The Record Newspaper 25 January 2011

Friends, not enemies

How you dress can tell others a lot about you, or give them completely the wrong idea. Why modesty and fashion go together.

THE R ECORD

New Dawesville parish to bring lost sheep back to the fold

BY ANTHONY BARICH

THE blessing and dedication of St Damien’s Catholic Church in Dawesville on 23 January is the Church boldly moving into new territory and attempting to bring lost sheep back to the fold.

Fr Leon Russell, Dawesville’s inaugural parish priest, told The Record that Dawesville is a “perfect example” of the urgent need for the Church’s missionary focus.

Bunbury Bishop Gerard Holohan also told The Record that he chose St

Damien of Molokai as patron saint for Dawesville because “... there are many people in this area who have left the Faith, so it is appropriate that this church be dedicated to St Damien, who brought back to the Church lepers who had left the Faith.”

When Bishop Holohan presided over the Mass concelebrated by his Vicar General Fr Tony Chiera and Fr Leon, it seemed a far cry from six years ago when Fr Leon was appointed parish priest.

Back then, barely 70 people

attended weekend Masses and, in 2005, Dawesville Catholic Primary School operated out of two transportable buildings on Mandurah Catholic College’s grounds with 68 students.

Today, up to 260 attend weekend Masses, with 520 children now enrolled in the adjacent Dawesville Catholic Primary School.

The original name of Blessed Damien of Molokai Dawesville Catholic Primary School proved too much of a mouthful, but the parish has left the option open for

the school to rename itself after the saint again.

Unfortunately, Fr Leon suffered the inconvenience of not being able to attend St Damien’s canonisation in Rome on 11 October 2009 for medical reasons. Pope John Paul II beatified the Belgian-born saint on 4 June 1995.

Of their new official patron, Fr Leon said simply, “We’ve grown to love him.”

The parish has now acquired an icon of the saint by Finnish-born iconographer Marice Sariola from

Dunsborough and a nail from the first church St Damien built on Molokai acquired by Bishop Myles McKeon.

The parish also had a collage located just inside the main entrance doors displaying the sites and history of St Damien’s ministry, including Molokai, other Hawaiian islands and the Pacific.

No longer a leper colony, Molokai has been transformed into a tourist area.

While Australian actor David Please turn to Page 6

Sydney QC becomes Chancellor of Notre Dame, succeeds ‘founding father’

SYDNEY QC Terry Tobin has been elected to succeed Dr Michael Quinlan as Chancellor of the University of Notre Dame Australia.

Mr Tobin, who is the current Deputy Chancellor, is on the university’s board of trustees and board of directors.

He was appointed Queen’s Counsel for NSW in 1985 and has also been admitted to the bar in New York and Ireland.

In thanking the board of trustees for his election as Chancellor, Mr Tobin paid tribute to Dr Quinlan as a “wonderful Chancellor who has done great work during what has been a significant growth phase of the university”.

Dr Quinlan, one of the founding fathers of the University of Notre Dame Australia, has been a trustee of the university since its inception.

He was Deputy Chancellor before his appointment as Chancellor in 2008.

He had a pivotal role in establishing the university, its College of Health and the Fremantle School of Medicine.

Another foundation trustee and long stime supporter of the university, Sr Sonia Wagner sgs, is also stepping aside.

Vice Chancellor Professor Celia Hammond said she was very

grateful for all that Dr Quinlan and Sr Sonia had done for the university. Their commitment “has been

outstanding”, she said. Meanwhile, UNDA has announced the appointment of a new Executive Dean appointed for Notre Dame’s Business School Vice Chancellor Celia Hammond has announced that Mr Chris Doepel has been appointed as Executive Dean, College of Business (National), and Dean of the School of Business, Fremantle Campus commencing 1 February 2011. Mr Doepel has an impressive employment history which includes serving as Registrar of the National Native Title Tribunal and State Director of the

Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. Mr Doepel is moving from Murdoch University where he has been Dean of the Faculty of Law and Business for the last three years.

Prior to this, he worked in a number of senior roles within the public sector.

Vice Chancellor Professor Celia Hammond said that she is delighted with the appointment.

“Chris brings extensive experience as a leader and manager and I believe he will make an outstanding contribution to the School of Business and to the wider University,” Professor Hammond said.  INCLUDES

Dawesville Catholic Primary School student Sophie Herbert holds the icon of St Damien of Molokai before processing into the church for its Mass of dedication. Right, Bishop Gerard Holohan gives his homily. PHOTOS: ANTHONY BARICH

Sydney QC and now Chancellor of the University of Notre Dame Australia, Terry Tobin, above, and new Executive Dean of Business, Chris Doepel, right.

Ellenbrook to build its first Church

BY BRIDGET SPINKS

THE building of a new Catholic church in Ellenbrook is set to get under way this year after the Edgar Idle Wade design was finalised in mid-December last year and tender closed on 17 December.

“We have the tender results and now we’re discussing them and finalising them,” Fr Francis Huy Nguyen, Ellenbrook parish priest of six years, told The Record

The church, named St Helena of the Holy Cross by Archbishop Barry Hickey, has been in the planning stage for nearly three years.

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

The church will be built on the same site as Holy Cross College, on the corner of Coolamon Boulevard and Strathmore Parkway, and will have a seating capacity of 300 with an overflow capacity of 150.

Fr Francis said a parish building committee, working with Edgar Idle Wade Architect Philip Idle and assistant Femke Woston, had quite a big say in what sort of church it will be.

While there won’t be a parish centre, there will be a space for social gatherings outside the church area and a small kitchen for morning teas, Fr Francis said.

Without a church in which to celebrate Mass, Fr Francis has been celebrating Mass in St Helena’s Catholic Primary School in the undercroft.

To finance the church construction, the parish has a loan from the Perth Archdiocese through the Catholic Development Fund and is working out a repayment scheme. But the parish has also

been fundraising with raffles, the buy-abrick programme and fairs.



Priesthood ‘bigger than Ben Hur’

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BY BRIDGET SPINKS

FATHER Tony (Anthony) Vallis, the parish priest of Our Lady of Mercy Girrawheen will be retiring from parish duties on 13 February after serving the Church for 19 years as a priest including the last six at Girrawheen.

More than 500 people came to a farewell celebration coordinated by parishioner Barbara Peters and several volunteers, which was held at Mercy College on 15 January.

Joe Bartucciotto, chairman of Girrawheen’s parish council, said that Fr Tony has left the physical assets of the parish in a better condition than he found them but his greatest impact has been on his beloved parishioners.

“His first comment to the parish community related to the fact that he was a ‘social’ being; not in the sense of partying but in terms of his abiding belief that the face of Christ, the Word made Flesh, is viewed in part through the human dimension,” Joe said.

Although born in India, Fr Vallis was brought up in Burma but came to Australia when he was 22.

Adelaide for six years. He said that being a priest has been ‘bigger than Ben Hur’ compared with what he thought it would be.

“But I’ve just loved every minute of my priesthood; I don’t have any regrets,” he said.

“When you go into priesthood, you just think the priest says Mass and that’s it, and I think people think that too. But it’s anything but; you wear many hats as a priest especially as a parish priest; such as administration, counselling, guiding, spiritual nourishment and pastoral care,” he said.

Fr Vallis was ordained to the priesthood on 7 December 1991 by Archbishop Hickey for the Archdiocese of Perth and was first appointed to Our Lady of Lourdes, Rockingham, which he served as an assistant priest for two years.

He spent the next eight years as chaplain at Royal Perth Hospital and the next six as dean of the Goldfields before finally being appointed parish priest of Girrawheen.

As he enters retirement for medical reasons, Fr Tony described the priesthood as ‘truly being Christ and being on the go’ because instead of an itinerant preacher like Christ was, the priest is based in the parish, he said.

he said. Looking back on his priesthood, he said he could see many challenging moments such as the decisions he has had to make, as well as the pastoral needs and crisis in the lives of parish families. He said he would miss all of that.

“I’ve had to attend a number of suicides and a number of murders and it is gut wrenching but you go out there and you don’t need to have all the answers,” he said.

He then spent 21 years working in accounting administration and serving various parishes through his involvement on the council or playing the organ, before residing at St Charles’ Seminary for eight months and finally taking up full time seminary studies at St Francis Xavier in

“In this parish, I have seven areas that fall under my care: a high school with some 2,000 students, a primary school with about 500, two nursing homes, plus the calls from the hospitals, all of which are weekly and monthly pastoral care situations. So my day is a full day and if I have any funerals or out calls, that’s an addition,”

“You just need to be there for them and support them as best you can with God’s grace, just allow them to know God is there in those horrible moments of human existence.”

These moments are all very precious, he said, because within that chaos, he was able to bring some light of Christ to the people.

“I think that’s my blessing.”

The plan for the new parish church at Ellenbrook, which will be dedicated to St Helena of the Holy Cross, the fourth Century mother of the first Christian Roman Emperor, Constantine.

Fr Vallis speaks at his farewell, left, which was attended by hundreds for the popular Parish priest. Other duties on the night included drawing raffle winners. PHOTOS: GREG D’SOUZA

Father Irek adapts to openings created by cyberspace

He plays a pretty cool guitar too

BY BRIDGET SPINKS

FATHER Irek Czech, Salvatorian parish priest of St Lawrence and Mary Immaculate Parish in Balcatta, is now using social networking sites such as facebook.com, myspace and twitter to evangelise.

He said he joined these sites when he was on holiday in August last year in Poland in response to a call from the Salvatorian founder, (now Venerable) Fr Francis Jordan.

“Our founder, Fr Francis Jordan, asked us to use all the means available for spreading the Good News so that’s why I do it through music, through media. That’s what we’re called to do,” he said.

The facebook profile for St Lawrence has a host of upcoming events listed, as well as Mass times and a link to the main parish website: www.stlawrence.org.au.

Fr Irek said that while he was Chaplain at Chisolm College from 2005 to the end of 2009, he found that most of the students were on the Internet.

This reason, plus a realisation that people in the 18-25 age group are using the Internet, is what prompted him to go online to evangelise. “If you go to the US, most of the vocations come from the Internetpeople see Religious Orders on the Internet and become interested,” he said.

Fr Irek’s myspace (www.myspace. com/irekczech) is a tool to host clips of his Christian music such as Praise to the Lord, Let the Holy Spirit Come and I Offer You

Five of the six songs he has shared on MySpace have been listened to over 1,000 times.

Fr Irek started playing guitar when he was 12, he said, after being inspired by his older brother who was part of his youth group in Poland.

Fr Irek played with the youth group at a weekly time of Adoration at the parish as well as at youth Masses, which were at 8.15am and packed out.

When he was about 15, he started a few bands and was even on TV, even though this was not exciting for him as he wanted to enter the seminary, he said.

As a young Polish seminarian, Fr Irek was part of a band called Vox Nostra (Our Voice) between 1990 and 1995 and performed at about

75 concerts in different parts of Europe.

“It was cool because you see the young boys in habits praying and playing modern stuff. It was a good way to evangelise young people, especially in Europe when you have up to 5,000 people at these concerts,” he said.

Fr Irek said that he doesn’t do concerts any more because he is busy running the big parish of Balcatta, but he does play regularly at healing hours, which include praise and worship music with adoration of the Blessed Sacrament after 6pm Mass every second Sunday of the month.

He also plays music in the style of Taize spirituality; those interested in Fr Irek’s music and ministry can find updates on his website. While he continues to write lyrics and

poetry, mainly in Polish, he said he doesn’t currently have much time to write music.

“I have material for 20 CDs,” he said, adding that he is waiting for retirement to record it all.

Peter Kennedy to teach UNDA journalism

Peter Kennedy, one of Australia’s most respected political journalists will join The University of Notre Dame Australia’s Fremantle School of Arts and Sciences in 2011.

Mr Kennedy, who is a graduate of the University of WA, began his career as a high school teacher and lecturer in economics. He joined The West Australian as a journalist in 1970. He moved to The Sydney Morning Herald in 1977 as the paper’s State political correspondent and later in the Canberra Press Gallery as chief of staff. He eventually returned to Perth and The West in 1985. He joined the ABC in 1990 where he has worked until his recent retirement. Mr Kennedy’s experience includes all forms of journalism, including print, television, radio and online. He has received many awards during his career, including the coveted Clarion Prize which is awarded for outstanding achievement in Journalism. Acting Dean, Associate Professor Deborah

Gare, said Mr Kennedy’s appointment as Adjunct Professor in Communications and Media was a fantastic opportunity for Notre Dame students.

“This will be a remarkable opportunity for students and staff at Notre Dame to learn from one of the industry’s true greats. Peter will bring enormous talent and unique perspective to such programmes in the School as journalism, politics and history.

“He is respected nationally for the tireless work he has undertaken over the past 40 years. We look forward to being part of his future and wish him all the best on his appointment to the School.”

Mr Kennedy said his new role would be both challenging and exciting.

“Notre Dame has quickly established a reputation for teaching excellence and producing quality graduates across the board,” he said. “It will be my aim to reinforce that reputation, and enhance it at every opportunity.”

Fr Irek with close friend, his trusted Martin Guitar, which features regularly in recordings of his music and compositions.

PHOTO: COURTESY FR IREK CZECH

Double blessing for Polish Religious

BY ANTHONY BARICH

A DOUBLE blessing for Perth’s Polish Salvatorians was 14 January as the Vatican approved a step towards their founder’s canonisation and declared that their beloved countryman Pope John Paul II would be beatified on 1 May.

In a letter to over 1,120 Salvatorians in 38 countries, the Salvatorians’ Superior General Fr Andrew Urbanski SDS called it a “wonderful coincidence”, and urged his confreres to “intensify your prayers for the beatification of our Founder, which is so much desired by all of you”.

Fr Andrew said that the heroicity of virtues being officially acknowledged by the Church is not only “great news for all of us” but it is also “a great challenge to follow Him in the way of holiness”.

Fr Francis Jordan, a German, founded the Salvatorians in 1881 in Rome and the Order was brought to Australia in the Archdiocese of Perth from its British province by Fr Paul Keyte SDS in 1961.

The first community was established in Perth at Bellvue, now Greenmount parish, where some Polish gather.

This year marks the 50th year of the Salvatorians in Perth. A special Mass will be offered on 27 June at Greenmount to celebrate.

There is also a Polish community run by Franciscan Friars Minor in Maylands.

Fr Karol Kulczycki, Regional Superior of Salvatorians in Australia, who grew up in Communist Poland, said that for many Polish people it

was merely a matter of time before the late Pontiff was beatified and canonised.

Fr Karol, 44, arrived in Perth in 1997 having been ordained near Trzebinia, just west of Krakow, where John Paul II lived for four decades. Fr Karol, based at Salvatorians’ Australian headquarters in Currambine, said John Paul II is still very much revered in his home country due to the changes he brought about through people who were inspired by him.

Priests in Fr Karol’s time in Poland were under constant scrutiny, he said, though he was “not worried about it” as the Polish culture has a unique strength due to its Catholicity. This was strengthened considerably during the late Pope’s many return visits to his homeland.

“In Poland, there’s great respect for him in our whole society. I was

checking the news on the Internet back in Poland and (it’s clear) it will be a very big event there,” Fr Karol said.

“Because of him, so many things changed in Poland - in the Church and in society. Following his visits to the country, lots of people did great things under his inspiration, and so they hold him in great respect.”

“The influence of John Paul II in Poland was also very great for many vocations.”

Fr Karol added that many different countries wanted John Paul II to be beatified, as “he visited many places and influenced many nations around the world”.

“Polish people were proud of someone from their own country … he’s the most famous Polish person around the world,” Fr Karol said.

Salvatorian lay commit to mission

BY ANTHONY BARICH

TWO lay people have made their commitment to become the first members of the International Community of the Divine Saviour in the Salvatorians’ Australian region. Salvatorian Collaborator leaders Anne Cullender and Augustine Lai made their commitment on 8 December, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at St Anthony’s Church in Greenmount.

They became the first two members in Australia of what is effectively a “third Order” of lay people established by the Salvatorian founder, the Venerable Francis Jordan, in Germany in 1894, to support the ‘first Order’ of priests and Brothers and the ‘second Order’ of Religious Sisters. All available Salvatorian priests from across Australia concelebrated the Mass and renewed their Religious vows at the event that Fr Karol

Kulczycki, Regional Superior of Salvatorians in Australia, said was “extremely important” in the Order’s apostolate.

Over 200 family members, friends and Collaborators also attended, while three Collaborator leaders from Sydney travelled 3,000km for the event. Fr Kulczycki - who was assisted in celebrating the Mass by Greenmount Parish Priest Fr Adam Babinski, Fr Leonard Macionczyk, director of Collaborators and Lay Salvatorians – told The Record that from the beginning, the Order’s lay arm were essential to support its mission of proclaiming the Saviour.

“For us, it is important to have this community in Australia. For so long we have just had the priests, but we’ve started a community of Collaborators to support our missions around the world. To have lay commit to that mission is something new,” he said. “It’s small now, so we’ll see how it’s working.”

Sport fortifies future priests for ministry

BY ANTHONY BARICH

A PERTH student has organised an event to fortify his fellow students at Sydney’s seminary against the prevailing culture in what Pope John Paul II called “the school of human virtue” – sport.

Matt Hodgson, studying at Sydney’s Seminary of the Good Shepherd for priesthood in the Archdiocese of Perth, has helped organise a triathlon with a difference designed to help produce priests who have grown in health, virtue and fraternal brotherhood.

Along with other critical types of formation that they receive at the seminary, including spiritual and theological, the seminary staff organised in October 2010 their first St Sebastian Cup – formation staff not allowed.

Twenty-two students participated in a triathlon with a difference, consisting of mini-golf, basketball and volleyball, which were selected by the seminary community by a vote.

Split into two teams of Juniors (Years 1-3) and Seniors (Years 4+) captained by second-year Junior Daniel Davila and sixth-year Senior Emmanuel Seo, they competed for a trophy named after St Sebastian because he is the patron saint of athletes.

Matt, who formerly worked in Perth’s World Youth Day Office in 2007-08, is now the seminary’s Semester 2 Sports Coordinator. He told The Record that the ben-

efits of such an event are many. “We need healthy seminarians. Regular exercise is one way to promote this. If seminarians develop good health habits in the seminary, then, put simply, they will live longer and thus be active in their future priestly ministry for longer,” Matt said, but qualified it by stressing that this is just a generalisation as seminarians and priests who suffer illnesses “can also be inspiring witnesses to vocational fidelity”. It is also critical, he said, that seminarians are not alienated from the natural world.

“Improving technology has

brought many positive advancements that serve mankind. However, it is a double-edged sword and many of today’s young people have grown up in a virtual world where one can construct a persona on-line at the expense of developing one’s own humanity in the real world. Playing sport is one way of getting away from computer/TV screens and interacting bodily with God’s creation,” he said.

“We need seminarians who are growing in virtue. Once described by Pope John Paul II as a ‘school of human virtue’, sport is one way to

develop those human virtues that are so integral to the Christian life. “We need seminarians who are living in brotherly unity,” he added.

“Division is the primary evidence of the workings of the Evil One. Of all the places in the world that he wants to create division, the seminary is the place that the Evil One targets most vociferously. Team sport is one way of banding seminarians together and preventing schisms amongst the community.”

It is also important, he said, that seminarians are agents of cultural transformation.

“There is a significant overlap in this country between ‘sporting culture’ and ‘raunch culture’. An event such as the St Sebastian Cup shows that it is possible to hold a successful sporting event without promoting drunkenness and/or licentiousness,” Matt said.

For the record, the Seniors won it three-zip.

Fr Francis JordanPope John Paul II

Patrick Kimulu, Trenton van Reesch and Daniel Davila (Junior captain) look on from the sideline during the Junior/Senior basketball match. Jorge Nulley-Valdes spikes the ball during the Junior/Senior volleyball match. PHOTOS: MATT HODGSON

Seminarians from both teams look on as Trenton van Reesch putts during the Junior/Senior mini-golf matches.

Double blessing for Polish Religious

BY ANTHONY BARICH

A DOUBLE blessing for Perth’s Polish Salvatorians was 14 January as the Vatican approved a step towards their founder’s canonisation and declared that their beloved countryman Pope John Paul II would be beatified on 1 May.

In a letter to over 1,120 Salvatorians in 38 countries, the Salvatorians’ Superior General Fr Andrew Urbanski SDS called it a “wonderful coincidence”, and urged his confreres to “intensify your prayers for the beatification of our Founder, which is so much desired by all of you”.

Fr Andrew said that the heroicity of virtues being officially acknowledged by the Church is not only “great news for all of us” but it is also “a great challenge to follow Him in the way of holiness”.

Fr Francis Jordan, a German, founded the Salvatorians in 1881 in Rome and the Order was brought to Australia in the Archdiocese of Perth from its British province by Fr Paul Keyte SDS in 1961.

The first community was established in Perth at Bellvue, now Greenmount parish, where some Polish gather.

This year marks the 50th year of the Salvatorians in Perth. A special Mass will be offered on 27 June at Greenmount to celebrate.

There is also a Polish community run by Franciscan Friars Minor in Maylands.

Fr Karol Kulczycki, Regional Superior of Salvatorians in Australia, who grew up in Communist Poland, said that for many Polish people it

was merely a matter of time before the late Pontiff was beatified and canonised.

Fr Karol, 44, arrived in Perth in 1997 having been ordained near Trzebinia, just west of Krakow, where John Paul II lived for four decades. Fr Karol, based at Salvatorians’ Australian headquarters in Currambine, said John Paul II is still very much revered in his home country due to the changes he brought about through people who were inspired by him.

Priests in Fr Karol’s time in Poland were under constant scrutiny, he said, though he was “not worried about it” as the Polish culture has a unique strength due to its Catholicity. This was strengthened considerably during the late Pope’s many return visits to his homeland.

