The Record Newspaper 24 November 2010

No change in Church teaching on condoms

... despite what you read in secular media around the world

Local

“experts” get it wrong (again) interpreting Benedict’s remarks

BY STAFF WRITERS Analysis

THERE has been no change in the Church’s teaching against the use of condoms, despite the excitement in local media about what they have called ‘historic moves’ and a headline in The West Australian, Experts laud Pope’s rethink on condoms

The local confusion began with an inaccurate cable story and was expanded by the general fixation among journalists and health ‘experts’ on the imagined virtues of condoms.

Most Australian Bishops were on their way to Sydney over the weekend to attend the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, so there was little authoritative local comment.

However, on Monday morning Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, and Bishop Anthony Fisher OP of Parramatta both issued statements during the week that clarified the Pope’s position.

As Bishop Fisher, who also teaches bioethics at Oxford University, said: “The Pope has not deviated from or altered in any way Catholic teaching on the intrinsic wrongness of contraception or on reserving sexual intercourse (the marital act) to marriage, that is of a man and a woman”.

Prof Michael Daube, the WA president of the Public Health Association of Australia, was reported in The West Australian on 22 November as saying the “small but historic shift” would be widely welcomed as a recognition of the health needs of modern society.

Everything the Pope says on these subjects recognises the real health needs of modern society, but modern society and its health

Children learn adoration of Jesus in the Eucharist

experts do not recognise the wisdom of what he says.

Year by year our Public Health Department reports record numbers of teenage pregnancies and abortions at ever-reducing ages and record numbers of sexually transmitted infections among teenagers and young adults.

The experts’ solution to this truly serious situation is inevitably a call for more condoms.

It is time for our Public Education and Public Health authorities, and the Governments that fund them, to think seriously about what is happening to so many of our young people.

It is time to offer to them a deeper, more human understanding of their sexuality.

In sub-Saharan Africa, teenagers tend to have a despairing belief that ‘the virus’ will get them.

That changes when they encounter the Church’s teaching about how the virus is spread and how they can protect themselves and their future family life by the virtues of chastity and fidelity. They embrace it because it gives them a future they value.

AIDS workers in third-world countries, Vatican, Cardinals, Australian Bishops discuss Pope’s ‘controversial’ comments Pages 7-9.

Earlier this month, French priest Fr Antoine Thomas, with the guitar, was in several parishes in Perth and Bunbury - including St Mary’s Cathedral, above, teaching children to love and adore Jesus in the Eucharist. Adoration has often been seen as a pious act of devotion only for priests and Religious. But Fr Antoine, who has started a global apostolate called Children of Hope, has proven that holiness and prayer to Jesus in the Eucharist is for everyone; and that, as Catholics, our interaction with Christ in this Sacrament does not have to be limited to receiving Him at Mass on Sunday. Bridget Spinks interviewed the priest exclusively for The Record Full story, pages 10-11.

Pope Benedict XVI

Yangebup celebrates centre, Sister

BY BRIDGET SPINKS

ARCHBISHOP Barry Hickey blessed the new parish centre at Mater Christi Parish at Yangebup on 20 November.

The facility, that will be shared by the parish and the parish school, contains an early learning centre that will operate three days a week; an auditorium that can hold up to 800 people and three meeting rooms, one formal and two informal.

The centre is available for parish use and and will be available for hire next year for functions such as wedding receptions and 21st celebrations. Two bookings are already pencilled in for next year, Yangebup parish priest Fr Bryan Rosling said.

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

The centre was funded by the Federal Government as part of the BER grant and built on land set aside by the parish for the community centre.

Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Sr Emmanuel Crocetti was also honoured on the day with a cake as part of a surprise celebration of her 20 years of pastoral service to the people and parish of Yangebup.

The parishioners gifted the Sister with an engraved monstrance from Spain.

● Thirty-six parishioners of Mater Christi Parish of Yangebup signed on to Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at Christ the King church Beaconsfield over 13-14 November.

Fr Bryan Rosling hosted Glendalough parish priest Fr Doug Harris, who promotes adoration throughout the Archdiocese and around South-East Asia,

to speak at each Mass at the parish over the two days. Ten people also signed up for Perpetual Adoration at Christ the King at the Basilica of St Patrick in Fremantle after speakers promoted it there last weekend.

Beaconsfield is the only parish church south of the river to have Perpetual Adoration – that is, 24 hours a day, seven days a week except Mass times.

A parishioner told The Record that this has been done in accordance with Pope John Paul II’s statement that smaller parishes should get together to have adoration as they may not be big enough to have it on their own.

Now in its eighth year, local parishes all

support adoration at Christ the King. Over 300 hours per week are spent with Jesus in adoration.

The Blessed Sacrament sits in a monstrance on the main altar in the church most of the time.

If a baptism, wedding service etc is being conducted, adoration is moved to the little room just inside the main doorway, to the right hand side.

The normal entry to adoration is through the entrance porch on the left hand side of the church near the main altar.

For enquiries about adoration at Christ the King phone Joe on 9319 1169 or Yvonne on 9430 7509.

Clergy movements around the Archdiocese of Perth

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FATHER Geoff Aldous, having been on loan to the Geraldton diocese, has been appointed parish priest of the new parish of Baldivis.

“He will begin on 8 December, sans church, sans presbytery and sans congregation, but “nothing daunts Fr Geoff. We wish him well”, Archbishop Barry Hickey told Archdiocesan priests and deacons in his 19 November edition of Ad Clerum (“To the clergy”) letter.

Fr Anthony Vallis is to retire from the parish of Our Lady of Mercy, Girrawheen early next year, no later than Easter, for health reasons.

“He is to be admired for carrying heavy parish duties for so long with his health concerns,” Archbishop Hickey said.

Expressions of interest are now called for the parish of Girrawheen.

Fr Patrick Lim is to spend a year on special programmes to do with adult education next year and feels it best to relinquish the parish of Our Lady of Mt Carmel, Hilton early in the New Year.

Expressions of interest are now called for the parish of Hilton.

The parish of Our Lady of Lourdes, Lesmurdie will be vacated by the Oblate Fathers in mid-January 2011. Although consideration is being given to filling the parish, no decision about a successor has been made yet.

Priests still have the opportunity to express their interest in the parish if they wish to.

Fr Michael Casey has confirmed that he will retire from the parish of St Columba’s, South Perth in the New Year, perhaps around Easter.

“His 31 years of service at South Perth will be gratefully remembered by his people and the Archdiocese,” Archbishop Hickey said.

Expressions of interest are now called for the parish of South Perth.

The parish priest of Holy Rosary Parish, Nedlands, Fr Theo Overberg SJ, has been called to assist the Jesuit Assistant General in Rome in the New Year.

He will be followed by Fr Greg Jacobs SJ who will take up his pastoral duties on 15 March 2011.

“We thank Fr Overberg for his dedication to the parish of Nedlands and its people and are sorry to see him go so soon, but Rome calls. Ad altiora! (“to higher things”), Archbishop Hickey said.

Fr Peter Porteous OSM will be the new parish priest of St Denis, Joondanna from December this year.

He will succeed Fr Michael Raj OSM who has been transferred to Melbourne to be Catholic Chaplain to La Trobe University.

Fr Philip Fleay, newly appointed parish priest of Sacred Heart Parish, Mundaring will take on the spiritual direction of the first year students at St Charles’ Seminary, Guildford from next year.

Sr Emmanuel honoured at Mater Christi.Children play instruments in celebration.

Port Kennedy parish reflects on MacKillop

St Bernadette’s Parish celebrates St Mary MacKillop

A CELEBRATORY Mass for the canonisation of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop was held at St Bernadette’s Parish in Port Kennedy on 17 October.

Kolbe Catholic College staff and students shared their time and musical talents to lead the large gathering in song. Some Kolbe students are pictured right, kneeling before the image of St Mary.

The liturgical movement from St Bernadette’s students also added to the sense of occasion, participants reported to The Record

As part of the service, the congregation was treated to a slideshow presentation backed by the new St Mary MacKillop song. This presentation was a reflection on a life that generously served Christ in providing support to those in need. The photo of an altar boy used in the 17 November edition with the Kolbe marks MacKillop story was not from that event but from this special Mass at St Bernadette’s. The Record apologises for any confusion.

‘Terror’ leads to rewarding art

WESTERN Australian Artist John Ainsworth has described how he is “terrified” every time he starts to paint in watercolours, but it led him to success, most recently as being named the Feature Artist at the 2010 Trinity Old Boys’ Association (TOBA) cocktail party and art exhibition preview on 17 September in Gibney Hall at Trinity College, East Perth.

Mr Ainsworth, 53, was present with his three daughters: Jonelle, Charlene and Carolyn.

Jonelle had been in a bicycle accident that day and wore a huge bruise across her left eye.

The self-taught Mr Ainsworth said he was “terrified” each time he started to paint a piece in watercolours, his specialty. He has been an artist since his childhood days in the Wheatbelt, and has exhibited all over the State, where he has received many awards.

General open days of the exhibition were on last Saturday and Sunday and the art was on sale to the public.

This year’s winners were: First prize, the President’s award of $1,000, was awarded to Kimberly Rae for “Bush King”, a painting of a kookaburra.

The Packers’ award, of $750, went to Ray Eastwood for her Impressionist-like work “Rainy Day” and the Highly Commended award went to Thelma Cluning for “Reefs and Oceans”.

The judges were Trinity College Art Co-ordinator Rita Basilio and artist Lina Linton. TOBA president for 2010 Darren Taggart, from the class of 1983, welcomed everyone to the event and thanked organiser and executive officer of TOBA Diane Millar.

Member for Victoria Park Ben Wyatt MLA officially opened the exhibition and said he was an old boy of Aquinas College.

Mr Wyatt said an old boy from Trinity should at some point open a TOBA art show, “as we are a State from Esperance to Kununurra and the art, the cultural experience varies from all parts of it”.

Willetton’s 25 groups give thanks

THE parish of Sts John and Paul, Willetton celebrated a Thanksgiving Mass on 12 November for over 25 groups that work together to serve the parish in a variety of ministries.

The annual Thanksgiving Mass was followed by a finger food dinner to appreciate the contribution of the volunteers through the year attended by 220 parishioners that included volunteers and their spouses.

In his homily, parish priest Fr Thai Vu said that despite their busy lifestyles, successful people do not merely find the time to make a valuable contribution but ‘make the time’ to assist in the various ministries which help to fulfil our baptismal promises and also enrich the parish family.

He said that, in the words of St Paul, “It is more blessed to give than to receive”.

A few special touches to the liturgy were the sprinkling of the congregation with holy water, the renewal of baptismal vows and a handcrafted bookmark given to each volunteer with a quote from St Mary of the Cross MacKillop.

Fr Thai also entertained all by his skills as a magician, which added to the joy of the evening, a celebration of the time, talent and treasure graciously shared by those present for the benefit of all.

Parishioner Betty Thompson told The Record that Fr Thai encouraged those present to speak to at least one new person.

“I took that on board and met three people I didn’t know before,” she said.

“I thought it was a good idea as we live out our values of a Eucharistic community by making people feel welcome and fostering a sense of belonging to the parish family.”

Below right: St Bernadette’s liturgical movement dancers Tiarah Mullins, Sophie Mitchell, Kia Daraz, Gabriella Collica, Hannah Fitzpatrick.

Below: Port Kennedy Parish Priest Fr Gavin Gomez cuts a special cake for the occasion.

Port Kennedy parish reflects on MacKillop

St Bernadette’s Parish celebrates St Mary MacKillop

A CELEBRATORY Mass for the canonisation of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop was held at St Bernadette’s Parish in Port Kennedy on 17 October.

Kolbe Catholic College staff and students shared their time and musical talents to lead the large gathering in song. Some Kolbe students are pictured right, kneeling before the image of St Mary.

The liturgical movement from St Bernadette’s students also added to the sense of occasion, participants reported to The Record

As part of the service, the congregation was treated to a slideshow presentation backed by the new St Mary MacKillop song. This presentation was a reflection on a life that generously served Christ in providing support to those in need. The photo of an altar boy used in the 17 November edition with the Kolbe marks MacKillop story was not from that event but from this special Mass at St Bernadette’s. The Record apologises for any confusion.

‘Terror’ leads to rewarding art

WESTERN Australian Artist John Ainsworth has described how he is “terrified” every time he starts to paint in watercolours, but it led him to success, most recently as being named the Feature Artist at the 2010 Trinity Old Boys’ Association (TOBA) cocktail party and art exhibition preview on 17 September in Gibney Hall at Trinity College, East Perth.

Mr Ainsworth, 53, was present with his three daughters: Jonelle, Charlene and Carolyn.

Jonelle had been in a bicycle accident that day and wore a huge bruise across her left eye.

The self-taught Mr Ainsworth said he was “terrified” each time he started to paint a piece in watercolours, his specialty. He has been an artist since his childhood days in the Wheatbelt, and has exhibited all over the State, where he has received many awards.

General open days of the exhibition were on last Saturday and Sunday and the art was on sale to the public.

This year’s winners were: First prize, the President’s award of $1,000, was awarded to Kimberly Rae for “Bush King”, a painting of a kookaburra.

The Packers’ award, of $750, went to Ray Eastwood for her Impressionist-like work “Rainy Day” and the Highly Commended award went to Thelma Cluning for “Reefs and Oceans”.

The judges were Trinity College Art Co-ordinator Rita Basilio and artist Lina Linton. TOBA president for 2010 Darren Taggart, from the class of 1983, welcomed everyone to the event and thanked organiser and executive officer of TOBA Diane Millar.

Member for Victoria Park Ben Wyatt MLA officially opened the exhibition and said he was an old boy of Aquinas College.

Mr Wyatt said an old boy from Trinity should at some point open a TOBA art show, “as we are a State from Esperance to Kununurra and the art, the cultural experience varies from all parts of it”.

Willetton’s 25 groups give thanks

THE parish of Sts John and Paul, Willetton celebrated a Thanksgiving Mass on 12 November for over 25 groups that work together to serve the parish in a variety of ministries.

The annual Thanksgiving Mass was followed by a finger food dinner to appreciate the contribution of the volunteers through the year attended by 220 parishioners that included volunteers and their spouses.

In his homily, parish priest Fr Thai Vu said that despite their busy lifestyles, successful people do not merely find the time to make a valuable contribution but ‘make the time’ to assist in the various ministries which help to fulfil our baptismal promises and also enrich the parish family.

He said that, in the words of St Paul, “It is more blessed to give than to receive”.

