Catholic News issue 21, 2017

SUNDAY OCTOBER 15, 2017

SINGAPORE $0.70 CENTS / WEST MALAYSIA RM$2.10

MCI (P) 010/08/2017

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Proclaiming God’s love in the city

VOL 67

NO. 21

INSIDE HOME

An emotional homecoming for thousands As Novena Church reopens n Page 9

Music, dance and sharings were some new evangelisation activities held recently Reaching out to Hundreds took part in a special programme titled Love in the City, a series of four events focusing on God’s love and held in the City District on Sept 30.

According to Fr Terence Pereira, E piscopal Vicar for the New E vangelisation, the programme was organised “so that non-Catholics and those who have drifted away from the faith will be excited and desire to know more about Jesus Christ”.

At the Love is the Language event held at The Catholic Centre on Waterloo Street, participants viewed works of art based on scriptural verses on love and spoke to the artists themselves to understand their inspirations.

Those who wanted a more hands-on experience had a go at creating their own artwork in a peaceful and prayerful ambience “This platform allowed me to experience peace and to reflect on my relationships with others as I painted about love,” said Mr Jay Teo, 28 , who is not a Catholic.

He was invited by a Catholic friend to the event, which was supported by the Burning Bush Creative Network. The organisation aims to create a culture of discipleship and evangelisation through creativity.

Another event, Love is the Story saw five individuals sharing their faith stories at the Church of Sts Peter and Paul.

Ms Candice Ong, Ms Heidi Ng, Ms K oh Bee Liang, Mr Suryadi Az ali, and Mr Sylvester

those with samesex attraction and their loved ones Two ministries launched n Page 11

ASIA

Bangladesh bishops visit Rohingya camps They promise aid, solidarity n Page 12

Philippine police seek Church protection Seminarian Nicholas L ye ( back row, fourth from right) and his team of dancers put on a ‘ prayerformance’ at the cathedral on Sept 30.

Singh shared how their life changed as they encountered God’s love.

Mr Suryadi, 36, for example, shared how God’s love gave him the courage to follow his passion and to overcome the expectations of others.

In between the sharings, participants listened to musical pieces by Schola Cantorum Sancti Gregorii Magni, a choir specialising in Gregorian chants.

At the Love is the Inspiration event held at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd’s annex building, six speakers shared how they expressed God’s love in their daily lives, especially in the workplace. n Continued on Page 5

Some willing to give information on war on drugs n Page 13

WORLD

Prayers as Mexico hit by quake Church rushes to help n Page 15

POPE FRANCIS

Concerned over anti-migrant sentiments among Catholics Participants displaying their artwork at an event called L ove is the L anguage.

Warns of ‘ temptation of exclusivism’ n Page 16

2 HOME

Sunday October 15, 2017 n CatholicNews

President thanks Agape Village, Caritas for ‘service to community’ V IT A IMAGE S

By Christopher Khoo Agape Village is a “good concept”, said President Halimah Yacob at the end of her visit to the Catholic Church’s integrated social service hub.

“I think sometimes our needy who need help, if they have to go to different places, it’s really quite challenging for them,” said Madam Halimah.

“But when you have a onestop centre, it’s really very good” because then they do not have to go to so many places to seek help, she said.

“So thank you very much Agape Village, and thank you very much, Caritas board, for your wonderful work, for the service to the community,” she said to thunderous applause.

Madam Halimah was speakin at the end of her first visit to Agape Village as Singapore president on Sept 22.

Agape Village, located in Toa Payoh, houses the services of 14 of the 25 Caritas-coordinated charities and organisations.

During Madam Halimah’s visit, she met with members, volunteers and beneficiaries of or anisations in Agape Village as well as the other organisations under Caritas.

At the facility for the Archdiocesan Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants & Itinerant People (ACMI), she chatted with foreign domestic workers and asked them about cooking local dishes.

At the Mamre Oaks Day Activity Centre, which serves people with intellectual disabilities, she chatted with members and decorated a coaster with some colourful beads.

At the other facilities, she also spoke with staff and volunteers and posed for photos with them, much to their delight.

An exhibition of the work of other Church organisations was 2S

eptember 201

Ms L eonida Arconado, a F ilipino domestic caregiver, shows Madam H alimah Y acob what she learnt about infant care.

Ms Mabel T hang of Mamre Oaks, which serves persons with intellectual disabilities, shows the president her cross-stitch work.

think sometimes ‘Iour needy w ho need help, if they hav e to go to different places, it’ s really qui te challenging for them ...

B ut w hen you hav e a one- stop centre, it’ s really v ery good.

’

– P resident H alimah Y acob at Agape V illage

also held, and the president spent time visiting each exhibit and speaking with organisation members.

As she left, a choir made up of Mamre Oaks members sang a special farewell song for her.

Caritas chairperson Janet Ang told Catholic News she was delighted that Madam Halimah vis-

President H alimah poses for a photo with ( from left ) Mr Gordon Pinto ( general manager, Agape V illage) , Ms Janet Ang ( Caritas chairperson) , Ms T eo Jin L ee ( chairperson, Agape V illage management council) , Msgr Ambrose V az ( Caritas board member) and Ms Bernadette L au ( Caritas exe cutive director) .

ited Agape Village so early in her presidency.

Ms Ang said she felt it was a recognition of the efforts of Agape

Village and the Catholic Church’s social service organisations in serving the community. She added that everyone here, “from of-

fice workers to volunteers felt encouraged by the visit. n christopher.khoo@catholic.org.sg

CHANCERY NOTICE 7

APPOINT ME NT S 1. Fr Richard Anthony SJ has been appointed Assistant Priest to the Church of St Ignatius for a term of three [3] years with effect from 1 October 2017.

2. Fr E dward Seah has been appointed Spiritual Director for the Young Christian Students’ Movement (YCS) for a term of two [2] years with effect from 21 September 2017.

3. Fr Henry Siew has been appointed Spiritual Director for the Mandarin West Curia, Legion of Mary for a term of two [2] years with effect from 21 September 2017.

4. Fr Bruno Saint Giron ME P has been reappointed Spiritual Director for Worldwide Marriage E ncounter (WWME ) Singapore for a term of two [2] years with effect from 21 September 2017.

5. The following have been appointed to the Board of Clarity Singapore Limited for a term of two [2] years with effect from 21 September 2017:

a. Dr Christopher Cheok – C hairperson b. Joseph Tan Peng Chin – Vice-Chairperson 6. Mr Thomas Tan has been reappointed as Chairperson of Catholic Welfare Services (CWS) by Archbishop William Goh DD upon presentation by the Board of Governors of CWS for a term of two [2] years with effect from 21 September 2017.

7. Mr Sean La’Brooy has been nominated by Archbishop William Goh DD as a member of the IJ Board of Management for a term of two [2] years with effect from 1 January 2018.

8 . The following have been appointed members of the Archdiocesan E mergency Response Team (AE RO) for a term of two [2] years with effect from 21 September 2017: a Ms r Philip en S x-officio b Mr ndr hchak x-officio c. K evin Ho – C hairperson d. Leonard Sng – Vice-Chairperson

CH N/ CN/ 2017/

021

e. Timothy Lim – H ead of Operations f. E dward Low – H ead of Training g. Alex Budiman – D eputy Secretary h. Johnny K eong – O perations Team Member i. Gerald Rodrigues – Training Team Member j. Dr Joseph Ong Yew Jin – Training Team Member k. Susan Loh – Training Team Member l. Luke Pestana – M ember m. Jarrod Nair – M ember n. Lionel De Souz a – H onorary Member o. William Morton – H onorary Member

F r John-Paul T an, OF M, JCL , Chancellor Chancery of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore #0701 C atholic Centre, 5 W aterloo Street, Singapore 187954 E mail: chancery@ catholic.org.sg

BUILDING BUILDINGTHE THE CHURCH CHURCH OF OFTOMORROW TOMORROW 3

Sunday October 15, 2017 n CatholicNews

AWAKEN TO UNEXPECTED HEALING

The Gift of My Church (#TGOMC) is a series featuring how Catholics from all walks of life have been touched by God through their service or participation in the life of the Archdiocese of Singapore. In this issue, Lucas Tang shares with writer Justina Lim about the first time he encountered God’s healing love.

His Grace, Archbishop William Goh, and Fr Erbin Fernandez posing for a photo with Awaken retreat participants. Photo: CSC. National Service had been a period of both physical and spiritual exhaustion for 21-yearold Lucas Tang. By the time he completed his duty early this year, Lucas found himself drained and desiring a renewed relationship with God. Together with friends from his parish, the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM), Lucas decided to attend the Awaken retreat organised by the Catholic Spirituality Centre (CSC).

“I heard about Awaken from friends who shared how wonderful their experience was, and I thought that it would be a good way to renew my faith. A good place to start again with God,” he shared.

On 29 June 2017, Lucas joined over 100 fellow youths aged between 18 and 25 for a four-day retreat with overnight stay. With only a desire for God and no expectations, the retreat would eventually turn out to be a lifechanging experience for Lucas.

awakening Led by His Grace, Archbishop William Goh, and meticulously organised by the Amplify community at CSC, participants experience four days packed full of heart-warming praise and worship, intimate sharing sessions, as well as earnest celebration of the Sacraments.

Despite the full programme, the organisers also went to great lengths to cater to each participant, knowing that individuals experience their faith differently and at different paces.

“There was a lot of praise and worship, and charismatic forms of prayer, which I am not very used to. But the facilitators were very reaffirming and took the time to explain why they sang or do certain things,” Lucas said.

He appreciated that the retreat organisers took the time to guide each retreatant through their individual journeys. Being able to progress at his own pace allowed Lucas the time to come face-to-face with the grace of God, to develop a profound understanding of His unconditional love, and to experience first-hand a deep personal inner healing.

personal encounter While there were many memorable moments during the four-day retreat, Lucas recalls one particularly empowering realisation at Awaken.

As a young child, at only fiveyears-old, Lucas had lost his father. Growing up, he had learnt to move on from the loss but he never realised how much he repressed that event in his life.

It was only during a conversation with Fr Erbin Fernandez at the retreat that the incident resurfaced. That was when Lucas first came face-toface with the healing nature of God’s love.

He recounted, “Fr Erbin asked me about my relationship with my parents, and I told him about losing my father at a young age. To me, I was actually just describing things as a matter of

fact since it happened so long ago. But for some reason, I broke down and started crying. I have never felt that way before.”

Lucas added, “Fr Erbin helped me understand that perhaps it was because I was so young and had not taken the time to grieve, and God was trying to heal me in this part of my life.”

After that session, Lucas shared that he felt uplifted and at peace. “I think I know now what it means when people say the Holy Spirit is working in me.

And I am so grateful to be able to experience this healing I never knew I needed,” Lucas said.

a journey Having encountered God in such a personal manner, Lucas shared that life has changed for him because “now, I have a real encounter with God. Something tangible I can hold onto in my faith,” he said.

Following Awaken, Lucas and other retreatants continue to be invited back to CSC for formation sessions every Saturday. The Amplify community, who runs these sessions, believe that developing a relationship with God is a journey that does not end at a retreat.

Lucas, who makes it a point to attend these sessions, admitted that, “outside of a retreat, I realise it is very difficult to sustain the same level of passion for the faith.

I find the Saturday sessions a good way to remind me of how God has blessed me.”

Faith is a journey that everyone has ups and downs with. But the whole experience has taught Lucas that “it actually does not take grandiose gestures or proclamations to keep our passion burning for Christ; all it takes is a willing heart and an open mind.”

Our archdiocese envisions a more vibrant, missionary and evangelistic Church. As the fundraising arm of the Archdiocese of Singapore, the Catholic Foundation has launched the Giving in Faith & Thankfulness (GIFT) campaign to urge every Catholic to participate in making the vision of the archdiocese a reality.

GE PLEDW NO

Lucas (bottom left) and his Awaken retreat group members and facilitators with His Grace, Archbishop William Goh. Photo: Lucas Tang.

The Catholic Spirituality Centre (CSC) is one of the key organisations in the archdiocese that will benefit from the construction of an Archdiocesan Hub. CSC’s popular retreat programmes such as the Conversion Experience Retreat and Awaken Retreat are consistently overbooked due to the limited size of the current premises. A regular pledge to the Catholic Foundation will help fund the construction of the Hub, providing better facilities for the numerous programmes of Catholic organisations such as CSC.

a series contributed by

4 HOME

Sunday October 15, 2017 n CatholicNews

Dear H indu F riends, I greet you with much joy and fraternal closeness as you celebrate Deepavali, the Festival of Lights, which commemorates the triumph of light over darkness, or good over evil. May your time spent with family, relatives and friends be filled with abundant peace, grateful hearts and overflowin love. We are grateful too for the peace and harmony in our beloved nation, which we should not take for granted. he pervadin conflicts injustice, violence, terrorism and war around the world today are troubling. Sadly, this is due to the overwhelming disregard for the sanctity of human life. All these have resulted in a global sense of living in an era of uncertainty and fragile peace.

For us Christians and Hindus, and indeed many other religions, “Compassion and nonviolence are es-

image of God. Man’s relation to God the Father and his relation to men his brothers are so linked together that Scripture says: ‘ He who does not love does not know God’ (1 John 4:8 )”.

hus we must reaffirm and recommit ourselves to promoting lasting justice and peace through meaningful dialogue and creative efforts to build deeper and more inclusive interreligious harmony within our nation and beyond our nations.

With God’s almighty help, let us live in greater hope and instil within our communities a deeper consciousness of the need to be one with our brothers and sisters at all times and in all situations. U nited, we can then be a potent force to overcome the evils of darkness and destruction in this world.

On this festive occasion, I would like to sincerely wish all of you a very Happy Deepavali. Saal Mubarak! n

Most Rev W illiam Goh Archbishop of Singapore

Msgr Philip H eng, SJ V icar-General ( Interreligious Relations)

T ol iv eou tou r religiou sbe lief s m oreau then tically , it is n ecessary that w e be stron g adv ocates of peace an d lov e f or all peoples regard less of r ace,l an gu age orr eligion . sential elements pointing to the way of life” (cf. Letter of Pope Francis for the International Meeting “Paths of Peace” held in Müns ter and Osnabrüc k, Germany, 10-12 September 2017). To live out our religious beliefs more authentically, it is necessary that we be strong advocates of peace and love for all peoples regardless of race, language or religion.

“For this to happen,” Pope

rancis says the first step is to feel the pain or others, neither overlooking them nor becoming inured to it by them. We must never be indifferent to evil.”

Vatican II’s declaration on The Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, Nostra Aetate, says, “We cannot truly call on God, the Father of all, if we refuse to treat in a brotherly way any man, created as He is in the

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Sunday October 15, 2017 n CatholicNews

Celebrating 35 years of preparing couples for marriage Catholic Engaged Encounter Singapore marks a significant milestone Catholic E ngaged E ncounter (CE E ) Singapore celebrated its 35th anniversary at Agape Village on Sept 23.

