THURSDAY NOVEMBER 4, 2004
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Oceania: Archbishop’s address to Eucharistic Congress Page 4
Books: Oscar Wilde and his exjailbird biographer? Page 14
Life: How to avoid marrying a jerk - or a jerkette Page 16
Abortion review calls With the conclusion of the federal election it is now opportune to have a sensible and compassionate debate over the abortion rate in Australia, says the country’s largest single ownership grouping of non government health services. ‘Even though it is controversial and complex, it is high time that the issue of access to abortion be properly discussed at a meeting of the country’s health ministers,’ Catholic Health Australia’s CEO Francis Sullivan said on November 1. Mr Sullivan’s comments came in the wake of remarks by Federal health Minister Tony Abbott that, at approximately 100,000 a year, abortion had become an epidemic in Australia. ‘Our compassion as a community needs to be consistent in our attitude to people in distress or difficulty and in our defence of the unborn and vulnerable,” said Mr Sullivan. ‘Not only are abortions too easily accessed, the community has been lulled into a sense of ignorance over the tragedy of late term abortions. These days we find the stark irony that neo-natal intensive care units save babies of the same age as are being deliberately aborted through the accommodating legal frameworks in the states and territories.’ ‘The country’s health ministers should act with a sense of responsibility to uphold the dignity of every life and place on their agenda the establishment of an inquiry into the abortion industry in Australia. Continued on page 2
Callers register strong interest in school fee saving ■ By Jamie O’Brien
A homeless child sleeps under an old rusty car on a street in Cairo, Egypt, on August 20. During a Vatican-sponsored conference on street children, Archbishop Agostino Marchetto said the United Nations and Amnesty International estimate that there are between 100 million and 150 million street children in the world. Photo: CNS
WA’s Catholic Education authorities have received numerous inquiries from the public following the announcement of the Health Care Card tuition fee discount in midOctober. More than 190 calls to the specially-established information line and further inquiries via the Internet indicated encouragement and a positive response to the scheme, said CEO Director Ron Dullard this week. The initiative is to be introduced next year and will apply to all students who have a Health Care Card (HCC) for means-tested reasons. Holders of a Pensioner Concession Card (PCC) are not currently eligible for the scheme. At the time of presenting the proposal, the means-testing arrangements undertaken by Centrelink in order for someone to access a PCC were too varied. Some PCC holders can earn up to $57,000 a year. With a PCC, there is also the question of who holds the PCC versus who is responsible for the payment of school fees in the case of a family break-up. PCCs are also valid for 12 months, unlike HCCs which better reflect changing circumstances by being valid for shorter periods. Continued on Page 2
Romero's friend, colleague, visits The Record ■ By Jamie O’Brien A Bishop who was a close friend and colleague of assasinated Archbishop Oscar Romero visited The Record to talk with staff about the life of his murdered friend last Monday November 1, All Saints Day. Staff from The Record and other
Church agencies this week listened to a talk by Bishop Gregorio Chavez, Auxiliary Bishop of San Salvador in El Salvador. Bishop Chavez is Director of Caritas for Latin America and a graduate in Social Communications. Archbishop Romero was murdered in 1980 during an ongoing civil war in El Salvador and is due to be beatified in Rome next year,
F E AT U R E S
Bishop Chavez said. Speaking in Spanish, Bishop Chavez’s talk was translated by Br Oscar Augilera from the Servite Friary. Bishop Chavez said that Archbishop Romero is a special martyr because he was not killed by communists or by Nazis but by “people that profess themselves as Christians.” The Bishop also emphasised his concern at globalisation’s negative
INDEX
Defending the Crusades An historian goes in to bat for the purpose and justification for the Crusades Pages 7-9
- Pages 12 & 13 World News - Page 14 Reviews - Page 15 Classifieds - Page 6 Editorial & Letters
effects on South America and the world, mostly at the expense of increasing poverty. “These models of economy exclude people increasing the line of poverty,” he said. “All of this is a challenge for us in the evangelisation.” A more detailed account of the Bishop’s talk will appear in The Record next week.
Bishop Gregorio Chavez of San Salvador talks at The Record offices in Leederville last Monday, November 1.
I N T E R N AT I O N A L
Uncommon Valour An artist suffering a debilitating disease that’s getting worse refuses to give up Page 12
ALSO INSIDE: The Social Teaching Compendium - Page 10, 11 ● Blessed Silence - Page 10 ● Aussie pilgrims in Mexico - Page 16