cardinal George Pell to take over as rector next January from Auxiliary Bishop Julian Porteous, who held the role since January 2002.

Fr Percy admitted to The Record that he was first taken aback by Cardinal Pell’s request and had never thought of doing “this type of priestly work”. But he says the task of forming priests in the third millennium is a “great grace” for him. “It sits well with me, because I recognise that the work is not my work but the Lord’s,” he said.

Fr John Greig, a diocesan priest with vast pastoral experience, was recruited to the Seminary of the Good Shepherd in August as pastoral director as it was intended that the position would merge with that of vice rector next January.

Cardinal Pell sent Fr Percy and Fr Greig to Rome and the United States to gauge seminary culture before taking on the role themselves.

What they learned – and will implement themselves – will build on the pillars which Bishop Porteous drew on as rector: to develop a seminary with staff clearly focused on the five pillars of formation: human, spiritual, intellectual, pastoral and apostolic.

These pillars were identified in Pastores Dabo Vobis, the Apostolic Exhortation to bishops, clergy and faithful on the formation of priests in the circumstances of present day. Fr Percy said in an exclusive interview with The Record that a man studying for the priesthood should advance in each of these categories to be ready to serve God’s people.

“In other words, he needs to be a man who is profoundly rooted in the human virtues of prudence, temperance, fortitude and justice –to begin with,” said Fr Percy, who was ordained for the CanberraGoulburn Archdiocese in 1990.

Communication the key

In addition, he said, a seminarian needs to develop his communication abilities so that he can preach what he believes in – Christ crucified and risen. He said that this is “vitally important” for the

‘new evangelisation that the late John Paul II called for.

As most people’s contact with the Church comes via Sunday Mass, “if the preacher can bring his listeners into the power of Christ’s death and resurrection, then the baptised faithful will take this personal experience of Christ into their homes, work places and onto the streets without fear,” Fr Percy said. It is from a deep faith in Christ, he said, rather than “the skills he learns at a drama school or a local speech club”, that the priest must preach the Word of God.

Know your stuff

The future priest, Fr Percy added, need not be an academic in matters of human reason and the mysteries of faith; he needs only to show a competence and a “willingness to think with assent”.

He says the priest also needs to “know his stuff”, well versed in the Church’s teachings and why she teaches the truths of the faith. So, grounding in philosophy – a trust in human reason and its abilities –will be invaluable.

“Many people today have lost confidence in our ability to think things through and this is not helpful when we come to understand the mysteries of the faith,” Fr Percy said, echoing the thoughts of both John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, who on many occasions said that faith and reason are not opposed. “They are like two wings on which the human person flies towards God,” Fr Percy says.

He said faith is a gift given and the deposit of faith is a treasure; and the priest is called neither to subtract from what is contained in the Creed and Commandments and “he is certainly not called to add to it”. A future priest needs to be “humble like the saints, believe then communicate”.

Vocations promotion

Of the seminary itself, he said it can develop wider links with the wider Church, as his overseas visitations to seminaries revealed close links with the diocesan vocations director in particular and with the Church community – parishes, schools, groups and movements –in general.

He especially noted the role seminarians play in the promotions of vocations. “They are, after all, our best asset in that department,” he said.

Seminary life

A seminary also needs to be a place of great enjoyment, echoing

the words of St John Bosco about life in general that Fr Percy says is especially pertinent to seminaries: “Two things are essential. One, to stay in the state of grace. Second, enjoy life as much as you can.”

He said that seminaries can be places of tension and frustration, where people can be tempted to question why they’re stuck in a seminary rather than serving the people of God in parishes as Christ has called them to do.

But Fr Percy said that “having a deep sense of faith and fun is important to help people realise the grace of the moment”.

Treasures of the Church

Fr Percy also noticed in his world tour of seminaries that a seminary student has certain characteristics. They are more traditional – not necessarily more conservative (though that may be the case) – but in the sense they want to receive the great tradition of the Church, including its spirituality, teaching (dogmatic and moral) and practice.

Tradition comes from the Latin word “traditio” and means “to hand over”, which is what the Church does best: to hand over to the next generation the riches of Christ –specifically, to hand over “a love for Christ in the Eucharist and in the poor”.

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“Let us, then come back from that table like Lions

Chrysostom, homilies on the Gospel of St. John: Homily 46 on John 6

Crucial: A seminarian reads the Bible in a breezeway at the North American College in Rome last year.

Photo: CNS

Spiritual home: Fr Anthony Percy, right, the new Rector of Sydney’s Seminary of the Good Shepherd, stands outside St Peter’s Basilica in Rome last month after concelebrating early morning Mass in the basilica. With him is incoming seminary

Vice Rector Fr John Greig. Photo S : Pete R Ro S e NGR e N

Mass: Fr Anthony Percy, right, the new Rector of Sydney’s Seminary of the Good Shepherd, concelebrates Mass at one of the many chapels in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome last month with Fr John Greig, centre, and a priest from New York.

VISTA

FORCING COMPLIANCE

When faithful dissent is a criminal offence

■ By Michael Cook

The Australian State of Victoria has a world first: a law which forces doctors to refer women for abortion or to do it themselves - even if they have a conscientious objection.

Set in a huge mosaic in the lobby of Parliament House in Melbourne is a Biblical proverb, “Where no counsel is, the people fall; but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.” A good number of healthcare workers in the state of Victoria must be wondering now whether this is still true. Last week their Victorian legislators passed the only law in the Western world which forces doctors and nurses to participate in abortions against their conscience.

The Abortion Law Reform bill decriminalises abortion and forces doctors with a conscientious objection to refer a woman to a doctor who will do an abortion. In the event of an “emergency” abortion -– whatever that is -- regardless of their moral qualms, doctors must do it themselves. Victorian nurses will be in an even worse predicament. They must participate in an abortion if ordered by their boss.

The penalty for non-compliance is not specified, but there is no mistaking what will happen. Conscientious objectors will be hauled before a registration board and stripped of their right to practise. They won’t go to jail, but they will lose their jobs. Dissenters will be squeezed out of the Victorian health system in a workplace version of ethnic cleansing.

“Where no counsel is, the people fall; but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.”

The worst feature of this legislation is that it legalises the destruction of innocent and defenceless human life. Women may now have an abortion at any time during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, and later if they obtain the agreement of two doctors. About 20,000 children already die this way in Victoria every year because of a judicial loophole in the old law.

But corrupting the medical profession by forcing doctors and nurses to collude in this is a clear violation of a universally acknowledged human right to freedom of conscience.

Nowhere else in the world does such a draconian law exist, not in New Zealand, not in the United Kingdom, not in Canada, not in the United States. The Victorian Law Reform Commission devoted only seven skimpy paragraphs to conscientious objection in its backgrounder supporting the legislation. It failed to note that nearly every American state explicitly allows some health care professionals to refuse to participate in abortion and even to refuse to refer. In states without explicit refusal statutes, a doctor is protected by laws which prohibit discrimination on religious grounds.

According to a survey by a Canadian group, Protection of Conscience, only Slovenia requires doctors to refer for an

abortion. But even there, in an ex-Communist country, another option exists. They can advise their institution of their position and the obligation to refer then falls to the institution.

Why respect for basic human rights in Australia has fallen to the level of Belarus or China calls for some serious reflection. Victorian MPs who would fight to be photographed signing a petition in support of the conscience rights of Tibetan Buddhists have quashed them in their own state. Only two years ago they passed a Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities which guaranteed freedom of thought, conscience, religion, belief and expression on any topic –except, astonishingly, abortion.

Even Liberty Victoria is vehemently opposed to granting health care workers freedom of conscience. This self-appointed guardian of civil liberties told the Law Reform Commission that it did not believe that “that subjective moral or ethical objections should be explicitly protected in legislation.” Its motto is “the price of liberty is eternal vigilance” -- but its watchdogs nap during abortion debates.

There is only one bright side to this shameful law: it has exposed “pro-choice” to the world as a rigid, profoundly undemocratic, totalitarian ideology. For pro-choice

lobbyists, the content of choice is completely arbitrary; choice needs no moral or medical justification. It must be right simply because it has been chosen. Whether it is a good or a bad choice makes no difference. Only two outcomes are possible -- I get what I want or I don’t. Words like debate, dialogue, negotiation, and compromise fall on deaf ears. And because they are not open to rational discussion, they use raw political power to get their way.

Two years ago several Victorian pro-lifers published a book, Common Ground? Seeking an Australian Consensus on Abortion and Sex Education. Using polls which showed that Australians have a wide range of attitudes towards abortion on demand, they hoped to pave the way for a rational debate about the issues – mental and physical health risks for women, community attitudes, counselling, alternatives, and so on.

In retrospect, this may have been naive. Only the pro-life side was prepared to be rational and accommodating. It lost. The victorious pro-choice side has offered dissenting doctors and nurses the option that Ferdinand and Isabella gave the Jews: conversion or exile.

The 21st century is already shaping up as an age of anxiety: financial volatility, climate change, an ageing population, increasing immigration, militant Islam and the war on terror will offer many temptations to curtail civil liberties and suppress dissenters. The Victorian Parliament has already failed its first test. How will it cope with the ones to come?

Michael Cook is editor of MercatorNet.

Let’s dance! Puttin’ on the Ritz at WYD

Robert Hiini dropped by the Astral Ballroom at Burswood Resort to catch the entertainment and fun at the World Youth Day reunion ball on Saturday, October 11. Ball-goers enjoyed the night greatly, he reports.

Photos courtesy of Peter Bui

Dancing in a new direction

Over 190 people packed out Burswood Casino’s Astral Ballroom for the third annual World Youth Day Ball in a night that celebrated World Youth Day’s impact in Perth to date and its future. Singles and couples partied the night away dancing to live contemporary music after enjoying a three-course meal prepared by in-house chefs.

In her dinner address, Perth World Youth Day Coordinator Anita Parker, reminisced about the year to date – the preparation and experience of local events leading up to World Youth Day (WYD) in July and the time Perth pilgrims spent in Sydney.

She took the opportunity to thank her staff at the Perth World Youth Day Office – Silvana Scarfe, Miller Lo, Jeanette D’Castro, Matthew Hodgson and Tammy Nguyen - for their dedication in organising Perth’s WYD effort.

They returned the favour by singing her an affectionate and humorous song depicting the idiosyncracies of each of the Perth WYD Office’s staff members.