Attended by more than 150 people who have benefited from the programme, the celebrations commenced with a thanksgiving Mass and an acknowled ement of the contribution of the first batch of n a ed ncounter presenters and participants.

CE E is a Catholic marriage preparation programme designed for couples thinkin of or planning to be married in the Catholic Church. It spans 32 countries over 12 regions. Singapore belongs to the E ast Asia region together with China, Hong K ong, Malaysia and the Philippines.

The Sept 23 celebration included the renewal of marria e vows of couples present as well as the commissionin of the new Singapore CE E board and presenters and the recommitment of existin members to the CE E community.

Separately over the same weekend dele ates from the E ast Asia region gathered at the Marriage E ncounter House in Pun ol for the th ast sia onference Held once every three years, this conference provides a platform for participants to share the challen es they face in their home countries explore solutions and discuss future plans with members from other countries mon the five territories CE E China saw the greatest growth. In a mere three years, the programme spread to eight dioceses over four provinces his is because the dioceses see a great need for a formalised form of atholic marriage preparation in China.

Patrick and Linette Hia, who were re-elected as E ast Asia reional coordinators for the third term running, said that it was inspirin to listen to their fellow

Participants and presenters of the very first ngaged ncounter in 1982.

CEE in Singapore

Cutting the Catholic E ngaged E ncounter’s 35t h anniversary cake: ( from left) Msgr Ambrose V az , L illy and Steven Y eo, and F r Aloysius Ong.

members share about the developments in their countries.

The couple shared that they had a better understandin of the problems other dele ates faced and shared the oys of their successes hen asked for what advice they would give to engaged cou-

ples, Mrs Hia said, “Many couples tend to put a lot of time and effort to make their wedding day memorable. However as our tagline goes, ‘ A wedding is a day, a marriage is a lifetime ’ e hope more couples will realise the importance of preparin for their marria e instead

O v er the years, the ministry has seen an increase in the number of interfaith couples attending the programme.

About 60 pe rcent of all couples participating belong to this category.

Thirteen couples attended the very first weekend in Sin apore in 1982. To date, CE E Singapore has conducted 564 weekends and served up to 15,000 couples getting married.

Steven and Lilly Yeo, the newly re-elected coordinators of CE E Singapore, noted that it was the selfless response coura e and obedience to the oly Spirit of the CE E pioneers that built the ministry to what it is today.

Over the years, the ministry has seen an increase in the num-

ee end

ber of interfaith couples attendin the programme. About 60 percent of all couples participatin belon to this category.

According to CE E Singapore, this hi hli hts a pressin need for the ministry to adapt its content to support the needs of such couples on top of u lin the demandin schedule of conductin an avera e of weekends per year Couples w ho are interested to support CE E Singapore in its mission of preparing engaged couples for marriage may email ceespore@ catholic.org.sg for more information. n

Delegates listening to a speaker at the CE E 7t h E ast Asia Conference.

Evangelisation efforts in the city n F rom Page 1

E lysian, a group of young people, exp ressing their love for God through songs of praise.

ne of them Mr Nicholas Pan shared how he felt stuck in a previous ob but took a leap of faith to become a ame desi ner He designed a card game based on uestions that allow for meanin ful conversations to take place In the evening, various groups performed before a full house at the cathedral in the Love is the Son event a showcase of hristian music and dance.

The audience was treated to son s expressin love for od

from ross ulture lysian wen rew am with the Lamb, Ms Stephanie K wok, and he Seven ifts In her segment, Ms K wok performed son s she composed such as St eresa’s ittle Son ecause of im and et us ove which told the story of the ups and downs of her spiritual ourney The evening ended on a high note as seminarian Nicholas ye and a team of dancers put on a prayerformance to the tunes of E very Move I Make and O Come to the ltar espite havin little

or no background in dance, the dancers responded to r Nicholas’ call to communicate od’s love to others through dance.

Some of the dancers were as young as nine years old.

Love in the City was organised by ffice for the New van elisation N which aims to inspire equip and support Catholics to be a ents of the New van elisation through their personal witness, community life and the explicit proclamation of the ood News n Submitted by: O F F ICE F O R T H E N E W E V AN GE L ISAT IO N

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Sunday October 15, 2017 n CatholicNews

Archbishop’s message for CHARIS’ Humanitarian Aid Fund The annual fundraising launch is set for Oct 7 and 8 My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The protracted crisis in Marawi, Philippines, has resulted in more than 360,000 people being displaced from their homes. They need food and shelter. Their children need nutrition and education. In the drawn-out refugee situation along the Thai-Myanmar border, nine refugee camps are currently home to more than refu ees who have fled conflicts in Myanmar in search for safety.

In Nepal, two years since the devastating earthquake, more than 46,000 homes have been rebuilt. However, over 115,000 families are still reconstructing their homes and lives. The earthquake took place in April 2015, but the rebuilding takes several years and are still ongoing.

There continues to be many humanitarian disasters around us that media has stopped reporting but the human suffering is still there and continues to be dire.

CHARIS, the Church’s overseas humanitarian arm its affiliates and partners, with the overwhelming support of the Catholic community in Singapore have responded to these situations by providing money and supplies, working with partners on the ground. In the last year, such support has brought hope and restored the dignity of numerous lives and communities.

Just as in the parable of the tenants, we are reminded that the farmers are only stewards of the vineyard that the landowner had

People reach to get ice cream at an evacuation centre outside Marawi, Philippines. CH ARIS is appealing for funds to support organisations undertaking disaster relief and humanitarian work. CN S photo

lent to them. Similarly, may we never forget God’s blessings, and always recall that we are called to be responsible stewards and not masters of God’s gifts and blessings. As stewards, what do we do with the produce of the land tenanted to us?

This year, CHARIS invites you to be partners in our efforts to make an IMPACT as it launches its annual appeal for the Humanitarian Aid Fund, which provides support to organisations undertaking disaster relief and humanitarian work. An appeal flyer and envelope is bein dis-

tributed to all parishioners. We urge you to join us in building a better world with your generous contribution.

In case some of you are thinking of doing more than contributin financially to our humanitarian efforts, such as extending on-ground assistance to our brothers and sisters in areas that are in the midst of armed conflict and internal strife, I would strongly caution you against taking such inordinate risk. Such endeavours also unnecessarily endanger others who may be called upon to ensure your safety or well being

in the event of a goodwill gone wrong. This could also seriously complicate any efforts to address the ongoing crisis in these areas.

The exercise of charity should be properly discerned and not be pursued wantonly without due consideration for the greater good of the community. n Devotedly yours in Christ,

Most Rev W illiam Goh Archbishop of Singapore

About the CHARIS Humanitarian Aid Fund The appeal for the CHARIS Humanitarian Aid Fund is organised annually by Caritas Humanitarian Aid & Relief Initiatives, Singapore (CHARIS), the archdiocese’s umbrella body for overseas humanitarian aid. Part of the umbrella body are affiliate atholic roups and organisations in Singapore which are involved in overseas humanitarian work that helps communities regardless of race or religion.

CHARIS is a sister organisation to Caritas Singapore and is part of Caritas Internationalis, a global confederation of 165 humanitarian organisations.

Donations to the Humanitarian Aid Fund will help R S affiliates and the Caritas Internationalis confederation to provide immediate relief and aid to survivors of natural disasters, and also aid and long term support for communities in need and displaced in the Asia region and beyond.

H ow to donate: Pick up a “YOU R IMPACT” CHARIS Humanitarian Aid Fund appeal envelope from your parish.

Donations can be made in the following ways: Cash: Drop the appeal envelope in your parish offertory box with your cash donation.

Cheq ue: Write a cheque payable to “HU MANITARIAN AID FU ND” and drop the appeal envelope in your parish offertory box or mail it to: 55 Waterloo Street #07- 02 Catholic Centre Singapore 187954.

T ax deductions: Humanitarian Aid Fund donations do not qualify for tax deduction/ exemption. n

CHARIS responds to Nepal earthquake

By Caroline W ee and L iana Gurung When three powerful earthquakes struck Nepal in the span of two months in 2015, nearly 9 ,000 people were killed and more than 8 00,000 families were left homeless near the epicentre of Gorkha and across the K athmandu Valley.

CHARIS responded by providing $ 100,000 in relief supplies and cash donations to Caritas Nepal to support their reconstruction and recovery efforts, and provided a further $ 410,000 to support home rebuilding in Balthali, a remote village 1.5 km above sea level and situated 30 km from K athmandu.

The donations provided by CHARIS have funded the rebuilding of more than 70 houses to date.

On Sept 10, a mission team of 16 volunteers journeyed to Balthali to help with the rebuilding of four homes as part of the Caritas Nepal rebuilding programme. The Singaporean volunteers, together with the Balthali village district team members of Caritas Nepal, were split into three groups for the duration of the mission. Groups one and two were assigned the demolition of two earthquake-destroyed houses while the third group transferred construction materials to facilitate the rebuilding of another house.

U sing basic tools and equipment such as shovels, crowbars and picks, the roups first cleared the debris within the houses and later dismantled the earthquake-damaged houses in stages to optimise the recycling of old building materials.

On their last morning of work

CH ARIS volunteers removing the supporting beam of the roof from a house. P hoto: SH AR O N L O W

the team planned a small celebration at a local primary school, held coincidentally a day after Children’s

Day in Nepal. The Singapore volunteers performed a dance routine they had been practising every night.

More than 80 school children, teachers and village elders attended an affirmation of their appreciation of the volunteers’ contribution to the community. n the final mornin in athali, the team was given a traditional Nepalese blessing by Caritas Nepal staff Dilip K arki.

Reflectin on the trip first time mission volunteer K ayne K wa said, “E ven though it was hard work, we bonded with the local people.”

Mission leader Yao Shih Chieh was encouraged by the fact that all volunteers includin first-timers had given their all. “I see a lot of grit and resilience in the [Nepalese] community, to make the best of the situation, I felt that we have given them a sense of hope that they are not forgotten,” he said. n

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Sunday October 15, 2017 n CatholicNews

Scheut Missions (CICM) – renewal

The opening words of the CICM Constitutions of 1988 state: «The Congregation is an international religious missionary Institute» (Art 1).

Never was this more visible than in the composition of the participants in the last General Chapter in Rome, June 4-24, the 15th since CICM’”s Foundation in 1862. One of the main tasks of a General Chapter of a Religious Order, held every 6 years, is to assure renewal of its leadership through the election of the Superior General and Council by Superiors and elected members from the base.

was with the Spanish-speaking population of Texas, USA. He then served a term in Rome as the CICM Secretary General and, at the time of his election as Superior General, he was the Provincial Superior of the USA. His four elected Council members hail from the Philippines, Belgium, DR Congo, and Haiti.

Lending his support to this new team, in the appointed position of Treasurer General, is Fr Peter Koh, a native son of S i n g a p o re who had his first mission assignment in Zambia.

He is now completing the last year of his 2nd term of service in Rome and dreams about moving on next year once a successor has been appointed. Speaking of multiculturality at the top of the Congregation!

It wasn’t always like this.

The election of the new Superior General, Father Charles Phukuta Khonde, and his Council amply shows that, at present, CICM is indeed an international Institute. Its members come from 18 countries in 4 continents. The new Superior General himself (52) is a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

His first mission assignment

When CICM was founded in 1862, it started as a clear and definite mission project by a few Belgian and Dutch diocesan priests «for the conversion of infidels, mainly in China.» The idea of being a religious missionary Institute came later, and it took a good many years before all members were expected to pronounce religious vows and considered themselves as being a «religious missionary». The thought of becoming an international Institute only came almost a century later. Thus, in China CICM was known as «la mission belge en Chine» (the Belgian mission in China), and in the Philippines people spoke of «the Belgian Fathers». With Vatican II, finally, came a new understanding of the nature of Mission.

Bottom row: four from left: outgoing Superior & Council // five from right: newly elected team.

At the exception of a few Chinese members (first one in 1905), CICM purposely opted not to accept, even less to recruit local candidates for CICM, the reason being that CICM considered that its primary mission was that of implanting the Church, of building up the local Church, including the training of a local diocesan clergy. And this it did, with considerable success, particularly in the Congo, the Philippines and Indonesia. It was only after World War II that the Chapter of 1947 considered and envisioned that candidates «from our mission countries» could be accepted, first from Congo (the first Congolese CICM was ordained in 1958), then the USA and the Philippines, much later Indonesia, until finally in 1988 the revised Constutitions could truthfully define the Congregation as an «international religious missionary Institute.»

Yet, already in 1974 – when over 90% of CICM members still had Belgium and Holland as their country or origin, with 600 of them engaged in the ex-Bel-

gian Congo alone – the outgoing (Belgian) Superior General remarked, tongue-in-cheek as he smiled and pointed his finger to his own white face, that he saw the future of the Congregation as «rather dark.»

In fact, nowadays Belgium and Holland account for less than 40% of CICM members – the great majority of them well over 60 years old and only some 20 active in the DR Congo – and without any vocations from Belgium and Holland for the last 25 years! In contrast, a full 32% of present members come from Africa, 23% from Asia (Philippines, Indonesia, and lately also some from Mainland China) and 6% from Latin America.

The condition of Scheut Missions (CICM) in Singapore reflects this change. Like in the West, no other candidates have joined CICM after Fr Peter Koh (1989) and Fr Anthony Lim (1991). Likewise, the present group of CICM

priests in Singapore consists of 2 Indonesian and 2 Filipino members, engaged in 4 different parishes and aged between 49 and 61, and myself as «lone old Belgian» of 80 with residence at the CICM District House in Pandan Valley.

Reason for discouragement or fear, worrying about the future? Not really, that is, if we believe that God’s Spirit is at work in the Church at all times and in all of us, constantly challenging us to faithfulness and renewal.

As Pope Francis said to the Chapter participants and new team in the general audience of 21 June: “I urge each one of you to live the mission with watchful eyes at human and existential peripheries.”

Thus, in gratitude and joyful confidence the 2017 General Chapter declared: We have a good and beautiful mission. Go and God will go with you.

Fr Paul Staes, 8 September, 2017

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Integration, unity urged at migrant celebration The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd was filled beyond capacity on Oct 1 when members of the various Catholic migrant communities gathered to celebrate Migrant Sunday.

The event was organised by the Archdiocesan Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (ACMI).

In his homily, Archbishop William Goh noted that Singapore would not be what it is today without migrants because the majority of locals have forefathers who were migrants.

He also cited Pope Francis’ message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees where he affirmed the hurch’s response to migrants in four principles: “to welcome, to protect, to promote and to integrate”.

Archbishop Goh explained that to welcome migrants, the local community needs to recognise their dignity and value.

It is important that women and children in particular are not exploited and the best way to ensure this is to provide proper training and education for them, he said.

To protect them means to give them their rights and dignity, while to promote or empower them is to give them the skills and formation “so that they can contribute to the community,” Archbishop Goh added.

