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YEAR of the SNAKE Honouring tradition and Faith: Perth’s Chinese Catholics celebrate the lunar New Year - Page 2
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therecord.com.au
HARVEST TIME Hills Catholics gather to keep the old ways alive and enjoy being together - Page 4
Candidates address Christians to distinguish themselves - but some are left unimpressed
We can’t answer your question By Matthew Biddle PREMIER Colin Barnett doubted the validity of information supplied in Parliament by his own government regarding aborted children who were born alive but given no medical treatment by hospital staff in front of more than 800 people attending an election forum for voters on February 26. At a forum for voters organised by the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL), the Premier was asked if he would support an inquiry into the deaths of 14 babies born between 1999 and 2010 who, having survived an abortion procedure, were left to die. The question came from the Archdiocese of Perth’s Catholic Youth Ministry director, Anita Parker. After appearing to evade the substance of Ms Parker’s question, when probed further the Premier said: “I don’t know the details of that … I would find that quite difficult to accept, and I would doubt that that has occurred in that way.” “I somehow doubt that information.” Responding on the same issue, Labor leader Mark McGowan also questioned the validity of Ms Parker’s information. “You can’t just commit to inquiries based on someone saying something to you, you need the information to be provided, but if people Please turn to Page 6
As moderator Lyle Shelton looks on, WA Premier Colin Barnett addresses voters at the information evening convened by the Australian Christian Lobby at the Mt Pleasant Baptist Community Centre on February 26 while Opposition Leader Mark McGowan, at left, waits his turn to speak. Both candidates faced a range of questions, including from Perth Bishop Donald Sproxton on housing and from CYM director Anita Parker on abortion. PHOTO: MATTHEW BIDDLE
Young guns committed to fostering new tradition By Peter Rosengren
Jing Ping Wong speaks to the first meeting of the Christopher Dawson Society in Rosie O’Grady’s pub in Northbridge on February 26. PHOTO: PETER ROSENGREN
PUB: IRISH; food: good; beer: excellent - and a crowd of approximately 80 interested in sparking a renewal of interest in Catholic culture, history and intellectual life. Last week’s gathering might almost have come out of the rollicking circle of famed English Catholic intellects in the 1930s such as GK Chesterton, Hilaire Belloc and Christopher Dawson, except that it happened in Northbridge’s restaurant strip on February 26. Such was the setting for the launch of the Christopher Dawson Society which held its inaugural gathering at Rosie O’Grady’s Irish pub; organisers Daniel Matthys, Tom Gourlay and Elizabeth Bogoni (all currently studying at university or recently graduated) were hoping to offer something they feel has been missing on the Perth Catholic
scene - a society devoted to forensic analysis of contemporary issues and a reconnection with some of the greats of the Catholic tradition. Named for the legendary British historian, Christopher Dawson, whose Catholicism is believed to have excluded him from teaching at Oxford in the 1920s and 30s, the Dawson Society is hoping to meet every two months. Last Tuesday’s meeting featured presentations by Perth laymen Jing Ping Wong and Andrew Kania. Mr Wong, an engineer with a Master’s degree from the John Paul II Institute on Marriage and Family, contrasted the Catholic and secular concepts of gender and the meaning of sex, addressing issues increasingly debated in the public square. Dr Andrew Kania, an Oxfordtrained academic who is Director of Spirituality at Aquinas College, spoke on the lay vocation and its
importance to the future of the Church, reminding listeners that on numerous occasions it was laity which had played a key role in saving the Church’s orthodoxy when clerics were not up to the task. Dawson Society co-founder Daniel Matthys told The Record he had been pleased with the inaugural gathering. “I was very pleased with the first meeting. It stimulated some good discussion and, from the feedback I’ve had, got people thinking.” The next meeting of the Society is on April 9. Anthony Coyte from the University of Notre Dame Australia’s Fremantle campus will speak on papal frontrunner Cardinal Marc Ouellet’s theology of the family, followed by a panel discussion. Further information: from Tom Gourlay via: gourlayt@ gmail.com or 0434 402 884. Dr Kania’s talk - Pages 12-13