Having mentioned at the start of proceedings that he would be making a special announcement, Auxiliary Bishop Don Sproxton told a jubilant crowd that Ms Parker had been appointed the new director of Catholic Youth Ministry (CYM).

The position at the archdiocesan youth office had been vacant since September when the previous director of one and a half years, Robert Hiini, resigned to take up a position at The Record.

The bishop also announced that the Perth WYD Office would be amalgamated with CYM “so that World Youth Day will continue to be a part of youth ministry in the diocese.”

Bishop Sproxton thanked Ms Parker for all the work she has undertaken over the past two years: “for the way she has been able to bring people together, to create that network among us and, with this team, has done her upmost to make this WYD experience one to remember.”

“I am very confident as the Archbishop is too, that Anita will be able to build upon the momentum of WYD,” Bishop Sproxton said.

“I am sure you will pray with me that she will succeed in bringing the Church into the lives of so many more young people enabling us then to provide a place for them in our local churches.”

Christ’s love is a remarkable thing

Terry Quinn as told to Debbie Warrier

Ilove the Psalms. There are Psalms of thanksgiving, praise, lament and hope. All of those aspects become part of my prayer. I’ve got a Benedictine Breviary I use to pray in the morning and the evening. I pray it during the day when I can. I like the readings. Many of them are from Scripture itself so it keeps me in touch with the broad expanse of the Biblical readings from the Old Testament to the New Testament. It also puts me in touch with the terrific things that have been written by the various saints.

How I Pray Now

with Debbie Warrier

I am the executive officer of the Catholic Social Justice Council, which works at the parish level. It encourages people to pray more about issues of social justice, for their own needs and the needs of others in the world. Secondly, it encourages the education and formation of each individual. Lastly, the Council advocates on behalf of the disadvantaged for social justice through societal structures.

Through my faith I can work in the area of social justice. I know that God will produce the fruits of my labor because I work for Him. For example, Aboriginal reconciliation may not happen in my lifetime but I can be part of that process. I work to change the structures that continue to oppress people and perpetuate unnecessary human suffering. I write to the government to say, “There is a human need here and you can do something about it.”

I often pop into the chapel here at the Pastoral Centre where I work. I just sit in Church and enjoy its lovely stillness. I consider that part of our exposure and ongoing relationship to God. In the Gospels you read that Christ in His busy life often retired to the mountains to pray.

The New Testament tells us that we are all created through Christ.

It’s an incredible image for me and the basis of my work at the Catholic Social Justice Council. It is a motivation for me to know that for all of eternity I was known and loved.

One of the titles of Mary is Mirror of Justice. Through my devotion to Mary, I have developed gentleness in my prayer.

I think that is important for a man. We have some wonderful prayers through the tradition of faith like the Hail Holy Queen. During my night prayer I like to sing a short hymn to her.

Mary is a great model for social justice. She lived in Nazareth right next to a big city called Sephoris (modern day Zipora) which was the centre of the Roman administration under King Herod.

I think that she would have seen a lot of trouble there. She must have been a very strong woman to bring up the boy Christ.

There are many times when I fall down in prayer. But I try to put God and others before me.

I think the challenge facing Catholics today is that we not only preach to the converted about life issues like abortion, poverty, violence and warfare in the world.

We need to take evangelisation beyond the marketplace and talk to other people on their wavelength.

Christ suffered because of His solidarity with people. Prayer is intimately connected to love, charity and justice. It is an action for which there is no substitute.

debwarrier@hotmail.com

What you do to the least of these...

with Bronia Karniewicz

Forget not the Love

October 26 is Respect Life Sunday, initiated by Archbishop Hickey to celebrate the sanctity of all human life and promote a culture of life and love in our society.

The theme for this year, “Forget not Love,” is a reminder for those who have not experienced abortion to reach out with love and compassion to the women and men in our communities impacted by abortion.

Statistics indicate that by the age of 40, one in four women have experienced at least one abortion and for the next generation it will be one in three.

Growing international research is linking induced abortion to increased rates of psychiatric illness, depression, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder and premature death in the categories of suicide, accident, homicide and natural causes.

Put simply, there are many women and men grieving and traumatised by their abortion experience.

Yet Jesus Himself said “whatever you do to the least of mine you do to me.” As people of life we know this includes the unborn. But we must never forget that

Pope Benedict speaking on abortion

• “Yes, the men and women of our day sometimes truly find themselves stripped and wounded on the wayside of the routes we take, often without anyone listening to their cry for help or attending to them to alleviate and heal their suffering. In the often purely ideological debate a sort of conspiracy of silence is created in their regard. Only by assuming an attitude of merciful love is it possible to approach in order to bring help and enable victims to pick themselves up and resume their journey through life.”

Address of his holiness Benedict XVI to participants in an international congress organized by the John Paul II Institute for studies on Marriage and Family. Clementine Hall April 5, 2008

it also includes those who have experienced abortion. Our actions and words must always give hope and reflect Jesus’ deep love for our wounded mothers and fathers.

There are many parents who grieve and suffer because their children’s death and we need to be sensitive to these parents who suffer such deep grief regardless of that stage of grief they are in, whether isolated and despairing, in denial or full of anger.

When we speak of abortion it is important to speak with compassion

and care to the parents of the unborn, just as we would to any parent who has lost a child.

We must always be aware of the pressures our society puts on women and couples not to give birth to their children.

Our gentle words can give hope. When we speak with compassion and care, we reach out, we promote healing. Simply, we can “forget not love” when discussing abortion.

For more information

93752029 or respectlife@perthcatholic.org.au

Introducing gayness a tad too early

Political correctness gets knotted

Two recent incidents say a lot about Britain today, and the Soviet-cum-Kafka style convolutions of the soft totalitarianism which is increasingly a feature of the enforcement of political correctness.

Last October a protestant Christian couple, Vincent and Pauline Matherick, who over the years had taken in 28 foster children, were forced by local authorities from Somerset County Council to give up being foster parents after they refused to promote homosexuality to the children in their care.

Officials told them that if children “expressed an interest” in homosexuality, they would have to take them to gay support group meetings.

The couple, who are both church ministers, said that they would neither condemn nor condone homosexuality, but they could not actively promote it because of their religious beliefs.

Facing removal from the carers’ register, they decided to stop fostering.

An 11-year-old boy in their care was therefore taken from them and placed in a children’s unit.

Mr Matherick, who is also a primary school governor, said: “We have never discriminated against anybody but I cannot promote homosexuality when I believe it is against the Word of God. It’s terrible that we’ve been forced into this corner.

“They were saying that we had to be prepared to talk about sexuality with 11-year-olds, which I don’t think is appropriate anyway, but not only that, to be prepared to explain how gay people date.” One can certainly see his point: “talking about sexuality to 11-year-olds” could easily be fraught with the most dire civil and criminal legal consequences.

A spokesman for Somerset County Council was quoted as saying that the council was obliged to implement the

In clear view

By Guy Crouchback

government’s sexual orientation regulations, which came in earlier last year, and that: “I am not suggesting that it is not very difficult for some people, but there is still an obligation under the law.”

David Davies, the Tory MP for the area, said: “It’s absolutely horrendous that Christian men and women doing their bit for the community are being discriminated against because of their beliefs.

“I’m quite certain that social services would never dare to ask a member of any other established religion to agree to such a stance on homosexuality.”

Mr Davies’ words were tested in the second incident: about 90 Muslim parents protested when two primary schools in Bristol with predominantly Muslim pupils were found to be giving out books promoting homosexual relationships to five-year-olds.

One of these stories, titled King and King, is a fairy-tale described as featuring, as its hero, a prince who turns down three princesses before, in a happy ending, marrying one of their brothers.

I have not read the book but from this fairly bare description it sounds as if its literary qualities do not exactly compare with those of Narnia or Lord of The Rings

Another work, And Tango Makes Three, is the story of two male homosexual penguins in the New York Zoo, who fall in love and adopt.

There was also a book and DVD titled That’s a Family! which teaches children about different gay or lesbian parents. Parents at the schools had apparently not been informed about

this material being used. Bristol City Council said the schools had been using the books to ensure they complied with the regulations.

However, faced with Muslim parents’ protests, unlike the case of the Mathericks, the authorities beat a hasty retreat and these materials were withdrawn.

Members of the Bristol Muslim Cultural Society were quoted as saying that Muslim parents were upset at the lack of consultation over the use of the materials. Farooq Siddique, the community development officer for the society and a school governor, said there were also concerns about whether the stories were appropriate for children of such a young age.

He was quoted in the Daily Mail as saying: “There was a total lack of consultation. The schools refused to deal with the parents, and were completely authoritarian.

“The agenda was to reduce homophobic bullying and all the parents said they were not against that side of it, but families were saying to us ‘our child is coming home and talking about samesex relationships, when we haven’t even talked about heterosexual relationships with them yet’.

“They don’t do sex education until Year Six and at least there you have got the option of withdrawing the children.

“But here you don’t have that option apparently. You can’t withdraw because it is no particular lesson they are used in.”

“In Islam homosexual relationships are not acceptable, as they are not in Christianity and many other religions but the main issue is that they didn’t bother to consult with parents.

“The issue should have been, how do we stop bullying in general, and teaching about homosexuality can be a part of that. This was completely one-sided. Homosexuality is not a priority to parents but academic achievement is. This just makes parents think ‘What the heck is my child being taught at school?’”

Warped into self-worth

Many are invited, but few are chosen. - (Matthew 22:14)

What if God does not want us as we are?

What if we are radically unworthy of the promises of Christ?

What if, in other words, we are sorry creatures who need a major overhaul before we are fit for glory?

This view, which emphasises humility, is probably controversial today.

Certainly the view that Christians, even good Catholics, are always somewhat short of perfect seems to have fallen out of favour. In some sections of (English-speaking) Catholic culture, indeed, it is more often the case that one believes that

Being Heard

By John Heard

one can do almost anything, and still escape damnation.

This view seems to me, at least, to be the product of a correct view of God’s mercy (overwhelming, beyond our understanding, everavailable for the repentant) attached to an incorrect view of man’s basic relationship to God.

The words of a familiar postVatican II hymn, for instance, suggest that God wants His people to “come as you are, that’s how I want you, come as you are, feel quite at home”.

It is as if, extrapolating from the hymn, we are already good enough, just as we are, and therefore our going to Mass, our living holy lives, and all the demands the faith makes on us, these are better thought of as supererogatory requirements.