A few special touches to the liturgy were the sprinkling of the congregation with holy water, the renewal of baptismal vows and a handcrafted bookmark given to each volunteer with a quote from St Mary of the Cross MacKillop.

Fr Thai also entertained all by his skills as a magician, which added to the joy of the evening, a celebration of the time, talent and treasure graciously shared by those present for the benefit of all.

Parishioner Betty Thompson told The Record that Fr Thai encouraged those present to speak to at least one new person.

“I took that on board and met three people I didn’t know before,” she said.

“I thought it was a good idea as we live out our values of a Eucharistic community by making people feel welcome and fostering a sense of belonging to the parish family.”

Below right: St Bernadette’s liturgical movement dancers Tiarah Mullins, Sophie Mitchell, Kia Daraz, Gabriella Collica, Hannah Fitzpatrick.

Below: Port Kennedy Parish Priest Fr Gavin Gomez cuts a special cake for the occasion.

Self-examination key to community building

BY MARK REIDY

A SEMINAR reflecting on the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Social Justice Sunday Statement (released 14 September) drew 18 people from parishes and groups throughout the Archdiocese to the Catholic Pastoral Centre in Highgate recently.

Organised by Terry Quinn, executive officer of Perth’s Catholic Social Justice Council, the 9 October event provided those in attendance the opportunity to analyse and discuss the Bishops’ statement, entitled Violence in Australia: A Message of Peace.

Participants heard from speakers who deal with violence and its consequences on a regular basis and were encouraged to examine ways that can assist individuals and society in seeking non-violent solutions, drawing particularly on the example of Christ.

The seminar commenced with a reflection on Chapter 8 of St John’s Gospel when Jesus met the woman caught in adultery.

“The story was analysed from the point of view of power relationships and how Jesus seizes the initiative and finds an alternative to punishment and violence,” Mr Quinn said.

It was an attitude captured in the Bishops’ statement, which was produced as a response to what the Bishops described as “an increasingly violent Australian society”.

The Bishops’ statement addresses violence amongst individuals as well as structural violence affecting society’s most vulnerable.

Call to shift focus to heal criminals

BY MARK REIDY

WHEN Dr Brian Steels addressed participants at the Catholic Social Justice Council’s (CSJC) Seminar on Violence on 9 October, he spoke from his personal experience of violence as a young person and its long-lasting effect on his thinking and wellbeing, as well as his current work in the Church with current and former prisoners.

as it deals with sexuality, power, control, manipulation and gender issues. Most of us feel comfortable thinking that it doesn’t happen, and yet it does. It happens in our own Christian homes as well as elsewhere”.

Dr Steels was pleased to be a part of the CSJC seminar as he saw it as a first step for people to engage in conversation about the topic.

With

Alinta

Brendan Ewing

Richard Mellick

Alysha

Jay Walsh

Charlotte

Lighting

These aspects were explored in a group exercise led by Ann Semaan, a member of Pace e Bene, and further analysed by guest speakers Vicki Battistessa and Dr Brian Steels.

Ms Battistessa, a volunteer at The Shopfront, a Catholic Archdiocesan agency in Maylands that directly supports the homeless and Dr Steels, a criminologist who is a campaigner and advocate for penal reform, shared their experiences as well as horrific examples of violence they have encountered on the streets and in the prison system.

The seminar concluded with Fr Peter Toohey, Columban

priest and prison chaplain, leading participants in a reflection on the spirituality of non-violence.

Mr Quinn said that Fr Toohey emphasised the fact that community building was never a solo act, but required individuals to acknowledge their own shortcomings, especially their failure to recognise God in every person - including themselves.

“We need to plant seeds of love and forgiveness in our own hearts, as well as in those around us,” Mr Quinn said.

“It is only then that we will slowly grow in love and compassion and the capacity to forgive.”

by Justin Fleming & Melvyn Morrow

In an interview with The Record, Dr Steels said that with his experience as a criminologist, campaigner, activist and researcher for prison reform, victim of crime and as an ex-prisoner himself, he has become well equipped to speak about violence and the justice system that deals with it.

In working with both the victims and the perpetrators of violence, Dr Steels said that he has been privileged to work with many wonderful people, from chaplains and pastoral workers to police and prison workers, who are trying to create a better justice system.

Dr Steels is currently co-ordinator of the Asia Pacific Forum for Restorative Justice as well as a lecturer and researcher at Murdoch University. He is a strong advocate for victims of crime and has researched a community model for the Perth Magistrate’s Court which provides an opportunity for victims and perpetrators to come together within a safe space to share their stories, their hurts, suffering and pain, and to give an account of why the crime happened.

The programme provides an opportunity for personal transformation in an attempt to prevent the behaviour happening again, to offer help to make things right, to hold out a hand in understanding and to try to bring a halt to the cycle of violence.

Dr Steels said that his work with the Magistrate’s Court provided him with a great insight into the violence in everyday Perth as well as the depth of compassion, forgiveness and desire to make things right that exist within the community. He said that his work indicated that there were many causes of violence within our society.

These ranged from poor and overcrowded housing, underemployment, drug and alcohol use and the violence associated with young men in pubs and gangs to the violence that occurs within the family home, whether emotional, social, physical, psychological or spiritual. “It is a very dark issue

in brief...

Greeks benefit

THE Greek community has thrown its support behind the vision of Greek Studies lecturer and course coordinator Savvas Pappasavvas to keep the ancient culture alive and current for generations to come.

Offering an in-depth study, including Greek and Cypriot lit-

“It is one that challenges the Christian as it goes to the heart of what we are called to do, not only throughout the Gospel, but also from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.”

This was captured in the Bishops’ statement, which said: “The heart of this vision is the God who loves each of us intensely and passionately.

“This God has invited us to shape our world so that all human beings share it equitably and justly, and has prepared for us happiness beyond our imagining.”

It was an insight with which Dr Steels could identify.

He said that society needed to change direction from hurting offenders to offering to help them heal.

“This calls us not to poke out someone’s eye, to make them suffer as we have suffered”, he told The Record

“Violence is in our face today, just as it was in the time of our Lord”, he said. “He saw His own country invaded and occupied, His family had to escape persecution. He was well aware of the fact that humans could and should live better lives, and that very same call comes to us today from the Bishops”.

He said the seminar provided an opportunity “to first remove the plank in our own eye so that we can reflect on the splinter in our brother’s and sister’s eyes”.

He said that the seminar challenged the Church community as it reminded us that, as Christians, even if we have found a personal peace, we have a duty to assist others in also experiencing peace and justice.

“While we witness so many people each day being made victims of crime or behaving badly, we know that we have work to do”, he said.

It is important, he concluded, that each person carefully examine what the Bishops have said, what the Church is asking them to do and what their faith is saying to them.

“It begins as a personal journey and yet we are not alone on the path.”

erature, Greek social-linguistics and history of the Hellenic Diasporas, UNDA Dean of Arts and Sciences Associate Professor Dylan Korczynskyj said that Mr Pappasavvas’ comprehensive programme, combined with his professional approach and tireless dedication, were key elements to its success.

Mr Pappasavvas travels to Greece and Cyprus to lobby governments for support, organises cultural activities and promotes Greek heritage in WA.

Fr Peter Toohey, Vicki Battistessa and Dr Brian Steels at the Catholic Pastoral Centre in Highgate.

PHOTO: MARK REIDY

Josephite Peru mission a hit in Perth

BY BRIDGET SPINKS

TWO Josephites, Sr Angela Carroll and Sr Christine Symonds, gave a presentation at the Catholic Pastoral Centre in Highgate on 17 November about how the work of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop has been continuing in Peru since 1981.

Sr Angela Carroll, originally from Queensland, has spent the last 16 years on mission in Peru.

She entered the Josephites as an 18 year old in 1959 and was professed in 1962, following in the footsteps of her sister who entered four years earlier.

After several years teaching primary and secondary school, she went to Peru in 1984. Today, there are 12 Josephites in Peru: two from New Zealand, two from Peru and eight from Australia.

They are spread out across Tarma, Pucallpa, Motupe, Pitumarca and Lima and work in human development and sacramental programmes.

The mission hasn’t been easy; there have been times of hunger and terrorism.

In 1988 and 1990, when the country was suffering inflation during the time of the ‘black budget’, the local people should have died of starvation, Sr Angela said.

They didn’t because of the way the food was rationed.

The Josephites worked with Caritas and the local ‘popular organisations’ to distribute food.

In the 1980s, the Communist Party of Peru popularly known as the ‘Shining Path’ would bomb electric light installations.

A casualty of the terrorism was West Australian Josephite Sr Irene McCormack, who was shot in the back of the head in May 1991.

Since the tragedy, the Sisters have no longer had a presence in Huasa Huasi.

In 1998, after working with it in Lima, Sr Angela took the family catechetics programme to Pitumarca.

The programme is structured so that when the children meet for scripture, games and hymns, the parents also meet for a class.

Local catechists run the course and the Sisters’ role is to “accompany” these groups and individuals.

“We do as little as we can ourselves and only go out the front when we’re asked,” Sr Angela said.

“It’s a presence thing. You try not to be the head of anything. We promote leadership among the locals by offering support,” she said.

The parish priest translated the course into the local dialect, Quechua, and Sr Angela picked local catechists to help teach it.

The programme works on developing the relationship between husband and wife, and between parents and children.

It empowers women to have a voice at home when they are threatened by machismo and the effect of alcohol: topic number four in the

$30k raised for Philippines

BY GLYNNIS GRAINGER

A PERTH group has raised $30,000 to improve the “appalling conditions” of schools in the Philippines.

The 2010 Philippines

Edmund Rice Mission (PERM) raffle was drawn at a special function at organisers Terry and Mimia Gee’s home at Kinross on 24 October.

The group hopes to supply 19 schools with computers, library books and science equipment.

programme is Women also have value. Sr Angela said one response from the group was, “We really like this; how come nobody ever told us that before?”

For 15 years, children have been visiting the Josephite centre on Sundays for games and hot milk with porridge. Through the week the children are brought in after school for reading classes and to play with jigsaw puzzles.

“It’s to promote the importance of playtime,” Sr Angela said.

For three hours a week, the Josephites give them a childhood; otherwise they are out mining, Sr Christine Symonds said.

Sr Christine, who is based in North Perth, recently went to Peru for a visit.

For the last four years, she has been selling Peruvian made handicrafts coordinated by the Josephites in Peru for Ethica, a not-for-profit organisation founded by the Josephite congregation to market the goods that are made in Peru to Australians.

As part of the human development programmes, the Sisters organise co-operatives in Peru to help locals produce handicrafts such as finger puppets, scarves and bags that can be sold to an Australian market through Ethica.

The project started with a small group and now there are over 200 women in four communities - two are on the outskirts of Lima and two more in remote mountain areas.

Casabet is in Lima and is probably the biggest.

They produce all the handbags and small purses.

Cruz de Motupe is also on the outskirts of Lima. It is a very poor and marginalised area.

The women do the work at home while they look after the children and come back once the product is finished.

They made all the wristbands sold for World Youth Day at Mary MacKillop Place.

“It was Mimia’s idea to form a group to raise funds to improve the appalling conditions in the schools in the Philippines,” Mr Gee said. Of the funds raised from the raffle, $5,000 came from the donations from Perth’s Catholic parishioners.

Mr Gee said selling raffle tickets had been a spiritual experience in providing him with an opportunity to get to know the Catholic population.

“Young people offered their services. Some parishes are struggling and everywhere are wonderful parish priests who were very, very supportive,” he said.

They also make hats, gloves, hairbands and beautiful Christmas tree skirts. Pitumarca is in the Andes in southern Peru.

They use hand-spun sheep’s wool tinted with dyes from local plants. This is the region that produces the traditional hats with earflaps. They also produce the alpaca scarves, shawls and finger puppets.

Tarma is about six hours from Lima. The women meet every week and make colourful children’s scarves and hats.

On the day of the presentation, Sr Christine Symonds set up an Ethica market of Peruvian handicrafts at the Catholic Pastoral Centre.

Around 20 people attended the morning tea to hear Sr Angela Carroll share her experiences of the mission in Peru and the market raised over $1,000. But Sr Christine, who has been the local Perth liaison for Ethica for the last four years, is moving on to Penola next year to provide pastoral support for the volunteers at the Mary MacKillop Centre.

For Sr Christine, selling these goods at the back of parishes is a hobby - “it’s my bit for the poor,” she said - since her full time job is at the Mary MacKillop Centre. She said she is grateful to the parishes for their support of the sale of

the goods but is looking for volunteers to help carry it on in the future. “The success of Ethica depends on the markets in Australia,” she said.

Sr Angela said that what the Josephites do in Peru is offer their presence. “It’s seeing the need and responding when we can. We talk about helping the person to grow in dignity. We empower networking,” she said. By the Josephites’ presence, Peruvians are seeing other ways for women to live with dignity.

“It’s just a little glimpse,” she said.

To support the Josephite mission in Peru visit www.ethica.org.au

People peruse the merchandise made by those the Josephites help in a mission in Peru.

Josephite Sisters Christine Symonds and Angela Carroll at the Catholic Pastoral Centre in Highgate. PHOTOS: BRIDGET SPINKS

LifeLink winners earn schools cash

BY BRIDGET SPINKS

ARCHBISHOP Barry Hickey and Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton presented $1,500 in prize money to the winning six schools in the LifeLink Day Express Yourself art competition on 18 November at St Mary’s Cathedral parish centre.

The winning entries were year five students Emily Glover and Jordyn Grevers from St Andrew’s Catholic Primary in Clarkson and Madeleine Grech from St Denis School in Joondanna; and Year 6 students Keeley Rodgers from Trinity College, Camille Pepito from Good Shepherd Catholic School in Lockridge and Blake Gianoli and Jordan Nadj from Queen of Apostles School in Riverton.

One high school entry from Year 11 student Samantha Hattingh from Newman College in Churchlands was also among the winning entries.

Ten representatives from each of the winning schools were invited to join Archbishop Hickey and Bishop Sproxton for morning tea as part of the prize.

Many schools sent the artist/s accompanied by the principal or the head of junior or senior school as well as their class teacher and fellow students.

Along with the sponsorship money that the schools received and the invitation to attend the morning tea and talk to Archbishop Hickey and Bishop Sproxton, the students and schools were also presented with a framed and engraved

copy of their winning artwork. The challenge for the students was to produce a piece of art which would visually represent the Archbishop’s goals for LifeLink Day or how LifeLink agencies help people in need in Western Australia through their 13 social support agencies.

