The Record Newspaper 01 August 1996

Perth: August 1, 1996

WA's only Catholic weekly newspaper

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Claremont's youth pray for Sarah and Jane Sarah Spiers and Jane Rimmer, the two young women who disappeared after attending a night club in Claremont, were prayed for by young people in a special Mass at the suburb's parish Church, St Thomas', on the weekend.

Members of the Performing Arts Ministry choir, a project of the archdiocese's Youth and Young Adult Ministry, sang hymns during Mass where parish priest, Fr Bryan Rosling, led the congregation in praying for the two women.

Fr Rosling said the Mass combined prayers for young people in general as well as the two missing women.

"It's a youth gathering to offer the Mass in part for all young people who have any special need at this time. But we're particularly interceding for Sarah Spiers and Jane Rimmer who have disappeared in this area," he said.

Fr Rosling said the reality was that evil existed in the community.

"We're praying that wherever they are they are in God's hands," he said of the two young women.

The choir led a large congregation of mainly young people in the Sunday evening Mass which has become a regular centre of worship for the parish's youth.

Members of the Performing Arts Ministry lead the congregation in song at St Thomas's in prayer for Sarah Spiers and Jane Rimmer

Parishes in survey of /lust church life

By Peter Rosengren Sixteen Perth parishes have been asked to participate in a ground breaking survey of Catholic life in Australia, and more may join in.

Nearly 300 Catholic parishes across Australia have been invited to take part in the 1996 National Church Life Survey which surveys church-goers across a wide range of Christian denominations.

It will be only the second time such a survey has been conducted in Australian churches and the first time Catholic parishioners have had the opportunity to participate.

Liaison officer for the Catholic parishes in Perth for the survey is the former editor of The Record, Father Pat Cunningham.

The parishes invited to participate later this year are: Armadale, Bencubbin, ComoKensington, East Cannington, Hilton, Kellerberrin, Queens

Park, Belmont, Kuhn, Kwinana, coming forward to be part of the Lesmurdie, Maddington, Moore. survey.

Nedlands, Port Kennedy and He said 300 Catholic parishes Scarborough. were chosen because, as the Fr Cunningham said the largest Christian Church in remaining parishes of the arch- Australia and with almost three diocese would also receive a let- quarters of a million Catholics ter from Archbishop Barry attending Mass around the Hickey inviting them to partici- nation each weekend, surveying pate if they wanted to do so. all Catholic parishes would have But they would have to pay a been too big a job. joining fee and a per-person fee The survey involves people for the cost of processing the answering a questionnaire when information received, he said. they attend Sunday Mass and The National Church Life will include questions on a numSurvey will not be the only ber of topics ranging from relichurch survey this year. gious beliefs and practices The Archdiocese will also con- through to attitudes on social duct a Mass attendance count issues such as euthanasia, overover two weekends in December seas aid and land rights. in all parishes separately from Respondents will remain anonythe national survey. The first mous. count will be held on the weekFr Cunningham said there were end of 14-15 December; the sec- a number of advantages to parond will take place on Christmas ticipation in the National Church Eve and Christmas Day. Life Survey.

NCLS coordinator for the "When the numbers from the Catholic Church in Australia, Bob National Church Life Survey are Dixon, said from Melbourne he lined up against those from the wanted to see more parishes (Government's) Census we can

The wisdom of St Kilda's streets - Page 9

identify the number who said they were Catholic with the numbers at Mass," he said.

Fr Cunningham said the survey would not just be an exercise in comparing numbers; the involvement of Catholic parishes would sharpen the picture of the state of contemporary religious belief, attitude and practice in Australia.

He said there was a "steady trickle" of information coming from the non-Catholic churches on the attitudes of their members and these churches had felt there was an imbalance in their surveys in not having the views of the largest congregation in Australia.

According to the last census figures Catholics make up 27 per cent of the population while the next largest Christian denomination are the Anglicans, who represent 24 per cent.

Those parishes interested in participating should contact Fr Cunningham through the Parish Life and Mission office on (09) 221 1548.

College leads way in joint venture - Page 3

Build a new civilisation: Archbishop Archbishop Barry Rickey has called on Catholics to build a new Christian civilisation out of the ruins of a disintegrating secular society using the teaching of the new Catechism as the basis for building a truly human civilisation.

In a speech in Sydney this week, Archbishop Hickey said the Catechism was much more than a defence of Catholic teaching.

"It is a tool of evangelisation, a New handbook for the Evangelisation that will speak afresh to people who have turned away from Christ," he said.

He urged Catholic thinkers to be at the intersection of religion and public life, to enter current debates and present in a coherent and convincing manner the reality of a pre-existing objective moral order that is the God-given source of right and wrong.

"It is not sufficient to withdraw from current moral and ethical debate and to work only at the level of personal faith, because culture is so pervasive and influential," he said.

Full text - Pages 11 and 14

US prelates in war of words on Pope's role - Page 12

CATHOLIC EDUCATION Northern Territory

TEACHING VACANCIES 1997 A pplications are sought from suitably qualified persons for the following positions: • • • • • • •

Mentors for Aboriginal Teachers Post Primary Teachers Primary Teachers English as a Second Language Teachers Adult Education Teachers Early Childhood Teachers Teacher Librarians

Vacancies for these positions exist at our Catholic Aboriginal Schools which comprise: • Murrapurtiyanuwu Catholic School, B ATH URST ISLAND im Xavier Community Education Centre, B ATHURST ISLAND • Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School, PORT KEATS • Ltyentye Apurte Community Education Centre, S ANTA TERESA VIA ALICE SPRINGS • St Francis Xavier School, DALY RIVER All of these positions are for a two (2) year limited tenure. Interviews for the above positions will take place mid September in capital cities.

Intending applicants should first obtain an information package by contacting: C ATHOLIC EDUCATION OFFICE PO Box 219, Berrimah Northern Territory 0828 Phone (08) 8984 3833 Fax (08) 8947 1517 Applications close Friday 23 August 1996

Priest vocations stiII growing around world

By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) - After hitting bottom in 1975, the worldwide number of vocations to the Catholic priesthood has grown slowly but steadily, according to a Vatican statistical review.

And while vocations numbers still show little signs of emerging from their slump in affluent, well-off Western countries, they are almost uniformly up in third world nations.

Releasing the Statistical Yearbook of the Church in late July, the Vatican said, "It seems the period of crisis has been overcome and that the improvement is consolidated."

But the statement from the Vatican statistics office cautioned that a marked geographic imbalance in vocations means some countries will continue to experience a shortage of priests.

The yearbook, which has 450 pages of statistics on almost every aspect of the Church's work force and activity, is based on data current as of December 31, 1994.

The 105,000 men in the final stages of

preparation for the priesthood - diocesan and religious order - at the end of

c.vrtioLic Ent CAT1ON Northern Territory

The successful applicants will commence duties at the beginning of the 1997 school year.

Principal Xavier Catholic Education Centre B ATHURST ISLAND Boys Year 6 to Years 8/9

Assistant Principals Holy Spirit School CASUARINA Co-educational, Transition to Year 7 St Francis Xavier School DALY RIVER Co-educational, Transition to Post-Primary • Catholic faith commitment and practice • Recent experience within Catholic schools • A sound understanding of the Church's mission in Catholic education • Appropriate tertiary qualifications and administrative experience • Proven ability to co-ordinate curriculum review and reform A pplication forms and associated documentation should first be obtained from the Catholic Education Office, Darwin.

Phone (08) 8984 3833.

Completed applications must be sent to: The Director CATHOLIC EDUCATION OFFICE PO Box 219, Berrimah Northern Territory 0828 Applications close Friday 23 August 1996

Fr Patrick Boyle celebrates his anniversary.

The afternoon of Sunday 28th July saw hundreds of friends and well-wishers gather to celebrate the 40th anniversary of ordination of Fr Patrick Boyle OSM, Parish Priest of Wanneroo.

Fr Paddy was ordained at Armagh, Ireland on the 8th July 1956.

As the facilities at Wanneroo were inadequate for the occasion, through the kindness of Fr Laurence Murphy and the parishioners of Woodvale parish, the ceremony was held at St Luke's.

Fr Paddy was joined by fellow Servites Fr Chris Ross and Fr Robert Zivkovic together with Fr Laurence in concelebrating Mass.

The youth of Wanneroo were well represented while the beautiful singing of hymns, specially chosen by Fr Paddy, added a special dimension to this Mass of Thanksgiving.

AUGUST 1 150th Meeting and Dinner of Catenian Association - Bishop Healy 2-4 Visitation and Confirmation, Highgate Archbishop Hickey 4 Ecumenical Service for Irish Famine Victims, St George's Cathedral - Bishop Healy Confirmation, Embleton - Mons. M Keating 5 Mass to celebrate Feast of St Alphonsus, Redemptorist Monastery - Archbishop Hickey 8 Council of Priests' meeting Blessing, opening of extensions MacKillop Catholic Primary School - Mgr P McCrann

There were smiles and tears at the social gathering later when parishioners and friends 'from the old days' reminisced and spoke with love and gratitude of the ways in which Fr Paddy had touched their lives.

Tales of his boyhood 'escapades', gleaned from childhood friends, drew much laughter as did tales of his time in the seminary.

Nicola, Fr Paddy's niece, was by his side representing his family on the occasion.

A surprise visit by his sister earlier in the month had set the stage for the beginning of the joyful celebrations.

Fr Paddy leaves soon for Ireland and a reunion with family.

He is wished 'God speed' and a safe return to his spiritual family at Wanneroo.

8&11 Confirmation, Greenwood - Mons. P McCrann 9-11 Visitation, Rivervale - Archbishop Hickey Visitation, Maylands - Bishop Healy 10-11 Confirmation, Kalgoorlie - Mons. M Keating Confirmation, Lesmurdie - Rev Fr G Carroll 11 Confirmation, Fremantle - Rev Fr Holohan Confirmation, Gosnells - Monsignor O'Shea 14 Annual Mass, Murdoch University Catholic Community - Archbishop Hickey Fundraising dinner for University of Notre Dame, Knights of the Southern Cross Education Foundation - Bishop Healy

"We thought that planning our funerals would be an uncomfortable business. But the Purslowe family made it very easy:"

Collectors are needed for our annual

STREET APPEAL

PURSLOWE FUNERAL HOMES

FRIDAY 9 AUGUST 1996

The Record, August 1 1996 'Page 2

The countries of Central America hit their low point in 1975, but with a robust recovery" the number of major seminarians at the end of 1994 exceeded the number present in 1970 before the slide began, the Vatican said.

A similar pattern was seen in Asia. In South America, "the rate of vocations has never shown signs of crisis, but has grown constantly," the statement said.

Official Archdiocesan Engagements

CATHERINE MCAULEY FAMILY CENTRE Help urgently needed

If you are able to give an hour or more to collect on 9 August 1996 for this community service work of supporting families and children in need please telephone Natalie Rogers at the Centre on 442 3444

1970.

By the end of 1994 there were twoand-a-half times as many major seminarians as in 1970.

The total number of seminarians at the end of 1994 was some 32,000 more than at the end of 1970, but the Vatican said the geographic distribution of today's seminarians makes it difficult to speak of a stabilisation in vocations.

The Yearbook also reports that for the first time there are now more Catholics in the United States and the Philippines than in Italy.

The five countries with the most Catholics are Brazil with about 134 million; Mexico with about 89 million; the United States and the Philippines, each with more than 56 million; and Italy, which has 55.6 million Catholics.

This year's Official Catholic Directory, compiled from reports by U.S. dioceses and published by a private company, estimates the United States has 59.9 million Catholics.

Catholics worldwide number 975 million - or 18 percent of the global population, according to the Vatican.

That was 11 million more Catholics on the planet than the previous year.

The increase is in keeping with overall global population growth.

Irish reminiscences bring smiles and tears

LEADERSHIP POSITIONS 1997

Qualities and Qualifications:

1994 represented a 44 percent increase over the number of major seminarians registered in 1970 and 74 percent more than the number studying in 1975, said a press release accompanying the yearbook.

The Vatican statement said the rosy worldwide vocations picture cannot be allowed to colour a realistic assessment of vocations in each continent, country and diocese.

For example, in Africa the number of major seminarians has almost quadrupled over the past 25 years, while in the United States and Canada there has been a continual drop in the same period.

The North American countries had 60 percent fewer major seminarians at the end of 1994 than they did at the end of

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Paris World New Youth Day awaits WA youth

joint venture paves the way

Lumen Christi College in Gosnells has negotiated a ground-breaking joint venture with a local sporting body for the building of a $1.61m indoor sports facility.

The College and ARKindoor Hockey (Inc) have joined to build a facility operating after school hours as the WA Indoor Hockey Centre and during school hours as a College indoor training surface.

The Centre will feature two full-sized international specification indoor hockey courts and will be the largest of only three purpose-built indoor hockey centres that have been built in Australia.

Lecture on global business and ethics

By Colleen McGuiness-Howard ‘Vith the World Youth Day 1997 due in Paris from 19 to 24 August, young Catholics from around the world are being encouraged to converge on Paris to celebrate their Christianity which will also give them a chance to see their leader John Paul 11 - who initiated the event in 1985.

An annual event, with every second year being held in Rome, the concept is to bring young Christians together for prayer and worship.

An enthusiastic convert to the World Youth Day is Adam Strelein, part-time university student and full time St Vincent de Paul worker who went to the 1995 Manila Youth Day with 30 other young people from Western Australia.

Adam is WAs coordinator of Youth Day and he's encouraging young people to make the effort to attend In Paris because he believes "it's a wonderful chance for them to share their faith, personal experience, and experience solidarity with other Christians."

Admitting he could never have estimated the power of such an event 'which can draw millions of people together," Adam considers the sheer numbers say a lot about the "spiritual strength of young people today."

Part of the time on Youth Day events involves catechesis sessions, with smaller groups being formed

ARK Indoor Hockey representative, Bruce Waddell and College Chair, Mrs Phyllis Driscoll on-site at Lumen Christi College in Gosnells.

Professor Manuel Velasquez, an international author and speaker from Santa Clara University in California, will launch the Edmund Rice Business Ethics Symposium on Tuesday 6 August in the Parmelia Hotel in Perth with a lecture on global business ethics.

The symposium is one of the events organised locally to

WA coordinator Adam Strelein

for faith sharing, pilgrimages of prayer, and the traditional Way of the Cross, all of which are described as very inspirational.

The climax of the events will be a prayer vigil and closing Mass with Pope John Paul 11. The last one in Manila attracted five to six million people and was cited as the largest gathering of people in history.

Adam is also urging schools to consider the benefits of the trip, which he asserts will be "a rewarding experience."

Those seeking more information, can phone him on (09) 325-3472 or mobile 0416-232-267

Ryder appointment to Rome

mark the beatification of Edmund Rice, founder of the Christian Brothers.

Professor Velasquez has written widely on subjects related to the natural law and ethics and will discuss how the globalisation of business has impacted on ethical concepts and practices.