Broadly speaking, this is not a good idea, and it is not even a Catholic idea – it has more in common with the historically Protestant notion that an individual needs “faith alone” to justify himself before God.

Many of our Protestant brothers and sisters, indeed, would still find it hard to swallow some of the more louche lines in the hymn, and good people everywhere recognise that a too-easy sense of self-worth, an inflated sense of one’s goodness, are good signs that a man is corrupt.

There is a scene in the film (and play) Shadowlands that seems to get at things better.

The Christian writer and Oxford academic CS Lewis is explaining the problem of evil, or trying to, by explaining earthly pain as something like the blows of a sculptor’s (God’s) hammer. Human beings (imagined as lumps of stone) are –on this view – not properly formed until we have been hit a few times, and literally cut down to size.

Often the things, then, that hurt

the most – the blows that cause the most pain – these are what make us beautiful in God’s sight.

Religion is, to shift the analogy, more like a magnificent wedding dress that one strives to fit into; it is not a comfortable old sweater that will fit over, and hide, our worst attributes. The trials we face, the blows, the sorrows, these are – if we believe that God is good and loving – part of His plan for us. He wants us to be better than we already are, and Christian hope is – in part – the sense that we can improve.

Often, in this context, a same sex attracted man will speak to me of the potential difficulty, or the perceived potential loneliness, of a life lived according to the Church’s teaching on homosexual acts.

Very recently, indeed, in a television studio green room last week, someone asked me if I longed for the day when the Church “accepts” me (a same sex attracted man), without asking me to change.

I replied, of course, that the Church asks all men to change.

Certainly, it is not just homosexuals who are called on to govern themselves.

All men and most priests are expected to practise chastity or celibacy (respectively), and every Catholic has his or her cross. A

same sex attracted man, like any other human being, must - therefore - look not to what he is (for he is a child of God), but with everyone else, he must look to what he does.

Sure enough, Catholics must come as they are – in many respects – because we cannot come any other way, but we do not come as supermen, and we are not divinities.

We are all broken, and crippled –spiritually, emotionally, physically, or otherwise – and we properly hope that Christ will change us, heal us, put us back together.

If Catholics cannot control ourselves all of the time, then, we must be very careful not to turn our failures into inappropriate calls for the Church to change her fundamental teachings.

In the God broken on a tree we discern the only pattern of perfection. Broken man is to be broken again, and remade according to God’s plan. This is terrifying, of course, but it is only cause for despair if we don’t believe Christ’s promises.

Let us hurry after then, tittering, silly things that we are, limping on our various crutches (drink, fornication, theft, cruelty), until we come at last into His presence, and throw the crutch away.

JOHN HEARD IS A MELBOURNE WRITER.

GOOD NIGHT & GOD BLESS

Volume 1: A Guide to Convent and Monastery Accommodation in Austria, Czech Republic and Italy

By Trish Clark

Good Night & God Bless takes you on a tour of religious hideaways offering tourist and pilgrimage accommodation throughout Europe. It reveals these unique, atmospheric and affordable places which accommodate tourists or those pursuing a pilgrimage or spiritual retreat.

This user-friendly travel book provides safe, affordable and comfortable accommodation information, local tourist information, places of pilgrimage, travel tid-bits and anecdotes against a fascinating backdrop of history and religion. An amazing reference guide for all those planning to travel to Europe!

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ABC axeing sign of deeper problem

No doubt there are many secularists who are cheering to hear that their eight cents a day will no longer be going into funding Radio National’s The Religion Report

Indeed, there might also be a good number of people of faith who are of the same opinion. It certainly wasn’t everybody’s cup of tea when it came to religious programming.

But the ABC’s decision to axe this program, along with other specialist RN programs, should give us pause to consider the state of reporting on matters of religion and faith in Australia today.

The 2006 Census tells us that about 70 per cent of Australians identified themselves with a religious faith. So in theory at least, seven in 10 people will have a nominal interest in seeing, hearing or reading about matters of religion.

A quick glance at the ABC’s own website comments on the demise of the Religion Report tells us that people identifying as agnostic and atheist also tuned in to the program to gain some insight into the goings on in the world of faith.

This is not surprising, because religious faith is not only of interest to those who hold such faith, but to the wider society as well. Why?

Because religious faith has a social dimension. It is not purely personal. It calls for engagement with one’s neighbour, and in the Christian tradition from which I come, this has meant that for more than 2000 years, religion has been at the forefront of public discussion.

It is no different in 2008. Any serious observer of society can see that we need more informed reportage of the complex dynamics of religious faith, secularism and atheism, not less.

The ABC, as the national broadcaster, should be leading the way in specialist reporting. Without the commercial imperatives of its competitors, the ABC is not only free to put more resources into less populist areas, but it has an obligation to do so.

We can get more than enough of the latest celebrity gossip or political PR manoeuvrings via other outlets.

It’s precisely for specialised coverage of under-reported areas that we should be able to turn to the tax-payer funded ABC and particularly to Radio National.

The ABC management’s decision to scrap the specialist programs on RN in favour of a more generalist approach to fit in with its new online environment also seems strange.

The current wisdom says that in the online world where everyone’s an instant expert on everything, news outlets will distinguish themselves from the din of the blogosphere precisely by specialisation and quality, informed journalism.

Can religion be covered by generalist reporters? Of course it can, on one level. It’s no different to any other ‘round’ in that regard. It’s part of a journalist’s job to ask questions about things on which they are not expert.

I’ve been interviewed by many fine generalist reporters, and I’ve also been interviewed by many who have very limited knowledge of even the basic differences among denominations.

But when it comes to thorough analysis and deeper reflection on questions of religion, specialised knowledge is required.

It’s the same as politics or economics. Any journalist can report on the changing fortunes of government or a stock market crash, but when we seek the deeper story behind the headlines we tune in to the specialists, the political correspondent or the economics editor on AM or the 7.30 Report.

“Rather than abandon specialty religious programming the ABC should seize this opportunity to make it better - more relevant, less trite and clichéd...”

Sadly the ABC is not alone in its lack of attention to the 70 per cent of Australians who identify with a religious faith.

From my experience, I can think of only two truly specialist Religious Affairs reporters working on newspapers in this country at the moment, both from Fairfax publications. Who knows what the current upheavals at Fairfax will mean for specialist reporting into the future?

I am delighted that Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has released a discussion paper for public comment on the future direction of public broadcasters in the changing media environment.

I hope that many Australians, regardless of their religious faith or non-faith will place submissions arguing strongly that now is not the time to abandon specialist reporting on religion or other areas of interest to our society.

Rather than abandon specialty religious programming the ABC should seize this opportunity to make it better - more relevant, less trite and clichéd, and more truly reflective of the religious experience of people in this country and in the world.

Then we would have a national broadcaster which was truly fulfilling its charter.

Archbishop Philip Wilson is the President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

Archbishop Philip Wilson

Caritas’ emergency appeal for 90,000 Congolese

Kinshasa (CNA) - The Catholic charity Caritas has launched an emergency appeal to help 90,000 who have fled their homes in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Renewed fighting in North and South Kivu has displaced more than 100,000 people since the end of August. Caritas’ appeal for more than $2.15 million will help fund the urgent nonfood needs of people uprooted in North Kivu and provide blankets, hygiene products and cooking equipment to 15,000 families who have lost their homes and possessions in the violence. Caritas DRC has reported at least 17 deaths from cholera at a camp west of Goma. Some cases of malnutrition have also been reported among children and nursing mothers. The fighting continues despite the Congolese Government’s approval of a UN plan for all sides to withdraw their forces on September 17. A ceasefire had been signed in January 2008.

Chilean priest new Aid to Church in Need president

Konigstein (CNA) - The Holy See has named Chilean Fr Joaquin Alliende-Luco the new leader of Aid to the Church in Need. Fr Alliende-Luco, a member of the Schoenstatt movement, was the International Ecclesiastic Assistant for ACN since 1999, and since 1978, he has been a consulter for theological issues as a member of the ACN’s General Council.

ACN said he is known “not only as a theologian, but also as a poet. He has published more than ten volumes of poetry and has written several Mass booklets for orchestras and cantatas. For World Youth Day 2005 in Cologne, he composed a musical entitled Pelican – In Your Hands, about the martyrs of the 20th century.”

The former president of ACN, Swiss Fr Hans-Peter Rothlin, ended his three-year term of service.

US crusade to prevent marriage redefinition

Washington DC (CNA) - The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has joined with the Knights of Columbus in developing a national plan of action to defend marriage against consequential legislative and judicial efforts to redefine marriage. Among the first initiatives planned are the production of a brief internet video, the use of social networking site marketing, and the distribution of the bishops’ statement on marriage “Between Man and Woman.” The new plan continues broader efforts at promoting and protecting marriage. In 2004 the bishops began a National Pastoral Initiative for Marriage, which includes the “For Your Marriage” campaign. The campaign web site, www.foryourmarriage.org, offers information and help to engaged and married couples. The campaign began distributing “For Your Marriage” messages in July 2007, in such an amount that the campaign ranked in the top twenty percent of air time.

Beleagured Vietnamese Church gets two bishops

Hanoi (CNA) - The Church in Vietnam received two new bishops on October 15 from Pope Benedict XVI. Elevated to the office of bishop are Fr Laurent Chu Van Minh for the Archdiocese of Hanoi and Fr Pierre Nguyen Van Kham for the Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City. The Catholic Church in Vietnam is currently being persecuted by the Communist government because it has been peacefully protesting the illegal seizure of its land in numerous locations throughout the country. Journalists have been interrogated and imprisoned.

60 years on, UN declaration of human rights under threat

Some Islamic cultures say UN rights document not universal

ROME (CNS) - Sixty years after the creation of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the document is under threat, several speakers said at a conference celebrating its anniversary.

The presumption that this landmark list of basic fundamental principles is a Western, Judeo-Christian invention and therefore would be inapplicable to Eastern, especially Islamic, cultures seems to be on the rise, they said.

The US Embassy to the Vatican, with support from the Knights of Columbus, sponsored an October 16 conference titled For Everyone, Everywhere: Universal Human Rights and the Challenge of Diversity, one of three conferences the embassy was organising this year to mark the 60th anniversary of the UN declaration.

US Ambassador to the Vatican Mary Ann Glendon said the UN commission charged with drawing up a sort of “international bill of rights” asked philosophers if there were rights or values that people from different cultures, religions and political bents could agree on as universal.

