The Record Newspaper - 25 July 2012

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Key appointment will guide WA’s Catholic schools into the future

New Catholic Ed Director

Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, at left, welcomes Dr Tim McDonald, the new Director of Catholic Education in WA. Dr McDonald will take over from outgoing Director Ron Dullard in September. Bishop Gerard Holohan of Bunbury chaired the selection panel charged with finding a new head of the state’s Catholic education system.

PHOTO: ROBERT HIINI

By Sarah Motherwell SENIOR Western Australian Catholic Education bureaucrat Dr Tim McDonald has been appointed the new Director of Catholic Education in WA. Dr McDonald will replace the outgoing Director of the organisation, Ron Dullard, in early November.

A panel of six people, which included a representative of the Bishops of Western Australia, unanimously made the key WA Catholic appointment of Dr McDonald to lead Catholic education in the state into the future. The Chair of the selection panel, Bishop Gerard Holohan of Bunbury, told The Record Dr McDonald’s extensive practical and academic experi-

ence in teaching made him a standout candidate. Dr McDonald, currently the Assistant Director, People and Organisational Services, began working for the Catholic Education Office of WA in May last year, concluding 10 years of service as an Associate Professor specialising in classroom management at Edith Cowan University.

He has taught in Perth as a classroom teacher and has worked as a year coordinator, a Religious Education coordinator and a Deputy Principal in Catholic schools.

He obtained his doctorate in classroom management at Oxford Brooks University in England.

During his time in England, Dr McDonald taught history and religious education at an all-girls

school in Oxford and also worked with young teenagers outside mainstream education. He told The Record he was looking forward to taking on his responsibilities as

I would like to put Catholic Education competitively against any education system in the world.

Director of Catholic Education in WA and expects to face many challenges; in particular, ensuring location does not disadvantage education.

“Right across the state, it doesn’t matter if you’re in the Broome diocese or Bunbury, Geralton or Perth... you will get quality education, the teachers will feel supported, that our services support and are delivered very well,” he said.

“I’d like to think Catholic education can differentiate itself not only in its Catholic identity and in its opportunity to develop people’s faith but I would like to put [Catholic Education] competitively against any other education system in the world”. Dr McDonald said he wants teachers to create learning environments where all young people have a sense they belong, that they feel they have talent, experience some empowerment in their lives and the opportunity to give

back and be generous to others.

“One of the great lessons I learned, both in working with students who have been excluded from school, in my own doctoral work and then working with other teachers, has been to maintain the dignity of young people,” he said.

Outgoing Director Mr Dullard, who has held his position at Catholic Education WA for nine years, said Dr McDonald is well positioned to take Catholic Education forward to face the challenges of the future.

“Tim is a very thoughtful, forward looking person who brings a great deal of expertise to school education and life,” he told The Record.

Dr McDonald will start his new job as Director on November 5.

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LOCAL

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July 25, 2012

There’s a Mercy College app for that

Round-Up ROBERT HIINI

Onwards to digital future MERCY College are keeping parents and students in touch and up to date with their own smart phone app.

Mercy College is one of only seven schools in Australia to have its own app.

With the click of a button, parents can notify the College of absence; make contact with staff, uniform shop; and view the College calendar, canteen menus and link to the College web site. The app was created by Year Five teacher and designer, Stuart Crainie.

The College said the app was part of its overall program to meet the information technology challenges of the future.

The college has expanded its 1:1 laptop rollout, initially just for Year Nines, to every Year.

The rollout has led to greater student engagement.

“The beauty of (information and communitcations technology or ICT) in the classroom is its capacity to stimulate and enthuse students of all ages about a range of topics,” said the school’s Principal, Dr Tony Curry. With new technology comes the added responsibility of safety.

Mercy College is now into its second year of running an extensive cybersafety program from PrePrimary through to Year Twelve.

“By teaching and exposing our students to appropriate ways of using and interacting on the Internet, we are going to equip them for their digital future and help them be more aware,” said Angela Hoyne, ICT Integrator.

Mercy College Principal, Dr Tony Curry, pictured with four of Mercy’s students.

Living history for Sth Perth

Law to keep registers of Baptisms, Confirmations and Marriages.

St Columba’s celebrates 75 years of serving people in South Perth this year.

SAINT Columba South Perth is starting a death register of deceased parishioners.

Parishioners have been invited to submit the names of their deceased loved ones, especially those who have lived in the parish or who have had their Requiem Mass celebrated at St Columba’s.

The register will be placed in the sanctuary throughout November, the same month in which the Feasts of All Saints and All Souls are celebrated.

Parishes are required by Canon

A morning for captivating women ARMADALE Parish is offering women the opportunity to unveil the mystery of their own souls on August 1, beginning a group for women’s support, enrichment and growth.

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1811-1868 August 2

The patron saint of eucharistic devotion, Peter Julian began adult life, like his father, as a cutler. But he became a priest of the French Alpine Diocese of Grenoble in 1834. In 1839, he left diocesan service to become a Marist priest and eventually became provincial of his congregation at Lyons. But, after making a pilgrimage in 1851, he understood that Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, to whom he was utterly devoted, had no specific religious institute. Subsequently, he founded the Congregation of the Priests of the Most Blessed Sacrament and the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament, an order of sisters, both devoted to perpetual adoration. He was canonized in 1962.

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CRUISING

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Mariette Ulrich Fr John Flader Guy Crouchback

The Record PO Box 3075 Adelaide Terrace PERTH WA 6832 21 Victoria Square, Perth 6000 Tel: (08) 9220 5900 Fax: (08) 9325 4580 Website: www.therecord.com.au

200 St. George’s Terrace, Perth WA 6000 Tel: 9322 2914 Fax: 9322 2915 michael@flightworld.com.au www.flightworld.com.au

A DOMINICAN priest and Professor at the Angelicum (Pontifical Univeristy of St Thomas Aquinas) in Rome will talk at Notre Dame, Fremantle next Wednesday night.

Fr Paul Murray OP will present The Task of Happiness: Human Suffering and Christian Joy at the Tannock Hall of Education at 7pm, August 1.

Fr Murray was ordained in 1973 as a Professor of Spirituality and is also a poet. He holds a doctorate in English Literature and has authored many books, including A Drink Called Happiness: The New Wine of Dominican Spirituality and Door into the Sacred.

Anyone interested in attending should RSVP via Deborah.tarrant@ nd.edu.au or 9433 0138.

A feast of many cultures GOSNELLS Parish will join the many parishes who have celebrated their multicultural make-up next month with a Multicultural Luncheon on August 19.

The celebration will form part of Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament’s Feast Day. The event will follow their 9.30 Sunday Mass. Parishioners have been asked to list their name, nationality and the name of their cultural dish, in the foyer.

Sunday 29th - Green 17TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 1st Reading: 2 kgs 4:42-44 Food to spare Responsorial Ps 144:10-11, 15-18 Psalm: God’s glorious reign 2nd Reading: Eph 4:1-68 One Body, one Spirit Gospel Reading: Jn 6:1-15 Huge crowd fed Monday 30th - Green ST PETER CHRYSOLOGUS, BISHOP, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH (O) 1st Reading: Jer 13:1-11

A hard-hearted people Responsorial Deut 32:18-21 Psalm: Hide my face Gospel Reading: Mt 13:31-35

A mustard seed Tuesday 31st - White ST IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA, PRIEST (M) 1st Reading: Jer 14:17-22

God, our hope Responsorial Ps 78:8-9, 11, 13 Psalm: Come to our help Gospel Reading: Mt 13:36-43

Virtuous like the sun Wednesday 1st - White ST ALPHONSUS, LIGUORI, BISHOP, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH (M) 1st Reading: Jer 15:10, 16-21

I am with you

Responsorial Psalm: Gospel Reading:

Ps 58:2-5, 10-11, 17-18 To you I turn Mt 13:44-46 Hidden treasure

Thursday 2nd - Green ST EUSEBIUS OF VERCELLI, BISHOP (O) ST PETER JULIAN EYMARD, PRIEST (O) 1st Reading: Jer 18:1-6

The potters’s house Responsorial Ps 145:2-6 Psalms: I will praise the Lord Gospel Reading: Mt 13:47-53

Things new and old Friday 3rd - Green 1st Reading: Jer 26:1-9

Listen to me Responsorial Ps 68:5, 8-10, 14 Psalm: Zeal for your house Gospel Reading: Mt 13:54-58

Jesus not accepted Saturday 4th - White ST JOHN VIANNEY, PRIEST (M) 1st Reading: Jer 26:11-16, 24

Amend your actions Responsorial Ps 68:15-16, 30-31, Psalm: 33-34

Glorify God! Gospel Reading: Mt 14:1-12

John’s execution

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Contributors Debbie Warrier Barbara Harris Bernard Toutounji Glynnis Grainger

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The group will explore the ideas contained in the best-selling book Captivating by Stasi and John Eldridge.

“Some of the beautiful aspects of being a woman have been trashed a little bit in the world today,” Armadale’s Helen Lesniak told The Record.

“There are pearls of wisdom (in Captivating). It would be nice for a group of women to come together in appreciation of femininity and womenhood,” she said.

The book was suggested by the sister of a parishioner who said it had given her insight into her life and spirituality.

The Wednesday, August 1 meeting will take place at 9.30am in the church hall.

For more information, contact

Poet Professor to speak at UNDA on joy

READINGS OF THE WEEK

SAINT OF THE WEEK

Crosiers

PHOTO: MERCY COLLEGE

Helen at St Franis Xavier Parish on 9399 4687.

Michael Deering 9322 2914

Catholic clarity for complex times CATHOLIC families and those searching for truth need resources to help them negotiate the complexities of modern life. At The Record’s bookshop you can find great books for the family at good prices.

Turn to Page 20 for some brilliant deals NOW!!

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therecord.com.au July 25, 2012

Army of volunteers save historic fence

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Calling all Catholic families, schools, parishes and organisations...

How are you celebrating the

Year of Grace? send your stories to parishes@therecord.com.au

Nicholas Donnelly and Sandy Toop put some of the final licks of paint on St Mary’s Cathedral fence after months of work.

PHOTO: TONY MEYRICK

By Peter Rosengren NICHOLAS Donnelly and Sandy Toop are just two in the army of volunteers who have completed the painting of St Mary’s historic cathedral fence.

Painting of the fence commenced in April. It was begun with help from sailors from the USS Carl Vinson, a US Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, when it visited Perth earlier this year. Often, when US forces visit ports, volunteers are made available for local community works, coordinated through the US consulate in Perth.

Cathedral Supervisor Tony Meyrick said he was delighted with the effort put in to paint the fence.

“It wasn’t done during the recent refurbishment due to the lack of

funds and has now been completed at a fraction of the cost if we had used commercial painters - I estimate less than 10 per cent,” The iron fence dates back to at least 1936 when The Record reported on an official inspection of the completed grounds of the Cathedral.

Those present included Archbishop Prendiville, the Town Clerk, the City Engineer, the Town Planning Commissioner, the Cathedral Architect, the Government Botanist and the Contractors. In its report The Record noted that in place of the old wall which had done service for many decades a dwarf wall of carved Donnybrook stone surmounted by a light wrought iron fence had been erected.

Scapulars were out for Our Lady of the Mount

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By Eugen Mates ARCHBISHOP Timothy Costelloe SDB entered a packed church to celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Mt Carmel with the congregation on July 15. Fr Paul Raj assisted the Archbishop during Mass and the combined choir gave its best to mark the festive occasion. Scapulars were distributed to the members of the congregation as they entered the church and after Communion Archbishop Costelloe called everybody with a new scapular to come forward around the altar to have them blessed. Morning tea followed at the school hall and the Archbishop, with the helping hand of Fr Paul Raj, cut a beautifully decorated cake to mark the parish’s feast day. Many parishioners took the chance to greet Archbishop Costelloe and have a short chat with him.

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Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB joins parishioners at Our Lady of Mt Carmel.

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LOCAL

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July 25, 2012

Lotterywest preserves Perth’s heritage A $59,000 grant will ensure that an historic Catholic Church - the first in Perth - will live on for many decades to come.

A picture of Bishop John Brady, left, published in The Record of February 4, 1899, believed to be either a photograph or drawn from an actual photograph. It was published 20 years after the first Bishop of Perth’s death in France. The cathedral Bishop Brady opened, above, still stands today in Victoria Avenue and will be restored thanks to Lotterywest.

PHOTOS: LEFT: COURTESY ARCHDIOCESAN ARCHIVES; ABOVE: PETER ROSENGREN

By Sarah Motherwell ONE OF PERTH’S oldest buildings, St John’s Pro-Cathedral on Victoria Avenue in East Perth has received a grant of $59,000 from Lotterywest to ensure it can be preserved.

It is the third and largest Conservation of Cultural Heritage grant the Pro-Cathedral has received from Lotterywest, which

has given more than $95,000 over the past eight years. The grant was approved by Premier Colin Barnett in April 2012 and will be used to pay for urgently needed restoration building work.

Lotterywest gave $9,000 and $25,000 in April 2004 and 2005 respectively to prepare a conservation plan and to pay for roof works to waterproof the building.

A spokesperson from Lotterywest

said the Commission values the State’s unique heritage and provides grants to conserve, protect, explain and share various aspects of our heritage.

The Pro-Cathedral is the second oldest building in the Perth CBD and was originally named the Church of St John the Evangelist on December 27, 1843.

A Pro-Cathedral is the cathedral that is used by a community before the official cathedral is built.

Perth had an official Cathedral since May 6, 1845, the Cathedral of St John the Evangelist (the now Pro-Cathedral), which was re-

On December 27, 1843, the Pro-Cathedral was originally named the Church of St John the Evangelist. named the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary on June 17, 1855. This name was transferred to the then-newly built cathedral on the hill on January 29, 1865. Its nickname St Mary’s Cathedral was

adopted on May 4, 1930 and has been used every since.

Perth’s first Catholic bishop, John Brady, oversaw the laying of the foundation stone of the ProCathedral on January 16, 1844, the year before Perth became a diocese.

The-then Fr Brady spoke at the ceremony where a trench was dug and the first foundation stone was laid; parishioners placed money and pledges on the stone to help pay for the Pro-Cathedral.

Renovations on the building, which is fondly known by some as “the cathedral of many names”, will begin in October this year.

Society’s little chapters carry out mighty works

By Glynnis Grainger THREE members of the Bentley conference of the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) are working hard to help the underprivileged people of their area. Their efforts are a lesson in how the little local chapters of the Society – known as conferences – can do a huge amount of good work, often unnoticed and unseen.

Tom and Pat Thomas, of Santa Clara Parish in Bentley and Flo Robinson, of St Joseph’s Parish Queens Park, became good friends through their SVP work together.

Tom, 76, and Pat, 75, spend about 12 to 15 hours a week doing paperwork, checking and visitation and make about 15 phone calls a week, Tom told The Record.

He said their conference meets once a month with him as vicepresident, leading Alzheimer’s disease researcher Prof Ralph Martins as president and Flo, 53, as the secretary. Pat and Tom, a retired fitter, came to WA from England 40 years ago, and have been doing SVP work for nearly four years.

Although the three have plenty of grandchildren and great-grandchildren between them they still find time for their SVP work.

They mentioned the littleknown Hardships Utility Grant Scheme (HUGS) run by the State Government Department of Child Protection “set up for families so that children don’t go without”.

HUGS will pay 85 per cent of a water, gas or electricity bill, to help

those most in need, with needy individuals and families being required to apply via a financial counsellor from Centrelink.

Generally, the amount is up to $450 and “you must contact Synergy, Alinta or the Water Corporation first,” they said.

“A phone call from the SVP head office about what sort of help they (need) is all that is necessary,” Tom said.

He said the Society makes no judgements about those in need of help: anyone who wants help from the call centre gets help.

“Sometimes you never hear from them again – it is an emergency service – (but) some families have a very low income and this is where HUGS comes in.