Other sessions of the symposium will be held on 7 and 8

at Notre Dame August University in Fremantle.

Designed to be of interest to all members of the business community, speakers will include Ms Robyn Ahern of Aherns and Dr Michael Wood. as well as other interstate and international visitors.

Further information can be gained from Kay Mackie on (09) 450 5311.

THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME AUSTRALIA Notre Dame is a Catholic University dedicated to academic excellence, personal service to students, and the development of a caring learning environment based upon Christian faith and values.

Academic Scholarships 1997 The University invites applications from outstanding students for Academic Scholarships.

The Scholarships will meet the full tuition cost of studying for one of the following undergraduate degrees at Notre Dame: Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of Arts (Aboriginal Studies) Bachelor of Arts (Communications) Bachelor of Arts (Education) Bachelor of Arts (Environmental Studies) Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) Bachelor of Arts (Theology)

Bachelor of Business Bachelor of Business (Accounting) Bachelor of Business (Environment) Bachelor of Business (Management) Bachelor of Business (Marketing) Bachelor of Business (Tourism)

Up to ten Scholarships will be awarded on a competitive basis to students currently undertaking Year 12 studies. Students must be judged by their schools to be outstanding in academic performance and potential.

Applications for Notre Dame Academic Scholarships close on 2 September 1996.

Application forms are available from schools or from the University.

For further information please contact.

The Registrar The University of Notre Dame Australia 19 Mouat Street, Fremantle WA 6160 Telephone (09) 239 5555. Facsimile (09) 239 5544.

Sr Marie Therese Ryder (second, left), the current leader of the Australian Province of the International Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions has just been elected as one of only five Sisters to the congregations' General Team and will leave Australia to take up her new position in January.

She recently returned from attending the congregation's General Gathering in Rome with Sisters Anne Noonan and Catherine Brabender.

Pictured are the Congregation's Leadership Team: Louise Dunphy from Scotland, left, Marie Therese Ryder, Joanne Morgan, a New Zealander working in Peril, Bernadine Mullaveetil from India, and Reba Di Costa from Bangladesh.

NAZARETH RETIREMENT VILLAGE GERALDTON Expression of interest is invited from people who may like further information on a planned Retirement Village near Nazareth House in Geraldton.

Southern Cross Homes are considering a proposal from Geraldton Knights of the Southern Cross to build a limited number of retirement units on land adjacent to Nazareth House aged care complex near the Chapman River Mouth in Geraldton, overlooking the ocean.

For more information contact Secretary, Knights of the Southern Cross PO Box 1160 Geraldton WA 6531, TeL 099 213 339 or phone Peter Jack, Southern Cross Homes Executive Officer at Foley Village 09 314 2499

'TVA qpilgrimage to Ae‘yugorje R OSARY PROCESSION WITH SR BENEDICT MANSFIELD Depart 28th September on this beautifi41Marian month procession in special honour of Our Lady of the Rosary.

• IdealROMeNlay weekend • A unique opportwiity to nperience the magnificence of St Peter's and the Vatican • 7,9 or 11 night Medjugorje stay with localfamily • Soak up the atmosphere ofgrace andpeace in the miraculous town where Our Lady appears daily

ASK ABOUT YOUR FOUR FREE FLIGHTS

from

W AY OF CHRIST

VISITATICNS OF MARY III

Departs 22 Sept for 14 days with Fr John McSweeney • Rome • Mt Carmel • Sea of Galilee • Jerusalem • Edmund Rice S3.895 Beatification Extension in Rome

Departs 10 Oct for 15 days with Fr Paul Carey • Rome • Fatima Anniversary • Avila (Feast Day) • Garabandal • Lourdes S3.595 • Optional Medjugorje Extension UNIT 10, 14 DELLAMARTA ROAD, WANGARA ESTATE, WANNER00 WA 6065 ph (09) 409 1080

harvest 191grimages

13- 1800 819 156 AUSTRALIA -W DE TOLL FREE The Record, August 1 1996 Page 3

TOMORROW TODAY

A Vinnies camp: fun to the max

By Adam Strelein For many years the Society of St Vincent de Paul has been known for its tireless work assisting families who find themselves in hard times.

There is also a side to the Society that most people are unaware of, working in many other areas of need.

Young Vinnies is a special part of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, based in youth groups at many of the High Schools throughout Western Australia, and also in young adult groups at several parishes in the metropolitan area.

Young Vinnies is actually the second largest youth movement in Australia, actively involved in community service aimed at assisting people in need.

Their work is wide-reaching. with members choosing to help out in many ways, from visiting the elderly or young migrant families to baby-sitting for sole parents, tutoring younger children, and fundraising.

But by far the biggest projects run by Young Vinnies are the annual Vinnies Kids' Camp and Vinnies Team Camp.

The 1996 Kids Camp recently took place in the July school holidays, where 44 children from families assisted by the Society were accompanied by Young Vinnies members for 4 days of fun and adventure.

Even the wet and windy conditions couldn't dampen our spirits as we enjoyed bushwalks, canoeing, abseiling. sports and games.

As always, the camp was a great

Some of the latest batch of young people to discover Vinnies fun.

Abseiling on a Vinnies camp

and contemplating the possibilities

success. Young Vinnies has been running the camps for 3 years now, making the school holidays brighter for over 250 children.

The camps were originally set up with six aims: to expose participants to recreational opportunities they do not have at home; to show participants that there are other people who care about them: to help participants feel a part of the group - to develop a sense of belonging: to expose participants to different lifestyle options through the behaviour of leaders, and through the design of the camp: to provide respite

for parents - particularly sole parents: and to increase participant's self confidence and their self esteem.

To date the camps have proven to meet these goals, and more, and are planned to continue for many years to come.

Some people could possibly be interested in helping out with the camps, either as a volunteer leader (application forms are available) or a sponsor or donor.

If so, then they are invited to contact the Society's State Youth Co-ordinator, Adam Strelein, on (09) 325 3472.

THE CATHOLIC EDUCATION COMMISSION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

invites applications for the positions of:

PRINCIPAL St Michael's School, Brunswick Junction St Michael's School is a co-educational school of approximately 43 students from Pre-primary to Year 7. Brunswick Junction is located between Harvey and Bunbury.

St Francis Xavier Primary School, Geraldton

St Francis Xavier Primary School is a co-educational school of approximately 407 students from Pm-primary to Year 7 The successful applicants will take up these positions on 1 January, 1997 Applicants need to be actively involved in the Catholic Church and be experienced educators committed to the objectives and ethos of Catholic education. They will have the requisite theological, pastoral and managerial competencies, together with an appropriate four year minimum tertiary qualification and will have, or be prepared to complete, appropriate Accreditation requirements.

Further information and official application forms are available from Sr Clam Rafferty.

Consultant, School Personnel Team Ph: (09) 388 4268.

Official application forms should be addressed to The Director, Catholic Education Office, PO Box 198, Leederville WA 6903 and be lodged no later than Thursday, 15 August 1996.

Catholic schools are smoke-free workplaces

The Record, August 1 1996 Page 4

On a Vinnies camp friends can be made for life.

Team building a base for youth ministry

leurneys tom 9liw 14.,t1ns Storytelling for all ages Puppetry workshops available now booking for 1997 phone/fax 09 272 1423 or 018 898 580

/

The Union

of Catholic Apostolate

a work of Pallottines, together forming people for ministry.

If you are self-motivated, mature and responsible, and have a willingness to serve on a voluntary basis, we invite applications for positions as:

Pallottine volunteers in action at Wandalgn Hostel, Tardnn, WA " as house parents and tutors • in cooking and domestic support as farmers - wheat and sheep • as trades people - building, mechanical • as experienced general maintenance people at Epiphany Centre, Rossmoyne, WA • as cook and staff person for retreat work as maintenance person For more information contact: Fr Pat Jackson SAC or Sr Joy Shelley FDCC Pallottine Community, 27 Barcelona St, Box Hill Vic. 3128.

Tel: 03 9898 4657, Fax: 03 9898 4718

Members of the Comprehensive Youth Ministry Team reflecting on their mission.

Eleven members of St Francis Xavier's Comprehensive Youth Ministry Team came together last weekend for a day of reflection and team building exercises led by the Catholic Youth Ministry's Director, Bruce Downes.

The activities presented during the day created an experience out of which issues of leadership and group functioning could be discussed.

The aim of the reflection day was to help all recognise issues involving problem solving, to identify various roles taken by members in groups, and to help each be aware of what they learned through the activities.

The session was very valuable in bonding the team to an even greater degree through the opportunities that arose to share values, beliefs and attitudes.

Open day celebrates God's love for all

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The 'net of Love' woven by young people for the Focolare Open Day recently.

"God loves you immensely" was the main theme for last week's Focolare Open Day, presented through talks and life experiences, at John XXIII College.

The life and development of the Focolare, now present in more than 150 countries, with millions of adherents from all Christian denominations was presented as the natural development of Jesus' message of love and unity becoming part of our way of life.

The young people reported on

their activities, highlighting the "United World Week" held in May. The children involved everyone in weaving a 'net of love' symbolising their desire and commitment to build a more united world.

They told everyone of their fundraising projects - at the Open day lunch break they sold soup and buns - to enable them to participate at the "Supercongress 97" which will be held in Rome later next year.

The impression left on all: God's powerful love for all people.

ELLIOTT & ELLIOTT

The Record: your window to the world

Optometrists Contact Lens Consultants 4 Cantonment Street, FREMANTLE

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I I :

POPE'S GOLDEN JUBILEE

Keep your eyes on the ball

SEND A CARD AND HELP TRAIN OUR FUTURE PRIESTS

Major hitters: Columban Fr Peter Kenny, Fr Mirec Redwanc and Fr Paul Raj.

It may not have been Atlanta. but the competition was just as keen in the annual Geraldton Clergy Golf and Tennis Tournaments held recently.

Priests from Perth, Bunbury and the Geraldton Diocese took part in the two day event.

Salvatorian Priest, Fr Mirek Redwanc from Goomalling took out the 36 holes Stableford Competition, winning the Bishop's trophy.

Fr Leonard Macionszyk, SDS, from Carnarvon was runner-up.

Fr Mirek also took out the 36 holes Gross Catholic Church Insurance Prize and the Combined Stableford trophy with Highgate Priest Fr Paul Raj. In the tennis, held at Geraldton Tennis Club, Fr Richard Doyle from the Perth Parish of Port Kennedy was overall champion, just ahead of Archbishop Barry Hickey."

Report from India for CWL

Pope John Paul 11 About the Card will celebrate the The card has been 50th anniversary of designed by Hein his ordination as a Walter. a contempriest on the first of porary religious November, 1996. artist. The artist's The Holy Father's interpretation is as Golden Jubilee will follows. Our attract world-wide attention. The inter- Church encomnational Catholic aid passes a great organisation Aid to the Church in Need variety of ethnic was established by the Holy See. it would cultures, scattered like to highlight this event by asking all over the world.

Catholics in Australia to show their supfrom East to West port for the Pope by sending him a good I The colour postcard measures 15crot t 10,,r1 from North to and Aid from available Is card wishes card. The South. As Catholics we are all unified in Christ. to the Church In Need free of charge.• The Golden Jubilee of the Holy Father reminds in the Pope (the outstretched arms) and the us of the great importance of the priesthood symbols of this unification are the Cross and within our Church. Aid to the Church in Need the Eucharist. The Latin words "Servus servocurrently supports the training of 18.000 rum Del mean: Servant of the servants of God. seminarians each year in Eastern Europe. back of the postcard contains the address Latin America, Africa and Asia. For the major- The Holy Father in Rome and a space for the of ity of Catholics in these parts of the world your good wishes. there are never enough priests. In many cases the shortage is caused not by a lack of vocations but by lack of money and facilities For fifty yea rsPope John Paul 11 needed to sustain students over the long has offered Holy Mass day in and years of formation. Many fine candidates the to vital is It away. turned must be day out for the needs of the Church future of the Church that not one single vocaand the world. This is your chance tion to the priesthood goes astray due to lack of finance. What better gift could we give the to let the Holy Father know of your Holy Father for his Golden Jubilee than to love, support, loyalty, prayer & support the training of our future priests.

thanks!

CWL members Catherine Cheffing (left), Fay Jones, Bobbie Halligan and Joan Abbott gathered at the recent CWL President's Annual morning tea to hear Anglican Sister Ella Williams talk on her work with Mother Teresa in Calcutta

Medjugorje

Message from Our Lady, Queen of Peace, from Medjugorje, given to Marija on July 25 1996 "Dear children, Today I invite you to decide every day for God. Little children, you speak much about God, but you witness little with your life. Therefore, little children, decide for conversion, that your life may be true before God, so that In the truth of your life you witness the beauty God gave you.

Little children, I invite you again to decide for prayer because through prayer, you will be able to live the conversion. Each one of you shall become in the simplicity, similar to a child which is open to the love of the Father. Thank you for having responded to my call."

To: Aid to the Church in Need P.O. Box 11, Eastwood 2122 National Director: Mr Phillip Collignon Tel/Fax No. (02) 679 1929

•

Please send me/us ____

cards to congratulate the Holy Father on his Golden jubilee

• Although the card is free of charge we ask that you incJude a stamped. self-addressed DI. envelope (22cm x I lan) to help defray costs

and"/or to help with the training of I/We enclose S Africa 0 seminarians in Eastern Europe 0 Asia 0 Latin America 0 t A stamped self-addressed envelope is nor required If voti are also making a donation towards the training of seminarians!

Mr/Mrs/Miss/Rev/Sr Address

Postcode

Aid to the Church in Need A Universal Public Association within the Catholic Church. dependent on the Holy See. providing pastoral relief to needy and oppressed Churches and aiding refugees

(It is accepted the final authority regarding apparitions of Our Lady at Medjugorie rests with the Holy See of

Rome)

The Record, August 1 1996 Page 5

411.•

God gives, but not enough for a person's greed Peter Dwan continues meditations on the readings for Sunday Mass.

This week, the readings for the 18th Sunday of Year A

T

he theme of today's readings is that God gives us food.

God has given us food for our bodies, the food of doctrine and the food of the Eucharist.

The first reading (Isaiah 55:1-3), was composed during a time of great want, probably during the Exile.

It is an invitation to come to God to obtain the food and drink we need: "0 come to the water all you who are thirsty, though you have no money, come."

The greater our needs, the more willing God is to help us, provided that we come to Him. The reading contains the

words: "Why spend money on five thousand men, not to menwhat is not bread, your wages tion women and children. on what fails to satisfy?"

This miracle teaches us many lessons.

One example of waste is the The first is that we need to be way too many Catholics spend willing to give what we have in their money on secular magazines filled with gossip, which at order to help God's plan.

If people are to have food, we best could be called cultural and Today's second reading need to be willing to share what intellectual fairy floss, and never think of buying Catholic paper (Romans 8:35, 37-39), contains St we have, whether this be bread or magazines that provide the Paul's words: "Nothing can come or money. between us and the love of food of sound doctrine.