“In Poland, there’s great respect for him in our whole society. I was

checking the news on the Internet back in Poland and (it’s clear) it will be a very big event there,” Fr Karol said.

“Because of him, so many things changed in Poland - in the Church and in society. Following his visits to the country, lots of people did great things under his inspiration, and so they hold him in great respect.”

“The influence of John Paul II in Poland was also very great for many vocations.”

Fr Karol added that many different countries wanted John Paul II to be beatified, as “he visited many places and influenced many nations around the world”.

“Polish people were proud of someone from their own country … he’s the most famous Polish person around the world,” Fr Karol said.

Salvatorian lay commit to mission

BY ANTHONY BARICH

TWO lay people have made their commitment to become the first members of the International Community of the Divine Saviour in the Salvatorians’ Australian region. Salvatorian Collaborator leaders Anne Cullender and Augustine Lai made their commitment on 8 December, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at St Anthony’s Church in Greenmount.

They became the first two members in Australia of what is effectively a “third Order” of lay people established by the Salvatorian founder, the Venerable Francis Jordan, in Germany in 1894, to support the ‘first Order’ of priests and Brothers and the ‘second Order’ of Religious Sisters. All available Salvatorian priests from across Australia concelebrated the Mass and renewed their Religious vows at the event that Fr Karol

Kulczycki, Regional Superior of Salvatorians in Australia, said was “extremely important” in the Order’s apostolate.

Over 200 family members, friends and Collaborators also attended, while three Collaborator leaders from Sydney travelled 3,000km for the event. Fr Kulczycki - who was assisted in celebrating the Mass by Greenmount Parish Priest Fr Adam Babinski, Fr Leonard Macionczyk, director of Collaborators and Lay Salvatorians – told The Record that from the beginning, the Order’s lay arm were essential to support its mission of proclaiming the Saviour.

“For us, it is important to have this community in Australia. For so long we have just had the priests, but we’ve started a community of Collaborators to support our missions around the world. To have lay commit to that mission is something new,” he said. “It’s small now, so we’ll see how it’s working.”

Sport fortifies future priests for ministry

BY ANTHONY BARICH

A PERTH student has organised an event to fortify his fellow students at Sydney’s seminary against the prevailing culture in what Pope John Paul II called “the school of human virtue” – sport.

Matt Hodgson, studying at Sydney’s Seminary of the Good Shepherd for priesthood in the Archdiocese of Perth, has helped organise a triathlon with a difference designed to help produce priests who have grown in health, virtue and fraternal brotherhood.

Along with other critical types of formation that they receive at the seminary, including spiritual and theological, the seminary staff organised in October 2010 their first St Sebastian Cup – formation staff not allowed.

Twenty-two students participated in a triathlon with a difference, consisting of mini-golf, basketball and volleyball, which were selected by the seminary community by a vote.

Split into two teams of Juniors (Years 1-3) and Seniors (Years 4+) captained by second-year Junior Daniel Davila and sixth-year Senior Emmanuel Seo, they competed for a trophy named after St Sebastian because he is the patron saint of athletes.

Matt, who formerly worked in Perth’s World Youth Day Office in 2007-08, is now the seminary’s Semester 2 Sports Coordinator. He told The Record that the ben-

efits of such an event are many. “We need healthy seminarians. Regular exercise is one way to promote this. If seminarians develop good health habits in the seminary, then, put simply, they will live longer and thus be active in their future priestly ministry for longer,” Matt said, but qualified it by stressing that this is just a generalisation as seminarians and priests who suffer illnesses “can also be inspiring witnesses to vocational fidelity”. It is also critical, he said, that seminarians are not alienated from the natural world.

“Improving technology has

brought many positive advancements that serve mankind. However, it is a double-edged sword and many of today’s young people have grown up in a virtual world where one can construct a persona on-line at the expense of developing one’s own humanity in the real world. Playing sport is one way of getting away from computer/TV screens and interacting bodily with God’s creation,” he said.

“We need seminarians who are growing in virtue. Once described by Pope John Paul II as a ‘school of human virtue’, sport is one way to

develop those human virtues that are so integral to the Christian life. “We need seminarians who are living in brotherly unity,” he added.

“Division is the primary evidence of the workings of the Evil One. Of all the places in the world that he wants to create division, the seminary is the place that the Evil One targets most vociferously. Team sport is one way of banding seminarians together and preventing schisms amongst the community.”

It is also important, he said, that seminarians are agents of cultural transformation.

“There is a significant overlap in this country between ‘sporting culture’ and ‘raunch culture’. An event such as the St Sebastian Cup shows that it is possible to hold a successful sporting event without promoting drunkenness and/or licentiousness,” Matt said.

For the record, the Seniors won it three-zip.

Fr Francis JordanPope John Paul II

Patrick Kimulu, Trenton van Reesch and Daniel Davila (Junior captain) look on from the sideline during the Junior/Senior basketball match. Jorge Nulley-Valdes spikes the ball during the Junior/Senior volleyball match. PHOTOS: MATT HODGSON

Seminarians from both teams look on as Trenton van Reesch putts during the Junior/Senior mini-golf matches.

Boy crowned in Santo Niño Fiesta

BY ANTHONY BARICH

OVER 800 Filipinos packed out the Redemptorist Monastery to celebrate their beloved Fiesta of Santo Niño de Cebú on 16 January where one boy was crowned in a symbolic reminder of Christ the priest and king.

Santo Niño (“Holy Child”) is a famous statue similar to the Infant Jesus of Prague given to the city of Cebú by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan when he discovered the Philippines in 1521 in the service of the Spanish Crown.

Since then it has grown into a major religious feast, and the statue, clothed in expensive textile robes mostly donations from fervent devotees in the Philippines and abroad, is the oldest Catholic relic in the country, permanently housed since 1565 at the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño in Cebu City.

The celebrations are a major tourist attraction today, where thousands of people partake in the traditional Sinulog dance that commemores the Cebuano people’s Islamic and pagan origin, and their acceptance of Roman Catholicism. People come from around the country to compete for a prize.

The Santo Niño Fiesta is a month-long celebration with the Sinulog its high point on the third Sunday of January. While Perth’s Filipinos did not host this dance this time, over 800 people attended the Mass at the Redemptorist Monastery followed by a feast at the Macedonian Hall in North Perth that could only hold about 400, and many missed out.

The Santo Niño Fiesta is also celebrated in Albany, Kalamunda, Craigie, MedinaRockingham, Nollamara and Tuart Hill, facilitated by various Filipino prayer groups. This usually starts with a nine-day Novena culminating in a thanksgiving Mass, then sharing of various Filipino food, some cultural presentation and dances.

Damayang Filipino Inc usually hold the Santo Niño Fiesta King popularity contest for children aged six to 12 to join in the fundraising to support the expenses of the Fiesta. The highest in votes is crowned the Santo Niño King of the Year.

Archdiocesan Filipino chaplain Fr Armando Carandang celebrated the Mass with Fr Hugh Thomas CSsR, newly ordained Filipino Fr Benny Calanza of the Neocatechumenal Way, retired priest Fr Dennis O’Brien and Perth’s Vicar for Migrants, Fr Blasco Fonseca.

Many Filipinos brought their children and Santo Niño statues up to be blessed, then at the Macedonian Hall a boy was crowned as part of a traditional Santo Niño King ceremony that aims to help young men become priests as they emulate the same life of Jesus.

Parents were given the privilege of pinning a special sash on them and the honorary

Consul General Gerald Donnelly crowned them. The Santo Niño Fiesta was a monthlong affair for Perth’s Catholic Filipino community, with a special Mass and sub-

The Third Sunday feast was organised by Damayang Filipino, one of several organisations set up to attend to the social needs of Filipino Australians.

The feast, passed on from generation to generation since Magellan’s time, was started in Albany in 1988 and Perth in 1989 by a small group and has now grown into a major event for the Filipino community.

Vatican Migrant boss to visit Perth

BY DAVID C HUA

THE Head of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travellers will visit Perth from 5 – 6 May this year as part of a national trip for “exposure to migrant communities” in Australia.

Archbishop Antonio Maria Vegliò, President of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants, will meet with chaplains at the Maylands Polish community on 5 May and celebrate a public Mass with Chinese and Indonesian Catholic communities on 6 May, for which a celebration is planned following the Mass.

Archbishop Vegliò told the US Bishops’ Conference in May last year that the starting point for ministering to migrants, refugees and trafficked persons is to understand their situation and all its components - personal, social, economic, political - in the light of God’s Word and to recognise its commitment to get involved.

“Naturally, it also has to address those factors that cause their uprootedness,” the prelate said.

“In this commitment the Church is guided by the ‘permanent principles’ of its ‘social doctrine [that] constitute the very heart of Catholic social teaching. These are the principles of the dignity of the human person ... which is the foundation of all the other principles and content of the Church’s social doctrine: the common good, subsidiary and solidarity.’”

Perth Archdiocesan Vicar for Migrants Fr Blasco Fonseca’s announcement of Archbishop Vegliò’s Australian tour - which also includes Sydney, Brisbane, Darwin, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Canberracomes days after Pope Benedict XVI’s call to respect all migrants and refugees as “brothers and sisters” at this year’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees, 16 January.

The World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which seeks to “invite us to reflect on the experience of many men, women and families who leave their own country in search of better living conditions”, was held this year with the theme of “one human family”.

Pope Benedict emphasised the evergrowing necessity for countries and indi-

viduals to cater for migrants at a time where global intermigration has reached an unprecedented level.

“The phenomenon of globalisation itself, characteristic of our epoch, is not only a social and economic process, but also entails humanity itself [that] is becoming increasingly interconnected, crossing geographical and cultural boundaries,” the Pope said.

The Pontiff also quoted the words of the Second Vatican Council, that “all peoples are one community and have one origin, because God caused the whole human race to dwell on the face of the earth; they also have one final end, God.”

“Welcoming refugees and giving them hospitality is for everyone an imperative gesture of human solidarity, so that they may not feel isolated because of intolerance and disinterest”, Pope Benedict said.

sequent feast on each Sunday of January at Kalamunda, Whitford, the Redemptorist Monastery and Rockingham.

Philippines Honorary Consul General Gerry F Donnelley crowns the Santo Nino King 2011, Krytian Vincynth Bonete, assisted by Dante C Maribbay, President of Damayang Filipino Inc. Looking are other contestants (L) Roeland Victor Gastardo 2nd Runner-up (middle) Santo Nino Kind 2010 Emmanuel James Vaselote (R) Christian James de la Fuente, third Runner-up. Not in the photo is Travis Marte Schiller, first runner-up.

PHOTOS: COURTESY DANTE MARIBBAY

Symbolic offering - The Rosary offered by Maria Divinagracia.

Santo Nino King Krystian Vincynth Bonete waves to the audience before taking his throne, assisted by Dante Maribbay.

Archbishop Antonio Maria Vegliò, president of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travellers, will be in Perth in May. The prelate’s statements urging Bishops, priests and lay to help migrants is based on the dignity of man.

PHOTO: CNS

Dawesville key to Catholic

Continued from Page 1 Wenham popularised St Damien in the 1999 movie Molokai: the story of Fr Damien, Fr Leon said the missionary priest is a great model of heroism and self-sacrifice for children and men.

When canonising Fr Damien de Veuster, the 19th century Belgian missionary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary Order who ministered to people with leprosy in Hawaii before dying of the disease, Pope Benedict XVI said he typified the Christian vocation of radical conversion and self-sacrifice made “with no thought of human calculation and advantage”.

Fr Leon said the parish is a perfect example of the Church’s missionary focus, without which it goes nowhere.

“It’s important that the Church keeps opening parishes,” said Fr Leon, who has previously overseen the building of churches in Hopetown, Dunsborough and Busselton. This is what ‘the New Evangelisation’ is all about, he said.

“If the Church isn’t constantly reaching out and opening up new territory but just worrying about maintenance, it’s going backwards,” Fr Leon said.

Dawesville was blessed to have the eight acres for the school and church donated by Mandurah real estate family company H & N Perry, with the $1.6 million cost of the church and presbytery helped by $162,000 in cash donations and another $70-80,000 in kind.

Over 100 parishioners and even some of their non-Catholic spouses

also volunteered to paint, clean, lay carpet, clear land, weed and plant to prepare the new grounds.

But Fr Leon said that while this was a “great outpouring of generosity”, not every parish is so lucky. He stressed that communities “really need to financially support new churches”.

“If they saw the need to, say, lend money for 10 years, interest free, it would help a parish start. We were lucky to get the donation, but it’d be very daunting for a priest to open a church with just the parish collection,” he said.

The blessing and dedication of St Damien’s occurred six years to the day after Bishop Holohan established the parish in Dawesville in early 2006. Mass was celebrated at the Falcon Community Hall for

Clockwise, this page from above: the completed St Damien’s Church in Dawesville, Fr Leon Russell opens the church for the first time, Judith Gardiner and Barbara Pannell clean the altar to dress it after the Bishop rubbed the oil into it, Fr Russell proclaims the Gospel during Mass, altar boys process out of the church after Mass, local Mayor Paddi Creevey acknowledges the traditional owners of the land, Kaye Seeber and Brendan McGurk read the First and Second Readings, an acolyte chats to parishioners before Mass, and the Stations of the Cross in the church.

PHOTOS: ANTHONY BARICH, MELINDA WELLS

Church’s mission to evangelise

about a year prior to that. Fr Leon said the 420 baptisms in six years at the parish reflect how fast the parish has grown, with people “feeling they belong now to a parish”.

Initially, the school set up its assembly area for the parish’s weekend Masses before Catholic Education WA director Ron Dullard suggested the area be enclosed with glass sectional doors and invited the parishes of Mandurah and Dawesville to assist in funding the sacred space.

The parish used the school’s facilities for five years until the church was completed, and today the reciprocal relationship between school and parish continues.

The school brings its children to Mass and teaches them to genuflect, bless themselves and treat the space

with reverence, while the children are also taught about the Mass.

“This is bearing fruit in a wonderful, prayerful way as the children attend Masses in the church,” a parish statement said.

During the Mass, Paddi Creevey, Mayor of Mandurah and a parishioner of St Damien’s, acknowledged the traditional owners of the land. Anglican Bishop Brian Kyme and his wife along with Anglican Minister Pam Halbert also attended, as the local Anglican community uses the church for its Sunday Masses.

The church was also set to host an interfaith gathering on 27 January with local Anglican, Pentecostal and Buddhist faiths.

Catholic priests from Bunbury and Perth also attended a special

Personal conversion, openness to Christ key to Catholic community

BY ANTHONY BARICH

THE newly dedicated and consecrated Church of St Damien in Dawesville is first and foremost about its parishioners’ identity as Christ’s people and their relationship with Him, Bunbury Bishop Gerard Holohan said.

In his homily during the 23 January Mass, the prelate said the important thing is to do what Christ said in Scripture – repent and believe in the Gospel.

This means drawing on Christ’s power He offers through the Sacrament of the Eucharist that is His sacrifice for His people, by turning away from sin and being open to that healing power to transform their lives.

The various parts of the church that were anointed with the Oil of Chrism symbolise this in various ways. Baptism, where we come into communion with Christ’s death, is “like surgery” –it roots out our original sin. But, like after surgery, vigilance and much work still needs to be done to maintain the body.

The lectern, from where the Word of God is read, reminds the congregation that they come to Mass with their questions and struggles about life, and through the Word their eyes are opened gradually, if they open themselves to Christ to renew them. The power of God is then able to

ATTENTION!

Mass on 24 January at St Damien’s to celebrate its consecration for those who could not attend the 23 January dedication Mass due to their own parish commitments.

At the 23 January opening, guests came from Perth, Morawa, Kukerin, Dunsborough, Busselton and Bunbury.

The Catholic Development Fund in Bunbury helped fund the church building, while the parish recognised the “invaluable contribution” of Fred Miltrup, after whom the meeting room was named, Don Allen and John Hennessy.

St Damien’s Catholic Church is on Nyabing Pass, Dawesville, accessed from the highway via Ocean Road. Times of weekend Masses are Saturday, 6pm and Sunday, 8.30am.

take effect in their lives as they grow in love of God.

The altar, where the bread and wine is transformed into the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ, is where Christ offers His saving power to help man overcome sin.

Christ also shares in this sacrament the saving power of His Resurrection to help us forgive, love and be more generous in this world as He calls us to be.

Once Christ is present on the altar after the consecration, He’s freeing us from our sin if we are open to that power, Bishop Holohan said.

“Without those means, we are like a tennis club, that may gain or lose members depending on who’s interested,” the prelate said.

The baptismal ceremony, linked to the blessing of the key elements of the church, the walls that gather people into the church, the altar and the lectern, call Catholics to conversion, he said. They help us see who we are as members of Christ’s body.

In this way, “this church will always be a reminder of what Christ offers us because of who we are” – His baptised people.

“We may be present in church, but unless we admit our failings and sin and are open to Christ’s saving power, we’re not really part of this communion, this community,” he said.

Clergy, Chaplains, Lay Pastoral Ministers, Pastoral Workers and Associates, Parish Secretaries, Carers, Support Group Workers and Volunteers

ACCREDITED COURSES 2011 Prerequisites N/A

Presented by Gerry Smith, Experienced Grief Counsellor and Educator

Venue: St Catherine’s House of Hospitality, 113 Tyler Street, Tuart Hill (Parking at rear of building)

Term one: WORKING WITH THE SICK AND THE DYING

9th February – 30th March, Eight consecutive Wednesdays (9.30am -12noon)

Term two: WORKING WITH THE BEREAVED

11th May – 29th June, Eight consecutive Wednesdays (9.30am – 12 noon)

Term three: GOOD COMMUNICATION IN PASTORAL CARE

27th July -14th September, Eight consecutive Wednesdays (9.30am – 12 noon)

Term four: HEALTHY CARER…. HEALTHY CARING

13th October – 7th December, Eight consecutive Wednesdays (9.30am- 12 noon)

These courses are designed to assist the development of existing skills, so that the Pastoral Carer will Minister even more effectively, with competence and confidence.

Course fees $125.00 Per term or $440.00 for all terms

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND ENROLMENT

Please contact: Grief Management Educational Services P/L Telephone (08) 9344 4438

Email:gerry.gmes@bigpond.com

Left, Fr Leon Russell cuts the cake after the dedication Mass. Above, a stained glass window of Mary in the Church and a Dawesville Catholic Primary School student with the icon of St Damien.

Maureen Allen carries the lectionary with students from Dawesville Catholic Primary School.

For better or worse, sort of...

The current push to legalise what is described as ‘same-sex marriage’ can only have emerged from a culture, now global in many respects, that has forgotten what marriage really is and no longer understands its fundamental importance to either individual fulfilment and happiness or to the common good. As noted in last week’s editorial, Australia began its own formal crisis of marriage in the early 1970s when Lionel Murphy, the-then Federal Attorney General in Gough Whitlam’s Labor government, introduced the concept of no-fault divorce. The current push for same-sex marriage really flows from a decades-long progressive decline in belief and understanding of what marriage is. Among the quite interesting questions are where this progression will eventually lead.

Marriage between a man and a woman has key social effects. This is excluded in the current debate which interprets the issue as purely a matter of rights - but only for some people. Among these are the mutual good, health and wellbeing of two spouses who journey together for life. Marriage between a man and a woman, understood in the natural and normal sense, has been roundly studied by social scientists the world over and everywhere has been found to be the most beneficial institution for human existence and daily life. Marriage provides love, care, emotional and financial security, a lifelong context for journeying together and can be described in a very real sense as the most perfect personal and social welfare system ever known to man. But it is more than that. One of the most profound observations ever made of the mystery of marriage between a man and a woman was by GK Chesterton, who once wrote “Two and two will always be four, but one plus one is infintely more.”

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Another effect is the wellbeing of children. It is forgotten in the current debate and obscured by the highly enthusiastic Greens and the gay lobby that children have rights. In fact, the push for same-sex marriage can only succeed if people who must make the decisions accept that children should have less rights. How?

More than half a century’s research everywhere has repeatedly shown that by every indice known to the social sciences it is the nuclear family made up of a mother and father in the stable relationship of committed heterosexual marriage that is the single best context for individuals, especially children, ever known to human history.

Another aspect of the debate is that to argue for legalising samesex marriage is really to tell children and society that femininity, or, depending on the circumstances, masculinity, is not all that important. In a certain but real sense, the concept of same-sex marriage is, for the most part, a slight against women in their unique capacity and genius as mothers and, one might add, precisely as feminine individuals. One says ‘for the most part’ because in reality the concept of same-sex marriage is primarily a push by same-sex attracted men who want legal recognition of their current relationship.

Meanwhile, the paradigm of ‘rights’ within which the debate is being framed, of necessity ignores the complementarity of the sexes and the unique contributions to each other’s lives and to those of their children that only a man and a woman can best make in the strange and unique unity we call marriage.

To put it at its simplest: gay men who support same-sex marriage have to agree with the proposition that femininity is of no essential importance to anyone, and especially not children. That’s an obviously problematic assertion. At a wider level, proponents of same-sex marriage are arguing that masculinity or femininity are deletable characteristics with no deeper and underlying meaning or importance. This is also one of the most interesting, but again obscured, aspects of the current debate, but it does throw into sharp relief the absence of any real underlying philosophy or coherence to the gay lobby’s position (especially when one considers the welfare of children).

This point leads into another, again obscured, aspect of the issue. Marriage can only work and function at its maximum best when it is lived in fidelity. To succeed, spouses must remain faithful to one another. This can, on occasion, be a difficult task which some of the great novelists, such as the largely unknown Singrid Undset, Leo Tolstoy and Graham Greene, have studied in masterly ways. It is part of the process of being alive that people can be tempted. Nevertheless, the essence of adultery is that it is a betrayal - of one’s spouse and of one’s children. But here is a massive and, so far, entirely unacknowledged practical problem for proponents of same-sex marriage: gay men find it near impossible to remain faithful to their partners. This fact is backed up repeatedly by reputable research and repeatedly discussed by gay writers themselves.

