THE RECORD
"Be indefatigable in your purpose and with undaunted spirit resist iniquity and try to conquer evil with good, having before your eyes the reward of those who combat for Christ." -BISHOP MATTHEW GIBNEY 1874
THE PARISH. THE NATION. THE WORLD.
Western Australia's award-winning Catholic newspaper since 1874 - Wednesday May 27 2009
www.therecord.com.au
Perth, Western Australia $2
The Last Call
Final chance to help in Cathedral's third and final appeal
The second phase of construction of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (St Mary's Cathedral), 1926-1929.
`A. cathedralis more than just bricks, andmortar,' it is an expression ofpeopkisialth." - .14onsignor Thomas WtcOonalcf, Cathedral-Dean, 2009 LA TRAHISON DES ARCHITECTES
Contents
Church architecture has in too many cases been a disaster over the past 50 years. Perth Church historian Ton) Evans talks about why churches should be sacred spaces where people feel like they may touch the divine, and where to go to find them.
Vista)
Parish Nation World Perspectives Books for the Family
-Pages 2-5 - Pages 6-7 - Pages 10-11 Pagesl 2-13 - Page 20
BRING THEM TO CHRIST
The Catholic Enquiry Centre has brought hundreds of people to the Catholic Church over the 50 years of its existence. Celebrate with them at St Joachim's Pro-Cathdral in Victoria Park on June 2 at 10am.
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May 27 2009, The Record
THE PARISH
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EDITOR Peter Rosengren cathrec@iinet.net.au JOURNALISTS
J UB I L E E
Anthony Barich abarich@therecord.com.au reidyrec@iinetnetau Mark Reidy cathrec@iinet.net.au Robert Hiini PRODUCTION & ADVERTISING Justine Stevens production@therecord.com.au ACCOI!NTS Cathy Baguley recaccounts@iinet.net.au . \MIINISTRATION
Bibiana Kwaramba administration@therecord. com.au BOOKSHOP Caroline Radelic bookshop@therecord.com.au CONTRIBUTORS Debbie Warner Karen & Derek Boylen Anna Krohn Catherine Parish Fr Flader John Heard Christopher West Bronia Karniewicz Guy Crouchback
The Record PO Box 75, Leederville, WA 6902 587 Newcastle St, West Perth Tel: (08) 9227 7080, Fax: (08) 9227 7087 Website: www.therecord.com.au The Record is a weekly publication distributed throughout the parishes of the dioceses of Western Australia and by subscription. The Record is printed by Rural Press Printing Mandurah and distributed via Australia Post and CTI Couriers.
SAINT OF THE WEEK
Clotilda died 545 lune .1 The Catholic Clotilda persuaded her pagan husband, King Clovis of the Franks, to allow their children to be baptized and eventually witnessed his baptism in 496 in Reims, France. But her 34-year widowhood was marked by family fights over power. Clotilda took charge of the three sons of Clodomir, her son killed in 524 by a cousin bent on revenge. Another son, the ambitious Childebert, killed the two older grandsons in her care. The third grandson, called Cloud or Clodoald, gave up his claim to the Frankish throne and became a monk. Clotilda left Paris, devoting her final years to charitable works in Tours. CNS Saints
2 00 8 - 2 00 9
"What the Spirit brings is very different: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control. There can be no law against things like that, of course. You cannot belong to Christ Jesus unless you crucify all self-indulgent passions and From St Paul's Letter to the Galatians 5:22-24 desires."
Iona works from the heart lona students connect with society's vulnerable. AN art project brought Iona students closer to the Catholic ethos of empathy and love for society's vulnerable when they designed a large-scale collaborative mural for the outdoor wall of Freshwater Bay Aged Care Home in Mosman Park earlier this month. Students' reports revealed a closer relationship with the elderly at the aged care facility. "This mural is not made because of extra money that the town has, but it is done from the heart, from us" said Iona student Channai Graham. "We should be painting this mural not because we are told to but because we want to help and maybe cheer up the people living there:'
lona students work on their murals for the Freshwater Bay Aged Care Home.
Rouseabout who became a legend to By Robert Hiini
THE Norbertines celebrated 50 years in WA at a special Mass held at their Queens Park Priory Church on the night of Friday May 18. Archbishop Barry Hickey was the principal celebrant in a Mass attended by over 300 people. The Mass was followed by an extensive pictorial exhibition mapping the Norbertines' beginnings in York to their present-day work at St Norbert College. Fr Stephen Cooney 0.Praem was one of the three Norbertine priests who arrived in Perth from Ireland in 1959, making a six week trip via America to visit family and friends. As a then-28-year-old who had been born on a farm, he had been told that York, where the Norbertines first settled, was a plush and fertile land only to arrive to find the reality out of kilter with his European preconceptions. He says he grew to love the region over his 25 years working the Kerry Downs farm that the Norbertines' purchased in the early 1960s. "It took me a year to see the beauty of nature at work; to see different seasons when the land would be burned dry and then, with autumn rain, come back to life," Fr Cooney told The Record. Describing himself jokingly as a rouseabout, he worked the farm for five days every week, attending to the spiritual needs of the region by covering for priests
Queens Park parishioners Maureen Tavani and Maria Tomeo present Nortbertines, Fr Stephen Cooney, Fr Peter Joseph and Br Christopher Lim with a gift from the parish.
in places such as Mukinbudin, Bonnie Rock, Southern Cross, Merredin, Bruce Rock, Kondinin and Lake Grace. He remembers fondly the people he worked the farm with, especially married couple Jim and Nell Robertson, describing them as "very good people:' Over the years, other priests from Perth would come to stay for time out the at Norbertines' York property along with well known Catholic families such as the Fogartys and the Kettles. He remembers seminarians playing cricket in the paddocks and wearing shorts and dungarees more often than his habit. Fr Cooney was in York eight years
before getting a chance to visit his family back in Ireland, these days returning every three to four years as well as receiving family members on holiday from five different continents. In 1985, when the farm was sold he went to work at the Norbertines' current base in Queens Park/Cannington, volunteering himself for Parish Priest of York when the opportunity arose in 2000, a position he continues in. He says that he intends to continue "enjoying life as it comes" describing the Norbertines' 50th anniversary as a time of thanksgiving. "We thank God for the time, the work and the opportunity:'
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50th Anniversary of Australian Catholic Enquiry Centre, St Joachim's Pro-Cathedral - Archbishop Hickey, Bishop Sproxton Italian National Day celebration - Mgr Brian O'Loughlin VG Lifelink Day 2009 Live and Interactive Webcast for Schools Archbishop Hickey, Bishop Sproxton Marian Movement of Priests Mass, St Francis Xavier Church Archbishop Hickey Talk for students at La Salle College - Bishop Sproxton Visit Confirmation candidates, Trinity College Archbishop Hickey Visit Confirmation candidates, Greenmount - Bishop Sproxton
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Ordination to Priesthood, 7 pm, Infant Jesus, Morley Archbishop Hickey, Bishop Sproxton 6&7 Confirmation, Greenmount - Bishop Sproxton 7 Confirmation, Gosnells - Archbishop Hickey 8 Our Lady's Assumption School Student Retreat, Redemptorist Retreat House - Archbishop Hickey 9 Visit Confirmation candidates for Mirrabooka Parish Archbishop Hickey Opening of Centrecare at Gosnells - Mgr Brian O'Loughlin VG 10 Clergy Day - Archbishop Hickey, Bishop Sproxton 10 & 11 Confirmation, Trinity College - Archbishop Hickey Council of Priests meeting - Archbishop Hickey, 11 Bishop
May 27 2009, The Record
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THE PARISH
DoingHiswork:that allmayknow Christ The Catholic Enquiry Centre celebrates 50 years of bringing people around Australia to Christ. HUNDREDS of thousands of people have been affected by the Catholic Enquiry Centre since its genesis 50 years ago. The methods of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference's national faith promotion outreach organ may have changed over the decades, but its message remains the same: "When engaging in works of evangelisation, it is important to prepare prayerfully, to act only with love, to be open to being guided by the promptings of the Spirit, and then, once we've done all we can do, to rely on the Spirit of God to finish in a person any work of evangelisation that we have started:' It operates according to the words Jesus spoke just before he ascended to the Father: "Go tell them of my love. See, you can do it, not by your own strength, but because My Spirit will be with you and working through you when you do it, just as I will be with you until the end of time:' This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the CEC, founded to reach out beyond the Church in Australia to provide an opportunity to all who are not Catholic to learn about and understand the Catholic faith. During its 50 years the CEC has sent its introductory course to over 200,000 people of all faiths and of none, and has been a key instrument for evangelisation across Australia. Many lives have been touched
by the work of the Centre and it has contributed to an increased understanding about the Church in the wider community. After World Youth Day 2008, the CEC received hundreds of calls from people with renewed interest in the Church - some renewing an old curiosity, some actually wanting to join. Many, CEC director Marita Winters said, were deeply touched by the powerful re-enactment of the Stations of the cross through the streets of Sydney, even just from watching it on TV. Originally, the course offered by the CEC consisted of 20 lessons, sent by mail, free of charge and in strict confidence. Advertisements offering the course were placed in newspapers and magazines. At the end of the Course they were offered a letter of introduction to a local priest. Flowing from the Second Vatican Council, the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults was revived and the role of the CEC developed to reflect this change. Advertisements are still placed in newspapers and this is a source of many enquiries, as was the $20,000 15-second advert that CEC ran twice daily for a month (CHECK) on Channel 9 after World Youth Day 2008. It also booked advertising space across Australia during the ChristmasBoxing Day-New Year period last year during Hollywood hits The Bee Movie, starring comedian Jerry Seinfeld, and Oscar winning period drama Atonement. These advertisements, showing images of Catholic culture like simple family life, the Eucharist and a WYD youth image, were a departure from previous campaigns that featured images of the
face of Jesus. Mrs Winters said that Jesus has proved difficult to market. "I don't know how, on a small postcard size, you can get across the personality of the Saviour and Son of God; so we moved away from that for our series of campaigns," she told The Record. Instead, they focused on something more familiar to those who had not encountered Christ yet. "Families are integral to faith, and in the space of 15 seconds you can't say a lot, but it's about people, and we were trying to show that people can have fun and be religious at the same time," she said. "Faith is multi-dimensional family, worshipping as a community, receiving sacraments individually, by including weddings and baptisms in the advertisements we're saying 'you may have been to one of these events where you've intersected with the Church, but there's so much more than that:' The GEC's renewed campaigns to help people find the Church where they don't expect to find it - on the television and in newspapers (at least in a positive way) - have had varied levels of success, but it's often just planting the seed, and the Spirit does the rest in time. She said that Sunday papers seem to have a bigger shelf life, so people may cut the ad out of the paper and leave it lying around, and come back to it later. Television adverts have a more immediate impact. Mrs Winters said people often called within five minutes of the advertsement appearing. But it was not all positive feedback from putting the Catholic faith in the public domain. Mrs Winters said that, especially after WYD08, there was some backlash, with people ringing up, saying `how dare the Church push its
Above, Marita Winters. Right, The Catholic Religion, which contains the full text of twenty lessons which made up the first course for enquirers offered by the CEC which give a c lear, systematic coverage of the fundamental teachings of Christ and His Church.
ing formal instruction in the faith in the context of their local parish community. From its very beginnings, the CEC has depended on the support of lay people for the funding of its apostolate. Their prayers for the Centre have also been a great source of grace for those enquiring about the faith. To mark this milestone, special Masses are to be celebrated across Australia to thank those who have supported the Centre over its 50 years of evangelisation. Archbishop Barry Hickey will celebrate the Mass in Perth at St Joachim's Pro-Cathedral in Victoria Park on June 2 at 10am. All supporters of the Centre, especially associates, donors and sponsors, are invited to join in the 50th Anniversary celebration.
views on the public', which surprised the CEC director. Some calls, when persevered with, merely reflected a deeper yearning for something more substantial in life, while others were just rants. "We take people where we get them," Mrs Winters said. "Some are saying `I want basic information about the Catholic faith', some already have a relationship with Christ through another denomination and want to know what Catholics do," she said. "Others say, 'I want to be part of a Catholic community, who's my local priest'. That's encouraging, as they're not just calling out of curiosity, they're actually taking the next step." The material that CEC currently sends out is designed to provide an introduction to the Catholic faith and enquirers are encouraged to build on what they learn by seek-
For more info and to RSVP phone 1300 4 FAITH (1300 432 484) or infoQi,catholicenquiry.com.
Northern parishes to present The Three Marys The Three Marys to evangelise Perth's faithful, by the faithful. PEOPLE from the three northern parishes of Ocean Reef, Whitford and Wanneroo are combining to present a three-act
play called The Three Marys - the Virgin Mary, Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene. It is the third biblical drama written by Gerald Searle and performed by the St Simon Peter Players (Ocean Reef) with support from the other parishes. Each play has involved more than 100 people as cast and crew,
and the two earlier ones attracted crowds of more than 1000, including Archbishop Hickey and Bishop Sproxton. The latest production will open in the state-of-the-art Prendiville Performing Arts Centre at Prendiville College on the corner of Marmion and Prendiville Avenues in Ocean Reef on Friday
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the St Simon Peter music group InSpiritus, directed by Thierry Venaille and Fran Beale. This year's music is expected to be at least as popular. The Three Marys has been in preparation for nearly 12 months, once again under the direction of June Allen. It has added greatly to the community life of the parishes involved. Tickets are $15 and $8 concession for evenings and $10 and $8 for the matinee, with a $25 family ticket for the matinee. They are available from the St Simon Peter parish office 9am-to 12noon or from Gerald Searle on 9404 7292.
June 19, followed by afternoon and evening performances at 2.30 and 8pm on Saturday, June 20. Mr Searle said he was inspired to write The Three Marys because of the enthusiastic support of women for the two previous plays in which they were necessarily limited to supporting roles. Those plays were No Greater Love, about the trial and death of Jesus, and Let the Children Be, about His special relationship with children. Both plays were also performed in Broome when Mr Searle was living there. A strong feature of the plays presented in Ocean Reef has been the original songs and music by
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May 27 2009, The Record
THE PARISH
Life champion retires from Parliament \NA MPs Life Group founding member calls it a day.
Pro-life voice still alive despite defeat Pro-lifers mark 11 years since abortion legalised.
• By Hugh Ryan
THE Hon Barbara Scott MLC has retired from the WA Parliament after 16 years of service and a proud record of defending human life in the face of many challenges. She was one of the founding members of the MPs Life Group, a cross-party group of MPs who share beliefs about life issues established in 1998 in response to the horrific abortion laws then being proposed for Western Australia, and sadly passed. Since then there have been a number of issues for the group to handle, including the destruction of live human embryos for research, human cloning, surrogacy, living wills and most recently prostitution. A liberal Member for South Metropolitan in the Legislative Council, Barbara Scott took a leading role last year in trying to defeat the Labor Party's prostitution Bill which would have denied all communities in WA the freedom to reject brothels. Predictably, the Greens supported Labor and the Independent Shelley Archer changed her mind to give Labor a one-vote majority. Then a political miracle occurred. With the Bill on the governor's desk waiting to be signed into law, former Premier Alan Carpenter called an early election last September, and spectacularly lost it. The incoming Attorney General, Christian Porter, immediately withdrew the Bill from the Governor's desk. It will be formally repealed when he presents his own bill to Parliament. At that point Mrs Scott decided to take the initiative before the Attorney General could be assault-
Barbara Scott
ed by the various pro-prostitution lobbyists. Immediately following the election she went to Sweden and Belgium to meet with the designers, implementers, and enforcers of the Swedish prostitution legislation - popularly known as the Swedish model. A fter each meeting overseas, piles of material were emailed back to her office in Perth and she spent much of her time in her last few months in Parliament preparing material that would open the way for effective legislation in WA. Mrs Scott said that in discussions with Gunilla Ekberg, the expert adviser to the Swedish Government in the development and implementation of their legislation, it became clear that a lot of work would be needed to establish in the community the principles for legislation to stop the spread of prostitution, to stop the abuse and exploitation of women and children, and to stop the trafficking of human beings for sexual purposes. It would also be necessary to reduce the organised crime, money laundering and drug trade that were so closely aligned and associated with prostitution.
