The Record Newspaper 27 April 1995

Page 1

PERTH, WA: April 27, 1995

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'Families have been through enough in the last 12 months and must not suffer in this budget'

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Enough

amilies must not suffer in this budget. be paid to all families as a tangible sign might deliver a bright moment in the May "The Federal Labour Government could F They have been through enough in the that the government values the nurturing budget. not continue to call itself a reformist govlast 12 months including having to wear of newly born children as a vital part of economically last December's interest rate rise. Tax increases appear not only inevitable but responsible. However families must not bear the brunt of any tax increase. It is time for Australia's corporations to accept a higher degree of social responsibility shoulder any tax increases. So says Father David Cappo, National Director of the Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission. He says: "In fact families must benefit from this budget. "The paid maternity allowance must be put in place as already promised. It should

family life. "I disagree with the argument that it should be targeted and means tested. It will cost more as a universal payment but surely it is time for Australia to give a clearersignal in our social policies that we value families and the care of children. "The vast majority of other OECD countries have put this benefit in place; some even extend it for a year or more, while we are arguing over 12 weeks. "Proper housing that is affordable is fundamental to all citizens. It appears that new bousing policies for people in public housing and in private rental situations

"I refuse to accept that an responsible budget cannot deliver benefits to families and respect the dignity of the unemployed. "Surely a government that has been in power for 12 years has developed the sophistication and good sense not to be mesmerised by economics alone but to be in solidarity with the human, family and social needs of its citizens. "Labour Market programs for the long term unemployed, a universal maternity allowance, more support for housing needs, and if there are tax increases, they should be directed to large corporations and away from families. These are top priorities in the May budget." He concludes:

ernment with a social justice agendajf it takes one step back from its commitment to the White Paperon Employment and its funding of labour market programs for the long term unemployed. "Any cutback or curtailing of employment programs is totally unacceptable. These programs are a life line to dignity not only for the unemployed but also their families. "Playing with the ongoing viability of unemployment programs not only degrades people who are unemployed it also casts the government in a very cynical light"

Big role by women on Good Friday fATICAN CITY (CNS) V Women helped carry the cross that formerly the pope himself was able to carry during the Good Friday Way of the Cross. Throughout the Easter events, the pope highlighted the role of women. He said it was significant that the first witnesses of the resurrection were, in fact, the women who knew Jesus. At the Way of the Cross on Good Friday, women also played a prominent role. The meditations for the 14 stations were written at papal invitation by Sister Minke de Vries, superior of the Grandchamp Community in Switzerland, which is affiliated with the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. The pope, shielded from the rain by a large umbrella, carried the bare wooden cross for only

the first and last stations. He passed it to a nun from Sister de Vries' community; lay men and women and a Russian Orthodox priest also carried it for later stations. In between, the pope walked with his cane behind a candlebearing young woman and young man; in the past, the acolytes had been young men. The effort of leading the liturgical ceremonies sometimes showed in the expression of the 74-year-old pontiff, particularly as he maneuvered the steps and stairs at Rome's Colosseum during the late-night Way of the Cross. "We seek to be ever more united," the pope said, thanking Sister de Vries and recalling that the 1994 meditations were written by Orthodox Patriarch

Bartholomew I of Constantinople. "We have participated together in carrying the cross of Christ," he said. "Together with the pope, bishop of Rome, various people have carried the cross, most of them lay people, brothers and sisters." "As we approach the third millennium, all of this says we want to be ever closer to one another, ever more intimate because Christ has united us in his cross and in his resurrection," he said. The meditation takes on particular significance, he said, in 1995," a year of tragic anniversaries: of Auschwitz, the hideous extermination camp; of Dresden, razed to the ground; of Hiroshima, the city of enormous destruction." See Page 2

"Once again Jesus climbs Mount Calvary with us, in us and for us so that once again humanity can contemplate in his bloodied face the supreme revelation of the love of the Father," the pope said. Sister de Vries' meditations, read at each station, focused not only on the biblical events recounted, but on how they reflect the attitude or actions of modern Christians. For the third station, "Jesus is condemned by the Sanhedrin," she wrote, "Everything was terribly false in this trial, like in many trials throughout history provoked by rivalry, by the fear of losing power and of losing authority." But Jesus remains silent and does not condemn the Jewish leaders, she wrote. "You never

disowned your people: 'Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.' And that which they did, we your church do after almost 2,000 years." The prayer for the station asked for forgiveness for times when Christians have acted as if their faith was their property and not a gift from God. The prayer also begged God's pardon for the way Christians have treated the Jews: "Forgive us also for having denied your people, for having derided them, even in our liturgies." Earlier on Good Friday, the pope walked into St. Peter's Basilica and heard confessions for an hour or so - a tradition he began years ago to highlight the importance of the sacrament of reconciliation


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The Record Newspaper 27 April 1995 by The Record - Issuu