Even proponents of same-sex marriage find it difficult to justify or explain away this sad reality of same sex attraction among males, who would be the overwhelming beneficiaries of legalisation, although one of the more interesting examples of an attempt to deflect people away from thinking too much about what this really means came from the lips of American same-sex marriage proponent Joy Behar, speaking on the US’s ABC on 26 February last year.

“They,” she said, referring to gays, “don’t take monogamy and infidelity the same way that the straight community does.” Such things as fidelity, she added, don’t have the “same weight” with gays as with straights. One admires at least her mental agility in attempting to equate the extraordinary difficulty of fidelity between same-sex men with a mere matter of interpretation of what is conventional but her answer was, nevertheless, revealing. One clearly has grounds to ask why the concept of marriage, impossible to transfer to any two persons other than a man and a woman, should be extended to the very group most habitually, indeed serially, incapable of living marriage’s most fundamental dimension.

Letters to the editor

Vines can help obscure concrete...

Your editorial Death by Committee (12 January 2011) sounded like: bring back the good old days, when a church had a steeple and was a clone of its Gothic ancestors?

Certainly, the architecture and interior design of some local and country churches lacks imagination and leaves a lot to be desired and this can prove to be a distraction to prayer and a drain on the body, personal and corporate.

This raises the question: What is a modern church supposed to look like? What is a church building supposed to do?

We can learn much about sacred space and sacred geometry from the great Cathedrals of the past where great artistry and imagination took on the design challenges of their day.

They are buildings of enduring beauty.

They call us to enter their space to contemplate and experience the eternal mysteries.

This is the design brief for any ecclesial design.

From a committee’s point of view, there might be a perception that artists are unnecessary and good design costs more, but bad design is literally set in concrete.

As the famous US architect Frank Lloyd Wright observed: “The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise his client to plant vines”.

Angela King

Eugenic confusion

Iread with interest the two articles on eugenics and related matters in The Record of 19 January.

My understanding is that eugenics is the attempt to “improve” the human race by selective homicide, sterilisation or both. Euthanasia is homicide intended as a kindness to people whose lives have become burdensome to them. (So-called involuntary euthanasia is just murder.) There does not seem to be a single word for selective abortion or infanticide based on physical perfection or desired sex.

A common belief underlies all of these things: that people have the right or even the duty to kill or prevent the birth of other people. I suppose that is why the Bishops have, so to speak, mentioned them in the same breath. However, eugenics, euthanasia and selective abortion/infanticide are not one and the same thing.

Parents who abort a boy because they wanted a girl are not engaging in eugenics. Unfortunately, Bishop Elliott’s reported words about a “eugenics mentality” may promote muddled thinking in this area.

Ed May Lesmurdie

Death by Committee

As a regular and enthusiastic reader and supporter of The Record for decades, I would like to comment on two of the articles recently featured in The Record

The first is a comment on the editorial Death by Committee ( The Record, 12 January 2011). Whilst wholeheartedly agreeing with its sentiments in relation to Church architecture, I would also add that in the modern home building industry, one also ‘sees the apparent victory of the bland and inoffensive.’

We see it in the overpriced, flimsy, square boxes with cold, clinical, interior designs which suggest laboratories rather than homes.

They are squeezed onto ever shrinking blocks, which can hard-

ly accommodate a tree, or a shrub. This, I am told by real estate agents, is the modern trend for homes.

If that is indeed the case, what do these structures say about the way our civilisation is developing? Is it a sign that along with the traditional family the traditional idea of the Australian home is disintegrating?

My final comment is related to the article by Fr Fernandez, Refugees and Levites (Record, 19 January 2011): I am more troubled by the fact that the ‘boat people’ are brought here by people smugglers, a fact which Father does not mention.

Are they not guilty of cheapening human life by encouraging people to risk being smashed against rocks in an unforgiving ocean? People smuggling, whether for immigration or prostitution, is an evil trade. Father, quite rightly, says Christians should look upon everyone as our brothers and sisters but as Christians we cannot avert our eyes from tragedies such as occurred off the rocky coast of Christmas Island.

These asylum seekers were brought here by people smugglers who had been paid for their services. If we really care about asylum seekers, we will discourage the people smugglers who obviously see their clients as expendable and a way of earning money through their desperation. They will of course justify their actions by saying they are providing a service for asylum seekers who are willing to pay them.

I think that until the perception is dispelled in the minds of the public that ‘boat people’ who have been made highly visible by a sensation loving media are a drain on society, hostility to them will remain. This can only be achieved by a sensible immigration programme, which this country once had, and a more realistic approach to the numbers of refugees Australia should take considering the state of our region. Hope these comments are useful.

Patricia Halligan Mandurah

Fr Blasco uses adverts to post the way home

BY BRIDGET SPINKS

For one week in the lead up to Christmas last year, the new parish priest at St Mary’s, Guilford invited the locals to “Come home for Christmas” by advertising in local newspapers The Echo, and The Midland Reporter

Fr Blasco Fonseca, who was appointed parish priest of St Mary’s, Guildford in mid-October last year, has come bringing a desire to reach out to the parishioners and to those in the local area.

Nobody can tell you the impact this advertising had, Fr Blasco, the former parish priest of East Fremantle, said.

“The main thing is that we’re trying to connect to people and say we exist,” he said.

St Mary’s parish, Guildford, established in 1860, has an average

in brief

UNDA offers early

Year 12 students from St Mary’s Anglican Girls’ School, Alexandra Ioppolo, Cassandra Pynes, Bethan Callaghan and Erin Clarke, were awarded an Early Offer for 2011 from The University of Notre Dame Australia on 10 December.

Provost Professor Mark

One of Fr Blasco Fonseca’s advertisements.

turnout of 70 parishioners across its three weekend Masses.

It’s a small parish and people don’t know each other, he said.

“But we’re trying,” he said.

Apart from putting up the Nativity Scene at Christmas, the

McKenna and St Mary’s Principal Lynne Thomson gathered with UNDA and St Mary’s staff to congratulate the students at a morning tea in the University’s Carolyn Tannock Courtyard. UNDA’s Early Offer Programme was introduced by UNDA to give secondary schools the opportunity to nominate their students. Nominations are received from schools throughout WA.

parishioners had not decorated the church before, but last year Fr Blasco invited them to help, which made a difference, he said.

“Requesting volunteers to help and getting a few people involved did help because parishioners did express appreciation of the Advent and Christmas symbols and decorations when they were up,” he said.

In January, there was a parish busy bee at the parish and some people cleaned the sacristy.

Ten parishioners and Fr Blasco attended the latest parish council meeting on 17 January to discuss ways the parishioners could associate with one another as well as how they could reach out.

Since there haven’t been many occasions to meet, he said, a BBQ dinner is being planned for late March to get parishioners to come together.

LIFE & STYLE

Ssshhhhh! don’t mention... The ‘M’ word!

Let’s face it. Most people outside the Church think that Christians have a hang-up about issues like decency and are obsessed with modesty. Many think the Christian ideal of modesty is little more than puritanical, the desire to obscure anything that might betray that a woman is a woman. But, dissatisfied with dominant cultural messages, more and more women are discovering true beauty is more than skin deep ...

“There is no benefit in watching circus freaks perform. They’re using their God-given talents in unproductive ways.”

BY JIM GRAVES National Catholic Register

Gospel singer-turned-pop star Katy Perry recently raised the ire of some parents when she performed a segment for preschoolers on Sesame Street in a dress that appeared to have a plunging neckline (it was actually a flesh-coloured mesh that went to her neck).

Singer Lady Gaga, in one of her many outrageous publicity stunts, appeared on the September 2010 cover of Vogue Hommes Japan wearing only pieces of raw meat strung together to create a skimpy bikini (she also turned heads when she wore a somewhat more modest meat dress to MTV’s Video Music Awards in September).

The entertainment industry has long presented

attractive young female performers in various states of undress to millions worldwide, often to young people on whom it makes a significant impact.

It’s scandalous, and a waste of time and talent, says model and Catholic speaker Leah Darrow: “There is no benefit in watching circus freaks perform. They’re using their God-given talents in unproductive ways.”

Says Darrow, “When I ask teens, ‘Are their outfits appropriate?’ They say ‘No’. But I tell them when they watch their videos over and over, they’ll begin to think the way they dress and act is no big deal. In one of Lady Gaga’s videos [Alejandro] she dresses as a nun and eats a Rosary. That’s not entertainment; it’s just a bunch of sleazy images.”

Darrow herself was once a part of the upscale fashion world in New York City and was a contestant on the reality TV show America’s Next Top Model, but had a change of heart and now works and speaks full time about chastity, modesty and women in the Church.

“My focus is on helping women be the best they can be,” she said.

Farm Girl

Darrow, 31, grew up on a farm in Oklahoma, the oldest of six children. Her father worked in the technology field during the day and on the farm in the evenings. The Catholic faith was important to

the family, including Sunday Mass and daily family Rosaries. When her grandfather was murdered during a robbery, her parents took the family to church to break the news and pray.

“They didn’t know how else to do it,” Darrow said. “For me, it reinforced the message: When things go bad, come to the Lord. He understands.”

The family moved to St Louis, and Darrow began modelling in college. She auditioned and was accepted for America’s Next Top Model and became one of 14 girls who made it on the show. “It was stressful and uncomfortable,” she recalled. “You didn’t know anyone on the show, and there was a lot of pressure to be perfect. The girls could be very catty.”

Camera crews followed the girls around the clock; Darrow remembers when they filmed her sleeping (actually praying the Rosary under her blanket, but the Rosary beads never made it on the air). There was much tension as the girls waited for their turn to be called for their modelling segments. Darrow was both hurt and relieved when she became the second girl to be eliminated.

She left home and went to New York City to pursue a modelling career. Although she went to Mass and carried her Rosary with her wherever she went, she drifted away from the practice of the faith. Her parents were unhappy with many of her lifestyle Please turn to Page 11

From America’s Next Top Model to lobbyist for chastity: former New York model Leah Darrow quit on the spot when she realised she was about to ‘lose her soul.’ Now she’s helping others avoid media and peer pressure to act and dress merely as an object for others’ appetites.

Fashionable and t

BY MARY ANNE MORESCO

Bright red and yellow leaves danced in the breeze as I pulled into the high school one fine autumn day. The merry sense of welcome they created didn’t last long. It ended when I spotted a gaggle of girls strutting about in revealing clothing that would have put Sodom and Gomorrah to shame.

Nor did this particular crowd represent an exception to the rule.

Throughout the school, as I soon saw, immodesty was as ubiquitous as it was bold.

Stupefied, I returned home and called the school’s vice principal. I referred to the school’s dress code and asked what could be done to address the pervasive immodesty.

Addressing me as if I had recently flown in from some distant planet, the vice principal assured me that the school was “too large” to do anything.

And then there were priorities. The school had clearly decided, for example, that it wasn’t “too large” for a host of other activities.

It wasn’t “too large” for football, for soccer, for homecoming dances, for assemblies and frivolities of all sorts. It wasn’t “too large” to teach a young girl how to navigate an automobile on the town roads. But, evidently, it was much too large to teach a young girl to navigate morals on the road of life.

The vice principal’s attitude toward the collapse of modesty reflects the perspective of the culture at large. It can be summed up in two words: Why bother?

There are a plethora of reasons to “bother,” but the most important reason rests with the girls themselves. Modesty protects the mystery of persons, as the Catechism reminds us (No 2522). Quicker than the eye can blink, immodesty can dispel mystery in a girl. And once that mystery is dispelled, what fills the void? Will a school or a town simply stop thinking of girls? It most surely will not. Instead, it will begin to think of them in a distorted way. It will begin to think of them as objects.

Webster’s defines an object as a “tangible and visible” entity. Immodesty so funnels attention onto a girl’s “tangible” body that it dismisses the intangibles that comprise her personality and immortal soul.

Girls, once admired for their beautiful eyes, smiles, compassion, dignity or grace — or perhaps how they lovingly cared for younger siblings or patiently sat with an older grandparent — are now bluntly and crudely referred to as “hot.” Is it any wonder that America has successfully bred multiple generations of anorexic, bulimic and depressed young girls, each one struggling in vain to be a perfect “object”?

The more a girl is protected from being viewed as an object, the more likely she will be viewed as a mysterious gift from heaven with hopes, joys, sorrows, talents, thoughts, feelings, likes, dislikes and a precious personality all her own. It’s only then that her soul, made in the image and likeness of God, can begin to shine through. Each girl yearns for this, whether she knows it or not, because that is the truth of who she is, and of who she was made to be.

One major offence against modesty, so widely accepted in our day, is high hemlines. High hems among

women are a relatively recent development. Throughout history, it was as if women, in their wisdom, instinctively saw themselves in need of the protection modesty offered. Prior to the early 1900s, for centuries, hemlines wavered somewhere between floor length to just above the ankle. Skirts began to slowly rise about the year 1912. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

Mormons excel at fashion blogging

BY K ATIE HINDERER

Not surprisingly I read a lot of fashion blogs, always with the hope of finding a new one that espouses the same set of values I do – feminine and dignified fashion that is both current and economical.

Interestingly enough, lately at least half the fashion bloggers I come across who seem to know what they are

In 1912, Margaret Sanger began to actively promulgate the concept of artificial birth control. Artificial birth control removed consequence from action, and thus led men toward the indiscriminate use of women as sexual objects. Is it coincidence that the promulgation of artificial birth control is timed precisely with the onset of higher hems, which reflect that objectification?

doing and excelling at it are Mormon.

Unlike other religious groups, they tout their religion proudly and without apology on their blogs.

Sometimes they talk about their religion and the manifestations it has in their everyday life, but mostly they just talk fashion just like every other fashion blogger out there.

A good number of them are ‘Outfit of the Day’ bloggers, in which they showcase what they wore that day.

All their outfits are modest without being overly prudish or oldfashioned.

In addition to giving good fashion example, a number of

Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae explained how artificial birth control can ‘open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. … A man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the

them are young, happily married and starting families.

I find their candour about religion, family and fashion refreshing.

They aren’t embarrassed by their faith and interestingly enough, when it comes to fashion blogging, their faith doesn’t impede them from being some of the top bloggers in the field.

I’ve mentioned Elaine from Clothed Much on this blog before.

She’s got great style and is probably the best known Mormon fashion blogger out there today.

But there are also Sydney from the Daybrook and

satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.’

The birth control pill was fully legalised in 1965 and, in 1966, skirts rose to “miniskirt” level again linking the advancing of contraception with increasing immodesty. Presumably, if one could protect women from pregnancy through contraception,

Reachel from Cardigan Empire. They each bring their own voice and fashion inspiration to the field while staying true to their faith.

There is a whole network of Mormon fashion bloggers.

What I find so interesting about this is that no other religious group, at least that I have seen, has such a network of successful fashion bloggers.

Do you know any bloggers who excel at what they do and also proudly stand by the faith they profess?

Katie Hinderer edits the Tiger Print fashion blog for Mercatornet at www.mercatornet.com/tiger_print Fasionable Mormon Reachel from www. car

ARTWORK BY BRIDGET SPINKS / AR

Elegant, stylish and modern trendy

one would not need clothing for that purpose. Contraception may have “protected” some women from becoming mothers. But contraception could never do what modest clothing does so well. It could never protect women from being viewed, and treated, as objects.

Contraception has led us down a dark path where every day women now delight in being viewed as

“sexy” rather than decent, dignified or attractive. It’s a disturbing path where motherhood, a most miraculous vocation, is routinely shunned. It’s a path on which ordinary women, having been objectified for so long, now freely objectify themselves.

One can sympathise with school principals who do try to promote modesty. Some have struggled valiantly. They’ve disciplined students and sent letters to parents. But what often happens next is what I call the “yo-yo sleeper” principle. The skirts come down for a while, and then, as if they were a yo-yo on a string that was merely doing a sleeper trick, the skirts go right back up.

How do we win the battle for modesty? We need to ask God to help us. We can pray for a spirit of modesty in our homes and throughout the world. We can heed the message of Fatima, where Our Lady told the children that many fashions will arise that will offend Our Lord very much. We can follow what Our Lady asked of us at Fatima: reciting the Rosary daily, honouring the five first Saturdays at Mass, offering sacrifices, and consecrating ourselves and our families to her Immaculate Heart.

And we can examine our own consciences. As mothers, are we modelling modesty in the home for our children? Are we covered from the neck to the knees, and is our clothing loose-fitting? Are fathers expressing dissatisfaction with suggestive clothing, and forbidding it in the home? Are we discouraging television shows that promote immodesty? Are we teaching girls that they can be attractive without being provocative?

Families can’t fight this battle alone. Families need schools and churches to help. The importance of modesty needs to be elevated above the importance of activities like sports. Girls need to see teachers, administrators and peers actively modelling modesty.

And to reach the real root of the problem, we need Catholic schools and colleges to teach the beautiful, liberating truths of Humanae Vitae and the Catechism on modesty (see Nos 2521-23). We also need to hear these truths proclaimed from Catholic pulpits everywhere.

What should we do about immodesty? That answer may be different for each of us. But immodesty has so wounded our girls for so long that the answer to that question, for any one of us, can no longer be “nothing.”

Let’s bother.

Continued from Page 9 choices. Darrow said of the modelling world, “Although not all modelling is bad, much of it is dehumanising. The dignity of the person is of little importance. You’re just a body. And it’s also very important what parties you go to and who you are with. A lot of people are sad in the industry, although they cover it up. You’re just supposed to do your job, be a professional.”

Time to Go Home

Despite the money and notoriety, Darrow was unhappy and tired. It was on one particular modelling shoot for an international magazine that she decided it was time to go home.

She met with the photographer and was given a particularly skimpy outfit to wear. She was embarrassed to put it on, but went ahead, telling herself it was just a job and she had to do it.

As the shoot was nearly complete, she had a mystical experience of sorts, which she called a moment of grace. She pictured herself before God after her death and had nothing to show for her life.

“I knew that the way I was living, I wasn’t being authentic to my faith,” she said. She quit on the spot and went home crying.

“I called my dad and said, ‘If you don’t come and get me, I’m going to lose my soul,’” she recalled. “He said, ‘Sure, baby’ and drove all the way from St Louis to New York City to get me.”

Since returning to St Louis, Darrow has become a full-time speaker, delivering as many as eight talks each month. She addresses all age groups, but most presentations are before high school and college audiences. Modesty has become a favourite topic.

“Modesty is more than just the length of a hemline,” she explained. “It’s about our conversations, how we treat people, and how we love others. Modesty protects our purity and the mystery of a person. In our society, it gets a bad rap. It’s actually quite attractive.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (2522-2523) has much to say about modesty, she points out, including, “Modesty is decency. It inspires one’s choice of clothing. It keeps silence or reserve where there is evident risk of unhealthy curiosity. It is discreet.

“There is modesty of feelings as well as of the body. It protests, for example, against the voyeuristic explorations of the human body in certain advertisements or against the solicitations of certain media

that go too far in the exhibition of intimate things. Modesty inspires a way of life which makes it possible to resist the allurements of fashion and the pressures of prevailing ideologies.”

‘The Positives of Purity’

For Darrow, modesty includes not gossiping or saying bad things about others. It includes chaste dating relationships with men, which has made dating for her much easier. In fact, for her personally, she has resolved that the only romantic kiss she will share with a man will be with her future husband.

Chris Stefani, director of Youth, Young Adult and Campus Ministries for the Archdiocese of Denver, is on the chastity speaker roster with Darrow. He has found that discussions of chastity and modesty are a particularly effective way of teaching the Gospel.

“It provides me with an opportunity to discuss the longings we all have and how we often try to fill them in the wrong ways,” he said.

Even when addressing audiences in a secular venue, he has ample statistics to demonstrate that chastity and the modest lifestyle that goes with it leads to better health, happier marriages, greater financial success and more spiritual fulfilment.

“Despite the fact that I’m speaking against the culture, the reaction I get to my talks has been amazing. People don’t realise the positives of purity.”

Darrow has become involved in Pure Fashion, a faith-based programme affiliated with Regnum Christi designed for girls aged 14 to 18. The eight-month programme teaches teens about fashion, runway style and personal presentation. Pure Fashion groups are found in cities nationwide, as well as overseas, and put on fashion shows that are both modest and tasteful. Darrow has helped put together the first Pure Fashion team in her adopted hometown of St Louis.

Her focus now is on being a good Catholic, learning her faith better (she’s currently working on a Master of Arts degree in pastoral theology from Ave Maria University) and reaching out to others through her public speaking.

She has found speaking on chastity and modesty both heartwarming and heartrending:

“When I speak, I often have girls coming up to me, crying and saying, ‘I just lost my virginity.’ It breaks my heart. That’s why I’ve dedicated my life to being an advocate for women.”  NATIONAL CATHOLIC REGISTER

Fashion message: former model Leah Darrow, above, wants to help girls see that they can be attractive without being provocative. Like growing numbers of women dissatisfied with media and marketing images, she wants to home in on the ideas and values of true feminine beauty.

Head of the Mormon fashion blogging pack: Elaine, who writes the Clothed Much blog at www.clothedmuch.com (see story at bottom of page).

fashion bloggers, L to R: Sydney from www.tandsdaybook.blogspot.com, rdiganempire.com, and Ana from www.toiltroublestyle.blogspot.com

RTICLE COURTESY NATIONAL CATHOLIC REGISTER

Conversion the path to Christian unity: Benedict

All Christians must make a serious commitment to conversion to Christ for the unity of Christians to be a reality, Benedict XVI said.

The Pope reflected on the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, under way through Tuesday, in the address he gave before praying the midday Angelus together with those gathered today in St Peter’s Square.

