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Only priest ordained in a concentration camp to be proclaimed blessed - Page 9 Local doctor joins Vatican experts - Page 5 Notre Dame's law school prepares - Page 3
Catholics urged to help NT pro lifers By Peter Rosengren Perth priests and laity are being asked to give money to support Northern Territory pro-lifers challenging that state's euthanasia law in the High Court of Australia. Archbishop Barry Hickey has pledged Church funds to support the Territory coalition, that includes Bishop Edward Collins and the Darwin Diocese, and has asked priests to encourage parishioners to contribute financially to the fight against euthanasia. "I fully support [Bishop Collins] In the efforts to challenge the euthanasia legislation in the High Court." he told The Record this week. "Although it is obviously an expensive exercise it's something that must be done in the interests of human life." If the Northern Territory's legislation did eventually come into effect other States could follow in its wake causing respect for life around the nation to sink rapidly, he added. The Northern Territory legislation undermined human life more than anything else he had
seen and "therefore it must be opposed," the Archbishop added. Bishop Collins wrote to all Australian Catholic bishops late last week asking them to publicise the cause among Catholics and seeking financial help for the challenge to the law due to come Into effect on July 1. The territory-based Coalition Against Euthanasia announced the challenge last week, in Collins response, Bishop believes, to prayers offered on how to fight the euthanasia law. "We've been praying about it here very, very strongly and rotating parishes saying special prayers for it, and we thought it might be like an answer to prayer," he told The Record this week. "That's one of the reasons we've launched out into the 'deep' [despite not having the money]," he added. Bishop Collins said his diocesan financial administrator would monitor the account set up for donations. The challenge could cost between $120,000 and $200,000. he said. The coalition is made up of representatives from the Uniting, Anglican, and Roman Catholic churches, the Northern Territory Branch of the Australian Medical
Association, the Right to Life organisation, and the Muslim and Hindu faiths. In his letter to the Australian bishops Bishop Collins described the challenge as historic, saying that it would set a precedent regarding the Australian Constitution and challenge the High Court to make a declaration regarding the right to life of Australian citizens. President of the NT branch of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Chris Wake, said details of the challenge would be announced at a press conference on Monday. He said the case was likely to become the most important one of the decade with ramifications as great as those of the Mabo case and more wide-ranging in terms of its significance for the Australian constitution "The issues involved are, first, the sanctity of life in Australia [and] what does our constitution say about that." he said. it involves issues of non-judicial killing. At the moment of course, the only people who have the right to kill people in our country are judges. And this the question of involves [whether] any government is empowered to do that, which
brings in the question of do governments have unfettered rights to legislate for whatever they happen to think?" He said that AMA surveys had shown the vast majority of doctors and health care professionals in the NT wanted nothing to do with the legislation. Bishop Collins said the legal advice the Coalition had received indicated the challenge's chances of succeeding were good. He said the Coalition was seeking an injunction against the law coming into effect until the challenge had been heard in the High Court. However, even if the Coalition was not able to gain a hearing for a temporary injunction before July 1, there was still a good chance legislation could be declared invalid by the High Court if the challenge was launched in court before that date. The chances of getting a hearing in the High Court prior to 1 July were also good, as the High Court was likely to regard the issue as an important matter. Bishop Collins said that donations, cheques or money orders payable to the Coalition Against Euthanasia could be sent to: GPO Box 476, Darwin, NT 0801.
Prayer for Students to the fore for the poor rain urged Archbishop Hickey, Bishop Peter Quinn of Bunbury and Bishop Justin Bianchini of Geraldton have lent their support to a call for prayer for rain in Western Australia's wheat belt. The bishops this week urged parishioners to join in special prayers this weekend for rain for the state's farmers. Pingrup farmer Judith Stanich initiated the call for prayers for rain. She has also asked Bishop Jamieson of the Anglican Church in Bunbury and ministers of the Baptist and Uniting Churches to garner spiritual support for farmers' weather needs. In a letter to Archbishop Hickey Mrs Stanich said a prayer would be showing "in a wonderful way" that people do care that farmers' Income is heavily dependent on the weather. She wrote that she believed strongly in the power of universal prayer and the benefit of the comfort gained by knowing that others understand and care. Mrs Stanich's prayer - Page 2
Students from Applecross's St Benedict's Primary School with Lifelink school's welfare day collection boxes at the archdiocesan launch of the appeal last week. The day before, Tuesday, the students exchanged their uniforms for "civvies" for a fee donated to the appeal. Bishop Robert Healy launched the appeal, which will help fund the archdiocese's welfare work, and received money the students had already collected. After a short talk Bishop Healy was plied with questions from a curious audience who wanted to know everything from whether he travelled a lot to the origins of the mitre, the pointed bishops' hat worn on ceremonial occasions. Bishop Healy thanked students and staff for their generous and enthusiastic response to the appeal.
Guidelines for sex education Archbishop Barry Hickey is to formulate guidelines to help parents, schools and professional directors in their complementary roles in the sex education for young people. The archbishop announced his intention in today's Archbishop's Perspective in The Record. Last Tuesday, he arranged a public launch explaining the recently published document on sex education from the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Family, entitled: The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality. Theologians Fathers Peter Black and Kevin Long led the presentation before an audience of about 300 people. mainly married couples, invited to the meeting. Two parents. Neville and Marion Moran, and educator Anne Duncan, responded to the theologians' presentation. In his column, Archbishop Hickey supported the Vatican document, saying it stressed that "the primary responsibility for education in human sexuality belongs to the parents, and that while other agencies may assist them, like schools and specialist organisations, the parents cannot abdicate their own responsibility." He said the Council for the Family did not exclude a role for the school, especially in adolescent years. it does stress, however, that the school is to work with the parents and affirm the values the parents want to pass on," the archbishop wrote. it also makes the point professional education may be better advised to offer help to the parents rather than to the children." The Archbishop cited the four principles to be used in educating the young on sexuality: that sexuality is a sacred mystery and must be presented according to the doctrinal and moral teachings of the Church, bearing in mind the effects of original sin; that only information proportionate to each phase of a child's development individual should be presented; that no material of an erotic nature should he used; and that no child should ever be invited or pressured to act in a way that would offend against their sense of modesty and privacy. Perspective - Page 2