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AUSTRALIA AND THE ASYLUM SEEKERS
How did we come
TO THIS?
Experienced and long-time migrant chaplain Fr Anthony Paganoni CS ponders what Australia’s latest attitude to refugees and asylum seekers says about us...
O
NE might take the view that, considering the accumulation of fears in Australia added to the complexities surrounding the refugee situation, we have moved to a situation that is definitely not “a many-splendoured thing” – indeed, quite the opposite. Yet the undeniable truth is that we live in this lucky and affluent island nation, Australia, which has been peopled by successive waves of migrants and refugees, not forgetting that the first inhabitants are believed to have originated in Africa. Through a simple search in the national and state archives, one can trace one’s origins, the forebears who arrived two centuries ago at the most. Our own or our ancestors’ relatively recent arrivals make us all a nation of immigrants, where identities and cultures have come together “Our daily conversation to shape and form the vast and rich collection of individual stories we about refugees has call Australia. As is so clearly shown been drained of any in the Encyclopedia of the Nation (subtitled The Australian People degree of rationality and edited by James Jupp), we are all brushing elbows with people of and replenished with different origins. catchphrases and just Australia is an island nation and because of its geographical plain, brazen lying...” setting, with its only residents being historically migrants or refugees, the ever-changing dissimilarities of its population resemble those of the ancient Roman legions which were successfully merged with local populations without causing major upheavals. Even up until very recent times, repeated struggles have served to convince new and old Australians that the island nation is indeed a ‘land of opportunity’, where a ‘fair go’ has been the maxim, shaping prevalent social and thinking patterns. I dare say, however, that moods are changing – and not only moods. Issues surrounding refugees have rapidly escalated and become exacerbated over the last decade or so. We speak about people who have not yet landed on Australian shores and yet have somehow become an almost incendiary substance (or made to appear as such?), in spite of Continued on Pages 10-11 A Libyan boy looks on during celebrations of World Refugee Day in 2012 at a UN refugee camp in Benghazi, Libya.
PHOTO: CNS/ESAM AL-FETORI, REUTERS
As Crispin is ordained to ministry of diaconate, everyone rejoices By Peter Rosengren HUNDREDS of members of Neocatechumenal communities across Perth – from the very young to the very old – joined together to celebrate the ordination to the Diaconate of Crispin Chanda Witika at St Gerard Majella Church in Westminster on August 14. Bishop Donald Sproxton, who ordained Crispin, said the occasion was a great moment, not only for the Neocatechumenal Way but also for the Church in Perth. Twenty-two priests, seminarians from St Charles’ Archdiocesan Seminary and Archbishop Emeritus Barry Hickey were among those who turned out for the occasion. Also present to support him were Deacon Crispin’s fellow seminarians from Morley’s Redemptoris Mater Seminary, together with St Charles Rector Monsignor Kevin Long and Redemptoris Mater Rector Fr Michael Moore SM.
Toto and Rita Piccolo, a married couple who are the Sydneybased responsibles for the Neocatechumenal Way in Australia, were also present. The evening, Bishop Sproxton said in his homily, was linked to two significant events in the life of the Archdiocese: it was the
The occasion was also significant as the 19th anniversary of the opening of Redemptoris Mater seminary... 19th anniversary of the establishment of the Redemporis Mater Seminary run under the auspices of the Neocatechumenal Way, but it was also 19 years since Archbishop Hickey had courageously re-opened St Charles as the Archdiocesan
seminary; it had been the regional seminary until 1975 and had been running since 1942. Both decisions had played an enormous role in the revitalisation of the priesthood for the Church in Perth and both bishops present for the evening were former students of St Charles. Meanwhile, the occasion, the eve of the Feast of the Assumption, was significant, said Bishop Sproxton. While non-Catholic Christians often have great difficulty with Catholic beliefs about Mary, Catholics firmly believe that the woman who is the Mother of God already enjoys the Resurrection. The feast was therefore an occasion for everyone present that evening to return to Mary in their own thoughts, reflecting on the experiences in their own lives they hold in common with her. The lessons Mary has to teach are vital, he said. “One thing she has taught us is Continued on Page 3
Bishop Donald Sproxton prays over Deacon Crispin Witika, moments after ordaining him to the diaconate at St Gerard Majella Church on 14 August. PHOTO: PETER ROSENGREN