The Record Newspaper 27 July 2006

www.therecord.com.au

A day to remember

How WA is celebrating the Feast of Mary MacKillop

FAR NORTH: Archbishop Hickey writes from a Korean gathering Page 2

Thursday July ,  Perth, Western Australia $1 Western Australia’s Award-winning Catholic newspaper

WORLD YOUTH DAY Sydney releases special modules for schools Page 5

A BISHOP: China’s authorities couldn’t even let him die in peace Page 10

Mum, Dad the key

Family is the centre of our work, says Bishops’ President

■ By Paul Gray

The family is the great thing we’ve got going for us, and it must be based on unmistakeable love, according to the new Chairman of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Archbishop Phillip Wilson, of Adelaide.

Archbishop Wilson made his forthright comments in an exclusive interview with Paul Gray for The Record when he was asked what parents can do to fulfill their roles as primary educators of their children in the faith.

“I really believe that the development of family life and the promotion of family life, and its support by the church community, is at the very centre of the work of the new evangelisation,” Archbishop Wilson replied.

“I think that family life is the great thing we’ve got going for us, and we need to do all that we can to help that develop and grow.

“I think the most important thing that parents and brothers and sisters and spouses within each family have got to do is to love one another. And they’ve got to love one another in such a way that everyone gets the message.

“Unless you’re formed in love, then a lot of things about faith don’t really grab hold of you.

“It’s wonderful when people have children and those children become the centre of their lives, and they do everything they can to look after them and care for them, to give them opportunities, but especially to love them and to make sure that they know that they love them.

“For that to happen, spouses have got to love one another as well, and be prepared to pay the price

Continued on Page 5

Doctor seeks only to heal victims

■ By Sylvia Defendi

Six years after retiring from his position as an orthopedic surgeon at Perth’s Mount Hospital, Dr Timothy Keenan speaks about his extraordinary experiences as a medical member of the Red Cross, in war-torn Afghanistan.

“How anyone can say, ‘this is part of war,’ is beyond me,” commented Dr Keenan, while giving a presentation to over 20 members from the Catholic Doctors Association on July 20.

Dr Keenan, who was born in Kashmir, came to Australia with his family at the age of four, and began visiting family members overseas in 1994. While helping in refugee camps he soon realised the impact workers from the Red Cross were having in third-world countries.

Continued on Page 7

ARE CHILDREN ‘A RIGHT’?

Catherine Parish reflects on the trouble that comes from confusing a gift from God with a right to posession. Our children deserve more. VISTA

Record price to rise, but size will increase

For the first time in 10 years, the price of The Record is to rise. From next week, the price will be $2 for single sales and $1.50 ($78 a year) for subscriptions.

The decision to increase the price was made by the Board of Management of The Record and approved by Archbishop Barry Hickey.

The change in price will be accompanied by improvements in the paper, the first of which will be an increase from 16 to 20 pages each week and more colour.

It is expected that the increased revenue will permit the employment of another journalist to provide better coverage of parish and school activities, an area that is currently suffering from our lack of resources.

Publication of The Record is subsidised by the Archdiocese and in the 10 years since the last increase there have been significant cost increases.

Despite these difficulties, The Record is widely regarded as the best Catholic newspaper in Australia.

We ask readers for their continued loyalty as we make new efforts to lift the quality of the paper even further.

Farewell Mass for Cathedral

■ By Sherrilee Kingston

St Mary’s Cathedral will close on Sunday August 27 for extensive renovations and reconstruction that will take approximately two years to complete.

A farewell Mass is to be held at St Mary’s Cathedral on Sunday August 13, and is to celebrate the conservation and welcome the completion of the new extensions.

Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton, Perth Vicar General Father Brian O’Loughlin and seminary rector Father Donald Hughes OMI will concelebrate the Mass.

There will be a display of the history of the Cathedral and the plans for the new Cathedral from August 8 through to August 27. There will also be guided tours and explanations of the proposed plans, at 10.30am on August 8, 10, 14, 17, 21 and 24, and at 2pm on August 13, 20 and 27.

Group and school tours can be arranged during this period by contacting Mr John Winship on 9291 8925.

Medjugorje review announced

■ By Cindy

Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS)Cardinal Vinko Puljic of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, announced a commission would be formed to review the alleged Marian apparitions at Medjugorje and pastoral provisions for the thousands of pilgrims who visit the town each year.

“The commission members have not been named yet,” Cardinal

Continued on Page 4

A MOST GRISLY PRACTICE

Two Canadian human rights researchers have revealed a disturbing possibility - the harvesting of Chinese prisoners for wealthy foreigners needing organs for transplant.

The Parish. The Nation. The World.

Fundamental importance: Archbishop Philip Wilson, seen speaking here during a Mass to celebrate his 10th anniversary of episcopal ordination, emphasised the key role of parents and family in the work of the Church during an interview with TheRecord

Photo: The Southern Cross and photographer: Brett Hartwig

Archbishop Hickey visits Korea

Archbishop Hickey began his three months’ sabbatical by attending the Holy Spirit Conference of World Youth in Kkottongnae, Korea, the first such gathering to be called a World Youth Conference.

The Archbishop said that 5000 young people attended the opening Mass. By the third day of the Conference the crowd reached 10,000. Most of them were from South Korea, but big numbers came from the Philippines, India, Bangladesh, and by the grace of God, three from mainland China, together with a priest. There was a sprinkling from other countries, including some from Poland and Malta, but it was mainly an Asian representation.

Archbishop Hickey preached at the Opening Mass. He said he was deeply moved by the faith and enthusiasm of these young people, which was a sign of the vitality of the Church in many countries in Asia.

It was a charismatic conference, with plenty of singing, music, celebration and prayer. One of the main speakers was Mrs Patti Mansfield, a leading figure of the Renewal movement since she attended the famous Duquesne Weekend in 1967 that marked the beginning of the Charismatic Movement in the Catholic Church in the United States.

Kkottongnae is a vast mountainous property called the “Flower Village” where the homeless, the elderly, babies, young mothers at risk and people with disabilities are cared for by the Sisters and Brothers of Kkottongnae and large teams of volunteers. It includes a first class hospital and a Catholic University.

An incardinated priest of Perth, Fr Demetri Roh, is a member of the Kkottongnae community and is at present setting up a Flower Village in Bangladesh.

In his homily at the opening Mass, Archbishop Hickey said he hoped all would ask the Holy Spirit to lead them to the knowledge of truth and the transformation of love.

He urged them to ask the Holy Spirit to lead them to a prayer-filled interior life with God and a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ so they could become truly his followers and missionaries.

“The Holy Spirit was sent to change the face of the earth and unless our faith is translated into action it is simply a belief that remains within us, a belief that cannot convince anyone else of its truth because it does not witness to its truth,” the Archbishop said.

He reminded the congregation of the very personal description Jesus gave of the Last Judgement in Chapter 25 of St Matthew’s Gospel:

“The king will say to those on his right hand: ’Come, you whom

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my father has blessed… For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you made me welcome, naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me” (vs 34-36). He will say “In so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine you did it to me” (vs 40).

To the others he will say “Depart from me” (vs 41). “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of these, you neglected to do it to me” (vs 45).

“These words tell us how absolutely important it is for us to love, not just our friends, not even our enemies, but especially the poor, the suffering and the rejected people. Jesus has such a special love for them that he treats what is done to them as done to himself.

“Let us then love one another. Let our love of the poor and suffering be genuine and selfless. We come closer to Jesus, the Suffering Servant, when we love those who suffer with him.

“This Flower Village gives a wonderful witness of such love. That is why it is especially loved by God.

“Let us enter this Conference with joy. Let us pray for a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all of us, our Bishops, Priests, Brothers, Sisters and all of us so that we can proclaim in our lives that Jesus is Lord.”

Peace prayer unites

United across faiths and cultures – Students begin National Prayer Chain for Peace.

By Sylvia Defendi

Students across the nation –Jewish, Muslim, Catholic and Baha’i – announced on July 23 their combined commitment to pray for peace in response to growing conflicts in the Middle-East. The Australasian Union of Jewish Students, The Muslim Students Association of Australia, The Australian Catholic Students Association and the National Baha’i Youth Committee, collectively embracing thousands of students from across Australia, have reached across religious and political differences to acknowledge that the time has come to unite in prayer and hope for peace.

Kaled El-Hassan, President of The Muslim Students Association of Australia, was on holiday in Beirut when the violence erupted.

“It saddens me to hear of the hundreds of innocent lives being lost – Lebanese, Palestinian and Israeli,” he said. Greg Weinstein, President of The Australasian Union of Jewish Students, said, “Here in Australia we are fortunate to live in a country which embraces cultural differences.”

These sentiments were echoed by Aaron Russell, President of The Australian Catholic Students Association, who said “Prayer is such an important and effective expression of our hope and faith, and to pray together for peace in lands ravaged by violence is a beautiful sign of unity, and of our potential for cooperation and harmony.”

Faya Hayati, speaking on behalf of the National Baha’i Youth Committee, said “Setting aside our differences to unite together is vital, because unity is the starting point for solving the world’s problems.”

The student organisations are encouraging people from across the country to unite across faiths and cultures and contribute to national prayer, for peace and for the innocent victims of the violence.

ADHD linked to risk of substance abuse

A major long-term study of girls diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in elementary school has found they are at greater risk for substance abuse, emotional problems and academic difficulties in adolescence than their peers who don’t have the condition. The results contradict the impression that the disorder, which affects an estimated 4.4 million US children, poses less of a risk to girls than to boys, on whom most research has focused.

The federally funded study by researchers at the University of

California, Berkeley, involves more than 200 girls who have been followed since 1997, when they were aged 6 to 12. Psychologist Stephen P Hinshaw who led the study, published in the June issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychololgy, called the results “surprising and discouraging”. He and his colleagues did not expect the “breadth of impairment” they found - in a dozen areas including academic performance, prevalence of eating disorders, relationships with peers and teachers, and organisational skills.  FAMILYEDGE

PRINCIPALSHIP ST MARY STAR OF THE SEA CATHOLIC SCHOOL,CARNARVON

within the community of Carnarvon. Catering for students from Kindergarten to Year 10 allows the school to effectively link primary and secondary education. The school is well resourced with the secondary school working with the Middle School Philosophy, whilst the primary school is in its second year of the RAISe (Raising Achievement in Schools) program. The school has a strong link to the parish and wider communities and their involvement and support are highly valued. Parents are an integral part of the school and it is through this partnership that the school is able to provide students with the best possible education.

The person appointed is expected to take up the position in Term 4 2006, however, the starting date is negotiable with the Director. Applicants need to be practising Catholics and experienced educators committed to the objectives and ethos of Catholic education. They will have the requisite theological, educational, pastoral and administrative competencies, together with an appropriate four year minimum tertiary qualification and will have completed Accreditation to Teach Religious Education or its equivalent.

A current Federal Police Clearance/100 Point Identification Check must also be included. The appropriate Police Clearance Consent Form is available from the Department of Education and Training website (www.eddept.wa.edu.au/ HRRecruitment/Downloads/PoliceClearance.pdf).

The official application form, referee assessment forms and instructions can be accessed on the Catholic Education Office website www.ceo.wa.edu.au

Enquiries regarding the position should be directed to Helen Brennan, Consultant, Leadership Team, on 9212 9268 or sch.personnel@ceo.wa.edu.au

All applications, on the official form, should reach The Director, Catholic Education Office of WA, PO Box 198, Leederville 6903 no later than 9 August 2006.

Pilgrim statue of Fatima visits Perth

■ By Sherrilee Kingston

Ten years after her first visit to Australia, the Pilgrim Virgin statue of Our Lady of Fatima will travel to Perth on August 19.

The history of the Pilgrim statue begins in 1946. After the youth of Portugal attended a Congress in Fatima, they took the statue from display in the Cova da Iria on pilgrimage to Lisbon.

A second statue was made and blessed on May 13, 1947 and is the same statue that travels the world today. In the 60 years of non-stop

travel the Pilgrim statue has recorded numerous healings and miracles and inspires people to convert to the peace of God. In August 1996 The Pilgrim Virgin statue of Our Lady of Fatima first arrived in Australia and is to return for the sixtieth anniversary in August 2006.

The important messages that the Pilgrim statue brings to the community are the need to return to the gospel, and the solution to wars begins in our own hearts with prayers for peace and penance to God.

The Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima arrives in Perth from

New director for Catholic Enquiry Centre

■ by Paul Gray

One of the Catholic Church’s top media professionals has been made director of the Catholic Enquiry Centre. It is the first time that the Centre, which has been in existence since 1959 and is charged with providing answers about the Catholic faith to those who raise queries about it, will be directed by a lay person.

