the Record
W E S T E R N A U S T R A L I A’ S A WA R D - W I N N I N G C AT H O L I C N E W S P A P E R S I N C E 1 8 7 4
the
We d n e s d a y, 7 D e c e m b e r 2 0 11
P a r i s h . t h e N at i o n . t h e W o r l d .
A very active bishop Final instalment in Fr Kilmartin’s groundbreaking timeline - Pages 14-15
30 No vember
2011, The
R
Y’S CATH E DR A L JARRA H
ST MA
STAND
RY MA C
ROSARY
Page 9
e
KILLO
ALL ITEM
ROSARIES
$200 CRUCIFIX
therecord.com.au
2011 CHRISTMAS
Record
Chris The Record Bookshop tmas C atalo ST MA gu GUITAR
$2.00
P
S AT TRAC TIVELY GIFT BO XED
FROM
BOXES
$53 75
ES
CATALOGUE
Family gifts - Pages 9–12
PENS
$75 SML $95 LGE
STATUES BROOCH
Other legal forms provide for other relationships, Archbishop says, but $80 PENS
BL P O
FROM
PE JOH
KEY RIN
ES
GS
N PAU
ALL ITEM
L II
Marriage is always unique JEWELLE
GOLD LOC KET PENDAN T
GOLD NECKLA CE
RY BOXE
S AT TRAC TIVELY GIFT BO XED
FROM
S
$59 30
$2 50 SMALL $285 LARGE
BIBIAN A Booksh KWARAMB A op Man ager
GOLD TOG GLE BRACEL ET
GOLD KEY FOB
GOLD RIN
G
Email Telep Address : bookshop@t hone: 9220 59 : 21 Vic he toria Sq record.com. 01 uare, Pe au rth 6000
By Robert Hiini TAMPERING with marriage to provide legal protections for other kinds of relationships is unnecessary because those protections already exist, Archbishop Barry Hickey said in response to a change in official Labor Party policy last week. Meeting in Darling Harbour, Sydney on 3 December, the Australian Labor Party conference voted to add gay marriage to its official party platform at the same time as passing a motion backed by Prime Minister, Julia Gillard allowing MPs a conscience vote on the issue. “Same-sex marriage is a misunderstanding of what marriage is all about,” Archbishop Hickey said. “[Marriage] is about the complementarity of a male and a female, open to children ... Christ blessed this particular form of marriage and to change it now is a great mistake. There are other forms of domestic relationships with legal protection that are available to people who want to share their lives, without tampering with the definition of marriage,” he said. With some dissenting voices, the mood was strongly in favour of same-sex marriage at the conference last Saturday. Some critics, however, suggested a conscience vote for federal Labor MPs, which same-sex marriage advocates are expected to lose, means the policy change is largely symbolic. Labor Left heavyweight Senator John Faulkner spoke out against the Gillard motion. “I take the view that a conscience vote on human rights is not conscionable,” he said. Right faction delegate Joe De Bruyn was one of few dissenting voices, asking delegates if they were going to turn their backs on a “core value”. The ALP decision followed a Queensland vote on 29 November creating same-sex civil unions in that state. Editorial - Page 16
GOLD BOOKM ARK
Daily dramas inspire a Way of the Cross to console By Robert Hiini
Artist and St Bernadette’s Port Kennedy parishioner Michael Vandeleur in his home studio.
PHOTO: ROBERT HIINI
WHETHER the happy glances of a courting couple or a grandmother beaming into the face of a baby, West Australian artist Michael Vandeleur is fascinated by the poignant moments of everyday human interaction. His most recent art proposal, if approved, will take his work to one of the most emotionally charged sites in modern society, a hospital (in this case, St John of God Hospital in Subiaco) where joy, dread, hope and despair share the same terrain, each and every day. Describing it as a “wayside stop for spiritual comfort”, Michael has spent hours observing the parents, spouses, children and retirees traversing the 30m courtyard where his design may eventually come to fruition. He has proposed a Way of the Cross for SJOG Subiaco with 15 stainless steel impressions, each measuring 1m by 800cm, with 14 to be set on plinths and grouped by threes and set in alcoves for quiet time and contemplation. Just as a doctor or a baker use their gifts, he says, he can use his talents to help others in their lives. “I’ve been given something and I haven’t been given it for nothing. I’ve been given it to help other people,” Michael, a parishioner of St Bernadette’s parish in Port Kennedy, told The Record. “People say to me, “what sort of art do you like?” and I think they expect me to say “oh, what I do”. “But it’s anything that has emotional impact on me. If it has an impact, whether good or bad, the artist is doing a good job,” he said. Continued on Page 6
Wanted: the rituals of faith that unite your family AROUND the world, Catholic families engage in a variety of rituals to mark the special meaning of the Church’s seasons;. To mark the Year of Grace called by Australia’s bishops and the Year of Faith called by Pope Benedict XVI, the new archdiocesan Faith Centre wants Catholic families in Perth to supply it with their own special rituals.
The centre is inviting families in the archdiocese to send in 200 words describing one or more of the Catholic family rituals, traditions or customs that they practise to live out the faith at home. By issuing the call, Archbishop Barry Hickey is seeking to promote a renewal of Catholic culture lived in the family home to help families bring alive the spirit of Christ in the
domestic church. The Faith Centre – the new archdiocesan centre for evangelisation and Catholic culture – is compiling a booklet of family rituals and traditions it receives. If submissions are used, they will be attributed to the families that supply them. Possibilities could include, for example, special family prayers or prayers prayed on special occa-
sions, or creative ways Catholics remember or celebrate birthdays, feast days, anniversaries or pilgrimages, to name a few. Other rituals or family practices could be ordinary, such as a prayer to find a car park while shopping or to find something momentarily lost. To guide submissions, the centre is posing the question: how do
you live out the Catholic faith in the home? Submissions need to be received by 1 February and must include the name, address and contact telephone number or email of those sending them in. Submissions should be sent to: Family Ritual Coordinator c/o The Faith Centre PO Box 3311, East Perth WA 6892 or email: info@thefaith.org.au