TODAY 4fr'iV
PRO-LIFE politicians, including Liberal MLC Barbara Scott and President of the Legislative Council Nick Griffiths, who are retired from Parliament on May 21, were farewelled at the Coalition for the Defence of Human Life's annual Rally for Life at Perth's Parliament House that day. "This rally commemorated the 90,000 unborn babies killed in Western Australia since the abortion law was signed by the Governor on May 26, 1998. We are grateful to MPs like Nick Griffiths and Barbara Scott who over the past decade have continued to speak out in the Parliament in defence of human life, successfully opposing attempts to legalise human cloning and euthanasia," said Richard Egan, spokesman for the Coalition. Newly elected MPs joined the rally this year including Finally, the new Government would have to send a clear message to the community that new legislation would be radically different from the Labor government's prostitution legislation, which, rather than stopping prostitution, was more concerned to provide good, healthy women to be abused by men. "At first glance these sorts of principles may seem unrealistic," Mrs Scott said, "but in 1998 the Swedish Parliament decided that they were not unrealistic goals and that they were worth fighting for." Prior to legislation being introduced into the Swedish Parliament, community education programs and the work of the women's move-
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Peter Abetz, the Liberal member for Southern River and Bill Johnson, the Labor member for Cannington. "The co-operation of MPs across party lines in defence of
ment slowly changed that community's culture to recognise that acts of prostitution are acts of abuse. The Swedish government then decided to curb the proliferation of prostitution by criminalising the person who hires another for sexual purposes; in other words, the government turned the purchasing of a sexual act into a crime, and the criminal was the client not the prostitute. Ten years later, astonishing gains have been achieved in reducing all levels of prostitution, in protecting Sweden from the European scourge of trafficking in women, and in creating new life opportunities for women freed from prostitution. Mrs Scott also met with Kajsa Wahlberg, head of the elite police group dealing with prostitution and Sweden's representative at police meetings at European Union level, who told her that initially there was huge resistance from the Swedish police who were critical of the new law. A year after the law was passed, the government established an education and training program for all police personnel, and there was a 300 per cent increase in the number of arrests. Swedish police had now embraced the law and found it helpful in controlling all forms of sexual crime. Mrs Scott said that during her visit, Norway passed laws similar to Sweden, and other countries, including Scotland and England, were looking seriously at the Swedish legislation. England was drafting legislation to charge anybody purchasing a sexual service from a trafficked woman or a woman coerced into prostitution. "The provision of exit programs is very important in any such legislation," Mrs Scott said. "In Sweden, the exit programs are provided for any woman or girl St Vincent de Paul Society who wants to leave prostitution. They are provided 5ctrd, wcris under a welfare budget, not dissimilar to the way our women's refuges are run. In
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Youth at the Parliament House rally with murals they made to protest during the 11th anniversary of the legalising of abortion in WA.
human life is vital and our annual rallies help foster that co-operation as well as assuring pro-life politicians that their courageous stand is deeply appreciated by the public," Mr Egan said. fact, it is a refuge because women can go there out of prostitution or out of a violent relationship and the shelters have counsellors to help women who have been abused either in domestic violencc or in prostitution. Many women who leave prostitution access adult education at these centres, which gives them a step up into another career path. Another interesting thing that came up in the discussions was the high level of abuse amongst women and young girls in prostitution before they entered prostitution. About 87 per cent of prostitutes were either abused as children, neglected or in vulnerable situations. It is not the image that is promoted of prostitution, but it is the reality and emphasises why prostitution must be seen as a form of abuse of women. I do believe that it is very much on the shoulders of women MPs and women in the community to send a clear message to Parliament that prostitution is not just something that men should be allowed to do to women." Mrs Scott said her meeting with Attorney General Christian Porter on her return from Sweden went well but there was still much to be done. A number of good MPs who care about life issues were elected last September and the ranks of the Life Group increased. Nevertheless the numbers were not sufficient without public support. Many people had given long and devoted support to life issues and she thanked them for the encouragement they had given to her and other MPs who were struggling against the odds. "The problem of prostitution is one where many others can join the struggle because there is so much everyone can do:' Mrs Scott said. "Firstly, ring your local Members of Parliament and ask them about their views on prostitution, and ask them about the Swedish approach. If you have the time to go the next step, write a letter asking if the MP has had a chance to look into the issues you discussed over the phone. If you still have time join your local branch of the Liberal or Labor Party (ring the Party's headquarters to obtain this information) and make prostitution an issue for that branch."
May 27 2009, The Record
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THE PARISH
Monsignori investiture elates the faithful The Archdiocese of Perth rejoices as its two newest Monsignori get their sashes. THE investiture of the Archdiocese of Perth's two newest Monsignors, Kevin Long and Brian O'Loughlin, was an ecumenical occasion as Archbishop Barry Hickey presided at Solemn Vespers on May 17 at the Chapel of St Michael the Archangel within the Catholic Education Office, Leederville. Fr Boutros Touma Issa of the Syrian Orthodox Church and his family, and Dr Noel Vose of the Baptist Church who represents Monsignor Long's ecumenical work watched as Archbishop Barry Hickey presided over Evening Prayer of the Church or Vespers. Family and friends of the new Monsignori included Mrs Clare Long, mother of Mgr Long, his brother Philip and sister-in-law Robyn, who had travelled from Melbourne and made mention that Mgr Long's uncle is Monsignor Bryan Long of the Diocese of Sandhurst in Victoria, where he was Vicar General. Mgr O'Loughlin's mother, Mrs Mary Thompson, and his sister Pauline and brothers Patrick, Stephen and Mark, also attended, though his now senior brother Chris could not make it. The Vespers were chanted by the Seminarians from St Charles Seminary, Guildford where Mgr Long is Rector, with seminary music teacher Andrew Cichy as accompanist and cantor Mark Baumgarten from the seminary. Archbishop Hickey blessed the monsignorial sashes which were then placed on the new prelates by their respective mothers, Mrs Mary Thompson for Mgr O'Loughlin and Mrs Long for Mgr Long. Fr Thai Vu, Vocations Director and first-year formator at St Charles Seminary, arranged for the Vicar General's father, a tailor, to visit the seminary to take the measurements of the two new Monsignori, for the soutanes and sashes to be made by the Sisters of the Carmelite Monastery in Saigon and to be brought to Perth on the Wednesday night. Mgr O'Loughlin
Mgr Kevin Long, Mrs Clare Long, St Charles Student President, seminarian Roshan and Fr John O'Reilly.
Clockwise from above: Archbishop Barry Hickey presides over the Investiture Mass for Perth's two newest Monsignori; Mgr Long stands during Mass; Mrs Mary Thompson girds her newly invested son Mgr Brian O'Loughlin with his Monsignorial sash; Mrs Clare Long girds her son, Mgr Kevin. PHOTOS: FRANCIS CONSTANTINO
acknowledged apologies from Monsignor Sean O'Shea, whose altar server he had once been and while a student at Christian
Terminaly ill exhorts care Terminally ill patient says palliative care is the only way. ON November 24, 2008, Shirley Trippe, aged 74, knew her world had turned upside down upon receiving the news that she had advanced colon cancer. Like many other patients suffering from the disease, Shirley immediately began the process of her treatment and investigated her options. Whilst nursing homes and hospice stays were a reality, her medical team and family opted for a palliative care plan and decided on the Bendat Family Comprehensive Cancer Centre (BFCCC) at St John of God Hospital Subiaco (SJOGHS). Shirley, along with her Oncologist, family and medical consultants at SJOGHS realised that the benefits of palliative care far outweighed any other option and allowed her to take advantage of 24 hour care and sophisticated facilities in a specialised environment. "When my family and I had the first meeting with the palliative care team at SJOGHS we were very solemn about the idea, but then it was explained that nowadays there is much earlier intervention when it comes to palliative care and it doesn't necessarily mean you are going to die tomorrow," Mrs Trippe said. "When thinking things through I wondered how I would clean up after myself at home or, get up after a fall. And even though there are home services available, they can't be there 24 hours of the day. The fact that I can ring a bell at any hour of the day and have access to a nurse is a very reassuring thing."
One of Western Australia's leading cancer facilities, the BFCCC provides palliative care support to those patients and families who are suffering from an illness that is not responsive to curative treatment. SJOGHS Director of Nursing, Ms Chris Hanna, believes that palliative care provides a holistic approach for terminally ill patients and encourays early referral to the service in a persons treatment plan. "When a person is first diagnosed with cancer, they completely rely on their doctor/s for information and options. It is at this stage of their treatment plan that patients should be informed of the benefits of palliative care and how it can assist their quality of life Ms Hanna said. The BFCCC has a dedicated ward for cancer sufferers, including five palliative care rooms. These rooms have been purpose built to enable a family member to stay over if required, are larger than normal hospital rooms with a comfortable leather recliner and each has its own balcony so the patient can access the outdoors. Palliative care patients have the convenience of having their chemotherapy treatment downstairs in the Centre's Ivy Suite. They also have access to an array of services including a Patient Liaison Officer, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Social Work, Pastoral care and a range of integrative (complementary) services. May 25 marked the beginning of Palliative Care Week and with the theme of 'If onlyIknew', Palliative Care Australia hopes to raise awareness so more cancer sufferers understand what options are available to them at the beginning of their diagnosis.
Brothers College in Fremantle, he was a member of the Legion of Mary at the Stella Mans Club and assisted Monsignor in ship
visitation, stating that "perhaps this was the beginning of my interest in things nautical, which has continued with my regular working holidays as Chaplain on cruise ships!" "Early in Holy Week, I phoned my now late cousin, Margaret Gallagher of Cottesloe, checking on the current addresses of my Gallagher and Kenny extended family members. I said I need the addresses as the Pope has appointed me a Monsignor and I am compiling the guest list. Margaret was delighted to hear the news and said so. I now thank God that I told her the reason for my phone call, as sadly Margaret died suddenly the week after Easter," Mgr O'Loughlin said. "I remember how proud my father, Gerard Patrick O'Loughlin was in February 1971 at the Perth Rail Terminal, saying to the station attendant, 'That's my son and he's going to Adelaide to study to be a priest'. Little did I realise then, that my father would be dead six months later, dying on my mother's birthday. He only lived to see me tonsured at St Charles Seminary in November 1970." Reminding seminarians what tonsure is, he said it is or was an ecclesiastical haircut whereby the bishop makes a layman a cleric. "With what relish did Archbishop Goody perform that rite on yours truly and my fellow long-haired confreres. There was in those days, plenty of hair for him to leave an impression."
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THE NATION
Adelaide Catholics give public witness to Marian devotion
40 days of prayer converts hearts 40 days of perpetual ecumenical prayer to be promoted in other dioceses, says organiser. • By Anthony Barich
Adelaide Christian Brothers College students carry the statue of Mary; below, Bishop-Elect for the Port Pine Diocese, Bishop Greg O'Kelly Si, former Adelaide Auxiliary Bishop, holds aloft the Blessed Sacrament on the day.
Marian Procession gives public witness. THE 60th Marian Procession, possibly South Australia's longest-running outdoor religious event, paraded through the streets of Adelaide on May 17. The procession began in the city's south parklands from 2.15pm, with thousands of Catholics celebrating their deep love of Mary, Mother of God. Held every year since 1949, the Marian Procession involves thousands of Catholics from diverse cultural backgrounds in traditional costumes and carrying colourful banners reciting prayers while following Archbishop Philip Wilson and a decorated statue of Mary. He said that the parklands venue provided a truly Australian setting for the procession, with a backdrop of 6000 trees that were planted by pilgrims visiting Adelaide as part of World Youth Day last year. "Just as World Youth Day was a great demonstration of the deep spirituality of our young people, the Marian Procession provides a wonderful opportunity for Catholics from all walks of life to express their faith and their devotion to Mary," he said. In 1949 The Southern Cross newspaper reported that 6000 people assembled at St Francis Xavier's Seminary, Stradbroke Park, on Sunday, August 21 to participate in the "first outdoor act of devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the Archdiocese of Adelaide".
DIOCESE OF BROOME
CATIMOIK 101DUANTEER MONVICE.
The Dkzeme of Broome. Westem Australis, urgently requires volunteers - aspecilly couples - Ipmenfe wfthin the Diocese. Duties mary Indode arty of the following: Iij,wwkb in Auras. holding and vehicle maintammak housekeeping laic-keeping tomsport end ground melotenance. Plucomints ors preferred faru period of twaIv. months but radormd Umi would ba considered. FarfurthEr details end an •ppliarlion form plums coMort: Mrs Vicki Batzlry:Phcrum GB D1021060 or • adminabraumedbonaarg PO Ica 76, BROOME WA 671S
May 27 2009, The Record
UNCONFIRMED reports of couples deciding against abortion have been cited during a 40-day, 24-hours-aday ecumenical prayer vigil outside a Planned Parenthood clinic in Brisbane over Lent. Over 250 people, including Catholics, Anglicans, Baptists and other Christians, attended various stages of the 960 hours of prayer from midnight on Ash Wednesday until Palm Sunday outside the Planned Parenthood abortion clinic on Markwell Street, a major arterial road in Clayfield leading out of Brisbane CBD. It was planned during the State's election campaign period, with the State's incumbent Labor Government seeking an MP to put up a similar bill to the Victorian Abortion Law Reform Bill that forced Christian doctors to refer women onto another doctor who did not oppose abortion. The abortion debate had also been stirred when a 19-year-old woman was charged last month with organising her own abortion, and the State's secular media publicised 35 pro-choice protesters lobbying the successful Labor Government to change its abortion laws. No such coverage was given to the 40-day perpetual prayer vigil, despite organisers contacting all local media
outlets. The vigil was part of a threepoint plan that included prayer and fasting and community outreach, borrowed from the US pro-life movement that has been emboldened since the election of United States president Barack Obama, who is believed to be the most actively pro-choice president in the country's history. The initiative, which was so successful in Brisbane it is to be an annual event, is also understood to be active in cities of Northern Ireland. The Queensland vigil was started by Catholic parishioner Brendan Wong, 33, whose American wife Judith from Pennsylvania got the idea from her mother back in the US. Mr Wong, a chartered accountant, expected hundreds more but understood the sensitivities due to the timing of the vigil. He said it was still a unifying event for Christians, with students from Brisbane's Holy Spirit Seminary, Christian Brothers and local priests attending. Brisbane Archbishop John Bathersby and Mr Wong's parish priest, Brisbane Archdiocesan Chancellor and Canon lawyer Fr Adrian Farrelly, were both supportive but did not attend. Mr Wong, a father of one with another on the way, said he has "plenty of evidence" that the number of abortions while the vigil was on were significantly reduced, as on many days there were no customers at the clinic. "We've also had a couple of unconfirmed people who didn't end up going ahead with their abortions, but we've been unable to track them down, understandably," he said. He said the pray-ers received a mixed
A Catholic pro-lifer prays outside Brisbane's Planned Parenthood clinic near the heart of the CBD.
response, to supportive passers-by actually joining in to people yelling abuse and hurling eggs at them. "It touched people's hearts, and we had the full gamut of people reacting to us," he said. "I really encourage other cities to start a 40-day vigil. It is surpsisingly easy to organise," he said. "We don't just want it to be Brisbane that has done this kind of thing. It's a growing movement around the western world." For more information email 40daysbrisbane@gmail.com or call 0422 918300.
Ugandan priest humbled by generosity • By Mark Reidy
A STORY published in October last year about the difficulties of a motorcycle riding priest in rural Uganda inspired an overwhelming response from readers of The Record. Fr Paschal Kavuma, who was reliant on his dilapidated vehicle to visit each of the 16 substations within the Masaka Diocese, was concerned at the time about how he would minister and support his 150,000 scattered parishioners should the unreliable bike permanently cease to function. Now he is the proud but humbled owner of an updated vehicle thanks to Mundaring parishioners Maurice and Margaret Merrifield, who had been corresponding with the priest by email after reading The Record. "We were touched by the determination and perseverance of Fr Paschal as he attempted to fulfil his priestly duties under such trying condi-
in brief...
Centrelink in same-sex changes Customers who are in a same-sex relationship will be recognised as partnered for Centrelink purposes and will be assessed in the same way as other couples from July onwards. C entrelink's recently-released Autumn edition of News for Seniors outlines the changes to the pension following the Federal Government's reforms last year which recognise all partners regardless of sexual orientation or gender. The Commonwealth Seniors Health Card entitlement will also be assessed based on both partners' combined income. Same sex couples can also be included as a family for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) Safety Net.
tions", Mrs. Merrifield explained last year. She said that the young Ugandan priest, on his first appointment, was regularly breaking down on his journeys to the most remote corners of his Diocese. The new motorbike now provides Fr Paschal with peace of mind as he travels hundreds of kilometres every week providing support to parishioners, students and teachers as well as administrating Sacraments to people who very rarely have access to a priest. Fr Paschal told the Merrifields that he was in complete shock at the kindness of his brothers and sisters in Christ from the other side of the world. "I could not believe when I saw the money in the account", he emailed the Merrifields, "I was like the Apostle Thomas. What words canI use to express my gratitude, what can I say now, but God bless you all:' Fr Paschal, who used any extra donations he received to renovate the unhygienic toilet conditions at one of
the poorest schools in the region, also sent an email to The Record office in March this year: Dear people of God, Igreet you all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Its only the Almighty God who can reward you as He said, "You can be sure that whoever gives even a drink of cold water to one of these my followers because he is my follower, will certainly receive my reward" (Matt 10: 40-42). Certainly this is more than a drink of water, but rather participating in making His Kingdom reaching near and far, surely He will reward you abundantly and may He give what He regards best for you. All the donors, those who wished to donate, and those who prayed for the exercise, God bless you all. To the Management of The Record, thank you so much. Jjaja Margaret and Maurice, Blessings to you. To all the readers of the Record,I wish you a fruitful Lenten season. Fr Paschal.
Members of same-sex couples will be treated in the same way as members of opposite-sex couples in the income and assets tests for entry to permanent residential aged care. These changes, Australian Family Association spokesperson Gillian Gonzalez says, are the result of the government last year amending many acts of parliament that were claimed to be discriminating against same-sex couples. She said that these changes by Centrelink reflect a pandering to the same-sex lobby, despite the 2006 Census revealing about 7000 samesex couples in Australia, and further undermine the status of marriage in the community.
city. Blessed MacKillop, who started the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart in 1866 to care for and educate poor outback children in South Australia, was beatified by the late Pope John Paul II in 1995. Mary MacKillop and five other Sisters of St Joseph came to Brisbane in December 1869 and rented a house in South Brisbane. In 1870 they opened three schools for the poorer children in Brisbane and one in Maryborough, about 200km north of Brisbane. The decision to name her as the patron of the Archdiocese of Brisbane was made following a request from Archbishop John A Bathersby, who said that Blessed MacKillop's "deep faith, energy, courage, vision and contribution to Catholic education made her a most appropriate patron for the archdiocese". Sr Moya Campbell, Provincial of the Order's Queensland Sisters, said that they were "delighted" at their founder's selection.
