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Pope pleads for hungry Rwandan refugees VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Just days preparing to assemble a four-to-sixbefore hundreds of thousands of Hutu month mission aimed at guaranteeing the refugees staged a mass return to Rwan- free flow of relief in the region. United States officials have cited potenda from eastern Zaire, Pope John Paul difficulties with the intervention initial I I urged international leaders at the World Food Sturunit in Rome to turn tiative, prompting criticism from some their words into action for an estimat- other countries. The Pope noted that the refugee popued 1 million hungry refugees. lation in eastern Zaire included people Echoing widespread frustration among Burundi and local Zairean Rwanda, from church and relief officials, the Pope critigroups. ethnic cised as inexcusable the delays in sendHe said many were "victims of the inhuing food and medical supplies to the man logic of inter-ethnic conflict." isolated camps, many of which "This is a drama that is constantly prewere recently overrun in ethnic fighting. sent in my soul," he said. The world must send relief "without The Pope has personally visited Zaire, delay," the pontiff told a general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday 13 Novem- Rwanda and Burundi and has made countless appeals for ethnic reconciliaber. "How can one remain indifferent tion in recent years. He recalled that Church workers have toward people who have been pushed to among those who have shed their been the limit, while they could be receiving urgently needed food and medicine blood in efforts to improve the situation stocked up in great quantities not far in Zaire. An archbishop and three missionary away?" the Pope said. He said the inaction was an offense to brothers were killed after fighting began the lives and dignity of African refugees, there in late October. The Pope prayed that their sacrifice and and thus "an offence to God." that of other victims would help defeat pretext, no calcula"No uncertainty. no tion can ever justify additional delays in the forces of hatred and -help bring about in the beloved continent of Africa an era humanitarian assistance!" he said. A young Rwandan Hutu girt with a hefty load walks toward the Rwandan border near Goma in Zaire The Pope's remarks came as several of mutual respect and brotherly wellast Monday during the mass exodus back to Rwanda. Photo CNS/Reuters major countries, led by Canada, were come."
elbourne priests resign in Aust first The seminary, which deals with the non-academic formation of In an incident of a kind candidates for the priesthood, will be moved to an inner suburunknown in the history of the ban location. Catholic Church in Australia, Among those who resigned was five staff at the Corpus Christi the rector of the seminary, Father seminary in Melbourne have Paul Connell. The seminary's prefect of studresigned rather than help institute a spiritual program of ies, Fr Peter Howard, spiritual reform implemented by Arch- director, Fr Bill Attard, director of bishop George Pell of Mel- pastoral program, Fr Martin Asche. and Loreto nun Sister bourne. Maria Bongiorno also resigned. The bishops of the dioceses of Fr Connell told The Record he Sale, Sandhurst and Ballarat in and the others had chosen to Victoria and Archbishop Eric resign rather than accept ArchD'Arcy of Hobart in Tasmania bishop Poll's suggestion for a difseminary agreed to the closure and relo- ferent style of formation. cation of the seminary in ClayHe confirmed staff had decided ton in south-eastern Melbourne, they were not willing to accept an Corpus Christi College, and its invitation put to them by the bishassociated Catholic Theological ops of Victoria and Tasmania to College at a meeting last week continue running the seminary The seminary trains and forms under the new program for sempriests for dioceses throughout inarians' spiritual formation. Victoria and Tasmania, Archbishop Pell told The Record Consideration is being given to the reforms were things that placing the theological college at Catholics would have thought the historic Cathedral College site took place in a seminary. "They're the basic sorts of things next to St Patrick's Cathedral and the Archbishop's offices in East that most Catholics would already believe were happening in the Melbourne. By Peter Rosengren
seminary - daily Mass, morning priesthood. "They'll demonstrate meditation, morning prayer of the the importance of priesthood. Church, night prayer of the They'll also demonstrate the Church, a Holy Hour once a week importance of theology..... these in front of the Blessed Sacrament, changes will help produce a betprivate recitation of the Rosary ter priest and an increase in vocaand devotions to Our Lady in tions," he said. May," Archbishop Pell said. The reforms come as Mel"It's a very non-controversial bourne faces the lowest levels program," he added. ever, pro rata, in numbers training The archbishop said the initia- for the priesthood. tives were exactly what the 1990 Twenty-three seminarians are Synod of the Church in Rome on currently studying for Victoria the Preparation of Priests and its and Tasmania, 15 of whom are associated pastoral letter, Pas- studying for the Melbourne archtores Dab° Votils, had recom- diocese. mended - an increased emphasis Archbishop Pell said the buildon spirituality in formation in gen- ings at Clayton were poorly coneral, on a spiritual period in the structed, expensive to maintain first year in the seminary; and and invisible to the public, and possibly a similar year after a the theological college building seminarians' year working in a on the same site was too small. parish. The archbishop said he wanted Archbishop Pell said the staff to make a positive contribution to had resigned because they prob- the spiritual life of priests in trainably felt "they weren't the best for ing, "an approach which will be the job." completely faithful to the new He could not say who the new direction of the Church in semistaff would be because he didn't nary training." anticipate staff resigning. The reforms reflect Archbishop The Archbishop said the new Pell's views formed during his spiritual program and the reloca- time as a seminary rector and as tions of both institutions under- an apostolic visitor to seminaries scored the importance of the throughout the Pacific region.
Archbishop Hickey reports from Rome
Celebrating Christ the King
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Catholic satellite TV coming •
Catholic satellite television will come to Australia on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, 8 December, when the United States' Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) extends its Asia-Pacific satellite coverage to Australia. A Poor Clare of Perpetual Adoration nun, Mother Mary Angelica, started EWTN in the garage at Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Birmingham, Alabama, 15 years ago by Mother Mary Angelica. EWTN says it has since become the world's largest religious cable television network, seen in 53 million homes and providing 24-hour programming of religious news, entertainment and spiritual growth. But extension of the EwrN satellite "footprint" across Australia does not mean interested viewers will get immediate access. Unless a householder has a special satellite dish, access will only be by cable, and local major cable players have not yet taken the FM/TN service. discussions Nevertheless, have been held with cable networks Optus Vision and Foxtel in Australia. Continued on Page 3
The Record begins publishing today news of the Catholic Church in Asia, including Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia and East Timor. See Page 14 each week for the latest on our Catholic neighbours.
A vision of new life in Rome, the eternal city Last Saturday (17th) I was fortunate enough to have lunch with the Pope. With me were all the members of the Preparatory Council for the forthcoming Synod of Oceania. The group included Cardinal Clancy from Australia, Cardinal Williams from New Zealand and Cardinal Pio from Samoa. Other Bishops from the region were also there. Before lunchI was able to speak to the Holy Father privately and pass on to him all the messages and letters of congratulation from the Archdiocese of Perth for his Golden Jubilee of Priesthood. He seemed very touched to receive all our prayers and good wishes. Photos were taken, of course, which I will bring home with me. What of his health'? The Holy
Father looked tired and had with- time to do it all. Despite his obvi- great tourist buses arriving with drawn a little into himself, com- ous aging, his mind is still as clear • their cargo of eager pilgrims from pared with the vibrancy of his as a bell. He is firmly committed all over Europe, heading off to appearance last time I saw him. to seeing in the Year 2000, no mat- visit the Basilica of St Peter, all Nonetheless, he was warm and ter what the media says. hoping to catch a glimpse of the friendly and interested in the Rome is still full of energy.I saw Pope. work of the Preparatory Council. each of our six seminarians studyTheir faith has brought them I am told that he is better now ing here, andIam about to go out here. Despite all the troubles and than two or three months ago, and of Rome tomorrow to meet anoth- uncertainties of the present age, is making steady progress. er three West Australians study- the Catholic faith still burns His recent ill health has not ing for the priesthood in other strong in the hearts of these eager slowed him down much, though. places in Italy. pilgrims. When we saw him he had just To see the number of young Just as our bush comes to life finished a gruelling morning with priests and Religious in the buses again after a bushfire, so the faith many of the Heads of Govern- in Rome one would think that is springing up again into new ment attending the Food Summit vocations were booming. Maybe green shoots after the devastation in Rome. they are, and Australia will short- of Communism and secularism. He still has full public and pri- ly join the trend. Please God. Catholics of Western Australia, vate schedules each day and finds It' s raining now. After a long hot take heart that your faith will time to write. autumn the season has finally never be overcome by hostile He has just published his reflec- broken. world movements. tions on his own 50 years as a As I look out over St Peter's The new lifeIsee all around me priest. Square from my room with the here in Rome gives me great hope I wonder where he finds the Salvatorian Fathers,I can see the for the Year 2000 and beyond.
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Br Shanahan said that while he was aware of the existence of an unfinished Wics parliamentary select commit- draft version, produced on the author's tee into child migration has said it may own initiative, he was not aware of the have to subpoena a secret report deal- existence of a final report. The committee also recommended it ing with the Christian Brothers and become an honourary Royal Commischild abuse in their institutions from continue sion to its work in the next Par1930 to 1934. liament. Efforts to obtain a copy from the BrothThe committee was concerned valuers has so far met with no success, the able time and leads from survivors of committee said last week. child migration to Western Australia But Christian Brothers' congregational would be lost before the new Parliament leader for South and Western Australia, sat. Brother Tony Shanahan, told The Record It said that with many former child no such report had ever been commis- migrants now in the 40 - 70 year age sioned by the Brothers nor did they pos- range, opportunities to reunite families sess a copy of such a document. and individuals were disappearing on a The committee's comments came in its daily basis. interim report, tabled in State Parliament Among the Committee's recommendshortly before Premier Richard Court ed terms of reference for an Honourary called a State election for 14 December. Royal Commission were: The existence of the report, Reaping 1 determination of the numbers of chilthe Whirlwind, was alleged by the VOIC- dren sent to WA from the UK and Malta; ES organisation in its submission to the 1 identifying what efforts were made committee. by organisations involved in child migra-
THE CATHOLIC EDUCATION COMMISSION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
tion to inform children of the whereabouts of their parents or siblings; 1 identifying what efforts were made by organisations to assist in reunification and to provide counselling for children. A Royal Commission should report to Parliament by November of next year, the report said. The committee also recommended that a Commission should decide what courses of action, if any, the WA Government should take to assist former child migrants access personal details which could help them in their search for lost relatives. So far the committee has heard submissions from 110 organisations and individuals who were involved in child migration to WA. Submissions were also received from the Christian Brothers, the Mercy Sisters and the Catholic Migrant Centre. Of the submissions received 88 were from individuals, 53 of which were sent to Catholic institutions, the report said.
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St Mary's Catholic School is a co-educational school catering for 38 students from Kindergarten to Year 7 and is situated 280 kms south of Perth. The successful applicant will ideally take up the position on 1 January 199Z however, this is negotiable with the Director. 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 Clare Rafferty, Consultant, School Personnel Team, Ph: (09) 388 4268.
Official application forms should be addressed to The Director, Catholic Education Office of WA, PO Box 198, Leederville WA 6903 and be lodged no later than Wednesday, 27 November 1996. All Catholic schools are smoke-free work places.
Daughter of Charity Sister Peta (right) who worked at the De Paul Centre in Shenton Street, Northbridge for 17 years, flew back from New South Wales for the unveiling of a plaque, renaming it The Marillac Centre. The new name comes from Louise de Marillac, who founded the Daughters of Charity with St Vincent de Paul in Paris in 1633. Pictured with her is Marillac Manager, Sue Hartree.
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Mining companies tar etted By Peter Rosengren Missionary priest and activist Father Brian Gore has called for a thorough investigation into the activities of Australian mining companies in the Philippines. The outspoken Columban priest's call came this week in Sydney during the launch of Indigenus Pilipinas, a new organisation designed to gather information on the effects the operations of Australian mining companies might have on indigenous people and the environment in the SouthEast Asian country. Fr Gore said the information would be provided to the Australian people. The organisation was not expecting good news, he said. "Given the past history of mining in the Philippines plus the new law enacted last
year we have grave concerns," Fr Gore said. However, a spokesman for the Minerals Council of Australia, which represents Australian and overseas mining companies, said the council was planning to release an environmental code of conduct for its members on 10 December. The code would apply to mining operations conducted by members inside Australia and abroad, he said. He added the code had been prepared in consultation with environmentalist nongovernment organisations. Fr Gore's call has come at the same time as the introduction of new mining laws for foreign mining companies in the Philippines. The new laws, part of the Ramos' administration's "Philippines 2000" economic program, are designed to enable the country to become another of South-East Asia's "tiger" economies. But Fr Gore said many "pro-people"
Newman society says farewell to Fr Quinlan
Fr Tim Quinlan and Mr Patrick Kirby, president of the Newman Society, with members of the St Thomas More Choir under the Newman window in the university college Chapel last Sunday. Over the past two years the choir has won a reputation for bringing a high standard to liturgical music to the college.
About 45 members of the Newman Society celebrated Newman Sunday at the St Thomas More Chapel at the University of Western Australia last Sunday. The Mass was celebrated by the Chaplain to the Society, Fr Tim Quinlan ST, who is also Rector at St
Thomas More College. At luncheon afterwards, the President of the Society, Mr Patrick Kirby, presented Fr Quinlan with a gift in appreciation of his ministry to the Society during his time in Perth. Next year, Fr Quinlan is moving to Canisius College in Sydney.