The Dean of the Cathedral and Catholic Education Commission Chair Mgr Michael Keating, Deputy Director of Catholic Education Office, Mary Retel and Perth Archdiocese’s Financial Administrator and LifeLink Executive Committee member Greg Russo, also attended the morning tea.

These winning artworks are already visible on the Schools and Students Zone page and will feature in the Schools Pages on the LifeLink website throughout 2011 as part of the prize as well.

LifeLink is an “umbrella organisation” founded in 1994 by Archbishop Hickey, charged with the responsibility for helping to fund and support the various social service agencies of the Archdiocese of Perth.

Every year the Archbishop makes a Christmas Appeal to raise funds for LifeLink agencies established by the Archdiocese of Perth, including Emmanuel Centre, Daydawn Advocacy Centre and Centrecare Inc.

This year he hopes to raise $500,000 with the Appeal, which was taken up at parishes on 13-14 November.

Donations can still be made online at www.lifelink.com.au/donate

Voiceless speak to awaken society to dire needs

voiceless homeless

St Vincent de Paul Society uses real-life cases to awaken the public to the plight of the

SEBASTIAN, 29, is too scared to sleep so he walks the streets until it is morning. Six year old Sam’s father

has taken off, leaving his family in dire financial straits and Karen, 41, lives in isolation, suffering from schizophrenia. According to the St Vincent de Paul Society, these real-life cases are representative of the people the Society wants to continue to help this Christmas launching their 2010 Christmas Appeal on 18 November in an effort to do so. Society spokeswoman Lucinda

Ardagh said that Vinnies will provide financial assistance, hampers, bedding, food, clothing and support to people in all sorts of disadvantage this Christmas.

“In all of these case studies and the thousands more that these three stories represent, Vinnies is out there on the ground offering a renewed sense of hope that tomorrow can be a better day,” Ms Ardagh said.

“Only with the generosity of the WA community will our volunteers be able to provide assistance to help make their tomorrow a better day. The WA community never let us down and we appreciate any financial or material donation we receive,” she said.

The launch took place at Vincentian Village, a supported accommodation site which is part of Vincentcare, a Special Work of the St Vincent de Paul Society that offers support with dignity for people who have experienced mental illness and/or homelessness.

The Help Make Tomorrow A Better Day Appeal aims to raise $600,000 by the end of January.

As Christmas draws nearer, the Society is receiving hundreds of calls for help each week and is seeing more and more men in their 20s who need longer-term residential care as they are homeless, mentally ill or both.

To donate to the St Vincent de Paul Society’s Christmas Appeal, call 13 18 12 or log on to www.vinnies.org.au.

To make a material donation of food, clothing or household goods, please call 9475 5400.

Above, some of the winning designs, clockwise from top left: Camille Pepito (Good Shepherd Catholic School, Lockridge), Emily Glover, Jordyn Grevers (St Andrew’s Catholic Primary School, Clarkson), Samantha Hattingh (Newman College), Keeley Rogers (Trinity College) and Blake Gianoli, Jordan Nadj (Queen of Apostles School, Riverton). Below, students enjoy the morning tea with Archbishop Barry Hickey and his Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton that was part of the prize.

Picture at top left: Students of St Brigid’s School at the St Vincent de Paul Society’s Christmas Appeal launch.

PHOTO: SVDP

Benedict in new book challenges society to open its mind

In new book, Pope addresses sex abuse, kneeling to receive Communion, possible resignation

BY JOHN T HAVIS Catholic News Service

ROME - Pope Benedict XVI’s book-length interview is certain to spark global attention, and not only for his comments suggesting that condom use might be acceptable in some circumstances.

In the 219-page book, Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times, the German pontiff spoke candidly on the clerical sex abuse scandal, relations with Islam, papal resignation and the “threatening catastrophe” facing humanity.

The wide-ranging interview was conducted by German writer Peter Seewald who posed questions in six one-hour sessions last summer.

The book was to be released on 23 November at the Vatican, but ample excerpts were published three days earlier by the Vatican newspaper.

The book reveals a less formal side of the Pope, as he responds simply and directly on topics as diverse as the joy of sex and the ban on burqas. Much of the conversation focuses on the Pope’s call for a global “examination of conscience” in the face of economic disparity, environmental disasters and moral slippage.

The Pope repeatedly emphasised that the Church’s role in a largely broken world is not to impose a “burden” of moral rules but to open the doors to God.

Even before the book’s release, media attention centred on the Pope’s remarks on condoms in AIDS prevention.

While repeating his view that condoms cannot be the answer to the AIDS epidemic, the Pope allowed that in some specific cases - for example, that of male prostitutes - use of a condom could be a step toward taking moral responsibility for one’s actions.

An entire chapter and parts of others were dedicated to the clerical sex abuse scandal. The Pope called it “a great crisis” that left him “stunned by how wretched the Church is, by how much Her members fail to follow Christ.”

“It was really almost like the crater of a volcano, out of which suddenly a tremendous cloud of filth came, darkening and soiling everything, so that above all the priesthood suddenly seemed to be a place of shame,” he said.

He expressed optimism about the Church’s recovery from the scandal, saying God continues to raise up Catholic saints. But he also said he understands why some Catholics, particularly victims, have responded by leaving the Church in protest.

“It is difficult for them to keep believing that the Church is a source of good, that She communicates the light of Christ, that She helps people in life - I can understand that,” he said.

The Pope said media coverage of the abuse scandal was partly motivated by a desire to discredit the Church.

But he added that the Church must be “grateful for every disclosure” and said the media could

not have reported in this way “had there not been evil in the Church.”

The Pope pointed to the Church’s new rules and policies on sex abuse, but he appeared to acknowledge that more might have been done. He noted that in 2002, the Vatican and US Bishops established strict norms to curb sex abuse in US dioceses.

“Would it have been Rome’s duty, then, to say to all the countries expressly: Find out whether you are in the same situation? Maybe we should have done that,” he said. The Pope said that in responding to sex abuse allegations against the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, the late Mexican Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado, “unfortunately we addressed these things very slowly and late.”

The allegations were eventually substantiated and the Order has been placed under Vatican leadership for a period of reform.

Pope Benedict said Father Maciel remains for him “a mysterious figure,” one who lived an immoral and twisted life but who built up his Religious Order with dynamism - a “false prophet” who nevertheless had a “positive effect.” As for the future of the Legionaries, the Pope said it was basically sound but needed corrections that do not destroy the enthusiasm of its members.

The Pope was asked if he considered resigning in the face of such burdens as the sex abuse crisis. He responded: “When the danger is great one must not run away. For that reason, now is certainly not the time to resign.”

But he added that if a Pope is no longer physically, psychologically and spiritually capable of handling the duties of the papacy, he has a right and perhaps an obligation to resign.

The Pope spoke candidly of his

age and health, saying his schedule of meetings and trips “really overtaxes an 83 year old man. I trust that our dear Lord will give me as much strength as I need to be able to do what is necessary. But I also notice that my forces are diminishing”.

The Pope laughed when Seewald suggested that he looked good enough to be a fitness trainer, and said he has to conserve energy during his busy days. Asked whether he uses an exercise bicycle a doctor had given him, the Pope replied: “No, I don’t get to it at all - and don’t need it at the moment, thank God.”

He said he spends his free time reading, praying and sometimes watching DVDs - typically with religious themes - with members of the papal household.

Much of the book dealt with the Pope’s strategy for presenting the Church’s message in a largely sceptical world. The essential problem today, he said, is that the prevailing model of economic and social progress leaves out God, and thus omits the ethical aspect.

Impending climactic disaster actually provides an opportunity to evangelise and promote moral decisions, he said. The problem, though, is that populations and countries seem unwilling to make sacrifices - which is where the Church can make a difference, he

said. It is urgent to “bring the question about God back into the centre,” he said. “The important thing today is to see that God exists, that God matters to us and that He answers us.”

He said the Church can do this only if its own members live the faith in their daily lives. He said that simple task should be the priority today, rather than embarking on major initiatives like a third Vatican Council.

The Pope said the Church’s task is threatened by a “new intolerance” that would limit religious expression in the name of non-discrimination, for example in banning the display of crucifixes in public schools, or in condemning specific Church teachings.

“When, for example, in the name of non-discrimination, people try to force the Catholic Church to change her position on homosexuality or the ordination of women, then that means She is no longer allowed to live out Her own identity,” he said.

In that regard, the Pope said other religions face similar pressures. He said, for example, that he saw no reason for Western countries to ban the burqa, the Islamic veil, as long as it is worn voluntarily.

On other topics, Pope Benedict had this to say:

● He defended the 1968 encycli-

cal Humanae Vitae which taught that artificial contraception in marriage is morally wrong, but said the Church needs to find ways to help people live the teaching and show tolerance to those who have problems with it.

The Pope noted that the Church accepts natural regulation of conception. He said that method presupposes that couples take time for each other, and is far different from taking a pill “so that I can jump into bed with a random acquaintance.”

In general, he said, the Church has to return to the “genuinely Christian attitude” of joy, as well as discipline and responsibility, in sexuality.

● He said dialogue with Muslims has improved during his pontificate, in part because Muslim scholars accept that Islam needs to clarify its relation to violence and its relation to reason.

● The Pope took issue with critics of the wartime policies of Pope Pius XII, saying that he “saved more Jews than anyone else” by quietly opening doors to Church institutions.

● He said he began distributing Communion on the tongue during papal Masses not because he was opposed to Communion in the hand, but to “send a signal” about respect for the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

Children hold signs welcoming Pope Benedict XVI in Yaounde, Cameroon on 17 March. Making his first papal visit to Africa, the Pope said the Catholic Church can help bring answers to the continent’s chronic problems, including poverty, AIDS and tribalism. His upcoming book reinforces his statements during this tour, how condoms are not a cure for AIDS.

PHOTO: CNS/ALESSANDRO BIANCHI, REUTERS

What Benedict

The Record editorial

Mental health for the community

The mental health, or sanity, of a community can be defined as its ability to see the truths about human nature and the relationships between people. The quality of a community can be seen in its willingness, even its determination, to live by truth that can be rationally understood.

There are many such truths of human nature, beginning with respect and protection for every human life, and extending to care for the weak, the poor, and the physically and intellectually disabled. It is not hard to see that Australia has considerable shortcomings in these and other areas, but particularly in respect for life.

The current test of our community’s mental health concerns marriage – our understanding of it and our respect for it. Already, we are showing serious weaknesses in this regard, and our Federal Parliament’s understanding and commitment are under challenge on the issue of so-called gay marriage. The test is whether MPs can answer rationally and with conviction in Parliament.

Marriage was the natural human choice long before the creation of the civil or religious laws that subsequently came to support it. Worldwide, marriage was the union of a man and a woman freely entered into for life.

This union of two sexes is the pathway to new life and the foundation of the love that is essential for the full development of the young. It was and is the bedrock for the establishment of families and societies, tribal or otherwise, in which people could respect one another’s marriages and unite to care for those in need, such as widows and orphans.

Marriage was not created by governments, nor ordered by kings. It was the natural response of people to their own human nature.

Those who can see the underlying wisdom and truth of the human choice for marriage will also see that to put the word ‘homosexual’ (male or female) with the word ‘marriage’ is nonsense, no matter how well intended the nonsense might be.

Homosexual pairings are not sexual unions because there are not two sexes to be united. They are not reproductive unions because there are not two reproductive systems to be united. And if children are somehow incorporated, they are not able to live with their biological origins, and are further deprived by not being able to live with a male-female combination of the two halves of humanity whose love for one another naturally teaches children that humanity is united.

None of this should be construed as an excuse for resentment or animosity towards people who experience same-sex attraction. They generally have a harder road to travel than most of us, and they are entitled to our respect and friendship.

But the current law on marriage is not a matter of unfair discrimination. It is a matter of reality, just as our refusal to let blind people become train drivers is not unfair discrimination, but simply acceptance of reality.

This is a profoundly important matter for our Federal Parliamentarians and it deserves far deeper consideration than the sort of opinion sampling that has been proposed for our MPs in their electorates. Societies that impose laws and practices that do not accord with human nature quickly suffer serious consequences and decline.

To understand the importance of marriage to our society MPs need only study the veritable mountain of information built up by reputable social scientists over the last 50 years. There has not been a thorough study producing empirical evidence which has revealed other than that divorce does serious harm to children and to the adults the children grow into.

The studies are not only concerned with the negative effects of divorce. They also demonstrate that marriage is associated with a broad array of positive outcomes for children and adults alike, including the ability of children to establish and maintain their own marriages. .

Marriage is superior to re-marriage after divorce and far ahead of the modern fashion for cohabitation in providing stability and fulfilment for adults and their children.

Marriage is also associated with many directly social goods such as better health and lower rates of injury, illness and disability in both men and women. The health disadvantages of being raised outside intact families persist long into adulthood.

There is also clear evidence that outside marriage there are higher rates of psychological distress and mental illness; more alcohol and drug addiction; and more violence, delinquency and criminality.

The wealth of evidence in favour of marriage and against divorce and cohabitation annoys many people and mystifies others. However, when it is properly understood, it can be clearly seen that it confirms the wisdom of the natural human intuition for marriage that has been dominant throughout history.

Australia is already suffering intensely from the injustices inflicted on large sections of the last two generations by the failure of our laws and social institutions to protect marriage and family life. In particular, the education offered to children and teenagers by our Public Education and Public Health systems undermines their natural understanding of the meaning of their sexuality and their natural desire eventually for a faithful marriage.

The intense academic scrutiny of the damage done by divorce to adults and children – and particularly children - has produced overwhelming evidence that couples should do their utmost to learn how to keep their marriages healthy and intact.In the best interests of children and society, this ought to be an integral part of relationships education. Sadly, it is not.

All Federal MPs should make themselves familiar with the facts and the meaning of all this study undertaken during a half-century of unparalleled family breakdown, and look carefully at how this damage shows itself in our society.

A parliamentary declaration that ‘gay marriage’ is the same or in any way equivalent to marriage would be a further betrayal of the foundation stone of society and would result in further damage that Australia cannot afford.

Pope is waging war on ‘banality of sexuality’

Leading bioethicist, Parramatta Bishop Anthony Fisher OP (above), who has lectured in bioethics at Oxford University, separates fact from fiction: Contraception, he says, is not at issue in the Pope’s comments, despite the media’s fixation on it; living a truly humane, loving life is the key.