“To be a sign and instrument in the world of intimate union with God and of unity among men,” the Pontiff affirmed, “we Christians must base our life on these four cardinal principles: life founded on the faith of the Apostles transmitted in the living Tradition of the Church, fraternal communion, the Eucharist and prayer.”

“Only in this way, being closely united to Christ, can the Church effectively accomplish her mission, despite the limits and failures of her members, despite the divisions.

“Every division in the Church is an offense to Christ,” the Holy Father stated, noting that in Christ “we can find unity among ourselves, by the inexhaustible power of his grace.

“Serious commitment to conversion to Christ,” he concluded, “is the way that will lead the Church, in the times disposed by God, to full visible unity.”

John Paul II’s blood vial to be relic in Polish church

A VIAL of blood drawn from Pope John Paul II will be installed as a relic in a Polish church soon after his beatification.

Piotr Sionko, the spokesman for the John Paul II Centre, said the vial will be encased in crystal and built into the altar of a church in the city of Krakow, the Associated Press reports. The church, which is still under construction, will open sometime after the 1 May beatification.

The blood was drawn for medical tests shortly before the pontiff’s death on 2 April, 2005. It is now in the possession of Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the Archbishop of Krakow and former secretary of John Paul II.

Sionko said the cardinal proposed the idea of using the blood as a relic. “He is of the opinion that this is the most precious relic of John Paul II and should be the focal point of the church.”

The church, in Krakow’s Lagiewniki district, is part of a center devoted to cultivating the memory and the teaching of the late Pope, a former Archbishop of Krakow.

As part of Catholic tradition, the veneration of relics is a practice that recognizes the God-given sanctity of a saint or blessed and anticipates his or her bodily resurrection.

John Paul II’s blood would not be the first relic of its kind. The blood of St. Januarius is kept in the cathedral of Naples and liquefies every year on his feast day.

Cardinal defends marriage at Lima foundation ceremony

CARDINAL Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne of Lima, Peru has defended marriage between one man and one woman and warned that other unions are contrary to the natural order.

In his homily at a Mass commemorating the 476th anniversary of the founding of Lima on 18 January, Cardinal Cipriani told those gathered that “marriage is a life-long union between one man and one woman, despite attempts by some to propose other things.”

Lima Mayor Susana Villaran was present at the Mass.

Although the cardinal did not mention any particular political party or leader during the Mass, vice presidential candidate Carlos Bruce recently told the Peruvian daily El Comercio that same-sex ‘marriage’ “is a part of our political agenda.”

Cardinal Cipriani said such proposals “are not Catholic” because “they are not part of the natural order.”

It is essential that authentic marriage between a man and a woman be defended and promoted, he said, and it should not be used as a political bargaining chip to gauge support.

Cardinal Cipriani also noted that the anniversary of the founding of Lima should serve as an occasion to encourage values such as the comprehensive development of individuals, the common good and the family.

In Latin America, homosexual unions are legal only in Mexico City and Argentina.

Church labors in Brazil flood relief

TWO Catholic bishops in the region of Rio de Janeiro have reported on the arduous work carried out by the Church in response to torrential rains and flooding that have so far left 765 people dead.

According to a 20 January bulletin from the Civil Defense of Rio de Janeiro, the municipality of Nova Friburgo reports 357 deaths, followed by Teresopolis with 323 deaths, Petropolis with 64, and Sumidouro with 21. Regarding the Church’s efforts to address the tragedy, Bishop Filipo Santoro said the situation is dramatic as there have never been so many deaths in such circumstances. “We cannot stop speaking about the fact that solidarity is being shown everywhere,” the Bishop said, noting that many churches and schools have opened their doors to those made homeless by the floods - “a network of solidarity that can’t be measured”

Bishop Edney Gouvea Mattoso of Nova Friburgo said the work of recovering the bodies of victims is difficult but continues. “Our work has been effective in obtaining donations of basic necessities, coats, and in the fraternal and spiritual care for those affected.”

Vatican’s new evangelising strategist to target China

Archbishop-designate seeks improved Vatican relations with his native China

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - The new “number two” at the Vatican’s Evangelisation office – who will be ordained an Archbishop by Pope Benedict next month – hopes to be “an instrument in building bridges” with China, his native country.

Theologian Fr Savio Hon TaiFai’s remarks came in his presentation to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.

The Archbishop-designate was appointed as Secretary of the department on 23 December and arrived in the office on 21 January for his first day.

Archbishop-designate Tai-Fai, a well-known figure in Rome, is a member of the International Theological Commission and the Pontifical Academy of Theology.

For several years, he has taught theology at the Hong Kong seminary, and the Vatican said he has also taught at a number of other seminaries in China as a visiting professor. He was ordained in Hong Kong in 1982 and later earned degrees in Philosophy at the University of London and Theology at the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome.

He belongs to the Salesian province of China, and has held a number of important positions in the religious order.

The Vatican has been engaged in an effort to forge better relations with the Chinese government, with the aim of promoting greater respect for religious freedom in the country.

During the presentations, Fr Hon Tai-Fai first thanked Pope Benedict XVI for choosing him and “especially for the attention and the love he shows towards Asia and China in particular.”

Neither is officially recognised by the Holy See, although some affiliated bishops are in good standing with Rome.

With relations at an impasse, the Vatican made a surprise decision in selecting Fr Hon Tai-Fai for the position in the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.

The Hong Kong priest brings a wealth of knowledge and experience with the Church in China and the world to Rome. Fr Hon Tai-Fai is a member of the Religious Order called the Salesians of St John Bosco. After completing studies in London and Rome, he served in various leadership capacities in the order in Asia including as provincial superior.

He has also worked extensively as a professor of theology at the Holy Spirit College Seminary in Hong Kong and as visiting professor in other Chinese seminaries.

He has been a member of the International Theological Commission since 2004 and of the Pontifical Academy of Theology since 1999.

He also said he looks forward to working with so many experts in international missions.

In fulfilling his “new and delicate role,” Fr Hon Tai-Fai said he “would like to be an instrument in building bridges with China.”

This prospect is a welcome one for the Church, which hit a wall in relations with the Chinese government last November when officials went forward with the ordination of a Bishop without the Pope’s approval.

Further blows came when the government convened a meeting of the state-founded and run bishops’ conference, in some cases forcing bishops to attend.

Bishops who have been approved by the Vatican and others who have not were appointed during the meeting to oversee the state-run Catholic Patriotic Association and its government appointed Bishops’ conference.

The priest was also responsible for the translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church into Chinese.

The expert in theology has produced a number of academic papers and written for Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano

Now he will be putting all of that experience to work at the Vatican’s congregation in charge of the transmission and dissemination of the faith and the coordination missionary activities in the entire world.

He told Fides on 21 January that “at the beginning of this task I am very excited and I am also aware of the responsibility of this role which covers such a broad field: taking care of the pastoral life of over 1,000 ecclesiastical areas.”

He hoped to bring “fresh impetus” to the congregation’s work in the world, especially in “countries of ancient traditions and cultures, such as China and India.”

EU states can refuse suicide

STRASBOURG, France (Zenit. org) - The European Court of Human Rights has denied that states have a positive obligation to provide citizens with the means to kill themselves.

In the high-profile assisted suicide case Haas vs Switzerland, closed on 20 January, a man suffering from manic depression charged that Switzerland violated his right to private life by mandating a prescription in order to obtain a lethal substance so as to end his life.

None of the psychiatrists contacted by the applicant would give him a prescription; his condition is not fatal.

The appeal to private life was based on the scope of that term - from Article 8 of the European Convention - previously ensured by the rights court.

In 2002, the court ruled that an applicant’s choice for how to end her life was part of the private sphere covered by the

European Convention. The court thus affirms a right to suicide, though it conditions this right with two restrictions: that the individual can make up his own mind, and that he is able to perform the needed action. Hence, the court protects a sort of right to suicide, but with Thursday’s decision, it denied the existence of a right to assisted suicide stemming from the European Convention.

Grégor Puppinck, director of the European Centre for Law and Justice, noted that this new judgment confirms that one cannot rely on the Convention to claim an alleged right to euthanasia or to assisted suicide.

Furthermore, the court referenced Article 2 of the European Convention, which protects the right to life. It said that authorities are obligated to prevent a person from killing himself if the decision is not made “freely and with full knowledge.” Regarding

the applicant’s desire to obtain lethal drugs without a prescription, the court found that such a requirement aims to prevent abuse, and keep individuals from making a hasty decision.

The European Centre for Law and Justice said: “In spite of the still problematic recognition of a sort of right to suicide, a peculiar and disputable extension of the right to private life, the court doesn’t endorse the allegations of the applicant according to which the state would have a positive obligation to take measures allowing for a rapid and painless suicide.

“On the contrary, under Article 2 which guarantees the right to life, the state must ensure the protection of the life of people under its jurisdiction. Even when assisted suicide is allowed, as in Switzerland, the state must prevent abuse in the use of this faculty because of [its] obligation to protect life.”

Salesian Fr Savio Hon Tai-Fai, who Pope Benedict XVI has named as the No 2 official of the Vatican’s evangelization congregation, the Vatican announced on 23 December.

PHOTO: CNS/KUNG KAO PO, CATHOLIC PRESS

Conversion the path to Christian unity: Benedict

All Christians must make a serious commitment to conversion to Christ for the unity of Christians to be a reality, Benedict XVI said.

The Pope reflected on the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, under way through Tuesday, in the address he gave before praying the midday Angelus together with those gathered today in St Peter’s Square.

“To be a sign and instrument in the world of intimate union with God and of unity among men,” the Pontiff affirmed, “we Christians must base our life on these four cardinal principles: life founded on the faith of the Apostles transmitted in the living Tradition of the Church, fraternal communion, the Eucharist and prayer.”

“Only in this way, being closely united to Christ, can the Church effectively accomplish her mission, despite the limits and failures of her members, despite the divisions.

“Every division in the Church is an offence to Christ,” the Holy Father stated, noting that in Christ “we can find unity among ourselves, by the inexhaustible power of His grace.

“Serious commitment to conversion to Christ,” he concluded, “is the way that will lead the Church, in the times disposed by God, to full visible unity.”

John Paul II’s blood vial to be relic in Polish church

A VIAL of blood drawn from Pope John Paul II will be installed as a relic in a Polish church soon after his beatification.

Piotr Sionko, the spokesman for the John Paul II Centre, said the vial will be encased in crystal and built into the altar of a church in the city of Krakow, the Associated Press reports. The church, which is still under construction, will open some time after the 1 May beatification.

The blood was drawn for medical tests shortly before the Pontiff’s death on 2 April 2005. It is now in the possession of Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the Archbishop of Krakow and former secretary of John Paul II.

Sionko said the Cardinal proposed the idea of using the blood as a relic. “He is of the opinion that this is the most precious relic of John Paul II and should be the focal point of the church.”

The church, in Krakow’s Lagiewniki district, is part of a centre devoted to cultivating the memory and teaching of the late Pope, a former Archbishop of Krakow.

As part of Catholic tradition, the veneration of relics is a practice that recognises the God-given sanctity of a saint or blessed and anticipates his or her bodily resurrection.

John Paul II’s blood would not be the first relic of its kind. The blood of St Januarius is kept in the Cathedral of Naples and liquefies every year on his feast day.

Cardinal defends marriage at Lima foundation ceremony

CARDINAL Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne of Lima, Peru has defended marriage between one man and one woman and warned that other unions are contrary to the natural order.

In his homily at a Mass commemorating the 476th anniversary of the founding of Lima on 18 January, Cardinal Cipriani told those gathered that “marriage is a life-long union between one man and one woman, despite attempts by some to propose other things.”

Lima Mayor Susana Villaran was present at the Mass.

Although the Cardinal did not mention any particular political party or leader during the Mass, vice presidential candidate Carlos Bruce recently told the Peruvian daily El Comercio that same-sex ‘marriage’ “is a part of our political agenda.”

Cardinal Cipriani said such proposals “are not Catholic” because “they are not part of the natural order.”

It is essential that authentic marriage between a man and a woman be defended and promoted, he said, and it should not be used as a political bargaining chip to gauge support.

Cardinal Cipriani also noted that the anniversary of the founding of Lima should serve as an occasion to encourage values such as the comprehensive development of individuals, the common good and the family.

In Latin America, homosexual unions are legal only in Mexico City and Argentina.

Church labours in Brazil flood relief

TWO Catholic Bishops in the region of Rio de Janeiro have reported on the arduous work carried out by the Church in response to torrential rains and flooding that have so far left 765 people dead.

According to a 20 January bulletin from the Civil Defense of Rio de Janeiro, the municipality of Nova Friburgo reports 357 deaths, followed by Teresopolis with 323 deaths, Petropolis with 64 and Sumidouro with 21. Regarding the Church’s efforts to address the tragedy, Bishop Filipo Santoro said the situation is dramatic as there have never been so many deaths in such circumstances. “We cannot stop speaking about the fact that solidarity is being shown everywhere,” the Bishop said, noting that many churches and schools have opened their doors to those made homeless by the floods - “a network of solidarity that can’t be measured”.

Bishop Edney Gouvea Mattoso of Nova Friburgo said the work of recovering the bodies of victims is difficult but continues. “Our work has been effective in obtaining donations of basic necessities, coats, and in the fraternal and spiritual care for those affected.”

Vatican’s new evangelising strategist to focus on China

Archbishop-designate seeks improved Vatican relations with his native China

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - The new “number two” at the Vatican’s evangelisation office – who will be ordained an Archbishop by Pope Benedict next month – hopes to be “an instrument in building bridges” with China, his native country.

Theologian Fr Savio Hon TaiFai’s remarks came in his presentation to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.

The Archbishop-designate was appointed as Secretary of the department on 23 December and arrived in the office on 21 January for his first day.

Archbishop-designate Tai-Fai, a well-known figure in Rome, is a member of the International Theological Commission and the Pontifical Academy of Theology.

For several years, he has taught theology at the Hong Kong seminary, and the Vatican said he has also taught at a number of other seminaries in China as a visiting professor. He was ordained in Hong Kong in 1982 and later earned degrees in Philosophy at the University of London and Theology at the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome.

He belongs to the Salesian province of China, and has held a number of important positions in the Religious Order.

The Vatican has been engaged in an effort to forge better relations with the Chinese government, with the aim of promoting greater respect for religious freedom in the country.

During the presentations, Fr Hon Tai-Fai first thanked Pope Benedict XVI for choosing him and “especially for the attention and the love he shows towards Asia and China, in particular.”

Neither is officially recognised by the Holy See, although some affiliated Bishops are in good standing with Rome.

With relations at an impasse, the Vatican made a surprise decision in selecting Fr Hon Tai-Fai for the position in the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.

The Hong Kong priest brings a wealth of knowledge and experience with the Church in China and the world to Rome. Fr Hon Tai-Fai is a member of the Religious Order called the Salesians of St John Bosco. After completing studies in London and Rome, he served in various leadership capacities in the Order in Asia, including as provincial superior.

He has also worked extensively as a professor of theology at the Holy Spirit College Seminary in Hong Kong and as visiting professor in other Chinese seminaries.

He has been a member of the International Theological Commission since 2004 and of the Pontifical Academy of Theology since 1999.

He also said he looks forward to working with so many experts in international missions.

In fulfilling his “new and delicate role,” Fr Hon Tai-Fai said he “would like to be an instrument in building bridges with China.”

This prospect is a welcome one for the Church which hit a wall in relations with the Chinese government last November when officials went forward with the ordination of a Bishop without the Pope’s approval.

Further blows came when the government convened a meeting of the state-founded and run Bishops’ conference, in some cases forcing Bishops to attend.

Bishops who have been approved by the Vatican and others who have not were appointed during the meeting to oversee the state-run Catholic Patriotic Association and its government-appointed Bishops’ conference.

The priest was also responsible for the translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church into Chinese.

The expert in theology has produced a number of academic papers and written for Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano

Now he will be putting all of that experience to work at the Vatican’s congregation in charge of the transmission and dissemination of the faith and the coordination missionary activities in the entire world.

He told Fides on 21 January that “at the beginning of this task I am very excited and I am also aware of the responsibility of this role which covers such a broad field: taking care of the pastoral life of over 1,000 ecclesiastical areas.”

He hoped to bring “fresh impetus” to the congregation’s work in the world, especially in “countries of ancient traditions and cultures, such as China and India.”

EU states can refuse suicide

STRASBOURG, France (Zenit. org) - The European Court of Human Rights has denied that states have a positive obligation to provide citizens with the means to kill themselves.

In the high-profile assisted suicide case Haas vs Switzerland, closed on 20 January, a man suffering from manic depression charged that Switzerland violated his right to private life by mandating a prescription in order to obtain a lethal substance so as to end his life.

None of the psychiatrists contacted by the applicant would give him a prescription; his condition is not fatal.

The appeal to private life was based on the scope of that term - from Article 8 of the European Convention - previously ensured by the rights court.

In 2002, the court ruled that an applicant’s choice for how to end her life was part of the private sphere covered by the

European Convention. The court thus affirms a right to suicide, though it conditions this right with two restrictions: that the individual can make up his own mind, and that he is able to perform the needed action. Hence, the court protects a sort of right to suicide, but with Thursday’s decision, it denied the existence of a right to assisted suicide stemming from the European Convention.

Grégor Puppinck, director of the European Centre for Law and Justice, noted that this new judgement confirms that one cannot rely on the Convention to claim an alleged right to euthanasia or to assisted suicide.

Furthermore, the court referenced Article 2 of the European Convention, which protects the right to life. It said that authorities are obligated to prevent a person from killing himself if the decision is not made “freely and with full knowledge.” Regarding

the applicant’s desire to obtain lethal drugs without a prescription, the court found that such a requirement aims to prevent abuse, and keep individuals from making a hasty decision.

The European Centre for Law and Justice said: “In spite of the still problematic recognition of a sort of right to suicide, a peculiar and disputable extension of the right to private life, the court doesn’t endorse the allegations of the applicant according to which the state would have a positive obligation to take measures allowing for a rapid and painless suicide.

“On the contrary, under Article 2 which guarantees the right to life, the state must ensure the protection of the life of people under its jurisdiction. Even when assisted suicide is allowed, as in Switzerland, the state must prevent abuse in the use of this faculty because of [its] obligation to protect life.”

Salesian Fr Savio Hon Tai-Fai, whom Pope Benedict XVI has named as the No 2 official of the Vatican’s evangelisation congregation, the Vatican announced on 23 December.

PHOTO: CNS/KUNG KAO PO, CATHOLIC PRESS

Orthodox has demographic winter solution

Russian Orthodox propose measures to reduce abortion as Russia faces dramatic demographic decline

BY PAUL DE MAEYER Zenit

ROME - Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has proposed to Russian President Dimitri Medvedev a series of family policies that would restrict access to abortion, reports the Agence France Presse.

The proposals, which mark the first time the Russian Orthodox Church has suggested specific policies to the Russian government, were sent Monday, ahead of a meeting of the Council of State on the theme of the family.

Among other things, the patriarchate requests that the expenses of abortion no longer be covered by the health system (except in the case of danger to the woman’s life); it also proposes the obligation to inform women about all the negative consequences of the interruption of pregnancy and hopes, moreover, for the introduction of an informed consensus and a time of reflection.

The document of the Orthodox

Church also suggests the creation of a “crisis center” in all obstetric clinics that would be staffed by counselors and religious persons.

Aleksandr Verkhovski, of the Sova human rights center, told AFP that the partriarch offered “very moderate proposals, from a religious point of view,” but affirmed

that “the Orthodox Church, as Catholics, is categorically opposed to abortion, but in this address to the authorities, it counts on a compromise.”

Already last June, the Russian Orthodox Church had launched an appeal in favor of more severe norms to reduce abortions in the

country, in response to worries about the decreasing size of the population.

On 1 June, the archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin - an influential figure close to Patriarch Kyrill - was quoted by Reuters saying that “in Soviet times we were accustomed to abortion and to consider it an inevitable part of our legal reality with no way of turning back. But today we see that it is possible to turn back quite a bit.”

According to the archpriest, even young people without ties to the Church, or with other religious institutions, wish to see a reduction in the number of abortions.

Abortion in Russia goes back a long time.

In 1920, just three years after the revolution of 1917, Russia became the first country in the world to legalise the practice.

Prohibited again in 1936 by Stalin (with the exception of some situations), abortion was reintroduced in 1955, about two years after his death. Less than 10 years after this date, in 1964, the highest level of abortions was recorded in the history of Russia or the thenSoviet Union: 5.6 million.

The number of abortions began to drop in Russia over the span of the last decades. According to data of the Health Ministry, reported Sept. 16, 2003 by the BBC, in 1990 there were 3.92 million abortions,

Right to marry ‘not absolute’: Pope

VATICAN CITY (Zenit.org)

- The right of a man and woman to marry each other is contingent upon their juridical ability to do so, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope affirmed this in a reflection on the relationship between law and pastoral care, which he gave upon receiving in audience on Saturday the judges, officials, lawyers and collaborators of the Roman Rota, the Church’s central appellate court, at the opening of the judicial year.

Quoting Pope John Paul II’s 1990 address to the same tribunal, Benedict said: “It is not true that to be more pastoral the law must make itself less juridical.”

“The juridical dimension and the pastoral dimension are inseparably united in the pilgrim Church on this earth. First of all, there is their harmony that derives from their common finality: the salvation of souls.”

To this end, Benedict XVI embarked on a consideration of the “juridical dimension that is inherent in the pastoral activity of preparation and admission to marriage” in an attempt to “shed light on the connection between such activity and the judicial matrimonial processes.”

He noted that the relationship between law and pastoral care “is often the object of misunderstandings, to the detriment of law, but also to the detriment of pastoral work.

On the contrary, it is necessary to promote in all sectors, and in a special way in that of marriage and the family, profound harmony between the pastoral and the juridical, which will certainly show itself to be fruitful for those who approach marriage.”

