The Record Newspaper 28 September 1995

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What's Inside . . . Mary, the Mother of God is the focus of a new column in The Record, commencing this week, - Page 14 Is the Enneagram of benefit? Fr Marius Dawson puts the arguments in favour - Page 6 M.IMIN=11

PERTH, WA: September 28, 1995

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Fr Walter Black reviews an American introduction to moral theology - Page 11 Archbishop Hickey reports on his visit to the bush and the joys of country faith - Page 2

Liturgical caravan comes to Perth and Notre Dame

By Peter Rosengren In a new turn to its official population control policy, the Chinese Government has backed the Billings Ovulation Method of natural family planning by officially funding and opening a fertility regulation and research centre based on the Australian-discovered method. The Billings Natural Fert ty Regulation Research Centre of Excellence was o cially opened on 18 September in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China. It is the first of its kind in China and shows all is not bad news in population policy in the world's most populous country. The secretary of the Billings Family Life Centre in Melbourne, Mrs Frances Wallace, said the centre would operate both as a research body and as a national teacher training centre, teaching the teachers who would train ordinary Chinese in the fertility contml method discovered and I.rfected by Australian doctors John and Evelyn Billings from Melbourne. She said that it would be based on Billings Method principles "up t1 . 51 because at the moment "nothing in China is going to totally meet the total ethical standards of the Billings Family Life Centre in Melbourne." "But the idea is (that) the centre is there I I oIvide what they describe as a centre of excellence, a place where the core teacher training (in the Billings Method) will be done for the country," she said. "I think the idea is that it's a 'train the trainers' centre. They'll train the senior people who are interested in it and then they will be able to go out and work in other provinces," Mrs Wallace said. Both John and Evelyn Billings have been appointed as honourary advisers to the Nanjing Centre together with Professor Quian Shao-Zhen, president of the Asian Association of Andrology (the study of male fertility). Mrs Wallace said that it was expected that Australian staff would be brought in to the centre on a regular basis so that the core group had access to refresher courses of a high standard. She also said that the establishment of the centre by the Government was, in part, an official acknowledgment of the effectiveness of the Billings method of family planning.

"She said that the establishment of the centre followed a pilot study by Chinese officials on the effectiveness of the Billings method and that they had been impressed by the results. And following on from the Nanjing opening, a second government-backed centre, smaller in size„ was opened in Yunan province this week. Mrs Wallace said the Yunan Centre was designed only to seivice Yunan province rather than a larger region such as the Nanjing one. "But that one's intended for Yunan Province. It's at a more subsidiary level to the one in Nanjing. It's a Billings Method centre that's part of a family planning institute, rather than a stand-alone institute like the Nanjing one," she said. "John (Dr Billings) says he envisages that people will come from Yunan to Nanjing for in-servicing. One would expect the Nanjing one will be the principal centre for the major training." She also said that research at the Nanjing centre would probably be conducted into the effectiveness of the method and of perfecting the teaching program. She said that the pmgram would also have the added advantages of circumventing some of the costs and effects of forced Minister of the Church of Scotland John Bell prior to his keynote address at the National sterilisation and abortion and, if imple- Liturgical Convention opening last weekend, admiring an icon entitled Altared Peace by mented widely, would cut the cost of Fremantle artist Ms Glen Hughes. The icon was donated to Notre Dame University by Mr importing or manufacturing pills and con- Bill Hughes. traceptives. At the inauguration ceremony in The Second National Liturgical Willison, coordinator of liturgy in the Nanjing, Pmfessor Quian acknowledged Convention, held at the University of Archdiocese of Perth said she hoped the work of Australian doctors who Notre Dame in Australia last weekend, the convention would return again. neered and developed the method. saw leading liturgists and church musiJohn Bell recommended that leaders "Through indefatigable laboratory and cians come together for a packed week- of liturgy should take great care in clinical research the Billings developed choosing words and music in their the Billings Ovulation Method on the basis end of workshops, tallcs and seminars. of cervical mucus observation, the most More than 200 people from parishes istries as the song of the Church deterreliaU . natural family planning method of amund Perth and further afield attend- mined what people believed. today. It is so perfected that every woman ed the convention in Fremantle and In singing in the church we rehearse can master the method after brief instrucexperienced the richness of liturgy on history, he said, because when the our tion, and its anti-fertility successful rate is offer. The convention's theme was church sings it relates itself to a tradicomparable to the oral contraceptives and contribution which has been going on for 3,000 Continuing the Song and saw to the most advanced intra-uterine tions from leading speakers such as years, "and it will enable society to devices," he said. He went on to say that more and. more Melbourne priest Father Frank sense that their lives are in a bigger scientists world wide have come to believe O'Loughlin, West Australian Sister context than merely 25 or 50 years." in the Billings Ovulation Method results Marie Therese Ryder, and Scottish Fr O'Loughlin urged liturgists not to and more and more couples were willing sacred music composer John Bell. react to complaints that "liturgy is borto try it. The Chinese government has seeing the liturgy as mere ing" by The new liturgical song book, Gather I..n widely criticised for its forced abortion and sterilisation program aimed at Australia, was also given its Perth entertainment. cIntrolling its population. Full report - Pages 8-9 launch at the convention. Sr Kerry


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