If they are to have the food of Today's first reading gives us Christ, even if we are troubled or doctrine, we need to have peothe chance to consider where worried, or being persecuted, or ple willing to share their Faith. we stand in this regard. Do we lacking food or clothes, or being Secondly, Our Lord blessed the buy and read Catholic publica- threatened or even attacked." loaves and fishes but handed St Paul was a highly motivated them to the apostles to distribute tions?

Do we pass them on? Do we person, who found in his Faith to the crowd. encourage people to subscribe an adequate philosophy of life.

God provides what people to Catholic publications and give Not only was he fed by the food need, but leaves it up to us to of doctrine, he was also fed on distribute what He provides fairgift subscriptions?

Let us realise just how much is the food of the Eucharist. ly. When we see poverty, let us Today's gospel passage remember that God has given at stake. Unless we read Catholic literature regularly, we shall lack (Matthew 14:13-21), tells of how enough for each person's need, the knowledge and motivation Our Lord multiplied the five but not enough for each perloaves and the two fish and fed son's greed. to live as fervent Catholics.

A Layman's

Meditation

From fallen Adam to Mary's spirit

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Some Christians argue that the Church has been suffering from patriarchy for the last 2000 years. But Perth writer Eric Rebeiro argues that, from a spiritual rather than worldly view, the last two millennia have in fact been under the sway of a thoroughly feminine influence.

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here is much confusion amongst Christians as to why Catholics pay so much devotion to The Blessed Virgin Mary thus creating The Cult of The Woman'.

It has been stated by many learned people that we are living in a modern age called The Cult of Man'. This is erroneous.

Now it can be proved from Scriptures through simple logic that the era of Jesus Christ belongs to The Cult of The Woman, who is none other than Mary, the Mother of Our Lord and our God, Jesus Christ.

The following is an explanation as given by St John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church (347-407 AD).

God first created a virgin earth out of which He then created a virgin man (we must realise here that virgin means original).

Out of this virgin man God then created a virgin woman without the help of another woman and at no loss to the

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Read The Record to keep in touch with the Catholic world here and abroad The Record August 1 1996 Page 6

Thirdly, in all accounts of the miracle in the gospels, we have mention of the gathering up of what was left over. St Matthew mentions that there were twelve baskets remaining. The moral is: God hates waste.

We should examine ourselves on this point. Do we waste the good things that God has given us?

People have been known to bring back from a rubbish tip perfectly good items, which others have thrown out instead of offering the unwanted items to the St Vincent de Paul Society.

And are we wasting opportunities to provide people with the food of doctrine during this Decade of Evangelization?

Are we wasting opportunities to make this world a happier place, by offering a word of encouragement, or even simply by sharing a joke sometimes?

man, thereby maintaining the man's physical and spiritual integrity.

For us, we may say that the virgin man brought forth the virgin woman without the help of another woman. This Implies for us that the woman owed a debt to man in as much as she owed her existence to man.

At this point I beg you not to become Irate.

Before the fall of the first man and woman this debt bore no consequences for they were in union with God; that is they lived in the Spirit of God. They discerned the Spirit and not the flesh.

After the fall they lost the awareness of the Spirit of God and discerned their flesh and hence the debt to man by woman was incurred.

This debt became visible because it was the woman who first listened to the serpent and then the man who listened to the woman. And, in truth, the creature propelled itself away from its Creator in its disobedience.

Now God in His infinite goodness was wont to rectify this infringement on His Infinite Authority and therefore He proclaimed through the prophets of the Old Testament that a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a Son and His name shall be called 'Emmanuel', meaning 'God with us'.

Before we proceed, we must recognise that in the discernment of their flesh

THE INTERNATIONAL PILGRIM VIRGIN STATUE OF FATIMA. VISITS WA on the very special occasions of The Queen of the World Golden Jubilee 1946-1996 and The Feast of the Queenship of Mary -22 August SCHEDULE OF EVENTS of the World" Conference, Mercedes College Hall, 18 August "Hope Sunday 9am to 5pm. Mass 11.30am St Mary's Cathedral. Speakers Include Carl Malburg, original custodian of The International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Fatima, and Prof Courtenay Bartholomew, a research scientist of international repute who has collaborated with researchers on AIDS and cancer research, and writes and speaks on Mariology.

Mon 19 Aug: Northam 9.30am-3pm; inc.1 Mass, (BYO lunch); 4pm-5pm St Anthony's, Greenmount.

Tues 20 Aug: 9.30am-3pm, St Mary's Church, Leederville, inc.1 Mass, (BYO lunch); 7.30pm-9.30pm, Queen of Apostles, Riverton, inc.1 Mass.

Wed 21 Aug: 10am-12 noon. Italian Mass Infant Jesus Church, Morley; 2pm-5pm. Portuguese Mass, Holy Cross Church, Hamilton Hill; 7pm-9.30pm (incl Mass) Our Lady of the Mission Church, Craigie.

Thur 22 Aug: St Mary's Cathedral, Perth: (all day): 9.30am: Enshrinement of Pilgrim Virgin Statue. Talks and rosary on the hour, 12.10pm: Mass; 730pm: candlelight procession - crowning of the Pilgrim Virgin statue, Mass, celebrant: Archbishop Barry Hickey.

Fri 23 Aug: Narrogin: 6am-10am: Katanning: 12.10-1.10pm; Kolonup: 2-3pm (incl Mass); Mt Barker: 5-6pm; Albany: 8-9pm; Sat 24 Aug: ManJimup: 10-11.30am; Busselton: 2-3pm; Bunbtuy St Patrick's Cathedral: 7-9pm.

Sun 25 Aug: Geraldton - St Francis Xavier Cathedral 730pm Mon 26 Aug:Dongara loam; Leeman 4pm.

Enquiries: Kathy: (09) 457 3256

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To Jesus through

Mary . . a column of Marian devotion they saw their nakedness and desired to serve themselves and not God; they served the flesh and not the Spirit.

This, in truth, is The Cult of Man'. The era of the Cult of Man extended from the fall to the coming of the Virgin Mary Yet Mary was of the flesh of Adam and this is where many Christians fall into the trap of believing that Mary was conceived with sin - they believe that the flesh of man caused the sin.

On the contrary, it is the spirit of man that caused the sin. And again it is not man who induces the spirit into his newly conceived child but God - man only provides the flesh.

So when Mary was conceived in her mothers' womb God preserved her spirit from the original sin unlike the rest of us. As Mary was to bring forth the Son of God, she would have to have the most perfect Spirit given to her by God that would cause her to proclaim the 'Magnificat'.

The flesh of the first Adam was originally made perfect because God induced into him a perfect spirit. So also was the flesh of Mary made perfect because God induced into her a perfect spirit.

Returning to the debt that woman owes to man. We know that Eve came forth from Adam without the help of another woman. This debt is now fully repaid through Mary, the virgin woman who brought forth man without the help of man, this being the design of God to return mankind to his Spirit.

Therefore just as we were akin to the fallen spirit of Adam so now we are akin to the new spirit of Mary.

And it is through following her example that we return to the spirit of Jesus Christ Our Lord and Our God. We might note here that the cult of the woman began at the foot of the Cross where there were three women and one man assembled.

Mary gave us Jesus who opened the gates of Heaven for us in that she, unlike Eve, refused to listen to the beguiling words of the serpent.

She crushed the head of the serpent, for it is in the head that contemplative rationalism originates. The heart is a symbol for life and truth. A perfect heart Is and Immaculate Heart. This is the Heart we seek out in Mary, her Immaculate Heart, for it is in her heart that we always find truth and wisdom.

This is why our Holy Popes have consecrated the world to "The Immaculate Heart of Mary' in order to respond to Almighty God with her 'fiat'.

Yes, Lord, we desire a new heaven and a new earth through "The Cult of the Woman'.

/ t olitan ABC to save our taxes

Privatise metrop T The Record he recent one-day strike by some Australian Broadcasting Corporation staff provided an excellent opportunity to taste other radio delights across the dial, in much the same way as the dominance of Olympic broadcasting C.S. Lewis in his Screwtape Letters - of over the last two weeks on ABC and other coating evil with the sugar of intellectual and artistic good taste. stations has enforced.

What did we find on "Our ABC" the ABC staff and journalists naturally want day after the strike that claimed to next to protect themselves from the cold ABC as the only defender of true, the save mil$70 forced by winds of efficiencies and Australian culture - two jourhuman lion in funding cuts, a cost-efficiency over themselves to give falling nalists regime felt daily by commercial media living free of the intravenous drip of gov- gushing moral support to a homosexual seeking a double bed to house his new ernment funding.

But the journey across the dial provided lover as a present for their forthcoming no relief from the government broadcast- marriage.

It is admirable at either a pagan or er's unrelenting diet of nearly 100 per level to help house and provide Christian cent of God-less transmission. for anybody, no matter what furniture simply broadcaster The commercial or beliefs are. their lifestyle presented only a cruder version of the the happiness of someover gush to But peddled atheistic and agnostic views one who is set upon destroying himself uncritically on the ABC. At least on the ABC a listener or viewer and his companion through homosexualcan corrupt themselves in style, falling for ity - at the very least spiritually and psyOld Nick's trick- as tellingly described by chologically and almost certainly physi-

cally through AIDS - shows once again the ABC is not the ABC of those who follow a realistic and thoroughly thought out humanism, let alone those of us who are Christians of Catholic or other persuasion.

The incident is not isolated as regular listeners to ABC channels, both AM, FM and television, know. Several weeks ago ABC Radio National's Women Out Loud program ran a series of three programs focussing on lesbian pornography that revelled in the subject matter in a way that left little to the imagination.

This is not "Our ABC" if you are a Christian, a Catholic or a sensible, intelligent pagan.

Certainly we can turn the radio or television off, or change stations. But this still leaves the point of "Ow. Taxes". Funds for commercial stations are not forced out of

-1-Dotzz24( .1.A& 7a/le CWL for women, young and old

H

aving read the excellent article on Greenwood Parish in last week's issue, I would like to comment on one statement in it: ". . . and Catholic Women's League for some of our more mature members."

It is possible that the writer may not be aware that the CWL is the officially recognised women's organisation of the Church.

If you see simply the local branch in operation, you may well believe that it is a group of women who meet for a cosy chat and a cup of tea and hold cake stalls for worthy causes.

You're quite right: they do those things.

But the CWL is far, far more than that. The branches are the essential grass roots of a national and international body of women.

In Australia, we have 14,000 members; internationally we have, roughly, 15 million, and at that level we join up with the World Union of Catholic Women's Organisations, which has the incredible membership of 25 million with consultative status at the Vatican and the United Nations.

The CWL is 100 per cent loyal to the Church.

A parish branch has power, power for good.

Our opinions and our protests are heard in places where they carry most weight, though they may be far from "politically correct."

There are women of all ages in the

Catholic pockets, but our taxes are. These taxes pay for the ABC that is, short of a miracle, irremediably not "our ABC".

As true Christian values have as much hope as a snowflake in hell of getting a reasonable airing at the government broadcaster, the ABC's metropolitan stations should be privatised. Rural stations should keep their funding as they are often the only broadcaster available to the farming cormnunity.

Then those who want, or are able to do so safely, can sup with a long spoon at the ABC's table but not at the expense of reasonable citizens' hard-earned taxes.

And privatisation is not censorship. If people really want the ABC's God-less broadcasting then they will pay for it.

If they don't, then Aunty ABC will have cut her own throat.

• The opinions expressed in this editorial, and any other Record editorial, are not necessarily those of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Perth.

Leffers lo /.& Co6for

Call to Cursillo

League - I myself joined at the age of 31; others younger - and they participate at any level they choose. oes anyone know what happened They can join our branches and enjoy a to the Catholic Cursillo Movement? loving relationship with other women of I am interested in reviving this their faith. inspiring and motivating experience and They can represent their branch at would be pleased to hear from anyone, diocesan meetings; they can become dele- particularly clergy and laity who were on gates to a number of organisations, includ- teams, who had anything to do with it during the United Nations Association, the ing the 1980's until it's demise.

National Council of Women, and the Please reply care of 3 Canun Place, Australian Church Women body.

Marys, WA. 6025 indicating if you are They can bring their professional knowl- interested in a revival and in participating edge and skills and find us only too happy in team activities. to use them to the full, for example, as the I have Archbishop Hickey's approval social issues convener on State Council. depending on the response, envisage and, We know there are many things badly organising an Ultreya, which will be the wrong with our world. By ourselves we springboard for further activities. haven't a chance of putting them right, Frank Bnnney even of being heard.

But if every Catholic woman were to join Hillarys the CWL, what a voice for good we would have! We could shift mountains!

Anne Power wo of the world's leading nonState President, CWL of Western Australia Catholic authorities have said the current exercise of the Pope's office poses a "decisive obstacle" to Christian ith regard to the Archbishop's unity that can only be overcome by closer Perspective in The Record (18 consultation with other Churches and July), we thank God that we denominations (The Record, 11 July).

The primacy of the successors of St Peter have an Archbishop who is in touch with defined by Vatican I in 1870, and reaflay people and the realities of life today.

We would like to congratulate him on his firmed by Vatican II, was not a new docthoughtful, insightful and timely com- trine in 1870. ments in his weekly column.

As Cardinal Heenan said: "What the We are inspired and encouraged by his Church has done is to make official a truth leadership in guiding us in living our entrusted to her from the beginning".

Catholic faith.

It is, therefore, inconceivable that a truth We are pleased and blessed to have him of such a fundamental nature could be as our leader. changed, because of the views expressed by the two non-Catholic authorities. How Grant Wesehnan and Carmel Ielasi do you change what is unchangeable? on behalf of the Warwick Youth Cenacle.

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Non-Catholic unity?

Thanks for Archbishop

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Though Orthodox Patriarch Bartholemew claims Popes John Paul II, Paul V and John XXIII recognised papal primacy as the "biggest unity obstacle" it does not mean that, in doing so, they questioned the definitions of such primacy and infallibility.

But knowing the separated Churches' problems with the primacy issue, they have been endeavouring to ease the difficulties.

It is worth noting, however, that currently the Orthodox. Reformed and Anglican Churches have not attained unity among themselves.

Perhaps, they have up to this time failed to find an acceptable formula for such process. Papal infallibility and primacy in jurisdictional power cannot be blamed for such failures.

To quote again from Vatican II documents to stress the Catholic Church's confidence in the blessing of God on its claim to be the one true Church.

There we find that: "when the Roman Pontiff, or the body of bishops together with him, define a doctrine they make the definition in conformity with revelation itself, to which all are bound to adhere and to which they are obliged to submit".

As to unity: "It is of course, essential that the doctrine be dearly presented in its entirety."

"Nothing is so foreign to the spirit of ecumenism as a false irenicism which harms the purity of Catholic doctrine and obscures its genuine and certain meaning".

Thus, it seems, there can be no compromise with the truth in the search for unity.

Hilary Ryan Rossmoyne

Aussie Olympic athletes dare to struggle, dare to win

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here have been many comments during the past week about the negative press reports regarding the performance of Australian athletes in Atlanta.

