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Darryl faces ‘DE Day’ as avid student readers rise to bookish challenge
Principal meets his match
THE PRINCIPAL of Holy Rosary School in Doubleview is a man who keeps his promises – no matter how damaging to his football team-loving pride. Darryl Winsor and his staff are always on the lookout for novel ways of encouraging children to read so recently he stepped it up a notch by issuing a challenge to the children; one that would see him lay his dignity on the line. For every age-appropriate book that the children read or had read to them, they could earn a footprint. The footprints were used to form a trail from each of the classrooms to Mr Winsor’s office. If they completed their trails – with every child reading at least one book – Darryl, a staunch Carlton supporter, agreed he would dress up in a combination of West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Dockers outfits and have his face painted in the team colours. Three thousand books later and a school covered in footprints, the children lived up to their side of the bargain so at the school assembly on September 17th Darryl met his ‘DE’ (Dockers/Eagles) Day. A cleverly designed “Dogles” footy jumper was matched with a sock from each club and splashes of purple, red, green, white, yellow and blue face paint. A quick rendition of each of the clubs’ theme song completed the deal with the children, parents and staff in fits of laughter. Principal Winsor was nothing but a good sport throughout the whole “ordeal”. “To have the children read 3000 books I’d dress up in Dockers and Eagles colours any day” he commented. “But it would have to be at least 10,000 if it was to be Collingwood.”
Bedecked Holy Rosary Principal Darryl Winsor makes good on his bet with some of the students he challenged to read 3000 or more books.
PHOTO: HOLY ROSARY
Students draw politicians’ attention on trafficking INCREASING awareness of the destructive nature of human trafficking was at the heart of a public event hosted recently at The University of Notre Dame Australia’s Fremantle Campus. The Notre Dame Students for Social Justice (NDSSJ) and the UNDA Liberal Club collaborated to host the screening of the Australian film The Jammed which tells the true story of three women trafficked into Australia. The often confronting film highlights the increasing activity of people trafficking around Australia for both domestic and sexual servitude. People trafficking has been defined by the Australian Government as the physical movement of human beings across borders through deceptive means, coercion or force for various exploitative purposes. The special screening was launched by Liberal Senator for WA Michaelia Cash, the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Status of Women, who is a passionate advocate in the fight against trafficking. Lynn MacLaren MLC, the Greens Member for South Metropolitan Region, also attend-
Senator Michaelia Cash, left, and MLC Lynn MacLaren, second from right, with UNDA student representatives. PHOTO: UNDA
ed. “This is an issue above politics. We can do all sorts of political point-scoring, but this really is an issue where the three major parties all agree that we do need to get together as ‘government’ and do something to try and combat this insidious trade,” Senator Cash said. “Trafficking of women for sexual servitude is one of the most complex international crimes you will
ever come across because the stakes are so high – in the billions of dollars. “Our reality is that our country is officially recognised as a destination for trafficking of women from Asia, and in particular from China, Thailand and Korea.” In addition to profiling the issue, the event also provided an opportunity to promote a new Perth-based
initiative, Project Jenny. Project Jenny is a not-for-profit organisation which aims to combat human trafficking in Western Australia. It has lobbied for anti-trafficking initiatives including establishing the first safe house in the State to provide rehabilitation for victims of trafficking. The fledgling group also intends to collaborate with organisations around Australia and overseas to develop measures to reduce trafficking, mainly through education and awareness programs. Project Jenny was established in honour of the sister of its founder Chanteya Macphail, who was snatched from their mother while on holiday in Phuket, Thailand, in 1976. Jenny was just three-years-old when she was taken. Ms Macphail and her family believe Jenny was the victim of experienced people traffickers. “To be able to have a safe house where skilled and trained staff are equipped to deal with the needs of these women will be fantastic,” Ms Macphail said. President of the NDSSJ, AnneMarie O’Neil, said future cases of human trafficking could be pre-
vented if more people and political groups were made aware of how the trade destroyed lives. “By the Grace of God we were lucky enough to be born here in Australia and the chances of us becoming victims of human trafficking are low, but we are all human beings and we need to do
Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world, because it’s the only thing that ever has. whatever we can to help those who are victims of this horrific trade,” Ms O’Neil said. “Written on the wall of our office at Notre Dame is our motto, ‘never doubt that a small group of people can change the world, because it’s the only thing that ever has’. “We run these events with the hope that every person we educate and every dollar we raise is another step towards changing the lives of these people.”
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September 26, 2012
THEWITHINTERVIEW
JOHN HUGHES
His face is known in every lounge room in Western Australia and for decades he’s been a powerhouse of local business. John Hughes reveals the craziest thing he has ever done in a car, what he doesn’t like about them, why his 1936 Austin 10 is special to him and how he probably shouldn’t have passed his first driving test but did anyway ... is your favourite Q What brand of car?
A My biggest challenge was
brand I am selling. A Whatever I have to like what I sell.
making the decision to work for myself and to borrow what at that time was more than I could afford to repay.
does your faith mean Q What to you and how does it help
is your favourite Q What memory regarding cars?
you in your day-to-day life?
first car, which was a 1936 A My Austin 10 with only one win-
strengthens my passion and A It beliefs and helps me to deal with difficult situations.
dow winder handle which I used to transfer from door to door.
on being Q Congratulations honoured as Ambassador
the craziest thing you Q What’s have ever done with a car?
of Perth. How did that feel?
A
on two wheels with a A Race Holden Viva at Caversham
Very honoured. It’s always nice to be recognised.
racetrack.
advice would you give Q What to someone who aspires to
do you do on your Q What days off?
get into business?
only time I take off is A The when we go on holidays.
well the business you A Know are getting into, make sure
that you are not under-capitalised and get good accounting advice. is the worst obstacle Q What you have had to face as a car
you prefer driving or Q Do do you prefer being the
passenger?
dealer? How did you overcome it?
definitely have to be the A Idriver; I want to be in control.
don’t you like about Q What cars?
A
They can and do break down.
is your favourite mode Q What of transport and why?
Accounts Officer Phil Van Reyk
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Journalists Mark Reidy m.reidy@therecord.com.au Robert Hiini r.hiini@therecord.com.au Sarah Motherwell s.motherwell@therecord.com.au Juanita Shepherd Advertising/Production Mat De Sousa
production@therecord.com.au
Classifieds/Panoramas/Subscriptions Catherine Gallo-Martinez
is your favourite Q What movie?
A 100.1 and 101.7.
of the car industry heading?
READINGS OF THE WEEK
Crosiers
These archangels, messengers sent by God, are the only ones named in the Bible. In the Book of Daniel, Michael is called “the great prince”; in the Letter of Jude, he argues with the devil over Moses’ body; and in the Book of Revelation, he leads the battle against Satan. He is patron of the sick, radiologists and mariners. Gabriel explains Daniel’s visions to him in the Book of Daniel, and in the Gospel of Luke announces to Zechariah and Mary the births of their respective sons. He is the patron of messengers and telecommunications and postal workers. Raphael guides Tobiah in the Book of Tobit; he is patron of the blind, physicians and travelers. The church created their joint feast after the Second Vatican Council.
Take to the waves in Style Saints
with a cruise from our extensive selection.
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Proofreaders
Contributors Debbie Warrier Barbara Harris Bernard Toutounji
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CRUISING
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The Record PO Box 3075 Adelaide Terrace PERTH WA 6832 21 Victoria Square, Perth 6000 Tel: (08) 9220 5900 Fax: (08) 9325 4580 Website: www.therecord.com.au The Record is a weekly publication distributed throughout the parishes of the dioceses of Western Australia and by subscription. The Record is printed by Rural Press Printing Mandurah and distributed via Australia Post and CTI Couriers.
Monday 1st - White ST THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS, VIRGIN AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH (M) 1st Reading: Job 1:6-22 No one like Job Responsorial Ps 16:1-3, 6-7 Psalm: You search my heart Gospel Reading: Lk 9:46-50 The least one is great Tuesday 2nd - White THE GUARDIAN ANGELS (M) 1st Reading: Ex 23:20-23 An angel to go before you Responsorial Ps 90:1-6, 10-11 Psalm: Angels to guard you Gospel Reading: Mt 18:1-5, 10 Angels in God’s presence
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Catholic clarity for complex times CATHOLIC families and those searching for truth need resources to help them negotiate the complexities of modern life. At The Record’s bookshop you can find great books for the family at good prices.
Ps 87:10-15 Call to the Lord for help Lk 9:57-62 Fitness for the kingdom
Thursday 4th - White ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI (M) 1st Reading: Job 19:21-27 My avenger lives Responsorial Ps 26:7-9, 13-14 Psalms: Lord, hear my voice! Gospel Reading: Lk 10:1-12 Labourers are few Friday 28th - Green 1st Reading: Job 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5 The Lord’s answer Responsorial Ps 138:1-3, 7-10, 13-14 Psalm: The Lord discerns Gospel Reading: Lk 10:13-16 The Lord’s judgement Saturday 29th - Green ST BRUNO, PRIEST (O) 1st Reading: Job 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17 Job’s new fortune Responsorial Ps 118:66, 71, 75, 91, Psalm: 125, 130 Your word gives lightGospel Reading: Lk 10:17-24 All entrusted to me
Send your Year of Grace stories to parishes@therecord.com.au
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Mariette Ulrich Fr John Flader Glynnis Grainger
Sunday 30th - Green 26TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 1st Reading: Num 11:25-29 If all were prophets Responsorial Ps 18:8, 10, 12-14 Psalm: God’s law is perfect 2nd Reading: Jas 5:1-6 Rotting wealth Gospel Reading: Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48 Do not stop him
Wednesday 3rd - Green 1st Reading: Job 9:1-13, 14-16 God’s justice
Bibiana Kwaramba bookshop@therecord.com.au Chris Jaques
but I shouldn’t have. The A Yes, tester was very generous.
Q Where do you see the future
Record Bookshop
Eugen Mattes
(similar to Back to the Future II)
radio stations do you Q What listen to when driving?
September 29
editor@therecord.com.au
you think that one day Q Do in the future cars will fly?
you pass your driving Q Did test on your first try?
A Pigs will fly first.
Michael, Gabriel and Raphael
Peter Rosengren
fully trained technicians. One day, cars will drive themselves.
A Stalag 17 and Zulu.
indulgence of flying first A The class in an A380.
SAINT OF THE WEEK
Editor
and more technological A More advances requiring more skil-
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It is up to Catholics to keep the peace on Islam JOONDANNA priest Fr Peter Porteous had no way of predicting the protests and bloodshed that have ripped through the Islamic world in the past two weeks. But it seems the information session on Islam he has helped to convene and will run at his parish this weekend couldn’t have come at a better time. God calls on all Catholics to be peacemakers, both through Scripture and Church teaching, Fr Porteous told The Record late last week. And peace begins at home. “There is enough ignorance out there that is causing trouble. We really need to be, as Catholics, putting our hands out, to be the ones who initiate peace,” Fr Porteous
said, pointing to the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on dialogue with non-Christian religions, Nostra Aetate.
We are called to be the ones who initiate peace. There is enough ignorance out there. Muslims believe in many of the same things we do, he said: the virgin birth; appropriate devotion to Mary; the spiritual patrimony of Abraham, Moses and Aaron; and that Jesus was the messiah – “al
Masih”, the anointed one. Perhaps the pivotal point of difference is that Muslims are unitarian and do not believe Jesus Christ to be a person of the Godhead. Islam, much like the fractured corpus of Christianity riven by the East-West Schism and the Reformation, is far from being a unified religion. Its three central traditions, Sunni, Shia and Sufism, are not only distinct from one another but internally diverse in their histories and theologies. Violent protests and uprisings throughout the Middle East, Asia and here at home are largely the function of a specific, hardline minority (Wahabism) emanating from Saudi Arabia.
Fr Porteous cited St Paul in saying there were many paths to God but that Catholicism contained God’s fullest revelation. Islam also contained revelation and might be more suited to an adherent’s personality (“it may not be the wrong path for them”). The Joondanna priest has been interested in inter-faith dialogue and Islam since his earliest days in the seminary. He studied at the National Centre for Excellence in Islamic Studies, a school of Melbourne University, during his first Masters degree, and is a member of the Archdiocesan Ecumenical Affairs Committee under whose aegis this weekend’s session is being run.
“One of the advantages of studying or trying to understand another person’s religion is that it leads you to a deeper appreciation of your own faith,” Fr Porteous said. “You win more people to God and for God through love and understanding than you do through criticism and correction. “There is a time for that but, at the same time, if you condemn or judge another religion, that is in fact quite un-Christian. “We are not called to judge or deem who is going to hell or who is going to heaven. It is for God the Father to judge that.” Islam, a Life of Faith will take place at St Denis’ Church this Saturday, from 9am to 12pm.
A Prepaid Oakwood Funeral is for anyone who likes to leave things neat and tidy. There is no greater love than that which we feel for our own family members. When we die, someone has to organise our funeral, and it’s most often a close family member who not only has to deal with the pain of loss, but also the anguish of making sure every little detail is taken care of. But if you arrange your funeral now, you guarantee that it will be exactly as you want it—the service, the cemetery, and the cost. And all of your family members are freed from just that little bit of extra worry. Take the step today and talk to us about a prepaid funeral. Send the coupon, call 9330 8300 or visit www.oakwoodfunerals.com.au
Demonstrators hold signs during a rally on September 12 in Libya to condemn the killing of US ambassador Christopher Stevens. PHOTO: CNS
Church a big, if faltering, actor in European history CHURCH history scholar Dr Oliver Rafferty SJ took on some of the big issues haunting Europe’s past and future when he presented three interrelated seminars at Notre Dame Fremantle recently. Dr Rafferty provided insights into the ‘de-Christianisation’ of Europe and Catholic Church history during the troubles in Northern Ireland. “I tried to contextualise the role of the Catholic Church in more recent European history, focusing on the French Revolution and the restoration of the ‘people’s state’ as a result of the Congress of Vienna,” Dr Rafferty said. “I also discussed the Church’s failure to positively engage as an intellectual development tool in Europe as new ideas of democracy, freedom of press and freedom of religion began to flourish in the mid-1800s.” At his public lecture, Dr Rafferty discussed the contentious relationship between the Church and nationalists in Northern Ireland. ‘The Troubles’, one of the most violent periods in mainland Irish history, saw more than 3,500 people lose their lives during a 30 year period of ethno-political conflicts starting in the late 1960s. The conflicts centred on the constitutional status of Northern Ireland and the relationship between the mainly Protestant
unionists and mainly Catholic nationalists. Catholic minority groups in Northern Ireland were seeking a voice after becoming increasingly marginalised politically and socially in the early 1960s. The Church faced an ethical dilemma in assessing the violent actions of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) and holding to the Gospel. Dr Rafferty said another of the greatest difficulties the Church faced in the early period of the Troubles was its lack of direct political influence over British Government policy. “The Church’s failures to convince successive administrations of the roots of Catholic alienation and the steps needed to remedy these meant that its moderating voice in the Catholic community could easily be dismissed by those who thought that violence was the only solution to the community’s difficulties,” Dr Rafferty said. “The failures of government to uphold the credibility of institutional Catholicism in the eyes of the Catholic community led to fragmentation in Catholic identity and enabled the ‘men of violence’ to take the lead in determining Catholicism’s relationship with the state authorities in Britain and Northern Ireland.”
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September 26, 2012
Thank you: from refugees to St Mary’s
Archbishop Emeritus Barry Hickey paid Holy Spirit Parish, City Beach a visit on September 2, pictured above with Parish Priest, Fr Don Kettle.