Commenting on the last principle, he said, “they [migrants]

Members of the T amil-speaking and Mandarin-speaking communities pose for a photo with Archbishop W illiam Goh during the Oct 1 c elebration.

In building a united community, the challenge today is also for migrants to reach out to the locals, said Archbishop William Goh. must be integrated into the host country to avoid the danger of them being isolated and building an enclave, because this can lead to fear and be threatening to the host country.”

He reminded participants that in building a united community, the challenge today is also for migrants to reach out to the locals.

Members of the Myanmar Catholic community at the Mass.

ACMI chairman Mark Goh echoed the call for “greater integration and immersion among the different cultures and races” and reiterated the commission’s commitment to work to build the community of faith as one Church.

Mr Daisuke Watanabe, 46, and his wife Josephine, 43, shared that as a Japanese Catholic family in Singapore, they have been embraced as part of the community at the Church of St Ignatius.

Although there are no Japanese priests or Masses here, they shared that the priests in their parish always keep them informed if there is a visiting priest from Japan so that he can minster to the Japanese Catholic community. n Submitted by: ACMI

Society of St Vincent de Paul celebrates feast day Members of the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SSVP) celebrated their patron’s feast day at the Church of St Francis of Assisi on Sept 27.

Archbishop William Goh, in his homily reflected on the life of St Vincent de Paul who worked tirelessly in collaboration with others.

Archbishop Goh preached that the secret to St Vincent de Paul’s exemplary conduct towards the poor was his prayer life, focusing on the humanity of Jesus.

By putting on the mind of Jesus in the Gospel, such as when He was among the poor, the lepers, the sick and the possessed, St Vincent de Paul developed the same heart of Jesus for the needy.

Vincentians are therefore called to pray and contemplate

on the humanity of Jesus, so that they possess the heart of Jesus when in service to the poor.

Archbishop Goh went on to emphasise that the Vincentian work of evangelisation requires that they be true disciples of the Lord. This involves developing virtues like discipline, perseverance, humility, empathy and detachment.

At the Mass, 47 new Vincentians took their pledges and were inducted into the society, along with 12 members who received their 25th anniversary awards.

Three other Vincentians received their 50th anniversary awards. They are Mr Michael Thio, Mr Peter Yee and Mr Lucas Williams.

Mr Peter Yee shared that “when I was young, I grew up

in Geylang and I noticed there were a lot of people who were worse off than me. All they had on their dining table were just peanuts, salted vegetables and porridge.

“Although my family was not well to do, we had better food than them. So I told myself when I grow up, I needed to do something for the poor. And that was how I ended up joining SSVP immediately after I got baptised.”

He added that he feels “very satisfied every time see the children of our Friends-in-Need grow up, go out to work, and get married.”

Mr Michael Thio shared that the poor “taught me many things in life, especially to be humble, simple and to accept life as it is, don’t expect too much.” n

Mr Peter Y ee seen here with his 50t h anniversary award for service to the Society of St V incent de Paul.

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Sunday October 15, 2017 n CatholicNews

A homecoming for thousands as Novena Church reopens

By Christopher Khoo Novena Church aims to be a shrine and a home where “all can find peace and prayer hope and healin life and love So said rector Fr Peter Wee at the church’s first Saturday novena devotion on Sept he church reopened the previous day after a ma or overhaul which lasted three years Novena Church as a shrine is open to all includin nonhristians to find refu e and to experience the ift of Mary our Mother of Perpetual elp r Wee said during the 8 am Novena service t also aims to be a home he said Precisely we want everyone here in Sin apore and elsewhere in the re ion when they come to be at home or many who turned up for the novena devotions that day it was an emotional homecomin of sorts Ms Mary ecilia anapathy told atholic News she was full of happy tears at the reopenin of Novena hurch She said she drew much spiritual nourishment from attendin novena devotions here since here are no words to express her happiness she said er dau hter Roselin Roch who lives in Perth ustralia said she was in Sin apore to visit a relative who was ill She came specially for this first Novena devotion She said she felt very emotional at attendin the service in the new church Proud to be part of today’s opportunity to be here she added he previous evenin thousands descended upon the church to attend its first Mass celebratin the east of the rchan els o hear the church bells after three years is awesome said Redemptorist r Patrick Massan in his openin address r ee in his homily welcomed the con re ation “Welcome … to the new house

Thousands throng Novena Church on Sept 29 as it celebrated its first Mass on its premises after three years. P

The benediction at the first novena devotion on Sept 30.

of od May our lessed Mother and St lphonsus be our constant companions assistin everyone of us into the fullness of od he said n christopher.khoo@catholic.org.sg

hotos: MICH AE L L IE W

Fr Peter Wee leading the novena devotion.

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Sunday October 15, 2017 n CatholicNews

Aiding communities affected by crisis in Rakhine State Caritas Humanitarian Aid & Relief Initiatives, Singapore (CHARIS) has pledged 40,000 euros (S$ 63,000) to its partner, Caritas Bangladesh, in response to the influx of displaced communities which have fled into Bangladesh due to the conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.

The funds will be used immediately to provide food, clean drinking water, hygiene kits, blankets and other necessary items as relief support for these displaced communities, said CHARIS, the overseas humanitarian arm of the Catholic Church in Singapore, in a press release.

In collaboration with the Food Security Cluster (FSC), International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the local government, Caritas Bangladesh aims to reach more than 70,000 people currently settled in the coastal city of Cox’s Baz ar.

The needs of these displaced continues to grow exponentially – many have been walking for days to reach safety and have also set up makeshift shelter sites.

CH AR IS has pledged funds for food, drink ing w ater, hygiene k its, blank ets and other relief items to support these displaced communities.

Displaced persons from Myanmar’s Rakhine State cluster around a food distribution truck in Kutapalong camp, southern Bangladesh. P hoto: T O MMY T R E N CH AR D ( CAR IT AS IN T E R N AT IO N AL IS)

Food is the most immediate need; clean water, sanitation and shelter are also essential needs. E mergency medical and basic health services for cold, cough, measles, skin diseases and diarrhoea are in great demand.

There are more than 600,000 affected persons who are seeking safety from the crisis. Caritas

Bangladesh reports that this number would rise.

“Our deepest condolences go out to the families and people who have lost their lives in the conflict in the Rakhine State and our prayers and thoughts go out to those who have had to leave their homes for safety in Bangladesh,” said Archbishop William Goh. “CHARIS and its partners will

continue to reach out to all communities affected by the conflict regardless of ethnicity and religion.”

F or more reports, v isit w w w . charis- singapore.org. T o mak e donations in v iew of the crisis in R ak hine State and other humanitarian situations, call 6 3 3 7 - 4 1 1 9 or email: info@ charis- singapore. org. D onations can be made at T he Catholic Centre, 5 5 Waterloo Street, Singapore 1 8 7 9 5 4 during office hours (Mon-Fri, 9 am-6 pm) . Cheq ues can be made payable to “ CH AR IS” and posted to the abov e address. T his donation is non- tax deductible. n

Nuncio’s new appointments

Archbishop Girelli will leave Singapore at the end of October.

Appointment of Archbishop Girelli as Apostolic Nuncio to Israel, Apostolic Delegate in Jerusalem and Palestine and Apostolic Nuncio to Cyprus: On 13 September 2017, His Holiness Pope Francis appointed H.E .

Rev Msgr Leopoldo Girelli, Titular Archbishop of Capri and currently the Apostolic Nuncio to Singapore, Apostolic Nuncio to ASE AN and Non-resident Pontifical Representative for Vietnam, as the Apostolic Nuncio to Israel and the Apostolic Delegate in Jerusalem and Palestine.

On 15 September 2017, the Holy Father also appointed him as the Apostolic Nuncio to Cyprus.

Archbishop Girelli will leave Singapore at the end of October. n Submitted by the AP O ST O L IC N U N CIAT U R E SIN GAP O R E

Upcoming conference on living one’s faith in the workplace In today’s tough economy, many people feel pressured to outperform their colleagues or be noticed by management. How does one live one’s Catholic faith while facing such a challenging work environment?

This will be among the issues tackled by the Catholic Business Network’s biennial Christ@ Work Conference, which aims to help

Catholics learn from and share each other’s experiences of living their faith at work.

The conference, which has the theme Spiritual Leadership@ Work, will be held on Nov 18 from 8 .30 am-6.30 pm at the Catholic Junior College Performing Arts Centre.

It will feature a host of local and international speakers including Mr Chris Lowney, former managing director of JP Morgan who

Catholic B usiness N etw ork ’ s biennial Christ@ Work Conference aims to help Catholics learn from and share each other’ s ex periences of liv ing their faith at w ork . wrote the book, “Pope Francis: Why he leads the way he leads.”

In his keynote address, he will share how leadership can be based on values such as heroism, ingenuity, self-awareness and love.

Other speakers include Mr Peter Seah, chairman of Singapore Airlines and DBS Group Holdings, who will be interviewed by Ms Christine Tan, anchor of CNBC’s Managing Asia programme.

Mr Seah will share about practising Christian values in the

workplace and how it affects decision making and leadership style.

Dr Jake Yap, professor of Systematic Theology, from the Loyola School of Theology, Philippines, will speak about how participating in small faith-based groups can support one’s faith.

There will also be a panel discussion in which panellists will share their experiences of being in Christian communities and how this has helped them share the Gospel and work with Christians of different traditions.

The panellists include Dr Yap; Mr Andrew Lee, CE O of Seoul Garden Group; Mr Stephen Raj, former president of Catholic Business Network; Mr Anthony Soo, deputy chair of Caritas Singapore and president of the Catholic AIDS Response E ffort; and Ms Marie Boon, a special needs educator working with children with dyslexia.

Mr Andre Ahchak, archdiocesan director of communications, will moderate the discussion.

There will also be small group sharings in which participants can meet fellow Christians and learn about growing small Christian communities.

Indiv iduals pay $60 w hile groups with a minimum of five people pay $5 per person. T o register, v isit w w w .christatw ork conference.com n

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Sunday October 15, 2017 n CatholicNews

Launched: ministries to persons with same-sex attraction and their loved ones

By Jared Ng Courage Singapore, a support ministry for persons with samesex attraction SS was officially launched during a symposium on Sept 30.

The event, held at the Catholic Archdiocesan E ducation Centre, also saw the launch of E nCourage, a ministry that supports parents, spouses and loved ones of persons with SSA or who identify as LGBT. In announcing the launch, Fr Adrian Danker, spiritual director of Courage, said the ministry hopes to support persons with SS by findin holiness throu h chastity. This is the call to chastity the Church makes to all in whatever situation they live in, whether single, celibate, married or those with SSA. Chastity is for everyone.

John and Joann Ooi, a married couple who will helm E nCourage, said their ministry will assist the family and loved ones of persons with SSA through

T he Courage SG w ebsite, courage.org.sg, w as also launched.

T he Courage SG website with a message from Archbishop Goh.

closed group meetings. (See also stories below).

The Courage SG website, courage.org.sg, was also launched.

About 200 participants attended the symposium which included talks on supporting

and understanding persons with SSA, sharings from persons with SSA and a question-and-answer segment.

Mr Bryan Shen, a counsellor, encouraged participants to remove “prejudice and misconceptions” about persons with

SSA and instead replace them with “understanding and compassion”.

He explained factors and reasons why SSA is not chosen by the person who has it, and why including them as part of the Christian extended family is so important.

Carmelite Fr E dward Lim gave the Church’s teaching on SSA. Although the Church does not condone same-sex sexual activity, said Fr E dward, “the doors of the Church are not closed to those who are struggling. They are always open to those who are repentant and seeking forgiveness.”

Two persons with SSA also gave testimonies on how they found od despite difficulties in life and what they have.

One question asked during the question-and-answer segment was how parents should engage their child if they suspect he or she has SSA. Mr Ooi highlighted the importance of “building and working on a relationship with your child”. If there is a relationship, they will be more open to you, he said.

Another question posed was on how people can talk about sexual orientation with one another without sparking conflict Mr Shen said each person should be sensitive towards the other and to be mindful of the language used.

This event was the fourth in a series of symposiums on SSA organised by the Archdiocesan Commission for the Family. The first was held on Sept last year. o fin out more a out ourage or E nCourage, v isit w w w . courage.org.sg n j ared.n

g@catholic.org.sg

About Courage

About EnCourage

“Courage is really a journey of accompani- friendships are not only possible but necment,” said Jesuit Fr Adrian Danker, spir- essary in a chaste Christian life; and to enitual director for the pastoral support group courage one another in forming and sustainwhich ministers to persons with same-sex ing these friendships. n To live lives that may serve as good attraction (SSA).

The purpose of Courage is to “provide examples to others.

Fr Adrian recalled his experience with a safe, welcoming and caring environment for people struggling with SSA to gather the Courage chapter in New York City for prayer, for sharing and for community,” where he spent a week in June meeting with the group’s chaplains and particihe told Catholic News.

“It is about helping persons with SSA pants.

His main takeaway was that “for a lot to keep their eyes on Jesus throughout this journey and to help them live chaste- of men and women with SSA who are seeking to live in God’s ways, ly and joyfully,” added it is hard to do it alone.

Fr Adrian.

But when they have a Participants attend T he purpose of community that can supweekly or fortnightly group sessions that in- Courage is to ‘ prov ide port them ... it gives them a sense of belonging, a volve Scripture reading, a safe, we coming an sense of acceptance.” prayer and sharings and caring environment At the moment, the if they wish, the sacraments. for people struggling idea is for priests to overCourage in Singapore, “We will provide the w ith SSA to gather for see said Fr Adrian. He hopes Sacrament of Reconciliaprayer, for sharing that more priests will be tion,” he said, adding that called and respond to join the sessions are not classan for communit as the number of particies on moral theology but – F r Adrian Danker pants increases. an encounter with Jesus. oura e first beDuring sessions, pargan in the U S in 19 8 0. ticipants will be reminded With the endorsement of the Vatican, to practise daily the five oals of oura e According to the U S-based Courage the support group now has more than 100 chapters and contact people worldwebsite, these are: n To live chaste lives in accordance with wide. It has become a mainstream Catholic apostolate helping men and the Church’s teaching on homosexuality. n To dedicate their entire lives to Christ women stru lin with SS find peace through service to others, spiritual read- through fellowship, prayer, and the sacraing, prayer, meditation, individual spiritu- ments.

To Catholics struggling with SSA and al direction, frequent attendance at Mass, and the frequent reception of the Sacra- needing support, Fr Adrian has this to say: ments of Reconciliation and Holy E ucha- “I know you love God, I know you want to receive the love of God, I know God wants rist. n To foster a spirit of fellowship. to give it to you, and you want to be with n To be mindful of the truth that chaste God. Come.” n

People with same-sex attraction (SSA) are and are open to parents, spouses or family not the only ones facing the challenge to members of persons with SSA or who idenlive their faith, said John and Joann Ooi, a tify as LGBT. married couple who are heading E nCourParticipants have the options to “come age in Singapore. regularly, sporadically, or for a period of time, “Parents, spouses and family members as lon as they find the support roup useful also face a challenge to accept and love that to help them come to understand and accept person as he or she currently is,” said Mr Ooi. the situation they are in and work through the Thus the need for E nCourage, said Mrs relationships issues,” said Mrs Ooi. Ooi, which aims to provide a supportive Mr Ooi said that the discussion to start environment to help these family members Courage and E nCourage in Singapore becontinue building relationships with their gan a few years back. loved ones.

