JUNE 14, 2015, Vol 65, No 12

SUNDAY JUNE 14, 2015

SINGAPORE $0.70 CENTS / WEST MALAYSIA RM$2.10

MCI (P) 005/08/2014

PPS 201/04/2013 (022940)

Archbishop Romero beatiÀed in San Salvador

VOL 65

NO. 12

INSIDE HOME Archdiocese warns against ‘Charlie Charlie’ Spiritual bondage could result „ Page 8

ASIA Rohingya crisis Myanmar cardinal urges compassion from nation „ Page 9

POPE FRANCIS Mercy and the New Evangelisation Seminarians carry the blood-stained shirt of Archbishop Oscar Romero dXrinJ his beatiÂżcation 0ass CNS photos

Pope on how the two are linked

SAN SALVADOR – Some thought this day would never arrive. Others hoped, and some always knew it would.

On May 23, the Catholic Church, beatiÂżed $rchbishop Oscar $rnulfo Romero y *aldame], of El Salvador, who was assassinated in 1980 while celebrating Mass, just a day after pleading and ordering soldiers to stop killing innocent civilians. “Blessed Romero is another brilliant star that belongs to the sanctity of the Church of the $mericas,´ said Cardinal $ngelo $mato, head of the 9atican’s Congregation for Saints’ Causes, during the ceremony in San Salvador. “$nd thanks be to *od, there are many.´ While those who persecuted him have died or are in obscurity, “the memory of Romero continues to live in the poor and the marginalised´, Cardinal $mato said.

His homilies often pleaded for better conditions for the poor, for a stop to the escalating violence in the country and for brotherhood

„ Page 15

,Q D WLPH RI GLI¿FXOW\ LQ (O 6DOYDGRU $UFKELVKRS 5RPHUR NQHZ ¾KRZ WR JXLGH defend and SURWHFW KLV ÀRFNœ said the pope.

“Parents, be involved in your kids’ lives�

Resume your educational roles, pope urges 3ilJrims Jather for the beatiÂżcation 0ass in the 'iYine SaYioXr of the :orld sTXare

„ Page 17

COMMENTARY among those whose divisions ultimately led to a 12-year conÀict.

He is not a symbol of division but one of peace, Cardinal $mato said.

In a message sent on the occasion of the beatiÂżcation, Pope )rancis said that $rchbishop Romero “built the peace with the power of love, gave testimony of the faith with his life´.

Proof of that is the shirt he died in, soaked in blood, after an assassin’s single bullet took his life.

Eight deacons carried the blood-stained shirt, now a relic,

to the altar in a glass case. Others decorated it with Àowers and candles during the Saturday ceremony. Several priests reached out to touch the case and later made the sign of the cross.

In a time of difÂżculty in El Salvador, $rchbishop Romero knew “how to guide, defend and protect his Ă€ock, remaining faithful to the *ospel and in communion with the whole Church´, the pope said in his message. “His ministry was distinguished by a particular attention to the most poor and marginalised. $nd in the moment of his death,

while he celebrated the holy sacri¿ce of love and reconciliation, he received the grace to identify himself fully with He who gave His life for His sheep.´ The event was held at the square of the Divine Saviour of the World in the capital city of San Salvador.

Pope Francis in February signed the decree recognising $rchbishop Romero as a martyr, a person killed “in hatred of the faith´. In general two miracles are needed for sainthood – one for beatiÂżcation and the second for canonisation. „ CNS

Sharing the joy of the Gospel Church needs to be able to speak to people’s hearts „ Page 18

FEATURE Serving Nepal quake victims S’pore Catholic doctor on his experience „ Page 20

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Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

Archbishop Goh calls for spiritual renewal at Pentecost rally

Archbishop William Goh delivering his talk during the Pentecost Rally on May 24.

Participants during praise and worship led by the Burning Bush Charismatic community.

By Lorna O’Hara

The archbishop and priests celebrating the Pentecost Mass.

“The lack of awareness of one’s sinfulness prevents one from experiencing the mercy of God,” said Archbishop William Goh. “If we are not aware, then spiritual renewal is impossible,” he said at the Pentecost Rally.

“Forgiveness of sins is ultimately the work of the Holy Spirit,” he added.

The rally was held at the Church of St Vincent de Paul on May 24.

“1inety-¿ve to ninety-eight percent of Catholics who come to church receive communion every Sunday but the number of confessions are very few. So do Catholics really know the mercy of God?” he asked.

The archbishop also warned the crowd in the packed church that “numbers can make us complacent”.

Out of the 350,000 Catholics in Singapore, “more than onethird are migrants”, he noted, estimating that there were less than 1,000 baptisms in the local Church this year.

Thus, for evangelisation to take place, Archbishop Goh said that every Catholic must experience a “moral, personal and spiritual renewal”.

For spiritual renewal, Archbishop Goh said, “You must know your scripture well”.

Don’t be like the people in the tower of Babel, he warned. They felt that “man can do anything and everything without God”.

He added that those who are in Church ministries must be willing to set aside their differences

and put others before themselves.

This is because, “the failure to agree on anything,” can lead to bitterness and “a lot of misunderstandings,” he said.

“If you are bearing grudges, then you cannot serve in the ministry. This is why the world is getting more and more divided,” he said.

To experience God’s love, the archbishop said that Catholics must be remorseful when they make mistakes.

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– Archbishop William Goh

“We are not asking you to have a guilt complex. Remorse on the other hand, is because you have done something wrong. Remorse means compassion. Compassion leads to liberation. So when the person is remorseful, then conversion can last.”

“Renewal programmes help people to experience the Gospel.

Let us ask the Lord for a renewal, that we will truly be renewed in our spiritual life,” he concluded.

Other highlights of the rally included prayers for baptism of the Holy Spirit led by Carmelite Fr Thomas Curran. People were seen resting in the Spirit. There was also praise and worship by the Burning Bush Charismatic community from St Anne’s Church, and sharings by four Catholics.

One such testimony came from Ms Sharon Chua from the Church of St Ignatius. She said that she used to be busy chasing after money and felt that “I was my own God.” However, while attending a conversion retreat last year, she was suddenly drawn to the adoration room where she had a spiritual experience.

Since then, “the Lord changed my character. I am now more patient, more trusting, loving and caring,” she said.

After the rally, the archbishop, along with several priests, including Fr Curran and parish priest, Fr Michael Sitaram, celebrated Mass.

In his homily, Archbishop Goh reiterated his points during his talk. He added that “the Spirit is the one who leads us to the fullness of truth. The truth is a person and it is Jesus. To encounter Jesus is to encounter the truth.”

“We need a community that supports our spiritual life and growth. That kind of community empowers the Spirit,” he said.

“We are called to be missionary disciples.” lorna.ohara@catholic.org.sg See also story on Page 16

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Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

Left: Panelists at the CHARIS forum.

Above: Participants get to know about mission trips.

Sharing about missionary experiences at forum and fair

By Lorna O’Hara The biennial CHARIS Humanitarian Forum and Fair saw several speakers sharing their experiences of mission trips.

About 780 people attended the event titled, One Mission. Many Borders. Love Multiplied, which was held at the Catholic Junior College auditorium on May 30.

In his opening address, Archbishop William Goh said that “a man must experience poverty to know poverty”.

There are two types of poor, continued the archbishop. The ¿rst includes “those suffering from disasters and those in wartorn countries”, while the second, are called the “new poor”.

This includes “those who are lonely. The abandoned. The homebound. The ‘new poor’ are those suffering from depression,” he said.

“The great danger is if you’re well off, your contact with the poor is very limited. You are not in touch with life.”

“Get out of your seat! Go out!” he said.

Archbishop Goh also warned parents that “by shielding children from the reality of life, they aren’t in touch with their own inner poverty and the poverty taking place in real life”.

“Those who are materially poor are often spiritually rich,” he added. “It is easier to feed the poor but for the rich, it’s all about making money. They are afraid to take risks.”

Following his address, Caritas Internationalis’ humanitarian director Suzanna Tkalec, and Mr Willie Cheng, chairperson of the disaster relief committee of CHARIS, took to the stage.

Mr Cheng asked Ms Tkalec several questions about Caritas Internationalis’ (CI) operations.

Ms Tkalec said that CI focuses on doing everything that’s needed in a humanitarian crisis.

Following their dialogue, Msgr Enrique Figaredo, Apostolic Prefect of Battambang, Cambodia, gave a presentation.

Msgr Figaredo shared that when he was in Madrid a few years ago, he saw a painting by Joaquin Sorolla called Sad Inheritance. The painting potrayed

18, carrying a child while four other children tugged at her sarong.

Since then, SiGN has been raising funds to support a kindergarten’s daily operations there.

Mr Irving Teo, chairman of Project Micah, said that when he was in the southern Shan state in Myanmar, he saw young children helping their parents to carry materials for building roads.

He and several volunteers are

“I went home feeling disturbed,” she added.

Her group helps to equip scavenger children and their families living at the Payatas dumpsite with basic reading and writing skills.

Ms Yenni Suryani, country manager, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Indonesia said that CRS Indonesia serves “the people in the poorest places” such as in

Ms Tkalec encouraged her to ¿nd a job and use her skills to support the operations of CI. CatholicNews spoke to several participants who were ¿rsttimers who attended the forum for the ¿rst time.

Ms Marie Goh, 36, said that “I am no longer going to wait for everything to be ¿ne and dandy before I want to make a difference”.

Ms Michelle Tan, 23, said that Archbishop Goh’s talk struck her the most when “he mentioned the joy of love, going out there and how fortunate we all are”.

After the forum, participants attended Mass and later visited a fair comprising 23 booths mostly showcasing the various CHARIS af¿liates and their overseas mission work.

Mass

Ms Sherlyn Khong, a founding member of mission group acts29

Ms Yenni Suryani, country manager, Catholic Relief Services, Indonesia

Fr Frederick D’Souza, executive director, Caritas India

John of the Cross helping naked, disabled children who were playing on the beach.

“I was touched by this painting. I see so much beauty and so much suffering,” he said.

In order to love the poor, you have to be kind, Msgr Figaredo added.

providing education for children through play, music and dance.

Ms Sherlyn Khong from acts29 said that at 19, while on her ¿rst trip to the Payatas dumpsite in the Philippines, a poor teenage boy told her, “I never knew you rich people would come here to help us poor people.”

Papua New Guinea and West Timor so that they would be better prepared during natural disasters.

Fr Frederick D’Souza, executive director, Caritas India, said that he hopes that Caritas India can stop “the culture of silence where they [the locals] are exploited” and create “a culture where locals have rights”.

If you’re well off, ‘ your contact with the

Question-and-answer session

Panel discussion Five panelists shared their experiences on mission work and how their organisations help the poor.

Mr Alfred Goh, from the Church of St Francis Xavier’s mission group, Sowers in God’s Name (SiGN), travelled to Paitan in Sabah, Malaysia. There, he saw a young mother around the age of

poor is very limited.

You are not in touch with life. Get out of your seat! Go out!

’

– Archbishop William Goh

Msgr Figaredo joined the panelists on stage during the question-andanswer session.

One 13-year-old female participant asked if she needed to have a job or experience in order to join CI.

Mass was celebrated by Msgr Figaredo, Msgr Philip Heng and Fr Colin Tan. During the homily, Msgr Figaredo said, “God is teaching us to go out” and help the poor.

“Even for those who are in Religious orders, we are here to work for the kingdom of God”, not for ourselves, he added.

He then urged the crowd that it was because of God’s love that they would be drawn to help the poor.

While on mission trips or when helping the poor, Msgr Figaredo said, “We have to help with... our love. We have to share with gratitude.”

Quoting Mother Teresa, Msgr Figaredo concluded by sharing that through our actions in doing good, we hope that “people touched by us would see the face of God”. lorna.ohara@catholic.org.sg

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Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

Children posing with Opus Dei Fr -oe Lopez after receiving their ¿rst Holy Communion at the Church of St Bernadette.

Spanish-speaking kids CHIJ students, staff donate receive First Communion Twenty-three children from the Spanish-speaking community received their ¿rst Holy Communion on May 17 at the Church of St Bernadette.

Fr Joe Lopez, chaplain of the

community in Singapore, celebrated a special Mass at the parish, in front of at least 100 Spanish speakers from 19 different countries.

In his homily, Fr Joe urged the parents to continue setting a good example for their kids.

“This is not a graduation ceremony,” he said.

“Today, a new chapter in the faith journey of your children starts. Now they will be energised with the power of the Eucharist.”

At the end of the Mass, two parents, on behalf of all the parents present, made a pledge to commit themselves to continue to be the spiritual formators of their children.

This was followed by a traditional song to Our Lady, which was sung by the children as they offered up Àowers to her.

To know more about the Catholic Spanish-speaking community in Singapore, visit their website at www.catolicosingapore.org

hair to breast cancer patients “I feel that cutting eight to collect $90 in donainches of my hair and tions from family and turning them into wigs friends. to help cancer patients “Whatever little we is something very meancan do, we should do, ingful,” said 15-year-old because every little effort Celine Lee, a student counts. If we all put in a from the Convent of the little effort to help out, Holy Infant Jesus Secwe can make a big differondary (Toa Payoh). ence,” said Terena Hung, She was one of more 15, a pupil who initiated than 50 students and the idea for the hair docurrent staff from the nation drive. school, who pledged to Her classmate Sadonate eight inches of mantha Hong, 15, said Students getting their hair cut on May 26. their hair, which will that “by having my hair be made into wigs for cut and made into a wig, breast cancer patients undergoing when 12 students had their locks I will be able to help the cancer cut in the school hall by members patients in their battle against chemotherapy.

The initiative, called Strands of a hair salon, run by a parent of cancer, and make their pain more of Love, is being carried out in an alumnae. bearable”.

The other students and staff collaboration with The Breast “CHIJ Secondary is proud to Clinic at Tan Tock Seng Hospital will get their hair cut by visiting support Terena in this self-initiat(TTSH), and the Recycle Your salons located around TTSH. ed project, in collaboration with Prior to the event, each hair TTSH Breast Clinic,” said school Hair volunteer group.

It was launched on May 26, donor was given a pledge card principal Karen Tay.

Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

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Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

Foreign Minister meets pope in Vatican City Minister K Shanmugam made a visit to the Vatican City from May 11 to 13. It was his ¿rst visit there since he was appointed Singapore’s Foreign Minister in 2011. He is also concurrently Minister for Law. Mr Shanmugam attended the weekly General Audience at St Peter’s Square. There, he was granted a baciamano (brief audience) with Pope Francis.

Describing his experience afterwards, Mr Shanmugam said, “I felt very blessed and honoured to be granted a baciamano. It was unforgettable. The Holy Father was everything that people said he was.

His sincerity and great love for people clearly came through, from the way he interacted with the large crowd at St Peter’s Square.”

Mr Shanmugam also conveyed an invitation from President Tony Tan to the Holy Father to make a visit to Singapore.

While in Vatican City, Mr Shanmugam separately had meetings with Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, and Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, Cardinal George Pell. These meetings allowed both sides to reaf¿rm the strong and friendly relations between Singapore and the Holy See, and discuss ways to advance bilateral coopera-

Minister K Shanmugam’s baciamano (brief audience) with Pope Francis on May 13. Photo: L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO

tion in areas of mutual interest.

The visit was an opportunity for Mr Shanmugam to catch up with some Singaporeans who live and work there. He hosted a dinner for four Singaporean nuns – Srs Mary, Iris, Calista and Josephine – who are based in Rome.

ReÀecting on his visit upon his return to Singapore, Mr Shanmugam said, “Since 1981 when Singapore and the Holy See estab-

lished diplomatic relations, the bilateral relationship has steadily grown.

We have a large and active Catholic community in Singapore. Both Singapore and the Holy See also share a similar outlook on matters concerning religious diversity and interreligious harmony. My visit this time has allowed me to deepen this relationship. At a personal level, it has also been a very meaningful and spiritually uplifting experience.”

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Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

Catholics in S’pore pray for China Church

Mr Lars Stenger from Jesuit Refugee Service Indonesia speaking at the Church of St Ignatius.

Fr Henry Siew and fellow priests celebrating the special Mass for the China Church. Photos: HAI SING PAO

Learning about Rohingya situation An advocacy of¿cer with the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), Indonesia, gave a talk on the Rohingya refugee situation at the Church of St Ignatius on May 25.

Mr Lars Stenger said that more than 1,000 Rohingya had landed in Indonesia and about 4,000 are expected to be brought ashore in the next few months.

But “these ¿gures are estimates as it is very dif¿cult to monitor the actual number of boats which are adrift”, he told the more than 30 JRS Singapore members and their guests.

“Many of the refugees who have been brought to shore by the ¿shermen in Aceh have arrived malnourished and dehydrated.

The facilities in Aceh are also over stretched,” he added.

Mr Stenger said that a JRS Indonesia team has been deployed in Aceh province and has carried out a needs test to assess the situation.

The team is helping to ensure that the refugees are receiving protection and have access to basic necessities, said Mr Stenger.

In addition, the team is working with organisations such as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and the International

The congregation included both locals and Catholics from China.

Camp for Rohingya women and children at Bayeun, Aceh province.

Organisation for Migrants, to provide basic necessities, educational courses, counselling and assistance to the refugees and asylum seekers in immigration detention centres.

Mr Adrian Teo, a JRS Singapore member, felt that the session was informative.

“The talk made me realise that

we must show compassion to them [the Rohingya refugees], if not out of human goodness then out of the realisation that we could easily have ended up like them if circumstances were different,” he said.

JRS Singapore will commemorate World Refugee Day during the 6pm Sunset Mass on June 20 at St Ignatius Church.

Catholics, both local and Chinese migrants, have the responsibility to spread the Good News to the people of China.

“We are all members of the Church,” said Fr Henry Siew. “We can share the experiences of our community life with our brethren from China, here or in China.”

Fr Henry was speaking in Mandarin at a Mass to mark the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China. The celebration was held at the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on May 24 evening.

In his homily, Fr Henry also called on Catholics to pray not only for the Church in China, but for the clergy there as well.

A praise and worship session was held before the Mass, led by the Chinese Charismatic Renewal Movement.

See also stories on Pages 10 and 16

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Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

Two CHIJ schools mark their anniversaries Students tell story of school in play

Above: CHIJ 4ueen of Peace singing Hold on to Our Dream during the ¿nale. Below: Cover of the cookbook.

School launches new cookbook during dinner CHIJ Our Lady Queen of Peace (CHIJ OLQP) celebrated its 60th anniversary by launching its very own cookbook during a May 29 dinner, held at Blossom Garden.

The Infant Jesus (IJ) Sisters and board of management, current and past school staff, former pupils from batches as early as 1968 and two national bowlers were among those in attendance.

The cookbook titled Relish!

A Taste of IJ OLQP, was put together by the school’s National Education Committee as an SG50 project.

It features family recipes in-

cluding Malay and Indian cuisines. The recipes were submitted by school staff, parents, alumni and partners of the school.

The ¿rst copy of the cookbook signed by all the contributors will be placed in the school’s Barre Gallery for all to read.

During the dinner, the school also honoured its pioneers by inviting the daughter of 90-year-old bridal designer Sylvia Kho to auction her bags.

Six of Ms Sophie Kho’s bags were auctioned off. Proceeds collected will go towards the school’s Primary Education Review and

Implementation Upgrading Fund.

There were also two dedications to the IJ Sisters. It included a song sung by the school’s subject head for Information and Communication Technology, Madam Lily Hoi and a poem recited by Pri 3 pupil Eashaa Pillai.

There were also other performances by the school’s tap dancers, choir, drama club, fusion dancers, Chinese Cultural Club and alumni.

The night ended with everyone singing the school song after singing a popular CHIJ song, Hold on to Our Dream.

Archdiocese warns against ‘Charlie Charlie’ A game that purports to invoke a Mexican demon – known as “Charlie, Charlie” and considered to be a simpli¿ed version of the Ouija board – has gone viral on social media among young people.

Scores of short video clips, posted mostly by teens, show players shrieking when a pencil apparently moves on its own after they say a phrase inviting the demon.

In response to queries from secular media on this, the Singapore archdiocese released the following statement: From time immemorial, people have always had an interest in or fascination for the spiritual realm, whether it be deities or demons.

Human beings have a natural curiosity to know the future, to acquire special powers and knowledge, and many would take much

risks in pursuit of this. However, invoking the power of demons and evil spirits to satisfy our curiosity is not consonant with the practice of our Catholic faith, which puts our trust in God alone.

Moreover, the Bible tells us that one of the reasons for Jesus’ coming to earth is to free us from the oppression of the devil (1Jn3:8). So it Àies against the cause of God’s salvation for us to empower demons to take control of our lives by wantonly invoking them to show their hand. Let us not underestimate the power of these spirits. What might appear to be child’s play could well end up with disastrous consequences.

It is not surprising that in a secularised world where God and the spiritual world are not acknowledged, many are ignorant of the reality of the work and the existence of evil spirits. All the

popes in recent times have warned of the deception of the Evil One, by making us believe that he does not exist so that we need not be on guard.

Ignorance of the reality of the Evil One and reducing it to mere superstition is very much promoted in a world that only believes in science and technology.

Many make light of the reality of evil spirits as seen in the way Halloween is celebrated in many parts of the world, i.e., merely as a fun activity. Those who invite the spirits consciously are willingly asking them to take control over their faculties, resulting in spiritual bondage.

Our advice is for parents to be mindful of what their children engage in, especially on the Internet, lest they fall prey to activities that might put them in the way of forces that are beyond anyone’s control. Additional material: CNA/EWTN

Pupils, staff and parents celebrated CHIJ (Katong) Primary’s Founders Day and 85th anniversary on May 28.

The celebrations included a short play called A Journey Through Our History, where Pri 6 pupils acted out various segments of the school’s history.

Prior to the play, there was a Mass which had the theme Joyful in Hope, Generous in Service.

Fr Eugene Vaz was the main celebrant together with school chaplain Fr Damian de Wind.

In his homily, Fr Vaz spoke about how being an IJ girl meant belonging to a family that one grows up in with one’s experience of God, both in the home and at school. He noted that through the years, generations of IJ girls have received the gift of education. Fr

Vaz called for a moment of reÀection to think about how this gift can be used in service of others, just as their founder, Blessed Nicolas Barre, followed his calling to serve the poor and underprivileged in society.

After Mass, the school paid tribute to the IJ Sisters present. A tribute was also given to Mrs Doris Teoh who was instrumental in the merger of CHIJ Opera Estate and the primary section of Katong Convent in 1990.

A carnival was held on May 30 to celebrate the school’s 85 years.

The school has also raised $23,000 for its annual Gift of Love project this year. The money collected went to the victims of the Nepal earthquake as well as the Infant Jesus Homes and Children centres.

Pupils of CHIJ (Katong) Primary re-enact a part of their school history.

2 June 2015

CHANCERY NOTICE

CHN/CN/2015/005

APPOINTMENTS

OTHER MATTERS

1. Fr Adrian Anthony has been reappointed Rector of the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd with effect from 4 May 2015 in accordance with can. 557 §1.

Imprimatur Fr Anthony Hutjes SSCC has received an “imprimatur” from Archbishop William Goh DD for two publications, “A Catholic View on marriage and sexuality” and “Exploring our Faith”.

2. Fr Terence Pereira has been appointed the Diocesan Director for the Ponti¿cal Missions Societies (PMS) for the Archdiocese of Singapore for a term of two [2] years with effect from 21 May 2015.

3. Fr James Yeo has been appointed as a Governor with the St Gabriel’s Foundation for a term of two [2] years with effect from 14 July 2015.

4. Fr Edward Lim OCD has been appointed as the Conventual Chaplain to the Order of Malta Singapore (Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta) for a term of two [2] years with effect from 28 May 2015.

SG50 Archdiocesan Celebrations The Archdiocesan celebrations of SG50 that will be commemorated with a Mass on 4 Jul 2015 at the indoor stadium will ful¿ll the Sunday obligations of that weekend.

Erratum In the previous Chancery Notice CHN/CN/2015/004, the dates were mistakenly reported that Fr Samuel Lim will assist in pastoral duties at the Church of the Holy Family from the months of May – July of 2015. The correct months are from July – September of 2015.

Fr John-Paul Tan, OFM, JCL, Chancellor, Chancery of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore #07-01 Catholic Centre, 55 Waterloo Street, Singapore 187954 Email: chancery#catholic.org.sg

ASIA 9

Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

MIGRANT CRISIS

Yangon cardinal appeals to Myanmar government to resolve Rohingya crisis...

– Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, archbishop of Yangon, made an appeal for the plight of modern day boat people in an of¿cial statement released to AsiaNews.

“A new wave of boat people, ejected by excruciating poverty and conÀict from both Myanmar and Bangladesh, are adrift in the seas. Exploited by unscruplous human traf¿ckers, men, women and children are huddled in unhealthy, squalor ships, often sent to die in the seas,” noted the ¿rst cardinal in the history of Myanmar.

Like those arriving in Rome, “the boat people from Myanmar and Bangladesh are Àeeing for dignity and security”, wrote Cardinal Bo. “In a great gesture of humanity, Malaysia, the Phillippines and Indonesia have opened their doors. Humanity is indebted to these nations with the compassionate spines. Particular mention must be made of the Phillipine Church, following the clarion call of Pope Francis, that welcomed these refugees as brothers and sisters.”

He went on, “[The] Myanmar government has rescued two boats that were adrift with refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh. This gesture, coming from a nation worshipping the Lord of Compassion, Buddha, is highly commendable. Our brothers and sisters in Myanmar never cringed from their commitment to compassion in the moments of human brokenness.”

He said he appreciated the challenges faced by the Myanmar

YANGON

I urge all my ‘ country men and women, the rulers, to muster enough courage to confront this problem with a large heart, solving it once [and] for all.

’

– Cardinal Charles Bo

Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, Myanmar. File photo

rulers and welcomed their recent action. However he urged the government “not to allow discourses of hatred to subvert its glorious tradition of compassion”.

Cardinal Bo said, “Rohingyas or Bengalis, we as Myanmar citizens have a moral obligation to protect and promote the dignity of all human persons. Names cannot dilute humanity. A community cannot be demonised and denied its basic rights to name, citizenship and right to community.”

Appealing to the compassionate nature of the majority Buddhist believers, he wrote, “The great seers and monks of the great Therevada Buddhists are beacon of compassion to the world... Surely, the disciples of dharma would not allow human beings – women and children to die, unwept, unsung in the abyss of merciless seas.

“I urge all my country men

and women, the rulers, to muster enough courage to confront this problem with a large heart, solving it once [and] for all.”

Security forces in Malaysia have discovered 139 mass graves of migrants in 28 different ¿elds, located on the border with Thailand, and abandoned by human traf¿ckers.

The discovery took place between May 11 and 23. The majority of victims are Rohingya – a Muslim minority persecuted in Myanmar and deprived of the right of citizenship – as well as migrant workers from Bangladesh.

Recently, more than 3,000 people, mostly from Myanmar and Bangladesh, have been rescued in the Andaman Sea and off the coast of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Thailand’s crackdown on human traf¿cking after the discovery of a mass grave with dozens of bodies of Rohingya near its border with Malaysia has compounded the crisis. ASIANEWS

... while Indonesian religious leaders urge signing of Geneva Convention JAKARTA – With several Southeast Asian nations touched by the migrant crisis, Indonesian religious leaders urged Indonesian authorities to ratify the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.

In a joint statement, Muslim, Christian and Buddhist religious leaders addressed the issue involving the Rohingya – a Muslim minority persecuted and deprived of the right of citizenship in Myanmar – and migrant workers from Bangladesh.

The crisis, they warn, is primarily “a humanitarian issue, which involves the whole Indonesian nation” and must be fully addressed.

In Southeast Asia, only Cam-

Protestant churches defy Zhejiang cross removal campaign

bodia and the Philippines have signed the Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees and Stateless Persons. Indonesia has no law to deal with the matter, nor facilities capable of accommodating migrants.

Speaking on the matter, Indonesian religious leaders noted that the issue is not religious in nature but requires government action.

For Sugiyanto, from the Buddhist Association of Indonesia (Walubi), the case “must be addressed by all the parties involved”.

Mr Imanulhap Maman, a leader with the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), said that madrassas (Qur‘anic schools) should “welcome Rohingya children”.

Mr Stephen Siahaan, a Christian, noted that “our ¿rst task is to save people whose life is in danger”.