Despite the negative comments, I believe the majority of Australians are incredibly proud of those chosen to represent our country at the Olympic Games.

It has been a great experience to see athletes from all countries triumph over seemingly negative opinion, difficult weather conditions, injury and potential danger.

Have you ever wondered why some people always seem to be "winners"? Why, in spite of adversity, they always seem to bounce back? Just what is their secret of their success?

Some people seem to be blessed from birth with remarkable effectiveness. The Madame

I.54y! 1 penny 4s4erqt Curies, the Beethovens, the competing in the Olympic Einsteins and others, all stand Games, who could not thrill to out as gifted individuals who scenes such as the jubilance of were able to muster their poten- our swimming relay team when they won the Bronze Medal, or tial and achieve great things.

The Olympians fall into that the amazing triumph of spirit over incredible challenges that category Just to get to compete at the gave Kieran Perkins the ability to Olympics is a tremendous feat - churn through the water and surviving the long, hard months, inspire us all with his courage. was inspirational How years, of training, and having the ability to get up and try again Muhammed Ali? Once proafter facing controversy, crush- claiming proudly, "I am the ing defeat or injury, the lack of greatest", now stricken with Parkinson's Disease, he found any kind of social life.

Once they achieve their goal, of the courage to stand with the

Olympic torch before the world, could we do with the same qualshaking and overawed as he lit ities? So many small things seem the flame that is so significant a to get in our way.

Winners, achievers, all have part of the Olympic Games.

How inspirational it was to the same problems that everyhear Cathy Freeman after the one has. The difference is, rather 400 metres final say "I tried my than be stopped by them, they hardest, I couldn't ask more of go about finding a solution. myself than that," after she had More often than not they find a been run down and beaten by way, with God's help. They overby the flying Marie-Jose Perec come the problems rather than for the gold medal and a world succumb to them.

Our attitude can make the difrecord.

Courage, tenacity, striving to ference between success and achieve God-given potential, fol- failure, it can limit our growth or lowed by jubilance when the open the door to growth and goal is achieved, are all charac- effectiveness.

God made us in His image, teristics that come to the fore at fashioned us in His likeness and the Olympic Games.

What great qualities to aspire He strengthens us through the to! When we think of the years gifts of the Holy Spirit.

He wants us to realise the of sacrifice, the dedication to of the dream, and like power wina be to will the excellence, ner, it is easy to be in awe of the Marie-Jose Perec, to feel as though we are flying towards the athletes in Atlanta.

How often in our daily lives end of the race.

The Record, August 1 1996 Page 7

Features

Catechism helps re-evangelise countries that have lost the Faith Archbishop Barry Hickey this week gave a talk in Sydney entitled The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the New Evangelisation at a residential seminar for priests. The seminar, entitled The Dawn of a New Millennium, dealt with the pastoral needs of a society in transformation and was organised by the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross of Opus Dei. The following is the complete text of his talk

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dark corridors along which modern people are searching, fulfilling the longings of the heart.

Evangelisation Evangelisation is about hope.

It would be tempting to say that the Church has so many internal problems today that it has neither the energy nor the certitude to evangelise the world.

So deep are her internal divisions that one would think that the New Evangelisation especially, that is, the re-evangelisation of former Christian countries, is beyond us.

Perhaps we should withdraw into ourselves and deal with our

followers and conspiring in their martyrdom, but they were not allowed to do so.

They were called to preach boldly, not give in to the luxury of self-defeat.

So the Church today must not be silenced because her sins of the present or the past are under the public gaze.

She is called to preach the Good News to all nations and to every generation.

It is interesting to note that even in these days of adverse publicity, hundreds flood into the Church each Easter.

It is possible to see the image of the loving Jesus in the reflection

he Catechism of the Catholic Church has already had a profound impact on the Catholic people.

Despite my fears that it might be politely received and relegated to the dusty back shelves of libraries, it has become a bestseller and has touched the emotions.

Instead of the bored acknowledgment I feared, it has been enthusiastically welcomed and just as fiercely rejected.

It has become the subject of controversy and impassioned debate.

One could not have had a better result.

Had it been easily accepted, it would have failed to address the divisions present within the Catholic community, and would have said nothing of relevance to the world.

The controversies surrounding the Catechism mean that it has touched the sensitive points and demands attention.

I am pleased to say that it is being extensively quoted in the new catechetical units being used in my (this) Diocese, and is referred to frequently in public theological presentations.

It has not disappeared without trace.

This talk is about the evangelising potential of the Catechism.

In the Apostolic Constitution, "Fidei Donum", which introduced the Catechism, the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, stated that it was a sure norm for teaching the faith, that it was an instrument for promoting unity within the Church, and it would provoke a renewal of the Church in the Holy Spirit, that it would be a Archbishop Hickey welcomes sew istetabers of Ike awn* kat Febnisty. 'symphony' of the faith, that it internal problems first, so that we of His people. The Mission of the would lead to a deeper faith in can emerge eventually to face the Church has been confided to her Jesus Christ, and would be a world with some sort of unified people, but it is guided by Jesus compendium and sure reference message. and empowered by the Holy for local catechetical texts.

The temptation to do so is great. Spirit.

He also asked the faithful to use Take paedophilia for instance.

Evangelisation has many levels. the Catechism in "fulfilling their Even though its presence within It is directed inwards to the mission of proclaiming the faith the Catholic Church is no greater and calling people to Gospel than anywhere else, less so than growing members of the Church, to children and to adults, and is life". (3) In some other Christian commuHe also stressed its evangelis- nities,I might add, it is a scandal directed outwards, "ad gentes", to ing potential in asking the that has attracted the most bitter the peoples of the world.

It differs from Catechesis, Blessed Virgin Mary "to support outrage and attack which is the on-going instruction with her powerful inter,..ession How can a Church which is the catechetical work of the being shown up as hypocritical, after the Good News has been entire Church on every level, at unfaithful to its own beliefs and received.

Evangelisation calls for the this time when she is called to a weakened publicly in its leaderInner transformation of the lives new effort of evangelisation." (3) ship, dare to show its face and It would be wrong, therefore, to proclaim Good News to the of the baptised and the unbapUsed. see the Catholic Catechism as world?

It calls everyone to listen to simply a defence of Catholic Surely we should hide in Jesus' invitation to a life-changing teaching under attack It is much shame and wait for the storm to conversion and to a unity with more. pass? his people.

It is a tool of evangelisation, a We are not allowed such a luxIt proclaims the Kingdom of handbook for the New EvangelGod which is both a kingdom of isation that will speak afresh to ury. people who have turned away It would have been understand- holiness and grace as well as a from Christ. able for Peter to have crawled kingdom of justice and peace.

It affirms anew positions that into a hole after denying his Therefore, it will have an effect the world rejects, believing that Master, or for Paul to withdraw on the transformation of the indionly the Good News of Jesus completely when he realised he vidual and of the society in Christ is able to enlighten the had been persecuting Jesus in his which that individual lives.

The Record, August 1 1996 Page 8

Nor is the Church herself regimes like Marxism or beyond the process of evangeli- Freemasonry or Nazism in trying sation. to suppress religion by relegating If we are a pilgrim people, as a it to the private sphere where it Church we must be open to con- has no say in public life. tinuing conversion and purificaWe should not accept such a tion. situation in the effort to evangeIn turning to the Catechism of lise modern culture. the Catholic Church as a tool of We see the religious viewpoint evangelisation we must look to rejected in the issue of currently our own openness to conversion euthanasia, as we have seen it in the transto Christ as well as to the past in the issue of abortion. formation of the world. with a religious perspecThose Of the many ways in which the Catechism is a useful tool for tive are told to keep out of the evangelisation today, I wish to debates because they have no right to impose their religious speak of three specific areas views on other Australians.

1. The source of truth Views are certainly imposed, 2. Principles of moral action 3. Human sexuality. but they come from the domiIn each one of these I under- nant "secular" religion. stand the Church to be speaking It is in this arena that we must to the world, to modern men and bring the truths of the Catechism women in their search for truth of the Catholic Church, and preand meaning. sent them in such a way that their force is persuasive even to The source of Truth the secular mind.

If the principles outlined in the The Catechism does not reject Catechism are to evangelise or the modern world. re-evangelise the Western world, It recognises its values and its Catholic thinkers must be at the defects, and urges a productive intersection of religion and pub- dialogue that will open it again to lic life. the transcendent, and restore It is not sufficient to withdraw those values that are truly human from current moral and ethical and therefore from God. debate and to work only at the One of those who have underlevel of personal faith, because culture is so pervasive and influ- taken the task of dialogue with the modern world is the convert ential.

We often lament the falling Richard John Neuhaus who away of our young people from speaks of the "Catholic Moment".

He sees that in the recent colthe faith, and are inclined to blame schools or family life. lapse of ideologies such as The most powerful influence Marxism, the Church is in a very today on young people is the per- good position to penetrate the vasive teen culture and the val- world of secularism and religious ues and attitudes that sustain it. indifferentism because it has a Ills only with the most power- coherent body of truths that can ful countervailing influence of fill the vacuum in modern ethical strong Catholic life in the home and metaphysical thinking. or in committed groups like He has presented positions on "Antioch" that they can resist current ethical debates that are absorbing the harmful values faithful to the teaching of the present in much of that culture.

Church and, at the same time, Nor is it enough to lament the modern age and look forward to presented in the conceptual the restoration of an earlier age, framework of the modern mind.

Some of the titles illustrate the "the good old days" which cannot point: on euthanasia: come back "Always to care, never to kill", The only answer, it seems to on abortion: me, is to enter the philosophical and moral debates of our age, to "Caring about women, caring penetrate them with the spirit of for the unborn", Christ. on embryo research: It is not an impossible task, "The unhuman use of human because it has been done before. beings".

Since the collapse of CommunThe Catechism does not speak ism and the Marxist philosophy just to Catholics on these issues. that sustained it, we have wit- It speaks to the modern world. nessed the triumph of secular"To the Church belongs the ism, particularly secular human- right always and everywhere to ism and, as far as religion is con- announce moral principles, cerned, indifferentism. including those pertaining to the The secular viewpoint is widely considered to be the only valid social order, and to make judgeone in a multi-cultural, multi-reli- ments on any human affairs to gious society like Australia, the extent that they are required because it cannot identify itself by the fundamental rights of the human person and the salvation with any one group or religion.

While this has some surface of souls". (2033) appeal, it nevertheless has the Principles of Morality effect of relegating religion to the There is hardly an area of private sphere, nullifying any greater conflict between the reliinfluence it might have in the gious view and the secular view public arena. than the search for the basis of Furthermore, the secular approach has taken on the char- moral actions.

The Catechism links moral acteristics of a religion itself.

Morality is determined democ- actions with human dignity, ratically and introduced into leg- claiming that "the dignity of the human person is rooted in his islation.

Freedom of choice is enshrined creation in the image and likeby law and God is excluded from ness of God" (1700).

This does not cut any ice with public life.

Secular humanism takes the the secularists. place of other totalitarian Continued on Page 14

Features

How charity built a parish

On a busman's holiday: Fr Ernie Smith of Melbourne, left, serves at St Patrick's Care Centre, Fremantle. a suburb similar to Sydney's date the mission which grew woman working in prostitution Kings Cross, Fr Ernie was fully from the people's needs. Today, to walk up to the altar, remove prepared for a morally sleazy with his paid and unpaid work- her belt from her shorts, and lay neighbourhood, but made a dis- ers, he operates on a budget of it on the altar - "for Jesus." covery of his own when he over two million dollars annually Fr Ernie has kept the belt. . encountered "a whole world of funded by the government, the Within the mission congregaloneliness and isolation," among parish, and donations. tion with all its colour, there is a people housed within the 113 The parish has become known togetherness, as shown by the rooming houses in St Kilda, a as the Sacred Heart Mission and, funeral of an 87-year-old who third of all Victorian boarding for many people whose lives are died at their hostel, with about 70 houses. street centred, it is possibly the people in attendance. Or the fact Many had sustained brain dam- only church they relate to, feel at that when the candlesticks disapage through alcoholism, while home in, or will ever enter. peared from the church - others others with psychiatric illnesses The congregation has a diversi- were quick to point out who'd or intellectual problems had ty and an assortment of interest- taken them! been in and out of hospitals and ing characters who feel suffiGoing to Mass has not been institutions, and then released ciently at home with Fr Ernie to without drama either when into the community go up to the altar during Mass, someone threw a petrol bomb in So in the words of the classics - lean across it, and ask him for the foyer of the church.

Fr Ernie rolled up his sleeves and absolution so they can receive Fortunately, there were enough tailored his parish to accommo- Holy Communion; or for a people gathering for Mass to

detect the smoke.

The mission's major service is the more than 400 sit -down free meals it provides every day of the year. This is the starting point of care in catering to the basic nutritional needs of the local residents of boarding houses and street dwellers.

But he sees it is only the beginning of other forms of care.

So the mission now caters for housing, art and recreation programs, a hostel for frail elderly people, a home-care program for people needing hostel care in their home or room, programs for women involved in prostitution, education for the unemployed, a free clinic, material aid, and a meeting place where people just sit and talk.

"All these things (their needs) emerge once you walk with them and see their life's journey," Fr Ernie revealed, who then added that they also have 250 volunteers who, among other things. help at meal times.

"But one of the very special aspects of the daily meal." he mentioned with a smile. "is the involvement of people who are referred by the Office of Corrections.

"They have to do a certain number of community hours and so we have 40 or 50 each week taking part." As a result of this, Fr Ernie related, three have since come to work with the mission and one now has his own catering business.

Fr Ernie admits that with its breadth and size, Sacred Heart Mission is unique, "but it is still a parish undertaking. and the parish church and resources are all involved."

The mission, representing the welfare side of life, "in a sense feeds the parish life and vice

mutual obligations. Please respect these customs for they are precious to us and give us a sense of worth and belonging.

Please respect our history. Parts of our history have been very hurtful to us. We don't wish to dwell on the past But we do wish to hear people admit their faults and learn from the mistakes of the past.

We as a Church should together admit our faults, mistakes and failings and in a simple way ask forgiveness from one another.

There is a significant time coming up for the nation. We will celebrate one hundred years as a nation.

It is a time of destiny in which we can look again at what has happened, learn from the past and plan and work towards the future.

There can be a great emphasis on reconciliation in 2001 as we celebrate the 100 years of the Australian nation.

In the year 2000 the focus of the world will be on Sydney during the Olympics.

The world will ask about a basically European nation living in the midst of Asia.

It will ask about the original Inhabitants, what has become of them, and how were they treated by the colonists.

It will ask how the original settlers from Europe related to and treated the Aboriginal people.

Much will be made of Aboriginal culture in the opening and closing ceremonies but if we are to be honest as people we have to ask the deeper question

of how we relate to one another as different people of the one country.