When Archbishop William Goh decided The couple, who have six children, told to start the ministries under the ArchdiocCatholic News that E nesan Commission for the Courage will adopt the Family (ACF), Mr and Mrs n ourage aims to five oals of n oura e Ooi, who are part of ACF, International to help parcalled upon to lead a prov ide a supportiv e were ents, spouses and family committee to look into it. environment to he p members. These are: They were appointed n To grow spiritually to serve in E nCourage, fami mem ers of through spiritual reading, which is under the umpersons w ith SSA to brella of Courage. prayer, meditation, individual spiritual direction, “Perhaps being an continue building frequent attendance at older couple with the exrelationships w ith Mass and the reception of perience of bringing up the Sacraments of Reconour six children, makes it their lov ed ones. ciliation and Holy E uchaeasier for us to understand rist. and empathise with other n To gain a deeper understanding of the parents,” said Mrs Ooi. needs difficulties and challen es experiOn starting Courage and E nCourage in enced by men and women with SSA. Singapore, the couple quoted Archbishop n To establish and maintain a healthy Goh, who said that “it is my heart’s desire and wholesome relationship with their that through this ministry, persons with loved ones with SSA. SS can find the space and support to come n To assist other family members and home, not to be judged but to be loved.” friends to reach out with compassion and The couple travelled to Mundelein, Iltruth, and not to reject their loved ones with linois, U SA, in July to attend a Courage SSA. conference and had the opportunity to meet n To witness to their loved ones by their many parents in E ncourage. “It was helpful own lives that fulfilment is to be found in to give us a feel of how E ncourage meetJesus Christ through the Church. ings are held, the issues that may surface, According to the couple, E nCour- and the interpersonal dynamics,” shared Mr age meetings will likely be once a month Ooi. n

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Dioceses urged to adopt Marawi communities MANILA – Philippine Catholic Church leaders have asked dioceses to adopt communities in the southern city of Marawi to spur recovery and rehabilitation.

The Prelature of St Mary in Marawi and the Redemptorist Missionaries will lead efforts to assist 13 communities in the wake of clashes between troops and ISinspired militants.

Fr E dwin Gariguez , executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines National Secretariat for Social Action Justice & Peace, said the programme, called Duyog Marawi, will focus more on psychosocial needs than hard projects like construction of shelters.

Duyog Marawi’s area sprawls along the northern shores, called the peace corridor of Lake Lanao, which lies just behind the main battle z one.

Bishop E dwin de la Pena of Marawi, said Muslim volunteers will partner Christian volunteers to spread capacity for peacebuilding among almost half a million displaced people.

He urged President Rodrigo Duterte on Sept 19 to allow some displaced Marawi families to return home.

“We trust the government to remain true to their commitment to listen to the voices of the Maranaos [local Muslims] and to allow them to take the lead in the rebuilding process,” the bishop added.

Diocesan focus on a community will provide Filipinos in other areas a closer look into the lives of Marawi’s majority Muslim population, Fr Gariguez said.

At least two dioceses in the country’s capital have already pledged to adopt a Marawi village.

Bishop De la Pena said rebuilding lives is as important as building infrastructures.

“It’s easy to put up building structures, housing can be done quickly by government, but buildin lives is more difficult the bishop said.

“Being traumatised for so long, it would be a long process of reintegration to the community,” he added. n U CAN E WS.CO M CN S photo

Residents evacuate Marawi, Philippines, on May 26. T he programme to aid displaced people will focus more on their psychosocial needs.

Bangladeshi bishops visit Rohingya camps, promise aid BANGLADESH – Senior Church

officials have called for reater “humanity and solidarity” with Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and pressed for a “lasting solution” to the crisis.

Cardinal Patrick D’Roz ario of Dhaka and Archbishop Moses M. Costa of Chittagong, visited refugee camps in southeastern Cox’s Baz ar and Bandarban on Sept 24.

Over 430,000 Rohingyas have fled to an ladesh followin a deadly military crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine State in response to Rohingya militant attacks on security check posts on Aug 25.

The refugees are now sheltering in 14 camps in Cox’s Baz ar and Bandarban, just across from Rakhine state in Myanmar.

Cardinal D’Roz ario visited the refugee camps in Bandarban where he met with refugees, listened to their tales of violence in Rakhine, their pressing needs and assured them of the local Church’s support.

On behalf of the Bangladesh Church and bishops, they donated one million taka (S$16,500) for refugees through the chief government officer in andarban “I met refugees, not to distribute relief material but to express the Church’s solidarity and support. Their tales of persecution have saddened me and I assured them that the Church will be with them in every possible way,” Cardinal D’Roz ario, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh told ucanews.com after the visit.

“This is a massive human catastrophe and Bangladesh was not

Rohingya refugees wait to receive aid on Sept 25 Bangladesh. CN S photo

ready to cope with it in the first place. Now things are under control, but the refugees need much support,” said Cardinal D’Roz ario.

A “lasting solution” to the Rohingya crisis is a must, but it should not distract from the “prime call of duty” to respond to the humanitarian needs of refugees, he said.

Archbishop Moses M. Costa of Chittagong, whose archdiocese covers both Cox’s Baz ar and Bandarban, in a Sept 25 statement said that “the brutal attack on civilian children, women and men in the name of action

I assured them that ‘the Church w ill be w ith them in ev ery possible w ay.

’

– C ardinal Patrick D’Roz ario of Dhaka

at a camp in Cox’ s Baz ar,

against militancy is fully unjust.”

“On behalf of the Church in Chittagong, I also express our stand against the violence against humanity in Rakhine, Myanmar.

Catholics of Chittagong are urging a stop to this ethnic cleansing operation and the taking back of the refugees from Bangladesh with proper dignity as Myanmar nationals,” Archbishop Costa said.

Senior officials from aritas accompanied both prelates during the visits.

“We have received necessary funds from donors and got government approval to launch field operations, so it will start soon,” Mr Ranjon Francis Roz ario, Caritas’ executive director told ucanews.com. urin the first phase aritas will offer food items – including rice and wheat, and utensils to some 14,000 refugee families, Mr Roz ario said. n U CAN E WS.CO M

Buddhist, Muslim and Christian leaders oppose abortion COLOMBO, SRI LANKA – Bud-

dhist, Muslim and Christian leaders in Sri Lanka have jointly opposed a government plan to allow abortion in a broader range of circumstances.

Cabinet has approved presentation of a bill to parliament to legalise abortion when a pregnancy is due to rape or if a foetus is diagnosed with a lethal congenital malformation.

In Sri Lanka, abortion is currently legal only to save the life of the mother.

An estimated 600 illegal abortions take place in Sri Lanka every day.

According to media reports, 10 to 12 percent of maternal deaths are due to excessive bleeding and infections after unsafe, illegal abortions.

Buddhist, Muslim and Christian leaders have told the government they believe life begins at conception.

Venerable Bellanwila Wimalarathana Thero, said that according to Buddhist doctrine, abortion constitutes the taking of a human life.

The Buddhist monk said that even if a foetus was diagnosed with a lethal congenital malformation, abortion was still contrary to Buddhist teachings.

“No mercy killings are permitted,” Venerable Wimalarathana Thero said at a Congress of Religions held at the Maha Bodhi Society in the capital, Colombo, on Sept 14.

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said that rather than trying to liberalise abortion laws, the govern-

ment should be looking for other approaches.

He believed that should include providing “sound” sex education programmes so that young people do not engage in irresponsible sex leading to unexpected births.

State officials and doctors should seek such alternatives,” said Archbishop Ranjith.

“Clergy could help by educating youth through their Sunday schools and educational programmes,” said the archbishop.

“Abortion amounts to murder and so how could we accept it? ” he added.

Muslim leader Ash-Sheikh Faz il Farook reiterated that, according to the Q ur’an, abortion is not permitted. n U CAN E WS.CO M

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Filipino police seek Church protection over drug killings MANILA – Philippine policemen wanting to reveal information about President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly drug war have sought Church protection out of fear for their safety.

Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan said the “sanctuary seekers” are willing to tell the truth because “their consciences are troubling them.”

“They have expressed their desire to come out in the open about their participation in extrajudicial killings and summary executions,” the prelate said in a statement on Oct 2.

The archbishop declined to say how many policemen were prepared to come forward, or if they included two policemen who earlier testified before a Senate hearing on the drug war.

He said convents and seminaries in his archdiocese could serve as places of refuge for witnesses and their families after an assessment of the accuracy of their testimonies.

“We will look prudently into the sincerity of their motives and the veracity of their stories,” said Archbishop Villegas.

In K alookan diocese, several witnesses to the killing of a 17-year-old student in July have sought Church protection.

“If their preference is to stay with us in the church, [the witnesses] will not be turned over to the state,” said Archbishop Villegas. “Let us be guardian

A man in Manila holds a placard at a memorial of a 17- year-old shot in an escalation of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. F ilipino policemen wanting to reveal information about the war on drugs have sought Church protection. CN S photo

angels for one another,” he said.

The prelate, who is president of the bishops’ conference, has supported two self-confessed assassins who linked Mr Duterte to the killings of suspected drug users.

Mr Duterte, whose deadly crackdown on illegal drugs has defined his presidency stron ly denied ordering the killings.

Dioceses around the country have issued pastoral statements urging Catholics to work together and demand an end to the killings.

In Legaz pi diocese, Bishop Joel Baylon lamented how previous appeals to end the “drug-war carnage and bring the killers to

justice had fallen on deaf ears and stony hearts.”

He said that while the Church supports the government’s campaign against criminality, the people must “speak out and mobilise” when human rights are trampled upon and the rule of law set aside.

The Philippine National Police claimed that at least 3,81 1 people who supposedly resisted arrest were killed in anti-drug operations from July 2016 to August this year.

Human rights groups, however, said more than 10,000 suspected drug users and dealers have fallen victim to vigilante-style killings since last year. n U CAN E WS.CO M

Freed Indian priest to receive award INDIA – An Indian Catholic priest,

who arrived home on Sept 28 after being freed from 18 months of captivity in Yemen, has been named as this year’s recipient of the Mother Teresa Award for Social Justice.

Salesian Fr Thomas U z hunnalil, will receive the award from the Harmony Foundation, a Mumbai-based group.

Mr Abraham Mathai, founder of the group, told ucanews.com on Oct 2 that the priest had been chosen as his life exemplifies the theme of this year’s awards.

“Compassion Beyond Borders – a compassionate response to the refugee crisis,” is the theme this year, Mr Mathai said.

Fr U z hunnalil was released after 18 months of captivity in Yemen, where a civil war between government forces and Houthi rebels has killed more than 8 ,500

Salesian F r T om U z hunnalil was recognised for his ‘ dedication and commitment towards working in a place of great danger’. CN S photo

people since 2015, according to the U N. Suspected Islamic terrorists kidnapped the priest in March

2016 during an attack on a home for the elderly operated by Missionaries of Charity nuns in Aden.

Fr U z hunnalil “had the option of leaving Yemen in 2015 but he chose to stay and provide humanitarian aid in the midst of such terror,” Mr Mathai said.

The award recognises his “dedication and commitment towards working in a place of great danger where his colleagues were murdered in cold blood,” he said.

The Mother Teresa Memorial Awards for Social Justice was introduced in 2005. It is the only award in the world bearing St Mother Teresa’s name and is endorsed by Sr Mary Prema, the second successor of St Teresa of K olkata, who founded the Missionaries of Charity congregation. n U CAN E WS.CO M

Vatican prefect visits Japan, promotes peace T OKY O – During a 10-day pastoral

visit to Japan, Cardinal Fernando Filoni stressed that the Catholic Church in the E ast Asian nation has a special vocation for peace.

Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the E vangelisation of Peoples, made the comments after visiting the atomic bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as towns polluted by radiation from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster.

During his visit to Hiroshima, Cardinal Filoni wrote: “Hiroshima: il Suo nuovo nome e Pace” (Hiroshima: its new name is Peace) in the guest books of both the Peace Memorial Museum and the bishop’s residence.

During his Sept 17-26 visit, Cardinal Filoni also likened Japan to a ship, rather than islands, sayin fly the fla of peace and navigate towards the whole world.”

The cardinal met local priests, Religious, laypeople and seminarians in Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Hiroshima, Osaka, Sendai and Tokyo.

The prefect also gave a letter from Pope Francis to Archbishop Mitsuaki Takami of Nagasaki, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan, at the apostolic nunciature in Tokyo.

In the letter, the pope pointed to the country’s challenges, “for example, the high divorce rate, suicide among the young, people who choose to live totally detached from social life, religious and spiritual formalism, moral relativism, reli-

gious indifference, and obsession with work and making money.”

The pope added: “It is equally true that a society that races ahead in economic development also creates among you the poor, marginalised and excluded. I think not only of those who are materially, but also spiritually and morally poor.”

A girl carries a candle in a procession in Nagasa i apan in this file photo. CN S photo

Cardinal Filoni repeated a question during his pastoral visit to small Christian communities: “Why do we have to bring the Gospel to Japan? ” In answer, he quoted the pope’s letter, “in this very specific context there is an urgent need for the Church in Japan to constantly renew her choice for the mission of Jesus and that she be salt and light.” n U CAN E WS.CO M

Catholics mark Gandhi’s birthday with peace rally BHOP AL, INDIA – Some 500 peopower since 2003, has witnessed ple – made up of Hindus, Mus- hundreds of violent incidents lims, Sikhs, Buddhists and Chris- against religious minorities such tians – marched with lit candles as Christians and Muslims althrough Bhopal in India on Oct legedly orchestrated by Hindu 2 to mark the birth anniversary groups working to make India a of Mahatma Gandhi, father of Hindu-only nation. the Indian nation, Archbishop Corstressing his ideals nelio stressed the of non-violence. need for “following Bhopal archdiothe footstep of the cese, based in the Gandhi in order to capital of Madhya foster harmony and Pradesh state, orpeace” in society. ganised the march The archbishop that culminated in said the nation as a an inter-religious whole “is facing viprayer gathering. olent sectarian and The event marked ideological clashes” the 148t h birth ansuch as the lynchniversary of Gan- An inter-religious prayer ing of Muslims dhi, who led India’s gathering was held to mark over eating beef and struggle for free- the 1 4 8 th birth anniver- murders of journaldom from British sary of Mahatma Gandhi. ists and writers oprule while advocatposed to right-wing ing non-violent methods.

Hindu ideologies.