In his forthcoming booklength interview Pope Benedict XVI re-emphasises Catholic teaching that fidelity within marriage and abstinence from sexual activity outside of marriage is the only morally permissible approach to chaste living. It is also the only practicable solution to the HIV-AIDs epidemic.

The Holy Father calls on the faithful to “fight against the banalisation of sexuality” which treats sex as a mere recreational drug, and to seek instead “the humanisation of sexuality” as the expression of marital love.

Despite some misinterpretation in the international media, the Pope has not deviated from or altered in any way Catholic teaching on the intrinsic wrongness of contraception or on reserving sexual intercourse

(‘the marital act’) to marriage, that is, of a man and a woman. Pastors have long recognised that in cases such as homosexual intercourse, conception and marital acts are not at issue.

Using a condom in this situation is clearly not contraception. It is clear that even here the goal must be to move the individual to living a truly ‘humane’, that is a chaste and loving, sexual life. The Pope suggests that sometimes “as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom” to protect his client from disease, this might be a sign of an awakening moral responsibility. But using condoms, the Pope insists, is still not “a real or moral solution”.

● Cardinal George Pell of Sydney also issued a statement: “HIV –AIDS is wreaking havoc in Africa, where the Catholic Church is heavily involved in the care of those infected and their surviving family members.

“In his recent interview, Pope Benedict insisted on speaking on the basic

PHOTO: CNS/HUDSON APUNYO, REUTERS

Christian and Catholic teaching on sexual activity: that such sexual activity is to be confined to the love making between husband and wife. He urges abstinence from premarital and extra-marital sex and fidelity within marriage.

“He also mentioned the possibility of a male prostitute using a condom against transmitting infection as a first step ‘in the direction of moralisation’.

“This is a delicate and difficult area, sometimes producing tragic consequences. I have not seen the German original of what the Pope said, but hard and exceptional cases can encourage bad law making.

“Much work needs to be done to bring consistent, Catholic light into this grey and vexed area, while ensuring that the Catholic moral framework on sexuality remains intact.

“I also endorse the brief statement of Bishop Anthony Fisher OP as faithfully representing Catholic thinking.”

Part of the problem: A Ugandan Red Cross volunteer distributes condoms in the northern town of Lira during a 2006 commemoration service for AIDS victims. Uganda’s ABC campaign - which encourages people to practise abstinence and faithfulness or use condoms - is thought to have contributed to a significant drop in HIV/AIDS in the country.

really said

New book, old teaching

Pope’s remarks in book open new chapter in condom debate

BY JOHN T HAVIS ANALYSIS Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY - In a new book, Pope Benedict XVI said the use of condoms may be a sign of moral responsibility in some specific situations when the intention is to reduce the risk of AIDS.

The Pope addressed the issue in the book-length interview, Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times, which was to be released on 23 November. The Vatican newspaper published excerpts from the book on 20 November, including the comments on condoms.

In the book, the Pope repeated what he said during a trip to Africa last year, that “we cannot solve the problem (of AIDS) by distributing condoms.” Focusing exclusively on condoms damages human sexuality, making it “banal” and turning it into a kind of “drug,” he said.

But the Pope went on to say that in particular cases - he mentioned prostitutes - condom use may be justified as a first step toward taking moral responsibility for one’s actions.

Here is the key passage as translated in the English edition of the book. The Pope was asked whether it was “madness to forbid a highrisk population to use condoms.”

“There may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step in the direction of a moralisation, a first assumption of responsibility, on the way toward discovering an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever one wants. But it is not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection. That can really lie only in a humanisation of sexuality,” the Pope said.

Peter Seewald, the German journalist who conducted the interview, then asked: “Are you saying, then, that the Catholic Church is actually not opposed, in principle, to the use of condoms?”

The Pope answered: “She, of course, does not regard it as a real or moral solution, but, in this or that case, there can be nonetheless, in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, a first step toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality.”

The Italian translation - the only one officially released to date by the Vatican - has a slightly different wording: it uses the feminine “prostitute”, not male prostitute, and says this is an example of where condom use can be “justified.”

It was the first time Pope Benedict - or any Pope - has said publicly that condom use may be acceptable in some cases.

The Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Fr Federico Lombardi, said on 21 November that the Pope was not “reforming or changing” the Church’s teaching on sexual responsibility, but rather consid-

ering an “exceptional situation” in which sexual activity places a person’s life at risk.

While the Pope was not morally justifying disordered sexual activity, he was saying that use of a condom to reduce the risk of transmitting the disease may be an act of moral responsibility, Fr Lombardi said.

The spokesman said it would be an exaggeration to call the Pope’s comments “revolutionary,” but he said they offered a courageous and important contribution to a longdebated question.

The Pope’s remarks underscored a distinction made previously by other Church experts: that the Church’s teaching against condoms as a form of birth control is different from its position on condom use in disease prevention. The comments seemed destined to open a new chapter in the Church’s internal debate on that issue.

For years, in fact, Vatican officials and theologians have studied the morality of condom use to reduce the risk of AIDS. The Vatican has never proclaimed a “ban” on condom use in AIDS prevention; on the contrary, some Vatican theologians and officials have argued that for married couples in which one partner is HIV-infected, use of condoms could be a moral responsibility.

More generally, however, they have argued that promotion of condoms as the only or best answer to AIDS carries grave risks, mainly by promoting the idea that condoms guarantee “safe sex.” In that sense, the Pope said on his flight to Cameroon in 2009, rather than solve the issue of HIV/AIDS, condoms “increase the problem.” He encouraged campaigns to promote

responsible sexuality instead. When that episode was raised by Seewald in the book, the Pope seemed to bristle.

“The media coverage completely ignored the rest of the trip to Africa on account of a single statement,” he said. He said he felt “provoked” by the question because the Church does so much to care for AIDS patients. “I had the chance to visit one of these wards and to speak with the patients. That was the real answer: The Church does more than anyone else because She does not speak from the tribunal of the newspapers, but helps Her brothers and sisters where they are actually suffering,” he said.

In the book, the Pope criticised the “fixation” on condoms in AIDS prevention, but without categorically ruling out their use.

“As a matter of fact, you know, people can get condoms when they want them anyway. But this just goes to show that condoms alone do not resolve the question itself. More needs to happen,” he said.

“Meanwhile, the secular realm itself has developed the so-called ABC Theory: Abstinence-Be Faithful-Condoms, where the condom is understood only as a last resort, when the other two points fail to work,” he said.

The ABC campaign has received coverage in Vatican media in recent years. After his 2009 trip to Africa, the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano published an interview with an Italian medical missionary, Brother Daniele Giusti, who said the ABC method has worked well in Uganda. He evaluated condom effectiveness in these terms: “The condom has worked in concentrated epidem-

ics and among particular groups: prostitutes, homosexuals and drug addicts. Not so in other cases.”

It’s worth noting that in a different section of the new book, the Pope defended the 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, which taught that, in the context of married love, contraception techniques, including condoms, are immoral because they close off the possibility of the transmission of life.

“The basic lines of Humanae Vitae are still correct. Finding ways to enable people to live the teaching, on the other hand, is a further question,” the Pope said. He indicated that pastors should show some tolerance for Catholics who have difficulty with the teaching on contraception.

“We should not take the failure to live up to this high moral standard as an authoritative objection to the truth. We should try to do as much good as we can and to support and put up with each other” and create conditions for better understanding of the teaching, he said.

The Pope noted that the Church accepts natural regulation of conception. He said that method presupposes that couples take time for each other, and is far different from taking a pill “so that I can jump into bed with a random acquaintance.”

Theologians who advise the Vatican have underlined that it makes little sense to apply the Church’s teaching against contraception to sexual acts outside of marriage, since those acts are already considered immoral.

In a 2006 interview with CNS, Mgr Angel Rodriguez Luno, a moral theologian at Rome’s Holy Cross University and a consultor to the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation, said that “if unmarried persons do not abstain from sexual relations, or if spouses are not mutually faithful, these are sexual acts which are immoral in themselves, whether or not a condom is used.”

In that context, he said, the condom is not the issue for the Church.

“As for immoral acts, the Church says only that one should abstain from them. The Church does not have a doctrine on the various ways to carry out immoral acts,” said Mgr Rodriguez. Some theological experts have said that the life-anddeath consequences of AIDS may make condom use a “lesser evil” that can be tolerated, even in particular marital situations. On the other hand, some Vatican officials have argued that widespread distribution and use of condoms may encourage promiscuous sexual activity, which itself is a factor in the spread of AIDS.

In 2006, Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, head of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry, announced that his council had handed in a 200 page study on condoms in AIDS prevention for further development by the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation.

That raised the possibility of a Vatican pronouncement on the subject. But sources told CNS last year that any action on the report has been put on hold, in part because there was not unanimity of opinion, and in part because of fear that the nuances involved would only invite confusion in the media and among Catholics.

‘Humanising’ sexuality is the solution

BY ANTHONY BARICH

POPE Benedict XVI’s comments on condoms (see main story) reveal his belief that the true solution to reducing the risk of AIDS involves “humanising sexuality”, not using condoms, a consultor to the Pontifical Council on the Family said.

Prof Janet Smith told Zenit on 21 November that the example that the Pope gives for the use of a condom is a male prostitute; thus it is reasonable to assume that he is referring to a male prostitute engaged in homosexual acts.

“The Holy Father is simply observing that for some homosexual prostitutes the use of a condom may indicate an awakening of a moral sense; an awakening that sexual pleasure is not the highest value, but that we must take care that we harm no one with our choices,” she said.

“He is not speaking to the morality of the use of a condom, but to something that may be true about the psychological state of those who use them. If such individuals are using condoms to avoid harming another, they may eventually realise that sexual acts between members of the same sex are inherently harmful since they are not in accord with human nature.

“The Pope does not in any way think the use of condoms is a part of the solution to reducing the risk of AIDS. As he explicitly states, the true solution involves ‘humanising sexuality’. Anyone having sex that threatens to transmit HIV needs to grow in moral discernment. This is why Benedict focused on a ‘first step’ in moral growth.

“The Church is always going to be focused on moving people away from immoral acts towards love of Jesus, virtue and holiness. We can say that the Holy Father clearly did not want to make a point about condoms, but wants to talk about growth in a moral sense, which should be a growth towards Jesus.”

Asked whether the Pope would support the distribution of condoms to male prostitutes, Smith said: “Nothing he says here indicates that he would. Public programmes of distribution of condoms run the risk of conveying approval for homosexual sexual acts.

“The task of the Church is to call individuals to conversion and to moral behaviour; it is to help them understand the meaning and purpose of sexuality and to help them come to know Christ who will provide the healing and graces that enable us to live in accord with the meaning and purpose of sexuality.”

Prof Smith said the Pope is not indicating that heterosexuals who have HIV could reduce the wrongness of their acts by using condoms.

“(The Pope) says that the Church does not find condoms to be a ‘real or moral solution’,” Prof Smith told Zenit.

“That means the Church does not find condoms either to be moral or an effective way of fighting the transmission of HIV.”

Pope Benedict XVI holds his crosier as he says Mass to celebrate the end of the Synod of Bishops on the Bible in St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican in 2008.

PHOTO: CNS/MAX ROSSI, REUTERS

Let the childre

A French priest has done what adults have struggled to do for centu

A French priest who has started an international movement giving children the best possible start in life by establishing a tangible relationship with Christ in the Eucharist was in Perth and Bunbury earlier this month to spread the love.

Bridget Spinks spoke exclusively to him

While kneeling before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament one afternoon in 1995, Fr Antoine Thomas csj felt a tap on his shoulder and heard the words of a mother of three tiny children: “Father, can you help my children to adore Jesus?”

He did, and then she asked for more help so Fr Antoine started a little parish group of young adorers in Paris.

This grew into Children of Hope, the Eucharistic Adoration ministry that brought Fr Antoine to Perth and Bunbury from 8-17 November on his way to found a local congregation of his order, the Community of St John, in New Zealand.

Fr Antoine said that in the 21st century, it is so important to teach children from five to 15 years old to adore Jesus in the Holy Eucharist because we need to consider what Jesus asked.

“Jesus Himself said to the Samaritan woman in the Gospel of John Chapter 4, ‘the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshippers will adore the Father in spirit and in truth’,” Fr Antoine said.

“God is Spirit and it is in Spirit and Truth that we need to adore.

“Because he has sent and is sending the Holy Spirit, the Spirit that was in His human soul, to move Christians - those who accept belief in Him - to give God what belongs to God, which is Adoration and which is very forgotten today,” he said.

When Fr Antoine moved to Illinois to serve as chaplain for two universities in 1995, he started a family adoration prayer group on Sunday afternoon as soon as he arrived.

While based in America for these last 15 years, Fr Antoine has toured 40 of the 50 United States of America with Children of Hope.

He has also travelled to Romania, Canada, Haiti, Nicaragua and Singapore to help start the Eucharistic Adoration movement. Earlier this month, he was in Cebu, Philippines helping lead Adoration there.

His tour to Perth and Bunbury earlier this month - which included Catholic Youth Ministry in Highgate and parishes in Glendalough, Beaconsfield, Langford, Pemberton and St Mary’s Cathedral - was exclusive. He visited no other Australian State or Territory this time around.

He estimates that he has led 25,000 children to adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

During his visit to Perth and Bunbury, Fr Antoine led several primary and high school students in Eucharistic Adoration.

He is driven by the belief that catechism classes alone will not properly form this generation of children to have a personal relationship with God through Jesus.

“I don’t know how teaching another class of catechism in the classroom without a time of prayer with the catechist can be fruitful; it’s one more class,” he said.

“What I do is not teaching catechism in the Church. It is a time of encounter, of real encounter with Jesus where He is the most substantially present,” he said.

In a typical Eucharistic Adoration session, which Fr Antoine leads in schools, there are three times of silence, three meditative songs and three helpful words of guidance during the session, “to help them realise both the real

“

Priests, Religious and lay people should continue and redouble their efforts to teach the younger generations the meaning and value of Eucharistic adoration and devotion.”

- Pope John Paul II

presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and His infinite love for each one of them.”

It usually lasts half an hour, and sometimes Fr Antoine will process with the Blessed Sacrament among the children, bringing Jesus close to them.

During these times of Adoration, Fr Antoine will ask questions in such a way as to lead the children to discover the answers.

“The first thing I try to do with children is make them realise that we only have one life; that they have a soul, a spirit; and since God is Spirit, as revealed in St John, it is in spirit that I can adore the presence of God in my soul, in the soul of others, and that makes me respect other people, because they are creatures of God,” he said.