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organisatiuons in the Philippines believed the Philippines 2000 program would further widen the existing gap between the few rich and millions of poor in the coun-
Meanwhile, farmers in Davao archdiocese in the southern Philippines have called on the government to stop the conversion of agricultural land into commercial areas and to implement land reform Fr Gore said the new laws were lax and policies. added that many indigenous groups had Some 2,000 placard-bearing farmers and already expressed total opposition to the students marched through the city's main Government's mining laws. thoroughfares on 24 October to protest a He added he had a moral responsibility city ordinance that they said allows the to speak out on the issue as both an Aus- transfer of 30 per cent of community farmtralian and a missionery. As a missionary lands to industrial use. priest with over twenty years experience Officials and advocates in Baguio City in among the Filipino poor, I believe that I northern Luzon have said that develophave a sacred obligation to be a voice for ment plans for the former American milithem when they demand justice, especial- tary recreation complex could trigger a ly when they are not listened to," he said. water crisis in the area. Fr Gore became famous world-wide They said the development, covering 14 when he was unjustly charged and impris- per cent of the total land area of Baguio oned in the Phillipines while he was help- City, provides substantial forest cover and ing poor farmers in his parish on supplies about one-third of the City's water Mindanao. requirements.
US Catholic TV coming Agape play Continued from Page 1 EWTN spokesman Mr Sam Ranelli said the network wanted to attempt to secure carriage of EVVIN in advance of their 8 December launch on the
transmits Church events such as Papal visits and Masses live. Mr Ranelli said Australians wanting to see EWTN should contact television and cable companies asking them to carry the station. PanAmSat2 satellite system. The service began when He said the EWTN signal Mother Angelica, an author of would be offered free to all spiritual books and videos, discable and broadcast stations. covered the station where she Northgate Cable, based in taped her message was conBallarat, Victoria. would begin sidering showing a blasphecarriage of EWTN in mid-' mous movie. So she decided to December, he said. build her own studio. The Catholic TV station preEWTN also runs a large sents award-winning talk and shortwave facility, WEWN, children's shows, religious designed like its television documentaries, weekly series counterpart to be an instruhosted by leading scholars of ment of evangelisation. the Catholic faith, an exclusive EWTN also maintains an Catholic teaching series, and Internet site.
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The Record, November 21 1996 Page 3
TOMORROW TODAY
Paris expecting 300,000 for '97 World Youth Day classic silhouette of the Eiffel Tower, sketched out roughly, forming the base and the stem of a cross. The theme of Pope John Paul II's message to youth for the celebrations centres on the disciples' question, "Master, where do you live?" and Jesus' response "Come and see." 1997 World Youth Day events: • August 14-18: Arrival of young people from all over the world and placement with families, boarding schools, etc. The young people will be invited to take part in the various diocesan Masses and pilgrimages marking the feast of the Assumption Aug. 15. • August 19: Opening Mass. with Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger of Paris presiding. • August 20-22: In the morning, the young people will gather In language groups for catechesis and Mass. Each afternoon there will be a youth festival that will exhibit the
cultural, artistic and spiritual aspects of Paris. • August 22: In the afternoon, the young people will be invited to take part in several "Way of the Cross" prayers, one of which will be led by the pope. • August 23: A major event is proposed, the details of which have yet to be finalised with public authorities. One proposal is to link hands around Paris, to create "a ring of friendship." All participants will then come together for a vigil at a location that could accommodate the anticipated crowd of 650.000. This vigil, called "Twenty-four hours for Christ." will begin in the evening with the Pope and bishops. • August 24: Early in the morning, a monastic community will lead the assembly in morning prayer. Later in the day the event will be closed at a Mass with the Pope presiding.
WASHINGION (CNS) - The US vote, bishops lauded both the pasbishops approved by voice vote toral plan and the committee's on November 12 a pastoral plan work in fashioning it. for young adult ministry "Sons and Daughters of the The plan, "Sons and Daughters Light" offers initiatives that can be of the Light: A Pastoral Plan for undertaken at the national, dioceMinistry With Young Adults," was san, parish and campus levels. approved without audible dissent As a prelude to writing the docduring the bishops' general meet- ument, diocesan town hall meeting in Washington. ings with young adults were held, As an indication of the wide- Including National Catholic spread support the plan had, the Young Adult Ministry Association only proposed amendment to it and the Catholic Campus Minthat had been rejected by the istry Association. bishops' Committee on the Laity Comments gleaned from young was withdrawn. adults in their late teens to In the minutes before the voice those in their 30s were inserted
throughout the plan. The plan says a successful young adult outreach will connect young adults in four ways: • with the Church, by inviting and welcoming their presence in the Church community: • with Jesus Christ; • with the mission of the church in the world: and • with a peer community in which their faith is "nurtured and strengthened." A team was scheduled to meet on November 21-22 in Washington to devise implementation strategies.
By Robert Kelly PARIS (CNS) - Cardinal JeanMarie Lustiger of Paris will preside at the opening Mass of the 1997 World Youth Day celebrations next August. The greater Paris region is already making long-term preparations for the arrival of young people from all over the world. With months still to go. 200,000 visitors from abroad as well as 100,000 French youths have indicated their intention to take part. World Youth Day is celebrated annually around the world in local communities, and every other year an international celebration is held. Organisers of the event expect to he able to provide temporary living quarters for about 100.000 pilgrims in the greater Paris region: others will be hosted by dioceses farther away from the city. The logo for the event will be a
Beagle Bay kids see the sights on first visit
A 12 day visit to Perth was a big adventure for these year 6 & 7 students from Sacred Heart School, Beagle Bay, when they came to town recently. And top of the fun list were visits to Rollnest Island, Scilech, Hoyts Cinemas, Adventure World, Ice Skating, Underwater World and Ursula Frayne College.
Talent wins an award
US bishops approve youth strategy
Catholic Youth Formation Centre
EAGLE'S NEST 1406 O'Brien Rd, Gidgegannup Set in 17 hectares of natural bush adjoining Walyunga National Park and just 45 minutes from the city, Eagle's Nest can take groups of up to 55 in perfect surroundings for youth retreats, Christian living camps or other youth formation programs. Priority is given to Catholic parish youth groups, schools and other Church youth organisations. The following dates are available: 1996 November 25, 26, 2Z 28 December 11, 12 1997 January 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Z 8, 9, 10, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27, 28, 29 February 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 18, 24, 25 March 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 27, 28 April 3, Z 12, 13, 28, 29, 30 May 1, 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28, 29 June 3, 4, 5, 9, 23, 24, 30 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 July August 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 2Z 30, 31 September 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 1Z 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25 October 4, 16, 20, 23, 27, 28, 29, 30 November 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 December 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 2Z 28, 29,
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Phone Brian or Marjorie Harty, Eagles Nest 574 7030 The Record, November 21 1996 Page 4
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A winning smile; Amy Coelho of St Jerome's, Munster, holding her winning Phonecard design with the help of her art teacher Sharon Law-Davis.
Ken Done and Pro Hart May be household names as Australian artists but not even they were able to get their art seen by a national audience before the age of 6. Up and coming artist Amy Coelho from St Jerome's School, Munster, is a Year 2 student with a bright future in the art world after taking out this year's Australia Day Telstra Phonecard Design Award for Years 1-3 in the WA/SA region. The inaugural competition attracted more than 25,000 entries
this year from primary schools throughout Australia. Effectively it means that Amy's successful art design will be seen on Telstra Phonecards over the next 12 months right around the country. In addition to the exposure, Amy has won a $200 gift voucher and St Jerome's has been awarded with $1000 as part of the prize. And what does this 6 year-old Picasso plan to do with her prize money? "I'm not sure?" she smiled.
Create more housing for low-income earners call Australian religious leaders have called for the Commonwealth and State governments to dramatically reduce housing poverty for low income households as part of the reforms being introduced to public housing and the private rental market. Sixteen church leaders made the call in a statement entitled Churches' Agenda for Housing Reform,. The leaders said it was a matter of national concern that around 750,000 low-Income renters were routinely poor after paying their housing costs. They have also sought commitArchbishop George Pell ments from Prime Minister John Howard and the Premiers to radi- the retention of a Commonwealthcally improve the chances of those State Housing agreement. the leadon waiting lists for publicly-provid- ers also called for a minimum ed housing. expansion of public housing of 5.500 "With waiting lists of 235.000 and units per year and at least $52 milless than 5.000 new public dwellings lion for the homeless and those "in being provided each year, these peo- crisis." ple face two to five-year waits for They also urged the Commonpublic housing," the leaders said. wealth to take full responsibility for Signed by, among others. Catholic all current and future community Archbishop George Pell of Mel- housing rental subsidies and called bourne and the Anglican Archbish- for an increase in Commonwealth op of Melbourne, Archbishop Keith expenditure on rental assistance to Rayner, the statement listed ten private tenants by up to $500 million essential strategies in which prima- as well as the introduction of supply cy is given to the development of a incentives for private sector investnational affordable housing strategy ment in affordable rental housing. at Federal and State levels. Urging
Serrans meet in Wagga Wagga The first elected board of the Serra Council of Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific was installed during the 10th Bi-annual Serra Clubs of Australia and New Zealand Convention held in Wagga Wagga last month. An international organisation of lay people with the aim of promoting vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Serra has over 600 clubs In 30 countries. With 14 charted clubs already in Australia and one in NZ, Canberra based President of SCANZSPAC John Stephens expressed the hope
Serra Clubs would be established in every diocese. "We will welcome the assistance of all Catholics who would like to join in this important work of fostering vocations," he said. Convention speaker Sister Evelyn Woodward RSJ said vocations did not depend on structures or numbers, "but rather depend on the Lord Jesus, Who never changes." Groups such as the family, and Serra, were important to foster vocations, she stressed, because vocations were usually born in families.
A pioneer window for Mundaring Sacred Heart school, Mundaring, is sending out an SOS for some financial assistance to help it pay for the stained glass window which is planned to be a feature in its resource library. The concept of the window is to pay homage to those who've gone before and pioneered the school and parish from its beginnings, which are indeed interesting. Former student and local artist Madeleine Clear will design the window. Fr Tom Linane, Mundaring's first parish priest, wanted a parish school and so the large site was purchased and hand cleared of its heavy timber with
voluntary labour, including that of Fr Linane. But it was two years before a permit was granted in the anti-Catholic bureaucratic environment of the day. However. in 1952, the buildings which were completed by generous parishioners and Fr Linane, opened for schooling with the Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition and 65 students from Year 1 through to Year 10. In 1973 this role was taken over by the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart assisted by a lay teacher. The first lay principal was appointed in 1985. Such names as Fr Tom Linane, Mother Leonard, Sr Theresita. Sr Margaret Mary, Sr Colette, Sr
Submissions on women pour in The Bishops' Committee for Justice. Development and Peace has received large numbers of written submissions to the Bishops' research project on women's participation in the Catholic Church in Australia. Committee executive secretary Michael Costigan said that with a fortnight to go before the 1 December closing date, almost 500 submissions had been received from groups and indi-
viduals. With the onset of busy Christmas-tide, an extension has been requested by some. Dr Costigan said it was desirable for submissions to reach the BCJDP at 19 MacKenzie Street. North Sydney 2060 by the beginning of December. but any arriving by the beginning of the second working week in the month, Monday, 9 December, would be accepted. The Research Group is plan-
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The Record, November 21 1996 Page 5
Two kinds of hunger: both lethal 91. Layman's
Peter Dwan continues meditations on the readings for Sunday Mass. This week the readings for the 34th Sunday of Year A
Meditation
I
n an effort to promote the social reign of Christ, Pope Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the King. When instituting this great Feast, Pius XI commented that people learn more from the annual celebration of a Feast than from any papal pronouncement, however weighty. The theme of today's readings is that Christ is a King who judges. In today's first reading (Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17), the prophet Ezekiel tries to give fresh heart to the Jews who had been deported to Babylon. After having blamed the bad shepherds, (often the kings of Israel,) God then promised to gather up all His scattered sheep, especially the most abandoned. In order to achieve this, God promised to raise up a new David, a king who would lead His flock in the ways of justice and love. The prophecy was fulfilled in the corn-
ing of Christ the King. The reading says: "I will look for the lost one, bring back the stray, bandage the wounded and make the weak strong. I shall be a true shepherd to them". It also makes it clear that the Good Shepherd is a judge, saying: "As for you my sheep, the Lord says this: I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between lambs and he-goats: The idea of Christ the King also being our judge is taken up in the gospel passage (Matthew 25:31-46), which is Our Lord's description of the last judgement. It tells us how Christ our shepherd-king will separate the good from the bad on the last day, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. It is worth noting that the criteria which Our Lord tells us that He will use in separating the sheep from the goats on the last day is the law of love, or, in other words, whether we have performed the
To Jesus through Mary. . .
works of mercy. The passage tells us that Our Lord will say to the good: "I was hungry and you gave me food." Christ expects us to give the food of doctrine to the spiritually starving, even more than he wants us to feed those who lack bread. We don't have a choice as to whether we shall help the physically starving or the spiritually starving. We must do both. Our contribution to development work must never be used as an excuse for not helping the spiritually starving, both in Australia and overseas. This is especially true during this Decade of Evangelisation, a time during which Pope John Paul has asked us to make every effort to bring as many people as possible to know and love Christ by the Bimillenium of His Birth, Christmas Day 2000. In today's second reading (1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28), St Paul reminds us that just as all men died in Adam, so all men will be brought to life in Christ. Our Lord has won the new life for all people, but He has willed that the application of that new life to souls should partly depend on people being willing to share their Faith with others.
a column of Marian devotion . . . . the [reasonable] creature entirely filled with this love, with the divinity [of the Most Holy Trinity], is the Immaculate, the one without even the slightest stain of sin, the one who never deviated in any way from the will of God. She is joined in an ineffable manner to the Holy Spirit because she is His spouse; but this is true of her in an incomparably more perfect sense than anything this term can express among creatures. What kind of union is this? It is above all interior, it is the union of her very being with the being of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in her, lives in her, from the first instant of her existence, and he will do so always, throughout eternity In what does this life of the Holy Spirit in her consist? He himself is love in her, the love of the Father and the Son, the love by which God loves himself, the love of the entire most Holy Trinity. a fruitful love, a conception. Among created resemblances the union of love is the closest. Holy Scripture affirms that "the two of them become one body" [Genesis 2:241, and Jesus insists, "Thus they are no longer two but one flesh" [Matthew
The reamrkable Franciscan saint of Auschwitz Maximilian Kolbe, had a great devotion to Our Lady of the I mmaculate Conception, whose novena his supporters today promote. This year. it commences on Friday 29 November. Here, excerpts from St Maximilian's writings on the Immaculate Conception published in The Kolbe Reader by Fr Anselm W Romb OFM Cony. follow.