With input from Confucian, Hindu, Muslim and Christian officials and scholars from around the world, the philosophers determined “that even people who seem to be far apart in theory can agree that certain things are so terrible in practice that no one will openly approve them and that certain things are so good in practice that no one will openly oppose them,” she said.

The agreement that there did exist “basic concepts of human decency” led to the drafting of 30 articles adopted by the UN General Assembly by a vote of 48-0.

Glendon said the nations abstaining from the vote were the six Soviet states, South Africa and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia objected to the articles on women’s rights and religious freedom; South Africa at the time ruled with apartheid and could not accept the concept of equality.

Sixty years later, the communist bloc has crumbled and apartheid has been dismantled, but Saudi Arabia “is indeed the Middle East’s black hole when it comes to human rights” by denying women and non-Muslims even the most basic rights of freedom of movement and expression,

said Habib Malik, a professor at Beirut’s Lebanese American University.

Malik, whose father Charles helped draft the UN declaration, said the human rights record of many Middle Eastern countries “is close to abysmal.”

The reason why governments tend to be repressive and human rights are violated there is not because the people do not desire greater openness, he said.

It is “the combination of ideologically driven extremists, and a narrow-minded and conservative clerical establishment that thwarts any serious efforts” to overcome intimidating practices of the ruling regimes, he said.

Malik said the main reason a democratic culture cannot take root easily in the Middle East is because certain conceptsindividual rights, non-Islamic law and the separation of religion from politics - “are considered alien or flatly unacceptable” from an Islamic perspective.

So while “the external husks of the democratic process,” such as political campaigns and elections, can make modest progress in parts of the Middle East, the basic democratic values of equality and freedom “get consistently left behind,” he said.

Some countries, like Iran, said they cannot adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as it would violate Islamic law and is based on Judeo-Christian tradition, he said. Iran has claimed the UN document can be violated because it is a man-

made list of conventions while Islamic law, or Shariah, comes from a divine source.

He said member states of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference in 1990 supported an alternative document, called the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, which challenges the universality of the UN document’s belief in basic, inherent rights.

Jean Bethke Elshtain, professor of social and political ethics at the University of Chicago Divinity School, said today marks “a time of testing and peril for human rights.”

Those who created the declaration after World War II did so to prevent the emergence of “more Hitlers, Stalins” and other tyrants and dictators, she said.

Part of the problem, she said, is the UN’s inability to prevent or stop modernday genocides and other tragedies as it is “paralysed by the nature of its own structure and the ineptness that flows from the bloated bureaucratisation of the organisation itself.”

Elshtain also said so-called “positive rights,” such as the right to a paid vacation or free education, are more appropriately called “entitlements” and would be considered culturally specific.

However, she said, negative rights - such as the right not to be raped, killed or tortured for political reasons - are the natural right of every human and are therefore universal.

These fundamental human rights “are not arbitrarily invented because it just happened to be a good idea at a certain point in time,” Elshtain said. They “would exist even without state sanction” because they are “divinely sanctioned” rights derived from human nature, she said.

Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, told conference participants that together with claiming one’s own rights comes the duty of respecting the rights of others.

He said the Church has been making a valuable contribution in “filling the gap between the letter and the spirit of human rights,” but it is also up to “public and private organisations to be at the service of the dignity and destiny of man.”

“No effort should be spared to banish every vestige of social and political slavery and to safeguard basic human rights under every political system.”

JPII attacked by knife-wielding priest

Pope Benedict XVI applauds documentary on late pontiff that reveals previously unknown episodes of the Polish pontiff’s life

Vatican City (CNA) - The former secretary of the late Pope John Paul II has revealed new details about the life of the Servant of God.

Information regarding an attack in 1982 and his last public appearance is being shown in a documentary on the Pontiff’s life titled, Testimony

Testimony, a film based on the memoir A life with Karol by Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz and Italian journalist Gian Franco Svidercoschi, is narrated by British actor Michael York, was viewed by Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican premiere on October 16. It also includes interviews with Cardinal Dzwisz, the current archbishop of Krakow, Poland who served for many years as the late Pontiff’s private secretary.

Along with information from the memoir, new additions have also been made.

The documentary explains how on May 12, 1982, during a visit to the shrine in Fatima, Portugal, a Spanish priest attacked the Holy Father with a knife.

During the incident, reports Reuters, the priest “was knocked to the ground by police and arrested.”

But the general public did not know that the knife had struck the Pontiff. “I can now reveal that the Holy Father was wounded,” Cardinal Dziwisz says in the documentary, according to news agency Reuters.

“When we got back to the room (in the Fatima sanctuary complex) there was blood.”

The film also includes John Paul II’s last public appearance in St Peter’s Square, when he was unable to speak due to his illness and being overcome by emotion. After the incident, Dziwisz recalled that the late pontiff managed to whisper, “If I

can’t speak any more, it’s time for me to go.” John Paul II died at 84 on April 2, 2005.

After the screening, Benedict XVI said that the film “takes our minds back to that late evening of October 16, 1978, thirty years ago today, which has remained engraved in everyone’s heart” Benedict XVI said, and recalled the late Pope’s first words to the crowd waiting to greet their new shepherd, “If I make a mistake (in the language) you will correct me.”

Encapsulating the life of the Pontiff, Pope Benedict said: “We could say that the pontificate of John Paul II is enclosed between two expressions: ‘Open the doors to Christ. Do not be afraid,’ and his words on his deathbed: ‘Let me go to the house of the Father’.”

“Testimony reveals previously unknown episodes,” and displays “the human simplicity, the firm courage and, finally, the suffering of John Paul II, which he faced to the end with his inborn hardiness and the patience of a humble servant of the Gospel. The film also gives us a better understanding of John Paul II’s homeland, Poland, and of its cultural and religious traditions,” Pope Benedict XVI said.

“It enables us to revisit famous events in ecclesial and civil life, and episodes of which most people are unaware.

“The whole story is recounted with the affection of one who shared closely in these events, living in the shadow of their protagonist.”

Mary Ann Glendon

Revelations: Pope John Paul II’s personal secretary, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, left, has detailed startling revelations about the late pontiff, including an attack by a priest who was subsequently knocked to the ground by police and arrested.

Alarm bells ring over effective sermons

‘What should worry churches is not the percentage who said they strongly disliked the last homily they heard, but those who couldn’t remember or even having heard a homily’

Views from the pews: Bible survey shows who likes their homilists

■ By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS)Catholics and Protestants in the Philippines and the United States gave very high marks to their preachers and homilists, while survey respondents in France and Hong Kong were not impressed at all.

A survey conducted for the Catholic Biblical Federation also showed that respondents in the Philippines and the United States said reading the Bible was their preferred religious activity, while respondents in seven other countries said they would rather watch a television program with a religious theme.

The results are part of an ongoing study of the Bible-related habits of adults around the world; the survey has been completed in 12 nations on three continents and currently is under way in South Africa and Kenya.

The survey covered several of the key questions being discussed inside the synod, including the quality of homilies, owning a Bible, praying with the Bible and defining what it means to say the Bible is the “inspired word of God.”

Luca Diotallevi, an Italian sociology professor who coordinated research on the survey results, said the question about homilies is important because a sermon is “the principal means of communicating the Bible’s content” when Mass is the only time most Catholics hear a portion of the Bible.

The data includes responses from 650 adults in each of these countries: United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Russia, Hong Kong, Philippines and

YOUR VIEW

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Write in and let us know.

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Argentina.

In the Philippines, 66 per cent of the respondents said they “very much” appreciated the last homily they heard; in the United States, 47 per cent said “very much.”

“Very much” was not the top response in any other country. Only eight per cent of French respondents and only two per cent of respondents in Hong Kong gave top marks to the last homily they heard.

Diotallevi said he believes the differences reflect the fact that “in Europe homilies involve more moralizing, while in the United States and the Philippines they are more Bible-based. Also, in the United States there is more competition” among churches and Americans are more likely than Europeans to move to a different parish in search of better homilies.

But, the sociologist said, what should worry the churches the most is not the percentage of people who said they strongly disliked the last homily they heard, but those who said they couldn’t remember or had never even heard a homily.

In the Netherlands, Russia and Hong Kong, “I never listened to one” was the top answer.

One survey result Diotallevi said was particularly important was the fact that Catholics in Germany, the United States and the United

US cardinal says priests must prioritise, devote time to homilies

ROME (CNS) - Although today’s priests often are burdened by heavy schedules, they need to make Sunday preaching a priority and take the time to create intelligent and inspiring homilies, said Texas Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston.

He said the improvement of homilies was one of the biggest concerns to emerge during the first half of the Synod of Bishops on the Bible.

Better homiletics courses in seminaries have been suggested, but at a more basic level the solution requires a time investment by priests, the cardinal said.

“I think a priest is going to have to understand that even with all his activities during the week, which are important, he probably won’t reach as many people as he does in his Sunday homily,” he said. “And therefore the preparation of his Sunday homily is an extremely important aspect of his ministry of interpreting God’s word.”

A good homily will require the priest to think through the theology of scriptural texts and make the connection between the text and people’s lives, Cardinal DiNardo said. “I don’t know that there’s a magic wand for that,” he said. One important element, he said, is prayerful reflection, and another is practice - bouncing ideas off other people to see what works and what doesn’t.

The synod has heard several participants say that homilies must not be limited to his-

Religious Favorites

Religious Favourites

Percent of adults who say this is their preferred religious activity:

Kingdom are similar statistically to their Protestant neighbors when it comes to owning and reading the Bible.

He said researchers wanted to know if any progress had been made since the Second Vatican Council in bringing Catholics closer to Protestants in Bible habits.

The survey results, Diotallevi said, provided “good indications that the differences that once existed between Catholics and Protestants regarding the Scriptures have attenuated or disappeared.” Researchers chose to look at Germany, the US, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands because they were the countries where a random sample of adults

would include a statistically healthy mix of Catholics and Protestants.

In the US, the UK and Germany, the survey showed no “statistically significant” difference in the per centage of people who said they read a Bible passage in the past 12 months, agreed or disagreed that the Bible should be studied in schools, and agreed or disagreed that the Bible “must be interpreted literally.”

In the three countries, similar percentages of Catholics and Protestants gave the same response when asked if the Bible’s content was true or false, interesting or boring, and easy or difficult to understand.

Diotallevi said there were statis-

tically relevant differences between US Catholics and Protestants only on two questions: 95 per cent of Catholics said they owned a Bible, while 100 per cent of Protestants said they did; and, when given a seven-question quiz on simple biblical facts, only 10 per cent of US Protestants answered four or more incorrectly, while 23 per cent of US Catholics failed the quiz.

