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elbourne plan 'not necessary in Perth' By Peter Rosengren A five-pronged strategy to help victims of sexual abuse by Church personnel of the type announced by Archbishop George Pell of Melbourne for his own archdiocese would not be necessary in Perth. moral theologian Father Walter Black said this week. Archbishop Pell announced last week of a number of initiatives designed to assist past victims of sexual abuse by clerics, lay people or religious under the archdiocese's control. Key Melbourne initiatives are: • the appointment of an Independent Commissioner, Peter O'Callaghan QC, to enquire into allegations of sexual abuse by priests, religious and lay people under the archdiocese's control; • the establishment of a free counselling and professional support service for victims, to be known as Carelinlc; • the formation of a compensation panel under the chairmanship of Alex Chernov QC, to provide ex gratia payments of up to $50,000 to victims of sexual abuse by archdiocesan personnel; • an upgrade of the archdiocese's existing pastoral response team which provides spiritual support and counselling at a parish level to victims; and • a service to provide counselling and support for priests and others accused of sexual assault. Archbishop Pell also apologised unreservedly to victims and people of the archdiocese for the actions of Catholic clergy and others in the archdiocese who he said had "betrayed the trust placed in them by virtue of the privileged position they occupy in society." Fr Black, a Missionary of the Sacred Heart priest and director of the L. J. Goody Bioethics Centre, said that with only one case of sexual abuse by an archdiocesan priest known of in the last 50 years, and another of indecent exposure, such a highlevel response as the Melbourne plan would be unwarranted in WA at present.
Perth: November 7, 1996
Young pro-lifer challenges apathetic WA Christians
"Clearly such a huge, five-storied structure as the Archbishop of Melbourne has 10,000 crosses - one for each baby killed by abortion in WA annually - on the Esplanade last described would be quite out of order, weekend during the Cemetery of the Innocents anti abortion commemoration unnecessary [and] unwarranted in the A young pro-life activist has thrown and Lands, Graham Kierath, the Member Archdiocese of Perth," he said. Fr Black is one of the two contact people down the gauntlet to WiVs Christians by for Helena, Rhonda Parker, and the memfor the Committee for Professional Stan- reminding them that their opposition to ber for South Perth. Philip Pandal. Archbishop Hickey praised the activists dards, the WA Catholic Church body which abortion might be no better than that of deals with allegations of sexual assault by German civilians during the Holocaust. and their supporters present, saying that In a letter to The Record after last week- for most of them there was no doubt that Church personnel. Fr Black was surprised at some aspects of end's Cemetery of Innocents commemora- the source of their commitment was their the Melbourne plan. "The first point of con- tion in Perth (see page 7), Stephen Gethin love of Jesus Christ who came to give abuntact is a lawyer and a man. We have a com- warned that ordinary Australians would dant life here on earth and eternal life in mittee here, according to the protocol of not remain exempt from God's judgment heaven. Final victory in the fight against abortion the national bishops [conference] ... com- just because they may have never had or and other life-threatening movements posed of doctors, psychiatrists, lawyers, carried out an abortion. psychologists, social workers etc and if any The public crime of 10,000 abortions a would come when the hearts and minds of allegation or complaint is made we choose year in Western Australia was only made ordinary citizens were converted, he said. the most appropriate person as the first possible by the consent or the indifference Before that, it appeared that the fight for was failing as abortions were on the point of contact." he said. l ife of the population. i ncrease and opponents of abortion faced He said that in some cases complaints "As I believe that those Germans whose continuing abuse, ridicule and marginalicould be made by women who would feel silence made the holocaust possible will sation in society. much more uncomfortable speaking to a be judged along with the guards at the conman about the details of their complaints centration camps, so But, the Archbishop said, they could take will we have to give as opposed to speaking to another woman. God comfort from placing their trust in the an account of our response to the The literature released by the Archdiopower of Jesus risen from the dead as "He cese of Melbourne said a priest had to be crime of abortion," Mr Gethin said. had already won the victory." "On judgement day I fear that we may convicted of a serious offence to be with"He will take your humble efforts and drawn immediately from all public and fare less well than our German brethren. multiply them," he said as the loaves and "They risked losing their lives if they fishes were multiplied. pastoral duties, Fr Black noted. - David Kehoe But in Perth a priest would be stood down opposed Hitler, we risk losing a few hours immediately there was any indication of of time here and there, and perhaps a litsubstance to a claim as opposed to waiting tle of our "respectability". for a conviction, he said. Last Saturday supporters of the Coalition The Australian bishops' protocol adopted for the Defence of Human Life planted several years ago was the basis of the Perth 10,000 small white crosses on the grass of archdiocese's own response strategy to The Esplanade by the central business disallegations of sexual assault against clergy trict in the form of one huge cross. Fr Black pointed out. For the next 24 hours a vigil was held in VOICES director Bruce Blythe said the memory of the 10,000 unborn babies killed organisation, which has been involved in in WA each year. litigation against the Christian Brothers And about 100 people, one person for over sexual abuses committed in Brothers- each 100 abortions, gathered early on Sunrun institutions, was considering approachday morning for a memorial service. ing Archbishop Hickey to request similar They were joined by the Catholic Archmeasures to the Melbourne initiative being bishop of Perth, Archbishop Barry Hickey, Instituted in WA. While VOICES welcomed some aspects Church of Christ pastor and executive of Archbishop Pell's initiatives it would director of Life Ministries, the Rev Dwight reserve its judgement and was sceptical Randall and Pastor Kier Schrader of the about the true independence of the inves- Langford Family Church. Three local MP s stood up for the unborn: WA MPs Graham Kierath, left, Rhonda Parker tigating commissioner and panel under the the Minister for Labour Relations, Housing and Phillip Pendal at the commemoration. Pell policy.
Christian Brothers and literacy
Perth offers thanks to God for Pope
- Page 8
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City haven of spiritual peace - Page 9
Holy Father: please reply in your spare time 0
ne of the letters I will be carrying to Rome this week to give to the Pope is from a Year 6 student. Let's call her Amanda. At the end of her congratulatory letter she writes: "If it is not too much trouble, could you please try to write back in your spare time? Please take care. Love Always". I would be very surprised if the Pope actually has any spare time, and his chances of writing personally to Amanda are not great. Still, I am sure the Holy Father will be touched to read the letters of hundreds of children from Western Australia, and be gratified to see the expression of loyalty from the thousands of men and women in our Parishes and organisations. His Pontificate has not been
easy He has had to shepherd the tual message of hope that he took Church in the modern era, unlike to the remotest corners of the any era before. He has had to world. In the middle years he defend the Church from totalitar- Issued a series of Social Encycliian regimes and has won the bat- cals on family life, racism, ecotle. He has also had to face the nomic justice, poverty and threat of Western secularism ecology, bringing the light of the which undermines religion every Gospel to the daily issues affectbit as much as Marxist regimes, ing human society. but in an apparent climate of freeIn more recent years he has dom and choice. He has discov- given us a powerful defence of ered that the forces that elevate the sanctity of life, of marriage, of human will and dethrone God' s human sexuality and of moral Will are powerful indeed. principles that come from God. A commentator made the He has affirmed the relevance of remark recently that compared to Christ's message in a world modern Western secular human- where life is cheapened by war, ism "the overthrow of Commu- abortion and euthanasia. nism was a piece of cake". The secular media have Early in his Pontificate the Holy attacked him, scoffed at him, proFather affirmed the dignity of the moted his enemies and tried to human person in the context of make him shift his stand on funthe Redemption. His was a spiri- damental issues of life and death.
Pope celebrates 50 years with visible emotion By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Fifty years after a simple ordination ceremony in a private chapel in Poland, Pope John Paul II celebrated his priestly jubilee in St Peter's Basilica with thanks to God and all those who helped him on his journey. After the November 1 Mass, the Pope announced that he would share personal details of that journey in a book to be published In mid-November by the Vatican. The Pope's voice vibrated with emotion during his homily for the Mass, concelebrated by the bishops and priests of the Diocese of Rome. "Igive thanks to God because he has allowed me to celebrate the Holy Mass every day in these 50 years, beginning the first of November 1946," he said. "Before me pass images from that long-gone day when, in the early morning, accompanied
by a small group of relatives and friends,I presented myself at the residence of the archbishop of Krakow on Franciszkanka Street to receive priestly ordination," he said. "With emotionI see myself once again lying on the floor of the private chapel," he said. "I hear the singing of 'Veni Creator' and the litany of saints. I await the imposition of hands. I accept the invitation to proclaim the Good News, to guide the people of God, to celebrate the divine mysteries. "They are unforgettable memories which I relive today with indescribable gratitude to the Lord," he said. But beyond the event itself and the many people who helped along the way, the Pope said, "I fix my gaze deeper to try to understand the mystery which has accompanied and enclosed me throughout these decades. "As a priest God has called me
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to be a man of the Word, a man of the sacrament, a man of the mystery of faith," he said. "Despite the length of time passed, the words of the Psalmist continue to flow from my heart: 'The favours of the Lord I will sing forever; through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness." Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Pope's vicar for the Diocese of Rome, opened the liturgy, thanking the Pope for "the joy, the dedication and the fidelity, the undivided love with which you live your priesthood each day." The way the Pope exercises his ministry, he said, "shows how close God, rich in mercy, is to every person and encourages us to be faithful disciples of our one Lord." The jubilee celebrations were to continue with a November 710 gathering at the Vatican of priests from around the world who also were ordained in 1946.
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Archbishop's
Perspective
JSophenciaplafuriiednedlisveorf tPhoepm e ail
Ursula Cichy and Agatha Partyka from St Anthony's, Greenmount, present congratulatory letters for Pope John Paul to Archbishop Hickey this week.
Letters, cards and messages Pope was one of congratulations, from the sophisticated to the love, appreciation, concern and "from the heart" children's lines, best wishes for his health. came by the thousands to St Signatures on letters also came Mary's cathedral office in from parishes, religious orders. response to the invitation by organisations and individuals. Archbishop Barry Hickey to send Some letters were longer, such a message of congratulations to as that from year 6 student, John Pope John Paul II celebrating his Bawden of Palmyra's Our Lady of Fatima. who personally wrote to 50 years of priesthood. St Anthony's Greenmount stu- congratulate Pope John Paul for dents Ursula Cichy and Agatha being "a very special man in our Partyka (pictured above) present- society, because you care about ed Archbishop Hickey with their the billions of Catholics all school's contribution to the grow- around the world." Expressing hope that one day ing pile which has been carefully arranged by cathedral archivist Sr they would meet in St Peter's Cathedral, john said "I like playFrances Stibi. However the children and their ing football, and Aussie rules." John also congratulated him on messages represented all the other schools in Western Aus- his Golden Jubilee. tralia whose broad message to the - Colleen McGuiness Howard
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To no avail. He has stood as firm as a rock, the Rock of his message that God is to be obeyed, served and worshipped. He will not allow false gods to challenge the One True God. As the Pope battles with successive health problems, he needs our prayers and the strength of our loyalty. Ills my privilege to take to him the congratulations of thousands of wellwishers from this Archdiocese on the 50th Anniversary of his Priesthood. I am proud of the way our people have responded. Letters have poured in from priests, parishes, Religious Houses, Catholic organisations, schools and the children themselves. I conclude with Amanda' s final greeting "Please take care. Love Always"
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Catholic Care is proud to present the 1996 Christmas Card collection with original designs from students and community entrants in the Christmas Card Art Awards. Cards range from $1.20 for the traditional classic design by artist Caryn Allan, to $0.90 for other traditional and modern designs with a difference. Your purchase of our Christmas Cards will encourage our budding artists and assist Catholic Care to meet the demand for in-house and residential respite care and family and pastoral counselling, for people with intellectual disabilities and their families. It's easy... contact Catholic Care on 474 3303 for a catalogue and order form, or call at our office at 46 David Street Kensington (just off Douglas Avenue).
Associates farewell a fine friend Litelink support and chaplain to the mentally ill urged By Colleen McGuinness-Howard After 28 years of pastoral care within mental health, Father Rodney Williams is handing over the reigns to Fr Michael McShane SJ. At the Graylands Hospital farewell gathering last week, Fr Tim Corcoran representing Archbishop Barry Hickey, complimented and thanked Fr Rodney for his great work, while Mr Jim Thomson, Acting General Manager of Graylands congratulated him for his hard work, dedication, and great generosity in giving of himself. Always making sure the patients "got the better deal" Mr Thomson praised him on his total commitment "to this very demanding ministry," and how he'd always put the patients first. He also complimented him for his involvement in the Pastoral Care Course which started six years ago and has seen up to 80 students graduate. Illustrating his sense of humour, Mr Thomson recalled how there were three patients running around simultaneously at one stage, "pretending to be Jesus, the Messiah." On one occasion, the three in question were outside the chaplaincy door, so he recounted how Fr Rodney invited them in, sat them down, and then said: "The
Fr Williams, left, accepts farewell congratulations from Sr Monica Maddison, Anglican Minister Adrian Moore and new chaplain Fr Michael McShane. three of you are claiming to be Jesus the Messiah. Now two of you must be lying so would the real Messiah please put up their hand." Story has it that the three burst out laughing and took off. Fr Rodney had initially spent ten years at Heathcote, and at that point it was suggested by my archbishop" said Fr Rodney "that he had a quiet little nine-to-five job for me - and then put me in mental health at Graylands," he exclaimed. Anything but a nine-to-five job, it has nevertheless given Fr Rodney "real happiness, fulfilment, and so much friendship."
The people he's interacted with have given him much more than he could ever have given them, he said to the assembly who gathered to farewell him. And he commented on milestones such as the creation of a chaplaincy area and chapel "with its non-threatening, non-clinical area where patients can come and meet on terms of equality, in a friendly atmosphere to seek our advice, or who go to the chapel just to be alone with the Lord." But the direction of apostolic care in mental health simply has to change Fr Rodney insisted. This work has been largely con-
fined to Bentley and the psychiatric lodges, he asserted, but "now we have to look at the people who live out in the community and find them there." This would take people, time and money to do this, he acknowledged, "but we must find them where they are, and deal with them there." Urging more priests to go through the Pastoral Care Course and get to know their people better, Fr Rodney said that people with psychiatric problems were hidden within a parish. "So we must get priests to gain a little knowledge to understand their situation better, and thus help these people in their homes, lodging houses or wherever they may happen to be." This doesn't mean the hospital becomes less important, he said. "but something else becomes equally important - this pastoral concept of caring for people." His successor, Fr Michael, a Jesuit, is a Western Australian who was ordained in December 1979 and has been a university chaplain in Adelaide. Stationed at Graylands since May last year as a participant in the mental health care course, he has also been assisting Fr Rodney and pastoral assistant Sr Monica Maddison of the Our Lady of the Missions congregation.