“I speak slowly and I ask them, if you die today, what will happen to your soul? Are you sure to see God face to face? Do you believe you are going to be in the presence of God? When I ask a lot of questions like that, they listen very carefully.

“We’re so busy every day that nobody asks them the crucial questions. But I do, all the time. That’s why they respond,” Fr Antoine said.

Once the children grasp that God exists and is their Creator, Fr Antoine leads them to think about how they can enter into a relationship with Him by putting it at the level of friendship.

“Would you like to have friends?” he asks them. “Would you like to have very good friends? Do you ask a friend to be loyal, to be true? Well, Jesus is your best friend. Do you visit Him often? Do you visit your best friend once a year? Once a month? Once a week?”

They all say more.

“If I said to you, Jesus is your best friend, how often do you visit Him? Once on Sunday only? If you do go to Mass every Sunday,” he said.

He asks them to ponder whether Jesus is their true friend. Yes or no. “Why did Jesus come down on earth? Why did He come to be in a tabernacle, locked in without anybody to visit Him?” he asks the children.

“Teaching them about the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist is, of course, number one, chronologically.

“But it’s not enough to make it appealing to them. Why did Jesus invent the mystery of the Eucharist? Was He obliged to? He saved us by the cross.

“Why did Jesus, in addition to dying on

the cross, leave us the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist?

“Those questions are really hitting the mark with adults and teachers I can see everywhere.”

Fr Antoine said the movement is called Children of Hope because hope is the fruit of adoring Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.

At the natural level, the presence of a friend is what consoles and comforts us, he said.

“So at the supernatural level, if I truly believe that Jesus is here, why don’t I see some hope? He listens to me. But of course it’s conditioned by the faith. It’s in the dark, I’m very aware of that. It’s not something sensitive - there’s no hug.”

“If I said to you, Jesus is your best friend, how often do you visit Him?

Once

on Sunday only?”

- Fr Antoine Thomas

Fr Antoine insists on developing the habit of visiting Jesus in the tabernacle and encourages them to ask their parents while they’re out shopping to swing by the chapel to pay a visit.

“You don’t want to leave Jesus alone in the tabernacle, locked in all day long in His

room, right?” he said. “They get the point. It all depends on how you set things up so that they can agree. So that it comes from them. I just set it up. There’s a whole approach there.”

Fr Antoine said that the Children of Hope is a movement to convey a spirit; the spirit of love for the Holy Eucharist, the spirit of adoration.

“It’s more a network of Christians enthused for the cause they are promoting. Anyone can join through the website. It allows anyone in the world to start this on their own without asking permission,” he said.

There are CD and DVD resources available on website www.childrenofhope.org.

This way of leading adoration is put at the service of parishes and Catholic schools.

“I do not want this to be men’s work but God’s work. Someone starts a movement in the Church, yes, but as an instrument of the Holy Spirit,” he said.

“I do not possess Children of Hope; I don’t want to be the director or president. No, I want to be a child of God who wants to share with families and children His love for the Holy Eucharist. So that the children of the world can be exposed to that love of Jesus for them without being entangled in all kinds of board and committee meetings - that’s all human.”

Fr Antoine added that the Children of Hope “is not my thing; the last two Popes requested it”.

Fr Antoine Thomas speaks to Perth children about Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament on the altar a

en come to me

uries - he has drawn children to adore and love Jesus in the Eucharist

In 1996, Pope John Paul II urged priests, Religious and lay people to “continue and redouble their efforts to teach the younger generations the meaning and value of Eucharistic adoration and devotion”.

In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI also recommended that “children be taught the meaning and beauty of spending time with Jesus, and helped to cultivate a sense of awe before His presence in the Eucharist” in their catechetical training, and especially in their preparation for Holy Communion.

This call from the last two Popes as well as the apparitions of the Angel of God to the three children of Fatima in 1916 motivates Fr Antoine to teach children how to adore Jesus.

“The Angel of Fatima taught the children on the first apparition to adore God as Creator, ‘O my God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love you’. There was nothing in front of the angel, he just prostrated down. On the third apparition, he said, ‘Most holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,’ but he has in his hands a bleeding host and a chalice that he left suspended in the air.

“He came close to the children and he bowed down with that Eucharistic prayer. Then he took the host, still bleeding, with the chalice, went to Lucia and gave Communion to Lucia, then gave Communion to the two other children and then disappeared.

“So I also try to spend a lot of time leading children in adoration everywhere, because of the Angel of Fatima sent by God to teach the children Eucharistic Adoration. And I don’t see in the Catholic Church people who do that, and I ask myself why?” he said.

Fr Antoine also wants to move children, parents and catechists to adore together and to make them realise that Eucharistic Adoration is “the principle of family unity and peace in the family. If families come to adore together, every week, things will get much better in the family. That’s for sure”.

As the fifth child born in a family of six to very prayerful Catholic parents in Paris, Fr Antoine said he was never exposed to Eucharistic Adoration as a child. It did not really exist much in the Catholic Church 40 years ago, he said.

He was brought up on the lives of the saints and highly recommends parents buy them for their children, especially St Dominic Savio for the boys, and St Bernadette, the children of Fatima, St Therese of the Child Jesus, St Theresa of the Andes and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.

He had an adventurous spirit – he did not always want to be a priest but was attracted by the missionaries in Africa and the North Pole. For many years as a young adult he was passionate about hang gliding, ski mountain-

“ Children should be taught the meaning and beauty of spending time with Jesus, and helped to cultivate a sense of awe before His presence in the Eucharist.”

- Pope Benedict XVI

eering, rock climbing, wind surfing and tennis. He spent two years in a special military school in the Alps for mountaineering and had three business degrees.

“I was so passionate about gliding sports to a point that I couldn’t envisage my life not practising those gliding sports,” he said.

But after several retreats where he asked God, ‘What do you want me to do with my life?

What do you expect from me?’, Fr Antoine was led to the Community of St John in 1985, and in 1992 he was ordained in Paray le Monial, France.

The children’s adoration ministry exploded in popularity in 2000 when Fr Antoine went on TV. This time, another mother had advised EWTN about Children of Hope. After the TV appearance on te EWTN programme Mother Angelica Live, Fr Antoine received over 1,000 letters from grandparents, teachers, catechists and schools who were all enthused by the idea of bringing children to Eucharistic Adoration as if it was something extraordinary, he said.

Many people wanted a copy of a video he showed on air. It was one he had produced with a cameraman about Children of Hope.

He began to duplicate it locally to handle the requests from schools, parishes, Eucharistic congresses and families.

“So that’s the story behind the multiplication of the five loaves and two fish. I was that little boy who gave Jesus just a little bit of time, a little bit of talent with the guitar, though I’m really not a good guitarist,” he said.

“But I love the Eucharist and I gave Him my time and He multiplied it all over the world; and here I am in Perth for the second time in six years.”

This month, Fr Antoine will move to New Zealand. For 17 years the diocese of Christchurch has been asking the Community of St John to minister at the University of Canterbury, “just to have a monastic presence in the diocese”.

Fr Antoine volunteered for the mission. He and two other members of the Community of St John will live at St Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church in Riccarton and will take care of the parish as well as the chaplaincy of the University.

Fr Antoine said he knew that if God called him to something, it would be as a missionary and it would be a call to share his faith and love of Christ with the maximum number of people possible.

“And He more than fulfilled my desires,” Fr Antoine said.

Time to renew faith in Eucharist: Benedict

VATICAN CITY (CNS) - The feast of Corpus Christi is an important occasion for Catholics to renew their faith in the true presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, Pope Benedict XVI said. Speaking about the life of the littleknown mediaeval nun who was the first to promote the creation of a feast celebrating the sacrament, Pope Benedict also said that frequent participation in Communion “is essential to the path of faith.”

At the weekly audience on 17 November, Pope Benedict praised the “zeal for the Eucharistic cult” of St Juliana of Mont Cornillon, Belgium.

During her life from 1193 to 1258, the Pope said, she was educated by Augustinian nuns, became one herself and served as abbess of an Augustinian convent.

The Pope explained how, beginning at age 16, St Juliana had a series of visions in which she was instructed to establish a feast day to exalt the sacrament of the Eucharist. She kept the vision secret for some 20 years until she found others who would help her promote such a celebration.

The Pope said St Juliana convinced the Bishop who would later become Pope Urban IV to create a special feast. After her death, Pope Urban created the feast of Corpus Domini, also known as Corpus Christi, and celebrated it for the first time in Orvieto, Italy in 1264. The Pope said that the feast of Corpus Christi “has had a marvellous development and is still very much felt by Christian people.”

Remembering the feast and St Juliana, the Pope said, “We also renew our faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.” He repeated Church teaching that Jesus “is present in a true, real and substantial way in the Eucharist.”

at St Mary’s Cathedral on 14 November, and blesses the children with Christ in the monstrance.

PHOTOS: PETER ROSENGREN

St Juliana of Mont Cornillon

Bishops forced to attend illicit ordination

For the first time since 2006, China ordains Bishop without papal approval

BY CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

CHENGDE, China - Under close surveillance from local government officials, Father Joseph Guo Jincai was ordained Bishop of Chengdethe first Bishop ordained without papal approval in four years.

Eight Bishops in communion with Pope Benedict XVI laid their hands on Fr Guo, whose ordination was illicit in the eyes of the Catholic Church. Some of the ordaining Bishops had been detained by government officials in the days before the ordination in an effort to force them to participate, reported the Asian Church news agency UCA News.

Retired Bishop John Liu Jinghe of Tangshan refused to attend the ordination, sources told UCA News.

More than 100 Catholics and dozens of government officials attended the ordination Mass at the church in the rural town of Pingquan on 20 November. The village was surrounded by about 100 uniformed and plainclothes police. Cameras were banned in the church, and mobile phone signals were blocked in the area.

Bishop Guo also became the first Bishop illegitimately ordained since Pope Benedict XVI issued his letter to Chinese Catholics in 2007.

The papal letter strongly criticised the limits placed by the Chinese government on the Church’s activities, but on several key issues, including the appointment of Bishops, it invited civil authorities to a new and serious dialogue.

In recent years, because of government requirements, the priests, nuns and laypeople of Chinese dioceses have elected their new Bishops, and most of those elected have applied to the Holy See for approval.

If such approval was given, it often was announced at the episcopal ordination. Ten Chinese Bishops already have been ordained

with Vatican approval this year. The Vatican had no immediate reaction to the illicit ordination.

However, in an 18 November statement, Jesuit Fr Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said that if reports of the planned ordination were true, “then the Holy See would consider such actions as grave violations of freedom of religion and freedom of conscience.

“It would also consider such an ordination as illicit and damaging to the constructive relations that have been developing in recent times between the People’s Republic of China and the Holy See,” the statement said.

But Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, who attended the Pope’s creation of 24 new Cardinals at the Vatican on 20 November, said he was saddened by news of Bishop Guo’s ordination and information that some Bishops were forced to participate. However, he told UCA News, “We should not be so quick to condemn those, our brothers, before listening to their self-justification.” The Cardinal criticised Anthony Liu Bainian, vice president of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, who said

China proceeded with the ordination because the Vatican had not given a good reason for its lack of approval. Bainian told UCA News, “We have waited for a long time and could not wait any longer.”

“The last word belongs to him,” Cardinal Zen told UCA News. “We thought there was a sincere negotiation going on. No, that was not so. He wants everything his way.”

The Cardinal criticised “the kidnapping of persons (Bishops), the cutting of all communications, the huge show of police force as if dealing with dangerous criminals ... Are we not living well into the 21st century?”

Ordained a priest in 1992, Bishop Guo has been vice secretary-general of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and a Catholic representative of the National People’s Congress, China’s parliament.

Church sources told UCA News that the laypeople in Chengde, who are simple in their faith and loyal to the Pope, have no choice but to accept their new Bishop.

“After all, (Bishop) Guo’s reputation among the local faithful is not bad,” a Pingquan Catholic told UCA News.

Anglicans on the move

LONDON (CNS) - The first personal ordinariate for former Anglicans will be established in England in early January, the English and Welsh Catholic Bishops announced.

It will include five former Anglican Bishops who announced their resignations earlier this month, and an unspecified number of clergy and laity divided into about 30 groups, the Bishops said at a news conference at their headquarters on 19 November.

The ordinariate will be formed by a decree and Pope Benedict XVI will appoint the ordinary at about the same time, they said.

The structure, which will resemble a military diocese, will be the first to be created since the Pope issued his apostolic constitution Anglicanorum coetibus on 4 November 2009. The ordinariate will allow groups of Anglicans to enter the Catholic Church while retaining much

of their distinctive patrimony - including married priests - as well as their liturgical practices.

Auxiliary Bishop Alan Hopes of Westminster, the Bishops’ liaison officer for the ordinariate and the highest-ranking former Anglican priest in England and Wales, said small groups of Anglican laity and their pastors had been preparing for reception into the Church and the ordinariate since late September.

“The Bishops have warmly and generously welcomed the Holy Father’s initiative toward those Anglicans who are seeking full and ecclesial communion with the Catholic Church. We have placed it all in the context of our overall ecumenical journey - which is exactly where the Holy Father has placed it - which seeks full communion in faith and fullness of unity for which Jesus Christ Himself prayed. It has become very clear that there are clergy and groups of people

who wish to make use of this journey into the Catholic Church through the ordinariate structure,” said Bishop Hopes, who was received into the Catholic Church in 1994.

The three serving Anglican Bishops, whose resignations come into effect on 31 December, will be ordained Catholic priests in January and the two retired Bishops will be ordained as priests before Lent, he said.

Clergy and laity will undergo formation and instruction so they can be received into the Catholic Church during Holy Week.

Anglican pastors who wish to become Catholic priests in the new structure will be ordained and incardinated into the ordinariate at Pentecost.

He said the priests would first undergo a rigorous 12-week course overseen by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

US Bishops choose problem solver to lead

New York Archbishop likes being on the front lines ‘with the folks’

BY CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

NEW YORK - Archbishop

Timothy M Dolan of New York is a man familiar with the inner workings of the Catholic Church but once described himself as “a sort of fish-fry and bingo guy” who preferred being “in the field ... on the front lines ... with the folks.”

The gregarious prelate was elected president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops on 16 November, the second day of the Bishops’ fall general meeting in Baltimore. He will begin serving his three-year term at the close of the 18 November meeting, succeeding Chicago Cardinal Francis E George.