W
ho are you? 0 Immaculate Conception! Not God, for God has no beginning. Not an angel, directly created from nothing. Not Adam, made from the dust of the earth. Not Eve, drawn from Adam's body. Nor is she the Incarnate Word who already existed from all eternity and who was conceived, but is not really a "conception: Prior to their conception the children of St Maximilian Kolbe Eve do not exist, hence they can more propstitutes his being? Begetting, because he erly be called "conceptions"; and yet you, begets the Son from all eternity; and for all 0 Mary, differ from them, too, because they are conceptions contaminated by original eternity he continually begets his Son. Who is the Son? He is the one who is 19:61. sin, whereas you are the one and only begotten; always and for all eternity he is In an incomparably more rigorous, more Immaculate Conception. Interior, more essential manner the Holy .... The Father begets the Son, while the begotten by the Father. And who is the Holy Spirit? He is the fruit Spirit lives in the soul of the Immaculate, Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and In her very being, and makes her fruitful the Son. In these few words is contained of love of the Father and the Son. The fruit of a from the first instant of her existence and created love is a created the mystery of the life of the most Holy throughout her life, that is, forever. Minify and of all the perfections existing in conception. Hence the This uncreated Immaculate Conception fruit of this love [of the Father creatures, which are only an echo in a different nature a hymn of praise in various and the Son], of the prototype of all creat- conceives divine life immaculately in the ed love, can also be nothing else but a con- soul of Mary, his Immaculate Conception. tonalities. . . .. The virginal womb of her body. too, is .... Who is the Father? What is it that con- ception. Hence the Holy Spirit is an uncre- reserved for Him who conceives there in ated conception, an eternal one; He time (everything material comes about is the prototype of every sort of according to time) the divine life of the human conception in the universe. God-Man. . . . . through the Holy Spirit, the Son .. .. The Holy Spirit, therefore, is a most holy conception, infinitely becomes incarnate in Mary's womb, and in Him love goes back to the Father. holy, immaculate. .... In the Holy Spirit's union with her not only does love join these two beings, but the first of the two [the Holy Spirit] is the entire love of the Holy Tkinity, while the second [Mary] is the entire love of creCan you help? ation; and thus in this union heaven is joined with earth, The Catholic Migrant Centre is organising all of heaven with all of earth, a Christmas Cheer for Refugee families all uncreated love with all crewho are spending their first Christmas in ated love; it is the summit of Year B with supplement Australia. to take place on 7 December '96. love. $4.20 each + postage :klany have come straight . . . . If among creatures a Order 5 $18.00 + postage from Refugee Camps. bride takes the name of her Order 10 $34.00 + postage We expect over 400 to attend this function. husband by the fact that she Can you help with Eats, Drinks. Party belongs to him, unites herself Set of 3 A, B, & C + supp. normally Goods, New Toys, Cash, etc. with him, makes herself like $12.60, now $9.00 + postage unto him and together with Please send to: Early order will ensure delivery before Advent him becomes the source of Catholic Migrant Centre. new life, how much more Books can be ordered at the Catholic 25 Victoria Square, Perth WA 6000 should the name of the Holy Institute or purchased individually at the Phone 09 221 1727: Fax 09 221 3793 Spirit, "Immaculate ConcepCatholic Library. tion." be the name of her in Phone 09 443 5444 or give us a call and we cdafect whom He lives with a love Facsimile: 09 443 5245 which is fruitful in the entire supernatural economy?
Refugee Christmas Appeal
The Record, November 21 1996 P-
6
1997 Reflection Books
'Be prepared' is marriage's best motto
With Penny Ashcroft
L
ast weekend was a time of reminiscing, of looking back over the years and recalling times of joy my parents celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary. It was a celebration of 50 years of experiencing the many highs and lows associated with married and family life and the growth achieved through sharing the difficulties and struggles over that period of time. There are no easy solutions to all the complex problems facing married and family life in the world today. What a great help it would be if all young couples could be exposed to good marriages, good husbands and wives who care deeply for one another and who have an open and honest relationship. More and more there is an increasing awareness that the relationship husbands and wives have is not only important to them but can influence all those with whom they come in contact. Most of us have known marriages between two good people that didn't last, not because they have been unfaithful or cruel, but because they have decided they could not commit to each other for the rest of their lives. Perhaps if they had been exposed to the realities of a dedicated relationship before they were married, they ma \ have realised they were not ready to enter into a lifelong commitment. I am a great advocate of marriage preparation and I know that there are some wonderful marriage preparation programs available - programs which encourage young people to look closely at themselves. Once in a while after participating in one of these programs, a couple will decide that they are not ready for marriage. How wise to decide before the event. However, most couples find that their relationship is taken to a new depth. Whatever the reaction, all couples leave with a heightened awareness of what married life entails. Preparing for a wedding must be one of the most hectic activities undertaken by our society. Receptions, dresses, invitations, suits, flowers, speeches, cars, the list of things to do seems endless. A wedding is very special and should be seen to be so, but many couples spend a great deal of time and money on their wedding day, which lasts a few hours, and leave the outcome of their marriage, which is meant to last a lifetime, to chance. The soaring rate of marriage breakdown is more than enough reason to encourage young couples to take the opportunity to focus for a while on their relationship. Most marriage preparation programs offer an opportunity to learn some simple skills for communicating and resolving conflict more effectively. What they do not try to do is teach couples everything about marriage or try to suggest that having attended a program, couples will have all the answers. Rather, the programs give them the opportunity to decide together, the type of marriage they want theirs to be. I read somewhere that it is harder to get a drivers license than to get a marriage certificate.I am sure that is so, hut It is much harder to stay married. Nothing that is truly worthwhile comes without effort. I believe that attending a marriage preparation program can be the first step in finding ways to ensure a deeply satisfying and fulfilling marriage that will last a lifetime.
Demanding, orthodox Faith the elixir for youth
D
The Record
avid Dicks' solo, uninterrupted circumnavigation of the world has justifiably caught the imagination of Australians. While modern technology and nautical skills enable such feats to be undertaken the revolution has been to relieve what more often and more safely than previ- were believed to be burdens placed on ously there is no doubt that the achieve- youth in previous education and youth ment of enduring psychologically for eight policy months is a monumental exploit. In the Catholic Church, this has been Add to that the physical danger of being invariably justified by recourse to the swept overboard south of Tasmania and maxim of the 1960s' Second Vatican Counmast trouble off icy Tierra del Fuego in the dl that the "signs of the times" must be tempestuous Magellan Straits, then read in order to build an effective youth David's attainment deserves the accolades and educational policy. being heaped upon him by a besotted These readings were usually taken from media. what Christians saw as the more liberal Let us hope and pray he keeps his head approach to discipline and youth develin the public limelight. opment taken in non-Christian society. Those who tackle the apparently imposYouth's opinion, no matter how illsible not only do themselves a personal informed, was taken as the basis of eduand spiritual benefit but attract the atten- cational philosophy and, if a young tion of everyone else. We all want to meet person took a soft option, then they were our true self in going beyond ourselves. encouraged in this as a form of self-expresConsequently, the young West Aus- sion. tralian's example enables us to reflect on But the fruits of this experiment are now the revolution in youth and educational clear to see for all those who want to view policy that has taken place in society and social issues with a clear mind, even if this the Christian Churches during the last 35 means admitting past mistakes at a most years. fundamental level. Whether intended or not, the result of Massive numbers of young people
refuse to make the lifelong commitment called for in public and sacramental marriage; there is an increased suicide rate, especially among adolescent and young adult males; significant drug addiction with its despairing search for a different hit from new, designer drugs; and disrupted careers as youth wander aimlessly trying to work out what to commit themselves to in life and work This latter despair has an effect in increased cynicism and lack of involvement in politics. This social disaster would have been restricted in its scope if the Catholics had read the substantial 'signs of the times' and not the passing ones of worldly fashion. Why do some adults still fail to see that young people, no matter how much they say the opposite, deep down want the tough option. Would young people, especially men and boys, engage in risk-taking activity - hard football, fast cars and motorbikes, triathlons, bungle-jumping, travel in exotics lands - if they did not real-
T Arouno ./.44e 7a4fe... Two important poll questions
T
he coming elections give Catholics the opportunity to question candidates on two important social/moral Issues. • Where do they stand on the issue of abortion? Both the Government and Opposition have backed away from the perceived electoral backlash of action against free, easy abortions. • Where does each party or candidate stands on the drug issue? Easy access to alcohol at young ages causes massive problems at school parties, while the illegal drugs, especially marijuana, speed LSD or heroin destroys our children's future and, in the case of heroin, leads to crime or prostitution. Drug abuse then becomes a moral issue. Dr Pat Cranley Leederville
Family support policies
y
our editorial of the 7th November
1996, dealing with the plague of
materialism needlessly wandered off into a field of public policy debate concerning financial support for families and raised two matters with which I wish to take issue. Firstly, you state inter alia that "Policy makers viewing the non-sexual relations within a family from a financial viewpoint ... argue that governments should support the family by recognising . . . . the work of the homemaker" and criticise those who do so, including "some Catholics", on the grounds that they are guilty of materialism as "there should be no financial value attributed to the life of a marriage". Although it may not always be apparent to the casual reader, those Catholics who argue in favour of financial support for the family based upon the work of the homemaker, have always made a distinction between the imputed value of non-market work performed for private benefit and that performed for the welfare of others. Although a good case can be argued that non-market work and leisure performed for private benefit should be taxed as imputed income, as implied in our editorial, you should recognise that not all nonmarket work delivers private benefits. Indeed the work involved in the raising of children provides few private material benefits to the parents but considerable social benefits. The advocates of a Homemakers Allowance have always argued that any such allowance should be restricted to a parent who provides full-time care for dependent children,in part, on the grounds that caring for children is not a form of pro-
duction for private ends but rather a welfare activity. Secondly, although you express the opinion that "governments should support the family" you go on to insist that any assistance should only be via "the family member who . . . . (earns) a wage. . . . or by taxation relief. This is nothing less than an absurd and illogical argument. Given that transfer payments to support families are accepted, on what grounds do you find it unacceptable to deliver such payments via one government department as opposed to another? Why, for example, do you consider it acceptable to deliver the transfer payments Involved in the education of children via the Taxation Department yet unacceptable If done via the Education Department? And just how on earth do you think it is going to be possible for a government to provide financial support to a family via taxation relief on the 'wage earners' income if the 'wage earner' happens to be unemployed? Frank Lindsey Piesse Brook Editor's reply to the questions: The family existed before the state and it first paid tribute (taxes) to the strongest family in the clan to help protect the family. The family legitimises the State; it gives to the State for redistribution after its own needs have been fulfilled. Unfortunately. the State now taxes as if it has an absolute right to it; the general acceptance of welfare cash payments has helped encourage such a presumption. If the State doles out cash payments directly the family does not have the dignity that comes from creating its own means of sustenance; that is the tragedy and humiliation of unemployment. Tax measures recognise the independence and higher dignity of the family in relation to the State. Welfare payments will always be a necessary part of socialpolicy but they should not be the means by which income-earning families are assisted The very fact that the Homemakers Allowance is paid to the parent in full-time care of children, usually the mother, is a perfect example of the State using a fiscal instrument bluntly to discriminate against one spouse, the father, to the detriment of the unity and dignity of the family. At the very least, a normal family should decide who receives the payment, not the social engineering State.
Where is the spiritual?
Wi
th a Catholic Church-sponsored national conference on poverty scheduled for this weekend in Sydney, a comment on the Australian Catholic Bishops' recent statement, A New Beginning: Eradicating Poverty in Our World, is apposite. Ills somewhat in the nature of a mani-
ly want the challenge of having demands placed on them? If young people don't find their true self beyond themselves in service of God then the God-created desire to commit and love finds a warped expression in these deathdefying activities, even to the point of drug-taking to escape into an illusory world. The moral for Catholics in the triumph of David Dicks is that greater challenges and demands need to be placed on our young people to bring them out of themselves into the light of lifelong commitment to God and others. The challenges will have to be the real challenges of adherence to the doctrinal and moral teaching of the Church in its entirety according to the mind of the Pope and those bishops in communion with him. Yes, some will scream, like all children. But if those in authority persist, unlike those who let the Baby Boomers off the leash in the 1960s and 1970s, young people will be eternally grateful. • The opinions expressed in this editorial, and any other Record editorial, are not necessarily those of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Perth.