Yangebup welcomes its new parish priest
Parish council chairperson, Maureen Barrett, joins Fr Greg and Archbishop Hickey for morning tea after the Induction Mass
Last Sunday parishioners at Yangebup welcomed their new Parish Priest. Father Greg Donovan, at an Induction Mass celebrated by Archbishop Hickey. Father Greg succeeds Father Tim Foster after a stint as Dean of the Avon District and Parish Priest of Northam. During the ceremony the Archbishop spoke of Father Greg's youth and vitality. "These will be needed at this important time in the Parish" said the Archbishop.
The Archbishop also acknowledged Father Greg would be sorely missed in Northam, but added. "Iknow he is the right man for the job." Father Greg has the important task of guiding the building of the first church in the parish. He will also be finalising the question of the parish's name and identity - currently referred to as Our Lady of the Lakes. Beeliar Park. The Mass was attended by Father Greg's family along with nearly four hundred parishioners.
Launching the Archbishop's Christmas appeal for Lifelinic, Archbishop Barry Hickey has called on parishioners to give generously to assist needy families and individuals here in Perth. A target of $225.000 has been set for the appeal for Lifelink, to be launched throughout the archdiocese's parishes this Sunday, 9 November. Diocesan agencies engaged in a range of important welfare and social work areas assisting the needy will benefit from the campaign. One example is the Centrecare Skills Training Centre, which with a 62 per cent success rate this year assisted more than 1500 people to seek employment or further educational training. Launching the drive to nominated appeal representatives last week Archbishop Hickey reminded representatives that all funds raised are used to support Perth families and individuals in need. Lifelink spokesman Brett Mendez said he wanted to express Lifelink's gratitude to parish representatives who had given time and energy this week .to ensure the message was carried to every parish. "Without this grassroots support the Lifelink agencies would not be able to hope to meet our Appeal target and continue the tradition of care for the whole community," he said. The decision to replace the Advent appeal with an appeal commencing in November was based on advice from parish priests who said December was already a hectic month for parishes. The appeal will not clash with efforts by the Society of St Vincent de Paul either, which also approaches parishes in the leadup to Christmas.
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TOMORROW TODAY
US bishops consider apologising to youth By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) - A proposed pastoral plan for ministry with young adults to be voted on by US bishops in November - acknowledges both the challenges in ministering to young adults and the shortcomings that have marked young adult ministry thus far. "We acknowledge the pain many of you speak of in feeling unwelcome and alone - strangers in the house of God," the plan says in a message to young adults. "For this lack of hospitality we apologise and promise anew greater efforts to welcome you into Church life." The document also quotes Pope John Paul ll's message to young adults at a World Youth Day Mass in 1995. The proposed pastoral plan, "Sons and Daughters of the Light: A Pastoral Plan for Ministry With Young Adults," has been submitted for approval during the US bishops' autumn general meeting, to be held from November 11-14 in Washington. It was developed by the bishops' Committee on the Laity. Work on the document began with a series of town hall-style meetings with young adults held in dioceses. Comments from Catholic young adults who for the purposes of the proposed plan range in age from the late teens to the 30s - are sprinkled throughout the document. The plan covers a wide range of possibilities for young adult ministry and inclusion of young adults within existing ministries; offers a blend of innovative and common-sense strategies to make young adults feel more welcome in the church; and notes trends shaping youth ministry challenges in today's Church. Among those trends: • "With the birth of their first child, young adults typically return to active religious practice after a decline in church participation during late adolescence and their early 20s. Today, this return is no longer certain. If they do return, it can be with great tentativeness." • "Many Catholic men and women tell of not feeling welcomed in our communities while others speak of wanting, but not finding, the Church's help with serious moral and economic questions." • "The membership of many, if not most, of our Catholic organisations is much older today than it was 20 years ago." • "Interchurch marriages, both ecumenical and interreligious, have increased. This ultimately affects Church life, especially as a couple decides which faith community to Join and in which tradition to raise their children" • 'The values of many young adults no longer come primarily from family and Church, but from friends, the media and contemporary society." A successful young adult outreach, the proposed plan says, will connect young adults with the Church, by inviting and welcoming their presence in the Church community; with Jesus Christ; with the misThe Record, November 7 1996 Page 4
sion of the Church in the world; and with a peer community in which their faith is "nurtured and strengthened." "Young adults understand the message of faith and the traditions of the Church when these are communicated through words, symbols and activities that relate to life experiences," says one of a dozen principles for ministry with young adults articulated in the proposed plan. It cautions those ministering to young adults that "the pastoral care of young adults demands a certain kind of openness and flexibility. Parish leaders need an awareness of the life patterns, transience and mobility of young adults. Those who work with young adults will need an approach that is not Judgmental while at the same time challenging." When inviting young adults to actively participate in church life, it said, "young adults will participate when they perceive that the invitation is authentic and their participation is constructive." The proposed plan reminds young adult ministers that "young adults who are single will have different needs and concerns, with different life schedules, than those who are married or married with children," and that "the invitation to participate may need to be issued a number of times because young adults may not believe that they are truly being invited because of past experiences." It suggests evangelising young people by reaching out through personal invitations, telephone calls, bulletin notices, letters and use of the Internet. It calls for identifying places where young people gather such as the workplace, campuses, athletic fields and civic associations and having a presence at those places. The plan also focuses on religious education and marriage preparation. "During the listening process, many young adults spoke of their desire for effective adult religious education to help them make good moral decisions. They said that they need a forum where misgivings and doubts can be expressed freely, but also where the teachings of the Church can be clearly articulated in response," it said. "While some alienation stems from disagreement over Church teachings, much of what young adults feel regarding the institutional church arises from a misunderstanding of what the church actually teaches. Many young adults told us that what is most convincing is an open but well-reasoned discussion, informed and fortified by the minister's confidence in the wisdom of the Church." On marriage preparation, the document said that young adults approach the Church to be married for a number of reasons. "Regardless of why they come," it added, "the Church and its ministers need to welcome them as Christ welcomes them, with understanding, love and acceptance, challenging them with the Gospel message, and giving them hope that a lifelong commitment is possible."
Taking Good Shepherd's message to the streets
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Proud Kelmscott parents: Roz Porter, left, Wendy Lazarri, the two children - Jasmin Leggett and Sean Doyle - Rose Carling, Annette Bowman. Seated at front: Rose Spence and Libby Bradder.
After six months of blood, sweat and tears a group of proud and hard working Kelmscott parents have seen the fruits of their labour realised. The erection of an eye-catching sign promoting Good Shepherd Catholic Primary was an initiative by seven parents, who want to spread the message to the wider local community of how proud they are of their school. By using the novel approach the parent group are hoping to raise awareness about the secluded school, which is nestled away in 14 acres of picturesque bushland. The sign, which is placed right in the heart of the Kelmscott shopping area, has a prominence which would normally be too costly for a primary school (rates to advertise along Albany Highway are usu-
ally around $1500 per month) but a vacant block owned by a Good Shepherd parent was offered as a site. Now shoppers, local traffic and passersby can see the colourful message expressed by the two Year One students pictured on the sign. One of the parents involved in setting up the Public Relations Parent Group, Annette Bowman, said the local community response to the sign so far, had been extremely positive". Mrs Bowman said she was amazed by the sign's immediate impact among Kelmscott residents, "feedback from the general public has been all complimentary and the innovative approach has already significantly helped in putting Good Shepherd on the local map".
Budding young 'artistes' put creations on display Ryan Green is only a young man, but he had much to be proud about last Sunday when his school held its annual Art Exhibition. Ryan's school, Currambine Catholic Primary School, had much to be proud about too. This year's event was only the second the event has been held. "These students are young - in the first years of their education - but the Art Exhibition enables us to give every child a 'pat on the back'," the Principal of the School, Mrs Sue Groves, said. "It helps make them feel 'special' - loved and valued whether they have created a masterpiece or not. It is the sense of self-esteem and self-respect, particularly generated by mums and dads, which is recognised today as one of the most powerful factors in how well a young person does at school." Ryan is pictured, right, with his mother, Sue, as he shows his painting to his teacher, Julie Wiley.
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Saturday 30th November Cost S35 includes dinner, dancing & soft drinks
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Church disability talks
Commission speaks out on immigration
Parents of intellectually and physically handicapped children have met with the Archbishop's council of advisers to discuss concerns over the status, position and role of children with special needs in the Church The meeting, held at the request of Archbishop Hickey, came as a follow-up from the Catholic Association for Special Education Support's (CAS.E.S.) survey of families in 1995. The survey found that parents of handicapped children frequently feel they face a tougher battle than their peers in winning places for their children at Catholic schools. "Parents of children with special needs know the heartache of disappointment. frustration and anger when dealing with secular entities for services. They are absolutely dumbfounded when meeting similar attitudes among perceived "Church" people," a CASES spokeswoman said. She said the main concern put to the meeting by the parents had been the perception that within the Church there were two different standards in relation
Western Australia's Catholic Social Justice Commission has affirmed its commitment to reconciliation between Aboriginal and other Australians and to the continuation of Australia's non-discriminatory immigration policy as controversy in the media continues over remarks made by Queensland MP, Pauline Hanson. In a statement released this week the Conunission said to suggest that Australia's indigenous peoples enjoy special privileges to the detriment of the non-indigenous community was contrary to the evidence. It said the fact that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continue to suffer from disproportionately higher rates of unemployment, lower life expectancy and lower levels of education and health compared to other Australians demonstrated the fallacy of such views. Supporting the Federal Government's continued commitment to a non-discriminatory immigration policy the Commission also called on all levels of government "to unambiguously renew their commitment to oppose and eradicate racial discrimination in all its forms." Eradication of racial discrimination would also require that special measures be taken by the Government to redress disadvantages suffered by particular groups, the Commission said, adding that such a principle was recognised by the UN Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination
CASES parents meet with Archbishop Hickey, Monsignor Michael Keating and advisers. to handicapped children. "Children who She said many parents felt abandoned can walk and talk and think are provid- and alone as they struggled to provide ed Catholic services without question," their children with a Catholic formation she said. and environment. However the parents had seen the "Children who walk more slowly or not at all, who talk differently or not at all, or meeting with Archbishop Hickey and his who think differently, generally speak- advisers as a first step toward making ing, must constantly battle for a place in their cries for help heard in the wider Church, she added. the Catholic church."
Papal award recognises service Melbourne
Archbishop Hickey presents the medal
Archbishop Barry Hickey presented the organist at St Mary's Cathedral, Mrs Annette Goerke, with the papal award, Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, last Friday night in recognition of her long service to the cathedral. The presentation took place during the evening Mass celebrated on the feast of All Saints to mark Pope John Paul's golden anniversary of his priesthood Mrs Goerke was appointed as organist at the cathedral in 1956, and subsequently Director of Cathedral music by Archbishop Goody on 30 December 1973. She is believed to be the first woman appointed to such a position in the Catholic Church in Australia. Awarded the Churchill Fellowship for advanced organ studies in Paris and other parts of Europe in 1971 to 1972, she has also performed as guest organist for the WA Symphony Orchestra.
Church on-line
With a new home page created somewhere in the world on the Internet every 4 seconds the Catholic archdiocese of Melbourne has gone on-line with its own. Announcing the initiative Archbishop George Pell said that the Church must use all means of communications in the service of the Gospel. "Our home page will keep people informed about the life of the Church in Melbourne," Archbishop Pell said. The new site will be available to approximately 60 million Internet users worldwide and 1 million in Australia. It contains information about archdiocesan services, statistical data, Church structure, biographies of Church leadership, archdiocesan media releases and links to other Catholic Web sites, including the Vatican. The Archbishop said the home page would be updated regularly.
All Encountered couples are invited to
20th Anniversary Marriage Encounter State Conference I6& 17 November. Corpus Christi College. Bateman
Topics: Family of origin, adolescents, sexuality, Ignatian prayer, family values and the vision of Marriage Encounter. Cost of the Conference is $30 per couple. Bring a shared lunch for Saturday. Contact number for booking a place at the conference: Joe and Margaret Cordina. at 82 Bibra Drive, Bibra Lake 6163. Tel: 417 1984
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The Record. November: 7 1996 Page 5
Like bridesmaids - be prepared! Time for us to Peter Dwan continues meditations on the readings for Sunday Mass. This week, the readings for the 32nd Sunday of Year A
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oday's liturgy bids us to live as wise people, who are prepared for death at any moment. The first reading (Wisdom 6:12-16) says that wisdom is found by those who seek her. The Book of Wisdom was written about 150 BC. It was the latest of the Old Testament books, and was, by a common literary device of the time, attributed to Solomon. It was written in Greek. hence its exclusion from the Jewish Canon. Wisdom is personified here, as in Proverbs, Job, Baruch and Sirach. It is not a "person" separated from God but a literary personification of one of his attributes. It is, therefore, always bright, and never loses its value. The author of Wisdom says that wisdom is easily recognised by those who love the truth, and easily found by all who seek true knowledge. The reading says: "You will find her sitting at your gates." The person who searches for true wisdom and
son is enjoying his or her eternal reward. Of course, wisdom dictates that we are prepared for death at any moment. Today's gospel passage (Matthew 25:113) is the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids, or as older translations rendered it, the wise and foolish virgins, and really desires it will not have far to seek the message is, "Be prepared." The pagan philosophers laboured hard All the ten bridesmaids took their lamps, and long to knit their earthly wisdom into but only took flasks of oil as well as their some system. lamps. It is better to be well prepared, But for a sincere Jew every page of the having things we don't need, rather than Old Testament radiated the true wisdom lacking things that we may well need. of knowledge of God and of self. Fr R Gutzwiller SJ has written: "Lamps The same is true of every page of the are not enough: there must be oil as well. New Testament for a Christian. This means that it is not enough to belong Wisdom enables people to see things in outwardly to the Church. We must have perspective. In today's second reading (1 a living faith, grace and real love." Thessalonians 4:13-18), St Paul says: "We Like the ten bridesmaids, we know that want you to be quite certain, brothers, the Divine Bridegroom is coming, and like about those who have died, to make sure them, we don't know when. We don't you do not grieve about them, like the know when our death will come, or when other people who have no hope. We the end of the world will come. believe that Jesus died and rose again, The bridegroom locked out the foolish and that will be the same for those who bridesmaids who were away buying oil have died in Jesus." when he came. If we aren't prepared for Our Faith is a great consolation in time heaven when Our Lord comes, we shall of bereavement. We should not grieve not be given a second chance. Wisdom excessively. Excessive grief is a sign of therefore dictates that we heed Our Lord's selfishness: we are thinking of our loss of words: "Stay awake, because you do not a loved one. and forgetting that the per- know either the day or the hour."