New Brisbane patron The Congregation for Divine Worship has named Blessed Mary MacKillop as patron of the Archdiocese of Brisbane, Australia's third-largest
May 27 2009, The Record
THE NATION
Eucharist to strengthen youth International powerhouse comes to Perth. • By Mark Reidy
A WEEKEND retreat on July 4-5 will provide young Perth Catholics with the opportunity to become involved in a worldwide movement that is drawing thousands of youth back to the Church and igniting a wave of vocations across the globe. The Retreat, which will be held at St Brigid's in North Perth, is designed to inspire a deeper love for Jesus Christ in the Eucharist and the Sacraments as well as a greater devotion to Mary. The two-day gathering will be conducted under the umbrella of the Mary Help of Christians Crusade (MHCC), which is the youth arm of the Philippinesbased Alliance of the Holy Family International (A FHI). The mission of the Alliance, which received approval from the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith in 1996, is to restore and strengthen holiness, unity and healing within clergy, family, youth and media. The Spiritual Director of the movement, Fr Bing Arellano, who has delivered the movement's message to thousands, will lead the St Brigid's retreat. In preparation for the July event, Brothers from the Oblate Apostles of the Two Hearts (OATH), one of the communities spiritually spear-
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An Alliance priest holds aloft the Blessed Sacrament during the 2007 Perth PHOTO' ANTHONY BARICH conference at Maida Vale.
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heading the AFHI, will be in Perth from 4-6 June to speak to young people about the movement and the upcoming retreat. They will be addressing youth in Bunbury on June 4-5 and at Allendale Square Church in Perth at 7pm on June 7. The OATH Brothers visit will coincide with Perth AFHI's regular vigil, which is held on the first Friday of every month at Corpus Christi Church in Mosman Park from 7pm -lam. Participants at the June talks and July Retreat will also learn about the ADORE Eucharistic Youth Congresses that are held in Australia and internationally each year and are organised
with the assistance of the local MHCC. To date they have been held in the US, Canada, Hong Kong, the Philippines, as well as in Melbourne (2004, 2009), Sydney (2005), Brisbane (2006) and Perth (2007), drawing many youth to a greater understanding and appreciation of the Sacraments of the Church as well as inspiring hundreds of religious vocations. For more information regarding the AFHI vigils, the Brothers' June talks or the July Retreat contact Vicky Kingsbury on 0400282357. To find out more about AFHI see w ww.youtube.com/user/AHFInternational and for Adore Congresses go to www.mhccadore.com.
In many parts of the land Our Lord Jesus Christ knew so well, the faithful now live in fear as increasing poverty and growing extremism threaten the survival of these ancient communities. A mass exodus of Christians from the Middle East is now taking place. For some it is a question of escaping bloody persecution. In the Holy Land for example, the proportion of Christians has plummeted from 20% to as little as 1.4% in the last 40 years. ACN is helping to keep faith and hope alive throughout the region by providing urgent aid to priests, religious and lay people, offering subsistence help to refugees and building and repairing Churches and convents. Please help us strengthen and rebuild the Church in the land of Christ's birth.
" ... Churches in the Middle East are threatened in their very existence... May God grant A CN strength to help wherever the need is greatest. " Pope Benedict XVI
A beautiful, olive wood crucifix, handcrafted in Bethlehem, will be sent to all those who give a donation of $20.00 or more to help this campaign. Please tick the box below if you like to receive the little olive wood crucifix*. ME
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Donation Form: SOS! - Christianity in the Middle East Send To: Aid to the Church in Need, PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148 Phone/Fax No: (02) 9679-1929
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Catholic Underground
DEEPLY saddened by the crisis engulfing Christianity in the Middle East, Pope Benedict XVI has asked the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) to provide urgent help.
MI
Fire of World Youth Day 2008 set to be re-ignited in Sydney sogie
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E-mail: info@aidtochurch.org Web: wIswaidtochurch.org
to help keep I/We enclose $ Christianity alive in the Middle East.
I enclose a cheque/money order payable to Aid to the Church in Need OR please debit my Visa or Mastercard
{:IYes please send me the little olive wood crucifix* Made of olive wood from the Holy Land, this small crucifix is powerfully evocative of Christ's passion and death. The crucifixes are lovingly handcrafted by poverty stricken families in Bethlehem and your donation helps them survive. Comes in a display box with accompanying religious image. (Size 12cm x 7cm)
Page 7
Exp. Date
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%id to the ( hurch in Need .... a Catholic cliarit dependent on the IInk See. pros iding pastoral reliel to needs and oppressed Churches
You've seen Fairer Stan Fortuna, now join us as we bring his fellow Franciscan Friars of the Renewal direct from New Jersey. USA for 'Catholic Underground the event which is taking America by storm and Ireland and the UK also
, 1111k
The night begins with adoration and praise led by the Friars, followed by a showcase of their artistic talent and music, lighting up the night with a great performance. SCENE progr =•••••• -r -,fam and to regyster.
Catholic Undergr,,,J .s pad r...!
Congress to re-ignite Australia one year on. Congress Sydney THE Embracing the New Evangelisation (SCENE) is set to engage the whole Catholic Church around Australia at St Mary's Cathedral in the harbour city from July 18-26. The event, timed to fall one year on from World Youth Day, has been designed to offer an environment for formation, teaching, testimony and practical insight for proclaiming the Gospel and living the life of Grace today, and will bring together a range of speakers from home and abroad. It is a Congress for teachers, parishes, families, priests and religious, catechists, young people, communities, movements, retirees and all individuals. You will see from the Program that the Congress consists of plenary Sessions in the Cathedral during the mornings, with a range of evangelisation events taking place in the city during the afternoons and evenings. All Catholics of the Archdiocese regardless of age are invited to register as delegates for the whole or part of the week. SCENE will open with a Family Congress on July 19, starting with Mass at 10.30am, lunch and workshops in Philip Park, concluding with an act of Consecration to the Blessed Mother in the Cathedral at 3pm. All the way from New Jersey, the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (to which Fr Stan Fortuna belongs) will showcase their Catholic Underground apostolate which is taking America by storm as well as Ireland and the UK. The first part of the evening is Eucharistic Adoration and begins with Vespers (Evening Prayer). The Holy hour ends with solemn Benediction. The second part showcases Catholic artists and musicians. Finally, the evening ends as we began with the prayer of the Church, Night Prayer. Groups of at least several parishioners from within a parish will be
encouraged to register as delegates, so that they can be a presence within the congress and then discuss it with their parish. A Vocations Expo, in the style of the one held during WYD, will be held in Martin Place, Monday to Wednesday, 10am-7pm, during the Congress. Perth-based Franciscan Friar of Mary Immaculate, Fr Joseph McShane will feature as a workshop leader in the afternoons on the topic of "Our Lady and the New Evangelisation" and "Media & Evangelisation/New Evangelisation through the Media (radio, internet, media)". A live radio broadcast of his radio station "Gate of Heaven" Catholic Radio, 107.9FM Radio (Perth), will be held from Martin Place in Sydney. Organisers say that this is a timely opportunity for all of us to witness to Christ in the City. "Sydney will once again witness the energy and excitement that brought the city alive during World Youth Day, as Catholics from across Australia are encouraged to join in the "Christ in the City" evangelisation events in the CBD proclaiming love, joy and above all, Christ:' organisers said. Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Julian Porteous said that the Congress represents the next phase of the Evangelisation plan for Sydney and Australia to capitalise on the graces received during WYD08. Communities and movements involved in evangelisation works are encouraged to help delegates with practical hands-on experience of evangelisation during the week as well as gain the opportunity of learning from other delegates from Australia and abroad. "World Youth day has significantly shaped the future of the Church in Australia and SCENE offers an opportunity to continue inspiring others in the great commission of Christ to proclaim the Gospel. We should have a very fruitful and challenging interchange in the Congress' afternoon workshops," he said. For more information contact Elizabeth Peoples on 9390-5996, Fr Richard Aladics on 0439 410 612 or visit www.scene.org.au.
Page 8
LETTERS
Letters to the editor
THE RECORD PO Box 75 Leederville, WA 6902 cathrec@iinet.net.au Tel: (08) 9227 7080 Fax: (08) 9227 7087
•N th e ,o`"
LETTERS T.J
hE EDITOR
°In Cause of deathdealing hard to pull back from GW Searle (Opinions page, May 13) speaks out in support of Barack Obama, because he sees him as a "man of great sincerity, honesty and integrity". Few would deny that Barack Obama has some (perhaps many) wonderful character traits. Many people do. He may even do some wonderful things for the USA. I, for one, hope that he rectifies the currently iniquitous healthcare system. When Americans get a president, they get the whole package. This particular president approves, through his actions, of killing the unborn. Their previous president worked against abortion, but forwarded the cause of war in Iraq. Clearly, no one gets it right all of the time. But is that the point? Surely the right to life of the innocent unborn is paramount? Without this right, all other rights are meaningless. The US president holds the future of his country's citizens in his hands, but this one is quite willing to let some (at least a million per year) of these future citizens be dismembered and flushed into the sewerage system. Someone with great sincerity, honesty and (apparent) integrity could say "Personally, I am opposed to rape, but I won't prevent another from raping, if that is what they choose to do:' This is what the alleged "right to choose" says. For all his possible good points, Barack Obama has legitimised and endorsed the right to choose to kill - an obvious evil. It is also very difficult to accept someone's "integrity" if they, on one hand, claim to be a Christian, and on the other, support the right to kill the unborn. Barack Obama has set his face to furthering the cause of deathdealing, a course which is hard to pull back from. CV Phillips Burswood
Catholics oppose Barack not just due to identity G W Searle's letter (May 13) needs to be considered carefully. He suggests that many Catholics, prestigious and ordinary, condemn President Obama's stand on abortion. They may condemn merely because it is fashionable among Catholics. However, one hopes that they do so on moral grounds. The life story of the President is told in two books, which outline his beliefs and values. These have convinced the writer that he is a man of great sincerity, honesty and integrity. A recent article about a woman
May 27 2009, The Record
who was reared in Mudgee as a Christian, was based on her book. She became a Muslim and joined the jihad movement. (The weekend Australian Magazine 2-3 May 2009). It seems that she was more dedicated, as a member of jihad, than most Catholics are, to their task of working for justice in the political area. (Deus Caritas Est.) The President was invited to speak at Notre Dame, Indiana. He was, more likely invited, not to discuss morality, but for political prestige. The teaching of morality is the duty of the bishops and the clergy. The present recession, at first referred to as the debt crisis, was debt induced. The dignity of the whole and every person is paramount. This must be recognised, by someone with honesty and integrity, to stop, what some call, a natural cycle. When many others base their voluntary human actions on moral law this will happen. John McKay Tamm in
No Scandinavian Protestantism here As a Catholic who began going to Mass in the days before Vatican II, I have long been familiar with The Record. However, I hardly ever read it and the stands which held them were more like a part of church architecture than anything else. Indeed the only time I bought a copy as a young man was soon after I began my acting career and used to read Colm O'Dougherty's superb theatre reviews. Recently I have once again been buying your magazine. I saw this really as a donation rather like putting money into the church restoration box. Soon I started skimming through it as I had my after-Mass coffee at a café and I found I was reading more and more of the opinion pieces and reviews. Gradually I realised this was not just a record of parish doings, but a paper that didn't read like 95 per cent of the papers and magazines published in the country. In short, this was a publication that was willing to question the whole liberal - humanist consensus that governs our society. You were the only local paper I know of for example that had a review of The Myth of Hitler's Pope, that extraordinary book that is even now changing views of the wartime conduct of Pius XII. When I finally got over my intellectual snobbery I started reading the "Parish News" and devotional pieces and was extremely surprised in Australian Devotion to Mary and individual saints, belief in the sinfulness of humans, opposition to abortion and genetic engineering were a revelation to someone who
has seen much of Catholicism being turned into a kind of dreary Scandinavian Protestantism. However you are doing it, in an age of staggering conformity you are turning out a most readable paper. Please keep doing it. James Hogan Fremantle
Lessons in Greenland In response and in addition to your article on global warming ( The Record, May 20), I would like to add a few observations culled from my general reading. As the author already said, there have been numerous climate changes. My favourite comment on the utterances of the climate change pessimists has been, and still is: 'Why is ice-bound Greenland called "green" land?' The reason is very straightforward: When the Vikings discovered Greenland it was 'green' and the Vikings settled and lived there as farmers for some hundred years till it got too cold. I don't believe that that climate-change was due to industrial pollution. If the thawing of Greenland continues, their descendants may well go back there and reclaim the family farm. The reason for the climate change was obviously due to cosmic influences, a dust-cloud from an age-old supernova explosion, maybe; there are plenty of them floating around in stellar space. And it may happen again. Quite some time ago, I received an email newsletter from the Chandra-Harvard Observatory, an X-ray observatory that specialises in the study of supernovas. The letter told me that the 'Eta Carina' star, about 10 degrees south of the equator, which, they believe, partially exploded some 2000 years ago, and then fizzled out again, was showing 'signs of activity Maybe it is the next supernova in our skies, and Darwin will have a grandstand view. For the moment, we are under the influence of a giant black hole, which is laying in wait to swallow up the Milky Way. It is early days yet, and it may take a few thousand years before it happens, but it may already be affecting the 'slumber' of our cosmic environment and, consequently, our weather. (Google: 'Great Attractor'). Matt Bruekers Lesmurdie
See the truth behind the guise GW Searle (Letters 13/5) may not recognise that 'pro-choice' and 'pro-embryonic stem cell research' are terms that are used to dress up what it actually signifies ie pro-death - in this case the death of innocent unborn babies who depend on us to fight their battle to allow them to live. President Obama not only supports pro-death, he promotes it and, as President, has the power to finance it out of taxpayers' money, many of them Catholics who value life. He also supports partial birth abortion and infanticide and GW, if you don't know what these
Letter of the week Obama's virtues cannot be separated from his murderous policies G W Searle (The Record May 13) can't understand why some Catholics object to President Barack Obama being invited to Notre Dame, America's best-known Catholic university, to be awarded an honorary degree. Two days later, as if in reply to Mr Searle, columnist Dave May (Canada Free Press May 15) asked in exasperation: 'But God help us - what the Devil were Catholics thinking of in the first place by cozying up to the most pro-abortion politician ever to be elected to the US Senate?' After reading Mr Searle's letter, I think we have a sample of the kind of thing that American Catholic voters (or anyway, the 54 per cent of them who voted for Obama) were thinking of. Their thoughts were warm and fuzzy. They were thinking that because there were other matters on which they agreed with Obama ('hope and change'- whatever that might mean, the symbolism of electing a black president, wind power, social security payments, 'a breath of fresh air' or whatever), this somehow outweighed the fact that he had promoted, with the utmost consistency, the legalised destruction of human beings before birth by embryo experimentation and abortion. In the election result last November, and in the present appalling blunder at Notre Dame, the complaint is not primarily against Obama, who may, for all I know, be 'a man of great sincerity, honesty and integrity', as Mr Searle believes, but who has never made any secret of his support for the slaying of the innocent (he would not, of course, put it like that), and whose voting record, in the US Senate and before that in the Illinois Senate, speaks for itself. He has voted twice to support 'partial birth' abortion, in which a baby's skull is crushed after the rest of his or her body has already been born. He has voted against requiring doctors to give life-saving treatment to a baby who is born alive in an attempted abortion. His policy decisions and the appointments he has made since becoming president have been consistently pro-abortion. It is true that he has soft-pedalled his most radical objectives, and has taken care to project himself as a serious and thoughtful man who listens to everyone, disagrees with no-one, and seeks common ground, but that is the kind of thing politicians do. If the president of a Catholic university and millions of Catholic voters (Obama was less successful in conning Protestant voters) have allowed themselves to be soothed by his moderate manner into overlooking, as no big deal, the plain fact of his murderous policies, whose fault is that? Mr Searle asks plaintively why can't we enter into 'open and frank discussions' with people who hold 'different beliefs and values', on the model of Our Lord's 'open and frank discussions' with the Scribes and Pharisees. But Our Lord's communications with the Scribes and Pharisees, though admirably open and frank, were hardly discussions: he spent all his time telling them off. Father Jenkins, the president of Notre Dame University, has not invited President Obama to the university to tell him off. And whatever Fr Jenkins, in his attempts to justify his invitation, would have us believe, a university graduation ceremony, incorporating the award of an honorary degree, is not a format for open and frank discussion either. Someone from the university usually makes a short but flowery speech in praise of the honoured visitor. At some stage he is presented with a scroll. The honoured visitor then gives a much longer address, to which everyone in the hall listens in respectful silence, followed by applause. Then everyone goes home. There is no opportunity whatever for questions or discussion. President Obama's virtues, whatever they may be, cannot be separated from his murderous policies. If he had consistently promoted laws allowing the killing of any other category of innocent Americans (blondes, for example), would he have been honoured with a degree (Doctor of Laws, no less) from his nation's bestknown Catholic university? In honouring Obama, Fr Jenkins has made an ill-considered decision, and has made it worse by defending his decision obstinately, petulantly and ineptly. He has damaged the university's good name, and is reported to have cost the university US$14 million already in donations which donors will no longer give. The university would do well to find itself a new president. Ted Watt Claremont terms mean, please look them up. I assure you, you will be horrified. G W's letter asserted that Jesus had many open and frank discussions with Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes, but don't forget that he never compromised with them and chided them constantly. Like Jesus, the Catholic Church in the United States has tried many times to discuss these issues with the President and, like Jesus, the Church will not
compromise on God's Laws, stated clearly in the ten commandments. Notre Dame (USA), as a Catholic university, is supposed to be promoting Catholic values, not honouring people who offend these values and who publicly support something that is intrinsically evil. Colin Gomes Langford
May 27 2009, The Record
Perth's
THE RECORD VISTA
forges ahead " never weary ofgreat I churches. It is myfavourite kindof mountain scenery. Mankind was never so happdy inspiredas when it made a cathedrat
WQ6ert Louis Stevenson
um By Anthony Barich
THE Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary -otherwise known as St Mary's Cathedral - in the heart of Perth CBD has the expression of the faith of Catholics over the space of 146 years since Benedictine missionary, Bishop Rosendo Salvado, laid the foundation stone. Though it has had its share of problems that are inevitable with such a major project, it is nevertheless a testimony to the faith and resourcefulness of generations of West Australians. As the third and final appeal is made this weekend for the conservation and completion of St Mary's Cathedral, the faithful still have an opportunity to join those who have gone before them in contributing to the 'Cathedra' - the chair of the archbishop, the Mother Church of the Archdiocese of Perth. While its conservation and completion started in February 2007, plans are still being drawn up. This, along with the fact that construction and material costs have spiralled, and economic instability, have all led to an uncertain completion date. One thing is for sure, says Monsignor Thomas McDonald, Dean of St Mary's Cathedral for 17 years: "The old cathedral was a very beautiful and prayerful buildirT, and will be even more so when completed.' The original St Mary's Cathedral built in 1865 is what the Monsignor calls "Victorian neo-gothic" - though he admits it's quite far from what we know as 'gothic' as Europe's great cathedrals show. The main feature of gothic, in simple terms, is that it's very grand and ornate, with the classical feature a vaulted ceiling. Its externals have flying buttresses that support walls that hold the ceiling up. The Archdiocese of Perth has no documented evidence of the 1865 architect, or any drawings. There is evidence that Brother Joseph Ascione, a Benedictine lay Oblate, was perhaps the architect. "We know he was the chief of works on site at the time, but no Benedictine monks worked on the cathedral:' Mgr McDonald said. "It was built by convicts who became free men with a ticket of leave who were employed for jobs on the construction of the 1865 cathedral." St Mary's Cathedral is not genuine 'gothic' - neither the 1865 section nor the altar end designed by Irish architect Michael Cavanagh and built as the first of a planned two-stage process in 1930 until the global Depression stopped building in its tracks. Believed to be inspired by the Anglican English gothic Cathedral of St Mary in Salisbury, England, which was built in the Romanesque design from 1220-1258, Perth's cathedral retains elements of gothic, particularly its tower and the shape of its arched
windows at the western front. Perth Archbishop Patrick Clune's original plan was to build an entirely new cathedral and demolish the old. The Depression left the first stage - the transepts and sanctuary - complete, but the second stage - the nave - incomplete and on the backburner for the best part of 75 years. What generations of West Australians have grown up with since is what Mgr MacDonald calls an "unhappy marriage" of the 1865 end - "like a pimple on a pumpkin" - and the "Cavanagh" end. Nonetheless, it has a uniqueness about it, he says. "It was set in very beautiful grounds with a number of exotic and Australian trees, rose and agapanthus gardens, like an oasis, a virtual billboard for Jesus, for Catholicism, for Christianity, in the heart of commercialism in the city," he says. Had Cavanagh's design been completed, it would have been enormous - the tower alone, to be in the centre of the southern side, would have dwarfed the adjacent Royal Perth Hospital, Mgr McDonald says. Just completing the first stage was a tremendous effort. Before the Depression hit, Archbishop Clune - a gifted and eloquent orator - rallied the faithful and raised 95,000 Pounds in a short period of time. Cavanagh's original plan was "really magnificent", Mgr McDonald says, but would not have been practical for today's liturgy, with its very long nave and very poor sight lines to the sanctuary with all the pillars. Even prior to the Dean closing the cathedral for restoration and conservation, people in the side naves on either side saw nothing of the consecration. "A priest celebrating Mass in the cathedral at the altar is very remote from the people. It's the case in most cathedrals in the world today. It's the nature of the beast, unless you pull it all down and start again. This will be one of the big features, that people will have excellent vision of the sanctuary from any part of the cathedral." While he affirms that the faithful are not there as the audience of the priest, and it is therefore "not absolutely necessary" for them to be physically close to the priest, it is necessary, he says, that they at least see the sanctuary and altar and be able to adore the Sacred Host when it's elevated; the same with the Precious Blood. "That's what we wanted to improve," Mgr McDonald said. Hence the new design, by architect Peter Quinn, will see the altar more centrally located - which goes against the standard gothic design or even any notion of a traditional church - ensuring better sight lines. Other elements of traditional worship will be retained in the newly completed St Mary's Cathedral. The original tabernacle that was used in the 1865 and 1930 cathedral that has been in storage since 1973 will be fully restored and placed in a central position where the archbishop's cathedra (seat) is. The sanctuary of the 1930 cathedral will become the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, and there will be kneelers there for people to pray before the Blessed Sacrament. Of the overall look, Mgr MacDonald says: "We believe we have achieved a blending of the 1865 and 1930 ends, with the new extension in the middle the same colour as the 1865 cathedral. "But it is not desirable to make the whole
A sketch of what St Mary's Cathedral will look like, complete with an extra section to view the consecration. The two different styles of walls can be seen, with the stone-washed look to the left and the old section on the right, with the same style of roof joining the two.