Tom said many disabled individuals have trouble meeting the costs of prescription medication

Where to go?

The St Vincent de Paul Society can be contacted for welfare calls on 1300 794 054; for clothing and furniture donations or your nearest Vinnies centre: 9444 5622; and Passages Resource Centre: 9228 1478; or email info@svdpwa.org.au If anyone is interested in setting up or joining a local conference of St Vincent de Paul, the Society can be contacted on (08) 9475 5400.

The Society’s website is: or www. vinnies.org.au

- something the Society can help with. One person they know faces costs of $70 for prescriptions every 10 days which the Society pays for.

“As a conference, we can make decisions amongst ourselves and discuss these things and have the ability to put in place these things,” said Flo, adding that there are eight members in their conference.

“If we have someone who is going to be evicted, we can arrange funds to stop this,” she added.

The Passages drop-in centres – in Northbridge, Mandurah and Albany – offer the homeless a shower, toiletries and a meal. A visit to Passages means “they come out feeling a bit human”, Tom said.

High Perth rentals have also caused problems for those on low incomes, although the Society’s ability to assist with rental is limited. Meanwhile, the Society’s chain of suburban op shops and clothing shops is a huge help.

He said that many people deliver secondhand clothes already washed and ironed to their conference ready to be passed on to the Society’s clothing stores.

The conference has also assisted new arrivals to Australia. “In the last month we got about four single men referred from the Red Cross – immigrants (or) boat-type people, who speak hardly any English, and rely on someone to interpret,” said Tom. “We supply curtains, kitchen stuff – not fridges or washing machines. As a conference, we can supply people with a secondhand fridge.”

LOCAL

therecord.com.au July 25, 2012

CWL opens Notre Dame scholarship

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Good fitness news for cancer survivors

CWLWA State President, Karyn Kammann signs the scholarship agreement at UNDA last week with State Council members, Barbara Paterniti, left, and Betty Ryan. CWLWA

THE CATHOLIC Women’s League of WA has established a three year scholarship for a female student at the University of Notre Dame Australia, commencing in 2013.

The scholarship was established to acknowledge and celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the CWL in WA and is intended to assist and encourage female students for whom educational opportunities may be limited because of financial need.

Selected students are required to demonstrate drive and commitment to the principles of the CWL, with special consideration being given to applicants with a permanent home address 160km or more from the Perth CBD. The scholarship will be awarded each year for an initial three year term. CWL State President Karyn Kammann said she and her organisation’s members were excited about the important “first” for CWLWA. The League can be contacted via its website: www.cwla.org.au or via (08) 9751 1936.

Speakers Eric Martin, Amanda Tobitt, Sarah Hughes and Linda Garrett at the Keeping Healthy After Cancer event at Notre Dame.

GETTING fit again after cancer is a major challenge says a Notre Dame student who has been studying improved quality of life for cancer survivors.

Eric Martin, the Manager of Notre Dame’s Cancer Survivorship Program, is currently analysing data of individuals who participated in his recent 10-week cancer survivor rehabilitation program.

Perth clergy gather under Lucy’s gaze

He said preliminary findings highlighted the imperative for all people to make exercise a priority.

Mr Martin was one of four students who spoke at the recent event, Keeping Healthy After Cancer, hosted by UNDA’s Institute for Health and Rehabilitation Research.

The evening provided an opportunity for those who participated in the study to gain further insight

into how to lead healthier lives and measures to prevent the onset of new cancerous cells forming.

The Cancer Survivorship Program examines the program’s level of intensity and whether it delivers any short or long term effects in quality of life for breast and prostate cancer survivors.

“It is very possible for people to keep healthy after cancer. The main

How are you celebrating the

Year of Grace?

Send your stories to parishes@therecord.com.au

Priests and bishops from Perth, including Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, Archbishop Emeritus Barry Hickey, Bishop Donald Sproxton and Monsignor Michael Keating, concelebrate on June 27 in Rome.

PHOTO: MGR MICHAEL KEATING

By Peter Rosengren AMONG the experiences for Perth pilgrims in Rome for Archbishop Timothy Costelloe’s reception of the pallium was Mass concelebrated on June 27 by a contingent of Perth clergy in the Chapel of Santa Lucia in Tinta.

The historic chapel, dating from at least 1002AD and rebuilt in the 16th century, is attached to Fraterna Domus where Perth pilgrims stayed while in Rome.

Among those concelebrating were Archbishops Costelloe SDB and Barry Hickey, Bishop Donald Sproxton, Fathers John Jegorow of Ballajura, John O’Reilly, Joseph Angelo of Leederville, St Mary’s

Cathedral Dean Mgr Michael Keating and Deacon Bruce Talbot.

According to an internet entry, Santa Lucia della Tinta is in the Campo Marzo, on the Via di Monte Brianza. It is dedicated to a Roman martyr called Lucy, but not the more famous one from Syracuse.

The name Tinta comes from the locality, which contained dyeworks in the Middle Ages.

Rebuilt in 1580 by the Confraternity of Coachmen, it was restored again in 1911 when parts of a cosmatesque floor were uncovered.

Today, Fraterna Domus is run by a small institute of sisters charged with providing hospitality to pilgrims visiting Rome.

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problem is breaking down barriers to engaging in fitness, which generally means restructuring lives to make fitness a priority rather than work,” Mr Martin said.

For more information about the Cancer Survivorship Program at Notre Dame, please contact the Institute for Health and Rehabilitation Research on (08) 9433 0206.

6

THE NATION

therecord.com.au

July 25, 2012

Be wary of ABC, Henderson warns bishops

By Robert Hiini BISHOPS should think twice before agreeing to recorded interviews with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), long-time political and social commentator Gerard Henderson said last week.

Mr Henderson, Director of the Sydney Institute (SI) and an occasional guest on the ABC’s Insiders program, said there was no conspiracy against the Church at the ABC, but an institutional mindset hostile to what the Church stood for.

“I don’t think any senior figure in

the Catholic Church should do any recorded interviews with the ABC,” Mr Henderson told The Record.

“For any Catholics who support [Sydney’s] Cardinal [George] Pell, their local bishop or archbishop... it’s hostile terrain for them. If you think the former Fr Paul Collins should be Pope, then it’s not hostile territory. I think [Cardinal] Pell and the bishops probably do as well as they can do – I’m just saying you’ve got to watch out.”

While the Catholic Church had undoubtedly dealt poorly with sex abuse allegations in the past, he

said, the Four Corners program did not delve into whether or not court officials or police had followed up on Fr F’s admissions of abuse.

He also criticised the program for not explicitly telling viewers that Cardinal Pell was a prelate in an entirely different diocese at the time of the alleged sexual abuse and its subsequent handling by Church officials. Describing himself as agnostic, Gerard Henderson said his comments were motivated by a basic sense of fairness.

“I have a deep respect for the Christian Churches and I just think

a lot of this stuff is particularly unfair,” he said.

Gerard Henderson has long criticised the ABC for not having any conservative hosts, throughout its radio and television programming, and has previously criticised the national broadcaster for focussing on, what he claims are boutique causes, such as gay marriage.

In a letter to the Sydney Morning Herald, Four Corners rejected the idea it had “dragged Cardinal Pell into a Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal”, saying the phrase it used, “Australia’s most senior Catholic”,

was how he was described to them by Sydney’s Catholic Communications director.

The Sydney Institute, which Mr Henderson directs, regularly hosts talks by prominent politicians and academics from across the political spectrum, some of whom have been subject to Mr Henderson’s criticism.

“If you don’t personally attack people, if you just disagree with people ... if you don’t go after their motives, if you don’t make anything up, then they don’t hold it against you,” he said.

Sex abuse a big problem for all of us Comment

By Robert Hiini IF you were only looking at the weight of media reporting, you could be forgiven for thinking there was an epidemic of child sexual abuse, perpetrated by the Catholic Church.

What is getting less air time is that the three Catholic bishops at the centre of media attention last week are determined to address the issue, even as they attend to cases that happened under different prelates, decades earlier.

There is no doubt that the abuse perpetrated by pederast priests is in no way merely historical for victims. As the recent Four Corners report ably demonstrated, its effects have been debilitating and, in many instances, life-destroying for many men and women.

In the past 20 years, the media has done the Church a great service in exposing cases of abuse, of cover-up, and of exacerbation, when offending priests were left unpunished and moved to different dioceses to begin abusing anew.

In the cause of better protecting children from abuse right now, however, the virulence with which the media excoriates the Catholic Church might, at the very least, be extended to other quarters.

Contemporary child sex abusers are much more likely to be male relatives than they are to be Catholic priests.

Male relatives other than the victim’s father, make up the greatest proportion of all child sex abuse perpetrators (30.2 per cent, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ 2005 Personal Safety Australia report).

Then comes family friends (16.3), acquaintances/neighbours (15.6), ‘other known person(s)’ (15.3), fathers/stepfathers (13.5), and strangers (11.1). While more than 70 priests and religious have been convicted of sex offences in Australia, in 2010-11 there were 5,437 substantiated claims of sexual abuse throughout Australia, according to the Child Protection Australia 2010-11 report; 431 of those came from Western Australia.

Sexual abuse made up 13 per cent of all substantiated harm. In every State and Territory, girls were more likely than boys to be sexually abused (in almost every state, boys were much more likely to be physically abused).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were almost eight times as likely to be the victims of child abuse and neglect.

What these facts reveal is that we certainly do have a problem with the horror that is the sexual abuse of children. But it is “our” problem, as a society, not just for “those people” in the Catholic Church.

Bishop Anthony Fisher OP has written a statement to his flock about allegations of child sex abuse by a priest in his diocese in the 1980s. PHOTO: PARRAMATTA DIOCESE

Fisher leads in soul-searching times

By Robert Hiini PARRAMATTA Bishop Anthony Fisher OP has decided to deal with the pastoral fallout over recent child sex abuse revelations head-on, writing a statement to the Faithful which was read out in Parramatta parishes last Sunday.

The statement begins with the first line of last Sunday’s Mass reading from the book of Jeremiah (23:1): “Doom for the shepherds who allow my flock to be destroyed and scattered – it is the Lord who speaks”.

Bishop Fisher said those were challenging words to hear at any time, but were particularly pertinent given recent events.

The statement was written in response to the case of “Fr F” who is alleged to have committed offences against at least six boys in the 1980s in his then-home Diocese of Armidale and in Parramatta, where he was later transferred.

Fr F was formally removed from public ministry in 1992 after an internal Church investigation and was laicised or “defrocked” in 2005.

“We were all shocked by the terrible story,” Bishop Fisher wrote. “It

has resulted in public scrutiny of his behaviour … and of the adequacy of the Church’s response to allegations about him.

“It has reignited public condemnation of clerical abuse and criticism of the way it has sometimes been mishandled.”

Bishop Fisher and his Armidale counterpart, Bishop Michael Kennedy, made a joint announcement last week of the terms of reference of the independent investigation, headed by former Federal

ministry, and information related to a 1992 meeting of Fr F and three senior priests charged with investigating claims made about his conduct.

The meeting, which ultimately led to Fr F’s dismissal from duties, was the source of controversy in the wake of the Four Corners report Unholy Silence in which Cardinal George Pell gave an account of the meeting which seemed at variance with the recollection of one of its attendees.

I urge you to love and support your priests, the vast majority do not deserve to be tarnished.

Court judge Antony Whitlam QC, also announced last week.

The inquiry will examine Fr F’s history of appointments, ministry and activities and “the nature and quality of the management of complaints received by alleged victims of Fr F”.

It will also examine the process that facilitated Fr F’s transfer to Parramatta, the sequence of events which led to his termination from

In last Sunday’s statement, Bishop Fisher said it was a time of soulsearching for all the Faithful and called all Catholics in the diocese to prayer and penance for the purification of the Church from all sin and for the victims of such grave misconduct.

It was a also a trying time for priests, Bishop Fisher said, who needed prayers and support more than ever.

“I urge you, my dear people, to love and to support your priests, the vast majority of whom are dedicated men, loyal to their mission as priests, and do not deserve to be tarnished by association with the perpetrators of these crimes.”

Bishop Fisher said the same reading from Jeremiah, which preached “doom” for wayward shepherds, also foretold of “a virtuous descendant of David who will be the Good Shepherd for us”. “(Jeremiah) also promises that God will raise up other shepherds after the heart of that Good Shepherd, shepherds who will care for us and whom none need fear.

“Sure enough, in St Mark’s Gospel, we see the advent of that Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, who takes pity on a crowd who were ‘like sheep without a shepherd’ (Mk 6:34).

“As he was the model for his apostles, so he is the model for all true pastors. We turn to him in prayer today.”

Last week, New South Wales Police announced they would also be investigating the events surrounding Fr F, forming special Strike Force Glenroe.

MILESTONES

therecord.com.au July 25, 2012

7

Jesuit, poet, teacher and friend

By Brendan Byrne SJ

O

ne of the most outstanding priests the West has given to Australia passed to eternal life in Melbourne on June 27, 2012. Born just before the outbreak of the Second World War, Peter Steele grew up in the Perth suburb of Victoria Park, the eldest in a family of three boys.

His parents, Fred (who became a Catholic on marrying his mother) and Jessie, nurtured in him a strong faith which produced in Peter a desire from his early years to become a priest. Peter also grew up a voracious reader, delighted to receive each year as a Christian present a subscription to the Central Catholic Library. The works of GK Chesterton in particular, left an indelible imprint upon his imagination and literary style.

Peter was educated by the Christian Brothers at what is now Trinity College, then ‘Terrace’. One of the brothers, aware of Peter’s intellectual gifts, encouraged him to think of joining the Jesuits. A subsequent interview with the Rector of St Thomas More College, Father Con Finn, SJ, an Irishman of infectious wit and literary appreciation, put flesh upon this notion. So, just out of secondary school at the age of 17, Peter boarded the train for the long journey to Melbourne and the Jesuit novitiate at Watsonia.

Five years later, after the prescribed period of noviceship and scholastic philosophy, Peter began what was to be a lifelong association with the English Department at Melbourne University.

As an undergraduate, he came under the spell of the renowned poet and teacher, Vincent Buckley, who soon became a close friend.

Graduating with First Class hon-

The ‘world’s first home educators’ conference’

J

onas Himmelstrand, presidentin-exile of the Swedish Association of Home Education, has announced “the world’s first global home education conference”, which will take place on November 1-4 in Berlin.

It will be open to parents, policy makers, home educators, researchers, journalists and anyone else interested in home schooling.

Mr Himmelstrand and his family left Sweden in February and went to live in the Finnish Aland Islands after three years of being persecuted by the Swedish government for educating their children at home.

He is also a critic of Swedish family policies.

“The intention of the GHEC2012 conference is to put home education on the global agenda as one form of basic education in the pluralistic knowledge era,” he wrote.

“Home education is the fastest growing form of basic education today, and is winning more and more acceptance around the world as academically and socially successful. [It] is also a leading current human rights theme today on parents’ prior right to choose the form of education for their children.

“At the GHEC2012, some of the world’s foremost experts on home education in the areas of justice, research and policy making present in keynotes and workshops together with home educating parents from all over the world.

The GHEC board has ten members from South Korea, The Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Germany, Canada, USA and Mexico. - WWW.MERCATORNET.COM

Obituary

Peter Daniel Steele, Jesuit Priest Born: August 29th, 1939 Entered eternal life: June 27th, 2012 ours, Peter went on to tutor in the English Department. He continued his close association with the university during his years of theology, leading up to ordination as a priest in Perth in December 1970.

Along with his intellectual ability, Peter’s personal qualities marked him out for leadership. Soon after ordination, he was named Rector of Campion College, Kew, the residence for young Jesuits studying at universities. During this time he gained a doctorate, subsequently published as Jonathan Swift: Preacher and Jester (Clarendon: 1978) and continued to teach in the

Peter saw his vocation as poet and priest as indivisible. He explained each were to do with celebration.