Archbishop Leo Cornelio of Hindu religious leader AchaBhopal who addressed the prayer rya K rishna K umar Dubey and gathering said the programme Sikh leaders Gyani Dilip Singh was part of the Church’s efforts to also addressed the gathering, callpromote “inter-religious harmony ing on people to take the path of and peace” in the state. “non-violence and tolerance” The state, where pro-Hindu to end discord and bring lasting Bharatiya Janata Party has held peace to society. n U CAN E WS.CO M

14 WORLD

Sunday October 15, 2017 n CatholicNews

Dialogue urged after disputed Catalan referendum

T he scene at the intersection of T ropicana Avenue and L as V egas Boulevard South after an Oct 1 m ass shooting at a music festival on the L as V egas Strip.

BARCELONA, SP AIN – Church

The president of the Tarraleaders appealed for calm in conense E piscopal Conference, Spain’s autonomous Catalonia which includes prelates from the region after hundreds of people Barcelona and Tarragona archwere detained by authorities and dioceses, urged Catholics to “trust more than 800 others were injured the God of peace.” during a disputed independence “The violent scenes being referendum. lived out here are deplorable. We Cardinal Juan Jose Omella, must stop the confrontations and archbishop of Barcelona, urged find a peaceful democratic exit all parties to engage in “prayers Tarragona Archbishop Jaume and calm” following the Oct 1 Pujol Balcells said on Oct 1 in a vote, which was marred by vio- Twitter message. lence throughout the region.

Catalonia, the wealthiest of “The violence Spain’s 17 autonoexperienced in We must stop the mous regions, is Catalonia is dehome to 7.5 million plorable,” he said. confrontations and people with its own e have to find a language and culfin a peacefu , peaceful and demture, and separatist democratic ex it. ocratic way out of politicians promised – T arragona Archbishop the referendum after this situation.”

Jaume Puj ol Balcells forming a coalition The cardinal’s appeal came as Catgovernment in 2015. alonia regional President Carles PuThe vote was backed as conigdemont said in a televised address forming to “Gospel and humanafter polls closed that Catalans had istic values” by more than 400 “won the right to statehood.”

Catholic clergy and Religious The vote went forward despite order members, about 20 percent Spain’s Constitutional Court sus- of Catalonia’s total, in a late Seppension of a law passed by the Cat- tember declaration. The message alonian parliament that said if more was sent to Pope Francis, leading than 50 percent of voters in the ref- to a formal protest by Spain’s amerendum supported independence, bassador to the Holy See, Gerardo the state would secede. The para- Bugallo. military civil guard used batons and Preaching on Oct 1, Cardinal rubber bullets in a bid to close poll- Omella urged citiz ens to “abaning stations and seiz e ballot boxes, don their egoisms and think more triggering violence with protesters. about others.” n CN S

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CN S photo

Church leaders call for prayers after ‘unspeakable terror’ in Las Vegas W ASHINGT ON – The U S has experienced yet another ni ht filled with unspeakable terror,” and “we need to pray and to take care of those who are suffering,” said the president of the U S Conference of Catholic Bishops (U SCCB) in Washington.

In Las Vegas, a gunman identified by law enforcement officials as Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, was perched in a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay ay hotelcasino complex and unleashed a shower of bullets on Oct 1 on an outdoor country music festival taking place below. He killed at least 59 people and wounded more than 500, making it by all accounts “the deadliest mass shooting in modern U S history,” Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, U SCCB president, said in an Oct 2 statement.

My heart and my prayers and those of my brother bishops and all the members of the Church, go out to the victims of this tragedy and to the city of Las Vegas,” he said.

“Our hearts go out to everyone,”

Bishop Joseph A. Pepe of Las Vegas said in a statement. “We are praying for those who have been injured, those who have lost their lives, for the medical personnel and first responders who, with bravery and self-sacrifice have helped so many “As the Gospel reminds us, we are called to be modern-day good

on response ‘is he to do good – f or no matter w hat the ar ness, it wi never overcome the ight

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– C ardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-H ouston

Samaritans,” he added. “We continue to pray for all in Las Vegas and around the world whose lives are shattered by the events of daily violence.”

In a telegram to Bishop Pepe, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said Pope Francis was “deeply saddened to learn of the shooting in Las Vegas” and

“sends the assurance of his spiritual closeness to all those affected by this senseless tragedy.”

“He commends the efforts of the police and emergency service personnel, and offers the promise of his prayers for the injured and for all who have died, entrusting them to the merciful love of Almighty God,” the cardinal said.

In his statement, Cardinal DiNardo said: “At this time, we need to pray and to take care of those who are suffering. In the end, the only response is to do good – for no matter what the darkness, it will never overcome the li ht May the Lord of all gentleness surround all those who are suffering from this evil, and for those who have been killed we pray, eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.”

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago said that “once again we must reach out in shock and horror to comfort the victims of a mass shooting in our country.”

He called for better access to mental health care and “stronger, sensible gun control laws.” n CN S

WORLD 15

Sunday October 15, 2017 n CatholicNews

Church leaders offer prayers, Mexicans pitch in after earthquake – Mexican Church to the people of Mexico’s solidarleaders offered prayers and urged ity,” the bishops’ statement said. generosity after an earthquake “Thousands of hands have formed struck the national capital and its chains of life to rescue, feed or do environs, claiming more than 360 their small part in the face of these lives – including at least 20 chil- emergencies.” dren trapped in a collapsed school.

Caritas chapters across the The 7.1 magnitude earthquake country opened collection centres on Sept 19 added to the misery of to help those harmed by the earthMexicans who suffered a magni- quake. In Mexico City, Cardinal tude 8.1 earthquake 12 days earli- Norberto Rivera Carrera asked er. That quake left nearly 100 dead all parishes in the impacted areas, in the country’s southern states along with priests, Religious and and left thousands more homeless. laity to “collaborate with the au“We join the pain and grief thorities in order to assist people of the victims of the that have been affectearthquake, which ed and show ChrisT housands occurred today ... in tian solidarity,” said various parts of our of hands hav e an article published in country,” the Mexinewspaformed chains archdiocesan can bishops’ conferper Desde la Fe. ence said in a Sept Dioceses in of life to 19 statement. “Today, Puebla and Morelos, rescue, feed or south of the capital, more than ever, we do their small reported widespread invite the community of God to join in solidamage to churches. part in the darity for our brothA private school face of these collapsed in Mexico ers who are suffering various calamities City, trapping stuemergencies. that have struck our dents ranging from – M exi can bishops’ kindergarten to juncountry.” conference ior high school. The Mexicans have responded to the Associated Press earthquake with acts of solidar- reported at least 25 students and ity. The telephone system was teachers died, with others remainoverwhelmed and traffic snarled ing unaccounted for. as power outages affected trafAt his general audience on fic li hts n hard-hit nei hbour- Sept 20, Pope Francis prayed for hoods, people poured in, armed victims and rescue personnel, inwith buckets and shovels to help voking Our Lady of Guadalupe, clear rubble from collapsed build- patroness of Mexico. ings, where people were trapped.

“In this moment of suffering,” Others were quick to donate food he said, “I want to express my and drink to those assisting. closeness and prayers to the entire “Once again we are witnesses Mexican population.” n CN S

MEX ICO CIT Y

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Educate for hope, solidarity, common good, Vatican urges – The Vatican is asking Catholic schools and universities to take the lead in pioneering education networks that value individual identity and talent, but also help students see how their gifts can contribute to the common good.

The Congregation for Catholic E ducation presented broad guidelines in the document, E ducating to Fraternal Humanism, which was released at the Vatican on Sept 22.

“The document underlines how urgent and necessary it is to humanise education, favouring a culture of encounter and dialogue,” Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi, prefect of the congregation, told reporters. Firmly convinced Christ’s offer of salvation is open to all people, Catholic schools should be agents for “globalising hope,” educating young people to promote solidarity, brotherhood and care for the environment.

Currently, there are more than 216,000 Catholic schools “with a

V AT ICAN CIT Y

student population that exceeds 60 million pupils from every faith and ethnic group,” the cardinal said. In addition, there are some 1,8 00 Catholic universities around the world.

The new document describes “the need to look after the good of others as if it were one’s own” as “a clear priority for the political agenda of our civil systems,” and something Catholic schools are wellequipped to help foster by educating students with Christian values.

For the congregation, “humanising education” means helping each student develop his or her talents and discover his or her vocation while understanding that those talents and vocations are designed to be at the service of the community and, in fact, of the common good of all.

T he link to the document can be found at http:/ / w w w .v atican.v a/ roman_ curia/ congregations/ ccatheduc/ documents/ rc_ con_ ccatheduc_ doc_ 2 0 1 7 0 4 1 6 _ educare- umanesimo- solidale_ en.html n CN S

T he destroyed dome of Our L ady of Angels Church following the Sept 19 earthq uake in Mexi co City. CN S photos

F amily members embrace in the aftermath of the 7 .1 magnitude earthq uake which has claimed more than 3 6 0 lives.

16 POPE FRANCIS

Sunday October 15, 2017 n CatholicNews

‘You are fighters for hope!’ pope tells refugees in Bologna – Politics as service to the common good and the need to create spaces where citiz ens and migrants can meet and overcome fear were topics Pope Francis repeatedly returned to recently.

Arriving in Bologna, Italy, in the mid-morning on Oct 1, Pope Francis went directly to the Regional Hub, a government-run processing centre for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. He was given, and wore, a yellow ID bracelet with his name and a number, just like the migrants and refugees there wear.

He told the 1,000 people at the hub, “Many people don’t know you and they’re afraid.”

The fear “makes them feel they have the right to judge and to do so harshly and coldly, thinking they see clearly,” the pope said. “But it’s not true. One sees well only up close, which gives mercy.”

“From far away, we can say and think anything, like easily happens when they write terrible phrases and insults on the Internet,” the pope said.

But, he told them, “if we look at our neighbour without mercy, we run the risk of God looking at us without mercy.”

Pope Francis, after shaking hands with each of the migrants and refugees, said he saw “only a great desire for friendship and assistance”. The integration of newcom-

V AT ICAN CIT Y

T he pope was given, and wore, a yellow ID bracelet with his name and a number, j ust like the immigrants and refugees at the centre.

Pope F rancis greets a man at the Regional H ub, a government-run processing centre for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, in Bologna, Italy, CN S photos

ers begins with knowing one another, he said. “Contact with the other leads to discoverin the secret’ that each person carries and also the gift that he or she represents.”

“E ach of you has your own story,” he said, and “this story is something sacred. We must respect it, accept it and welcome it, and help you move forward.”

“Do you know what you are? ”

Cardinal stresses need for lay couples in marriage ministry

the pope asked them. “You are fi hters for hope Too many of their peers never made it to E urope’s shores because they died in the desert or in the sea, he said. “People don’t remember them, but God knows their names and welcomes them to him. Let’s all take a moment of silence, remembering them and praying for them.”

Pontiff worried about anti-migrant sentiment among Catholics

BELF AST , NORT HERN IRELAND – Marriage ministry needs to be

V AT ICAN CIT Y – Pope Francis said

done by married couples, Cardinal K evin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, told a Church gathering in Northern Ireland.

Delivering the keynote address to 500 delegates from the Diocese of Down and Connor at the Faith and Life convention in Belfast on Sept 30, Cardinal Farrell discussed Pope Francis’ 2016 apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love) and appealed to parishes to establish study groups on the document and to train couples to teach, prepare, guide and accompany married couples.

He said that even though priests may know the principles, philosophy and theology behind marriage, couples who are “living the reality of marriage” are in a better position to accompany other couples.

Speaking to Catholic News Service later, the Dublin-born former bishop of Dallas said parishes would have to be prepared to train

he is worried that even Catholics are arguing against accepting more migrants and refugees into their communities, and they often cite an ill-defined moral obligation’ to preserve the original cultural and religious identity” of their nations.

The “temptation of exclusivism and cultural fortification has arisen among Catholics at times in the past “but the Holy Spirit always helped us to overcome it, guaranteeing a constant opening to the other,” the pope said on Sept 22 during a meeting with the directors of migrant and refugee services from the bishops’ conferences of E urope.

“I will not hide my concern about the signs of intolerance, discrimination and xenophobia that are seen in different regions of E urope,” the pope said. “These often are motivated by distrust and fear of the other, the different, the stranger.”

“But I’m even more worried by the sad observation that these reactions are not absent from our Catholic communities,” he said.

laypeople for such a role, which he saw as a new model of accompaniment in line with the pope’s vision for the Church.

Ministering by couples to couples is better done by “people who have walked in their shoes”, the cardinal said. He admitted he did not “have a clue” how to answer some of the questions on couples’ difficulties which his own nieces and nephews had put to him.

“I have no experience of that and the majority of priests don’t have that experience,” Cardinal Farrell said, noting that many of the married couples who attended the 2014 and 2015 Synod of Bishops on the family insisted that more lay couples be involved in marriage ministry. n CN S

Pope Francis began his Sunday early, arriving shortly after 8 am in Cesena, Italy, to mark the 300th anniversary of the birth of Pope Pius VI. Meeting the public in the main square of the city of 97,000 people, he focused on the obligations of both citiz ens and politicians in working together for the common good.

Cities and nations need “good politics”, which is a form of governance not enslaved to “individual ambitions or the high-handedness of factions”, he said. Authentic politics promotes collaboration and requires a balance of courage and prudence.

It “increases people’s involvement, their progressive inclusion,” he said, and it “does not leave any category at the margins” nor does it “sack and pollute natural resources – these, in fact, are not a bottomless well but a gift given by God for us to use with respect and intelligence.”

The social teaching of the Catholic Church sees politics, when motivated by concern for the common good, to be “a noble form of charity”, he said. n CN S

Catholics harbouring anti-immigrant sentiments need to realise that “the Church spread to every continent thanks to the mi ration’ of missionaries who were convinced of the universality of the message of salvation in Jesus Christ, which is destined for men and women of every culture”.

“The Spirit, I am certain, will help us today to preserve an attitude of trusting openness, which will allow us to overcome every barrier and scale every wall,” Pope Francis said.

Once the basic Gospel attitude of welcomin the stran er is affirmed he said, Church leaders need to look at the factors contributing to such a great sense of unease about handling

T he ‘ temptation of ex clusiv ism and cu tura fortification has arisen among Catholics in the past, said the pope.

the current migration crisis.

The ongoing impact of the economic crisis has been “aggravated by the siz e and composition” of the waves of migrants trying to reach E urope, he said.

The receiving countries have been unprepared to accept the migrants, frequently from the Middle E ast and Africa, and both national and E uropean U nion policies on migration seem to be “inadequate”.

For its part, the pope said, the Catholic Church must “show concretely” its love and concern for all people on the move at every stage of their journey.

The Catholic community in many countries has been enriched

by Catholics arriving from other countries, contributing in a real way to the local experience of the universal Church, he said. And, with the arrival of migrants and refugees belonging to other religions or no religion at all, Catholics have an opportunity “to witness concretely to the Christian faith through charity and with profound respect for other religious expressions”. n CN S

POPE FRANCIS 17

Sunday October 15, 2017 n CatholicNews

Pope launches ‘Share the Journey’ outreach to migrants, refugees – Christ calls believers to welcome migrants and refugees “with arms wide open, ready to give a sincere, affectionate, enveloping embrace,” Pope Francis said, launching the Share the Journey campaign of Catholic charities around the world.