Pope Francis has also spoken about the migrants. On May 19, at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the pontiff mentioned the tragedy of the Rohingya, as well as that of the Christians and Yazidis of Iraq and Syria, forced to Àee their homes because of violence and strife.

For Cardinal Antonio Maria Vegliz, president of the Ponti¿cal Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, the only way to resolve the crisis is by investing in poor countries and ensuring their proper development. ASIANEWS

A church worker arranges Àowers in a Protestant church. Churches affected by the cross removal campaign in =heMiang have started replacing the crosses, some with even bigger ones. File photo HONG KONG – A dozen Protestant churches have de¿ed a cross removal campaign by the provincial government in =hejiang by replacing crosses already forcibly taken down.

Authorities removed 12 crosses in Lishui City near Wenzhou in just three days from May 7 to 9 without resistance from church members, according to US-based China Aid. Many affected churches have responded by re-erecting crosses – some larger than those removed – in de¿ance of recently a circulated draft law that would ban crosses from the tops of churches and restrict their dimensions and color.

“Some churches elsewhere [in =hejiang province] have also done this but collective action is more obvious in Lishui,” a Protestant preacher who declined to be named for security reasons told ucanews.com.

As many as 20 Protestant churches are also facing the threat of demolition in Anji County near =hejiang’s provincial capital, Hangzhou, the preacher added.

Recently, China Aid said that the true scale of the demolition campaign may be as many as 1,000 crosses removed and up to 50 churches destroyed based on unveri¿ed reports in local media.

The campaign appeared to be slowing at the start of the year but in recent weeks dozens of crosses have been reported removed coinciding with the circulation of new draft regulations.

A number of church leaders have expressed alarm at the draft law – both privately and publicly – with many arguing it enshrines state meddling in everything from

cross size to what heating systems churches may use. =hejiang authorities asked for feedback on the draft regulations up to May 20. So far there has been no of¿cial word on whether the proposed rules will be amended following strong objections or when they may come into effect.

On May 19, the Catholic Diocese of Wenzhou became the latest critic of the proposed legislation in a statement arguing that only new churches should be required to comply.

The preamble to the draft law states that any changes or expansion to existing religious buildings will fall under the new rules, a “sneaky term” that could apply to old structures previously permitted by authorities, the diocese added.

“How could these churches be built in the ¿rst place? It reÀects the lack of supervision from the relevant government departments,” the statement said.

“But now it throws a historical burden at the Church. How can the faithful not complain and oppose it?”

The diocese consulted opinions from all of its priests before issuing the statement, according to a Wenzhou Catholic who declined to be named for security reasons.

A Catholic priest in the city’s underground Church who also declined to be identi¿ed praised the state-sanctioned Church for publicly voicing its concerns.

“It is impossible for us to do the same. We can only tell our grievances to God,” the source added. “But I doubt the government would ever listen to the Church.” UCANEWS.COM

10 ASIA

Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

CHURCH IN CHINA

Anglican Church head pays visit to China But source says visit being ‘used’ by Beijing government CHINA – The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby met with a top Chinese political advisor on May 28 as the head of the Anglican Church began a subdued visit to China amid reported persecutions of Christians there.

During talks in Beijing with Mr Yu Zhengsheng, a member of the Politburo, the archbishop called for stronger cooperation between Chinese and British churches, according to the staterun Global Times.

“Chinese citizens’ freedom of belief and the religious circle’s legitimate rights and interests are protected by law,” Mr Yu was quoted as telling the archbishop.

Following his recent speech at Peking University, the archbishop was to head to Shanghai to visit St Ignatius Catholic Cathedral before continuing on to Nanjing for the last leg of his tour ending on June 5.

Archbishop Welby was not scheduled to visit nearby Zhejiang Province, where authorities have removed nearly 500 crosses and destroyed at least 35 Christian churches over the past 18 months.

“I don’t think we are [going to visit Zhejiang],” the archbishop’s director of communications Ailsa Anderson told ucanews.com.

“We’re very much in the hands of SARA [the State Administration for Religious Affairs] and

Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, England, spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion. CNS photo

the British Embassy in terms of where we are going.”

Archbishop Welby’s predecessor, Archbishop Rowan Williams, gave a press conference in the grounds of the British Embassy in Beijing at the end of his October 2006 visit to China in which he spoke of raising religious persecution directly with senior Chinese of¿cials.

Archbishop Welby has no arranged media events, and it remained unclear whether he would address sensitive issues with Beijing amid what groups have called the country’s worst persecution of Christians since the Cultural Revolution.

A Protestant community in Zhejiang told ucanews.com that

they had hoped to show the archbishop churches where they had re-erected crosses that had been forcibly removed by provincial authorities, according to a laywoman.

“The visit is pure propaganda,” said the source, who declined to be named for security reasons.

“I feel that the archbishop is being used [by the government].”

His visit comes a week after President Xi Jinping called for China’s religious communities to shun foreign inÀuences.

Unlike the Vatican, which is currently engaged in dif¿cult negotiations with Beijing on bishop appointments, the Anglican Church has no say over any facet of how China’s 60-million strong Protestant community is organised.

Archbishop Welby is the most senior international Protestant ¿gure to visit China since his predecessor nearly nine years ago and the fourth Archbishop of Canterbury to visit the country.

“I am very much looking forward to my ¿rst visit to China, and seeing the remarkable economic developments and rapid growth of post-denominational Christianity which is taking place there,” Archbishop Welby said in a statement ahead of his visit that “I look forward to building on the friendship with the Christian Church in China.” UCANEWS.COM

Chinese Catholics celebrate Pentecost, World Day of Prayer for Church in China Many Chinese Catholic communities celebrated the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China on May 24, reported Fides.

Pope Benedict XVI instituted this day of prayer in 2007.

In China, the sacraments of Christian initiation were administered to seven catechumans, 13 infants, and 38 adults in the He Bei province’s parishes of Yan Jiao and of Bao Ding, as well as in the Zhe Jiang province’s parish of Long Gang in the diocese of Wen Zhou.

The feast day of Our Lady Help of Christians is celebrated at the Shrine of Our Lady of Sheshan in Shanghai and on the day, the parish of Chang Shu in the diocese of Su Zhou, along with many other communities, prayed: “Let us pray for the Church in China, that faces major challenges in the life of the Church and society. Let us pray so that the Holy Spirit guides us... and may Our Lady Help of Christians protect us.”

Four infants were also baptised during Mass in Chang Shu.

Catholics carry a statue of Mary as they process to the Sheshan Marian shrine in Shanghai, China, in May 2009. &16 ¿OH SKRWR

The parish of Yi Shan in the province of Zhe Jiang also held a Marian procession.

Religious and some laypeople of the Diocese of Nan Chong, located in the southern province of Sichuan, went on a pilgrimage not

only to celebrate the special feasts of Sunday, but also to celebrate the Year of Consecrated Life.

During the pilgrimage, participants exchanged their experiences of vocation, faith, mission and pastoral activity. UCANEWS.COM

WORLD 11

Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

Archbishop: Church needs ‘reality check’ after gay marriage vote DUBLIN – Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has said the Church needs a “reality check” after Irish voters overwhelmingly supported same-sex marriage.

Ireland was the ¿rst country in the world to put same-sex marriage to a popular vote and the May 22 poll was backed by 62 percent of the population. Samesex marriage is now a constitutional right in Ireland.

“I think really that the Church needs to do a reality check, a reality check right across the board, to look at the things it’s doing well, to look at the areas where we really have to start and say, ‘Look, have we drifted away completely from young people?’” he told state broadcaster RTE as the result became clear.

He said the referendum result was “an overwhelming vote in one direction,” and he appreciated how gay men and lesbians felt after the endorsement of same-sex marriage – “that they feel this is something which is enriching the way they live,” he said.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said the referendum’s outcome represented not only “a defeat for Christian principles, but a defeat for humanity”.

“I was very saddened by this result. The Church must take into account this situation but in the sense of strengthening its efforts in evangelisation,” he said in Rome on May 26 in response to reporters’ questions.

German Cardinal Walter Kasper told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera on May 27 that the Church needs to ¿nd new ways and a “new language” to express its fundamental teachings about love, marriage, sexuality and the equal dignity and

Irish Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.

reciprocal “diversity of man and woman in the order of creation”.

“It’s necessary to be careful about not using expressions that can sound offensive without, however, hiding the truth,” Cardinal Kasper said.

The Gospel and Church teaching on marriage are clear, he said, “but traditional expressions” and explanations “evidently no longer reach people’s hearts and minds”.

Archbishop Martin described the result as a “social revolution”.

“It’s a social revolution that didn’t begin today,” he said. “It’s a social revolution that’s been going on, and perhaps in the Church, people have not been as clear in understanding what that involved.

“It’s very clear that if this referendum is an af¿rmation of the views of young people, then the Church has a huge task in front of it to ¿nd the language to be able to talk to and to get its message across to young people, not just on this issue, but in general.”

Archbishop Martin said it was important that the Church not move into denial of the realities. “We

People in Dublin react as Ireland voted in favour of allowing same-sex marriage on May 23. CNS photos

We need to sit down and say ‘ ‘Are we reaching out at all to young people?’...

We’re becoming a Church of the like-minded, and a sort of a safe space for the like-minded.

’

– Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, Ireland

won’t begin again with a sense of renewal by simply denying.”

Referring to the high turnout of younger voters, the archbishop said “most of these young people who voted ‘yes’ are products of our Catholic schools for 12 years... there’s a big challenge there to see how we get across the message of the Church... We need to sit down and say ‘Are we reaching out at all to young people?’... We’re becoming a Church of the like-minded,

and a sort of a safe space for the like-minded,” he warned.

However, he insisted, “that doesn’t mean that we renounce our teaching on fundamental values on marriage and the family. Nor does it mean that we dig into the trenches.

“We need to ¿nd... a new language which is fundamentally ours, that speaks to, is understood and becomes appreciated by others,” the archbishop said. CNS See also stories on Pages 14 and 19

12 WORLD

Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

50TH YEAR OF NOSTRA AETATE

Cardinal, rabbi discuss progress, trials in Jewish-Catholic relations CNS photo

WASHINGTON – A key turning

point in the relationships between Catholics and Jews occurred 50 years ago with the Second Vatican Council document on interreligious relations, a cardinal and rabbi told a group of religious leaders on May 20.

The document, Nostra Aetate, promulgated on Oct 28, 1965, by Blessed Paul VI, was described by Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Ponti¿cal Council for Promoting Christian Unity, as “the compass of reconciliation between Jews and Christians today and into future”.

Rabbi Irving Greenberg, author and scholar, praised the document for its courageousness, saying its authors had to “override Church fathers”.

The two religious leaders spoke at a conference marking the historic document’s 50th anniversary at The Catholic University of America in Washington.

Both leaders spoke of the long relationship between the two faiths, obstacles they have faced and ways to move forward.

Cardinal Koch stressed that the Catholic Church “has a unique and distinctive relationship with Juda-

ism that it has with no other religion and it cannot understand itself without reference to Judaism”.

He said St John Paul II expressed this idea clearly in his 1986 visit to a Roman synagogue where he said: “The Jewish religion is not extrinsic to us [Catholics] but in a certain way is intrinsic to our own religion. With Judaism therefore we have a relationship which we do not have with any other religion. You are our dearly beloved brothers and, in a certain way, it could be said that you are our elder brothers.”

Rabbi Greenberg similarly spoke of the common threads in Judaism and Catholicism pointing out that the two faiths believe humanity was created by God who sustains and loves the world and its inhabitants.

These faith views diverge with the “ongoing conÀict of the role and nature of Jesus”, he said, noting that Christianity teaches that God sent Jesus to the world to heal it and Judaism believes Torah can ful¿ll the that task.

This fundamental difference, he said, led to the conclusion by members of both faiths that “nothing good could be learned” from each other.

That reaction he said, “took a ter-

Swiss Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Ponti¿cal Council for Promoting Christian 8nity (right) smiles alongside Mr John Garvey, president of The Catholic 8niversity of America at the university in Washington on May 19.

rible spiritual toll” and both religions paid “a huge price,” the rabbi said.

Cardinal Koch likewise said the relationship between Jews and

Catholics had deteriorated over the years and the sense of “belonging to the same family was gradually lost”.

He said the Holocaust was a point

need to show that in humility we can work ‘We together and be an extraordinary witness.’

– Rabbi Irving Greenberg, author and scholar

when hostility towards Jews must be judged “as the most horri¿c expression of that primitive racist antiSemitism of the Nazi ideology”.

The cardinal said Nazi views were “fundamentally alien to Christianity” and were “repeatedly condemned” by Popes Pius XI and XII. He said that even though the Holocaust was “led and undertaken by a godless, anti-Christian and neo-pagan ideology,” it still should have stirred among Christians “much more empathetic compassion with the Jews than in fact did come into effect.”

Both men said the efforts of Nostra Aetate began the work of restoring the relationship between the two faiths and set a goal for future generations.

Cardinal Koch said key differences remain, but he noted that if the two faiths are “true to their convictions” and respect and challenge each other they remain linked and can be a help to each other.

“We need to show that in humility we can work together and be an extraordinary witness,” added Rabbi Greenberg. CNS See story on facing page

WORLD 13

Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

50TH YEAR OF NOSTRA AETATE

Muslim leader praises Church document on religious dialogue WASHINGTON – Catholic Church

leaders and scholars are not the only ones praising the 50-year-old Church document, Nostra Aetate (In Our Time), the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on relations with non-Christian religions.

During the ¿rst part of a May 19-21 symposium on the document at The Catholic University of America, it also got high marks from a US Muslim leader who said Nostra Aetate helps different faiths “recognise common roots and build a new sense of direction”.

Mr Sayyid Syeed, national director of the Islamic Society of North America’s Of¿ce for Interfaith and Community Alliances, said the Church document links Catholics, Muslims and Jews by urging them to “promote the values” in their sacred texts.

Today, he said the goal should be “to see Nostra Aetate fully reinforced at every level”.

The document has inspired decades of interfaith dialogue, which Mr Syeed described as something that “doesn’t diminish our faith but helps us build an understanding with others”.

Put another way: “We keep our identity but work together,” he said.

Mr Syeed also noted the time frame when the document was being put together, saying it occurred at the height of the civil rights movement in the United States and when there was a concentrated effort to start Islamic centres and Islamic student groups on university campuses in the US.