If these questions are being asked because of the Olympic Games and the celebration of 100 years of the Australian nation, how much more we as Christian people, Aboriginal and non Aboriginal should ask about our relationship together towards the year 2000.

We want to be true brothers and sisters to one another.

We are not the same in outlook and value system.

But we are equally precious in the eyes of Jesus, and the Church will be enriched when all our opinions and insights come together to make a richer and more diverse Church.

We know that Jesus was a Jew and that his frame of reference is very different from the mind of people today.

But the non-Aboriginal people were able to take the essential parts of the teaching of Jesus and express it in a way which was their own and created a liturgy which you could own.

We want to do the same as a people and we would be honoured if the non-Aboriginal were also involved in this process not as leaders but as people who might learn more of Jesus from the insight of your Aboriginal brothers and sisters.

"VVaraji ngarlu wanduna". To agree is to be in one spirit, one feeling, and one mind.

Let's work together towards reconciliation with "waraji ngarlu."

By Colleen McGuiness-Howard

T

he size or numbers involved don't matter asserts Victorian priest Fr Ernie Smith as he describes his unique St Kilda parish in Melbourne - as long as there is one person caring for another.

Alluding to The Sacred Heart Mission, St Kilda, Melbourne, which is a mission within a parish, Fr Ernie deals daily with very much a grass roots humanity whose needs he has continually addressed since taking over as parish priest in 1982.

It was a daunting task.

Appointed to a very run down parish with a dilapidated, grotty church building, and all set within what appears to be a violent, 'seedy' area seen as home to drug prostitutes, derelicts, addicts, alcoholics, and street kids, Fr Ernie wasn't dismayed.

He responded as St Francis did to God's invitation to "build My Church," by concentrating on God's people first, and later tackling the parish buildings.

Fr Ernie was in Perth recently to visit Fremantle's St Patrick's Care Centre to reciprocate an earlier visit to the St Kilda parish by Jessie Healey, executive director of St Patrick's Care Center, and the centre's chairman Tony McAlinden.

The Fremantle two went to Fr Ernie's parish to gain ideas for their own initiative, which is a mini-version of the St Kilda mission. They found that despite partial government funding, the mission had a 'Church mind' which impressed them.; it remained at a grass roots level "sitting on the pavement, in the parks, and being with the people."

Given St Kilda's public image as

'Learn more of Jesus from our Aboriginal culture' Joseph Roe of the Yawuru and Kara/am people in the Kimberley recently made a plea for reconciliation between European and Aboriginal Australians during a Mass to celebrate the annual NAIDOC week celebration of Aboriginal culture.

I

Incorporation of Aboriginal culture in Church liturgy: an Aboriginal dressed traditionally brings the Word of God into the ceremony installing Bishop Christopher Saunders as Bishop of Broome last February.

come from a very traditional background. I belong to the Yawuru, the traditional owners of the Broome area, through my father, and the Karajaffi, the traditional owners of the Bidyadanga (La Grange) through my mother... .Iwelcome you all in celebrating this special Mass with us.

NAIDOC is an awareness week about Aboriginal culture and tradition; it is also a time for Aboriginal people to reflect and strengthen their own Aboriginality, and for non-Aboriginal people to appreciate and understand the rich culture and also the tragic past of our people.

This land of ours is very ancient Marks of the dinosaurs and remnants of rain forests are all signs of this.

But not only is the land ancient.

My people have been here for well over 40,000 years.

Thousands of years before Moses, his eyes dimmed by age, looked over the River Jordan, my ancestors climbed the sand hills and looked across the Roebuck Bay. Buggaregara janga (from the dream time) tells us two men came to the Yawuru and Karajarri people and gave them

their Sacred Law and culture.

The colonists came permanently to these parts about 120 years ago.

Ever since that time our fate as people, as nation, as Church is bound together. We are glad to work in partnership.

The Church has offered many wonderful things to our people.

We now hope we are at a stage where we can offer the most precious things we have to help enrich our Church.

The Holy Father, Pope Paul II, said in Alice Springs: "The Australian Church will not have reached its proper status until the richness of the Aboriginal religious tradition - the oldest continuing religious tradition on earth -will have found a home within it."

"And the Church herself in Australia will not be fully the Church that Jesus wants her to be until you (the Aboriginal people) have made your contribution to her life and until that contribution has been joyfully received by others".

We would like our language taken seriously in schools and in our churches.

We would like our customs taken seriously and see in them a way that the Spirit has spoken to us long before the coming of Jesus. We would like you to take our land seriously - it has been given to us a sacred trust. Our ancestors cared for it; we do not want to neglect that trust.

We want you to take our relations seriously; our people are related each to another with

The Record, August 1 1996 Page 9

Movies

What do you do when justice fails?

By Aileen Hawkes

IF

j ye for an Eye is an excellent film technically but when it finished I was left sitting in my seat too shattered to move.

I was exhausted from the hours of sustained tension and the assault on my values and beliefs.

Eye for an Eye follows a classical narrative structure.

The opening is a scene of domestic bliss which establishes Karen McCann (Sally Field) as a happily married mother of two beautiful girls.

Secure, safe, with a satisfying job and a loving relationship with her husband Mark (Ed Harris).

All this is shattered though, only minutes into the film, when a sociopathic killer, Robert Doob (Kiefer Sutherland) rapes and

Young men will love it

A

disgruntled military hero seizes Alcatraz and aims poison-gas rockets at San Francisco in the overlong, overwrought and overly violent "The Rock" (Hollywood).

All plot points are pumped up to the maximum extreme in this macho fantasy of snarling, super tough guys and their big guns, directed

by Michael Bay, who brought much mayhem to the screen in last year's "Bad Boys."

In the ludicrous narrative, Ed Harris plays highly decorated General Hummel, who Is so upset that the families of some of those who died under his command were not given military death benefits, that he is ready to vapourise millions of San Franciscans unless the government comes up with a million dollars for each wronged family and multi-millions more for his ex-Marine mercenaries.

The FBI teams chemicals expert Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage), who can defuse the rockets, with the only man who ever escaped Alcatraz - lifer John Patrick Mason (Sean Connery) to solve the problem.

The movie is awash in explosives, special effects and murderous mayhem in which violence is glorified as the right stuff of he-man heroics.

Of course, the bad guys are seen as evil, but all sorts of gruesome deaths await them, with the audience expected to cheer on time.

Due to excessive violence, a brief bedroom scene and constant rough language, the US Catholic Conference classification is 0 - morally offensive.

murders her elder daughter with Karen as the "unseeing" witness.

This is all the more dramatic and tense because of its contrast with the opening scenes.

This seems to be resolved when the murderer is caught.

However, despite overwhelming evidence, he is set free on a technicality.

The film then moves through a series of complications and minor resolutions during which Karen tries to come to terms with not only her daughter's brutal death, but the perceived injustice of a system which can allow the murderer to be set free.

How she does this poses questions that threaten the fabric of Catholic teachings on morality and underlines the concernI had personally with my reading of the film.

photo °vs/pant.: Sally Reid meets eye-b-ere with Kiefer Sutherland, who portrays a sociopathic killer, in -Eye for an Eye." The viewer was asked to identify with the vigilante attitude of seeking retribution - an eye for an eye.

Through the use of clever cinematic techniques I was manipulated to not only agree with, but even to applaud Karen when she directed abuse at Detective Sergeant Joe Denillo (Joe Mantegna) for being incompetent simply because he had to work by the book_ During the one short scene when she takes "justice" into her

own hands, a real feeling of affirmation is generated. In acting terms Sally Field, twice an Academy Award winner for "Places in the Heart" and "Norma Rae", certainly gives another performance of that standard.

Keifer Sutherland's portrayal of Doob is convincingly threatening and repulsive, with Ed Harris as the husband clearly showing he is also award material.

The screenplay for Eye for an Eye was based on a novel of the same name written by Erika

Holzer. The film was directed by John Schlesinger and produced

by Michael Levy.

It remains a primary concern of mine," Levy says, "that the current system of justice doesn't appear to really fulfil the rights of the innocent." He might be right but I will never be convinced that the message should be, as this film clearly suggests, that to take the law into one's own hands is the way to seek justice Not recommended for family viewing.

Witchcraft: beware women with black nails

T

he Craft (Columbia) is a dopey horror flick set in a co-ed Catholic high school where four of the girls become witches.

It seems newcomer Sarah (Robin Tunney) is a "natural" If reluctant witch, so three eager would-be witches latch on to her and soon they are able to cast spells on classmates who bug them.

A blonde racist (Christine Taylor) starts going bald after making cracks about witch Rochelle's (Rachel True) kinky hair.

A student (Skeet Ulrich) who lied to the guys about bedding Sarah now grovels before her.

Nasty Nancy (Fairuza Balk), the

witchiest of the quartet, gives her abusive stepdad the evil eye and he keels over. When things start getting so deadly, and Sarah sees the other three are on a sick power trip, she wants out.

The trio suggests suicide as an appropriate exit, setting the stage for a final battle of wills.

Despite a big-studio budget, cowriter/director Andrew Fleming has turned out a schlocky horror movie whose low point involves unleashing thousands of snakes, maggots and worms on luckless viewers.

Almost as bad is Ms Balk's shrill performance as lead witch Nancy Perhaps she felt any subtlety would be out of character for a

character who sports raccoonlike eye makeup over a chalkwhite face, maroon lips and jetblack nails.

Viewers will quickly wish they could put the broom to her hammy theatrics.

Catholicism seems to have no impact on the students of St Benedict's Academy; one and all are mean-spirited and quick to put down their peers.

However, there is no real spiritual dimension to the film Nancy just makes murky references to Manon, a fictional deity whom she invokes to possess her.

There was certainly no need to specify they attend a Catholic school, as the setting has no bearing on the plot.

Early on the screenplay makes some attempt to capture Sarah's teen-age angst as new kid on the block and the three girls' defensive behaviour since they are scorned by the 'in-crowd.'

But this soon gives way to the cliches of filming witchcraft rituals by candlelight as the camera circles the girls ad nauseam.

The trashy climax involves a lot of silly levitations and =convincing hysterics, but by then the audience will have already concluded "The Craft" is daft.

Because of some stylised violence, brief sexual innuendo, several crude expressions and an instance of rough language and profanity, the US Catholic Conference classification is A-Ill

Lots of flesh but no body Little green men and flying bathtubs iaf•ls to impress

Ft pic Italian film-maker Bernardo Bertolucci (The (arheritI ld:la el:TI)allr(e)%cvosvivdyeerrs•(gri F Last Emperor, Little Moffett) while her parents find s global warming really the Buddha) returned to Italy after 15 renewed interest in each other. work of little green men years and the result is the surA discouraged personal advice already on earth and hastenprisingly small-scale "Stealing columnist (Stefania Sandrelli) Beauty" (Fox Searchlight). rediscovers love with a younger ing our demise?

This is the question Charlie Set in a rustic hilltop villa in man (Carlo Cecchi).

Sheen asks and answers as the Tuscany, the beauty of the film And after several false starts stems from both the lush coun- Lucy's father is revealed and she renegade hero of "The Arrival" tryside and a newly arrived 19- finds the romance she was seek- (Orion).

Government astronomer Zane year-old American, Lucy (Liv ing with a longtime if unexpected Ziminski (Sheen) has been Tyler), staying with her late poet- admirer. neglecting girlfriend Char (Teri mother's artistic friends, who are Aside from the visual volup- Polo) in favour of tracking radio mostly English.

Sculptor Ian (Donal McCann) is tuousness of the gorgeous cine- signals from deep space, in to paint Lucy's portrait while his matography and luminous light- hopes of determining if we are wife Diana (Sinead Cusack) ing, Bertolucci's indulgent movie alone in the solar system.

He gets audio proof of alien life tends to their other guests, seems almost silly.

As we never really get a handle but instead of a pat on the back including terminally ill writer on Lucy's inner life, the centre of from his stony NASA boss, Gordy Alex (Jeremy Irons).

Lucy confides in Alex that she is the movie becomes the way the (Ron Silver), he gets laid off and on a dual mission, to determine camera worships her long limbs, his tape is confiscated.

This convinces him a governwho is her biological father and lithe figure and doe eyes.

The production is beautifully ment conspiracy is afoot, espeto lose her virginity.

Soon everyone living at or vis- staged, but with such a narrowly cially when his backup tape is iting the villa is speculating focused narrative, it ends up as a destroyed - along with his hapabout whom Lucy will choose as merely a high-class coming-of- less assistant (Richard Schiff). her first lover, and, with stat- age movie with scant transformAssembling his own tracking uesque Lucy's looks, there is no ing substance. devices in his garage under shortage of volunteers, young or Due to several sexual encoun- the curious gaze of the kid next old. ters, some full nudity, casual door (Tony Johnson), the increasAs sex seems to be on the mind drug use and intermittent profan- ingly paranoid astronomer disof everyone at the villa, thanks to ity and rough language, the covers suspicious signals emaLucy's energising presence, there US Catholic Conference classifi- nating from central Mexico. are some positive developments. cation is A-IV - adults, with reserThere he encounters another Ian and Diane's daughter vations. scientist (Lindsay Crouse) who

The Record, August 1 1996 Page 10

I

has learned that the greenhouse effect is accelerating alarmingly.

Most shocking of all, Zane realises a top-secret corporation operating deep in the jungle is actually peopled by aliens in human disguise.

Back in the States, he concludes it's all a plot to colonise Earth.

As written and directed by David Throhy, this would-be scifi thriller has minimal suspense.

Much is revealed up front and what isn't can easily be guessed long before it is shown.

In between plot holes as large as space's black holes, and the sheer predictability of the narrative, viewers are stuck with Sheen's wooden acting which consists of one expression only - wide-eyed intensity.

Sheen's character actually announces he has made the most monumental discovery of the 20th century; unfortunately, it is portrayed within one of the least impressive flicks of the decade.

Due to stylised violence, fleeting nudity, profanity and an instance of rough language, the US Catholic Conference classification is A-HI - adults.

International Features

The unusual case of the Pope who resigned

By John Thavis

/

n a central Italian hill town about an hour's drive from Rome, the flowers are piling high around the tomb of St Celestine V this year, the 700th anniversary of his death.

He was a hermit, the founder of a religious order and a spiritual reformer.

Yet he is remembered most for the epitaph history wrote: the Pope who resigned.

The popular impression, then and now, is that a Pope serves until he dies.

A papacy can last 34 days, as in the case of Pope John Paul I, or 31 years, as when Pope Pius IX reigned, but to most minds the term is fixed by God, not by human considerations.

As St Celestine showed, however, it is also possible for a Pope to simply step aside.

A 69-year-old mountain-dwelling ascetic, Peter of Morrone was an unlikely candidate for the papacy in 1294.

Pope John Paul I: another short-lived papacy, but brought on by death rather than personal decision.

But with a conclave still deadlocked after two years of debate, the cardinals were ready for a compromise.

Influenced by Charles II of Anjou, King of Naples, the cardinals took Peter of Morrone from his hermitage, rode him in procession on a donkey and crowned him pontiff.