English Department at Melbourne, becoming, in time, Head of Department.

In 1985, on the cusp of receiving a professorship, Peter was appointed Provincial of the Australian Jesuits. As such, he enjoyed not only the respect but also the lasting affection of his brother Jesuits for the kindness, humility, and unfailing patience he displayed in the role, along with a notable capacity to articulate and implement an imaginative, apostolic vision.

A measure of the university’s esteem for Peter was the fact that

an academic position was held over for him to which he could return at the end of his provincialate, culminating in his appointment to a personal Chair in English in 1993.

From this time until his death, Peter was Scholar in Residence at Newman College, within the University of Melbourne. The sermons that he preached in the college chapel will remain in the memory of students and others who flocked to hear them Sunday after Sunday for over twenty years.

Never more than five minutes in length, they shed light on central issues of life and faith through literary allusion, anecdote and recondite fact, fruit of Peter’s prodigious knowledge and memory. Many have been published in the collections, Bread for the Journey (2002) and A Local Habitation: Poems and Homilies (2010).

Peter wrote poetry from his earliest years and continued to do so right up to the final weeks before his death. He published several volumes of poetry, along with multiple literary essays and studies of poets both Australian and overseas. His poems are to be found in all the notable anthologies of Australian poetry, along with those of Vincent Buckley, Gwen Harwood and Chris Wallace-Crabbe, each of whom were lifelong friends. On the international scene, he enjoyed close relations with expatriate poet Peter Porter and Irish Nobel Prize Laureate Seamus Heaney.

Peter saw his vocation as poet and priest as indivisible. He explained that what priesthood has in common with poetry is that each has to do with celebration. If for him the Incarnation was the central mystery of the faith, every poem that he wrote celebrated the Word becoming flesh. He looked out at the world and acquired from his voracious reading an incredible

Fr Peter Steele SJ always maintained God could not be thanked enough for sending his Son. PHOTO: SUPPLIED

knowledge of anecdotes and facts— quaint, technical, arcane — most of them remote from anything overtly religious or theological, and found in them a spark of the divine glory.

He maintained that God could never be thanked enough for sending his Son to assume and transform our human nature; there is no end to the amount of celebration which this warrants.

A lifelong devotee of the United States and its literature, especially recent American poetry, Peter held visiting professorships at Georgetown University (Washington DC) and Loyola University (Chicago).

The Martin D’Arcy lectures, which he gave at Oxford University, were later published as The Autobiographical Passion: Studies in the Self on Show (1989). On his retirement, the University of Melbourne named him Emeritus Professor of English and Honorary Professorial Fellow in 2006, and in

2008 conferred upon him the high award of an honorary Doctorate of Letters (DLitt). He was a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and just before his death became a member of the Order of Australia (AM) in recognition of his services to teaching, literature and religion.

Peter was diagnosed with liver cancer while teaching in the United States in 2006. Over the remaining years, he faced constant medical procedures with great courage, realism and good humour. He continued to write, teach, preach, and celebrate up till the last weeks. He had an unshakeable faith in eternal life, constantly avowing that he believed the best was yet to come.

A great company of colleagues and friends assembled at Newman on June 12 for a launch of Peter’s last book, Braiding the Voices: Essays in Poetry. Too weak to speak publicly, he presided in a wheelchair, receiving the heartfelt greetings of all who, one by one, went up to greet him on this very moving occasion.

Two weeks later, on June 27, he died peacefully at Caritas Christi Hospice, Kew, in the presence of his sole surviving brother, Jack.

The Chapel of Newman College was packed for the Requiem Mass on July 2, celebrated by the Australian Jesuit Provincial, Fr Steve Curtin, the homily being preached by myself as both Jesuit contemporary and friend, with tributes from Peter’s brother, Jack, writer and academic, Morag Fraser, and physician and friend, Dr John McEncroe.

In conclusion, fellow poet and friend, Chris Wallace-Crabbe, read two poems of this remarkably talented and devoted priest who had touched the lives of so many and whose poems, sermons, essays and other works will remain an inspiring legacy.

Golden couple mark 50 years’ marriage

H

arry and Jan Collins (nee Jones) recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary at Our Lady of Mt Carmel Hilton with a special Mass, a blessing from Pope Benedict and another from Fr Paul Raj. Later, they celebrated with family and friends at their home in Samson. The couple met whilst serving at RAAF Base Pearce and were married at Christ the King Church, Beaconsfield, on June 16, 1962 by Fr Paul Siebert OMI. Jan was educated by the Sisters of St Joseph at Beaconsfield and Fremantle, Harry by the Christian Brothers at Castledare and Clontarf.

After leaving the airforce, Harry studied at night school in Accountancy and later worked in several positions. During that time their two sons, Michael and Peter, were born and today they have six beautiful grandchildren.

Five weeks after their son Peter was born in 1965, Jan started work in a number of jobs, the final one being for 23 years with the Education Department, retiring in 1999. The same year, she started with St Vincent De Paul in Hilton, and is still doing one day a week.

In 1978, Harry joined Fremantle

Hospital and, in 1988, became a Special Minister at Mt Carmel where they have attended for 40 years.

In 1991, he was commissioned as a Justice of the Peace and is described by those who know him as always being on hand if anyone needs his services as a JP, whether police, signing centres or the public in general. “Recent illness has slowed us down a bit,” says Jan, “but our faith is strong and with God’s help we hope to have many more happy years together.”

Harry and Jan Collins, above and on their wedding in 1962, at right, have celebrated half a century of marriage. The couple have been blessed with two sons and six grandchildren.

PHOTO: SUPPLIED

Moments in the trajectory of Faith Weddings, baptisms, anniversaries, obituaries, parish events Send your Milestones to: editor@therecord.com.au

8

WORLD

therecord.com.au

July 25, 2012

Magazine recommends new ‘web assisted’ spirituality THE CHURCH must offer people – especially the young – a spirituality that responds to their computerdriven desire for interactive experiences, said an influential Jesuit magazine.

The Italian magazine, La Civilta Cattolica, said the Church does not have to invent a new spirituality for a new generation. It just has to recognise that because of intensive computer and social network use, people have changed so the Church must change the way it offers its spiritual treasures.

The key, the magazine said, is to help people take the step from superficial interaction – “surfing the net” and clicking on link after

link – to contemplation. First, people must recognise the need “to safeguard spaces that allow interiorisation to develop”. That means a bit of silence and being out of arm’s reach of the computer or smartphone, the magazine said.

But the Church also must offer Catholics ideas of what to do with that quiet time, and the magazine started with something its Jesuit staff knows something about: the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits whose feast is on July 31.

The exercises, it said, offer a systematic formula for helping someone take the already-interactive experience of reading to a new level.

In the exercises, the magazine said, the person praying imagines being in the biblical scene, shares the emotions of those present and tries to relive the mystery, “interacting with the personalities and the environment”.

Through the use of prayerful imagination, the Bible becomes a “virtual reality” for the reader, it said. How deep the experience is depends on “the intensity of the relationships and interactions that are created during the contemplation”. The Church needs to help people “learn to live their spirituality interacting and immersing themselves in the word of God”, the magazine said.

- CNS

Migrants’ priest forced into exile returns to hero’s welcome

By David Agren FATHER Alejandro Solalinde got a hero’s welcome when he returned to his shelter for undocumented Central Americans. The welcoming crew included a brass band, media and dignitaries, as well as migrants waving signs reading, “We missed you”.

He returned with an escort from the Mexican attorney general’s office: four guards expected to provide security for the priest known for his willingness to confront corrupt officials and the organised criminal groups preying on migrants.

“This return of Fr Solalinde is a continuation of his mission,” said Scalabrini Sister Leticia Gutierrez, director of the Mexican bishops’ human mobility ministry. “The migrants need you, we need you, too.”

Fr Solalinde left the country in May after receiving undisclosed threats; Church and human rights officials encouraged him to go.

Such is the danger of working with the thousands of migrants transiting Mexico, where criminal groups – such as Los Zetas – kidnap them for ransom, and public officials are often complicit in their crimes.

And such is his fame – as one of Mexico’s few figures to openly defy organised crime – that media made a big deal of his Mexico City press conference upon his return to the country earlier in the week. A team from the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights accompanied him back to Oaxaca on July 12.

“This is my passion, my reason for being,” Fr Solalinde said upon

Fr Alejandro Solalinde greets well-wishers on July 12 at the Brothers of the Road migrant shelter in Mexico’s Oaxaca state.

returning to Oaxaca, adding that he never really wanted to leave the Brothers of the Road shelter that he had founded.

“I’m a missionary, not because I’m a priest ... because I’m baptised,” he said.

For five years, Fr Solalinde has struggled for the better treatment of migrants, mainly from a migrant shelter composed of concrete and cinderblock buildings adjacent to the railway lines on which undoc-

umented Central Americans steal northbound rides.

His absence highlighted the worst of the country’s security situation and the scenario facing migrants in Mexico, although Fr Solalinde spoke of positive aspects, such as having the opportunity to meet with supporters and human rights officials abroad.

But impunity for crimes committed against migrants in Mexico is still rife, he said. National con-

sciousness for migrants’ plights has grown, but change is coming slowly.

Additionally, a new immigration law to give migrants more legal protections has been approved, but Fr Solalinde said Congress did not create the necessary regulations to enforce it. As an example, a measure to provide temporary visas to migrants transiting Mexico was excluded from the regulations.

“We don’t deserve (this) Mexico that we have, we don’t deserve it

Confidence in US churches down AMERICANS’ confidence in “Church and organised religion” has been on the decline since 1973 and Catholics’ confidence in that institution remains lower than that of Protestants, according to the results of a new Gallup survey released on July 12.

Forty-six per cent of Catholics express “a great deal or quite a lot of confidence” in the Church and organised religion, compared to 56 per cent of Protestants.

Overall, 44 per cent of Americans expressed that same level of confidence in Church/organised religion. The percentage is slightly lower than Gallup has found in recent years; in 2002, it was 45 per cent and in 2007, 46 per cent.

“This follows a long-term decline in Americans’ confidence in religion since the 1970s,” Gallup said. In 1973, 66 per cent said they had a high level of confidence in religion.

This latest poll also found Americans’ confidence in public schools, banks and television news is at its “all-time lowest, perhaps reflecting a broader souring of confidence in societal institutions in 2012”, it added. Still, Church and organised religion ranked fourth among the 16 institutions on the survey, it noted.

Gallup said the difference between Catholics’ and Protestants’ confidence level in 2012 is “in line with an average

12-percentage-point difference” between the two groups’ outlook seen in its polling since 2002, “with Protestants consistently expressing higher confidence”.

Taken as a single group, only 29 per cent of those of all other faiths expressed “a great deal or quite a lot of confidence”, which is “far less than either Protestants or Catholics”.

According to Gallup, Catholics’ confidence dipped to a record low in 2002, the year the clergy child sex abuse scandal broke, and again in 2007, which “may have been part of a broader trend that saw confidence in most US institutions drop that year”, it said.

- CNS

PHOTO: DAVID AGREN, CNS

anymore,” Fr Solalinde said. “It’s a rotten Mexico that is compromising new generations.”

Fr Solalinde met the previous day with Oaxaca Governor Gabino Cue, who promised to provide protection and support for the shelter. In 2010, new Oaxaca state leaders took office and appointed a prosecutor to investigate crimes against migrants; the prosecutor was among those at the welcoming ceremony.

- CNS

CATHOLICS HAVE LESS CONFIDENCE in church or organized religion than their Protestant counterparts. Percentage having “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence: 70%

PROTESTANT 63%

60%

56% 58%

50% 46% 40%

41%

39%

CATHOLIC 30%

‘02 Source: Gallup

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©2012 CNS

WORLD

therecord.com.au July 25, 2012

9

Priorities and solidarity keys to the war on AIDS

US Mgr Robert Vitillo, special adviser on HIV and AIDS for Caritas Internationalis.

PHOTO: PAUL JEFFREY

MONSIGNOR Robert Vitillo, special adviser on HIV and AIDS for Caritas Internationalis, said the XIX International AIDS Conference in Washington is an indication of US President Barak Obama’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, PEPFAR, a massive funding surge initiated by President George W Bush and continued, though at a lower level, by Obama.

Both Bush and Obama will address the July 22-27 conference.

Funding from PEPFAR and the United Nations has made possible great strides in combatting the disease.

According to the UN, some eight million people received antiretrovi-

ral treatment last year, a 20 per cent increase over 2010. That treatment can significantly prolong life by reducing the viral load in infected people. Yet almost eight million others who are eligible for the treatment have no access to the medications. At the same time, global funding for AIDS work is flat-lining or declining.

“This is a big worry, especially for us in Church-based services. I remember 10 to 15 years ago the Church couldn’t even think about getting involved in antiretroviral treatment because we didn’t have the funding and the cost of the medicines was too high. So our approach was mainly to help peo-

ple die well and with dignity,” Mgr Vitillo said.

Then higher funding and lower medicine prices produced a surge of treatment.

“We already had health care infrastructure and we already had community-based health care, so it was much easier for the Church to begin to move in and do quality antiretroviral treatment. I encouraged many Church people around the world to start treatment programs. And now, every day I’m pained as I get emails from them saying, ‘You got us into this and now we have 90,000 people in our program, and what do we do because the money is not going to

be there for long?’ These Church people feel responsible to continue to accompany the people under their care with treatment. It’s a lifelong commitment that they made.”

Mgr Vitillo said the global economic crisis has been cited by political leaders as justification for funding cuts.

Yet the priest from the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey, insists it’s a matter of priorities.

“If you look at what we spend in high-income countries on makeup or pet food or dealing with obesity, it’s a lot of money. And we have the military budgets as well. Yes, there’s an economic crisis, but we also have a call to solidarity,” he said. - CNS

The hard yards of AIDS fight MORE THAN 20,000 people are descending on the US capital for the XIX International AIDS Conference, and Mgr Robert Vitillo feels right at home.

As the Catholic Church’s point man on HIV and AIDS, he moves among the scientists, politicians and activists with ease, having worked for years to make sure that those involved in faith-based responses to the disease have their voices heard in the biennial gatherings.

Yet, Mgr Vitillo has not always been welcomed. In the early years of the pandemic, he was provided with a bodyguard at an AIDS conference in Europe.

“A lot of the resistance to our participation has been based on misinformation and accepting some of the media’s perspective on what the Church says and does rather than what we actually say and do,” said Mgr Vitillo, special adviser on HIV and AIDS for Caritas Internationalis. “I meet people all the time who are shocked when they hear what the Catholic Church does in response to AIDS. They thought all we did was tell people they were terrible sinners.

“The Church has been there from the beginning of the response to HIV and AIDS. In fact, it was mainly Church organisations that began to accept people who were dying of these very strange illnesses and infections before we even knew that it was caused by HIV or we had coined the terms AIDS. It’s always been there, and it has responded very well, without stigma and discrimination,” Mgr Vitillo told Catholic News Service (CNS).

In the days leading up to the July 22-27 conference, news of research into a vaccine for the virus, as well as rumours that a cure for AIDS is on the horizon, have focused media coverage on the science of the disease. Yet Mgr Vitillo said it is too early to celebrate.

“There has always been a tension in the field of HIV response because many people are looking for the easy solution. They did that when they tried to promote just the use of condoms, arguing that was the solution to everything. Thirty years on, the experts realise that we need many different approaches to prevention,” he said.

