PERTH, WA: January 17, 1991
Registered by Australia Post Publication No. WAR 0202
Number 2722
POST ADDRESS: PO Box 50, Northbridge, 6000 W.A. LOCATION: 26 John St, Northbridge (east off Fitzgerald St).
TELEPHONE: (09) 328 1388
FAX (09) 328 7307
Pope's position... VATICAN CITY (CNS): Since the Persian Gulf crisis erupted with Iraq's August 2 invasion of Kuwait, Pope John Paul ll has outlined his position in a series of talks. Here at a glance are the key points. • Iraq must withdraw from Kuwait because the invasion violates international law and the moral code that should govern relations between states. • Countries involved in the Gulf crisis should convene an international conference on all the problems in the Middle East.
• The use of military force to dislodge Iraqi troops is not justified because of the massive loss of life and destruction it would produce. Diplomacy, negotiations and nonviolent means are the way to deal with the situation. • The same principles that apply to the invasion of Kuwait also apply to Lebanon and to the Israeli-occupied territories. The international community should give equal attention and urgency to all these issues. The pope has linked the problems but has not
said that an Iraqi w ithdrawal should take place only when the other problems are solved. • In Lebanon, all nonLebanese fighting forces should withdraw so that the Lebanese can decide their political future based on their heritage of religious political a nd pluralism. • Palestinians have a right to a homeland in which they can live in peace and security. Israel has an equal right to live in peace and security with its Arab neighbours.
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PRICE 60C
A prayer assault
Candlelight bathed St Mary's Cathedral on Tuesday night when close on two thousand people jammed the building in a united prayer for peace.
Religious differences were swept aside as five
Christian and three other faith representatives read their scriptures and made common prayer for peace.
The hour-long service was the highlight of a 24hour vigil of prayer that had Dean Orzanski
opening the doors of the cathedral at 4.30am for the large group that assembled then and on through the well attended 7am Mass.
On-the-hour prayer services led by a variety of faiths and personalities
To the strains of the Taize Veni Sancte Spiritus St Mary's Cathedral congregation for peace became a sea of candlelight as Church leaders carried flames from a candle of peace that had been lit for the 24 hour vigil. A commitment to peace was made by each one present before a rousing final chorus from Les Miserables "Do you hear the people cry".
The big youth meet: Pictures and stories on Pages 2 and 13
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greeted the steady stream of pilgrims to St Mary's. Subiaco parish came as a group and spent time in prayer in the cathedral grounds. Prayer for peace caught on in other places too. At Morley the church was packed for a Monday night Mass that was followed by eucharistic worship till late into the night. Fr Greg Burke said prayer was "not for a quick victory that will protect US or our own interests but for a gospel way that will change our attitudes". "Our image of Jesus is that of a man of peace. Can any of us imagine him with a gun or driving a tank under orders over civilians in Vilnius yesterday, Tienanmen Square in 1989 or the Persian Gulf tomorrow?" Fr Burke told people to pray "that the nonviolent vision of Jesus for our human present and future can begin in us". "So that, as he taught us, we might pray for our enemies. "Let us repeat the words of Pope Paul VI to the United Nations: No more war. Never again war."
'Don't fan racial tensions' "But the pearling industry and the fishing Simplistic solutions to complex problems which ndustry seem to happily embrace noni rejected, says must be tensions fan nationalistic the Broome diocesan director of Social Welfare Australian capital and operations in these fields. about the current prosecution of Indonesian "The Indonesian fishermen who come here fishermen. certainly are not wealthy. If what we consider a paltry sum makes them rich in their own "Surely too many Australians enjoy country we can only ask how we can hope to Indonesian holidays for as to wish that to help in developmental work. happen," said Fr Michael McMahon this week. "It is not so many years ago when young men "The issue surely is not the nationality or the from many Asian countries worked in the culture of the fisherman but control of resources pearling industry of Broome. by the rightful authorities." "Conditions were pretty rough but these men "Obviously, it is necessary to control the provided a pool of cheap, controllable labour. "Indeed, it seems that for many years harvesting of the sea's bounty and protection must be given to those who traditionally fish and fishermen from neighbouring Indonesian Islands have fished in this area, part of a long shell the waters..
line of non-Aboriginal people coming shores, some merely visiting, some becoming part of the Australian people. "Broome has been unique in having so many non-European immigrants living alongside the Aborigines. "I am inspired by a seventy-year-old Australian Vonnie Halberg. "She visited imprisoned Indonesian fishermen here in Broome. She found out that they came from the island of Roti. She went there and worked with them building up new industries. "Her approach seems more constructive than those whose statements and attitudes fan racial tensions."