It was seen as the start of a new site. realise that in modern times era of reform.

Not everyone considered him a medical reasons are far more He took the name Pope hero, however; Dante, in what likely to prompt a resignation.

Celestine V. and his first appoint- is taken as a reference to Pope That has raised a new hypoments betrayed rather close Celestine, placed him in the thetical problem: What if a Pope vestibule of the inferno for hav- is too ill or incapacitated to tendependence on Charles' advice.

Historians also agree that, ing made "the great refusal." der his resignation in the manner although a very holy man, he Scholars have also debated the foreseen by canon law? quickly proved himself an inef- modern lessons to be drawn Pope Celestine had to face politfective administrator. from Pope Celestine's abdication. ical, not medical, problems.

After five months, the new Pope While the circumstances were Some today might consider it decided he couldn't take the not ideal, his act provided an unethical that the man who conpolitical pressures and couldn't important precedent for Church vinced him to leave office cope with the powerful curial law. became his successor. machinery.

The revised Code of Canon But no one questioned it then, Encouraged by a powerful car- Law, in fact, notes the possibiland Pope Boniface VIII turned dinal (who turned out to be his ity of a Pope resigning. a great Pope. Jesuit successor, Pope Boniface VIII), It must be done freely and out to be Graham. a Vatican Robert Father Pope Celestine issued a constitu- "duly manifested," but it need not historian. said. tion declaring a Pope's right to be accepted by anyone.

Few consider St Celestine a resign.

No other rules are laid down, Pope. But in L'Aquila. great this And three days later, he did. but canon lawyers say Celestine returned to his her- means a Pope would have to a week-long celebration this mitage. communicate his decision in August will recall his edict But Pope Boniface thought it writing to the College of Card- on forgiveness, in which he best to keep him under house inals, or orally in the presence of begged for an end to fratricidal fighting in the region. two witnesses. arrest until his death in 1296.

It was a typical act of this holy The resignation would take Less than 20 years later he was unworldly man, for whom and immediately. saint, and, today, effect declared a If Pope Celestine left under the the papal crown was never a his resting place in the town of Aquila is a minor pilgrimage pressures of the job, experts good fit.

Inventors honour US priest-scientist for synthetic rubber

B

eginning in 190Z Holy Cross Father Julius Nieuwland, a University of Notre Dame scientist, began conducting experiments that eventually led to the discovery of the formula for synthetic rubber.

Now, almost 90 years later, the priest will be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio.

In September ceremonies, he'll join Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Eli Whitney, Samuel Morse, Orville and Wilbur Wright, Louis Pasteur and Henry Ford in the hall of fame, established in 1973.

Born in Belgium in 1878, Julius

Nieuwland was brought to South Bend. Indiana. as an infant by his parents.

He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1899. and in 1903 he was ordained as a member of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, the order that founded the universi41.

Four years later, in his laboratory at Notre Dame, Father Nieuwland began conducting experiments with acetylene.

He noticed that when the colourless gas was passed into a solution of copper and alkali metal chlorides, the reaction produced a gas with an extremely noxious odour.

Over the next 13 years, he continued his research, and in 1920. he was able to alter the compound's composition to form an oil in addition to the malodorous gas.

Further altering these compounds then resulted in a type of synthetic rubber.

When Father Nieuwland casually mentioned his work at the American Chemical Society's 1925 Organic Chemistry symposium in Rochester, New York, the news brought an immediate reaction from chemists at DuPont who had been conducting their own experiments to produce synthetic rubber.

In 1928, the priest entered a written agreement with the DuPont chemical company saying he could continue his research and that any and all inventions he made would be assigned to DuPont.

By 1930 Father Nieuwland, his coresearcher, Richard Vogt, and chemists from DuPont. developed a highly elastic material very similar to rubber.

Father Nieuwland, who was also a highly respected botanist, secured two patents to cover his technology for producing synthetic rubber, but under the terms of the 1928 agreement, the patents were the property of the DuPont company.

Just five months after the issuance of the two patents. DuPont announ-

Catholics and Pentecostals meet to talk evangelisation

V

ATICAN CITY (CNS) Catholic and Pentecostal leaders met for a week in mid-July in northern Italy to discuss their differences and common interests in evangelisation.

It was the most recent in a series of conferences involving leaders of the two groups.

Now in its fourth phase, the Roman Catholic-Pentecostal Dialogue is focusing on evangelisation, or spreading the Gospel.

Details were summarised in a brief statement made available to the press at the Vatican on July 25 after the week-long meeting in Bressanone, Italy.

The Catholic Church is the world's largest Christian group, and the Pentecostals are gaining numbers faster than any other Christian group.

During the 1990s, Pentecostals have created a number of programs

aimed at evangelising the world.

Pope John Paul has put special emphasis on the subject with an eye toward the approach of the year 2000.

Sometimes where their evangelisation efforts have overlapped, most notably in Latin America, Catholics and Pentecostals have raised charges of proselytism and persecution against each other.

Participants in the most recent interfaith meeting included members of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and leaders of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada and the US-based Assemblies of God. The group plans to draft a report on its findings. According to the press statement, it is already evident that Catholics and Pentecostals can form closer ties "provided they can develop further patience and trust with each other."

ced the first commercial production of the substance, which the company called Neoprene.

There was little demand for it throughout most of the 1930s, and Father Nieuwland, who died of a heart attack in 1936, never saw its practical application.

In World War II. because the Japanese had control over natural rubber sources. Neoprene proved invaluable to the Allied forces.

Today. Neoprene is a general purpose synthetic rubber used in products ranging from water faucet washers to gasoline pump hoses to adhesive strips on disposable diapers.

Father Julius Nieuwland (left) oversees experiments in his laboratory Fria° a/swose Dame at the University of Notre Dame in the early 1900s.

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International News

In Brief Patriarch dies ATHENS, Greece (CNS) Greek Orthodox Patriarch Parthenios III of Alexandria and All Africa, a committed ecumenical leader, died on July 23 of a heart attack at the age of 76.

The patriarch, who was one of the presidents of the World Council of Churches and was instrumental in settling a recent disagreement between the patriarchs of Constantinople and Russia, died while vacationing on Arnorgos, a Greek island.

Veto urged in US WASHINGTON (CNS) -The US Catholic bishops have urged President Clinton to veto sweeping welfare reform legislation approved by Congress because it "falls far short of the bishops' criteria for genuine reform," said the head of the bishops' twin conferences.

In a letter hand-delivered to the White House on July 26, Bishop Anthony PiIla of Cleveland said the bishops support "more personal responsibility and community Initiatives," but that the recent legislation "undermines the national safety net, reduces resources for hungry families and unfairly targets legal immigrants."

Bishop guilty VANCOUVER, British Columbia (CNS) - Bishop Hubert O'Connor, former bishop of Prince George, British Columbia, was found guilty on one count of rape and one count of indecent assault in the British Columbia Supreme Court July 25.

He was found not guilty of a second charge of indecent assault and another charge of rape. Sentencing is scheduled for September 9.

The offenses occurred about 30 years ago while Bishop O'Connor, an Oblate priest, was principal at the Cariboo Indian Residential School near Williams Lake.

Meeting unclear ROME (CNS) - Pope John Paul Il ls unlikely to have a historic summit with the Russian Orthodox patriarch of Moscow in September as many ecumenists had hoped, sources in Hungary and at the Vatican aid in late-July.

There has been no definitive word from the Vatican Press Office whether Patriarch Alexei and the Pope will meet In Hungary.

Hospital threat CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) - Although abortion on demand is likely to be available in South Africa later this year, Catholic hospitals are unlikely to be affected by the change in the law.

Officials at private and subsidised Catholic hospitals have supported the threat of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference to close Catholic hospitals rather than allow them to be used for abortions.

Cardinal chides colleague NEW YORK (CNS) - Cardinal John O'Connor of New York has raised questions about a speech by Archbishop John Quinn in which the retired San Francisco prelate said that for the sake of Christian unity the Roman Curia should be reformed and changes made in the way papal primacy is exercised.

"I respectfully question how many issues (raised in the speech) are the impediments to unity that the archbishop perceives them to be," Cardinal O'Connor said in his July 25 column in Catholic New York his arc.hdiocesan newspaper.

The cardinal, whose weekly column usually runs around half a tabloid page and occasionally a full page, devoted an unprecedented three pages to his column on the speech, which Archbishop Quinn delivered on June 29 at Oxford University in England.

Archbishop Quinn based the theme of his address on the call

by Pope John Paul II, in his 1995 encyclical on Christian unity, for "all the pastors and theologians of our churches" to explore together ways in which papal primacy might be better exercised in the service of

Cardinal John O'Connor

Christian unity. Cardinal O'Connor commented, "I had personally interpreted the Pope's call to dialogue in this encyclical as an invitation to 'church leaders and their theologians' of other Christian persuasion, rather than to Roman Catholics.

"Archbishop Quinn clearly considers it to be a call to Roman Catholic bishops, theologians and others to make recommendations to the Pope."

"I am not sure our differences in interpretation are unimportant," he added.

In his Oxford address Archbishop Quinn cited a wide range

of current issues in the church as cise primacy today in respect to matters the world's bishops other Christian churches is should be able to discuss fully advanced by exploring the long but are inhibited by "the way list of specific issues the archissues are dealt with by the bishop raises."

Curia."

He said the distinction ArchbisAmong specific areas he cited hop Quinn made between colwere clerical celibacy, women's laboration and collegiality was role in the church, the role of "interesting" and encouraged the bishops' conferences, general archbishop "to pursue from a absolution, liturgical incultura- theological or ecclesiological tion, ordination of women, con- perspective the distinction he traception, and the way the Curia makes." has dealt with such issues as the Cardinal O'Connor questioned "Catechism of the Catholic Archbishop Quinn's view of variChurch" and the priest shortage. ous popular controversies in the Regarding many concrete Church in which the archbishop issues on which Archbishop said that the Curia's approach Quinn expressed concern over poses an obstacle to church unity.

"First, my surprise at attributing the way Church authority is exercised and its impact on Christian the decline in numbers of priests unity, Cardinal O'Connor said, "I in any way to the Curia," the carquestion whether they would be dinal wrote. the issues addressed by non"I simply don't understand that Roman Catholic Christian church one.... I do not know of any other leaders and theologians in resp- bishop who has cited any obstaonse to the Pope's call for dia- cles to vocations caused by the logue."

Curia."

On the question of celibacy the is my own conviction," he "It added, "that the crucial obstacles cardinal asked, "Could it really to Christian unity remain doctri- be discussed much more than it nal, including the very concept of has been?" the primacy of the Pope, and not "The ordination of women? Is it simply the mode of exercising discussion of the subject that is the primacy.... I question that this needed, or a clear explanation of search for the best way to exer- church teaching?" he asked.

. . . . And archbishop buys into the debate MILWAUKEE (CNS) the Orthodox-Catholic TheologiArchbishop Rembert Weakland cal Consultation in the United of Milwaukee has called a recent States and the US Joint speech on the papacy and Commission of Orthodox and Church unity by retired San Catholic Bishops.

Francisco Archbishop John Archbishop Quinn had urged Quinn a "profound and wise reform of the Roman Curia, analysis of the church today." more consultation with and par"Archbishop Quinn has opened ticipation of the world's bishops the needed discussion on the in the actual exercise of papal right issues, issues that will not primacy, a restructuring of the go away and that are very world Synod of Bishops to make much at the heart of the ecu- It more effective, and use of menical dialogue," he said in his the principle of subsidiarity to July 11 column in his archdioce- promote more participation in san newspaper, the Catholic Church governance at the local Herald. level.

Archbishop Weakland particuHe also suggested the convenlarly praised Archbishop Quinn's ing of a new ecumenical council comments on ways the primacy to open the third millennium of the Pope might be exercised with a frank discussion by the differently "to make this Petrine world's bishops of key issues facministry less of an obstacle ing the Church and the world. to unity."

Archbishop Wealdand suggest"What he said openly can often ed that much of what his colbe heard in the dialogue with the league said would find resoOrthodox, especially in the corri- nance with Orthodox leaders. dors," said Archbishop Weak"The Orthodox have less of a land. problem with the question of The Milwaukee prelate is papal infallibility than with the Catholic co-chairman of both way the pope exercises a univer-

sal jurisdiction over the whole church," he wrote.

"In this they are very 'republican' and emphasise the rights of the local churches. We would say that they believe strongly in the doctrine of subsidiarity within the Church."

He said on the issue of "less control and interference by the Curia" in matters of local church governance, Archbishop Quinn "articulated again something that was much discussed during Vatican Council II and in the decades that followed but that did not lead to positive results."

"The Synod of Bishops was to be this ongoing forum. It has proved a useful, but very limited, symposium on restricted topics with no governance role," Archbishop Weakland said.

He said consultation with priests and laity on the selection of bishops "has been reduced greatly" since the early years following Vatican II. He said a "happy medium" is urgently needed between "one

extreme" of election of bishops by "everyone in the local church" and "the other extreme (of) the appointment of the bishops by Rome without sufficient involvement and trust on the part of the local Church."

He said that among "neuralgic points" of controversy in the Church, which Archbishop Quinn said should be addressed in an ecumenical council, were "many that a few of us bishops in the United States had listed as urgent" in a paper last year on issues facing the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Archbishop Weakland expressed reservations about a new ecumenical council, however.

"Although I see much wisdom in the suggestion ... I am not sure that we can have another such council in the West without posing the question of ecumenical participation," he said.

"Whose council would it be?

The Orthodox would be unenthusiastic about another council of the West only."

Japanese bishop condemns Timor invasion UNITED NATIONS (CNS) - A ous secular groups also sharply During the colonial period, tering power. Bishop Okada's Japanese bishop has accused criticised Indonesia's behaviour Indonesia, which is the world's statement, read by a Franciscan Indonesia of "invasion and cruel and supported the right of self- largest predominantly Muslim representative at the United oppression" of the people of East determination for the people of nation, was ruled by the Nations, Sister Mary Theresa Timor and called for an end to its East Timor.

Netherlands, while the eastern Plante, complained about "the "acts of terror."

They spoke on July 23 to a UN part of the island of Timor was a international society which has In a statement to the United body called the Special Comm- Portuguese colony and devel- for so long ignored the tragedy of Nations, Bishop Peter Takeo ittee on the Situation with Regard oped a separate, largely Catholic the Timorese people."

Okada of Urawa, president of the to the Implementation of the identity. Indonesia won its indeThe statement also said retired Japanese Catholic Council for Declaration on the Granting of pendence after the Second Bishop Aloysius Nobuo Soma of Justice and Peace, said the coun- Independence to Colonial Coun- World War, and inherited West Nagoya, had twice been refused cil receives "detailed daily infor- tries and Peoples.

Timor. entry into East Timor recently. mation" directly from East Timor The committee is commonly When the dictatorship fell in "Both times were to participate in of human rights violations that known as the Committee of 24.

Portugal in 1974, an indepen- religious functions with no politiwere of a "hamming nature."