The biggest Catholic-Protestant differences showed up in the Netherlands where, for example, 96 per cent of Protestants and only 63 per cent of Catholics said they owned a Bible; and 71 per cent of Protestants and 28 per cent of Catholics said they had read from the Bible in the past year.

Most Catholics only get Bible dose in Mass, so homilies need to be spot on

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo

torical insights on biblical texts, but should reach for deeper meaning that reflects Catholic understanding of Scripture as the living word of God.

Cardinal DiNardo offered an example, Chapter 1 of the Gospel of Mark. A good homilist, he said, will notice that this account of the beginning of Jesus’ activity with his apostles is marked by moments of deep prayer to his father - in a sense, Jesus opens their eyes to how God is working in the world. That’s something worth highlighting in a homily, he said.

“That God’s agency in the world can be clear with the eyes of faith, in my mind is still pretty important, especially in our secularized culture,” he said.

Nonliturgical preaching is not limited

to priests, and Cardinal DiNardo said lay catechists are a good example of a “critical group that is involved to a certain extent in preaching God’s word.” Therefore, the solid formation of catechists, religious education directors and youth ministers is essential, he said.

That’s one reason Cardinal DiNardo suggested to the synod that a compendium be drawn up to highlight useful methods and approaches for reading, interpreting, praying and living the word of God. It would be addressed primarily to the faithful, not experts, he said, adding that one thing the compendium could explain is what the Church means when it says Scripture is truly the word of God but is also the words of human beings. That’s an issue that can arise between Catholics and evangelical Protestants in the southern and midwestern United States, he said.

“We will probably have our tensions” with Christian fundamentalists on discovering how the human author conveys God’s message, he said. He said fundamentalists also have trouble understanding Catholic ecclesiology and how the church’s history of interpretation plays an important role in its understanding of Scripture.

“There’s a deeper spiritual meaning that all the Scriptures have, that can only be read in light of the whole teaching of the church,” he said. This “bigger picture” will probably be missed by people who simply open the Bible and start reading it, he said.

On the other hand, Cardinal DiNardo

said, fundamentalists and evangelical groups have kept alive the idea that God speaks to people through Scripture and is active in the world.

“I think the notion of divine agency in the world is something we can agree with them on. And that’s not unimportant, because the secularist mindset is that anyone who would see God’s agency in the world is naive, and it would ridicule such points of view,” he said.

Cardinal DiNardo said that among Hispanic Catholics he has found a relatively greater reception to the “miraculous” in daily life and therefore an openness to the narrative of Scripture as a living reality.

“Within the Hispanic community the whole sense of life every day is much more filled with what I call God’s direct presence. And that’s beautiful in terms of reading Scripture,” he said.

The Anglo culture tends to be more reserved about God’s direct intervention, he said, adding that one rather unexpected issue that has come forward at the synod is the lack of translations of the Bible in local languages, especially in Africa and Oceania.

“With 7000 languages and only a few hundred with full translations of the Bible, obviously the bishops are concerned that there be access to the Scriptures,” he said.

Biblical translation takes time, and the Vatican’s approval process can take years.

He said some have suggested the establishment of schools of translation in or near Rome, so that people can be trained to do the translations in these minor languages and so Vatican approval can be expedited.

Reviews

History of Western music a joy to read

A glorious romp

A STUDENT’S GUIDE TO MUSIC HISTORY

by R.J. Stove

(Wilmington, Delaware: ISI Books)

Paperback: 138 pages Rec. price: AUD$15.00

n Reviewed by Mark Freer

“Hildegard of Bingen, a german nun, poet, mystic and advisor to princes, achieved international musical repute in the 1980s: no mean feat, since she had died in 1179. She is, indeed, the earliest composer whose output survives in bulk (around eighty pieces bear her name) and is regularly performed. “a feather on the breath of god”, she called herself.”

So begins a glorious romp through some ten centuries of Western music by Melbourne writer and organist robert J. Stove that is both scholarly and entertaining. Stove tells of his “pleasure and terror indissolubly combined” on being asked by the delawarebased intercollegiate Studies institute — the distributor for The Chesterton review and Christendom College journal Faith and reason, among other worthy pursuits — to condense into a loosely (and attractively) typeset 130-odd pages the material for which richard Taruskin’s Oxford History of Western Music needed no less than six volumes and 4,252 pages (“and he still had to economise”)…

So why this commission? The simple answer is that Stove’s work is a contribution to the comeback — particularly strong in the United States — of genuine liberal education, so desperately needed against “liberalism” and its cultural bad fruit of nihilism and self-hatred.

Spearheaded in 1937 by the great Books program of St John’s College, Maryland, the undergraduate rediscovery of cultural and religious identity through encountering the foundational minds of Western civilisation now flourishes in places like Thomas aquinas College and Christendom College,

as well as, since recently, Campion College, Sydney.

Students read and discuss original works of Homer, Plato, aristotle, euclid, St Thomas, Shakespeare, dante, Newton, et al. Naturally, sacred Scripture is the supreme foundational document of our civilisation.

Faith informing reason, and reason informing faith: a mutual indwelling that is ultimately the wellspring of our culture and the common language of our existence. No spurious dichotomy here between the humanities and the sciences; all is truth — objective and discoverable. The excitement about the discovery of truth is palpable in these places.

The musical corollary — which is where Stove comes in — is objective Beauty, for the discernment of which human nature is likewise well equipped.

This intensely unpopular perspective — utter anathema to the Zeitgeist — implicitly informs the whole of his guide. See especially the other end of the book for deliciously caustic commentary on fraud or deliberate ugliness.

via musical codes. Such disingenuous conjecture bespeaks ignorance. Soviet cultural commissars, though thugs, were not fools. if they had even suspected a satirical intention by Shostakovich, he would have been shot — or suffered a fatal car “accident” — before he could say “dialectical materialism”.”

Hooray for the truth! Nor is Stove done with his victim: in the next chapter he is “dutifully cosigning official condemnations of dissidents. He thereby attained for himself a paradoxical, spectacular, and, apparently, unshakeable reputation for anti-Soviet heroism.”

You’ll never see Shostakovich (a cult figure like T.S. eliot, whose poetic vacuity was so well expounded recently in Quadrant by Campion’s Stephen Mcinerny) referred to in any university, conservatorium, concert program or review as follows:

“The gulag threatened. Shostakovitch gave his next (fifth) symphony a grovelling subtitle: “an artist’s reply to just criticism”. The gulag ceased to threaten. Subsequent effusions included his “leningrad Symphony”, perhaps the most repetitive exercise in brainless musical demagoguery ever perpetrated. Much pseudoscholarship arose after his death to assert that he really hated Soviet communism and furtively derided it

There is a rnold Schoenberg, whose “songcycle Pierrot lunaire [is] a protracted exploration of atonality: that is, music deficient in any sense of key… as a study in expressionist single-mindedness Pierrot lunaire has its importance; but few have ever wished it longer. Messianic in temperament, Schoenberg resembled his fellow modernist obsessive ezra Pound rather than a corrosive modern cynic like Pablo Picasso… in 1923 Schoenberg announced his invention of the twelve-tone — alias dodecaphonic — method, by which… each of the twelve tones in the octave is accorded an equal value. This technique, he imagined with characteristic missionary optimism, “will guarantee the supremacy of german music for the next hundred years”.”

a brilliant exposition, too, of how postwar Western “Orwellian bureaucrats, answerable to no-one, determined the nature of such new music as would gain official sanction… For the first time in Western history… music would be not something that a private potentate or a church wanted, nor something for which customers had exhibited the faintest enthusiasm, but, rather, something that dragooned audiences would get given, good

and hard.” Stove has just explained why lots of people avoid concerts (and if you do go, consider not applauding the rubbish parts: they just might then evaporate).

elsewhere Stove generally deploys his wit more gently, though always irreverently (a good antidote to the composer as demi-god from a rarified parallel universe). Quoting Carlyle — “History is the essence of innumerable biographies” — he successively captures each composer’s personality in a deft and often droll line-sketch (debussy: “a voluptuary who never lost his champagne tastes, though he mostly lived on a beer income;” Brahms: “The most dramatic event of his later career was the growth, in 1878, of that majestically unkempt beard which dominated his physiognomy thereafter. This humdrum existence had no room for a wife;” Scriabin: “His religious writings may charitably be called insane, although the occasional extract — “You are not you. i am god” — has the virtue of concision,”) whilst placing him in the broadest historical, philosophical and musical context. His narrative is thereby improbably but successfully floated, burbling along happily while washing up nugget after golden nugget.

“Having taken all musical knowledge for his province, Bach — heir of a musical dynasty like Couperin — measured himself ceaselessly against composers living and dead… Technique, technique, technique: that obsession, rather than any archaeological interest, fuelled [his] seemingly endless appetite for examining and internalising other composers’ achievements… No-one can claim to know Bach who has not sought out his sacred cantatas… and his organ works. There Bach stands (or rather kneels), working out his salvation “in fear and trembling”, as Saint Paul urged.” every page is of full of beautifully crafted and quotable sentences.

r.J. Stove paraphrases Tertullian in his preface: “this volume exists because it is impossible”; and indeed, Stove does seem in some sense to have achieved the impossible. read it, and you will be inspired to go out and listen to some of that Beauty.

Hollywood bad boy returns to childhood faith

Hollywood screenwriter returns to Cleveland, turns life over to God

n By Nancy Erikson

The gospel of luke’s prodigal son has nothing on Joe eszterhas.

a self-described “Hollywood animal,” eszterhas is best known for writing such adult-themed thrillers as “Basic instinct” and “Jagged edge.” He is a guy who seemed to live his earlier life as if the seven deadly sins were a personal to-do list. But then eszterhas found god. Or as eszterhas writes in his latest memoir, “Crossbearer,” god found him.

Today, the man who once was the centre of attention at exclusive Hollywood restaurants, enjoys the easygoing community spirit of sharing a meal with his wife, Naomi, and the couple’s four sons at a lenten fish fry at Holy angels Parish, in suburban Bainbridge, where he often carries the cross at Mass. a screenwriter who describes his younger self as arrogant and full of hubris now reads the works of Trappist Father Thomas Merton and d utch-born Father Henri Nouwen for spiritual guidance. On the coffee table in his comfortable but humble home is the latest book about Jesus’ life from former vam-

opened my heart enough for god to enter it, i wake up in a totally different way,” eszterhas said in an interview with the Cleveland Universe Bulletin, the diocesan newspaper.