Christians’ embrace of people fleein war or poverty should be “a bit like the colonnade of St Peter’s Square, which represents the Mother Church who embraces all in sharing a common journey,” the pope said at the end of his weekly general audience on Sept 27.

With hundreds of refugees and migrants present in St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis said Pope F rancis greets Cardinal L uis Antonio T agle of Manila, Philippines, the Catholic charities’ staff and and immigrants during his general audience in St Peter’s Sq uare at the volunteers who assist them are “a V atican on Sept 27. CN S photos sign of a Church that seeks to be “A small gesture like extend“Share the Journey is the opopen, inclusive and welcoming.” portunity for all of us as Church, Share the Journey is a two- ing one’s arm to somebody else – as the people of God, to walk year campaign sponsored by it means a lot,” he said.

In his ministry in the Philip- with and be part of that journey Caritas Internationalis, the global network of national Catholic pines and travelling around the that the immigrants are going charities to promote encounters world for Caritas, Cardinal Tagle through,” she told CNS. It is an between people on the move and said he has come to realise that “we opportunity to tell migrants and people living in the countries they don’t need to do great, extraordi- refugees they are not alone. “We are leaving, passing through or nary, extravagant things to make are saying, ‘ We are with you and a difference in the we want you to know that we will arriving in. lives of people.” always be with you and care for Philippine CarSmall gestures, Rather, he said, you.’” dinal Luis Antonio ordinary gestures, “small gestures, F or more information, v isit Tagle of Manila, ordinary gestures, http:/ / j ourney.caritas.org. n CN S president of Caritas w hen done w ith done with Internationalis, told sincerity, w ith the when sincerity, with the Catholic News Serlight of human unlight of human vice (CNS), “Share the Journey is not understanding, w ith derstanding, with the fire of love can just a title or a label the fire of ove can o do extraordinary for a programme – things.” it is that, but more ex traordinary things.

One key point than that, it is a lifestyle an affirma- – C ardinal L uis Antonio T agle of the Share the of Manila, president of Journey campaign, tion that everyone Caritas Internationalis Cardinal Tagle said, wants and needs is to help Catholics someone to share and others take positive steps to get his or her journey through life. here are specific moments to know the truth about the current in the life of a person, a family or refugee crisis and to actually meet a the whole human family when we migrant or refugee in person.

Sr Norma Pimentel, a member need to be reminded of this fundamental truth that we have been of the Missionaries of Jesus and exgiven each other so that we would ecutive director of Catholic Charihave someone to share our jour- ties of the Rio Grande Valley in neys with,” he said, the day before Texas, U SA, joined Cardinal Tagle for the audience with Pope Francis. the campaign launched.

V AT ICAN CIT Y

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Syrian refugees arrive at a camp in 2 0 1 6 in Royashed, Jordan. Caritas Internationalis launched its Share the Journey campaign in support of immigrants.

‘Favour the poor’, pope tells Vincentians V AT ICAN CIT Y – St Vincent de abilities that emerged in St Louise Paul’s z eal for helping the poor de Marillac’s spiritual finesse and was the instrument God used to human sensibility.” bring about a “burst of generosity Members of both orders, he in the Church,” Pope Francis said. said must continue to find their The “small seed” of his humil- footing upon the rock, which is ity, meekness and charity grew the “poor Jesus who asks to be into a great tree that makes up the recognised in those who are poor two congregations he founded – and without a voice.” the Daughters of “Thus, you are fi e photo Charity and the called to reach the Congregation of peripheries of the the Mission, the human condition, to pope said in a letbring not your abiliter sent on Sept 27 ties but the spirit of to members of the the Lord, the Fa“Vincentian famther of the poor,” ily” celebrating the the pope said. “He 400th anniversary sends you out into of their founding. the world like a “At the heart seed growing in of the Vincentian dry land, like soothfamily is searching ing balm for the out the most miswounded like a fire erable and aban- St V incent de Paul depicted of charity to warm doned in a radical in a stained glass window. so many hearts.” awareness that it is All Christians, unworthy to deprive them of our Pope Francis said, are called to humble service,” the pope said. follow the example set by St VinAlong with St Louise de Ma- cent de Paul and to give more time rillac, St Vincent de Paul founded and space to the poor because the Daughters of Charity in France “Christianity without contact with in 1617. The congregation’s work those who suffer becomes a diswith the poor in France paved the embodied Christianity incapable way for the founding of its male of touchin the flesh of hrist counterpart, the Congregation of “E ncounter the poor, favour the Mission. the poor, give a voice to the poor Pope Francis praised St Vin- so that their presence may not cent’s prophetic intuition “of val- be silenced by the culture of the uing the extraordinary feminine ephemeral,” the pope said. n CN S

18 OPINION

Sunday October 15, 2017 n CatholicNews

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COMMENTARY

Pontiff highlights gifts of young people

Y oung Colombians wait for Pope F rancis during his visit to the country in September. T he 2018 Synod of Bishops will focus on young people and task them with leading the way towards a culture of encounter. CN S photo

By Christopher Wh

ite

During his recent visit to Colombia, Pope Francis put young people front and centre in many of his speeches.

Pope Francis had agreed to visit the country once a peace deal was in place following 50 years of civil war that killed over 200,000 Colombians.

For Pope Francis, the message to young people was direct: Your futures can be one of hope, rather than one marked by violence and conflict like your parents’ generation. n one of his first addresses in the country, the pope enumerated four gifts that he believes young people possess that have the power to improve the world: recognising the suffering of others, perceiving the pain suffered by others, understanding, and the gift of forgiving those who hurt us.

A major theme of Pope Francis’ papacy has been the challenge of buildin a culture of encounter one in which we are not afraid to move beyond our comfort z ones and one where we dedicate special attention to the marginalised and vulnerable.

This, too, is why Pope Francis has challenged the Church as a whole to focus on those living on the peripheries rather than those at the centre of power, because it allows us to see the “complex environments,” the “varying realities” and the “gray tones” of life.

Pope Francis is convinced that young people enjoy a particular

Y oung people enj oy a particular ability to understand the pain and suffering of those liv ing on the peripheries, and the w illingness to forgiv e and create a place of w elcome in the Church. ability to recognise and perceive these realities, the ability to understand the pain, the suffering and the baggage that many of those living on the peripheries often carry, and the willingness to build bridges, forgive and create a place of welcome in the Church.

It’s for this very reason that he’s turning the attention of the

entire Church towards young people at the 2018 Synod of Bishops on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment, and asking us to lead the way in creating this culture of encounter.

This will take many forms: It will be looking at the lives of young people who turned down enticing career opportunities in pursuit of the Religious life or missionary work. It will mean looking at the witness of the young mother or father trying to provide for small children and barely making ends meet.

Millennials have sometime been labelled as the i en a generation more interested in our iPhones and screens than in the lives of others. Yet, Pope Francis believes this is untrue.

“Pay no attention to these caricatures of young people,” he told Catholic leaders in Colombia.

“Look them in the eye and seek in them the courage of hope.” hat’s a stron vote of confidence coming from our Holy Father. n CN S White is national correspondent for Crux , an online Catholic new s site.

Our struggle with riches A NU MBE R of years ago I attended a funeral. The man to whom we were saying goodbye had enjoyed a full and rich life. He’d reached the age of 9 0 and was respected for having been both successful and honest. But he’d always been a strong man, a natural leader, a man who took charge of things. He’d had a good marriage, raised a large family, been successful in business, and held leadership roles in various civic and Church organisations. He was a man who commanded respect although he was sometimes feared for his strength.

His son, a priest, was presiding at his funeral. He began his homily this way: “Scripture tells us that seventy is the sum of a man’s years, eighty for those who are strong. Now, our dad lived for ninety years. Why the extra ten years? Well, it’s no mystery really. It took God an extra ten years to mellow him out! He was too strong and cantankerous to die at eighty! But during the last ten years of his life he suffered a series of massive diminishments. His wife died, he never got over that. He had a stroke, he never got over that. He had to be moved into an assisted living complex, he never got over that.

All these diminishments did their work. By the time he died, he could take your hand and say: ‘ Help me’. He couldn’t say that from the time he could tie his own shoelaces until those last years e was finally ready for heaven. Now when he met St Peter at the gates of heaven he could say: ‘ Help me! ’ rather than tell St Peter how he might better organise things.” his story can help us understand esus’ teachin that the rich find it difficult to enter the kin dom of heaven while little children enter it uite naturally e tend to misunderstand both why the rich find it hard to enter the kingdom and why little children enter it more easily.

Why do little children enter the kingdom quite naturally? In answering this we tend to idealise the innocence of little children, which can indeed be striking. But that’s not what Jesus is holding up as an ideal here, an ideal of innocence which for us adults is impossible in any case. It’s not the innocence of children that Jesus praises; rather it’s the fact that children have no illusion of self-sufficiency Children have no choice but to know their dependence. They’re not self-sufficient and know that they cannot provide for themselves f someone doesn’t feed them they go hungry. They need to say, and to say it often: “Help me! ” It’s generally the opposite for adults, especially if we’re strong, talented and blessed with sufficient wealth e easily nurse the illusion of self-sufficiency n our stren th we more naturally for et that we need others, that we’re not self-reliant.

The lesson here isn’t that riches are bad. Riches, be that money, talent intelli ence health ood looks leadership skills or flat-out strength, are gifts from God. They’re good. It’s not riches that block us from entering the kingdom. Rather it’s the danger that, having them, we will more easily also have the illusion that we’re self-sufficient e aren’t s homas uinas points out by the very way he defines od as sse Subsistens Self-sufficient ein only od does not need anyone or anything else. The rest of us do, and little children more easily grasp this than do adults, especially strong and gifted adults.

Moreover the illusion of self-sufficiency often spawns another danger: Riches and the comfort they bring, as we see in the parable of the rich man who has a beggar at his door, can make us blind to the plight and hunger of the poor. That’s one of the dangers in not being hungry ourselves. In our comfort, we tend not to see the poor.

And so it’s not riches themselves that are bad. The moral danger in bein rich is rather the illusion of self-sufficiency that seems to forever accompany riches. Little children don’t suffer this illusion, but the strong do. That’s the danger in being rich, money-wise or otherwise.

How do we minimise that danger? By being generous with our riches. Luke’s Gospel, while being the Gospel that’s hardest on the rich is also the Gospel that makes most clear that riches aren’t bad in themselves. God is rich. But God is prodigiously generous with that richness. God’s generosity, as we learn from the parables of Jesus, is so excessive that it’s scandalous. It upsets our measured sense of fairness. Riches are good, but only if they’re shared. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus praises the generous rich but warns the hoarding rich. Generosity is Godlike, hoarding is antithetical to heaven.

And so from the time we learn to tie our own shoelaces until the various diminishments of life begin to strip away the illusion of selfsufficiency riches of all kinds constitute a dan er e must never unlearn the words: “Help me! ” n

FAITH ALIVE! 19

Sunday October 15, 2017 n CatholicNews

First experiences of Eucharistic adoration

People praying before the ucharist. Setting aside some uiet time in adoration can be beneficial amid a busy lifestyle. fi e photo

By E lise Italiano think was years old the first time I went to E ucharistic adoration. It wasn’t regularly offered at my parish in the U S, and my family never lingered after Holy Thursday Mass.

Then my college chaplain informed us he was going to start offering it each week. I was pretty uncomfortable durin my first few visits. An hour seemed like an eternity to be looking at the host.

But in all of the strangeness, there was also something deeply familiar. The more I went, the more I looked forward to it each week. An hour went by in the blink of an eye.

I liked going to adoration alongside others with whom I shared a class or some beers the night before. It was transformative to see that real people – ordinary people – did these things, not people who are already saints.

When I moved to a new city

after graduate school, I randomly picked a parish to attend. U pon discovering that it offered perpetual adoration, I decided to sign up for one hour per week.

Life was getting a lot noisier: there were social media accounts and smartphones, and the work-

ife was getting a ot noisier itt e it of set time for si ence on a Mon a night seeme i e a goo i ea week was spilling over into weekends. A little bit of set time for silence on a Monday night seemed like a good idea.

Silent adoration was startling: It was just me and Jesus. So I talked to God about everything ordinary in my day: troubles and successes at work, whether or not

to stay in romantic relationships, the difficulty had communicating with a friend.

This is not to say each hour has been easy. I’ve gotten angry with God and cried so hard that I had to begin wearing waterproof mascara. I’ve daydreamed about everything from crushes to clothes, and I’ve even fallen asleep (although a priest reminded me that the apostles did this, too).

St E dith Stein wrote, “It is most important the Holy E ucharist becomes life’s focal point … that every day is received from His hand and laid back therein; that the day’s happenings are deliberated with Him.” Priests often preach about the need to cultivate time for prayer outside of Sunday Mass. One way is to offer their parishioners adoration. And there’s no telling what God will do. n CN S ta iano is e ecutive irector of communications at he atho ic niversit of merica

20

Sunday October 15, 2017 n CatholicNews

By Jennifer Ficcaglia The Pharisees did not like Jesus.

They were always trying to trick Him into saying something wrong about God so they could tell the people not to listen to Him. One day, a scholar of the law decided to test Jesus. He stood up when Jesus was teaching the people and asked Him a question.

“Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life? ” Jesus looked at the man. He knew the man was trying to trick Him. “What is written in the law? ” Jesus asked in reply. “How do you read it? ” The scholar of the law answered that you must love God with all of your heart, being, strength and mind, and also love your neighbour as yourself.

Jesus told the man that he had answered correctly.

“Do this and you will live,” Jesus said.

The scholar knew Jesus had bested him, but he had one more trick up his sleeve.

“And who is my neighbour? ” he asked.

Jesus answered by telling a parable.

A Jewish man travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho was robbed, beaten and left for dead.

A priest came down the road afterward and saw the man. Instead of stopping to help, the priest went to the opposite side of the road and passed by.

A little while later, a Levite came down the road. He did not stop to help the robbery victim but crossed to the opposite side of the road and passed him by.

Then a Samaritan came down the road. Jews and Samaritans hated each other and did not associate at all. E ven

SPOTLIGHT ON SAINTS:

St Edward the Confessor E dward the Confessor was the king of E ngland from 1042 to 1066. He was a very holy person who was generous to the poor and an able ruler.

E dward took good care of his people. He protected them from outside enemies, and he protected himself from those in the country who opposed his rule. E ngland was a peaceful and prosperous place during his reign.

He also became known for his miracles. One time, the water in which he washed his hands was said to have cured people from epilepsy and skin diseases.

For a long time after his death in 1066, E dward was one of the patron saints of E ngland. We remember him on Oct 13. n

so, the Samaritan had compassion for the man and stopped to help him.

