oótl Perth: October 19 2000
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Archbishop Hickey calls us to evangelisation: World Mission Day Perspective
Perth couple heading to Rome for Jubilee of the Disabled
Fr Sean Sorahan RIP
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Kids: gift, not a right By Benedicta Cipolla VATICAN CITY (CNS) - With the sound of rain pattering behind him and thousands of umbrellas shielding mothers, fathers and infants before him, Pope John Paul II urged families to place children first and respect the traditional family. More than 150,000 people thronged St Peter's Square despite heavy rain last Sunday, 15 October, for an outdoor Mass marking the culmination of the Jubilee for Families. An encounter with the Pope the previous afternoon gathered some 250,000 pilgrims under drier skies. Rain or shine, the theme was the same: Surrounded by the "winter" of societal attacks on the institution of the family, children mark a "springtime" of hope. "They represent the flowering of conjugal love," said the Pope, stressing children's "message of life" and, with their newborn neediness and dependence on their parents, an "appeal to solidarity." Deploring a growing modern attitude that views children "more as a threat than a gift," he said children were not merely an "accessory in the project of a conjugal life." "They are not optional." he said, "but a very precious gift, inscribed in the structure itself of conjugal union." Calling on the faithful to "reverse this trend" of regarding children as a burden, the Pope called the contemporary situation of children a "challenge to all of society." Both the 14 October prayer vigil and 15
proclaimed her love and fidelity to Nicolas Segoviano, a Mexican-American also from San Jose. After he imparted his blessing on the newlyweds and thanked pilgrims for their "perseverance and courage" in braving the elements to attend the Mass, the Pope invited all families to the Fourth World Meeting of Families, to be held in Manila in the Philippines, in 2003. Trevor and Deidre Lyra of Forrestfield in Perth and the State President of the Australian Family Association. John Barich. from Applecross parish, represented the Archdiocese of Perth at the Rome Jubilee, Pope John Paul criticised the widespread acceptance of divorce, saying many children "will always bear the psychological sign of the trial that the division of their parents subjected them to." At the same time, the Pope said the Those gathered for the Jubilee for Families cheer as Pope John Paul II makes his way through St "Church feels called not to express a severe and distanced judgment." Peter's Square last Sunday, 15 October, Even those who have divorced and October Mass included emotional the weddings of eight couples from eight remarried civilly, while in a state of "objecmoments between the Pope and children, different countries. tive moral disorder," are invited to particiencounters with whom have often moved Wagga, New South Wales couple, Robert pate in the life of the Church. he said. him deeply throughout his pontificate. Slee and Elizabeth Mills, represented Auswas phenomenon Divorce just one where Afflicted by a neurological disorder com- tralia as they took their marriage vows children's rights were often overlooked, monly believed to be Parkinson's disease, before the Pope. which severely limits the Pope's facial Yellow and white papal umbrellas kept said the Pope, and despite advances in expressions, the 80-year-old pontiff broke some of the rain off the couples and their recognising the rights of the youngest Into rare smiles as he blessed youngsters. wedding finery, which ranged from white, members of society, in practice they were Several children remained at the Pope's Western gowns to a colourful robe from often denied. side to whisper in his ear, and he repaid Cameroon and elegant embroidery from For example, he referred to the growing their gestures by speaking with them in Korea. use of fertility treatments that the Church return and embracing them fondly. The couples beamed while reading their did not condone, such as in vitro fertilisaThe Sunday Mass included another mov- vows, and the voice of Lidia Chavez of San tion or genetic screening. ing ceremony when the Pope celebrated Jose, California, shook with emotion as she Continued on Page 11
I rainian lung of the Church breathes at St Mary's By Peter Rosengren Incense, icons, bright national costumes, sacred music that could have come straight off the Ukrainian steppe and rich, colourful vestments not usually sighted abounded in St Mary's Cathedral last Sunday. They were all part of the second chapter in a special Perth celebration of the Great Jubilee Year called by Pope John Paul II to commemorate the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ. For the second time in a month, St Mary's in Victoria Square, Perth, was transformed for a Mass of a very different kind - an eastern Byzantine-rite liturgy of St John Chrysostom. While the first chapter, celebrated in St Mary's by Melkite Catholics on 10 September, showcased Christianity in the Arab, or middle-eastern, tradition, last Sunday's liturgy was very much a Ukrainian affair. Presided over by Archbishop Barry Hickey and cele- Ukrainian layman, Volodymyr Kania, second from the right, sings the Epistle in Ukrainian during the Byzantine-rite liturgy in St brated by Fr Vladimir Kalinecki of the Ukrainian Catholic Mary's Cathedral last Sunday. Right, Father Vladimir Kalinecki presents the gifts to the people at the Great Entrance part of the Church in Maylands, the liturgy was the second collab- liturgy before the Consecration, assisted by Melkite Catholic parish priest, Fr Andre Nahhas. Fr Kalinecki said he saw this liturPhotos: Peter Roserxiren oration between 'Roman' and 'Eastern' Catholics to mark gical gesture as "Jesus coming to give himself to the people". the Jubilee in Perth. endar or 15 October in the Julian calendar. Sunday's Two saints saw her appear in a Constantinople church Like the first, it had been organised by Archbishop Feast was of special significance to Ukrainian Catholics indicating that she would protect the city from destrucHickey's Committee for the Great Jubilee. who have faced persecution for their faith over hundreds tion; at the last moment, the invading hordes turned And, like the first occasion, the event was something of of years, but especially in the 20th century. away. an eye-opener for Roman Catholics who are usually It commemorates the 10th century episode when the More recently, it has been estimated that approximateunaware that such things as Eastern Catholic churches centre of Eastern Christianity, Constantinople, was threat- ly seven million Ukrainians were deliberately starved to exist. ened with invasion and Mary, the Mother of God - known death in the 1930s by the Soviet Communist dictator, The occasion was the Eastern Christian Feast of the Pro- in Eastern Christianity as the Theotokos - was besieged Josef Stalin, as he strove to take control of the nation that tection of the Mother of God, celebrated variously by with prayer by the city's inhabitants for her intercession was known as Europe's bread basket and eradicate its Ukrainian Catholics on 1 October in the Gregorian cal- and protection. churches. - Continued on Page 8