“i have a great sense day to day of inspiration,” he said.

Born in 1944 in Hungary, eszterhas grew up in a post-World War ii refugee camp before moving with his Catholic parents when he was 7 to Cleveland’s near west side, where he often served as an altar boy at St. emeric Parish.

His father was editor of a Hungarian Catholic newspaper and his mother grew beautiful roses and had a strong devotion to Mary. Still, life for his family in what he calls the “strudel ghetto” was difficult.

He attended Catholic high school, but acknowledges his near misses with juvenile delinquency.

early in his writing career he worked as a reporter in Cleveland covering the crime beat, witnessing some of the grisliest, most violent stories in the city. Those tales, coupled with what he witnessed in the refugee camp, were the fodder for his lucrative screenwriting career.

distanced him from god. eszterhas was close to his father, but their relationship was never the same again after his father was exposed as having been a writer of Nazi propaganda during World War ii He never was deported, eszterhas said, but he couldn’t help wondering if his father’s hateful words inspired someone to commit violent acts against others.

“i really couldn’t forgive him, even as he died,” eszterhas said. “i think i finally forgave him when god came into my heart.”

Seven years ago - after living in California, Hawaii and elsewherehe and Naomi, also a Catholic with a special devotion to Mary, decided to move to geauga County, east of Cleveland, to raise their sons with more traditional values. They also wanted to get away from what he felt were Hollywood’s negative influences. it was home, so to speak, and it became the setting for his new relationship with god.

Shortly afterward e szterhas was diagnosed with throat cancer. Surgery left him with a tracheotomy and unable to speak, and his doctor warned him he could never smoke or drink again.

said, ‘Please, god, help me.’ and even as i heard it, i thought to myself, ‘What is this?’” he said. “But then i heard the voice again and i realized it was something inside my own heart that was praying for the first time since i’d been a boy.”

describing himself as a “baby Catholic,” eszterhas said after that day battling addiction didn’t become easier but he felt renewed strength.

at first, he was cautious about rekindling his relationship with god.

“i didn’t even ask god for a while to save my life and to let me be around my family,” he said. “i asked god to help me with my addictions. and he did.

“But then i thought to myself finally after weeks and maybe some months that god did truly love me and that i felt that i could ask god to save my life,” he said.

Since then, he has fought against glamorizing smoking in movies. He also has campaigned to bring more family-oriented and faithoriented entertainment into the movies.

pire novelist anne rice, another notorious writer who reclaimed her Catholic faith.

days that once started and ended with cigarettes and gin, now are filled with prayer and quiet walks in nature.

“i have to tell you overwhelmingly, in the seven years since god has entered my heart, or since i

Meanwhile, e szterhas had become what he called a functional alcoholic. He began smoking at 12, drinking at 14. He used tequila and gin and four packs of cigarettes a day to “fuel” his writing.

He also experienced deep pain in his life. His mother suffered from mental illness and later died from cancer, an event that further

To fight his cravings, he started walking every day, which took the edge off. But after a month, he knew he needed something more. One summer day in 2001 on his walk, the cravings were terrible. He became filled with frustration and despair, sat down on the curb and started to sob.

“i heard a voice inside me that

at home, he has devoted his life to being the best father and husband he can. He also strives daily to deepen his relationship with Christ.

“i am generally moved when i carry the cross and i carry it at Holy angels a lot because i feel it’s a real honour to carry it,” he said. “i do feel like i’m carrying Christ on the cross.”

- cn S

Back home: Joe Eszterhas with his biological daughter Suzanne Perryman. Perryman found her father, one of Hollywood’s top screenwriters at the zenith of his fame in Hollywood in 1996 with the help of an adoption network. Ezsterhas and his wife turned their backs on Hollywood, and a bad boy of movies has re-embraced his Catholic faith.

St Basil

Bishop of Caesarea, and one of the most distinguished Doctors of the Church.

Born probably 329; died 1 January, 379. He ranks after Athanasius as a defender of the Oriental Church against the heresies of the fourth century.

With his friend Gregory of Nazianzus and his brother Gregory of Nyssa, he makes up the trio known as “The Three Cappadocians.” Far outclassing the other two in practical genius and actual achievement, Basil was also generous and sympathetic. He personally organized a soup kitchen and distributed food to the poor during a famine following a drought. He gave away his personal family inheritance to benefit the poor of his diocese.

VASILOPETA

ST BASIL’S BREAD

Ingredients:

250g butter

500g sugar

375g flour

6 eggs 2 tsps baking powder

250ml milk

1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

100g chopped nuts

4 Tbsp sugar

Method:

Cream butter and sugar together until light. Add flour and stir until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir baking powder into milk and stir into egg mixture. Mix baking soda with lemon juice and add. Preheat oven 175 celsius. pour mixture into a greased round cake pan, 25 centimeters diameter. Throw in a clean coin. Bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle top with nuts and sugar and bake 20 - 30 minutes longer until cake is done. When cake is cool remve to a serving plate.

Serves 10-12 persons

*This cake is traditionally made on New Year’s Day in Greece in honour of St Basil. The hiding of the silver coin in the cake is to bring good luck to the person who finds it.

THE MOST UNIQUE CATHOLIC

By Ernst Schuegraf

colouring/activities

King Darius and Daniel knew they had been tricked, but Daniel had broken the new law. He had to be thrown to the lions!

jokes

Q: What do you call a sleeping bull?

A: A bull-dozer.

Q: How do you fit more pigs on your farm?

A: Build a sty-scraper!

Q: What did the farmer call the cow that had no milk?

A: An udder failure.

Q: Why do gorillas have big nostrils?

A: Because they have big fingers!

Q: What do you get from a pampered cow?

A: Spoiled milk.

Q: Why are teddy bears never hungry?

A: They are always stuffed!

Q: Why do fish live in salt water?

AVAILABLE FROM THE RECORD BOOKSHOP $19.95

CARRY ALONG BIBLE FUN

Includes:

■ four paperback booklets

■ mini panoramas for stickers

■ multiple sticker sheets

■ marker pens

■ A3 Activity sheets

■ Mini stories of Noah, Moses, Jesus and the Christmas Story

RRP: $16.95 The Record Bookshop ph: 227 7080

St Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow

A: Because pepper makes them sneeze!

Q: Where do polar bears vote?

A: The North Poll

Q: What did the judge say when the skunk walked in the court room?

A: Odor in the court!

Q: What sound do porcupines make when they kiss?

A: Ouch!

Q: Why did the snake cross the road?

A: To get to the other ssssssside!

Q: Why are fish so smart?

A: Because they live in schools.

Q: When is a well dressed lion like a weed?

A: When he’s a dandelion (dandy lion)

Q: How does a lion greet the other animals in the field?

A: Pleased to eat you.

Q: What happened when the lion ate the comedian?

A: He felt funny!

Q: What fish only swims at night?

A: A starfish!

Q: Why is a fish easy to weigh?

A: Because it has its own scales!

Q: What do you get when a chicken lays an egg on top of a barn?

A: An eggroll!

COOKBOOK EVER!

A roundup of events in the Archdiocese

Panorama entries must be in by 12pm Monday.

Contributions may be emailed to administration@therecord.com.au, faxed to 9227 7087, or mailed to PO Box 75, Leederville, WA 6902.

Submissions over 55 words will be edited. Inclusion is limited to 4 weeks. Events charging over $10 will be a put into classifieds and charged accordingly. The Record reserves the right to decline or modify any advertisment.

Monday October 20 to Tuesday October 28

FR. FRANCIS MERLINO (OFM CAP) NATIONAL RESPONSIBLE FOR MMP- WA VISIT

Mass/Cenacles held as follows: - 25th, 10am Pemberton, Enq: 9824 1134. 26th, 1pm Bove’s Roy Road, North Jindong, Busselton, Enq: 9755 7554. 27th, 10am Our Lady of Assumption, Mandurah, Enq: 9535 8029.

Wednesday October 22 to Tuesday October 28

HEALING MASS AND CELEBRATION OF ST JUDE’S FEAST

9am at St Jude’s Parish, 20 Prendiville Way, Langford, 22 – 24 October Triduum to St Jude Mass and Novena Prayer.

6.30pm, 25 October Healing Mass. 9am, 26 October

First Holy Communion Mass – 7.30am and 5.30pm Mass as usual. Feast Day proper 9am and 7pm Mass. All welcome.

Tuesday October 28

DAY OF REFELCTION (FR FRANCIS MERLINONATIONAL MMP) WA VISIT

10am, at All Saints Church, 7 Liwara Place, Greenwood; Rosary, Mass and talks. Conclude 2pm. BYO lunch, tea and coffee provided. Enq: 9341 8082.

Saturday November 1

ALL SAINTS DAY LATIN MASSES

8am at St John’s Pro-Cathedral, Victoria Avenue, Perth, Low Mass, 9.15am Low Mass followed by 1st Saturday Benediction, 11am Sung Mass. All Welcome. Enq: Fr Michael Rowe 9444 9604.

Saturday November 1

THE SPIRITUALITY OF OUR RELATIONSHIP –JOURNEY NOT DESTINATION

4.30pm to 6.30pm University of Notre Dame, P&O Hotel, corner Mouat and High Streets. All marriages are mixed marriages. Where are we going in terms of what God offers us? What can we do about that? Presenters, Kevin and Kathy Misiewicz, over 30 years experience organising events supporting couples wanting to grow closer in their relationship. All welcome. Donation, $10. Enq: chaplain@ nd.edu.au or 9433 0551.

Saturday November 1

DAY WITH MARY

9am to 5pm at Pater Noster Church, corner Evershed and Marmion Streets, Myaree. 9am, Video on Fatima. Day of prayer and instruction based upon the Fatima message. Reconciliation, Holy Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Sermons on Eucharist and Our Lady, Rosaries, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Stations of the Cross. BYO lunch. Enq: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286.

Sunday November 2

DIVINE MERCY

AFTERNOON WITH JESUS AND MARY

1.30pm at St Joachim’s Church, Shepparton Road, Victoria Park, Holy Rosary, Reconciliation and Sermon by Fr Anthony Van Dyke OP, on All Saints and Holy Souls, followed by Divine Mercy prayers and Benediction. Refreshments, followed by Video/DVD on Body and Blood of Jesus, with Fr John Corapi. Enq: John 9457 7771 or Linda 9275 6608.