Nostra Aetate urges Catholics, Muslims and Jews ‘to promote the values’ in their sacred texts.

During these “humble beginnings” of Islamic life in the United States, he said the “Catholic Church acted as a big brother” in its understanding of a religious minority.

This sentiment has continued in days since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, he said, when the Catholic Church showed support to Muslims and opened its doors to them amid a growing Islamophobia.

Auxiliary Bishop Denis J Madden of Baltimore, immediate past chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, said when he speaks about interfaith efforts at parishes he often gets questions about Islam that “can’t be ignored they are in the air”.

He said the focus of interfaith efforts needs to be what was emphasised in Nostra Aetate – the “notion of commonality” – or the realisation about what is the same in our faith practices.

Msgr Paul McPartlan, a priest of the Archdiocese of Westminster, England, and professor of systematic theology and ecumenism at Catholic University, said the day’s discussion was a great example of how religious leaders can work together.

He said currently in Europe, there is a sense that all religions need to be pushed to the margins because they might offend one another, which he said is a mistake.

“We stand or fall together,” he said, adding that faith groups can do this in friendship and in solidarity. CNS

14 WORLD

Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

Muslim leaders call for release of kidnapped priest ROME – Local Muslim leaders

in Syria have called for the release of a kidnapped missionary priest.

On May 21, Fr Jacques Murad was abducted in the village of AlQaryatayn in Homs, Syria. The priest, who lived in the monastery of St Elias, was known for his dedication to dialogue, closeness and friendship towards the local community.

According to Fides news agency, “Muslim leaders of the community, village chiefs, and clan leaders denounced the kidnapping and are now trying to open a channel and ¿nd a path for his release.”

A local source reported that those who seized the priest “are foreign to the social, ethnic and religious fabric of the area”.

“The timeliness of the fall of Palmyra, a nearby town, and the kidnapping of Fr Murad, which occurred soon after, suggest a link with the Islamic state (IS),” the source stated. “If this were con¿rmed, it would not be a promising sign: the local Islamic authorities have no inÀuence on the IS. The circulating hypothesis is that

some inhabitants of the area, for pure sectarian hatred, took him and then sold him to the Islamic State.”

Fr Murad, who has lived in the village for 10 years, belonged to the same monastic community of Fr Paolo Dall’Oglio, who was also kidnapped on July 29, 2013. His whereabouts remain unknown.

The escalating violence in the region did not deter Fr Murad from continuing his pastoral work. The source told Fides that “Fr Jacques lived a constant commitment to dialogue, prayer, reconciliation.”

“He promoted solidarity among families of different religions, he was an example of humanitarian service without religious or ethnic labels. His life was an example to defuse sectarianism.”

While acknowledging the difficulties in obtaining his release, the local source said that there still remains a glimmer of hope, thanks to “the local community, the Islamic authorities, and from people of good will”.

ZENIT

Screengrab of church organisation, Aid to the Church in Need.

Cooperate in fundraising, don’t compete VATICAN CITY – Catholic groups fundraising to support the Church’s missions need to cooperate, not compete, with each other, Cardinal Fernando Filoni told the ponti¿cal mission societies.

Initiatives also should hold onto the true meaning of mission as being more than just meeting physical and social needs, but also sharing the spiritual wealth of the Gospel message and God’s salvation, he said.

The cardinal, who is prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, opened the annual general assembly of the ponti¿cal mission societies in Rome on June 1.

The societies, which include the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the Missionary Childhood Association, the Society of St Peter Apostle and the Missionary Union of Priests and Religious, help poor churches and communities around the world.

Cardinal Filoni said it is “nec-

essary that we recognise and collaborate with other Church organisations, for example, Aid to the Church in Need”, which also works to assist poorer Church communities, especially those living in crisis areas.

“It is not necessary to see them as competition, especially when it comes to fundraising,” he said.

The diverse spectrum of groups funding missions should establish “lines of communications” with each other in order to help coordinate action and to initiate, “as far as possible, an equitable distribution of aid”, he added.

“Against an overwhelming loss of the meaning of mission, the popes’ teaching wants to show that evangelisation cannot be effective if it is only motivated and aimed at a human project, as necessary and just as that is,” he said.

“But it must proceed from the love God has for humanity, especially for those who suffer most.” CNS

Church should make views on homosexuality understandable: priest WASHINGTON – The Catholic Church not only needs to provide pastoral care for those with samesex attraction but it should also make its teaching “accessible, understandable and compelling for people,” said the director of a USbased apostolate that ministers to homosexual people.

Fr Paul Check, director of Courage for the past eight years, said Catholics with same-sex attraction would be also more likely to “understand what the Church teaches if it became more plain to them that they have a place in the Church”.

He aims to get that message across through the work of his apostolate, which particularly focuses on providing clergy training, but he said the message still needs to “get to the ground to people who need it”.

The priest said Church teachings on chastity and contraception are not well understood, and added that they are “all part of one tapestry and they include the question, obviously, of homosexuality”.

One way to get this across will be through an international conference focusing on the Church’s ministry to gay people. The conference, taking place near Detroit in August, is a lead-in to the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia in September and the world Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican in October.

It aims to help those in pastoral care ministries gain a better understanding of the Church’s teaching on homosexuality as well as insight on how to put into practice the US bishops’ 2006 document, Ministry to Persons With a Homosexual Inclination: Guidelines for Pastoral Care.

Catholics with same-sex attraction would be more likely to ‘understand what the Church teaches if it became more plain to them that they have a place in the Church’.

– Fr Paul Check, director of Courage

Fr Check said the theme of the Aug 10-12 gathering is Christian friendship and the importance of building relationships. The event will feature about 30 national and local speakers and will include Courage members “who will tell their stories”, the priest told Catholic News Service on May 22.

Fr Check said the conference will answer some of the questions posed in the lineamenta, or outline, for the Oct 4-25 synod on the family at the Vatican, particularly about the Church’s response to homosexuality.

Some of those questions in-

clude: “How can the Christian community give pastoral attention to families with persons with homosexual tendencies?” and “What are the responses that, in light of cultural sensitivities, are considered to be most appropriate?”

Last year he said Courage introduced a documentary movie, Desire of the Everlasting Hills, which tells the stories of three people who transitioned from homosexual lifestyles to chastity in accordance with Church teachings.

“It’s an easy introduction to the solicitude and care the Church has for people,” Fr Check said, adding that the hour-long ¿lm “doesn’t sound like sterile teaching from the catechism but a lived reality”.

He noted that many people do not even know Courage exists, unless they “Google ‘Catholic Church and homosexuality’”, and when people “¿nd us eventually” they often say: “We never knew the Church had something” like this.

Courage chapters, which currently number about 100, are support groups where people meet con¿dentially and build relationships. “Isolation is really one of the more dif¿cult problems our members face,” the priest said, adding that this ministry has “changed my priesthood considerably”.

“The blessing for me is to get to see the nobility of the human spirit and the ef¿cacy of grace in a lot of lives,” he said. “But there are many challenges, I don’t want to undervalue that.” CNS See also story on Page 19

Lahore Christians fear reprisals after mob attack LAHORE – Dozens of Christian families who Àed their homes on May 24 following a mob attack over allegations of blasphemy have yet to return, fearing reprisals from Muslims.

Mr Babu George Salamat, a catechist at St Joseph Catholic Church, said that Church leaders were trying to ensure the safe return of those who Àed and are still reluctant to come back.

“They [Christians] are obviously afraid of further violence,” he said, adding that they don’t want to put the lives of their children at risk.

He said that a heavy police deployment has been sent to the church and other streets

housing the Christian population.

A mob attacked the Dhoop Saari area on May 24 at night following allegations that Mr Humayun Masih, a sweeper and drug addict, was accused of burning the Qur’an. Hundreds of Muslims attacked Christian homes, ransacked their properties and tried to attack St Joseph Catholic Church.

But police and paramilitary rangers reached the scene and forcefully dispersed the crowd.

Mr Sunny Masih, who lives at Dhoop Sarri, told ucanews.com that the possibility of another attack cannot be ruled out.

“Muslims gather in large numbers on every Friday to offer spe-

cial prayers. Residents are wary of their reaction,” he said.

Mr Cecil Choudhry, executive director of the National Justice for Peace and Commission (NCJP), a human rights body of the Catholic Church, said Christians’ reluctance to return was a natural reaction.

“Given the recent history of mob attacks in Joseph Colony and Gojra, people are certainly hesitant, but NCJP and Church leaders are trying to allay their fears,” Mr Chaudhry said. “I must also admit that police have acted responsibly and saved so many lives.”

He lauded the timely intervention of police and called for the arrest of those involved in the mob attack. UCANEWS.COM

POPE FRANCIS 15

Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

Abortion, migrant Pope: Experience God’s mercy before evangelising crisis are among ‘attacks on life’

Students prepare and package sandwiches to be distributed to the homeless. Pope Francis said that to evangelise, one must experience God’s mercy. &16 ¿OH SKRWR VATICAN CITY – The New Evan-

gelisation is learning to really experience God’s mercy and salvation so they can be shared with others, especially those most in need, Pope Francis said.

In fact, how the Church is educating people in the faith needs to go beyond classroom instruction and actually show them places where Christ is truly present and active in the world today, he said on May 29.

The pope made his comments in an address to those taking part in the Ponti¿cal Council for Promoting New Evangelisation’s plenary session on “the relationship between evangelisation and catechesis”.

Linking the council’s work of also preparing for the upcoming extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, the pope said the New Evangelisation is becoming aware “of the merciful love of the Father so that we, too, become instruments of salvation for our brothers and sisters”.

God’s mercy cannot be some

abstract concept, he said. It has to be a real, “concrete experience in which we realise our weakness and the power/strength that comes from on high”.

The very ¿rst step in order to receive that mercy is praying to God, pleading with Him to help and “rescue me”.

God’s mercy cannot be some abstract concept.

It has to be a real, concrete experience, said Pope Francis.

Once people feel God’s in¿nite compassion, “we also can become compassionate toward others”.

By opening one’s mind up to the Holy Spirit, he said, Christians can “more deeply understand the task that is asked” of them and the ways they can give “weight and credibility to their witness”.

This mission requires pro-

claiming the Gospel with “pastoral wisdom” and a renewed language for the people and times of the world today, he said.

The Church should also not be afraid of the huge challenges before it in evangelisation, but do all it can to offer “coherent answers” in the light of the Gospel, he said.

“This is what the men and women expect today from the Church: that it know how to walk with them, offering companionship of the testimony of faith,” he said.

He added that Catechism “needs to go beyond the simple scholastic sphere in order to educate believers, from the time they are children, about encountering Christ, alive and operating in His Church”.

The challenge of the New Evangelisation and catechesis, therefore, hinges on “this fundamental point: how to encounter Christ, what the most coherent place is in order to ¿nd Him and follow Him”, he said. CNS

‘Armchair’ Christians distance people from God VATICAN CITY – Christians must ask themselves whether they help people in need of salvation or whether they just keep Jesus for themselves and are deaf or indifferent to others, Pope Francis said at his morning Mass on May 28 in the chapel of Domus Sanctae Marthae.

Three kinds of Christians exist, he said: those who are so closed up inside themselves, they are not aware of others in need; those who hear the “clamour” of suffering but choose to do nothing about it; and those who do hear and help bring people healing.

Christians who are indifferent “do not hear. They believe life is there in their little group. They’re

content. They’re deaf to the clamour of so many people who need salvation, who need Jesus’ help, who need the church,” the pope said.

Such Christians are “self-centered, living for themselves. They are unable to hear the voice of Jesus,” he said, according to Vatican Radio.

Another category of Christians includes those who hear people crying for help, “but want them to be quiet”.

People who exploit the Church or religion for their own bene¿t or purposes also ¿t into this category, he said.

“They are Christians in name

only, armchair Christians,” he said, “but their inner life is not Christian, it is worldly.”

The third category of Christians, he said, is made up of “those who help [people] get closer to Jesus.”

“There’s the group of Christians who are consistent with what they believe and what they live,” and they help those who are crying out for salvation, grace and spiritual healing, he said.

The pope ended his homily by asking people to reÀect on what kind of Christian they are and whether they bring others closer to Jesus or distance them from Him. CNS

VATICAN CITY – Abortion, abandoning migrants at sea, unsafe working conditions, malnutrition, terrorism and euthanasia are all “attacks on life”, said Pope Francis.

In an audience with members of the Italian Science & Life Association on May 30, the pope said “life is a gift” and urged more reÀection on how people are treated throughout all stages of life.

“The degree of progress of a civilisation is measured precisely by its capacity to care for life, especially in its most fragile phases,” he told the association, which had gathered its members in Rome the previous day to mark its 10th anniversary.

“When we speak of humanity, let us never forget the attacks on the sacredness of human life,” he said.

“The plague of abortion is an attack on life. Allowing our brothers and sisters to die in boats in the Strait of Sicily is an attack on life. Death at the workplace, because minimum safety conditions are not respected, is an attack on life. Death because of malnutrition is an attack on life.

Terrorism, war, violence, euthanasia as well, is an attack on life.”

The pope af¿rmed the association’s work as important, especially in a society marked by a throwaway mentality, and urged its members to “relaunch a re-

newed culture of life”.

“To love life is to care always for others, to want their good, to cultivate and respect their transcendent dignity,” he said.

Pope Francis told association members to be “unafraid of undertaking fruitful dialogue with the entire world of science, even with those who do not profess to be believers but who remain open to the mystery of human life”.

Underlining the vital link between science and life, the pope said “it is the miracle of life in its unfathomable depths that gives rise to and accompanies the scienti¿c journey”.

“Christ, who is the light of humankind and of the world, illuminates the path so that science may always be knowledge at the service of life,” he said. “When this light ceases and when knowledge is no longer in touch with life, it becomes sterile.”

He urged scientists to maintain a high regard for the sacredness of human life, “so that science is really at the service of humankind and not humankind at the service of science”.

It is thanks to scienti¿c analysis, he said, that the Church reaf¿rms “a just society recognises the primacy of the right to life, from conception until its natural end”. CNS

A migrant reacts after his boat was sent back by the Libyan navy to the coastal city of Misrata, Libya, on May 3. CNS photo

Pope’s encyclical out on June 16 VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis’ en-

cyclical on the environment will be titled Laudato Sii (Praised Be), a line from St Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of Creatures, and will be released on June 16, said the head of the Vatican publishing house.

