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
We d n e s d a y, 1 9 O c t o b e r 2 0 11
the
P a r i s h . t h e N at i o n . t h e W o r l d .
$2.00
therecord.com.au
Impropriety’s Business
A co-editor of a new book about the disturbing extent of pornography’s reach subjects its seedy producers and sellers to the scrutiny they don’t need - Pages 14-15
2010 figures: Propagation of the Faith: $795,347; Holy Childhood: $372,039; Peter’s Pence: $73,831
Our million-dollar mission CATHOLICS in the Perth archdiocese have donated more than $7.5 million – an average of more than $1 million a year – to missionary work around the globe since the Australian bishops’ last ad limina visit to Rome six years ago. The figures are contained in a report by Catholic Mission director Francis Leong on missionary cooperation in the archdiocese, which Archbishop Barry Hickey has taken to Rome as part of his ad limina report to the Holy Father. The ad limina (“to the threshold”) visits are required about every five years for heads of dio-
ceses. They include personal meetings for each bishop with the Pope and meetings with various Vatican dicasteries and congregations. Between 2004 and 2010 the amount of money donated in the Perth archdiocese to the Church’s global missionary effort rose steadily; the annual totals were made up of three appeals mounted by Catholic Mission annually. The main appeal, for the propagation of the faith, raised the lion’s share: an average annual figure of $720,479 totalling $5,043,355. A separate annual appeal for the Holy Childhood Association, the
Church’s main missionary effort to raise children’s awareness of the faith, totalled $1,830,577 over the seven years, rising from $174,456 in 2004 to $372,039 in 2010. Of this figure, students in Perth Catholic schools donated an average figure of $28,204, peaking in 2006 at $40,008 but dropping steadily since then to $20,321 in 2010. The annual “Peter’s Pence” appeal for the upkeep of the Holy See in Rome has more than doubled from $32,395 in 2004 to $73,831 in 2010; all up, Catholics donated $434,958 over the seven-year period. Mr Leong said he was deeply
grateful for the “tremendous” generosity of the archdiocese in giving to Church missionary activities. “As someone who has come back home to Perth from eight years of missionary service overseas I’m totally moved and touched by the generosity and commitment of ordinary parishioners in our archdiocese,” he said. He said it was “gobsmacking to see the amount raised through our parishes, the majority of which are not wealthy - but people just give. People know how important the missions are. “It’s a sign of the strength of faith
that’s out there. I have no doubt it has the effect of helping to strengthen and sustain the faith in other countries, far away,” he said. Since 2008 Catholic Mission has also raised money for disaster relief, giving a total of $271,886 over three years to foreign counterparts for distribution according to the pastoral needs of disaster-hit areas. The report also reveals there has been a steady increase in overseas lay missionary work; in recent years about a dozen people have taken the decision to serve as lay missionaries abroad for extended periods. Why Mission Sunday? - Page 11
Youth recapture the spirit of Madrid INSIDE
Firming the Faith Catholic Youth Ministry retreat refocuses pilgrims’ attention Page 6
A ticket to Vietnam Greenwood parish, Disciples of
Jesus, reach out to street kids Page 6
A participant, left, meditates during a retreat reflecting on the World Youth Day experience at Eagle’s Nest in early October. PHOTO: MICHAEL CONNELLY
Plight of Egypt’s Copts inspires moment of unity By Tim Wallace WITH Egyptian human rights organisations estimating 93,000 Christians have fled Egypt since March, with 14,000 of them seeking sanctuary in Australia, there was a rare piece of bipartisanship in federal parliament last week as the House of Representatives took a break from bickering over refugees. The house voted unanimously on a private member’s motion to acknowledge the plight of Egypt’s Coptic Christians and called on both the United Nations and the
Egyptian government to protect their rights. The vote was timely, coming just days after several dozen people, mostly Christians, were reported killed and hundreds injured after Egyptian security forces forcibly dispersed a rally by Coptic Christians in Cairo protesting against recent attacks on churches by Muslim extremists. Ironically, though, the timing had much to do with the federal government deciding to abort its ill-fated plan to put to the vote legislation sanctioning the diverting of asylum seekers to Malaysia.
Egypt’s new Exodus Dangerous times for Coptic Christians PAGES 10 - 11 The resumption of the debate on the plight of Egypt’s Coptic Christians, adjourned in September, was thus sandwiched between debate on a national standard for fertiliser products and discusssion of a rebate for export services fees charged by the Australian
Quarantine Inspection Service. Craig Kelly, the Liberal member for the Sydney seat of Hughes who had introduced the motion, said the situation could not be more serious, both for Egypt and the world – “for as the Copts go, so may go the entire Middle East”.
“If a Christian minority cannot live in a country with a Muslim majority population without suffering persecution and institutionalised discrimination our future looks bleak,” he said. “There is a real danger of this Arab spring falling into dark Islamic winter.” Egypt’s Coptic Christians are the largest non-Muslim minority in the Middle East, comprising about 10 per cent of Egypt’s population of 83 million. About 90 per cent belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria; about 200,000 belong to the Coptic Catholic Church.