building look one, as we want people to recognise the cathedral as what it was.We don't want a brand new building:' When Church officials spoke to four architects before settling on Peter Quinn, their top concern was to preserve the Cavanagh end, the tower and the western front of the 1865 cathedral, "as testimony to the Catholics of that era who contributed to the building of it, as it was an expression of their faith". "We wanted to find a solution not only to the liturgical problems from the old cathedral, but to the juxtaposition of those two buildings and make them become functionally one. The only way to do that was to remove part of the second cathedral to create something with the same dimensions," he said. He said they considered building the new section in the same style as the old, but Heritage Council of WA rules forbade it under the Burra Charter. Merging these two sections proved a difficult task. One of the biggest problems was that Church officials had the rough concept on paper that they believed satisfied all their requirements and would achieve their objectives, but the specific designs only started when the actual building started. The design phase is still going on. For example, the confessionals are still being drawn up. But that didn't prolong the project. "What was responsible for the blow-out in time:' Mgr McDonald said, "was the manufacturing of building materials", and the complications of joining the two sections. When the project was started at the height of the building boom, the Archdiocese approached four steel companies; three of them wouldn't touch the project as they had so much work already. They got an initial quote, but costs trebled. Whatever the problems, at the end of the day cathedrals are more than bricks and mortar, they are an expression of people's faith, as Mgr McDonald says. "Our cathedral might not be classic gothic architecture, it might not win any great architectural award for its gothic-ness, very ordinary as far as being a gothic cathedral is concerned," he said. Stepping inside the cathedral before he closed it for completion works, people, he
said, "walked into a different world that was very peaceful and quiet", the thickness of the walls keeping out much of the city noise. "The cathedral was spiritually a very beautiful place, in spite of it being incomplete. It Mgr Thomas McDonald had an enormous attraction to all types of people:' In the course of any one day, the number of people who came to the cathedral would equal one well-attended Sunday Mass, he said. He once surveyed visitors praying before certain sacred images - the Lady Chapel and St Therese's Chapel, St Joseph's Statue, Stations of the Cross... and by far the most popular was an old confessional recess chapel on the northern side with a replica of Michelangelo's Pieta with a kneeler before it. "Whenever I went in there, inevitably there was someone kneeling in prayer before it," he said. The glory of St Mary's Cathedral, he says, is the Lady Chapel, which cost 6000 Pounds, raised by people who had such a great devotion to Our Blessed Mother. "The Lady Chapel is very ornate," Mgr McDonald said. Its identity and character come from an image that many think is the Assumption; it's actually a copy of Bartolome Esteban Murillo's 1678 painting of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, reflecting the true name of the cathedral. A "beautiful" onyx altar also adorns the Lady Chapel, the stone sourced from Algeria in northern Africa. There is only one other like it in the world, believed to be in a cathedral in the US. The walls of the Lady Chapel are adorned in marble with a mosaic of lilies, a scriptural representation of Our Blessed Mother's purity. A mixture of traditional and modern that will please some and intrigue others, the cathedral is the inspiration of generations of Catholics; it will be the inspiration of many more to come.
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VISTA 2
VISTA 3
May 27 2009, The Record
The inspiring and the bland of our churches The architects betrayed us La Trahison des Architectes • By Tony Evans
The exterior of St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, which Tony Evans lists as an example of where a sense of the sacred can be found.
A tale of two glorious cathedrals • By Tony Evans
T
he 30 or so Gothic cathedrals and misters (churches) of England and Wales, and many more throughout Europe, are justly famous and of inexhaustible attraction to visitors. And the more those visitors know about the Faith of those that built them, the history of the times, and the subtle styles of the architecture employed in them, the more value they will gain from their visits. For many, too, the visit will prove a lasting spiritual experience. Australian Catholics may be forgiven for feeling envious of those rich treasures which remain beyond the reach of us - except on rare and expensive occasions. But this envy should not blind us to the treasures we possess closer to home. The two monumental Catholic, Gothic cathedrals here in Australia, St Mary's in Sydney and St Patrick's in Melbourne, are every bit as important in the context of Australian history, and as awe-inspiring in size and structure, as many of the celebrated mediaeval cathedrals elsewhere. True, they cannot compete in age with their ancient forebears, being examples of Victorian Gothic, but they are superb examples of that style, much praised and treasured by architectural historians both in Australia and overseas. All Australian Catholics interested in their history and church architecture should regard a visit to St Mary's and St Patrick's as an essential part of their travels in Australia. Those who know both cathedrals are doubly privileged. It is given to few architects to design a cathedral, but here there are not one, but two cathedrals designed by one and the same man, William Wilkinson Wardell (1823-1899). Wardell, a prominent Catholic convert architect and apostle of the Gothic Revival, left England in 1858 to settle first in Melbourne and later in Sydney. Although he designed many other churches and buildings throughout his professional life, his two cathedrals were his crowning works which claimed his constant attention over the 40 years that he made Australia his home.
He concerned himself with every detail - not only of construction but also the furnishing of both churches. Since the building of both was carried out roughly in parallel, he engaged in an almost daily correspondence concerning points of detail, writing (by hand) simultaneously to Archbishop TJ Carr in Melbourne, and to Archbishop Roger Vaughan and later Cardinal Francis Moran in Sydney. He could have been like a juggler, or some chess master playing two opponents at one and the same time. These, however, were not opponents but Wardell's clients. In spite of occasional differences between the architect and the archbishops, mainly arising from Wardell's refusal to compromise standards and the archbishops' difficulties in finding the necessary money to avoid doing so, they remained on close, friendly terms. On one occasion he countered a costcutting proposal by the Building Committee that the side-aisle vaults in St Mary's should be of wood, rather than stone. He wrote to Vaughan: "The supreme consideration is not what is cheaper, but what is best, and if one method is better than another I venture to think that it should be adopted although it may take a longer time to complete." He won the argument and we can see the result today. Those who are fortunate enough to know both St Mary's and St Patrick's take some pleasure in comparing the two and local loyalties are likely to intrude. Generally, in seems, St Patrick's has received the greater praise. According to the celebrated architect and historian, the late Robin Boyd - a Melbourne man, it must be added - when 'Viewed in the golden light of amber glass windows, the Cathedral's interior presents a Gothic vision probably unsurpassed by any other building in the four hundred years since the great Gothic era.' Externally, and on first inspection, St Patrick's may not appear particularly impressive. The undressed bluestone (Basalt) gives it a stern, unsmiling aspect. It presents a somewhat dumpy appearance when compared to St Mary's in Sydney. This is partly due to the transepts havirT externally-buttressed aisles (unlike St Marys) which adds to their width. Another reason may be the extended height of the three spires, out of proportion to the rest
of the building. These were only completed in 1939 and were clearly unintended by Wardell; they lead the eye ever upwards - the lateral line, in effect, minimised in favour of the vertical which again adds to the Cathedral's slight dumpy appearance. (It is significant that Wardell's architect-son declined to accept the commission to design the steeples and enlarge the central tower because it was not true to his father's design.)
"The supreme consideration is not what is cheaper, but what is best." - W Wardell The real beauty of St Patrick's is revealed when the visitor steps inside the west door. The vista, when viewed on entry is immediately breath-taking. The great length extends three hundred and forty feet towards the east end where the unusual apse comprising seven small chapels in the French Gothic style seems far in the distance. The great height of the nave, at ninety-five feet - higher than Durham and Gloucester Cathedrals - is crowned with a timber vault with angels on the hammerbeams, and a barely visible carved frieze above the clerestory. The width of the nave is greater than that of Canterbury, Salisbury and Norwich Cathedrals. The simplicity of the nave contrasts with the rich decoration of the chancel and its elaborate vault. There is no central, eastern window like St Mary's, but a circle of smaller stained glass windows and behind, in the ambulatory, a half circle of richly decorated chapels which project outside to give the building its distinctive lozenge-shaped appearance. In contrast, the warm glow of the dressed sandstone exterior of St Mary's in Sydney, particularly when viewed from the west across Hyde Park, is reminiscent of an English abbey church. Like some crouching animal or sphinx, it lies in command, unassailable in its natural elevated domain. The external elevation and massing of St Mary's has something of the character of the mediaeval Benedictine foundations with their cloisters and cells for monks. When planning the original St Mary's
Polding had wanted a similar arrangement for his Benedictine priests and Wardell is likely to have had this in mind. The interior of St Mary's has an altogether different atmosphere from that of St Patrick's. In contrast it is darker, more massive in construction. It is without the lightness, the French delicacy, and the youthfulness of St Patrick's, but gives instead an impression of solidity, greater massiveness, of awe and maturity befitting the Mother Church of Australia. The differences in the dimensions of the two Cathedrals are minimal. The length of St Mary's is 350 feet, while the length along the nave and chancery of St Patrick's, excluding the apsidal chapels, is 340 feet. The width across the nave and aisles of St Patrick's is just two feet greater than St Mary's. Wardell chose 14th century English Decorated style with minimal internal decoration, achieving an impressive unity throughout. Here is an historically accurate model without being fussy or pedantic. No one part conflicts in style with another and yet the whole remains uniquely Wardell. On a dull rainy morning the prospect in the unlit nave is sombre and dark. But more often when the sun catches the amber-glass clerestory windows and illuminates the bays, arches and triforium, and the aisle stained glass windows glow with rich colour, the scene is one of great splendour and visual delight. Ultimately the claim of superiority of one cathedral over the other is misleading and unnecessary. St Mary's and St Patrick's Cathedrals are two magnificent but differing examples of Gothic Revival architecture, two sides of the same Gothic coin. They are supporting sisters, not warring rivals. According to one of Australia's foremost architectural historians, the late D I McDonald writing in the Australian Encyclopaedia, both St Mary's and St Patricks are "notable for the purity of expression and richness of symbolism [they] rank among the greatest buildings constructed anywhere in that style." Without having known and visited these two Cathedrals, and getting to know something of their saintly architect, Catholics are missing out on an exciting and inspiring part of the history of the Church in Australia.
The exterior of St patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne, which Tony Evans says is an example of effective gothic architecture.
The inside of Melbourne's St Patrick's Cathedral.
The exterior of the Anglican English gothic Cathedral of St Mary's in Salisbury, England, which St Mary's in Perth is believed to be based on.
T
he phrase from which this title is borrowed, first appeared as the title of a book by the French writer, Julien Benda (1867-1956), In English the correct title is not architects but intellectuals; The Treason of the Intellectuals. So popular has the French phrase become, that it is now freely quoted by elite journalists and commentators to indict those with special knowledge and position in society who are thought to have betrayed us by their silence, or by their collaboration with an enemy. In other words, because they were intellectually gifted they should have known better. Although architects may not be accused of betraying us by their silence - their works are, after all, only too public and difficult to ignore - it can be argued that the once greatly-revered profession of artist-engineers has betrayed its ancient craft by becoming corrupted by twin ideologies - Modernism and the demands of accountants. As a result public and commercial buildings of the last 50 years, with a few noble exceptions, are mostly soulless glass towers, or pre-formed concrete boxes. As Roger Scruton argues: 'Architectural modernism rejected all attempts to adapt the old language of the city. It rejected classical orders, columns, architraves and mouldings. It rejected the Greek and Gothic revivals. It rejected every written and unwritten rule that has shaped the growth of our towns.' He suggests that Modernism rejected those things not because it had any well thought-out alternative, but because it was intent on over-throwing the social order that they represented - 'the order of the bourgeois city, as a place of faith, festivity, commerce and spontaneous hierarchical life.' Surely no age has been so dispirited nor out of sympathy with its contemporary urban environment as ours, with the result that when our business is finished for the day we hurry away, there being no reason for us to stand and admire as we would do in older European city centres. It is in this sense that we have been betrayed by architects. They should have known better. Scruton goes on to explain that modernism 'was a crusade to rid architecture of any past ideals since no one believed these ideals any more.' The modern age was 'an age without heroes, without faith: and so architecture must 'reflect a classless society from which all hierarchies had disappeared.' Given this definition it is surprising that these revolutionary modernist ideas also infected church architecture. The liturgical reforms which followed Vatican II - although not always sanctioned in Counciliar documents - provided ready encouragement for sweeping changes in church design. No longer would the sanctuary and the tabernacle be an exclusive space guarded by altar rails. Statues, paintings and symbolic decoration were excluded as being too reminiscent of pre-Vatican II liturgy. In many modern churches, including those built today, the pews are placed in a semi-circle around the altar and the priest faces his 'audience', in the mistaken belief that this was how the early Church celebrated the Eucharist. (A quick glance at a reproduction of Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper should be sufficient to dispel this myth). If Scruton is only half right in stating that modernist architecture reflects a moral vision of 'a society from which all hierarchies had disappeared, a society with no absolutes and only relative values; it is surely legitimate to ask to what extent
the revolution in church architecture, so warmly embraced by Church leaders and their architects, has contributed to the decline in church attendance, the lack of reverence for the Blessed Sacrament, and the indisputable ignorance of their Faith by young Catholics. There are many good reasons cited for this decline but seldom is modernist church design apportioned any of the blame; rather it is expected that modern design creates an informality, breaks down barriers, and encourages community friendship and togetherness - all supposedly more attractive to young people. Worthy concepts perhaps, so long as one can ignore the negative and more iconoclastic agenda implicit in modernist architecture and those who adhere to it. Buildings have a far greater affect on our morale, and on our attitudes to authority and learning, than will be admitted generally. This has long been recognised by those responsible for the mid-twentieth century wastelands, the high-rise slums on the edge of European cities where lawlessness, drugs and despair have made them into no-go areas. Alternatively, buildings of great beauty arouse feelings of joy, awe and well-being and can influence behaviour. Beauty and tradition in church design can and often do elevate our spirits and suggest the Divine presence.