“I know we’re talking a lot about ‘the cure,’ but at the point where science is right now, we only have antiretroviral treatment as the best approach medically,” he told CNS. “We have a long way to go. I hope there’s a miracle. I hope we find a cure or a preventative vaccine soon. But so far we don’t have that, and we shouldn’t forget the social, developmental, psychological and spiritual responses that are part of a comprehensive response to HIV and AIDS.” Mgr Vitillo said antiretroviral

A pharmacy technician displays one of the drugs used to treat patients with HIV at Our Lady of Apostles Hospital in Akwanga, Nigeria, in this 2010 file photo. The rural Catholic hospital treats 1,500 patients with life-saving antiretroviral therapies. Like many such efforts, the hospital has been reliant on PEPFAR funding from the US. PHOTO: NANCY PHELAN WIECHEC, CNS

I meet people all the time who are shocked when they hear what the Catholic Church does for AIDS. They think all we do is tell people they’re sinners. treatment has not only saved the lives of people living with HIV, but has reduced the infection rate dramatically in some countries, primarily in Africa.

Studies show people on antiretroviral treatment are 96 per cent less likely to pass on the virus. This development has been critical in reducing mother-to-child infection rates. Mgr Vitillo will speak to a pre-conference gathering of some 80 Catholic AIDS workers from around the world, detailing his participation in a massive program that aims to halt new infections of children by 2015 in India and 21 African countries.

The plan aims to ensure that pregnant women who are HIV-positive are provided with antiretroviral treatment to ensure that the child is not infected in

the womb, during birth, or during breast-feeding. The plan also aims to keep the women healthy, “because we don’t want to save the children and then have them lose their mothers,” Mgr Vitillo said.

Although the cost of antiretroviral treatment has dropped to roughly $100 per patient per year in poor countries, Mgr Vitillo said Church workers are continuing to push pharmaceutical companies to respond appropriately to the crisis. He said a Caritas campaign to develop better paediatric dosing of antiretroviral drugs has enjoyed some success.

At this year’s AIDS conference, he and other Church leaders will be pushing the Medicines Patent Pool, where drug companies will deposit their patents for HIV medicines, allowing faster development of needed drugs. Some companies have agreed, and Mgr Vitillo said he will be thanking them. Others will be encouraged to participate.

Mgr Vitillo said he has worked hard to keep open a dialogue with the giant pharmaceutical companies. “We recognise that they have a purpose that includes making a profit, but they can’t forget the fact that we have large numbers of people who need their help in order to survive,” he said.

- CNS

Christians can learn from Ramadan: Vatican expert THE MUSLIM holy month of Ramadan, which started on July 20 in many countries, is a time of fasting, prayer and repentance, when Muslims distance themselves from worldly activities in an effort to align their lives more closely with God and his laws. According to the Vatican’s point man for dialogue with Islam, Ramadan is also an opportunity for Catholics to learn from Muslims’ example of obedience to the Almighty – and thereby strengthen their own Catholic faith.

Mgr Khaled Akasheh runs the section for relations with Muslims at the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, an office founded by Pope Paul VI in 1964 during the Second Vatican Council.

One of the most important aspects of Vatican II, Mgr Akasheh told CNS, was that “the Church accepted all that is right and beautiful in religions”. The council thus fostered a culture in which theological disagreement did not mean disrespect for what others hold sacred.

Even half a century later, however, many Catholics perceive a tension

A Palestinian woman prays at the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem’s Old City on July 20, the first day of Ramadan. PHOTO: ANMAR AWAD, REUTERS

between the need to respect other religious traditions and Christ’s call to bring his truth to all people.

“Managing mission and dialogue is perhaps the major theological challenge” in communicating with other faiths, Mgr Akasheh said.

Catholic experts engaged in dialogue do not make any “explicit appeal to others to embrace our religion, but this doesn’t mean that we are not faithful to our faith and our mission, because in dialogue we say what we are,” he said.

- CNS

10

VISTA

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VISTA

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Secret Heralds of Light July 25, 2012

July 25, 2012

One American author needs no convincing of the existence and power of angels. What's more interesting is why they don't always intervene to make everything right in times of pain, loss and suffewring.

11

Litany links beginning of Church and heaven now

Dear Father, I have attended various functions in which the Litany of the Saints was used, but each time with different saints.

Is there a standard form of this litany, and what is its origin?

L

By Juanita Shepherd

O

N A COLD winter’s night, Joan Wester Anderson believed her son and his friends would freeze to death in an isolated cornfield when their car broke down while driving from Connecticut to Chicago.

Instead, Mrs Anderson owes her son’s life to a mysterious tow truck driver who appeared out of nowhere and towed the boys to a nearby town; when Mrs Anderson’s son turned to pay the man he had vanished, there was no sign of him, his truck or footprints where he had stood minutes earlier. Who was he? And how is it that he turned up out of the blue when he was needed and disappeared before he could be thanked?

“To me, this was a miracle.”

Mrs Anderson told The Record.

“I wrote about my son’s experience and eventually collected enough stories to write about what I thought would be one book on angels, but instead I have done seven.”

Mrs Anderson was raised a Catholic and grew up in Evanston, Illinois, in the US. She began her writing career in 1973 and her books include Where

Angels Walk and True Stories of Heavenly Visitors, which was on the New York Times bestseller list for over a year; the book has sold almost two million copies and has been translated into 14 different languages.

She has written countless stories about ordinary people who have experienced extraordinary angelic events. Her story about a firefighter named Mark is both gripping and comforting. Mark and his partner were saved from a flashover (when the contents of a room are so hot everything explodes) because a calm but persistent voice told him to ‘Leave now!’

It is her stories about angels that have hooked her readers.

Mrs Anderson has been writing since she was six years old, often helping her friends out with their homework. “I have always written stories,” She said.

“When I was a young mother I started freelancing for magazines. Eventually I wrote 19 books and book number seven, my first book on angels became a national bestseller.” Not only does she write in such a way that the reader does not want to put the book down, but the endless fascination with angels is universal.

The word 'angel' in Hebrew

means ‘messenger.’ More than just pretty drawings on Hallmark cards, angels act as a liaison between Heaven and Earth, and are mentioned over 300 times in Scripture. They can be described as spiritual beings created by God for the service of humans and the Church – not just fairy-like beings with large wings and flowing gowns. The Catholic view on the celestial hierarchy is both complex and fascinating.

by singing around God’s throne.

An appropriate image would be the Christmas carol Gloria in Excelsis Deo which begins ‘Ding dong merrily on high, in Heaven the bells are ringing, hark now happily reply the angels all are singing …’

The second choir are the Cherubim, literally meaning ‘fullness of knowledge.’

Cherubim are depicted with four wings and four different faces, a stark contrast to the famil-

The tow truck driver seemed to appear out of nowhere. When her son turned around to pay the man for his generosity he had vanished. There was no sign of him, his truck – or even of footprints in the snow.

Sixth century Greek theologian Dionysius the Areopagite has had a significant impact on classical Christian angelology.

He proposed three hierarchies of angels, within which are nine choirs of angels all told.

The highest order are the Seraphim and these are often referred to as the ‘burning ones’ because they are aflame with God’s love. They show their love

iar depictions of rosy cheeked angels with curly blonde hair and big blue eyes and white feathery wings.

Thrones make up the third choir and are charged with carrying out God’s justice.

Ezekiel describes the Thrones as resembling burning wheels.

Dominions and Virtues are the fourth and fifth choirs of angels: the former assure the carrying

out of God’s will and are often depicted holding an orb or sceptre as a symbol of authority, while the latter are entrusted with the working of miracles on Earth.

The sixth choir of angels is the Powers, who preserve order in the world and keep it from being overthrown by demons, and the seventh choir, the Principalities, provide strength in times of hardship.

The eighth and ninth choirs are the Archangels and the Guardian Angels, the two groups with which we are most familiar. Archangels look after the larger human affairs, while the guardian angels are assigned

by God to every human being at the time of his or her birth and are concerned with matters that affect the individual.

In today’s world of scientific scepticism, it is easy to dismiss the wonders and mystery of the works of angels but Mrs Anderson is of the firm belief that now, more then ever, angels are necessary in our lives; she portrays this belief through her stories.

“I once heard someone say that ‘if people were more like angels, earth would be more like heaven’,” Mrs Anderson said.

“We were taught that each

human being has his or her own guardian angel,” she said.

“The thought of having a guardian angel as a best friend is very warm and comforting.”

The stories of encounters with guardian angels, similar to the story of Mrs Anderson’s son and the enigmatic disappearing tow truck driver resemble hundreds of other accounts, when a strange and unexplained but comforting presence appears out of nowhere and offers help, often saving lives in the process.

Some famous stories include famed pilot Charles Lindbergh who wrote about ‘friendly, vapour-like beings’ who guided him in his historic flight across the Atlantic in 1927.

Lindbergh was running low on fuel and surrounded by the dark when he was comforted by the ‘friendly vapours’ who stayed with him until the sun began to rise. George Washington was inspired by a ‘woman in a silvery blue dress’ who visited him as he stood by his troops at Valley Forge during the American Revolutionary War of 17771778. The stories are endless and all share one common factor – angels.

But while it is easy to love and trust someone who helps and cares for you, there are times

An angel and three women are shown at the empty tomb of Christ in this depiction of Easter morning by German painter Peter von Cornelius, top left. Angels are conventionally portrayed as flying humans, but this is only anattempt to convey the powers of these spiritual beings.

PHOTO: TOP LEFT: BAYERISCHE STAATSGEMÅLDE-SAMMLUNGEN/ ART RESOURCE

when there is no escaping the pain, suffering and unhappiness that plague our lives. Where are the angels when they are needed the most?

“Sometimes my readers ask me ‘where was my angel when …?’," Mrs Anderson said.

Her readers are no different to everyone else who wonder why there is still pain and suffering in this life despite the presence of angels.

“Angels operate on God’s timetable – not ours,” she said.

“There will be times of fear and sorrow when angels do not intervene. This is God’s plan and many of us won’t understand God’s plan until we see it in eternity.”

Mrs Anderson has been successful in her career but does not allow the success of her writing

to overwhelm her; she recognises that God is ever present in all our lives. “I think each of us has at least one talent that we tend to take for granted because it comes naturally,” she said. “But this is probably the talent God would most like us to use; if and when we do, he will often show us where he wants us to go as I believe he did with me.”

Her life as a writer began when she graduated from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago and she is now a

member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors; she is also a former adjunct professor at Harper Community College in Palatine, Illinois. Today, Joan Anderson is an active member of St Edna’s Parish in Arlington Heights, and continues to write to inspire and comfort people the world over with her stories about angels.

“I love and trust them as my dearest friends,” she said. “We should all make room for angels in our lives.”

IKE the Litany of Loreto, about which I wrote last week, the Litany of the Saints has been in use for a long time. In fact, it goes back to the early Church.

It is one of the oldest prayers in continuous use, with different versions of it dating from the 3rd century in the East.

There is historical evidence of litanies invoking the saints at the time of St Gregory the Wonderworker who died around the year 270, and St Basil who died in 379.

In the West, the saints were invoked in the litany used in the procession of St Mamertus, Bishop of Vienne, in 477, beseeching God for help at a time of earthquakes and other calamities. Through a decree of the Council of Orleans in 511 the devotion then spread to the rest of France.

At the end of the 6th century, a litany of the saints was used in the Litania Septiformis of Pope Gregory the Great, a procession through Rome in 590 following the flood and pestilence that swept the city.

By that time, the Litany of the Saints had substantially the form it has today.

It is understandable that when the faithful wanted to obtain special favours from God, they would call upon the saints in heaven to intercede for them, naming them one by one. This early prayer to the saints is thus part of the Tradition of the Church.

It shows the lack of substance in the Protestant objection to this custom, based largely on scriptural passages including St Paul’s statement that there is only one mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ, himself a man (cf 1 Tim 2:5).

As with other litanies, it is not known exactly when or by whom the Litany of the Saints was composed. But the order in which the Apostles are named, corresponding to that of the Roman Canon of the Mass, is proof of its antiquity. The Roman Canon can be traced back to the 4th century, and it was given its present form during the pontificate of Pope Gregory the Great.

At the present time, the Litany of the Saints is prescribed on various occasions, among them the ordination of deacons, priests and bishops, and in the Easter Vigil prior to Baptism. A very abbreviated form is used in the Rite of Baptism of children.

The original official version of the Litany is very long and much more involved than the versions used in most ceremonies today. It begins with “Lord, have mercy; Christ,

Q&A FR JOHN FLADER

have mercy; Lord, have mercy” and then calls upon Christ twice to hear us, and then on the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and finally the Blessed Trinity to have mercy on us.

Then, following the traditional “hierarchy” of the saints in heaven, it calls upon the Blessed Virgin Mary under various titles to pray for us. This is followed by the invocation of the three Archangels and then all the angels.

The first saints to be invoked are St Joseph, St John the Baptist and all the patriarchs and prophets. They are followed by St Peter, St Paul, and then all the other Apostles and Evangelists, one by one. Next come the martyrs of the early Church, then Fathers, Doctors and Bishops of the early centuries.

These are followed by other early saints including St Anthony, St Benedict, St

The official version of the Litany of the Saints is very long - much more than those usually recited today.

Bernard, St Dominic and St Francis, the latest saints being from the 13th century. Then come holy women saints, starting with St Mary Magdalene and early martyrs.

After the invocation of the saints comes a long series of petitions to be delivered from various forms of evil, then petitions that God will grant a series of blessings, and finally petitions to the Lamb of God to have mercy on us and Christ to hear us.

The Litany concludes with a long prayer, or series of prayers, begging God for mercy and favours.

The Litany of the Saints, as recited in various ceremonies today, is much shorter and may have petitions specific to the occasion.

Also, newer saints and blesseds may be added, including those most recently canonised, according to the wishes of those organising the ceremony.

This is why the list of saints can be so varied.

In summary, the Litany is a beautiful expression of faith in the powerful intercession of the saints for all our needs, and it takes us back to the early centuries of the Church.

12

VISTA

therecord.com.au

July 25, 2012

The (Papist) South is

RISING

Catholicism flourishes in America’s Bible Belt: 60 years ago, Catholics were considered highly suspect in many parts of the Deep South of the US, along with Communists, Jews and African Americans.

Today, all that has changed, as Dana Lorelle reports ...

T

HE day after a newspaper in the small town of Shelby, North Carolina, reported that the Te Deum Foundation had acquired nearby land for a new Catholic seminary and monastery, a group of nuns in habits stopped at a local service station.

Fifty years ago — 10 years ago and, to some extent, even today — many Southerners regarded Catholics as unsaved and Catholicism as a nonChristian mystery religion.

But that day, everyone at the station greeted and welcomed the sisters. One woman even asked the nuns to pray for her injured nephew.

This acceptance marks a sea change in the Southern Baptist and evangelical, Protestant-dominated South of the US, where Catholics make up less than 10 per cent of the population, compared with doubledigit percentages in most northern states.

The Diocese of Charlotte, where the seminary will be located, is a prime example of Catholicism’s explosive growth in the South.

Formed in 1972, the diocese had an initial 11,200 registered Catholic families. By 2010, there were more

than 63,000 registered families and an estimated 291,000 unregistered Catholics, including many of Hispanic origin.

This brings the total Catholic population up from just 1.3 per cent in 1972 to 9.7 per cent today.

Much of the growth comes from immigration: Northern Catholics following technology jobs southward and Catholics arriving from Spanish-speaking countries.

But Catholics from the North can’t expect to find the pockets of cultural Catholicism typical of the ethnic enclaves of big cities, and Hispanic Catholics won’t find a village whose rhythm revolves around feast days.

Within hours of their arrival in the South, newcomers will be welcomed heartily by their Protestant

neighbours — and invited to their church services.

“In such an environment,” wrote Fr Jay Scott Newman, parish priest of St Mary’s Church in Greenville, SC, in his website welcome to parishioners, “those who are casual cultural and cafeteria Catholics quickly become either ex-Catholics or evangelical Catholics, and that is paradoxically one of the reasons why our congregation and many other Southern parishes are flourishing: The unique challenge for Catholics seeking to live their Christian faith in the South leaves no room for spiritual mediocrity, doctrinal confusion, uncertain commitments or a lukewarm interior life.”

PRINCIPLES OF EVANGELICAL CATHOLICISM: He is so fervent in this belief he has composed what he calls the “Principles of Evangelical Catholicism.”

