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PREPARING FOR Sr THERESE
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Photographic exhibition: St Thomas More, 100 Dean St, Bateman, 5-11 January, in the Church. Opening times: Sat-Sun 7am to 7.30pm, Mon-Fri 7am to 6.30pm Continue your discovery of the Little Flower on Page 4
Perth: January 3 2002 Price: $1
Not meshuggah: a history of the chosen people - Page 10
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WA's only Catholic weekly newspaper
Marie Tania chooses the Carmelite life - Page 16
Bin Laden, the contender - who could'da been great - Page 10
F rebornbed By Peter Resengren
Linda Watson surveys the damage done by firebombing to Linda's House of Hope in Cannington which assists women and girls to escape prostitution.
A Catholic Church-funded refuge for women seeking to escape the slavery and abuse of prostitution was firebombed in Cannington late on Boxing Day. The founder of the refuge, a former brothel madam, said she believed the attack was part of the campaign to legalise prostitution. A rear bedroom being used by one woman resident, a former prostitute, had its window smashed in at about 9.30pm and was burnt out. A neighbour called the fire brigade which extinguished the fire before it could spread to the rest of the 4-bedroom brick building. The woman, who was not in the room at the time, was unharmed but lost all her possessions including a Christmas present. Furniture in the room had been burned by the fire or rendered unusable by water. Linda's House of Hope, which is financially supported by Archbishop Barry Hickey and operates under his patronage, was attacked in what founder and ex-madam Linda Watson called part of the campaign to legalise prostitution in WA. "I would say it is to do with the
legalisation of prostitution fight. I have enemies out there and there's plenty of people who want to see prostitution legalised," she said. "There's plenty of money to be made out there [from prostitution's legalisation)." Ms Watson told The Record that the woman had returned home from two days in the country over the Christmas break and had been in another room speaking to friends via the telephone at about 9.30pm. She had heard an explosion of glass, but at first thought it was from another property somewhere in the vicinity. She heard more noises, went to the door of the room and opened It to find everything inside on fire. A neighbour had heard the explosion, followed shortly after by the sound of steps running away. had hosed down the fire until the fire brigade arrived. Ms Watson estimated approximately $20.000 worth of damage had been done by the firebombing. The fire had burnt out the ceiling of the room. The house is one of two suburban properties which form Linda's House of Hope and is
operated as a refuge and shelter for women and girls seeking to escape the sex-industry's clutches. While it can sleep 7 residents Ms Watson said she is limiting the number of residents to four at a time. The other house, located in the same street, operates as an assessment centre. The organisation was established by Ms Watson in August 1999.
She told The Record the attack is not the first suffered by Linda's House of Hope. "When I saw the damage I thought 'what next?'." she said. On 6 October. 2001, the front windows of the assessment centre were smashed. Since Linda's House of Hope was opened there has been a steady number of threatening phone calls received by workers and residents, she said, estimating that four had been received since June 2001. One prostitution industry personality had also threatened her and told her to 'leave town,' she said, and had then named a wellknown bilcie gang in relation to the threat. Continued - Page 7
Do not ask how much time is left, but what you can do' By Cindy Wooden
Pope John PaulIIblesses thousands of pilgrims in St Peter's Square on Photo CNSReuters 25 December.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) - The end of an old year and the beginning of a new one is a time for Christians to renew their commitment to spreading the Gospel with love, Pope John Paul II said. Marking the end of 2001 at an evening prayer service. the Pope made no mention of terrorist attacks, wars or violence. Instead, he opened the 31 December liturgy by explaining it was a service of "thanksgiving and praise for all the good the eternal Father has done for us over the past year. His gifts were greater than our infidelities."
The hearts of believers should sing their "recognition for that which we have received: sing in the certain hope of future gifts," he said. In his homily. Pope John Paul said ills a very human temptation to want to know what will happen in the future and, in the end, how much time is left. No one wants to be caught by surprise, he said. But when Jesus' disciples asked the same kind of questions, Jesus told them that time was in the hands of the Father and that until the end came the strength of the Holy Spirit would be with them, helping them make disciples of
all nations. "He called on them to assume a new attitude toward time," the Pope said. "Jesus tells us not to uselessly question that which is reserved to God, which is precisely the course of events, but to use the time each has at his disposal the present - working with filial love to spread the Gospel to every corner of the planet," he said. Celebrating a New Year while still in the Christmas season is a reminder that the meaning of time already has been revealed, the Pope said. With the Incarnation, "God embraced the history of men on
earth to lead it to its definitive fulfillment" of eternal life with God, he said. During the liturgy, the Pope gave thanks for God's gifts, especially for all the good accomplished through the work of the Church and its members. "I ask God for the strength to continue for as long as he wants in faithful service to the church of Rome and of the whole world," the 81-year-old pontiff said. Pope John Paul also said the end of an old year is a time to become aware of "our own fragility and of the moments in which we were not fully faithful to the love of God."
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