"When surrounded by all the holy splendour of Catholic worship, the mysteries of the Mass appear ten times more overpowering and majestic, while the senses are rapt in ecstasy by outward beauty.." As the great mid-nineteenth century church architect, Pugin, wrote in defence of his Gothic designs: 'The Mass, whether offered up in a garret, or a cathedral is essentially the same sacrifice, yet when surrounded by all the holy splendour of Catholic worship, those august mysteries appear ten times more overpowering and majestic...While the senses are rapt in ecstasy by outward beauty, the divine truths will penetrate the soul thus prepared for their reception.' We can see most clearly the affect that modernist architecture has on the behaviour of church-goers at Sunday Mass, although the precise damage to their Faith is less apparent. Churches that resemble theatres or assembly halls, where the tabernacle is all but hidden from general view, will be treated by the public like theatres and assembly halls. There can be no blame attached to those who respond sincerely to the atmosphere of their surroundings. Assembly halls are not approached with reverence and awe, but as friendly meeting places where greetings and gossip are exchanged. The blank and the unadorned walls and raked seating, positioned like an apronstage theatre, and the auditorium, often lit with large windows which have the effect of bringing the mundane outside world with its distractions into the church, all add up to a denial of the transcendent. In her book No Place for God, the architect Moyra Doorly, a critic of modernist church design, is uncompromising in her view that the modern age has witnessed the construction of the most banal and uninspiring churches in his-
tory: 'Contemporary church buildings,' she writes, 'as well as being the ugliest ever built, are also the emptiest.' She maintains, citing much supporting evidence that modernist churches deny the transcendent, that they neglect their original purpose which was as a place of worship, sacrifice and prayer. In these churches, she says, 'there is [now] no place for God.' 'That's all very well' replies the modern, ambitious architect, 'but would you have us reject all contemporary building techniques and materials, return to the past and merely reproduce ancient styles of architecture, denying the natural continuum of artistic creativity?' It is difficult to counter this with a simple yes or no. One noted answer was given by Monsignor John Hawes, the architect-priest who worked in Western Australia from1915 to 1938 and who built the largely Renaissancestyle Geraldton Cathedral: 'In the design of modern hadings, the aim of the architect should be to avoid, on the one hand, any straining after originality but be reminiscent of the past without being fussy.' Pugin would have answered that the Gothic style - the pointed style as he called it - was the perfect Catholic architecture which embodied and proclaimed the truths of the Faith as no other style could do, and therefore should be employed always. William Wilkinson Wardell agreed and employed this style for his two great cathedrals, St Mary's in Sydney and St Patrick's in Melbourne and in all his smaller churches elsewhere - although adapting and modifying his designs to suit Australian conditions and limited funds. Some inventions, styles and discoveries in the past have proved so satisfactory that no modification is ever thought necessary. The violin is one such example, so perfect in design and beauty that it has defied any but the most subtle changes since the 17th century. An eighteenth century book looks exactly like a book published twohundred years later. A similar case might be made for the Gothic style in church design. It is certainly the best loved and longest surviving. To those who argue that it is impossible to put the clock back, GK Chesterton has argued that, on the contrary, it is perfectly possible for us to do so, but the will to do so is wanting. Whether or not a return to Gothic is the answer to improving church design is a contentious question and an unpopular one with architects. They want church architecture to move with the times. But what seems like common sense is surely a requirement that the architect of a modern Catholic church should be a practising Catholic with a thorough knowledge of the Faith and a respect for its traditions. Only in recent times has this seemed not to be a requirement. It was the crusading architect, Le Corbusier, a self-proclaimed agnostic, who wrote 'Architecture is stifled by custom' - and his disciples cried in support, 'Down with the past!' His futuristic chapel at Ronchamp (1950-54) subsequently became an exemplar, much praised, and a powerful influence on forward-thinking church architects since that time. After its completion and the publication of Le Corbusier's famous manifesto, church architects never looked back. They should have done. They should have known better. Tony Evans is a biographer of famous priest-architect Monsignor John Hawes with his book The Conscious Stone. Evans also formerly worked for Catholic Film Office in the United Kingdom and was director of ABC Radio Drama in Australia.
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Vista 4
May 27 2009, The Record
VISTA 4
20 years since the fall of
communism part iv This week The Record columnist Hal Colebatch continues his special four-part series looking back on the collapse of what once seemed to be a monolithic and global threat to societies everywhere. Boris Yeltsin, pictured here in a less glorious moment, played an important role in demanding Gorbachev be freed after he had been seized by Communisits while on holiday in the Crimea.
Former Soviet leader M ikhai l Gorbachev, who the Vatican saw as a trusted and genuine reformer, was praised by his successor, Yeltsin.
P ope Benedict XVI, who lived through the ordeal of Nazi Germany himself, said this year that bishops of former C ommunist countries needed to be 'ardent' in their proclamation of the Gospel.
B A Santamaria, the activist whose largely but not entirely Catholic industrial groups played a key role in expelling Communists from control of many key unions. While Colebatch believes there w as "probably not" a direct threat of a military invasion of Communism, South East Asia remained a concern.
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n 7 January, 1991 Soviet paratroopers entered all three Baltic States, which the Soviet Union still counted as part of its own territory. They were greeted by thousands of ethnic Russians, who broke into the Lithuanian Supreme Council building. In response to a call from the Lithuanian leader, Vitautas Lansbergis, Lithuanians rushed to protect the Parliament. Gorbachev demanded the full restoration of the Soviet constitution in Lithuania, and on January 11, before there could be any response, Soviet troops began to occupy the airport and other parts of the city, firing on protestors. When about 5000 demonstrators formed a ring around the television station, Soviet troops stormed it, killing 15 and injuring 105. There was no fig-leaf of an excuse about maintaining law and order. It was Imperialism in convulsions, a brutal effort to re-impose Russian sovereignty. Whether or not Gorbachev gave these orders is unclear - he and everyone else in authority has since denied giving them. Anyway, Gorbachev drew back, and it appears to be to his credit that the violence did not go further. The Baltic States too were freed, and one of the great crimes of the Second World War and the HitlerStalin pact was at last rectified. In the Soviet Union in 1991 the Communists made another desperate attempt to resist the tide of history. They might have succeeded, at least for a long time. They seized Gorbachev, on holiday in the Crimea, and attempted to seize Moscow by a coup. It was Yeltsin's most splendid moment. Whatever mistakes he would make later, here he showed shining heroism and glory. He climbed upon a tank in front of the "White House" of the Russian Parliament and standing there roared defiance at the whole Soviet Union and its decades of tyranny: "Soldiers, officers and generals! The clouds of terror and dictatorship are gathering over the whole country. They must not be allowed to bring eternal night! I believe in this tragic hour you can make the right choice. The honour and glory of Russian men of arms will not be stained by the blood of the people!" He called for a general strike and for Gorbachev to be freed. The unarmed crowds waited for the Red Army to attack. Twenty-four tanks advanced upon the White House, but as they approached its gates their guns swung around and they deployed not to attack Yeltsin's centre of resistance but to guard it (according to some reports it was an heroic bluff - they had no ammunition). When other tanks attempted to attack the White House thousands attacked them with their bare hands. The first to die was 28-yearold Illya Krichevsky, shot when he
Pope John Paul II meets Russian President Boris Yeltsin and his wife, Naina, at the Vatican in this 1998 file photo. Yeltsin, who helped dismantle the Soviet Union, died on April 23, 2007 at age 76. PHOTO: CNS/VATICAN VIA REUTERS
jumped onto a tank to try to reason with the driver. Two Afghan war veterans, Dmitri Komar, 23 and Vladimir Usov, 37, were crushed by the tank as they tried to retrieve Krichevsky's body. A Russian orthodox priest standing in the pool of blood where the men had died cried out; "Let us pray that God saves us from these horrors." Rioting and fighting spread but more and more of the tank crews either joined the Moscow citizens or refused to advance. The Australian poet Bruce Dawe would liken Gorbachev and Yeltsin to the clapper and the bell: "Together we sounded tyranny's knell." All across the crumbling Soviet Empire and its captive nations there were strikes and riots and the coup collapsed. The tanks and armoured cars pulled out of Moscow and the joyous crowd waved the long-unseen red, white and blue flag of old Russia. Gorbachev was freed, reinstated as President, and flown back to Moscow, but it was Yeltsin who was master of the situation. The Soviet Union existed in name still, but its "glue," the Communist Party, had lost all its once-dreaded power and was impotent and dissolving. The three who had died, Krichevsky, Komar and Usov, received State Funerals at which Gorbachev said: "It is difficult to speak, looking into those young faces and the eyes of their parents, but allow me on my behalf, and for the whole country, for all Russians, to bow low before these young people ... We say goodbye to our heroes, our defenders, our saviours. Of course we are not saying goodbye to their names, because their names will be sacred to Russia:' Outside the Lubyanka, the Moscow headquarters of the KGB, the towering statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky, founder of the Soviet Secret Police, who had created the "Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter Revolution and Sabotage," was torn down, the final push being given by a Red Army soldier. All round the Soviet Union and its former empire statues of Lenin and other Communist leaders were hurled down, along with the red stars that had dominated the Moscow skyline. With the failure of the August 1991 coup, hopes of a Communist comeback evaporated. The Warsaw Pact was dissolved. On December 25, 1991, Gorbachev delivered a resignation speech on television. At midnight on December 31, 1991, the Soviet Union ended. Earlier this year, Pope Benedict XVI said bishops of former Communist countries needed to be ardent in their proclamation of the
Boris Yeltsin stands on a tank outside the "Whitehouse' of the Russian Parliament, where he roared defiance at the Sovient Union and its decades of tyranny.
Gospel to overcome the difficulties inherited in those nations. Was Communism ever a real danger to Australia? Probably not in the sense of a military invasion, at least as long as the British and US fleets were around, though a Communist regime in Indonesia, with or without the mad dictator Sukarno, and/or in other South East Asian States, would have made life very difficult and made taxes to pay for greatly expanded defence forces a great deal higher. Permanent conscription would have been likely. Civil liberties would have been badly compromised. Gramscian internal subversion of institutions, religious and other organisations, values and social norms might have done great harm and with the inevitable domestic demoralisation perhaps the worst would have happened. Lenin was right to say everything is connected to everything else. But we were fortunate to have some doughty, if not always recognised or thanked, culture-warriors on the right side. (At least one prominent lay philosophy teacher at a Catholic university has tried to make culturewarrior a term of abuse rather than honour). BA Santamaria's largely but not entirely Catholic industrial groups played a key role in expelling Communists from control of many key unions. The fact that Communism worldwide killed, exclusive of war, about 100 million people, ruined lives in a multiple of that, played a direct part in bringing about the Second World War, whose death-toll is not included in the 100 million, and attempted to extinguish Christianity and a consciousness of God wher-
ever it held sway, is sufficient answer as to whether or not it was worth opposing to the last inch. Perhaps the most (unintentionally) funny comment I read about this was in a peculiar diatribe by one Max Charlesworth against BA Santamaria in 2000, exulting over the fact that anti-communism was dead: "Certainly Santamaria's particular theory is as dead as the proverbial dodo. "The whole raison d'etre of the anti-communist movement has vanished ... Santamaria's attempt to construct a new theory about religion and politics ... has failed in practice:' Well, yes, andIdoubt an anti-Hitler movement would attract many recruits today either. We who lived through the fall of Communism, who saw the rise of great, valiant and steadfast, spritual and political leaders whose lives were preserved by hairs' breadths (more-or-less literally by hairs' breadths in the cases of the Pope and the President - they would have died had the bullets that wounded them travelled the most fractionally different courses) may well believe we lived though a divine miracle. Solzhenitsyn, too, who recovered from a highly malignant and longuntreated cancer, believed that he had been miraculously preserved. The gates of Hell did not prevail. Of those who brought the fall of Communism about I cannot do better than conclude with John O'Sullivan's words: "We have very different problems today, but every reason to hope. After all, to adapt Lady Thatcher's resonant last line of her eulogy for President Reagan: We have an advantage they never had. We have their example:'
May 27 2009, The Record
CHILDREN
Kids bitz & puzzles colour
ARTIST WEEK
The Irish Madonna of Hungary
Alisha Rodrigez, 10 years, of Nedlands, is our Artist of the Week with this amazing drawing of Mary.
FREE WEEKLY GIFT
SPOTLIGHT ON SAINTS
KIDS BITZ ARTIST OF THE WEEK will receive a free
gift from the Record Bookshop. All you need to do is post or email in a drawing, poem or colouring picture. Please post or email. Justine Stevens, The Record, PO Box 75 Leederville WA 6902 or email: production@therecord.com.au Thc Lord's Prayer is the prayer that Jesus himself taught us to pray. Find all of the words in the Lord's Prayer that are in bold print. Z JKHEAVENILVTPTV EVOL N DKAVILNKNLMRLRN K HKL A KPLNOITATPMETEK N ORT M KRLTNGINOTOSTSP D ONE E F AORBTUVWINNRPD R NRB E TYWRRLSGHIGLEAD N ARO T HIEREOHL ARNVCSR T IYU P YIDUAVNGFHMPRSQ X HNR N OTYHDEANBAIPVER W RIH H GWLLIRNRECTIRSH H OPS Y LIADRTGTTIJHPAR O TGN N BLRTRESPASSGEIY N RIN T HLRGHHRTUNBRHRL O VE3 J BNCRTBIHHOGBOIV C SED F ROMRTHYOGKINGDO M BVA I JUAPRAMSIGVUHBL K CSY E TEVHRKCEUGECXAU C UPX C VWZPDELIVERINMP R OYH M NIUWYBILOVEBCEP C BMR E VOLRFORGIVEJFNP R AYE Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed he Thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will he done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, hut deliver us from evil. Amen Rorius—Can you find the words love and pray in all five places they arc hidden?
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St Clotilda died 545 The Catholic Clotilda persuaded her pagan husband, King Clovis of the Franks, to allow their children to be baptised and eventually witnessed his baptism in 496 in Reims, France. But her 34-year widowhood was marked by family fights over power. Clotilda took charge of the three sons of Clodomir, her son killed in 524 by a cousin bent on revenge. Another son, the ambitious Childebert, killed the two older grandsons in her care. The third grandson, called Cloud or Clodoald, gave up his claim to the Frankish throne and became a monk. Clotilda left Paris, devoting her final years to charitable works in Tours. We honour her on June 3.
PUZZLE Using the Acts of the Apostles as a guide, underline the correct answers to the following questions. Chapter numbers have been provided as hints:
CHILDREN'S STORY JESUS PRAYS TO HIS FATHER By Joe Sarnicola
JESUS looked up into the night sky and said, "Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you ... I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word." Jesus paused to think of his friends and of the people who believe in God. Then he continued praying. "And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are." Jesus remembered how thousands of people at a time would come to hear him or come to be healed. So many, yet they would someday be one together, like a family, with God as their Father. Yet Jesus also knew that soon he would be leaving them to return to be with his Father: "But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world." Almost pleading for the safety of the people he loved, Jesus said to his Father, "I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world." Jesus was tired and his knees were sore, but he continued to pray. He knew he was not going to be on the earth much longer, and there were so many things he wanted to present to his Father in prayer. "Consecrate them in the truth," Jesus continued. "Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I send them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth." As Jesus prayed, he told his Father of the love he had for his people. "Father, they are your gift to me," he said. "I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world."
1. The disciples were in (Jerusalem/Bethlehem) on Pentecost. [2] 2. (Paul/Peter) preached after the Spirit had come down. [2]
READ MORE ABOUT IT:
3. (Joshua/Stephen) became the first Christian martyr. [7]
John 17
4. Saul was temporarily (blinded/crippled) by God. [9] 5. Cornelius was a (Bohemian/gentile) who believed in God. [10] 6. Paul was a Jew and a (Roman citizen/judge). [22] 7. Paul's captors sailed into a (storm/iceberg). [27] papugq
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Q&A 1. Why did Jesus want his Father to give him glory? 2. When did God first love Jesus?
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May 27 2009, The Record
THE WORLD
WYD08 'the best time of our lives' Australian study reveals positive, lasting effects. • By Father John Flynn LC
ROME (Zenit.org) - Seven out of 10 young people who attended World Youth Day in Sydney last year rated it as one of the best experiences in their life, according to a survey carried out to measure the impact of the event. The "Pilgrims' Progress 2008 research project" is led by Father Michael Mason and Professor Ruth Webber from Australian Catholic University, and Dr Andrew Singleton from Monash University. On May 4 they released their preliminary findings. The study was based on interviews, personal observation of the participants, and two large-scale Internet surveys of pilgrims: one before and the other after World Youth Day. The findings of the preliminary report concentrate on Australian pilgrims only. For 93 per cent of them it was their first experience of going to a World Youth Day. Almost half of the local participants were in the 14-18 age bracket. World Youth Day attracted more young women than men and that is reflected in the study, in that 68% of respondents were female. Some of the highlights of the findings were: • More than 40 per cent said that their faith in God had been strengthened. • A third or more stated that they were now not embarrassed to let others see that they believed; that they wanted to live as disciples of Jesus; that they wanted to learn more about their faith. • Asked what they found most fun, pilgrims chose being part of the huge, happy crowd walking together through the streets, and making new friends. • Over half of the respondents said that they were determined to change their behaviour towards others - to be more considerate, more "Christ-like?' • Significant proportions reported changed attitudes and behaviour on a range of social-ethical issues.