By Juanita Shepherd IT HAD been 21 years since Archbishop Emeritus Barry Hickey last celebrated Mass at Holy Spirit parish in City Beach. Parishioner Joe Nardizzi, who has known him personally for the past 50 years, thanked Perth’s former chief prelate when the Archbishop Emeritus visited the parish on September 2. Mr Nardizzi praised him for the services he had rendered the faith-
ful, from his service to Highgate parishioners during the time of the Vietnam War to the herculean task of completing St Mary’s Cathedral. Mr Nardizzi spoke about the Archbishop’s firm stand for life in opposing abortion, remembering when the Archbishop was broadcast nationally from the steps of the State Parliament preaching: “Thou shalt not kill”. Archbishop Emeritus Hickey’s address at this year’s International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin also
THE University of Notre Dame Australia’s first international student to receive a scholarship said her postgraduate research is thriving thanks to the financial, academic and community support she receives from the university. Seren Dalkiran was born in the Netherlands and is the first recipient of Notre Dame’s International Fee Remission Research Scholarship. Ms Dalkiran is undertaking a Doctor of Philosophy, and her research assesses the social change processes within emerging youth leaders across the globe. “As an international student conducting doctoral research, I have really appreciated that supportive environment,” Ms Dalkiran said. “The scholarship funding has not only enabled me to conduct my research, it has also allowed me to attend leading conferences around the world to gain a deeper understanding of my field of research.” Ms Dalkiran said Australia is an
exciting place to work, study and socialise. “Australia offers a totally different culture to my own; with so much space, the opportunity to get close to nature and easy access to the emerging dynamics of the AsiaPacific region,” Ms Dalkiran said. “Australia is a young country and is open to innovation and creative and critical thinking and I like the fact that this is also reflected in its energetic and open-minded attitude towards higher education.” Vice Chancellor Professor Celia Hammond said Notre Dame looks forward to welcoming other international students to its Sydney, Broome and Fremantle campuses in 2013 through the International Fee Remission Research Scholarships program. “I am pleased to see Seren’s research flourish at Notre Dame and hope the university can provide mentorship, academic support and a community connection for other
got a mention, with Mr Nardizzi describing it as a “stirring reminder” about the “never ending battle of good against evil”. “Perhaps what is most overlooked are your unseen acts of generosity and kindness,” Mr Nardizzi said. “(My wife) Yolanda vividly remembers the time when she assisted you in your preparations for an influx of boat refugees during that dreadful Vietnam war when you were the parish priest at
PHOTO: SUPPLIED
Highgate as you prepared to feed and house whoever came to your presbytery. “There were many mattresses on the floor and mountains of sandwiches,” Mr Nardizzi said. Mr Nardizzi joined his fellow parishioners in gifting the Archbishop Emeritus a Divine Mercy picture. The picture is unique in that the image of Christ it contains has been designed to map that of the Shroud of Turin.
Scholar support well received
Seren Dalkiran is UNDA’s first international student to receive a scholarship.
international postgraduate students through this scholarship,” Professor Hammond said. The International Fee Remission Research Scholarship program will
Remember Vinnies in your Will and leave a lasting legacy.
While no one likes to think about Will-related matters, it is never too early to plan ahead. We have prepared three useful publications to help you ensure your personal affairs are in order. Simply complete and return this form for your free no-obligation copies.
provide up to five scholarship places per academic year to international students who wish to undertake a higher degree by research at Notre Dame.
Please tick all that apply Mapping your Assets – a valuable and practical tool for recording your personal information Preparing your Will – a simple guide to putting your legal and financial affairs in order Executors and Probate – A complete guide to everything you need to know about the role and responsibility of an executor when making or executing a Will I would like to remember the St Vincent de Paul Society in my Will – please contact me for a confidential discussion. I have already remembered the St Vincent de Paul Society in my Will
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Promoters move over: Year 9 shines for concert
Students perform at the concert organised by Year 9 Rebecca Machado. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
By Juanita Shepherd THE James Nestor Auditorium at Corpus Christi College, Bateman was packed with parents, students, teachers and friends when Rebecca Machado, a Year 9 student, chose to present a concert to raise funds and awareness for the Emmanuel Centre – a self-help centre for people with disabilities. Corpus Christi College is one of three schools in Perth to adopt the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program for students in Years 7, 8 and 9. Students are required to complete what is known as their personal project over a period of three terms. Miss Machado’s personal project in the form of a concert began at 5pm and concert-goers were treated to a full program performed by students and teachers from the school’s music department. The concert included a wide range of musical instruments and musical tastes. Rock beats mixed it with symphonies; solo artists were followed by group performances; and the recorder, violin, clarinet, saxophone, cello, flute, guitar and piano were played. Following the concert, patrons were treated to a very well presented and delicious supper, all included for a gold coin donation. Rebecca’s efforts raised nearly $800 for the Emmanuel Centre.
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Post to: The Bequest Officer, St Vincent de Paul Society (WA) Inc, PO Box 473, BELMONT, WA 6984 or contact our Bequest Officer on Tel: 08 9475 5400, Fax: 08 9475 5425 or email bequests@vinnies.org.au/wa
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Servite statue caps a cool fundraiser By Robert Hiini RAISING $15,000 for Servite missions throughout the world wasn’t the only thing Servite College, Tuart Hill, had to celebrate after another action packed St Philip’s Day this year. For years, college principal Dr Philip Cox had sought statues of the school’s two patrons – St Philip Benizi osm and St Juliana. During a recent trip with 12 students and three other staff to visit Servite schools and parishes in India, Mr Cox discovered a village where the main local industry centred around the carving of statues from black granite. With a Servite parish nearby, it wasn’t long before the visiting party had found a suitable sculpture from which to model Mr Cox’s much sought-for statues. Given the Servite’s strong presence in India, the school felt it was fitting that their new statues should come from there. Although the Order was originally established in Florence, India is now home to more Servite schools, priories, convents and In Brief
Pope appoints more women than ever The October 7-28 synod on the new evangelisation will include the largest bloc of women - 10 experts and 19 observers - ever to participate in a Vatican synod. Europe accounts for the majority of the appointees, followed by North America, with 10 people from the United States, two from Mexico and one from Canada. A number of the appointees are also advisers to the Pontifical Council
parishes than any other country around the world. The statues of St Philip and St Juliana were present during the Mass which kicked off St Philip’s Day. As is their tradition, an open 1500m race followed the Mass to determine the winner of the St Philip’s Cup. Students then enjoyed a fete-type atmosphere of
He had looked for the statues for years until stumbling on the solution in India.
Above, the patrons of Servite College, St Philip and St Juliana, carved in black granite. Right, students celebrate while raising money during St Philip’s Day. PHOTOS: SUPPLIED
food, activities and stalls. Students gathered in the gym for a concert at day’s end. The Servite Order (the Friar Servants of Mary) was founded by seven men in Florence in 1233. Though he was not one of them, St Philip was a contemporary of the seven founders and is looked upon as the person who championed the establishment of the Order. He is recognised not only for his humility but also for his intelligence and learning.
for Promoting New Evangelisation and other Vatican offices. The list of papal appointments to the synod was published on September 22 by the Vatican. Experts and observers, who include laypeople, are not voting members of the synod. According to Vatican rules, only priests, bishops and cardinals can be full members who vote and determine the propositions to be presented to the Pope at the end of the gathering. The 45 experts include priests, nuns and laypeople, many of whom are professors, rectors or supervisors of catechetical or pastoral
Seminarians studying in Nigeria
Maranatha Centre for adult faith forMation This term Maranatha is offering courses at Newman Siena Centre at 33 Williamstown Rd, DOUBLEVIEW.
Maranatha offers units for adults wishing to deepen their knowledge and understanding of their Catholic Faith and the living of it. Units for Term Four 2012 begin on Tuesday 9th October. DAYTIME UNITS - 8 weeks Cost $50.00, 7 weeks Cost $45.00. Tuesdays 9th Oct – 27th Nov, 9.30am – 12.00noon (8 weeks) A New Vision of Reality with John Auer Tuesdays 9th Oct – 27th Nov, 1.00pm – 3.30pm (8 weeks) The Gospel of John with Jan O’Connor Thursdays 18th Oct – 29th Nov, 9.30am -12.00noon (7 weeks) Encountering Jesus anew in the Year of Grace with Dr Michelle Jones Thursdays 11th Oct – 29th Nov, 1.00pm – 3.30pm (8 weeks) Psychology & Spirituality – Discovering the Link with Sr Jacqueline Jones sja
EVENING UNIT - Cost $40.00 Tuesday 23rd Oct – 27th Nov, 7.00pm – 9.00pm (6 weeks) Inspirational Women of the Carmelite Tradition with Dr Michelle Jones To Register or for more information, contact the Maranatha office Phone: 9241 5221 Fax: 9241 5225 Email: maranatha@ceo.wa.edu.au Or check our Website: www.maranathacentre.org.au
The Record
Course Handbook available on request “Beginning Theology” 2013 The next “Beginning Theology” course is scheduled to begin in Term One 2013. Maranatha is currently taking “expressions of interest” from prospective participants in this accredited course. UPCOMING EVENTS Contact the Maranatha Centre for details The National eConference will be hosted at the Maranatha Centre on Wed 10th Oct (9.30am – 2.30pm) “Spirituality & Mission” Seminar With Fr Anthony Gittins CssP At the Maranatha Centre on Sat 27th Oct (9.30am - 3.30pm)
The Eucharistic rosary designed by the Vatican rosary makers will be sent out to all those who give a donation of $15 or more and tick this box. Aid to the Church in Need …. a Catholic charity dependent on the Holy See, providing pastoral relief to needy and oppressed Churches
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therecord.com.au
September 26, 2012
Class out for shepherds at school for bishops By Robert Hiini THREE Australians completed a training course for new bishops in Rome on September 20, including Toowoomba Bishop Robert McGuckin whose predecessor Bishop William Morris was removed by the Holy See in May 2011. Armidale Bishop Michael Kennedy and Ballarat’s Bishopelect Paul Bird were also numbered among an estimated 105 men in attendance. The ten day course (September 11-20) provided the bishops with practical training for their new role as well as a deeper understanding of the theological underpinning of the office. The course was run by the Congregation of Bishops, the ecclesial equivalent of a department of the Holy See and the body tasked with vetting and recommending prospective bishops to the Pope for appointment. “(The course) is regarded as a pilgrimage to the tomb of St Peter for new bishops,” Bishop McGuckin told The Record in Rome last week. “By being ordained as a bishop you become a member of the order of bishops and (the visit to Rome) is an opportunity for fraternity among the new bishops themselves,” Bishop McGuckin said. Bishop McGuckin met with newly appointed confreres from as far afield as Eritrea, although he and his two Australian colleagues were the bishops who had journeyed farthest to be there. Pope Benedict XVI met with the attending bishops yesterday, pointing to the significance of two upcoming events - the Year of Faith (October 11, 2012 – November 24, 2013) and October’s Rome synod on the New Evangelisation. The bishops’ first concern, the Pope said, was to promote stronger support for the new evangelisation so that the joy of believing and communicating the faith might be rediscovered among the faithful. “Evangelisation is not the work of a small number of specialists but of the entire People of God under the guidance of their pastors,” the Pope said. “Each member of the faithful, with and within ecclesial communion, must feel the responsibility to announce and bear witness to the Gospel.” The Pope urged the bishops to ensure “that everyone, in keeping with their age and condition, be presented with the central contents of the faith, systematically and completely, in order to respond to the questions raised by our technological and globalised world”. He recommended the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a “vital” and “sure norm for teaching faith and communion”.
The Bishop-elect of Ballarat, Paul Bird.
Australia’s Ambassador to the Holy See, John McCarthy, back left, and Bishop Peter Comensoli joined by (from left) Fr Robert McCulloch (St Columbans Mission Society), Fr Terry Kennedy, Fr Tony Corcoran (Marists), Abbott General Michael Kelly (Sylvestrines), Sr Mary Wright IBVM (Congregation for Religious) and Bishop Robert McGuckin (Toowoomba). . PHOTO: ROBERT HIINI
Ambassador spruiks arm at first reception By Robert Hiini AUSTRALIA’S new Ambassador to the Holy See held his first formal reception at the Australian Embassy in Rome on September 13, promoting the Australian tour of a relic of St Francis Xavier. John McCarthy and wife Christine hosted a veritable who’s who of Australia’s Rome-based Religious leaders, as well the Roman Curia’s most senior official for the New Evangelisation, Archbishop Rino Fisichella. Guests included tour progenitor, Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney Peter Comensoli and the recentlyinstalled Bishop of Toowoomba, Robert McGuckin, who was in Rome as part of his formation for his new role. Ambassador McCarthy began proceedings by
condemning the killing of the United State’s ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three of his staffers earlier that week, leading guests in a minute’s silence. In welcoming the visit of St Francis Xavier’s arm throughout Australia, Mr McCarthy praised Bishop Comensoli for his “creativity and initiative” in conceiving and organising the two-and-a-halfmonth long tour, which began in Sydney on September 16. Bishop Comensoli said the tour, dubbed the Pilgrimage of Grace, was one way Australians could participate in the Year of Grace, by coming closer to Christ through the relics and life of one of the Church’s greatest missionary evangelisers. “In Australia, at this time, we particularly need to embed ourselves again in Our Lord, Jesus
Christ,” Bishop Comensoli told guests. “If we are going to be people of the New Evangelisation then we cannot be those people unless we are people of Christ.” He thought of St Francis Xavier when first considering the idea
We cannot be people of the new evangelisation unless we are first, people of Christ. of bringing a relic to Australia because of his ongoing fondness for Wollongong, his home diocese, where the cathedral is dedicated to the saint’s patronage. Bishop Comensoli thanked the relic’s Jesuit custodians for agreeing
to the tour and received the arm the following day at the Gesu, the principal Jesuit Church in Rome and the relic’s home since 1614. St Francis Xavier (1506-1552) was a co-founder of the Society of Jesus and missioned extensively in India, Japan, Borneo and the Moluccas among other areas, striving to learn local languages and receiving thousands into the Church. The Pilgrimage of Grace tour began at the Jesuit parish of St Mary’s in North Sydney where Cardinal George Pell was the event’s main preacher. Perth Catholics will get the chance to venerate the relic when it tours locally from October 25-30. The tour will conclude in Sydney on December 3, the Feast Day of St Francis Xavier.
Ultimate Project is completed YOUNG people from across Sydney have just completed ten weeks of gathering at The University of Notre Dame Australia, Sydney, for the “The Ultimate Project,” an outdoor cinema experience followed by a discussion. The event was run in conjunction with Sydney Catholic Chaplaincies and Notre Dame students’ association “Saints on Screen” and based around the videos of the Catholicism Series by Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. Via the Catholicism series of DVDs, The Ultimate Project followed Catholic priest Fr Robert Barron on a journey across the globe to uncover the living word of the Catholic Church. Fr Barron was shown travelling from the Middle East, lands of the Bible, to Europe, America, Asia, Latin America, Africa and beyond. The first episode, “Amazed and Afraid – The Revelation of God Become Man,” was aired before more than 90 young people, showing Fr Barron’s pilgrimage from ancient Caesarea Phillipi to the shores of the Sea of Galilee, to the holy city of Jerusalem and the eternal city of Rome.
Young adults attend the first night of The Ultimate Project at UNDA Sydney in August. Organisers have encouraged Catholics to run their own events using Fr Robert Barron’s Catholicism DVD series. PHOTO: UNDA
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Victims come first, says new head of the CDF THE SENIOR Vatican official with authority for investigating priests accused of sexual abuse said that, in such cases, “always and everywhere the most important concern is for those who have been the victims of this terrible abuse.” Archbishop Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said the congregation also has an obligation to ensure that the process of justice does not “become a lynching.” The archbishop, who was appointed to his office in July, spoke about the doctrinal congre-
gation and its work in an interview with the German service of Vatican Radio. The broadcaster’s English and Italian programs published translated excerpts of the interview on September 19. The German archbishop said he believes he was appointed to the job because he is a theologian and, as a theologian, he will “try to understand what is ailing the church today. In many countries there is a strong polarisation: traditionalists against progressives or whatever you would call them.” A key task of the church, he said,
is overcoming those divisions based on a strong common faith in Christ. “We are not a community of people aligned to a party program, or a community of scientific research;
We are not a community aligned to a political program, he said. our unity is a gift given to us. We believe in the one church united in Christ. And if you believe in Christ, really believe – not manipulating
the teachings of the church, or singling out individual points to support your own personal ideology, but rather unconditionally entrusting yourself to Christ – then the unity of the church is also important,” he said. Archbishop Muller also was asked about inheriting cases, studies and projects the congregation had begun under his predecessor, Cardinal Levada, including the revision of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the largest organisation of superiors of women’s orders in the US.