A Layman's
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Recommend The Record to Mends The Record, Novertibet ' 1996 0'1346'6
v sister was two years older than I was. Early in life she had consecrated herself to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and it was her ardent desire to enter a missionary order. At last the time came when her spiritual director gave her permission to enter a convent. After only 3 months she was dismissed as not having a vocation. This decision hit her like a condemnation to death. The 3 months of probation had been the happiest of her life. Her disappointment was so great that she made no attempt to try elsewhere. Instead she took the advice of a wellmeaning nun and accepted a recently vacated position as housekeeper in a large church rectory in Vienna. Conscientious as she was, she worked literally until late at night which, in her weakened condition, resulted in a nervous breakdown. Under doctor's orders she had to give up her job and return home to our parents. After her heart's desire was not granted, she offered herself to the Saviour as a victim-soul, and He soon took her at her word. For a whole year she suffered from neuralgia all over her body. With great patience and admirable peace she bore her sufferings until finally the last thing was taken from her - her mind. Our family was deeply disturbed. We loved her from the depths of our hearts, and we could not understand this great trial. To our mother she simply said: "Now I have to suffer for others!" On one occasion, however, when our father went out with her for a regular walk. he lost her on a crowded street corner and in spite of all his efforts he could not find her again. He knew that [in her condition] she could not possibly find her way home alone, and he was very frightened. There was nothing else for him to do
but to notify the police and to tell our poor mother the sad news. When I heard I inquired into the details of the case and went searching for her at once, a totally useless undertaking in a big city like Vienna. My mother sat In front of our little home altar and with admirable peace, that I could not comprehend, prayed one decade of the Rosary after the other, to our Heavenly Mother, until she had finished all 15 decades. It was 2 o'clock in the morning when she finished the last prayer and confidently said: "Now she's got to be found!" At that moment we heard footsteps in the hallway. I opened the door in hope that it was someone from the police who came to bring us some news. Unfortunately. no. A gentleman was walking past to go up to the upper floor of the building where his flat was. In my anxiety I don't know why I did so, but I went down stairs to open the main door to the building and marvel of marvels, cheerful and unharmed my sister stood before me as if nothing had happened. I cried in joy, hugged her and called up to my astonished parents: "She's here! She's here!" We were filled with jubilation and we would like to have known how she had gotten into the building alone, without a key. Unfortunately, she was not able to tell us that. Neither the gentleman who had come home that night nor anybody else in the building had seen her or let her in. Besides, my father and I had gone in and out and up and down the stairs so often that we would have to have seen her. We were sure that the dear Blessed Mother Herself, had been her guide and has thus openly rewarded the confident prayer of the Holy Rosary. Reprinted with permission from the Ave Maria magazine of WA's Garabandal Centre
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Message from Our Lady, Queen of Peace, from Medjugorje, given to Marija on October 25, 1996 "Dear Children! Today I invite you to open yourselves to God the Creator, so that He changes you. Little children, you are dear to me. I love you all and I call you to be closer to me and that your love towards my Immaculate Heart be more fervent. I wish to renew you and lead you with my Heart to the Heart of Jesus, which still today suffers for you and calls you to conversion and renewal. Through you, I wish to renew the world. Comprehend, little children, that you are today the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Little children,Iinvite you andI love you and in a special way implore: Convert! Thank you for having responded to my call." (It is accepted that the final authority regarding apparitions of Our Lady at Medjugorle rests with the Holy See of Rome)
celebrate our diversity
With Penny Ashcroft
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ustralia is called 'the lucky country", and rightly so. Not for us the bloodshed caused by war and thousands of deaths caused by hunger and disease. Not for us the hundreds of thousands of refugees suffering and left to their own devices while their President is far away in a luxury Swiss suite. Not for us the conspiracy, anger, riots, and blatant acts of terrorism we hear of in Saudi Arabia, Ireland, England, America. Yes, we are lucky With the debate currently raging over alleged racism in Australia and the ensuing accusations ringing in our ears,and the knowledge that we live in a country rich in resources with food aplenty, now might be a good time to count our blessings and consider the Incredible wealth of richness that comes with being multicultural society. We are blessed in our parish with over 50 nationalities being represented and over the years it has become very obvious that all have incredible gifts and talents to share with our community. From musicians to mathematicians they offer themselves wholeheartedly to join with others in ministering in a host of ways to fellow parishioners. People from other cultures can offer us an insight into another world, a world which sometimes is terrifying. Some come to us having escaped persecution and torture, to make a better life for themselves and their children, others bring with them the depth and beauty of traditions from their homelands which enrich our society and encourage our own Australian heritage. More and more, people are hungering for knowledge about Aboriginal traditions and beliefs and are recognising that this is a culture that has gifted us with a richness that can only come with length of time and the passing on from generation to generation a belief system and time honoured traditions. We are a diverse society and in the main I believe we are an open and tolerant society, but the corrosive effects of prejudice can be insidious, especially when fuelled over zealous reports in the media, continued debate, and obvious divisiveness within the ranks of those with the responsibility of the leadership of our country. A willingness to discriminate on the basis of race or colour shows an unthinking approach to life. If we seldom think about why we believe or act the way we do, perhaps we need to educate ourselves to probe, to weigh facts and face issues that challenge us. If we believe in a loving, caring God, a God who does not discriminate in any way shape or form, a God that has given all equal dignity, we should feel encouraged to take a stand, to set an example. In our parish next weekend there is to be a celebration of the fact that we are a multicultural community. We are to have a special Multicultural Mass on two occasions over the weekend followed by a shared, multicultural meal. This celebration has become a tradition. For some years now we have been given the opportunity to experience the diversity of our faith community in this way. It has always been an event that attracts large crowds and is a time of appreciation of each other and of the great enjoyment that comes with a sense of belonging. Ills an opportunity to give witness to the belief that all men, women and children are due respect and acceptance. An opportunity to shed a little light in a country that is currently embroiled in a war of words.
Putting a money value on marital love, family life T The Record here appears no end to the consequences of the sexual revolution of the past 35 years, a revolution insofar as the contraceptive pill allowed sex without responsibility inside and outside marriage on a scale unknown before in human history. However it is not a revolution as far as the essence of the corruption and selfdestruction involved is concerned. People have always indulged in sexual misbehaviour of all kinds, but its extent has been controlled by the lack of medical solutions to the consequences of sexual activity - antibiotics for disease, the contraceptive pill, and more efficient means of murdering unborn children are recent innovations. It was always implied in Catholic Church teaching that sexual activity outside God's plan would end in men and women treating each other as nothing more than objects of pleasure and, once an object, then nothing more than a material thing rather than a person with supernatural dignity. It was perhaps prophetic that the pop and sex queen Madonna called herself at one point the Material Girl. And now our own State of Western Australia has sold its soul by accepting Elle McPherson, who had made her millions by selling her body to the fashion and advertising industry, as WA's image in tourist promotion. But since Pope Paul VI's 1968 encyclical
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on human life, setting out in a seamless And if the couple have signed a contract web of argument the Church's constant, before marriage preventing the other havand therefore certain, teaching banning ing an open-ended access to the other's contraception but allowing natural meth- income and financial assets, then there is ods of family planning for the right rea- even more chance that the husband and sons, Paul VI, Pope John Paul II and many wife should view each other in commerCatholic commentators have regularly cial terms. warned of the materialism let loose in As every material thing has its commerhuman relations by the modern sexual cial value, so the inevitable consequence revolution - from the self-abuse of mas- of using contraceptives, no matter how turbation through to in vitro fertilisation. often a couple go to Church or mistakenGenetic manipulation at one end of life ly frequent the Sacraments, is that each and euthanasia at the other end are other will view and treat, even if only subconeffects of a materialist approach to human sciously, the other as a material object. life. The materialism of this contraceptive The latest manifestation of men and mentality, because it is cut of from the life women treating each other as objects in of God's law, naturally encourages an IVE sexual matters revealed itself recently in genetic manipulation and abortionist the writings of the high priestess of sexu- mentality - the culture of death. ality in Australian journalism, Ruth This materialism has also extended to Ostrow. policy-makers viewing the non-sexual Ms Ostrow recently reported on the relations within a family from a financial increasing phenomenon of married viewpoint - families are surveyed to meawomen demanding money from their hus- sure the economic value of work in the home, especially that performed by bands for sex with them. This, if you disregard God's divine and women who stay at home. One side of the value-of-the-homemaknatural law, is not illogical. For example, it is not much of jump in logic for wives who er debate uses this information to argue believe that prostitutes have a right to sell that governments need not support famitheir services openly and legally to con- lies as they already have their value in the clude that their husbands should pay for work of the homemaker. marital sex. The other side, including some
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Aborted babies Spiritual starvation accuse us also I
nation and should not be made to be one. She is not anti the Aborigine but the Abof you try talking to young people about riginal bureaucracy - ATSIC - which is "a the dangers of their alcohol drinking failed, hypocritical, discriminatory organi(as I have to do almost every day in my sation that has failed dismally the people work) you get the same reply every time. it was meant to serve," as she said in her ‘vo events took place last weekend They sound like cloned robots. maiden speech. which highlighted the stark contrast "I could get killed crossing the road." they She is not anti refugees nor does she between the level of commitment of say, "You only live once andI want to have any person of ethnic background regard two diametrically opposed sections of the a good time." living here as anything but a first class now community to the causes in which they and there is no They seem to believe it, citizen. believe. But she believes that our government The first was the "gay" pride march. a cel- sign of any interior spiritual life. They are like empty shells. ebration of everything that is base and sor"must stop kowtowing to financial markets. did in human nature. To them, having a good time means chem- international organisations, world bankers, This event was well funded, and watched ically reducing your IQ by 50 per cent. investment companies and big business by tens of thousands of people, making it This is a generation starving to death spir- people". perhaps Perth's largest cultural event of the itually. And that of course is the crux of the matyear. ter. It makes me want to cry. At the other end of town, a commemoraPauline Hanson's detractors are not contion of the victims of the greatest crime in Arnold Jago cerned with morality but with money and Mildura brutal human history, the systematic and investment - Asian money and investment. murder of myriads of unborn babies, could muster a mere hundred or so participants. The final part of your editorial I agree This was not for want of the immense t would be lovely to see Catholics, in with wholeheartedly. effort of those who put the event together. fact. all Christians, bowing their heads Patricia Malone but reflects an entrenched and disturbing on hearing the name of Jesus, even in Scarborough apathy on the part of the majority of those public! who profess the Christian faith. Even if the Holy Name is said blaspheWe do not remain exempt from God's mously or irreverently, please bow your orty years ago a small nation stood judgment just because we may have never head. had or carried out an abortion. up for freedom and independence. In A public crime of this magnitude is only Mrs Winifred Klomp October and November 1956, nine made possible by the consent or the indif- Como years after their country was overrun and ference of the population. occupied by the Red Army, Hungarian As I believe that those Germans whose women, children, workers and intellectusilence made the holocaust possible will he tone of The Record editorial (31 als demanded their right to be free. be judged along with the guards at the conThe Soviet Union crushed their desires October) on Pauline Hanson was centration camps, so will we have to give with fire and tanks. ridiculed to her and condescending God an account of our response to the divisions and 2,000 tanks fought Sixteen her, like so much of the Press does. crime of abortion. ill-equipped youth of Hungary and surthe On judgement dayI fear that we may fare The writer also erroneously subscribes to won the day. prise, surprise less well than our German brethren. her things that she has not said. days the world watched with I n those They risked losing their lives if they To say that he, as a journalist of wide and respect, but did not help. opposed Hitler. experience, knows that Pauline Hanson amazement We risk losing a few hours of time here could not have been capable, with her . . . Now, on this anniversary I look in vain and there, and perhaps a little of our remembrance. Neither the background, of writing her own speech, is for any sign of "respectability". seems to recall what the media TV nor I urge all readers to ask themselves the arrogance and an attack on her intelli- happened then. question, "do I really oppose abortion, or gence. "The blood of the Hungarian people cries To assume that she has raised fears in the do I just say that I do?" to the Lord" - Pope Pius XII said on 6 The test of the sincerity of our convictions migrants to this country is wrong. November, 1956, in a 500-word encyclical is whether we take action to implement It is the media which has raised fears by letter. them. Action of course includes prayer. I deliberately misquoting her, and you, too, In ten days the Pope asked the world will frankly admit that I have failed that by grouping her views with that of Hitler. times to pray with him. three test. She is neither anti-Asian, as all my Asian He told the people who were responsiBut we can always take the test again. ble for the bloodshed that: "the just free And if we will not do it for the sake of those friends accept, nor anti-Aboriginal. policy against the immigration She is dom of peoples can never be drowned in whose little lives are babies extinguished before they see their first sunrise, then let which has had a bias towards Asian immi- blood." us at least do it for the sake of our own gration for the past ten years. The suppression of Hungarian liberty in souls. Why have we not been more open to 1956 is an event so easily forgotten. migration from war-tom Europe? John C Veszely Stephen Gethin Wembley Downs She believes that Australia is not an Asian Nollamara
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Bow at name of Jesus
Remember Hungary
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Editorial condescends
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• The opinions expressed in this editorial, and any other Record editorial, are not necessarily those of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Perth.
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Catholics, argue that governments should support the family by recognising in taxation and social security policy the work of the homemaker. Certainly, governments should support the family - but not on the basis of the financial value of the homemaker. Just as there is no financial value to sexual relations there should be no financial value attributed to the life of a marriage and the family that issues from marital sexual relations. The family has a social and eternal value as the domestic Church, an arena in which all is shared without calculation or apportionment of financial value. lithe family is to be supported financially it should be through the family member who is responsible for securing the material needs of the family by earning a wage that covers the families needs, or by taxation relief. Catholics and other Christians who construct social policy on the assumption that the work of the homemaker has a financial value should be careful that they are not unintentionally falling into the trap of encouraging policies that view the homemaker, usually a wife, in a materialist way, and not as a member of what is a spiritual economy of love that does not measure its value in commercial terms.