Superficial or spiritual? Critics of World Youth Days, both within and outside the Church, have frequently questioned the spiritual value of the events. So one of the aims of the survey was to determine if it's just an enjoyable spectacle or whether it does make a significant spiritual impact. Contrary to the somewhat feverish speculation in some of the local secular media prior to last July the pre-event survey showed that pilgrims did not see World Youth Day as an opportunity for romantic encounters. The option of "Perhaps meeting someone I really like was the lowest priority for all of the age groups. Instead their highest priorities were listed as: seeing the Pope; wanting to experience the presence of God; and to feel "part of a large crowd united by shared beliefs". Generally, the older pilgrims were somewhat more interested in the devotional and religious aspects: the Masses, catecheses, and prayer services.
Pope Benedict XVI greets pilgrims, including some seminarians, as he arrives to celebrate the final Mass of World Youth Day at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, on July 20. PHOTO: CNS/MICK TSIKAS, REUTERS
The youngest group were more attracted to the youthful aspects of the event: making new friends, feeling the "buzz; and sharing their faith with other young people. Nevertheless, even among the teens, the options of "experiencing the presence of God; and "seeing the Pope; also ranked highly. Only a minority of the youthful Australian pilgrims went hoping simply to have a good time. The answers also depended on the existing level of religious practice. Those who did not regularly attend Mass were more likely to give a higher priority to the social aspect of the event, while those who were regulars at Mass indicated they were more interested in the spiritual activities. The top three benefits hoped for by those surveyed prior to the event were: living what you believe (85 per cent); a closer relationship with God (81 per cent); and a stronger sense of Catholic identity (78 per cent). There was very little variation by age: these were the top three priorities for pilgrims of all ages.
Spiritual help Turning to the post-event survey the study found that regarding the spiritual benefits most of the respondents said that what was most helpful was the experience of being with so many people who shared the same faith. This sharing of the faith corresponded to what the majority of pilgrims had said before World Youth Day, and their hopes were fulfilled - they found the experience powerful and significant. In the personal interviews pilgrims explained that it was very important to them to be part of a big crowd of people around
their age who were expressing their faith. They said that in their experience, it was mostly older people who took faith seriously. Young people, by contrast, even if they were Catholic, were not interested in religion, or inclined to make fun of it. They were also used to keeping their faith discreetly private. Normally only close friends would know if they continued to believe, attend Mass, or take part in other religious groups or activities. In fact, a year 11 student in a Catholic school said in an interview that "it's social suicide" to be active and speak out in religion classes.
Pride Other benefits singled out by pilgrims included the sense of Church and pride in being a Catholic. Many pilgrims also mentioned the sense that God was present in the large gathering of people, and the feeling that World Youth Day brought out the best in everyone. Another highly-rated option was that of feeling themselves part of a community that transcended them in space and time and fused them into a unity with others and with God. In terms of the events pilgrims singled out the Vigil, the Mass with Pope Benedict and the Stations of the Cross as occasions of strong experiences of the presence of God, and also as most spiritually helpful. The morning catecheses also received a favourable response and according to the survey it seems that the catecheses played a more important role at the Sydney event than at previous World Youth Days. Only a small proportion (10 per cent) of pilgrims rated the catecheses "not so helpful.'
The report commented that during the event in Sydney even casual observers were struck by the infectious joy, friendliness, and enthusiasm of the pilgrims. But, it noted this positive atmosphere was founded on a deeper level of the experience of communing with others who shared the same faith, and the experience of the presence of God. In conformity with the pre-event survey the social side of World Youth Day was not considered very important among those who replied to the post-event study. Making new friends was often mentioned, but all of the social aspects, including the beauty of the sites and the good weather were rated well below the spiritual benefits.
Following up The survey participants were also asked about what activities they felt would be most beneficial as a follow-up to World Youth Day. Over half of them chose first the option of retreats or camps for people who want to grow in faith. There was also strong support for regularly getting together with their fellow pilgrims, for more youth-oriented Masses, and high-quality teaching of the Catholic faith. Over half of the group was very keen to attend the 2011 World Youth Day in Madrid. "There is clear evidence that many pilgrims have changed the ways in which they think about and respond to others, and that they attribute the changes to their participation in World Youth Day; the study concluded. This is a finding that should lay to rest the doubts about the benefits of such an event, and spur efforts to give continuity at a local level so that young people will continue to be confirmed in their faith.
Vatican launches facebook, i-phone initiatives VATICAN CITY (CNS) - The Vatican is launching iPhone and Facebook applications in an effort to help Catholics, especially younger generations, use new technologies to create a culture of dialogue, respect and friendship. The new applications are part of a brand new Vatican website www.pope2you.net - that was to go live on World Communications Day, which was celebrated on May 24 in most dioceses. Sponsored the by Pontifical Council for Social Communications, new the site was created to help attract young people to and spread Pope
Benedict XVI's message for World Communications Day, the head of the council, Archbishop Claudio Celli, told reporters on May 18. Pope Benedict XVI, meanwhile, urged everyone, especially young people, to use the new media "in a positive way and to realise the great potential of these means to build up bonds of friendship and solidarity that can contribute to a better world?' During his weekly general audience in St Peter's Square on May 20, he said new communications technology had brought about a fundamental shift in how information is spread and how people
communicate and relate to one another. He asked all those "who access cyberspace to be careful to maintain and promote a culture of respect, dialogue and authentic friendship where the values of truth, harmony and understanding can flourish?' He also called on young people to "bear witness to your faith through the digital world?' "Employ these new technologies to make the Gospel known, so that the good news of God's infinite love for all people will resound in new ways across our increasingly technological world; he said.
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May 27 2009, The Record
THE WORLD
'Do not be afraid to express your beliefs' Faith cannot be private, says new archbishop of Westminster • By Simon Caldwell
LONDON (CNS) - Archbishop Vincent Nichols, installed as the Archbishop of Westminster dur ing a May 21 Mass in Westminster Cathedral, urged Catholics to confidently express their beliefs. "Faith is never a solitary activity, nor can it be simply private," the archbishop said in his homily. "Faith in Christ always draws us into a community and has a public dimension." Archbishop Nichols, 63, succeeded Cardinal Cormac MurphyO'Connor, 76. The newly installed archbishop, who had served as head of the Archdiocese of Birmingham since 2000, was also elected in April as president of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. In his address to a congregation of more than 2,000, Archbishop Nichols said the Christian community "reaches beyond ethnicity, cultural differences and social division, opening for us a vision of ourselves and of our society, as having a single source and a single fulfillment." "Faith builds itself in community and it expresses itself in action," he added. "As a society, if we are to build on this gift of faith, we must respect its outward expression not only in honouring individual consciences but also in respecting the institutional integrity of the communities of faith in what they bring to public service and to the common good:' The archbishop, who in recent years has been at the centre of high-profile campaigns in defence of publicly funded Catholic schools and adoption agencies, challenged people to work together even in areas where they do not agree. "Let us be a society in which we genuinely listen to each other, in which sincere disagreement is not made out to be insult or harassment, in which reasoned principles are not construed as prejudice and in which we are prepared to
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Archbishop Vincent Nichols gives a thumbs up after being installed as the archbishop of Westminster at Westminster Cathedral in London on May 21. Archbishop Nichols succeeded Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor. CNS
attribute to each other the best and not the worst of motives," he said. Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury addressed Archbishop Nichols on behalf of the Church of England, saying that closer relations were "a sign that we all recognise common challenges and a need to pray and act together." "The Roman Catholic and Anglican communities in England and Wales have the God-given task, along with all our other brothers and sisters in the faith, of making the good news of Jesus compelling and attractive to a generation deeply in need of hope and meaning, in need of somethirT they can trust with all their hearts,' Archbishop Williams said. Archbishop Nichols was born in Crosby, England, and was educated by the Christian Brothers. He
entered the priesthood in Rome in 1963 and was ordained in 1969. He spent 18 years in London as general secretary of the bishops' conference and later as an auxiliary bishop in Westminster under the late Cardinal George Basil Hume. Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor is the first archbishop of Westminster since the restoration of the English and Welsh hierarchy in 1850 who did not die in office. In his remarks at the end of the Mass, the cardinal said he expected his successor to face many battles to "sustain our Christian community in our secular society." The Archdiocese of Westminster covers most of London north of the Thames River and has a Catholic population of about 400,000 people served by more than 300 priests in 219 parishes.
Mama splitting Catholics from the inside out: Weigel WASHINGTON, DC (CNA) - Catholic commentator George Weigel has warned that US President Barack Obama risks assuming the headship of the dissident wing of US Catholicism, pitting Catholic intellectuals and institutions against their bishops. Weigel, biographer of Pope John Paul II, told CNA that Obama has inserted himself into intra-Catholic disputes by trying to define who a "real Catholic" is with his May 17 address at Notre Dame University in the US. In an essay for National Review Online, Weigel said it was surprising" and "disturbing" that President Obama decided to "insert himself" into "the ongoing Catholic debate over the boundaries of Catholic identity and the applicability of settled Catholic convention in the public square." He said that Obama tried to settle "the decades-long intraCatholic culture war" in favour of one faction: "the faction that had supported his candidacy and that had spent the first months of his administration defending his policies:' In an exclusive comment to CNA, Weigel compared the effort to the historical phenomenon of "Gallicanism," the French bishops' past efforts to establish a church generally independent of papal authority. "This is a very serious business, with the president of the United States putting himself in charge of the Gallican wing of the Catholic Church in the United States - the difference being that this new Gallicanism isn't local bishops vs Rome but intellectuals and their institutions and magazines vs. local bishops and Rome Weigel told CNA. Weigel said that the "politically savvy" White House and its allies among Catholic progressive intellectuals may have intended to secure Obama's political advantage among Catholic voters with his appearance at Notre Dame. To secure his political position, Weigel charged, "the president of the United States decided that he would define what it means
George Weigel
to be a real Catholic in 21st -century America - not the bishop of
Fort Wayne-South Bend, who in sorrow declined to attend Notre Dame's commencement:' Weigel also argued that Obama indirectly presented himself as a more significant authority than the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, who had "explicitly and unambiguously" instructed Catholic institutions not to honour pro-abortion rights politicians. Obama's May 17 commencement speech at Notre Dame, Weigel argued in NRO, tried to suggest "who the real Catholics in America are" and put forward the late Archbishop of Chicago Cardinal Joseph Bernardin as the model for being "congenial and gentle" and for "always trying to bring people together." While praising Cardinal Bernardin's "gallant response" to a fatal cancer diagnosis, Weigel said Cardinal Bernardin's "seamless garment" approach to public policy ended up helping Catholic politicians and laymen dodge moral objections to their support for a permissive abortion regime. According to Weigel, the US bishops abandoned the "seamless garment" metaphor in 1998 to better emphasise the foundational nature of the life issues. He also suggested that President Obama's praise for Cardinal Bernardin was an implicit criticism of contemporary bishops who are vocally prolife, like the present Archbishop of Chicago Cardinal Francis George.
Parents creating culture of love around the globe for Down Syndrome children Volunteers promote international adoptions of Down syndrome babies. • By Paul Sanchez
WESTERLY, Rhode Island (CNS) - A Maryland-based organisation is working against the trend of aborting Down syndrome babies by placing those children from around the globe with loving families in the United States. Reece's Rainbow (www.reecesrainbow.org) assists couples in adopting Down syndrome children from other countries. Founded in June 2006, Reece's Rainbow has already found families for more than 175 children with Down syndrome from 32 countries around the world, including Armenia, Haiti, Mexico, Ghana, Russia, Liberia, Vietnam and Korea.
An entirely volunteer organisation, Reece's Rainbow prides itself on the fact that 100 per cent of every dollar donated goes to the child, family or fund designated by the donor. For decades, doctors have recommended an amniocentesis test for pregnant women 35 and older because their age dictates a greater risk for chromosomal defects. Because the test carries a slight chance of miscarriage, it has not been routinely offered to younger women, who end up giving birth to the majority of Down syndrome babies. But a 2007 recommendation from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists encouraged doctors to offer a new screening procedure to all pregnant women, regardless of age. A sonogram and two blood tests in the first trimester now can detect the extra 21st chromosome that causes Down syndrome. An estimated 90 per cent of all prenatal
Reece Roberts, 7, whose mother started Reece's Rainbow. CNS
detections of Down syndrome are said to end in abortion. Reece's Rainbow is not an adoption agency, but a nonprofit volunteer organisation that serves as a connecting point for Down syndrome children and potential adoptive families. It focuses on
saving the lives of children who might otherwise face life, or death, in mental institutions abroad. It also works to help birth families who choose to keep their children, and helps them begin their own Down syndrome associations that fight for the rights and inclusion of special-needs children in their own countries. Reece's Rainbow was founded by Andrea Roberts, who has a Down syndrome child named Reece who has changed her life. "Yes, my son is the catalyst for Reece's Rainbow. But I lean on my belief that God has a specific purpose for everyone, and this is his calling for me through Reece," Roberts said. "Not everyone gets such an obvious call. I spent many years drifting through life, with no idea where I was headed. I love to help others and my love for Reece fuels my passion to defend and protect others like him." Shelley Bedford and her hus-
band have adopted two boys from two different countries through Reece's Rainbow. Their son, Xander, adopted from Ukraine in August 2007, has Down syndrome and bilateral clubbed feet. He has had major foot reconstruction surgery and is learning to walk at age 5. Their other son, Grifyn, also 5, was adopted from Serbia in April 2008. Grifyn was the first child with Down syndrome to ever be adopted in Serbia. Bedford now volunteers with Reece's Rainbow to assist other families who are adopting from Serbia. The Bedfords live in Alabama where Shelley's husband is in the US Army. Roberts said she opposes abortion, as do many people active with Reece's Rainbow. But Reece's Rainbow does not take a stand on abortion or prenatal testing because its primary focus is to assist with adoptions and foster understanding and acceptance through example.
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Knowing Christ an extraordinary honour
PERSPECTIVES
Theology of body link to Fatima Body Language B Christo her West
M
Jennifer Bellair
1
believe prayer is to do with my relationship with God through his son Jesus Christ. A defining moment in my life occurred when I was 30 years old. Jesus revealed Himself to me as the Son of God when a priest began a Mass. After many years away from the Church I was attending for purely sentimental reasons. It was an extraordi nary revelation in which Jesus spoke into my soul saying, "Jennifer,I am who I said I am-I am the Son of God". This very personal, very real and 'mystical' experience caused a major conversion of heart and radi cally changed the course of my life. It has produced a life-long journey of faith and with Debbie Warner relationship with Him - a relationship which is the most important one in my life. So naturally I want to communicate with the Lord on an ongoing, daily basis and this is what Icall prayer. My prayer life takes many forms. It mostly begins early in the morning, which I find is the best time for me. It can include singing a song of praise, praying in tongues, reading and praying the scriptures of the daily Mass readings and their accompanying commentaries and/or contemplative prayer. It may take place in our snug, candle-lit prayer room or during a long walk in the park at dawn. In contemplative prayer I sometimes use a prayer mantra as an aid to overcome mental distractions. This is in order to be drawn into the quiet place of communion with God. In this state of being with the Lord, He continues His work of inner transformation. Often, in my weakness, I need to cry out to Him for help in facing the challenges of the day ahead. This is particularly true in my work situation of teaching English as a Second Language to teenager refugees. Inevitably I experience Him supplying 'His grace' which is 'sufficient for me'. Sometimes there have been very dry seasons when I can't sense His presence at all. It is then that the faith of my husband, Bill and Community friends have helped to keep me persevering. Originally from Brisbane, we came to Perth in 2003 for family reasons. Unexpectedly, what ensued was a time of many hardships. However, through this time of suffering, Bill and I connected with the Holy Spirit of Freedom Community (HSOF). We eventually joined this Community. The prayerfulness and support of HSOF members and opportunities to serve in the Community's outreach to the poor and homeless has been a wonderful gift for us. I often experience the anointing of the Holy Spirit as I participate in the Charismatic praise and worship of the Lord at HSOF prayer meetings, retreats, conferences etc. At times I am inspired to express heartfelt worship through the gift of movement and dance. I have the opportunity to participate in daily Mass at Bateman parish of St Thomas More. I appreciate the life and beautiful liturgy in the parish. Other aspects of my prayer life include praying the Rosary and Chaplets of Divine Mercy, particularly for intercessory needs. I am very blessed to have come to know Jesus Christ as my Saviour, friend and 'lover of my soul'. Christ colours my life and gives meaning to my existence. Contact Debbie via debwarriewhotmail.com
May 27 2009, The Record
ay is a month that Catholics traditionally devote to honouring the Blessed Mother. One of my favourite Marian memorials falls on May 13, when we honour Mary under her title "Our Lady of Fatima." I'm not a big devotee of Marian apparitions, but because of my work promoting John Paul II's Theology of the Body (TOB), I have gained a great interest in Fatima. What's the connection? I could write a doctoral dissertation on it, but I'll provide the short version in my two columns for the month of May. As most Catholics know, between May 13 and October 13, 1917, Mary appeared to three peasant children in Fatima, Portugal delivering a three-part message - the "three secrets" of Fatima, as they've come to be known. The first secret presented a horrifying vision of hell. The second involved a prophecy of World War II and the warning that "Russia would spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church." However, Mary assured the children, "In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph." Mary also told the children that "the Holy Father will have much to suffer!' This brings us to the "third secret" of Fatima, which was not publicly revealed until the year 2000. In 1917, the children saw a vision of bullets and arrows fired at "a bishop dressed in white!'