Marita Winters, who is director of Catholic Communications Sydney, will take on the position of director of the Catholic Enquiry Centre from the end of August.

Speaking to The Record this week, Mrs Winters said she’s been inspired by the story of young schoolgirl Sophie Delezio who has suffered two horrific accidents involving motor cars and this month made her return to a Sydney Catholic primary school, to a standing ovation from classmates.

“One of my inspirations is the little girl Sophie Delezio who was injured chronically twice. Her family prayed to Mary McKillop, and believe it’s a miracle she’s even alive,” she said.

“When the second accident happened, her mother said to her, ‘just hang on to Mary and if it gets too much, you don’t have to stay’.” Mrs Winters said that the Delezio family, in their own way, “have done an amazing amount of good for spreading the faith of the Catholic Church.

“It’s about telling a story like that. That’s the kind of story I want to tell,” Mrs Winters said of her new role with the Catholic Enquiry Centre. “You say, if they can do that through their tragedy, what a responsibility do I have to share the good news too.”

Mrs Winters, who has been Sydney’s Catholic Communications director for the past eight years, said her new role offered a chance to communicate directly with people

interested in the faith, rather than through the “filter” of the media.

She said the Enquiry Centre plays an essential role because every Catholic is called to evangelise for the faith. “There needs to be a focus for people enquiring about the Church, and the Centre provides that.”

In older times, the Centre might have sent out answers to queries “in a brown paper bag,” she said. But times have changed and under her direction, she hopes that the Centre will “build relationships with people” from the time of their first query, and “walk with them on their journey, as it continues.”

Asked about how to communicate with non-Catholic friends and neighbours who express negative attitudes towards the Catholic faith, Mrs Winters said that the main task is to help people to encounter the person of Jesus.

“The presentation of the Gospel is about Jesus,” she said. tAs well as having worked at a senior level in media with the Sydney archdiocese, Mrs Winters also holds a graduate diploma in theology from the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family.

Where will the statue be?

Saturday August 19

St Patrick’s Basilica Fremantle (Overnight adoration)

Sunday August 20

St Brigid’s, West Perth

St Jude’s, Lynwood

St Joseph’s, Bassendean (Overnight adoration)

Monday August 21

Redemptorist Monastery, North Perth

St Bernadette’s, Glendalough (Overnight adoration)

Tuesday August 22

St Mary’s Cathedral

St Anne’s, Belmont (Overnight adoration)

Wednesday August 23

St Anne’s, Belmont

St Gerard Majella, Westminster. For further information contact Yolanda Nardizzi on 0413 707 707, or Margaret Bowen on 9341 8082.

Do I guarantee that when people come to do business with me, they will be treated with courtesy, sincerity, professionalism and ef ciency?

I say “I want your business and I m prepared to pay for it” and “I stand behind every car I sell”. Is that really true?

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

Is it true that every year for the last 17 consecutive years I ve been Australia s top selling Hyundai dealer?

Is it true that if somebody buys a used car from me, I will pay for a pre-purchase RAC or similar inspection?

I have a warehouse selling cars under $10,000. Is it true that I offer a full money back guarantee within one week?

Sunday,

For Information

Vocations

Email:

Seminary: 9279 1310

(Also for enquiries after Aug 13)

New director: Marita Winters and her husband.

Riverton priest celebrates fortieth year

■ By Sylvia Defendi

Fr John Flynn SAC, parish priest of Queen of Apostles, Riverton, celebrated his fortieth anniversary of priesthood with parishioners on July 16.

After celebrating morning Mass in the Church, the congregation - which included Fr Flynn’s visiting former parishioners from St Christopher’s Church in Syndal, Victoria – joined in lunch at the parish hall.

Fr Flynn was Parish Priest at Queen of Apostles between February

1967 and March 1976, during which time he oversaw the construction of the Church building, the parish hall and the first school library. He was then posted as the parish priest of St Christopher’s between April 1976 and July 2001.

Fr Flynn returned to Riverton in July 2001. During the past five years he has been responsible for the acquisition and refurbishing of a building next to the Queen of Apostles Church, which has recently been commissioned as the new presbytery and parish centre.

On behalf of the parishioners, Tom Brazier, chairman of the parish pastoral council, congratulated Fr Flynn on reaching his ruby milestone and thanked him for his dedicated service to Queen of Apostles Church, Riverton.

Fr Flynn thanked God for the numerous graces He had bestowed on him; his extended family for their support throughout his priestly life; the parishioners of St Christopher’s, who had made the trip across the Nullarbor for the occasion; and the parishioners of Queen of Apostles, Riverton for their continued cooperation and support.

Hong Kong residents cannot bear cross

A three-metre high school crucifix erected on the facade of a Hong Kong Catholic school “looks like a sword pointing at us” according to local residents who have taken feng shui measures to mitigate the effect.

Antara News reports that locals living close to the Marymount Primary School have complained that the crucifix, a mockup of which is currently in place, is reminiscent of a funeral home or cemetery.

They have complained to several government departments, but officials said the cross did not break planning rules. Resident Vivien Shiu said: “We do not

want to bear this cross every time we look out of the window.” Another resident, Elsie Kerr said: “It looks like a sword pointing at us.”

Another resident, Sophie Lo, added: “It is even worse at night. This cross makes the school look like a haunted house. It is so scary.”

Medjugorje to be

Continued from page 1

Puljic told Catholic News Service in a July 24 telephone interview. “I am awaiting suggestions from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith” on theologians to appoint.

and spiritual guidance. When asked if the new commission was the idea of the doctrinal congregation or of the bishops’ conference, Cardinal Puljic said, “I would rather not answer that question.”

SOURCE: CNS

Most of the nearby residents have taken feng shui counter-measures such as placing plants, fish bowls, coins or running water decorations on windowsills. Owners of one building installed two stone lions at the entrance to the building to ward off negative spirits.

“But this commission will be under the (Bosnian) bishops’ conference” as is the usual practice with alleged apparitions, he said.

The cardinal said he did not expect the commission to be established until sometime in September because of the summer holidays.

Cardinal Puljic announced the future formation of the commission during the bishops’ July 12-14 meeting in Banja Luka.

On June 25, thousands of pilgrims converged on Medjugorje to mark the 25th anniversary of the first alleged apparition to six young people.

He said the primary task of the commission would be to review a 1991 report from the region’s bishops that concluded, “It cannot be affirmed that these matters concern supernatural apparitions or revelations.”

In addition, he said, the commission would be asked to review pastoral provisions that forbid official diocesan and parish pilgrimages to Medjugorje, while at the same time allowing priests to accompany groups of Catholics in order to provide the sacraments

The Vatican continues to monitor events at Medjugorje, where the apparitions allegedly continue, but it has not taken a formal position other than to support the bishops’ ban on official pilgrimages.

An official of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith confirmed on July 25 that the commission would operate under the auspices of the Bosnian bishops’ conference, although the congregation would suggest the names of some commission members.

HAPPINESS LESSONS TO COMBAT CHILD DEPRESSION

Lessons in happiness are to be introduced for 11-year-olds in British state schools to combat a huge rise in depression, self-harm and anti-social behaviour among young people. US psychologist Martin Seligman will train British teachers to use cognitive behavioural therapy in an attempt to make children more resilient in the face of the pressures of 21st century living. Techniques will include role play to help children build up their selfesteem, challenge negative ways of thinking and express their thoughts clearly. Kids will also be shown special breathing exercises to keep them calm when their parents are arguing and avoid blaming themselves for situations that are beyond their control - for example, the fact their parents may be divorcing. Figures show that at least 10 per cent of children are experiencing symptoms of severe depression, including suicidal thoughts, prolonged bouts of despair and the urge to cry on a daily basis. Twenty-five years ago the average age people fell ill with depression was 30. Today this has fallen dramatically, with 14 the age at which mental illness first strikes.  FAMILYEDGE

One happy family: Fr John Flynn embraces loved ones.

WYD school packages are launched

■ By Sherrilee Kingston

Organisers for World Youth Day 2008 have launched the first of five modules this week that plan to supplement existing religious education curriculums in Australian schools

and parishes. The materials have been made available to the diocesan education offices around the country to initiate the educational leadin to the world’s biggest youth event, which will be celebrated in Sydney in July 2008. WYD08 Coordinator Bishop Anthony Fisher OP said he

was “asking all who teach Religious Education to the young people in the Church, to embrace these curriculum materials and to use them in a way that enthusiastically supports and encourages our youth on their spiritual journey”. Br Kelvin Canavan, Executive Director of

Schools for the Sydney Archdiocese encourages support for the launch, and believes that it is a “ unique opportunity for our young people to reflect more deeply and progressively over the next two years… on the message of the Gospel, and their call to be disciples and Christian

witnesses through their daily lives.” The modules are targeted to senior and secondary school students and are appropriate for priests and parents in their teachings. They will be progressively available on the WYD08 website at www.wyd2008.org.

Bishops’ president surveys the challenges

From bishop of the NSW provincial diocese of Wollongong just five years ago, Bishop Philip Wilson has been made, first, Archbishop of Adelaide and, in May, President of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference. In a wide-ranging interview with The Record, the new President discusses his vision of the Church in Australia today, including the various roles played in the Church by national bishops’ conferences and by ordinary Catholic families.

You’ve recently been elected President of the bishops’ conference. Can you tell me a little about the President’s role? How important is it?

The first thing I’d say is it was a very humbling experience to be elected by my brother bishops. I was deeply touched by the fact that they would entrust this particular role to me, because the Presidency role is one of leadership. It is one where you’re meant to exercise a special care over all the bishops in our country, and to help promote the work of the conference and to promote the collegiality of the bishops through that. I think that happens on two levels. One is on the level of our personal relationships: that we deepen the loving relationships we all have. And then on an effective level it’s working together for the sake of the Church in our country. We try to grapple with the big issues that are facing us, look at what we can do positively to enhance the life of the Church.

A lay Catholic might ask: who’s “the boss” of the Church in Australia? Who is “the leading Catholic” in the country, so to speak: is it you, or Cardinal Pell?

It doesn’t really sum it up when you use the word “boss,” but the leader of the Church is the bishop of each diocese. Each bishop is a successor of the Apostles, just like the Pope is, in his diocese. With being the bishop of Rome comes other universal ministry and responsibilities, but each bishop is a successor of the Apostles, and he has direct leadership authority that comes from God because of that.

Then we have the conference where we actually get together for the sake of the common good, and work together. Then you’ve got the other category within the Church which is that you also have the college of Cardinals. There’s a very special honour with being a Cardinal.

During his papacy, Benedict XVI has addressed the issue of national conferences. Can you shed some light on that?

There’s been some discussion in Rome for the past 15 years or so about the role of bishops, and there was a special document produced by Pope John Paul II about the role of conferences and how they should

work.

I think that what Pope Benedict has had to say points out quite accurately the role that bishops’ conferences are meant to play: that conferences of bishops in each region, each area, are meant to be places where the bishops get together and look at what are really the major pastoral issues they’re facing in that region, and work out ways in which all of us can respond.

Do you think we will see an increased role for bishops’ conferences?

I’m not sure about that. I think that bishops’ conferences are such a new experience within the life of the Church, that obviously it’s going to take quite a while for people to see what the positives are as

issues of secularism is that people say, ‘this world is the only one we’ve got: we can’t depend upon God, we have to make decisions that fit in with this world being the sum of everything.’ I think that as believers and members of the Church, our responsibility is to live in such a way that we show people that living in union with God is a way of living in joy and peace.

So, the main challenge is reigniting an awareness of God?

Not only that, it’s also witnessing to the reality of God by the way you live your life, by the kind of person you are, by the kind of community that we are as a church.

How then would you sum up that phrase of Pope John Paul II’s,

and that’s the work of taking those wonderful insights, and applying them in a way that people in our streets can understand.

We hear that in countries like Mexico and the Philippines, the Church is really alive and growing. Is there any way that a country like Australia can become one of those growing and lively centres of the faith?

Given the nature of Australian society and its heavy secularisation, I think that in fact our church is very much alive. We’ve got lots of problems, we’re struggling with lots of things, but we are very much alive. There are loads and loads of people who are giving everything of themselves to God, and showing that in all sorts of ways, in devo-

well as the negatives, and we’ll learn by our experience of doing this. But I think it’s a very fruitful and wonderful way in which the theology of the Second Vatican Council, in regard to bishops and collegiality, has actually hit the ground in the Church.

So we’re at an experimental stage with bishops’ conferences?

No, I wouldn’t say experimental, because that means that we would, perhaps, let go of it. No. I think we’re in a proving time, that it’s something that’s shown itself to be very valuable for the life of the Church. And as we move forward, we get better at using it the correct way.