Since being installed as head of the New York Archdiocese in April 2009, Archbishop Dolan has announced a strategic plan to close underperforming Archdiocesan elementary schools and change the traditional parish governance model, addressed the growing controversy over plans to build an Islamic community centre and mosque a few blocks from ground zero, and urged Catholics to make Mass the centre of each Sunday.

At a February 2009 news conference in New York after the announcement of his appointment to the city, the Archbishop said: “The vitality of this great Archdiocese is in its parishes. The priests are on the front lines. I am their servant. You can count on me to help them. I look forward to being with the priests. That’s not a chore; that’s a choice.”

Archbishop Dolan, 60, has been serving as chairman of the board of Catholic Relief Services, the US Bishops’ overseas relief and development agency. With his election as president, he will have to step down as chairman and will appoint his successor. He is co-chair and moderator of Jewish affairs for the USCCB.

As controversy grew over plans to build an Islamic community centre and mosque a few blocks from ground zero in New York, the Archbishop worked

with Jewish and Muslim religious leaders to identify clerics and laypeople to invite to interreligious discussions to work out conflicts as they occur.

“I’m afraid we have maybe not been as energetic with fostering relations with our Islamic brothers and sisters,” he said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, adding “our coming together is not to say we can settle the mosque site issue,”’ but “the wider issue of Church, Jewish, Islamic tensions.”

Earlier this year, Archbishop Dolan issued his first pastoral since being named to head the New York Archdiocese. In it, he urged Catholics to make Mass the centre of their Sunday, saying the observance of the Lord’s day is essential for the Church, “the vibrancy of our faith” and the “clarity of our Catholic identity.”

In March, as allegations of clergy sexual abuse in Europe, particularly Germany, made news, he told New York Catholics that the “tidal wave of headlines” about the abuse and new stories about an old case in Wisconsin have “knocked us to our knees once again.”

“Anytime this horror, vicious sin and nauseating crime is reported, as it needs to be, victims and their families are wounded again, the vast majority of faithful priests bow their heads in shame anew, and sincere Catholics experience another dose of shock, sorrow and even anger,” he said at the end of Palm Sunday Mass on 28 March.

He also defended Pope Benedict XVI against claims by some, including the media, that he had not done enough to address the abuse situation.

“What deepens the sadness now is the unrelenting insinuations against the Holy Father himself, as certain sources seem frenzied to implicate the man who, perhaps more than anyone else, has been the leader in purification, reform and renewal that the Church so needs,” he said.

Timothy Dolan was born on 6 February 1950 in St Louis.

In 1994, he was named rector of the North American College, serving in Rome until 2001, when he was named Auxiliary Bishop of St Louis by Pope John Paul II, who also named him Archbishop of Milwaukee in 2002.

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong, pictured embracing Pope Benedict XVI in Lorenzago di Cadore, Italy in 2007, said he is saddened by the news of an illicit episcopal ordination which the China government forced Roman Catholic Bishops to attend.

PHOTO: CNS/ALESSIA GIULIANI, CATHOLIC PRESS

Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, who has been elected president of the US Bishops’ conference, smiles as he holds two year old Jeremiah during a visit to Covenant House in New York in August. PHOTO: CNS

Contraception ‘not a preventive service’

Contraception, sterilisation not preventive health services, panel told

BY NANCY FRAZIER O’BRIEN Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON - Contraception and sterilisation should not be included among mandated “preventive services” for women under the new health reform law, a spokeswoman for the US Bishops told an Institute of Medicine committee on 16 November.

“As you study the vital question of preventive services for women under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, I urge you to focus on services that will offer authentic care and save lives,” said Deirdre McQuade, assistant director for policy and communications at the Bishops’ Secretariat of ProLife Activities.

The Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Preventive Services for Women is charged with recommending to the Department of Health and Human Services a list of preventive services for women that will be mandated for all health plans under the new health reform law. HHS is to announce that list next August.

Addressing the committee at its first meeting, McQuade echoed a letter sent by the Office of the General Counsel of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops to HHS on 17 September.

“The conference has a particular concern that contraceptives and sterilisation not be mandated as ‘preventive’ services,” she said. “To prevent pregnancy is not to

prevent a disease - indeed, contraception and sterilisation pose their own unique and serious health risks to women and adolescents.

“In addition, contraceptives and sterilisation are morally problematic for many stakeholders, including religiously affiliated health care providers and insurers,” McQuade said.

HHS’ interim final rules for women’s preventive services include such medical services as blood pressure and cholesterol screening; diabetes screening for hypertensive patients; various cancer and sexually transmitted disease screenings; routine immunisations; and counselling related to aspirin use, tobacco cessation and obesity.

Those services “pose little or no medical risk themselves, and they help prevent or ameliorate identifiable conditions that would pose known risks to life and health in the future,” McQuade said.

But the use of prescription contraceptives “actually increases a woman’s risk of developing some of the very conditions that the ‘preventive services’ listed in the interim final rules are designed to prevent, such as stroke, heart attacks and blood clots ..., so a policy mandating contraceptive services as ‘preventive services’ would be in contradiction with itself,” she added.

McQuade also said the mandated inclusion of contraception and sterilisation would violate the freedom of conscience of those employers and insurers who object to them and of the insured who prefer that their policies not include them.

“Thus, the administration’s promise that Americans who like their current coverage will be able to keep it under health care reform

would become a hollow pledge,” she said. The Institute of Medicine is “an independent, nonprofit organisation that works outside of government to provide unbiased and authoritative advice to decisionmakers and the public,” according to its website. It is an arm of the National Academy of Sciences.

In their September letter to HHS, Anthony Picarello Jr, USCCB general counsel, and Michael F. Moses, associate general counsel, raised several other arguments against the inclusion of contraception or sterilisation as mandated health services.

“Some may claim that contraception and sterilisation are ‘preventive services’ in the sense that they ‘prevent’ abortion,” they said. “But this is implausible for several reasons.

... Studies have shown that the percentage of unintended pregnancies that are ended by abortion are higher if the pregnancy occurred during use of a contraceptive. Finally, numerous studies have shown that contraceptive programmes do not reliably or consistently reduce abortion rates.”

Picarello and Moses also said the drug ulipristal, an “emergency contraceptive” marketed as ella, is specifically targeted to women who might already have conceived and is administered up to five days after unprotected sex.

“The policy advanced by Planned Parenthood - mandating coverage for ‘all forms of FDA-approved prescription contraception’ as a preventive service - would therefore be in direct tension with the statutory prohibition on mandating any abortion service, as at least one of the drugs covered by that policy is an abortifacient drug,” they said.

Euthanasia an ‘increasingly urgent threat’

US Bishops to prepare assisted suicide document for vote next June

BY NANCY FRAZIER O’BRIEN Catholic News Service

BALTIMORE - By a nearly unanimous vote, the US Bishops agreed to the preparation of a brief policy statement on assisted suicide, which they will debate and vote on at their spring assembly in June.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, outlined the “increasingly urgent threat” posed by the wider use of assisted suicide in the United States. He spoke on 16 November at the fall general assembly of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore.

Although for many years, Oregon was the only State where assisted suicide was permitted, “the situation has changed in recent years, and very much for the worse,” the Cardinal said.

He described the proponents of assisted suicide - led by the group Compassion & Choices, formerly called the Hemlock Society - as “more organised, better funded and more sophisticated” than ever before.

Both Bishops from Montana - Bishop George Leo Thomas of Helena and Bishop Michael W Warfel of Great Falls and Billings - rose to speak in favour of the proposed statement.

Assisted suicide has been legal in Montana since 2008 following a court decision said to ban it violated the State constitution.

Proponents of assisted suicide “make it appear as if it is the compassionate way to go,” said Bishop Warfel, adding that those who oppose it need more tools and resources to combat that attitude.

Cardinal DiNardo said he had also heard from Bishop Salvatore R Matano of

Burlington, Vermont, in support of such a policy statement.

Some legislators have been working to pass a law permitting assisted suicide in Vermont; its proponents include the State’s governor-elect, Peter Shumlin.

Some Bishops asked whether the policy statement might be approved before June, but Cardinal DiNardo said it must come before all the Bishops to carry the “full weight” of the conference.

The vote to draft such a statement was 218-1.

It will come before the Bishops at their 13-15 June Spring assembly in Seattle, where assisted suicide has been legal since 2008.

The vote was the final public action by the Bishops before they went into executive session for the remainder of their 15-18 November meeting.

Earlier in the day, they approved by a 221-3 vote, with one abstention, a revision of their “guidelines for the provisions of sustenance to Bishops emeriti.”

There was no discussion and the only amendment to the document was to clarify that it applied not only to retired heads of dioceses but to retired coadjutor or Auxiliary Bishops as well.

The document, drawn up by the Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, notes that although it is designed to give “some degree of uniformity” to policies across the country, dioceses “should take upon themselves the responsibility to interpret and implement these guidelines, taking into account the local economy.”

The guidelines, which take effect on 1 January, set a minimum stipend of US$1,900 a month for retired Bishops and say they also should be provided with “appropriate” housing and board, use of a private chapel and housekeeping assistance, health and welfare benefits, an office, a car and insurance and travel expenses to various episcopal meetings and events.

Neocats key to Pope’s plan to re-evangelise Europe

VATICAN CITY (Zenit.org)-

The Neocatechumenal Way is looming as a key chess piece in Benedict XVI’s plan to re-evangelise Europe, after receiving the movement’s initiators Kiko Argüello, Carmen Hernández, and Fr Mario Pezzi on 13 November.

Álvaro de Juana, the spokesman of that Catholic lay group in Spain, told Zenit that one of the subjects addressed in Saturday’s audience with the Pope was the new evangelisation of Europe, a topic to which this ecclesial organisation has always attached great importance.

Pope Benedict has chosen ‘new evangelisation’ as the theme for the 2012 Synod of Bishops, with an emphasis on re-evangelising countries where Christian faith and practice has declined.

This followed his announcement in June of a plan to establish a Pontifical Council for Promoting Evangelisation. During his meeting with the Neocat founders, the Pontiff was “very happy about the work of the Neocatechumenal Way,” De Juana said.

The initiators of the Way explained to the Holy Father the

work that the group’s followers have been carrying out for some years in cities of Holland, Germany and France - where at times the presence of the Church is scarcethrough the missio ad gentes

The recently published apostolic exhortation Verbum Domini alluded to the need of the missio ad gentes in section 95, in which the Synod fathers reiterated the importance that the Church “not limit itself to a pastoral programme of ‘maintenance.’”

Argüello, an auditor in the Synod on the Word of God, explained how

the practice of the Way is reflected in Verbum Domini when it affirms the need “to favour in pastoral activity” the “diffusion of small communities ‘formed by families rooted in parishes or connected to different ecclesial movements and new communities.’”

Another topic addressed in the Papal audience was the forthcoming World Youth Day in Madrid next year. Argüello explained to the Pope that more than 200,000 young people of Neocatechumenal Way from all over the world will undertake itineraries along the length and

breadth of Europe, in which they will evangelise and hold missions for ten days. After taking part in the youth day ceremonies in Madrid, they will attend a vocational meeting with the Way’s initiators, in which it is hoped that thousands of young people will show their willingness to be consecrated to Christ. The Neocat representatives mentioned the opening, at the request of the local Bishops, of three new Redemptoris Mater diocesan missionary seminaries in Sao Paulo, Brazil; Brussels, Belgium; and Trieste, Italy.

A midwife holds a newborn baby in a maternity ward at a hospital in Manila, Philippines in 2008. A Bill on maternal health care, which would require the government to promote artificial contraception, had become a battleground issue between the Catholic Church and activists in the predominantly Catholic nation. PHOTO: CNS/DARREN WHITESIDE, REUTERS

Failure, healing all part of faith journey

From fear to faith

By Norma Woodcock

Available from The Record Bookshop

RRP $24.95

REVIEWED BY

DEACON A ARON PETERS

Imust confess my lack of objectivity as I review Norma Woodcock’s book From Fear to Faith because of my great personal debt to Norma who has deeply influenced my spiritual development over the last few years.

Her words of encouragement, direction, insight and occasionally correction have above all been words of wisdom.

This is a wisdom born not of book knowledge but of long and deep experience of walking with God along the varying path of real life.

When I heard that Norma was putting her story into print I was

very excited that the wisdom I have benefited from would be available to many more people. That confession made, let me turn my attention to the book itself.

The 20th century theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar looked to the lives of the saints as a source of theology.

In a sense, one can read the Gospel written into the lives of men and women in a wide range of life experiences and settings as their faith seeks understanding in the concrete circumstances of those lives. This is because the Gospel was never intended to be a set of abstract concepts analysed by professionals in an academic setting. Rather it is Good News for the oppressed, the suffering, those facing the challenges of living life well.

This is probably most true of the field of prayer and contemplation. For many people, this aspect of the Christian life conjures up images of distant monasteries or isolated ascetics engaged in practices beyond the realm of ordinary life.

Deep prayer and contemplation can be seen as being for someone else with the aptitude and exceptional personal circumstances it requires. Yet the lives of countless saints and ordinary Christians attest to the power and availability of prayer to all.

Here is the real strength of From Fear to Faith

In its pages, Norma walks through her life in a frank and disarming manner.

Reconciliation through conversation

From Coburg to the Kimberley – a narrative of lifelong learning in Catholic faith and ways

By Noel McMaster CSsR

Available from David Lovell Publishing, PO Box 44, East Kew 3102

RRP $24.95

REVIEWED BY BERNARD GOLDMAN

Father Noel McMaster’s most recent book calls us to a place that many of us would rather not go: a place where there are no easy answers or solutions. It is the place of the cross cultural encounter.

The author has spent the last 30 years working with Aboriginal people mainly in the Kimberley. He has not produced a “tool kit to work with Aboriginal people”. Rather, he offers a process for conversation with Aboriginal people. It is implicit in Noel’s work that missionaries have been seduced into doing something; something akin to the Federal Government’s NT Intervention, as might be taken from his earlier book, The Catholic Church in Jaru and Gija Country (David Lovell, 2008).

Without being in partnership, this Church and its missionaries on occasions matched Government centralist policies during much of the 20th century eg the stolen generations. In this lately published book, From Coburg to the Kimberley, we are invited to strip ourselves of dominant ideologies

FROM COBURG TO THE KIMBERLEY

and go back to Jesus of Nazareth. We are invited to go back to Jesus who invites us into freedom.