In them, he promotes the ideas that “being a follower of Christ requires moving from being a Church member by convention to a Christian disciple by conviction” and that “all the baptised are sent in the Great Commission to be witnesses of Christ to others and must be equipped by the Church to teach the Gospel in word and deed.”

This evangelisation of others, he said, will invariably occur through contact with devout Catholics.

Most Protestants will never meet a priest; it is up to the Catholic faithful to represent their religion, share their faith and develop their own biblical literacy.

Blessed Pope John Paul II often called for this evangelisation. In his apostolic letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (‘At the Beginning of the Third Millennium’), he decreed: “A new apostolic outreach is needed, which will be lived as the everyday commitment of Christian communities and groups ... Christ must be presented to all people with confidence.

“We shall address adults, families, young people, children, without ever hiding the most radical demands of the Gospel message, but taking into account each person’s needs in regard to their sensitivity and language after the example of Paul who declared: ‘I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some’ (1 Cor 9:22).”

“In making these recommendations, I am thinking especially of the pastoral care of young people,” the Pope continued.

“Precisely in regard to young people, as I said earlier, the Jubilee has given us an encouraging testimony of their generous availability.

“We must learn to interpret that

heartening response, by investing that enthusiasm like a new talent (Mat 25:15) which the Lord has put into our hands so that we can make it yield a rich return.”

THE JPII GENERATION COMES OF AGE: In the South, the rich return is evident. The young people who grew up with World Youth Days, the return to Eucharistic adoration and the Church’s renewed focus on youth and vocations, are now young parents excited about their faith and wanting to immerse themselves and their children in parish life.

Fr John Tetlow, pastor of San Juan del Rio Church in St Johns, Fla, has seen the fruits of the well-catechised generation now reaching maturity.

His parish’s catechetical program enrols 900 children and the school grows every year. Seventy youth will go this summer to Franciscan University of Steubenville’s Catholic Youth Conferences. Driving this is a very involved and enthused constituency of young parents. “These people are a product of John Paul II’s World Youth Days and his New Evangelisation,” he said. “They’ve all been impacted by his bringing them back to the Church, and it has spread to their children.”

When Blessed John Paul visited Columbia, SC in 1987 and spoke to a crowd of mostly Protestants, Catholics comprised just 2.1 per cent of the population. Not only were they in the minority, but they faced a host of misconceptions and prejudices.

“When John Paul II came to South Carolina, there was still a great deal of hostility and suspicion among evangelical Protestants

Fr Newman urges parishioners to move from being Catholic by convention to Catholic by conviction. in this part of the world,” said Fr Newman in South Carolina, where Catholics now make up 4.2 per cent of the population. “His visit opened hearts and sowed the seed bed for relationships between evangelical Christians and Catholics. Once local people ceased to think of Catholics as loathsome and alien, they were attracted by the morality and clarity of the Church’s moral teaching. The Church’s unflinching stance on moral issues continues to draw adherents as Protestant churches wrestle with abortion and same-sex “marriage.”

“Men and women who have lived their whole lives in that (Protestant)

community are looking for a place to land,” said Fr Newman.

SEMINARIANS TAUGHT HOW TO BUILD PARISHES: The solid moral foundation is also drawing those with no religious roots. Mgr David Brockman, vicar general for the Diocese of Raleigh, NC, notes when he was first ordained in 1990, about 70 per cent of those entering into full communion with the Church were from another Christian tradition. This year, of the 1,000 who entered the Church at the Easter vigil, 60 per cent were unbaptised. “I attribute this directly to our efforts at evangelisation,” he said.

GROWTH IN POPULATION AND VOCATIONS: As is happening across the South, the Diocese of Raleigh is growing rapidly, with the Catholic population ballooning 42 per cent between 2000 and 2010.

The Diocese of Charlotte, home of the planned seminary and monastery, has opened six new parishes in the last 10 years. In the Archdiocese of Atlanta, the Catholic population has tripled since 2000 and increased ninefold since 1980 — and these numbers do not include unregistered Catholics of Hispanic origin.

This growth has also spread to vocations. In one year, the number of vocations to the priesthood in the Diocese of St Augustine, Fla jumped from nine to almost 30.

“There is a domino effect,” said Fr Remek Blaszkowski, diocesan vocations director. “Men in seminary become inspirations to other young men.”

By focusing on a strong campus ministry and high school vocations discernment, and by encouraging young men to meet and interact

with seminarians, Fr Blaszkowski said the seeds are sown for more vocations.

In Atlanta, where the number of priests has increased from 121 in 2000 to 191 today, Fr Tim Hepburn, archdiocesan vocations director, attributes rising numbers to the archdiocese’s increased focus on youth. When he was ordained in 1993, the archdiocese had no paid youth ministers; now, almost every parish has one.

These were also the years, deep in the heart of Blessed John Paul II’s pontificate, when children’s religious education classes became more catechetical and biblical apologists like Scott Hahn taught Catholics how to defend their faith.

People also saw the Pope’s strength, even as he aged.

“Young men saw the strength that came from the missionary zeal of the Gospel,” said Fr Hepburn.

“They saw the priesthood as the best way to express that strength.”

PRAYER AND DIVINE INSPIRATION LEAD TO SEMINARY: With these numbers, it seems only natural the South should have its own regional seminary. That was Billie Mobley’s reasoning when, in 2003, she established the Te Deum Foundation, whose mission is to provide seminarians with material and spiritual goods.

With few resources beyond prayer and divine inspiration (while praying at Fatima in front of the crown that houses the bullet used in the 1981 assassination attempt on Blessed Pope John Paul II, she heard a priest behind her say, “Build my seminary”), Mobley began planning for a seminary so young men could study in the area

VISTA

therecord.com.au July 25, 2012

13

UN should oppose the death penalty - for everyone UN officials are “passionate” about the right to life - but only for criminals. What about people who are completely innocent, asks Vincenzina Santoro?

T

A tree-lined road leading to a mansion, a scene of the kind often associated with the Deep South of the US. Catholicism has historically been regarded with suspicion in parts of the South, the heart of the evangelical Protestant Bible Belt, but now it is expanding rapidly.

PHOTOS: 123RF

where they would one day serve and absorb the South’s unique religious flavour.

In March, she stood beside Bishop Jugis as he blessed the land. “The Te Deum Foundation’s mission and seminary project are both praiseworthy endeavours in the service of the Lord and his Church,” said Bishop Jugis. Currently, seminarians from the Diocese of Charlotte attend school in Maryland and Ohio. The regional seminary would be the only one located between Florida, the District of Columbia and Louisiana. “Most seminaries teach how to close parishes,” said Mobley. “Priests in the South need to know how to build parishes, and

they need to learn biblical apologetics to defend their faith.”

The 196 hectares, about 97km west of Charlotte, will be split between the future seminary and a permanent monastery for the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, Mother Angelica’s cloistered nuns who moved from Ohio to a temporary monastery in Charlotte in 2010. Details for construction and administration are few, although Bishop Jugis supports Mobley’s efforts and is allowing the Te Deum Foundation to fundraise.Mobley said she is relying on God to reveal details as needed. In the meantime, she is concentrating on what she calls “the journey of doing it”: “The

people God pulls into this mission, their experiences, their journey and their exposure to our faith — maybe that’s what God wants. God puts all these people in place for a reason.” Mobley can already name numerous Protestant Southerners touched by their experiences with the seminary, from the non-Catholic landowner to the people at the service station who greeted the nuns.

For all the writings and musings on evangelisation in the South, Mobley’s approach is simple. She says, “All you have to do is be a good Catholic, and people will follow.”

- NATIONAL CATHOLIC REGISTER

he United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called a meeting in early July to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the General Assembly’s vote in favour of a moratorium on the death penalty.

The Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, delivered some remarks in which he reminded listeners that more than 150 countries have either abolished capital punishment or restricted its application. Some 32 states retain the death penalty in case of drug-related crimes and last year only 20 countries actually conducted executions.

In the United States, 17 states have done away with the death penalty.

The Secretary-General’s concern for saving lives of criminals, some of whom could be innocent, included some very poignant words. In his statement, he said: “The right to life is the most fundamental of all human rights. It lies at the heart of international human rights law. The taking of life is too absolute, too irreversible, for one human being to inflict it on another, even when backed by the legal process.

“Where the death penalty persists, conditions for those awaiting execution are often horrifying, leading to aggravated suffering. Information concerning the application of the death penalty, including secret trials and executions, is often cloaked in secrecy. And it is beyond dispute that innocent people are still put to death.”

The Secretary-General provided some food for thought in referencing the right to life.

If he is so concerned about the “right to life” in cases of near execution, should he not be at least equally concerned about the “right to life” for the unborn – who are certainly innocent? If an unborn child is “an unwanted pregnancy” – which UN agencies such as the Population Fund (UNFPA) are eager to have the entire world avoid – why should that innocent child be given a death sentence?

There are actually two opposing global trends when it comes to deliberately terminating lives.

While only a few countries permit the death penalty for criminals, even fewer ban abortion, which is a death penalty for the innocent.

According to a UN Population Division compilation (2009), only six out of 195 countries totally ban abortion.

That is, 189 countries allow the death penalty on totally inno-

cent human lives – for reasons ranging from saving the life of the mother to abortion on demand – while 150 countries do not apply it to convicted criminals.

There is a further contradiction: at the UN, while the right to life is quoted selectively, the rights-based approach that is applied to almost anything the UN population controllers target leads to widespread use of the term “reproductive rights” with many officials and delegates angling for an opportunity to declare abortion as a human right.

Vigilant pro-lifers among civil society and the few life-affirming delegates of abortion-free countries maintain constant vigilance at virtually every UN event.

The UN High Commissioner

What more convincing argument can there be than to abolish the death penalty for the completely innocent? for Human Rights, Ms Navi Pillay, of South Africa, also spoke at the same event. She had this to say: “There is no right more sacred than the right to life.

Since the beginning of my mandate, I have engaged in a dialogue with many States on this issue. During my recent country missions, I had encouraging discussions with senior officials about abolishing the death penalty or imposing at least a moratorium on it. In addition, my Office works at the national level to stimulate the debate, including through seminars which provide a forum for a core group of scholars and practitioners that come forward with convincing arguments in favour of the abolition of the death penalty.”

Ms Pillay should be taken at her word about the sacredness of the right to life. Despite her eloquent statement above, she too is among the advocates of reproductive rights. However, perhaps one or more of the scholars and practitioners she intends to consult will make the case for the right to life at the beginning as well as at the end of human existence.

What more “convincing argument” can there be than to abolish the death penalty for the truly innocent?

Vincenzina Santoro is an international economist. She represents the American Family Association of New York at the United Nations.

- www.mercatornet.com

FUN FAITH WITH

JULY 29, 2012 • JOHN 6: 1-15 • 17TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

PATRICK SHEPHERD, AGED 10

CHIARA, AGED 7

WIN!!

SEND YOUR COLOURED IN PICTURE TO THE RECORD AT PO BOX 3075, ADELAIDE TERRACE, PERTH WA 6832 TO BE IN THE RUNNNG TO WIN THIS WEEK’S PRIZE.

CROSSWORD Across 3. When they had eaten enough, Jesus said to the disciples, ‘Pick up the pieces left over, so that ____ is wasted.’

4. So they picked them up and filled ____ large baskets with scraps left over from the meal of five barley loaves.

5. One of Jesus’ disciples, Andrew, said,’Here is a small boy with five barley loaves and two ____; but what is that among so many?’

SIGN

Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were sitting there; he then did the same with the fish, distributing as much as they wanted. - Mark 6: 30-34

WORD LIST NOTHING

FISH

BREAD

FIVE LOAVES

6. Looking up, Jesus saw the crowds approaching and said to Philip, ‘Where can we buy some ____ for these people to eat?’

Down 1. Then Jesus took the ____, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were sitting there; he then did the

TWELVE

same with the fish, distributing as much as they wanted.

2. Seeing the ____ that he had done, the people said, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.’

5. Jesus said to them, ‘Make the people sit down.’ There was plenty of grass there, and as many as ____ thousand men sat down.

VISTA

therecord.com.au July 25, 2012

15

Amazing Grace Rebecca Digirilamo, of The Southern Cross Catholic newspaper in South Australia, speaks with Jan Ruff O’Herne, who gives a poignant example of how grace can be found in the most devastating of life circumstances.

I

T WAS the most disgraceful act – locked up and then brutally and systematically raped over 12 weeks by the Japanese military during World War II. And yet for Jan Ruff O’Herne, it was also a time of saving grace.

“When I think back to those horrible moments in World War II when I was terribly abused, it was God’s grace that gave me the strength to move through that suffering,” she says.

Jan is one of 114 women and men chosen by their Adelaide parishes as ambassadors for the Year of Grace – an initiative of the Australian Catholic Bishops to renew the nation’s faith in Jesus.

“This Year of Grace makes us look back at what I call the ‘God moments’ of our lives,” says Jan, 89.

“And there are so many moments that we should really stand still and recognise them.”

Jan had just turned 21 years old when she was forced from a prison camp in 1942 with nine other young women to a Japanese military brothel in Java. They were known as “comfort women” and numbered in their thousands across the Japanese occupied territory of China, Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines.

“I used to fight every Japanese who ever tried to rape me – I felt almost as if it was a mortal sin if I didn’t fight.”

So, beaten and abused, Jan was physically scarred and required surgery before she could successfully carry her first daughter to full term.

“When I think back, I wonder where did that strength come from.

I don’t know how I survived. It was

for the grace of God.” Jan vividly recalls the opening night of the brothel and how the women clambered around each other for support. Armed with a Dutch Bible and Rosary beads she smuggled from the camp before being hoarded to the comfort house, Jan led the young women in prayer.

“We were so frightened and shaking and I opened the Bible and it just fell open to the Romans, chapter 8:35-39,” says Jan. “That little Bible was so much strength for us.” She was delivered, she says, another saving grace – her husband Tom – a British soldier among the allied troops sent to Indonesia to protect those camp prisoners under

I used to fight every Japanese who ever tried to rape me – I felt almost as if it was a mortal sin if I didn’t fight. attack from Indonesian freedom fighters. They married in 1946 in England and had daughters Eileen and Carol before emigrating to Adelaide in 1960. “Isn’t it so amazing how God’s grace works in every facet of your life – as a wife, as a parent and a grandparent?”

In 1965, they bought a home within 20 metres of Our Lady of Dolours Church at Kingswood: “I rang the agent straight away because I just had to have this house: it was so near the church.”

But, in 1975, Tom was run over by a car and suffered severe brain

damage. For the next 20 years Jan was Tom’s full-time carer until he passed away in 1995. “It was so hard at times,” she says. “But life’s not meant to be easy.”

Almost every day, Jan visits her church for prayer. “The Church has been a source of great grace for me,” she says. “It is where moments of grace happen in our lives.”

As an ambassador, she believes God’s grace can best be recognised through prayer and the sacraments.

“They are the greatest source of grace because you are closer to God,” she says. Jan is planning to start a regular Rosary group at her parish, and will investigate introducing the Benediction and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and the possibility of opening up the church more frequently for visitations. She says every family and parent should be praying with their children at home the Year of Grace prayer.

“We have to respond to grace, not take it for granted,” says Jan. And we need to be more aware of those “God moments”, she says.

Last month, Jan was graced by an unexpected God moment.

Praying in the church, Jan was joined by a woman she had not seen before. The woman sat near Jan and, as the woman prayed, she began to cry. “I didn’t ask her why she was crying but I held her hand and asked her if she wanted to pray the Our Father together,” says Jan. “Looking back, it was a real moment of grace,” she says.

“Grace entered our lives right at that moment.”

This article originally appeared in Adelaide’s Southern Cross Catholic Newspaper.

For more information on the Year of Grace visit www.yearofgrace.org.au.