Sixty-four years later, while driving through the crowd in St Peter's Square, a "bishop dressed in white" was gunned down by Turkish assassin Ali Agca... on the memorial of Our Lady of Fatima: May 13, 1981. Many years, later John Paul II reflected: "Agca knew how to shoot, and he certainly shot to kill. Yet it was as if someone was guiding and deflecting that bullet." That "someone," John Paul believed, was the Woman of Fatima. "Could I forget that the event in St Peter's Square took place on the day and at the hour when the first appearance of the Mother of Christ ... has been remembered ... at Fatima in Portugal? For in everything that happened to me on that very day, I felt that extraordinary motherly protection and care, which turned out to be stronger than the deadly bullet" (Memory and Identity, pp. 159, 163). The fact that John Paul was shot on the memorial of Fatima is well known. What few people know is that the Pope was planning to announce the establishment of his Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family on that fateful afternoon. This was to be his main arm for disseminating his teaching on man, woman, marriage and sexual love around the globe. Could it be that there were forces at work that didn't want John Paul II's teaching to spread around the world? (In fact, by May 13, 1981, John Paul II was only about half way through delivering the 129 addresses of his TOB. Had he died, obviously, the full teaching never would have been presented.) And could it be that, by saving his life, the Woman of Fatima was pointing to the importance of his teaching reaching the world? It would be
over a year later that John Paul officially established his Institute (of which I'm a proud graduate). On that day, October 7, 1982 - not coincidentally the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary - John Paul II entrusted the Pontifical Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family to the care and protection of Our Lady of Fatima. By doing so, it seems he himself was drawing a connection, at least indirectly, between his miraculous survival and the importance of the Theology of the Body. Digging deeper, the precise link, I believe, between John Paul II's TOB and Fatima lies in Mary's mysterious words about the "errors of Russia" and the promised "triumph" of her Immaculate Heart. John Paul Ics TOB is like weedkiller applied to the deepest roots of the "errors of Russia" that have spread throughout the world. As such, the spread of the TOB throughout the world is a sign, I believe, that Mary is preparing us for her triumph. But what does it mean to speak of "the triumph of the Immaculate Heart?" What are the "errors of Russia" and how does John Paul II's TOB combat them? We'll explore these questions in the next column.
Holy Spirit just a phonecall away Delving deeper into the Creator. I have some charismatic friends who seem to be filled with the Holy Spirit, who talk in tongues and participate in healing ceremonies. Is there anything I can do to have a deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit without the distinctly charismatic elements?
By Fr John Flader
W
hile the Holy Spirit certainly manifests his presence and power in more extraordinary ways, beginning at the first Pentecost and continuing down to the present, all Catholics can, and indeed should, have a very personal relationship with the third Person of the Blessed Trinity. Let me explain some ways in which we can do this, based on the various roles of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Scriptures. Jesus says in the Last Supper that the Holy Spirit will "be with you forever" and that "he dwells with you, and will be in you" (Jn 14:17). As St Paul puts it, "your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you" (1 Cor 6:19). This opens wide vistas in our spiritual life. We have the dignity of being temples of the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us. We can therefore carry on a loving conversation with the Holy Spirit who is not "out there", but "in here". He is the "Sweet guest of the soul". This awareness of our dignity should move us to struggle harder to avoid sin-
fling, especially against our body. It was in this context that St Paul wrote that we are temples of the Holy Spirit, concluding, "You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body" (1 Cor 6:19-20). Also in the Last Supper Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as "the Spirit of truth" who "will guide you into all the truth" (Jn 16:13). This has many applications for Christian life. Those engaged in study of any kind, be it secular or spiritual, can invoke the Holy Spirit to lead them into the truth of whatever they are studying. Also, if someone is having difficulty grasping the truth of a particular matter, they can ask the Holy Spirit for light. And anyone who is teaching others can ask the Holy Spirit to guide them, and those they are teaching, into the truth. St Paul writes to the Romans that the Holy Spirit instils in us a deep sense of our divine filiation, of being not only creatures but children of God our Father: "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, Abba! Father!' it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God..." (Rom 8:14-16). When we are troubled, or feel in some way that God is distant, we can pray to the Holy Spirit to make us cry out "Abba! Father", remembering that God is never distant - he is a Father who loves us and sent his Son to die for us. We are his children. In the same eighth chapter of his letter to the Romans, St Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit also helps us in our prayer: "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the
mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God" (Rom 8:26-27). There can be times when we find it difficult to pray, when we don't know what to say or we feel dry. It is the time to go to the Holy Spirit and ask him to intercede for us, so that the Father will know what is in our heart. Always, the Holy Spirit is the Love between the Father and the Son, and "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Rom 5:5) We are all called to be saints, to be filled with love, but so often we content ourselves with merely fulfilling our duties and attending Mass on Sundays. We can ask the Holy Spirit, as we do in the prayer "Come, Holy Spirit", to "kindle in us the fire of thy love", to give us a vibrant spiritual life that will be reflected in our love for God and our neighbour. Finally, as the Holy Spirit came down on the apostles on the first Pentecost and transformed them into bold preachers of the Resurrection, we can pray to the Holy Spirit to fill us with apostolic zeal to lead others to Christ. And we can ask him for the "gift of tongues", so that we reach the minds and hearts of our friends. Fr Flader: director@caec.com.au
May 27 2009, The Record
PERSPECTIVES
Fremantle a curious case In clear view By Guy Crouchback
Fremantle by-election not your average seat.
T
he results of the Fremantle byelection provide some rather unpalatable food for thought. Before saying more, I will declare my political position by pointing out that although I am not very active in politics at present I come from a Liberal background and have been a Liberal State candidate. Readers may wish to judge what I have to say in the light of this. Fremantle has been a Labor seat for 85 years. This time it had in Peter Tagliaferri a moderate, experienced, well-respected and generally well-qualified Labor candidate. Tagliaferri was defeated and a Green elected to State Parliament. If the Green Party was founded with a worthy concern for environmental conservation it has in Australia, as in much of the rest of the world, moved far away from this emphasis. It is now associated with the most extreme positions of abortion, euthanasia, and other far left-of-centre issues, which also tend to be positions in direct conflict with Catholic teaching.
Fremantle has always been thought of as having a large culturally Catholic population. Much of its population is descended from Italian and other southern European, and traditionally Catholic, migrants. At the May, 2009 by-election no Liberal Candidate was standing (at the previous election, in September, 2008, the Liberals got 30.21 per cent of the vote). There were, however, three broadly right-of-centre and pro-family parties: the Christian Democrats, Family First and the Democratic Labor Party (the last-named having had to register officially as an independent). One would have expected these parties to have picked up a very substantial part of what would otherwise have been the Liberal vote, although Peter Tagliferri was also,I would have thought, well-positioned to pick up some, particularly because in this by-election the ALP could throw the whole weight of its resources into the campaign without competition from the Liberals. Instead, the Family First and CDP vote appears to have actually gone backwards. The combined vote of the three family-values oriented parties totalled, according to The West Australian of May, 18, only 3.43 per cent of the vote. On a two-party preferred basis the Greens got 54.01 per cent of the vote and the ALP 45.99 per cent. The West Australian's political commentator Robert Taylor pointed out: "On Saturday, with no Liberal candidate, those who voted conservative last September, or a significant majority of them, moved right across the politi-
cal spectrum. They ignored the moderate, businessoriented Labor candidate and gave their vote to the hardleft Greens ... it was the Liberal supporters from last year who dumped an Fremantle Greens winner extra 2000- Adele Caries. odd votes in the Green's basket. Traditional Liberal-voting booths in East Fremantle, Richmond and Bicton voted Green ... despite the Green's antibusiness, anti-development policies ..." The Greens are entrenched in, as Taylor put it, "The inner-city Bohemian enclaves," and not just in Fremantle. They are part of a trendy, secularist culture which tends to be quite opposed to traditional values. Fremantle is not a typical seat, and does not have a typical population. Certainly nothing can be predicated about any future State election from this result. However, it is decisive enough to suggest a massive, and, in my partisan opinion, frankly alarming, failure by the family-oriented parties to get their message and values across. It is hardly my business to give political advice, even if I knew what useful advice to give, yet it seems to me plain that here we are facing a cultural problem of some magnitude and it would be foolish to ignore that fact.
Baptism bestows joint responsibili Family is the Future with Karen & Derek Boylen
W
e love baptisms. It's a special time when, as a whole family, we come together to welcome a new person into both our earthly and spiritual families. The power and significance came to mind for us recently because we celebrated baptisms for two new nephews on consecutive weekends. For the baptisms of our five children we have always tried to invite everyone who is close to us; Catholic and nonCatholic alike. At baptism, a person receives the grace of God so that through them God can make his presence known in the world in a special way. We include as many family and friends as we can in the baptism of our children so that they may bear witness to this milestone event. They come because they are our friends and they know it is something important for us. However, in a gentle way, their attendance creates a new space and a shared experience that allows us to enter into a deeper dialogue with them about faith. At one of the baptisms we attended we were inspired to see Fr Joe, at Our Lady of the Mission, Whitfords, take the time, at various stages, to explain the special significance of the parts of the liturgy to all present. He clearly understands that many who attend baptisms are unfamiliar with Catholic beliefs; both Catholics and non-Catholics. In our cousins, who were not Catholic, we could see a real interest in what was happening. It was the Holy Spirit working through the priest and the sacrament to bless lives. At baptism, we tend to focus on what is happening to the person being welcomed into the
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Church. However, something else special also happens. We are united with them in Christ. In 2000, John Paul II said: "The Baptism we have received is one. It brings about a sacramental bond of unity among all who have been reborn through it... Christ is the door of our salvation, which leads to reconciliation, to peace and to unity." We are reminded that the formation of this person in the faith is a joint responsibility. The Church and the Holy Spirit working in unison. When we attend a baptism we are challenged anew to walk with each other, supporting and nurturing each other in our faith journey. We feel blessed to be the godparents of four beautiful children. It gives us great joy watching them grow and mature. It's
a responsibility that we take seriously. Each Christmas and Easter we get them something special, a faith based book or a gift, which we hope will help them to discover and grow in their understanding of the faith. We try to model the Christian life for them and we hope that in the future they will feel comfortable to discuss things with us if they have the need. However, we don't need to be godparents to support the faith growth and development of those around us; particularly children. Supporting and nurturing faith growth and development is something that we try to do for all our nieces and nephews as well as the children of our friends. It's a baptismal challenge for us all.
The greatest pastoral challenge in Australia Fr Anthony Paganoni, Scalabrinian, continues his series on a long-running successful initiative in youth ministry in the province of Lombardy, Italy.
The
ItalianWay Tony Paganoni, Scalabrinian Intriguing developments in Youth Ministry
Australia's greatest challenge?
1
s youth ministry just one of many pastoral challenges laid at the doorstep of our churches today? Or is it rather the number one issue that could make or break the Catholic Church or the other churches planted here since the European settlement of this continent? No matter how we go about answering the question, I believe that youth ministry in Australia, as in other western societies, is now up against a 'cultural shift' rather than a 'generation gap'. "Young people are today growing up in a different world, if compared to that experienced by previous generations", decried a study in Britain as long ago as the 1970s. The refrain is repeated with monotonous regularity in the recent (2006) Australian study Spirit of Generation Y. Final Report of a three-year Study: "Most young people said they had some purpose in their lives, although some felt that their lives did not fit into the wider scheme, that they did not really belong anywhere and 'were hurting deep inside—(executive summary). This cultural shift has magnified the tensions that have always existed between generations and have always been present in youth ministry. Contemporary work with young people will always make the adult congregations seem at least 'out of touch'. Manuals offering "everything you need for youth work" sound naïve and simplistic. Sociologists of religion are quick to point out that there could be a deeper problem. It could be summed up: "How come if you want to become or remain a Christian, you have to find a way of living in a culture that no longer exists in everyday life?". This is why in a recent issue of the Youth Worker Journal (July-August 2007), the index of the articles is so revealing: New Paradigm, New Bible, New Illiteracy, New Music, New Humans, New Preaching etc... New world! According to the Spirit of Generation Y study, Churches must take seriously where young people are at, sidestepping the barriers of irrelevant forms and symbols and taking seriously ethical issues like the equality of women and men and protection of the environment. Churches must engage in dialogue, exploring faith with young people without first requiring commitment from them. While many young people show little if any interest in spirituality, others, a small minority, display an inspiring commitment to their faith and to the wellbeing of others. That there are still a goodly number of young people like this was demonstrated by the World Youth Day celebrations in Sydney last July. Of course the extent to which that successful project has triggered a new awakening in the lives of many of them remains to be seen. The ball is in their hands, we might say. Of course communities and other groups can be of help. Pastoral workers as well as theologians may well discuss styles and approaches, while many young people will remain on the sidelines waiting for someone committed to standing with them, by engagement and dialogue, discerning what is clearly difficult to anticipate. This conversation - a ministry from alongside rather than from in front - will be enormously enriched by ongoing experiences gained in other socio-religious contexts. The experience of the Oratorio in Italy is a notable example. TO BE CONTINUED..
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PANORAMA
May 27 2009, The Record
A roundup of events in the Archdiocese
Panorama entries must be in by 12pm Monday. Contributions may be emailed to administration@therecord.com.au, faxed to 9227 7087, or mailed to PO Box 75, Leederville, WA 6902. Submissions over 55 words will be edited. Inclusion is limited to 4 weeks. Events charging over $10 will be a put into classifieds and charged accordingly. The Record reserves the right to decline or modify any advertisment. Friday June 5 CATHOLIC FAITH RENEWAL EVENING 7.30pm at St John and Paul's Parish, Pinetree Gully Road, Willetton. Songs of praise, talk by Father Joseph Tran followed by Thanksgiving Mass and later refreshments. All welcome and bring a friend. Enq: Kathy 9295 0913, Rose 0403 300 720, Maureen 9381 498.
Friday June 12 to Sunday June 14 FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI Forty-Hour Eucharist Adoration 6pm, June 12 at Holy Trinity Church, Embleton. Mass at 9am, June 14 followed by Eucharistic Procession, Benediction and fellowship in the Hall. Please bring a plate to share. Enq: Office 9271 5528, George 9272 1379.
Friday June 5 PRO-LIFE WITNESS 9.30am at St Brigid's Midland with Mass, followed by Rosary procession and prayer vigil at abortion clinic, led by the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. Enq: Helen 9402 0349.
Saturday June 13 PADRE PIO PRAYER DAY 8.30am at St Jerome's Church, 24 Troode Street, Munster. St Padre Pio DVD, followed by Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Rosary, Divine Mercy, silent Adoration and Benediction. Holy Mass using St Padre Pio liturgy, at 11am, celebrant Fr Tiziano Bogoni. Confession will be available. BYO lunch, tea and coffee provided. Enq: Des 6278 1540.
Friday June 5 THE ALLIANCE, TRIUMPH AND REIGN OF THE UNITED HEARTS OF JESUS AND MARY 5.15pm at St Bernadette's Church, Glendalough. Confessions, Mass 5.45pm, followed by exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, hourly Rosaries, hymns and reflections etc throughout the night. Concludes with midnight Mass in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Enq: Fr Doug Harris 9444 6131 or Dorothy 9342 5845. Friday June 5 PRAISE AND WORSHIP 7pm at St Peter's Church, 93 Wood Street, Inglewood. 8pm Mass, followed by fellowship at 9pm. Please bring a plate. All welcome. Enq: Priscilla 0433 457 352 or Catherine 0433 923 083. Saturday June 6 DAY WITH MARY 9am to 5pm at St Aloysius Church, Keightley Road West and Henry Street, Shenton Park. 9am Video on Fatima. Day of prayer and instruction based upon the Fatima message. Reconciliation, Holy Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Sermons on Eucharist and Our Lady, Rosaries, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Stations of the Cross. BYO lunch. Enq: Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate 9250 8286. Saturday June 6 WITNESS FOR LIFE 8.30am at St Augustine's, Gladstone Road, Rivervale. Mass, followed by Rosary procession and prayer vigil at abortion clinic, led by Columban Missionary priest, Fr Paul Carey Enq: Helen 9402 0349. Sunday June 7 DIVINE MERCY 1.30pm at St Joachim's, Shepperton Road and Harper Street, Victoria Park. Holy Rosary and Reconciliation. Sermon with Fr Doug Harris on Adoration of Jesus followed by Divine Mercy prayers and Benediction. Later refreshments will be provided followed by a Video/DVD to be selected. Enq: 9457 7771 or Linda 9275 6608. Thursday June 11 ST PEREGRINE HEALING MASS 7pm at SS John and Paul Church, Pinetree Gully Road, off South Street, Willetton. A Healing Mass in honour of St Peregrine, Patron of Cancer sufferers and helper of all in need. The celebration will include Veneration of the Relic, and Anointing of the Sick. Enq: Noreen 9498 7727. Friday June 12 ALAN AMES HEALING MASS 7pm at St Anthony's Catholic Church, 96 Innamincka Road, Greenmount, followed by talk and healing service.
in brief...
