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THE LIGHT OF DAY: Perth bishops exhumed in Cathedral Page 5
UK Bishops go to war with BBC over aired program
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SISTERS OF LIFE: Australian visit highlights new order’s charism Page 3
MY LORD AND MY GOD: St Thomas the Apostle Page 12
Eye on the North
La Grange-Bidyadanga farewells beloved priest
Willem comes through Student’s idea to help the poor grew into a campaign
Program broadcast by Corporation is misleading, say Catholic Church leaders
Star effort: Willem Vagg shows how his idea turned into something much bigger and involved a whole school communitty. Photo: Phil Bayne
The bishops of England and Wales are accusing the BBC of misrepresenting two Vatican documents that the news organization says Benedict XVI used to cover-up the sexual abuse of minors. According to the prelates, the program “Sex Crimes and the Vatican,” broadcast last Sunday by Panorama, the BBC’s investigative news show, is unwarranted and misleading. The program claims to have uncovered secret Vatican documents that imposed silence regarding all claims of child abuse, and accused then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - now Benedict XVI - of shielding priests from investigation in his previous role as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. One document mentioned is Crimen sollicitationis, (The Crime of Solicitation, 1962) issued by the Congregation of the Holy Office - future Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - which was made public in 2003. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, archbishop of Westminster, sent a letter to Mark Thompson, the director general of the BBC “to express the enormous distress and alarm of the Catholic community” regarding the program. “No one can deny the devastating effects of child abuse in our society and the
■ By Sylvia Defendi
So long, old friend: Father Kevin McKelson SAC, one-time priest at the community of Bidyadanga-La Grange in the Kimberley, was farewelled earlier this year by the people he had ministered to for many years. Fr McKelson left the community after nearly half a century of service to the Church and its mission. He was parish priest in Broome and Beagle Bay as well as at La Grange where he worked from 1961 to 1993. Parishioners farewelled Fr McKelson at Mass, above, while later he was presented with a special painting by Weaver Jack. He
was also chaplain in recent years at the University of Notre Dame Australia’s Broome campus. Photos: Kimberley Community Profile
A six-year-old’s vision to assist the poor, one five-cent coin at a time, saw the Rockingham branch of St Vincent De Paul accepting over $1050 in donations. Willem Vagg, a year one student at Rockingham’s Star of the Sea primary school, initially took on the task of ridding his family of ‘annoying’ fivecent coins. “Willem said he always heard adults complaining about useless five-cent coins. His response was that a lot could be done with ‘lots of five-cents,” explained Star of the Sea principal, Nadia Maso. Indeed a lot was done, as Willem’s idea generated a substantial donation to the local Rockingham Church. Encouraged by his family, Willem Continued on page 2
Natural fertility centre opens
Continued on Page 2
Sisters’ takeover means IVF departs Canberra hospital ■ By Paul Gray
A Catholic health service organisation operated by the Little Company of Mary has forced IVF services out of a Canberra private hospital. The purchase of the John James Memorial Hospital in Canberra by Little Company of Mary Health Care last month was welcomed by the hospital’s management and some political
figures in the ACT. The purchase was seen as keeping open a hospital which was otherwise in danger of closing. But the Catholic organisation, which promotes “values-based care” in communities and hospitals around Australia, attracted national media attention when it became clear that IVF operations would be moved from the hospital as a result of the purchase. An IVF procedure
INDEX
OUR UNSEEN COMPANIONS Monday this week - October 2 - was the feast of the Guardian Angels. Many people can tell stories of what they believe to be encounters with our invisible best friends.
Pages 4 & 5
which was previously available at John James will now be made available to local residents by a nearby plastic surgery centre. Little Company of Mary Health Care, known as LCM Health Care, continues the work of the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary who first began caring for the sick in Australia in 1885. The focus of their work is care and support for those who are sick, dying or in need.
EDITORIAL WORLD OFFICIAL DIARY PANORAMA CLASSIFIEDS
With the blessing of Auxiliary Bishop Donald Spoxton, a service offering ‘medicine for life’ officially opened its doors on September 29 to couples looking to conceive naturally and women wanting a deeper understanding of their reproductive health. Based in Yokine, on the corner of Royal Street and Wanneroo Road, the Magnificat FertilityCare Centre also provides support to rural couples and women via telephone, and acts as a resource for FertilityCare and Natural Procreative Continued on page 3
THE WAY HOME - Page 6 - Pages 7-9 - Page 10 - Page 11 - Page 11
With the publication this week of times for the Sacrament of Reconciliation around WA, Record writer MARK REIDY looks at some of the history and evolution of Confession
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