How are we facing up to the challenge of secularism, and what do we need to do, as the Church, to face this challenge today?

I think that one of the basic

“the new evangelisation?”

The new evangelisation, I think, has many different aspects. But the new evangelisation has to be driven by the commitment of all of the people of the Church to permanent conversion, to continually looking at ourselves to say, ‘what do I need to change to love more, and to be able to reflect Christ more?’

I think one of the important areas of the life of the Catholic Church in Australia now is the variety of commitments that we’ve made to tertiary education. And it seems to me to be really valuable to have that being done through a number of different avenues. I think that a special role the John Paul II Institute can play is to translate the teachings of John Paul II about the theology of the body into words that mean something to ordinary people. Not that I mean that what he had to say didn’t mean anything, but there’s another work that’s got to go on,

tion to prayer, and to kindness and charity and so on. So I think that despite all the limitations we see, in fact the Church in Australia is very much alive.

Now we can’t rest on our oars and say, ‘this is terrific, we don’t need to learn anything else or do anything else’ - we’ve got heaps to do. But as I go around the parishes in the diocese here, and I meet young people, old people and kids, and I see all the different ways in which they’re struggling to be faithful to the Lord, then that gives me great heart.

Mass attendance isn’t as high as it was in the past, but you still think the Church is growing in some ways? I’m sure of that. But I think that one of our big tasks is to help people to see how weekly Sunday Mass is so important to us, to keep our lives in union with Christ, to be

supported by Him as we go about doing what we have to do.

You attracted a lot of notice when you spoke about beauty at your Mass of installation as Archbishop of Adelaide. What was that about?

I’ve been talking about that for a while, from reading some theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar and some articles written by Cardinal Martini, who was the Archbishop of Milan. Largely what I had to say about beauty at my installation was taken from a little booklet Cardinal Martini wrote.

I notice that it keeps popping up. I see at the last plenary meeting of the Pontifical Council for Culture, the theme there was about the category of beauty as an evangelisation tool. You can offer people truth and convince them about truth, which is fair enough, but given our culture today and where we are in the secularised world, a really great category for explaining to people what we offer in terms of faith is talking to them about beauty, about real beauty.

Is ugliness a feature of our general culture today?

No, I think what’s a feature of our general culture today is that we’re enamoured of beauty, but we only get captured by partial beauty. The human body is so beautiful in so many ways, when you look at its systems and its form, but in our society we only get part of the deal because we’ve got a culture which is enamoured of the youthful human body, and there’s no place given to the beauty of people who’ve lived a good long life, and to the gracefulness of their lives. Their physical beauty might be overshadowed by their ageing, but there’s a deeper beauty about them, because of the way that they’ve lived and the values that they’ve lived by.

Can the Church be more beautiful in its liturgy and the way it presents itself to the world?

Beauty is a universal category for us because the great beauty in history is the beauty of Jesus himself. And the beauty of Jesus has been transferred into the life of the Church. We reveal the beauty of the Church to the extent that we allow ourselves to bev converted to the values of the Gospel, and as we fulfil the commandments that Jesus taught us, especially about loving God and loving our neighbour. That dynamic of loving our neighbour is so important because that’s the proof, in a sense, of what we do believe.

St Francis of Assisi said that you should preach all the time, but use words occasionally. I think that the way we can preach what we have is by showing to people the beauty of what there is in our community life, and in our relationship with God.

Dual role: Archbishop of Adelaide and newly appointed President of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Philip Wilson

Perspectives

letters to the editor

A great time for faith

This time of great confusion in the Middle East (and in other parts of the world) is a time for great faith, even joyful faith, because few things could more explicitly reveal to us that Jesus is the way, precisely as He said He is.

No amount of human wisdom, or bluster, can find a way to describe any part of the situation in the Middle East as just and free of injustice; and no human effort can describe a set of circumstances in which it would be so.

At the centre is the state of Israel, a state that came into being in 1948 with the approval of the United Nations because it seemed to be a matter ofjustice that such a state should exist. In truth, it was more a matter of mercy than of Justice, but coming so soon after the holocaust, who could argue such distinctions, and did they matter, anyway? Justice for the Jewish people seemed an uncontestable proposition, as indeed it was and is. There may have been a touch of pragmatism in the whole thing because the Jewish state existed de facto before the UN made it de jure, but that did not detract from the fundamental justice of the decision.

Unless, of course, you are a Palestinian standing in front of his former home, with the title deeds still in his hand, knowing that he was driven out of his home at gunpoint and that he will never be allowed to return. The Palestinians who were liberated by Australian soldiers in two world wars, will not be liberated by them again.

Medjugorje

Geoff Storey appears to be confused. On the one hand he says that we must keep an open mind about Medjugorje but on the other hand he asserts that those who oppose the visions are being dishonest, spreading misinformation and have dubious credentials. It sounds as if Mr Storey is not keeping his mind open.

Mr Storey states, “No Church authority, least of all the Vatican, has impeded or banned pilgrimages or visits to Medjugorje….I understand that the Bishop of Mostar visits Medjugorje on a regular basis to monitor developments.”

Amazing bodies

Ivisited the Amazing Bodies exhibition accompanied by two of my daughters. Two of us are nurses and, from a professional standpoint, thought the exhibition was excellent. A comment made by the nonnurse daughter was ‘but these are real people’. And yes, they were.

How these bodies came to be in this exhibition is not made known; that I do question and would like to know the answer, but there are several theories floating around as Jing Ping Wong explained in his article in The Record of July 13.

Regarding the ethical issue raised by Mr Wong of respect for the ‘value of the person and the person’s body,’ I can only comment on what I saw and felt in the hour or so we were there, and there was definitely respect and even awe among those who viewed the exhibition on the day we attended. As people moved from one exhibit to another the silence was palpable.

An exhibition such as this is not available to nursing students. Medical students may be more fortunate in their anatomy class to view the inner workings of the body with hands-on experience using a cadaver, but I question the measure of respect Mr Wong speaks of in these classes.

This display is no more denigrating than the body disintegrating to dust or being cremated. Because this exhibition is open to the public does not necessarily open it to denigration. I’m sure those who viewed this exhibition would not have paid $18.00 to achieve this.

In his article Mr Wong wrote “Because our spirit and bodies are so intimately linked together, the notion of rupturing the two parts and denigrating either one or them, in this case the body, inevitably denigrates the other, the soul.”

However I was taught that in death the soul separates from the body. The body is just that, a body.

I don’t believe this exhibition has reduced the sacredness of the body. Rather, I found myself marveling at the wonders of God’s creation and remarked on this to my daughters as we went around.

PO Box 75, Leederville, WA 6902

Tel: (08) 9227 7080, Fax: (08) 9227 7087 cathrec@iinet.net.au

The plight of our Palestinian friend, whether he is Muslim or Christian, does not remove the justice of the existence of Israel, but the existence of Israel can never be said to be justice for the Palestinian. Not even Solomon could come up with an answer to that although a great many people seem altogether too eager to wield the sword more literally than he did. The fact that Hizbollah terrorists live as civilians in the towns and suburbs of Lebanon and hold seats in the parliament and government of that country while firing thousands of Syrian and Iranian rockets into Israel cannot be described in any constructive terms, but no constructive terms can be found for Israel destroying the power supplies and milk factories of Lebanon.

And while all this is happening, there have been more civilians killed by Iraqis in Iraq in the last fortnight than there have been civilians killed in Lebanon and Israel. Surely, it should be enough to tell us that human wisdom and human ways are inadequate. Perhaps the realization of this explains why no one seems to be in a hurry to propose a solution.

At the risk of sounding as though we know more than all the Middle East experts, it does seem that the best step would be for people to stop demanding justice and decide, instead, to give up hatred.

At the risk of sounding as though we know more than all the Middle East experts, it does seem that the best step would be for people to stop demanding justice and decide, instead, to give up hatred. This step is well within everyone’s capacity; hatred can be surrendered simply by a decision to do so. And when the decision is made, it is amazing how quickly love rushes in to fill the space, and light takes over from the darkness. Life becomes altogether different, and outcomes that were unimaginable just begin to happen.

Can we expect this to happen in the Middle East? Probably not. The life of hatred is extremely painful, and the desperate thirst to control other people drives people far away from the goodness of their own hearts. But in their isolation from their own goodness, people can be driven ever closer to the realization that absence from God’s plan is the great pain that tortures humanity. That is why we must more and more learn to focus on the goodness of God’s will instead of on our own interpretation of reality and our futile attempts to bring about our own will.

Surrender to God’s will is the greatest achievement we can make, and is our only contribution to reality. This surrender is both individual and collective. Those of us who are not caught up in present conflicts (unless we choose to be in our minds and hearts) and who know that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life have a great responsibility to contribute to the wellbeing of our brothers and sisters by accelerating our surrender to the goodness of God.

Our Blessed Mother Mary told the little children at Fatima, “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.” Mary’s Immaculate Heart is the first one to have been totally, immaculately, united to God. Her triumph will see all of humanity brought to this blissful state.

The only question we have to ask is, “How much will I contribute to that triumph today?”

But on July 4 Catholic World News reported that the Bishop of Mostar had said “both he and his predecessor have expressed severe misgivings about the reported continued on Page 7

Conversations with friends and colleagues, secular and religious, have opened up interesting discussions along these lines. Man cannot replicate the intricacies of the working body. We can but thank God for this.

Jill Dwyer

Warwick

An Australian worth celebrating

WA celebrates the feast day of Blessed Mary MacKillop

■ By Sylvia Defendi

On August 8, Australians will celebrate the feast day of Blessed Mary MacKillop.

The focus of the celebrations will be at Mary MacKillop Place in North Sydney, where Blessed Mary MacKillop died on August 8, 1909. Western Australia, which houses 29 Josephite communities, will be celebrating the extraordinary life of Blessed Mary MacKillop in their own special way:

Provincial Centre

St Joseph’s Chapel, Mary MacKillop Centre, 16 York St, South Perth.

6pm Mass will be celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton, on August 6, followed by supper.

9.45am Mass will be celebrated by Fr Michael Mcmahon, on August 8. Year 6 students from St Columba’s Primary School, South Perth, will assist in the celebration. Morning tea will follow the celebration.

MacKillop Rural Network

Our Lady of Lourdes, Swinstone St, Rockingham.

9.15am Mass will be celebrated by Fr Finbar Walsh, on August 8. MacKillop House students from Kolbe Catholic College, Rockingham, will assist in the celebration. Morning tea will follow the celebration.

Mary MacKillop Catholic Church

Cnr Pelican Parade & Cassowary Drive, Ballajura

A reflection on the life and times of Blessed Mary MacKillop will be held on August 4 at 7pm in the

Church. A MacKillop fundraising dinner will be held in the Church hall on August 5, starting at 7pm. Mass will be celebrated by the parish priest, at 9am on August 8. Children from Mary MacKillop Primary School, Ballajura will assist in the celebration. Mass will also be celebrated by the parish priest at 7pm on August 8.

Mary MacKillop Primary School Cassowary Drive, Ballajura

‘Blessed Mary MacKillop Week’ will be celebrated with an art exhibition of student work, which will run from August 6 –11 in the adjoining Church hall.

MacKillop Catholic College College Avenue, Bussulton Mass will be celebrated on

August 11 at Our Lady of the Bay, Bussulton, with students assisting in celebrations.

A Mary MacKillop school fate will be hosted by staff and students, on August 11, at the school grounds. Funds raised will go towards the work done by the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart.

A MacKillop day concert will also be celebrated by students and staff on August 11, showcasing drama skits, poetry recital and other entertaining acts.

Our Lady of the Bay Catholic Church Kelly Drive, Busselton 9.15am Mass will be celebrated on August 8, by the parish priest. Children from the adjoining St Joseph’s School, Busselton will assist with the celebration.

The Mary MacKillop legacy - Vista 3

Silent prayer: Pope John Paul II prays at the tomb of Blessed Mary MacKillop in North Sydney during his visit to Australia in 1995.

It’s not just tools, computers, digital cameras, MP3 players and the like that bear the seeminglyubiquitous ‘Made in China’ stamp these days. Need a new heart valve? A kidney? If you do you can get virtually any body part you need from the world’s hottest economy. The troubling question is... how?

Made in China

■ By Michael Cook

It’s like a bad script from a B-grade movie - thousands of prisoners wait around until a customer appears who wants their organs. Except that it might be true. Despite growing surgical prowess and improved immunosuppressant drugs, organ donor waiting lists nearly everywhere grow longer year by year. There are 92,000 Americans in the queue, and 18 reportedly die every day because of a shortage of donated organs. The pressure is so great that doctors are turning to “second-best” solutions to meet rising demand. Some surgeons are accepting livers from older people, livers with fat, and livers from donors on blood-pressure drugs. A lot of research is going into xeno-transplantation — using organs from specially-bred animals like pigs.