Colifor
The Shroud of Turin
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am of the firm opinion that the Vatican should come out strongly and positively declare, once and for all that the Roman Catholic Church considers the Holy Shroud of Turin to be a sacred treasure worthy of belief as a genuine sacramental of faith by all Christians. In the final analysis the words of that old saying certainly ring true... "For those who believe no explanation is necessary, for those who do not believe no explanation is possible!! According to one of the great Italian mystics of our time. Maria Valtorta (1896-1961) Jesus spoke to her in these words recorded in her The Poem of the Man-God concerning His Burial Shroud which is now known as the Shroud of Turin: "You saw, Maria, the crown of livid bruises that were around my kidneys. "In order to give evidence to your incredulity regarding that proof of My suffering which is the Shroud, your scientists explain how the blood, the cadaverous sweat, and the urea of a body excessively fatigued, had been able, by mixing with aromatics, to produce that natural picture of My deceased and tortured body." "It would be better to believe without the need of so many proofs. "It would be better to say this is the work of God and to bless God who has granted you the irrefutable proof of My crucifixion and preceding tortures!" "But since you do not know how to believe any more with the simplicity of children, but have need of scientific proofs. a poor faith, yours, which without the prod and prop of science does not know how to stand erect and walk - then know that the ferocious bruises of My kidneys had been the most powerful chemical agent in the miracle of the Shroud. "My kidneys, nearly ruptured by the scourges, had been unable to work anymore. "Like the kidneys of men burned by fire. they were incapable of filtering and thus the urea had accumulated and spread into My blood, into My body, causing the suffering of uremic poisoning - the reagent oozing from My corpse which had fixed the imprint on the cloth. "But whoever among you is a doctor, or whoever among you is sick with uremia. can understand what sufferings I must have had from uremic poison of such abundance as to be capable of producing an Indelible imprint". William Thomas Medina
The Record, November 7 1996 Page 7
Features
New teaching theories oppress the working class The role of the Christian Brothers in educating working class boys is generally well known. Western Australian Catholic author and historian George Russo here comments on the Brothers' work with the current debate on literacy standards, reminding the Catholic and wider community of what they owe the sons of Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice.
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he recent revelations about the low new type of educator became more an Edmund Rice teaching poor working class boys standard of literacy in our schools instrument of oppression, part of the libIs nothing new. eral intelligentsia that gave birth to a new The politically correct view brands it 'elitist'. Teaching individual creativity is the Having given up the fundamentals - value system, which, in effect, turned into only way, with a value-free language and changing the rules, so to speak - where being no values at all, for fear of causing without 'social prestige' elitism. was there to go? Anyone could have a say, offence or denying individual rights. i.e., try something new, and forget about Language had been rewritten and cerYet, depriving children of mastering Stanthe old ways of teaching reading and writ- tain words banned in the name of indidard English inevitably disadvantages ing, even though they had been well-tried vidual rights; and by a group that detested them in a society that takes its benefits for and proven. censorship. granted only to deny them to others. Since I came from a background of Political correctness raised its ugly head There were many protests aimed at corschools run by Christian Brothers - one of on American campuses in the 1980s; as a recting the false value system of English those workhorse organisations within new phenomenon for righting the wrongs literature (ridding it of racism, sexism, and Catholicism that is popular to sneer at of the past, but, in reality, its ideological 'male authors'). today - who performed the essential task ancestry lay in the turbulent '60s. My own, a letter to the press, questioned of teaching 'poor boys' to read and write, It involved women's liberation, removal the philosophy of teaching literacy in I was left wondering at the present state of of prejudices against ethnics and gays, the schools, stating that writing was the only literacy in government schools. disabled and others together with the prosound vehicle for both transmitting and In spite of the 'old ways' the Brothers motion of dissent and non-conformity (for criticising our cultural values and ideals. weren't such bad teachers after all. In fact, conformity's sake!). Spelling, punctuation and grammar are they were first rate. Its rub was the rejection of authoritarian first principles when it comes to writing. "The truth is that the Brothers were sim- values - in morals and literacy. Yet I have often heard it argued that a ple, humble, hard-working, decent men Yet, there was a strange perversion of child's personality could be damaged if who, for reasons modern minds now find these ideals with a new kind of authorione was to impose rules of grammar. it difficult to comprehend, devoted themtarianism in the 1970s. But by what other way can one by truly Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice selves to a lifetime of celibacy, poverty and Mr VVhitlam remade the whole machinliterate? academic drudgery." ery of government in his image. The new simply has no imaginative grasp of the A whole range of children's books fell That's why the recent beatification of Labor, committed to an individualistic free- importance of the school to a child living foul of the ideological censors, including Edmund Rice was a welcome event in the for-all in economics, in private behaviour, in social and intellectual poverty. Mary Durack's for calling aboriginal chilannals of education. These are the kind of parents who subrepresented nevertheless another kind of Thomas Keneally spoke in an ABC doc- conformity rooted in prejudice for 'enlight- scribe to the teaching of reading by the dren. 'Piccaninnies'! I heard librarians arguing about what umentary of their ethos of preparing enment ideas', and ignorance. 'creative method', and discard the tried books they should stack in their libraries young men for life. and tested reading schemes of the past as It swept away the Christian safeguards to for fear that they 'might poison young He remembered them as 'admirable and marriage and undermined family values 'old hat'. In the same way historical facts minds'. Strange! They have actually are wrong because they deny the higher devoted teachers', terrifically keen on with the so-called Murphy reforms. removed Shakespeare from some truths of 'creative subjectivity .' sports of all kinds, and most comlibraries. petitive. Yet,Iseem to remember that one Certainly they had an Irish of the dogmas of the cultural revflavour about them, but they olutionarie s of the 1960s was freeinstilled patriotism as well as dom of expression and rejection Christian manners and behaviour. of authoritarian censorship. Another commentator said that It seems to me that this brave "for providing high-quality secondary edunew world value system can denigrate old Descended So, in the 1990's, as I we am have from reached poor Italian the cation cheaply, and sound Christian prinmethods like the Christian Brothers for i mmigrants point where , coming immigrants from are a feared, culture Abothat ciples without fuss or frills, they are rigines rejected, the jobless despised, the understood from painful experience that methods that pass the dubious test of politunsurpassed." poor dumped, and the uneducated (or hard work and education were the only ical correctness. They believed in punishment, but as for partly educated) route to the social mainstream,I believed illiterate. Where are our traditional norms of being sadists, this was not true. But what of those devastating criticisms that the education of the Christian Broth- behaviour? They had the most profound influence of the education ers was the best; they taught me, and many system? It disregards the right of every child to on boys, both on the sporting field and in like me, to read and write; and to be a man. master his/her language to celebrate as The charge that teachers are now failing the class room. I recall vividly the work of the young 'meaningful and enjoyable' being able to to teach children properly goes back to Even after school we returned to visit the those liberal Brother who gave up his Saturday after- express one's self by writing anything that days. Brothers, seek their advice and help in the noons to teach me Latin so thatIwould be comes into the little brain. The emphasis of literacy is replaced by equipped to follow my chosen problems we were meeting in the world at vocation in The current practice of 'facilitator' (a a child-centred philosophy that devalues life. large. passive role) - leaving children to find out rules and is inimical to the imparting of The Brothers were concerned about the I was being taught Maths, English and for themselves - negates the very raison d' knowle dge and virtue. fate of the most vulnerable and disposHistory in the school, but our kind of etre of the teachers as leader and guide. The children who are suffering most are school did not have such 'high brow' subsessed, yet out of step with a number of Only from instruction, explanation, guidthose from disadvantaged backgrounds - jects. educational changes. ance will children learn from their adult They realised that they had to make those whom the Christian Brothers took When I think teacher. back on the way they taught changes, in the staffing policies of their care of - and for whom schooling was the English; having us learn passages from Behind the battles in the modern classschools, for example, but believed that only life-line out of the ghetto of poverty. Shakespeare by heart, stanzas of poetry - room lie the new 'certainties' of educasomething profound had happened withThe situation is complex. It is alright for as well as writing a paragraph each day tional theory which, for the good of our in the culture that formed the bedrock of the better-off who send their children to for homework - spelling tests, and what children, should be questioned and their beliefs. the better schools, and naturally feel com- was then known as 'parsing and analysis': reviewed to ensure a literate generation in A belief that was supposed to embody placent about the problems that ordinary in other words grammar and syntax. the future. tolerance had come to represent intoler- people have to meet in educating their Now, experts say that there is no correct We owe it to our children. ance. children. way to teach English; no such things as Otherw ise, there will be more social Purporting to help the disadvantaged, the They often come from a background that 'Standard English'. casualties. The Record, November 7 1996 Page 8
Christian Brothers and the despised three Rs' gave working class boys the tools to control their destinies
Features
Can you wait and pray with Me in peace for one hour, Jesus asks By Colleen McGuiness-Howard
I
n a city of thousands, God waits patiently in the Perth central business district for the visit of His children. He, the precious jewel in the city's business heart, must ponder on life's distractions which keep his children from visiting Him. Tragically, He has to compete with life's empty commercial sway when His own heart beats so fiercely with love for them. Yet He's so accessible - centrally located in the Allendale Square All Saints' Chapel. nestling back Inconspicuously on the corner of Sherwood Court and St George's Terrace. Just opposite London Court, this haven of peace is such because Jesus is permanently there in the Blessed Eucharist exposed in the monstrance on the alter during the chapel's open hours between 8 am and 5.30 pm weekdays and on Saturday from 9 to 11.30 am. The chapel is in the care of the Blessed Sacrament Fathers and Brothers, who celebrate weekday Masses at 12.10 pm and 1.10 pm, plus 5.10 pm on Friday with the noon Angelus and long Confession periods daily. The chapel also has very much the human touch for those who wander in, desperately needing someone to talk to someone who can lend a shoulder, a supportive arm, a kind word, and the guiding light of Jesus through His teachings. At life's low points, people painfully realise there is nothing to replace the Word of God, because He alone offers solace, stability, hope and love in the midst of life's insecurity and shallowness. So many a wounded soul seeks out the chapel, knowing they can always find a Blessed Sacrament brother or priest to listen, and help. From that outpouring, there's then the chance to spend time in solitude in front of Jesus, the formula for peace, in the monstrance. who waits with an aching heart of love to communicate with His beloved children. The first All Saints Chapel was opened with Mass on 3 December 1962 at the former Daily News newspaper building at 77 St George's Terrace The chapel flourished and saw 3,400 people attend after one month, with 1,800 having received Holy Communion. An article in The Record on 10 January 1963 saw it as a "grand and glorious effort at bringing Our Divine Lord to the heart of our growing city," and that the chapel had proven itself "a haven of spirituality for the workers of
the city." Archbishop Prendiville gave the Legion of Mary the responsibility of maintaining a roster of worshippers. They did this by arranging for adorers from parishes on a rotational basis. But then fire struck the building on 20 December 1968, gutting the chapel. The fire broke out while church staff were preparing for the enthronement of Dr Launcelot Goody as Archbishop of Perth at the cathedral. Fr fames O'Brien attempted to rescue the badly charred ciborium containing the Blessed Sacrament. A young Fr Barry Hickey, who was then living in the flat at the back of the chapel, had to help clean up after the fire and then dash to the cathedral to do a live radio commentary during Dr Goody's installation. All Saints Chapel was eventually re-opened with a Mass offered by Archbishop Goody, ironically enough, on Ash Wednesday, 1970. The current Allendale Square site for the chapel was opened and solemnly dedicated on 10 August 1976. Responsibility for administering the new chapel was given to the Blessed Sacrament Congregation who already had a foundation in Bunbury. They also assumed care of the Kensington parish and in 1986 amalgamated it with Como. But what about the folk today who use this softly and beautifully furnished chapel which welcomes all, and where Jesus is always waiting on the altar and where His mother's little ilhuninated altar waits near the entrance. Why do they go and what do they find? A large number, of course, attend the well-timed lunch time Masses. But, in addition, there are those who deliberately seek it out during the day to gain a quiet time with the Lord. Catherine Kelly came three years ago in dire need for help "because my life had crumbled and I knew nobody in Perth." Grieving, she was given the compassionate listening ear she needed and then invited to speak to Jesus in the monstrance. "The priests and brothers have always been there for me," she affirms, and tells how since then her life has been "completely turned around." For Catherine it is a "haven, because through these people and Jesus, my life was saved." Newly arrived from Europe a few years ago, Luise Cicholas was very unhappy with homesickness, "but Fr O'Dea read the Old Testament about how Ruth had to leave her homeland, and from then I started coming regularly to the
A tapestry adorning the walls of the chapel
Blessed Sacrament Father Mark Rigney: one of the compassionate, listening custodians of All Saints Chapel sacraments, and to pray in front of
the Blessed Eucharist." This was how she came to accept Australia, Luise said, through the peace she found with the help of the priests and brothers. "Especially as they are so good to always have the Blessed Eucharist exposed for people like myself, so we can sit and talk to Jesus at any hour of the day. He is always waiting to welcome us." Coming from Sydney three years ago. Margaret Sullivan subsequently discovered she had cancer. With a life-long devotion to exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and to St Peter Julian Eymard, the founder of the Blessed Sacrament Congregation. Margaret felt at home in the chapel having been a frequent visitor to the congregation's Haymarket church in Sydney. With delight, she regularly commutes by bus for the joy of being with the Blessed Sacrament "who has been very good to me in relation to [the management of] my cancer, and so I frequently come to say prayers of thanksgiving and petition." Margaret says others should be encouraged to immerse themselves in the Lord's "most beautiful, calm, peaceful atmosphere" in the chapel, Iolanda Cervi is a frequent visitor to the chapel for the past 20 years. For her it's not only ideal to "pop in after doing a bit of shopping," but there's a joy and a sense that God seems to call people there. He's waiting for all of us, all the time, she believes and adds there's something very special about "this gem in the heart of the city where you feel so much at home." She is convinced that, in quiet contemplation in front of the Blessed Sacrament, "you can fall In love with Jesus." As for those who faithfully serve others in the chapel, Fr Mark Rigney and his brotherhood also find the chapel a boon for country and interstate visitors, and he remarks on the numbers who through reconciliation and Exposition of the Blessed Eucharist, "have found solutions to their problems in their hearts and minds."