&Wei's lo Lice Cofifor festo that the reader tends to come out much as he went in - with no clear thought on what he or the Church could do. We are not told to pray for peace and the relief of poverty in the world as we used to pray after Mass for the conversion of Russia: a Polish Pope and the end of 70 years of Bolshevism suggests that the devotion is effective. There is no emphasis in the statement on alms-giving as a necessary companion of prayer in our Pilgrims' Progress to eternal salvation as set down in the Scriptures: Matthew, chapter 25; Luke, chapter 16; the Epistles of lames and John: and Isaiah chapter 58. The need for the support of the Caritas Lenten alms-giving or the Pontifical Missions is not mentioned. This, other than volunteer work abroad, Is what the laity should do in the relief of overseas poverty Poverty in Australia is not the poverty of overseas shanty towns or refugee camps. There is not the hunger of the years of The Depression. The cushion of our social security system costs over 30 per cent of the Federal Budget. The family of an unemployed wage earner with three children receives almost $1,000 fortnightly. Poverty is only marginal and met by voluntary charitable bodies such as St Vincent de Paul. The extra call on the faithful is not relatively great. The statement is helpful at some points on our present day problem of youth unemployment; but it makes no comment on the self-evident fact that the percentage of married women in the workforce has doubled over the past 30 years. As that percentage has gone up so too youth unemployment; and our birth rate has also fallen so there is a lack of growth and employment in the baby and child rearing industries. The pastoral mentions at one point the Jewish Jubilee practice of forgiving debts. Is this a hint at the suggestion of an Eddie Ward [Federal NSW Labor MP of the 1930s, 40s and 50s1 moratorium on overseas debt? A miracle perhaps that we could lay at the feet of Mary Help of Christians. Paul Donnelly Claremont
Christian theatre feast
W
ith a bus load from Margaret River, I went to the Bunbury Entertainment Centre for the first performance of Agape recently. It was a non-stop show of wonderful entertainment and really uplifting. The symbols, banners, flags and excellent, choreographed dancing worked together powerfully with the singing and story telling to present some central Christian messages very much related to life. b me it resonated with much of what we l do at every Mass - coming together to celebrate who we are and what is happening
in our lives. If it was available in a professionally made video. it could be very well used in segments to deepen our understanding of the Mass. I thought back on how Agape was put together as I reflected on last Sunday's Gospel of the talents. A lot of the energy and impetus for the production came from small beginnings a number of years ago in the parish of Leschenault. Liturgy and music/singing and liturgical dance have always been Important; and people there have been encouraged to use their talents. The parish was blessed with the arrival of Ian and Judith Mills and family a few years ago (no transfer fee was required by Katanning parish!). Ian had the skills, the faith and the energy to give things in the parish a gradual boost. Eventually, with the support of the Bunbury Diocesan Liturgy Commission. a Diocesan Choir drawing singers and musicians from many parishes was formed for special occasions. Similar cooperation and coming together
also happens with Catholic schools in the All of this formed the platform for Agape. The wonderful thing about it has been that it has drawn on the skills of a few professionals but many (over 200) ordinary women and men and children. The are people who have been using their talents in singing, music, dress and banner making, liturgical dance, etc, in their own schools and parishes. Christians from other churches have enthusiastically given their time and talents too. It must have been very rewarding to experience the pooling of their efforts in achieving such a remarkable performance. It was certainly a great experience to be part of the audience. Let's hope Agape will get a chance to come to Perth in the near future. Fr Pat Rooney Margaret River
Priests need support
I
fully support Archbishop Hickey in his call for support of our priests. The general loss of authority across our Western culture has led to a diminishing of respect for our priests and all religious pop stars have become the guiding lights. Young priests are in particular need of support, not just sugary condescension. Look and seek advice and guidance from them, offering hospitality and practical help. Ills very important for older people particularly not to speak disparagingly of the priest but to realise how fortunate we are to have individuals prepared to give service not for financial reward. Priests need our respectful appreciation and recognition. Peter Bertolo Gairdner
The Record, November 21 1996 Page 7
Features
Logo and plans for AD2000 unveiled
Catacombs: witnesses to the agony and ecstasy By Lynne Well
T
By Lynne Well
I
n preparation for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, officials in Rome and Vatican City announced expected attendance figures and unveiled the logo for the Jubilee. The officials made their announcements in separate press conferences on November 12. The Jubilee logo, designed by a 22-year-old former art student from the Italian region of Umbria, features five doves closely circling one another so that their wings resemble the petals of a flower. From the centre of the circle emanates a burst of white to symbolise salvation. Each dove is a different colour, and a cross in matching colours forms the backdrop along with a blue ring representing the universe. The designer, Emanuela Rocchi. said the logo was inspired by her faith and the colourful, open countryside in which she was raised. The logo is to be used on Vatican public communications concerning the Jubilee from now until the year 2000, when it also is expected to grace T-shirts, books, banners, post cards and any number of souvenirs. Rome government officials estimated that 46 million people, among them 26 million pilgrims, will visit during the year 2000. This means, they said, that excluding the times when special festivities will attract larger groups of people, there will be a daily average of 118,200 visitors, twice the present number. "Of course, that is only a prediction," said Archbishop Sergio Sebastian!, secretary general of the Vatican Jubilee committee. The Jubilee committee's president, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, noted the next phase of planning will be Inaugurated when Pope John Paul II conducts a special Advent liturgy November 30, to be celebrated in tandem with other local churches. Vatican documents planned for release during the new liturgical year include a letter on ecumenical activities expected to take place during the Jubilee, and a statement concerning interfaith dialogue with Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Cardinal Etchegaray noted that Pope John Paul has called for a meeting between leaders of the monotheist religions to take place in 1999, and that Jerusalem, and not Rome, has been suggested as its location.
he dirt walls are sometimes wet and there's an occasional bone sticking out of a crevice, but if you're not squeamish about these things, it's fascinating to visit one of the more than 60 catacombs under the streets of the Eternal City At the moment only five are open to the public. However, an initiative endorsed by Pope John Paul II plans to have several more ready by the year 2000, so that the many expected pilgrims to Rome can explore them along with ancient Churches and other sacred sites. Visitors will be rewarded not only with a glimpse of the onetime tombs of various saints and martyrs, but also subterranean basilicas -lined with travertine, frescoes depicting familiar biblical scenes, and colourful mosaics with centuries-old stones still gleaming. The Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology, charged with the upkeep of the five currently accessible catacombs, is working year-round to restore at least four others in Rome and its environs in time for millennial celebrations. Raffaella Giuliani, the commission member coordinating the crew, said whether or not any of the four will be ready by then "depends on different things." For one thing, restoring a maze of underground chambers takes the combined skill of archaeologists, engineers, artists and chemists, all specially trained and not readily available. Working conditions vary according to the soil composition and the weather. The discovery of an important relic or a mere fragment of one will bring all work in the area to a halt. People get sick or go on vacation, just as they do in other jobs. And finally, it depends on the Italian government, a fact that inspires little confidence in the Vatican organisers. Because of their sacred and historical significance, nearly all of the catacombs in Rome are under Church control. That control ends at their door steps. And since ticket booths, bathrooms and parking lots won't all fit in the catacombs, the
Photo CNS
This "'Greek Chapel" is located in the Catacombs of Priscilla, one of five catacombs in Rome which are currently open to the public. The Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology is working year-round to restore at least four other catacombs in time for millennium celebrations.
Church needs the necessary permits to build and to maintain these facilities. Anywhere else, this might not be a major hurdle. But this is Italy, where grand plans and bureaucracy don't always see eye to eye. "The Italian government and the city of Rome surely are aware of the value of these places to the public," said Fabrizio Bisconti, secretary of the Vatican archaeology commission. "And since the Pope has personally said that he puts priority on this project, we have every reason to expect full cooperation." On some sites, the city government is working on restoration projects of its own that would profit from heightened tourist traffic to the catacombs. One such location is the Catacombs of Sts Peter and Marcellinus, an exorcist and a priest who
were martyred under Diocletian in early fourth-century Rome. Constantine had an oval-shaped mausoleum built over their crypt which he later rededicated to his mother, Helen. Her sarcophagus, now in the Vatican Museums, was found there at the end of the 19th century, 200 years after a chapel and priest's living quarters had been built on the site. The Vatican and the city of Rome intend to turn the chapel into a museum explaining the mausoleum - which, roofless, is exposed to the open air - and the catacombs under foot. Some catacombs had previously been used for pagan burials, and their decoration reflects this tradition even after centuries of Christian use. In addition to thousands of "loculi," or shelf-like recesses where the bodies were stored, the
Mosaic inspires at City Beach By Colleen Mc Guinness-Howard
T
he glorious Blessed Mother and Child mosaic on the sanctuary wall at City Beach's Holy Spirit Church (pictured) is an absolute show stopper. Two metres high by just over a metre wide, with a heavy backing of compressed wood and a concrete base, it was air freighted over from Ireland in marked sections for assembly and installation. Formally blessed by parish priest Father Thomas Phelan, on the Feast of the Rosary, it was coincidentally also Holy Spirit's Day of Prayer for Priests. The mosaic was actually a discovery by Fr Phelan who, while at a conference in Rome, dropped over to Ireland and chanced upon it in a "lovely new Church."
The Record, November 21 1996 Page 8
Kneeling down beside it, Fr Phelan felt drawn to its special appeal and tried to find out the artist. Finally after many months he discovered he was an Italian in the West of Ireland, by the name of Sergio Benedetti. Fr Phelan sent him an identifying photo' because among Benedetti's numerous works - some sent to other parts of the world - the question was "which one?" He was commissioned in February this year and the art work arrived in May, for a cost of $8,000. With many favourable comments to date, Fr Phelan believes that the Madonna, "who Is the spouse of the Holy Spirit - the patron of our parish," with her Son, will bring many graces down upon the Catholic community.
catacombs feature numerous small rooms called cubicles, lined with frescoes. The basilica in the Catacombs of Sts Peter and Marcellinus can be reached by stairs built in the eighth century, when it was no longer necessary to use the catacombs for burials, but some people still went there on pilgrimages. Such visits went in and out of fashion through the ages, as witnessed by the graffiti on the walls of the passageways. Some graffiti in the catacombs dates to when they were used as bomb shelters during World War II. After that, US soldiers came through and left their mark_ But it seems that the masses had more respect for the cubicles where frescoes adorn the walls and ceilings - they are relatively graffiti-free. There's the Cubicle of the Four Seasons, where each corner of the room is adorned with a head representing a time of year - Spring wears a lush wreath of leaves, Winter wears twigs. Several cubicles feature Bible scenes such as Moses striking a rock to produce water. David with his slingshot in hand or Noah in his ark One sight unique to this particular set of catacombs is the Cubicle of the Athletes, where young men are depicted in motion and at rest. "This was either a room for the graves of athletes, or an idealised depiction of life in the face of death," archaeologist Giuliani explained. It is a wonder, she added, that the frescoes have survived over time. Humidity has eroded many of them to the point where they cannot be reconstructed. Robbers plundered the more than 120 catacombs throughout Italy for centuries, bearing away relics, mosaics and any frescoes that didn't crumble under their fingers. The remaining items of religious significance were removed to churches by papal decree. But there is still much of interest left in the catacombs of Rome - if you don't mind risking a little bit of dirt, and maybe checking over your shoulder once in a while as you make your way slowly down the labyrinthine passages of an ancient graveyard, deep underground.
Features
Welcome the Year of Jesus at Armadale
Worshippers process in honour of Christ the King at the Schoenstatt Shrine in Armadale
This Sunday the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of Christ the King. Perth's Schoenstatt Movement has kept alive the tradition of public processions as a sign of Jesus' lordship over all. The movement also sees the feast and procession as a way to begin the Year of Jesus in the lead-up to the celebration of the 20(70th anniversary of the birth of Jesus.
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longside the feasts of Corpus Christi and St Patrick's, many Australian Catholics will remember the Feast of Christ the King as one of those occasions when they joined in a public procession as an act of witness to their faith and a solemn, Joyful celebration of one of the highlights of the liturgical year. The Schoenstatt Movement has since 1992 invited Perth Catholics to join in a solemn procession in honour of Christ the King at the Schoenstatt Shrine to Our Mother Thrice Admirable in Armadale. The shrine, built on a hillside just off South West Highway, south of Armadale. overlooks Perth and its surrounds. It is a fitting location to celebrate a feast which emphasises the universal reign of Christ over all women and men, families and peoples, cities and nations. The feast of Christ the King was
Pope Pius XI believed in 1925 Instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI In his encyclical letter Quas Pri- that the annual celebration of the mas. He urged everybody to "look Feast of Christ the King on the last for the peace of Christ in the King- Sunday of the liturgical year would "provide an excellent remdom of Christ". He proclaimed that Christ was edy for the plague which now King, not just metaphorically as infects society" by which he when "he is said to reign in the meant the rejection of Christian hearts of men", but he is also principles and the growth in hos"King. . in the strict and prop- tility to the Catholic Church. Seventy one years later we are er sense too". As the Word of God. Christ "has necessarily supreme still living in a world that rejects and absolute dominion over all the relevance of Jesus Christ, his kingship and his law for modern things created". In a time when many nations life. Pope John Paul H in announcing were rejecting their Christian roots and embracing ideologies the three years of preparation for hostile to the Catholic faith, Pope the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 Pius XI declared that "Jesus Christ declared that 1997 would be the was given to man, not only as our Year of Jesus Christ. During this Redeemer, but also as a law-giver, year we are invited by the Holy Father to reflect on "Jesus Christ. to whom obedience is due." The kingdom established by the one Saviour of the world, yesChrist is a spiritual kingdom terday, today and for ever". This year of Jesus Christ, and which no one can "actually enter with the whole three-year except by faith and by baptism". However, he is also the saviour preparatory phase for the Great and ruler of nations as well as Jubilee, begins next Sunday, the individuals. Only "when men First Sunday of Advent. What better way to prepare for recognise, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King" will this than by joining in a solemn "society at last receive the great procession and dedication of our blessing of real liberty, well- lives, our families, our nation and ordered discipline, peace and the world to Jesus Christ as Universal King? harmony." The procession will commence Rather than issuing a lengthy pronouncement on the Kingship at 4pm on Sunday 24 November of Christ which would "reach only at 9 Tallus Drive, Armadale (off a few" the Pope thought it more South West Highway), just south effective to establish a new litur- of Armadale). Monsignor Michael Keating will preside. gical feast.
Archbishop Hickey presides at the first commemoration of the Feast of Christ the King at the Schoenstatt Shrine in 1993.
Catholic Church shows homosexuals path to true love By David Morrison
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s a Catholic and as a homosexually oriented man,Iam deeply grateful to the Roman Catholic Church for its position on homosexuality and homosexual acts. Roman Catholicism, almost alone among Christendom's Churches, refuses to either patronise homosexuals with a watered down gospel or brutalise them with a message of irredeemable hostility. The Roman Catholic Church loves me and all the men and women like me who live as homosexuals, looks at us as the adults we are, and says that we, too, can resolutely co-operate with the Holy Spirit to sanctify our lives. We are called to sainthood and the narrow road that brings us there. I did not recognise the value of this teaching easily. From the age of 21 to 28 I lived as a gay activist, accepting and preaching the message the gay community offers today: active homosexuality, as long as it was practised safely and in commitment, was no worse than heterosexual activity under the same guidelines. Scriptural or other moral teachings which argued otherwise were simply outof-date and were probably authored by homophobes. I speedily went about accumulating the things that made up a successful gay life.