Sunday November 2

FUNDRAISING CONCERT FOR THE LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR

2pm at Little Sisters Community Hall, Rawlins Street, Glendalough, in the presence of Bishop Don Sproxton, come and enjoy your favourite sounds of music, afternoon tea and door prizes. Tickets are $10. All proceeds to the Little Sisters. Door sales, bookings welcome. Enq: Mary 9443 3963 or Angela 9275 2066.

Sunday November 2

SCHOENSTATT SPRING AFFAIR

9.30am to 2.30pm at 9 Talus Drive, Armadale, besides spending money, come and receive Graces free of charge by visiting the Schoenstatt Shrine. As it will be All Souls Day, take the opportunity to pray for your relatives and friends who have gone before us and those who need God’s mercy by offering up Holy Mass. Enq: 9399 2349

Sunday November 2

ALL SOUL’S DAY MEMORIAL SERVICE

2pm at Pinnaroo Valley Memorial Park Crematorium Chapel, please note, as All Soul’s Day falls on a Sunday this year, the Memorial Service will not include Mass. Everyone welcome. Enq: 9307 2776 or Leanne 9402 1582.

Monday November 3

CATHOLIC PASTORAL WORKERS ASSOCIATION

HOLY SOULS MASS

9.30 am at Catholic Pastoral Centre Chapel, 40A Mary Street, Highgate; Celebrant, Fr Paschal Kearney. Tea provided after Mass.

Monday November 3 to Friday November 7

ARMADALE PARISH MISSION

PEACE AT ANY COST

7pm at St Francis Xavier Church, Forrest Road, Hilbert, Brookdale, with presentations by Norma Woodcock each evening, concluding with a Healing Mass with The Sacrament of the Anointing on Friday evening. A week that may change your life! Enq: 9399 2143.

Friday November 7

THE ALLIANCE, TRIUMPH AND REIGN OF THE UNITED SACRED HEART OF JESUS AND THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

5.15 pm at St Bernadette’s Church, Glendalough, confession; Mass 5.45 pm, followed by exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, hourly rosaries, hymns and reflections etc, throughout the night. Vigil concludes with midnight Mass in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Enq: Father Doug Harris 9444 6131 or Dorothy 9342 5845.

Saturday November 8

20-YEAR REUNION–LA SALLE COLLEGE CLASS OF ‘88

7.30pm at The Queens Hotel, Beaufort Street, Highgate; Enq: Melanie Hood (Franklin) 0413675596 or Phil Miolin 0425758262 or philipmiolin@hotmail.com by 31 October.

Sunday November 9

COUNCIL OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS – WA INC COMMEMORATION OF THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF KRISTALLNACHT

5.30pm at the Government House Ballroom, music, poetry, drama and reflection in the presence of His Excellency The Honourable Dr Ken Michael AC. Guest speaker is holocaust survivor Ken Arkwright OAM. Access 5pm to 5.25pm. RSVP 3rd November to ccjwa@aol.com or 9424 6431.

Saturday November 15

ST PADRE PIO PRAYER GROUP

8.30am at Little Sisters of the Poor Chapel, 2 Rawlins Street, Glendalough; St Padre Pio DVD - Hall, 9.45am Blessed Sacrament Exposition, Rosary, Divine Mercy, silent adoration and Benediction. 10.45am Holy Mass, St Padre Pio liturgy. Confessions available. 11.45pm BYO lunch, tea and coffee provided. Parking at rear beside Chapel. All welcome. Enq: Des 6278 1540.

Sunday November 16

AUCTION FOR THE POOREST OF THE POOR IN INDIA

12noon at Our Lady of the Mission Parish Hall, 70 Camberwarra Drive, Craigie, please spring clean your cupboards and garage and donate items in good condition, gifts and gadgets etc excess to your needs and help $1 turn into 2 kilos rice in India for the Ragpickers children etc. Enq: Sheila 9309 5071 or shannons3s@ optusnet.com.au

Sunday November 23

PILGRIMAGE TO BOVE FARM SHRINE - FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING

Exposition, Rosary, Divine Mercy prayers, Chaplet of Divine Mercy and St Faustina’s Praises of Divine Mercy. Mass, Main Celebrant Fr Harris and Fr Meilak and other priests are invited. Reconciliation and blessing of the sick offered. Conclude with Divine Mercy Way of the Cross-,

for those able to walk the bushland. Refreshments and barbecue provided. Enq: South Perth- John 9457 7771, North Perth- Charles 9342 0653.

Every 2nd Wednesday of Each Month CHAPLETS OF THE DIVINE MERCY

7.30 pm at St Thomas More Catholic Church, Dean Road, Bateman, beginning 12 November, all welcome to a beautiful, prayerful, and sung devotion. Enq: George 9310 9493 home or 9325 2010 work.

Every First Friday and Saturday of Month

COMMUNION OF REPARATION – ALL NIGHT VIGIL

7pm Friday at Corpus Christi Church, Mosman Park, 47 Lochee Road, Mass with Fr Bogoni and concluding with midnight Mass. Confessions, Rosaries, Prayers and silent hourly adoration. Please join us for reparation to Two Hearts according to the message of Our Lady of Fatima. Enq: Vicky 0400 282 357.

Every First Friday

CATHOLIC FAITH RENEWAL

7.30pm at Sts John and Paul Church, Willetton; praise and worship, followed by a teaching and Mass offered by Fr. Saminedi, then supper and fellowship. All very welcome! Enq. Maureen 9381 4498.

Every First Friday

HOLY HOUR FOR VOCATIONS TO THE PRIESTHOOD AND RELIGIOUS LIFE

7pm at Little Sisters of the Poor Chapel, 2 Rawlins Street, Glendalough; commencing 7 November, Mass celebrated by Fr Saminedi. 7.30pm, Adoration with Fr Don Kettle. All welcome. Refreshments provided.

Third Sunday of the Month

OBLATES OF ST BENEDICT MEETINGS

2pm St Joseph’s Convent, York Street, South Perth, affiliated to the Benedictine Abbey of New Norcia. All those interested in studying the rule of St Benedict, its relevance to lay people’s day-to-day life are welcome. Vespers and tea conclude meetings. Enq: 9457 5758

Every 2nd Wednesday of the Month

CHAPLETS OF THE DIVINE MERCY

7.30pm at St Thomas More Catholic Church, Dean Road Bateman; beautiful, prayerful, sung devotions. All are welcome. Enquiries to George Lopez 9310 9493(home) or 9325 2010 (work).

Every Saturday and Sunday

FUNDRAISING ART EXHIBTION FOR CATHEDRAL COMPLETION

4 October to 2 November at Our Lady of Grace Parish Centre, 3 Kitchener Street, North Beach. Margaret Fane, currently studying Art and Spirituality in Rome, will hold an exhibition of her paintings, after the 6pm Saturday evening Mass and Sundays after the 7.30am, 9.30am and 5.30pm Mass. Paintings are in oil and watercolour, ranging from $25 to $4000. Enq: 9448 4888.

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

Jesuit Volunteers Australia calls for part time volunteers to respond to the needs of people in the community who live in marginalised circumstances. At the heart of this program is a reflective process, based on Gospel values, which underpins the work of the volunteers. Enq: Kevin 9316 3469 or kwringe@iinet.net.au, www.jss.org.au

JOSEPHITE-MARY MACKILLOP CALENDARS 2009

Special Edition Centenary year of Blessed Mary MacKillop’s death. The calendars will be available in October and if you would like to purchase a copy please ring Sr Maree 9334 0933.

Every Sunday

LATIN MASS KELMSCOTT

The Latin Mass according to the 1962 missal will be offered every Sunday at 2pm at the Good Shepherd Parish, 40-42 Streich Avenue, Kelmscott, with Rosary preceding. All welcome.

Every Sunday until November 30

THEOLOGY OF THE BODY

4pm at 67 Howe Street Osborne Park, commencing

September 28. Free seminar. Presenters Disciples of Jesus Catholic Covenant Community and Youth Ministry leaders. Find out what it means to be man or woman. Why we are called to live a life of purity and chastity. A must for 16-25 years group. Enq: Shannon 9444 1467 or 0429 421 149.

Every 4th Sunday of the Month

HOLY HOUR PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS TO THE PRIESTHOOD AND RELIGIOUS LIFE

2-3pm at Infant Jesus Church, Wellington Road, Morley, commencing 28 September, the hour includes exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Let us implore God to rain an abundance of new life into our Church, open our hearts and those of the young people of the world to hear His Word for us now, today. Prayer works! All welcome! Enq: 9276 8500.

Every Sunday

PILGRIM MASS

2pm at Shrine of Virgin of the Revelation, 36 Chittering Road, Bullsbrook; with Rosary and Benediction. Reconciliation is available in Italian and English. Anointing of the sick; second Sunday during Mass. Pilgrimage in honour of the Virgin; last Sunday of month. Side entrance and shrine open daily between 9am and 5pm. Enq: 9447 3292.

Third Sunday of the Month

MEDITATIVE PRAYER IN THE SPIRIT OF TAIZEINTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE

7pm-8pm at Sisters of St Joseph Chapel, 16 York Street, South Perth; come and join in praying together for peace throughout the world. You will be invited to light a candle as a symbol of peace. Bring your friends and a small torch. Everyone welcome. Enq: Sister Maree Riddler 0414 683 926.

Every Tuesday

NOVENA TO GOD THE FATHER

7.30pm St Joachim’s Parish Hall, Shepperton Road, Victoria Park; incorporating a Bible teaching, a Perpetual Novena to God the Father and Hymns. Light refreshments will follow. Bring a Bible and a friend. Enq: Jan 9323 8089.

Every Monday

ADORATION, RECONCILIATION AND MASS

7pm at St Thomas, corner Melville and College Roads, Claremont; Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with Evening Prayer and Benediction, spend 40 minutes quietly before our Lord for the health, faith and safety of yourself and your loved ones; Reconciliation 7.30pm, Mass and Night Prayer 8pm.

Every Sunday

MUSICIANS AND SINGERS

6pm at the Redemptorist Monastery Church, Vincent Street, North Perth; the Shalomites have been providing the music and singing for over thirty years. We are looking for new members particularly musicians. All interested singers and musicians are welcome. Enq: Stephen or Sheelagh 9339 0619.