Top: Year of Grace Ambassador Jan Ruff O’Herne holds her mother’s old Bible, which she says helped her through her time as a sex slave in a Japanese military brothel in Java. Above: Jan Ruff O’Herne at 19 years of age.

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF THE SOUTHERN CROSS CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER

16

OPINION

EDITORIAL

To change the world first plant a seed

A

mong the numerous challenges facing Catholic families today in Perth and around Australia is the great difficulty experienced in recent decades of transmitting faith to children.

This task, one of the primary duties of baptised parents, has, of course, always been difficult and the massive drift among young people from the Church in recent decades is not exactly a novelty.

The history of the Church is replete with stories, anecdotes, historical studies and a whole body of information relating individual and collective trends that have affected this process negatively. The first historian of the Church, for example, Eusebius, relates one such anecdote about St John who left a young man in the care of Christians, possibly at Ephesus, only to return some time later to find his young charge had fallen in with bandits and thieves to lead a life of reckless abandon. According to Eusebius’s account the-then elderly disciple was so distraught at what had happened he personally sought out his former student and brought him back into the sheepfold of the Church.

Nevertheless, it is also clear that what has happened in Australia in recent decades, while almost unprecedented in Australia’s history, is also part of a global pattern and it has also been significant in scale. It concerns Church leaders and it concerns ordinary Christian parents.

This is because one thing that can certainly be said about global culture in developed nations is that there is an unprecedented split between religious faith and a culture of modernity which has rejected its ethical, cultural, artistic and religious patrimony.

Catholic parents should not lose heart at what has been happening to young people. The signs of renewal within the Church and, one might add, of the new evangelisation, are already everywhere. Think of the explosive growth of so many new movements and realities in the Church which appear to succeed, in part, precisely because they confront the young as well as the ordinary men and women of today’s world with the really important questions of their existence and the necessity of things like prayer and the Sacraments as sources of sanctifying grace necessary to lead a life. The choice they offer those who will listen is the choice between being a Christian by convention or a Christian by conviction (See this week’s feature story on the growth of Catholicism in the Bible Belt of the US on Pages 12-13). Still, the problem of the loss of the young from the community of the Church is serious, is real and is in our midst. And too often, many in the Church appear to believe that such problems can be solved merely by establishing things like committees for evangelisation.

For Catholic families and parents the reality, however, is that it is extremely unlikely that any committee will help them solve the practical challenges they face as parents to successfully lead their children to encounter Jesus Christ and the living, ever-new reality of the Church. If this is true, the question then remains: what will help? Before answering this question it is worth offering one observation which may be debatable but still appears, on balance, to be true: maintaining an atmosphere of orthodox faith within a Catholic family is essential, but, in the long run, probably not enough.

PO Box 3075 This is because while children Adelaide Terrace tend to unquestioningly accept PERTH WA 6832 the authority of their parents’ views and the information office@therecord.com.au they supply in the early years Tel: (08) 9220 5900 of their lives, by the time they Fax: (08) 9325 4580 enter late childhood and their teenage years parental influence rapidly diminishes. Its place is taken by the influence of the peer group of friends and their families, which is itself an expression of the wider culture.

When that culture appears to have decisively rejected all Christian values and the profoundly informing ethical framework that Christianity offers there is a real problem facing Catholic families and parents; this is, overwhelmingly, the culture of the majority of a child’s friends. If this is one key aspect of the problem facing the Church then the answer is beginning to already take shape in front of our eyes.

What Catholic families need – and therefore what Catholic parishes need – is the establishment of living communities where children can experience consistently as they grow what they can no longer experience anywhere else, that to be a Catholic or a Christian is normality.

Here, the meaning and the importance of things such as friendship and solidarity begin to emerge. If the young feel that their family is the only one which takes faith seriously, it is highly likely that they will tend to ultimately reject the faith of their parents as irrelevant. If they feel that parish life poses no serious questions for their lives, offers no convincing answers for the things they see as most important, they will almost inevitably drift away. After all, what the overwhelming majority of their friends will, implicitly or explicitly, tell them is really important will seem so much more alluring.

If they sense a faith, both in the home and outside it, which is not ashamed and which has conviction they will overwhelmingly respond.

If they see that their family is one of several or of many for whom the Christian life is an important, serious and profound thing, they will likewise respond because they will see the normality of the Christian life and therefore begin to discover what few young people today see, that Christian faith is also an adventure of truly universal dimensions.

The principle is clear: parents and parishes need to work together at creating new associations so that families can come together in parishes and experience not the isolation of Christianity by convention but the living water of Christianity by conviction and willing assent. It is probably true that there are a thousand ways in which these things can happen. And this is another adventure waiting to happen.

THE RECORD

therecord.com.au

July 25, 2012

NFP humour can open eyes I REFER to Simcha Fisher’s humorous and clever article ‘How to Ruin Your Marriage with NFP’ (The Record, 30 May).

Whilst Natural Family Planning (NFP) is superior to all forms of contraception in that it does not use drugs or unnatural objects, use of NFP does not guarantee a happy marriage. The article makes this point quite well.

The teachers of many NFP methods do a good job of teaching the technical mechanics of their respective methods to avoid or increase the chances of a pregnancy, but there is often not much training on how use of NFP can strengthen a marriage relationship (rather than drive spouses apart).

The use of sarcastic humour in the article made it a joy to read. I had to think quite a bit (to view all the points made in reverse) to fully appreciate the many good points made by the author.

I suspect that such a humorous article could be helpful in evangelising those using contraception, as well as couples already using NFP. The use of humour could engage the attentions of people who would otherwise never consider using NFP. The Lord himself used clever parables to try to save souls; there is no reason why we should not use humour to advance His Kingdom or improve the quality of Catholic marriages.

I commend and congratulate The Record for publishing the article, and hope there will be more like it in the future!

Suryan Chandrasegaran NERRENA VIC

The Record is doing OK MAY I JUST make a few comments on some of the interesting articles featured in last week’s edition of The Record.

Firstly, regarding the article headed ‘Battling the evangelical

influence’ about the growing influence of evangelical groups throughout South America. It saddens me greatly to witness what is taking part in this part of the world where my family has lived for generations and which was once proudly Catholic.

The lack of proper catechesis appears to have led to the inability to grasp the fact that there is no more intense way of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ than receiving his real presence, body, blood soul and divinity in the Holy Eucharist. This, of course, is unique to the Catholic and Orthodox faiths.

Secondly, on the article entitled ‘50 shades of porn’. Maureen Togher is to be congratulated for her witness regarding the harms of pornography. The increasing popularity of “Mummy porn” and the fact that this book is now a best-seller tells us much about where our society is going and why so many marriages are in trouble. Presumably, many of the readers of this book are Catholic women?

As Rory Reid and Dr Jill Manning, experts on how pornography affects relationships, explain, “Pornography consumption of any kind constitutes a form of infidelity.

Emotional fidelity, a commitment of heart and mind, is undermined by the consumption of pornography as thoughts and feelings turn from one’s spouse toward objects, people, or practices outside the marriage.

The ‘Adult Entertainment’ industry wants couples to believe that pornography can enhance sexual relationships,” whereas research has demonstrated that pornography actually diminishes intimacy in marriage. The article ‘Battle for the heart of a man’ and ‘Four things boys learn from their fathers’ are very relevant to this issue.

Gillian Gonzalez WILLETTON WA

The meaning of words LEXICOLOGISTS have been warning, over a number of years, that the meaning of words, in the English language, has been delib-

erately changed. This has been achieved through the way in which they have written and in the way they have spoken.

A clearly written editorial in The Record (June 27th, 2012) has shown how the meaning of words can also be changed by the way in which we live in those words.

William D Cohan, in his book Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World (2011) recounts a dinner party thrown, in 1990, for Bob Rubin after he became co-chairman of Goldman Sachs.

At the dinner Ruben spoke of his country’s federal deficit and the lack of focus on how to close it.

He went on to say, in addition, that there was a deep denial of a drug problem, there was poverty in the inner cities and deterioration of the education system.

He felt that the political process would not do what was needed and a failure to do so would risk inexorable national decline.

An article in The Weekend Australian (June 23-24, 2012) shows that for years, President Obama talked about the limits on presidential power. Now, he’s working to build a powerful presidency that pushes the envelope for what it can do, while often telling the US Congress and the courts to mind their own business.

In the last week alone, he refused a subpoena to share Justice Department emails with Congress, told courts he does not have to justify his claimed power to assassinate suspected terrorists, and decided to stop deporting certain illegal immigrants.

His administration argued, in a late-night court filing, that it should not be required to reveal anything about its policy of targeting suspected terrorists abroad for death by drones, even if these are US citizens.

If this is the new democracy of the 21st century then Rubin’s forecast was highly accurate.

John McKay COTTESLOE WA

Something to say?

Put it in a letter to the Editor

office@therecord.com.au

A ministry for a people who are like Lazarus entombed How I Pray DEBBIE WARRIER

Graham Mundine

I

WAS a Marist brother for twenty years and then left to get married. My working life has always been in the Catholic Church. I pray privately sometimes reflecting on the Psalms and mostly through Mass, mainstream prayer and with the Indigenous Community. When I pray with my community we read the scriptures, reflect on them and voice what words they speak to us.

I am the Executive Officer at the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry in the Archdiocese of Sydney. The aim and purpose of ACM is to promote reconciliation and mutual understanding, taking responsibility for the pastoral care of Catholic Aborigines and supporting them in the living of their faith.

The work of the Ministry also provides an interface between all Indigenous people and the Catholic Church. It represents the concerns of Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples and acts as an advocate for them. ACM also provides services such as counselling and access to education directed towards practical assistance.

Dr Jonathan Inkpin and I wrote a reflection on the Bible story raising Lazarus and the importance of its message to Christians called The Lazarus Demand. Lazarus represented to us all too many of our brothers and sisters entombed in death. Many are the tombs in which Lazarus is trapped today, including prison, alcohol and drugs, lack of self-worth and cultural identity, suicide, violence and poverty.

All these are truly death-dealing: destroying life, potential and community and cutting brothers and sisters off from one another.

Lazarus represents all our broken ones.

We see Jesus as a Spirit person.

Every great work of Jesus is a transforming sign, an act of liberation, overcoming the powers of death, separation and evil through the power of love.

So in this story, the greatest barrier of all – death itself – is overcome. As we see Lazarus brought home, we know that, in Christ, we too can come home – be liberated – from whatever death, exile

or hell we experience. The Lazarus Demand is thus a call to empowerment and to justice.

It is a challenge to overcome the poverty and violence inflicted upon Indigenous Australians so that the freedom of Christ may be real. And it is an invitation to be brother and sister to Lazarus as Jesus was.

In the Bible we are told of the Creation of the world by God. In Aboriginal culture our stories of the dreaming are told, especially by dance and song. We tell how the Rainbow Spirit moved across the land and created things. All dreaming stories are like that. The dreaming tracks point to Something bigger than us called God. I’ve had many personal conversions. One was when I visited Uluru in central Australia. It was aweinspiring and there was something about it that drew you in. I could feel its power. Something inside of me was reaching out to it. I believe that something was God’s spirit inside of me and an awareness of the Genesis of Creation.

Seventy five per cent of Aboriginals are Christians. As a ceremonial people the stories of our past comes to life through retelling and drives us out to the future. You can’t get more Eucharistic than that.

OPINION

therecord.com.au July 25, 2012

17

Don’t fall for the trick of failure meaning the end Often we can be most disappointed with ourselves. But such moments can be a time to experience his work in our failings.

R

IGHT now my husband and I are in the midst of a protracted, do-it-yourself kitchen renovation.

Design and décor are not exactly my forte, so I’ve been doing a lot of reading and looking at kitchen design websites and magazines.

Having decided to go with a ‘country’ kitchen theme, I was amused to keep running into the term “shabby chic” – using actual old shabby furnishings or having new ones scuffed up to look shabby. I concluded that if I wanted my kitchen to look old and shabby, I could just leave it as it is now.

But it’s a good thing that shabby-chic practices like salvaging, re-using and ‘repurposing’ are in vogue. It’s a rejection of the wasteful consume-and-dispose culture to which we in the west have become accustomed. It’s nothing new, of

@ Home MARIETTE ULRICH

course: our great-grandparents called it “making over” and it was part and parcel of their frugality, good sense, and resourcefulness.

The same attitude can and should be practiced in the spiritual life: nothing should ever go to waste. In the midst of a social and cultural milieu that has lost touch with the meaning of suffering and setbacks, we need to remind ourselves of St Paul’s words in Romans 8:28: “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” It used to frustrate me to no end that I seemed to be taking the same sins to confession month after month.

Sometimes I wondered if there was any point at all in continuing to go.

The temptation to despair seemed an easier path than to persevere. However, my spiritual director pointed out that this attitude was focusing too much on my

Don’t waste suffering, pain, setbacks. Allow the Lord to recycle and repurpose them. own shortcomings, and not enough on faith and hope in the power and grace of Christ.

“Don’t waste your sufferings,” Father said, “but derive grace from them.” It had not occurred to me

that I was wasting my suffering.

A few weeks ago, the Second Reading at Sunday Mass was one of my favourites, 2 Corinthians 12: 7 – 10: “And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated.

“Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

“For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” I don’t have dif-

ficulty evading elation, but perhaps that is because, unlike St Paul, I am not gifted with an ‘abundance of revelations’. If anything, I tend toward pessimism and/or cynicism, probably because of my weaknesses and the day-to-day calamities of trying to raise a family in a postChristian world.

But the lesson is not to become angry, frustrated, or despondent when we are humbled by failure.

Instead we can offer it to the Lord and rejoice that he works in and through our weakness. It’s also an opportunity to be reminded to rely solely on Jesus for everything.

Don’t waste your sufferings, pain and setbacks; allow the Lord to recycle and repurpose them. Then wait with hope and patience to see what area of your life he wishes to renew — it might even be your kitchen.

Children and doing good unto others

At the end of the day, studies seem to show that raising children in an environment of religious faith helps their development.

By Andrew Whitehouse

H

old your hats. Gird your loins. Scrunch up your face like you’ve just witnessed your Dad on the dance floor at a wedding.

Ready? Good, because I’m writing about religion. Even worse, this column is about religion … and children.

But fear not. For my own sanity (and safety!), this column won’t dip its toe into the pool of ethical and moral arguments attached to the teaching of religion to children. This debate has been covered extensively by polemicists from both sides.

Rather, I’d like to try and take a dispassionate look at whether growing up in a religious household conveys advantages or disadvantages in the behavioural and emotional development of children.

So, with hats held and loins girded, let’s see what research is out there.

Does religion assist child development?

My interest in this area was piqued by a 2008 article by Bartowski and colleagues, which provided the largest study to date on how religion may influence different aspects of child development.

Data for this study came from one ‘wave’ (burst of data collection) of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) in the United States.

The ECLS is a large study of children from around the US, who were selected so as to be representative of the broader population. The data in this study were collected during the Spring of 2000, and included around 15,000 kindergarten-aged children.

The parents of these children were asked about their own religiosity, including the frequency of their religious attendance, the religious environment in the household, and the religious attendance ‘homogamy’. (This last one being a rather odd word, which sounds very much like they assessed the abilities of the parents to wrestle and eat a wild pig – but apparently it means how [dis]similar the parents were in their attendance of religious services).

In the same questionnaire, the researchers asked the parents to rate their children on how often they displayed a range of behaviours relating to different aspects of child development. These included self-control, social interaction, internalising problems (anxiety/ depressive symptoms) and exter-

nalising (attention problems and impulsivity) problems.

The researchers then looked for the relationships between parent religiosity and children’s behaviours. Data on parent religiosity and child development were collected on 10,000 or so of the children, and this was the final sample under investigation.

FINDINGS The analyses are many and complex, and I would only recommend reading the Results section of the paper, if you have nothing better to do (I mean, anything better to do – watching a close-up of Matt Preston from Masterchef slurping crème caramel was more enjoyable than reading the dense matrices of statistics).