I took a lover for a long-term relationship, because it recognises us as being children got on the fast track at work and vaca- of God and not mere beasts subject to instinct alone. tioned at gay resorts. My friends were gay, my relationship The Church's corollary position, that was gay, my workplace was gay friendly homosexuals are called to chastity also and my life seemed filled with youth and contributes to this teaching's unique pleasure. expression of grace because of what it But I was not happy. My heart tossed teaches about love. restlessly, as St Augustine's had also, and Contemporary culture is filled with every new pleasure sought brought only counterfeits to love. We say we "love" food, sharper pangs. "love" our pets, "love" the outdoors, "love' After having so much of what the gay our parents and children and "love" our world took for granted, it wasn't enough spouses. and in the early spring of my twentyBut so much of the time we do not love eighth year I turned my life over to Jesus them as much as what they can do for us. Christ and began to explore what taking We love food for its taste, pets for their up my Cross meant companionship, the outdoors for its beauThat exploration led me gradually, and with many fits and starts, to the Roman tY• And we often bind up our love for parCatholic faith whereIhave lived, gratefulchildren and spouses with condients, ly, ever since. tinge it with self-interest. and tions The Church's teaching on homosexual played out most strongly in my has This two been have orientation and chastity experience of life before committing to great liberators on my journey. The uniqueness of Catholic teaching on chastity and life afterwards. When I was homosexually active with homosexual orientation stems mainly my partner we would sometimes call our from its lack of determinism. Men and women with a homosexual ori- sexual acts "making love", but it was not entation are neither automatically candi- so much love as utility. Each made the other, with their consent, dates for praise (on the grounds of their being oppressed) or damnation (on a means to an end. But that is not love. account of inherent sinfulness). And it contrasts sharply with my experiJust like everyone else, they can choose ence after conunitting myself to chastity. either good or evil. To the surprise of almost everyone, and This is a position filled with respect in defiance of all attempts to label us, our
relationship has continued after our ceasing sexual activity. We found that our emotional commitment to one another, and to our joint life together, grew after we stopped having sex because it was a wonderful realisation that what we mean to one another extends far past our bedroom door. All of us want, and deserve, to be accepted at a deep emotional level for who we are, not for whether we can fill another's needs. Paradoxically, this kind of emotional commitment suffers most when sex becomes part of a friendship. Chaste love can be difficult at times, but then so can all living in truth. I give thanks to God that the Catholic Church understands this well enough to teach it, and to have supported an organisation in the United States called Courage, which exists to help homosexuals live out this teaching. Over the course of my two years in Courage I have made more, and deeper, friendships than I ever did during all the time I was actively gay, and I am convinced that such a witness will help our surrounding culture come to a deeper understanding of the true nature of love. - This article, reprinted with permission from the author, appeared first in the English weekly on Catholic matters, The Tablet The Record, November 21 1996 Page 9
Music Reviews
Church music of a rare calibre In Remembrance Of You by Christopher Willcock, SJ published by Oregon Catholic Press Reviewed by Dr Chris deSilva
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hristopher Willcocic, SJ has been composing liturgical music for many years now. When I first joined the Julian Singers about twenty years ago, one of the first pieces I learnt was his haunting setting of Psalm 2Z Do Not Be Afraid. Since then, I have used his music in my parish. Along with Do Not Be Afraid, the Glory to God from his Congress Mass, his Mass of Thanksgiving, and his setting of the Litany of the Saints have been included in our programmes. In the past his music has been published by Collins Dove, but at the end of 1994, he entered into a contract with the American music publishers, Oregon Catholic Press, who have published two collections of his music. The first collection, God Here Among Us, appeared last year and included his setting of the Litany of the Saints, a Mass Setting and the hymn God of Peace,
which was commissioned for the sounding Glory to God over a 1986 Papal visit to Australia. ground bass. There are also settings of the The second collection, In Remembrance Of You, was pub- hymns Praise To The Lord and lished in June of this year and is Now Thank We All Our God with based on his Mass setting enti- brass fanfares. tled Trocaire, which was comAlthough the recording feamissioned by the Sisters of tures the full instrumentation, Mercy in 1981. the performance notes assert I was particularly pleased to that "Nearly all the pieces in this find that it included his setting of collection can be performed by the Magnificat which the Julian using the simplest resources: the assembly, a solo singer (cantor)? Singers used to sing. I n Remembrance Of You is and a keyboard accompanist." I agree with this statement in published in a number of forms. principle, but my experience of There is a Choral Songbook with all the choir parts, and local parishes leads me to organ, piano and guitar accom- believe that there will be few parishes where the assembly, paniments as appropriate. There is also an Instrumental cantor and accompanist will be Book with parts for other instru- prepared to tackle this music. It is a shame that there are few ments, including tympani, brass, Catholic musicians in Australia woodwind and strings. All the pieces have been who are able to use music of this recorded by a group under the calibre and fewer still who are in direction of Craig Kingsbury in a position to produce such music. Iam still a member of the Julian the Thrifty Episcopal Cathedral Singers and, in fact, I am now in Portland, Oregon, and the recordings are available on cas- their Musical Director. I look forward to being able to sette and compact disc. I nclude some of this music in the The pieces in the collection are examples of Church music of choir's repertoire. In particular, I intend to rehigh quality in a range of styles, from the contemporary sounds introduce the Song Of The Virof the Lord, Have Mercy, and gin Mary to the choir after many Your Word, 0 Lord (Gospel years. More music, maestro, please! acclamation) to the Baroque-
Mary in music and poetry an ideal gift Mary in Poetry (to music) An audio cassette produced by Christian Brothers' Publications. Reviewed by Colleen McGuiness-Howard
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his is the sort of cassette that you'll want to replay again and again, because there is a lot in it that you'll want to catch, and think about. Two things happen within this recording - the recitation of beautiful poetry, and the background of equally beautiful music. With this interweaving through 25 really lovely poems on Mary, you need to play it several times to hear the words, ponder over them, and digest their meanings. This is a delightful experience
and gives a certain freshness to the cassette which makes it a great price for the ongoing pleasure one receives. The poetry by such famous names as John Henry Cardinal Newman, GK Chesterton, Pope Leo XIII, Hilaire Belloc, the prayer of St Cyril of Alexandria, another prayer from the Byzantine Liturgy, and others from the 3rd and 15th centuries, makes for very interesting listening and reflecting. The poems, which cover a wide range of aspects of Mariology, such as The Magnificat, the Litany of Our Lady, Mary, Wife and Mother, Our Lady of the Evening, Our Lord and Our Lady, The Incarnation (St John of the Cross), and Star Illumined By The Sun, are recited by James Condon, Anne Haddy and Beverley Dunn. Their diction is superb, with crisp clarity, and the content has been described as a "rich resource for prayer," which would bring delight to Marian devotees. It could be used beneficially in communities, homes, classrooms, for reflective listening, Incorporation of poems into school and church paraliturgies. poetry studies in secondary classes, and for dramatisation or for miming. Alternatively, it's great to play around the home or in the car. And certainly, it's an ideal gift.
Poetry
Echoes of the spiritual in Nobel Prize winner's unreligious poetry By Jonathan Luxmoore
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he poems of Nobel Prize winner Wislawa Szymborska do not carry overtly Christian themes, yet Church leaders in her native Poland say they point to the value of a spiritual search. "Her work is a constant attempt to provide answers - for people perpetually on the run, threatened by life, forgetting what's important," said Father Wieslaw Nieweglowski, the Polish Church's leading specialist on Polish culture. "Through her poetry, she catches them by the hand and says, 'Stop and think! Open yourself to others," the priest said of Szymborska, who won the Nobel Prize for poetry in mid-October. "Though a nonbeliever, she isn't negative toward Christianity," said Catholic literary critic Jan Blonsld. "But it's a weak element in her work," he added. "It's as if she sees it around her, but consciously leaves it out. Instead, her real sensitivity is for the invisible aspects of concepts and phenomena. Her work is stoical but calm, full of sorrow that this is the only world available, that real life isn't as she dreamed as a child." Though a native of staunchly Catholic Poland, Szymborska has no public link with the Church. Born in 1923, Szymborska has
lived almost all her life in Krakow, the southern city widely seen as Poland's cultural capital. Her first verse was published in 1945, the year she started studies at the Jagiellonian University's Polish department - six years after Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II. Her first collection. WhyAre We Alive, appeared in 1952 at the height of Stalinist rule. In a recent rare interview, Szymborska admitted she "made mistakes" in her first poems, by "revealing a love of humanity rather than people." But her lyrical, unpretentious style, with its deep reflections on the constraints and pressures of human history and biology, was quickly acknowledged by literary connoisseurs, Catholic and secular. When her last collection, End and Beginning, was issued in 1993, Szymborska had published just 200 poems in half a century - a sign, admirers say, of determination to give quality preference over quantity. In Szymborska's poetry, life makes sense even without faith. Though gods may be all-knowing, they are powerless, since they have no earthly presence and cannot change facts. "I believe in a great discovery/I believe in the man who made it/I believe in the fear of the man who made it/My faith is strong, blind and baseless" ("Discovery"). Some critics think this sceptical humanism places Szymborska in
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a long-established tradition and broadly describes the outlook of most leading Polish poets since the Enlightenment. In the 19th-century, when Poland was partitioned among the Russian, German and AustroHungarian empires, writers enjoyed lofty status as guardians of national identity. But while many expressed strong spiritual instincts in their work, most stood outside the mainstream of Catholic popular culture. Among Poland's three other Nobel laureates, Hemyk Sienkieglorified (1846-1916) wicz Poland's past and wrote about religion, while Wladyslaw Reymont (1867-1925) wrote idealistic portrayals of rural religiousness, and Czeslaw Milosz, 85, who was awarded the prize in 1980, has focused heavily on moral and metaphysical themes. Church leaders today accept The poems of 1996 Nobel Prize winner, Wislawa Szymborska, point to the that great poetry does not value of a spiritual search, even though she is a non-believer. require an overtly Christian languages. Though clearly situat- of existence, ultimately defies stamp. ed in the independent tradition explanation. "But to divide poets artificially of Poland's greatest poets, she has There is no final key to underInto Catholics and non-Catholics, also given poetry a contempostanding. religious and non-religious, good rary application. "Szymborska's poetry doesn't and bad would be a total misunHer discreet, ironic language really point the way to God. But it derstanding," said Father Nieweand temperament strike a chord open us to the transcendent valglowsid. "What's important is that our with today's sceptical post-com- ues of love, goodness and truth," poetry should be both Polish munist society, giving poems she said Father Nieweglowski. "If Christianity itself is a Gospel and universal - that poets should wrote decades ago a new releof love, then everything which be children of their epoch, pos- vance. In Szymborska's poetry, nature helps build a culture of love is ing the questions which matter." Some critics think that descrip- is free: all borders and restrictions itself at the service of man. This is tion fits Szymborska, whose are made by people. poetry which contains a very work has been published in 36 But even nature, the mystery deep spiritual breath," he said.
International News
AIIeged remarks land Belo in the firing line JAKARTA (UCAN) - Salesian Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo's comments on Indonesia's treatment of East Timorese people in two German weeklies have put the 1996 Nobel Peace laureate under fire. In their mid-October editions, Der Spiegel and Focus quoted Bishop Belo, Dill's apostolic administrator, as saying that East Timorese were treated as "scabby dogs" and "slaves," prompting protests from many quarters. In the interview, Bishop Belo was also said to have alleged that Indonesia has robbed East Timorese people of their freedom, destroyed their culture, and that military officers attempted to assassinate him nine times. Legislator Abu Hasan Sadzili, vice chairman of Committee I of Indonesia's House of Representatives, told reporters Bishop Carlos Belo on November 8 in Denpasar, Bali, that the House will call Bishop Belo to clari- the bishop's remarks to see if they violate any laws. fy his statement in January 1997. Twenty youth organisations affiliated Aisyah Amin', another Housemember from the Muslim-based Partai Persatuan with the ruling Golongan ICarya (Golkar, Pembangu-nan (united development functional group) denounced Bishop party), criticised Bishop Belo for not Belo's remarks, urging the authorities to showing gratitude to the government and question him. On November 11, a group of youths military for building East Timor. Defence Minister Edi Sudradjad told staged a protest rally at Jakarta's reporters that Bishop Belo's statement Soekarno-Hatta airport against Bishop does not reflect his status as winner of Belo, who came to Jakarta for the annual meeting of Konferensi Waligereja the prestigious Nobel peace award. Armed Forces Commander General Indonesia (KWI, Indonesian bishops' Feisal Tanjung. told the 39th anniversary conference). More protests broke out on November of the military academy in Magelang, Central Java, on November 9, that Bish- 12 in Jakarta and Central Java's capital. op Belo's remarks insult the government. Semarang, in which youths and univerCoordinating Minister of Security and sity students demanded the East Timor Socio-Political Affairs Soesilo Soedar- bishop explain his comments. But on the same day in Dili, East Timor's man, said that Bishop Belo should realise that his identity card and passport were capital, a counter demonstration was launched by students of the University of issued by the Indonesian government." Both Tanjung and Soedarman agreed Dili in support of Bishop Belo. The Jakarthat there should be an investigation on ta Post reported. Dissatisfied with Jakar-
Pledge to reunite East and West Timorese via culture KEFAMENANU, Indonesia (UCAN) - Leaders of eastern and western Timor have pledged to reunite the Timorese through their common ancestral culture, despite being separated by Western colonisation. A three-day Timor cultural festival drew some 10,000 people from around the island to Kefamenanu, capital of Timor Tengah Utara (ITU, north central Timor) district, where the festival was held. "Reuniting all Timorese people by reviving our common culture is one way to raise our self-respect of being Timorese," said Antonius Amaunut, a Catholic and TTU district head, during the opening ceremony of the September event. Although colonisation by the Dutch and the Portuguese separated Timorese in the east and west for more than three centuries, their common culture does not fade, Amaunut told the crowd. "Listen to our common dialects spoken in western and eastern parts of the island. AndI dare say that traditional dances, songs, and arts to be performed in this festival. . . . will show many similarities," he added. During Western colonisation, western Timor was controlled by the Dutch and East Timor by the Portuguese. When Indonesia declared its independence in August 1945, western Timor became a Dart of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province, which also includes Flores and Sumba islands. Indonesia integrated East Timor in 1976 as a separate province.
