POLL VOTE! Readers make their decision Page 11 THURSDAY FEBRUARY 24, 2005
THE PARISH. THE NATION. THE WORLD. soon to be on the Web
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Year: Australian bishops issue Year of Eucharist program Page 5
Greek sojourn: Perth seminarians reflect on an historic visit Pages 7-9
Letter to Minister Archbishop reminds government of forgotten promise to protect embryos Archbishop Barry Hickey has asked the Federal Government and the Opposition to extend the protection currently offered to “excess” embryos created after April 5, 2002. He has written to the responsible Minister, Julie Bishop, MP for Curtin, and the Federal Opposition Leader Kim Beazley, both of whom are West Australian MPs. When the Research Involving Human Embryos Act was introduced in 2002, it approved destructive experimentation on embryos created before April 5, 2002. It also provided that the Act would be reviewed this year, and that the protection of post-2002 embryos would be automatically repealed on April 5, 2005. The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference had now been informed that the review would not be completed until December. This meant that the protection offered to post-2002 embryos would be abandoned, regardless of what the review may recommend about it. Archbishop Hickey said the 2002 deadline was introduced by Prime Minister Howard as a compromise in the face of widespread community concern about the destruction of human embryos. It was always understood that the removal of that limitation would be part of the review. “I think most Australians would find it hard to believe that Parliament could treat them so cynically as to have intended otherwise,” he said. He told Ms Bishop, Federal Continued - Page 10
Mission body appeals for urgent aid One knife for 70 families in Sri Lanka
Siblings Gayana, Ishara and Shasit lost their mother due to the tsunami and are pictured here in what is left of their home. Photo: Ros Cannon/Catholic Mission
The Australian office of Catholic Mission, the official aid and missionary outreach agency of the agency of the Catholic Church, has appealed for funds for a desperate situation in Sri Lanka. Catholic Mission is charged with promoting the missionary work of the Church in over 160 developing countries throughout the world. As families rebuild in tsunamidevastated Sri Lanka, funding is desperately needed to help with the basic necessities of life. An Australian Catholic Mission team is currently travelling around the country to assess priorities for future funding. The group heard that the situation in one ‘tent city’ was so dire that 70 families were sharing one knife. Spoons were also in short supply and while most families had access to a communal water source, they had no cups to drink from. Danielle Achikian, Manuela Macri and photographer Ros Cannon are accompanying Catholic Mission’s National Director of Sri Lanka, Father Tony Martyn, to conitnued on Page 2
Balcatta invites ex-Catholics to return ■ By Mark Reidy A Perth parish has reported a good response to an initiative to call Catholics back to Church participation and the discovery of Jesus in the Eucharist. As a response to Pope John Paul II’s request to consider this year as “The Year of the Eucharist”, the Parish of Saint Lawrence and Mary Immaculate in Balcatta last November sent out 8366 invitations to encourage their lapsed
brothers and sisters to rediscover the Real Presence of Christ by returning to their Church. A letter was sent to every house within the parish boundaries as an insert in the local “Stirling Times” Newspaper that month. The letter was an attempt to reach out to those who are baptised as Catholics but no longer attend a church. Parish Priest Father Francis Kot said the unique approach was his church’s contribution to the
Pope’s call. Project coordinator, Jenni Young, said that the endeavour had created a unity within the Parish as individuals teamed together to bring about the exercise. Intercessory groups prayed for each person that would receive the letter whilst other parishioners combined with staff at the Primary school to complete the practical necessities. Mrs Young said that the Pope’s call to focus one’s self on the
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The Devil you do... An Italian priest has told an exorcism conference that while expelling devils is important, far fewer people need exorcism than most might think
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World News Media Classifieds Letters Editorial
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opportunity to focus attention on the living Jesus who is present in every Catholic Church and that through this Presence those who have lapsed from
gift of the Eucharist was the inspiration for the letter being sent. With the decreasing numbers of Catholics attending Church she believed it was time that people should recognise the Eucharist as the gift that nourishes Faith. She believed it was the perfect
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Nothing but the truth Sister Lucia confirmed she left nothing out of her accounts, says Cardinal who knew and met her before she died. But conspiracy theories will still abound...
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