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The lessons you get between blisters while walking to Santiago de Compostela - Pages 12-13
When it comes to church architecture, a Notre Dame academic says, there is nothing worse than standing still. - Pages 10-11
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Reinterral to finally bring remains of Perth’s former bishops, archbishops, together
Invitation to historic moment By Robert Hiini
T
he death of Perth’s first Archbishop Patrick Joseph Clune on May 24, 1935 prompted some of the most extraordinary scenes of sorrow ever witnessed in Western Australia. Catholics lined the streets surrounding St Mary’s Cathedral to pay their respects to a man whose visionary leadership is still paying dividends in the Archdiocese today. Contemporary organisers hope to see something of that sentiment replicated in two forthcoming events marking the reinterment of his remains in St Mary’s Cathedral, the last of Perth’s seven deceased prelates to be interred in the Cathedral crypt. The Archdiocese of Perth and the Redemptorists of North Perth have issued an open invitation to both a 6.30pm vigil service at the Redemptorist Monastery on September 2 and the 7pm reinterment Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral on September 3. Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB will be the chief celebrant at the Mass. The reinterment has been planned to fall within a few days of the centenary of the Perth Archdiocese. It also falls on the 119th anniversary of Archbishop Clune’s profession as a Redemptorist. The remains of Archbishop Clune were exhumed on May 14-15 at Karrakatta Cemetery earlier this year. ENQUIRIES - 9223 1351
With the Swan River visible in the distance, a policeman wearing a cape to protect against the rainy weather watches the hearse carrying the body of Archbishop Clune leave Victoria Square headed for Karrakatta Cemetary in May 1935. Thousands packed the streets of Perth for the occasion. In an historic moment, Archbishop Clune’s remains will be interred in the Crypt of St Mary’s Cathedral at 7pm on September 3, bringing the remains of all of Perth’s former reigning bishops and archbishops together for the first time. The Archdiocese is keen for as many Catholics as possible to be present. PHOTO: COURTESY FR ROBERT CROSS
Want to be Catholic? Jettison being the same as everyone else By Francis Rocca AT A WEEKLY public audience earlier this year, the Pope underscored one of his characteristic themes: the countercultural implications of membership in the Church. “Belief in God makes us bearers of values that often do not coincide with the fashion and opinion of the moment, and calls on us to adopt standards and behaviours that do not belong to the common way of thinking,” he said. “The Christian should not be afraid to swim against the tide to live his own faith, resisting the tendency to conform.” More recently, the Pope used similar language when urging young Catholics to commit to the Sacrament of Marriage.
“In a culture of relativism and the ephemeral, many preach the importance of enjoying the moment,” he said. “I ask you, instead, to be revolutionaries, I ask you to swim against the tide; yes, I am asking you to rebel against this culture that sees everything as temporary
none is clearer than their common conviction that Christian faith puts the believer at odds with the materialist “idols” of today’s secular society. On that basis alone, one might have expected these avowed countercultural leaders to attract similar
I ask you instead to be revolutionaries, swimming against the tide. Yes, I am asking you to rebel. and that ultimately believes you are incapable of responsibility, that believes you are incapable of true love.” The first quotation is from Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican in January; the second from Pope Francis in Rio de Janeiro on July 28. Of the many strands of continuity between the two men’s pontificates,
degrees of hostility, or at least disdain, from the dominant culture. But, in fact, their experiences in this regard have been starkly opposed. Throughout Pope Benedict’s eight-year pontificate, secular media outlets routinely portrayed him as backward or bigoted for his defence of traditional Catholic
teaching, particularly on moral questions. By contrast, it is hard to imagine any Pope today enjoying better press than Pope Francis, especially in normally unsympathetic quarters. Time magazine recently celebrated him on its cover as the “people’s Pope” and a blogger for Esquire, a fashion magazine dedicated to the sort of aspirational consumerism that the Pope deplores, pronounced in a headline that “It’s Time to Admit: Pope Francis is Kind of Awesome”. This difference in reception is partly explicable as a matter of personal style. Retired Pope Benedict is a shy, introverted scholar whose talks and writings, though never needlessly obscure, were formally composed and intellectually Continued on Page 9
Catholics should stop drifting with the tide of society and start living their faith and the countercultural values that come with it, says Pope Francis. PHOTO: PAUL HARING, CNS