But in China, transplants are booming. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, an American who had been removed from the US waiting list because he had liver cancer and nine tumours recently found a liver in Shanghai within two weeks — for US$110,000.

Where are the organs coming from? Generous donors? Nope. The Chinese have a strong cultural bias against organ donation — only about 0.6 per cent of transplanted kidneys in China between 1971 and 2001 came from family donors. The main source has been executed prisoners. According to the US State Department, “the main source [of organ donations] is voluntary donations from condemned prisoners” — but there are serious questions about whether the donations were truly voluntary. Australian transplant surgeon Daryl Wall says that “We understand in international transplant associations that the expansion of capital punishment has contributed significantly to the rate of organ donation in mainland China”.

But now a detailed report alleges that something even worse is happening, something straight from a B-grade Hollywood thriller: that Chinese authorities are exploiting a better resource — the bodies of imprisoned Falun Gong supporters, prized by doctors because they follow a healthy regime of eating and exercise. These allegations do not come from the Falun Gong, but from two respected Canadian human rights activists who have documented them in a 60-page report.

Former cabinet minister David Kilgour and a respected human rights lawyer, David Matas, spent two months investigating the startling claims. “The allegations, if true, would represent a grotesque form of evil which, despite all the

depravations humanity has seen, would be new to this planet,” they say.

Falun Gong blends aspects of Taoism, Buddhism, and meditation techniques and physical exercises. It was founded by a man named Li Hongzhi in 1992 but it has deep roots in Chinese culture. Despite the spiritual content of some of Li’s teachings, Falun Gong does not consider itself

a religion and has no clergy or places of worship. It satisfied a hunger for spirituality after decades of state-imposed atheism. By 1999 it became obvious that the number of adherents had swollen into millions — perhaps as many as 60 or 70 million. In April 16,000 of them gathered for a peaceful protest outside Communist Party headquarters

Continued on Vista 2

Special lady, special day

Australia celebrates the feast day of a remarkable woman, and possibly our first official saint, on August 8.

Vista 3

Look, new toy

Catherine Parish reflects on the problems associated with seeing children as a right rather than a gift from God.

Supply boom? Since thousands of Falun Gong supporters were arrested in crackdowns in 1999 the availability of body parts from China for transplant has soared. Is there a connection?

Hard to explain

But where did it come from? Canadian researchers have not proved organ-harvesting from political prisoners is taking place - but there are still a lot of coincidences, such as the sudden availability of organs for transplant from the time that tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners were arrested and imprisoned from 1999 onwards.

Continued from Vista 1 in Beijing. Amazed at the Falun Gong’spowers of organisation and fearful of a rival to its ideological monopoly, the government cracked down swiftly and with great severity. According to Falun Gong practitioners in the United States, since 1999 more than 100,000 practitioners have been detained, with many tortured and killed. Some foreign observers, according to the US State Department’s 2005 report on international religious freedom, estimate that at least half of the 250,000 officially recorded inmates in the country’s re-education-through-labour camps are Falun Gong adherents. Many of

these may have refused to identify themselves for fear of incriminating their families and have thus disappeared into the prison system without a trace. “This population is a remarkably undefended group of people, even by Chinese standards,” observes the report. Kilgour and Matas acknowledge that they have no eyewitness evidence that Falun Gong prisoners are being used as organ farms. But from interviews and careful analysis of publicly available information, they conclude that thousands of people must have been murdered. Since 1999 — the year of the crack-down — organ transplants have soared.

Kilgour and Matas calculate that there were

about 41,500 organ donors in that period who were not executed common criminals or voluntary donors. They believe that these were probably Falun Gong supporters. One of their informants was the divorced wife of a transplant surgeon who, she claimed, had removed the corneas of 2,000 Falun Gong supporters in two years. The victims were first given an injection to cause heart failure and their bodies were then cremated.. Kilgour and Matas also produced translated transcripts of conversations with jails whose officials claimed that they could produce good quality organs quickly. Chinese hospitals often advertise on their websites that they can supply suitable organs to foreign patients in as little as one or two weeks.

They produced several transcripts of conversations with hospitals. Investigators rang and feigned an interest in obtaining a transplant. This is an excerpt from a conversation with Nanning City Minzu Hospital in the Guangxi Autonomous Region on May 22:

Caller: “...Could you find organs from Falun Gong practitioners?”

Hospital “Let me tell you, we have no way to get (them). It’s rather difficult to get it now in Guangxi. If you cannot wait, I suggest you go to Guangzhou because it’s very easy for them to get the organs. They are able to look for [them] nationwide. As they are performing the liver transplant, they can get the kidney for you at the same time, so it’s very easy for them to do. Many places where supplies are short go to them for help...”

Caller: “Why is it easy for them to get?”

Hospital “Because they are an important institution. They contact the [judicial] system in the name of the whole university.”

Caller: “Then they use organs from Falun Gong practitioners?”

Hospital “Correct...”

Caller: “...what you used before [organs from Falun Gong practitioners], was it from detention centres or prisons?”

Hospital “From prisons.”

Caller: “...and it was from healthy Falun Gong practitioners...?”

Hospital “Correct. We would choose the good ones because we assure the quality in our operation.”

Kilgour and Matas point out that the median waiting time in Canada was 32.5 months in 2003.

“The astonishingly short waiting times

A life that left its mark

Mary MacKillop was born of Scottish parents, Alexander MacKillop and Flora MacDonald in Fitzroy, Victoria on January 15, 1842. A plaque in the footpath now marks the place of her birth in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy.

Mary, the eldest of eight children, was well educated by her father who spent some years studying for the priesthood in Rome but through ill health had returned to his native Scotland until 1835 when he migrated to Australia with his parents. Unfortunately, he lacked financial awareness, so the family was often without a home of their own, depending on friends and relatives.

advertised for perfectly-matched organs would suggest the existence of both a computer matching system for transplants and a large bank of live prospective ‘donors’.”

The Canadians are not the only foreigners who believe that organs are being harvested from Falun Gong supporters.

Edward McMillan-Scott, a Briton who is vice-president of the European Parliament, supports the claims.

“Organ harvesting is now a very systematic process in China,” he told Belgian TV.

“A friend of mine in Hong Kong said that a friend of his needed a new liver. He called a hospital in Shenzen and they told him: ‘Come right over, we’ll find you one.’... What the [hospital] administrators are saying is ‘Yes, be assured it’ll be a Falun Gong liver or kidney.’ And the reason they say that is because they’re clean: Falun Gong don’t smoke tobacco or drink alcohol, and they live a rather sort of clean life. And therefore they have a sort of premium, and it’s a ghastly reward for a healthy lifestyle that they’re going to be singled out...”

The Chinese government is on an ethical slippery slope which began with capital punishment, the two Canadians claim.

“When the state kills defenceless human beings already in detention for their crimes, it becomes all too easy to take the next step, harvesting their organs without their consent. This is a step China undoubtedly took. When the state harvests the organs of executed prisoners without their consent, it is another step that becomes all too easy and tempting to take to harvest the organs of other vilified, depersonalised, defenceless prisoners without their consent, especially when there is big money to be made from it.”

Kilgour and Matas recommend that Chinese transplant surgeons be banned from entering Canada and other countries and that all governments should discourage their nationals from travelling to China for transplant operations.

The Chinese embassy in Canada has vigorously denied all allegations made by the report and accused Kilgour and Matas of smearing China.

It insists that China has banned the sale of organs and has always obtained informed consent for any organ transplants.

In fact, as of July 1, the purchase and sale of human organs has been banned and only top-quality hospitals will be allowed to do transplants. But this only proves that organ transplantation was lawless and unregulated before July 1. In any case, as the Chinese proverb has it, the mountains are high and the emperor is far away. If Falun Gong members are being used as organ farms now, it is unlikely that this highly lucrative practice will cease because of a press release from Beijing. Michael Cook is editor of MercatorNet

Mary met Father Julian Tenison Woods who, with a parish of 22,000 square miles/56,000 square kilometres, needed help in the religious education of children in the outback. At the time Mary’s family depended on her income so she was not free to follow her dream. However, in 1866, greatly inspired and encouraged by Father Woods, Mary opened the first Saint Joseph’s School in a disused stable in Penola.

Young women came to join Mary, and so the Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph was begun. In 1867, Mary was asked by Bishop Shiel to come to Adelaide to start a school. From there, the Sisters spread, in groups to small outback settlements and large cities around Australia, New Zealand, and now in Peru, Brazil and refugee camps of Uganda and Thailand. Mary and these early Sisters, together with other religious orders and lay teachers of the time, had a profound influence on the forming of Catholic education as we have come to know and experience it today. She also opened orphanages, Providences to care for the homeless and destitute both young and old, and Refuges for ex-prisoners and ex-prostitutes who wished to make a fresh start in life.

Throughout her life, Mary met with opposition from people outside the Church and even within it.

In the most difficult of times she consistently refused to attack those who wrongly accused her and undermined her work, but continued in the way she believed God was calling her and was always ready to forgive those who wronged her. Mary suffered ill health throughout her life.

She died on August 8, 1909 in the convent in Mount Street, North Sydney where her tomb is now enshrined. Since then the Congregation has grown and now numbers about 1200, working mainly in Australia and New Zealand but also scattered singly or in small groups around the world.

The “Brown Joeys” may be seen in big city schools, on dusty bush tracks, in modern hospitals, in caravans, working with the “little ones” of God - the homeless, the new migrant, the Aboriginal, the lonely and the unwanted, in direct care and in advocacy.

Pope John Paul ll beatified Mary MacKillop on January 19, 1995 at Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, anointing her Blessed Mary MacKillop.

Where are they now?

■ By Sylvia Defendi

119 years after Blessed Mary

MacKillop commissioned the Sisters of St Joseph of the Scared Heart to Western Australia, the WA Josephites are continuing their mission “to enter into the reality of a broken and fragmented world, relieve suffering and bring hope.”

Blessed Mary MacKillop’s sisters first came to Northampton in 1887, at the request of Perth’s Bishop Matthew Gibney.

However, when Bishop Gibney decided to set up his own diocesan institute in 1890, all but one sister returned to the mother house in Sydney.

The Josephites returned to WA in 1906, eventually establishing the congregation at Southern Cross.

With 59 Sisters of St Joseph and 29 congregational communities currently operating in WA, the Josephite sisters now work with a collaboration of people in many fields.

Whether through the ministry of prayer, education, spiritual direction, pastoral work or caring for the aged, the congregation continues to echo Blessed Mary MacKillop’s mission to aid the needy.

Acting provincial leader and principal of St Joseph’s School in Busselton, Sr Kathleen Hitchcock RSJ, said “Mary MacKillop was prophetic in responding to the needs of ‘bush

Australian Catholics will mark the feast day of Blessed Mother Mary MacKillop on August 8.

The Record’s SYLVIA DEFENDI looks at how and where many people will commemorate the occasion here in WA.

Portraits for parishes

By Sylvia Defendi

Arelatively recent project, to install a portrait of Blessed Mary MacKillop in every Western Australian parish, is gathering momentum.

The idea developed through a mutual relationship between the Knights of the Southern Cross, who adopted Blessed Mary MacKillop as their national patroness in 1995, and the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart.

“In Western Australia the Knights made a commitment to work closely with the Sisters and to assist them where possible, both financially, and with their projects,” said WA state executive officer for the Knights, Chris Hunt.

The project, which was initiated early this year, has already received widespread interest.

Provincial leader, Sr Clare Ahern RSJ, in her address at the recent installation ceremony at Our Lady of the Mission Parish, Whitfords, reminded parishioners that in Ireland the Irish prayed to St Patrick, the French to St Joan of Arc, and the Mexicans to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

“In Australia we have Blessed Mary MacKillop, who would understand our needs, and us, better than anyone. A portrait of Blessed Mary in our Parish Churches will serve to remind us she is there waiting for our special requests,” she said.

“In Australia we have Blessed Mary MacKillop, who would understand our needs, and us, better than anyone. A portrait of Blessed Mary in our Parish Churches will serve to remind us she is there waiting for our special requests,” she said.

children and the afflicted poor.’ Today, being prophetic entails a contemplative attitude before God and critical action against systems that oppress the weak and vulnerable in our society.”

Specific to their mission in support of those who are vulnerable, Sr Kathleen said that the Josephites were committed to walking with Aboriginal people, many of whom were suffering from the chaos of displacement.

“Ministry to people in rural areas is a strong focus of Josephite ministry,” she said.