Nevertheless, for those with a terrible case of scholarly masochism, Table 12 would probably provide you with your best fix. But

for the rest: I’ve done the hard yards for us all, so keep reading.

The results turned out to be a bit of a landslide in favour of more religious parents. Children of religious parents were rated by both parents and teachers as having greater selfcontrol, better interpersonal skills,

The results of the study of religion and child development turned out to be a bit of a landslide in favour of more religious parents. and less likely to have depressive or impulsivity problems. All of these findings were observed even after taking into account ‘sociodemographic’ variables, such as paren-

tal education, family income, and child’s gender.

The one aspect that didn’t come up trumps for religious household, was when there was conflict between parents about religiosity (or ‘heterogamy, of course!). The more that parents argued about religion, the more their children were at risk of internalising and externalising problems.

THINKING POINTS So, this interesting study appears to provide evidence that a religious household may be beneficial for child development. But before we start forming any conclusions (religious householders, put the ‘Rocky’ theme tune on hold), I’d like you take note of this next section.

In that terribly annoying way that researchers tend to look for holes in arguments (Joke: ‘What did the scientist say to the wine

maker? Show me the proof.’ Boom boom), I had a closer look at the research design and came up with a few thinking points.

The first issue that came to my mind was whether the questions about parents’ religiosity may in fact be tapping other factors. By asking ‘how often parents attended a worship service’, the researchers may not actually be determining whether a child is taught to believe in an all-seeing, all-knowing God, but rather they may be measuring other factors that come along with religiosity, such as a particular style of parenting, a certain family structure, or a child’s exposure to a tightknit and supportive community – all of which are highly influential to child development.

Another issue, which the authors fully acknowledge, is that there were no data on which religion parents’ adhered to. This is a critical piece of information. Given the sheer range of religions – and variety of parenting styles these religions promote – I don’t think we would expect a similar relationship across all faiths.

To my mind, combining all religions in the same category makes little more sense than lumping all food together when examining a person’s weight gain. What you eat is just as important as how much you eat.

So, what conclusion can we draw from this study? Is religion good for children?

Certainly, the findings of this study seem to indicate that religion has a positive effect on child development. But, when weighing up the issues that I’ve raised above, I’m led to the conclusion that we still don’t have an answer to this question. (Yes, the fence on which I’m sitting is very sturdy, thank you very much).

For what it’s worth, my own experience is that the explicit teaching of key morals, such as the ‘golden rule’ (do unto others…), is an important ingredient for the development of an emotionally healthy and welladapted child.

Religion is certainly one way through which children can come to understand about their relationships with people and the broader world.

But it’s not the only way.

Andrew Whitehouse is Associate Professor at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research at the University of Western Australia. If you would like to be on the mailing list for Andrew’s regular column, please email: awhitehouse@ichr.uwa.edu.au

18

PANORAMA

SATURDAY, JULY 28 Religion Sign Language Workshop 9am-12pm at 25 Windsor St, Perth. Share and create signs for different religions, theological, terminology and glossary of religious words. Cost: free. Morning tea and lunch provided. RSVP by July 25. Enq: Admin 9328 9571.

NEXT WEEK SUNDAY, JULY 29 Love Ministry Healing 6pm at St Denis Parish, 60 Osborne St, Joondanna.

Mass followed by healing. Love ministry healing, Catholic Charismatic Renewal team includes clergy. All welcome, come and be prayed over, healed from the past or present issues or stand in for a loved one who may be ill or facing problems at this time. Enq: Gilbert 0431 570 322 or Fr David Watt 9376 1734.

Latin Mass 2pm at The Good Shepherd Parish, Streich Ave, Kelmscott. Enq: John 9390 6646.

TUESDAY, JULY 31 Trust in God 7-8pm at St Benedict’s School Hall, Alness St, Applecross. Presented by Norma Woodcock. View a weekly short video broadcast at www.thefaith. org.au. Cost: collection. Accreditation recognition by the CEO. Enq: 9487 1772 or www.normawoodcock.com.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1 The task of happiness: suffering and Christian joy - Seminar 7pm at University of Notre Dame, room 101, cnr Croke and Cliff Sts, Fremantle. “We all want to be happy ... So let us see if we can find the best way to achieve it” - St Augustine. Fr Paul will explore the path to happiness, a path not negated even by the hurt and mystery of the Cross. By Fr Paul Murray. Enq: Deborah 9433 0138 or Deborah. tarrant@nd.edu.au.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 2 St Aloysius Parish - 50th Anniversary Mass 6.30pm at St Aloysius Parish, cnr Keightley Rd West and Henry St, Shenton Park. Begins with Mass. Mass celebrant: Bishop Sproxton, followed by a light supper in the parish centre. Enq: Lyn 6380 1151 or fitzgerr@bigpond.net.au.

Prayer in the style of Taizé 7.30-8.30pm at Our Lady of Grace Parish, 3 Kitchener St, North Beach. Prayer, song and silence - in candlelight – the symbol of the light of Christ. www.taize.fr. Enq: Joan 9448 4457.

The Jesus Seminar 6.30-7.30pm at St Thomas the Apostle Parish, 1 Rockton Rd, Nedlands. Runs every Thursday until 6 September. Evening One: Jesus, a Galilean Jew from Nazareth seeking God during Roman Occupation. Evening Two: Jesus’ mission and tactics: That ordinary people know God as the compassionate Father. Evening Three: Jesus: Why the ill, the poor, the possessed, sinners, the dead and unprotected women. Evening Four: Jesus: An unconventional teacher of the Father for the hearts and lives of ordinary people. Evening Five: Jesus: A dangerous martyr of the Reign of God. Evening Six: Following Jesus who was raised by the Father. Cost: $10 Enq: Fr Charles 9384 0598 SATURDAY, AUGUST 4 Divine Mercy Pilgrimage – with Br Stanley Villavicencio 11.30am BYO lunch, Divine Mercy Church site, cnr Muchea East Rd and Santa Gertrudas Dr, Lower Chittering. 12.30pm Exposition, Rosary and Benediction, 1pm Holy Mass. 2pm Br Stanley’s talk, 3pm Chaplet of Divine Mercy and veneration service. Tea provided. Transport booking: Francis 9459 3873 / 0404 893 877 or Laurie 0448 833 472.

Day with Mary 9am-5pm at St Emilie de Vialar Parish, 151 Amherst Rd, Canning Vale. 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 on Our Lady, Rosaries and Stations of the Cross. BYO lunch. Enq: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286.

Bingo Night – Acts 2 College Fundraising Event 7-10.30pm at 67 Howe St, Osborne Park. Night includes bingo, bar, games, raffles, kids room and much more. By Acts 2 College of Mission & Evangelisation (Perth’s only nationally accredited Catholic Bible College). Cost: $10. Enq: Marie 0410 139 992.

UPCOMING SUNDAY, AUGUST 5 Divine Mercy 1.30pm at St Francis Xavier Parish, 25 Windsor St, Perth. The priest for the afternoon will be Fr Peter Meo. Includes Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Homily: Our Lady of Assumption.

Followed by holy Rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy and First Class Relics of St Faustina.

Refreshments afterwards. Enq: John 9457 7771.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 9

Healing Mass – in Honour of St Peregrine, Patron of Cancer Sufferers 7pm at Sts John and Paul Parish, Pinetree Gulley Rd, Willetton. Begins with Mass followed by veneration of the relic of St Peregrine and anointing of the sick. Enq: Jim 9457 1539.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 10 The Transitus of St Clare – 800th Anniversary 6.30pm at the Edel Quinn Centre, 36 Windsor St, East Perth. The Secular Franciscan Order will celebrate The Transitus of St Clare on the 800th Anniversary of her entering into religious life.

Please bring a plate to share. Enq: Angela 9275 5658 or 0408 801 215 or angelmich@bigpond. com.

St Philomena Relic - Mass 4.45pm at St Philomena’s Chapel, 3/24 Juna Dr, Malaga. A first class relic will be donated to the chapel. Begins with Mass, followed by Rosary and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. 5.30pm – veneration of the relic. Enq: Fr Watt 9376 1734 or Giovanny 9358 6065.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 10 TO SUNDAY, AUGUST 12 Renewing the Light of Hope - Separated, Divorced, Widowed 7.30pm at Epiphany Retreat Centre, Rossmoyne.

Beginning Experience is running a weekend program designed to assist and support people in learning to close the door gently on a relationship that has ended, in order to get on with living.

Registration: Josie 9285 8661 or Mauz 0419 928 110. www.beginningexperienceperth.org.au.

therecord.com.au

July 25, 2012

Singles Prayer and Social Group 7pm at All Saints Chapel, Allendale Sq, 77 St George’s Tce, Perth. Begins with Holy Hour (Eucharistic Adoration, Rosary and teaching) followed by dinner at local restaurant. Meet new people, pray and socialise with other single men and women. Enq: Veronica 0403 841 202.

Divine Mercy 1.30pm at St Francis Xavier Parish, 25 Windsor St, East Perth. Homily: The Body and Blood of Jesus. Main celebrant: Fr Johnson Malayil.

With Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Reconciliation, holy Rosary, Chaplet of Divine Mercy and Divine Mercy prayers, followed by Benediction and veneration of first class relic of St Faustina Kowalska. Refreshments afterwards. Enq: John 9457 7771.

EVERY SECOND SUNDAY Healing Hour 7-8pm at St Lawrence Parish, Balcatta. Join us for songs of praise and worship, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and prayers for the sick. Enq: Fr Irek Czech SDS or parish office Tue-Thu, 9am2.30pm 9344 7066.

EVERY THIRD SUNDAY Oblates of St Benedict – Meeting 2pm at St Joseph’s Convent, York St, South Perth.

For all interested in studying the Rule of St Benedict and its relevance to the everyday life of today for laypeople: Vespers and afternoon tea afterwards. Enq: Secretary 9457 5758.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 11

EVERY FOURTH SUNDAY

Friends of L’Arche Retreat 10am at Infant Jesus Parish Hall, Wellington St, Morley. Learn more about the worldwide family of L’Arche and explore how we can live the essence of L’Arche locally at retreat by Archbishop Roger Herft. No charge, please bring a plate to share for lunch. Nora 9440 1046 or 0408 865 899, Evelyn 9370 2541 or 0432 451 171, or tierneyfamily@ gotalk.net.au.

Natural Family Planning Week – an invitation from billings LIFE WA 1pm at Newman Siena Centre (Bishop Clune Lecture Theatre), 33 Williamstown Rd, Doubleview. Begins with tea and coffee greeting; 1.30pm: “Responsible Honesty”, a presentation with time to reflect and share. 3.30pm Mass by Bishop Sproxton. Followed by wine and cheese.

RSVP: August 3. Enq: Mandie 9399 3140 or 0407 577 435 or bnfpwa@westnet.com.au.

Holy Hour for Vocations to the Priesthood, Religious Life 2-3pm at Infant Jesus Parish, Wellington St, Morley. The hour includes exposition of the blessed Eucharist, silent prayer, scripture and prayers of intercession. Come and pray that those discerning vocations can hear clearly God’s call.

St Padre Pio Prayer Day 8.30am at St Joseph Parish, Hamilton St, Bassendean. Begins with Padre Pio DVD; 10am Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Rosary, Divine Mercy, Silent Adoration and Benediction.

11am holy Mass. Confessions available, 12pm lunch: bring a plate. Enq: Des 6278 1540.

Divine Mercy 2.30pm at St Francis Xavier Parish, Windsor St, Perth. Begins with Divine Mercy Healing Mass. Main Celebrant: Fr Marcellinus Meilak.

Reconciliation available in English and Italian.

Divine Mercy prayers followed by veneration of first class relic of St Faustina Kowalska.

Refreshments afterwards. Enq: John 9457 7771.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 19 Meditative Prayer in the Style of Taizé 7-8pm at Sisters of St Joseph Chapel, 16 York St, South Perth. Theme: Celebrating St Mary MacKillop’s feast day. Includes prayer, song and silence in a candlelight chapel – symbol of Christ the Light of the world. Please bring a torch and a friend. Enq: Sr Maree 0414 683 926.

FRIDAY TO SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14-16 ‘Contemplating the Face of Christ in the Franciscan Tradition’ Retreat Retreat live in/live out at the Redemptorist Retreat House, 190 Vincent St, North Perth. Leader: Fr John Cooper from Sydney. Enq: Anthony 0449 864 287 or anthony.porrins@gmail.com and Angela 9275 5658 or 0408 801 215 or angelmich@bigpond.com.

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

Pilgrim Mass - Shrine of the Virgin of the Revelation 2pm at Shrine, 36 Chittering Rd, Bullsbrook.

Commencing with Rosary followed by Benediction.

Reconciliation available before every celebration.

Anointing of the sick administered during Mass every second Sunday of the month. Pilgrimage in honour of the Virgin of the Revelation last Sunday of the month. Side entrance to church and shrine open daily between 9am-5pm. Enq Sacri 9447 3292.

EVERY SECOND AND FOURTH MONDAY A Ministry to the Un-Churched 12.30-1.30pm at St John’s Pro-Cathedral, Victoria Ave, Perth (opposite church offices). With charismatic praise, and prayer teams available. Help us ‘reach out to the pagans’ or soak in the praise. Enq: Dan 9398 4973.

EVERY LAST SUNDAY OF THE MONTH Filipino Mass 3pm at Notre Dame Church, cnr Daley and Wright Sts, Cloverdale. Please bring a plate to share for socialisation after Mass. Enq: Fr Nelson Po 0410 843 412, Elsa 0404 038 483.

EVERY MONDAY Evening Adoration and Mass 7pm at St Thomas Parish, Claremont, cnr Melville St and College Rd. Eucharistic Adoration, Reconciliation, evening prayer and Benediction, followed by Mass and night prayer at 8pm. Enq: Kim on 9384 0598 or email to claremont@perthcatholic. org.au.

EVERY FIRST WEDNESDAY Holy Hour Prayer for Priests 7.30-8.30pm at Holy Spirit Parish, 2 Keaney Pl, City Beach. All welcome. Enq: Linda 9341 3079.

Novena to St Mary of the Cross MacKillop 7-7.45pm at Blessed Mary MacKillop Parish, cnr Cassowary Dr and Pelican Pde, Ballajura. Begins with Mass, novena prayers and benediction.

Followed by healing prayers and anointing of the sick. Enq: Madi 9249 9093 or Gerry 0417 187 240.

EVERY SECOND WEDNESDAY Chaplets of Divine Mercy 7.30pm St Thomas More Catholic Parish, Dean Rd Bateman. It will be accompanied by Exposition and followed by Benediction. Next devotion: Wednesday, August 8. Enq: George 9310 9493 or 6242 0702 (w).

EVERY THURSDAY Divine Mercy 11am at Ss John and Paul Church, Pinetree Gully Rd, Willetton. Pray the Rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy and for the consecrated life, especially here in John Paul Parish. Concludes with veneration of the first class relic of St Faustina. Enq: John 9457 7771.

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

Group Fifty - Charismatic Renewal Group 7.30pm at the Redemptorist Monastery, 150 Vincent St, North Perth. Includes prayer, praise and Mass. Enq: Elaine 9440 3661.

EVERY FIRST THURSDAY OF THE MONTH Prayer in Style of Taizé 7.30-8.30pm at Our Lady of Grace Parish, 3 Kitchener St, North Beach. Includes prayer, song and silence in candlelight – symbol of Christ the light of the world. Taizé info: www.taize.fr. Enq: secretary 9448 4888 or 9448 4457.

EVERY FIRST FRIDAY Healing Mass 7pm at St Peter’s Parish, Inglewood. Praise and worship, Exposition and Eucharistic Adoration, Benediction and anointing of the sick followed by holy Mass and fellowship. Celebrants Fr Dat and invited priests. 6.45pm Reconciliation. Enq: Mary Ann 0409 672 304, Prescilla 0433 457 352 and Catherine 0433 923 083.