Every 1st Sunday of Month

DIVINE MERCY

Commencing with 3 o’clock Prayer at Santa Clara Parish, Bentley, followed by the Chaplet, reflection and Benediction. All friends and neighbouring parishes invited. Tea and coffee provided. Enq: Muriel 9458 2944.

BOOK DONATIONS WANTED

We urgently need donations of Altar Vessels, Catholic books, Bibles, Divine Office, Missals, Lectionaries, Sacramentaries etc. Telephone: (08) 9293 3092.

Every Thursday

J OURNEY T HROUGH THE B IBLE

7.30pm, Acts 2 College of Mission and Evangelisation, Osborne Park using The Bible Timeline; The Great Adventure can be studied towards accredited course or for interest. Resources provided. See http://www. acts2come.wa.edu.au/ or Jane 0401 692 690.

Official Diary

OCTOBER

24-26 Parish Visitation, Yangebup - Archbishop Hickey

Parish Visitation, Claremont - Bishop Sproxton

St Mary’s Cathedral Appeal Ball, Carlisle - Fr Brian O’Loughlin VG

25 Address St Vincent de Paul Retreat - Archbishop Hickey

27 Santa Maria College Awards Night - Bishop Sproxton

Book Launch, Forrest Centre Reception Centre - Fr Brian O’Loughlin VG

30 Launch of Catholic Outreach Website - Bishop Sproxton

31 Visit St Pius X School, Manning - Archbishop Hickey

Blessing and opening of extensions, St John’s School, ScarboroughFr Brian O’Loughlin VG

NOVEMBER

1 Rosary and Mass, Chittering - Archbishop Hickey

Diaconate, Lockridge - Archbishop Hickey, Bishop Sproxton

2 Students’ Thanksgiving Mass - Archbishop Hickey

Thanksgiving Mass, Guildford - Bishop Sproxton

Julian Singers Annual Concert - Bishop Sproxton

The Big Picture - Fr Brian O’Loughlin VG

3 Feast of St Charles Borromeo Mass for Clergy, Bassendean - Archbishop Hickey, Bishop Sproxton

4 Meeting of WA Bishops

Personal Advocacy, Morley - Archbishop Hickey

5 Graduation Ceremony, Clontarf Aboriginal College - Archbishop Hickey

Blessing of St Patrick’s Community Care Centre, Fremantle - Archbishop Hickey

Mass and Final Profession of Laura Meyers, North Beach - Archbishop Hickey

6 Blessing and opening of buildings, Our Lady of Grace SchoolFr Brian O’Loughlin VG

in brief...

Vatican prepares three alternative endings for Mass

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican has prepared three alternative endings for the priest’s words of dismissal at Mass, to emphasize the missionary spirit of the liturgy. Pope Benedict XVI personally chose the three options from suggestions presented to him after a two-year study, Cardinal Francis Arinze told the Synod of Bishops in mid-October. The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, published an interview Oct. 17 with Cardinal Arinze, head of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments. He said along with “Ite, missa est,” the Latin phrase now translated as “The Mass is ended, go in peace,” the new options are:

“Ite ad Evangelium Domini annuntiandum” (Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord); “Ite in pace, glorificando vita vestra Dominum” (Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life); and “Ite in pace” (Go in peace). The idea for alternative words at the end of Mass was raised at the 2005 Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist. Many bishops wanted the final words to reflect a more explicit connection between Mass and the church’s mission of evangelization.

... Elsewhere, one of the US’s most wellknown and influential Catholic bishops has called Democratic Senator Barack Obama the “most committed abortion rights” candidate to lead a major party’s presidential ticket since the US Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.

“To suggest - as some Catholics do - that Senator Obama is this year’s ‘real’ pro-life candidate requires a peculiar kind of selfhypnosis, or moral confusion, or worse,” Archbishop Chaput said in a presentation titled “The Homicides Involved in Abortion Are ‘Little Murders.’”

Classifieds: $3.30/line incl. GST Deadline: 12pm Monday

BUILDING TRADES

■ BRICK REPOINTING

Phone Nigel 9242 2952.

■ PERROTT PAINTING PTY LTD

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

■ BRICKLAYING

20 years exp. Quality work. Ph 9405 7333 or 0409 296 598.

■ PICASSO PAINTING

Top service. Phone 0419 915 836, fax 9345 0505.

RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

■ ORDER OF SERVICE BOOKLETS

For weddings, anniversaries, funerals, any occasion. Custom made personalised booklets. Quick turnaround time. Any quantity. Call Maurise, on 040 435 3831.

■ GIFTS OF LOVE

Individually made to order, candles of your choice for baptisms, weddings, and other special occasions. Custom made rosary beads or choose from our exclusive range. Hand made leather bible and missal covers, religious statues, icons and other exclusive gifts of love. “The greatest of them is love” 1 Corinthians 13:13 Please e-mail giftsoflove@amnet.net.au Call Rose 0437 400 247 after 4pm

■ CATHOLICS CORNER

Retailer of Catholic products specialising in gifts, cards and apparel for baptism, communion and confirmation. Ph: 9456 1777. Shop 12, 64-66 Bannister Road, Canning Vale. Open Mon-Sat.

■ RICH HARVEST  YOUR CHRISTIAN SHOP

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

■ ALL SAINTS HANDCRAFTED ROSARIES AND CHAPLETS

View our current range of original Rosaries, chaplets and bracelets for all occasions. Custom orders in the beads and colour of your choice are welcome. Contact Elisa on 0421 020 462 or email allsaintscreations@iinet.net.au

■ KINLAR VESTMENTS

‘Modern meets tradition.’ Quality hand-made & decorated. Vestments, altar cloths, banners. Vickii Smith Veness. 9402 8356 or 0409 114 093.

RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

■ OTTIMO

Shop 108 TRINITY ARCADE (Terrace Level)

Hay St, Perth Ph 9322 4520. Convenient city location for a good selection of Christian products/ gifts. We also have handbags, fashion accessories. Opening hours Monday-Friday 9am-6pm.

BOOK REPAIRS

■ REPAIR YOUR LITURGICAL BOOKS

General repairs to books, old bibles & missals. 2ndhand Catholic books avail. Tydewi Bindery 9293 3092.

HOLIDAY ACCOMODATION

■ DUNSBOROUGH

3 b/room beach cottage, sleeps 7, 3 hundred m to Quindalup beach. Sheila 9309 5071/ 0408866593 or shannons3s@optus.com.au

■ MANDURAH

Townhouse in Resort Complex. Fully furnished. Sleeps 6. Phone 0419 959 193 or email valma7@bigpond.com

SETTLEMENTS

EFFECTIVE LEGAL, family owned law firm focusing on property settlements and wills. If you are buying, selling or investing in property, protect your family and your investment, contact us on (08) 9218 9177.

HEALTH

■ DEMENTIA REMISSION

Do you, or your loved one, suffer Dementia. Get into Dementia Remission like me! http://www. wgrey.com.au/dm/index.htm or (02) 9971 8093.

■ ALL AREAS

Mike Murphy 0416 226 434.

■

Retreat “Dealing with Change” with Fr Paul Baczynski at Perth’s Premier Retreat Centre Shoalwater. Rooms with own ensuite. Excellent facilities and food 100m from the beach from October 31 until November 2. $175 pp. Please call Karen 9319 8344.

Name:

Address:

Suburb: Postcode:

■ By Mark Reidy

When Father Paschal Kavuma’s motorbike broke down during Easter this year on an isolated road in his Ugandan Parish, he knew it was time to pray for a new means of transport. He didn’t have far to turn, he told Mundaring parishioners Maurice and Margaret Merrifield in a recent email, as he was travelling between the 16 outstations of his vast Parish and was carrying Consecrated Hosts in his bag.

The Merrifields have been in contact with Father Paschal for the past year and are hoping to assist him in finding an answer to his prayer. “We have been touched by the determination and perseverance of Fr Paschal as he attempts to fulfil his priestly duties under such trying conditions”, Mrs Merrifield told The Record. “We are hoping

THIS IS THE MASS

Special Souvenir Edition World Youth Day 08

Foreword by George Cardinal Pell

to raise enough money for him to purchase a new motorcycle, so that he will be able to reach those who would otherwise have no access to the Sacraments”.

The Merrifield’s began contact with Fr Paschal after initially communicating with his brother Martin who is studying in a Ugandan Seminary. He put them in contact with Fr Paschal and they have since been communicating, praying for and assisting him. They are hoping that an appeal to readers of The Record will raise the $7000 (AUS) needed to purchase a reliable motorbike to enable him to attend to his enormous flock.

In a recent email interview with The Record, Father Paschal explained that the Lwaggulwe Parish was his first appointment after his ordination in August 2007.

It is based in the Masaka Diocese, he wrote, and has over 150,000 people within its bounda-

This Is The Mass is a new book which explains with lucid text and beautiful photographic images the Eucharist. It takes the reader step by step through the sacred liturgy from the introductory rites to the dismissal and recessional.

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Have bike, will travel: Fr Paschal, a Ugandan priest, with his old motorbike. He is appealing through readers of The Record for funds to help him purchase another so that he can travel around the 16 outstations of his vast parish in Africa.

ries, mainly Catholic, but including other denominations and religions.

Fr Paschal is dependent on his current motorbike to visit each of the 16 sub-parishes in his area as

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well as over 30 schools, but is regularly impeded by regular breakdowns, due to the condition of his vehicle and the rough and potholed roads he inevitably encounters. He said that the majority of

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his parishioners are children and youth as the life expectancy for Ugandans is in the mid-forties, mainly due to the ravages of the HIV/AIDS virus. As a result he says that he is called to address social, economic and pastoral issues, as well as spiritual ones, on his extensive journeys.

Fr Paschal usually covers hundreds of kilometres each week, speaking to parishioners, students and teachers, at times administering Sacraments to people who have very rarely been visited by a priest.

Fr Paschal says that the ministry excites him, but he continues to pray for a reliable means of transport so that he can more effectively fulfil this calling. “I always ask my Lord to grant my soul’s desire”, he writes, “But I also include the phrase, ‘That His will be done’”. Anyone wishing to donate money towards a new motorcycle, can contact Margaret Merrifield on 9295 1311.

NRSV HOLY BIBLE

This is the Catholic NRSV (New Revised Standard Edition) translation of the Holy Bible, which features anglicised text, hardback cover and bookmark.

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Monday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday 9am - 2.30pm on (08) 9227 7080 or via bookshop@therecord.com.au 587 Newcastle St, West