Originally a major focus of the congregation, the Josephites in WA are no longer intrinsically linked with childhood education, opting, rather, to focus on adult education.

“The sisters have a larger focus on adult faith formation these days, although some sisters continue to work in schools across the nation,” Sr Kathleen said.

Approaching the up-coming feast day of their founder, the Josephite community is preparing to reaffirm the words of Blessed Mary MacKillop, who asked all to “seek first the poorest and most neglected of God’s vineyard.”

For more information on the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, contact the provincial office on: 9334 0999.

Mr Hunt said the campaign could be instrumental in bringing about an announcement of canonisation of Blessed Mary MacKillop by Pope Benedict XVI when he visits Australia in 2008 for World Youth Day.

“Her canonisation is not only about her life but is also about her recognition and the faith placed in her by people who are alive today,” he said.

Parishes wishing to install a portrait of Blessed Mary MacKillop can contact the Knights of the Southern Cross office in Rivervale, 9470 4922 or Sister Maree Riddler either at the Mary MacKillop Centre 9334 0930 or the St Joseph’s Province Centre 9334 0995 in South Perth.

Josephites of today: some of Mary MacKillop’s spiritual daughters from Western Australia.

Eyes on her Lord: Mother Mary MacKillop.

Picture perfect: Sue Shea and husband Pat, a member of the Knights of the Southern Cross, present Fr Joseph Tran of Our Lady of the Missions parish in Whitfords with a portrait of Mother Mary MacKillop. Also present for the occasion are Josephite Sisters Clare Ahern and Maree Riddler. Photographer: A John Parker

Peace, and a brilliant tradition: Mary MacKillop’s Shrine in St Patrick’s Cathedral Paramatta

PHOTO: HAMILTON LUND & DIOCESE OF PARAMATTA

i say, i say

A flying tale that was also curiously prophetic

When I was a child going through my late father’s library my maternal grandfather pointed out a copy of G. K. Chesterton’s The Flying Inn, published in 1914, and said: “That’s a good story!” I wish now that Grandfather had lived long enough for me to talk to him about many things. I am not sure why he, Mayor, Member of Parliament, Knight, and general pillar of the community, with no sign I could detect of my father’s bohemian streak, thought this tale of rum-disbursing rapscallions was a good story, but I took him at his word and when I read it found he was right. It is also curiously prophetic.

It is, for one thing, a swinging hit at political correctness, penned a couple of generations before political correctness was dreamed up. The

British politician, Lord Ivywood, by a piece of legal trickery, bans the drinking of alcohol. That is, alcohol is not banned outright, but can only be sold by an inn displaying a sign, and the signs are banned.

The good people, like irresponsible vagabonds, travel the country just ahead of the law, first with a donkey and then a motor car, with a keg of rum and a cheese, as well as an inn-sign rescued from “The Old Ship,” dispersing cheer to the workmen who have been denied a drink, singing merry songs on the way (naturally the establishment figures who brought in the law still manage to evade it for themselves in other ways).

But there is a more sinister parallel development. Targetting the traditional English pub is only part of the politically-correct targetting of all English institutions, traditions and identity, enforced by a British establishment enthralled by a highly-nuanced brand of Islamicism.

We also hear little asides about the cross being gradually banned. Smart art circles adopt Islamicist art. There are hints of political preparations for polygamy, the institution of the harem and the supression of woman. It gradually becomes apparent that Ivywood is working towards the obliteration of England’s Western and

Christian identity. While he is using Islamicism as a tool, he is also a pseudo-Nietszchean sort of creature. “I see the breaking of barriers,” he says. “Beyond that I see

nothing.” They are words that could be straight from modern de-constructionism and they encapsulate its ultimately hellish nature.

Ivywood is, ultimately, the voice

of Antichrist. His associates and tools, his “false prophets” are a strange little Turk, Misysra Ammon, and a miserable crawling journalist, Hibbs However. Against Ivywood are a giant, red-haired, harddrinking Irishman named Patrick (something familiar there?) Dalroy, a thoroughly English pub-owner named Humphrey Pump, and Lord Ivywood’s poet cousin.

After many adventures the story concludes with England roused, a decisive battle against the Islamicist Army which Lord Ivywood has been secretly shipping in, and Dalroy getting the girl. Lord Ivywood goes mad.

Like other books by Chesterton, when I first read it I was puzzled but liked it. Perhaps part of what appealed to me was its obviously fantastical nature.

When Chesterton wrote it, shortly before the first World War, the great perceived threat to England was not Islamicism, which had been out of such questions for centuries, but German militarism.

When I read it, the Cold War was on, had been for almost all my life, and showed no signs of ending - or at least not of ending in victory.

The Flying Inn had nothing to do with “present discontents.”

But it is in my mind yet, when those other things are gone.

In the debate over children, who ends up as pawns?

Catherine Parish @ home

Probably because it stirs up so much contentious debate, as much as any commitment to ‘equal rights’, the present cause celebre of the media is the problematic issue of gay marriage. The issue now seems to be turning subtly from legal recognition of homosexual unions to the right of gay couples to have children by whatever means they wish.

This debate is symptomatic of the long pathway that started with the aggressive promotion of nonnatural family planning methods in the 1960’s and the artificial reproduction technology pioneered in the 1970’s.

Access to contraception has had a massive influence upon the way people now view reproduction and children in general.

Where once childbearing was viewed as a natural and relatively uncontrollable event, we have now reached the stage where pregnancy is, in the main, completely determinable and controlled. Many childless couples have used IVF technologies and many, many more have managed to effectively plan their families to suit their lifestyles.

So what, you may ask, is bad about this? This very question is the nub of the problem. We have now reached a point where children are now regarded as a commodity and that the right to possess one appears no more questionable than the right to own a house, a car or any other item one might want.

Unfortunately this tendency to see a child as an ‘accessory’ to your

life completely misses the reality. For anyone who has had children, no matter how spontaneous or carefully planned the event may have been, one thing becomes very quickly apparent: the child may be yours but you cannot, unless you want to damage the child forever, make him or her fit your lifestyle.

To see having children as an object that somehow fulfils one part of your life plan, and expecting them to fit neatly into that one small compartment, is dangerously short-sighted.

Once you have a child your life plan will be changed forever, and no

amount of rhetoric about rights will disguise the reality that, once children arrive, you must be prepared to put yourself second – not always but very often – and that cheerful sacrifice, not ownership, ought to be the rule that guides a sensible parent.

And just as a child is not a commodity, you cannot look at the material things you provide – the education that you slavishly work to afford, the music lessons and the sports clubs in cold economic terms as ‘value adding’, somehow making your goods superior to the competitor’s product. While we read yet

another article in the paper about rights to have children, perhaps we should really be considering the more fundamental question of why we want children at all, and perhaps realising anew that parents are the custodians, not the owners, of one of God’s most precious gifts and that their principal task is to give their children the best possible chance of fulfilling God’s will for them as they live their adult lives.

In that sense, none of us has the right to be a parent, but rather are privileged with a special trust that goes way beyond selfish and fallacious notions of self-fulfilment.

Loud and Proud: Eric Ethington and homosexual partner Doug Okun, carrying twins Sophia and Elizabeth, hold their marriage licence as they depart San Francisco’s City Hall in 2004.

Larger than life: A portrait of GK Chesterton taken in 1935. Photo: Howard Coster

Guy Crouchback

Working in war-torn Afghanistan

Continued from Page 1

“I remember them asking me whether I would like to help someday,” he said.

Four years later, Dr Keenan was balancing working on sports injuries in Perth and saving victims of land mines in Afghanistan.

“There came a time when I couldn’t do both, so I retired, and have worked with the Red Cross ever since,” Dr Keenan said.

Focusing on his time in Afghanistan and the disastrous effect of war, Dr Keenan’s presentation flitted between “happy snaps” of hospital attendants, eager to have their photo taken, to before and after displays of horrific injuries.

Screening the arm of an Afghan man after encountering a land mine, and then of the recovered amputee, Dr Keenan assured that “there is always something that can be done.”

For the patients, the second chance at life is little more than a miracle, especially considering the limited resources available to those who work in such underprivileged areas.

“There is no anesthetic machine and the orthopedic equipment is limited.”

Highlighting the extent of the hospital’s equipment - a hammer, chisel, drill and wire-cutter - Dr Keenan comments, jokingly: “As you can see it’s very extensive.”

Yet Dr Keenan has managed to use whatever he has to treat a variety of ills.

“Third-world countries often suffer from severe malnutrition and Tuberculosis, which can affect pregnancy and birth,” Dr Keenan

said. A picture of a mother delivering a dead child shocked the audience as Dr Keenan added, “I’ve seen a lot of horrific maternity problems. This story at least has a happy ending – the mother lived.”

Indeed not all Dr Keenan’s experiences are grim. A woman from Indonesia, who suffered horrific burns to her face was able to close her eyes for the

first time in seven years after surgery.However, “landmines are by far the worst,” ensured Dr Keenan, as he described the different types and effects of commonly found landmines.

“There is one landmine, aptly called the butterfly landmine, that is small, shaped like a butterfly and brightly coloured so that they will be attractive to children,” Dr

Selective and Subjective choices

■ By Tony Paganoni CS

The Western world, as we know it today, is not inclined to look for truth, much less for The Truth.

Rather, it is more willing to believe that, under the best of circumstances, the summation of different viewpoints can take on the strength of real Truth. Among the consensus, the Church’s viewpoints hardly feature. If anything, a selection of some Church beliefs, often those that are “needed,” are

Continued from Page 6 apparitions. He added that both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI backed the judgments of the local bishops.”

The Bishop further said there are priests in Medjugorje who were expelled for refusal to accept Church authority, and are still illicitly administering sacraments.

This does not seem to reflect positively on the authenticity of the purported visions.

Perhaps Mr Storey should investigate the other side of the Medjugorje’s story instead of accepting the positive spin promoted by the Medjugorje organisers. The Record has done well in not presenting this lop-sided approach.

The previous Bishop of Mostar had concluded against the visions being supernatural, and his successor appears to support this position.

The official Church position is not to declare official Church support for Medjugorje until such time as verification - or otherwise.

In the meantime, anyone is free to go there privately.

As for the Vatican’s position, it is pretty obvious to me what they feel: after many years of not taking steps to overturn the negative

N e w r a i n b o w s : a series on society and Church

adopted, at the demise of others.

Before being seen as a “community of faith,” the Church is often perceived as a bureaucratic structure, delivering religious, social and educational services. As a result, people often approach the Church when they are in need of these services, often completely overlooking the Church’s role as a vital part of life.

decision by the Bishop of Mostar, their silence speaks volumes.

Calvin Gomes

Gosnells

A precedent

We hear so much these days about ‘smashing the code’ of evil in society, but there is no ‘da Vinci Code’ for smashing the sexual abuse of Aboriginal children.

Surely the answer lies with the leaders of the aboriginal people. But neither the lowest common denominator of leaving it purely to tribal leaders nor white politicians can solve this problem unless they draw their principles from history.

Even as an historian I would not venture to suggest an answer; but I could refer you to a precedent for success in history.

In 1846 a Spanish missionary, Rosendo Salvado, came to the colony of Western Australia and offered to start a mission for the physical and spiritual welfare of aborigines.

He visited Rome and put his plan to his Superior and, with his approval, started a mission in land unoccupied by whites, and away from Perth.

The risk for any church is to deliver these services simply because it is requested of them. This initiates a vicious cycle of supply and demand, which can have both merits as well as demerits. The inevitable stress and frustration in keeping “clientele” satisfied would detract from the core mission of faith transmission and proclamation of the Gospel.

He and his four companions ventured into the wilderness to be among the ‘salvaggi’- ‘the savages’ - as he wrote in his memoirs, while awaiting his return to Australia.

Those memoirs, which were the subject of my thesis and subsequent book, were a study of his life and work - a work that brought a good measure of success to the aborigines in the Victoria Plains, where it was situated 120 kilometers from Perth.

The issue of child abuse encountered by Salvado in this barbarian wilderness was soon condemned and perpetrators banished from the mission instantly.

They were never to return, and henceforth he urged his monks to guard all aboriginal children with the utmost care.

He placed them above every personal interest.

He loved them and found ways to care for both the boys and the girls.

He established schools, brought nuns from Spain to teach, built a hospital, appointed monks to guard them and study medicine from Spanish text books.

He called the place New Norcia, and it became a model for aboriginal education and welfare throughout the nation.

Keenan explains. Unfortunately, in Dr Keenan’s experience most victims of landmines, especially the children, are lucky to only lose limbs.

Asked how people in privileged positions can help the plight of those ravaged by war, Dr Keenan was convinced that people could help in many more ways than they may have been aware of.