The entrance to the chapel in Allendale Square
Repair evil, bring peace to the world
Adoration in All Saint's Chapel: bringing hope to hearts
T
he Church sees Eucharistic Adoration as a personal invitation from Jesus to spend time with Him in this "sacrament of love." Close contact with Jesus will transform one's life and bring blessings upon one's loved ones and the whole world; all that is asked of one is to spend at least an hour a week in Eucharistic Adoration. Pope John Paul II urges it because of a world crying out in need of the benefits which flow individually and collectively from the devotion. He emphasises that an hour with Jesus will repair "for the evils in the world and bring
about peace on earth," and points out that Christ behind the veil of the bread and wine is the spiritual centre of the parish, community, the universal Church and all of humanity. "He is the invisible Head of the Church, the Redeemer of the world, and the centre of all hearts, by whom all things are, and of whom we exist." he said. Pope Paul VI wrote that as a result of spending time with Jesus, the best friend of mankind, divine rays of His grace, His love and His peace would be received to restore morality, nourish virtue, console the afflicted and strengthen the weak
The Record, November 7 1996 Page 9
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Medjugorje is now as famous as Fatima and Lourdes. Having drawn 20 million pilgrims, at last a film has been made with a top-class Hollywood cast and internationally acclaimed production team. "Gospa" is based on the true story of the early happenings at Medjugorje in 1981. It is the story of six children who allege that they see Gospa (the Blessed Virgin Mary) on the hillside at Medjugode which starts a mass movement of pilgrims to the site of this miraculous event. The local parish priest, Fr. Jozo finds himself standing up to the Communist government as they attempt to impede the mass of believers and to shut down the church. It is a story of good against evil, of courage to stand up for one's beliefs in the face of adversity. Martin Sheen, Academy award nominee ("Apocalypse Now") stars as Fr. Jozo. Michael York gives an outstanding performance as the lawyer who defends Fr. Jozo and Morgan Fairchild plays the sister of Fr. Jozo. Good movies like this are rare. "Gospa" will lift your spirits and strengthen your belief in higher human values. This is a movie for the whole family. It is another "Chariots of Fire" - inspiring and thrilling. "Gospa" is having a successful run in the USA and is bound to capture the hearts of audiences throughout Australia.
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MITCHAM: ST JOHNS CINEMA CENTRE Whitehorse Road, Mitcham Tues 19th, Wed 20th, Thurs 21st, Tues 26th, Wed 27th. Thurs 28th Nov - 8pm Ph: (03) 9882 9822 for advance bookings SYDNEY: THIRD EYE CINEMA 64 Devonshire Street. Surry Hills Fri 22nd Nov - 7pm: Sat 23rd - 2pm: Sun 24th - 5pm; Mon 25th - 7pm Ph: (02) 9380 5162 for advance bookings PERTH: FT! CINEMA 92 Adelaide Street, Fremantle Thurs 21st - 7pm: Fri 22nd - 7pm: Sat 23rd - 2pm: Sun 24th - 5pm Ph: (09) 335 1055 for advance bookings ADELAIDE: MERCURY CINEMA 13 Moffatt Street. Adelaide Thurs 28th Nov - 7.30pm; Fri 29th - 5.30pm; Sat 30th - 3pm HOBART:
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NEWCASTLE: KENSINGTON THEATRE 299 Hunter Street Session times to be advised BRISBANE: BALMORAL CINEMA Oxford Street. Bulimba 4171 Sat 30th Nov - 4pm: Sun 1st Dec - 4pm: Mon 2nd Dec - 4pm Ph. (07) 3899 3022 for advanced bookings
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THE TEN FAVOURITE PILGRIMAGE DESTINATIONS F OR AUSTRALIANS NIEDJUGORJE was approved by the Church as a place of pilgrimage in December, 1991. Investigations into the apparitions continue. Meet the young visionaries to whom Our Lady appears. Countless miracles and spiritual healings have occurred since the apparitions began in 1981.
ROME and the Vatican, known as the Eternal City, due to thousands of years of living history. Once the centre of the civilized world (1st Cent.), today it's the centre of Christendom, with more Saints and Holy places, art and religious treasure than any city in the world.
Medjugorje
Rome LOURDES is located in the scenic countryside of south-west France, where Our Lady appeared to St. Bernadette in 1860. The miraculous waters of Lourdes have healed countless thousands of people over the years. People usually visit Lourdes in combination with other pilgrimage places.
Lourdes
LORETO has the house of the Holy Family from Nazareth, which was moved by the angels, centuries ago, when the Turks threatened to destroy it. Various Popes have offered special grace, and extended a plenary indulgence for those who visit this Holy Building covered by an enormous basilica filled with treasures of art and sculpture Loreto
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Centre Travel Licence No. 31877 Head Office: 91 Auburn Road, Hawthorn East 3123 THE HOLY LAND, legend says. is where one of Noah's sons first settled in the city known as Joppa near Tel Aviv. Abraham, Moses and the Old Testament come alive as you visit the sites of historic happenings: Christ's annunciation, birth. death and resurrection, occurred here. Jerusalem holds deep roots in the history of the Church
ASSISI is our Pope's favourite ancient city, outside of Rome. It is the home of St. Francis and St. Clare, two of our greatest saints. It is an exquisite medieval walled city. with over 2000 years of history. St. Francis is a Patron Saint of Italy. The place of his birth (13th Cent.) still exists.
Holy Land
Assisi
LANCIANO hosts the finest and oldest Eucharistic Miracle (13th Cent.) where at the Consecration, bread and wine changed into real heart flesh and blood of Jesus. This continuous miracle can be witnessed close up. The sacred species have never decomposed. Confirmed by the Church, it is one of the wonders of the world. Lanciano
SANTA MARIA DEGLI ANGELI has one of the largest basilicas in the world, and inside the tiny church "Porziuncole, which was built in the early part of the 4th Century and frequented by St. Benedict. Later in the 13th Century. St. Francis decorated it. He worshipped. lived and died here. and St. Clare took her vow of consecration. St. Dominic and St. Francis met at his Holy Shrine. Two continuous miracles can be witnessed at this remarkable place. Santa Maria Degli Angeli
FA1TMA is the place where Our Lady appeared to three children in 1917. Next year is the 80th anniversary of the apparitions. You should book immediately to avoid disappointment. Many miracles have occurred at Fatima. Our pilgrimages link up to Rome, Assisi, Medjugorje and the Holy Land in various combinations
Fatima
SPLIT is an ancient city. The Roman Emperor. Diocletian, built a palace here in 280 A.D. which is the only remaining Roman palace still occupied and retaining much of its original composition. It has the oldest Cathedral in the world, (1700 years old). The city, in the main, was built by Venetians, and has a considerable resemblance to Venice, without the waterways.
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Features
Evolution can be valid theory if it acknowledges soul's primacy Pope John Paul ll's acknowledgement of evolution as a valid theory of how humanity has developed caused widespread interest when it was reported last week But as he pointed out, what Is really important is to distinguish between the different theories of evolution. Theories which regard the human soul as merely emerging from the forces of living matter are incompatible with the truth about what it means to be a person and are also incapable of providing any basis for the dignity of humanity, he said. Following is the full text of his talk given to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on October 22.
W
ith great pleasure I address cordial greeting to you, Mr President, and to all of you who constitute the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, on the occasion of your plenary assembly. I offer my best wishes in particular to the new academicians, who have come to take part in your work for the first time. I would also like to remember the academicians who died during the past year. whom I commend to the Lord of life. In celebrating the 60th anniversary of the academy's refoundation, I would like to recall the intentions of my predecessor Pius XI, who wished to surround himself with a select group of scholars, relying on them to inform the Holy See in complete freedom about developments in scientific research. and thereby to assist him in his reflections. He asked those whom he called the Church's "senatus scientificus" to serve the truth. I again extend this same invitation to you today, certain that we will be able to profit from the fruitfulness of a trustful dialogue between the Church and science (cf. Address to the Academy of Sciences, No. I. Oct. 28, 1986; L'Osservatore Romano. Eng. ed., Nov. 24, 1986, p. 22). I am pleased with the first theme you have chosen, that of the origins of life and evolution, an essential subject which deeply interests the Church, since revelation, for its part, contains teaching concerning the nature and origins of man. How do the conclusions reached by the various scientific disciplines coincide with those contained in the message of revelation? And if, at first sight, there are apparent contradictions, in what direction do we look for their solution? We know, in fact, that truth cannot contradict truth (cf. Leo XIII, encyclical Providentissimus Deus). Moreover, to shed greater light on historical truth, your research on the Church's relations with science between the 16th and 18th centuries is of great importance. During this plenary session, you are undertaking a "reflection on science at the dawn of the third millennium," starting with the identification of the principal problems created by the sciences and which affect humanity's future. With this step you point the way to solutions which will be beneficial to the whole human conununity. In the domain of inanimate and animate nature, the evolution of science and its applications give rise to new questions. The better the Church's knowledge is of their essential aspects, the more she will understand their impact Consequently, in accordance with her specific mission she will be able to offer criteria for discerning the moral conduct required of all human beings in view of their integral salvation. Before offering you several reflections that more specifically concern the subject of the origin of life and its evolution,Iwould like to remind you that the magisterium of the Church has already made pronouncements on these matters within the framework of her own competence. Iwill cite here two interventions.
He is a person. With his intellect and his In his encyclical Humani Generis (1950), ies in various fields of knowledge. The conmy predecessor Pius MI had already stat- vergence, neither sought nor fabricated, of will, he is capable of forming a relationship ed that there was no opposition the results of work that was conducted of communion, solidarity and self-giving between evolution and the doctrine of the independently is in itself a significant argu- with his peers. St Thomas observes that man's likeness to faith about man and his vocation, on con- ment in favour of this theory. What is the significance of such a theory? God resides especially in his speculative dition that one did not lose sight of several indisputable points (cf. Acta Apostolicae To address this question is to enter the field intellect, for his relationship with the object of his knowledge resembles God's relaof epistemology. Sedis 42 119501, pp. 575-576). A theory is a metascientific elaboration, tionship with what he has created (Summa For my part, whenIreceived those taking part in your academy's plenary assembly distinct from the results of observation but Theologica,I-H, q. 3, a. 5, ad 1). But even more, man is called to enter into on Oct. 31, 1992,1had the opportunity with consistent with them. By means of it a series of independent a relationship of knowledge and love with regard to Galileo to draw attention to the need of a rigorous hermeneutic for the cor- data and facts can be related and inter- God himself, a relationship which will find preted in a unified explanation. Its complete fulfilment beyond time, in rect interpretation of the inspired word. A theory's validity depends on whether eternity. It is necessary to determine the proper All the depth and grandeur of this vocasense of Scripture, while avoiding any or not it can be verified; it is constantly testunwarranted interpretations that make it ed against the facts; wherever it can no tion are revealed to us in the mystery of the say what it does not intend to say. In order longer explain the latter, it shows its limi- risen Christ (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 22). It is by virtue of his spiritual soul that the to delineate the field of their own study, the tations and unsuitability. It must then be exegete and the theologian must keep rethought. whole person possesses such a dignity Furthermore, while the formulation of a even in his body. informed about the results achieved by the natural sciences (cf. AAS 85119931, pp. 764- theory like that of evolution complies with Pius XII stressed this essential point: If the human body take its origin from preexistent living matter, the spiritual soul is Immediately created by God ("animas enim a Deo immediate creari catholica fides nos retinere iubei"; encyclical Humani Generis, AAS 42 (19501. p. 575). Consequently, theories of evolution which, in accordance with the philosophies inspiring them, consider the spirit as emerging from the forces of living matter or as a mere epiphenomenon of this matter, are incompatible with the truth about man. Nor are they able to ground the dignity of the person. With man, then, we find ourselves in the presence of an ontological difference, an ontological leap, one could say. However, does not the posing of such ontological discontinuity run counter to that physical continuity which seems to be the main thread of research into evolution in the field of physics and chemistry? Consideration of the method used in the various branches of knowledge makes it possible to reconcile two points of view which would seem irreconcilable. The sciences of observation describe and measure the multiple manifestations of life with increasing precision and correlate them with the time line. The moment of transition to the spiritual cannot be the object of this kind of observation, which nevertheless can discover at the experimental level a series of very valuable signs indicating what is specific to the human being. But the experience of metaphysical knowledge, of self-awareness and selfreflection, of moral conscience, freedom, or again of aesthetic and religious experience, falls within the competence of philoCNS/Reuters sophical analysis and reflection, while Pope John Paul II greets pilgrims from his apartment window on October 30 at the Vatican. theology brings out its ultimate meaning according to the Creator's plans. 772; address to the Pontifical Biblical Com- the need for consistency with the In conclusion,Iwould like to call to mind mission, April 23, 1993, announcing the observed data, it borrows certain notions a Gospel truth which can shed a higher document on the The Interpretation of the from natural philosophy. light on the horizon of your research And, to tell the truth, rather than the the- Into the origins and unfolding of living matBible in the Church: AAS 86119941, pp. 232243). ory of evolution, we should speak of sev- ter. Taking into account the state of scientific eral theories of evolution. The Bible in fact bears an extraordinary On the one hand, this plurality has to do message of life. It gives us a wise vision of research at the time as well as of the explanations life inasmuch as it describes the loftiest the different requirements of theology, the encycli- with cal Humani Generis considered the doc- advanced for the mechanism of evolution, forms of existence. trine of "evolutionism" a serious and on the other, with the various philosoThis vision guided me in the encyclical hypothesis, worthy of investigation and in- phies on which it is based. which I dedicated to respect for human Hence the existence of materialist, reduc- life, and which I called precisely "Evandepth study equal to that of the opposing tionist and spiritualist interpretations. gelium Vitae." hypothesis. Pius MI added two methodological con- What is to be decided here is the true role It is significant that in St. John's Gospel ditions: that this opinion should not be of philosophy and, beyond it, of theology. life refers to the divine light which Christ The Church's magisterium is directly con- communicates to us. We are called to enter adopted as though it were a certain, proven doctrine and as though one could totally cerned with the question of evolution, for into eternal life, that is to say, into the eterprescind from revelation with regard to the it involves the conception of man: Revela- nity of divine beatitude. tion teaches us that he was created in the questions it raises. To warn us against the serious temptaHe also spelled out the condition on image and likeness of God (cf. Gn 1:27-29). tions threatening us, our Lord quotes the which this opinion would be compatible The conciliar constitution Gaudium et Spes great saying of Deuteronomy: "Man shall with the Christian faith, a point to which has magnificently explained this doctrine, not live by bread alone, but by every word which is pivotal to Christian thought. I will return. that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Dt It recalled that man is "the only crea- 8:3; et Mt 4:4). Today, almost half a century after the publication of the encyclical, new knowledge ture on earth that God has wanted for its Even more, "life" is one of the most beauhas led to the recognition of more than one own sake" (No. 24). tiful titles which the Bible attributes to God. hypothesis in the theory of evolution. In other terms, the human individual can- He is the living God. It is indeed remarkable that this theory not be subordinated as a pure means or a Icordially invoke an abundance of divine has been progressively accepted by pure instrument, either to the species or to blessings upon you and upon all who are researchers, following a series of discover- society; he has value per se. close to you.
The Record, November 7 1996 Page 10
More WA News
Catholic school teachers win By Brian Coyne, CEO media officer The principal of Clontarf Aboriginal College in Bentley, Miss DoneIla Brown, has been honoured with an Aboriginal Education Training Council Award for her "outstanding contribution to education". Western Australia's Minister for Education, Colin Barnett, presented the award to Miss Brown during Education Week last week. In a separate ceremony last week, three teachers from Western Australian Catholic schools Venus Caruso, Terry Tanham and
CORRECTION The anniversary reunion for Mary's Mount Primary School is on Sunday, 17 November, 1996, not 19 November as reported last week.