Formal obligations

Regarding the place of “canonical questions” in marriage preparation courses, Benedict XVI noted a common misconception that that

“in admitting couples to marriage, pastors must proceed with generosity since the natural right of the persons to marry is in play.”

The right to marriage, or ius connubii , the Pontiff explained, “presupposes that one can marry, and one intends to authentically celebrate marriage, that is, to do so in the truth of its essence as it is taught by the Church.”

“No one can boast of a right to a nuptial ceremony. The ‘ius connubii,’ in fact, refers to the right to celebrate a real marriage.

“The ‘ius connubii,’ therefore, is not being denied where it is evident that the premises for its exercise are not present, that is, if the requested capacity to wed is manifestly lacking, or an objective is sought that is contrary to the natural reality of marriage.”

Regarding marriage preparation, Benedict XVI affirmed that the various phases have purposes that “transcend the juridic dimension,” but that “we must never forget that the immediate objective of such preparation is that of promoting the free celebration of an authentic marriage, that is, the constituting of a bond of justice and

love between the couple, with the characteristics of unity and indissolubility, ordained to the good of the spouses and to the procreation and education of children, and which between baptized persons constitutes one of the sacraments of the New Covenant.”

Lawful spouses

The Pontiff said that the juridical aspect is not promoting “an extrinsic ideological message,” nor is it imposing a “cultural model.” Rather, he explained, “the betrothed are made able to discover the truth of a natural inclination and a capacity for commitment that is inscribed in the being of their man-woman relationship. Law as an essential component of the matrimonial relation flows from here; it is rooted in a natural power of the couple that is actualised in consensual selfgiving.”

In order to assess whether or not an intended marriage, a premarriage examination must be conducted, he said.

“This examination has a principally juridical purpose: to judge that nothing is opposed to the valid and licit celebration of the

2.57 million in 1995, 1.96 million in 2000, and 1.78 million in 2002. However, despite this decline, the level of abortions exceeded that of births in 2004: 1.6 million abortions as opposed to 1.5 million births (The Times, 24 September, 2005).

Along with other factors, such as the ruin of the health system after the collapse of the USSR and the excessive consumption of alcoholic drinks (especially vodka), the high number of abortions is at the origin of a dramatic demographic decline, begun in the mid 1990s, that is, almost immediately after the collapse of the USSR.

In less than 20 years, the Russian population decreased from almost 149 million in 1991 to less than 142 million in 2010.

The effect of this demographic collapse is already visible in the educational system. According to data of the Ministry of Public Education, reported by The Times, since 1999, the number of school children fell every year by close to one million. In the 2004-2005 school year, there were 5,604 schools with only 10 pupils.

Without a drastic change of course, the tendency to decrease will continue and could lead, according to the projections of the United Nations, to 116 million inhabitants in Russia in 2050 (World Population Prospects: the 2008 Revision Population Database).

marriage,” he said, adding that the interview “a unique pastoral event,” which should be “valued for all the seriousness and attention that it demands.”

“Through a dialogue full of respect and cordiality,” he explained, “the pastor tries to help the person seriously place himself before the truth about himself and his human and Christian vocation to marriage. In this case the dialogue, always conducted with man and woman separately - without diminishing the importance of other conversations with the couple - requires a climate full of sincerity in which their must be an emphasis on the fact that those entering into the contract are the ones primarily concerned and primarily obligated in conscience to celebrate a valid matrimony.”

Annulments

Benedict XVI asserted that with more careful juridical marriage preparation, the “vicious circle” of “careless admission to marriage” and a declaration of nullity that is “sometimes just as careless,” could be broken.

“In light of this,” he continued, “it is evidently important that there be a more acute awareness of the responsibility that those charged with the care of souls have in these matters. Canon law in general, and that dealing with marriage and trials in particular, certainly demands a special preparation, but a knowledge of the basic and the immediately practical aspects of Canon Law, relative to our proper functions, constitutes a formative exigency of fundamental relevance for all pastoral workers, in particular for those who are engaged in the pastoral care of families.”

The Pontiff also urged all ecclesiastical tribunals to “send an univocal message about what is essential to marriage in harmony with the magisterium and Canon Law, speaking with one voice.”

Pope names head of UK Catholic Anglicans

LONDON - Almost immediately after he was ordained a Catholic priest along with two other former Anglican bishops, Fr Keith Newton was named head of the new ordinariate for former Anglicans in England and Wales.

The Vatican announced on 15 January that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had erected the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham “for those groups of Anglican clergy and faithful who have expressed their desire to enter into full visible communion with the Catholic Church.”

Fr Newton, 58, married and former Anglican Bishop of Richborough, was ordained to the Catholic priesthood earlier on 15 January by Roman Catholic Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster.

Also ordained Catholic priests during the Mass in Westminster Cathedral were former Anglican Bishop John Broadhurst of Fulham and former Anglican Bishop Andrew Burnham of Ebbsfleet.

The world’s first personal ordinariate for former Anglicans is dedicated to Mary, Our Lady of Walsingham, who is venerated by both Catholics and Anglicans in England.

The medieval Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in East Anglia was destroyed during the Protestant Reformation, but restored a century ago by Anglicans and Roman Catholics.

Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin attends the enthronement ceremony of Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, leader of the world’s 160 million Russian Orthodox, in Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow in February 2009. As Russia, like many other Western countries, faces its own demographic winter, the Patriarch has come up with several proposals to fight it.

PHOTO: CNS/REUTERS

Pope Benedict XVI poses with judges of the Roman Rota, a court that primarily deals with appeals filed in marriage annulment cases, during an annual meeting at the Vatican on 29 January, 2009. In a speech to the judges, the Pope said true pastoral charity and concern can never lead the church to grant an annulment to a Catholic whose marriage is valid according to Church law.

Patriach offers demographic winter solution

Russian Orthodox propose measures to reduce abortion as Russia faces dramatic demographic decline

BY PAUL DE MAEYER Zenit

ROME - Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has proposed to Russian President Dimitri Medvedev a series of family policies that would restrict access to abortion, reports the Agence France Presse.

The proposals, which mark the first time the Russian Orthodox Church has suggested specific policies to the Russian government, were sent Monday, ahead of a meeting of the Council of State on the theme of the family.

Among other things, the patriarchate requests that the expenses of abortion no longer be covered by the health system (except in the case of danger to the woman’s life); it also proposes the obligation to inform women about all the negative consequences of the interruption of pregnancy and hopes, moreover, for the introduction of an informed consensus and a time of reflection.

The document of the Orthodox

Church also suggests the creation of a “crisis centre” in all obstetric clinics that would be staffed by counsellors and religious persons.

Aleksandr Verkhovski, of the Sova human rights centre, told AFP that the partriarch offered “very moderate proposals, from a religious point of view,” but affirmed

that “the Orthodox Church, as Catholics, is categorically opposed to abortion, but in this address to the authorities, it counts on a compromise.”

Already last June, the Russian Orthodox Church had launched an appeal in favour of more severe norms to reduce abortions in the

country in response to worries about the decreasing size of the population.

On 1 June, the archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin - an influential figure close to Patriarch Kyrill - was quoted by Reuters saying that “in Soviet times we were accustomed to abortion and to consider it an inevitable part of our legal reality with no way of turning back. But today we see that it is possible to turn back quite a bit.”

According to the archpriest, even young people without ties to the Church, or with other religious institutions, wish to see a reduction in the number of abortions.

Abortion in Russia goes back a long time.

In 1920, just three years after the revolution of 1917, Russia became the first country in the world to legalise the practice.

Prohibited again in 1936 by Stalin (with the exception of some situations), abortion was reintroduced in 1955, about two years after his death. Less than 10 years after this date, in 1964, the highest level of abortions was recorded in the history of Russia or the thenSoviet Union: 5.6 million.

The number of abortions began to drop in Russia over the span of the last decades. According to data of the Health Ministry, reported 16 September 2003 by the BBC, in 1990 there were 3.92 million abor-

Right to marry ‘not absolute’: Pope

VATICAN CITY (Zenit.org)

- The right of a man and woman to marry each other is contingent upon their juridical ability to do so, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope affirmed this in a reflection on the relationship between law and pastoral care, which he gave upon receiving in audience on Saturday the judges, officials, lawyers and collaborators of the Roman Rota, the Church’s central appellate court, at the opening of the judicial year.

Quoting Pope John Paul II’s 1990 address to the same tribunal, Benedict said: “It is not true that to be more pastoral the law must make itself less juridical.”

“The juridical dimension and the pastoral dimension are inseparably united in the pilgrim Church on this earth. First of all, there is their harmony that derives from their common finality: the salvation of souls.”

To this end, Benedict XVI embarked on a consideration of the “juridical dimension that is inherent in the pastoral activity of preparation and admission to marriage” in an attempt to “shed light on the connection between such activity and the judicial matrimonial processes.”

He noted that the relationship between law and pastoral care “is often the object of misunderstandings, to the detriment of law, but also to the detriment of pastoral work.

“On the contrary, it is necessary to promote in all sectors, and in a special way in that of marriage and the family, profound harmony between the pastoral and the juridical, which will certainly show itself to be fruitful for those who approach marriage.”

Formal obligations

Regarding the place of “canonical questions” in marriage preparation courses, Benedict XVI noted a common misconception that “in

admitting couples to marriage, pastors must proceed with generosity since the natural right of the persons to marry is in play.”

The right to marriage, or ius connubii , the Pontiff explained, “presupposes that one can marry, and one intends to authentically celebrate marriage, that is, to do so in the truth of its essence as it is taught by the Church.”

“No one can boast of a right to a nuptial ceremony. The ius connubii, in fact, refers to the right to celebrate a real marriage.

“The ius connubii, therefore, is not being denied where it is evident that the premises for its exercise are not present, that is, if the requested capacity to wed is manifestly lacking, or an objective is sought that is contrary to the natural reality of marriage.”

Regarding marriage preparation, Benedict XVI affirmed that the various phases have purposes that “transcend the juridic dimension,” but that “we must never forget that the immediate objective of such preparation is that of promoting the free celebration of an authentic marriage, that is, the constituting of a bond of justice and

love between the couple, with the characteristics of unity and indissolubility, ordained to the good of the spouses and to the procreation and education of children, and which between baptised persons constitutes one of the sacraments of the New Covenant.”

Lawful spouses

The Pontiff said that the juridical aspect is not promoting “an extrinsic ideological message,” nor is it imposing a “cultural model.” Rather, he explained, “the betrothed are made able to discover the truth of a natural inclination and a capacity for commitment that is inscribed in the being of their man-woman relationship. Law as an essential component of the matrimonial relation flows from here; it is rooted in a natural power of the couple that is actualised in consensual selfgiving.”

In order to assess whether or not an intended marriage, a premarriage examination must be conducted, he said.

“This examination has a principally juridical purpose: to judge that nothing is opposed to the valid and licit celebration of the

tions, 2.57 million in 1995, 1.96 million in 2000, and 1.78 million in 2002. However, despite this decline, the level of abortions exceeded that of births in 2004: 1.6 million abortions as opposed to 1.5 million births (The Times, 24 September 2005).

Along with other factors, such as the ruin of the health system after the collapse of the USSR and the excessive consumption of alcoholic drinks (especially vodka), the high number of abortions is at the origin of a dramatic demographic decline, begun in the mid 1990s, that is, almost immediately after the collapse of the USSR.

In less than 20 years, the Russian population decreased from almost 149 million in 1991 to less than 142 million in 2010.

The effect of this demographic collapse is already visible in the educational system. According to data of the Ministry of Public Education, reported by The Times, since 1999, the number of school children fell every year by close to one million. In the 2004-2005 school year, there were 5,604 schools with only 10 pupils. Without a drastic change of course, the tendency to decrease will continue and could lead, according to the projections of the United Nations, to 116 million inhabitants in Russia in 2050 (World Population Prospects: the 2008 Revision Population Database).

marriage,” he said, adding that the interview is “a unique pastoral event,” which should be “valued for all the seriousness and attention that it demands.”

“Through a dialogue full of respect and cordiality,” he explained, “the pastor tries to help the person seriously place himself before the truth about himself and his human and Christian vocation to marriage. In this case, the dialogue, always conducted with man and woman separately - without diminishing the importance of other conversations with the couple - requires a climate full of sincerity in which there must be an emphasis on the fact that those entering into the contract are the ones primarily concerned and primarily obligated in conscience to celebrate a valid matrimony.”

Annulments

Benedict XVI asserted that with more careful juridical marriage preparation, the “vicious circle” of “careless admission to marriage” and a declaration of nullity that is “sometimes just as careless,” could be broken.

“In light of this,” he continued, “it is evidently important that there be a more acute awareness of the responsibility that those charged with the care of souls have in these matters. Canon law in general, and that dealing with marriage and trials in particular, certainly demands a special preparation, but a knowledge of the basic and the immediately practical aspects of Canon Law, relative to our proper functions, constitutes a formative exigency of fundamental relevance for all pastoral workers, in particular for those who are engaged in the pastoral care of families.”

The Pontiff also urged all ecclesiastical tribunals to “send an univocal message about what is essential to marriage in harmony with the magisterium and Canon Law, speaking with one voice.”

Pope names head of UK Catholic Anglicans

LONDON - Almost immediately after he was ordained a Catholic priest along with two other former Anglican Bishops, Fr Keith Newton was named head of the new ordinariate for former Anglicans in England and Wales.

The Vatican announced on 15 January that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had erected the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham “for those groups of Anglican clergy and faithful who have expressed their desire to enter into full visible communion with the Catholic Church.”

Fr Newton, 58, married and former Anglican Bishop of Richborough, was ordained to the Catholic priesthood earlier on 15 January by Roman Catholic Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster.

Also ordained Catholic priests during the Mass in Westminster Cathedral were former Anglican Bishop John Broadhurst of Fulham and former Anglican Bishop Andrew Burnham of Ebbsfleet.

The world’s first personal ordinariate for former Anglicans is dedicated to Mary, Our Lady of Walsingham, who is venerated by both Catholics and Anglicans in England.

The mediaeval Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in East Anglia was destroyed during the Protestant Reformation, but restored a century ago by Anglicans and Roman Catholics.

Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin attends the enthronement ceremony of Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, leader of the world’s 160 million Russian Orthodox, in Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow in February 2009. As Russia, like many other Western countries, faces its own demographic winter, the Patriarch has come up with several proposals to fight it. PHOTO: CNS/REUTERS

Pope Benedict XVI poses with judges of the Roman Rota, a court that primarily deals with appeals filed in marriage annulment cases, during an annual meeting at the Vatican on 29 January 2009. In a speech to the judges, the Pope said true pastoral charity and concern can never lead the Church to grant an annulment to a Catholic whose marriage is valid according to Church law.

Top Egypt Muslim scholars boycott Vatican dialogue

Sheik Ahmad el-Tayeb

TOP Muslim academics in Egypt have announced they are suspending all dialogue with the Vatican to protest Pope Benedict XVI’s remarks about anti-Christian violence in Egypt.

The decision of Sheik Ahmad el-Tayeb, president of al-Azhar University in Cairo, and members of the Islamic Research Academy was reported on 20 January by the website Ahram Online, a site devoted to covering news of interest to Muslims in the Middle East.

Shortly after the news was reported in Cairo, Jesuit Fr Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told reporters that the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue “is collecting the information needed to adequately understand the situation.”

“In any case,” he said, “the line of openness and the desire for dialogue on the part of the pontifical council remain unchanged.”

The news of the dialogue boycott came about a month before the scheduled annual meeting of the Joint Committee for Dialogue of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the Permanent Committee of al-Azhar for Dialogue among the Monotheistic Religions. The committee, established in 1998, meets in late February each year.

Ahram Online reported that the decision to suspend the dialogue was made unanimously in response to the Pope’s 1 January reference “to the discrimination endured by Coptic Christians in Egypt” after a bombing at a Coptic Orthodox church left 23 people dead.

Sheik el-Tayeb already had criticised the Pope’s remarks as “unacceptable interference in Egypt’s affairs.”

In a 10 January address to diplomats, Pope Benedict recalled the 31 December bomb attack on the Coptic church in Alexandria and said the bombing was a sign of “the urgent need for the governments of the region to adopt, in spite of difficulties and dangers, effective measures for the protection of religious minorities.”

The day after the Pope’s speech, the Egyptian government recalled its ambassador to the Vatican, bringing her back to Cairo “for consultation.”

Abortion on rise in US

THE United States’ abortion rate rose one per cent between 2005 and 2008, according to a new report published by the Guttmacher Institute, the research organisation that was originally an arm of Planned Parenthood.

The number of abortions soared from 744,600 in 1973 to 1,608,600 in 1990, then declined to 1,206,200 in 2005. Between 2005 and 2008, the number rose to 1,212,400.

Pope’s praise soured by Bishop’s suspension

Neocatechumenal Way is ‘precious instrument’ for Church: Pope

BY CAROL GLATZ Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI said the Neocatechumenal Way is a “precious instrument” that can bring new life to the Christian duty of evangelisation.

The Church has recognised that the Neocatechumenal Way has “a special gift that has been called forth by the Holy Spirit,” he told thousands of members of the movement during a special audience in the Vatican’s Paul VI hall on 17 January. “I exhort you to always seek a deep communion” with the priests and other Catholics belonging to the local dioceses where members of the Way are called to serve, he said.

The papal audience was an annual event in which the Pope blesses families who, responding to the request of a local Bishop, agree to go off as missionaries to assist with evangelisation efforts.

Pope Benedict noted the progress that was made in recent years starting with the Vatican’s final approval in June 2008 of a set of statutes for the Neocatechumenal Way that confirmed the movement’s unique approach to adult evangelisation, while also insisting on close ties with local Bishops and parishes and asking for changes in the way the group celebrates the liturgy.

The Pope also noted “another significant step” was made just a few days ago when the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith gave its approval of the Way’s catechetical material.

According to a 17 January press release by the movement, the material has a new name - the “Catechetical Directory of the Neocatechumenal Way” - and has been amended by the doctrinal congregation to include footnotes that

make clear the text’s references to the Catechism of the Catholic Church

In his speech, the Pope said that with “these ecclesial stamps” of approval, “the Lord today confirms and newly entrusts to you this precious instrument that is the Way, so that you can, in filial obedience to the Holy See and the pastors of the Church, contribute with new verve and zeal” to the cause of the new evangelisation.

Following the Pope’s meeting with the Neocatechumental Way, a Japanese Bishop has announced his determination to suspend the work of the Neocatechumenal Way in his diocese, regardless of the movement’s support from Rome.

Bishop Osamu Mizobe of Takamatsu acknowledged that the Vatican has reversed a decision by the Japanese

hierarchy to call a five-year halt in all activities of the Neocatechumenal Way in their country.

The Vatican has promised to send a papal delegate to investigate tensions between the movement and the Bishops.

Nevertheless, Bishop Mizobe said, “it is not permissible for any organisation or movement to use whatever power they can to stop the Bishop from taking action in his diocese.”

While the Japanese hierarchy as a whole awaits further direction from the Vatican, the Bishop announced a firm policy for his own Takamatsu diocese:

“The conclusion I have come to is that, until we have received the results of the visit of the special envoy of the Holy Father, I ask you to suspend all activities of the Neocatechumenal Way in the diocese.”

Actor to build pro-life clinic

LOS ANGELES, California (CNA)Mexican producer and actor Eduardo Verastegui has announced that his organisation, Mantle of Guadalupe, is planning to build the largest pro-life women’s clinic in the United States.

Verastegui’s announcement came during the first-ever gala held by Mantle of Guadalupe and Catholic Charities of Los Angeles.

The 15 January gala at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills brought together 300 noted guests including Philip Rivers from the San Diego Chargers, Mexican actor Karyme Lozano, actor Sean Astin from The Lord of the Rings, violinist Roddy Chong and motivational speaker Nick Vujicic.

Vujicic also received an award for his courageous testimony in defence of human life.

During the gala, Verastegui, who is the founder of Mantle of Guadalupe, reiterated his commitment to defend life and announced that the organisation’s new goal is the construction of “the largest women’s clinic in the United States.”

“I will not use my talents except to elevate my Christian, pro-life and Hispanic values,” Verastegui promised the guests.

He also introduced several young Hispanic mothers and their babies who were saved thanks to the work of Mantle of Guadalupe, who received a prolonged standing ovation.

“These babies are the fruits of Mantle of Guadalupe, they are the result of your generosity. If only just one of them were

here, everything I have done in my life recently since filming Bella would have been worth it,” he said.

Upon receiving his award, Vujicic, a young Australian – born without arms or legs – thanked God for the gift of life.

“He can turn a kid without arms or legs into His own arms and legs,” Vujicic said during remarks peppered with loud applause from the guests.

Vujicic spoke about the unique and irreplaceable role of each human being regardless of his or her disabilities. He also announced the launch of the

website Iamviable.com, which features inspirational stories.

The gala raised funds for the pro-life medical centre Mantle of Guadalupe recently opened in eastern Los Angeles. The clinic provides care for women in need and is located just a few miles from over 10 abortion clinics.

Care is provided free-of-charge and includes prenatal care, ultrasounds, natural family planning education and high-risk pregnancy care.

More information can be found at: http://www.mantodeguadalupe.org/.

Members of the Neocatechumenal Way hold their crosses as Pope Benedict XVI leads a meeting in Paul VI hall at the Vatican on 17 January. The Church has recognised that the Neocatechumenal Way has “a special gift that has been called forth by the Holy Spirit,” Pope Benedict said.

PHOTO: CNS/MAX ROSSI, REUTERS

Mexican producer and actor Eduardo Verastegui, who experienced a conversion after life as a pin-up heart-throb in a boy band, in a poster for his pro-life movie Bella.

Top Egypt Muslim scholars boycott Vatican dialogue

Sheik Ahmad el-Tayeb

TOP Muslim academics in Egypt have announced they are suspending all dialogue with the Vatican to protest Pope Benedict XVI’s remarks about anti-Christian violence in Egypt.

