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Papal Secret
ECONOMIC MIRACLE
Pope Piux XII exposed - Page 14
Why co-operation works - Page 17
Bishop’s pointed question inspired Australia’s special Year of Grace
Where is Jesus in all this? By Bridget Spinks THE PERTH co-ordinator of the special Year of Grace for Australia announced by the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops in Rome during the Australian bishops’ ad limina visit in October is calling for ideas and suggestions for ways to begin the journey in the Perth archdiocese. A retired laywoman and former principal of Catholic primary
schools in WA, Paddy Buckley emphasised at a meeting of Perth clergy on 10 November that ‘A Year of Grace: starting afresh in Christ’ was about seeking the face of Christ. She said the year was not a guided programme but a journey, the inspiration for which emerged from a meeting of Australia’s bishops. During that meeting there was a pile of folders on the desk with issues relating to governance, finance and planning for the bish-
No, not a girl band
ops to consider but at one point one bishop pushed the pile away and said “Where is Jesus in this?” The question was central to the Year of Grace, to be celebrated starting at Pentecost 2012, she said, and should be applied to all aspects of public and personal Church life. Australian parishes can expect a formal letter announcing the year, while a website is also on its way, containing material for priests, parishes and schools and including
liturgies, prayers and suggestions. The year would be a way of thinking and reflecting on the face of Christ, she said, and ways to incorporate it into daily parish life could be as simple as setting up a display or a regular prayer at Mass. She told Perth clergy the year, inspired by John Paul II’s 2000 Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, will have three major themes: contemplating the face of Christ, building a spirituality of
communion and undertaking mission for the new evangelisation. Miss Buckley will be based at The Faith Centre, 450 Hay St, Perth and can be contacted on 08 6140 2420 Addressing Pope Benedict in October, Archbishop Philip Wilson said the Church in Australia had received two graces in recent years, World Youth Day in 2008 and the canonisation of St Mary MacKillop. The special Year of Grace would build on this, he said.
Members of St Thomas More Residential College’s choir in Crawley have issued their first CD and it’s good - Page 5
Priest and friend: behind the Bropho headlines AFTER prominent news reports last week about his role leading prayers at the funeral of convicted sex offender Robert Bropho, Perth’s Archbishop Barry Hickey spelled out the reasons he agreed to conduct the service. Prior to Mr Bropho’s burial on Friday, 11 November, Archbishop Hickey explained in a statement that his participation was in a private capacity as a friend of the family and should not be interpreted as
tolerance of Mr Bropho’s crimes. “There is some confusion about why I am doing the funeral of Robert Bropho,” he said. “It is nothing to do with my office as archbishop nor does it mean I approve of his serious crimes. I am doing so as a friend of the family who know me simply as ‘Father Hickey’. “Since the family was evicted from the Lockridge Camp I have come to know many members of
the Bropho family, especially the homeless ones to whom I offered shelter on my verandah over a period of seven years. “I have already conducted four funerals of members of the Bropho family. They asked me to do Robert’s as well. As a kindness to his daughter and her family, I will say prayers at his graveside. There will be no Church service.” Media critics included popular radio talkback host Howard Sattler,
who said Archbishop Hickey’s involvement legitimised Bropho. While it is not known if Bropho was baptised Catholic, Canon Law states that all the baptised faithful are entitled to Christian burial. Mr Bropho, 81, died in jail while serving a six-year sentence for convictions for rape and sexual abuse of Aboriginal girls as young as 11; one of his victims, a member of his family, committed suicide at the age of 16. Christian burial cer-
emonies and rites have been largely unchanged over two millennia and are based on the Church’s belief in the resurrection of the body. In rare instances, Canon Law forbids Christian burial of “manifest sinners” if they have not given some sign of repentance before death. Where there is doubt about the matter the judgement is the prerogative of the local ordinary. Editorial - Page 16