THURSDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2004
THE PARISH. THE NATION. THE WORLD. soon to be on the Web
Western Australia’s Award-winning Catholic newspaper
Perth, Western Australia ● $1
Diversity Matters: Sameness also has its strengths Page 10
St Catherine: The Saint who inspired Mel Gibson Page 11
Happy New Year: A fresh loook at a fresh start Page 6
Contrasts of life and death A baptism, a celebration and a licence to kill Human embryo licence shows scale of destruction
■ By Jamie O’Brien
Brian Spratt’s baptism at the age of 43 was a special occasion for his mother, Molly Narrier, and his family for many reasons. Brian has intellectual disabilities and has been in care since he was 18 months old, first with the Disability Services Commission at Pyrton and more recently with i.d.entity.wa (formerly Catholic Care). His mother lives in Port Hedland where, 40 years ago, there were no adequate services to enable her to look after her child. Over the years she lost contact with him because she was not told where he was. Her late husband Victor and daughter Cheryl located him in Pyrton when he was a young man and she enjoyed a reunion with him, but contact was again lost. Mrs Narrier met her son again in his i.d.entity.wa group home earlier this year. She said it was a time of mixed emotions for her because Brian had changed and she could hardly recognise him. It was then that she decided to have Brian baptised. “My other children had been baptised and I wanted the same for Brian,” she said. “I always had thoughts for his wellbeing.” Continued on page 2
The Personal Advocacy Service, which helps people with disabilities to claim their full sacramental and social life in the Church, has grown to 15 groups in nine parishes. All groups participated in "A Tapestry of the Heart" at the PAS 15th anniversary celebrations. This picture shows the splash of colour made by the Morley evening group. FULL STORY PAGE 3
Millions to see the relics of St Francis Xavier An estimated 8,000 pilgrims, some from overseas, attended the opening ceremony of the six-week exposition of the remains of St. Francis Xavier.
The 43-day exposition, held every 10 years, is expected to draw 3 million pilgrims and tourists and attract international media to Goa, on India’s south-
F E AT U R E S
western coast. Archbishop Ferrao of Goa led a concelebrated Mass at the Basilica of Bom Jesus. He urged people to cultivate “a reconciliatory attitude”
toward all, following the “shining example” of the 16th-century Basque saint. St. Francis Xavier co-founded the Society of Jesus in 1534 with St.
INDEX
The culture of death An analysis of the ‘thinkers’ who led our world astray Pages 7-9
- Pages 12 & 13 World News - Page 14 Reviews - Page 15 Classifieds - Page 6 Editorial & Letters - Page 10 I Say, I Say
Ignatius of Loyola and eight other companions. In 1542 he reached Goa, then the main Portuguese centre in India and a base for evangelization. - CNS
The latest license issued for human embryo research shows the scale of destruction of human embryos involved according to the Coalition for the Defence of Human Life Spokesman Richard Egan said "This latest license issued on November 5, brings to 1,356 the number of human embryos consigned to destruction in the name of science under the Commonwealth's Research Involving Human Embryos Act 2002. Of these human embryos 350 will be destroyed in an attempt to create new human embryonic stem cell lines. Tellingly the latest license for a cooperative project between IVF Australia and the Diabetes Transplant Unit at the Prince of Wales Hospital provides for up to 100 human embryos to be destroyed in the hope of establishing just six new lines of human embryonic stem cells. "The other 1,006 human embryos will be destroyed in attempts to improve IVF culture of human embryos, and most tragically in perfecting new eugenic screening techniques to better identify human embryos with unwanted genetic characteristics so they can be weeded out in the IVF process. "There are said to be some 70,000 human embryos in frozen storage in Australia, It is generally accepted internationally that only about 3% of the stockpile of human embryos will be available for research. Continued on page 4
MOVIES
Christmas To be or not to be makes a good yarn Page 14
INSIDE: Great books on silence and meditation - Page 14 ● Give a Catholic book (and a little inspiration) for Christmas! - Page 16