The decision of Sheik Ahmad el-Tayeb, president of al-Azhar University in Cairo, and members of the Islamic Research Academy was reported on 20 January by the website Ahram Online, a site devoted to covering news of interest to Muslims in the Middle East.

Shortly after the news was reported in Cairo, Jesuit Fr Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told reporters that the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue “is collecting the information needed to adequately understand the situation.”

“In any case,” he said, “the line of openness and the desire for dialogue on the part of the pontifical council remain unchanged.”

The news of the dialogue boycott came about a month before the scheduled annual meeting of the Joint Committee for Dialogue of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the Permanent Committee of al-Azhar for Dialogue among the Monotheistic Religions. The committee, established in 1998, meets in late February each year.

Ahram Online reported that the decision to suspend the dialogue was made unanimously in response to the Pope’s 1 January reference “to the discrimination endured by Coptic Christians in Egypt” after a bombing at a Coptic Orthodox church left 23 people dead.

Sheik el-Tayeb already had criticised the Pope’s remarks as “unacceptable interference in Egypt’s affairs.”

In a 10 January address to diplomats, Pope Benedict recalled the 31 December bomb attack on the Coptic church in Alexandria and said the bombing was a sign of “the urgent need for the governments of the region to adopt, in spite of difficulties and dangers, effective measures for the protection of religious minorities.”

The day after the Pope’s speech, the Egyptian government recalled its ambassador to the Vatican, bringing her back to Cairo “for consultation.”

Abortion on rise in US

THE United States’ abortion rate rose one per cent between 2005 and 2008, according to a new report published by the Guttmacher Institute, the research organisation that was originally an arm of Planned Parenthood.

The number of abortions soared from 744,600 in 1973 to 1,608,600 in 1990, then declined to 1,206,200 in 2005. Between 2005 and 2008, the number rose to 1,212,400.

Pope’s praise soured by Bishop’s suspension

Neocatechumenal Way is ‘precious instrument’ for Church: Pope

BY CAROL GLATZ Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI said the Neocatechumenal Way is a “precious instrument” that can bring new life to the Christian duty of evangelisation.

The Church has recognised that the Neocatechumenal Way has “a special gift that has been called forth by the Holy Spirit,” he told thousands of members of the movement during a special audience in the Vatican’s Paul VI hall on 17 January. “I exhort you to always seek a deep communion” with the priests and other Catholics belonging to the local dioceses where members of the Way are called to serve, he said.

The papal audience was an annual event in which the Pope blesses families who, responding to the request of a local Bishop, agree to go off as missionaries to assist with evangelisation efforts.

Pope Benedict noted the progress that was made in recent years starting with the Vatican’s final approval in June 2008 of a set of statutes for the Neocatechumenal Way that confirmed the movement’s unique approach to adult evangelisation, while also insisting on close ties with local Bishops and parishes and asking for changes in the way the group celebrates the liturgy.

The Pope also noted “another significant step” was made just a few days ago when the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith gave its approval of the Way’s catechetical material.

According to a 17 January press release by the movement, the material has a new name - the “Catechetical Directory of the Neocatechumenal Way” - and has been amended by the doctrinal congregation to include footnotes that

make clear the text’s references to the Catechism of the Catholic Church

In his speech, the Pope said that with “these ecclesial stamps” of approval, “the Lord today confirms and newly entrusts to you this precious instrument that is the Way, so that you can, in filial obedience to the Holy See and the pastors of the Church, contribute with new verve and zeal” to the cause of the new evangelisation.

Following the Pope’s meeting with the Neocatechumental Way, a Japanese Bishop has announced his determination to suspend the work of the Neocatechumenal Way in his diocese, regardless of the movement’s support from Rome.

Bishop Osamu Mizobe of Takamatsu acknowledged that the Vatican has reversed a decision by the Japanese

hierarchy to call a five-year halt in all activities of the Neocatechumenal Way in their country.

The Vatican has promised to send a papal delegate to investigate tensions between the movement and the Bishops.

Nevertheless, Bishop Mizobe said, “it is not permissible for any organisation or movement to use whatever power they can to stop the Bishop from taking action in his diocese.”

While the Japanese hierarchy as a whole awaits further direction from the Vatican, the Bishop announced a firm policy for his own Takamatsu diocese:

“The conclusion I have come to is that, until we have received the results of the visit of the special envoy of the Holy Father, I ask you to suspend all activities of the Neocatechumenal Way in the diocese.”

Actor to build pro-life clinic

LOS ANGELES, California (CNA)Mexican producer and actor Eduardo Verastegui has announced that his organisation, Mantle of Guadalupe, is planning to build the largest pro-life women’s clinic in the United States.

Verastegui’s announcement came during the first-ever gala held by Mantle of Guadalupe and Catholic Charities of Los Angeles.

The 15 January gala at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills brought together 300 noted guests including Philip Rivers from the San Diego Chargers, Mexican actor Karyme Lozano, actor Sean Astin from The Lord of the Rings, violinist Roddy Chong and motivational speaker Nick Vujicic.

Vujicic also received an award for his courageous testimony in defence of human life.

During the gala, Verastegui, who is the founder of Mantle of Guadalupe, reiterated his commitment to defend life and announced that the organisation’s new goal is the construction of “the largest women’s clinic in the United States.”

“I will not use my talents except to elevate my Christian, pro-life and Hispanic values,” Verastegui promised the guests.

He also introduced several young Hispanic mothers and their babies who were saved thanks to the work of Mantle of Guadalupe, who received a prolonged standing ovation.

“These babies are the fruits of Mantle of Guadalupe, they are the result of your generosity. If only just one of them were

here, everything I have done in my life recently since filming Bella would have been worth it,” he said.

Upon receiving his award, Vujicic, a young Australian – born without arms or legs – thanked God for the gift of life.

“He can turn a kid without arms or legs into His own arms and legs,” Vujicic said during remarks peppered with loud applause from the guests.

Vujicic spoke about the unique and irreplaceable role of each human being regardless of his or her disabilities. He also announced the launch of the

website Iamviable.com, which features inspirational stories.

The gala raised funds for the pro-life medical centre Mantle of Guadalupe recently opened in eastern Los Angeles. The clinic provides care for women in need and is located just a few miles from over 10 abortion clinics.

Care is provided free-of-charge and includes prenatal care, ultrasounds, natural family planning education and high-risk pregnancy care.

More information can be found at: http://www.mantodeguadalupe.org/.

Members of the Neocatechumenal Way hold their crosses as Pope Benedict XVI leads a meeting in Paul VI hall at the Vatican on 17 January. The Church has recognised that the Neocatechumenal Way has “a special gift that has been called forth by the Holy Spirit,” Pope Benedict said.

PHOTO: CNS/MAX ROSSI, REUTERS

Mexican producer and actor Eduardo Verastegui, who experienced a conversion after life as a pin-up heart-throb in a boy band, in a poster for his pro-life movie Bella.

Letter is no smoking gun: Vatican

Vatican ‘did not tell Bishops to cover up abuse cases’

BY CINDY WOODEN Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY - A Vatican official downplayed a 1997 Vatican letter to Irish Bishops about handling cases of clerical sex abuse, saying the letter did not tell Bishops to keep the cases secret from the police.

Jesuit Fr Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said the letter aimed at ensuring the Bishops fully followed Church law for dealing with accusations in order to avoid a situation in which an abusive priest could return to ministry on the technicality of his Bishop mishandling the process.

The letter, brought to public attention on 17 January by Ireland’s RTE television and published by the Associated Press, was written by Archbishop Luciano Storero, then-Nuncio to Ireland. The letter summarised the concerns of the Congregation for Clergy regarding proposed Irish norms for dealing with the sex abuse crisis.

Archbishop Storero said that according to the congregation, “the situation of ‘mandatory reporting’ gives rise to serious reservations of both a moral and a canonical nature.”

Fr Lombardi said: “One must note that the letter in no way says that the country’s laws must not be followed.”

He told CNS on 19 January that the Vatican “does not have a universal, specific position on mandatory reporting because the laws and situ-

ations are so different from country to country.”

However, he said, the Vatican has made it clear to Bishops that in their policies for dealing with abuse accusations and in concrete situations “they must respect the laws of their country,” including when those laws require the Church to report accusations to police or the courts.

Some news reports and some groups of sex abuse victims have pointed to the 1997 letter as evidence that the Vatican directly orchestrated the response of Bishops’ conferences to the sex abuse crisis and that even in the late 1990s, not everyone at the Vatican was convinced that abusers should be turned over to the police.

Fr Lombardi objected to the letter being presented as some kind of “proof” that the Vatican wanted to cover up cases of abuse.

Instead, he said, the letter demonstrates the seriousness with which the Vatican was taking the need to formulate and adopt comprehensive norms that could respond to the crisis, which already was affecting several English-speaking countries.

“The letter rightly insists on the fact that it is important that canon law be respected always, precisely to avoid giving the guilty well-founded reasons for an appeal, therefore obtaining a result contrary to that desired,” Father Lombardi said.

The Jesuit also said people have to realise that the letter was written before 2001 when Pope John Paul II issued new norms for dealing with abuse allegations and made the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - headed by the future Pope Benedict XVI - responsible for overseeing handling of the cases.

Church needs properly formed priests: Pope

ROME (Zenit) - POPE Benedict

XVI has underlined the Church’s need for priests who are well prepared for ministry through a strong friendship with Jesus.

Addressing a 17 January audience with members of the community from the Pontifical Polish Ecclesiastical Institute in Rome for the centenary of its foundation, Pope Benedict noted the institute’s commitment “to offer Polish priests an ideal environment for study and fraternity during the period of formation in Rome”.

“The Church needs well prepared priests, rich in that wisdom that is acquired in friendship with the Lord Jesus, drawing constantly from the Eucharistic table and from the inexhaustible source of His Gospel,” he said.

“From these two irreplaceable sources, know how to draw the constant support and necessary inspiration for your life and your ministry, for a sincere love of the Truth that today you are called to deepen also through study and scientific research and that you will be able to share tomorrow with many.

The Holy Father noted that for those priests currently living in Rome at the institute, the search for

Fears for South Sudan independence

Southern Sudanese return from North out of fear: Irish nun

BY SARAH MACDONALD Catholic News Service

DUBLIN - An Irish nun working in Southern Sudan said Southerners were returning from Northern Sudan for fear of what will happen after results of the referendum for the South’s independence are announced.

“Many of these people left up to 20 years ago. They fear that when the South officially announces its intent to separate, it will bring trouble to Southerners in the North,” said Loreto Sr Orla Treacy, principal of the only secondary school for girls in Southern Sudan’s Lakes State.

“The government and aid groups have promised the returnees support, but for now they are camping in local schools and centres. In our local parish school in Rumbek, there are 400 families; they have been there since the beginning of January,” she told CNS in an email in mid-January.

“The younger children have never known the South, and some don’t even know the local language,” she added.

The African Union Observer Mission’s preliminary verdict on Southern Sudan’s 9-15 January referendum vote on secession called the vote “free, fair and credible, a true reflection of the democratically expressed will of the people of Southern Sudan.” Results are expected to be announced in early February and the citizens are generally believed to have voted to secede.

Bishop Cesare Mazzolari of Rumbek, the capital of Lakes States, told CNS he was “moved with tears of joy to see the jubilation of the people of Southern Sudan at the referendum.”

The Bishop, an Italian, added that “at the core” of the referendum was “a quest and a longing for peace that most people elsewhere in the world cannot even begin to imagine because they have not known what these people have suffered.”

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the war mandated the independence referendum.

Despite its oil resources, Southern Sudan is one of the least-developed regions in the world with little infrastructure and no developed industry. All hopes are focused on the region’s plentiful oil deposits, though these are landlocked and the refineries are located in the North.

Bishop Mazzolari said the North is unlikely to assist the South with its development and, until the South manages to train its own skilled workers for this and other industries, it will have to rely on the international community for assistance.

The Bishop expressed concern for the well-being of returning Southern Sudanese from the North.

about the safety of Christians and Southern Sudanese who remain in Northern Sudan if the South secedes.

Sr Orla said political leaders in the South “don’t talk about rebuilding the region, they talk about building! Southern Sudan was never developed and what was built was destroyed in the last two civil wars.”

She added: “Our infrastructure is poor, education and health departments are seriously lacking. We hope that with a new nation, the country will move into the 21st century. But we have a long road to go. With poorly trained teachers and a lack of nursing and medical staff, it will take more than a generation to improve the lives of the people here.

“We have great dreams and hopes for a new Southern Sudan, but there will be struggles ahead.

truth “is stimulated and enriched by the closeness to the Apostolic See, which must give a specific and universal service to the Catholic communion in truth and in charity”.

“To remain close to Peter, in the heart of the Church, means to acknowledge, full of gratitude, that you are within a centuries-long and fruitful history of salvation, which by a manifold grace has reached you and in which you are called to participate actively so that, as a luxuriant tree, you will always bear precious fruits.

“May love and devotion to the figure of Peter drive you to serve generously the communion of the whole Catholic Church and of your particular Churches.”

In this way, he said, “as one great family, all can learn to recognise in Christ the Way, the Truth, the Life, the face of the merciful Father, who does not wish any of His children to be lost.”

The institute was initiated by St Jozef Sebastian Pelczar (1842-1924) while he was Bishop of Przemysl, Poland. It was erected on 19 March 1910 during the pontificate of St Pius X, and was solemnly inaugurated on 13 November 1910.

In 2005, civil war between the predominantly Muslim North and the mainly Christian and animist South ended after almost continuous conflict since 1983 that left two million people dead.

in brief...

Caution urged on JPII miracle

THE prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato, has cautioned against rushing to attribute a possible second miracle to John Paul II. The Cardinal refused to confirm the accuracy of reports of a second miracle that would open the door to his canonisation, but stated, “only at the end, when the investigation is over, will it be appropriate to speak about it”.

Cardinal Amato explained in a 15 January interview with

“They are a real concern both in relation to how we make a home for them and what forced them to leave the North,” he said. He and other Church leaders also have expressed concern

Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano that the congregation has advised the postulator of the late Pope’s cause for canonisation to “avoid allowing the second miracle to have the same overexposure in the media as the miracle for his beatification.”

“Exposing the doctors and experts to any kind of conditioning factor must be avoided,” he said.

Cardinal Amato also referred to the curing of a French Religious Sr Marie Simon-Pierre which has been validated as a miracle attributed to John Paul II. The miracle opened the way to his upcoming beatification on 1 May. Sr Marie was suffering from Parkinson’s, the same disease that afflicted John Paul II.

“We have many tribes, some larger than others, cautious leadership - and wise decisions will be needed to involve all tribes in the forming of a new Southern Sudan.”

“John Paul II’s death had a great impact on Sr Marie, as he died from the same disease she had. And she thought perhaps the deceased Pope could help her, since he knew the seriousness of the illness,” the Cardinal said.

Cardinal Amato said John Paul II’s canonisation will take place only if devotion to the late Pontiff takes root in Catholics.

“In other words, if the people appeal to the Servant of God to receive graces,” he explained. Everything involved in the process must be verified, as rushing to judgement “does not bear good fruit,” he added.

Cardinal Amato said that despite the speed with which John Paul II’s cause has moved forward, it has not occurred “at the expense of accuracy.”

Rebecca Kadi Loburang Dinduch, believed to be the oldest person in Southern Sudan, casts her vote at a polling station in Juba on 12 January. Said to be 115 years old, Dinduch said the referendum period was the best time in Southern Sudan’s history she had lived through.

PHOTO: CNS/GORAN TOMASEVIC, REUTERS

US monthlong observance targets ‘global travesty’ of trafficking

BY proclaiming January Human Trafficking Prevention Month, President Barack Obama signified he is “very much in touch” with a problem he has called “a global travesty,” said Julie Tanner, assistant director of socially responsible investing for Christian Brothers Investment Services.

The investment firm urges companies in its portfolio to adopt standards that would lessen the incidence of human trafficking that could be enabled by their firms, both globally and domestically.

Tanner and others engaged in the fight against human trafficking were caught unaware that Obama was going to make such a proclamation. Even so, “we’re really excited about it,” she said.

The president chose 1 January as the start in recognition of the Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect on 1 January 1863. For the end, he chose 1 February - called “National Freedom Day” in Obama’s proclamation - for the date in 1865 when President Abraham Lincoln signed the 13th Amendment banning slavery and sending it to the States for ratification. “Human trafficking is a global travesty that takes many forms. Whether forced labour or sexual trafficking, child soldiering or involuntary domestic servitude, these abuses are an affront to our national conscience, and to our values as Americans and human beings,” Obama said in his 22 December proclamation.

“From every corner of our nation to every part of the globe, we must stand firm in defence of freedom and bear witness for those exploited by modern slavery.” Trafficking opponents also were using the 6 February Super Bowl to focus on the issue, for example asking hotels to watch for signs of human trafficking, especially child trafficking, as was done during last June’s World Cup.

New York abortion rate ‘chilling’

NEW York City has one statistic in particular that it can’t be proud of and needs to change, according to local religious leaders: 41 per cent of pregnancies in the city end in abortion, almost double the national rate. In the Bronx, the borough with the highest rate, the figure is 48 per cent - nearly half of all pregnancies. The statistics were among those released in late December by the New York City Department of Health, which also reported that 87,273 abortions were performed in the five boroughs in 2009.

New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan was among a group of Catholic, Protestant and Jewish religious leaders who gathered at a 6 January news conference at the Penn Club in Manhattan to focus attention on the city’s abortion rate and to call for efforts to reduce it. “That 41 percent of New York babies are aborted - a percentage even higher in the Bronx, and among our African-American babies in the womb - is downright chilling,” Archbishop Dolan said.

“We are tragically letting down the tiniest, most fragile and vulnerable: the little baby in the womb. ... I invite all to come together to make abortion rare, a goal even those who work to expand the abortion licence tell us they share.”

Is seeing believing? Sifting the claims and proving apparitions

BY CAROL GLATZ Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY - When the Bishop of Green Bay, Wisconsin recently recognised a series of Marian apparitions from 1859, it marked the first time apparitions in the United States received official approval.

That’s quite an achievement considering that more than 1,500 visions of Mary have been reported around the world, but in the past century only nine cases have received official Church approval as being “worthy of belief,” said an expert in Marian apparitions.

The Church has made very few judgements on apparition claims.

“It’s not always possible to ascertain if they are true or false because the phenomenon is much bigger than us,” said Marianist Fr Salvatore Perrella, assistant dean at the Pontifical Theological Faculty Marianum and a theologian who also serves as an expert for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The enormous job of determining the veracity of an apparition falls to the local Bishop, said Fr Perrella. To help with that task, the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation established a set of norms in 1978 to guide the process of discernment and the investigation of reported apparitions and revelations.

The process “is never brief,” said Fr Perrella. For example, the Green Bay apparitions received approval 151 years after the first apparition was reported, but that’s just half of the nearly 300 years it took the Church to approve the apparitions of Our Lady of Laus in France, he said.

The process is lengthy because visionaries and witnesses must be questioned and “the fruits of the apparitions, such as conversions, miracles and healings” must be examined, he said.

The local Bishop sets up a commission of experts, including theologians, canonists, psychologists and doctors, to help him.

According to the norms, the Bishop and his commission “must determine the veracity of the facts

and the mental, moral and spiritual wholesomeness and seriousness of the visionary and his or her testimony,” he said.

Fr Perrella said that when the Bishop’s investigation is complete, he can come to one of three conclusions: he can determine the apparition to be true and worthy of belief; he can say it is not true, which leaves open the possibility for an appeal; or he can say that at the moment he doesn’t know and needs more help.

In the last scenario, the investigation is brought to the country’s Bishops’ conference, Fr Perrella said. If the body of Bishops cannot come to a conclusion, then the matter is turned over to the Pope who delegates the doctrinal congregation to step in and either give advice, send a commissioner and-or set up a commission to investigate.

At every step of the investigation, “the person in charge of everything is the Bishop,” he said.

The alleged apparitions at Medjugorje in BosniaHerzegovina are an example of a situation in which the country’s Bishops requested the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to intervene.

The congregation established an international commission in 2010 to investigate the claims of six young people who said Mary appeared to them daily beginning in 1981.

The apparitions apparently are continuing and thousands of people travel to the small town each month to meet the alleged seers and to pray.

Fr Perrella, a member of the Vatican commission to study the alleged Medjugorje apparitions,

told CNS the work is only just beginning.

“The Pope wants a decisive conclusion made,” he said, adding that it will be a very long process.

The case under study “is a serious thing” that is “very complex” though not impossible to resolve, he said.

For the past 30 years, people have claimed to see apparitions of Mary at Medjugorje.

Such an extended duration of alleged apparitions in one place is no longer “something that generates suspicion,” he said.

That’s because there are similar precedents such as the apparitions of Our Lady of Laus, which lasted 54 years and received formal Church recognition in 2008.

The Church approaches each claim “with the maximum prudence, investigative rigour and an invitation to live out the Gospel rather than follow the apparitions,” he said.

In fact, the Church never requires the faithful to believe in the Marian apparitions, not even those recognised by the Church, he said. But “by believing in the resurrection of Christ, one can believe in the apparition of Mary” in which Mary is actually present in her body and can be seen on earth, he said.

The Catholic Church affirms that Mary was assumed, body and soul, into heaven and that she, like Christ, defeated death and triumphs in heavenly glory with the totality of her being.

For that reason, Fr Perrella said, Mary can appear in bodily form while the saints or other deceased can’t.

“Mary never comes on her own accord; she is ‘God’s ambassador’” charged with a specific message for a specific time and place, he said.

He said that while the apparitions and messages are never the same, in general, Mary appeals for people’s conversion and seeks to assure men and women that they are not alone in the world and can depend on God’s loving mercy.