Salesian Fr Giuseppe Costa, speaking at an event in Naples on May 30, told reporters that publishers from around the world had been asking for the rights to reprint Laudato Sii when it is released in mid-June.

The Vatican press of¿ce declined to con¿rm the title of the

document and the release date, although it also declined to say Fr Costa was wrong.

Laudato sii is the introductory phrase to eight verses of St Francis of Assisi’s famous prayer thanking God for the gifts of creation.

“Praised be you, my Lord, with all your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, who is the day, and through whom you give us light,” one of the ¿rst lines says.

The prayer also praises God for the gifts of Sister Moon, Brother Wind, Sister Water, Brother Fire and Sister Mother Earth. CNS

16 POPE FRANCIS

Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

Prayers urged for China, persecuted Christians VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis asked Catholics worldwide to show solidarity through their prayers for Catholics in China and for persecuted Christians over the Pentecost weekend.

The World Day of Prayer for the Church in China is observed each year on the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians, May 24, which this year falls on Pentecost.

Catholics in China invoke Mary, venerated at the Marian Shrine of Sheshan, near Shang-

hai, on May 24, the pope noted.

“We, too, will ask Mary to help Catholics in China always to be credible witnesses of this merciful love among their fellow citizens and to live spiritually united to the rock of Peter, upon whom the Church is built,” he said.

The pope also underlined a prayer initiative of the Italian bishops’ conference inviting all Italian dioceses to pray for persecuted Christians on the vigil of Pentecost.

The vigil is intended to “remember the many brothers and sisters exiled or killed for the sole reason that they are Christian”, said the pope. “They are martyrs.”

The pope expressed his hope that the prayer vigil will “increase awareness” of the “drama of persecuted Christians in our day” and of religious freedom as an “inalienable human right”, as well as to “bring an end to this unacceptable crime”. CNS

Pope Francis prepares to receive offertory gifts from a family during Pentecost Mass in St Peter’s Basilica. CNS photo

Church does not close the door in anyone’s face Not even the biggest sinner’s, says the pope VATICAN CITY – The power of the Holy Spirit transforms people into bold witnesses of the Gospel, who reach out to others, exercise charity and live in harmony with creation, Pope Francis said.

Celebrating Pentecost Mass in St Peter’s Basilica and reciting the Regina Coeli prayer with tens of thousands of people gathered in St Peter’s Square May 24, the pope spoke of Pentecost as the day the Church was born universal but united.

When the Spirit came upon the disciples, Pope Francis told people in the square, “they were completely transformed: fear was replaced by courage, closure gave way to proclamation and every doubt was driven away by faith full of love”.

The good news of salvation proclaimed by the disciples was meant for the whole world, he said.

“Mother Church does not close the door in anyone’s face,” he said.

“Not even the biggest sinner’s.”

Today, just as on Pentecost, the pope said, the Holy Spirit is poured out on the Church and on every follower of Jesus “so that we would leave behind our mediocrity and being closed off, and rather communicate to the whole world the merciful love of the Lord”.

He urged Christians to model

their lives on the two people beati¿ed on May 23 – Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador and Italian Consolata Sister Irene Stefani, who worked and died in Kenya.

Referring to Blessed Romero as a “zealous pastor”, the pope said that “following Jesus’ example, he chose to be in the midst of his people, especially the poor and oppressed, even at the cost of his life.”

Blessed Stefani, he said, “served the Kenyan people with joy, mercy and tender compassion”.

“May the heroic example of these blessed ones give rise in each of us to the deep desire to witness to the Gospel with courage and self-sacri¿ce.”

The pope also noted that the Spirit cannot be forced on anyone.

But “closing oneself off from the Holy Spirit means not only a lack of freedom, it is a sin”.

“There are many ways one can close oneself off to the Holy Spirit: by sel¿shness for one’s own gain; by rigid legalism – seen in the attitude of the doctors of the law whom Jesus referred to as hypocrites; by neglect of what Jesus taught; by living the Christian life not as service to others but in the pursuit of personal interests; and in so many other ways.” CNS

POPE FRANCIS 17

Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

Unity in Church, families is a grace to ask from God, says pontiff VATICAN CITY – Sowing division Son are one.” in the Church and in families is “This is a challenge for all one of the devil’s favourite things Christians: to not allow room for and it goes directly against Jesus’ division among us, to not let the will for all His followers, Pope spirit of division, the father of lies, Francis said. enter into us,” he said. “Always Jesus prays “for the unity of seek unity.”

His people,” but He knows that Pope Francis urged everyone “the spirit of the world” is a “spir- to read frequently the day’s pasit of division, war, envy, jealousy, sage from the Gospel of St John. including in families, in Religious It begins, “Lifting up His eyes to communities and in dioceses and heaven, Jesus prayed saying: ‘I the whole Church; pray not only for it’s a great temptathese, but also for This is a tion,” the pope said those who will beon May 21 during lieve in me through challenge for his early morning their word.’” all Christians: Mass.

“We probably to not allow In his homily at haven’t paid enough the Mass in the Doroom for division attention to these mus Sanctae Marwords,” the pope among us, to thae, Pope Francis said. Jesus is not said the devil’s main not let the spirit only praying for His weapons for sowing those who of division, the disciples, division are gossipknew Him, “Jesus father of lies, ing and labelling prayed for me!” others.

Realising that enter into us...

“Each person is all believers are inAlways how he or she is, but cluded in His prayer try to live in unity,” should give peoseek unity. the pope said. “Has ple con¿dence and – Pope Francis Jesus forgiven you? hope, the pope said.

Forgive all others.”

He urged people The Gospel for the day, John not only to read the passage, but to 17:20-26, contains Jesus’ farewell try to imagine Jesus standing beprayer for His disciples, includ- fore the Father in heaven praying ing His prayer that His followers for them right now. would be one.

“This is how it is. He prays There is no such thing as a for us. He prays for me,” the pope Church held together with “glue”, said. “And what does the Father the pope said. Rather, unity is “a see? The wounds. The price. The grace from God” and the result of price Jesus paid for us. Jesus prays a “struggle” on earth. “We must for me with His wounds, with His give the Spirit space to transform wounded heart, and He continues us into one, like the Father and the to do so.” CNS

‘

’

Police follow Jesus in seeking to serve, defend others VATICAN CITY – Police of¿cers follow Jesus’ path in serving and defending others, rather than seeking to be served, said Pope Francis.

The pope met on May 21 with members of the Italian state police and with the family members of of¿cers who died in service.

The police profession is an “authentic mission”, which puts into practice the values of duty, discipline and sacri¿ce – even of one’s life – to defend public order and democracy, which are in contrast with organised crime and terrorism, he said.

“The community is indebted to you for the possibility of living an orderly life, free of the arrogance of violent and corrupt people,” he said.

ReÀecting on police work from the perspective of faith, the pope said, “Whoever serves the community with courage and selfsacri¿ce encounters, along with the dif¿culties and the risks connected to one’s role, a high level of self-ful¿lment because he or she walks on the same road as our

Lord, who wanted to serve and not to be served”.

In seeking to serve others, a person “ful¿ls his or her life, even in the eventuality that he or she may lose it, as Jesus did by dying on the cross”, he said.

The witness of Christian values is “all the more eloquent in these times” when people are often unable to channel their sense of generosity toward a commitment that is “coherent and stable,” the pope said.

Police work is a commitment to something that has been “solid through time” – guaranteeing citizens order and lawfulness so that they can enjoy all other goods, he said.

The pope also recognised the work of the Italian police “on the front lines” in assisting the hundreds of migrants who land on Italy’s shores, distinguishing themselves by their “spirit of service and humanity” and motivated by the “moral imperative to do good” rather than simply to ful¿ll a legal duty. CNS

Pope: parents must be involved in children’s lives VATICAN CITY – Parents must not

exclude themselves from their children’s lives and, despite what some “experts” may say, they must take an active role in their children’s education, said Pope Francis during his general audience in St Peter’s Square on May 20.

“It’s time for fathers and mothers to come out of their exile – because they have exiled themselves from their children’s education – and to fully assume again their educational role,” he said.

Continuing a series of talks about the family, the pope said its “essential characteristic” is its “natural vocation to educate children so that they grow in responsibility for themselves and for others.”

But, faced with numerous experts who tell them how their children should be raised, many parents have withdrawn their involvement in their children’s education, he said.

“The educative partnership between society and family is in crisis because mutual trust has been undermined,” the pope said.

Tensions and disagreements between parents and teachers are a symptom of the crisis, he said, and children bear the brunt of it.

He also spoke of the multiplication “of so-called ‘experts’, who have taken over the role of parents, even in the most intimate aspects of education,” convincing parents their only role is to “listen, learn and adapt.”

Parents then “tend increasingly to entrust to the ‘experts’ even the more delicate and personal aspects of their children’s lives, setting themselves off

Pope Francis holds a baby as he arrives to lead his general audience in St Peter’s Square on May 20. CNS photo

alone in a corner”, he said.

In trying to demonstrate how “things have changed”, the pope told a personal story about when he said a bad word to his fourth-grade teacher, who promptly called his mother. When his mother came to school the next day, she made him

Educating children ‘LV GLI¿FXOW IRU SDUHQWV who see them only in the evening when they return home tired from work.

’

– Pope Francis

apologise to the teacher and then disciplined him when he got home.

Today instead, he said, parents will reprimand a teacher who tries to discipline their child.

The pope said the current situation is “not good” since it tends

to put families and schools in opposition rather than in collaborative relationships.

In addition, he said, “Educating children is dif¿cult for parents who see them only in the evening when they return home tired from work.”

He then urged separated parents to “never, never, never take a child hostage” by speaking ill of the other parent. He recognised that being separated is “a trial” but added that “children must not be the ones to carry the weight of this separation or to be used like hostages against the other spouse”.

To exasperate a child is to ask them to do things they are not able to do, the pope explained.

He also exhorted families to practise patience.

“Even in the best of families, there is the need to put up with each other,” he said. “But that’s life. Life is not lived in a laboratory, it’s lived in reality.” CNS

18 OPINION

Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

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COMMENTARY

Church has to Ànd new approaches in reaching out &16 ¿OH SKRWR

A new survey from the Pew Research Center, an American think tank, shows that there is a continuing decline in the number of people who consider themselves part of any religion.

The largest shift is occurring among the “millennial” generation, generally de¿ned as those born from the early 1980s to the early 2000s.

The survey, conducted in 2014, revealed that the percentage of Americans who identify themselves as Christians has declined by 8 percent since the last survey in 2007. Forty-one percent of respondents who said they were raised Catholic no longer identify with the faith.

The ¿ndings do not come as a surprise, and we know the reasons for people leaving the faith are varied.

Bishop Paul D Sirba of Duluth, Minnesota, who delivered the keynote speech at the annual Archbishop’s Gospel of Life Prayer Breakfast in St Louis on May 13, said that we have to ¿nd new ways of approaching young people to share the joy of the Gospel.

When we speak of things such as “love the sinner, hate the sin”, all young people hear is “hate the sin,” and they tune out, Bishop Sirba said.

The Church must ¿nd new approaches to reach those no longer connected with the faith, Bishop Sirba said.

“The key work in evangelisation is introducing people to Jesus Christ and the joy of the Gospel of Life,” he said. After they’ve met Jesus and a personal relationship is developed, “then the moral teaching of the Church begins to take root”.

In his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis wrote that Christians have an

We need to answer questions that people’s hearts are asking.

We can only open the door to Jesus’ life-giving message by developing relationships and meeting people where they’re at. obligation to proclaim the Gospel to all. To do that, Christians must ¿rst experience the joy of the Gospel themselves.

“Instead of seeming to impose new obligations, they should appear as people who wish to share their joy, who point to a horizon of beauty and who invite others to a delicious banquet,” Pope Francis wrote. “It is not by proselytising that the Church grows, but ‘by attraction’.”

It’s estimated that young Americans receive more than 3,000 messages a day from the

culture. Bishop Sirba asked, “How many do you think they receive from the Church?”

As a Church, we cannot give quick, oversimpli¿ed answers.

We need to answer questions that their hearts are asking, and we need to learn more about the culture. We can only open the door to Jesus’ life-giving message by developing relationships and meeting them where they’re at. CNS 7KLV FRPPHQWDU\ ¿UVW DSSHDUHG LQ the St Louis Review, newspaper of the Archdiocese of St Louis, USA.

WHAT’S the use of an old-fashioned, hand-held lantern? Well, its light can be quite useful when it’s pitch-dark, but it becomes superÀuous and unnoticeable in the afternoon sun. Still, this doesn’t mean its light is bad, only that it’s weak.

If we hold that image in our minds, we will see both a huge irony and a profound lesson in the Gospels when they describe the arrest of Jesus. The Gospel of John, for example, describes his arrest this way: “Judas brought the cohort to this place together with guards sent by the chief priests and Pharisees, all carrying lanterns and torches.”

John wants us to see the irony in this, that is, the forces of this world have come to arrest and put on trial, Jesus, the Light of the world, carrying weak, arti¿cial light, a lantern in the face of the Light of the world, puny light in the full face of the noonday sun. As well, in naming this irony, the Gospels are offering a second lesson: when we no longer walk in the light of Christ, we will invariably turn to arti¿cial light.

This image, I believe, can serve as a penetrating metaphor for how the criticism that the Enlightenment has made of our Christian belief in God stands before what it is criticising. That criticism has two prongs.

The ¿rst prong is this: The Enlightenment (Modernist Thought) submits that the God that is generally presented by our Christian churches has no credibility because that God is simply a projection of human desire, a god made in our own image and likeness, and a god that we can forever manipulate to serve self-interest. Belief in such a god, they say, is adolescent in that it is predicated on a certain naivetp, on an intellectual blindness that can be Àushed out and remedied by a hard look at reality. An enlightened mind, it is asserted, sees belief in God as self-interest and as intellectual blindness.

There is much to be said, positively, for this criticism, given that much, much of atheism is a parasite off of bad theism. Atheism feeds off bad religion and, no doubt, many of the things we do in the name of religion are done out of self-interest and intellectual blindness.

