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HER DAY: MacKillop students celebrate Page 2
The Parish. The Nation. The World.
Thursday August ,
Western Australia’s Award-winning Catholic newspaper
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FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD: Editorial
ROSARY BOUQUET: Here again Page 14
Path to the A grand old lady stands priesthood ready for completion stony, but beautiful ST MARY’S WINDS DOWN
Memories of Sofia go online Family of murdered girl establishes website in her memory, and to say ‘thanks’ ■ By Sherilee Kingston
The lifelong journey of a Vietnamese priest now living in Australia to his ordination is an inspiring tale of tenacity, inner strength, and absolute trust in God’s goodness. ■ By Hugh Ryan
Peter Hung Manh Tran was born in South Vietnam in 1960 just as the first Americans arrived to take part in what we call the Vietnam war. When the war ended in April 1975, he was 15 and had almost completed his secondary education. On a return visit to Perth last week to launch his new book Advancing the Culture of Death, he said he had not been greatly aware of the events of the war, but had been very sad to see people die so tragically, leaving all their loved ones behind. “I felt deeply for the orphans and widows whose fathers and husbands had been killed during the war,” he said. At the end of the war, more than a million South Vietnamese soldiers were captured and put in concentration camps throughout the country and several hundred thousand clergy, religious men and women, and seminarians were detained in jail and re-education camps. Perhaps as many as 60 per cent of these people died. They had never been allowed visits by their families or relatives and had lived as though they had been forgotten. For those not in camps, life had been turned upside down. They were constantly
The way is clear: In this earlier photograph taken before he departed on sabbatical earlier this month, Archbishop Barry Hickey stands outside St Mary’s Cathedral with the section to be completed immediately behind him. Work
is expected to take two years before St Mary’s is re-opened to worshippers and visitors. No more through these doors: Clergy process through the front entrance of the cathedral in this file photo. The new, much larger, entrance will face West, towards Perth’s CBD. Photos: The West Australian
Continued - Page 7 Fr Tran’s booklaunch - Page 7
Sofia RodriguezUrrutia Shu’s family have published a memorial website through the Mater Christi Primary School site. The website has been set up to acknowledge and Sofia Rodriguezthank the public for Urrutia Shu their overwhelming support and love, after Sofia was murdered on June 26. On the website Sofia’s family, in a thankyou letter, comment “since the loss of our special little girl, we have received overwhelming and incredible moral support from the community of all over Australia and relatives and friends from overseas.” Although they were unable to personally thank everyone for their support and care through the time of grief, their website offers thanks to those who sent the family their condolences. “We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Australian community for their condolence Continued on Page 7
Last appearance
Crowds, dignitaries, visit old friend for farewell Mass
Bishop praises MPs on asylum
■ By Sylvia Defendi
■ By Paul Gray
The Australian bishops’ delegate on immigration and refugees, Bishop Joseph Grech, this week warmly applauded the politicians who scuttled Prime Minister John Howard’s
R
epresenting Archbishop Barry Hickey, Bishop Donald Sproxton recalled the ever-changing and ongoing history of St Mary’s Cathedral, during
the official farewell ceremony last Sunday, August 13. For the last 76 years iron spokes have stood witness to the Cathedral’s unfinished state, with this year marking the beginning of works towards its completion. Perth city council-
lors, representatives of the State Government and the Opposition, along with His Excellency, Ken Michaels, the Governor of Western Australia, joined Bishop Sproxton, Monsignor Thomas McDonald and Vicar General Brian Continued on Page 10
Ready to play: Jacinta Jakovcevic. ■ By Sylvia Defendi
As the Perth Archdiocese prepares to farewell St Mary’s Cathedral as it presently stands, Jacinta Jakovcevic, official organist for the past five years, will be displaying her musical talents for one last time at a long-awaited
Continued - Page 14
Continued - Page 3
INDEX
TEACH YOUR CHILDREN A visiting Rabbi has an unexpected message for an interfaith conference in Australia - teach your children their religion, so that they can sow peace, reports PAUL GRAY.
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Editorial, Letters to the Editor Opinion - Mark Reidy Opinion - John Heard Benedict on the Apostles Classifieds, Diary, Panorama
FIRST FOR RURAL MEDICINE - Page 8 - Page 10 - Page 10 - Page 16 - Page 15
The University of Notre Dame Australia and the University of WA have achieved a national first - a Rural clinical school for medical students. It starts in 2007.
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