PERTH, WA: August 31, 1989
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Peace recipe CUT OUT RACIAL PREJUDICE, THE ARMS RACE AND DISTRUST, SAYS THE POPE VATICAN CITY (CNS): Racial prejudice, the arms race and distrust among nations must be overcome to prevent war and ensure the protection of individual and national rights, Pope John Paul II said in an apostolic letter. In a 20-page letter to mark the 50th anniversary of the start of World War!! invasion of Poland by Germany, the pope calls the WWII treatment of Jews "shameful". He says the Baltic states of Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were "ravaged and divided up at the pleasure of unscrupulous invaders". The pope sent a special 12 -page message to the
bishops of his native Poland. remem"Vigilant brance" of the war and its causes ought to make people see current situations that could destroy "the freedom which the war generation sacrificed so much to attain," the pope wrote. "The fragile balance of peace could easily be compromised if evils such as racial hatred, contempt for foreigners, segregation of the sick and elderly, exclusion of the poor, recourse to private and collective violence were revived in people's consciences," the letter said. "We know from experience that the arbitrary
dividing up of nations, the forced displacement of peoples, rearmament without limits, the uncontrolled use of sophisticated weapons, the violation of the fundamental rights of individuals and peoples, the non-observance of international rules of conduct and the imposition of totalitarian ideologies can lead to nothing but the ruin of mankind," the apostolic letter said. While governments and nations have a responsibility to work together to solve "the great problems of humanity" and are making progress in some areas, individuals and the Church also have a role to play, he said.
"God is calling his Church to make her own contribution to the coming of a more fraternal world," the pope wrote. When societies deny the existence of God, and therefore the God-given dignity of individuals, a "moral abyss" like that of Nazism has a chance to flourish, he said. "Nazi paganism and Marxist dogma are both basically totalitarian ideologies and tend to become substitute religions," the letter said. Before discussing the particular "trials of the Catholic Church" during the war, Pope John Paul lamented the persecu-
Fifty years after the beginning of the war, Pope John Paul wrote, "it is our duty before God to remember these tragic events in order to honour the dead and to share in the sorrow of all those whom this outbreak of cruelty wounded in body and soul, while at the same time forgiving the offences that were committed".
tion and planned genocide of the Jews. Among all the "antihuman" action of the war, he said, "there is one which will forever remain a shame for humanity: the planned
barbarism which was unleased against the Jewish people". "The Jews of Poland, more than others, lived this immense suffering: The images of the Warsaw ghetto under siege,
as well as what we have come to learn about the camps at Auschwitz, Majdanek and Treblinka, surpass in horror anything that can be humanly imagined," the pope wrote.
Racism not strong here' Racism is something that is not very strong in Australia and it is fair to assume that it is not very evident in the Church in Australia. But it must be admitted that there is evidence of racism in our society. "Whether there is racism or not in Australia we still have the responsibility of making sure that all those who live in Australia, who come to Australia, are treated properly." That is the opinion of Bishop Healy who was responding to questions sparked by a story published in The Record
By A Senior Staff Writer ("Racism is a reality", August 24), which quoted Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago as saying that racism does exist in the Catholic Church. Bishop Healy said that the WA Church's Year of the Mission and Assembly emphasised the fact that our society should be an "inclusive society". He said that means that everybody should be recognised for themselves and for their own gifts and abilities and the contribution they can make to the Church and
society, everybody without exception. What in his view is the root cause of racism? Bishop Healy answered: "It is a complex situation. I think it is something within some people with a sort of superiority or inferiority complex. "Isuppose in some cases it is a result of some economic situation where you have things like unemployment which cause people to be racists sometimes." He felt there were obligations on both sides.
He elaborated: "We have the responsibility of making people feel welcome, making them feel worthwhile, making them feel they are important and each individual is important. "So people coming in, people of minority groups, have themselves to make the effort and respond to the welcome that they receive." "It is interesting to note that the readings for this coming Sunday emphasise that salvation is for all."
Bishop Healy said that the Church would welcome and encourage more Aboriginals to the Church and priesthood. He agreed that he would also like to see the Aboriginals realise that they, too, are important and they should make their own contribution. "There is no place for racism in the attitude and thinking of a Christian. The beginnings of the Church on Pentecost Sunday are an indication of this when people of many races and nations gathered in Jerusalem to hear the preaching of the apostles."