The Record Newspaper 01 June 1995

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Reccor AII

PERTH, WA: June 1, 1995

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The Ancient Greeks had their agora or meeting place to debate ideas. This week West Australian Catholics are invited and urged to use the Letters to the Editor section of The Record as their forum in the struggle to build a saner and holier society. Letters should be no more than 250 words in

Number 2947

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length, preferably typed. They can be faxed or mailed. The Record hopes to have an e-mail address soon. The Editor reserves the right to refuse publication or edit letters to fit limited space. The shorter the letter the better as less is more in journalism.

Touch of young blood Exciting new plan to rejuvenate parishes to be launched in August

Bruce Downes, Director of Catholic Youth and Young Adult Ministry (the Youth Ministry), based at 32 Claverton Street, North Perth, is introducing a Parish Based Youth Ministry (PBYM), in response to the dilemma facing many parishes namely the desire to coordinate parish youth ministry, but lacking the dynamics of how to do it.

culminating in the official August launch. In a step by step process, the Youth Ministry staff of Mr Downes and his assistant Mrs Penny Ashcroft - will first speak to parish councils on PBYM. Subsequently they will address a wider parish audience. And then they will meet with the Planning Team of 10 to 15 parish nominees of 50% adults, and 50% young people, to explain the process. The Planning Team will ascertain the needs of youth and young adults, and to answer those needs, a parish program will be developed using the talents and skills of any interested parishioners, regardless of age, and then delegate leaders of these skill areas.

Each parish can tailor the program to their own requirements, and the Youth Ministry will supply activities and ideas if required.

Mr Downes now believes they have the answer and following a structured plan, six to eight parishes will initially take part,

Mr Downes cited as an example that if some of the young wish to learn to cook, or maintain a car, then a job description

But as emphasised by Mr Downes, it's not just "fun and games" because the series of activities are firmly based around

By Colleen McGuiness-Howard .nI EXCITING new youth and parish N itiative will be launched in August which is predicted to rejuvenate parish life blood, harness talents, and prove the catalyst to revitalise parishes with the involvement and integration of all age groups.

would be forwarded to parishioners, asking if they could assist in giving the young expertise in those areas. This has the distinct advantage, he pointed out, of integrating the parish through interaction with everyone from the priest, through all parishioner age groups in an endeavour to assist the young. Mr Downes sees this as meeting a personal need as well as an area of faith in a situation where both the young and older retirees can enrich each other in a Catholic parish environment.

"kids, personal development, and faith issues." Mr Downes said in response to eastern states interest, he'd been invited to help implement the PBYM into their dioceses "which has the advantage of broadening our knowledge base when youth ministry directors come over here." Running parallel to the PBYM initiative, the Youth Ministry has a comprehensive diocesan youth ministry program dealing with areas of faith, youth conventions, training of older young people to involve them in parish work, "as well as doing a lot of parent work" Enthusiastic as to where the PBYM can lead, and the positive results he expects from it, Mr Downes said after the August launch, more and more parishes will be attracted to come on stream "in order to pass on the Good News of the gospel to our kids within the parish setting."

Encyclical calls for new talks on role of the Pope By Cindy Wooden

A TA11CAN CITY (CNS) - As a concrete sign of

V his commitment to Christian unity, Pope John Paul II has called in his latest encyclical for a new discussion of one of the thorniest issues dividing Christians: the authority and ministry of the Pope. In an encyclical letter on ecumenism released on Tuesday at the Vatican, Pope John Paul said the unity of all Christians is God's will and is at the heart of the mission Christ entrusted to his followers. The encyclical, "Ut Unum Sint" ("That They May Be One"), ends with a call to "everyone to renew their commitment to work for full and visible communion" and with a specific exhortation to the world's Catholic bishops "to be especially mindful" of their mission and duty to work for Christian unity. The Pope apologized for times when Catholics have contributed to the divisions among Christians and for ways in which Catholics have contributed to other Christians' difficulty in accepting the ministry of the bishop of Rome. "The Catholic Church's conviction that in the ministry of the bishop of Rome she has preserved, in fidelity to the apostolic tradition and the faith of the Fathers, the visible sign and guarantor of unity constitutes a difficulty for most other Christians, whose memory is marked by certain painful recollections," he wrote. "To the extent that we are responsible for these, I join my predecessor Paul VI in asking forgiveness," the Pope said. But he said the search for Christian unity must be a search for the truth about Christ and His will for the community of believers. "To uphold a vision of unity which takes account of all the demands of revealed truth does not mean to put a brake on the ecumenical movement," he said. "On the contrary, it means preventing it from settling for apparent solutions

which would lead to no firm and solid results." True Christian unity must include a common understanding of the profession of faith and the sacraments as well as bonds of communion between members of the hierarchy, he said. The Pope said that when Christians enter into a dialogue with one another, he said, both sides must make an examination of conscience because division "is an evil from which we need to be healed." "All the sins of the world were gathered up in the saving sacrifice of Christ, including the sins committed against the church's unity: the sins of Christians, those of the pastors no less than those

of the lay faithful," he said. Christians must enter into dialogue motivated by love and with a humble awareness that mistakes and offenses were made by both sides, the Pope said. In that spirit, he said, legitimate differences will be seen as sources of enrichment for the entire Christian community rather than as obstacles to unity or even sources of tension and conflict. "Legitimate diversity is in no way opposed to the church's unity, but rather enhances her splendor and contributes greatly to the fulfillment of her mission," the Pope said.

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Interesting and beautiful, these professionally made dolls dressed in religious order habits of the sixties have been crafted by June and Peter Whalley of Greenough, they are true to the finest detail of correct folds In veils, habits, hand crafted medals and crosses on rosary beads.


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