“It is not just through donations or medical services that a person can make a difference, but by volunteering their skills, be it medical, agricultural or whatever they have to offer.

Any aid makes a big difference to the lives of these needy people,” he said. Since he began working for the Red Cross, Dr Keenan has followed disaster to Afghanistan, Israel, Bali, East Timor, and Jakarta and has just left for Ethiopia.

“There have been times when I have been very scared – bombs are constantly falling, but the gratitude you receive from saving a child’s life is amazing.”

“As a member of the Red Cross you can always leave, whereas those who live there have no choice,” Dr Keenan concluded.

As an example, Caritas Italiana has been responsible for implementing a national program, which provides a variety of social and welfare services to thousands of immigrants from various religious backgrounds. Among them, a consistent number of Muslims, who were granted free use of Catholic premises. It was felt that the charity of Christ would do no less. However, in due course, misunderstandings arose regarding the control over Catholic premises. On a few occasions, devout Muslims remarked

More importantly, Salvado became a father to the aboriginal children, and like all good fathers, cared wholly for their welfare.

We could learn a lot from this remarkable man.

George Russo Iluka

Well done, Geoff

Well done to Geoff Storey for writing an intelligent, balanced letter regarding Medjugorje. Unfortunately, some people are closed-minded, and want to play God and decide what is good and bad for us.

It is time for people to realise that there are grey areas and not everything is black and white.

If this sounds a little harsh, so be it.

It’s time for a little humility, balance and open-mindedness regarding spiritual issues such as Medjugorje.

I pray that hearts will soften and pride will be put aside.

Remember, God’s in control, not us.

Tim Grace Kingsley

that while being grateful for the use of premises, more time was needed to pray together and explore their own traditions!

During the ninth symposium of the European Bishops’ Conference, Church leaders noted that the traditional sense of belonging to the church was faltering, and consequently being replaced by the strong desire to a free self-determination. It was noted that the Church would heed the “sign of the times” by supporting individuals in their efforts towards autonomy, through wise advice and the celebration of significant rites and symbols.

‘Serial cohabitation’

A US study finds that one-half of all cohabiting unions end within a year and 90 per cent within five years. Cohabitation is easily entered into but is unlikely to lead to the altar, especially for poor and minority women, according to researchers.

It may just be “an intense form of dating”, they say in a study published in the journal Demography “The common view of cohabitation as a stepping stone to marriage needs to be seriously questioned,” said Daniel Lichter of the Bronfenbrennr Life Course Centre at Cornell University.

Meanwhile, as many as one million children in Britain are denied access to their grandparents, resulting in misery on both sides, because of the climbing divorce rate, says a government consultant.

About five million grandparents spend the equivalent of three days a week caring for children. But 300,000 to 400,000 a year are losing touch with the children, says Lawler. 

Being prepared: A display of common mines at a hospital in Afghanistan form part of an awareness campaign.

Saving grace: Dr Timothy Keenan continues to work for the Red Cross, where his medical skilla are much needed.

The World

Hope for open ordinations in China

Hong Kong bishop predicts China will stop ordaining bishops illicitly

Hong Kong Auxiliary Bishop John Tong Hon predicted China will stop ordaining bishops illicitly and spoke of positive changes in relations between the mainland’s open and underground Catholic communities.

“The Chinese government wants to dialogue with the Holy See, (so) it will have no more illegitimate ordinations; the illegitimate ordinations will stop,” Bishop Tong told 35 bishops, priests, religious and laypeople at a July 18-20 seminar just south of Seoul. His remarks were reported by UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand.

The seminar, “The Search for Christian Unity: Where We Stand Today,” was organised by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences. The Church in China ordained two bishops without papal approval earlier this year: Father Joseph Ma Yinglin of Kunming Diocese, on April 30, and Father Joseph Liu Xinhong of Anhui Diocese, on May 3.

“Regarding the two illegitimate ordinations,” Bishop Tong said, “the Holy Father did quite an extraordinary job. Right away, he openly published a letter-notice to show his concern on the matter.”

Amazon

Bishop Tong also commended the Vatican for its interaction with international media regarding the illicit ordinations.

“This kind of information from media can be a pressure on the communist government, so media can play an important role,” he said. As for efforts aimed at normalising Chinese-Vatican relations, he said there have been ongoing talks, but he expects no agreement to be reached soon.

“We already heard from news-

a ‘magnificent work’

Pope says ecological protection of Amazon region urgently needed with help from other religions

■ By Carol Glatz

The Amazon region is under threat, and protection of the ecological balance of this “magnificent work” of God is urgently needed, Pope Benedict XVI said.

He made the statement in a message sent to experts meeting in Brazil to help safeguard the Amazon River.

The Pope’s message, released on July 20 by the Vatican, was addressed to Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who developed an organisation called Religion, Science and Environment.

Since its founding in 1995, the nonprofit organisation has convened six meetings bringing together scientists, environmentalists, policymakers and religious leaders to look at ways to protect the world’s major bodies of water and foster environmental ethics.

The papal message was sent on the occasion of the sixth symposium, held on July 13-20 in Brazil’s

Amazon region on a flotilla of boats winding along the Amazon river system.

Pope Benedict said the beauty and grandeur of the Amazon basin’s rivers and forests “speak of God and his magnificent work for the benefit of humanity” and represent “an open book whose pages reveal the mystery of life.”

He recalled the common declaration on respecting human life and safeguarding all creation that was signed by the patriarch and Pope John Paul II in 2002.

Pope Benedict underlined the duty and importance of the two churches in working together to promote a catechism on creation.

He said by showing the religious meaning of protecting the environment, it could have “an important impact on the perceived value of life itself and on the adequate solution of inescapable social problems.”

The Pope praised and offered his support for the patriarch’s efforts in reminding Christians of their duty to protect the environment.

He also underlined how important it was that the symposium included leaders of other monotheistic religions.

The Pope said the meetings’ goals of safeguarding humanity’s survival can and should draw people to join the cause.

papers of the confidential dialogue between the Holy See and Chinese government, which is true,” Bishop Tong said.

He was referring to two senior Vatican officials’ late-June trip to China to confer with the Chinese government: Archbishop Claudio Celli, secretary of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, and Mgr. Gianfranco Rota Graziosi of the Vatican’s Secretariat of State.

Sources have told UCA News that, when they left for Beijing,

the two Vatican officials planned to leave China on July 1, but they extended their stay by a day to meet with some top Chinese officials.

“We should not expect too much,” Bishop Tong said. “I think the Chinese government is not so sincere for dialogue.” For this reason, he said, the Chinese side will engage in only “superficial dialogue.”

“The communist government knows the situation will change in the future,” he added, “but it does not want this kind of change to

happen so quickly.” Bishop Tong also said the process to normalise Chinese-Vatican relations will go slowly due to the Chinese government’s worry about the Church’s power and influence, as well as the role of Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun in garnering world support for religious freedom in the mainland.

“In that sense, we should not expect much in the near future, but that day (of diplomatic normalisation) will come,” Bishop Tong said.

Hong Kong’s auxiliary bishop also spoke of the changing relations between China’s open and underground Catholic communities and said that “this year we have seen some good examples.”

The term underground church refers to Catholics who practise their faith privately and refuse to join the government-sanctioned Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, also known as the “open church” community of Catholics.

Though open and underground church communities still do not mix or worship together, they have agreed to use church facilities jointly, he said.

“We have to keep up our good work to advertise this kind of message and try to publicise it,” he said, “but we should not push them to have a kind of joint service, which would create a lot of confusion among the communities.” His presentation noted that Catholics in China, from both communities, total about 13 million.

A life of quiet devotion pays off

Late repairman’s generosity benefits nine Catholic ministries

When he was in his 90s, Rudolph Gasper still drove his car, enjoyed bowling and even climbed on the roof of his house to fix it.

Yet what stunned people even more was a gift he made - a gift that wasn’t revealed until the longtime sewing machine repairman died, three months after he celebrated his 100th birthday.

As his will was being read, it became clear that Gasper, a man who grew up on an Indiana farm, had saved nearly $1 million during his lifetime.

Another point also became evident. The quiet devotion that the father of three had shown to his Catholic faith in his lifetime was something he wanted to continue beyond his death. While 40 percent of his estate was to be divided among his children, Gasper also wanted 60 percent of his $993,508.76 distributed among nine Catholic institutions and charities.

“I was amazed,” his son, Bob Gasper, told The Criterion, newspaper of the Indianapolis Archdiocese. “I didn’t have the impression he was paid a lot of money for the work he did. I knew he was a frugal man and he was

good at saving, but I had no idea of the amount of money.

“It just shows there were some charities that he felt deeply about. He didn’t talk much about his faith, but he was always faithful,” he said. Some of the beneficiaries of Gasper’s generosity are connected to his personal life.

St Philip Neri Parish in Indianapolis was where he lived and went to church most of his life.

The Sisters of Providence taught his children. Marian College in Indianapolis is where Bob Gasper is an associate professor of math. The Society for the Propagation of the Faith also benefited from a gift from the elder Gasper’s wife, Elizabeth, when she died in 1994.

The other five beneficiaries are the Columban Fathers, the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, St Meinrad School of Theology in St. Meinrad, Indiana, St Augustine Home for the Aged in Indianapolis and the Benedict Inn Retreat and Conference Centre in Beech Grove. Each received a little more than $66,000.

“We all hear these stories of the little old lady who scrubbed floors at the university and left millions of dollars,” said Jim Wathen, director of gift planning for the archdiocese’s Catholic Community Foundation.

“It’s inspiring to rub up against one of those people,” he said. “He’s

not a person you associate with great wealth, but he was able to leave almost $1 million and he designated 60 percent for charity. The story is so inspiring.”

The youngest of six children, Rudolph Gasper grew up on a farm in Jennings County in southern Indiana where he learned the value of working hard and taking care of the resources that life gives a person and a family.

At 21, he moved to Indianapolis where he noticed a young woman named Elizabeth Campbell at Sunday Mass.

They married in 1930 as the Great Depression devastated the economy and lives in the United States. However, he found a job as a sewing machine repairman. Because of the tough economic times, the couple learned to be frugal - except in their devotion to their faith and their love for their three children - son Bob and daughters Mary Miller and Margaret Miller. “They would visit shut-ins,” said Mary Miller, a member of Christ the King Parish in Indianapolis.

“They’d look after people and look in on them. They always went to church. They always went to novenas and holy hours. I’d visit with Dad at the assisted living facility and we would say the rosary together. He was just faithful.”

A young person is dressed as the angel of the Resurrection in a Catholic procession in Hong Kong on May 21 . PHOTO: CNS

The World

Joint declaration a ‘gift of God’

Methodists adopt CatholicLutheran declaration on justification

■ By Cindy Wooden

Methodist, Roman Catholic and Lutheran leaders said their communities will be able to work more closely in proclaiming the Gospel message of salvation after the World Methodist Conference adopted the Catholic-Lutheran joint declaration on justification.

“This is a historic day. This is a gift of God. We can be grateful for it,” Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said at the July 23 signing ceremony in Seoul, South Korea.

The agreement on justification - how people are made just in the eyes of God and saved by Jesus Christ - “provides a basis for a more profound common witness before the world,” said the cardinal.

Delegates to the World Methodist Conference voted unanimously on July 18 to adopt the declaration, which was approved in 1999 by the Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation.

Cardinal Kasper’s office at the Vatican released his statement and other texts from the signing ceremony.

The Methodists’ resolution said the 1999 agreement “expresses a farreaching consensus in regard to the theological controversy which was a major cause of the split in Western

churches in the 16th century” over salvation by grace alone or by grace and good works.

The 1999 declaration said, “By grace alone, in faith in Christ’s saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping us and calling us to good works.”

The Methodists said the declaration “corresponds to Methodist doctrine,” especially its explanation of how each person of the Trinity is involved in salvation.

“The Methodist Movement,” which grew out of the Anglican

Church, “has always understood itself as deeply indebted to the biblical teaching on justification as it was understood by (Martin) Luther and the other reformers,” the resolution said. “But it has also always embraced elements of the doctrine of justification which belong to the Catholic tradition of the early Church.”

In the Methodist understanding, it said, human beings cannot cure the effects of original sin and corruption. It said the fact “that people are able to respond to God’s call is due only to God’s prior work” of grace that helps people accept salvation in Jesus.

Accepting salvation leads to healing and love, the Methodist statement said.

“’Faith working through love’ is seen as the root of all good which results from the lives of those who believe in Jesus Christ. Works of piety and works of mercy are fruits of the Spirit in the lives of those who follow Jesus,” it said.