It meets annually at UN head- dence movement including com- cal overtones," Bishop Oka-da The bishop spoke mostly in quarters in New York and deals munist elements developed in said. general terms about the viola- with such questions as disputes East Timor.

Vincent Comiskey, Pax Christi's tions, but other statements con- over the Falklands/Malvinas Fearing a communist enclave representative, read a statement tained allegations of killings, and Gibraltar, as well as East on its borders, among other rea- for the London-based Catholic rapes, imprisonments and other Timor. sons, Indonesia took East Timor Institute for International acts of oppression.

Indonesia is a committee mem- over the next year, and in 1976 Relations that also spoke of East Pax Christi International, the ber, and its representative, Tito made it an Indonesian province. Timorese fears of sterilisation Catholic Institute for Internation- Dos Santos Baptista, objected to But Portugal has not recognised and coercive family planning al Relations, the Kairos-Plow- taking up the East Timor ques- the legality of that action, and programs in government health shares Community and numer- tion but was not supported. remains technically the adminis- facilities.

The Record, August 1 1996 Page 12

International News

Artificial contraception 'part of death culture' University in Washington and is the son, he said. Natural family planning is the was held to educate teachers of natural Michael McGivney professor of moral the- only form of birth regulation approved by family planning and provide them with information on the latest research in the DENVER (CNS) - Artificial contraception ology at the John Paul II Institute for the the Catholic Church.

The different methods all share two field. "is an integral component of the culture of Study of Marriage.

In his 60-minute presentation, May com- basic elements: monitoring of the Other topics discussed included studies death," while natural family planning "is an essential ingredient in building the pared the understanding of the human woman's monthly fertility cycle and absti- on the effectiveness of natural family plancivilisation of life," said a speaker at a person and human sexuality held by those nence during her fertile period except ning, scientific and ethical issues and the connection between the transmission meeting of the American Academy who advocate artificial contraception and when the couple wants to have a baby. that held by those who advocate natural The American Academy of Natural of life and the trans-mission of faith in the of Natural Family Planning. family planning.

Family Planning, which has about 250 family.

The speaker, William May, gave a preAccording to May, the "contraceptive individual members and 13 organisational Other speakers included Judie Brown, sentation on "Natural Family Planning and mentality" views the procreative dimen- members, was founded in 1981 to "foster president of the American Life League in the Moral Life" at the academy's 15th sion of sex as a subhuman aspect to be advance and promote quality natural fam- Stafford, virginia, and Dr Thomas Hilgers, annual meeting, held in Denver from July overcome by human reason. ily planning through service, education, a physician who is founder and director of 17-20.

But in natural family planning, sexuality, leadership and research." the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of It drew about 80 participants. May teach- in its unitive and procreative dimensions, According to Dominican Sister Julianna Human Reproduction, based in Omaha, es moral theology at The Catholic is an integral aspect of the human per- Jervis, academy president, the conference Nebraska

By Cheryl Doyle-Ruffing

Pope right to reject 'personal morality': Carey

By Gene Stowe WIRE DAME, Indiana. (CNS) - Anglican Archbishop George Carey of Canterbury, England, said in a July 24 lecture at the University of Notre Dame he agreed with Pope John Paul ll's urging of Christians to reject a cultural emphasis on personal morality.

Archbishop Carey referred to the Pope's 1994 encyclical "Veritatis Splendor" ("The Splendor of Mirth") as he criticised privatised morality in his talk, 'The Mission of the Church in a Postmodern World."

"Each chooses on the bases of his or her individual rational will - that is the secular moral philosopher's dream - without any recourse to tradition or convention," Archbishop Carey said.

"And yet, the Holy Father rightly points out that many social scientists have been arguing for years that individuals are not free to choose at all - their lives and Ideas are thoroughly determined."

This results in an "extraordinary dilemma in secular culture," he said, because individual choice has become "the hallmark of modern, or post-modern, morality, and yet individual choice is apparently no longer possible."

That bleak confusion is part of the postmodern world where, Archbishop Carey said, ideologies have collapsed and society has rejected absolute truth and people have lost hope.

"Western capitalism has not triumphed, not because people have accepted capitalism as a better ideology but because it is hoped it will deliver the goods," he said.

"Likewise, the religious quest can so easily centre in the search for 'what works for me' rather than what is true or false."

Archbishop Carey said churches must minister to that world by upholding traditional values, renewing worshipping communities and offering sacrificial service to the world.

"I firmly believe that in a world where there is no agreement about shared values, and where a culture of contempt so often holds sway, the Church's mission will be found to be increasingly relevant and important,- he said.

"When such affirmation is lived out, we may well find the Church able to speak authentically in ways in which up to now we have been unable to do."

He said science and technology have failed to make life secure, as evidenced recently by the crash of TWA Flight 800, and many people who assume death is the

end are left in despair, he added.

Christianity offers a different view, said Archbishop Carey.

"God has given us dignity, he has Oven us morality, because he has set eternity in our hearts.

He has made us in the image and likeness of Almighty God." Archbishop Carey, who taught a weeklong course on Episcopal Christianity at Notre Dame, noted that he recently started a debate in England's House of Lords on morality and the schools.

"I argued that the West has found the heart of shared values in the Judeo-Christian tradition of ethics which has shaped my culture and has shaped your culture," he said.

He said he was addressing pea ple of all faiths, and "none agreed with my proposition that a society and civilisation simply cannot survive for long without a strong sense of shared values," the archbishop said.

"The publicity I received and the debate that is still going on suggests that a nerve was touched. Most people need little convincing that when morals becomes a matter of individual choice, civilisation itself is threatened.

"Family values boil down to these Christian values which are basically there in the Ten Commandments."

extended, but only with the consent of the embryos' parents.

Problems arise for fertility clinics which, in the course of the last five years, have lost contact with their patients.

Because they cannot extend the storage period without consent of the patients, thousands of embryos will have to be destroyed or allowed to perish.

The Vatican newspaper, in a lengthy article on the fate of frozen embryos on July 22, noted that some Catholics have proposed that women other than the natural mother adopt the embryos and carry them to term.

The article said the idea of "prenatal adoption" had the merit of protecting the life of the embry-

os, and would seem to give more complete significance to the concept of adoption.

But in the end, the solution of adoption might paradoxically end up promoting the very type of embryo manipulation that created the problem, it said.

Cardinal George Basil Hume, archbishop of Westminster, commented on the issue in a letter to The Independent newspaper published on July 20.

"The bizarre prospect of so many surplus embryos being created and then destroyed betrays the moral bankruptcy of our society in denying the intrinsic value of all human life," he wrote.

Embryos to die in UK deadline MANCHESIlit, England (CNS) - August 1, 1996, will mark a grim day in the history of the British pro-life movement.

On that day up to 3,000 frozen embryos are due to be destroyed In fertility clinics across the countlY The prospect arises from legislation passed by the British Parliament in 1990 that permitted the use of embryos for experimentation, and established rules for the treatment of embryos produced for in vitro fertilisation.

Parliament agreed that from August 1, 1991, embryos could be stored, deep frozen, for a maximum of five years.

Parliament has since agreed that this storage limit may be

Massacres of innocents horror condemned

A Hutu woman displaced by recent fighting in Burundi listens to a message of peace during a church service in Bujumbura on July 28. Hutus pr. „Ns Feuteis have expressed anger and fear at the military coup.

By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) - For the second time in just over a week, Pope John Paul II has publicly appealed for prayers for the people of Burundi.

"Increasingly worrying news comes from Burundi, where the population continues to experience great trial," the Pope said after reciting the Sunday midday Angelus prayer with visitors to his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, outside of Rome.

"I am close to those who suffer, and while prayers for that dear nation become more incessant, I invite everyone in the name of the Lord to work with courage for the re-establishment of agreement and peace," the Pope said.

On July 20, the Pope condemned the massacre of hundreds of ethnic Tutsis in Burundi and the forced repatriation of thousands of ethnic Hutus who fled to Burundi after ethnic warfare broke out in Rwanda.

The Pope said then the massacre of over 300 displaced Tutsis, mostly women and children, in the Bugendana refugee camp and the Burundi government's plan to expel 85,000 Rwandan Hutu refugees "cannot but give rise to horror and firm disapproval."

Pope John Paul appealed to the Tutsi-led government of Burundi and the international community to take decisive steps to end the ethnic violence which has flared repeatedly since April 1994 and has killed hundreds of thousands.

"Burundi continues to sink into an abyss of violence which reaps its victims among the most defenceless people - children, women, old people - and which smothers the voice of the

more moderate individuals and social forces," the Pope said on July 24 at the end of his weekly general audience.

The Pope called on Burundi's leaders "to put into place without delay or hesitation every possible initiative so that civil dialogue would prevail over the abominable logic of ethnic fighting."

Asking those at the audience to pray for the living and the dead in Burundi. the Pope said, "May God help all the people of Burundi consider themselves brothers and sisters who must love each other because they are children of the same God." The United Nations and its office for refugees also condemned the forced repatriation of Rwandan Hutus which the Masi-dominated government of Burundi began on July 19.

At least three people, including a baby, died of suffocation after being jammed into trucks for transportation to the Rwandan border.

The office of the UNHCR said on July 23 that the government had agreed to stop the repatriation program temporarily.

Meanwhile, the bishop of Bujumbura, Burundi, has received death threats repeatedly but, despite a coup by the llitsi-dominated military, Bishop Simon Ntamwana said he intends to stay put.

"There have been some episodes of violence, but unfortunately that's the norm," the Hutu bishop told Milan-based Catholic newspaper Avvenire.

Bishop Ntamwana said: "I must stay here in the midst of my flock" "Perhaps I can even intervene to calm souls. It's important that I remain; I think that is the necessary attitude of a pastor."

The Record, August 1 1996 Page 13

Features

New Catechism to help re-evangelise countries that have lost the Faith Continued from Page 8 The Catechism affirms that by the use of reason a person can recognise the duty to do good and avoid evil.

God's command makes itself heard in the voice of conscience which must be followed.

It is to be properly formed in the light of the Word of God and the authentic teachings of the Church.

In this, the Catechism is obviously pointing to our objective moral order which is independent of us, and in which "there are acts which, in and of themselves, independently of circumstances and intentions, are always gravely illicit by reason of their object; such as blasphemy and perjury, murder and adultery". (1756) The secular view is quite otherwise.

In rejecting the existence of an objective moral order it makes all morality ultimately subjective.

Laws are framed to protect and uphold values that the consensus or majority of the people hold in common, but reference to God as the source of right and wrong is rejected.

We see this at work in debates about euthanasia, abortion and embryo manufacture and disposal.

The matter is even worse than that.

Without God, conscience does not simply seek the truth but makes it true.

If one believes that adultery or suicide is right for him or her, then that judgement makes it right.

The law then becomes the practical arbiter of right and wrong, in the absence of any more objective source.

We become the creator of what is right and wrong.

Was this not the sin of Adam and Eve? Without God, morality becomes personal, subjective and ultimately anarchic because others may not arrive at the same judgement as we do.

What is the evangelising role of the Church in this area?

Veritatis Splendor (1993) insisted on the existence of absolutes in morality.

It supports the Catechism in asking that this affirmation be part of the dialogue with modernity because the opposite is moral anarchy, with ultimately disastrous consequences to the human race.

Will the Church's voice be heard?

It is hard to say because of serious division among Catholic theologians.

For instance, there are many theologians who embrace the principle of proportionalism rather than absolutes in moral decisions.

In proportionalism one asks whether the positive values outweigh the negative values in human actions, and determine behaviour on the judgement made.

This is not far from the Protestant "situation ethics".

It was on the basis of proporlionalism that a number of Catholic theologians dissented from Humanae Vitae on the matter of contraception.

Those same people are very uncomfortable with the position taken in Veritatis Splendor.

It remains to be seen whether Catholic theologians can find agreement on the principles of Veritatis Splendor.

If not, the dialogue with the world on ethics and morality will be less persuasive.

Nevertheless the Church has given us a clear lead on the principles of moral action, sufficient to encourage us to enter the dialogue with the secularists.

It must be pointed out, lest it be forgotten in the discussion of 'life' issues, that Catholic moral positions cover the whole range of human behaviour and critical Issues from personal sexual morality to issues of social justice.

There is no justification for Catholics being concerned for matters of sexual morality while remaining indifferent to social justice concerns and vice-versa.

ships. Homosexual unions, even "marriages" are not necessarily excluded.

This Report is to be presented, after comments are received, to the Eighth Assembly of the Uniting Church which will meet in Perth in July 1997.

The Task Force has carefully examined modern attitudes to sexuality and framed a possible response. Many are urging the Catholic Church to do the same.

Nor can we presume that civil legislation will support the traditional Catholic teachings.

Human Sexuality The teaching of the Church and the ways of the world are seriously at odds on the matter of human sexuality.

Rejection of Church teaching is coming not only from secular sources but also from within.

I quote from The Tablet of 6th July 1996, from an article written by Kevin Morris: "Why have Catholics fallen away from the Church since the 1960s? A possible reason is that since the Second World War, and particularly since the sexual revolution of the 1980s, many who were Catholics have shared the general change in views on sex, while the Church has been reluctant to participate in the process".

The article claims that the Church's teaching on sexuality is narrow-minded, Pope Paul VI: his encyclical Humanae Vitae was indifferent to the struggles people have, based on moral absolutes as the sure way to and out of touch with the reality of peo- freedom based on truth. ple's lives, and therefore irrelevant.

There is before Federal Parliament at It concludes with the warning that if the present a Bill to amend the Equal Church's teaching does not better address Opportunity Legislation to outlaw discrimthe totality of the human person: "It is fair ination based on sexuality. to assume that even more Catholics would Many fear that this Bill will prevent any reject a life of guilt incurred by being the sexual creatures God created them, and criticism of lifestyles that do not accord with Church teaching, and give them legal Jump ship in order to preserve their sense protection and new rights. of personal integrity, dignity and freedom".

So, where does the Church stand in her Nor is there much unity among Christian role of evangelisation, of presenting the Churches anymore.

Good News about sex?

The Interim Report on Sexuality proShould it accept that its news about sex duced this year, 1996, by an Assembly is not good, that it binds people with guilt Task Group of the Uniting Church in and hatred of the body and undermines Australia, examines current attitudes to respect for the human person? sexuality and attempts to place them in a Or should it stand firm, engage in diamoral and Christian context. logue with the opposing forces in order to It is particularly concerned about the present her teachings as Good News? inclusion of gay, lesbian and bi-sexual The Catechism of the Catholic Church people in the Christian community. clearly believes that the teachings of the It also reflects on the admissibility of sex- Church on sexuality protect personal digual intercourse before marriage. nity, respect marriage, procreation and The Report affirms the primacy of per- true human love. sonal decisions in sexual activity, avoiding There is no hint that sexual activity is a any suggestion that any of these activities matter of personal choice. are wrong in themselves.