The archbishop would say only that he already knew something about that and other issues before the congregation because he had been a member of the congregation for the past five years while serving as archbishop of Regensburg, Germany. However, he admitted, “I do not have the luxury of taking my time to get acquainted with these issues.” At the same time, he said, “it is not a completely new start for me” since “as a bishop you find yourself having to tackle these issues,” and many of them also have been long-term theological concerns of his. - CNS
Faith is the joy for comedian By Angelo Stagnaro IN FORDHAM University’s Rose Hill Gymnasium, prominent US television comedian Stephen Colbert joined forces with Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York on September 14 to discuss faith, humour and spirituality before an audience of 3,000, mostly made up of cheering students. The session was moderated by Jesuit Father James Martin, author of The Jesuit Guide to Nearly Everything and Between Heaven and Mirth. He is the official chaplain of Colbert’s show as well as culture editor at the Jesuits’ America magazine. Colbert is host of The Colbert Report, a pseudo-archconservative, faux news show. An active Catholic who teaches religious instruction to children in his parish, he said comedians often don’t understand how he could remain Catholic. Instead, Colbert explained that he sees the Catholic Church as teaching joy, which he called the “infallible sign of the presence of God.” Though the comedian maintains his television persona nearly all the time in front of the camera and in public interviews away from the show, in a rare moment, he slipped out of character, admitting to the nearly exclusively student audience at the Jesuit university that he loves the Catholic Church despite its human flaws. “I love my church – warts and all,” he said. When Cardinal Dolan, who is known for his own gregarious sense of humour, took the stage, it was he who bowed and kissed Colbert’s ring, setting the tone for the rest of the evening. As he was introduced, there was a reference to him being on the list of papabili, or future pope. “If I am elected pope, which is probably the greatest gag all evening, I’ll be Stephen III,” Cardinal Dolan joked. In his remarks, which he later posted on his blog, The Gospel in the Digital Age, the cardinal told Colbert he doesn’t often have a chance to watch his show but knows his nieces “are certainly among your legion of fans.” He remarked he would keep his comments short, because Father Martin “has given me only 10 minutes – which could be the best joke of the evening, to think that a bishop would be so brief.” Striking a serious note, he told Colbert, “Part of my admiration for you is that, while you often tease and joke about your faith, and the church, there’s no denying that you take your faith seriously, and look to the church as your spiritual family.” Cardinal Dolan said his assignment was to share “what you might call the theological reasons for laughter. Why would a person of faith be cheerful? Why is a crabby believer a contradiction?”
Political satirist Stephen Colbert, Jesuit Father James Martin, and New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan are seen during a conversation about humour, faith, joy and the spiritual life on September 14 at Fordham University in the Bronx section of New York. PHOTO: BRUCE GILBERT, COURTESY FORDHAM UNIVERSITY
“Here’s my reason for joy: the cross. You heard me right: the cross of Christ!” he said. When Jesus was crucified “on that Friday strangely called ‘Good,’ literally the ‘lights went out’ as even the sun hid in shame. ... Jesus, pure goodness, seemed bullied to death by undiluted evil; love, jackbooted by hate; ... life itself, crushed by death. It seemed we could never smile again.” But then came “the Sunday called Easter,” the Son “rose from the dead” and God had the last word, Cardinal Dolan said. “Hope, not despair; faith, not doubt; love, not spite; light, not an eclipse of the sun; life, not the abyss of death.” “‘He who laughs last, laughs best,’” he added. “And we believers have never stopped smiling since that resurrection of Jesus from the dead!” “Lord knows there are plenty of Good Fridays in our lives ... but they will not prevail,” he said. “Easter will. As we Irish claim, ‘Life is all about loving, living, and laughing, not about hating, dying, and moaning’.” In his remarks Colbert said, “If Jesus doesn’t have a sense of humour, I’m in huge trouble.” He said that though some comedians make jokes at the expense of religion, specifically Christianity, Colbert explained he only makes
jokes about what he called “people’s misuse of religion” in politics and other arenas. As part of the performance/discussion, Colbert joked with Cardinal Dolan about the new English translation of the Roman Missal, implemented last fall, calling the language stilted and overly formal. He pointed out the translation of the Nicene Creed in which the phrase “one in being with the Father” was replaced with “consubstantial with the Father.” “Consubstantial?” Colbert asked incredulously, “It’s the creed ... not the SAT prep,” referring to the US’s national university entrance examination. After the presentation, Father Martin said in an interview that the evening at Fordham “wildly exceeded anyone’s expectations. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime event, and I think that the crowd sensed that as soon as the two men walked out on stage.” “I thought that the energy of those 3,000 students was going to lift the roof off of the Fordham gym.” Fr Martin added that toward the end of the evening, as Fordham’s president, Jesuit Father Joseph McShane, “was thanking Mr Colbert, the cardinal leaned over to me and said, ‘This is the new evangelization.’ Amen to that.” - CNS
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Ukrainian bishops emphasise laity UKRAINIAN Catholic bishops from four continents gathered for a final celebration on September 16 as they closed their weeklong Synod of Bishops. One of their emphases was on the role of the laity. Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kiev-Halych, the elected head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, challenged his audience of 800 to live Christian life to the fullest and not as “lukewarm, nominal Christians.” “If we allow ourselves to be overcome so we don’t pray or enter into liturgy, we will cease to be a church,” Archbishop Shevchuk said. “We are called to be people of prayer, gasp-
ing for the air of the Holy Spirit. “Sometimes our churches are more like Ukrainian museums,” he added. “We need vibrant parishes, a place to encounter the living Christ. May our encounter today fill us with new faith, energy and perseverance.” Reinvigorating Ukrainian parishes is part of Vision 2020, the long-range pastoral plan for the Ukrainian Catholic Church, which was suppressed for decades under Soviet rule. After an opening Divine Liturgy in Winnipeg on September 9, the 38 bishops in attendance moved to Portage La Prairie, a city of about 13,000 west of Winnipeg. Focusing
on the theme, “The Role of the Laity in the Life and Mission of the Church,” they heard presentations and reports before breaking into smaller thematic groups. A statement issued at the end of the synod said the bishops acknowledged the role of the laity in preserving the faith when the church was suppressed in the 20th century, and they issued a pastoral letter to the laity; it was not immediately available in English. “The laity must be collaborators with the bishops and priests in pastoral work and, with their giftedness and by their talents, contribute toward the building up of the body of Christ,” the statement said.
The bishops proclaimed a patron of Ukrainian Catholic laity: Blessed Volodymyr Pryjma, a choir director from the parish of Stradch, Ukraine, who in 1941 was tortured and murdered by Soviet paramilitary agents in a forest after taking Communion to a sick woman. They also pledged to support Ukrainians who have emigrated from their home country. Bishop Borys Gudziak, newly named bishop for Ukrainian Catholics in France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland, told Catholic News Service before the synod began that in the last 18 years, Ukraine has lost up to 15 per cent of its population to
emigration. “People have been leaving in droves,” he said, noting that, in many countries, the Ukrainians are illegal and living on the margins of society. Bishop Gudziak was one of four bishops elected to the permanent synod for the next five years. Others were Archbishop Volodymyr Vijtyshyn Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine; Bishop Ken Nowakowski of New Westminster, British Columbia; and Bishop Jaroslav Pryriz of SambirDrohobych, Ukraine. Next year’s general Synod of Bishops will be from August 11-13 in Kiev, Ukraine, and will have as its theme the new evangelisation. - CNS
St Augustine’s See gets a facelift, courtesy of fan
The ruins of St Augustine’s basilica at Hippo near modern-day Annaba in Algeria. The ancient and new basilicas are only a few hundred yards apart.
By Cindy Wooden, CNS
The modern-day Basilica of St Augustine that will benefit from international funds for a facelift. PHOTO: CNS
WITH A personal donation, Pope Benedict XVI – a longtime scholar of the works of St Augustine – has contributed to the restoration of the Basilica of St Augustine in Annaba, Algeria, near the site where the fourth-century saint served as bishop of Hippo. Bishop Paul Desfarges of Constantine, Algeria, told the Vatican newspaper that Pope Benedict’s personal donation, as well as a contribution from the US-based Papal Foundation, demonstrates the importance of the project. The Algerian government also has given its support. “We all know how St Augustine
is dear to the heart of the pope,” the bishop said in the interview published on August 24 in L’Osservatore Romano. “We also know that the basilica of Annaba, in Algeria, isn’t just a house of worship. The whole Hippo hill, with the basilica at the summit, is a symbolic place. It is a strong symbol of coexistence and human and spiritual brotherhood,” the bishop said. St Augustine’s life story, his culture and education, his search for God and to do God’s will prompt both Christians and Muslims, as well as nonbelievers, to examine what is most essential in life, he said. The Basilica of St Augustine, completed in 1900, stands a few hundred yards from the archaeo-
logical site of the ancient town of Hippo Regius. The ruins include the remains of the ancient basilica where St Augustine served as bishop from 395 to 430. The basilica is staffed by three Augustinian priests, the bishop said. They would like to have more priests there for pastoral work and welcoming pilgrims and tourists, but getting visas for priests and religious is a challenge. Bishop Desfarges said the visitors include many Muslims who want to get to know St Augustine better or are just looking for a quiet place. “When you step over the threshold into the basilica, you understand you did not enter a museum, but a place where silence and peace capture you,” he said. Vatican statistics report about 12 million people living within the geographical boundaries of the Diocese of Constantine; only about 1,000 of those people are Catholic. Bishop Desfarges said the Catholic community in Algeria is made up mostly of Catholic students from sub-Saharan Africa and Filipinos working for international companies. “For some, integration isn’t always easy, but with time relationships deepen and are transformed into friendships, and that is part of the mission of our church,” he said. A very few members of the church are Algerian; “they are not numerous; some people call them ‘friends of St Augustine,’” he said. “They are people who, in their own way, have undergone the same experience St Augustine had of discovering the presence of God in the intimacy of their hearts and today invoke Jesus. They are a sign of God’s desire to live among his people.” Bishop Desfarges said the rights of Christians are not always respected: “The cross is not absent from our journey, but here we also experience the beauty of deep spiritual and human encounters,” knowing that “the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of all believers.” While too many Christians think of Islam as a predominantly political and ideological religion, he said, Catholics in Algeria have had “important and profound encounters with the spirituality of Islam.”
Defending marriage is prophetic, not reactionary, Pope reminds bishops By Catholic News Service DEFENDING traditional marriage is not an expression of backward thinking, said Pope Benedict XVI, but of values essential to the future of humanity. “Marriage and the family are institutions that must be promoted and defended from every possible misrepresentation of their true nature, since whatever is injuri-
ous to them is injurious to society itself,” he said. The pope made his remarks on September 21 in a talk to French bishops visiting Rome. Both France’s incoming president, Francois Hollande, and Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault have promised to promote the legalisation of same-sex marriage and of adoption by same-sex couples. If the measure passes, France would
become the ninth European nation to recognise same-sex marriage. France legalised same-sex civil
He said marriage must be defended from misrepresentation. unions in 1999. The family, which is the foundation of society, “is threat-
ened in many places by a faulty conception of human nature,” the pope told the group of 32 bishops. How an individual is raised and the well-being of society are interdependent, he said. “Defending life and the family in society isn’t retrograde, rather it’s prophetic,” he said, because it helps “promote those values that permit the full development of the human person.”
The pope also noted France’s celebration this year of the sixth centenary of the birth of St Joan of Arc, whom he has suggested as a model for Christian politicians. “One of the most original features of this young woman’s holiness is precisely the link between mystical experience and political mission,” the pope said, calling St. Joan a “model of secular holiness in the service of the common good.”
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Ecumenism the focus at Synod THE POTENTIAL power, but also the limits, of an ecumenical proclamation of the Gospel and defence of Gospel values is likely to be a key topic during October’s world Synod of Bishops on the new evangelisation. The ecumenical focus will be particularly sharp on October 10 when – at the personal invitation of Pope Benedict XVI – Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury will deliver a major address to synod members. While popes have long invited other Christians to be “fraternal delegates” and make brief speeches at the synods, Pope Benedict has begun a tradition of inviting important religious leaders to deliver a major address. In 2008, Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and Chief Rabbi Shear-Yashuv Cohen of Haifa, Israel, addressed the Synod of Bishops on the Bible. Another
rabbi and two Muslim leaders gave speeches at the 2010 special synod on the Middle East. Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said the invitations demonstrate the pope’s recognition that the “challenges facing religious belief itself and church life are common – no church, no religion is an island – and we need one another and can learn from one another.” In addition, he said, ecumenical and interreligious cooperation shows the world that “we are together in promoting the values of belief and the moral-ethical values that we stand by.” Ecumenical cooperation is crucial when trying to transmit the faith in the modern world and to re-propose Christianity in areas, especially Europe and North America, which had a Christian
tradition, but are becoming increasingly secularised. “The mission that the Lord entrusted to the Apostles, to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth, has not been fulfilled – mostly because of divisions among his followers,” Bishop Farrell said. The beginnings of the modern ecumenical movement usually are traced to a 1910 conference of missionaries “who had the experience of being seen as preaching against each other instead of preaching Christ,” he said. The missionaries recognised the scandal they were causing as they “exported their divisions” to Asia, Africa and other parts of the world. The missionaries saw “their work being undermined by their own divisions,” which they increasingly acknowledged were violations of the will of Jesus that his followers be one, the bishop said. Meanwhile,
among some Catholics in the early 1900s, “there were the beginnings of a spiritual interest in the idea of prayer for Christian unity,” he said, but the quantum leap in the Catholic Church’s commitment to
In 2008 Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and Chief Rabbi Shear Yasuv addressed the Synod. ecumenism came with the 1962-65 Second Vatican Council. Bishop Farrell said the change in the church’s attitude reflected an “education of the bishops at the council, because most of the bishops came with the kind of theology that considered our Protestant brothers
and sisters, and the Orthodox to a certain degree, as just outside the church.” Through discussions and studies at the council, he said, the bishops gained “a new perspective: We have a common faith in Jesus Christ, we have a common baptism, and this is already a huge element of real communion in the faith.” The ecumenical task, embraced by the Catholic Church, involves prayer and dialogue to move that communion “from imperfect to perfect,” he said. Until the process is complete, however, there will be some limits to the possibilities for ecumenical cooperation in evangelisation, because Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans and other mainline Christians aren’t just inviting people to profess faith in Jesus Christ, but to live that faith in his body, the church. - CNS
French carmaker gives Pope electric vans THANKS TO a French automaker and an Italian utility, Pope Benedict XVI now has a pair of all-electric minivans and a series of recharging stations with which to power them. Two custom-made editions of Renault’s Kangoo Maxi ZE cars were delivered personally to the pope on September 5 at the papal summer villa in Castel Gandolfo. At a Vatican press conference the next day, representatives of Renault told reporters the two cars were made specifically for the Vatican. The white version, with the papal stem on the front doors, was designed for the pope to use, probably at Castel Gandolfo, but Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said it also could be used on other occasions when the pope is in the midst of a crowd. The roof over the back seats opens and the side windows are removable, so it can be used as a popemobile, the Renault representatives said. It also has a retractable step to make it easier to get in and out of the vehicle. On a full charge, they said, the pope’s car can cover 105 miles. While they did not say how fast the pope’s Kangoo Maxi ZE could go, Renault says its unmodified
One line of photo caption goes here. Please seek to avoid a flat description of pictured scene.
version can reach speeds up to 80 miles an hour. The second Kangoo Maxi ZE given to the pope was designed for the Vatican police
force, the “gendarmeria Vaticana.” Painted blue, the minivan has police lights on top and a whiteand-gold stripe around the sides.
Albanian blood feud killers to face excommunication ALBANIAN Catholic leaders warned they would excommunicate anyone involved in the traditional “gjakmarrja,” or blood feud, after complaints of worsening violence. “People kill without hesitation in this bloody, barbaric system of revenge, often justifying their actions from a centuries-old tradition,” Archbishop Angelo Massafra of Shkoder told a September 18 news conference to present a pastoral letter against the blood feud. “They attach more importance to human tradition than the law of God, and through their murderous behaviour trample on the Gospel of Life and Cross of Christ,” he said. The pastoral letter was to be read in parishes last weekend, September 22-23.