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

Healing and Anointing Mass 8.45am Pater Noster Church, Evershed St, Myaree.

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

LAST MONDAY OF THE MONTH

Catholic Faith Renewal Evening

Be Still in His Presence – Ecumenical Christian Program 7.30-8.45pm at St Swithun Anglican Church, 195 Lesmurdie St, Lesmurdie (hall behind church).

Begins with songs of praise and worship, silent time, lectio divina, small group sharing and a cuppa at the end. Enq: Lynne 9293 3848 or 043 5252 941.

7.30pm at Ss John and Paul Parish, Pinetree Gully Rd, Willetton – Songs of Praise and Prayer, sharing by a priest followed by thanksgiving Mass and light refreshments after Mass.

Enq: Kathy 9295 0913 or Ann 0412 166 164 or catholicfaithrenewal@gmail.com.

EVERY TUESDAY Novena to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal 6pm at Pater Noster Church, Marmion and Evershed Sts, Myaree. Mass at 5.30pm followed by Benediction. Enq: John 0408 952 194.

Novena to God the Father 7.30pm at St Joachim’s parish hall, Victoria Park.

Novena followed by reflection and discussions on forthcoming Sunday Gospel. Enq: Jan 9284 1662.

EVERY FIRST TUESDAY Short MMP Cenacle for Priests 2pm at Edel Quinn Centre, 36 Windsor St, East Perth. Enq: Fr Watt 9376 1734.

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: 0423 907 869 or hsofperth@gmail.com.

Bible Study at Cathedral 6.15pm at St Mary’s Cathedral, 17 Victoria Sq, Perth.

Deepen your faith through reading and reflecting on holy Scripture by Fr Jean-Noel. Meeting room beneath Cathedral. Enq: Marie 9223 1372.

EVERY FIRST SUNDAY

Holy Hour - Catholic Youth Ministry CYM is back in 2012. Mass at 5.30pm and Holy Hour (Adoration) at 6.30pm at the Catholic Pastoral Centre, 40A Mary St, Highgate. Enq: www.cym.com or 9422 7912.

St Mary’s Cathedral Youth Group – Fellowship with Pizza 5pm at St Mary’s Cathedral, 17 Victoria Sq, Perth.

Begins with youth Mass followed by fellowship downstairs in parish centre. Bring a plate to share.

Enq: Bradley on youthfromsmc@gmail.com.

Adonai Ladies Prayer Group 10am in the upper room of St Joseph’s Parish, 3 Salvado Rd, Subiaco. Come and join us for charismatic prayer and praise. Enq: Win 9387 2802 or Noreen 9298 9938.

Communion of Reparation All Night Vigils 7pm-1.30am at Corpus Christi Church, Lochee St, Mosman Park or St Gerard Majella Church, cnr Ravenswood Dr/Majella Rd, Westminster (Mirrabooka). The Vigils consist of two Masses, Adoration, Benediction, prayers and Confession in reparation for the outrages committed against the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Enq: Vicky 0400 282 357 or Fr Giosue 9349 2315or John/Joy 9344 2609.

Pro-Life Witness Holy Mass at St Brigid’s Midland at 9.30am, followed by Rosary procession and prayer vigil at nearby abortion clinic, and led by the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. Please join us to pray for an end to abortion and the conversion of hearts.

Enq Helen 9402 0349.

EVERY SECOND FRIDAY OF THE MONTH Discover the Spirituality of St Francis of Assisi 12pm at St Brigid’s Catholic Parish Centre. The Secular Franciscans of Midland Fraternity meet for lunch followed by 1-3pm meeting. Enq: Antoinette 9297 2314.

EVERY FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH Healing Mass 12.35pm at St Thomas Parish, cnr Melville St and College Rd, Claremont. Spiritual leader Fr Waddell.

Enq: Kim 9384 0598, claremont@perthcatholic.org. au.

EVERY LAST SATURDAY Novena Devotions – Our Lady Vailankanni of Good Health 5pm at Holy Trinity Parish, 8 Burnett St, Embleton.

Followed by Mass at 6pm. Enq: George 9272 1379.

EVERY FOURTH SATURDAY OF THE MONTH Voice of the Voiceless Healing Mass 12pm at St Brigid’s Parish, 211 Aberdeen St,

Northbridge. Bring a plate to share after Mass.

Enq: Frank 9296 7591 or 0408 183 325.

GENERAL Free Divine Mercy Image for Parishes High quality oil painting and glossy print – Divine Mercy Promotions. Images are of very high quality.

For any parish willing to accept and place inside the church. Oil paintings - 160 x 90cm and glossy print - 100 x 60cm. Enq: Irene 9417 3267 (w).

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

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

Mary MacKillop Merchandise Available for sale from Mary MacKillop Centre. Enq: Sr Maree 041 4683 926 or 08 9334 0933.

Financially Disadvantaged People Requiring Low Care Aged Care Placement The Little Sisters of the Poor community set in beautiful gardens in suburb of Glendalough.

“Making the elderly happy, that is everything!” St Jeanne Jugan (foundress). Registration and enq: Sr Marie 9443 3155.

Resource Centre for Personal Development The Holistic Health Seminar “The Instinct to Heal’’, every Tuesday 3-4.30pm; and RCPD2 “Internalise Principles of Successful Relationships and Use Emotional Intelligence and Communication Skills” every Tuesday 4.30-6.30pm, 197 High St, Fremantle - Tuesdays 3-4.30pm. Enq: Eva 0409 405 585. Bookings are essential.

Is your son or daughter unsure of what to do this year?

Suggest a Certificate IV course to discern God’s purpose for their life. They will also learn more about the Catholic faith and develop skills in communication and leadership. Acts 2 College of Mission & Evangelisation (National Code 51452).

Enq: Jane 9202 6859.

AA Alcoholics Anonymous Is alcohol costing you more than just money? Enq: AA 3253 5666.

Saints and Sacred Relics Apostolate Invite SSRA, Perth invites interested parties, parish priests, leaders of religious communities, lay associations, to organise relic visitations to their own parishes, communities, etc.

We have available authenticated relics, mostly first-class, of Catholic saints and blesseds including Sts Mary Mackillop, Padre Pio, Anthony of Padua, Therese of Lisieux, Maximilian Kolbe and Simon Stock and Blessed Pope John Paul II. Free of charge and all welcome. Enq: Giovanny 0478 201 092 or ssra-perth@catholic.org.

Enrolments, Year 7, 2014 La Salle College is now accepting enrolments for Year 7, 2014. For a prospectus and enrolment form please contact college reception on 9274 6266 or email lasalle@lasalle.wa.edu.au.

Pellegrini Books Wanted An order of Sisters in Italy is looking for the following: The Living Pyx of Jesus, Fervourings From Galilee’s Hills, Fervourings From the LoveBroken Heart of Christ, Fervourings From the Lips of the Master, Listening to the Indwelling Presence, Sheltering the Divine Outcast, Daily Inspection and Cleansing of the Living Temple of God, and Staunch Friends of Jesus, the Lover of Youth. If you are able to help, please contact Justine on 0419 964 624 or justine@waterempire.com.

Novena to Our Lady of Vailankanni Holy Trinity Parish, 8 Burnett St, Embleton. Leader: Fr Trevor (India). Enq: Admin 9271 5528, Gordon 9377 4472, Anita 9375 1794 or George 9272 1379.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 30 - Day 1 of Novena 7pm – Begins with Mass, Novena devotions and Benediction, followed by procession. Fellowship afterwards. Please bring plate.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 31 - Day 2 of Novena 7pm – Begins with Novena devotions, homily and Benediction. Followed by blessing of children.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 - Day 3 of Novena 6pm – Begins with Vigil Mass, followed by Novena devotions and Benediction. Followed by food fete in hall.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 - Day 4 of Novena 6pm – Begins with Mass followed by Novena devotions, Benediction and blessing of all fathers.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 - Day 5 of Novena 7pm – Begins with Novena devotions, homily and Benediction. Followed by Blessing of the sick and elderly with the Blessed Sacrament.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 - Day 6 of Novena 7pm – Begins with Novena devotions, homily and Benediction.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 - Day 7 of Novena 7pm – Begins with Novena devotions, homily and Benediction (Novena raffle will be drawn).

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 - Day 8 of Novena 7pm – Begins Novena Devotions, homily and Benediction.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 - Day 9 of Novena 6pm – Begins with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Divine Mercy Chaplet and Litany of

CLASSIFIEDS

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19

CLASSIFIEDS Deadline: 11am Monday RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

TAX SERVICE

HEALTH

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.

QUALITY TAX RETURNS PREPARED by registered tax agent with over 35 years’ experience.

Call Tony Marchei on 0412 055 184 for appointment. AXXO Accounting & Management, Unit 20/222 Walter Rd, Morley.

ACHES, PAIN, STRESS Indian mature male masseur.

Reflex Relax Massage $30 per hour. Jai 0438 520 993.

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 www.kinlarvestments.com.au Quality handmade and decorated vestments: albs, stoles, chasubles, altar linen, banners. Ph Vickii on 9402 1318, 0409 114 093 or kinlar. vestments@gmail.com.

BOOK BINDING RESTORATION BOOKBINDING and Conservation, General Book Repairs, Bibles, Breviaries, sad, old and leather bindings renewed.

Tel: 0401 941 577.

HAIRDRESSER RURI STUDIO FOR HAIR – Vincent and Miki welcome you to their newly opened, international, award-winning salon. Shop 2, 401 Oxford St, Leederville.

9444 3113. ruri-studio-for-hair@ hotmail.com.

FURNITURE REMOVAL ALL AREAS. Competitive rates.

Mike Murphy Ph 0416 226 434.

SETTLEMENTS ARE YOU BUYING OR SELLING real estate or a business?

Why not ask Excel Settlements for a quote for your settlement.

We offer reasonable fees, excellent service and no hidden costs.

Ring Excel on 9481 4499 for a quote. Check our web site on www.excelsettlements.com.au.

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

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

TO LET ROOM TO LET with two other Catholic young men. Townhouse on the water Scarborough (has everything) $130pw. Mike 0410 689 325.

ACCOMMODATION HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION Esperance holiday accommodation, three bedroom house, fully furnished. Phone 08 9076 5083.

MEMENTO CANDLES BAPTISM, WEDDING AND ABSENCE Candles that are personalised with your name that are beautifully decorated. Please call Anna: 0402 961 901 or email: anna77luca@hotmail.com to order a candle.

BRICK RE-POINTING Ph Nigel 9242 2952.

PICASSO PAINTING Top service. Ph 0419 915 836, 9345 0557 or fax 9345 0505.

PERROTT PAINTING Pty Ltd For all your residential, commercial painting requirements. Ph Tom Perrott 9444 1200.

WRR LAWN MOWING AND 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.

Subscribe!!!

WANTED TABERNACLE SUITABLE FOR CHAPEL 2 brass/alabaster/wood candle sticks – 40cm-50cm.

Phone Brother John Hermirage 9853 3982 or johnw9765@gmail. com.

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all.” - Titus 2:11

For $85 you can receive a year’s worth of The Record delivered to your house

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C R O S S W O R D ACROSS 2 Papal vestment 6 Biblical city 8 River Moses turned to blood 9 Papal crown 10 Brother of Peter 11 Short text chanted before and after a psalm 13 A street in Damascus (Acts 9:11) 15 “Bring Flowers of the ___” 17 The Nicene Creed and the Hail Mary 19 “Kyrie ___” 22 Type of cross 24 What Jesus did on a certain Thursday 27 Saviour 29 Old Testament prophet 31 Catholic sports figure Lombardi 32 State in which the Diocese of Salt Lake City is found 33 “…___ and female he created them.” (Gen 1:27) 34 Second pope

Send us your Year of Grace stories to parishes@therecord.com.au

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Name on card: I wish to be invoiced Send to: The Record, PO Box 3075, Adelaide Terrace WA 6832

Continued from Page 18 the Most Sacred Heart. Followed by silent Adoration. 7pm – Mass, anointing of the sick, followed by Novena devotions and Benediction.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 - Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary 6pm – Begins with concelebrated Mass by candlelight procession.

Followed by fellowship. Please bring plate.

Secondhand Electric Organ Good working condition. Angela Vigolo would like to give it away to a good home; maybe a parish would like it? Enq: Angela 9276 9317.

Acts 2 College, Perth’s Catholic Bible College, is now pleased to be able to offer tax deductibility for donations to the College. If you are looking for an opportunity to help grow the faith of young people and to evangelise the next generation of apostles, please contact Jane Borg, Principal at Acts 2 College on 0401 692 690 or principal@acts2come.wa.edu.au.

Divine Mercy Church Pews Would you like to assist, at the same time becoming part of the history of the new Divine Mercy Church in Lower Chittering, by donating a beautifully handcrafted jarrah pew currently under construction, costing only $1,000 each. A beautiful brass plaque with your inscription will be placed at the end of the pew. Please make cheques payable to Divine Mercy Church Building fund and send with inscription to: PO Box 8, Bullsbrook WA 6084. Enq: Fr Paul 0427 085 093.

6000

A Testimony on Divine Mercy Powerful testimony of Brother Stanley Villavincencio. After being pronounced ‘clinically dead’ in 1993, Stanley has been travelling the world sharing his amazing spiritual encounters with Jesus.

Sessions last for 2 hours.

Tuesday, July 31 10.30am – Mass followed by talk. St Paul’s, Rookwood St, Mt Lawley. 7.30pm – talk. St Bernadette’s, Jugan St, Glendalough.

Wednesday, August 1 10.30am - talk. All Saints Chapel, 77 St George’s Tce, Perth.

7.30pm – talk. St Joseph’s, 19 Hamilton St, Bassendean.

Thursday, August 2 9am – Mass followed by talk. St Lawrence, Albert St, Balcatta.

7.30pm – talk. Our Lady of Mercy, 5 Patrick St, Girrawheen.

Friday, August 3 9am - Mass followed by talk. St Jerome’s, Troode St, Spearwood.

7.30pm - talk. Gosnells Catholic Church,175 Corfield St, Gosnells.

Saturday, August 4 11.30am Divine Mercy Pilgrimage. BYO lunch. Maryville, Chittering. Contact: Francis 9459 3873 / 0404 893 877. Enq: Paulyne: 9364 4228.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 31 AND SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 Theatrical play Women on the Fringe 7.30pm at Prendiville Performing Arts Centre by St Simon Peter Players. Written by Gerald Searle of St Anthony’s Parish about women marginalised because of gender, race, nationality, culture, religion and moral standing who were transformed when they encountered Jesus. 2pm matinee.

Tickets after all Masses at parishes in Ocean Reef, Whitfords, Wanneroo, Clarkson, and the Cathedral. Enq: Gerald 9404 7292.

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

DOWN 1 French-Canadian Catholic singing phenomenon 2 St Valentine’s Day month 3 Catholic Composer Beethoven 4 Georgia diocese 5 Describes certain letters from the bishops 6 One of the Magi 7 Fiddle-playing, Christian-hating

Victoria No Expiry Date: ____/____ Signature: _____________

ruler 10 Balaam spoke to one (Num 22:28) 12 Peter cast one out 14 9am prayer 16 Vestment made of a narrow strip of cloth 18 A diocese in Virginia 20 Saint of Loyola 21 Angel named in the New Testament (Lk 1:19) 22 Abbreviation for two OT books 23 Apostle number 25 Another name for the area of the Promised Land 26 Tribe of Israel 28 Catholic columnist Bombeck 30 “___ in a manger …”

W O R D S L E U T H

TheTRecord he Record LastBookshop W in ord 1911 The

July 25, 2012, The Record

July Catalogue RESOURCES FOR EVERY CATHOLIC FROM

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Telephone: 9220 5912 Email: bookshop@therecord.com.au Address: 21 Victoria Square, Perth 6000