The Reverend Ishmael Noko, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, also participated in the signing ceremony in Seoul. He called the Methodist resolution “a new ecumenical landmark for which we must thank and praise God together.” CNS

Kneeling a sign of respect

Kneeling during the consecration at Mass is the most appropriate way to express the fact that in the Eucharist one meets Jesus, who was bowed down by the weight of human sin, said an article by a Vatican official.

“The Lord lowered himself to the point of death on the cross in order to encounter sinful man, freeing him from sin,” said the brief article published in “Notitiae,” the bulletin of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments.

“If the Eucharist represents the sacramental memorial of the death and resurrection of the Lord, it seems appropriate that those for whom the Lord bowed himself down would bow down before this supreme mystery of love,” said the article by Mgr. Stephan Hunseler, a congregation official from Germany.

The late-July article said that Christ’s self-emptying “reaches its climax when the Lord Jesus Christ takes on himself, as the lamb of God, all the sins of the world.” When people kneel during the consecration, it said, they not only are assuming a position of humility, but are bowing down to meet Jesus where Jesus has bowed down to meet them.

“Kneeling during the consecration of the Eucharist, therefore, becomes one of the most eloquent moments of meeting Christ the Lord,” who became man, died for people’s sins and rose again, the article said.

Vatican pushes for a peaceful solution to Mideast violence

Cardinal: Vatican will continue behind-scenes

work for Mideast peace

As government ministers and world leaders gathered in Rome to work on resolving the recent violence in the Middle East, a top church official said the Vatican would continue to work behind the scenes in pushing for a peaceful solution.

Though it was not sending a

the world in brief

representative or observer to a July 26 summit aimed at hammering out a peace plan for Lebanon and Israel, the Vatican planned to follow the summit’s progress with “great attention,” Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, told the Italian state television, RAI, on July 24.

“The Holy See tries to be ‘super partes’ (above all parties); it has a universal mission to unite all of humanity,” the cardinal said.

His remarks echoed Pope Benedict XVI’s July 21 comments

Not in the name of peace

In the name of peace, many people are tempted to think it is better not to speak about religion or their specific faith, but that runs the risk of giving free rein to those who abuse religion and the name of God, Pope Benedict XVI said. The Pope made his comments on July 23 at the tiny parish in the village of Rhemes-Saint-Georges, near where he was vacationing in the Italian Alps. The Vatican press office on July 25 published a transcript of the Pope’s unprepared remarks to parishioners during the evening prayer service for peace in the Middle East. “Today in a multicultural and multireligious world, many are tempted to say, ‘It is better for peace in the world among religions and cul-

that the Vatican tends to leave diplomatic bargaining to other nations “because we do not get involved in politics even if we do everything for peace.”

However, the Vatican supports everything that can facilitate and lead to peace, the Pope had said.

Because modern civilisation calls for dialogue, not war, to resolve disputes, every day the Vatican has been contacting foreign diplomats in an effort to foster a peaceful resolution, Cardinal Sodano said.

“There has been intense effort

tures not to talk too much about the specifics of Christianity, that is, of Christ, the Church and the sacraments,’” the Pope said. Many people reason to themselves, “Let’s be content with the things we have more or less in common,” he said. But that will not increase the chances for peace, the Pope said.

Archbishop takes stand

Nairobi Archbishop Raphael Ndingi Mwana’a Nzeki has urged the Kenyan government to stop using its resources to campaign for political parties. Archbishop Ndingi said it was unconstitutional for the government to campaign for political parties, although it had done so in the campaign for the July 24 by-elections to replace five legislators killed in a May plane crash. The new party Narc-Kenya, backed by Kenyan

contacting the chanceries of many of the countries” involved in or concerned about resolving the Mideast violence, he said.

Cardinal Sodano said the Vatican has been emphasising Pope Benedict’s concerns and wishes for an immediate cease-fire and a humanitarian corridor in the area of conflict so as to get needed aid into the region.

The Vatican will continue to maintain contact “with various governments of the world in order to make its contribution so that

President Mwai Kibaki, won three out of the five seats. Kenyans need to also vote carefully during the December 2007 general elections, the archbishop told Catholic News Service, adding that current Kenyan politicians were serving only their own interests.

“It is unfortunate that the Kenyan leaders, especially politicians, are selfish and not addressing the fate of Kenyans for the sake of achieving development in the country,” said Archbishop Ndingi. The Church is prepared to educate Kenyans about their democratic rights so that the people do not repeat past mistakes, electing leaders without a vision, he said.

Kidnapped Friars return

Two friars kidnapped on July 20 in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, were freed

this tragedy may end as soon as possible,” he said. Israel began a bombing campaign against targets in Lebanon and deployed troops into the country after the Islamic militant group, Hezbollah, captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others in a cross-border raid on July 12. The violence, which includes Hezbollah launching rocket attacks into northern Israel, has killed about 400 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and about 35 Israelis and has left hundreds of thousands of people displaced. CNS

unharmed by their captors late the next day. A day after appealing for the friars’ safe release, the Franciscan order confirmed the two men had been released on July 21 at 9.30 pm and that they were in good health. Brother Cesar Humberto Flores, 50, of El Salvador and a young Haitian postulant were abducted on July 20 by unidentified assailants. Brother Flores is responsible for formation as head of the novices in the Port-auPrince friary, located in one of the capital’s poorest neighbourhoods. The Franciscan provincial for Haiti said the abductors had contacted him and had asked to be paid a ransom. A spokesman for the Franciscans in Haiti said the kidnappers had been seeking a large ransom and the order had been looking for a way to negotiate with them. In a July 22 statement, the Franciscan headquarters in Rome did not say whether a ransom had been paid to secure their release.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity PHOTO: CNS

Pioneer Chinese bishop dies

Bishop Paul Guo Wenzhi was denied his funeral Mass, yet was remembered for his efforts in China’s underground Catholic Church.

■ By Cindy Wooden

Although the Catholic faithful of Qiqihar, China, were forbidden to celebrate a funeral Mass for retired Bishop Paul Guo Wenzhi, they are certain that he “continues to pray for them and for all those who made him suffer in life and in death,” the Vatican newspaper said.

Bishop Guo, a founding member of China’s underground Catholic bishops’ conference and the retired head of the Apostolic Prefecture of Qiqihar in Heilongjiang province, died on June 29 at the age of 88.

L’Osservatore Romano , the Vatican newspaper, published the bishop’s obituary on July 19, praising his fidelity to the Catholic Church and to the Pope, his service to his people and his dedication to the priesthood despite decades in prison and forced labour.

“The prelate, ill for many years, was forced to use a wheelchair lately, but always spent the time given him to live with joy and trust in the Lord,” the newspaper said.

The bishop “energetically promoted the apostolate and evangelisation, not only in the prefecture of Qiqihar, but also throughout the province of Heilongjiang, overseeing the establishment of a seminary and of a congregation of religious women, giving life back to a Christian community that for a long time was deprived of religious assistance,” it said.

The Vatican newspaper also said that under his guidance the Qiqihar Catholic community had grown to include 25,000 of the faithful with 40 “young priests,” 40 women religious and 20 seminarians.

Born on January 11, 1918, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1948 after studies at seminaries in Changchun and Beijing, the newspaper said.

“In 1954, he was imprisoned because of his fidelity to the Catholic Church and to the Holy Father,” it said.

“After 10 years in prison, he worked in the Liang Xiang machine factory in Beijing. In 1966, he was

sent to a military camp for agricultural work near Xinjiang and in 1979 to a secondary school in Bachunxian to teach English,” the newspaper reported.

“It was only in 1985 that he was able to return to the church of Qiqihar to dedicate himself to pastoral work with all his heart and all his energies,” the Vatican newspaper said.

UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand, reported that Bishop Guo’s successor, Bishop Joseph Wei Jingyi, and a priest were “taken for sightseeing” from June 28-30 by Chinese government officials until after Bishop Guo had died and was buried, in order to prevent him from celebrating a funeral Mass for the aged

prelate.

Bishop Wei told UCA News that he and the priest were left at a train station after officials were informed Bishop Guo had been buried.

“Their purpose was achieved,” he said. “Their chief applied pressure on them to prevent me from presiding at the funeral.”

A local church source told UCA News that Bishop Guo was buried at night, a few hours after his death. Most of the priests in the apostolic prefecture were unable to attend, but they celebrated memorial Masses for the bishop in their parishes.

The Chinese government recognised Bishops Guo and Wei as priests, but not as bishops.

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PANORAMA a roundup of events in the archdiocese

Sunday, July 30

ETERNAL WORD TELEVISION NETWORK ON ACCESS 31

10-11am: Conquest of Canaan / Scott Hahn and Jeff Cavins [Our Father’s Plan; 5]

1-2 pm: Carrying the Cross together / Johnette Benkovic with her husband, Anthony [Abundant Life]

Monday July 31 CREATED AND REDEEMED

A lot of people keep referring to it, but what exactly is Theology of the Body all about? This 8 week series of DVD talks, featuring Christopher West, will look deeper into it on Monday nights at 7.15pm in Highgate. Contact truelovewaitswa@yahoo.com or visit www.truelovewaitswa.com

August SACRI ASSOCIATION BULLSBROOK

The President and Secretary of SACRI Rome with Sr Rivelata of the Sisters of SACRI are visiting Perth.

They will be at the Shrine each Sunday afternoon for Mass and after devotions a talk on the Apparitions of the Virgin of the Revelation. After Mass the opportunity to meet the representatives.

August HOLY HOUR FOR VOCATIONS

Every 1st Friday of the month beginning on August 4 from 7.30 – 8.30 pm with Fr Don Kettle at the Little Sisters of the Poor Chapel, 2 Rawlins St. Glendalough. Priests, Seminarians, Religious Congregations and All are invited.

Wednesday August 2

PREGNANCY ASSISTANCE INFORMATION DAY

Are you Pro-Life? Compassionate? A Good Listener? If you would like to find out how you can use your gifts at Pregnancy Assistance, we invite you to an Information Day on Wed, 2nd August. To register, please phone 9328 2926.

Wednesday August 2

THE JULIAN SINGERS

The choir will mark its thirtieth anniversary with a Mass presided over by Bishop Don Sproxton and concelebrated by Father Chris Ross OSM and Father Pat Cunningham. It will be held at the Holy Family Church, Thelma Street, Como at 7.30pm followed by a meal in the hall. All past members, family and friends are welcome. For arrangements ring Angela on 9275 2066 by July 21.

Friday August 4

ROSARY VIGIL

The first Friday Mass, procession and rosary vigil will commence at 9.30am with Mass celebrated at St Brigid’s Church, Midland. The Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate will lead us. All are invited to witness for the sanctity of life and pray for the conversion of hearts. Enquiries to Helen 9402 0349.

Saturday August 5

ULTREYA

St Thomas Moore Catholic Parish, 100 Dean Rd, Bateman commencing at 2pm. We look forward to seeing you and a possible new Cursillista for the Men’s weekend to be held October 26-29 2006.

Saturday August 5

WITNESS FOR LIFE PROCESSION

The next first Saturday Mass, procession and rosary vigil will commence with Mass at 8.30am at St Anne’s Hehir Street, Belmont. We proceed to the Rivervale Abortion Centre and conclude with rosary led by Fr Carey SSC. Join us to pray peacefully for the conversion of hearts. Contact Helen 9402 0349.

Saturday August 5

REUNION

The Dominican Sisters of WA extend a warm welcome to all ex-students, their family and friends of the Sisters to attend a reunion and Mass to

Final moments: Chinese Bishop Paul Guo Wenzhi, in bed and gravely ill, talks with his successor, Bishop Joseph Wei Jingyi, on June 27 in Qiqihar, China. Bishop Guo, a founding member of China’s underground Catholic bishops’ conference, died on June 29 at age 88.

Photo: CNS/UCAN

BUILDING TRADES

■ BRICK REPOINTING

Phone Nigel 9242 2952.

■ PERROTT PAINTING PTY LTD

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

■ PICASSO PAINTING

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

BOOK KEEPING

■ BOOKKEEPER

Contact Sue Grant on 9375 9620 or 0417 942 225

Classifieds

Classified ads: $3.30 per line incl. GST 24 hour Hotline 9227 7778 Deadline: 12pm Tuesday

ADVERTISEMENTS

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 Road, Canning Vale. Open Mon-Sat.

■ REPAIR YOUR LITURGICAL BOOKS

For July, month of the Precious Blood. Lectionaries $40; Missals & Divine Office $25 Ph. 9293 3092 or email from our website at http://www.our.homewithgod.com/benedict/

FURNITURE REMOVAL

■ ALL AREAS

Mike Murphy 0416 226 434.