Archbishop Massafra said church leaders were alarmed at priests’ reports of an upsurge in murders during 2012, as well as of worsening “domestic violence, (use of) force in relations between people and acts of revenge.” He said they decided to issue the excommunication decree after the killing of a 17-year-old girl. “The church’s doors will remain open to those who repent and help calm the hearts of people,” said Archbishop Massafra, whose statement was carried on September 19 by Albania’s Shekulli daily. “But every person of the Catholic faith who kills for motives of vendetta will be excommunicated. They will be unable to participate in church services, attend confession,
receive communion or be buried in a church cemetery.” Catholics traditionally make up 15 per cent of Albania’s population of 3.5 million, 70 per cent of which is nominally Muslim, although no new figures have been compiled since a 24-year communist-era ban on religion was lifted in 1991. A statement on the Shkoder archdiocesan website said “organised honour killings” were especially prevalent in largely Catholic northern Albania and reflected a “mentality of self-justice.” Bishop Lucjan Avgustini of Sape said the Church would demand life sentences for murderers who claimed justification under “gjakmarrja” rules and would seek compensation for victims’ families. - CNS
Pope Benedict, the Italian police who patrol St Peter’s Square, and the staff of Castel Gandolfo and the Vatican press office already use elec-
PHOTO: ATTRIBUTION HERE
tric vehicles, which is why the Italian electric company ENEL has installed recharging stations at the Vatican as well as at the summer villa. - CNS
Marking Jewish holy day, Pope urges joint sharing P OPE BE N E DIC T XVI expressed hope that Christians and Jews would bear witness to the whole world of the values that stem from adoring one God. In a telegram to Chief Rabbi Riccardo di Segni of Rome to mark the Jewish high holy days, the pope sent his greetings to members of Rome’s Jewish community. Pope Benedict offered his “heartfelt best wishes” for Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Sukkot, in the telegram released to reporters by the Vatican on September 20. “I hope that Jews and Christians, growing in respect and mutual friendship, may bear witness to the world of the values
that spring from the adoration of the one God,” the pope said in the telegram. With the September 16 celebration of Rosh Hashana, Jews marked the beginning of the Jewish year 5773. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is celebrated 10 days later. The days in between are called the “days of awe” and are when Jews face up to their mistakes, make amends, resolve to live better in the coming year, and ask forgiveness from others and God. Sukkot, which begins this year at sundown on September 30, is the Jewish celebration of the harvest. - CNS
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The Pope's Lebanese
SURPRISE
A shady figure in California posts a YouTube video that sets half the Muslim world off in riots. In Lebanon, some Muslims protested against Pope Benedict's three-day September visit to their country but, amazingly, thousands more turned out to welcome him – including those regarded as hardliners. What's going on? With his latest foreign visit, Pope Benedict is continuing to defy the standard characterisations of his whole pontificate, writes Sydney journalist Michael Cook ...
T
HE Pope seems to be connecting with the Muslim world in a way that no other world leader has. It seemed like a scene straight from the playbook for Arab Spring demonstrations: chador-clad women carrying placards, school children in neatly pressed uniforms with badges of Ayatollah Khomeini waving flags, muftis making speeches. But this was Lebanon, and the Shi’ites of south Beirut were welcoming Pope Benedict XVI to Lebanon. One woman in a black headscarf made the trip from Baalbek to Beirut in a bus organised by Hezbollah. "This is a historic visit, I feel the Pope will help bring peace to Lebanon," she told the Egyptian newspaper alAhram. "I want to thank the Pope, but I also want to thank [Hezbollah S e cret ar y-G enera l] Hass an Nasrallah, for helping bring peace to Lebanon. The secret to peace is co-existence." A well-known advocate for coexistence, Muhammad Sammak, political adviser to the Grand Mufti of Lebanon, insisted that “any harm done to a Christian is a wrong done to all Muslims, and every attack on a church is an attack against all mosques: a message that can be found in the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad”. If the German Pope, now aged 85, received a rapturous reception in Lebanon, he must be doing something right – and he could not have come at a worse moment. Next-door Syria is dissolving into the chaos of civil war. There are riots through the Muslim world over a YouTube video ridiculing Islam. It is also the 30th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre in Beirut. In 1982, a renegade Christian militia slaughtered hundreds of Palestinians and Shi’ites in a refugee camp in south Beirut with Israeli protection. It was just one of the swarm of bitter memories which could have sunk the trip. Instead, even Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Nasrallah, welcomed the visit as an "extraordinary and historic" event. According to the Beirut newspaper, The Daily Star, even some Salafists, the harshest and most uncompromising of Muslim sects, welcomed him. About 300,000 people attended the Pope’s
open-air Mass. This enthusiasm is even more puzzling in the light of the riots which erupted to protest against the Pope himself back in 2006 over his Regensburg address. At the time, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, the world's largest Muslim body, declared that the Pope’s remarks were a "character assassination of the Prophet Mohammed" and a "smear cam-
eties on earth. But, said the Pope, unity is not the same as uniformity. Social cohesion is possible – but only if there is “unstinting respect for the dignity of each person”. Human dignity cannot be taken for granted. It requires “openness to transcendence” – a assumption which is often denied in the West. (2) Religious freedom is the basis of all other freedoms. “The freedom
nity, still less the dignity of others. (3) A commitment to peace is a commitment to life. This must have rung bells in Lebanon, as an estimated 120,000 people perished in its senseless civil war between 1975 and 1990. But the Pope’s words equally apply to Western countries where the unborn and disabled perish legally. “The effectiveness of our com-
and the raison d’être of each person are found in God alone,” he said. (4) Somewhat surprisingly, the Pope stressed that stable families are essential for political peace. “The destruction of a single human life is a loss for humanity as a whole. Mankind is one great family for which all of us are responsible. By questioning, directly or indirectly, or even before the law, the inalienable
A Lebanese soldier keeps watch over the crowd gathered for a youth encounter with Pope Benedict XVI in Bkerke, Lebanon, on September 15.
PHOTO: PAUL HARING
Men celebrate after Pope Benedict XVI arrives at the Baabda Presidential Palace for meetings with Lebanese leaders southeast of Beirut on September 15. PHOTO: PAUL HARING, CNS
The Pope arrives in the popemobile to celebrate an outdoor Mass on the Beirut waterfront on September 16. He was wrapping up his three-day visit to Lebanon. PHOTO: STEFANO RELLANDINI, REUTERS
The Pope meets Lebanese religious leaders at Baabda Palace on September 15. He urged multifaith Lebanon to be a model of peace and religious coexistence in the Middle East. PHOTO: L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO VIA REUTERS
paign". All forgotten, it seems. So what did the Pope have to say in Lebanon, the only country in the Middle East where Christians and Muslims live in relative harmony? The kernel of his message was contained in an ambitious speech in the presidential palace to politicians and religious leaders. His ideas challenged not only the fragile society of Lebanon, but also – perhaps even more so – the wealthier and more peaceful societies of the West. Here are the main points: (1) With its kaleidoscopic array of political parties, Muslim sects and Christian denominations, Lebanon must be one of the most diverse soci-
value of each person and the natural foundation of the family, some ideologies undermine the foundations of society.” But this makes sense. It is in the family that we learn that other
tive annual report from the Congressional Research Service released last month, “In 2011, the United States ranked first in arms transfer agreements with developing nations with over US$56.3 billion or 78.7 per cent of these agreements, an extraordinary increase in market share from 2010, when the United States held a 43.6 per cent market share”. What is agreed is not always delivered, but the US also delivered far more. “In 2011, the United States ranked first in the value of arms deliveries to developing nations at $10.5 billion, or 37.6 per cent of all such deliveries. Russia ranked sec-
to profess and practise one’s religion without danger to life and liberty must be possible for everyone. The loss or attenuation of this freedom deprives the person of his or her sacred right to a spiritually integrated life. What nowadays passes for tolerance does not eliminate cases of discrimination, and at times it even reinforces them.” This is a not-so-subtle rebuke to countries like the UK and the US where spirituality is often regarded as simply a personal option, like a taste for pistachio icecream. But Benedict argues that a person who lacks a spiritual dimension will be unable to grasp his or her own dig-
mitment to peace depends on our understanding of human life. If we want peace, let us defend life! This approach leads us to reject not only war and terrorism, but every assault on innocent human life, on men and
at the level of the whole of society?” Was he also signalling that the shift from marriage to co-habitation and the campaign for same-sex marriage are undermining the West’s capacity for peace? Quite possibly.
Pope Benedict appealed for religious freedom. In Lebanon, he pointed out, it's not unusual for two religions to coexist in the same family. women as creatures willed by God.” Religion, or openness to transcendence, equips us with nightvision goggles with which to see human beings with inalienable rights who once looked like burdens or obstacles. “The grandeur
human beings are precious and deserving of respect. In Lebanon, as the Pope pointed out, “It is not uncommon to see the two religions within the same family. If this is possible within the same family, why should it not be possible
(5) In another pointed challenge to the West, issued during an inflight press conference, Benedict also condemned the global arms trade. “I also believe that there must be an end to the importation of arms, without which war could not con-
tinue. Instead of importing weapons, which is a grave sin, we should import ideas of peace and creativity, we should find ways of accepting each person in his otherness, we should therefore make visible before the world the respect that religions have for one another, respect for man as God’s creation and love of neighbour as fundamental to all religions.” A grave sin? About whom was he talking? He pointed no fingers, but the United States is the world’s biggest arms trafficker by a country mile. A big financial stake in war must surely make peace less likely. According to an authorita-
ond in these deliveries at $7.5 billion or 26.8 per cent.” Of all Western leaders, only Benedict XVI has managed to find common ground with Muslims without sacrificing his own principles. US President Barack Obama attempted to forge a cultural rapprochement between American democracy and Islam in his speech at Cairo University in 2009. But the philosophical and religious depth of the Pope’s remarks was missing. Perhaps Muslims feel that the President believes in the United States while the Pope believes in God. It’s not difficult to see why they see a common ground based on awe
of the transcendent more congenial than one based on Obama’s version of Enlightenment values. Lebanon’s experience of harmony and respect among Muslims and Christians is fragile but real. If the West is seeking to forge its own consensus, perhaps it should begin here, the only country in the world where Islam and Christianity have flourished together. Michael Cook is the editor of Mercatornet, an Australian news, current affairs and analysis website whose journalism is premised on human dignity. - www.mercatornet.com
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Mum follows in children’s footsteps For married mum of two Lisa Dymock, becoming Catholic was all about family and belonging, writes Debbie Warrier ...
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y dad was Catholic and my mum was Church of England. I wasn’t christened in any faith although I attended a Baptist school. I felt different because my school friends were christened. My sister and brother went to public schools. Both my parents thought they should let us choose what we wanted to believe in when we were older because their beliefs were different. Then I met my now husband Luke who was Catholic. Luke had been through Catholic school and, although he didn’t attend Mass regularly, he was quite into his religion. When we decided to get married we both wanted our wedding to be in a Catholic church. We went for Catholic Marriage Guidance counselling and, during this, I agreed that when we had children I would bring them up Catholic. We arranged for our son Lachie (now 3) to be baptised by our parish priest, Fr Vinh Dong of All Saints Church, in Greenwood. When I
A sense of belonging was the result of Lisa Dymock’s baptism into the Church, joining her previously baptised sons. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
had Harry (17 months) Fr Vinh suggested I should also get baptised. I thought if that was what I wanted for my children, it was only right that I followed it myself. The RCIA went for a year and by that stage I already felt committed. I became Catholic during Easter 2012. It was really good, quite overwhelming and emotional. I had a sense of belonging that I was always looking for but never had until then.
Becoming Catholic for mother-of-two Lisa Dymock resulted in a “sense of finalisation”, someone to turn to, and relaxation and calm following Mass even if it had been stressful getting there. I had already started to going to church a bit more often when our children were born. Becoming Catholic gave me a sense of finalisation. My sponsor was Sarah Craig and she had three children, one of whom was my son Lachie’s age. Sarah and I are also about the same age so it was kind of nice, especially as I have taken a different path from my brother and sister. My family is very close but we don’t agree about religion. Both my sister and brother are atheists. They didn’t attend my baptism and confirmation and thought it was strange that I did that. My father came. My mother didn’t as she died from cancer when I was 15. Previously, I worked for an insurance company and I am currently on maternity leave; however, being a mother was what I always wanted. It is what I was meant to do. It is a bit tricky having two small children in church. Sometimes we will go on a Saturday night but if the children are too tired we will go on Sunday morning. I might just go with my son Lachie because he understands a bit more what is going on and he actually likes going to church. I usually meet up with my mother-in -law as well. A lot of the time my husband will end up staying at home with Harry. Sometimes we have had to stand outside church with both of them screaming! I used to feel really bad about that but people don’t really react because the Catholic faith is a family thing. Recently, we have had tonsils out, grommets, croup and the flu for five weeks. Going to church was a break and I felt much better when I came out. I felt a bit frazzled getting there, trying to get out of the door on time but after Mass I feel relaxed and calm. I don’t know why but I do. My faith gives me someone to turn to when I am in need. I can ask for help and protection. Being Catholic has made me more patient as a mother and helps me see the bigger picture.
therecord.com.au
September 26, 2012
The possibility of meaning in
Suffering
Pain and suffering have often been regarded as arguments against God: how can a God who loves us allow the innocent to suffer and die? But, says an Italian physicist-philosopher, it’s not that simple and, if we are prepared to look, it’s possible to see through suffering more clearly. By Carol Glatz
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ain, suffering and human mortality shouldn’t be explained away, ignored or denied, but embraced by faith in God, said an expert in the philosophy and ethics of science. In fact, only a concrete encounter with the Lord can provide solace for people grappling with the question of how there can be a God who is good when there is also agony and death, especially of innocent children, said Evandro Agazzi, a member of the Italian National Committee for Bioethics and the Committee for the Ethics of Research and Bioethics of the Italian National Research Council. Agazzi, an Italian philosopher, physicist and mathematician, was the guest speaker at a September 17 lecture organised by the Ut Vitam Habeant Foundation – a Romebased Catholic foundation headed by Cardinal Elio Sgreccia. People’s faith and trust in a benevolent God have been challenged for millennia by the existence of death, pain and suffering, especially when such ills were not considered to be the direct result of moral evil, Agazzi told an audience of more than 250 people. Ancient philosophers and other
thinkers have proposed a wide variety of approaches: passive resignation; a cynical frustration that laments the burden of life; “death as liberation, so we need to get life over with as soon as possible”; or a naive belief in the harmony of nature, which will make sure all the bad will be balanced out by the good. “The real problem was the meaning of pain and suffering” and one’s response to it, he said.