Mr Barnett presented the teachAndrew Shearman - were publicly recognised through the ers, along with colleagues from National Excellence in Teaching the independent and government Awards. sector, with their awards at a cerVenus Caruso is the assistant emony at the Parmelia Hilton principal (religious education) at HoteL Our Lady of Good Counsel The NEiTA Foundation - which School, Karrinyup. Her award particularly recog- is an initiative of the Australian nises her endeavour in introduc- Scholarships Group Friendly ing a dancing program into the Society - promotes the awards to school to encourage self-esteem enable parents in local commuin children. nities to give recognition to teachTerry Tanham is a Year 6 teacher ers who are making a significant at Liwarra Catholic Primary contribution as educators in their School in Greenwood. community. His nomination recognised his The awards are conducted each endeavours in the sport and year from nominations made by excursions area. parents at local level. Andrew Shearman is the outThe ten secondary and ten pridoor education Teacher at Sacred mary teachers recognised as Heart College, Sorrento. teachers" at State level, "excellent His nomination was for his work In the outdoor education field in will go on to represent their State helping to build student self-con- at the national awards to be held early next year. fidence through such activities.
The Minister for Education, Colin Barnett, second from the left, with the three Catholic teachers at the NEiTA Ceremony: Terry Tanham, left, Venus Caruso and Andrew Shearman.
Notre Dame grants scholarships Happy hats celebrate Cup The University of Notre Dame has awarded eight scholarships to Year 12 students, including representatives of Santa Maria, Corpus Christi and Sacred Heart Colleges. Corpus Christi is represented by two scholarship winners, Amanda Sapienza, who will study for a law degree, and head girl, Stephanie McManus who will study for an Arts (Communication) degree. Another winner, Berenice Marshall of Leeming Senior High School, from St Thomas Moore parish in Bateman, is planning to study for a Bachelor of Business degree, and Megan Munro of Sorrento's Sacred Heart College, Intends to use her scholarship for a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) degree. Winner Nicole Ganfield of Santa Maria College intends to study law. Nicole Heffernan of Penhros College, and Hale School students, Dane Chandler and Five of the scholarship winners: Berenice Marshall, left, Stephanie McManus, Adam Kent, have all been awarded scholarships to study law. Megan Munro, Nicole Heffernan and Amanda Sapienza.
Day at McAuley Hostel
Fortunes may well have been won and lost at the Catherine AlcAuley Aged Hostel at its Melbourne Cup Day luncheon! But, regardless, everyone turned up in their best self-made hats to live it up and have a good time despite the uncertain outcome of the race. Pictured at the luncheon are Jessie Lightfoot, left, Sister Imelda Ryan, Eileen Harris, Lauraine Bitter, Sr Phillipa Harken and Dorothy Lemmon.
Aranmore raffle benefits from Eagles' connection
Aranmore College principal, Val Murphy and Eagles' champ, Chris Mainwaring, with the Eagles' jumper being raffled.
Aranmore Catholic College continues to benefit from its longstanding relationship with Eagles star. Chris Mainwaring. Chris has organised for his team mates to sign a West Coast guernsey which is being raffled by the College, due to be drawn next Friday, 15 November. This jumper along with the other 15 AFL club guernseys, also signed and framed, have created a 16 prize pool. First prize winner gets first choice of the jumpers, the runner up gets the next choice and so on down to the sixteenth winner. The minimum estimated value of each autographed, framed guernsey is $1000, with the merging clubs of Fitzroy and Brisbane worth more. Aranmore teachers Paul Baker and Craig Rodgers are co-ordinating the raffle. They used their contacts plus those of other teachers and past students to organise the signings of the jumpers. Richmond player, Mark Merenda, a former Aranmore student, arranged for his team mates to sign the Tiger's guernsey. Another past student of the Leederville College, Mark Zanotti, got his former AFL club of Fitzroy to sign the Lion's jumper. The raffle is a fundraiser for Aranmore College.
Ail God bless us and the
Blessed Virgin protect us.
i Solemnity of Moist the King Sunday, November 24, 1996 2.30pm At the Shrine of the "Virgin of the Revelation" 36 Chittering Rd, Bullsbrook. Bishop Healy will preside over the ceremonies of prayer, homily and Eucharistic procession. All clergy, religious, and laity are invited to attend the worship of Christ the King. For further enquiries please phone 447 3293 or 444 2285. SACRI Assoc. PO Box 311, Tuart Hill 6060
The flecord, November 7 1996 Page 11
1
International News
Vatican halts UNICEF funds over abortion row advocating abortifacient "postcoital contraceptives" for refugee UNITED NATIONS (CNS) - Vat- women in emergency situations. Archbishop Martino told CNS in ican concern about recent trends of UNICEF climaxed on Novem- a later interview that the Vatican ber 4 with the suspension of its decided it had to act when annual gifts that are only symbol- UNICEF failed to provide any ic in amount but significant as means of assuring that funds designated for specific activities in moral endorsements. "The Holy See regrets to inform harmony with Catholic principles that it has decided it cannot offer would be used only in that way. Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatiany symbolic contribution to UNICEF this year," said Arch- can secretary of state, gave the bishop Renato Martino, Vatican final go-ahead for the statement nuncio to the United Nations. suspending contributions the In a statement, the Holy See's morning it was delivered, the nunUN mission said UNICEF had cio said. ,been involved in distributing In the pledging conference, contraceptives, advocating abor- Archbishop Martino announced tion-related legislation and that Vatican gifts next year would preparing an official UN manual include $2,500 to the UN DevelBy Tracy Early
opment Fund, $2,000 to the UN Fund for the Disabled and $1,000 for the UN Fund for the Victims of Torture. The $2,000 that would have gone to UNICEF will be divided between a program of the World Health Organisation and the UN Fund for the International Control of Drugs, he said. Later the same day, the nuncio announced that the Vatican would give $10,000 to the World Food Program of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, its first gift to this program. He also expressed hope that the World Food Summit, scheduled for Nov. 13-17 at FAO headquarters in Rome, would reaffirm the right to food and adopt concrete
programs to eradicate hunger. The Vatican did not call for a total break with UNICEF but said bishops and Catholic institutions should review their participation in UNICEF programs "on a caseby-case basis." The statement said the Vatican wants "to continue a dialogue with UNICEF in a search for ways to work for the true good of children." Vatican statements in recent years have repeatedly called attention to UNICEF moves which were felt to violate Catholic morality. These warnings have been made in UNICEF board meetings, talks with UNICEF officials, pledging conferences and press
interviews. Expressions of heightened concern began in 1992, when the UNICEF board began developing a statement on family planning to guide its participation in the 1994 conference on population and development in Cairo, Egypt. After the statement was approved in the summer of 1993, Archbishop Martino announced at the northern autumn pledging conference that the Vatican would designate its 1994 UNICEF contribution to specific uses that would not violate Catholic principles. In 1994, the nuncio signaled further concern by announcing that the contribution to UNICEF would drop from $3,000 to $2,000.
work' the key to Romero's cause 'Hard future East-West unity for sainthood ends first stage By Mike Lanchin SAN SALVADOR (CNS) - The San Salvador Archdiocese has moved the late Archbishop Oscar Romero one step closer to possible canonisation by completing its review of his life. The archdiocesan process, initiated in 1993 by former Archbishop Arturo Rivera Damas, ended at an archdiocesan ceremony on 1 November, presided over by Archbishop Fernando Saenz LacaLle of San Salvador. Members of different religious communities, followers of Archbishop Romero, chanted "Long live Romero," and sang "Oscar Romero lives in the memory of his people." "We must pray now for the speedy canonisation" of Archbishop Romero. Archbishop Saenz told those at the ceremony. During the archdiocesan process, the ecclesiastical court in San Salvador studied manuscripts of Archbishop Romero's homilies, writings and personal letters. The court also received testimonies from different people who knew the works of Romero during his time as San Salvador's fourth archbishop. All material
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A Salvadoran peasant rests against a mural of Archbishop Oscar Romero.
reviewed by the San Salvador court will be sent to Rome for the continuation of the process. "The end of this stage doesn't mean that Romero is now a saint" Archbishop Saenz told reporters. The canonisation process of Archbishop Romero, assassinated while celebrating Mass in March 1980, began six years ago. Although publicly
endorsed by Pope John Paul II, the process is believed to have disquieted some in the Church who view Archbishop Romero as controversial. As political violence escalated in El Salvador at the end of the 1970s, Archbishop Romero used his Sunday sermons to denounce repression by the security forces. His change from close associate of the country's ruling aristocracy to one of its most fierce critics earned him death threats from his opponents and adoration from the poor majority. "He was one of the most loved and most hated figures here," said Auxiliary Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chavez. Bishop Rosa Chavez admitted that one of the obstacles to Archbishop Romero's eventual sanctification could be that "many people had the wrong idea about him, since they weren't capable of (understanding) the fundamentals of his life and his spirituality." "It has been six long years, full of expectations and sometimes tensions. We're happy to have concluded this stage," said Fr Rafael Urrutia, who has been closely involved in the canonisation process.
MILAN, Italy (CNS) - Hard will do his part, the most imporwork, understanding and an tant part." end to selfishness are the keys Archbishop Gennadios, who to promoting unity between has been a pastor and a profesOrthodox and Catholics, said sor in Italy for 35 years, said he the new Greek Orthodox arch- hoped he would see Catholicbishop of Italy. Orthodox unity within his lifeArchbishop Gennadios, 59, time. was installed as leader of "If we do not end up much Italy's 120,000 Greek Orthodox closer, it will be the fault of faithful during an October 27 our passions and our selfishceremony in the Cathedral of St ness which contradict the comGeorge of the Greeks in Venice. mand of Christ to be one," he "Personally. I think Pope John said. Paul 11 is making superhuThe archbishop said the exisman efforts to promote unity tence of the Catholic Easternbetween our Churches, even if rite churches - which reunited he cannot renounce certain with Rome while retaining principles such as papal prima- many of their structures, tradicy," the archbishop said in an tions and liturgies - is still a interview with Avvenire, a problem for the Orthodox. Catholic daily newspaper based With the Latin-rite Catholics, in Milan. Archbishop Gennadios said, Archbishop Gennadios said "everything is clear, we know papal primacy is one of the well your mentality, your tradiquestions that would need to be tion and your rites." addressed before full unity But with the Eastern rites, he could be obtained, but it is only said, "our faithful, especially the part of the problem. simpler people, remain scanCatholic-Orthodox relations, dalised by seeing someone pray he said, are "lukewarm with like an Orthodox when in realimutual doubts and suspicions ty he is not." still surviving." "We would like Catholics to "We call each other brothers, understand our difficulty with we hold meetings and semi- this; only then will the way be nars, built is as if we were all smoothed for our coming unity," awaiting a 'big bang' indepen- the archbishop said. dent of our control" to force The Vatican has backed the Catholics and Orthodox togeth- Eastern-rite churches' right to er, the archbishop said. exist while Pope John Paul has "It is true that unity is a gift of called on them to be a bridge to God, but we must work and pray the Orthodox, saying they are a that this gift will be given to us," witness to the importance of the he said. universal Church embracing "Basically we must roll up our both Western and Eastern spirsleeves a bit more. Then God ituality.
Retired bishop speaks out against pro-choice candidate NEW ORLEANS (CNS) - The press conference that he was "not retired archbishop of New just speaking on my own" and Orleans said on October 30 that that the other Louisiana bishops Catholics should not vote for any agreed with him. political candidate who believes But Archbishop Francis Schulte, in abortion, particularly President who now heads the New Orleans Clinton or Louisiana's Democrat- Archdiocese, and the bishops of ic candidate for the US Senate, two other Louisiana dioceses later Mary Landrieu. issued statements in which they At a televised press conference separated their agreement with at WLAE, a New Orleans televi- Archbishop Hannan about the sion station owned by the arch- immorality of abortion from his diocese until last year, retired statements about how Catholics Archbishop Philip Hannan said should vote. "no Catholic should vote for any "If he said that (he was speaking officeholder who believes in for the bishops of Louisiana),Iam abortion." mystified," said a statement from Based on their support for Bishop Edward O'Donnell of legalised abortion, he continued, Lafayette. "no Catholic should vote for the "As a religious leader, I teach president or Mary Landrieu." morality, including the responsi\rchbishop Hannan said at the bility of bringing our moral beliefs The Recdrd, November: 7 19§6 Page 1.2
to bear on the selection of the people who will represent us in government. I do not endorse candidates but speak of issues." As a whole, the US Catholic bishops have a policy of not endorsing or opposing individual candidates for office. They make that policy clear in guidelines issued every presidential election year by Mark Chopko, general counsel of the US Catholic Conference, that go to bishops, diocesan attorneys and directors of state Catholic conferences. The guidelines say political activity related to issues is appropriate, but that Church entities falling under Internal Revenue Service guidelines for tax-exempt organisations should refrain from
candidate-specific endorsements or opposition. In a telephone interview on October 31, Archbishop Hannan told Catholic News Service he was speaking for himself in his statement, although he conferred with Archbishop Schulte before calling the press conference. Archbishop Hannan, who is president of the board of trustees of WLAE, said his role at the television station made it a natural venue for him to voice his views. He said he felt compelled to publicise his feelings after learning that Landrieu, a Catholic who describes her views as "prochoice but not pro-abortion," received more than $300,000 in campaign funding from Emily's
List, a women's political action committee that opposes restrictions on abortion. Meanwhile, a commercial that aired across the country on radio and television stirred debate and confusion among Catholics. In it, a priest declares Catholics "cannot vote for Clinton" because he and the Democratic Party "have brought shame and horror to this nation." "They have legalised the savage murder of babies during birth. We are outraged. Catholics must uphold human rights, avoid sin and cannot vote for abortion candidates - cannot vote for Clinton." The commercial was produced by the United States Coalition of Catholics, based in Butte, Montana.