The September 13-15 Timor festival was jointly organised by district offices of tourism in East Timor and western Timor, represented by all four district delegates in western Timor and six of 13 East Timor district delegates. Divine Word Father Gregorius Neonbasu, a Timor native, told the seminar that a Timor cultural centre could be established in the future. adding that the Tru district government has provided five hectares of land for that purpose. At the same time a priest in western Timor, Father Makarius Mob , encouraged local youths to appreciate the significance of being professional farmers and to think about the effect og different farming methods on the environment at a recent seminar marking World Food Day 1996. The seminar was held on October 16 at St Pius X Farming Technological high school in Kefamenanu, capital of Timor Tengah Utara (north central Timor) district. Father Mobo said the youths should cultivate the "ability to create new methods for raising food production without destroying the environment." He said the traditional slash-andburn method can no longer be tolerated because it destroys the environment and cannot guarantee sustainable production. We are called to cultivate the land of Timor in a more professional way with greater responsibility toward the environment," Father Mobo added.
ta's treatment of Bishop Belo, the East Timor students said in their statement, "An anti-Belo stance means being against the people of East Timor." At a November 12 press conference at KVVI's office, Bishop Belo reiterated his position, stated in a communique issued in Dili on November 8, saying that he will clarify the matter "later at an appropriate time." "I myself have not yet seen a copy of the interview. Everybody now is angry and they have the right to be. I'd rather keep silent," Bishop Belo said, adding that he was trying to obtain the taped interview from the weeklies. At the right timeIwill explain the truth and the faults of the published interview. Whether the interview is true or twisted, we have to first listen to Der Spiegel's recording," he said. Meanwhile. Jose Ramos-Horta, 51, the exiled East Timorese activist named to share the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize with Bishop Belo, says he consults with his cowinner virtually all the time. Ramos-Horta, speaking on November 14 at a press conference at the United Nations, praised Bishop Belo's role as spiritual leader of East Timor. "I consult with him on every matter," he said, adding that he listens to the bishop -most of the time." One position the bishop takes that Ramos-Horta said he cannot endorse is the prelate's view that young East Timorese should never demonstrate. But the activist said he totally supports the bishop's efforts for peace. Ramos-Horta said he and Bishop Belo would make a joint visit to the United States in February, but if President Clinton wished to see only Bishop Belo, that "for me will be more than enough," he said. "He can speak for all of us," he said.
PARISHIONERS SUPPORT FOR PRIESTS In some dioceses, people are being prepared for priestless parishes, without sufficient acknowledgement or discussion of other possibilities. The priest is irreplaceable. Without him there c an be no Mass, no Confession. Why then should we accept priest -less parishes? If you are willing to pray to the Sacred Heart o f Jesus for vocations to the Priesthood, and would support the possibility of offering Priests and/or seminarians from other countries, places to serve Him in Australia, please register your interest by forwarding a stamped, addressed envelope to J.K. Sullivan, PO Box 1 40, Newstead,Tasmania,7250.Your name will then be registered with the organisation, and a prayer card for vocations will be forwarded to you. If sufficient people respond, then a list of concerned parishioners will be submitted to our Bishops for their consideration. Yours prayer-fully, Kevin Sullivan
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The Record, November 21 1996 Page 11
International News
Contraception a grave for Popeh r sin: Vatican theologian In Brief
VATICAN CITY (CNS) - The New York publishing house William G. Berry will print and distribute Pope John Paul II's new book in the United States. England and Australia. The book, Gift and Mystery: On the 50th Anniversary of My Priestly Ordination, is expected to be released in English by the end of November. Vatican officials said. The 119-page Italian edition. published by the Vatican printing press, was distributed to the media at a November 15 press conference.
Gorbachev visit VAIICAN CITY (CNS) Pope John Paul II and former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev exchanged words of appreciation for the efforts each other made on behalf of justice. The Pope and the former Communist leader, who was visiting Italy, met at the Vatican on November 18. They had met twice, in 1989 and 1990. while Gorbachev was still president of the Soviet Union and was introducing and economic Political reforms in his country.
Ukraine bishop VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Pope John Paul II has given his assent to the election of Bishop Mychajlo Koltun as head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church's Diocese of Kiev and Wshorod. Bishop Koltun. 47. had served as head of the Eastern-rite Diocese of Zboriv. Ukraine, since 1993. The Pope's November 13 decision confirms Bishop Koltun's election by the Ukrainian bishops' synod to replace Bishop Lubomyr usar. The head of the Ukrainianrite Church, 82-year-old Cardinal Myroslav Lubachivsky of Lviv. has turned almost all of his responsibilities over to Bishop Husar. Bishop Koltun entered the Redemptorist order in 1974, when the Eastern-rite church was illegal in Ukraine. He attended a clandestine seminary and was ordained to the priesthood in 1981.
Irish hymns hit DUBLIN. Ireland (CNS) - A collection of Catholic anthems has become the biggest selling music album of all time in Ireland. Released in late October, "Faith of Our Fathers" features well-known hymns including "Hail Glorious St. Patrick," "Soul of My Saviour," "Holy God, We Praise Thy Name," "Tantum Ergo" and "The Bells of the Angelus." The album has been the No. 1 seller for two weeks and is expected to dominate the Irish music charts until Christmas. In its first week it sold 36,000 copies in a country of 4 million people, setting a new sales record that beats any release in Ireland by pop and rock acts like U2, Van Morrison or the Cranberries.
By John Thavis VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Use of contraceptive birth control is a grave sin, because it represents a "no" to life and God, said an article in the Vatican newspaper. L'Osservatore Romano. The article said couples using birth control not only seriously damage their own marriage values but add to an increasing global acceptance of contraception, abortion and sterilisation. "The mass distribution of contraceptives has been the first step on a path of death," it said. This adds enormous moral responsibility to individual use of contraception. it said. The full-page article, published on November 14, was written by Father Lino Ciccone, a moral theologian and a consulter to the Pontifical Council for the Family. It is unusual for the Vatican newspaper to publish such lengthy articles on single moral issues. Father Ciccone indicated he was writing the article because it was a topic of pastoral confusion, and because some experts have recently suggested use of contraception may be a lesser sin. He pointed out that Pope Pius XI. in his 1930 encyclical "Casti
Connubii," held that birth control was an act against God and that its use constituted a "grave fault." Some observers say later Church pronouncements have reaffirmed the first point but not the second. Father Ciccone disagreed, saying the church has maintained the seriousness of the sin in recent decades, but in somewhat different language. He cited documents of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II, all of which speak of the importance of the values involved in marital sex and how they are contradicted by contraception. Moreover, he noted. the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said in a 1975 instruction that all violations of sexual morality are "objectively grave." He said the Church's magisteriurn has in fact delineated a "devin astation of values" contraception: refusal to cooperate in the divine design of procreation: degradation of human sexuality, oneself and one's marriage partner: abandonment of the value of human life: falsification of sexual "language": and a "mortal wounding" of marital love itself. "Thus it is clearly seen that in
sterilisation. It said contraception has thus played a key role in the creation of a "culture of death" whose victims number in the tens of millions every year. "Couples who choose contraception, whether or not they are aware of it, help consolidate and strengthen such a culture at its roots," it said. The resulting responsibility is difficult to measure, but it is "certainly enormous," it said. The "Catechism of the Catholic Church" presents Church teaching that contraception is immoral, but without saying explicitly that it constitutes a grave sin. The catechism explains the Church's traditional differentiaPope Paul VI tion between grave, or mortal, sins the doctrine proposed by the and venial sins. It says mortal sin is a grave viomagisterium, the use of contraof God's law that destroys lation ception in the sexual act constitutes a grave matter of sin, in charity in the person's heart and addition to being 'intrinsically dis- turns him or her away from God, honest' and therefore never licit, depriving the person from sanctifying grace. for whatever purpose," he said. It says venial sin involves a In more recent years, the article continued, birth control has less serious matter, weakening become a social and political charity but allowing the person to remain in grace. problem as well as personal. The distribution of contracepThe catechism further stipulates tives on a global scale, it said, has that for an act to be a mortal sin, brought about a "contraceptive It must be committed with full mentality" that has led to the knowledge and deliberate consocial acceptance of abortion and sent.
Reservations on food summit result Holy See ROME (CNS) - The Vatican and
14 countries that signed the final
document of the World Food Summit expressed their reservations about it in separate amendments. On the last day of the conference, the Vatican listed its concerns about population control, reproduction and gender issues and said its consent to the document did not imply a change in church teaching on family planning. It also stressed that government measures to stabilise global population growth in the interest of alleviating world hunger should not remove individuals' choices on whether or how often to give birth. It reiterated the Vatican's reservations from the 1994 UN population conference in Cairo about the use of the term "reproductive health services." In Cairo. the Vatican delegation, joined by several
other countries, withheld consent on parts of the final declaration dealing with abortion and reproductive health. At this meeting, unlike the previous UN conferences, most of the potential issues of contention were addressed in advance. This was done so that discussion could remain focused on finding concrete solutions to world hunger. Delegates agreed on the nonbinding final statement two weeks before the summit started November 13, provided they could publicise their disagreements with it at the end, November 17. At the food summit in Rome, Argentina, Malta, Nigeria and several Islamic states joined the Vatican in objecting to references in the document to population and family planning policies and abortion. The delegation from the United
Arab Emirates said "these unresolved and divisive issues should not have been included in a discussion of a document on food security, and (have) diverted our time and attention from the purpose of this summit - providing food for all." The US delegation called the right to adequate food "a goal or aspiration to be realised progressively" rather than a right or national obligation. US officials had expressed concern before the summit that declaring "a right to food " - a phrase the Vatican favours would imply a legal obligation for nations to feed starving people abroad in addition to their own citizens. US officials at the summit came under repeated criticism for Washington's positions on gene technology, open markets for agriculture and other issues.
in black
VATICAN CITY (CNS) - The Vatican predicted its fifth straight budget surplus for 1997. and said dioceses around the world are responsible for the financial turnaround. The world's faithful are expected to contribute more than $25 million toward Vatican expenses next year. US Cardinal Edmund Szoka said at a press conference on November 9. Combined with other income of $178 million to meet its projected expenses the Vatican will have about $842,000 left over, he said. "After so many years of deficits, we have finally had three years of small gains and are projecting two more," said Cardinal Szoka.
Pope Pius MI was not silent on Jews: Jesuit scholar By John Thavis ROME (CNS) - A Jesuit scholar said historical evidence shows that when reports of Nazi death camps emerged late in World War II, Vatican diplomats worked to find out more and to protest the mass deportations and killings. US Father Robert Graham, who has studied declassified material from the period at the Vatican and elsewhere, said that among those who acted was Pope Pius XII, who has been accused by some groups of "silence" over the holocaust. Father Graham made the comments in an article in the November 16 issue of La Civilta Cattolica. He said Pope Pius XII sent a
The Record, November 21 1996 Page 12
telegram on June 25, 1944, to the regent of occupied Hungary, appealing that he do everything to spare those being persecuted. The Pope's message was the first of several international protests sent to Hungary, where mass roundups of Jews were in high gear, Father Graham said. Consequently, deportations of Jews in Hungary were blocked for a short time, but resumed when the regent was replaced. The Pope's appeal was the result of research by high-level Vatican diplomats, who realised Hungarian Jews were in great danger. The papal nuncio in Budapest, Archbishop Angelo Rotta, protested repeatedly to the government.
In a letter to the Hungarian foreign ministry dated June 10, 1944. the nuncio challenged the official explanation that the Jews were simply used for forced labour. "When people more than 70 or 80 years old, including elderly women, when children and the sick are taken away, one must ask: For what labour can these human beings be destined?" he wrote. He ridiculed the official explanation that the families were being allowed to accompany male workers, saying this "great favour" had only been accorded the Jews. Meanwhile, Father Graham said, the Vatican delegate in the United States, Archbishop Cicog-
nani, citing US Jewish sources, told the Vatican on June 9, 1944, that "it is known for certain that the extermination of Jews has begun and is continuing. The number is about 1 million." He urged a strong public appeal by the pope. The Vatican asked its Hungarian nuncio to confirm the US delegate's report. The nuncio said he estimated that 300,000 Jews had already been deported from Hungary in "truly horrendous" conditions. He too urged the pope to intervene. The Pope's telegram to the Hungarian regent came a few days later.