Death, pain and suffering have always challenged humanity’s faith and trust in a benevolent God. Agazzi said people won’t find consolation in being told that evil exists and they just have to deal with it, or “don’t worry, it will all balance out” in the end. In the same way, he said, modern science and technology’s “ultra-rationalism” – for example, a geneticist who explains the origins of cancer to the last chromosome – offer no consolation by “explaining away and destroying the existence
of the bad”. A correct use of reason doesn’t negate the presence of the unintelligible. “There is an undeniable reality that goes beyond every explanation. “It’s real and beyond our ability to change,” Agazzi said. However, he said, it is precisely that reality beyond what the mind can grasp “that is capable of filling life with meaning”. “Christian faith has a response that goes beyond all the many possible responses that philosophy came up with.” “We are called to collaborate with God” and work to ease suffering and right injustices, he said, but “we don’t know if we will be successful because we know our success will always be limited”. Christianity teaches that “there’s no need to deny the negativity of
The survivors and those who BOOKS When Hitler Took Austria: A Memoir of Heroic Faith by the Chancellor’s Son by Kurt von Schuschnigg with Janet von Schuschnigg Ignatius Press (San Francisco, 2012), 306pp, $24.95. Road to Valour: A True Story of World War II Italy, the Nazis and the Cyclist Who Inspired a Nation by Aili and Andres McConnon Crown (New York, 2012) 352pp, $25. Reviewed by Graham Yearley
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hen Hitler Took Austr ia is the memoir of Kurt von Schuschnigg, born in 1926 and son of the Chancellor of Austria between 1934 and 1938. Young Kurt grew up in a world of aristocratic privilege, cosseted by his mother and nanny. His father struggled to keep Austria being annexed but it was invaded on March 12, 1938, Hitler being greeted by rapturous crowds. Kurt was only 12 when the Anschluss occurred but his world had already been rocked three years
before when his mother’s car was driven into a tree by a saboteur acting as chauffeur. His father had remarried by 1938 to Countess Vera FuggerBabenhausen. Vera became a tireless advocate for her husband when he was imprisoned in Austria and shared his imprisonment when the family was moved to Germany and, finally, to the concentration camp, Sachsenhausen. The former chancellor had to stay within barbed-wire confines but Vera and Kurt could come and go, an important advantage as food became scarcer. Besides providing protein by fishing, young Kurt also travelled regularly to Berlin to bring the consecrated host to his father. In early 1943, when it was already clear the war was going badly for Germany, Kurt was forced to join the armed forces, the navy considered the safest branch as it could not be sent to the front, but this proved illusory when his ship was sunk in 1944 and he was badly injured. Determined to never be trapped on a boat again, Kurt escaped from his hospital in Konigsberg in north
Germany and began his journey across the chaotic, bombed-out landscape of Germany in 1945. Lacking documents and facing execution if caught as a deserter, the resistance helped Kurt cross into Switzerland. His parents also survived the war and then emigrated to Italy. When Hitler Took Austria is an amazing story of adventure and survival, but it is not a story where Catholicism or the Christian faith plays a vital role. By contrast, Road to Valor, the story of Gino Bartali, the great Italian cyclist, is a story where Catholicism plays a central role. Bartali won the Tour de France in 1938 (the last time it was run until after the war) and again ten years later in 1948. While others have now won the gruelling, multi-part Tour de France more than once, no one has done it so many years apart. Bartali was a fervent Catholic and, through his international fame at a young age, was acquainted with many in the highest circles of the Catholic hierarchy. It was through his friendship with Cardinal Elia Dalla Costa of Florence that Bartali was led into
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therecord.com.au September 26, 2012
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Meeting the forgotten saints again As Mental Health Week approaches, we should remember patron saint for the mentally ill, St Dymphna, write Peter Golding and Fr Paul Pitzen of the Archdiocese’s Emmanuel Centre ...
W pain or justify it. We have to accept it as it is, accept its negativity and accept that it may be opening up something more”, he said. “The first way to overcome the bad is with love, but it won’t resolve everything; the mystery remains – the mystery of why love should pass through pain.” “There is no reason for it” yet Jesus showed it was true by giving up his life to redeem humanity, he said. The Old Testament figure Job, who was righteous and yet suffered without reason, overcomes his dilemma when he has a direct experience of God, Agazzi said. “If you don’t meet God face-to-face, your problems won’t be resolved,” he said. Therefore, Agazzi said he tells people who think it’s impossible
to believe in God after witnessing a child’s suffering and death that “only one who believes deeply in God is able to bear being at the side of a dying child without losing reason, without going mad in the pain”. During a brief question-andanswer period at the end of the talk, a member of the audience said he was a chaplain at the Vatican’s Bambino Gesu Children’s Hospital in Rome. Since the answer to witnessing such suffering is having a concrete encounter with God, he asked Agazzi how he could help people living through so much tragedy have that experience. The action of the Holy Spirit is key, Agazzi said, and people can pray “for the spirit to illuminate the mystery”. Agazzi said, “We have to be wit-
A Bible is placed on the bed of a three-month old baby suffering from Leukaemia at the paediatric cancer section of a hospital in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on September 10. Pain, suffering and human mor tality should not be explained away, ignored or denied, but embraced by faith in God, Evandro Agazzi, a member of the Italian National Committee for Bioethics, said in a September 17 lecture in Rome. PHOTO: JORGE CABRERA, REUTERS
nesses, but we can’t substitute God in helping people discover the way to God. You can’t put yourself in God’s shoes; they’re too big,” he added. - CNS
who helped others survive
the Italian resistance. He would carry forged identification papers in his bicycle seat between cities in the Nazi-occupied sector of Italy. In Italy, as it was in Germany, travelling without the proper papers was dangerous for anyone. However, for Jews, who had lost their status as citizens in Italy, being caught without papers meant
instant deportation and inevitable death. Through most of the war, Bartali kept a low profile as he was not eager to serve in the Fascist armies of Mussolini or, later, under the Germans. But occasionally, while he was in the resistance, he would distract station workers and police as trains
pulled into stations (the moment of greatest danger for those travelling illegally) by revealing himself as the international cycling star, creating a furore with adoring fans and allowing trains to pass unchecked. The authors of Road to Valor are the brother and sister team of Aili and Andres McConnon. Aili was a staff writer for Business Week and her brother is a filmmaker who also has done historical research for several books. While they deserve credit for bringing to light the story of Bartali’s wartime activities, which remained secret for decades, one could wish they wrote more graceful English. Describing Bartali’s wedding, the authors write, “They (the wedding couple) embraced of one the most sacred sacraments in the Catholic faith.” Another cyclist resists Bartali’s attempts to throw him off his lead in a race with “unyielding fluidity that refused to be baited”. Despite these and other clunkers, the story of Gino Bartali is a fascinating one. He was a competitive man who sought fame tirelessly as a cyclist, but remained completely silent on his work that saved hundreds of lives.
hen it comes to saints, the Catholic Church readily acknowledges there are plenty more saints than the few who get mentioned in the Church’s Liturgical Calendar. The Feast of All Saints on November 1 honours all of them. As we come to celebrate Mental Health Week, it might be useful to have another look at the forgotten saint, Dymphna. Sometimes, amidst other variations, the name is spelled Dympna or Dimpna. Oral tradition places Dymphna in 7th century Ireland, born of a Christian mother and pagan father who was a king of some description. Dymphna’s very early life was unremarkable though it was said she was a very beautiful girl. As the only child, her life was filled with every good thing that money and prestige could bring. From an early age, Dymphna was in the care of Christians for her schooling and faith development. She had consecrated her virginity and life to Christ. It was only when Dymphna was around 14 years of age that her life became topsy turvy when her mother died. Dymphna entered into depression, only to be sustained by her deep sense of faith. Her father’s grief, however, totally consumed him. Wishing to remarry, Dymphna’s father searched far and wide for a woman as beautiful and good as Dymphna’s mother. When none could be found, her father turned his attention to his own daughter. When Dymphna became aware of this she fled to Belgium with the family priest and two loyal servants. They were not there very long before her father’s men found out where they were and her father, together with a band of soldiers, made their way there. One of the first things Dymphna’s father did was to order the execution of the priest, St Gerebran. Then, asking Dymphna to become his wife, he withdrew his sword and beheaded her on the spot when she refused. Dymphna is the patron saint of all who undergo difficulties in the area of mental health. This is not only because of the mental illness of her father but also because she herself suffered much with the death of her mother and condition of her father. Shortly after her death, it is said that five people with mental illness wandered to the countryside where she was killed and slept the night there, only to awaken cured. Dymphna has since been invoked as the patron of those with nervous, mental, and spiritual troubles. A church was built on this site, only to be destroyed by fire in 1489 and rebuilt in 1532. It remains to the present day and has been joined by a house for the mentally ill that often houses as many as 1,500 people. Part of the ‘treatment’ is that townspeople welcome into their own homes those who come for help. Many return to their own homes to take their place in society. In the 12th century, where we find the earliest written records about the popular veneration of St Dymphna, the canonisation process had not yet been developed. Instead, what often happened was that the local population would go to the bishop and ask that a recently deceased person be declared a saint. In many of the towns, villages and hamlets in Mediaeval Europe, everybody knew each other as we do in small towns today. People lived out of doors a lot; they tended not to be alone but worked and spent free time with others, and they entertained each other with stories, songs, tales, ballads and just plain gossip. They lived in that way because there was no radio, TV, movies, CDs, Facebook, computers, phones, airconditioning or central heating, or electric lights. So people really were involved in each others’ lives a lot more than we are in modern times. If the great majority of the people in a district proclaimed one of their own “a saint”, the Church tended to listen. Such was the case with the saint called Dymphna. There is no record of the process of her canonisation at Rome. We only know from a hagiography (a saint’s biography) that Pierre, a canon of the church of St Aubert at Cambray, wrote sometime near the middle of the 13th century that a church dedicated to God in honour of St Dymphna had been built many years before at Gheel in Belgium. St Dymphna’s feast day is May 15.
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therecord.com.au
September 26, 2012
It’s election season in the US, where religion can play a potent part in politics. One factor affecting this year’s campaign for the US presidency is the religious faith of Republican candidate Mitt Romney, a lifelong Mormon. For many Australians, Mormonism is something of a mystery. CNS’ Mark Pattison looks at the faith known as the Church of Latter Day Saints ...
Delegates celebrate with MITT! signs after Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney got the necessary delegate votes to put him over the top and secure their party’s presidential nomination on August 2
Getting to know the W
The temple of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in downtown Salt Lake City in the US state of Utah. With Mitt Romney, a Mormon, at the top of the Republican Party presidential ticket and Rep Paul Ryan, a Catholic, as his running mate, US Republicans for the first time do not have a Protestant on the ticket. PHOTO: JIM URQUHART, REUTERS
ith Mitt Romney at the top of the US Republican Party presidential ticket and Paul Ryan as his running mate, the Republicans for the first time do not have a Protestant on the ticket. Ryan, the vice presidential candidate, is Catholic. Presidential hopeful Romney is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and, as the Catholic News Service Stylebook on Religion notes, “It is not a Protestant church”. “Protestant” is the proper term for the new churches of Western Christianity formed during the Reformation, for the branches of those churches and for their members. The main branches of Protestantism include Baptist, Congregational, Lutheran, Methodist, Quaker, Presbyterian and Reformed denominations. Some significant differences in belief and practice between Mormonism and Protestantism come into play. “Well, it probably would refer mainly to the teachings on baptism,” said Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, which is home to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often referred to as “LDS.” “In 2001, the Vatican conclusively determined that we do not accept LDS baptisms, and the LDS Church does not accept Catholic baptisms, so there’s no surprise in that,” the bishop said. In explaining its decision, the Vatican said that even though the Mormon baptismal rite refers to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the church’s beliefs about the identity of the three persons are so different from Catholic and mainline Christian belief that the rite cannot be regarded as a Christian baptism.
Catholics and other Christians believe that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are three persons of a triune God, while Latter-day Saints believe them to be separate and distinct persons. Another point that distinguishes them from Catholics and Protestants is their church’s Book of Mormon, four books that are appended to their religion’s Bible. The books are considered “extracanonical” by Christians and are not included in Catholic or Protestant Bibles. “Most evangelicals and Catholics consider Mormons to be only Christian in name, and of course the main distinction there has to do with authority,” said Carl Raschke, a religious studies professor at the University of Denver. “It comes down to the Book of Mormon.” Those books were written by a 19th century frontiersman named Joseph Smith, considered the originator of the church. “He claimed to have a special revelation that supplements the biblical canon that would show the destiny of the new people he was called to lead in America that other Christians don’t consider to be valid, let alone authoritative,” Raschke told CNS. And controversy over the church’s posthumous rebaptism of the dead – even the deceased of other faiths, and at times with nobody present – may make it easier to see why Catholicism and other Christian faiths do not recognise Mormonism. Latter-day Saints are not active in any official ecumenical dialogue, even at their headquarters in Salt Lake City. “Not officially, no. We don’t participate in anything,” said
Monsignor Joseph Mayo, chairman of the Salt Lake City Diocese’s ecumenical commission. “There was a group that came together, the Interfaith Network” as a part of the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, Mgr Mayo said. The network was a collection of Olympic chaplains who “continued to meet after the Olympics,” he said. “It’s not so much a dialogue as it is a coming together.” Bishop Wester concurred. “There’s no ecumenical interfaith dialogue by that score.” But on the other hand, he said, “we do a lot of compassionate work together. For example, they support a lot of our Catholic community service programs, they support them monetarily, and we work together in responding to various needs”. Catholics and Latter-day Saints worked together on California’s voter-approved Proposition 8, barring same-sex marriage. The constitutionality of Proposition 8 has been tangled up in the courts almost since it passed. Even though Latter-day Saints number only 6.2 million in the US and 14.4 million worldwide, they make up the majority of Utah’s population. “I think for the Catholics, being in the minority in Utah is something that makes the Catholics more energetic about their faith,” Bishop Wester said. “There’s no accidental Catholic in Utah. You want to be, you love being, a Catholic. Human nature being what it is, we would gravitate toward the majority religion ... if we had no strong ties.” The University of Denver’s Raschke noted that Mormonism has grown more mainstream. One case in point: During the 1976 US Democratic presidential
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therecord.com.au September 26, 2012
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Catholic bishop sets out what Catholicism is for Mormon students Utah is to Mormonism what Rome is to Catholicism, the heart of its faith. So what happened when the Catholic bishop of Utah’s capital, Salt Lake City, was invited to address students at a Latter-day Saints’ university? By Marie Mischel
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28. Romney, above at right, and running mate Paul Ryan, a Catholic.
PHOTO: LEFT: JASON REED, REUTERS; RIGHT: KOE SKIPPER, REUTERS
Mormons primaries, Detroit Mayor Coleman Young, an ardent supporter of eventual winner Jimmy Carter, accused one of Carter’s opponents – Morris Udall, a Mormon and then a representative from Arizona – of racism because the church did not allow blacks to serve in the priesthood. The backlash by white Democrats against the black Young very nearly pushed Udall over the top in Michigan. But two years after the primary, in 1978, the church’s policy on African-Americans was changed. Members of the church realised the doctrine had been based on Joseph Smith’s own prejudices and was “not a case of ‘we have to hold on to it,’” Raschke said. “Mormonism has been mainstream for quite some time. It’s operating and acting like many of the mainstream Protestant and Catholic organisations,” he added. “The more followers it has, the less weird it becomes in the eyes of people.” According to a poll by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released in January, most Latterday Saints feel that Americans don’t know enough about their religion. But they also think public perception of them is becoming more positive with their religion being in the spotlight in recent months, including Romney’s candidacy. In the poll, 46 per cent of US Latter-day Saints say they face a lot of discrimination and six in 10 think Americans are uninformed about their religious beliefs. Sixtythree per cent also think Americans are “becoming more likely to see Mormonism as part of mainstream society” and 56 per cent feel the country is ready for a president who belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. - CNS
The basics of Mormonism
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ore than 14 million people belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has its headquarters in Salt Lake City. Members are referred to as Mormons. About five million live in the United States, making the faith group the fourth largest in the country. The church was established on April 6, 1830 by Joseph Smith, who is considered a prophet. According to information on the church’s website, Mormons describe themselves as a restoration of Christianity. The site notes that the church is not Protestant, evangelical, Catholic or Orthodox but espouses values of morality, civility and family similar to those of most other Christian faiths. According to a recent Pew Forum poll, six in 10 Mormons think Americans are uninformed about their religious beliefs. The study showed that a number of tenets central to the teachings of the Mormon faith are not shared by other Christian traditions including beliefs that: • God the Father and Jesus Christ are separate, physical beings. • The Book of Mormon was written by ancient prophets. • Families can be bound together for all eternity in temple ceremonies. The church’s website addresses possible misconceptions about the faith and its practices in the “frequently asked questions” section. The site also explains the following practices: • The Bible is the word of God and the Book of Mormon is also considered Scripture. The two are used side by side in preaching and personal study. • Temples are used only by Mormons in good standing. • Women are not ordained to the priesthood but serve as leaders. • Polygamy is strictly forbidden. The practice was part of the group’s past in the 19th century but was discontinued in 1890. • Mormons place a strong emphasis on missionaries and currently have more than 52,000 missionaries around the world. • Alcohol, tobacco and caffeine are forbidden because of their addictive and harmful effects based on a health code spelled out in the “Word of Wisdom” written in 1833. • Mormon leadership includes the church president, who is considered a prophet, and his two counsellors. These three leaders are assisted by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who are in turn assisted by leaders called seventies who serve in various areas throughout the world. Local congregations are led by bishops and assisted by lay leaders. • Strong emphasis is placed on families, education and charitable efforts. - CNS
ore than 1,000 students at the Orem Institute of Religion at Utah Valley University in the US packed a lecture hall on September 18 to hear Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, Utah’s capital, speak about the Catholic faith. Bishop Wester’s visit was at the behest of the university’s Latter-day Saints Student Association Interfaith Committee, which was formed this year. “One of the purposes of the Interfaith Committee is to form those bridges between religions and let the students come and learn more about those religions because there is a lot of ignorance when it comes to other faiths,” said Spencer Bennett, co-chairman. “This is a way that we can come together and to ask questions that we’ve had and to learn about them.” In addition to students and faculty members, the event was attended by dignitaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including Elder Whitney Clayton of the First Quorum of Seventy and Elder Steven Lund, a regional LDS leader. Bishop Wester opened his remarks by saying that the gathering of students and Elder Clayton’s presence “are wonderful signs of our ongoing collaboration and friendship and mutual desire to stand shoulder to shoulder as we give witness to Jesus Christ as his disciples.” This hasn’t always been so, Bishop Wester said, pointing out that religious conflicts are ongoing in many parts of today’s world, so interfaith gatherings are important. “I believe that what we’re doing today is to help us be open to the different ways in which God acts in our lives in our different religions, and to see the ways that we can work together,” he said. Acknowledging the difficulty of summarising the Catholic faith in less than an hour, Bishop Wester outlined several key aspects of the faith, then touched on some differences between the Catholic and Mormon faiths and ended with a summary of similarities between the two. Bishop Wester started with St Ignatius Loyola’s first principle: “We are created to be one with God forever, to give him glory and praise.”
