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What's Inside. . .
Record PERTH, WA: September 14,1995
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Number 2962
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Occasional Record reviews and classifications of recently released videos for harassed parents of teenagers begins today - Page 10 Child migrant and Christian Brothers' Old Boy from Tardun praises the Brothers' work - Page 6 Excerpts from the Catechism dealing with the Sacrament of Marriage continue - Page 15 Archbishop's Perspective: the Church does not retreat from the timeless battle for the human soul - Page 2
Feminini 'a gift of God' By Cindy Wooden BEIJING (CNS) - Mother Teresa of Calcutta has urged delegates to the United Nations' women's conference to recognise the differences between men and women as a gift from God as the conference struggles with questions of women being able to define their sexuality. "All God's gifts are good, but they are not all the same," a message from the founder of the Missionaries of Charity released this week at the conference in Beijing said. God created all people to love and be loved, she said, but God also created man and woman to be different. "Woman's love is one image of the love of God, and a man's love is another image of God's love," she said in the message distributed by Guatemalan delegate Mercedes Arzu Wilson, president of Family of the Americas. "Woman and man complete each other, and together show forth God's love more fully than either can do alone," Mother Teresa said. "God told us, 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' So first I am to love myself rightly, and then to love my neighbour like that," she said. "But how can love myself unless I accept myself as God has made me?" the 85-year-old nun asked. People who deny the differences between men and women deny the truth of their own identities, she said. They cannot love
themselves, and they end up sowing division between people rather than loving them. The ability to be a mother was a special gift given to women alone, she said, and it was a gift that must never be denied or destroyed. Mother Teresa warned that it was possible for women to destroy the gift of their motherhood, and not only through abortion. Motherhood was destroyed "by thinking that other things like jobs or positions are more important than loving, than giving oneself to others," she said. She also pleaded for a new commitment to strong families, the place where children should experience the love of a father and a mother. Mother Teresa's plea came as Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls Pope John Paul ll's choice of a professional woman with children to head the Vatican delegation to the U.N. women's conference is a reflection of the message the Vatican delegates plan to bring to the meeting. Women should have equal opportunities in all areas of social and economic life, but when women were also mothers they had a right to special protection and support, he said. A Harvard University law professor, Mary Ann Glendon, is heading the 22-member Vatican delegation to the conference. "The Holy See is not going to Beijing to defend motherhood, but to defend women," Dr
A Christian view of tolerance • • • By Peter Rosengren The Australian Catholic Social Justice Council has released a discussion paper on tolerance to mark the United nations' International Year of Tolerance, and to prepare for Social Justice Sunday next week paper, discussion The Tolerance: a Christian perspective on the international year of tolerance, questions whether tolerance is the best title for the international year. It said the UN's use of the term for its theme year of respect for cultural diversity is only one of many forms of the concept of tolerance. It argues against social practices which it says should never be tolerated on the basis of their offence against human dignity. Such offences, it says, include female genital mutilation, domestic violence and racism. the of President The Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference, Cardinal Edward
Clancy, launched the paper at the University of Sydney last Monday. The 24 page publication acts as a discussion paper and is designed to stimulate reflection on what exactly constitutes tolerance and what its limits are. It looks at the causes of intolerance and how the Church can promote tolerance and respect for those who are different, including those with whom it disagrees. The paper says there are many forms of the virtue of tolerance and that a criticism of the UN's use of the word in relation to cultural diversity was that its use matched only one of the many possible definitions of tolerance. "Letters to newspapers and media commentary reflected the concern that tolerance did not seem to encompass understanding, acceptance, respect, appreciation and celebration of cultural diversity," it says. Continued on Page 2
Mother Teresa Navarro-Valls said. -One segment of the argument is motherhood. "Women have the right to choose between having a profession, being simultaneously a mother and having a profession, and being a mother who dedicates her activity to the home," he said. Meanwhile Ms Glendon, a 5 6year-o1d wife and mother of three daughters, said she felt a great responsibility as leader of the Vatican delegation "because the Holy See may be one of the very few voices speaking for women who have chosen to give their paramount priority to motherhood and family concerns." Those women "constitute a majority of the women in the world - in developed as well as developing countries," she added. Dr Navarro-Valls said the positions of delegations from Western Europe and North
America pushed a narrow type of feminism marked by "a negative attitude toward the family," anger toward men and an uncritical support for abortion and contraception. On the other hand, he said, the Vatican and many developing countries had a feminist agenda that supported the equality of women while seeing them as equal partners with men in the task of improving society and the lives of all. Pope John Paul last month, praised the growing influence of women in business and economics. Women had the right to pursue a career, he said, but equal rights in the job market were meaningless without attention to "their nature and particular needs." "Above all, the right and obligation of women who are mothers to carry out their specific tasks within the family without being forced to take on added work must be respected," the Pope said. At the same time, he said, a woman's current or potential family duties cannot be used as an excuse to deny "equal opportunity for men and women, including in work outside the home." The Pope called for sensitivity to the needs of working mothers and equal pay for equal work The Vatican delegation, Dr Navarro-Valls said, welcomed the convocation of the Beijing conference and supported its goals of
promoting women's equality, health and education. The delegation would join with others in condemning all forms of violence against women, which in the draft document includes rape, war, genital mutilation, forced prostitution and arranged marriages. The Vatican also wants the document to include an international condemnation of forced contraception, abortion and sterilisation, he said. In line with earlier international declarations on human rights, Dr Navarro-Valls said, the Vatican wants the Beijing conference to recognise the rights parents have in educating and caring for their children. The spokesman also said the delegation would encourage the conference to expand the draft of discussion document's women's health so as to avoid a narrow focus on reproduction and sexually transmitted diseases. "While the official theme of this conference is 'action for and equality, development peace,' it has already been presented as a conference on 'the rights of women and their reproductive health," Dr Navarro-Valls said. "This reduction penalises the interests of the majority of women," whose concerns in areas of health, education and economic development go well beyond problems connected to sexuality, he said.
Maddington's new home
Bishop Healy honours the Gospel at Maddington last Sunday during the blessing and dedication of the new Holy Family Church - full story page 2.