International News
Key Catholic-Anglican meeting as unity drive falters By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Pope John Paul II and Anglican Archbishop George Carey of Canterbury, England, will meet in early December as a sign they have not abandoned the search for full, visible unity No one knows how Roman Catholics and Anglicans will ever be able to share the Eucharist when they disagree over whether a woman can legitimately celebrate the sacrament and even over who has the authority to make that decision. But Church leaders and ecumenists continually stress one point: the two communities can never settle for just being friendly when the Gospel calls them to be visibly one. Pope John Paul and Archbishop Carey cannot and have not
ignored the obstacles, but both have said repeatedly that progress toward unity is the will of God and an essential part of the Christian mission. Archbishop Carey, who has led the worldwide Anglican Communion since 1991, will have his second private meeting with Pope John Paul during a December 3-5 visit to the Vatican. But beyond the symbolic importance of presiding together at an evening prayer service, many people wonder what a meeting between the Pope and the Archbishop can accomplish. After 25 years of statements of agreement, the dialogue seems to have stalled as the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion solidify their positions on women priests. However, the official theological dialogue established by
the churches continues to search for agreement in areas of belief and practice. The seriousness with which the churches treat the dialogue is seen in its current topic: the exercise of authority in the Church, particularly in light of Scripture and Tradition. The question obviously underlies the issue of women priests and is central to finding ecumenical agreement on the role of the papacy-. Archbishop Carey's first meeting with Pope John Paul, in 1992, came just months before the Church of England - Anglicans' mother Church - opened the way to women priests. The world's largest Anglican churches ordain women and several of them, including the Episcopal Church in the United States, have also ordained women
Pope accepts Castro invitation to visit Cuba By John Thavis VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Opening a new chapter in VaticanCuban relations, Pope John Paul II and President Fidel Castro met to discuss a wider role for the Church in Cuba and a likely papal visit in 1997 "Your Holiness, for me this is a great honour," Castro said with a slight bow as he entered the Vatican for the first time on November 19. The pontiff welcomed him with a handshake and led him into his office, where they spoke in Spanish without interpreters for 35 Mr Castro and the Pope on Tuesday minutes. Vatican spokesman Joaquin telling the fall of European comNavarro-Valls said Castro munism. Dr Navarro-Valls said the two renewed his invitation to the Pope to visit the island nation, home to spoke in a climate of "open dialogue." and they talked of the 4.5 million Catholics. The Pope accepted, and both "normalisation of the Church's men agreed they would try to life in Cuba and of the role of make it happen in 1997. though believers in Cuban society." A carefully worded Vatican no date was set. The unusual meeting brought statement summarising the meettogether two 20th-century protag- ing did not explicitly mention onists from opposite ends of the human rights, but Navarro-Valls said the issue surely was covered ideological spectrum. Castro heads one of the last in the talks. communist governments in the In the past, the Pope has strongworld, one which harshly perse- ly insisted on respect for religious cuted the Church when it came to freedom as the first of all human power in 1959, and Pope John rights, and Castro's communist Paul is widely credited with has- government has recently shown
signs of moderating its restrictions on Church activities. Navarro-Valls underlined the historic nature of the encounter. "The most important thing that happened was that President Castro was here discussing these key points with the Holy Father. The result is open to future developments," he said. He echoed other Vatican officials. who said privately that the dialogue with Castro and his government was certainly more open than in the past, but by no means easy. The Church there is still pressing for greater operating space for Its missionary social, educational and mass media activities. His separate working session with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, lasted 45 minutes. Also attending the meeting were Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina and Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, an assistant secretary of state who visited Cuba in October. Navarro-Valls said one topic in this second round of talks was the activity of bishops and priests in Cuba: the Vatican has pressed for freer entry of non-Cuban pastoral workers in the country, and Cuba recently showed some flexibility on the issue.
bishops. The Roman Catholic Church insists it does not have the authority to overturn the unbroken tradition of a maleonly priesthood. In addition, it cites the fact that Christ chose only men as his Apostles and that in celebrating the Eucharist, the priest acts in the person of Christ, who was a man. Archbishop Carey supported the move toward ordaining women and said in 1992 he had told the Pope it was "a possible and proper development of the doctrine of the ordained ministry." The Pope told Archbishop Carey at the time what he had told the archbishop's predecessors: The ordination of women "constitutes a grave obstacle to the whole process of Anglican-Roman Catholic reconciliation."
In addition to discussing the status of the theological dialogue at their December meeting, the Pope and the Archbishop are expected to discuss how they can promote more cooperation in areas where there are no such apparently insurmountable doctrinal barriers. Two particular issues have been high on their agendas and are likely to be discussed in their private and public statements: preparing to celebrate the 2,000th anniversary of Christ's birth and promoting moral behaviour in a world which often seems to function in an ethical void. In meeting and praying together publicly, Pope John Paul and Archbishop Carey "will emphasise the vision and light the spark" needed to put new energy into relations, Catholic-Anglican Father Ruddock said.
Tributes pour in for Cardinal Bernadin By Jerry Fitteau WASHINGTON (CNS) Chicago's Cardinal Joseph Bernardin was "our nation's preeminent Catholic Church leader of the 20th century," said Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles, Pope John Paul II praised the cardinal's "untiring work" and "dignity and hope in the face of the mystery of death." Cardinal Bernardin's death from cancer on November 14 at the age of 68 brought an outpouring of tributes. Hundreds of cardinals, bishops and civil dignitaries were expected at his funeral in Chicago on November 20. Even as he lay in the final stages of death he continued to make his mark on the life of the Church and the nation. One of his final acts was a letter to the nine US Supreme Court justices pleading for reversal of two lower-court decisions that would legalise physician-assisted suicide as a constitutional right. Born of Hal-
Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, at an August 12 press conference
ian immigrant parents on April 2. 1928. South Carolina. Joseph Louis Bernardin was ordained a priest April 26, 1952. He was ordained a bishop April 26, 1966 - at 38. the youngest bishop in the country. In 1972 he was made archbishop of Cincinnati and ten years later transferred to Chicago. At the time of his death he was the most senior figure in the Church in the United States.
Charismatic document VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Pope John Paul II said charismatic Catholics are called to deepen their ties to their parishes and dioceses, placing their lives at the service of the Church's mission to spread the Gospel. In a letter to the November meeting of the Catholic Fraternity of Covenant Communities and Fellowships, the Pope announced the Vatican was preparing a document to help guide charismatic communities within the
Catholic Church. The Vatican's official recognition of the fraternity as a Catholic lay association is an expression of appreciation for Catholic charismatics as well as an encouragement "to strengthen your ecclesial identity," the Pope said. "That identity requires you to be ever more fully associated with the life of the particular churches," he wrote in the message, published on November 13 at the Vatican.
US bishops agree to new liturgical rules, guidelines WASHINGTON (CNS) - At a four-day meeting overshadowed by the death of Chicago Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, the US bishops took steps toward restructuring the administrative structures that guide their work together. Debate on proposals to restructure their twin conferences - the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the US Catholic Conference - took up much of the last two days of the bishops' November 1114 northern autumn general meeting in Washington. But no votes were taken on November 14
because of the lack of a quorum. Earlier in the meeting, the bishops approved a plan for young adult ministry, elected a new treasurer and more than a dozen committee heads, approved a 10-point statement of economic justice principles, and voted on the final two segments of the general Sacramentary proposed for use throughout the English-speaking world. The Sacramentary - the book of Mass prayers and instructions used at the presider's chair and at the altar - must be submitted to Rome for final approval. The 76-page document on young adult
ministry, titled "Sons and Daughters of the Light: A Pastoral Plan for Ministry With Young Adults," was approved on a voice vote on November 12. The statement on economic principles, approved in a unanimous voice vote, was jointly proposed by the bishops' domestic and international policy committees. Just two pages long, "A Catholic Framework for Economic Life" echoes the much larger 1986 pastoral letter by the bishops, "Economic Justice for All." The new statement emphasises making economic decisions based on moral prin-
ciples that focus on protecting the poor and vulnerable. And it encourages government, business and all of society to consider human consequences of economic choices. In other action at the meeting, the bishops: • Approved by a voice vote a set of guidelines for televised Masses; • After lengthy discussion of their ramifications for Orthodox relations, confirmed guidelines for receiving Communion, to bring them into conformity with current canon law and ecumenical directives.
The Record, November 21 1996 Page 13
Asian News
Jesuits join New Dehli Miss World protests NEW DELHI (UCAN) - Jesuits In New Delhi have joined students and activists protesting the Miss World Contest in India and alleged vulgarity in the media. Some 14 teachers and students of Vidyajyoti Jesuit Theologate marched with 200 schoolchildren on November 2 from Delhi's historic Red Fort to the shrine of Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. Under the banner of Azadi Bachao AndoIan (ABA, save freedom movement), they shouted slogans and carried placards demanding an end to obscenity in media. Jesuit Father S Arokiasamy, secretary of the doctrinal commission of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India, who was among the protesters, told UCA
News that holding the Miss World pageant in a country like India is unethical. "When millions do not have enough to eat or clothe, it is unethical to host such a show of the rich and the affluent," said Father Arokiasamy, Vidyajyoti's moral theology professor. Meanwhile, the Miss World Contest, scheduled to end on November 23 in the southern Indian city of Bangalore, went ahead as planned. All 89 participants arrived in New Delhi and proceeded to the Seychelles, a tourist island in the Indian Ocean, on October 6 for the swimsuit competition. Despite threats from several organisations to disrupt the contest, economy tickets priced at
about US$55 and US$85 reportedly sold out on the first day. The average monthly income of an urban Indian is less than US$85. Terming the beauty pageant an "insult to Indian culture," the Delhi student protesters urged the Government to cancel the show and stop advertisements on the government-controlled television network publicising the event. Amit Kapur, a student at New Delhi's St Mark's school, said that Indian culture was respected by other nations but is gradually being destroying by local media through "vulgar programs." In a memorandum, the marchers asked Indian President Shankar Dayal Sharma "to intervene immediately" to effectively
ban adult programs on television. "Vulgar film songs and programs shown on television are making it difficult for women to walk on the streets safely. In buses and markets, it's lewd comments one hears," said Maya Gupta, principal of Universal Public in Delhi. "We are trying to awaken the public to the dangers of growing obscenity in the media. More people will have to come out in protest to put pressure on the government to purge obscenity," ABA leader VP Srivastava told UCA News. Acting on an ABA petition, a Delhi court ordered the government to ensure that beginning in August no adult programs were telecast on the government-controlled television network
Indonesian human rights commission finds 'gross vtolation' of human nglats in October Java nots •
•
JAKARTA (UCAN) - Indonesia's human rights commission has found a "gross violation" of human rights in the October 10 riots in the East Java town of Situbondo, but it declined to determine whether the rioting was planned. The rights group also announced that 24 Catholic and Protestant churches and one Buddhist temple were torched or destroyed by the rioters. Six Catholic schools, five rectories of Protestant pastors, including the one in which a family of five were burnt alive, and one Protestant-run orphanage were also destroyed. Munawir Sjadzali, chairman of Komisi Nasional untuk Hak-Hak Asasi Manusia (Komnas HAM, national commission on human rights), recently announced the results of the commission's investigation into the Situbondo incident. The October 10 rioting occurred when a mob demanding the death sentence for a Muslim youth accused of insulting Islam and a late Muslim leader, became angry after the local court sentenced the accused to a five-year prison term.
•
Dissatisfied with the sentence. the mob began torching the court house, public buildings and churches in Situbondo, 800 kilometres east of Jakarta, and the rioting spread to neighbouring towns. Sjadzali, a former religious affairs minister, told a November 5 press conference that the people's rights to religious freedom, to life, to property and to freedom from fear have been violated. However, before determining whether the rioting was planned or organised, law enforcers should investigate the matter, and "it is the authority of the court to decide justly," Sjadzali said. Criminal acts (in the rioting) should get equitable punishment to prevent the recurrence of attacks on worship houses, the Komnas HAM statement said. Sjadzali insisted that those involved in the riots should be investigated and prosecuted, emphasising that any effort to "freeze or cancel" the case can be done only by an authorised body and according to law. To settle criminal cases through extrajudicial deliberation violates the rule of law, and would lead to a feeling of unfair treatment
•
among some groups, Komnas HAM asserted. The Komnas HAM asked the government and the general public to help rebuild churches, schools, and the orphanage, "so that the religious life and school activities (in Situbondo) could be restored." The rights group also lauded military leaders for taking the initiative in removing debris from the destroyed churches and schools, and for their promise to help with the reconstruction project. "We hope such policies would be made standard in handling similar cases," the Komnas HAM statement said. It also recommended the government should give compensation to victims of the rights violations. It asked the government to develop an atmosphere suitable for interreligious dialogue and collaboration without launching formal institutions. The government-sanctioned rights body praised religious leaders and the government for their efforts to ease tensions caused by the Situbondo event. Meanwhile, religious leaders in Situbondo, East Java province,
•
and the local provincial government have agreed to cooperate in rebuilding the churches torched and destroyed in the riots. Catholic, Protestant, Muslim and Hindu leaders in their joint statement called on East Java government and military leaders to help rehabilitate churches and to guarantee that such incidents would not recur in the future. "Besides physical rehabilitation on houses of worship, we ask the government and security leaders to guarantee that all religious believers can practice their religion without fear," the statement said. The statement was released on October 25 to East lava Governor Basofi Sudirman, security leaders, and religious leaders, including Carmelite Bishop Herman Joseph Syahadat Pandoyoputro of Malang. Father Blasius Tira, parish priest of Our Lady Star of the Sea in Situbondo, was one of the four religious leaders signing the statement. Responding to the statement, Sudirman said that the East Java provincial government has decided to cover material losses sustained in the riots.
N. Koreans Sri Lankan 'showed mercy' receive aid SEOUL. South Korea (CNS) North Korea's small Catholic community is planning to grow flowers and vegetables to sell to hotels and restaurants with the help of Korean Catholics in the United States. The project is designed to help Catholic families financially and to raise the Church's profile in North Korea. The Catholic Shirunun newspaper reported that 36,000 square yards of vinyl and other materials were sent to North Korea in August. Catholics at Changchung Church in Pyongyang, the only Catholic Church in North Korea, plan to set up a vinyl greenhouse near the Church.