There are norms imprinted in human Decisions are to be based on asking key nature and expressed in Scripture that questions such as: point to an objective moral order that is to "How can our actions in this situation be sought and accepted. best reflect the love, faithfulness and grace Based on this objective external moral of God that comes in Jesus Christ?" order, the Catechism says about homosex"Will this sexual expression enrich and uality that "homosexual persons are called enhance the relationship?" to chastity". (2359) "Is the decision to engage in sexual It acknowledges the difficulties people behaviour a truly equal and mutual deci- have with sexuality, especially disordered sion?" tendencies, refuses to blame people for And so forth. (see p30 5.2.4) the tendencies that develop, but calls them [In their view] the moral boundaries of to live by the God-given norms that regusexual expression are set by the Word of late sexual behaviour.

God and the parameters of right relationTo make sexual activity of any kind a

matter of personal choice is to abrogate to oneself decisions about moral action that belong to God. The issue of contraception was perhaps the first and most crucial of the matters regarding the use of sex that challenged the Church internally and divided it from the rest of the world.

What should happen now?

If we are convinced that Church teaching is Good News for all, including homosexual, married and unmarried and divorced people, we have no alternative but to present the vision anew to our Catholic people and engage in dialogue with the world to present a view that we believe is far more beneficial to humanity than the current permissive views surrounding us.

Courage, prayer and serious theological reflection will be needed before we can spread this aspect of the Good News.

The Church will respond, I am sure. because holding views that are out of season has never intimidated her.

Conclusion

In summary, I have addressed only three issues, in the context of evangelisation.

1.The need to enter current debates hprause the collapse of alternative world views has made this the "Catholic Moment", 2.The need to present in a coherent and convincing manner the reality of a preexisting objective moral order that is the God-Oven source of right and wrong, and 3.The need to offer the Good News about human sexuality to the world.

There is, of course, much more. One could talk of the Catechesis that will lead us to acknowledge Jesus as Lord, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, or lead us along the great journey to eternal life through prayer, or talk of the entry into the divine mysteries that enlighten our minds, the words of Scripture that penetrate the heart, the nourishment of the Sacraments along the way and the joys of forgiveness and inner peace in the family or people of God. One could also look at the conversion to love which affects all relationships and carries over to a genuine love for the poor, and the call for human societies to respect the rights and dignity of every person.

Fundamentally, the Good News produces a deep and lasting change, a true conversion that turns one to God and to one another in love.

The three topics here have been chosen because they speak of the evangelical task of the Church in the modern world in areas where fundamental differences exist about right and wrong, about how moral decisions are made, and about the difficult questions surrounding human sexuality.

No amount of internal dissension nor unpopularity constitute unstumountable obstacles to the Church's call to evangelise.

After all, we have the promise of Jesus that "the gates of hell" will not prevail against her.

Archbishop of Canterbury supports Pope on criticism of 'personal morality' - Page 13

The Catechism of the Catholic Church The Holy Trinity in the teaching of the faith: Formation of the Trinitarian dogma 249 From the beginning, the revealed truth of the Holy 'ninny has been at the very root of the Church's living faith, principally by means of Baptism.

It finds its expression in the rule of baptismal faith, formulated in the preaching, catechesis, and prayer of the Church. Such formulations are already found in the apostolic writings, such as this salutation taken up in the Eucharistic liturgy: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."

250 During the first centuries the Church sought to clarify its

The Record, August 1 1996 Page 14

. rh

Trinitarian faith, both to deepen ogy with the help of certain its own understanding of the notions of philosophical origin: faith and to defend it against the "substance," "person" or errors that were deforming it. "hypostasis," "relation," and so This clarification was the work of on. the early councils, aided by the In doing this, she did not submit theological work of the Church the faith to human wisdom, but Fathers and sustained by the gave a new and unprecedented Christian people's sense of the meaning to these terms, which faith. from then on would be used to 251 In order to articulate the signify an ineffable mystery, "infidogma of the Trinity, the Church nitely beyond all that we can had to develop its own terminol- humanly understand."

252 The Church uses (I) the term "substance" (rendered also at times by "essence" or "nature") to designate the divine being in its unity, (II) the term "person" or "hypostasis" to designate the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the real distinction among them, and (III) the term "relation" to designate the fact that their distinction lies in the relationship of each to the others.

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Archdiocesan Panorama MARY MACKILLOP FEAST DAY A celebration of Mary MacKillop's Feast Day will be held on Thursday 8 August at the Mary MacKillop Centre, 16 York St, South Perth, commencing at 9.45 am with morning tea, a 10.15 am tour of the Mary MacKillop Centre, an 11.00 am Eucharist in the convent chapel, and a 12.00 lunch with the sisters. At 1.30 pm there is a reflection on reconciliation. The day concludes at 3.00 pm with afternoon tea. A Eucharist will also be held at Holy Family Church, Como at 7.30 pm on Thursday 8 August. RSVP by 5 August to Sr Wendy on Ph: (09) 474 3349 or Fax: (09) 368 2018.

$3 per line Approx. 3.5 words per line Discounts: For weekly insertion 15% Biweekly 10% Effective 11/6/96 1996 THANKS PRAYER to the Virgin Mary, never know to fail.

Oh most beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendour of heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin assist me in my necessity.

Oh Holy Mary Mother of God Queen of Heaven and Earth I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to secure me in my necessity. There are none that can withstand your power. Show me that you are my Mother. Oh Mary conceived without sin pray

CHARISMATIC HEALING MASS

for us to have recourse to thee (3 times). Holy Mary I place this cause in your hands (3 times). Thank you for your mercy towards me and mine. Amen.

Thanks to St Teresa of the Child Jesus, St Mary Euphrasia (Patroness of Youth), St Martin de Pauls. for prayers answered and success in final examination.

THANKS to Sacred Heart of Jesus, Our Lady of Lourdes. St Jude. Our Lady of Mejugorje, Padre Pio, and Father Laval for answering to my prayers.

Thank you all. T.P.

WANTED DAUGHTERS of Charity urgently need good quality nick-nacks, household goods, utensils, etc. Our shops are at: 561 Beaufort St Mt Lawley, 421 Oxford St Mt Hawthorn. 317 Williams St Northbridge, 12 Robinson St Rockingham or ring Sr Clare on 227 6616.

THANKS to Sacred Heart of Jesus. Blessed Virgin Mary, St Jude and St Anthony for health restored. M.D. THANK you St Jude for prayers answered. Diane.

C ATHOLIC PASTORAL WORKERS A SSOCIATION The Executive Committee of the CPWA has decided to offer the opportunity to bring together people working in Pastoral work within Parishes to share their experiences and ideas through a series of get togethers which will be conducted by facilitators with experience in these areas. The first ministry chosen is to be Pastoral Care for the Aged and house bound and will be offered at two centres, Innaloo and Willetton. The lnnaloo session will be held on Wednesday 28 August from 1.00 to 3.00 pm at St Dominic's Parish Centre. 19 Phillips Grove, lnnaloo: and the Willetton session will be held on Thursday 5 Sept from 10.00 am to 12.00 noon at the John Paul Centre, Orana Vahland Ave, Cnr Querrin Ave, Willetton. Please register by 7 August by contacting B O'Neill on (09) 446 5451 SOLEMN CELEBRATION OF GOLDEN JUBILEE On 22 August 1996 there will be a solemn celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the Coronation of Our Lady as Queen of the World at St Mary's Cathedral, Perth, commencing at 7.30 pm. There will be a candlelit procession of priests, religious and lay groups. concelebrated Holy Mass and crowning of the Pilgrim Virgin Statue by Archbishop Hickey. The International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima will be enshrined at the Cathedral from 9.30 am.

Rosaries on the hour, private veneration, talks. Evening events will be filmed for inclusion in an international video to be telecast world-wide 7 October 1996.

THANKS GLORY, praise and thanksgiving to the Blessed Trinity, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Queen and Mother of Mercy. St Joseph, St Jude and all the Saints and Angels for graces received. P.H.

Flame Ministries International presents a charismatic Mass for healing at St Denis Church, Roberts St. Joondanna on Sunday 11 August at 6.00 pm. The evening will consist of praise and worship, Holy Mass, and prayers for healing.

TAPESTRY OF GOD CHARISMATIC PRAYER GROUP Our meetings are now held at All Hallows Church Inglewood on Friday nights starting with Rosary at 7.00 pm. Further enquiries please ring Clare on (09) 378 2767.

EUCHARISTIC REPARATION The next Holy Hour for the World Apostolate of Fatima will be held on Sunday 11 August at 3.00 pm in St Vincent's Church, Gilmore Ave, Kwinana.

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HEALING MASS A Healing Mass in honour of 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, on Friday 16 August at 7.00 pm.

Veneration of the Relic and Anointing of the Sick. Contact Noreen Monaghan on (09) 332 8292.

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The Record, August 1 1996 Page 15

1

P The welcoming parish, a home for all families ortr4t̀t

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W

hat a welcoming parish!" visitors to Our Lady of the Mission parish in Whitfords often say.

The vitality, friendliness and enthusiasm which characterised the beginnings of the parish community are still evident and commented upon by visitors today.

The parish of Our Lady of the Mission had its humble origins in 1972 when the small but vibrant Catholic Community was ministered to by Fr Carlo Marchetti, from Wanneroo.

In 1974 Fr Nick McSweeney was appointed priest-in-charge of the Parochial District of Mullaloo.

The parish was given the title of Our Lady of the Mission.

The word "mission" was used in its broad sense referring specifically to the Blessed llinity - the sending forth of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son. Whitford Catholic Primary School was used as the Mass centre until the building and opening of the church in 1981.

The parish takes in the suburbs of Mullaloo, Beldon, Hillarys, Craigie, Kallaroo and Padbury.

Fr Tim Corcoran was appointed to succeed Fr McSweeney as Parish Priest in February 1987.

The parish continued to add on facilities to meet its growing needs.

In 1990 a new presbytery beside the church was built and later on a parish hall added.

In 1992 on the initiative of the members of the Marian Movement a Grotto was erected at the entrance of the church.

Donations of materials and vol-

unteer labour from within the parish made this possible.

The most recent building programme has been the completion of the church which commenced in July 1995.

Although the Blessing was not until January of 1996 the church was completed just in time to cater for the crowds at the Christmas masses.

Even with the additional space the Vigil Mass overflowed into the car park Soft colours from the stained glass windows in the side chapel add to the prayerful atmosphere of the church.

The spacious foyer provides a place for people to gather after mass and the extensions as a whole complete the church.

The parish has played a significant role in forming priests for the Archdiocese with a number of Seminarians and Deacons having been placed here, Fr Sean Fernandez returning as Assistant Priest.

There are two Catholic Primary Schools within the parish boundaries - Whitfords and Padbury.

Both are two stream Primary Schools including Pre-Primary classes.

An After School Programme caters for children from Government schools with classes each Thursday afternoon in the Whitfords School.

Many nationalities make up the parish family bringing a multicultural touch to parish celebrations.

It is encouraging to see large numbers of families with young children worshipping together.

A lively youth choir leads the

The Record, August 1 1996 Page 16

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Riled by light - Our Lady of the Mission church in Whitfords. music at the Vigil Mass, popular Since 1990 forty two adults mass among the young. have been received into the The parish also has a number Church during the Easter cereof groups focusing on apostolic monies, of these, thirteen works (Legion of Mary, St received the Sacrament of Vincent de Paul); prayer and Baptism. meditation (Marian Movement, The Sisters of Mercy have been Novena at Our Lady of Perpetual involved with the parish from its Succour, Meditation, Fatima beginnings, providing FoundatStatue in homes, Rosary Group); ion Principals for both schools as and mutual support (Focolare, well as aged care.

Majellans, Paulians).

In December 1975 the Convent A weekly Scripture class exam- was completed. Shortly after a ines the readings for the follow- number of aged Sisters took up ing Sunday. residence at Mercyville.

A large number of lay particiThe Chapel completed in 1977 pants including readers, choirs Is used for weekday masses. and musicians, Acolytes, Special Originally built to house aged Ministers of the Eucharist are Sisters, Mercyville was opened to involved in the Liturgy and a lay women in 1985 and when the band of just over 100 enthusiastic current extensions and alterAltar Servers are rostered to ations are completed will have assist at the masses. facilities for 17 aged residents.

A youth group provides activiThe parish is blessed with ties for young teens while the many talented and dedicated older teens and young adults are people who contribute toward catered for by a lively and active parish life by sharing their giftedAntioch group. ness.

The distinctive curved design of the church is one of the most striking features.

PROCLAIMING THE WORD OF GOD An evening of reflection and formation for those who proclaim the Scriptures in Church. All those who perform liturgical functions "must be deeply imbued with the spirit of the liturgy, in the measure proper to each one, and they must be trained to perform their function in a correct and orderly manner" (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy #29).

Presented by Fr Pat Cunningham and Sr Kerry Wilson. Tuesday 13 August, 7.30 pm to 9.30 pm at St Anthony's Church, 96 Innaminicka Rd, Greenmount. Cost $5.

For registration contact Kylie, Archdiocesan Liturgy Office, (09) 221 1548.

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At a Glance Name of Parish: Our Lady of the Mission Telephone: 307 2776 Fax: 402 4319 Parish Priest: Fr Tim Corcoran Assistant Priest: Fr Sean Fernandez Address: 270 Camherwarra Drive, Craigie Masses: Saturday Vigil: 6.30pm Sundays: 8.00am; 9.30am; 1 1.00am Reconciliation: Saturdays: 12-1.pm and 5-6pm Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament Each Friday: 10am-7pm First Saturday: 9am-mid-day

Local people being received into the Church at the Easter ceremonies.

Archdiocesan Panorama formerly Parish Scene LITURGICAL MUSIC FOR EVERYONE The Cantor and the Psalmist: presented by Chris deSilva.

A general introduction for people interested in these ministries; what they do and why it is important. Tuesday 6 August, 7.30 pm, Leederville Parish Centre, 40 Franklin St, Leederville. Cost $5. For registration please contact Kylie, Archdiocesan Liturgy Office, on (09) 221 1548.

Stained glass in the side chapel.

VIETNAMESE CHILDREN'S CLASSES Urgently needed for Vietnamese Children's language and Catechism classes: 20 desks and chairs for 5 - 6 year old children; and overhead projectors. Please phone Sr M Goretty Vu on (09) 272 3285, between 8 am and 9 am.

MARY'S MOUNT PRIMARY 75TH ANNIVERSARY Mary's Mount Primary School is celebrating its 75th Anniversary. All past

students, parents, teachers, religious and clergy, who have been in any way involved with the school, are invited to our reunion day on Sunday 17 November 1996, commencing at 10am.

Please contact the school on (09) 293 2800 (Fax (09) 293 3425) for registration and further info.

NEW CATECHISM STUDY GROUP Remember - there is no point waiting for the movie, you have to read the book!

The Catechism Study Group will resume after its winter break on Monday 5 August at 7.30 pm at the Bioethics Centre, 39 Jugen St, Glendalough.

Refreshments provided. New comers welcome.

Enquiries: Jenny (09) 447 4631.