How many times, for instance, has politics used religion for its own ends? The ¿rst prong of the criticism that the Enlightenment makes of Christian belief is a healthy challenge to us as believers.

But it’s the second prong of this criticism that, I believe, stands like a lantern, a weak light, dwarfed in the afternoon sun. Central to the Enlightenment’s criticism of belief in God is their assertion (perhaps better called prejudice) that faith is a naivetp, something like belief in Santa and the Easter Bunny, that we outgrow as we mature and open our minds more and more to knowledge and what’s empirically evident in the world.

What we see through science and honest observation, they believe, eventually puts to death our belief in God, exposing it as a naivetp. In essence, the assertion is that if you face up to the hard empirical facts of reality without blinking, with honesty and courage, you will cease to believe in God. Indeed, the very phrase “the Enlightenment” implies this. It’s only the unenlightened, pre-modernist mind that still can believe in God. Moving beyond belief in God is enlightenment.

Sadly, Christianity has often internalised this prejudice and expressed it (and continues to express it) in the many forms of fear and anti-intellectualism within our churches. Too often we unwittingly agree with our critics that faith is a naivetp. We do it by believing the very thing our critics assert, namely, that if we studied and looked at things hard enough we would eventually lose our faith. We betray this in our fear of the intellectual academy, in our paranoia about secular wisdom, in some of our fears about scienti¿c knowledge, and by forever warning people to protect themselves against certain inconvenient truths within scienti¿c and secular knowledge. In doing this, we, in fact, concede that the criticism made against us is true and, worse still, we betray that fact that we do not think that the truth of Christ will stand up to the world.

But, given the penetrating metaphor highlighted in Jesus’ arrest, there’s another way of seeing this: After we have conceded the truth of the legitimate ¿ndings of science and secular wisdom and af¿rmed that they need to be embraced and not defended against, then, in the light of John’s metaphor (worldly forces, carrying lanterns and torches, as they arrest the Light of world to put it on trial), we should also see how dim are the lights of our world, not least, the criticism of the Enlightenment.

Lanterns and torches are helpful when the sun is down, but they’re utterly eclipsed by the light of the sun. Worldly knowledge too is helpful in its own way, but it is more than dwarfed by the light of the Son.

Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

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20 FEATURE

Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

‘The people we helped taught us lessons’ LTC (Dr) Adrian Tan, an orthopaedic surgeon, shares his experience treating Nepal quake victims

By Mel Diamse-Lee Last year, Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) (Dr) Adrian Tan spent a month in Kathmandu, Nepal, discovering its natural wonders, marvelling at its historic heritage and experiencing the warmth of its people.

The parishioner from Church of the Holy Cross returned this year to ¿nd it unrecognisable in some parts, with many of the famous ancient structures destroyed, and the people he mingled with rendered mostly homeless.

LTC (Dr) Tan, an orthopaedic surgeon, led a team of 30 doctors, nurses and medics under the Singapore Armed Forces’ medical mission to Nepal from April 26 to May 11, following a devastating earthquake.

Said LTC (Dr) Tan, “When I ¿rst saw [the earthquake] in the news, I knew that I wanted to be part of this [medical mission]. I’ve experienced the country. It has done wonders to me during the time I was there.”

He was saddened to see the devastation and the people who had to camp in open spaces to avoid collapsing buildings.

Realising that the ¿rst area

When was the last time you had fun?

Very often I have fun in my ministry, because of the nature of my involvement in the pastoral care of primary school children. Much of my presence in the school is in the canteen.

Name an occasion you felt embarrassed/humiliated.

This happened many years ago when I was about to step down from a role I was in. It was the process and the way it was done that made me feel humiliated and embarrassed.

Name an occasion/incident when you felt God was far away.

This happened about the same time when I was to step down from

they were assigned to was already being served by foreign medical teams, they moved to a small village named Gorkana, a half hour drive from Kathmandu.

This small village was serving a community of about 20,000 farther up the hills. LTC (Dr)Tan and his colleagues set up a makeshift clinic in Gorkana to see the patients there, and tents for their quarters. They also travelled around two hours in four-wheel drives to the remote villages to reach injured patients who had been unable get help due to the inaccessibility of their villages.

Speaking through interpreters, they heard the residents’ stories about falling debris, caving roofs and ceilings, and fears about returning to possibly structurally unsafe homes. Some of those who sustained fractures or cuts had to be treated for infections as they did not receive immediate medical aid. Others suffered from exposure to the cold.

Recalled LTC (Dr) Tan, who has been on four other medical missions, “Those that we saw, part of their stories were the loss of friends and relatives. They

LTC (Dr) Adrian Tan attends to a patient in Gorkana, Nepal. Photo: SINGAPORE ARMED FORCES

didn’t really talk much about it but you could see the emotions in their eyes... There was nothing we could do except to hold their hands and give them the best possible medical attention.”

Following a rigorous timetable that began from six in the morning and ended at around eleven at night, LTC (Dr) Tan would spend time in quiet. “I prayed for strength every night. For the strength – despite the physical discomfort, the cold, the [occasional] tiredness – to carry on, to be very focused about the mission.

“I also prayed for wisdom to

greatest takeaway ‘isThe that I went there with the team in order to render assistance but everyone of us left the place strangely richer from the experience.

’

my ministry. For a period of time I felt far away from God. It was a time when I was so immersed in the ministry, with little support.

Day in and day out, my mind was on the work – how to deal with persons and situations. Prayer was just to be physically present in the chapel. My mind and heart were far away.

Meaningful, open relationships/ friendships with Sisters and laity, as well as working with the children and learning from the elderly.

What do you like best about being a Religious/consecrated person?

What are the usual distractions during your prayer time? What do you do about them?

The countless opportunities I received from my congregation – formation, growth and development in all ways, body, mind and spirit.

What aspect of Religious life has brought you most joy?

How would you summarise your life today as a Religious/consecrated person?

I’m very blessed, grateful and happy.

These would be when I faced an unpleasant situation, an encounter with a dif¿cult person or perhaps with some work I have to do. I would invite the Lord into the situation or I’ll leave it aside and return to my prayer.

make the right decisions... Decisions which would bene¿t the people. Decisions which were safe, because I was looking after a team of 30. And of course for protection.”

ReÀecting on the aftermath of the calamity, he said he and his team witnessed the “goodness in the many people who laboured day and night, at the risk of their own health, at the risk of their own safety…”

He was not just referring to the foreign aid workers. The calamity, he said, “allowed the locals to show great courage and resilience.

They rallied together to assist their fellow villagers,” such as the medical students who volunteered as interpreters, the police who helped with crowd control, and those who ushered the patients or carried those who could not walk.

He recalled an elderly lady who was treated. “About two or three days later, she came back with bags of food that she prepared for us. In her poverty, she gave all that she could. It was humbling to be able

What is the Lord calling you to do/ be in this period of your life as a Religious, if any?

Continue to be in the ministry with the children... (I think!)

What do you like doing most when with your biological family?

Eating, updating and sharing what’s happening, asking who passed on and who are still around.

Favourite food?

No favourite food. But I go for sour and spicy dishes. I like to cook assam ¿sh with bitter-gourd and salted vegetables.

Singaporean Sr Geraldine Lim Canossian Daughters of Charity http://www.canossians-sg.org

to even accept the gift from her.”

He said, “I think the greatest takeaway is that I went there with the team in order to render assistance but everyone of us left the place strangely richer from the experience that we had. The very people that we helped also taught us certain lessons: resilience, courage, generosity even in poverty.

LTC (Dr) Tan said he came to appreciate his vocation as a doctor as well, “I am particularly blessed to have had the opportunity to undergo medical training to be a doctor and surgeon. It is not for any other purpose: not for personal gain, for fame or glory, but purely to use the skills and the training that I’ve been given to assist somebody else in need.”

He added, “At the end of the day, I’m not the one that heals, it’s Jesus. I’m humbled by the thought that it is through my hands that God is working. I’m just an instrument.” mel.lee@catholic.org.sg

What do you usually do to relax?

I enjoy cooking, it’s therapeutic for me. I relax by walking in the market or sometimes walking around shops looking for things.

SG50 21

Sunday June 14, 2015 „ CatholicNews

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Healthcare

fallible and that there is a God. Serving the sick also allows the dignity of human life to be preserved and this is seen when we opt to maintain the quality of life in patients with terminal illnesses instead of opting for the short cut like euthanasia.

4

How would you describe the Church’s contribution towards healthcare in these past 50 years?

Sr Thomasina, 83, a midwife and nurse who has been with the FMDM order for more than 63 years:

Because the ministry of healing is part and parcel of the Church’s mission, the Church in Singapore responded to the needs of the community, and continues Christ’s mission of healing through what happens at Mount Alvernia Hospital to this day.

However, the FMDM Sisters’ association with Singapore began in 1949 when the British colonial government asked us to look after tuberculosis (TB) patients in Tan Tock Seng Hospital. To ensure continuous care, the Sisters set up a TB training school for new nurses. This initiative was a pioneering effort for the ¿rst associated school of nursing.

From 1950-1963, the Sisters looked after the Trafalgar home for Leprosy patients.

In 1961, they opened Mount Alvernia Hospital (MAH), a not-for-proÂżt general acute care private hospital to bring nursing care and healthcare services to the population.

Villa Francis, a home for the aged, was administered on behalf of the National Council of Social Service by the FMDM from 1976-2001. This was Âżnancially supported by Mount Alvernia Hospital. At Assisi Hospice, we provide care for the terminally ill patients, respite and care for the chronic sick and home nursing.

Besides excellent care by physicians and nurses, a team of trained pastoral carers help to address patients’ spiritual and

Social service Q: What are the needs of the less fortunate here and how can Catholics respond?

Sr Caridad, MC, 31 years in the order:

Examples of the Church’s outreach: Caring for the elderly at Villa Francis (left), and serving the sick at Mount Alvernia Hospital.

religious needs, regardless of their religion, race, gender or ethnic background.

Since 2009, the hospital has had an active community outreach programme of providing free health screening to the needy, elderly and the less mobile.

Dr John Lee, former master of the Catholic Medical Guild, and current president of the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations:

From the efforts of St Vincent De Paul volunteer physicians to the development of Mount Alvernia Hospital in 1961, the Church has established a viable model of “not for proÂżtâ€? healthcare system.

Catholic nursing homes like Villa Francis, St Theresa and St Joseph are very much in demand because of the love and dedication of the Religious congregations who run them.

The Gift of Love Home, started by the Missionaries of Charity, is a wonderful example

of a sanctuary for those rejected by society.

Few may know it, but the Hospice Movement in Singapore was started by a remarkable Catholic doctor operating out of her car. Her legacy continues in the work of the FMDM-run Assisi Hospice.

Perhaps the greatest contribution the Church has made to the healthcare system in Singapore is its promotion of pro-life and pro-family healthcare policies by being a conscience of society.

Q: How important is it for Catholics to serve the sick, and how can we get more to serve at hospitals and homes?

Dr Olivia Tian, 28, from the Church of the Holy Spirit:

To serve the least and people when they are at their most vulnerable is also to serve Jesus and when miracles are witnessed it further demonstrates the point that man is

In Singapore, our Sisters reach out to distressed and destitute people of all races and religious backgrounds. Like our fellow Sisters in other countries, we also go out to seek the poor, but in urban, built-up Singapore, we go from block to block!

As part of our fraternal values, our home is open to all kinds of people, where the well-to-do ones also come in to help the poor with their time, care and donations.

Christ calls us through His Church to labour for the salvation and sanctiÂżcation of the poorest of the poor all over the world, and so to satiate the thirst of God lying on the cross, which is the thirst for our love and the love of souls.

Mr Kelvin Lim, 35, polytechnic lecturer, Church of St Vincent de Paul:

It is important to keep on contributing funds to help the less fortunate. However, I believe that while it is relatively easy for Singaporean Catholics to donate money, our time is a much more precious commodity. Perhaps we need to start giving this gift of time instead, by serving the community and seeing the face of Jesus in our brothers and sisters in need. „

Milestones of the Catholic Church in Singapore „ 1800s: The French MEP priests set up the

¿rst two schools – one in Bras Basah Road and the other in Kranji. In the 1850s, one of the priests, Fr Jean-Marie Beurel returned to France and brought the La Salle Brothers and Infant Jesus (IJ) Sisters to Malaya. The Brothers began their new school in an old chapel at Bras Basah (old SJI), and the Sisters the Town Convent, at Victoria Street. „ The IJ sisters were one of the ¿rst to recognise the importance of the family in society, arranging for the betrothal of rescued young women under their charge, to suitable Christian men. This contributed to the stabilisation of a predominantlymale immigrant society in Àux. „ In 1885, the IJ nuns also assumed administration of the General Hospital (later SGH) as the Straits Government’s intention to recruit trained European nurses coincided with Bishop Edward Gasnier’s intention to have the nuns establish an alternative hospital. This was in tandem with ongoing hospital visits by other Catholics, who brought spiritual and physical relief to patients in an era without hygienic medical procedures, ethics or antibiotics.

„ Although the IJ nuns later withdrew due

to problems with the colonial government, Fr Saleilles of St Mary’s Chapel continued to work in Tan Tock Seng Hospital, serving the blind and lepers. „ Apart from the orders, the laity-led St Vincent de Paul Society has, since its establishment in 1883, collected and distributed ¿nancial and material aid to families in need. „ During the Second World War, the physical parish buildings were places of refuge as bomb shelters and where women sought protection against rape by Japanese soldiers. „ The idea of setting up a Boys’ Town was conceived in Changi Prison Camp during the Japanese Occupation, between Br Vincent of the Brothers of St Gabriel, and an Australian philanthropist, Mr W T McDermott. After their release, Mr McDermott helped Br Vincent to draw up a master plan for Boys’ Town and also ¿nancially supported the project.

In 1948, Boys’ Town was established by the Gabrielite Brothers to provide vocational skills training and education to orphans. This later expanded to providing boarding and residential care for boys

from large, troubled, single-parent and Âżnancially needy families. „ After the war, the British government sought to Âżnd a Nursing Order of Sisters interested in taking over a women’s tuberculosis hospital. In 1949, Mother Angela of the FMDM Sisters arrived in Singapore from Hong Kong, where it was decided with the local bishop and health authorities that the nuns would take over the TB wards of Tan Tock Seng Hospital (also known as the Mandalay Road Hospital). The nuns also eventually took over care of the Leper Settlement. By 1952, the dream of a Catholic hospital in Singapore began to materialise. Land was purchased on “Thomson Hillâ€? in October 1956, and Mount Alvernia Hospital declared open in March 1961, by the late Lee Kong Chian.