Making a difference Students at The University of Notre Dame Australia's Sydney Campus are actively helping those in need with the formation of a new social justice group called Fired Up. The group, founded by law students, Claire Harris and Margaretta Doran, start-
Sunday June 14 WORLD APOSTOLATE OF FATIMA Holy Hour of Reparation 3pm at St Jerome's Church, Troode Street, Munster. All welcome. Enq: 9339 2614. Sunday June 14 A WAKEN I NGS A God Experience Retreat With a Difference 8.45am-4pm. Patrist House, 7 Warde Street, Midland, conducted by Father Douglas Rowe S.F.P. Attendance for full day is necessary. BYO lunch, light refreshments provided. Must book, 9250 5395. Sunday June 14 TOODYAY FRANCISCAN FRIARY Annual Corpus Christi Procession 10.30am at 36 Stirling Terrace, Toodyay. Holy Mass, followed at 12.30pm Procession. Bus services available. BYO lunch. Enq: Des 6278 1540 or Nita 9367 1366, or Franciscan Friars 9574 5204. Friday June 19 SOLEMNITY OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS 6.50pm at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, Keaney Place, City Beach. Rosary and Litanies, 7.30pm, Holy Mass and Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary and Benediction. Celebrant Fr Don Kettle representing Archbishop Hickey. Novena to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart, 11 to19 June, weekdays, 6.20am, Saturday 5.30pm, and Sunday 7.30am. Friday June 26 MEDJUGORJE EVENING OF PRAYER 7pm at Our Lady of the Mission, 270 Camberwarra Drive, Craigie. Adoration, Rosary, followed by Holy Mass. Free inspirational DVD on conversion of Fr.Calloway given. All welcome. Enq.9402 2480. Thursday July 9 to Sunday July 12 MARIAPOLIS 2009 - LOVE CREATES WISDOM 2pm at the Institute of Agriculture, Curtin University Campus, Muresk, Northam, come for spiritual renewal. Emphasis will be on living the Gospel together and learning to build relationships based on Jesus' New Commandment, so as to take that experience back to our environment. Enq: 9349 4052 or www.focolare.org. PICTORIAL EXHIBITION The Norbertine Golden Jubilee of Presence in Australia is being displayed at the Chapter Room of the Priory at 135 Treasure Road, Queens Park until 13 June, after which it
ed this semester. It aims to assist the less fortunate by giving students the opportunity to be involved in social justice projects. "I started this group because I have a passion for social justice and have always wanted to be involved with it through Notre Dame. We have found that so many students wish to be a part of this and are truly committed to making a difference in our local and broader community," said Ms Harris.
will move to the Parish of York for another two weeks display. Enq: 9458 2729 or 9514 5586. EVERY THIRD SUNDAY OF THE MONTH Oblates of St Benedict Meeting 2pm, St Joseph's Convent, York Street, South Perth. Oblates affiliated with the Benedictine Abbey of New Norcia invite all who are interested in studying the rule of St Benedict and its relevance to the everyday life of today for lay people. Vespers and tea conclude meetings. Enq: 9457 5758. SPARE SUNDAY LECTIONARY Thomas Perrott Village and Joseph Cooke House have Mass celebrated each weekend for the residents. Some of the residents have difficulty reading the small print in the ordinary missals. Would any parish have spare Sunday Lectionary they could pass on to us and we could collect in the metropolitan area? Phone Rosemary 9259 4859 or Glenis 9259 5761. ARCHBISHOP GOODY AWARD The Archbishop Goody Award was established in 1983 by The Most Reverend Sir Launcelot Goody, KBE. The Award aims to further the lay apostolate in the Archdiocese of Perth by financing the formation, education and training of lay people to serve the Church according to their particular calling and talents. Applications are to be submitted before July 31. Enq: Kim 9384 0598 or claremont@perthcatholic.org.au. PERPETUAL ADORATION Started at Highgate Parish March 2003, the Blessed Sacrament has been exposed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Be willing to spend one hour a week with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament so that Jesus is never left alone. There are vacant hours, come be with Jesus. Enq: Helen 9444 7962 or 0413 845 893. SACRED HEART OF JESUS - PIONEERS Any Pioneers to the Sacred Heart of Jesus out there in society who would like to meet other members in prayer and reflection, we offer an invitation. Enq: John 9457 7771. Every Tuesday BIBLE TEACHING WITH A DIFFERENCE 7.30pm, St Joachim's Parish Hall, Shepparton Road, Victoria Park. Come and hear. Light refreshments will follow. Bring along your Bible, a notebook and a friend. Enq: Jan 9284 1662. Every Wednesday CATHOLIC YOUTH MINISTRY - HOLY HOUR 5.30pm Mass at Catholic Pastoral Centre, 40A Mary Street, Highgate. 6.30pm Holy Hour and adoration. Dinner available at $5 donation. Enq: www.cym.com.au or call 9422 7912. Every Sunday DIVINE MERCY NOVENA 3pm, St Aloysius Church, Shenton Park. Every Friday EUCHARISTIC ADORATION 7.30pm, Holy Family Church, Lot 375, Alcock Street, Maddington. Prayers for healing and deliverance. Enq: 9381 5383.
Every 4th Sunday of the Month HOLY HOUR FOR VOCATIONS TO THE PRIESTHOOD AND RELIGIOUS LIFE 2-3pm, Morley Parish Church, 47 Wellington Road, Morley. There will be Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Come and reflect on the grace of being called to serve God in consecrated life. Prayer works! All Welcome. Enq: 9276 8500. Every Monday BIBLE TIME LINE A journey through the Bible Beginning June 8, 7.30pm to 9.30pm at St Emilie, 12 Hardwick Boulvard, Canning Vale. Come and discover a deeper insight into God's ongoing plan of salvation, how the Bible unlocks many questions of biblical places and events, about the various books of the Bible. Registration necessary, limited seating. Enq: Dominic and Helen 04 4705 3347 or 08 6253 8041 celestialorchidsOgmail.com Every Monday ADORATION AND EVENING PRAYER 7pm at St Thomas Parish, 2 College Road, Claremont. Adoration and evening prayer. Followed with confessions, Benediction, night prayer and Mass. Enq: 9384 0598. Every Tuesday NIGHT PRAYER MEETINGS 7pm, St Mary's Cathedral Parish Centre, 450 Hay Street, Perth. Overcome the burdens in life making prayer your lifeline with Jesus. Personal healing in prayer, Rosary, meditation, Scripture, praise in song, friendship, refreshments. Appreciate the heritage of the Faith living life abundantly. Every Thursday CATHOLIC QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 6pm-7.30pm, St Joseph's Church, 20 Hamilton Street, Bassendean, with Father John Corapi's Catechism of the Catholic Church. Every First Friday HOLY HOUR FOR VOCATIONS TO THE PRIESTHOOD AND RELIGIOUS LIFE 7pm, Little Sisters of the Poor Chapel, 2 Rawlins Street, Glendalough. Mass celebrated by Fr Saminedi. Followed by Adoration with Fr Don Kettle. All welcome. Refreshments provided. Every Saturday HOLY SPIRIT OF FREEDOM CHARISMATIC PRAYER MEETING 10.30am-12.30pm, St Peter the Apostle Church Hall, 91 Wood Street, Inglewood. All are most welcome. Enq: 9475 0554. Every 1st and 3rd Sunday of Each Month ST MARY'S CATHEDRAL SINGERS CHOIR 9.30am, St Joachim's Pro-Cathedral, Victoria Park. Seeking new members. Be part of singing at the refurbished St Mary's Cathedral. Full training provided. Enq: Michael 041 429 4338 or michael@michaelpeters.id.au. Every First Friday of the month ST PADRE PIO - LATIN MASS 7.30pm, St Joseph's, 22 Hamilton St, Bassendean.
MISSION MATTERS Missionary reflections on the Feast of Pentecost Pentecost is the celebration of God's gift of the Holy Spirit to the world. It is in fact the birthday of our missionary Church. Interestingly, as a birthday event on the refugee camp I worked on in Zambia, it was celebrated with as much rejoicing and vigour as if it was Christmas. For the African refugees I lived with, the gift and power of the Holy Spirit is central to their experience of God. Christianity comes home to them through the story and celebration of Pentecost. How central is this story to your faith journey? Does it inspire and affirm the missionary endeavours of your own parish community? Interested in overseas missionary experience, then call Catholic Mission on 94227933'
e.:101P
May 27 2009, The Record
CLASSIFIEDS
Mother's Day lauds the ultimate mum
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Deadline: 12pm Monday RELIGIOUS PRODUCTS
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For all your residential, commercial painting requirements. Phone Tom Perrott 9444 1200.
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Top service. Phone 0419 915 836, fax 9345 0505.
SETTLEMENTS / FINANCE
BOOK REPAIRS • REPAIR YOUR LITURGICAL BOOKS General repairs to books, old bibles & missals. 2ndhand Catholic books avail. Tydewi Bindery 9293 3092.
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HEALTH • FREE Sample pack for Extra energy and Weight loss. Call - 02 98075337 or 0432 274 643.
HEALTH IN COUNSELLING/PSYCHOTHERAPY www.christianpsychologistinfo Tel: 9203 5278.
Daily Mass Readings 31 S PENTECOST SUNDAY 9 Solemnity Red Vigil Mass Gen 11:1-9 A tower to heaven [Alt. Ex 19:3-8.16-20 or Ezek 37:1-14 or Joel 3:1-5] Ps 103:1-2.24.27-30.35 Majesty and glory Rom 8:22-27 Wait to be set free in 7:37-39 No Spirit as yet
• FOR EVERYTHING FINANCE Ph. Declan 0422 487 563, www.goalfinancialservices.com.au Save yourself time, money and stress. FBL 4712
THANKSGIVING •
TO
THE
BLESSED
VIRGIN
Oh most beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendour of heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God. Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. Oh Star of the Sea, help me and show me where you are. My Mother Oh Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven, I beseech you from the bottom of my heart, to suffer me my necessities (make request). There are none who can withstand your power. Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee (three times). Holy Mary I place this prayer in your hands three times). Say this prayer for three consecutive days. GM
Tomorrow can be different, say Vinnies
2 T Ss Marcellinus and Peter, martyr (0)
Gr Tob 2:9-14 Ps 111:1-2.7-9 Mk 12:13-17
Anna supports Tobit Trust in the Lord Surprising reply
3 W St Charles Lwanga and companions, martyrs
(M) Red Tob 3:1-11.16-17 Grace and truth Ps 24:2-9 In you I hope Mk 12:18-27 God of the living 4 Th Tob 6:10-11;7:1.9-14;8:4-9 Grace and peace Walk in God's way Mk 12:28-34 Love your neighbour
Mass during the day Acts 2:1-11 The gift of speech Ps 103:1.24.29-31.34 Spirit gives life Same Spirit, Lord, God 1Cor 12:3-7.12-13 [Alt. Gal 5:16-25 Fruits of the Spirit] in 20:19-23 Receive the Holy Spirit [Alt. in 15:26-27;16:12-15 The Spirit of truth]
S F St Boniface, bishop, martyr (M) Red Tob 11:5-17 I see my son Ps 145:2.7-10 Faith for ever Mk 12:35-37 Jeus's riddle
1 M St Justin, martyr (M) (Week 9 in Ordinary Time) Good works Red Tob 1:3;2:1-8 Ps 111:1-6 Riches and wealth Mk 12:1-12 This is the heir
6 S St Norbert, bishop (0) Gr Tob 12:1.5-15.20 Proclaim God's deeds Tob 13:2.6-8 Return to the Lord! Mk 12:38-44 Contribution most worthy
Gr Ps 127:1-5
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Winter Appeal urges concern for the forgotten of our society. THE St Vincent de Paul Society launched its 2009 Winter Appeal on May 27 encompassing this year's theme 'Tomorrow Can Be Different' as the Society asks West Australians to consider ways they can help make somebody's 'tomorrow different' this winter. The launch at the Society's Clothing and Furniture Depot located in Osborne Park showcased what will be one of the busiest places in WA this winter, as the Depot endeavours to keep people warm and clothed throughout the cold months ahead. Lucinda Ardagh, the Society's spokesperson for WA, said the Winter Appeal is always the busiest time of the year
and with unemployment on the rise and so much uncertainty in the economy, without the community's support the Society would not be able to respond to every call for help. "Latest figures from the Australian Financial Review indicate that there are 155,000 more Australians out of work than this time last year, making a total of approximately 600,000 people unemployed, all of whom are going to find it increasingly difficult to pay their rent, mortgage, bills and other expenses and will turn to the St Vincent de Paul Society for emergency welfare assistance," Ms Ardagh said. This winter, the Society is urging West Australians to consider someone's 'today' and help make their 'tomorrow' different by donating generously to the 2009 Winter Appeal.
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On the fifth Sunday of Easter, the Children's Liturgy team at Kalamunda swung the focus onto Mary. Not only was it Mother's Day but May is traditionally Mary's month and we wanted to think about who the Mother of Jesus was and what she means to us. Every Sunday in the school term, Father Paul calls the children to the altar at the beginning of Mass and, after a blessing, we go to the hall with our lectionary and the desire to crack open the word of God for children. The Gospel of John 15:1-8 was read, where Jesus used the image of the vine to describe himself. Just as a plant's branches need to stay joined to the main stem if they are to grow delicious fruit, so too must mankind stay connected to God. Parishioners looked at how children are the fruit of their mother's and father's choice to love each other. When asked what their mothers did in the family, every child had an answer - cooking, cleaning, shopping, helping, and teaching - and agreed that
the most important role of our mothers is to love us and show us how to love. They prayed the Hail Mary together and realised that Mary is our heavenly mother; and thanked her as she brought Jesus to us by saying "Yes!" to God. Mary gave birth to Jesus and nurtured him and she knew Jesus better than anyone else. This means Mary, who loves us, can help us to get to know him. Mary was Jesus' first disciple; she knew absolutely that he was the Son of God. Just before he died on the cross, Jesus told Mary that she was now mother to his friends. Jesus shared her with us. Mary always said "Yes" to God, even when it was very difficult. The congregation rejoined and at the end of Mass, each child gathered a bunch of fresh flowers and formed a colorful procession down the aisle to crown Mary, Queen of Heaven, and lay bright flowers at her feet. The children gave all the mothers a chocolate heart and a little prayer to Mary that they had decorated. After Communion children placed flowers in front of Our Lady's statue and crowned her.
The life ofKarol Wojtyla, Pope John PaulII * Please note this special includes Postage & Handling cost of $5.00
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May 27 2009, The Record
The Record
AN HOUR WITH MARY, MOTHER OF JESUS
IN TIERS OF GLORY
HAIL, HOLY QUEEN
The Organic Development of Church Architecture through the Ages
A Mother of God in the Word of God By Scott Hahn This book offers a fresh and surprising perspective on Mary, The Mother of God that revolves around an irresistible exposition of the scriptural texts. Hahn brilliantly unveils the Marian mystery at the heart of the Book of Revelation and reveals how it is foretold in the very first pages of the Book of Genesis and in the story of King David's monarchy, which speaks of a privileged place for the mother of the king. RRP $34.95 +p/h
By Michael S. Rose The author presents an overview of great church architecture from the time of the Caesars in Rome to the end of the twentieth century. Rose identifies the canons that have been common to Catholic churches throughout history - from Roman basilicas to Byzantine and Carolingian churches, from pilgrimage shrines to Gothic churches, from Renaissance classicism to Baroque opulence - elements that have been common to churches in every age except our own. Texts are illustrated with 200 examples of beautiful, full colour photographs.
By Anthony F Chiffolo This little pocket booklet offers insights into the life and spirituality of the woman who was so open to God's will that she became the mother of God's only Son. Mirroring her own humility, the gospels give only a brief account of Mary. Yet the power of her example and the manner of her obedience have become a comfort to all believers who call upon her as a special intercessor with God.
VATICAN COLLECTION JEWELLERY HAIL MARY NECKLACE 18"
Partially antiqued silver tone is used to create this precious way to display your faith. The prayer bead is engraved with the words, "Hail Mary full of Grace the Lord is with Thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus." Delicate patterns are engraved at the points of the pendant. RRP $54.95 +p/h
RRP $1.95
RRP $41.95 ORDERS ONLY +p/H
NEW RELEASE! AVAILABLE JUNE 2009 SHE WHO BELIEVED Australian Images of Mary By Marie Farrell The number of Australians who have interpreted in art the presence and role of Mary in our Australian context is surprising. This book contains a collection of paintings and sculptures not widely published. The images are presented in three contexts: liturgical, indigenous and contemporary. A beautiful inspirational gift book. Orders welcome RRP $29.95
OUR LADY CAME TO FATIMA By Ruth Fox Hume Who would have thought that the Blessed Mother would choose to visit Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco, the little shepherds to whom she appeared in 1917. In this 27th volume of the acclaimed Vision Books series for youth, readers will be enthralled by the story of the village and its people, of the scornful neighbours and the puzzled parents. RRP $19.95 +p/h
MOTHER OF GOD COLOURING BOOK
MIRACULOUS ROSARY
The Medal of the Immaculate Conception, commonly known as the Miraculous Medal, is a cherished Catholic devotion. The Blessed Mother Mary manifested the medal to Sister (now Saint) Catherine Laboure in 1830, and asked her to have the medal struck. This stunning devotional Rosary bears the Ave Maria signature. Each bead of this Rosary is a mini Miraculous Medal. The beads are complemented by a beautiful Miraculous centrepiece and ornate crucifix. The Rosary is silver oxidised RRP $59.95 ORDERS ONLY
Famous Images of Our Lady By Katherine Sotnik Beautifully drawn classic images of Our Lady and the Christ Child from famous shrines and miraculous images. Excellent short stories accompany each illustration to provide an outstanding resource for a child to be instructed in his faith while creatively colouring the glorious images of Mary. 35 finely drawn images of Our Lady, including Guadalupe, Fatima, Perpetual Help, Good Counsel, Czestochowa and more. RRP $9.95 +p/h
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HOLY BIBLE Catholic Family Edition Black RSV Padded Cover Elegant and beautifully gilded pages featuring deluxe sewn binding Every Catholic home deserves a copy of the "World's Most Beautiful Bible." This deluxe Family Bible truly earns that title with its stunning Old Masters art, elegant typesetting, gilded page edges and rich, embossed cover. This Bible also features Stampley's famous "sidesewn" binding — specially designed to preserve Stampley Bibles as treasured family heirlooms for many generations. Included in Stampley's Deluxe Catholic Family Bible is an inspiring 48 page section on the Life of Christ as painted by the Old Masters. RRP $159.95
T-Shirt: Miraculous Medal 3 1.9S