International News
Church aid awaits ref gees By Jennifer Reed WASHINGTON (CNS) - The leader of rebel forces in eastern Zaire announced a three-week cease-fire on November 4, a move that could allow international relief workers to return to the region. With news of the cease-fire the Catholic Church's worldwide humanitarian network, Caritas International, has announced it has planes on stand-by in four countries ready to ferry new emergency supplies into eastern Zaire as the refugee crisis in the region worsens. National Director of Caritas Australia, Tom Story, said Caritas International was waiting for security clearance from its staff on the scene in the beleaguered African nation to allow the emergency airlift to begin. "Caritas is continuing to distribute food and medicines to refugees in the Goma area but other relief efforts in the region have been stopped by fighting between rival armies near the border with Rwanda," Mr Story said. "Many relief program staff have had to be withdrawn from eastern Zaire because their security could no longer be guaranteed. Caritas has been forced to cease Its relief program in the Bukavu area, but a team of Zairean and expatriate Caritas workers are continuing their work, against all odds, with refugees around Goma," he said. He said that relief supplies in the region were running low but airlifts planned for earlier this week had been abandoned because the safety of aid workers and the security of emergency supplies could not be guaranteed. As soon as Caritas officials on the scene declare that the situation has improved, our network will begin flying new supplies of food, medicines and shelter mate-
A young woman carries her wounded daughter on November 3 outside the general hospital in Bukavu, Zaire. The child was hit in the arm and leg by stray bullets during a battle for the city between the Zairian and Tuts! troops.
rials into Zaire from Nairobi in Kenya and from Europe. At present, planes are on stand-by in Holland, Belgium and Spain." he said. Mr Story said it was estimated there were around 400,000 refugees and displaced people in the region seeking shelter and food in desperate circumstances. Fighting had frustrated relief workers' efforts to help Rwandan refugees and displaced Zairian citizens in late October. The violence resulted in the death of a Zairian archbishop. David Palasits, East Africa team leader for Catholic Relief Ser-
vices, the US bishops' overseas relief and development agency, called the announcement by rebel leader Laurent Kabila "a very positive development." But he cautioned that the ceasefire's effectiveness also hinges on whether or not "Zairian troops respect it." Aid workers, including CRS country representative Chris Hennemeyer, were evacuated from Goma, Zaire. to Kigali, Rwanda, on November 2 because of fighting between government troops and the rebel Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire.
CRS and its network of Catholic relief agencies are "trying to organise an assessment trip to Goma, Uvira and Bukavu" to determine the needs of refugees and displaced Zairian citizens, said Palasits. He said CRS was "facing resource constraints just as the needs have become so great" and added that US foreign aid had declined and the public donations received in response to the 1994 Rwandan crisis had been nearly depleted. Eastern Zaire has been a volatile area since Rwanda's 1994 civil war.
The most recent crisis has spotlighted a community called the Banyamulenge - Tutsis who moved to Zaire from Rwanda at the end of the 18th century - who blame Zairians for trying to force them out of the country. The Banyamulenge began an uprising against Zairian government troops in August and were joined by soldiers from the Tutsidominated Rwandan army. In late October, Zaire and Rwanda exchanged artillery fire across the border. Government troops lost control of the towns of Goma, Bukavu and Uvira to rebels. In Goma, Catholic churches and a cathedral were reportedly ransacked, and an Agence France Presse reporter saw government troops interrogating priests and accusing them of assisting Zairian Tutsi rebels. Many priests in the region of Goma are ethnic Tutsis and have been suspected of siding with the rebels. On October 29 Archbishop Christophe Munzihirwa Mwene Ngabo of Bukavu, a Jesuit, was assassinated in Bukavu when his car was ambushed. Meanwhile, on November 1, the Vatican nuncio to the United Nations called for the "urgent intervention of the international community." regarding the refugee situation in Africa's Great Lakes region. Addressing the General Assembly committee reviewing refugee programs, Archbishop Renato Martino said early intervention in such situations was necessary to prevent "humanitarian disasters." "Where humanitarian agencies and programs can no longer guarantee the protection of civilians in internal armed conflicts, the international community must find ways of ensuring the protection of life and the relief of human suffering." he said.
Pope-Castro meeting Habits help Chinese nuns evangelise chances look good By John Thavis VATICAN CITY (CNS) - After five days of talks with Cuban officials, a Vatican envoy strongly hinted that the way may be cleared for a visit to the island nation by Pope John Paul H. Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran ended his diplomatic mission to Cuba on October 29 saying that a papal visit "would represent a culmination and a new point of departure on the road to normalisation of Church-State relations in Cuba." He said Cuban President Fidel Castro, in a private meeting the previous day, had reiterated his longstanding invitation to the Pope. Archbishop Tauran said it was agreed that sometime soon the "relevant arrangements for the realisation of this pastoral visit" would be made. He did not indicate a timetable, and the Vatican, which released his statement, did not elaborate. Besides meeting Castro, Archbishop Tauran held private talks with several top government officials and Church leadership. He said the conversations took place in a "calm and frank climate," and thanked authorities for their warm welcome.
HONG KONG (CNS) - For Catholic nuns in China, wearing habits reveals their religious identity but also opens the way for evangelisation. "People in the street are curious about our habits. We can then explain to them who we are and about the Catholic Church," Sister Zhao Jinghua in Shenyang told UCA News. There are 53 nuns and 33 novices in her Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary community. They wear traditional veils, habits and chains with a cross in front - the nuns in gray and the novices in a chalky colour. They wear habits no matter where they are - in convents,
In public remarks during his stay, he stressed a point that Cuban bishops and the Vatican have been making for years: that the Church wants to actively cooperate in Cuba's moral and social development, but to do so needs greater freedom for its pastoral work. In response, Cuban authorities made brief but optimistic statements about the future of Churchstate relations. A Cuban communique following the archbishop's encounter with Castro said the government was "willing to resolve the concrete problems that still exist." Archbishop Taman, an assistant secretary of state, was to brief the Pope after his return to the Vatican on October 30. VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Pope Cuba is the only Latin American Paul II, still on the mend John country the Pope has not visited. in late October from his hospital Castro is expected to come to stay for an appendectomy, said Rome in mid-November, and Vat- suffering and sickness offer ican sources have said a first-ever opportunities for growth. meeting with the Pope would give "Without a doubt, illness and the two leaders an opportunity to reach a final agreement on a suffering remain a limit and a test for the human mind," the Pope papal trip. Archbishop Tauran was the said. "Nevertheless, they become highest-ranking Vatican official to visit Cuba since 1974 and met privileged moments for growing ings with Foreign Minister Rober- In faith." to Robaina and with parliamenThe October 31 papal statement tary speaker Ricardo Alarcon. was for the 1997 World Day of
"The habit means a lot to us for out in the streets or when they travel from one place to another It reminds us of our identities as nuns and as children of God." Sisto teach catechism. "Some people think we are in ter Xu said. "When we serve in our habits, it ethnic costumes," said a Sacred Heart of Jesus nun in Fushun, is a kind of witness to the nonCatholics. Liaoning. "Since Shanghai is a more inter"Occasionally, some people are unfriendly to us once they national city, more people know know we are nuns," she added. about Catholic nuns. Some young However, wearing habits is a people recognise us by our good way to tell people of habits and approach us to talk their faith, since the government about our faith," the nun continprohibits public proselytising, she ued. and Sister Zhao agreed. The Shanghai nuns wear tradiIn the eastern Diocese of Shang- tional habits only during feast hai. Sister Xu Shengjie, 40, days. The rest of the time they the new superior of the Shanghai wear uniforms of blouses with Catholic Convent and Shanghai skirts or trousers for the sake of Diocesan Novitiate, said her sis- convenience during work, Sister ters feel honoured to wear habits. Xu said.
Suffering tan help spiritual growth' the Sick, which is in February The Pope instituted the commemoration in 1992 to call attention to the needs of those who suffer, to those who care for them, and to the power of prayer and witness by the suffering to others. "Suffering and illness belong to the human condition," the Pope said. "However, in the death and resurrection of Christ, humanity discovers a new dimension of its suffering: Instead of a failure, it reveals itself as an occasion for
offering a testimony of faith and of love." The Pope recalled the message of hope based on the Beatitudes that he had delivered to a church full of people in France who were suffering physical illness, spiritual despair, and financial or racial barriers that left them on the margins of society "Just as he looked on all those whom he met on the roads of Palestine, Jesus looks on you with eyes full of tenderness," Pope John Paul said.
The Record, November 7 1996 Page la
International- New
nts man confro Priest Cardinal to resign who tried to kill him In Brief
VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Italian Cardinal Fiorenzo Angellni, who at 80 is well past the normal Church retirement age, will serve at the Vatican lust through the end of the year, the Vatican announced. Pope John Paul II has asked the cardinal to finish the year as president of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers, the October 31 announcement said. The Pope has named 63year-old Bishop Javier Lozano Barragan of Zacatecas, Mexico, to succeed the cardinal.
Hindu message VATICAN CITY (CNS) - A Vatican official, in a message to the world's Hindus, said religions need to join in promoting tolerance to a world "torn apart by violence and hatred." Cardinal Francis Arinze. president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, made the comments in a message marking the I-lindu feast of Diwali. Celebrated on November 12. the feast recalls the power of the divine over all the created world.
Prayers for dead VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Pope John Paul II offered his prayers for those who died on October 31 when a Fokker-100 airplane crashed into a residential neighbourhood of Sao Paulo. Brazil. Pope John Paul asked for "divine mercy for all those involved in the tragedy: crew members, passengers and the dead of Jabaquara," the neighbourhood where the plane crashed about a mile from the airport runway. The Pope's condolences were sent in a telegram to Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns of Sao Paulo.
Rape castration QUITO, Ecuador (CNS) government Ecuador's announced plans to punish child rapists with castration rather than with the death penalty, following Catholic Church opposition to reinstating capital punishment in the country. Minister of the Presidency Miguel Salem told reporters that due to the reaction from Church leaders, the government was looking at alternatives to the death penalty as a means of stemming rising crime.
Visions claimed PANAJI, India (CNS) - Thousands of people have visited an abandoned chapel in Goa state where a woman claims to have had several visions of Mary Ivetta Gomes, a Canadian citizen of Goan origin, claims that Mary has appeared to her several times since 1994 nine miles south of the state capital of Panaji. Local newspapers reported that the Goa Archdiocese had ordered an investigation into the happenings.
By Bronwen Dachs
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) - A South African priest listened as former policemen told of their attempts to murder him during the apartheid regime. One of the former policemen, Jacques Hechter, told South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission he had been ordered to kill Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, general secretary of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference from 1982 to 1988, because of his involvement in the liberation struggle and "Incitement of the youth." Hechter is one of five former security force policemen applying for amnesty for more than 40 murders. Father Mkhatshwa, now deputy minister of education and a member of Parliament, told the truth commission's amnesty committee in Johannesburg on October 28 that he was handcuffed, blind-
folded, abducted, interrogated and tortured on August 21 and 22, 1986, by two unknown "gentlemen." He said the voices of some of his interrogators could belong to the men who have applied for amnesty on the grounds that their acts were on orders in a war situation and politically motivated by the desire to keep the apartheid government in power. The 17-member truth commission, which first heard from the victims of human rights abuses in April, began hearing perpetrators' admissions in late October. One of the amnesty applicants, former brigadier Jack Cronje, led a raid on Father Mkhatshwa's former Church and forced him to open the tabernacle. The priest told Cronje: "You had no respect for me as an individual or as a fellow Christian, but you should have had respect for the house of God."
Father Mkhatshwa invited the unable to get a clear shot because ex-policeman and the other there was a woman walking in amnesty applicants to come to St front of. the priest Charles Lwanga Church in Their back-up plan to "elimiSoshanguve, Pretoria Archdio- nate" him on a road outside cese, and tell the congregation, the airport failed when a car got "We are the people who made the in between the police car and life of your priest hell," and dis- Father Mkhatshwa's. cuss what reparations they may The truth commission, designed be able to make. to hear evidence on human The present pastor of St Charles rights abuses during South Lwanga Church, Father Abel Africa's era of apartheid, has been Gabuza, said it would be "wonfor allowing perpetraderful" if the former police- criticised to be given violence of tors Father accepted men and civil criminal from amnesty Mkhatshwa's invitation. a full account of giving by action "It would be a form of healing" crimes. for the parishioners, he said in a their they need only show qualify, To November 4 telephone interview. were politically actions their that In his evidence at the hearings, done for pernot and motivated Hechter said that, through a tap on the priest's telephone, he and sonal gain or through malice. Father Buti Tlhagale, general another amnesty applicant, Paul of the bishops' confersecretary Father that van Vuuren, learned Mkhatshwa was due to arrive at ence, said granting amnesty to perpetrators will bring problems Durban airport. They saw him walk out of the because many victims are terminal, but van Vuuren was demanding justice.
Nun votes for abortion legislation Kung hits CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) - When South Africa's Parliament voted on the Termination of Pregnancy Bill, two members of the legislature - a nun and a priest - took different approaches to the vote. Almost two-thirds of members of Parliament, including Sister Bernard Ncube, a member of the Congregation of the Companions of St Angela, voted for the bill. Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa was absent from Parliament when the bill was put to the vote. Sister Ncube and Father
Mkhatshwa are members of the African National Congress, the majority party in Parliament, which ruled that its members could not vote against the legislation. The bill, which would allow abortion on demand, was passed on October 30 in the South African National Assembly. In an October 25 telephone interview from Johannesburg, Father Mkhatshwa, who is deputy minister of education, called his decision to stay away from Parliament on voting day a "lesser evil"
than voting for the bill. In a statement issued in Pretoria shortly before the vote, the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference said Catholic parliamentarians who voted for the bill would "have to assume responsibility for their part in an action which will result in a successful attempt to bring about not one but millions of abortions in the years to come." They said the Church teaches that formal cooperation in abortion constitutes a grave offense, and anyone who cooperates is excommunicated.
Eastern prayer of heart recommended VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Pope John Paul II said prayer is important to spiritual life, both in the liturgy and in private devotion. The Pope, speaking at a Sunday blessing on November 3, cited the rich traditions of Eastern churches as an inspiration to all Chris-
Hans who seek to intensify their prayer life. Eastern spiritual writers, he said, favour the "prayer of the heart," in which the individual meditates in deep silence in order to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.
He said another productive Eastern method is to repeat short, prayerful invocations frequently, until they become like breathing. Although a private prayer, this ends up radiating throughout the community, he said.
out at Pope ROME (CNS) - Father Hans Kung, a well-known .and frequent papal critic, said the Church under Pope John Paul Ills like a "sinking ship" that has lost the trust of the faithful. Father Kung said the papacy needs radical reform to replace government-by-command with "the compass of the Gospel". The article by Fr Kung appeared on October 27 in the Italian newspaper. Corriere della Sera. It prompted criticism from German bishops' spokesman Rudolf Hammerschmidt, who said Fr Kung's attack made it less likely he would be reinstated as a Catholic theologian as requested by his colleagues in the Catholic theology department at the University of lithingen.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church Respect for the goods of others (cont.)
2412 In virtue of commutative
justice, reparation for injustice: committed requires the restitution of stolen goods to their owner Jesus blesses Zacchaeus for his pledge: "If I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold." Those who, directly or Indirectly, have taken possession of the goods of another, are obliged to make restitution of them, or to return the equivalent in kind or in money, if the goods have disappeared, as well as the profit or advantages their owner would have legitimately obtained from them. Likewise, all who in some manner have taken part in a theft or who have knowingly benefited from it - for example, those who ordered it, assisted in it, or received the stolen goods - are obliged to make restitution in proportion to their responsibility and to their share of what was stolen.