SG50 WEBSITE: sg50.catholic.sg hosts all information pertaining to the archdiocese’s celebration of the nation’s golden jubilee, including the Thanksgiving Mass at the Indoor Stadium on July 4. Check it out.

„ In 1957, an international group of Fran-

ciscan friars arrived, under direction from Rome, to set up a sociological institute for research, printing and distribution of anti-Communist documents to counter Communist propaganda in the region. „ 1970s and 1980s: Anti-contraceptive stand of the Church. Archbishop Michael Oloomendy wrote a pastoral letter in March 1976 disapproving the “priority for sterilisation schemeâ€?. This was accompanied by an ‘Open Letter to the Prime Minister’ written by 15 priests objecting to prioritising sterilisation as a way of getting children into schools. In 1985, Archbishop Gregory Yong, on the Feast of Holy Innocents, called on Catholics to “save people they know from becoming victims of the contraceptive mentality, which is a package deal comprising contraception, sterilisation, abortion and euthanasiaâ€?. „ 2006: Caritas Singapore is the umbrella body for 23 Catholic charities whose programmes include soup kitchens, Âżnancial assistance, residential care, shelters, befriending, counselling, palliative care, student care and skills training. „

22 FAITH ALIVE!

Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

Christ’s presence as our travelling companion

By David Gibson There are occasions in the mad rush of life when responsible, caring people go considerably out of their way to make themselves present to a spouse or a child, a parent, friend or even stranger.

A father or mother hurriedly leaves work quite late, intent on getting to a child’s middle-school basketball at least by halftime.

Someone whose schedule is overcrowded to the breaking point carves out time to visit a friend in another city who recently suffered a painful loss.

What prompts people to do what it takes to be there for someone in a manner more real than the latest electronic device provides?

Indeed, people go to extremes to be present to those they love, but many feel hard-pressed afterward to tell exactly why their presence mattered so much.

Perhaps the child acknowledged the parent’s presence at the school game with only a nod. Perhaps the friend, consumed by his loss, did not remember to ask about his visitor’s well-being or his family.

Nonetheless, we humans take the matter of being really present to others very seriously. We hope our presence makes a silent statement that “speaks” loudly.

For Christians, making an effort to be present to others is Christ-like.

“The Gospel tells us constantly to run the risk of a face-to-face encounter with others, with their physical presence, which challeng-

The Gospel tells us ‘constantly to run the risk of a face-to-face encounter with others, with their physical presence, which challenges us, with their pain and their pleas, with their joy.

’

– Pope Francis

A Maryknoll priest comforts a newly displaced man resting on the Àoor of a makeshift Catholic chapel inside a UN base in Malakal, South Sudan. For Christians, making an effort to be present to others is Christ-like. &16 ¿OH SKRWR

es us, with their pain and their pleas, with their joy,” Pope Francis wrote in The Joy of the Gospel (No. 88).

This is precisely the risk that the Christian community believes Christ takes in making Himself personally present to the complicated people of our times.

We, in making ourselves present to others, signal our belief in them and our hopes for them.

But do Christ’s reasons for wanting to be present to us resemble our reasons for wanting to be present to

others? If grace builds on nature, as theologians say, our intentions in becoming present to others should cast at least modest light on the mystery of Christ’s presence to us.

Christ is present in many ways. People readily speak of recognising Christ’s face in the sick and poor or family members and friends, even the dif¿cult ones.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church points out that Christ speaks when the word of God or Scripture is proclaimed. He is pre-

sent in the sacraments, “of which he is the author,” and in “the person of the minister.” Moreover, he is present wherever “two or three are gathered” in His name (No. 1373).

Christ’s Eucharistic presence under the appearances of bread and wine, called His “real presence”, uniquely commands the Church’s attention.

When real presence is discussed among Catholics, the accent frequently falls on the word “real”. Believers naturally want to

know more about how Christ can be really present in this way.

That does not mean, however, that the other word, “presence”, is undeserving of attention. “It is highly ¿tting that Christ should have wanted to remain present to His Church in this unique way.”

Catechism states: “In His Eucharistic presence He remains mysteriously in our midst as the one who loved us and gave Himself up for us, and He remains under signs that express and communicate this love” (No. 1380).

Christ’s real presence is a sacramental presence. Pope Francis addressed this in a Sept 24, 2013, homily. “A sacrament is not a magical rite, it is an encounter with Jesus Christ,” he stressed.

In a sacrament, he insisted, “we encounter the Lord, and He is by our side and accompanies us” as “a traveling companion”. CNS Gibson served on Catholic News Service’s editorial staff for 37 years.

Body and blood: life-giving for all

By Mike Nelson Corpus Christi. Body and blood.

Real presence.

When I was growing up and attending Lutheran Sunday school (until age 9), these terms were very unfamiliar to me, as I suspect they would be to most nonCatholic children. In my Sunday school classroom, I learned about the good works Jesus did on this earth, how He healed the sick and the lame, about how Jesus was so unfairly cruci¿ed and then so miraculously rose to live again.

And, although I stopped attending church before my teens, I accepted Jesus Christ as real and present in my life, and His teachings as principles to guide me through life’s challenges. That was the foundation for my decision, two decades later, to become a Catholic.

But as I neared my ¿rst Communion at age 31, preparing to receive the Eucharist –

Jesus comes to all of us in various ways at our Eucharistic celebrations.

Fr Liu Yong Wang distributes Communion during Mass in a makeshift Catholic chapel in a village outside Tianjin, China, in this ¿le photo.

Jesus’ body and blood – was not easy for me. There is, let’s face it, something at least initially jarring about the words, “Eat my Àesh, drink my blood.”

So, to really appreciate and accept the full meaning of receiving the Eucharist, I had to separate

myself from more “earthly” meanings and connotations, to better understand what “eat my Àesh, drink my blood” means. Through spiritual reading, reÀection and prayer, this is what I realised: By consuming His Àesh and blood, we do not make Jesus less

whole; we make ourselves more whole. By receiving Jesus, we do not destroy Him; we make ourselves stronger, we make Jesus’ presence more real in our lives and we bring that presence to one another. And that makes Jesus stronger and more real in our world.

Receiving Jesus is a life-giving action, for us and for Jesus.

Scripture is clear on this: “Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me” (Jn 6:57).

Of course, receiving His body and blood is one of various ways Christ enters my life. Jesus comes

to all of us, lives with us, appears to us in other ways at our Eucharistic celebrations.

Jesus is present to us in sacred Scripture, in the word of God proclaimed – broken open and shared.

Jesus is present to us in the person of the priest who presides at these celebrations, in the one who consecrates the Eucharist in preparation for this holy banquet. Jesus is present in the assembly gathered to celebrate the Eucharist.

Through signs of Jesus’ presence, those of us who believe have the opportunity to accept and receive Jesus into our lives.

Whole and entire. God and man. Body and blood. Life-giving. After 30 years, the more I reÀect on this, the more I believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. CNS Nelson is a former editor of The Tidings, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, USA.

Sunday June 14, 2015 „ CatholicNews

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Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

One day, Jesus noticed that a large crowd of people had come to hear Him teach.

He decided to climb a nearby mountain so everyone could see and hear Him. Jesus spoke about many things that day. He said that the peacemakers, the clean of heart, the persecuted, the merciful, the meek, the poor in spirit, those who mourn and those who seek righteousness are all blessed. He warned the people not to seek revenge when they are wronged, not to be angry with one another and to love rather than hate their enemies.

He reminded the people not to worry about their lives and what they would eat and drink and wear, because God would always take care of them.

“Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather

nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?” the Lord asked.

Jesus also taught that when people do good things, they should not call attention to it, “otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father”. He told the people that the Pharisees and scribes always called attention to themselves when they gave alms, when they fasted or when they prayed. He called them hypocrites – which means to claim to have beliefs but to act against those beliefs – and said to not be like them.

Instead, Jesus said when people fast, they should not look unhappy and neglect their appearance but instead should wash their faces and only let God see what they are doing.

When they give alms, they should not make a big deal about it, and they

SPOTLIGHT ON SAINTS:

St Thomas More Thomas More was born in England in 1478. He studied law and was a member of parliament. He married in 1505 and had four children, and in 1516 he ¿nished writing his famous book, Utopia.

He eventually began working for King Henry VIII’s court and became lord chancellor in 1529. In 1532, More resigned because King Henry disagreed with the Catholic Church on marriage and the pope’s supremacy.

More continued to write in defence of the Church, and in 1534 he was imprisoned in the Tower of London for refusing to say that King Henry was head of the Church of England.

More’s friend, St John Fisher, also was imprisoned and was beheaded on June 22, 1535. More was beheaded about two weeks later on July 6. We honour both men on June 22.

shouldn’t even “let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret”.

And when they prayed, Jesus told them not to do so in public for others to see them, like the Pharisees and scribes did, and not to babble and use lots of words, like the pagans did.

“Do not be like them,” he said.

“Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”

He then gave an example of a good prayer to say. And today that prayer is known as the Lord’s Prayer.

Read more about it: Matthew 5-7

Q&A 1. Who are some of the people Jesus called blessed?

2. Whom did Jesus not want people to imitate?

Wordsearch: SKY

REAP

MOURN

SOW

CROWD SCRIBES ALMS

SPIRIT

BARNS

SEEK

HEART PUBLIC

KID’S CLUB: Share your thoughts with family and friends on a Bible story by writing an essay in response to this question: How do you pray to God, and what do you ask for?

Bible Accent:

Answer to puzzle: 1, 4.

Prayer was very important to Jesus. Throughout the Gospels, He could always be found praying. In Luke 11:1, one of His apostles asked Jesus to teach them to pray.

Jesus then taught them what we now call the Lord’s Prayer.

Sometimes Jesus would go off by Himself to pray. In Luke 5:15-16, we learn that he would heal great crowds of people and then afterward would ¿nd a deserted place so He could talk to God alone.

The Lord also prayed for other people, like those who had Him cruci¿ed: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34).

Jesus also would pray with other people. In Matthew 26, we read that not long before He was cruci¿ed, He asked Peter and the sons of Zebedee to pray with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is also in the garden that Jesus acknowledged that prayers would not always be answered in the way we would like them, but according to God’s will.

And in Luke 18, Jesus told the parable of the persistent widow to show that we must pray without becoming weary, and show that we are faithful to God and His plans for us.

PUZZLE: Put an X next to the groups of words that can be found in the Lord’s Prayer.

1. _____ Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

2. _____ Give us some bread to eat.

3. _____ Lead us away from the devil and toward you.

4. _____ Forgive us our trespasses.

5. _____ Let things be done according to your will.

Answer to Wordsearch

By Jennifer Ficcaglia

WHAT’S ON 25

Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

EVENT SUBMISSIONS We welcome information of events happening in our local Church.

Please send your submission at least one month before the event.

Online submissions can be made at www.catholicnews.sg/whatson CATECHISM FOR THE ELDERLY Catechism classes for the elderly are held in English, Mandarin, Peranakan, Hokkien, Teochew and Cantonese on Thursdays from 1pm-2.45pm at Church of the Holy Family and on Saturdays at St Joseph’s Church (Victoria Street), parish hall from 9.30am-11.30am.

Register T: 9115 5673 (Andrew).

RISEN CHRIST YOUTH SYMPHONY IS LOOKING FOR MUSICIANS TO PLAY AT SG50 MASS ON JULY 4 The Risen Christ Youth Symphony is currently recruiting instrumental players (strings, winds, brass and percussionists) to play for the SG50 Mass at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Register E: dr.al.leong@gmail.com.

SPONSORS NEEDED FOR NUS CSS FRESHMEN ORIENTATION CAMP The NUS Catholic Student’s Society (CSS) is looking for sponsors who are able to provide the following items in bulks of 90: 1. Writing Pad / Notebook 2. Rosary and / or Brown Scapular 3. Any relevant prayer booklets/guidebooks (Eg. Examination of Conscience Guidebook, Guidebook to Visiting the Blessed Sacrament) 4. Other miscellaneous items relevant to camp (Eg. Snacks). T: 9777 0337 (Adeline Ng); E: cssfoc2015@gmail. com; W: www.facebook.com/cssfoc2015.

EVERY FIRST SUNDAY OF THE MONTH FROM JUNE 14 CANOSSIAN SISTERS JUMBLE SALE: PIECES OF APRIL 9am-6pm: The Canossian Sisters will be holding a jumble sale every ¿rst Sunday of the month. All proceeds will go to the poor and needy. Do drop by to show your support! Organised by Canossian Sisters.

At Canossa Convent, 1 Sallim Road, Gate 1. Enquiries Email: pcsofapril@gmail.com.

EVERY THIRD WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH FROM JUNE 17 TO DECEMBER 16 STUDY GROUP: AN INTRODUCTION TO CHRISTIANITY (J RATZINGER) Join us for study group sessions on every third Wednesday of the month. Learn more about Christianity. Our ¿rst session

JUNE 19 NOX GAUDII 8pm: Calling all young people in Singapore!

Join us for a night of fun. Pray and worship God, receive the Sacrament of reconciliation and experience the fellowship of the local Church community. Organised by Of¿ce for Young People. At 2 Lorong Low Koon.

starts with Prolegomena to the Subject of God and Biblical Belief in God. Organised by Catholic Theology Network. At CANA, 55 Waterloo Street.

Register T: theology.sg@gmail.com.

THURSDAYS FROM JUNE 18 TO JULY 30 THIS IS MY BODY – EXPERIENCING THE POWER OF THE MASS! 7.45pm-9.30pm: Join us for a sevenpart DVD session. This inspiring video is designed to inform, inspire and raise prayerful discussion about the great gift of the Mass. Refreshments will be served.

It’s free. All are welcome! Organised

by CaFE@IHM. At Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, 24 Highland Road, Level 3 Sts Peter & Paul Room.

Register E: cafe@ihm.sg, Tel: 9221 2816 (Agnes) or 9127 0707 (Faustina).