The sacraments are the life blood of the Church, Bishop Wester told the Mormon students, and Catholics believe we have a moral imperative to live out what we receive in the Eucharist. This, Bishop Wester said, is “the fundamental, absolute principle of our existence.” He also discussed the paschal mystery as the centre of the Catholic faith and said Jesus Christ founded the Church as the “living memory” of his salvific presence among human beings. The sacraments “are the life blood of the Church,” Bishop Wester said, and Catholics believe “we have moral imperative to live what we receive” in the Eucharist. Saints are important to Catholics because of their example and as intercessors, with Mary having a special place as the mother of God and mother of the Church, Bishop Wester said. The foundational difference between the Catholic and LDS faiths is the doctrine of God, Bishop Wester said: Catholics believe in the Trinity. Catholics also believe that divine revelation ended with the conclusion of the New Testament, although revelation continues to unfold in the life of the Church and its people, Bishop Wester said, adding that another difference between the faiths is that Catholics believe Christ never abandoned his Church. Belief in infallibility and universal salvation are other points of difference, Bishop Wester said. Despite these differences, there are areas where the two churches share common ground: belief in the Lordship of Jesus Christ, adherence to the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes, a call to social justice and love for the poor, respect for human life and the dignity of every person made in God’s image, and the importance of family life and Christian marriage, among others, Bishop Wester said. About 8,000 students are enrolled in the Orem Institute of Religion at Utah Valley University, said Blair Van Dyke, adviser to the Interfaith Committee. The institute offers classes on a range of subjects, including church history, Scripture, the Book of Mormon, and dating and courtship. Van Dyke introduced Bishop Wester as “an able defender of religious liberty” and said the “Latter-day Saints and other faith traditions beyond Catholicism benefit from his articulate voice in the public square”. - CNS
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OPINION
EDITORIAL
The good samaritans of Scarborough
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s many readers of The Record will have noticed, a Baptist church in Scarborough has discovered that it risks a $1 million fine from the City of Stirling by providing a free weekly meal on Sunday evenings to those who might be described as living on the margins of our society - the poor, the unemployed, those down on their luck, or those just in need of simply a little human warmth and company. Should the church persist in the error of its ways, it transpires, it risks being fined $125,000 for each subsequent occasion when it is found to be in breach of the relevant by-laws and planning guidelines. The reason that such local government by-laws and planning guidelines exist is, of course, well established. Their uses are generally just and help to ensure a basic pattern of civil order, as opposed to a situation that can become a free for all where the rights of those who live locally to some semblance of peace and order are not observed. On the other hand, there have been plenty of occasions where such rules and guidelines have been used for less than honourable reasons. Among the interesting questions regarding the errant Baptists of Scarborough are which, if any, of these situations apply? However, the whole matter appears strange, to say the least. According to media reports, the council said it was obliged to investigate after receiving complaints from residents over late-night antisocial behaviour and rowdiness, such as urination in public. There is no doubt this could well be true. One of the problems encountered by those who decide to reach out to the marginalised in our society is the quick discovery which dispels any overly-romantic notions they may have about the poor - that the marginalised do not live the way most people are used to living. Partly, this is because they have not had access to the benefits that many other people have had in life. Partly, it is because those who live on the margins sense very clearly that they are regarded as being precisely on the margins of our society and will never get the chance to enjoy the lifestyle so many of us enjoy. Within their own ranks there is a certain code, of sorts, fashioned by their own experiences of life. The problem really is that they can often offend our more comfortable and bourgeois ways of looking at those around us and, as a consequence, they do not fit in. The matter is, obviously, contested. The church’s pastor, Andre van Oudtshoorn, was reported as saying that such behaviour has been minimal and only twice in ten years has the church been forced to call a ranger. A City of Stirling Council spokesman has indicated the Council would consider changes to allow many of the church’s activities if it only makes the appropriate applications. However Pastor van Oudtshoorn objects that the Council should not have the PO Box 3075 power to determine what is Adelaide Terrace and isn’t a religious activity. PERTH WA 6832 It seems reasonably clear that a little compromise on office@therecord.com.au all sides could go a long way. Tel: (08) 9220 5900 Without knowing all the Fax: (08) 9325 4580 details, it seems a possibility that the good Baptists of Scarborough could achieve most of what they feel called to do by making the relevant applications although, it must be admitted, Pastor van Oudtshoorn’s questioning of civic intervention and definition of religious affairs is not irrelevant. On the other hand, local residents of the City of Stirling and the City itself could well consider whether there is another deeper message in their circumstances than simply the importance of uninterrupted lifestyle, something of an opportunity. It is unacceptable that we, either singly or as a society, turn away the poor when they enter our lives. The Baptist Church of Scarborough and its members appear to be the first people to have understood that principle in this episode and for this they are to be admired. Yes, people have a right to civic order, but there is no right to civic order without civic responsibility. The language of civic responsibility, which is too rarely heard in our society, should not only talk the talk but walk the walk when it comes to caring for the elderly, the sick, the dying – and the poor. It would be interesting to know, for example, how unique the Baptist Church at Scarborough is within the City of Stirling for its commitment to reaching out to those who can be regularly difficult to reach out to. One thing that can be said with certainty, however, is that the Baptist congregation of Scarborough is walking the walk that almost no-one else in our society is willing to walk. This is because they see what Christians see. That God is love and that because he is love, he wants there to be others who are like him and who belong in his company; that by becoming more like God we are called to radiate the love that is his. The good Baptist congregation that faces financial penalty for carrying out God’s commandment to love others - and not just those who are easy to love - are living out this authentic Christian baptismal vocation. The real question facing all of us is whether we sense the call from God to do what they have done. The real question facing our society, including the good people of Stirling and those who administer it, is what they might also be doing or helping to facilitate for those who have little or nothing. The mystery of human life burns just as brightly in the least apparently attractive of us as it does in those possessed of beauty, glamour, fame and wealth.
Those living on the margins do so precisely because they have had less opportunity.
THE RECORD
therecord.com.au
September 26, 2012
LETTERS
Fr Sean on the money over Adam and Eve FR FERNANDEZ generously set out to explain for us the term “myth” as used by Cardinal Pell on ABC TV. This was in response to many requests for an explanation. Cardinal Pell had used “myth” in the technical biblical scholarship sense, but his audience mostly understood myths in the sense of yarn. There’s the nub and there’s the rub! At no time did the author of the article say he disbelieved that Adam and Eve existed. The whole point was to describe how expert Sacred Scripture scholarship can or cannot determine a fact as historical in the strict meaning of the word. Therefore “myth” was explained and also how Catholic biblical scholarship has developed in the last century to arrive at this understanding as used by Cardinal Pell. The reactionary letters in The Record (September 19) from two men I admire and respect seem to have taken more cognisance of the front page promo and the photo comment with the article than of the article itself. A close reading of the text shows that the author does not say that the Eve of faith did not exist. Mitochondrial DNA has not led to the discovery of theoretical mitochondrial “Eve” as the quote
described. I doubt that mitochondria ever can. Philosophical speculation is another matter. Church teaching revealed the Adam and Eve of faith long before modern biblical scholarship. Doctrine and historical critical method are two separate disciplines within theology. Both are valid. Both teach knowledge. Each serves the other in the final analysis. The Holy Spirit reveals truth through the Church. The Holy Spirit has revealed the truth of Adam and Eve and the fall through the Church. This revealed truth has been influenced by Genesis. It does not depend on Gen 1-3 being “history” in the modern sense of the word history. Hence, Trent teaches truth. The Holy Spirit can reveal through a “myth” what the composer/writer may or may not have been aware of. The critical historical method in effect emphasises the genius of God as revealer who brings forth solid truth from apparent flimsy “myth”. Why bother then? Because knowledge of God and Scripture increases and enables fruitful dialogue with science ie with the world we live in, such Cardinal Pell engaged in. It would be a pity if reaction deterred such interesting articles in The Record in the future. Fr E Miller FREMANTLE, WA
Death penalty not so clear cut THE WHOLE idea of doing away with the death penalty was to make room for abortion and euthanasia. Do you really think with millions of abortions annually around the world, people like yourself are seriously concerned about murderers getting the death penalty? Catechism No. 2266: “The traditional teaching of the Church has acknowledged well founded the right duty of legitimate public authority to punish malefactors by means of penalties commensurate with the gravity of the crime, not excluding extreme gravity to death penalty.” Read also 2268: “The murderer or those who cooperate voluntarily in suicide commit a sin that cries out to Heaven for vengeance.” Fr T Smith DIANELLA, WA
Something to say? Put it in a
Letter to the Editor office@therecord.com.au
The question is who are those who make our daily lives difficult? It can be difficult to embrace those who make our lives harder, but to be able to do so is a sign of the reality of love – and of God living in us.
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was scrolling through Facebook this week and I saw the following message: “KEEP people in your life that truly love you, motivate you, encourage you, inspire you, enhance you & make you happy. If you have people who do NONE of the above, let them go”. These sort of short, inspirational messages are all over the internet and I have posted up a few of them myself. However, as I read this one I found myself wondering what I should do with the people in my life who didn’t love me or motivate me or encourage me or inspire me or enhance me or even make me happy. And what if these same people did not motivate or inspire anyone? What if these people were a drain on me, their families and on the whole society? It is important to surround ourselves with people who are going to encourage and inspire us. After all, we become a reflection of the company we keep. If we spend our time with those who live to get drunk and party, then we will end up doing the same. If we keep the company of those who strive for higher ideals, then we will begin to strive for those same ideals. It would be hard to get up every morning for an entire lifetime if there was never anyone to pat us on the back and say ‘you’re doing well, keep going’. At times, we need encouraging and sometimes we encourage others. This is the story of good friendships: each person looks out for the other and when either one is struggling the other is there to pick him or her up.
Foolish Wisdom BERNARD TOUTOUNJI
However, we might add another category of people in our lives and that is those who are always a bit of a drain on us. These people are always down, always needy and they probably have no real prospects of making something noteworthy of their lives. They may not be able to work, they may never marry, they may always be sick or they may just generally not ‘fit in’. The reality is, though, our world is made up of a multitude of people from the strong and the successful to the unloved and those perceived to be ‘useless’. Throughout history, various people and ideologies have tried to remove the useless from society and it continues to this day. It is
As good as it is to aid others in need abroad, I think the true test of who we are is found much closer to home. estimated that China has approximately 35 million more males than females due to deliberate male sex selection. Have you ever wondered why you see less children with Down Syndrome these days? That is because 90 per cent of them are aborted when their parents receive a prenatal diagnosis of the condi-
tion. Admittedly, it can be difficult to embrace those who will make our life harder, but the mark of any of us is how we embrace the weak and those whom no one else will love. Jesus of Nazareth told his disciples in very explicit terms that to love the hungry, the sick and the lonely was to love him and to ignore the hungry, the sick and the lonely was to ignore him and thus salvation. This pursuit of such ‘useless’ people is what continues to make Mother Teresa of Calcutta an example of virtue to Christian, Hindu and Atheist. As good as it is that we are all willing to open our wallets to the starving in Africa and the Tsunami victims in Indonesia, I think the test of who we are is found much closer to us. It is in that friend from school who still calls us every week even though he has nothing to say. It is in our meddlesome aunt who lives alone with no one to talk to. It is in that person we have lunch with each month even though they probably get more out of it than we do. The truth is these are the very encounters that define us. When the rich young Pier Giorgio Frassati died in 1925, it was the poor of Turin who packed his funeral in honour of the life he had secretly given in their service. It is good to surround ourselves with those who love, motivate and encourage us. But let us never dismiss or forget those who cannot and will not be able to offer us these things. The ‘rejects’ of society deserve as much friendship as the next person. For it is only by the undeserved grace of God that we find ourselves not in that category. - www.foolishwisdom.com
Catholic clarity for complex times - The Record Bookshop. See Page 20.
OPINION
therecord.com.au September 26, 2012
17
Why the Pope had to be in Lebanon - in person Pope Benedict encouraged Lebanese Christians, telling them they are called to be the protagonists of their country’s future.
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s war raged in Syria and an anti-Muslim film ignited violence across the Arab world, Pope Benedict calmly arrived last week in Lebanon as a “pilgrim of peace”. The 85-year-old Pontiff would have been excused if, citing age and security concerns, he’d postponed this trip. During his three-day stay, 25 people were injured and a man killed in Lebanon’s second-largest city, Tripoli, during protests aimed at an American film that mocks Islam. The day after he left, missiles from Syrian jets hit Lebanese territory. The region, habitually unsafe, is particularly dangerous right now. The purpose of the trip was to
officially endorse the apostolic exhortation that was drafted following the 2010 Synod of Bishops for the Middle East. That task could have been accomplished in the Vatican, of course, and transmitted live worldwide by video-conferencing and Internet technology. Yet the Pope dismissed that option. Instead, he made the right and courageous decision to stand beside the Christians of the region and, by his physical presence, acknowledge the hardships they endure by living in nations that are often hostile to Christianity. That simple act alone says much about the Pope. Then, addressing some 20,000 young
people from several Middle East countries, he urged them to be the vanguard to keep Christianity alive in the lands of its birth.