The Samaritan bandaged the man’s wounds, lifted him up onto his animal and took him to an inn to care for him. When the Samaritan had to leave, he paid the innkeeper to take care of the man until he could return. fter esus finished is parable he asked the scholar of the law a question.

“Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbour to the robbers’ victim? ” he asked.

“The one who treated him with mercy,” the scholar of the law replied.

Jesus nodded his head in approval.

“Go and do likewise,” he said. n Read more about it: L uke 10

Q & A 1.

Wh

o asked Jesus a tricky q uestion?

2.

Wh o helped the man who had been robbed?

Wordsearch: n PE ACE n W ASH n CARE

n JE RICH O n E DW ARD n PROT E CT

n ANSWE R n JE WI SH n PRIE ST

n SCH OL AR n ST RE NGT H n SAMARIA

ESSAY: Jesus said we should love our neighbours as ourselves.

H ow do you show that you love your neighbour?

Bible Accent: Answ er to puz z le: .1 bui ld, God; .2 v enerate, lions; .3 J ew , drink ; 4. P hilip, Messiah

PUZZLE: sing the hints provided fill in the missing ing sentences about the Samaritans.

1. L et us _ ith you for e see your _ ( E z ra4:

ords in the follo j ust as you do.

2)

2. T hey did not _ the L ord, so he sent _ among them that illed some of them. ( 2K in gs17: 25) 3. H ow can you, a _ as me a Samaritan oman for a _ ? ( Joh n 4: 9) 4. T hus _ ent do n to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the _ to them. ( A cts8: 5)

Answ er to Wordsearch

The Bible mentions the Samaritans in several places. Who were they, and why did the Jews hate them?

At one time, the kingdom of Israel was split in two.

The northern kingdom, whose capital was Samaria, was conquered by the Assyrians. The Assyrians forced the 10 tribes to scatter throughout their empire, and various pagan tribes moved into Samaria.

In 2 K ings 17, we read that God sent lions to attack and kill some of the pagans for not worshipping Him. So the Assyrian king sent a captive Israelite priest to Samaria to teach the people to worship God in addition to the pagan gods.

The pagans intermarried with the Israelites who were not taken to Babylon, and these people became the Samaritans.

When the Israelites returned home after the Babylonian exile, they rejected the Samaritans and did not want to associate with them because they did not follow all of Judaism and originally had worshipped pagan gods. This upset the Samaritans, who then tried to cause problems for the Israelites.

Hostility continued to grow between the two groups over the centuries and continued throughout biblical times. n

WHAT’S ON 21

Sunday October 15, 2017 n CatholicNews

E V E NT SU BMISSIONS AT ’S ON submissions now req uire the completion of a form from the Archdiocese before the event can be publicised. F or events with foreign speakers, please submit the necessary documentation for approval to the Chancery. F or more information and to download the form, visit http:/ / www.catholic.sg/ events/ announcementadvertisement-req uest/ .

Once forms have been submitted online, kindly send us details of your event for publication at www. catholicnews.sg/ whatson/ at least one month ahead of the publication date.

WH

SE PT 27, 2017 T O MAY 1, 2019 SH ARE T H E JOU RNE Y : A GL OBAL CAMPAIGN BY CARIT AS INT E RNAT IONAL IS Pope Francis will launch the global campaign on Sept 27 from St Peter’s Square. Organised by Caritas Internationalis, the campaign aims to increase spaces and opportunities with Caritas organisations and parishes to enable local communities and migrants to have more positive encounters.

Do join in the campaign activities organised

by Caritas Singapore and CHARIS. Follow CaritasSingapore and CHARISSingapore on Facebook for more updates.

OCT 13 T O NOV 10 CAT E CH IST E L E CT IV E COU RSE – C H U RCH H IST ORY Oct 13, 20, 27, Nov 3, 10. Time: 7:15pm10pm. Venue: 2 Highland Rd. S549102.

This course offers catechists an overview of the history of the Catholic Church.We will study key historical event and fi ures and how they influenced the development of the Church’s awareness of the content of the heritage of faith entrusted to her. To register: W: :http:/ / tinyurl.com/ ybg2fc2l; W: www.catechesis.org.sg; E : formation@ catechesis.org.sg; T: 691 10400.

OCT 14 “F IAT V OL U NT AS T U A” MU SICAL PRAY E R Time: 8pm -10pm. Vox Cordis Chorus (VCC) from the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour will present a musical prayer entitled “Fiat Voluntas Tua” which means “Thy Will Be Done”. The event will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima. Venue: Cathedral of the Good Shepherd. For ticket sales and enquiries, T: 9 8 108 79 3 (Monika); 91475196 ( Lestari); 96642727 ( Joel).

OCT 14 RE V IE W OF L IF E WO RKSH OP Time: 8.30a m-12.30pm. Venue: Agape Village (7A Lorong 8 Toa Payoh S319264) . Pre-registration is required.

How do we respond to the changing needs of our ministry members? How can we better analyse the situation and respond in a way that God is asking us to? This workshop will provide an introduction to the “Review of Life” (ROL) method. For more information, E : formation@ caritassingapore.org; T: 63383448.

OCT 10, 17 AND 24 CAT E CH IST E L E CT IV E COU RSE – P RAY ING T H E DIV INE OF F ICE Oct 10, 17, 24. Time: 7:30pm-10pm. Venue: 2 Highland Rd S549102. The public and communal prayer of the people of God is ri htly considered amon the first duties of the Church. To register :http:/ / tinyurl.com/ ydxoy3u8; W: www.catechesis.org.sg; E : formation@ catechesis.org.sg; T: 69 110400.

OCT 10 T O NOV 21 PE RSONAL MORAL COMPASS – MODU L E 6: SOCIAL JU ST ICE E very Tuesday from 7.30pm-9.30pm at Agape Village (7A Lorong 8 Toa Payoh S319264) . Pre-registration is required.

Personal moral compass is a year-long course in moral theology consisting of six modules. In this series of modules, we gain a better understanding of our moral compass – t he basis of how we come to make our decisions.

For more information, E : formation@ caritas- singapore.org; T: 63383448.

OCT 1 1 COMMU NI-T E A F OR Y OU T H CAT E CH IST S Time:7:30pm-10pm. Venue: 2 Highland S549102. We invite those who are involved in the catechesis of youth to come together and share about your experiences planning and conducting confirmation retreats in your parishes To register: W: http:/ / tinyurl.com/ y7jrddhf; W: www.catechesis.org.sg; E : formation@ catechesis.org.sg; T: 691 10400.

OCT 12 A F AT H E R’S MISSION Time: 7.30pm-9.30pm . In our quest to become that father that God has called

us to be, come and let us reclaim our mission as fathers – t o be the link between heaven and earth, between God and His children. In addition, come and enjoy being in the fellowship of fathers, fathers-to-be, and caregivers playing a fathering role.

Organised by K ingsmead Centre, 8 Victoria Park Rd. Fee: $30. To register: W: http:/ / tinyurl.com/ dadmission; T: 64676072.

OCT 13 CL OSING CE NT E NNIAL CE L E BRAT ION OF OU R L ADY OF F AT IMA Time: 7.30pm-10.30pm. An evening of thanksgiving, healing and renewal of faith – M ass/ candlelight procession/ rosary recitation/ healing session/ benediction and supper. Venue: Cathedral of Good Shepherd.

For more information, T: 63372036; W: www.olfcc2017.wixsite.com/ olfcc.

OCT 14 L E CT ORS’ DAY OF RE COL L E CT ION Time: 9.30 am-4pm. Come and encounter Jesus Christ, the Word of God and learn more about Him from the Vatican II document, Dei Verbum, together as a parish ministry and with fellow lectors across the archdiocese r anised by the ffice for the New E vangelisation. Venue: Catholic Archdiocesan E ducation Centre, 2 Highland Rd. Register as a parish. E : enquiry@ one. org.sg; T: 691 10420; W: www.one.org.sg.

OCT 21 AND OCT 28 CAT E CH IST E L E CT IV E COU RSE – H IST ORY OF T H E CAT H OL IC CH U RCH IN SINGAPORE Time: 9: 30-12:30pm. Venue: 2 Highland Rd S549102. This course seeks to create an awareness of the history of the Catholic Church in Singapore. To register: http:/ / tinyurl.com/ yaovko3v; W: www.catechesis.org.sg; E : formation@ catechesis.org.sg; T: 691 10400.

OCT 25 T O DE C 6 BASIC CAT E CH IST COU RSE L E V E L 1 – I NT RODU CT ION T O CAT E CH E T ICAL PE DAGOGY AND CAT E CH E T ICAL ME T H ODS Oct 25, Nov 8, 15, 22, 29, D ec 6. Time: 7:30pm-10pm. Venue: Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary This course will introduce participants to the method of teaching as proposed by the Church. To register: W: http:/ / tinyurl.com/ yc8y5j fj; W: www.catechesis.org.sg; E : formation@ catechesis.org.sg; T: 69 110400.

OCT 27 T O OCT 29 MONT F ORT IAN E X PE RIE NCE 2 ( MX 2 ) – T RU E DE V OT ION T O MARY Time: 6:30pm (Fri)-1pm (Sun). Cost: $130 ( twin/ sharing room). Venue: Montfort Retreat Centre. Based on the spirituality of St Louis Marie de Montfort, Mary is “the surest, easiest, shortest, and most perfect means by which to go to Jesus Christ.” Discover for yourself the means given by God Himself to bring us salvation, the way of Mary. To register: T: 6769571 1; E : enquries@ montfortcentre.org. Conducted by: Br Dominic Yeo-K oh and Br John Albert.

OCT 28 CH OIRS’ DAY OF RE COL L E CT ION Time: 9.30 am-4pm. Calling all choirs in the archdiocese. Fr Terence Pereira, episcopal vicar for the New E vangelisation, will speak on the role of the choir, the elements of ministry, and the need for formation to realise the archdiocesan pastoral vision of a vibrant, missionary and evangelistic Church. Organised by the ffice for the New van elisation enue Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Register as a parish. E : enquiry@ one.org. sg; W: www.one.org.

OCT 29 MASS F OR PE OPL E WI T H SPE CIAL NE E DS Time: 2pm-5pm. (Registration starts at 2pm) Mass starts at 3pm. Venue: Cathedral of the Good Shepherd. The ffice for atechesis invites you to participate in this Mass celebrating the communion of all the children of God. To register: https:/ / goo.gl/ forms/ HE J8B FiVF 13JaDQ 03; W: www.catechesis.org.sg; E : sn@ catechesis; T: 6858301 1.

OCT 30 T O NOV 1 MONT F ORT IAN E X PE RIE NCE 2 ( MX 6) – C H RIST IAN DISCIPL E SH IP Time: 9a m (Mon)-1pm (Wed). Cost: $130 (twin/ sharing room). Venue: Montfort Retreat Centre. Are you guided by the same spirit, and live with the same life as Jesus?

To register: T: 6769571 1; E : enquries@ montfortcentre.org. Conducted by: Br Dominic Yeo-K oh and Br John Albert.

OCT 31 T O NOV 28 BASIC CAT E CH IST COU RSE L E V E L 2–L E ARNING T O L IST E N AND F ACIL IT AT E Oct 31, Nov 7, 14, 21, 28. Time:

7:30pm-10pm. Venue: 2 Highland Road S549102. O ne of the fundamental tasks of catechesis is the initiation and education in community life. To register: W: http:/ / tinyurl.com/ y9gj v7aj; W: www.catechesis.org.sg; E : formation@ catechesis.org.sg; T: 691 10400.

NOV 4 MASS F OL L OWE D BY PRAY E RS F OR H E AL ING All are welcome and no registration is needed. Time: 2pm-4pm. You are invited to join us for praise and worship and Mass followed by prayers for healing. After Mass, prayer teams will be available to pray with you for healing. Celebrant: Fr Tom Curran. Organised by SACCRE Praise@ Work. Venue: Church of Sts Peter and Paul. For more information, E : praiseatworksg@ yahoo.com; T: 9 7472467.

NOV 9 SPIRIT U AL BE INGS, H U MAN E X PE RIE NCE Time: 7.30pm-9.30pm . In the words of French philosopher and Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.” In this talk, join us to have a look at the human aspects of our spiritual being. Facilitator: Sr E liz abeth Sim, FDCC. Organised by K ingsmead Centre, 8 Victoria Park Rd. Fee: $30. To register: W: http:/ / tinyurl.com/ spiritbeings; T: 64676072.

NOV 9 T O NOV 12 W AT CH ME N RE T RE AT A four day/ three night stay-in retreat open to Catholics above the age of 21.

This retreat is about being on watch until the Lord returns and being alert to the dangers to your spiritual life. Held at Majodi Retreat Centre, Johor, Malaysia. r anised by the ffice for the New E vangelisation. To register: E : enquiry@ one.org.sg; W: www.one.org.sg.

NOV 10 T O NOV 12 T H E GOD OF MANY CH ANCE S: A PRAY E R WE E KE ND This programme will invite participants to enter into a personal relationship with God who desires this relationship with us. It will include times for praying with suggested points, ways of remembering these moments and the means for habitually living in God’s presence.

Organised by the Cenacle Sisters. Venue: Montfort Centre, U pper Bukit Rd; To register: T: 6565289 5; 97223148; E : cenaclemissionsingapore@ gmail.com.

NOV 10 PIE T A’S F IRST ME MORIAL MASS F OR CH IL DRE N WH O H AV E DIE D Time: 7pm. For bereaved parents, if you wish to include mention of your child (including unborn and adult children), please register with your name, telephone and email before Oct 15 to pieta.singapore@ gmail.com.

For more information, W:www.facebook.com/ PietaSingapore/ NOV 14 CONNE CT E D COU PL E S, ST AY COMMIT T E D Time: 7.30pm-9.30pm . This talk is for individuals and couples who would like to explore and discover how to maintain a close and loving relationship with loved ones amidst the distractions of daily life.

Organised by K ingsmead Centre, 8 Victoria Park Rd. Fee: $30. To register: W: http:/ / tinyurl.com/ connectedcouples; T: 64676072.

NOV 62 T O DE C 2 WE E K OF GU IDE D PRAY E R ( WO GP) AT ST IGNAT IU S The Sojourners’ Companions invites you to a WOGP to learn how to pray with Scripture and develop a closer relationship with God. Nov 26: 2pm-5pm: Taster. Nov 27-Dec 1: Daily 30mins @ home + 30mins with personal prayer guide at a convenient time between 9a m-10pm. Dec 2: 2–5pm : closure. Fee: $30. To register: W: www.sojourners.sg; wo p so ourners s parish office at the Church of St Ignatius; church foyer after Mass on Nov 11,12 and Nov 18,19.

NOV 17 T O NOV 18 A DAY OF Q U IE T Time: 9a m-4pm. We are opening our doors on these days to individuals who would like to have some personal space and quiet in their lives. For beginner or seasoned seekers who would like to experience a day in silent prayer and reflection Prayer and handicraft resources, the labyrinth walk and spiritual direction will be available. Organised by K ingsmead Centre, 8 Victoria Park Rd. Fee: $60. To register: http:/ / tinyurl.com/ DOQ 2017; T: 64676072.