The Record, November 7 1996 Page 14
2413 Games of chance (card games, etc.) or wagers are not in themselves contrary to justice. They become morally unacceptable when they deprive someone of what is necessary to provide for his needs and those of others. The passion for gambling risks becoming an enslavement. Unfair wagers and cheating at games constitute grave matter, unless the damage inflicted is so slight that the one who suffers it cannot reasonably consider it significant. 2414 The seventh commandment forbids acts or enterprises that for any reason - selfish or ideological, commercial, or totalitarian -lead to the enslavement of human beings, to their being bought, sold and exchanged like merchandise, In disregard for their personal dignity. It is a sin against the dignity of persons and their fundamental rights to reduce them by violence to their productive value or to a source of profit. St. Paul directed a Christian master to
treat his Christian slave "no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother, . . . both in the flesh and in the Lord."
Respect for the integrity of creation
2415 The seventh commandment enjoins respect for the integrity of creation. Animals, like plants and inanimate beings, are by nature destined for the common good of past, present, and future humanity. Use of the mineral, vegetable, and animal resources of the universe cannot be divorced from respect for moral imperatives. Man's dominion over inanimate and other living beings granted by the Creator is not absolute; it Is limited by concern for the quality of life of his neighbour, including generations to come; it requires a religious respect for the integrity of creation. 2416 Animals are God's creatures. He surrounds them with his
providential care. By their mere existence they bless him and give him glory. Thus men owe them kindness. We should recall the gentleness with which saints like St. Francis of Assisi or St Philip Neri treated animals. 2417 God entrusted animals to the stewardship of those whom he created in his own image. Hence it is legitimate to use animals for food and clothing. They may be domesticated to help man in his work and leisure. Medical and scientific experimentation on animals, if it remains within reasonable limits, is a morally acceptable practice since it contributes to caring for or saving human lives. 2418 Ills contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly. It is likewise unworthy to spend money on them that should as a priority go to the relief of human misery. One can love animals; one should not direct to them the affection due only to persons.
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David Kehoe PO Box 75. Leederville, WA, 6902 587 Newcastle Street, West Perth, WA. 6005. (09) 227 7080. Fax: (09) 227 7087 cathrec@iinet.net.au Roman Catholic Archbishop of Perth.
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IN MEMORIAM SATTI, Silvano 14/11/95. In loving memory of our wonderful husband, father. father in law and nonno. God has you in his keeping. we have you in our hearts, loved and remembered every day. Your loving wife Mary. Anthony Audrey, Luke. Leanne. Tom, Paul, Claire, Lisa, and Daniel Stephen. Joshua.
EMPLOYMENT WANTED THE DISCIPLES of Jesus mission team (7 people). Part- or fulltime for 4 weeks, from 11/11. Skills: Music tuition, cabinet making. chemistry or primary teachretail administraing. tion/secretarial, odd jobs. Tel. 09 341 3392. Help share our faith in WA high schools.
Archdiocesan Panorama NEWMAN SOCIETY STUDY GROUP The subject will be "Euthanasia", using "The Catechism of the Catholic Church" and any other suitable material. Tuesday 12 Nov. at 10.30am. Venue: Our Lady of the Missions Convent, 40 Mary St, Highgate. Enter from Harold St. Contact no: 446 7340. EASTERN CHARISMATIC RALLY C.C.R. of WA presents and welcomes all to the Eastern Charismatic Rally on Sunday. 15 December at the Good Shepherd Church, cnr Morley Dr and Altone Rd, Lockridge, 2pm4pm. For further enquiries phone Clare 378 2767 or Ruth 279 1050. ADVENT PRAYER WEEKEND Saturday 30 November, Sunday 1 December. "Penola", 27 Penguin Rd, Safety Bay. RSVP 15/11/96. Sr Wendy 474 3349, a/h 478 1038. PO Box 593, South Perth WA 6915. Cost 545. VISITING SPEAKER FROM US Fr Jim Dolan SJ speaks on Tony de Mello SJ 'Awareness' Spirituality on Wed 13 November 7.30pm-9.30pm Multi Purpose Room, John X XIII College, cost $5, followed by a retreat 16, 17 November. Details on retreat given on Wed night. Contact Murray Graham 384 1122. FAMILY FUN DAY AND FETE Presented by The Good Shepherd Catholic School and Parish, cnr Morley Drive and Altone Road, Kiara, on Sunday 10 November. 11.00am to 4.00pm. Enquiries: 279 8119.
Official Engagements NOVEMBER 8 Anniversary Mass and Meal, AIDS Pastoral Care Centre Archbishop Hickey Civic Luncheon for Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Mgr M Keating Confirmation, Karrinyup - Mgr J Nestor Premier's Reception for Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bishop Healy 9 Confirmation, Dianella - Mgr M Keating Confirmation. Ballajura - Mgr J 0' Shea 10 Meeting for Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for Oceania, Rome Archbishop Hickey Sisters of Mercy 150th Celebrations. Coolgardie - Bishop Healy Mass for Feast of S Rocco, Leederville Mgr M Keating Mass and Procession for Feast of Vietnamese Martyrs - Mgr M Keating Confirmation, Kalamunda Mgr P McCrann Confirmation, Maddington Rev Fr G Carroll 12 Launch of St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal - Mgr M Keating 13 Confirmation, Victoria Park Mgr M Keating 15 Confirmation. Girrawheen Bishop Jobst Name Ceremony and Exhibition Marillac Centre (formerly the De Paul Centre) - Mgr M Keating 17 Confirmation. Bassendean Mgr M Keating 19 Opening and blessing of extensions, St John's School, Scarborough Bishop Healy Commissioning of Catechists. Subiaco Parish - Bishop Healy 21 Blessing of extensions at Santa Clara Primary School, Bentley - Bishop Healy Principals' Thanksgiving Mass, CEO Chapel - Bishop Healy
PRAYER FOR HEALING Michael Donovan, 12 Nov after 9am Mass. Maylands Church, 75 Seventh Avenue, MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER STATE CONFERENCE The Marriage Encounter State Conference (20th Anniversary in W.A.) will be held on 16 & 17 November at Corpus Christi College, in Bateman. Booking necessary: contact Joe and Margaret Cordina, 82 Bibra Lake Drive. Bibra Lake, 6163, phone: 417 1984. SCHOENSTATT SHRINE ARMADALE 5th Anniversary of the Opening of the Shrine, Sunday 17 November at 3pm. Bishop Jobst will lead our celebration with benediction. Followed by afternoon tea. Please come and join us at the shrine, Talus Drive, Armadale. The following Sunday (24 November) the feast of Christ the King will be celebrated with a procession and devotion lead by Mons. Keating at 4pm, followed by afternoon tea. For information: 399 2349. COUNTRY DAY OF REFLECTION Monday 11 November at Sacred Heart Church, Goomalling. Commencing at 9.30am with Rosary Cenacle. concluding 2pm with Holy Mass. Theme for the day: "Mary, Mother of all families". Speakers: Fr Joe Kelly OCD and Frank Feain (Holy Spirit of Freedom Community). BYO Lunch, tea/coffee supplied. Please wear name tag. Enquiries: Carmel 096 291 044 or Margaret 09 446 1935. EUCHARISTIC ADORATION WEEKEND Gracewood-God's Farm invites you to share 40 hours of Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, including Mass, Reconciliation and devotions in the sacred beauty of the stone chapel, 15-17 November. Fr Pat McAtamney will be in residence all weekend. Reservations: Betty Peaker, God's Farm, Box 24 P.O. Cowaramup 6284. Phone/Fax: (097) 556 212.
The Record, November 11996 Page 15
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The sheepfold of St Joachim s, where cultures truly meet 0
ne hundred years ago this year, in 1896, the first Mass in the Victoria Park district was celebrated in the local State School in the course of a mission run by the Passionist Fathers. Three years later, in 1899. the first Catholic Church in Victoria Park, placed under the patronage of Saint Joachim (probably in honour of the-then Pope Leo XIII whose baptismal name was also Joachim) was blessed and opened by Bishop Gibney. In the same year the Sisters of Mercy moved into a small cottage in the district and opened the first Catholic School with an enrolment of thirty five pupils. A few years later, in 1907, Fr B Fagan was appointed as the first parish priest. So began the history of a vibrant Catholic Community in Victoria Park. If parishioners from one hundred years ago were able to visit Saint Joachim's today, they would find much that is different. But what has remained the same is the spirit of faith and prayer which animates the community, providing a vital link to the past and hope for the future. A quiet visit to Saint Joachim's, and an attentive wander around the Church, will indicate very quickly the fact that the Church.
The bell tower at St Joachim's in both the material and spiritual sense, has been built on the faith of its people. Altars, statues, baptismal fonts, holy water stoops, Church pews, stained glass windows - they all bear little brass plaques which record the generosity of those who have contributed to the Church: our present practice of the faith is built on the shoulders of those who went before us, and
the beauty of our place of prayer and worship is very much their gift to us. Over the past one hundred years Saint Joachim's has seen many changes. Originally home to a mainly Irish Catholic population, Saint Joachim's is today the spiritual centre for people from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds. Every year, for example, the Filipino Community gathers to celebrate the Feast of El Santo Nino (the Holy Child). The Italian Community honours Saint Anthony of Padua with an annual "festa". In past years, the Dutch Community have also celebrated Christmas at Saint Joachim's. At any of our weekend or weekday Masses, one can meet people from all kinds of backgrounds: Indians, Filipinos, Burmese, Indonesians, Dutch, Italians, British, Irish, Maltese. Singaporeans and many others meet, mix and pray together. One of the highlights each year, another witness to the multi-cultural nature of our parish community, is the International Lunch, organised by the Catholic Women's League, at which the various nationalities bring along their national dishes and create a unique "smorgasbord". Since 1985, the parish has been administered by the Salesians of
St Joachim's, led by the Salesians, is a natural meeting point for youth . . .
. . and a home for many different cultures and backgrounds. Don Bosco, and before that, from 1979 to 1985, it was administered by the Missionary Society of Saint Paul. Both religious orders were able to build on the work and effort put in by the priests of the Archdiocese and in particular by Fr Kearin and Monsignor Lenihan who, together with their people. built the parish from its foundations. The Salesians, following the lead of their founder, Saint John Bosco, have a special place for the young in their work. In an older parish like Saint Joachim's, this is not always so easy, but we have begun a number of initiatives in this direction: providing a chaplain to the secondary campus of Ursula Frayne College and a lecturer in theolo-
gy at Notre Dame University. Through our work with the Western Australian Young Salesians, we provide an annual holiday for young people at the Nanga Bush Camp each January. We have also tried to make the Sunday night Eucharist attractive to the young through music and the general spirit of the liturgy. Most of all, though, we try to be a living example of Don Bosco's maxim: it is not enough that you love people - they must know that they are loved. Hopefully, Saint Joachim's continues to be a community where people don't only hear about God's love but experience it. This at least is our aim and dream: spending our time and our enemies trying to make the dream a reality in our pilgrimage to God.
At a Glance I. •
The focal point of the parish, St Joachim's has served the spiritual needs of old and young for 100 years.
ST LAWRENCE PARISH BALCATTA There will be a formal farewell dinner for the Capuchin Franciscan Friars who will be leaving Western Australia. The function will be held on Friday 6 December 1996. 7pm at the Sicilian Club, Balcatta. Tickets $30 (all inclusive) available from Marie Boyle 344 5670. GUILD OF ST STEPHEN 1997 NATIONAL CONFERENCE The 14th National Conference of the Australian Guild of St Stephen for altar servers is to be held at Xavier College, Kew, Victoria from 16 Jan 1997 until 22 Jan 1997. Cost $200 each, including all accommodation, meals, excursions, and conference costs. For further details contact Michael Peters on (09) 388 2863 or 041 115 4383. The Record, November 7 1996 Page 16
Parish: Saint Joachim's, Victoria Park Parish Clergy: Fr Tim Costelloe SDB (Parish Priest), Fr Bert Fulbrook SDB. Fr Kevin O'Leary SDB. Address: 122 Shepperton Road, Victoria Park WA 6100. Telephone: 361 1057 Parish Secretary: Mrs Fabiola Momney Office hours: Monday, Wednesday and Friday - 9am to midday. Masses: Saturday 730 am (followed by the Rosary). Vigil 7pm; Sunday 745am, 9am (Italian), 10.15am, 6pm; Monday to Friday 6.45am and 12.15pm; Public holidays 7.30am. Reconciliation: Saturday 11am to midday; 4pm - 5pm; First Fridays 11.15am to midday. Holy Hour: every Friday from 11.15am to 12.15pm. Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help: Saturday 6.30pm.
Archeiocesan Panorama ACT JUSTLY, LOVE CONSTANTLY, WALK HUMBLY WITH GOD St Thomas' Social Justice Group, Claremont, invites all to our Catholic Charities Forum. Speakers are Joe Goerke from Centrecare and Gerald Searle from the Catholic Migrant Centre. They will present what their agencies do and what we can do to help them. The forum is on Monday, 11 November, 7.30pm at our Parish Centre, behind the church, 2 College Road, Claremont. Please come. (For more information ring: Silva, 384.4925; Marg, 386.1393)
MANDURAH ADORATION INVITATION The parishioners of Our Lady of Assumption Church invite all to join in Adoration each weekday, Monday to Thursday 8am to 4pm, Friday 12 noon to 4pm. ST BERNARD'S KOJONUP REUNION St Bernard's Catholic Primary School community, Kojonup, extends an invitation to all past students to attend a day of celebration and reunion for the Sisters Of Mercy at the school on Friday 6th Enquiries: Mr Phillip December. Rossiter, Principal, St Bernard's School
(098) 311 263, or Mr John Kelly, Organising Committee (098) 331 229. CHRISTIAN MEDITATION, RETREAT DAY Saturday, 16 Nov., 9.30am-4pm at the Servite Priory, 2 Morgans St, Tuart Hill. "Reflections on the Lord's Prayer". Meditation, sharing, discussion and fellowship. BYO lunch. Coffee/tea provided. Donation at door. Enquiries: 444 5810. JESUIT MISSION A raffle (2 Christmas cakes) in aid of the Jesuit Mission in India is being conducted. Tickets ($1 each) are available from: Peg Durack 384 5867, Win Conroy 387 3113, Joan Davidson 386 5877. The raffle will be drawn on 8 December 1996 at St Thomas More College, Crawley. Continued page /5