Her appearance is not meant to result in her glorification, but of God’s, he said.

Marija Pavlovic, left, prays in St James Church in Medjugorje, in what was then Yugoslavia, in this 15 August 1987 photo. Pavlovic is one of six young people who had reported visions of Mary at Medjugorje as early as 1981. An international commission has been appointed by the Vatican to study the alleged apparitions.

PHOTO: CNS

Marian expert Fr Salvatore Perrella.

PHOTO: CNS

Film shows power of faith

BY MARIANNE MEDLIN Catholic News Agency

SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNA) - Fr Gary Thomas, whose real life experience as an exorcistin-training is chronicled in the highly anticipated movie The Rite, praised the film for its positive portrayal of the Church and for its witness to the power of faith.

The movie, starring Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins and newcomer Colin O’Donoghue, is loosely based on Fr Thomas’ experience travelling to Rome and studying under an Italian exorcist in 2005.

Set to hit screens on 10 March in Australia, The Rite follows sceptical seminary student Michael Kovak (O’Donoghue) who is sent to study exorcism at the Vatican in spite of his own doubts.

Anthony Hopkins plays a character by the name of Fr Lucas – an Italian priest and veteran exorcist – who befriends Michael and helps open his eyes to the reality of demon possession and the need for the rite in the modern world.

The movie is based on journalist Matt Baglio’s 2009 book The Rite: The making of a modern exorcist Baglio befriended Fr Gary Thomas while in Rome and chronicled the priest’s studies at the Pontifical North American College and his eventual apprenticeship with a local exorcist.

Fr Thomas, currently serving as pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Saratoga, California served as a consultant for the film, particularly the scenes featuring exorcisms.

For a week in June last year, he said he was on the movie set working with cast members and producers.

The priest added that “to their credit,” the directors and producers wanted the exorcism scenes to be as accurate as possible.

“The environment of that movie set was very reverential towards the Church,” Fr Thomas said. “The producer and the director and the cast with whom I worked at the time were very open.”

Fr Thomas said he recently saw a screening of the film alongside Anthony Hopkins at a New Line Cinema studio in Los Angeles.

In his words, the movie has a “loose” basis in Baglio’s book.

One discrepancy Fr Thomas pointed out was that he went to Rome as a 50 year old seasoned priest with a desire to learn more about the rite of exorcism – hardly a cynical seminarian in the midst of a faith crisis.

Despite the differences, however, he called the film “very good.”

“The human side of the priesthood is very well developed,” he

Exorcisms continue to pique Hollywood’s imaginaton

BY SHEILA DABU NONATO Catholic News Service

TORONTO - The exorcism began after Mass as the exorcist and several parishioners gathered around a troubled young man and started praying over him, recalls Fr Joseph Muldoon, episcopal vicar of the Ottawa Archdiocese.

Fr Muldoon, who oversees the work of Ottawa’s lone official exorcist, is not an exorcist himself, but this was one of two exorcisms he assisted over the years. Both occurred outside Canada.

Fr Muldoon joined in praying for the young man who dabbled in drugs and the occult. The man exhibited one of the signs of demonic possession: a supernatural strength requiring him to be restrained by several people to prevent harm to himself and others around him. The priest performing the exorcism, trained under the ancient rite, blessed the man with holy water. He then placed a crucifix and Bible on his chest, some of the norms of the rite established in 1614.

“The priest gradually, slowly commanded the evil spirit to leave him and never to return, to be placed at the foot of the cross,” Fr Muldoon said.

The young man was invited to say Jesus’ name and pray the Our Father with the community. He was freed from the devil’s grasp, said the priest.

Exorcisms have always piqued the Hollywood imagination and provided a steady source of material for filmmakers in the horror genre. And with a new movie set for release on 10 March in Australia, plus a realityTV series on exorcists in the US, Hollywood is once again entering

said, adding that the portrayal of “the institutional Church comes out very positively.”

Fr Thomas said that given the reality of the subject matter, the experience was very powerful and even frightening for many involved in the movie.

He said that Hopkins, a professed Christian, and O’Donoghue – a practising Catholic who serves as a lector at his parish in Dublin –“very much” believe in the existence

the battleground of good versus evil.

The Rite, a film featuring Anthony Hopkins, is based on a book by journalist Matt Baglio about the accounts of an American exorcist. Meanwhile, the Discovery Channel is reported to be working on a reality show called The Exorcist Files

Fr John Horgan, a scholar on exorcisms and pastor of Sts Peter and Paul Parish in Vancouver, British Columbia, was a consultant to the 2005 movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose, loosely based on an actual case in Germany.

He cautions that Hollywood versions of exorcism usually provide a liberal interpretation of the actual rite. A scene of “being chained and tied up has nothing to do with the Catholic rite of exorcism,” he said.

“Ours is very sober, rever-

of evil and feared possible demonic attacks as a result of working on the film. “The producer and the two key actors all asked me privately if they could be attacked by doing this movie,” he said. “I said, I can’t absolutely say yes or no – which lead me to say ‘possibly.’”

“I do think that a person can get attacked, and I don’t know if they did but they were afraid,” he said. “I just tried to reassure them.”

Fr Thomas also said that the

ent. Heads do not turn around” as was made famous in a scene from the 1973 film The Exorcist, the most profitable horror film of all time. An exorcism is the ritual of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place believed to be possessed. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, an exorcism is performed by an exorcist who asks “publicly and authoritatively” in Christ’s name “that a person or object be protected against the power of the Evil One and withdrawn from his dominion.” This power comes from Jesus, who exorcised demons in the Bible.

While Hollywood may play up the drama of exorcisms, the key message about them is not how evil takes over, Fr Horgan said: It’s how the power of God always triumphs in the end.

intensely eerie trailers for the film are “deceptive” in the sense that they make it look like a “horror movie,” which he says is inaccurate.

“There’s some very riveting scenes – I wouldn’t say they’re scary, but they’re a little startling.”

Ultimately, however, “this is a movie about faith,” Fr Thomas told CNA.

“People are going to be very surprised.”

EWTN takes over Legion’s newspaper

IRONDALE, Alabama (CNS)

- The Eternal Word Television Network has signed a letter of intent to acquire the National Catholic Register Effective on 1 February, EWTN will take full control and ownership of the Register, now based in Irondale. Its editorial and business offices had been based in North Haven, Connecticut since 1995, when the Legionaries of Christ bought the paper and moved it to New England from California.

Michael Arsaw, EWTN’s president and chief executive officer, said: “All of us at EWTN have great respect for the Register and the role it has played throughout its history. It’s a tremendous legacy that

deserves to not only be preserved, but also to grow and to flourish.” Under the terms of the transaction, no cash will be exchanged between the parties. EWTN, a global Catholic network, will take over the ongoing operational expenses of the Register and will assume the paper’s future subscription liabilities. The paper grew out of the Denver Catholic Register, launched on 11 August 1905. Under the leadership of Mgr Matthew Smith, the Register system of newspapers was developed, with the first national edition appearing on 8 November 1927. It eventually produced 35 diocesan editions, reaching its high point in the 1950s with a combined national and diocesan

circulation of more than 700,000. In 1970, California businessman Patrick Frawley purchased the Register, which was on the decline at that point, and moved it to Los Angeles. In 1995, the Legionaries of Christ and other investors saved the newspaper from closing and moved it to New England.

An article in the Register said the need for EWTN’s “providential intervention” was precipitated by what Legionaries of Christ Fr Owen Kearns, the Register’s publisher and editor in chief, described as a “perfect storm,” intensified by rising publishing and mailing costs, and the negative impact on Register donations from the downturn in the economy. All of those factors

Pope warns against primacy of conscience

BY CAROL GLATZ Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI called on people to strengthen their commitment to the common good during difficult times and not be tempted to fear that law enforcement is incapable of protecting society.

Meeting with the Italian police who ensure his security when he is outside the Vatican, the Pope said social and economic instability cause people to feel unsafe, but also leads to “a certain weakened perception of the ethical principles that underlie the law and personal moral behaviour.”

Today’s world, even with all of its new hopes and possibilities, is still experiencing a sense “that moral consensus has failed and that, as a consequence, the structural foundations of coexistence are no longer able to fully function anymore,” he said on 21 January.

“Therefore, many people are faced with the temptation of thinking that police and law enforcement charged with defending civil society are destined to failure,” the Pope told the officers and their families.

He said Christians have a particular duty to avoid this temptation and “to find renewed resolve to profess one’s faith and carry out the good and to continue with courage to be close to others in their joy and suffering, and in times of happiness and darkness.”

It’s important to remember that the individual and his or her “intuitions and experiences” are not the source of truth and of what is right and wrong, he said.

In fact, religion and its moral values usually end up being gradually removed from any role in public life and relegated to the private sphere in a society that gives too much importance to “pluralism and tolerance” of subjective whims and interests, he said.

overwhelmed the Legionaries’ ability to continue to subsidise the costs of producing the newspaper and managing its website, Drake wrote.

Also affecting the operation of the paper in part was the fallout from revelations in 2010 that the Legionaries of Christ founder, the late Mexican Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado, had fathered children and sexually abused seminarians.

After a Vatican investigation, Pope Benedict XVI named a delegate to run the Order, who predicted the reform may take several years to complete.

As a result of the revelations, the order did not have the resources to bring the previous turnaround efforts to fruition, said Fr Kearns.

The real meaning of conscience is not subjectively inferring what is wrong and right, he said, but refers to the human capacity “to recognise the truth, and even before that, the possibility to hear its call, to seek it and find it.”

People need to know how to be open to the truth and the good and to be able to freely and willingly accept those principles, he said.

The great challenges awaiting humanity “demand that God and mankind meet up again and that society and public institutions rediscover their ‘soul,’ their spiritual and moral roots,” so that they can solidify the ethical and juridical values that ground them and guide their policies, he said.

Anthony Hopkins and Marta Gastini star in a scene from the movie The Rite PHOTO: CNS/WARNER BROS

Benedict XVI

Film shows power of faith

BY MARIANNE MEDLIN Catholic News Agency

SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNA) - Fr Gary Thomas, whose real life experience as an exorcistin-training is chronicled in the highly anticipated movie The Rite, praised the film for its positive portrayal of the Church and for its witness to the power of faith.

The movie, starring Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins and newcomer Colin O’Donoghue, is loosely based on Fr Thomas’ experience travelling to Rome and studying under an Italian exorcist in 2005.

Set to hit screens on 10 March in Australia, The Rite follows sceptical seminary student Michael Kovak (O’Donoghue) who is sent to study exorcism at the Vatican in spite of his own doubts.

Anthony Hopkins plays a character by the name of Fr Lucas – an Italian priest and veteran exorcist – who befriends Michael and helps open his eyes to the reality of demon possession and the need for the rite in the modern world.

The movie is based on journalist Matt Baglio’s 2009 book The Rite: The making of a modern exorcist Baglio befriended Fr Gary Thomas while in Rome and chronicled the priest’s studies at the Pontifical North American College and his eventual apprenticeship with a local exorcist.

Fr Thomas, currently serving as pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Saratoga, California served as a consultant for the film, particularly the scenes featuring exorcisms.

For a week in June last year, he said he was on the movie set working with cast members and producers.

The priest added that “to their credit,” the directors and producers wanted the exorcism scenes to be as accurate as possible.

“The environment of that movie set was very reverential towards the Church,” Fr Thomas said. “The producer and the director and the cast with whom I worked at the time were very open.”

Fr Thomas said he recently saw a screening of the film alongside Anthony Hopkins at a New Line Cinema studio in Los Angeles.

In his words, the movie has a “loose” basis in Baglio’s book.

One discrepancy Fr Thomas pointed out was that he went to Rome as a 50 year old seasoned priest with a desire to learn more about the rite of exorcism – hardly a cynical seminarian in the midst of a faith crisis.

Despite the differences, however, he called the film “very good.”

“The human side of the priesthood is very well developed,” he

Exorcisms continue to pique Hollywood’s imaginaton

BY SHEILA DABU NONATO Catholic News Service

TORONTO - The exorcism began after Mass as the exorcist and several parishioners gathered around a troubled young man and started praying over him, recalls Fr Joseph Muldoon, episcopal vicar of the Ottawa Archdiocese.

Fr Muldoon, who oversees the work of Ottawa’s lone official exorcist, is not an exorcist himself, but this was one of two exorcisms he assisted over the years. Both occurred outside Canada.

Fr Muldoon joined in praying for the young man who dabbled in drugs and the occult. The man exhibited one of the signs of demonic possession: a supernatural strength requiring him to be restrained by several people to prevent harm to himself and others around him. The priest performing the exorcism, trained under the ancient rite, blessed the man with holy water. He then placed a crucifix and Bible on his chest, some of the norms of the rite established in 1614.

“The priest gradually, slowly commanded the evil spirit to leave him and never to return, to be placed at the foot of the cross,” Fr Muldoon said.

The young man was invited to say Jesus’ name and pray the Our Father with the community. He was freed from the devil’s grasp, said the priest.

Exorcisms have always piqued the Hollywood imagination and provided a steady source of material for filmmakers in the horror genre. And with a new movie set for release on 10 March in Australia, plus a realityTV series on exorcists in the US, Hollywood is once again entering

said, adding that the portrayal of “the institutional Church comes out very positively.”

Fr Thomas said that given the reality of the subject matter, the experience was very powerful and even frightening for many involved in the movie.

He said that Hopkins, a professed Christian, and O’Donoghue – a practising Catholic who serves as a lector at his parish in Dublin –“very much” believe in the existence

the battleground of good versus evil.

The Rite, a film featuring Anthony Hopkins, is based on a book by journalist Matt Baglio about the accounts of an American exorcist. Meanwhile, the Discovery Channel is reported to be working on a reality show called The Exorcist Files

Fr John Horgan, a scholar on exorcisms and pastor of Sts Peter and Paul Parish in Vancouver, British Columbia, was a consultant to the 2005 movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose, loosely based on an actual case in Germany.

He cautions that Hollywood versions of exorcism usually provide a liberal interpretation of the actual rite. A scene of “being chained and tied up has nothing to do with the Catholic rite of exorcism,” he said.

“Ours is very sober, rever-

of evil and feared possible demonic attacks as a result of working on the film. “The producer and the two key actors all asked me privately if they could be attacked by doing this movie,” he said. “I said, I can’t absolutely say yes or no – which lead me to say ‘possibly.’”

“I do think that a person can get attacked, and I don’t know if they did but they were afraid,” he said. “I just tried to reassure them.”

Fr Thomas also said that the

ent. Heads do not turn around” as was made famous in a scene from the 1973 film The Exorcist, the most profitable horror film of all time. An exorcism is the ritual of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place believed to be possessed. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, an exorcism is performed by an exorcist who asks “publicly and authoritatively” in Christ’s name “that a person or object be protected against the power of the Evil One and withdrawn from his dominion.” This power comes from Jesus, who exorcised demons in the Bible.

While Hollywood may play up the drama of exorcisms, the key message about them is not how evil takes over, Fr Horgan said: It’s how the power of God always triumphs in the end.

intensely eerie trailers for the film are “deceptive” in the sense that they make it look like a “horror movie,” which he says is inaccurate.

“There’s some very riveting scenes – I wouldn’t say they’re scary, but they’re a little startling.”

Ultimately, however, “this is a movie about faith,” Fr Thomas told CNA.

“People are going to be very surprised.”

EWTN takes over Legion’s newspaper

IRONDALE, Alabama (CNS)

- The Eternal Word Television Network has signed a letter of intent to acquire the National Catholic Register Effective on 1 February, EWTN will take full control and ownership of the Register, now based in Irondale. Its editorial and business offices had been based in North Haven, Connecticut since 1995, when the Legionaries of Christ bought the paper and moved it to New England from California.

Michael Arsaw, EWTN’s president and chief executive officer, said: “All of us at EWTN have great respect for the Register and the role it has played throughout its history. It’s a tremendous legacy that

deserves to not only be preserved, but also to grow and to flourish.” Under the terms of the transaction, no cash will be exchanged between the parties. EWTN, a global Catholic network, will take over the ongoing operational expenses of the Register and will assume the paper’s future subscription liabilities. The paper grew out of the Denver Catholic Register, launched on 11 August 1905. Under the leadership of Mgr Matthew Smith, the Register system of newspapers was developed, with the first national edition appearing on 8 November 1927. It eventually produced 35 diocesan editions, reaching its high point in the 1950s with a combined national and diocesan

circulation of more than 700,000. In 1970, California businessman Patrick Frawley purchased the Register, which was on the decline at that point, and moved it to Los Angeles. In 1995, the Legionaries of Christ and other investors saved the newspaper from closing and moved it to New England.

An article in the Register said the need for EWTN’s “providential intervention” was precipitated by what Legionaries of Christ Fr Owen Kearns, the Register’s publisher and editor in chief, described as a “perfect storm,” intensified by rising publishing and mailing costs, and the negative impact on Register donations from the downturn in the economy. All of those factors

Pope warns against primacy of conscience

BY CAROL GLATZ Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI called on people to strengthen their commitment to the common good during difficult times and not be tempted to fear that law enforcement is incapable of protecting society.

Meeting with the Italian police who ensure his security when he is outside the Vatican, the Pope said social and economic instability cause people to feel unsafe, but also leads to “a certain weakened perception of the ethical principles that underlie the law and personal moral behaviour.”

Today’s world, even with all of its new hopes and possibilities, is still experiencing a sense “that moral consensus has failed and that, as a consequence, the structural foundations of coexistence are no longer able to fully function anymore,” he said on 21 January.

“Therefore, many people are faced with the temptation of thinking that police and law enforcement charged with defending civil society are destined to failure,” the Pope told the officers and their families.

He said Christians have a particular duty to avoid this temptation and “to find renewed resolve to profess one’s faith and carry out the good and to continue with courage to be close to others in their joy and suffering, and in times of happiness and darkness.”

It’s important to remember that the individual and his or her “intuitions and experiences” are not the source of truth and of what is right and wrong, he said.

In fact, religion and its moral values usually end up being gradually removed from any role in public life and relegated to the private sphere in a society that gives too much importance to “pluralism and tolerance” of subjective whims and interests, he said.

overwhelmed the Legionaries’ ability to continue to subsidise the costs of producing the newspaper and managing its website, Drake wrote.

Also affecting the operation of the paper in part was the fallout from revelations in 2010 that the Legionaries of Christ founder, the late Mexican Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado, had fathered children and sexually abused seminarians.

After a Vatican investigation, Pope Benedict XVI named a delegate to run the Order, who predicted the reform may take several years to complete.

As a result of the revelations, the order did not have the resources to bring the previous turnaround efforts to fruition, said Fr Kearns.

The real meaning of conscience is not subjectively inferring what is wrong and right, he said, but refers to the human capacity “to recognise the truth, and even before that, the possibility to hear its call, to seek it and find it.”

People need to know how to be open to the truth and the good and to be able to freely and willingly accept those principles, he said.

The great challenges awaiting humanity “demand that God and mankind meet up again and that society and public institutions rediscover their ‘soul,’ their spiritual and moral roots,” so that they can solidify the ethical and juridical values that ground them and guide their policies, he said.

Anthony Hopkins and Marta Gastini star in a scene from the movie The Rite PHOTO: CNS/WARNER BROS

Benedict XVI

FRIDAY, 28 JANUARY

Medjugorje - Evening of Prayer

7-9pm at St Paul’s Parish, 104 Rookwood St, Mt Lawley. Adoration, Rosary concluding with Holy Mass. Celebrant Fr Bogoni. Free DVD on Donald Calloway’s life of sexual promiscuity, drugs and crime through to his conversion and priesthood. All are warmly invited. Enq: Eileen 9402 2480 or medjugorje@y7mail.com.

SATURDAY, 29 JANUARY

Love Ministries - Charismatic Healing Team and Fr Hugh Thomas

6pm at St Paul’s, 104 Rookwood St, Mt Lawley. Following Mass, come and get prayed over and healed from past and present issues or stand in for a loved one who may be ill or facing problems at this time. All welcome. Enq: Fr Hugh, Gilbert or Fr Tim 0431 570 322.

Novena In Honour of Our Lady of Good Health, Vailankanni

5.30pm at Holy Trinity Church, 8 Burnett St, Embleton. Vigil Mass 6pm. Enq: Church Office 9271 5528 or George 9272 1379.

SUNDAY, 30 JANUARY

St Brigid’s Day - Australian-Irish Heritage Association

3pm at the Irish Club Theatre, 61 Townshend Rd, Subiaco. An annual, light-hearted entertainment about the myths and legends of Ireland’s female patron saint including an encounter with St Patrick. Admission $10 includes Irish afternoon tea. Booking: 9367 6026 or pay at the door.

TUESDAY, 1 FEBRUARY

Divine Mercy Mass and Healing Service

7-9pm at St Jerome’s Church, 36 Troode St, Munster. Mass by the Vincentian Priests Rev Fr Sunil Aenekkattu VC, Fr Binoy Puthiyedath VC from Potta, India and Fr Sebastian Kalapurackal. Includes preaching, praise, worship and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Enq: Edita 9418 3728 or Liliana 0435 006 368.

MMP Cenacle

10.30am at St Augustine Church, Gladstone St, Rivervale. Confessions will be available during Rosary. Holy Mass will follow celebrated by Fr Paul Carey. BYO lunch to share. Enq: 9341 8082.

WEDNESDAY, 2 FEBRUARY  FRIDAY, 4 FEBRUARY

Novena

7pm at St Peter’s parish, Wood St, Inglewood. Mass, Novena Devotions, procession and Benediction. Blessing of sick on Friday celebration. Followed by supper. Please bring a plate of finger food. Enq: Fr Sam 0422 246 551 or Jimmy 0411 615 239.