Deciding to ask Christians to endure hardship, that is what he did - delivering the message personally. Middle East Christians, facing social and economic discrimination and seeking safety for their families, have been emigrating in droves to Europe and North America. At the
current pace, Christianity might virtually disappear from the region in a generation. It is asking much of young Christians to endure financial and religious hardship, but that is exactly what the Pope implored. To be effective, the message had to be delivered in person. “I am aware of the difficulties you face daily, on account of instability and a lack of security, and your sense of being alone and on the margins,” he said. But, he added, “You are meant to be protagonists of your country’s future”. The Pope’s apostolic exhortation lays a commonsense framework for Middle East Christianity to endure. It emphasises dialogue,
respect, equality, tolerance and forgiveness among Christians, Muslims and Jews, while denouncing secularism and fundamentalism. The Pope urged young people to never be afraid or ashamed of being Christian and he affirmed their right to religious liberty and to participate fully in civil life. The Pope arrived in Lebanon as a pilgrim of peace but departed an emissary of inspiration and hope. He ignored the latest regional upheaval and chose boldly to stand among the anxious Christians to let them know in person that he will not abandon them. That may have been the most important message of all. - THE CATHOLIC REGISTER, TORONTO
The disappearing sense of the sacred
A real problem for the Church is the many families who attend Mass with little or no idea why, writes Dr Andrew Kania
M
y father once told me this story. As a young seven year old boy, he would be collected on Saturday evening from the family home by a Ukrainian priest and taken to train as a future cantor in the Ukrainian Church. One Saturday he was asked by a monk to sing the epistle. My father sang the piece through as fast as he could. The Basilian monk stretched his hand across the Bible that my father was reading from, and covered the text. He then said: “Now we shall begin to sing again – and this time with a heart believing we are professing the Word of God.” Eighty years later, my father still proclaims the Word of God in church. About a month ago I chose to attend Sunday Liturgy at the parish school where I was educated whilst a primary school student. The last time I attended the Liturgy at this parish on a Sunday morning, about a year ago, the church was about half full. But on this day, arriving one minute before the beginning of the Liturgy, there was not a car park within sight. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of people attending the Liturgy – and as I walked the good distance between where I parked my car and the church, I mused at how wrong the perception is that few Catholics now attend the Liturgy on a regular basis. When I arrived at the door of the church, there was standing room only. When the priest made his way to the altar and spoke through the microphone, it became clear why the numbers were so great: “Today, we celebrate the First Holy Communion of 45 members of our primary school”. Everything went smoothly up until the Offertory Hymn. At this point the entire Church seemed to break into one large talkfest. The priest sat on his chair, head bowed. No one could hear the choir sing – people were even texting on their phones. Even if one attempted to pray – it was impossible. It was as if it was the intermission at a concert or half-time at a football match, and people needed to stretch their legs and talk with the person beside them. The priest said nothing after the Offertory – but prior to the distribution of Holy Communion announced that this was a sacred moment so could the congregation please be silent. The immediate response to the priest’s request was that one of the fathers climbed over the pew and jumped on to the floor leading to the exit. Another father beside me, who had been chewing gum through-
Texting in church: it’s not a sin, but it reveals a lot about ignorance of what is really going on.
out the Liturgy, quizzed his son who was not a first holy communicant: “Do you want to go up and get some?” His son replied that he did not; the father nodded his head and kept on chewing gum. After a brief modicum of silence – at the moment the choir began singing, the talk-fest commenced once more and grew steadily louder. What I had witnessed in that parish on that Sunday is not unusual; but a very sad sign of the times – a situation in which the Church as a whole
lies, for whatever reason, seek to make an effort to attend church – for instance: Christmas, First Holy Communion, Confirmation, Weddings and Funerals. In recent years, at various parishes, at these ‘special’ events, I have witnessed parents eating in the church, others speaking on mobile phones as they are in the line for Holy Communion; a bride refusing to have her wedding in the church if there were any crucifixes which were visible; while those attending
ceremony, in order to circumvent a growing custom of people who avoid the Liturgy but attend the reception. All these examples relate to a lack of religious formation and understanding, and are representative of a loss of a sense of the sacred. In their Mandate for 2009 – 2015, the Catholic Bishops of Western Australia emphasised strongly the necessity to use Catholic schools as vehicles for evangelisation in the Faith, through the encouragement
Another father, who had been chewing gum throughout the liturgy, quizzed his son at Communion: “Do you want some?” and her schools now minister to a clientele who are indeed the third generation of non-regular Church attendees in their families. The lack of Church enculturation becomes glaringly obvious on occasions in which these fami-
weddings sit with headphones (discreet enough) so that they can hear the latest sports scores. For some who still place value on Liturgy and prayer, the venue for the wedding reception is only announced now after the wedding
of the sense of the sacred. According to this document: “In their evangelisation plans, Catholic schools need to help awaken a sense of the sacred in their students who lack this awareness wherever this is appropriate in the curriculum.
Outdoor and camp excursions, studies of nature and the sciences are obvious examples. Religious symbols and sacred places, such as chapels and prayer centres that are used exclusively for religious worship, serve also as important reminders to the students of the presence of God.” (Mandate, 2009, par. 49) One of the greatest difficulties such a plan as the Mandate has in being able to be successfully implemented is a lack of support or encouragement from home: “This can be a serious problem where their parents are focused primarily on the material world and affluent lifestyles.” (Mandate, 2009, par. 47). A lack of parental support in religious upbringing, or a lack of clear example of sacredness, leads to the next generation also being confused as to what is Church. How can we expect our children to pray, to believe, to revere, to worship – if we show no such example, or if we reveal ourselves to act like mere modern pagans. Our children will know that we have been ourselves baptised, but that this baptism stands for little. By the realisation of this fact, our example will kill God in their hearts, minds and souls. Our children won’t begin to hate the Church – worse yet, they will just become cynical. They will ask with good reason – “Why did you send me to a Catholic school, when we don’t go to church?” And when we reply, it is because of the sports program, or the power of an elite college tie; they will then know what is held most sacred as our family value. The choice is simple: if a sense of the sacred is important, then good example and nothing less is the teacher. To this end, a well-known adage runs: “The greatest thing a father can do for his son, is to love the son’s mother”. The truth of this comment lies in the son being able to see an honest witness in his father’s love. It is the sublime power of authenticity. If we, as a school, seek to convince others of the importance of Faith, or a sense of the sacred, it necessarily follows that we show this to others, in the genuine priority we give to Scripture, to prayer, and to sacred places. For as the great author and grandson of a Ukrainian priest, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, once wrote: “If you want to be respected by others the great thing is to respect yourself. Only by that, only by selfrespect will you compel others to respect you.” Dr Kania is the Director of Spirituality at Aquinas College, Manning.
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PANORAMA
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 Medjugorje Evening of Prayer 7-9pm at Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, 175 Corfield St, Gosnells. In thanksgiving for reported daily apparitions of Our Blessed Mother in Medjugorje. Includes Eucharistic Adoration, Rosary, Benediction and Holy Mass. Free DVDs on Donald Calloway’s life of drugs and crime to his conversion and priesthood; also info on pilgrimage: Rome/Medjugorje May/June 2013. Enq: Eileen 9402 2480 or 0407 471 256 or medjugorje@ y7mail.com. ‘Holy Hour Adoration’ by Holy Trinity Community 7pm at Pius X Parish, 23 Paterson St, Manning. Enq: Adri 0412 948 688. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 ‘The Theology of Islam from a Roman Catholic Perspective’ Workshop 9am-12.30pm at St Denis Parish, cnr Roberts Rd and Osborne St, Joondanna. Enq: admin@stdenis. com.au.
NEXT WEEK WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3 ‘The Transitus of St Francis of Assisi’ Mass 6.30pm at Our Lady Queen of Poland Parish, 35 Eighth Ave, Maylands. By the Secular Franciscan Order. Please bring a plate to share. Enq: Angela 9275 5658 or angelmich@bigpond.com. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4
Prayer in Style of Taize 7.30-8.30pm at Our Lady of Grace Parish, 3 Kitchener St, North Beach. Prayer, song and silence. www.taize.fr. Enq: Beth 9448 4888 or Joan 9448 4457. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5 Divine Mercy Thanksgiving Mass – St Jerome’s Divine Mercy Prayer Group 2-4pm at St Jerome’s Parish, 36 Troode St, Munster. In honour of the Divine Mercy and St Faustina. Main celebrant: Fr Parackal. 2-3pm: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Divine Mercy Chaplet. 3-4pm: Mass and talk on Divine Mercy and St Faustina spirituality. Refreshments afterwards. Enq: Connie 9494 1495. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5 TO SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7 God’s Farm 25th Anniversary Retreat 7.30pm at The Stone Chapel on God’s Farm. Fr Brian Morgan will offer Holy Mass every day. Friday 7.30pm; Brother Andrew’s 12th Thanksgiving Mass will be celebrated. Saturday 10.30am 25th Anniversary Mass with retreat topic/homily: God the Father of all Mankind. More details, bookings for retreat: Betty 9755 6212. Bus reservations: Yvonne 9343 1897. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6 Day with Mary 9am-5pm at St Anne Parish, 6549 Great Northern Hwy, Bindoon. Day of prayer and instruction based on the Fatima message. 9am video; 10.10am Holy Mass; Reconciliation, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament, Eucharistic Adoration, sermons on Eucharist and on Our Lady, Rosaries and Stations of the Cross. BYO lunch. Enq – Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286. Bus: Helen 0431 689 128; Midland area: Nora 0421 238 360. One Day Faith Renewal Retreat 9am-4.30pm at Holy Family Parish, Lot 375 Alcock St, Maddington. Cost: free. BYO lunch. Tea and coffee provided. Enq: Fr Parackal 9493 1703. SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7 Latin Mass At Good Shepherd Parish, Streich Ave., Kelmscott on the 7th and 21st October, at 2.00 PM. Enquiries John on 9390 6646. 2012 Mission Concert by Walker Trio 2-4pm at Infant Jesus Parish, cnr Wellington Rd and Smith St, Morley. Restoring Hope, Sharing Grace - a Sunday afternoon of classical and jazz music performed by the Walker Trio. All proceeds raised will go to support Catholic Mission’s overseas work with children living in poverty. Enq: Catholic Mission Office 9422 7933. Divine Mercy 1.30pm at St Francis Xavier Parish, 25 Windsor St, Perth. Main celebrant: TBA. Homily: St Theresa of the Child Jesus. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament followed by Rosary and Chaplet of the Divine Mercy. Enq: John 457 7771. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9 ‘My Journey’: mental health issue testimony 6-8pm at Emmanuel Centre, 25 Windsor St, Perth. Testimony of Ann-Marie Page, a young woman in her thirties who will share the ups and downs of her journey with mental health issues. Please bring a plate of finger food to share. Cost: free. Enq: Barbara 9328 8113.
UPCOMING THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11 Healing Mass in honour of St Peregrine
7pm at Ss John and Paul Parish, Pinetree Gully Rd, Willetton. St Peregrine, patron saint of cancer sufferers – veneration of relics and anointing of the sick. Enq: Jim 9457 1539. FRIDAY TO SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12-14 Inner Healing Retreat (live-in) 7.30am, Epiphany Retreat Centre, 50 Fifth Ave, Rossmoyne. A time to be healed and renewed. Leaders: Vincentian Father. Registrationn and enq: Melanie 0410 605 743 or m.fonseca@curtin.edu. au. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13 Embracing Womanhood – Spiritual Seminar 9.30am-3pm at Sacred Heart Parish, parish hall, 40 Ovens Rd, Thornlie. With Sr Ann Cullinane and Fr Clayton (Mass celebrant) Cost: $10. Morning tea and light lunch provided. Childcare available. Only 60 places available - registration closes on Sunday, October 7. All enquries to: Anna Marie 0418 807 500, Rachel 0401 667 338, or Carolin 0432 855 605. Annual Mass at Priestley’s farm 10.30am at Grotto on Richard and Judy Priestley’s farm. Please bring chair, picnic lunch. BBQ meat provided. Directions to farm: take Gt Eastern Hwy to El Caballo Blanco (ECB) – 10km past the Lakes Roadhouse. 100m past ECB turn right into Wariin Rd, travel 1.8km, turn left into Chinganning Rd, travel 2.3kms to our gate No. 473 at the top of the hill on the right. Allow 45 mins from Midland. Enq: Richard 9573 1247 or 0428 502 749 or 9367 3223. St Padre Pio Prayer Day 8.30am at All Saints Chapel, Allendale Sq, 77 St George’s Tce, Perth. Begins with Padre Pio DVD; 10am – Exposition of Blessed Sacrament, Rosary, Divine Mercy, silent Adoration and Benediction; 11am – Mass, St Padre Pio Liturgy and Confession available; 12pm – lunch (bring plate to share). Enq: Des 6278 1540. Divine Mercy Healing Mass 2.30pm at St Francis Xavier Parish, Windsor St, East Perth. Main celebrant: Fr Marcellinus Meilak. Reconciliation in English and Italian offered. Divine Mercy prayers followed by veneration of first class relic of St Faustina Kowalska. Refreshments afterwards. Enq: John 9457 7771. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17 ‘Coping with Grief in our Lives’ Seminar by Gerry Smith 6.30-8pm at Infant Jesus Parish Hall, 47 Wellington Rd, Morley. In everyone’s lives, there are times of grieving about life issues. How do we cope with these? Where do we draw our strength? What skills can we develop? By Gerry, a renowned grief counsellor and trainer. Please bring a plate of finger food to share. Cost: free. Enq: Barbara 9328 8113. SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21 Latin Mass At Good Shepherd Parish, Streich Ave., Kelmscott at 2.00 PM. Enquiries John on 9390 6646. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26 Alan Ames Healing Service 6pm at St Luke’s Parish, cnr Parkside Ramble and Duffy Tce, Woodvale. Begins with Mass followed by healing service. Enq: carver1@iinet.net.au. FRIDAY - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26-28 Seekers of Grace - A Reflective Weekend for Women 5pm at St John of God Retreat Centre, 47 Gloucester Cr, Shoalwater. For women 18+. This reflection weekend is an opportunity to spend time away from the hustle and bustle of life to “Be Awake” to the power of God’s Grace working in our lives. Registration from 5pm Friday, concludes Sunday, 1pm. Enq: Sr Ann 0409 602 927 or 9310 8248 or Sr Kathy 0418 926 590.
REGULAR EVENTS EVERY SUNDAY Gate of Heaven Catholic Radio Join the Franciscans of the Immaculate from 7.309pm on Radio Fremantle 107.9FM for Catholic radio broadcast of EWTN and our own live shows. Enq: radio@ausmaria.com. Pilgrim Mass - Shrine of the Virgin of the Revelation 2pm at Shrine, 36 Chittering Rd, Bullsbrook. Commencing with Rosary followed by Benediction. Reconciliation available before every celebration. Anointing of the sick administered during Mass every second Sunday of the month. Pilgrimage in honour of the Virgin of the Revelation last Sunday of the month. Side entrance to church and shrine open daily between 9am-5pm. Enq Sacri 9447 3292. Praise and Worship 5.30pm at St Denis parish, cnr Osborne St and Roberts Rd, Joondanna. Followed by 6pm Mass. Enq: admin@stdenis.com.au. EVERY FIRST SUNDAY St Mary’s Cathedral Youth Group – Fellowship with Pizza 5pm at St Mary’s Cathedral, 17 Victoria Sq, Perth. Begins with youth Mass followed by fellowship
therecord.com.au
September 26, 2012
downstairs in parish centre. Bring a plate to share. Enq: Bradley on youthfromsmc@gmail.com. Singles Prayer and Social Group 7pm at All Saints Chapel, Allendale Sq, 77 St George’s Tce, Perth. Begins with Holy Hour (Eucharistic Adoration, Rosary and teaching) followed by dinner at local restaurant. Meet new people, pray and socialise with other single men and women. Enq: Veronica 0403 841 202. EVERY SECOND SUNDAY Healing Hour 7-8pm at St Lawrence parish, Balcatta. Join us for songs of praise and worship, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and prayers for the sick. Enq: Fr Irek Czech SDS or parish office Tue-Thu, 9am2.30pm 9344 7066. EVERY THIRD SUNDAY Oblates of St Benedict – Meeting 2pm at St Joseph’s Convent, York St, South Perth. For all interested in studying the Rule of St Benedict and its relevance to the everyday life of today for laypeople: Vespers and afternoon tea afterwards. Enq: Secretary 9457 5758.
EVERY SECOND WEDNESDAY Chaplets of Divine Mercy 7.30pm St Thomas More Catholic parish, Dean Rd, Bateman. It will be accompanied by exposition and followed by Benediction. Enq: George 9310 9493 or 6242 0702 (w). EVERY THURSDAY Divine Mercy 11am at Ss John and Paul Church, Pinetree Gully Rd, Willetton. Pray the Rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy and for the consecrated life, especially here in John Paul parish. Concludes with veneration of the first class relic of St Faustina. Enq: John 9457 7771. St Mary’s Cathedral Praise Meeting 7.45pm every Thursday at the Legion of Mary’s Edel Quinn Centre, 36 Windsor St, East Perth. Includes praise, song and healing ministry. Enq: Kay 9382 3668 or fmi@flameministries.org. Group Fifty - Charismatic Renewal Group 7.30pm at the Redemptorist Monastery, 150 Vincent St, North Perth. Includes prayer, praise and Mass. Enq: Elaine 9440 3661.
EVERY FOURTH SUNDAY
EVERY FIRST THURSDAY 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 can hear clearly God’s call.
Prayer in Style of Taizé 7.30-8.30pm at Our Lady of Grace parish, 3 Kitchener St, North Beach. Includes prayer, song and silence in candlelight – symbol of Christ the light of the world. Taizé info: www.taize.fr. Enq: secretary 9448 4888 or 9448 4457.
EVERY SECOND AND FOURTH MONDAY
Dinner and Rosary Cenacle St Bernadette’s Young Adults 6.30pm at Hans Cafe, 140 Oxford St, Leederville. Begins with dinner followed by Rosary cenacle at St Bernadette’s arish, 49 Jugan St, Glendalough. Cenacle includes 8pm reflection by Fr Doug and Rosary. Tea and coffee afterwards. By repeating words of love to Mary and offering up each decade for our intentions, we take the short cut to Jesus, which is to pass through the heart of Mary. Enq: Fr Doug at st.bernadettesyouth@gmail.com.