JULY

28 Opening Mass, Performing Arts Festival - Fr Brian O’Loughlin VG

28-30 Episcopal Visitation, Lockridge - Bishop Sproxton

AUGUST

2 Julian Singers’ 30th Anniversary Mass, Como - Bishop Sproxton

celebrate the 800th anniversary of the Dominican Family. The reunion will be held in the Parish Hall at Doubleview at 2.30pm followed by Mass in Our Lady of the Rosary Church at 6pm. Please RSV to domsiswa@globaldial.com.au or telephone 9446 7689 by July 21.

Saturday August 5

DAY WITH MARY

St Simon Peter Church, 20 Prindiville Avenue, Ocean Reef, 9am to 5pm. A video on Fatima will be shown at 9am. A day of prayer and instruction based upon the messages of Fatima. Includes Sacrament of Penance, Holy Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Sermons, Rosaries, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Stations of the Cross. Please BYO lunch. Enquiries to Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286. Next Day with Mary is Saturday September 2 at Our Lady’s Assumption, Mandurah. Bus services contact Nita 9367 1366.

Sunday August 6 and Tuesday August 8

BLESSED MARY MACKILLOP’S FEASTDAY

MASSES

First Mass 6pm Sunday at the Sisters of St. Joseph’s Chapel, followed by supper. Second Mass at 9.45 am Tuesday at the Sisters of St Joseph’s Chapel, 16 York Street, South Perth. Everyone welcome to come and celebrate our First Australian Saint’s Feast day.

Sunday August 6

DIVINE MERCY

An afternoon with Jesus and Mary at St Mary’s Cathedral, Victoria Square, Perth at 1.30pm. Program: Holy Rosary and Reconciliation, Sermon: with Father Joseph Johnson (on St John Vianney), followed by Divine Mercy prayers and Benediction. Enquiries; John 9457 7771 or Linda 9275 6608.

Thursday August 10

HEALING MASS

Healing Mass honouring St Peregrine, patron of Cancer sufferers and helper of all in need, will be held at the Church of SS John and Paul, Pinetree Gully Rd, (off South St) Willetton, 7pm. Veneration of the Relic and Anointing of the Sick. Contact Noreen Monaghan on 9498 7727

Friday August 11

JADE LEWIS TALK

Associated with Teen Challenge Perth Inc, Lewis speaks about her journey from heroin addiction to a new life of freedom through Jesus Christ. Our Lady of Grace, 3 Kitchener Street, North Beach at 7.30pm. This is an opportunity for those interested especially parents and teenagers.

Contact Veronica Peake on 9447 0671.

Friday to Sunday August 11 to 13

AWAKE MY HEART

All are invited to the 9th Charismatic Conference in Pemberton presented by The Holy Spirit of Freedom Community. For further details contact; Meryl (08) 9772 1172 or Marcelle (08) 9776 1542.

Sunday August 13

HOLY HOUR

The World Apostolate of Fatima Aust Inc. invites you to a Holy Hour in St Jerome’s Church, Troode Street, Munster at 3pm.

The National Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima, will be present in the Church for this hour of Eucharistic Reparation. All are very welcome. Enquiries 9339 2614.

Tuesday August 15

REMEMBRANCE MASS

Held at the Good Shepherd Church in Lockridge, Corner Altone Road and Morley Drive at 7pm. This is a time to remember babies lost either before, during or after birth whether it is a recent loss or many years ago. For further details please contact Shirley on 9279 9165.

Saturday August 19 - Wednesday August 23

INTERNATIONAL PILGRIM VIRGIN STATUE

Return visit of Fatima International Pilgrim Virgin Statue to Perth. Venues include St Patrick’s Basilica, Fremantle, Redemptorist Monastery, concluding with Mass, and crowning at St Mary’s Cathedral 22 August. (Queenship of Mary). Enquiries: 9341 8082, Mobile 0413 707 707.

Friday August 25

FR GREG DONOVAN SILVER JUBILEE

Fr Donovan invites all friends and past parishioners to his Silver Jubilee celebration. Mass will be celebrated in SS John & Paul Church, Cnr Pinetree Gully Road & Wainwright Close, Willetton, at 7pm, followed by a Supper in the Parish Centre. For catering purposes, RSVP by 4 August to the Willetton Parish Office, 9332 5992 or email: admin@johnpaulwilletton.org.

au Sunday August 27

TAMMIN HOLY FAMILY CHURCH

ANNIVERSARY

Holy Family Church will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its opening. We extend an invitation to all past parishioners to join us on this happy occasion. A thanksgiving Mass will be held at 11am followed by a light luncheon. For catering purposes please contact Mary Stokes 9637 1131 or Mary Caffell 9637 1020 by August 13.

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

■ DENMARK

Holiday House 3bdr x 2bath, sleeps up to 8. BOOK

NOW. Ph: Maria 0412 083 377.

ACCOMMODATION

■ TO RENT  WEMBLY DOWNS

Cheap or free furnished home to mature person. 12 months. Shops, bus. 9341 8153.

■ ACCOMMODATION NEEDED

Single mother with 2 Y.O. boy needs accommodation in “granny flat” or self-cont. area of home. Call Lydia, Pregnancy Assistance 9328 2926.

OFFICIAL DIARY

THANKS

■ PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT.

O most beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine splendour of heaven, blessed Mother of the Son of God. Immaculate virgin, assist me herein, you are my mother, O Holy Mary Mother of God, Queen of heaven and earth. I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succour me in this my necessity, there are none that can withstand your power. O show me herein, that you are my mother. “O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee (x3).” “Holy Mary I place this cause in your hands (x3).” Thank you for your mercy towards me and mine. Thanks to Blessed Virgin, St Jude and Holy Spirit.

3 Council of Priests’ Meeting, Glendalough - Bishop Sproxton

4 Mass for Yr 12s Sacred Heart College, Sorrento - Bishop Sproxton

8 Meeting of Heads of Churches - Bishop Sproxton

August CATHOLIC BIBLE COLLEGE

Diarise the following short courses:

August 14, 15, 17, 18 – Fr Leo M Spicer, OSM: Mary in the Mystery of the Church; August 31, Sept 1, 4, 5 – Fr Daniel Benedetti, MGL: The Bible and the Mass. All courses commence with Mass at 9am and finish by 1pm. These courses may be taken towards a Certificate IV in Christian Ministry (National Code 51446). Enquiries and Registration to Jane Borg, 0401 692 690.

Sunday September 17

KOORDA CHURCH 50TH ANNIVERSARY

Our Lady of the Assumption Church at Koorda will celebrate its Golden Anniversary this year on September 17. Past Parish Priests and past parishioners are invited to come and join us for the celebrations. Anyone who has any photos they would like to include in a display is welcome to send them to Kath Gosper at PO Box 68, Koorda 6475. You could send copies or we will copy and return them to you. The day will commence with Mass at 10.30am, to be followed by lunch at the Recreation hall.

Sunday September 24 to Saturday

September 30

FIVE DAY DIRECTED RETREAT

At the Redemptorist Monastery Retreat House, 190 Vincent Street North Perth. Director: Fr Joe Carroll CSSR. For more information contact Jan Broderick.

Sunday October 15

HEALING MASS

“Oh taste and see the Lord is good. He will satisfy the soul.” Catholic Charismatic Renewal invites you to come and experience the healing love of God through Prayer and Praise, the Eucharist and Praying over. The celebration will be held at St Joseph’s Church, 1 Salvado Road, Subiaco, commencing with Prayer and Praise at 5.30pm, Mass at 6pm followed by praying over and supper. All are very welcome to join us in this celebration. Enq. Celine 9446 2147.

Sunday October 29

WORLD CENTENARY OF CATHOLIC WOMEN’S LEAGUE

Members of the Catholic Women’s League of WA will be celebrating the Women’s League Centenary, founded in England by Margaret Fletcher in 1906. Mass will be celebrated at the Redemptorist Monastery, 190 Vincent Street, North Perth at 10.30am followed by a lunch at the Royal Park Hall at noon. Members, ex-members and their families are most welcome to attend. For more information contact Margaret Ph: 9328 8978 or Fay Ph: 9284 3084

July - September CROSS ROADS COMMUNITY

Term 3 Tuesday 25th July until Friday 29th September for: Family & Friends

Support Groups of Substance Abusers Wednesdays 7–9pm, Substance Abusers

Support Groups Tuesdays 5.30 to 7.30pm and Fridays Day Group for Substance Abusers 9.30am-2pm including Healing Mass Fridays at 12.30pm during term.

Rosary Tuesday to Thursday 12.30 to 1pm. Lectio Divina on Tuesdays 7pm.

AL ANON FAMILY GROUPS

If a loved one’s drinking is worrying you – please call Al Anon Family Groups for confidential information meetings etc… Phone Number on 9325 7528 – 24 hrs.

ATTENTION COUPLES

Have you or your spouse been diagnosed with a mental illness? Depression? Anxiety/Panic Attacks? etc. Could you do with some help understanding your/ their illness? Do you know how to get help when you need it? We can help you to help each other through the Unconditional Love Program. For more information contact Amanda Olsen: 0407 192 641, or email: mandyfolsen@bigpond.com.au.

TUESDAY NIGHT PRAYER MEETINGS

St Mary’s Cathedral Parish Centre, 450 Hay Street, Perth, 7pm. Come join us! Overcome the burdens in life making prayer your lifeline with Jesus. Personal healing in prayer, Rosary, meditation, Scripture, praise in song, friendship, refreshments. Be united with Our Lord and Our Lady in prayer with others. Appreciate the heritage of the Faith.

EVERY SUNDAY

Bullsbrook Shrine Sunday Pilgrimage Program. Shrine of Virgin of the Revelation, 36 Chittering Rd Bullsbrook. 2pm Holy Mass, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with Holy Rosary. Reconciliation is available before every celebration. Enquiries: 9447 3292.

FIRST SUNDAY OF THE MONTH

The Santa Clara Parish Community welcomes anyone from surrounding parishes and beyond to the Santa Clara Church, corner of Coolgardie and Pollock Sts, Bentley on the 1st Sunday of each month for devotions in honour of the Divine Mercy. The afternoon commences with the 3 o’clock prayer, followed by the Divine Mercy Chaplet, Reflection and concludes with Benediction.

YOUNG CATHOLIC WOMEN’S INTERFAITH

FELLOWSHIP

The Council for Australian Catholic Women (CACW) seeks to promote the participation of women in the Catholic

Church in Australia. CACW is pleased to announce that the 2007 application package for the Young Catholic Women’s Interfaith Fellowship is now available. The package can be downloaded from the website: www.cacw.catholic.org.au.

Michelle Wood is the contact person for the CACW in the Archdiocese of Perth. For further information regarding the CACW or the Fellowship, please contact Michelle: michelleww@iinet.net.au or 9345 2555.

NEW WEBSITE

Address for Holy Family Parish, Maddington is http://www.holycatholicfamily.org.au

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

Is alcohol costing you more than just money? Alcoholics Anonymous can help. Ring 9325 3566.

BLESSED SACRAMENT ADORATION

Holy Family Church, Alcock Street, Maddington. Every Friday 8.30 am Holy Mass followed by Blessed Sacrament Adoration till 12 noon. Every first Friday of the month, anointing of the sick during Mass. Enq. 9398 6350.

Wednesdays

SIGN LANGUAGE COURSE

Australian Sign Language (Auslan) Classes are offered free of charge at Emmanuel Centre on Wednesdays at 1pm. If this does not suit you, other arrangements can be made. Please contact Fr Paul or Barbara at Emmanuel Centre, 25 Windsor St Perth 9328 8113.

QUEEN OF APOSTLES SCHOOL

If anyone has information on Queen of Apostles School, Riverton, used to go there or knows anyone who did please do one of the following to tell the extension group – Call 9354 1360 and ask to speak to Veronique or email your information to veronequeregnard@gmail. com.au or janellekoh@yahoo.com.au or you can put your information into the box in the office at Queen of Apostles School. Thanking you in anticipation.

LINDA’S HOUSE OF HOPE APPEAL

To enable us to continue to provide and offer support for girls wishing to leave the sex trade we need your help. We have achieved already new offfices which are now complete at the rear of the shelter and are fully functional. Donations are also required to complete the internal layout of the shelter itself. Please send donations to Linda’s House of Hope PO Box Z5640, Perth, St George’s Tce 6831. Ph: 0439 401 009. All donations over $2 are tax deductible.

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Peter Rosengren editor

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Mark Reidy columnists & journalist - state Bronwen Clune journalist - international

Paul Gray journalist - national affairs Guy Crouchback columnist I say, I say

John Heard columnist Being Heard

Derek Boylen columnist Family Matters

Anna Krohn columnist Life, the universe and everything

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