THURSDAY, 3 FEBRUARY

Group 50 – A prayer group of Catholic Charismatic Renewal

7.30pm at the Redemptorist Monastery, 150 Vincent St, North Perth. The weekly meetings recommence with prayer, praise, Mass and the Sacrament of Anointment. All welcome.

FRIDAY, 4 FEBRUARY

Special Healing Mass

7.30pm at Holy Family Church, Maddington. Mass conducted by Fr Sunil Aenekkat and Fr Binoy Augustine. All welcome. Enq: 9493 1703.

The Alliance, Triumph and Reign of the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary 9pm at St Bernadette’s Church, Glendalough. Commences with the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament; reflections, Rosaries, hymns etc alternating with healing sessions. Vigil concludes with midnight Mass. Enq: Fr Doug 9444 6131 or Dorothy 9342 5845.

Pro-Life Witness

9.30am at St Brigid’s, Midland. Mass followed by Rosary procession and prayer vigil at nearby abortion clinic, led by the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. All welcome to come and pray for the conversion of hearts. Enq: Helen 9402 0349.

Catholic Faith Renewal

7.30pm at St John and Paul’s Parish, Pinetree Gully Road, Willetton. Songs of Praise, followed by Thanksgiving Mass and light refreshments. All welcome. Enq: Kathy 9295 0913. Ann 0412 16 6164, catholicfaithrenewal@ gmail.com.

PANORAMA

SATURDAY, 5 FEBRUARY  MONDAY, 7 FEBRUARY

Novena

6.30pm at Good Shepherd Parish, 215 Morley Dr, Kiara. Mass, Novena Devotions, procession, Rosary and Benediction concluding with a social get together in the parish hall. Please bring a plate. Sunday, 5pm Mass followed by Novena Devotions, procession, Rosary and Benediction. Blessing of the elderly on Monday at 7pm celebration. Enq: Fr Francis 9279 8119 or Jimmy 0411 615 239.

SATURDAY, 5 FEBRUARY

Day With Mary

9am-5pm at Pater Noster Parish, corner Marmion and Evershed Sts, Myaree. Day of prayer and instruction based on the Fatima message. 9am video; 10.10am Holy Mass; Reconciliation, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament, Eucharistic Adoration, Sermons on Eucharist and Our Lady, Rosaries and Stations of the Cross. BYO lunch. Enq: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286.

Witness for Life

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

SUNDAY, 6 FEBRUARY

Divine Mercy – An Afternoon with Jesus and Mary

1.30pm at St Francis Xavier Church, 25 Windsor St, Perth. The main celebrant for the afternoon will be Fr Johnson Mayil SAC - homily on St Jerome Emiliani. Reconciliation, Rosary, Prayers and Benediction. Refreshments afterwards. Enq: John 9457 7771.

TUESDAY, 8 FEBRUARY  FRIDAY, 11 FEBRUARY

Novena

7pm at Our Lady of Mercy, Girrawheen Ave, Girrawheen. Mass, Novena Devotions, procession and Benediction. Blessing of the Sick on Thursday celebration. Friday Feast of our Lady of Lourdes. Mass, candlelight procession and Benediction and burning of petitions. Light supper and drinks in the parish hall. Please bring a plate. Enq: Fr Tony 9342 3562 or Jimmy 0411 615 239.

Triduum to Our Lady of Lourdes

7pm at Holy Trinity Church, 8 Burnett St, Embleton. Preacher Fr Nishan. Tues - Mass, Novena, and procession. Wed - Novena. Thurs - Novena and Anointing of the Sick and elderly. Fri - Mass and procession. Social get together. Please bring a plate. Enq: Gordon 9377 4472.

TUESDAY, 8 FEBRUARY

Spirituality and The Sunday Gospels

7-8pm at St Benedict’s School Hall, Alness St, Applecross. Norma Woodcock’s Teaching Session. Be empowered by the Gospel message each week in a personal way. How can we live meaningful and hope-filled lives. Entry - donation for The Centre for Catholic Spiritual Development and Prayer. Enq: 9487 1772 or www.normawoodcock.com.

THURSDAY, 10 FEBRUARY TO SATURDAY, 12

FEBRUARY

Brother Stanley’s Perth Visit

Come and share Br Stanley’s powerful testimony on the Divine Mercy and also the story of being pronounced clinically dead and his amazing spiritual encounters with Jesus. For venues and dates check church noticeboards or 0413 707 707.

FRIDAY, 11 FEBRUARY

Annual Procession in Honour of Our Lady of Lourdes

7pm at Lake Monger. All are asked to assemble at the Dodd St carpark. For those unable to walk, there is an area where you can sit with others and pray together. Enq: Judy 9446 6837.

SATURDAY, 12 FEBRUARY

Marian Retreat

9am-5pm at Holy Family Church, Maddington. A day of healing with Mary our Mother led by the Vincentian Fathers. BYO lunch. All welcome. Enq: 9493 1703.

Divine Mercy Healing

2.30pm at St Francis Xavier Church, Windsor St, East Perth. The main celebrant for the afternoon will be Fr

Marcellinus Meilak OFM. Reconciliation in English and Italian will be offered. Divine Mercy prayers followed by veneration of First class Relic of St Faustina Kowalska. Refreshments afterwards. Enq: John 9457 7771.

St Padre Pio Day of Prayer

8.30am at St Lawrence, 392 Albert St, Balcatta. St Padre Pio DVD followed by Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Rosary, Divine Mercy, Silent Adoration and Benediction. 11am – Holy Mass, St Padre Pio Liturgy, Confessions available. Bring a plate for a shared lunch. Tea and coffee supplied. Enq: Des 6278 1540.

SUNDAY, 13 FEBRUARY

Taize Prayer Meeting

5.30pm–6.30pm prayer meeting recommencing at St Joseph’s Convent Chapel. All welcome. Enq: lmayne@ perthcatholic.org.au

Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

12 noon at St Catherine’s Catholic Church, Gingin. BYO lunch followed at 1pm Holy Rosary, Exposition, Hymns, Benediction and Blessing of the Sick, Marian Procession. 2.30pm Holy Mass at the Grotto. Tea provided later. Enq: Lawrie 0448 833 472 or Sheila 9575 4023.

TUESDAY, 22 FEBRUARY

Medjugorje Evening of Prayer

6pm at St Mary’s Cathedral, Perth. Visit of Ivan Dragicevic, reported visionary of Medjugorje, who allegedly is still receiving daily apparitions of Our Lady. Evening commences with Eucharistic adoration, Rosary (alleged apparition of our Blessed Mother), Benediction, Holy Mass and talk by Ivan Dragicevic. All Welcome. Enq: Eileen 9402 2480 or medjugorje@y7mail.com.

SATURDAY, 5 MARCH

Women’s Day of Recollection

8.40am at St Paul’s Parish Centre, 104 Rookwood St, Mt Lawley. Rosary followed at 9am first Saturday Mass, optional, 9.30am tea. 10am talk on Women of the Bible presented by Fr Tim Deeter, followed by discussions, lunch, Holy Hour and Benediction. RSVP essential to catholicwomen.perth@gmail.com or Lydia 0413 993 987 by 23rd February.

FRIDAY, 11 MARCH

Alan Ames Healing Service

7pm at St Bernadette’s Catholic Church, Jugan St, Glendalough. Mass followed by talk and Healing Service. Enq: Katherine carver1@iinet.net.au.

THURSDAY, 28 APRIL TO THURSDAY, 12 MAY

Pilgrimage - Beatification of Pope John Paul II and Medjugorje

3 nights Collevalenza, the Lourdes of Italy, St Rita of Cascia. Visit to Fra Elia present day stigmatist. 3 days and 2 nights Rome, visit St Peters’ Holy Cross Basilica, shrines and Community of Family of Mary. Depart Rome 5 May for Medjugorje, for 6 nights 7 days. All flights, bed, breakfast and evening meals included. Approximate price $3,980 with optional extension to Fatima costing extra $900. Enq: Eileen 9402 2480 or 0407 471 256.

SUNDAY, 1 MAY

Centenary of Kellerberrin Parish 11am at St Joseph’s parish, Kellerberrin. All present and past parishioners are invited to the Parish Centenary celebrations. Mass celebrated by His Grace, Archbishop Barry James Hickey, followed by a catered luncheon at the Kellerberrin Shire Hall. RSVP by Saturday, 2 April for catering purposes to Christine Laird 9045 4235 or Fax: 9045 4602, or Audrey Tiller 9045 4021, or stmary@ westnet.com.au.

EVERY SUNDAY

Gate of Heaven Catholic Radio

Join the Franciscans of the Immaculate every Sunday from 7.30-9pm on Radio Fremantle 107.9FM for Catholic radio broadcast of EWTN and our own live shows. Enq: radio@ausmaria.com.

Pilgrim Mass - Shrine of the Virgin of the Revelation 2pm at Shrine, 36 Chittering Rd, Bullsbrook. Commencing with Rosary followed by Benediction. Reconciliation is available before every celebration. Anointing of the Sick administered during Mass every second Sunday of

the month. Pilgrimage in honour of the Virgin of the Revelation, last Sunday of the month. Side entrance to the church and shrine open daily between 9am-5pm. Enq Sacri 9447 3292.

THIRD SUNDAY OF THE MONTH

Oblates of St Benedict

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

EVERY FOURTH SUNDAY OF THE MONTH

Holy Hour for Vocations to the Priesthood, Religious Life

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

LAST MONDAY OF EVERY MONTH

Christian Spirituality Presentation

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

EVERY TUESDAY

Novena and Benediction to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

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

EVERY WEDNESDAY

Holy Spirit of Freedom Community

7.30pm at The Church of Christ, 111 Stirling St, Perth. We are delighted to welcome everyone to attend our Holy Spirit of Freedom Praise Meeting. Enq: 0423 907 869 or hsofperth@gmail.com.

SECOND WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH

Chaplets of the Divine Mercy

7.30pm at St Thomas More Catholic Church, 100 Dean Rd, Bateman recommences. Includes sung devotion accompanied by Exposition and followed by Benediction. All are welcome. Enq: to George Lopez on 9310 9493 home or 9325 2010 work.

EVERY THURSDAY

Divine Mercy

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

The Cathedral Praise Meeting

7.45pm at Faith Centre, 450 Hay St, Perth. When the Spirit Comes – A Holy Spirit Seminar. Each evening –worship, teaching, small group sharing, refreshments. All welcome. Enq: Flame Ministries International 9382 3668.

Flame Ministries International

Starting 3 February, new venue in The Upper Room, St Joseph’s Church, 3 Salvado Rd, Subiaco. Enq: Eddie 9382 3668.

EVERY FIRST THURSDAY OF THE MONTH

Taize Prayer and Meditation

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

FIRST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH

Holy Hour for Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life

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

Catholic Faith Renewal Evening

7.30pm at St John and Paul’s parish, Pinetree Gully Rd, Willetton. Songs of Praise, sharing by a priest followed by Thanksgiving Mass and light refreshments after Mass.

14

15 “For all the promises of God find their ___ in him” (2 Cor 1:20)

17 “Where, O ___, is your sting?” (1 Cor 15:55)

19 He spoke to the pharaoh

21 Granted forgiveness of sin

23 Archdiocese in Nebraska

God

16 This is found in the sanctuary

17 Lucifer

18 Joseph interpreted these

20 Ethically neutral

22 Meetings of Bishops

24 He expressed doubts over the resurrection of Christ

26 Says the Nicene Creed

27 Martyred Salvadoran, Bishop Romero

30 Jubilee ___

32 French clergyman

34 The Last Supper painter

35 Catholic Oscar-winning actor of “Leaving Las Vegas” fame

36 Papal symbol

37 Balaam spoke to one (Nu 22:28)

2 Catholic novelist _______ Koontz

5 Gregorian song

6 Sabbath

7 Nativity scene

8 The ___ Supper

13 Dominic who is patron saint of choirboys

24 Hesburgh of Notre Dame, to friends

25 Sin against the Fifth Commandment

26 Form of prayer

28 ___ of the Mass

29 Catholic Oscar-winning actress and star of “Gone with the Wind”

31 Nordic Saint

33 Papal order

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

ACCOMMODATION

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

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

TRADE SERVICES

BRENDON HANDYMAN

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

BRICK RE-POINTING

Ph Nigel 9242 2952.

PERROTT PAINTING Pty Ltd

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

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

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.

CLASSIFIEDS

Deadline: 11am Monday

BOOK BINDING

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

FOR SALE

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

FURNITURE REMOVAL

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

LAWN MOWING

WRR LAWN MOWING & WEED

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

OPPORTUNITIES

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

Work from Home - P/T or F/T, 02 8230 0290 or visit www.dreamlife1.com.

RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS

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

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

RICH HARVEST YOUR

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

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

Continued from page 18...

All welcome to attend and bring your family and friends. Enq: Kathy 9295 0913, Ann: 0412 166 164 or catholicfaithrenewal@gmail.com.

Communion of Reparation All Night Vigils

7pm-1.30am at Corpus Christi Church, Lochee St, Mosman Park, Enq: Vicky 0400 282 357 and at St Gerard Majella Church, Ravenswood Dr and Majella Rd, Mirrabooka, Enq: Fr Giosue 9349 2315, John or Joy 9344 2609. 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. All welcome.

Healing Mass

7pm at St Peter’s parish, Wood St, Inglewood. Reconciliation, praise and worship, Exposition of Blessed

Sacrament, Benediction, Anointing of the Sick, and special blessing. Celebrants Fr Sam and other clergy. All welcome. Enq: Priscilla 0433 457 352, Catherine 0433 923 083 or Mary-Ann 0409 672 304.

Healing and Anointing Mass

8.45am at Pater Noster, Myaree. Reconciliation, followed by Mass including Anointing of the Sick, Praise and Worship to St Peregrine and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. All welcome. Enq: Joy 9337 7189.

AA ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

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

OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE

Emmanuel Self-Help Centre for People with Disabilities is looking for volunteers to transport newspapers and other recyclable paper from its Perth office to a Canning

Vale paper mill about every six weeks. Manual car driver’s licence required. Physical fitness is advantageous as heavy lifting is involved; Centre staff will assist. Enq: Fr Paul 9328 8113 or emmanuelcentre@westnet.com.au.

AL  ANON FAMILY GROUPS

If your home is unhappy because somebody drinks too much, we can help with understanding and supporting families and friends of problem drinkers. Enq: 9325 7528.

PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND

St Peter’s parish in Inglewood is organising a visit to Jordan, Israel and Egypt from 13-26 March 2011. The pilgrimage will cost A$3,990, everything included. Fr Sam will be the Spiritual Director. Eng Jim 0411 61 5239, zawnaing@optusnet.com.au.

SPANISH LESSONS OFFERED AT WHITFORDS

PARISH FOR WORLD YOUTH DAY, MADRID 2011

Beginner classes commence 9 February on Wednesday evenings 6.45-7.30pm and Saturday mornings 10.15-

11am. Cost - $5 per class or $40 for 10 classes if paid in full at the beginning of the term. All classes will take place in venues at Our Lady of the Mission Catholic Church, Camberwarra Dr, Craigie. Enq: Noeme 9307 4038 or Shirley-Ann 9407 8156.

CRUISE ON THE RIVER NILE

Sightseeing Tour of Jordan and Egypt

A 14-day package departs Perth, Sunday, 10 July 2011. Accompanying priest, Fr Joe Carroll from the Redemptorist Monastery, Perth. Enq: Fadua 9459 3873 or 0404 893 877.

PILGRIMAGE TO PRAGUE, POLAND AND AUSTRIA

St Jude Langford is organising a 13-day pilgrimage departing 1 October. Pilgrimage will include visits to the Shrines of Divine Mercy, Infant Jesus, the Black Madonna, St Faustina and the Museum at Auschwitz. Total cost per person $5800. The Spiritual Director, Fr Terry Raj. Enq: Matt on 6460 6877, mattpicc1@gmail.com.

Is the Church up to speed on the latest bioethics questions? Read on...

Dignitas Personae

Explained: The Church’s teaching on reproductive and related technologies

By

Dr

John I Fleming

Foreword by Dr John Haas

$18.95 from The Record Bookshop

REVIEWED BY A/PROF

TONTI-F ILIPPINI

NICHOLAS

Associate Dean, John Paul Institute for Marriage and Family,

IMelbourne

nfertility and the suffering associated with it has always been a tragic part of the human experience.

This is especially true today. Various medical remedies have been developed to deal with human infertility, with artificial reproductive technologies being widely used.

The Catholic Church considers that every child should be conceived as a result of the expression of love of his or her parents.

Medical technology may assist but should never replace their expression of love in the generation of the new life.

It is important that the child not come to be in the laboratory as an object or product subject to quality control and dominated by the technologists.

This book provides an account in layman’s terms of why the Church teaches that IVF is not acceptable.

It is an important book for couples seeking to overcome infertility and for those who assist them.

I am delighted to have the opportunity to launch it at the 2011 Annual Bioethics Colloquium conducted by the Australian Association of Catholic Bioethicists on the topic of Human Eugenics.

The topic was requested by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.

IVF and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis of embryos is an important element of contemporary eugenics.

In the foreword to the book, US Bioethicist Dr John Haas writes: “Dr John Fleming reflects on, and amplifies, this new teaching document of the Church to make it all the more accessible to those who ought to benefit from it: not only those in the pew but also those in

the laboratory who are not even religious.”

I have known Dr John Fleming for 30 years, since he was an Anglican priest and through his conversion to Catholicism, and I attended his ordination in the Catholic Church as a married priest with children. John has much to offer on this difficult topic.

Years of being a journalist have given him a wonderful ability to explain complex matters simply despite being an internationally renowned expert in bioethics.

John is Adjunct Professor of Bioethics at Southern Cross Bioethics Institute (Adelaide, South Australia), and a Corresponding Member of the Pontifical Academy for Life (Vatican).

Dr Fleming was a foundation member of UNESCO’s International Bioethics Committee which worked on producing international law in relation to human rights and the human genome.

The job nobody at the fertility clinic wants...

BY FR TADEUSZ PACHOLCZYK National Catholic Bioethics Centre, Philadelphia.

Akey argument in the embryonic stem cell debate — widely invoked by scientists, patient advocacy groups and politicians — involves the fate of frozen embryos.

US President Barack Obama put it this way in 2008: “If we are going to discard those embryos, and we know there is potential research that could lead to curing debilitating diseases –Alzheimer’s, Lou Gehrig’s disease – if that possibility presents itself, then I think that we should, in a careful way, go ahead and pursue that research.”

The head of the National Institutes of Health, Dr Francis Collins, embraced this same line of reasoning by asking a rhetorical question during a recent CNN interview: “Ethically, isn’t it more justifiable, if those embryos have been created, to use them for a purpose that might help somebody with a disease as opposed to simply discarding them?”

This argument sounds reasonable on first hearing. We prefer to recycle aluminum cans, rather than uselessly tossing them into landfills.

It seems as if we should handle surplus frozen embryos in a similar way, getting some benefit out of them rather than discarding them.

Yet this argument has a deceptive, even seductive character

because of the way it sets up a false dichotomy: either one discards the embryos or one destroys them in the laboratory to obtain miraculous cures for diseases.

An important third option is often not even mentioned: namely, that we continue to store the

PHOTO: CNS/SANDY HUFFAKER

embryos in their current, frozen state as part of our moral duty to care for our own offspring. They could be cryo-preserved until a morally acceptable option for rescuing them presents itself (if such an option, in fact, exists), or until they eventually die of

their own accord in the deep freeze. Discarding an embryo, it is important to be clear, means ending the life of a young human being, the tiny life that each of us once was at an earlier time.

The embryos to be discarded are usually first thawed, and many do not survive this first step; those that do are summarily discarded as medical waste. A few years ago, Cardinal Sean O’Malley described the reality of what happens in the fertility clinic this way: “In discarding these embryos, the medical staff become their unwilling executioners, but executioners nonetheless.”

Perhaps an analogy can help us better visualise why we should not discard embryos or sacrifice them for research. Imagine a typical fertility clinic with a large room where several tanks filled with liquid nitrogen were holding a few hundred cryo-preserved human embryos, a kind of “frozen orphanage,” as these tanks are sometimes called.

In the building next door, there happens to be a real orphanage filled with toddlers between the ages of one and three years old who are awaiting adoption. Suppose that the owner of the orphanage happens to be a shady character who has recently decided to take some of the “unadoptable” infants and clandestinely discard them into the dumpster behind the orphanage where they eventually die. Suppose also that when the local mayor learned about the children being put into the dumpster, he had the gall to

suggest that since they were going to be thrown out anyway, we should start sacrificing them for scientific research and harvesting their organs for transplantation into sick patients.

Our first instinct would be to recoil with abhorrence at the proposal. We might prosecute the orphanage owner (and drum the mayor out of office as well). We would insist that each infant in the orphanage deserves full protection. Our children in frozen orphanages deserve the same protection and care. Most of us, upon reflection, have a practical awareness that embryos ought not be discarded. A few years ago, the New York Times ran a piece entitled The Job Nobody at the Fertility Clinic Wants. That job was the destruction of spare embryos. Medical staff members, when interviewed, said they dreaded being picked to carry out the discarding of embryos when patients requested it. A clinic director in Chicago described how often he had to destroy the embryos himself because his staff found the task so distasteful.

The staff understood and had seen firsthand how these same embryos, when implanted, would yield beautiful, bubbly babies who brought joy and happiness to their parents. They seemed to appreciate instinctively, as each of us should, how living human embryos, even in the deep freeze, should never be discarded down the chute into the biohazard disposal or used as “raw material” for possible medical advances.

Dr Nick Tonti-FilippiniDr John Fleming

An embryologist removes a vial of frozen embryos from a storage tank at the Smotrich IVF Clinic in California. The new Vatican document Dignitas Personae (“The Dignity of a Person”) warns that certain recent developments in stemcell research, gene therapy and embryonic experimentation violate moral principles and reflect an attempt by man to “take the place of his Creator.”