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Applecross parishioner to compete in world comp
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Prodigal Father comes home to Perth
APPLECROSS Parishioner Josh Court and his team mate, Michael Snart, have been selected to represent Australia at the 26th Summer World Universiade Games 2011 in Shenzen, China. The pair are the current Australian Junior Under 23 Men’s Beach Volleyball Champions and the WA Open Men’s Beach Volleyball Champions. ‘Being selected as the top Men’s Beach Volleyball team to represent Australia in the University Games is a real privilege. Michael and I are determined to give it our all and hope to come back with a gold medal,’ Josh said.
Home: Choristers sing the Service of Vespers as Archbishop Barry Hickey presides over the reception of remains of Bishop John Brady in St John the Evangelist Pro-Cathedral last Monday night. The pro-Cathedral was the first Catholic Church in Perth and was built by Brady. GRAHAM HALL PHOTOGRAPER
Applecross Parish Priest Fr Peter Whitely blesses Josh Court, selected to represent Australia in men’s beach volleyball. PHOTO: COURTESY APPLECROSS PARISH
Josh, 22, is currently studying for a Bachelor of Recreation and Sports Management, and Michael (22, from Kingsley) is studying Sports Science at Edith Cowan University. He was given a special blessing by Father Peter Whitely at Applecross Parish last Sunday. The parish has encouraged Josh’s commitment to his sport and training and will be praying that the boys be rewarded for their efforts during the Games. The Universiade is an international sporting and cultural festival held every two years. Open to all student athletes aged 17-28, it is one of the largest sporting events in the world. Josh and Michael will be keeping a blog during their trip to China. It can be found at www.teamjoshcourt-michaelsnart.com. The 26th Summer Universiade will take place from 12-23 August.
BY ROBERT HIINI A PRODIGAL son of sorts returned to the Archdiocese last Tuesday night when the remains of Perth’s first Catholic Bishop, John Brady, came across the Swan, to be welcomed by his successor, Archbishop Barry Hickey. The Archbishop was waiting at Barrack Street Jetty, just after 6pm as the Saratoga docked, having departed the South of Perth Yacht Club half-an-hour before. A crozier was held aloft at the bow of the yacht with Cathedral Dean Mgr Michael Keating and organiser Fr Robert Cross standing close
behind as the yacht edged towards the jetty. Brady historian Odhran O’Brien and members of the Brady family, visiting specially from Ireland, were on hand to receive the ossuary containing Bishop Brady’s remains. Then began a procession past a chiming Perth Belltower and the Supreme Court Gardens and down St George’s Terrace to St John’s Pro-Cathedral, begun by Brady on the Feast of St John the Evangelist on 27 December in 1843. There, vespers were sung in anticipation of Brady’s reinterment in the Cathedral crypt the following day. Fr Robert
Cross said the welcome and reinterment brought completion to a lot of preparation, including the restoration of St Mary’s Cathedral, which included the building of a crypt. “He was the first Bishop of this diocese and its foundation was through his own missionary zeal and for that we need to be eternally grateful,” Fr Cross said. Fr Cross said he imagined Bishop Brady might have mixed feelings about returning considering the circumstances of his departure; leaving the diocese under the pall of disobedience and financial disarray. “But his heart was
here. Obviously he never wanted to leave and I think he would be pleased, really, to be recognised for what he did.” Archbishop Hickey said he was “thrilled” and felt privileged to be welcoming Bishop Brady back to the diocese. “Although he died in exile, he never resigned as Bishop of Perth and when he died, he was still the Bishop of Perth,” the Archbishop said. “We think it’s fitting that, for all that he did here in this diocese, we should bring him back to be among us; to be home again and close to the wonderful things he began for us.” Photos - Page 7
From Sydney to PNG with love: kits aim to help birthing mothers
Volunteers from UNDA’s Sydney campus have worked together to assemble 1,000 Birthing Kits to help improve maternal heralthcare in Papua New Guinea. PHOTO: COURTESY UNDA
More than 1,000 expectant mothers in Papua New Guinea will receive birthing kits through the work of Medicine students at the University of Notre Dame Australia’s Sydney Campus. The initiative was inspired by Birthing Kit Foundation (Australia), an organisation dedicated to improving the conditions of women who give birth at home in developing countries. The Medical Association of Notre Dame’s Sydney campus, along with the school’s Global Health and Social Justice sub-committee, collaborated to assemble the Birthing Kits on Saturday, 23 July. Each Birthing Kit includes six items – a plastic sheet, soap, two gloves, a sterile scalpel blade, three cords and five gauze squares. MANDUS President Brent
Doolan said the challenging environment of postnatal care for people in developing countries can result in extreme discomfort for the mother and her baby. Mr Doolan said that in some regions of Papua New Guinea it is not uncommon for the umbilical cord to be cut with a sharpened sea shell or a metal blade. “With an estimated 385,000 women dying annually in childbirth, many from infections acquired during the process, there is a great need for our clean Birthing Kits,” Mr Doolan said. “We wish to assist by educating expectant mothers on birth practices and work alongside the World Health Organisation’s millennium development goals by helping to improve maternal health internationally. “As future doctors,
it is fundamental for us to understand the improvements that we can accomplish in the developing world. I think this brings our medical students one step closer to this end goal.” Dean of the School of Medicine in Sydney, Dr Christine Bennett, supported the Birthing Kits initiative of the Notre Dame medical students. “We are very proud of Notre Dame’s Medicine students and their commitment to making a practical difference to those in need,” Dr Bennett said. “This Birthing Kit initiative is about rolling their sleeves up and taking action that will, in partnership with the Birthing Kit Foundation (Australia), have a real impact on the health of women and babies in Papua New Guinea.”