COLOMBO (UCAN) - Joining in teachers in private schools should tributes to former Sri Lankan be paid by the state," the archpresident J.R Jayawardene, the bishop also said. Catholic archbishop of Colombo Colombo South Vicar General lauded the late politician's contri- Father Marius Peiris joined Archbutions to international affairs, bishop Fernando in paying his education and national develop- last respects to Jayawardene. ment. Colombo Vicar General Father Archbishop Nicholas Marcus Joseph Wickremasinghe repreFernando said Jayawardene, who sented Catholics at the welldied on November 1 at age 90 attended November 4 cremation after a battle with cancer, will be of the former president, who was remembered for holding out raised a Christian but publicly against majority opinion by advo- embraced Buddhism as a young cating mercy toward Japan after man. World War II. Venerable Riujin Tanaka, a The archbishop's statement Japanese "bhikkuni" (Buddhist went on to note Jayawardene's nun) who heads the World Peace introduction of an economic sys- Temple in Hiroshima, expressed tem "that has found acceptance in her gratitude to Jayawardene, spite of change of governments." who she said changed the fate of "I wish to remember him with the Japanese people by advocatthe hundreds of teachers and ing amnesty for them at the postthousands of children whom he war San Francisco Peace helped by decreeing that the Conference.
The Record, November 21 1996 Page 14
Some of the late leader's ashes were taken to the Hiroshima peace temple. K.B. Ratnayake, speaker of the Parliament and representative of President Chandrika Kumaratunga's government, and Ranil Wickremasinghe, leader of the United National Party (UNP) that Jayawardene helped found in 1946, gave speeches praising his political capability and vision of national unity. Independent Sri Lanka's first finance minister, from 1947-1953, Jayawardene led a reorganised UNP to a decisive election victory in 1977 over Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Kumaratunga's mother and currently prime minister again. He used the UNP's majority in Parliament to create the powerful executive presidency that he filled himself from 1978-1988.
New Asian news page The Record today begins a regular section of news of the Catholic Church in Asia supplied from the Union of Catholic Asian News based in Bangkok and Hong Kong. Western Australia's proximity to Timor, Indonesia and other parts of South-East Asia make such a service important. Migrants from Asia living in WA will find the reports useful in keeping up to date with events in their mother - The Editor Churches..
Bombay Church 'polarising'
MUMBAI, India (UCAN) - Negative media reports on "upheavals" In the Bombay Church have fuelled polarisation in this western Indian archdiocese. While some Bombay Catholics criticise the secular press for "biased and sensational" reports, others in India's largest diocese call for "self-introspection rather than media-bashing." Polarisation led to the resignation of the president of the Bombay Catholic Sabha (BCS), the archdiocese's representative lay organisation, in September. Louis D'Silva, a political science professor at Bombay University, told UCA News that he resigned after some BCS members misinterpreted his defence of the Association of Concerned Catholics. The secular press highlighted the association's allegations of property mismanagement and "lack of transparency and accountability" in some parishes in the city of Mumbai, formerly Bombay. A circular from the Archbishop's House directed priests to discuss media coverage at parish council meetings and a "background paper" for such meetings lists several issues that got negative press. These include dalit (low-caste) Christians' demand for government jobs, controversy over parish fund trusteeship, infighting in a Church over the transfer of a priest, a priest's alleged "sex scandals" and speculation over the next archbishop. The background paper evoked mixed reactions among Catholics. George Menezes. former president of the All India Catholic Union, said it was biased. "Instead of focusing on the issues that provoked the reports, the backgrounder criticises them (and fails) to foster honest debate," he added. According to another Catholic leader, Church scandals make good copy for the secular press and the solution is "not mediabashing but reforming the Church from within." Others, though, warn that destructive protests will divide clergy and laity and, as BCS vice president Hansel D'Souza puts it, "split our minuscule community into atom-sized particles." Calling Bombay "one of the most democratic (dioceses) in the country," D'Souza asserted that "a well-documented" issue "can be effectively communicated and resolved," but those involved in recent protests differed. Some told UCA News they were forced to resort to rallies and sitins after their grievances were ignored by their parishes and the Archbishop's House.
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HOLLYWOOD (CNS) Actress Suzanne Rogers' prayer life was put into overdrive when she learned 12 years ago that she had myasthenia gravis. "You know how we used to say our prayers in the morning and before we'd go to sleep?" asked Rogers, who plays Maggie Horton on the NBC soap opera "Days of Our Lives." "WhenI got sick, the doctors couldn't put a name on what I had. I said to (God), 'Please. God, let them put a name on this so they can cure it, or at least get me well.' So I made a little pact that I would say the rosary every day if they would just put a name on it. So when they did,I did." She took off from the show for a year to battle the nerve disease, which weakens facial muscles first and spreads downward. "I was told at the same time that I would not be doing the job that I was doing. Anymore. By my doctor. And my little guardian angel said, 'Oh, yeah?" she added, laughing heartily. "I think it was determination, and prayer and other people's prayers that got me through this." She recovered enough to return to the show in 1985. The disease was being controlled with prednisone, "a steroid cortisone medicine that distorts your looks something terrible," Rogers said. She said she looked so different - "they call it moon
" oto CNSMIC
Suzanne Rogers
face" - that fans of the show began writing in asking what was wrong. "So they realised they had to write it into the story. So we did the story on it," Rogers said. "And the only stipulation Ihave is that the story is a positive story line. Because I intend to get well. So that's what they did." Rogers said, "I think I've been an inspiration to people who have it. I've heard from people all over the world - Australia and Canada and the United States - about it over the phone. "People who write to me about it are discouraged and depressed, and their families call me, or they write me and! call them, and try to cheer them up," she said. "I would rather have not had It, butI think Ihad it for a purpose. That's whatIlike to feel."
Rogers has been on Days of Our Lives" 23 years. Her character, Maggie. "started on the show on crutches," she said. Maggie has been through a lot over the years, including being an adoptive mother only to lose her child to the natural mother, being a surrogate mother and finding out that her dead husband wasn't really dead. But "for the past five years she has not had a lot to do. I would like for her to have more to do," Rogers said. "I would like her to have a job, a purpose." These days the writers give fewer stories to 23-year veterans than to 23-year-olds. "Granted, our demographics are 18 to 49, definitely," Rogers added. "I get it. But the 18-year-olds have to have parents or aunts, friends, whatever." When she moved to New York to seek fame and fortune on the stage, Rogers became a member of Blessed Sacrament Parish. Now a member of St Charles Borromeo Parish in Hollywood, Rogers wears a crucifix every day. "I like to keep it on me at all times," she said. "I like to see It. It's true." She was the last cast member to see fellow Catholic cast member Macdonald Carey, when he was dying of cancer two years ago. "I made him laugh," Rogers said. "(Carey's wife) Lois was there and the nurse was there and they said it was good to see him laugh."
The Record,November 21 1996 Page /5
A beacon of service and of God's call to salvation H
igh on the hill among tall mas card, conveying a message of trees and rooftops to the joy on the birth of Christ and an west of Jackadder Lake in invitation to celebrate the feast the near northern Perth suburb of day with all the Catholic neighWoodlands, you can clearly see bours of the area. the huge cross and modern spire The rich spiritual life of the of the church of Our Lady of the parish is regularly demonstrated Rosary parish. in quiet, inclusive ways such as It stands both physically and the conduct of occasional twilight symbolically as a beacon of God's retreats, and weekly one-hour leccall of salvation to the world. tures at which the Holy Bible is The location and sheer presence examined and explained, with the of this church is fitting for a parish emphasis on "readers" rather which is best characterised by a than "scholars". generosity of spirit and service. The development of young peoThese are the hallmarks of Our ple in the faith inspires a strong Lady of the Rosary, a parish commitment from the parish. founded and still administered by Activities include weekly Chilthe Dominican Order, an order dren's Liturgy of the Word and a with a universal vocation of monthly Children's Mass on Satpreaching the Word of God. urday evening. Parish priest Fr Stephen Tarrant Faith education at different levOP and his predecessors - one of els are offered to adults wishing whom, Fr Frank Brown OP, still to explore Catholic beliefs and helps in the work and life of the values and to children attending parish - have built a contempo- government schools through rary tradition of nurturing and weekly religious education classsharing a deep faith in Christ's es which lead. when desired, to teachings. preparation for First Communion This is a body of parishioners and Confirmation. whose concept of evangelisation, Thousands of young people worship and caring reaches far attend Catholic schools situated into the community. within the parish, namely Holy A reasonably prosperous parish, Rosary primary and the three this church extends its hand of campuses of Newman College, support and fellowship well primary and secondary. beyond its own people in the subThe parish extends its support urbs of Doubleview, Woodlands, to other young people through its Churchlands and most of Wemb- contribution to a chaplaincy serley Downs. vice at the large Churchlands For instance, since last Christ- Senior High School. mas, the parish has committed to This outreach or evangelising delivering to every single house- character is also evident in a hold within its borders a Christ- range of other parish activities,
The elegant peace of the sanctuary TRADITIONAL LATIN MASS On the first Sunday of every month the Traditional Latin Mass will be offered at 10am at St John's Pro-cathedral, Victoria Avenue, Perth. Every other Sunday Mass will be offered at the usual time of 11.15am. All welcome. Enquiries Ph: 457 5860. CHRISTIAN MEDITATION, TWILIGHT RETREAT Friday 29 November at Servite Priory, 2 Morgans St, Tuart Hill. 6-7pm Fellowship with light supper. 7-9pm Scripture readings for Advent, reflection and meditation. A time for listening to voice of the Spirit heralding the season of hope. Donation at door $10. All are welcome. Bookings necessary by 25 November. Phone 444 5810. The Record, November 21 1996 Page 16
such as a Remembering Church program for those not actively practising the Catholic faith, the Welcoming Ministry whereby strangers and new corners are greeted. Antioch for the youth and the Legion of Mary who visit the sick and others in need. The parish is a driving force in the Woodlands conference of the St Vincent de Paul Society which assists many people in need, regardless of race or religion, who reside far beyond parish bound- The imposing landmark of Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Woodlands aries. Spiritual enrichment is the focus divorce or bereavement. An innoof other aspects of parish life. For vation in 1996 has been the sucexample, followers of the Neo- cessful launch of an occasional Catechumenal Way come togeth- series of social nights for the men Parish: Our Lady of the er in a small community of of the parish. Rosary. Numbers have reached 75 at the missionaries committed to the Dominican Community: humility, simplicity and praise two functions held so far and the Fr Stephen Tarrant, OP, which marked the early church. strong interest is certain to susParish Priest, The Majellans seek to uphold the tain this activity in the new year. Fr Francis Brown OP, Along similar lines, a new dignity of the family and sacraBr John Swinkels OP parishioners' night is held annument of marriage. Address: Angelica St, ally to provide orientation and felThe Dominican Laity, known as Woodlands. lowship for arrivals in the district. the third order of the Dominican Telephone: 446 2055. Working with the parish priest family, follow more closely the is a dedicated parish pastoral Pastoral Assistant: precepts of Dominican teaching. planning team and a part-time Sr Anne Larney OP. The parish also strives to help pastoral assistant, Sr Anne Larney Telephone: 446 7772. fill some of the social needs of its OP Parish Secretary: members. These people are ever alert to Mrs Rita Bennetts. The Rosarians caters for older the needs of parishioners and parishioners, meeting socially contribute significantly to the once a month to join in enter- quality of parish life, especially The church was built almost a tainment, games and celebra- through liturgy and pastoral care. quarter of a century ago under tions, and a craft group meets Music, for instance, has been the guidance of its designer, every week in the parish coffee vigorously supported, enabling a parish priest Fr Bonaventure shop to encourage participants to wide spectrum of singers and Leahy. share their talents and skills. It is constructed entirely from musicians to contribute to A solo parents group offers Eucharistic celebrations each magnificent Toodyay stone, maksocial contact for those left by week and during the special sea- ing the church a public building themselves through separation, sons of the church. of heritage distinction. While its choir loft contains a superb pipe organ and huge stained glass window, the church's bell tower has little to boast. It indeed holds a large bell but alas it was never fully assembled. Only once in its history has sound rung from the bell tower on the Doubleview hill: the parish team president used a sledge hammer to strike a note on the occasion of the beatification of Mary MacKillop in January 1995 to fulfil a request from the nation's bishops. Our Lady of the Rosary did not want to let down the community. That's the spirit of this parish. Christian fellowship in action: the craft session in the parish coffee shop
At a Glance
firchcliocesan Panorama BUSINESS PERSONS' MASS Will be celebrated at All Saints Chapel, Allendale Square, Perth on Friday, 29 November 1996 at 7am. Followed by a Breakfast Meeting at The Venice Cafe, Trinity Arcade, Perth. Cost of Breakfast $8. The guest speaker will be Kerry from AA. Enquiries Phone 384 0809. THE STOLEN GENERATION On Sunday 1 December between 11am and 3pm at Pallottine Centre, 5th Avenue Rossmoyne, interested people are invited to discuss: What happened to Abo-
rigines separated from their parents and why; what measures the Church can take to help remedy the hurt. Input will be given by Mr Pat Dodson of the Aboriginal Reconciliation Committee, Archbishop Barry Hickey. Inquiries about this event: Fr Michael McMahon SAC, Phone 354 4061. NATIVITY CELEBRATION The West Coast Singers will be presenting "Amahl and the Night Visitors" and "The First Nowell" at St Joseph's Catholic Church in Salvado Rd,Wembley on the evenings of Friday 29 and Satur-
day 30 November and the afternoon of Sunday 1 December. Discount tickets of $20 and $45 (family) are available by phoning 388 6514 (Bus) or 293 4284 (ah) or at the door $25 and $50 respectively. FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING SCHOENSTATT SHRINE ARMADALE Sunday 24 November the Feast of Christ the King will be celebrated with procession and devotions lead by Mons. Keating at the Schoenstatt Shrine, 9 Talus Drive, Armadale. Please join us in this celebration starting at 4pm. Followed by afternoon tea. Schoenstatt means "a beautiful place". Truly a beautiful place to come to for prayer and contemplation. You are always welcome at this place of grace. For information contact: 399 2349. Continued on Page 15