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Experts on women sought
Spirit of prayer defeating drug addiction at Cross Roads agency By Peter Rosengren
Satan is having a field day with society and some of the results can be seen in the addicted lives of those who come to the Catholic Church's Cross Roads agency in Fremantle seeking help, a young Catholic priest, Father Paul Baczynski, said last Friday night. Helping the drug-addicted escape their hellish existence was the focus for a cocktail party at the Italian Club in Fremantle last Friday night - organised as a special 'thank you' function for all those who have helped set up and run Cross Roads. Supporters were also briefed on upcoming developments for the agency. Archbishop Barry Hickey told listeners that there was "a new breed" emerging in the Church Australia's Catholic bishops authoritarian" structures, accord- young people who had lived the Fruits of sin in areas such as drug have been asked to nominate ing to the report. This group comprised about addiction, but they had rediscovpossible commissioners as a first step in the formation of 2,700 individual women who ered the Church and were on fire the Commission for Australian made written submissions, spoke with love for it. A psychiatric nurse announced Catholic Women, which is at public hearings or met in spethat she and Cross Roads supcial target groups for the consulintended to be an "expert porters who work in the relevant rather than representative" tation, and about 800 groups, professional areas were developmainly of women, who made organisation. ing a professional drug awareness written submissions. program for Catholic schools The Australian Catholic BishThe new commission is expectops' Conference decided in May ed to be set up after December's based on spiritual values. Archbishop Hickey established to set up the commission. plenary meeting of the Bishops' Cross Roads as an archdiocesan At the time, the conference conference. The implementation agency after being approached by authorised a separate committee committee, chaired by Brisbane's Fr Baczynski, a former assistant of six bishops and five women Auxiliary Bishop Michael Putney, priest in the parish of Bateman. dealing with the implementation The agency. which offers counis seeking nominations from indiof the earlier three-year investiselling and intensive spiritual vidual bishops for the commisgation into the participation of assistance through prayer to those women in the Catholic Church. sion, which will have a chair and seeking to escape addictions, has eight members. published as Woman and Man: been functioning in East Street, Its members are expected to One in Christ Jesus. to prepare embrace a wide mix of character- Fremantle, for the last five the way for the commission. months. Two quite different opinions istics, backgrounds and skills. Fr Baczynski told the more than "The commission is intended to about this participation were 200 supporters last Friday he had uncovered in the research and be an expert rather than a repre- been "truly humbled" by the genreport into- the controversial sub- sentative body," a statement from erosity of people. the general secretariat of the bishject. Cross Roads takes its name from The majority of the largest group ops' conference said. a verse in the Old Testament's Bishop Putney added that the of women whose views were used Book Of Jeremiah (6:16): "Yahweh for the report - 3,000 women at committee was "attempting to says this: stand at the crossroads Masses around Australia one make the membership as inclu- and look, ask for the ancient Sunday in 1996 for the Catholic sive as possible." paths: which was the good way? 'We hope that the Commission Take it and you will rind rest for Church Life Survey - "do not feel unwelcome in the parish and do will be an effective focal point for your souls." not experience barriers prevent- ongoing dialogue with women; it Fr Baczynski said society was ing them from participating in the will assist in the implementation materially doing very well in Church in the way they wish," the of the decisions and recommen- areas such as technology and scireport found. dations adopted by the Bishops' ence but was failing dismally in But the majority of a second Conference in the wake of the morals and standards. group consulted believed the research project on women's par"Satan is having a field day," he "fundamental barrier" was a set ticipation in the Church in Aus- said, adding later: "the fruits of of "patriarchal attitudes and tra- tralia. society are very unbalanced." ditions" and "hierarchical and Continued on Page 11 He said miracles had already
Fr Baczynski: hope in prayer
Mr Marlborough: hope in the Church
taken place at the agency which "runs on the power of God's love." "We've seen miracles take place at Cross Roads just in a few moments of praying with someone," he said. It is God's power "which enables you brothers and sisters to help those who have fallen into habitual addictions," he said, adding that just as Jesus cured lepers, so today's lepers were the addicted. The answer lay in not only flexing the physical and intellectual
'biceps', but the spiritual one too, he said. "There are so many who in the last five months have come to me who are broken. They may be 25 to 30 years old, but emotionally they are children," he said. The State Parliament's Member for Peel, Norm Marlborough, a board member of Cross Roads, told those attending that only the Church could maintain a longrange plan in this essential work. It was beyond the capacity of Government to do so, he said. He also told listeners how an 11year-old girl he knows is acting as the real 'parent' to her two drugaddicted parents and relies on prayer to give her the strength to keep going. Mr Marlborough said he had become involved with Cross Roads because of a family close to him whose 15-year-old daughter had died from drug addiction. The MP said that "with governments, regardless of who's in power, budgets and priorities change." The advantage of a private organisation working in the area was that it is free from Government dictates and budget priority changes, he said. "So the need to have a private organisation is paramount. absolutely paramount. andI can't think of a better organisation to have in WA than an organisation backed by the Catholic Church," he said. Mr Marlborough said he regularly sees "the shells" of families that are left after addiction hits them. However the one thing common to those who have resurrected their lives from the addiction nightmare is that they have found something spiritual, such as the 11-year-old whose mother had just come out of jail for her sixth drugs-related conviction and whose father was also a heroin addict. "That girl is aged 11 going on 43," he said, adding: "She's the backbone of the family. "We're at the stage where we ought not to be asking how we can help . . . . we ought to be asking 'why aren't we helping?'," he said. As for Cross Roads, he said "I believe it's the spiritual golden thread that's needed in our community Continued on Page 11
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