Record Number 3004
PRINT POST APPROVED
PERTH, WA: July 4, 1996
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What's Inside... Perth Catholics give $20,000 to help fight NT euthanasia - Page 3 Morris West reflects on life - Page 11 Eight brothers united in family joy - Page 9 Dardanup's Fr John McGrath celebrates 50 years of priesthood - Page 6 ABC attacked over Four Corners - Page 5
The human face of funding to job training programs
Ozanain cuts 'blessed' status on horizon VATICAN CITY (CNS) Pope John Paul II has approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of Frederic Ozanam, co-founder of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, clearing the way for his beatification. The news, released on Monday in Rome, will cause great rejoicing among members of the society in Australia and around the world. Vice president of the society in Western Australia, Laurie Phillips, said the miracle was in answer to prayer. The society's regular opening prayers had been, "for quite a number of years, specifically for his canonisation, and this will now clear the way." Mr Phillips told The Record. "Now we are overjoyed and all states will be happy and celebrating with some special function," he said. Mr Phillips is not sure what format the WA celebrations will take, but tentatively suggested there might be a Mass in St Mary's Cathedral to which all Catholic organisations would be Invited. Pope John Paul II approved the
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Frederick Ozanam
decree recognising a miracle attributed to the intercession of Frederick Ozanam on 25 June. Beatification, which requires the declaration of at least one miracle, and in which the Church declares a person blessed, is the main step before a declaration of sainthood. The president of the United States' council of the society, Joseph Mueller said the entire Vincentian family was overjoyed that the Holy Father had chosen to officially recognise the saintliness of its founder. "Frederic Ozanam was a devoted family man," he said, "and It seems particularly fitting that he be moved one step closer to canonisation at a time when there is such an outcry to embrace family values." A 19th-century French historian and literary scholar, Frederick Ozanam is considered a model of the lay apostolate. His attention to the poor, on an intellectual and a concrete level, Inspired his society, which today includes hundreds of thousands of Catholic lay people worldwide. Born in Milan, Italy, in 1813, he was brought up and educated in southern France. At the age of 20, he and fellow students in Paris formed the "Conference of Charity," an organisation that two years later became the Society of St Vincent de Paul. From the beginning, the society offered assistance to Catholics and non-Catholics and promoted the transfer of charity resources from country to country. As a professor of law, history and literature, Ozanam had a profound effect on French academic life in the mid-1800s, particularly in refuting attacks on Catholicism. In addition to his teaching positions at the Sorbonne in Paris and at Lyons, he was active in evangelization programs and Catholic journalism. He died at age 40.
Bruce Portman in training: funding cuts not a Joking matter
Both were sobered by the news that funding to Skillshare had Bruce Portman and Victoria been cut by up to 30 per cent in Besoain, trainees with the the coming three months to the Catholic Church's Centrecare Budget, news which is unlikely to Skillshare training program, Improve after Budget night. found themselves this week on "I am a migrant. I have been the receiving end of Federal Government cuts to the program unemployed for one year and which they say enhances their this is my first opportunity to get chances of finding a job. training experience," 25 year-old
Victoria told The Record at Centrecare's Manners restaurant where Skillshare trainees pick up skills in the hospitality and catering industries. She added she was "very upset" by the news of the cuts, which had come on her first day in the program after being unemployed for the last 12 months.
tor in May 1995 after 24 years service. The best news story award, judged by the former religious affairs writer for The Age in Melbourne, Mark Brolly, was for a front-page story last December on Archbishop Hickey's decision to establish a Catholic Women's health centre following controversy over the counselling procedures of the Archdiocese of Perth's family and welfare agency, Centrecare. "It reported soberly criticisms made of the agency by a right to
life group and the archbishop's response to the claims," Mr Brolly said. The article was written by the Record's managing editor, David Kehoe. The Archdiocese of Hobart's publication, The monthly Standard, edited by Penny Edman, won the award for the most improved publication, and Canberra's Catholic Voice was recognised for general excellence in design, coverage and initiative with the prestigious Bishop Phillip Kennedy Memorial Prize for newspapers.
By Peter Rosengren
Continued on Page 3
Record wins top news award The Record has snapped up one of the key annual awards of the Australasian Catholic Press Association by taking the best news story published in a Catholic newspaper in Australia and New Zealand in 1995. And the former long serving editor of The Record, Father Pat Cunningham, has been honoured by the ecumenical Australasian Religious Press Association with a life membership to mark his lengthy contribution to the religious press. Fr Cunningham retired as edi-
Colour, price rise for Record next week Colour will enter the reading to confirm the faith of parishof supporters of The Record ioners and spread it to their next week when WAs only neighbours. Catholic weekly newspaper At the same time, and for the begins publishing colour pic- first time in ten years, the price tures and graphics on four of its of The Record will increase. sixteen pages each week Despite periods of high inflaThe colour pages will enable tion since 1986, The Record has The Record to begin publishing kept its price at a low 60 cents. features on the life of Perth and The new rate of Si from next WA parishes on the back Sunday, 11 July, will bring the The new Parish Portrait page cover cost of the paper into line will help parishes inform other with the price of Catholic weekparishes of what they're doing ly papers on the East Coast and
will drastically cut the more than $250,000 annual deficit The Record has been suffering for several years. Archbishop Barry Hickey has written to parish priests supporting the price rise as reasonable and "long overdue". Rates for advertising in The Record have also increased for reasons similar to those that justify the cover price rise. (See page 15 for further details on new advertising rates)