A Ministry to the Un-Churched 12.30-1.30pm at St John’s Pro-Cathedral, Victoria Ave, Perth (opposite church offices). With charismatic praise and prayer teams available. Help us ‘reach out to the pagans’ or soak in the praise. Enq: Dan 9398 4973. EVERY LAST SUNDAY OF THE MONTH Filipino Mass 3pm at Notre Dame Church, cnr Daley and Wright Sts, Cloverdale. Please bring a plate to share for socialisation after Mass. Enq: Fr Nelson Po 0410 843 412, Elsa 0404 038 483. EVERY MONDAY Evening Adoration and Mass 7pm at St Thomas parish, Claremont, cnr Melville St and College Rd. Eucharistic Adoration, Reconciliation, evening prayer and Benediction, followed by Mass and night prayer at 8pm. Enq: Kim on 9384 0598 or email to claremont@perthcatholic. org.au.
LAST MONDAY OF THE MONTH
Be Still in his Presence – Ecumenical Christian Program 7.30-8.45pm at St Swithun Anglican Church, 195 Lesmurdie St, Lesmurdie (hall behind church). Begins with songs of praise and worship, silent time, lectio divina, small group sharing and a cuppa at the end. Enq: Lynne 9293 3848 or 043 5252 941. EVERY TUESDAY Novena to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal 6pm at Pater Noster Church, Marmion and Evershed Sts, Myaree. Mass at 5.30pm followed by Benediction. Enq: John 0408 952 194. Novena to God the Father 7.30pm at St Joachim’s parish hall, Victoria Park. Novena followed by reflection and discussions on forthcoming Sunday Gospel. Enq: Jan 9284 1662. EVERY FIRST TUESDAY Short MMP Cenacle for Priests 2pm at Edel Quinn Centre, 36 Windsor St, East Perth. Enq: Fr Watt 9376 1734. EVERY WEDNESDAY Holy Spirit of Freedom Community 7.30pm at The Church of Christ, 111 Stirling St, Perth. We are delighted to welcome everyone to attend our Holy Spirit of Freedom praise meeting. Enq: 0423 907 869 or hsofperth@gmail.com. Bible Study at Cathedral 6.15pm at St Mary’s Cathedral, 17 Victoria Sq, Perth. Deepen your faith through reading and reflecting on holy Scripture by Fr Jean-Noel Marie. Meeting room beneath Cathedral. Enq: 9223 1372. Holy Hour - Catholic Youth Ministry Mass at 5.30pm and Holy Hour (Adoration) at 6.30pm at the Catholic Pastoral Centre, 40A Mary St, Highgate. Enq: www.cym.com or 9422 7912. Adonai Ladies Prayer Group 10am in the upper room of St Joseph’s parish, 3 Salvado Rd, Subiaco. Come and join us for charismatic prayer and praise. Enq: Win 9387 2808 or Noreen 9298 9935. EVERY FIRST WEDNESDAY Holy Hour Prayer for Priests 7.30-8.30pm at Holy Spirit parish, 2 Keaney Pl, City Beach. All welcome. Enq: Linda 9341 3079. Novena to St Mary of the Cross MacKillop 7-7.45pm at Blessed Mary MacKillop parish, cnr Cassowary Dr and Pelican Pde, Ballajura. Begins with Mass, novena prayers and Benediction. Followed by healing prayers and anointing of the sick. Enq: Madi 9249 9093 or Gerry 0417 187 240.
FIRST AND THIRD THURSDAY
EVERY THIRD THURSDAY Auslan Café – Sign Language Workshop 12.30pm at St Francis Xavier’s Emmanuel Centre, 25 Windsor St, Perth. Its Australian Sign Language - Auslan Café is a social setting for anybody who would like to learn or practise Auslan in a relaxing and fun atmosphere. Light lunch provided. Enq: Emma at emmanuelcentre@westnet.com.au. EVERY FRIDAY Eucharistic Adoration at the Schoenstatt Shrine 10am at Schoenstatt Shrine, 9 Talus Drive, Mt Richon. Includes: Holy Mass, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, silent adoration till 8.15pm. In this Year of Grace, join us in prayer at a place of grace. Enq: Sisters of Schoenstatt 9399 2349. EVERY FIRST FRIDAY Healing Mass 7pm at St Peter’s Parish, Inglewood. Praise and worship, exposition and Eucharistic Adoration, Benediction and anointing of the sick followed by holy Mass and fellowship. Celebrants Fr Dat and invited priests. 6.45pm Reconciliation. Enq: Mary Ann 0409 672 304, Prescilla 0433 457 352 and Catherine 0433 923 083. Holy Hour for Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life 7pm at Little Sisters of the Poor Chapel, 2 Rawlins St, Glendalough. Mass followed by Adoration with Fr Doug Harris. All welcome. Refreshments provided. Healing and Anointing Mass 8.45am Pater Noster Church, Evershed Street, Myaree. Begins with Reconciliation followed by 9am Mass of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, anointing of the sick and prayers to St Peregrine. Enq: Joy 9337 7189. Catholic Faith Renewal Evening 7.30pm at Ss John and Paul Parish, Pinetree Gully Rd, Willetton. Songs of Praise and Prayer, sharing by a priest followed by thanksgiving Mass and light refreshments after Mass. Enq: Kathy 9295 0913 or Ann 0412 166 164 or catholicfaithrenewal@gmail.com. Communion of Reparation All Night Vigils 7pm-1.30am at Corpus Christi Church, Lochee St, Mosman Park or St Gerard Majella Church, cnr Ravenswood Dr/Majella Rd, Westminster (Mirrabooka). The Vigils consist of two Masses, Adoration, Benediction, prayers and Confession in reparation for the outrages committed against the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Enq: Vicky 0400 282 357 or Fr Giosue 9349 2315or John/Joy 9344 2609. Pro-Life Witness Holy Mass at St Brigid’s Midland at 9.30am, followed by Rosary procession and prayer vigil at nearby abortion clinic, led by the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. Please join us to pray for an end to abortion and the conversion of hearts. Enq Helen 9402 0349. EVERY SECOND FRIDAY OF THE MONTH Discover the Spirituality of St Francis of Assisi 12pm at St Brigid’s Catholic Parish Centre. The Secular Franciscans of Midland Fraternity meet
for lunch followed by 1-3pm meeting. Enq: Antoinette 9297 2314. EVERY FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH Healing Mass 12.35pm at St Thomas parish, cnr Melville St and College Rd, Claremont. Spiritual leader Fr Waddell. Enq: Kim 9384 0598, claremont@perthcatholic.org. au. EVERY LAST SATURDAY Novena Devotions – Our Lady Vailankanni of Good Health 5pm at Holy Trinity Parish, 8 Burnett St, Embleton. Followed by Mass at 6pm. Enq: George 9272 1379. EVERY FOURTH SATURDAY OF THE MONTH Voice of the Voiceless Healing Mass 12pm at St Brigid’s Parish, 211 Aberdeen St, Northbridge. Bring a plate to share after Mass. Enq: Frank 9296 7591 or 0408 183 325.
GENERAL Free Divine Mercy Image for Parishes High quality oil painting and glossy print – Divine Mercy Promotions. Images are of very high quality. For any parish willing to accept and place inside the church. Oil paintings - 160 x 90cm and glossy print - 100 x 60cm. Enq: Irene 9417 3267 (w). Sacred Heart Pioneers Is there anyone out there who would like to know more about the Sacred Heart pioneers? If so, please contact Spiritual Director Fr Doug Harris 9444 6131 or John 9457 7771. St Philomena’s Chapel 3/24 Juna Drive, Malaga. Mass of the day: Mon 6.45am. Vigil Masses: Mon-Fri 4.45pm. Enq: Fr David 9376 1734. Mary MacKillop Merchandise Available for sale from Mary MacKillop Centre. Enq: Sr Maree 041 4683 926 or 08 9334 0933. Financially Disadvantaged People Requiring Low Care Aged Care Placement The Little Sisters of the Poor community set in beautiful gardens in suburb of Glendalough. “Making the elderly happy, that is everything!” St Jeanne Jugan (foundress). Registration and enq: Sr Marie 9443 3155. Resource Centre for Personal Development The Holistic Health Seminar The Instinct to Heal’, every Tuesday 3-4.30pm; and RCPD2 Internalise Principles of Successful Relationships and Use Emotional Intelligence and Communication Skills every Tuesday 4.30-6.30pm, 197 High St, Fremantle - Tuesdays 3-4.30pm. Enq: Eva 0409 405 585. Bookings are essential. Is your Son or Daughter Unsure of what to do this Year? Suggest a Certificate IV course to discern God’s purpose for their life. They will also learn more about the Catholic faith and develop skills in communication and leadership. Acts 2 College of Mission and Evangelisation (National Code 51452). Enq: Jane 9202 6859. AA Alcoholics Anonymous Is alcohol costing you more than just money? Enq: AA 9523 3566. Saints and Sacred Relics Apostolate Invite SSRA, Perth invites interested parties, parish priests, leaders of religious communities, lay associations, to organise relic visitations to their own parishes, communities, etc. We have available authenticated relics, mostly first-class, of Catholic saints and blesseds including Sts Mary MacKillop, Padre Pio, Anthony of Padua, Therese of Lisieux, Maximilian Kolbe and Simon Stock and Blessed Pope John Paul II. Free of charge and all welcome. Enq: Giovanny 0478 201 092 or ssra-perth@catholic.org. Enrolments, Year 7, 2014 La Salle College is now accepting enrolments for Year 7, 2014. For a prospectus and enrolment form, please contact college reception on 9274 6266 or email lasalle@lasalle.wa.edu.au. Pellegrini Books Wanted An order of Sisters in Italy is looking for the following: The Living Pyx of Jesus, Fervourings From Galilee’s Hills, Fervourings From the LoveBroken Heart of Christ, Fervourings From the Lips of the Master, Listening to the Indwelling Presence, Sheltering the Divine Outcast, Daily Inspection and Cleansing of the Living Temple of God, and Staunch Friends of Jesus, the Lover of Youth. If you are able to help, please contact Justine on 0419 964 624 or justine@waterempire.com. Acts 2 College, Perth’s Catholic Bible College, is now pleased to be able to offer tax deductibility for donations to the college. If you are looking for an opportunity to help grow the faith of young people and to evangelise the next generation of apostles, please contact Jane Borg, Principal at Acts 2 College on 0401 692 690 or principal@ acts2come.wa.edu.au. Divine Mercy Church Pews Would you like to assist, at the same time becoming part of the history of the new Divine Mercy Church in Lower Chittering, by donating a beautifully handcrafted jarrah pew, currently under construction, costing only $1,000 each. A beautiful brass plaque with your inscription will be placed at the end of the pew. Please make cheques
CLASSIFIEDS
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CLASSIFIEDS Deadline: 11am Monday RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS CATHOLICS CORNER Retailer of Catholic products specialising in gifts, cards and apparel for Baptism, Communion and Confirmation. Ph 9456 1777. Shop 12, 64-66 Bannister Rd, Canning Vale. Open Mon-Sat. RICH HARVEST - YOUR CHRISTIAN SHOP Looking for Bibles, CDs, books, cards, gifts, statues, Baptism/Communion apparel, religious vestments, etc. Visit us at 39 Hulme Ct (off McCoy St), Myaree. Ph 9329 9889 (after 10.30am Mon to Sat). We are here to serve. KINLAR VESTMENTS www.kinlarvestments.com.au Quality handmade and decorated vestments: albs, stoles, chasubles, altar linen, banners. Ph Vickii on 9402 1318, 0409 114 093 or kinlar.vestments@ gmail.com. MEMENTO CANDLES Personalised candles for Baptism, Wedding, Year 12 Graduations and Absence. Photo and design is embedded into candle, creating a great keepsake! Please call Anna: 0402 961 901 or anna77luca@hotmail.com to order a candle or Facebook: Memento Candles.
FURNITURE REMOVAL ALL AREAS. Competitive rates. Mike Murphy Ph 0416 226 434.
TAX SERVICE QUALITY TAX RETURNS PREPARED by registered tax agent with over 35 years’ experience. Call Tony Marchei on 0412 055
184 for appointment. AXXO Accounting & Management, Unit 20/222 Walter Rd, Morley.Trade services.
BOOK BINDING RESTORATION BOOKBINDING and conservation, general book repairs, Bibles, Breviaries, sad, old and leather bindings renewed. Tel: 0401 941 577.
SETTLEMENTS ARE YOU BUYING OR SELLING real estate or a business? Why not ask Excel Settlements for a quote for your settlement. We offer reasonable fees, excellent service and no hidden costs. Ring Excel on 9481 4499 for a quote. Check our web site on www.excelsettlements.com.au.
SERVICES RURI STUDIO FOR HAIR Vincent and Miki welcome you to their newly opened, international, award-winning salon. Shop 2, 401 Oxford St, Leederville. 9444 3113. Ruri-studio-for-hair@ hotmail.com BRENDAN HANDYMAN SERVICES Home, building maintenance, repairs and renovations. NOR. Ph 0427 539 588.
of bindii, jojo and other unsightly weeds. Based in Tuart Hill. Enq: 6161 3264 or 0402 326 637. PERROTT PAINTING Pty Ltd For all your residential, commercial painting requirements. Ph Tom Perrott 9444 1200.
ACCOMMODATION HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION Esperance holiday accommodation, three bedroom house, fully furnished. Phone 08 9076 5083.
EMPLOYMENT CLEANER POSITION We require an experienced cleaner for a position at the Redemptorist Monastery in North Perth. Part time 15 hrs per week (Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.) Must present well and communicate effectively. All equipment is provided and must be able to work unsupervised. Award rates apply for an immediate start. Please call 9328 6600 for further enquiries or email your resume to b.glass@cssr.org.au.
Record Classifieds Short
BRICK RE-POINTING Ph Nigel 9242 2952.
Sharp
PICASSO PAINTING Top service. Ph 0419 915 836, 9345 0557 or fax 9345 0505.
Cheap.
WRR LAWN MOWING AND WEED SPRAYING Garden clean ups and rubbish removal. Get rid
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C R O S S W O R D ACROSS 3 Church instrument, sometimes 6 Ark of the ___ 8 Patron saint of sailors 9 OT historical book 11 Catholic actor Liam _________ 13 He went to heaven in a whirlwind 15 St Thomas’ surname 17 Genesis serpent 20 Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of this 21 Greatest king of Israel 23 Liquid used in some sacraments 24 “One in ___ with the Father …” 26 This was offered to the risen Jesus (Lk 24:42) 27 Vatican news service 30 “Light from light, ___ God from …” 32 Catholicism is the official religion of this tiny country 34 Brothers of Joseph 37 Catholic comedian Costello 38 Religious instruction for converts (abbr) 39 St. Paul, the Apostle to the ___ 40 Scripture DOWN 1 One of the theological virtues 2 James was mending these when Jesus called him (Mk 1:19)
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payable to Divine Mercy Church Building fund and send with inscription to: PO Box 8, Bullsbrook WA 6084. Enq: Fr Paul 0427 085 093. Abortion Grief Association Inc A not-for-profit association is looking for premises to establish a Trauma Recovery Centre (preferably SOR) in response to increasing demand for our services (ref www. abortiongrief.asn.au). Enq: Julie (08) 9313 1784.
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Archdiocese and capital of Canada St Philip’s surname OT historical book Father-in-law of Caiaphas (Jn 18:13) Mediaeval English monk Abraham was one To do this is human, but to forgive is divine Catholic vaudevillian, Gracie ___ Saintly convert executed in Auschwitz Mother-in-law of Ruth Priest who offered his life for another’s in a Nazi prison camp, St Maximilian What the apostles did while Jesus prayed in the Garden Catholic United States Supreme Court justice Liturgical colour He says there is no God (Ps 53:1) The Flood Catholic actor Martin ___, of “The West Wing” fame Title for clergy (abbr) One of the Gospels Husband of Queen Jezebel Opposite or absence of good “…___ this day be at my side…”
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