DE C 7 T O DE C 10 CAT H OL IC Y OU T H RAL L Y 2017 (For Mandarin-Speaking Youths) This event is organised by youth leaders from Singapore and K uala Lumpur Archdioceses, Penang and Melaka-Johor dioceses. Venue: St Anne’s Church, Bukit Mertajam, Penang. Calling youth who want to learn more about your faith, to build a deeper relationship with God and to form long-lasting bonds with brothers and sisters from our neighbouring dioceses. T: 91 136598; E : nicholas.cheang91@ gmail.com.

NOV 18 CH RIST @ WO RK 2017 – WO RKPL ACE SPIRIT U AL IT Y CONF E RE NCE Organised by Catholic Business Network (CBN). Time: 8.30a m-6.30pm. How do you incorporate faith at work in the face of challenges? How do you manifest spiritual leadership at work? If you have ever faced such questions, join us in sharing on faith and spirituality.

Cost: $60 pe r person. Venue: Performing Arts Centre, Catholic Junior College.

For more information, T: 92284463 (Raymond); E : admin@ cbn.sg.

DE C 14 CRAF T OF RE L AT IONSH IP: CONNE CT ING IN L OV E Time: 7.30pm-9.30pm . In this talk, learn about the five love an ua es ary Chapman), the stages of love (Pat Love), and emotional connection/ disconnections (Sue Johnson). Organised by K ingsmead Centre, 8 Victoria Park Rd. Fee: $30.

To register: http:/ / tinyurl.com/ craftofre; T: 64676072.

NOV 18 CL ARIT Y ’S MAT E RNAL ME NT AL H E AL T H T AL K Time: 10am-noon. This talk is especially for expectant mothers who are keen to find out more about the common mental health changes that may occur during pregnancy and postnatal period.

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from

Crossword Puzzle 1195 1

2

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8

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10

14

15

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21 24

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21 “__ S mall World” 23 Letterhead abbr.

24 Not bass 26 Amer.

28 Caretaker of the sanctuary, sacred vessels, and altar linens 33 Bend 37 The Archdiocese of Toronto is here 38 By the day

39 Charles Martel saved Christian E urope here 41 Set right 42 Vapid 44 Loses on purpose, maybe 45 The New or The Old 47 Lawyer’s advice 48 Teamsters et al.

53 Animal of sacrifice in the

56 58 60 62 63 64 65 66 67

DE C 15 T O DE C 17 L ONGING – AN ADV E NT RE T RE AT Dec 15 (7.30pm)-Dec 17 (5pm). A weekend silent retreat in preparation for Christmas led by Fr Gregory Tan and K eith Neubronner. Come away for a few days to reflect on the lon in of the human heart for the presence of God, and God’s response in the person of Christ.

Organised by K ingsmead Centre, 8 Victoria Park Rd. Fee: $260 ( non-aircon), $300 ( aircon). To register: http:/ / tinyurl. com/ laretreat17; T: 64676072.

68 Numbers 13 through 19 69 Formerly, formerly DOWN 1 Patron saint of servants Not fittin 3 Tender 4 “Cheer, cheer for old _…”

5 Satan 6 Chews the scenery 7 Obtains 8 Space 9 Leb. neighbour 10 NT epistle 11 Leave out 12 Showing unusual talent 13 Founder of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper, Fr. John _ 22 “__ w as in the beginning, is now…”

25 You do this before the altar 26 Jars 27 “Same here” 29 One of two epistles (abbr.)

30 Jesus found Nathanael under one 31 Is not (slang) 32 Visual assents 33 Do paper work 34 Q ueue 35 Good queen of E ngland 36 Leaves out 39 “…a nd a _ _ _ _ for every matter under heaven” (E ccl 3:1) 40 Schiller’s “__ to Joy” 43 Apostle to the Gentiles 44 “Agnus _” 46 Diocese in Ariz ona 49 Russian negatives 50 Biblical tree 51 More pleasant 52 E xamines closely 53 Nevada diocese 54 First man 55 Allot 56 Roundish projection 57 River in France 59 Grow together Not prefix 62 Covering for the head

Solution to Crossword Puzzle No. 1194

www.wordgamesforcatholics.com

ACROSS 1 Biblical mount 5 Catholic French painter, E dgar _ _ _ _ 10 _ of Arc 14 Data 15 Very hard mineral 16 Lectern 17 27th president of the U nited States 18 E lector 19 Window part 20 Imitative one

our speaker Ms Ong Li Lian from K K H. Venue: Agape Village. Fees: $15 ( early bird registration before Oct 11)/ $20.

Closing date for registration Nov 11.

For more information, W: https:/ / tinyurl.com/ ybcc3u47; E :registration@ clarity-singapore.org.com.

Old Testament Fine and delicate Salt deposit The Garden “In my Father’s _a re many rooms” (Jn 14:2) “__ ha rdly wait! ” Western pact Top monk _, vi di, vici Augury

A M O S

W I D O W

A C E T O

F R I L A N O I D L E L S K I P U B I D L T O E

Y E S

W A S O H L V E O E D A R D K I N N N O U S T R T S C E A M S

A B Y S S S I G N S A L E

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S C R O L L

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B E N D

www.wordgamesforcatholics.com

22 IN MEMORIAM OBITUARY

Sunday October 15, 2017 n CatholicNews

In loving memory of

T heL ordi sm y s hepherd ; therei sn othin gI s hallw an t.

Psalm 23

T hird Anniversary In loving memory of

ANT H ONY JOH N IRIS T H E RE SA DANKE R DANKE R Departed: Oct 4, 2012 Departed: Oct 11, 19 8 7

We speak your name with love and pride We smile with tears we cannot hide We thank you for the years we shared The love you gave, the way you cared E ternal rest grant unto you both and may perpetual light shine on you always.

Rest in Peace beloved Mum and Dad. Sixt h Anniversary In loving memory of

SE BAST IAN T AN Departed: Oct 16, 2011

CLASSIFIED THANKSGIVING O Holy St Jude, apostle and martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, ndear 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 your aid. Humbly in need of your intercession.

Amen. Thank you for answering my prayers.

Deepest thanks to St Jude for your interssion to God in answering my prayers again.

Love Rosalind

Six years have gone by, but there has not been a single moment where you have not been greatly missed.

Six years ago you physically left us, but you have constantly been in our thoughts and prayers, and will forever be in our hearts.

Deeply missed and always remembered by family and loved ones.

CINDY T OH T E Y SIM Departed: Oct 16, 2014 Three years passed since God took you home.

Yours was a life so devotedly lived – A faith so ardent and true A spirit so tireless and steadfast A heart so deeply loved!

Still remember freshly that before your last breath on earth You say that your last wish was to see Jesus Christ and now We all believe that you are with our Lord Jesus Christ through the many Dreams that we had on you.

Fondly remembered by Vincent Ong, Ong AG & Fabian, Susan and Simon, Samuel, Felicity & Gavyn And all loved ones.

F ourteenth Anniversary In loving memory of

E ighth Anniversary In loving memory of

T hirteenth Anniversary In loving memory of

I n m em oriam r ates Minimum $80 f or an insertion not ex ceeding an eight- centimetre column.

Additional space: $8 pe r one- centimetre column.

P le a s e tu r n to p a g e 2 3 fo r m o r e in m e m o r ia m a d v e r tis e m e n ts .

JOH N T AN NGE E T E CK Departed: Oct 21, 2003 There’s a sad but sweet remembrance There’s a memory fond and true And a token of love and affection And a heartache still for you But a certainty of your happiness In God’s glory and Holy Presence Fills our hearts with joy and hope And a longing to meet in Heaven.

Dearly missed and fondly remembered by all loved ones.

V INCE NT F OO CH U NG F ONG Departed: Oct 8 , 2004 Time changes many things but not the Memory this day brings Till now you are still in our minds and hearts.

Dearly missed by beloved wife Margaret, children, grandchildren, relatives and friends.

Nineteenth Anniversary In loving memory of

MANU E L JOSE PH DE CRU Z Departed: 12 Oct 19 9 8

GABRIE L DE SIL V A Departed: Oct 7, 2009 In the emptiness and silence of our mourning comes the comfort From on high With peace in our hearts and the joy that you are always nearby.

Dearly missed by, Wife: Freda Chua, Daughter: Charmaine and all loved ones.

We speak your name with love and pride.

We smile with tears we cannot hide.

We thank you for the years we shared.

The love you gave, the way you cared.

Fondly remembered by your loving children, in-laws, grandchildren and great-granddaughter.

Mass will be celebrated at the Church of St Michael on Thursday 12 Oct 2017 at 6pm.

In loving memory of Mum and Dad

BE AT RICE W ANG nee T AN SIE W GU AT 27 Oct 19 46 to 19 Oct 2006

W ANG CH E E T ING 10 Oct 19 31 to 15 Oct 2008

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.

But the greatest of these is love.

– 1 Corinthians 1 3 :1 3

“ L et perpetual light shine upon him.”

F ourteenth Anniversary In loving memory of

JONNY JE F F E RY AL E X Departed: Oct 19, 2003

God looked around His garden and found an empty place Our Lord Jesus knew what was best and He took you home to eternal rest.

But your memory will linger forever.

In the hearts of all who love you, Because love does last forever.

Always remembered by your family and loved ones.

Mass will be offered at the Church of St Michael on 15 Oct 2017 at 9 .30am.

F irst Anniversary In loving memory of

SE BAST IAN Y AP SOON H U AT Departed: Oct 17, 2016 Lord, at your passion love did conquer fear, Now share that triumph with his soul so dear Banish his sorrow, let your light shine O grant him pardon, Jesus Saviour blest And give his spirit light and endless rest.

Dearly missed and fondly remembered by his only sister and all loved ones.

In loving memory of

DOMINIC T E O T H E RE SA H E NG BOON ME NG GU AN H IANG Departed Nov 26, 19 9 5 Oct 21, 19 8 7

Rest in peace.

Fondly remembered by children, children-in-laws, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and loved ones.

IN MEMORIAM 23

Sunday October 15, 2017 n CatholicNews

In loving memory of

ANT H ONY WI L L IAM V AL BE RG Departed: Oct 18 , 2010 You led a life of quiet strength You gave all you could give And in our hearts, forever more We remember how you lived.

Dearly missed by children and their families.

Nineteenth Anniversary

F ourteenth Anniversary In cherished memory

DAV ID MAH E SAN Departed:Oct 15, 2003 We think of you in silence No eyes can see us weep For still within our hearts Your memory we always keep.

Remembered and loved by family, wife Helen, Noel & Belinda, Marcelle & Tyler.

P le a s e tu r n to p a g e 2 2 fo r m o r e in m e m o r ia m and classified a d v e r tis e m e n ts .

F irst Anniversary In loving memory of

E DW ARD L IM H ONG DJIN Dearest husband, father, grandfather & friend Departed: Oct 5, 2016 In our hearts you will always live Your love, your voice, your smile Are forever imprinted in our hearts and minds.

We remember and cherish the happy times together Remembering you today and forever Dearly missed and always cherished by wife Agnes, children, sons-in-law & grandchildren.

JOH N F E RNANDE Z SE BAST IAN Departed: Oct 13, 19 9 8 Your presence is ever near us Your love remains with us yet You were the kind father Your loved ones will never forget.

Dearly missed and always remembered by wife Christina, family and loved ones.

F irst Anniversary In loving memory of

JOSE PH BE RNARD V AL BE RG Departed: Oct 11, 2016 God looked around His garden And found an empty place He then looked down upon this E arth And saw your tired face.

He put his arms around you And lifted you to rest God’s garden must be beautiful He always takes the best.

Deeply missed and remembered by mother, brothers, sisters and loved ones.

24 POPE FRANCIS

Sunday October 15, 2017 n CatholicNews

Pray to archangels for protection ... says Pope Francis on Feast of Archangels

St Michael is seen trampling on the devil in this painting.

V AT ICAN CIT Y – The archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael help encourage and accompany Christians on life’s journey and defend them from the devil, Pope Francis said.

While the three archangels serve the Lord and contemplate His glory, God also “sends them to accompany us on the road of life,” the pope said in his homily at morning Mass in his residence on Sept 29 , the archangels’ feast day.

They have “an important role in our journey towards salvation”, he said. For instance, Michael has been tasked with waging war against the devil, who is a “nuisance in our life”.

The devil seduces everyone, like he did E ve, with convincing arguments and temptations, the pope said.

“The Lord asks [Michael] to wage war,” he said, and “Michael helps us wage war, to not be seduced.”

Gabriel, on the other hand, is the bearer of good news, the news of salvation. He, too, is with the people and helps when “we forget” the Gospel and forget that “Jesus came to be with us” to save us.

St Gabriel is depicted here visiting Mary.

Raphael, the pope said, is the one who “walks with us”, protecting people from the “seduction of taking the wrong step”.

The pope asked that people pray: “Michael, help us in the fi ht everyone knows what battle they are facing in their lives today. E veryone of us knows the fundamental battle – the one

that puts salvation at risk. Help us.

“Gabriel, bring us news, bring us the Good News of salvation, that Jesus is with us, that Jesus has saved us, and give us hope,” he continued. “Raphael, take us by the hand and help us on the journey to not go the wrong way, to not remain immobile, always walking, but helped by you.” n CN S

Pope F rancis speaks during an audience with T rappists at the V atican on Sept .23 CN S photo

Pope urges Trappists to share their silence and simplicity – The great simplicity of life embraced by Trappist monks and nuns and their attentive practice of long periods of absolute silence are gifts the world needs today, Pope Francis said.

“Be witnesses of assiduous prayer, of sobriety, of unity in charity,” the pope said on Sept 23 during a meeting at the Vatican with about 230 Trappist abbots, abbesses and other Religious attending the order’s general chapter meeting in Assisi.

The Trappists’ “great sobriety of life”, he said, was always seen by members as a tool to help them

V AT ICAN CIT Y

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focus on what was essential and an aid for “reaching more easily the joy of the spousal encounter with Christ”.

“This element of spiritual and existential simplicity,” the pope said, “preserves all its worth as a witness in today’s cultural context, which too often leads to the desire for ephemeral goods and illusory artificial paradises The Trappist dedication to prayer, he said, is “an expression of your love for od and a reflection of a love that embraces all of humanity”.

Being contemplatives, he said,

is a process or journey in which the monks and nuns become “men and women of prayer, ever more pervaded by love for the Lord and transformed into his friends”.

It’s a matter of being “lovers of prayer for whom fidelity to prayer times and forms is not the goal, but the means for growing in one’s personal relationship with God, Pope Francis told them.

“At the same time,” he said, “your monasteries continue to be privile ed places where one finds the true peace and genuine happiness that only God, our safe refuge, can give.” n CN S

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