From Coburg to the Kimberley sketches the broad sweep of Noel’s life, from parental home to seminary to military chaplaincy and finally to his appointment as parish priest of Kununurra in the East Kimberley in 1978. From there, his main thesis seems to be that we can choose to enter into a conversation with Aboriginal people. We do not need to convert or persuade in such a conversation.

Rather, we need to listen and wait. In that waiting, we hold to our Christian tradition while opening up ourselves to the promptings of the Spirit in the other’s faith tradition. Like Jesus’ encounter with the Syrophonician woman, we can change in our encounters with the other. Our faith experience can expand in the encounter with those in differing cultural situations.

There is a sadness that smiles from Noel’s reflection on his life. He does not see himself as a winner or loser; rather, as someone who has made a wager on God’s revelation in Jesus of Nazareth.

An image of Uruguayan theologian JL Segundo dares Noel to see the evangeliser as a sculptor who

She unfolds before the reader the ups and downs, challenges and victories of her life.

Yet this is not simply the telling of a personal story: it is the universal pilgrimage towards wholeness and holiness where meaning and purpose in life are discovered simultaneously within and beyond the stuff of everyday life.

Norma’s life, like the lives of the saints, points to an unconditional love that transcends our lives yet comes to us continually through the people, events and circumstances of life. Such a powerful love can only have its source in the One who is love; who made us for Himself and is continually calling us into relationship with Him.

Norma does not offer the trite moralism of “I was bad, then I met God, and now I am good”.

Her story, stretching over many years, is that of a journey where at times great progress and breakthrough and healing occurs and other times where there is failure and retreat.

In telling her story, Norma perfectly illustrates the deep insight of one of her spiritual mentors, St Teresa of Avila. In particular,

in brief...

will sculpt even with corruptible (entropic!) materials; whatever activities an evangeliser engages in are left to God’s providence and its context of chance in human affairs. He must work on regardless.

This wonderful testimony has been offered in the author’s 74th year. It is a book about integrity, not despair. He gently critiques those he has encountered both within the Church and beyond.

Chapters 6 and 8 deal mainly with parish life and diocesan governance. In his experience of both these areas of Kimberley Church life, there has been much to learn with liberation theologian, Juan Luis Segundo, being one of his luminaries in an attempt to interpret Broome Diocese’s missiology with its embedded dependence on schools. Chapter 7 offers his view of The Last Frontier (the logo of the Shire of Wyndham and East Kimberley), addressing in particular some of the tensions that arose in Kununurra after Mabo (1992).

Noel’s reflections are inspiring but unsettling. His book is not for the fainthearted. It is a difficult enough read here and there with his insertion of theological jargon into some of the narrative. The reader may be thus frustrated at times but essentially Noel is empowering us to step out in faith and wait for the promptings of the Spirit in the presence of the other.

I would recommend this book to those struggling in cross cultural encounters. I also recommend it to the many Australians who have known Noel over his 50 years of faithful ministry. Noel speaks unfailingly of his love for those he encountered on his journey. He does not sugarcoat his encounters but he has clearly left any possible judgements to God.

Bernard Goldman is a practising psychologist and member of the Catholic Schools Council, Maitland Diocese. He is former ATSIC regional manager, Kununurra, East Kimberley; current member of the Catholic Schools Board, Maitland Diocese.

St Teresa’s spiritual treatise The Interior Castle maps the journey through the different stages of spiritual development people follow as they seek a growing relationship with God. This journey is as true for a 16th century enclosed contemplative nun as it is for a 21st century suburban mother and wife.

Norma shows that the spiritual quest is just as accessible to those of us living ordinary lives today as it was to any of the great mystics of history.

Through the guidance of the Church and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, God invites us all to come home to Him.

From Fear to Faith has the feel of a friendly conversation over a cup of tea where friends share the story of their life and insights gained through that life. Yet it is also a clear invitation and encouragement for the reader to consider their own life story, their own fears and, like Norma did, cry out to God.

As Archbishop Hickey states in the foreword, “That cry and the way it was answered so beautifully in Norma’s life is here for all to contemplate and find the courage to begin their own journey”.

New acolytes invested

BY BRIDGET SPINKS

ARCHBISHOP Barry Hickey invested 126 men as acolytes during Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral on 18 November.

The new acolytes come from 46 parishes as far afield as Gingin to the north and Rockingham to the south.

The men, many of whom were in their early 20s, took part in a four-week training programme at the Catholic Vietnamese Centre.

Part of their formation was based on the new interactive DVD Become One Body, One Spirit, in Christ, the basic catechesis material for the introduction of the changes to the Roman Catholic Mass in English.

After the homily, the candidates approached in groups of eight to take their place at the altar.

They placed their hands on the chalice while the Archbishop prayed that they would be worthy to serve at the table of Christ and His Church.

Legion of Mary, not Christ

WHILE the Page 4 story Legion of Mary the ‘face of parish priests’ correctly stated the name of the organisation in the 17 November edition, it was incorrectly called the Legion of Christ in the opening paragraph. The Record apologises for any confusion or offence caused.

Indigenous to hone literary skills through Notre Dame

Indigenous youth have the opportunity to hone their literacy skills, forge life-long friendships and build confidence in the literacy programme offered via The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) and Clontarf Aboriginal College partnership.

A recent gallery-walk entitled My Story, exhibiting a culmination of months of young Indigenous students’ work and achievements, was available for public viewing at a special event at Clontarf.

The aim of the exhibition was to promote the growing confidence of students whilst demonstrating the quality of work derived from unique bonds formed between Indigenous youth and UNDA preservice teachers.

Senior Lecturer in Education Glenda Cain said the programme had enabled pre-service teachers to combine service learning, literacy teaching and learning related to Indigenous culture and education in the one setting, whilst reflecting on breaking down the barriers of societal misconceptions and focusing on human relationships.

“In particular, for the pre-service teachers, it has enabled the practical application of skills and knowledge related to teaching and literacy learning,” Ms Cain said.

Ms Cain said there had been a strikingly noticeable change in the level of interaction between the students of both Clontarf and UNDA as the semester progressed.

“There have been friendly greetings, laughter and a more relaxed atmosphere as the students have come to know and work together,” she said.

A narrative of lifelong learning in Catholic faith and ways NOEL McMASTER CSsR

PERSPECTIVES

How to help those in mortal sin Christmas is about sacrificial love

Irecently finished reading Cormac McCarthy’s 2006 novel, The Road. In this most confronting of stories, the world has been devastated by an unnamed catastrophe and few survive.

Those who have survived often live as cannibals, preying brutally on other unwary survivors.

The tale revolves round an unnamed man and his son as they journey towards the sea in hope of finding a less harsh and possibly safer environment for the boy.

I don’t know much about the author, and at first glance it appears he has written a damning environmental fable, with the human race suffering the deserved effects of their own disregard for the earth.

But on an entirely different level, and perhaps it is accidental, he has written a searing religious parable, a stark meditation on the difficulties of holding on to faith, hope and love in the face of a world where doing so appears inimical to your very survival.

The road is narrow, it is hard and long, and few walk it. The utter depths of abandonment in this post-apocalyptic world approach an actualisation of the ‘dark night of the soul’ described by so many Christian mystics.

The world is dark, grey, covered by ash, it is cold and bitter and ugly.

There is a sense of great dryness and constant thirst, with all running water contaminated.

Rain is merely saturating and chilling; there is no refreshment from it.

There is isolation and fear of the marauding bands of savage survivors. All sense of faith, all hope seems gone; despair and annihilation seem the inevitable outcome.

But the man must go on blindly, one foot in front of the other, hanging on to “the flame”, the kernel of right conduct and the dumb need to look after his son that lies deep within.

@ home

with Catherine Parish

He must keep going, not for himself, but for the survival of his child. His wife made her own decision, taking her own life rather than try to keep surviving in such circumstances; but the father somehow cannot forfeit the child’s life by taking a similar decision.

The man’s desire for his son to live sometimes outweighs his desire to do what both he and his son know is right.

In such cases the boy brings him back to remembering why they are still walking – he reminds his father that they are “good guys”.

If the darkness overtakes him and he becomes like those they are hiding from, what is the point?

Thrown into powerful relief by the great savagery and nightmarishness is the immense tenderness between the son and his father.

There is a great, selfless, sacrificial love in the father.

Then, at the last, the father can go on no further; his lungs are haemorrhaging and he dies there on the road, leaving the son terrifyingly bereft.

The boy keeps vigil beside the body for three days, until the arrival of a small family group that they had met earlier.

For a moment one thinks the worst is going to happen and the boy is going to fall grisly victim; but they instead treat the father’s body with dignity and take the son as one of their own. They too are “good guys”.

The unfailing love of the father for the son, his refusal to give in to savagery, his pouring out of himself for his son, and the mercy that is

Sel fishness

shown the boy in the end – that in a moment justifies all the father’s efforts - are most moving in such an otherwise unrelenting tale.

It renews the whisper of hope that runs as an uneven and sometimes invisible thread through the book, an apparently desperate and forlorn hope, but a hope nevertheless that drives the man to keep going because he must. An obligation greater than he is – the obligation to give his son the best chance for life - urges him on. The immeasurable value of his son’s life is his beacon.

It seemed remarkably apposite approaching Advent, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of The Child in a world where it seems impossible to counter the tide of desolate utilitarian secularism constantly washing over our children; where disregard for the sanctity of human life is endemic; where exploitation and destruction of the weakest and most vulnerable of people – the unborn, the old, the sick - is accepted or even at times lauded in the name of reducing suffering.

It is this Christ Child who as a Man eloquently personified the Christian paradox – and the Christian imperative - as he obediently and willingly poured out His life blood in unspeakable suffering and measureless love to give us life, to save us and offer us hope; who renews the Sacrifice daily on our altars as we are asked to renew the sacrifice daily in our lives.

It is this Christ Child who gives us our reason to go on, who reminds us in the midst of our uphill battle that we are all of value, and that we must believe He will triumph because He has said it and His word is true.

We could well take as our own the thoughts of the nameless man of The Road: “He knew only that (the) child was his warrant. He said: If he is not the word of God, God never spoke.”

drives inaction, with devastating results

By Mark Reidy

More than two decades after leaving school I inadvertently crossed paths with a former classmate. I hadn’t given him much thought over the passing years, remembering him only as someone who was often the target of ridicule.

As we spoke I soon became aware of the depth of the suffering that he had endured - of the verbal jibes, the physical harassment and emotional persecution that had defined his six years of high school.

I remember leaving that encounter with a feeling of sadness for this man, but also with a sense of relief that I had not been one of the perpetrators of such sustained bullying. It was a self-righteous

attitude that was soon rectified.

As I pondered this man’s torment I recalled the words of those justifying themselves in the parable in Matthew’s Gospel (25:31 – 46): “Lord, when did I see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?”

And then I was struck by the memory of standing idly by as a frightened young schoolboy was tormented, and the words echoed in my head, “Truly I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me”.

It was a revelation that should have been life changing, and for a while it was. I began to understand the scriptural wisdom that what I have done is equally important as what I have failed to do.

Inaction, I realised, was also a choice. But such is human nature, or at least mine, that it didn’t take long for the truth of this insight to fade.

However, the recent focus on Mary MacKillop evoked memories of my epiphany. “Never see a need without doing something about it,” she said.

The effects of mortal sin

Q: In an earlier column you mentioned that mortal sin brings great harm to the soul. My husband has not been to confession or Communion for many years because of something in his past life that he finds hard to confess. How can I help him?

First of all, we should always remember that the most powerful way of helping someone to return to the sacraments is by praying for them, preferably accompanying this prayer by penance.

If need be, we should be pre-

By Fr John Flader

pared to keep this up for many years. St Monica gives us a great example of persevering in prayer for her son Augustine. But it is good too to be able to explain to others why mortal sin is indeed harmful and why staying in that state is even more harmful. That is, if they are willing to listen!

What can we tell someone in this situation?

Firstly, we should remind them that there are some more serious sins that the tradition of the Church has called “mortal” or “grave”, and which have as their first effect the loss of the state of grace, or divine life in the soul.

When we are baptised, we receive this divine life for the first time.

The soul is lit up with the indwelling of the three divine Persons, sharing in the very life and nature of God and becoming truly pleasing to God and capable of acquiring supernatural merit.

cuts the sinner off from communion with the Church, with the mystical body of Christ, and so the person cannot receive Communion or any other sacrament.

Even the Anointing of the Sick should ordinarily be given only to those in the state of grace, provided they are conscious and able to confess their sins beforehand if they are in mortal sin.

Mortal sin, like venial sin, has as another consequence temporal punishment. That is, even though we have repented of the sin we must do something either here on earth or in Purgatory to make up for the harm we have caused to the majesty of God and the mystical body of the Church.

And very importantly, with mortal sin we lose all the merit we have acquired throughout our life through our good deeds, prayers, penances, etc.

It reminded me how often I choose to do nothing in a world that is full of need. Because every time I make a choice I am, in actual fact, prioritising what is most important to me - as much by what I choose as by what I do not.

Each time I decide to exercise my gift of free will to satisfy my own desires I am turning my focus inward and, in essence, blinding myself to the needs of others.

This in itself does not necessarily imply wrongdoing, but I believe it can help me gauge where I stand on my journey to be more like Christ.

It will determine every decision I make, from how I relate to others to how I spend my time, energy and money.

Am I being moulded by my own interests and indulgences? or am I able to move beyond these and be moulded by the selflessness of Jesus?

It is a question that we should all be asking ourselves. But perhaps the most honest way to answer it may be to have a closer look, not at what we do, but at what we fail to do.

When we reject God’s love by a serious sin, we lose this divine life and the soul is plunged as it were into spiritual darkness or death. It is no longer spiritually alive, whence the name “mortal” sin, from the Latin word for death.

St John refers to mortal sins in his first letter: “There is sin which is deadly; I do not say that one is to pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin which is not deadly” (1 Jn 5:16-17).

Moreover, having offended God by a grievous act, the person has separated himself or herself from the love of God and, unless they repent, they will go to Hell.

This is a frightening thought. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is very clear on it: “To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love means remaining separated from Him forever by our own free choice” (CCC 1033).

Naturally the person could always repent just before dying, but it would be foolish to live estranged from God and hope to be in a different frame of mind at the end.

What is more, mortal sin

This is obvious from the fact that no matter how much good someone has done, if they commit a mortal sin and do not repent they will go to Hell.

But fortunately, when we repent of our sin, all this previously acquired merit is restored.

