The Year of Jesus
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Perth: January 2, 1997
WA's only Catholic weekly newspaper
Urgent challenges for Perth: Archbishop By Peter Rosengren The Archdiocese of Perth in 1997 must overcome urgent, serious difficulties ranging from the absence of most Catholics at Sunday Mass to the challenge of holding the line on the Church's moral teachings if it is to grow as a vital, evangelising force in the Perth region, Archbishop Hickey warned this week The Archbishop raised these and other problems - including the way Catholic schools are acting as substitutes for parishes through to Catholics becoming hypercritical of their Church - in his weekly perspective column in The Record (See pages 9 and 8). Archbishop Hickey is also open to debate on these difficulties in the columns of The Record as long as letters address the issues and "no person is attacked by name." At the same time, he reminds
Perth Catholics that 'human wisdom is not capable of solving problems that are fundamentally spiritual." "Only the Holy Spirit can offer the guidance necessary," he said. Other problems placing obstacles in the path of the progress of the Church were the drop in vocations to the priesthood and Religious life, and the use of Vatican II to attack Catholics using devotional practices to sustain themselves spiritually. Archbishop Hickey said he was extremely distressed by the low rates of Mass attendance for young people - currently at somewhere between 5-10 per cent. No-one seemed to be bothered by the drift from the Church among youth and adults. "No-one calls, no one asks why, no-one bothers. The message to the people that leave is loud and clear, "we don't miss you.— he wrote. The Archbishop has also warned against the tendency for people to regard Catholic schools
as their primary point of contact with the Church rather than the parish. "If that occurs." he said, "students will leave school without any links with a parish and find themselves adrift." In teaching morals, the Archbishop admitted frankly that "one of the most difficult tasks" facing the Church was what he termed "holding the line", not only with non-believers but also among Catholics, and presenting the Church's teaching, which he described as "Good News," in a convincing way to the young. This was increasingly important, he wrote, as couples faced a contemporary marital wasteland, created in part by the contraceptive message of the 1960's. "We have the opportunity to present our teachings clearly and cogently, given today's marital wasteland, but only if our Catholic people are themselves fully supportive of those teachings," he wrote.
He said it was presumptuous to attack devotional piety on the basis that it was somehow contrary to the spirit of Vatican II; Vatican II was not to be used to undermine or scoff at devotional practices, he warned. Archbishop Hickey said that few priestly vocations would continue to emerge without the solid backing from Catholic families and a strong Catholic community life. Many parents today did not want a son to become a priest because they regarded it as a waste of a life, he said. But, a promising sign was that while families were unable currently to nurture vocations, "alternative families and seedbeds for vocations" in the shape of new spiritual movements were springing up. These were emerging at
the same time that existing Religious congregations were facing uncertainty over their purpose and futures. The Archbishop also discussed the unmet needs of parents with disabled children trying to have their children accepted in some Catholic schools, and lay involvement in the Church. The Archbishop urged all Catholics to open their lives to the truth and to "allow Jesus' grace to change" them, particularly in the 1997 Year of Jesus. Accepting Jesus fully as our Way. Truth and Life was the first step in beginning to overcome the urgent problems facing the Church in 1997, he concluded. Full text - Page 9 and 8 Editorial - Page 7
Letters to the Editor should be no more than 250 words long although lengthier letters may be accepted if the quality of discussion warrants it. The editor reserves the right to edit any letter without reference to the writer and not to enter verbal or written correspondence on this policy or its application.
'Christmas a golden opportunity for reconciliation' Christmas was the golden opportunity for reconciliation among friends and families and for people to come back into close contact with God, the source of all peace, the Church and each other, Archbishop Barry Hickey of Perth said at Christmas midnight Mass. They could recover the love and peace they had lost and heal any divisions between them, he said as he addressed a packed congregation in St Mary's Cathedral.
Six month old Jazelle Francis is a picture of Christmas bliss at the Cathedral with her mother, Lilian.
"It will take courage to do so, to say 'sorry, let's put the past behind us, let's try again in this coming year to live closer to one another,' It also takes courage to receive the forgiveness of somebody else and often we have to abandon our resentment, abandon the feelings that have been welling up in us of anger and annoyance and say 'yes, I do forgive you,'" he said. Archbishop Hickey urged reconciliation between family members, especially for the benefit of children.
Worshippers crowd before the sanctuary as Archbishop Hickey preaches at midnight Mass.
Portrait of Archbishop unveiled - Page 2
"Many children today are growing up without the love they should have from a father and mother because of the unhappy things that are happening to marriages and families today," he said. But this could be prevented or rectified through practising forgiveness at Christmas time, he said, so children could up grow up in an attitude of love and of peace. Thousands of people over the centuries since Christ's birth had witnessed to the love of God, who continued to love each person even when it seemed no-one else did. It was Jesus in the manger as the sign of God's love who gave hope to the world. "There are so many people in so many different situations who need to know that they are loved, and if they do not receive that love from their own human beings then at least they know there is one who will never abandon them," he said. "And the child of Bethlehem is the sign that that One, the One who created them. God, the eternal, will continue to love them," he said. The Archbishop also called on all people to work and pray for peace at the national and international levels, especially with millions of refugees on the move in Africa and with war and instability reigning in many other places. - Peter Rosengren
Dominicans honour confreres
Irish Club alive and well in West Perth
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