JUNE 25 SUPPORT GROUP FOR CATHOLICS WITH LOVED ONES IN PRISON 10am-7pm: Clarity Singapore and RCPM Aftercare are starting a support group for Catholics, both young and old, with loved ones in prison.It will be a day of engaging activities. For adults, it will be a time for restoration, renewal and prayer.

For children, it will be a time for interaction and expression. Meals will be provided. All calls will be treated with the strictest con¿dentiality. Organised by Clarity. At Good Shepherd, Lorong 8 Toa Payoh. Register T: 6757 7990 (Lyn).

JUNE 19 TO JUNE 21 PRAYING OUR CROSSROADS 8pm (Friday)-1pm (Sunday): Crossroads in life can be the most challenging times but they offer great opportunities for growth. Those in transition, or at the brink of decision-making will ¿nd this retreat helpful, with its input on discernment, prayer, reÀection and sharing. Organised by the Cenacle Sisters. At Choice Retreat House, 47 Jurong West Street 42.

Register T: 6565 2895 / 9722 3148; E: cenaclesing@gmail.com.

JUNE 26 TO JUNE 28 MARRIAGE RETORNO 8.30pm (Friday)-5pm (Sunday): Calling all couples. Spend a weekend away from the daily hustle and bustle of life. Fee (per couple inclusive of lodging and all meals): $250. Organised by Marriage Encounter.

At ME House, 201B Punggol 17th Avenue. Register T: 9655 3708 (Susize) / 9011 2795 (Esme). Register by June 5.

JUNE 26 TO JUNE 28 A PERSONAL CALL – VOCATIONS IN LIFE 7pm (Friday)-4pm (Sunday): Ever wondered about your vocation in life? Come for a weekend stay-in retreat to explore and discover God’s invitation to you as you listen to a panel who will share on how they discovered and lived their vocations in these contemporary times. Facilitators: Celine Lin, Lance Ng and Diana Koh. Fee: $180 (non-aircon) / $220 (aircon). Organised

by Kingsmead Centre. At Kingsmead Centre, 8 Victoria Park Road. Register T: 6467 6072; E: cisc2664@gmail.com.

JUNE 19 TO JUNE 21 MANDARIN CHILDREN’S CAMP For children aged 5-12 for them to experience Christian fellowship, to learn how to love one another and work together, and to grow closer to Jesus Christ.

Non-Catholics are welcome! Theme: I am a Lamb of God. The whole camp will be conducted in Mandarin. Children aged 8-12 are required to stay overnight. For children 5-7 years – June 20: 8.30am-8pm. For children 8-12 years – June 19-21: 8.30am (June 19)-11pm (June 21). Register T: 9113 6598 (Nicholas); E: acamsyouthcomm@ gmail.com; W: www.cams.org.sg; FB:www.facebook.com/camsyouthcomm.

JUNE 27 FINDING GOD IN POPULAR MUSIC 9am-6pm: Discover who you are in God with tools from The Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius and aided by the music of Sam Smith, The Script and other popular artists. Presented by Fr Mark Aloysius, SJ and Mr Anthony Siow. Organised by CANA. At CANA The Catholic Centre, 55 Waterloo Street. Fee (including lunch): $45. Register E: canatheplacetobe2013@ gmail.com / seek.anthony@gmail.com.

JUNE 19 MEDITATIVE PRAYER WITH THE SONGS OF TAIZE 8pm-9pm: Come join us in this ecumenical meditative prayer with the songs of Taize, every third Friday of the month. All are welcome. No registration needed. Organised

by Taize Group at Good Shepherd Place.

At Good Shepherd Place Chapel, 9 Lorong 8 Toa Payoh. Enquiries T: 9859 0769 (Ms Adeline Tay); E: a.quiet.time@gmail.

Crossword Puzzle 1137 1

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14

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19 Animal rights org.

20 He survived the Àood 21 Line on a weather map 23 Patron of Australia, St Francis ___ 26 Shake up 27 Wading bird 28 Salty 30 Gregory I sent missionaries to convert these barbarians

32 Bible section 33 Book attributed to Jeremiah (abbr.)

36 Wild disorder 37 Farewell, from Jacques 39 Dreadful 40 Son of Jacob 41 Great quantity 42 The women brought these to anoint Jesus’ body 44 Sin against the ¿fth Commandment

A journey for those seeking to know more about the Catholic faith.

Baptised Catholics are also invited to journey as sponsors.

SATURDAYS FROM JUNE 6 CHINESE RCIA @ SJI JUNIOR WHILE CHURCH OF ALPHONSUS (NOVENA CHURCH) IS UNDER RENOVATION 1.30pm-3.15pm: SJI Junior, 3 Essex Road. Led by Sr Assunta Cheng.

Register T: 9626 8546 (Alphonsus); E: alphs_cool@singnet.com.sg.

SUNDAYS FROM JUNE 7 RCIA @ CHURCH OF DIVINE MERCY 3.30pm-6.30pm: 19 Pasir Ris Street 72.

Register T: 9726 4775 (Mark); E: rcia@divinemercy.sg.

TUESDAYS FROM JUNE 9 RCIA @ CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY 7.45pm-9.45pm: 20 Tampines Street 11.

Register T: 8444 5505 (Gregory); E: rciaht@gmail.com.

46 Mrs Peron 47 Antelopes or certain Chevrolets 50 Charge with gas 52 “_____ corda” 53 Judas betrayed Jesus with one 54 Landed 55 The bishops, collectively 61 Peak 62 The daughter of Pharaoh found a baby here (Ex 2:5–6)

W O R D S

I B O O K

T I T L E

A C I D

R O S E

C U R E

C H I A

H O D S

I S I S

H I R E E A S L E T D E V R E N C I A E L P O R I L E E A O M N

G A M A L I E L R O A S T S

O N E S E L F D E L I L A H

R I N S E R S V M O I C S E E R S E W R A E M

B E N E D I A C N T E A L R E G A T E N I L E

FRIDAYS FROM JUNE 19 RCIY @ CHURCH OF THE RISEN CHRIST 8pm-10pm: 91 Toa Payoh Central, St Matthew Room (Level 2). Register T: 9857 2241 (Sherwin) / 9489 8086 (Jeremy); E: rcrciy2015@gmail.com.

TUESDAYS FROM JUNE 30 CHINESE RCIA @ CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY OF THE B.V.M 8pm-10pm: 1259 Upper Serangoon Road.

Register T: 9696 9374 (Augustine).

FRIDAYS FROM JULY 3 RCIA @ CHURCH OF CHRIST THE KING 8pm-10pm: 2221 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8.

Register T: 9889 0027 (Joey); E: rcia@ gmail.com; W: www.christtheking.com.sg.

TUESDAYS FROM JUNE 9 RCIA @ CHURCH OF ST IGNATIUS 8pm-10pm: 120 Kings Road.

Register 6466 0625 (Angela) / 9628 6472 (Sandra); W: www.stignatius.org.sg.

TUESDAYS FROM JUNE 16 RCIA @ CHURCH OF ST FRANCIS XAVIER 8pm-10pm: 63A Chartwell Drive.

Registration forms available at parish of¿ce. Enquiries T: 6280 6076.

FRIDAYS FROM JULY 24 RCIA @ CHURCH OF THE SACRED HEART 7.30pm-9.15pm: 111 Tank Road.

Register T: 6737 9285; E: sacredheartchurch@catholic.org.sg.

WEDNESDAYS FROM JULY 1 TO NOVEMBER 25 BIBLICAL PORTRAITS BY MSGR AMBROSE VAZ 8pm-10pm: God’s people were blessed with men and women of amazing faith and strength. Msgr Vaz will highlight their character strengths and weaknesses, and the lessons we can learn from their lives and from the accounts of other ¿gures from the Old Testament. Organised by Discover!

Ministry at Church of the Holy Spirit.

At Church of the Holy Spirit, 248 Upper Thomson Road, 4th Àoor. Register T: 9010 2829 (Angela); E: kim_f_ho@yahoo.com.

video series. Learn how the age-old wisdom and teachings of the Saints can be a practical help to us today. Organised by CaFE. At Church of Christ the King, 2221 Ang Mo Kio Ave 8, Room 105. Register / Enquiries T: 9777 9109 (Stanley); E: ChristTheKingCaFE@gmail.com.

THURSDAYS FROM JULY 2 TO AUGUST 20 CATHOLIC FAITH EXPLORATION – SAINTS HELPING US TODAY 7.45pm-9.30 pm:Join us for a six-part

23 City in Ohio 24 Inert elemental gas 25 Unit of potential difference 26 Natural balm 27 Solid 29 Tolerate 31 One of seven 33 Lawful 34 Mountain ridge 35 Flat-topped rise 38 Pops 39 Opera singer 41 “Star Trek” navigator 43 God is three, with one divine nature 44 Title for Jesus 45 Jesus, on the third day 47 Son of Sarah 48 Compost 49 6am prayer time 51 Key in a corner 53 Furnace 56 Filled pastry crust 57 Hawaiian food 58 “_____ Maria” 59 Label 60 Supplement

DOWN 1 “When we eat this bread and drink this ___…”

2 Card game 3 First name in heroic dogs 4 Hairy Addams cousin 5 Unintelligent 6 _____ Minor 7 Ornamental brooch 8 Amer.

9 Devout 10 Long cloak with a hood 11 One-celled protozoa 12 Attack 13 Trap 18 Enemy 22 Gravitate

THURSDAYS FROM JUNE 18 RCIA @ CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY OF THE BVM 8pm-10pm: 1259 Upper Serangoon Road.

Register T: 9685 6673 (Genevieve); E: nativitysg@yahoo.com.sg.

TUESDAYS FROM JULY 7 RCIA @ SJI JUNIOR WHILE CHURCH OF ALPHONSUS (NOVENA CHURCH) IS UNDER RENOVATION 7.30pm-10pm: St Joseph’s Institution Junior, 3 Essex Road. Register T: 6255 2133; E: rcianovena@gmail.com; W: http://www. novenachurch.com/rcia-form-01.html

Solution to Crossword Puzzle No. 1136

www.wordgamesforcatholics.com

ACROSS 1 Administrative arm of the Catholic Church 6 Number of the commandment that instructs us to honour our parents 10 One of the Mamas 14 Single things 15 Trick 16 Cry from the congregation 17 Papal

63 Catholic columnist and TV commentator, Robert _____ 64 Sonny’s ex 65 Propend 66 Attack

RCIA/RCIY

L A L A

T R E K

S S T S

R A I L

A N N A

Q T I P

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M A N S E

www.wordgamesforcatholics.com

CLASSIFIED THANKSGIVING O Holy St Jude, apostle and martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, near kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke your special patronage in times of need. To you I have recourse from the depth of my heart and humbly beg you, to whom God has given such great power, to come to my assistance. Help me in my present urgent petition. In return I promise to make your name known and cause you to be invoked. St Jude pray for me and all who invoke you aid. Humbly in need of your intercession.

Amen. Thank you for answering my prayers.

Thank you to Holy Trinity for your divine love and mercy in answering my prayers. Thank you to the powerful and speedy intercessions of Mother Mary, St Joseph, Archangels, Gardian Angels, St Jude Thaddeus, St Peregrine and all the Holy Saints and Angels in Heaven. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is it now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen Holy Spirit, you who make me see everything and show me the way to reach my ideal. You who give me the divine gift to forgive and forget the wrong that is done to me and who are in all instances of my life with me. I, in this short dialogue, want to thank you for everything and con¿rm once more that I never want to be separated from you no matter how great the material desires may be. I want to be with you and my loved ones in your perpetual glory. Amen Anne Please turn to pages 26 and 27 for more in memoriam advertisements.

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N MEMORIAM

28 POPE FRANCIS

Sunday June 14, 2015 CatholicNews

Pope to engaged couples: Don’t rush into marriage VATICAN CITY – Couples who are

seeking to marry, even those who have lived together, should value their engagement period as a time to grow in mature love and in profound knowledge of each other, said Pope Francis.

The pope urged couples not to rush into marriage. Maturation in love before marriage is a slow process, in which none of the steps should be skipped, Pope Francis told people at his weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square.

“The covenant of love between a man and a woman, a covenant for life, cannot be improvised; it cannot be done from one day to the next,” he said.

There is no such thing as “an express marriage”, he added.

While it is “beautiful” that people today can choose whom to marry, the “freedom of this bond” cannot be based simply on physical attraction or feelings, he said.

Engagement allows a couple to do the profound and “beautiful work of love” – work that involves a profound “learning” of the other.

“Love requires” this work, he said.

covenant ‘ofThe love between a man and a woman, a covenant for life, cannot be improvised; it cannot be done from one day to the next... [There is no such thing as] an express marriage.

’

– Pope Francis A young couple admires the starry sky.

“The love between a man and a woman is learned and is re¿ned,” he said, adding that married love must be understood more as something couples need to work on.

“Turning two lives into one is also almost a miracle, a miracle of the freedom of the heart, given in faith,” he said.

He also said that the Church has preserved the distinction between being engaged and being married.

“They are not the same,” he said, adding that this teaching has been veri¿ed in the “experience of conjugal love happily lived.”

In an oblique reference to the physical intimacy some couples share before marriage, the pope said the “powerful symbols of the body hold the keys to the soul”.

“We cannot treat the bonds of the Àesh lightly, without opening some lasting wound in the spirit,”

he said, noting the current culture is indifferent to this teaching in Scripture.

In a later summary of his catechesis in Spanish, the pope said the current “consumer culture” tries to turn love into an “object of consumption”. Instead, an engagement “allows a man and a woman to mature in a responsible decision regarding something so big that it cannot be bought or sold”.

The distinction the Church maintains between engagement and marriage is precisely to protect the profound meaning of the sacrament of marriage, he said.

It is important to revalue engagement as “an initiation to the surprise of the spiritual gifts with which God blesses and enriches families”, he said.

The Church, he said, offers marriage preparation courses as an expression of its care for couples.

In his Italian catechesis, the pope noted that many couples come to marriage preparation courses reluctantly. But they are grateful afterward for the opportunity to reÀect on their relationship in profound ways because while many have been together for a long time, and even live together, “they really do not know each other”, he said.

Engagement is also a time for couples to rediscover together the Bible, prayer – both personal and liturgical – confession, Communion and fellowship with the poor, he said. Growing in these areas “leads to a beautiful marriage celebration”, not one that is worldly but one that is Christian, he added.

CNS

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