It is as if our spiritual bank account balance returns to where it was before.

One of the worst effects of living in the state of mortal sin is that we cannot acquire any new merit for our good deeds while in that state.

Only when we are spiritually alive, living in the love of God, can we merit anything (cf CCC 2011). In this sense, many people waste years of their life living in mortal sin.

The good deeds they do, nonetheless, are not all lost. They will help the person acquire the disposition to repent and return to the love of God, with the help of God’s actual graces.

Lent, as a season of grace and pardon, is a good time to pray for all those who are in the state of mortal sin so that they return to the love of God through the sacrament of Reconciliation.

Then, like the Prodigal Son they will rejoice with the embrace of the Father (cf Lk 15:20).

- email director@caec.com.au

PANORAMA

Panorama entries must be in by 12pm Monday.

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

THURSDAY, 18 NOVEMBER TO THURSDAY, 16

DECEMBER

When The Spirit Comes - A Holy Spirit Seminar

7.45pm at Faith Centre, 450 Hay St, Perth City. Cathedral praise meeting. Each evening; worship, teaching, small group sharing, refreshments. All Welcome. Enq: Flame Ministries International 9382 3668.

FRIDAY, 26 NOVEMBER

Taize Prayer

7.30pm at St Mary’s Cathedral. Taize prayer is a valuable way of preparing for Advent. Both for those who have experienced this form of prayer and those who would like the experience. All welcome, bring a friend and join us.

Medjugorje – Evening of Prayer

7-9pm at the Sacred Heart Parish, 50 Ovens Rd, Thornlie. Thanksgiving for Our Blessed Mother’s alleged daily apparitions at Medjugorje with Adoration, Rosary, Benediction and Holy Mass. Free inspirational DVD on Fr Donald Calloway’s conversion from drugs and selfdestructive lifestyle to the priesthood available on night. Enq: Eileen 9402 2480 or 0407 471 256.

SATURDAY, 27 NOVEMBER

A Morning Retreat - Growing in Love

9am-12 noon at MacKillop Room, John XXIII College. Ignatian Spirituality presented by Murray Graham, Inigo Centre Director. Cost - donation. Registration required. Enq: Murray 9383 0444 or graham.murray@johnxxiii. edu.au.

Novena

5.30pm at Holy Trinity Church, Embleton. Devotions in honour of Our Lady of Good Health, Vailankanni followed by the Vigil Mass. Enq: Church Office 9271 5528 or George 9272 1379.

SATURDAY, 27 NOVEMBER AND SUNDAY, 28 NOVEMBER

MenAlive Retreat

8am at Infant Jesus Catholic Parish, Morley. Registration followed by Retreat at 9am, followed by Mass. BYO lunch. Barbeque dinner provided. Registration required. Enq: 9276 8336.

Annual Bumper Garage Sale

9am-6pm at Redemptorist Monastery Grounds, 190 Vincent St, North Perth. Homemade Christmas cakes, biscuits, muffins, bric-a-brac, household goods, gift items, books, jams, pickles, plants plus several raffle prizes. Stock up for Christmas, pick up a bargain and have some fun.

TUESDAY, 30 NOVEMBER

Day Of Reflection

10.30am at St Paul’s, 106 Rookwood St, Mt Lawley. Rosary, Holy Mass and talks. Concluding 2pm. Celebrant and speaker Fr Timothy Deeter. Theme - Fruits of Marian USA Conference. Shared lunch. Tea/coffee supplied. Enq: 9341 8082.

FRIDAY, 3 DECEMBER

Catholic Faith Renewal Evening

7.30pm at St John and Paul’s Parish, Pinetree Gully Rd, Willetton. Christmas Carols, sharing by Fr Hugh Galloway followed by Thanksgiving Mass and light refreshments after Mass. We encourage you to bring your family and friends. Enq: Kathy 9295 0913 or Ann 0412 166 164 or catholicfaithrenewal@gmail.com.

Pro-Life Witness

9.30am at St Brigid’s, Midland. Commencing with Mass followed by Rosary procession and prayer vigil at nearby abortion clinic. All are invited to come and pray for the conversion of hearts and an end to abortion. Enq: Helen 9402 0349.

SATURDAY, 4 DECEMBER

Day with Mary

9am to 5pm at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, 104 Scarborough Beach Rd, corner Deanmore Rd, Scarborough. Day of prayer and instruction based on the Fatima message. 9am Video; 10:10am Holy Mass; Reconciliation, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament, Eucharistic Adoration, Sermons on Eucharist and Our Lady, Rosaries and Stations of the Cross. BYO lunch. Enq: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286.

Witness For Life

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

Early Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola

9am-12noon at The MacKillop Room, John XXIII College. Presenter - Chris Gardner member of National Executive Committee for Christian Life Communities. Cost $10 donation unwaged. Registration required. Enq: Murray Graham 9383 0444 or graham.murray@johnxxiii.edu.au.

SUNDAY, 5 DECEMBER

Divine Mercy

1.30pm at Francis Xavier Church, 25 Windsor St, East Perth. An afternoon with Jesus and Mary. Fr Begoni to speak on God’s Love and Mercy. Refreshments afterwards. Enq: John 9457 7771.

TUESDAY, 7 DECEMBER

Catholic Charismatic Renewal: Mass and Celebrations

7pm at Holy Family Church, Thelma St/Canning Hwy, Como. Prayer Teams available after Mass for personal prayer. A collection will be taken up. Please bring a plate for light supper. Enq: Dan 9398 4973.

WEDNESDAY, 8 DECEMBER

Alan Ames Healing Service

7pm at Holy Family Church, 2 Burt St, Kalamunda. Mass followed by healing service.

THURSDAY, 9 DECEMBER

Healing Mass

7pm at Saints John and Paul Church, Willetton. Mass in Honour of St Peregrine, Patron of cancer sufferers and helper of all in need. There will be Veneration of the Relic of St Peregrine and Anointing of the sick. Enq: Jim 9457 1539.

SATURDAY, 11 DECEMBER

Divine Mercy and Healing Mass

2.30pm at St Francis Xavier’s Church, 25 Windsor St, East Perth. Main celebrant will be Fr Marcellinus Meilak, OFM. Divine Mercy Prayers, followed by the Veneration of First Class Relic of St Faustina Kowolska. Reconciliation in English will be offered. Refreshments afterwards. Enq: John 9457 7771.

St Padre Pio Day of Prayer

8.30am at St Mary’s, Franklin St, Leederville. Programme as follows: St Padre Pio DVD in parish centre. 10am Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Rosary, Divine Mercy, Silent Adoration and Benediction. 11am Holy Mass, St Padre Pio Liturgy, Confessions available. 12pm Shared lunch, tea and coffee supplied. Enq: Des 6278 1540.

SUNDAY, 12 DECEMBER

Anniversary Celebrations

9.30am at Our Lady Help of Christians Church, East Victoria Park. If you have a past association with the parish or school, we welcome you to celebrate with us, Mass

followed by refreshments. Please bring copies of photos and/or memorabilia to share and reminisce.

EVERY SUNDAY

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

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

EVERY SUNDAY IN NOVEMBER

New Studio Sale to support the Cathedral 9am-12pm at 213 Yangebup Rd, Yangebup. Work by Margaret Fane at 50% off and offers considered to make way for new work. Enq: Margaret 0432 834 743 or margaretfane.com.au.

THIRD SUNDAY OF THE MONTH

Oblates of St Benedict

2pm at St Joseph’s Convent, York St, South Perth. Oblates are affiliated with the Benedictine Abbey of New Norcia. All welcome to study the rule of St Benedict and its relevance to the everyday life of today for lay people. Vespers and tea later. Enq: Secretary 9457 5758.

EVERY FOURTH SUNDAY OF THE MONTH

Holy Hour for Vocations to the Priesthood, Religious Life

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

LAST MONDAY OF EVERY MONTH

Christian Spirituality Presentation

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

EVERY TUESDAY NIGHT

Novena and Benediction to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

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

EVERY WEDNESDAY

Holy Spirit of Freedom Community

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

SECOND WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH

Chaplets of the Divine Mercy

7.30pm at St Thomas More Catholic Church, Dean Rd, Bateman. A beautiful, prayerful, and sung devotion will be accompanied by Exposition and followed by Benediction. All are welcome. Enq: George Lopez on 9310 9493(h) or 9325 2010(w).

EVERY THURSDAY

Catholic Questions and Answers

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

Divine Mercy

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

Taize Prayer and Meditation

7.30-8.30pm at Our Lady of Grace Church, 3 Kitchener St, North Beach. Prayer and meditation using songs from the Taize phenomenon. In peace and Candlelight we make our pilgrimage. All are warmly invited. Enq: Joan 9448 4457 or parish 9448 4888.

FIRST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH

Holy Hour for Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life

7pm at Little Sisters of the Poor Chapel, 2 Rawlins St, Glendalough. Mass, followed by Adoration with Fr Doug Harris. All welcome. Refreshments provided.

Communion of Reparation All Night Vigil

7pm-1am at Corpus Christi Church, Lochee St, Mosman Park. Vigil consists of Mass, Rosary, Confession and Adoration. Celebrant Fr T Bogoni. All warmly welcomed. Enq: Vicky 0400 282 357.

Catholic Faith Renewal Evening

7.30pm at St John and Paul’s Parish, Pinetree Gully Rd, Willetton. Songs of Praise, sharing by a priest followed by Thanksgiving Mass and light refreshments after Mass. All welcome to attend and bring your family and friends. Enq: Kathy 9295 0913, Ann: 0412 166 164 or catholicfaithrenewal@gmail.com.

The Alliance, Triumph and Reign of the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary

9pm at St Bernadette’s Church, Glendalough. Commences with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament followed by Reflections, Rosary and alternating with healing sessions. Vigil concludes with the Holy Mass at midnight. Come, be healed and be part of the Lord’s Mighty Work. Enq: Fr Doug 9444 6131 or Dorothy 9342 5845.

Healing Mass

7pm at St Peter’s Parish, Wood St, Inglewood. Reconciliation, praise and worship, exposition of Blessed Sacrament, Benediction, anointing of the sick, and special blessing. Celebrants Fr Sam and other clergy. All welcome. Enq: Priscilla 0433 457 352, Catherine 0433 923 083 or Mary-Ann 0409 672 304.

AA ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

Is alcohol costing you more than just money? Enq: AA 9325 3566.

OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE

Emmanuel Self-Help Centre for People with Disabilities is looking for volunteers to transport newspapers and other recyclable paper from its Perth office to a Canning Vale paper mill about every six weeks. Manual car driver’s licence required. Physical fitness is advantageous as heavy lifting is involved; Centre staff will assist. Enq: Fr Paul 9328 8113 or emmanuelcentre@westnet.com.au.

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ACCOMMODATION

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

ESPERANCE 3 bedroom house f/furnished Ph 09 9076 5083.

BOOK BINDING

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

TRADE SERVICES

BRENDON HANDYMAN

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

BRICK RE-POINTING

Ph Nigel 9242 2952.

PERROTT PAINTING Pty Ltd

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

PICASSO PAINTING Top service.

Ph 0419 915 836, fax 9345 0505.

LAWN MOWING

WRR LAWN MOWING & WEED

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

FURNITURE REMOVAL

Deadline: 11am Monday

RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

OPPORTUNITIES

CATHOLICS CORNER Retailer of Catholic products specialising in gifts, cards and apparel for Baptism, Communion and Confirmation. Ph 9456 1777.

Shop 12, 64-66 Bannister Rd, Canning Vale. Open Mon-Sat.

CONVENIENT LOCATIONS FOR BIBLES, BOOKS CARDS, CDs/DVDs, candles, medals, statues and gifts at Ottimo. Shop 108, Trinity Arcade, 671 Hay Street, Perth. Ph 9322 4520. Mon-Fri 9am-6pm Sat 10am2pm and at Station Street Market Subiaco on Fri-Sun 9am-5pm.

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

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

SETTLEMENTS

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

DAYBREAK HEALING

Each session offers computerised health scan.

ACUPUNCTURE Aroma-oil Cupping Massage.

CLINIC: Guildford / Morley Ph: 0438-979036.

Walk With Him

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

FOR SALE

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

FEMALE HOUSE MATE WANTED Opportunity to live with young Catholic women in the style of the Emmanuel community. A room will be available at the end of the year to join a household of four. Where: 29 Jugan St, Mount Hawthorn, close to St Bernadette’s, Glendalough, shopping and cafes. Enq: Olivia livlav@hotmail.com or 0423 415 823.

WANTED TO BUY

ABORIGINAL & PACIFIC IS ARTEFACTS & ARTWORK.

Private collector buying all old shields, weapons, paintings, figures, collections etc. Will travel anywhere 0433 143 278.

FINANCE ASSIST

Have you gone as far up the ladder as you want? Is making money no longer your prime interest in life? Do you want to make a contribution to a worthwhile cause? Are you fit and do you like physical work, some of it hard, with plenty of variety? Are you able to give over and beyond a duty list? If this is not you, you would find this a “dead end job”. If it is you, it could be rewarding and fulfilling. Some financial remuneration but not a lot, with free accommodation in lovely bush setting one hour from Perth. Single or couple. Trial period. Not for anyone looking for “a soft spot to lie down,” nor for a clockwatcher, nor for someone wanting to make a lot of money, nor for someone who is critical of others or who can’t get on with others. Contact 08 93285171.

A

and warm thank you to everyone who attended the funeral Mass for our Mum. The flowers, sympathy cards plus phone calls were very much appreciated. God bless you all Bernie & Brigitte

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Red Rom 10:9-18 The same Lord

Ps 18:2-5 No voice is heard

Mt 4:18-22 They followed him

1 W Isa 25:6-10 He will destroy death

Vio Ps 22 My cup is overflowing

Mt 15:29-37 The crowds astonished

2 Th Isa 26:1-6 Trust in the Lord

Vio Ps 117:1.8-9.19-21.25-27 God’s love unending

Mt 7:21.24-27 House built on rock

3 F St Francis Xavier, priest (M)

Wh Isa 29:17-24 Hallow the Holy One

Ps 26:1.4.13-14 Hope is God

Mt 9:27-31 Take pity on us

4 S St John Damascene, priest, doctor of the church (O)

Vio Isa 30:19-21.23-26 God will be gracious

Ps 146:1-6 Our Lord is almighty

Mt 9:35-10:1.6-8 Cure the

Send your loved ones a Christmas blessing with this assortment of Christmas cards that really show the meaning of Christmas.