Medjugorje at 25 Years of claims - years of doubt...
John Thavis looks at Medjugorje a quarter of a century after several young visionaries claimed Mary had begun appearing to them. VISTA 1-2
ALSO INSIDE this week: A Spirit thing - Page 7 Looking at the charismatic movement
Children and Money - VISTA 4 Teaching important lessons in families
Thursday June ,
The Parish. The Nation. The World. www.therecord.com.au
Perth, Western Australia ● $1
Western Australia’s Award-winning Catholic newspaper
LOCAL SCENE: Around the parishes with Sylvia Defendi Page 4
STUDENTS RESPOND: letters on our interview with Julian McMahon Page 6
REFUGEES’ FRIENDS: Aussie MPs join coalition for refugee advocacy Page 5
Coleridge to Canberra New archbishop will befriend - and criticise - MPs Comfortable with media and Fessio heads to Australia looking forward to new role Close friend of Benedict XVI to address Aussie students
■ By Paul Gray
T
he new archbishopdesignate of Canberra says he will not be afraid to publicly criticise the nation’s parliamentarians once he has taken up residence in the nation’s capital. But encouragement - not only criticism - for those engaged in the complex game of politics will be the goal for the Church’s new leader in town. Bishop Mark Coleridge, whose appointment as the new Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn was announced this week, will replace Archbishop Francis Carroll who has retired at the age of 75. This week the new Archbishop was asked by The Record if his appointment is an opportunity for the Church to put its views strongly before MPs. “I don’t want to stick the boots in,” Bishop Coleridge answered. “Politics is a thoroughly worthy business. “I will be there helping, supporting and even at times criticising parliamentarians.” The archbishop-designate hopes to get to know many politicians personally. For the Church, he said, the question is how to influence politics, not whether it should. Continued on page 2
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long-time friend and former student of Pope Benedict XVI is to visit Australia in early July to speak to Australian Catholic tertiary students. Fr Joseph Fessio SJ will speak on the Papacy of Pope Benedict XVI, providing detailed insights in to the work of the new Pope and what the Church in Australia and across the world can expect in years to come. Pope Benedict XVI (then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) was Fr Fessio’s doctoral supervisor and mentor at the University of Regensburg in the-
then West Germany from 19721975. As a member of Ratzinger’s “Schulerkreis” or group of former students, Fr Fessio participated in many of the yearly three-day-long gatherings of that group and the two have remained close friends since. Fr Fessio has continued to lecture in philosophy and theology across the world. Father Fessio is close to a number of the cardinals who elected the new pope, including Francis Arinze, the former Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship; Christoph Schonborn, Archbishop of Vienna; George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney; Marc Ouellet, Archbishop of Quebec. Continued on page 2
War hero’s cause opens ■ By Tim Hall
Looking back fondly: Archbishop Barry Hickey was happy to help Sisters of Mercy mark the 110th anniversary of their establishment in West Perth by donning vestments and habits of the era. Story Page 4 Photo: Sisters of Mercy - West Perth
INDEX
THE WAR ON GIRLS If you are conceived female then Asia is a dangerous place to be - with girls increasingly being killed before birth.
VISTA 2
Letters - College students repond - Page 6 Family is the Future - VISTA 4 The World - Pages 8-9 Movie capsules - Page 10 Classifieds - Page 11
AN AMERICAN marine chaplain who continued to administer last rites on a Vietnam battlefield despite being heavily wounded himself could be made a saint. Even though a mortar shell had left his arm “hanging in shreds,” Fr Vincent Capodanno repeatedly refused evacuation and continued to treat other wounded men and comfort those who were dying.
The priest, who died on the battlefield in 1967 and who posthumously received the US military’s highest distinction, the Medal of Honour, has now been given the title Servant of God in a move that could lead to his canonisation. With the permission of the Vatican, the US Archdiocese for the Military Services announced the opening of Fr Capodanno’s cause on Memorial Day, May 29, Continued on Page 7
TRANSLATION STEAMS ON In the last three weeks the new translation of the Mass in English has received major votes of support from the UK and the US.
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