Letters: We knelt in street

The
Catholic Weekly
Online

Sydney
23 May 2004

Swans fly high with Vinnies Appeal

Bishops’ urgent call on detainees

Maronites celebrate new saint

Agencies divided over ‘best’ or ‘cruel’ Budget

It all comes down to love, Susie tells aid luncheon

Boys Town, AA, Grow and Fr Tom

Pitter patter: Why not support groups for dads, too?

Aust bishops commend new Mass translation

Cardinal at All Saints jubilee

Bishop to speak about ‘morning after’ pill

Prayer for end to drought

Cardinal’s Comment: Light years better, but system’s still tough

Dinner tribute to archbishop in Goulburn parish merger

Editorial: A just solution

Letters: We knelt in street

Conversation: Dr Brigid Vout, director of the Life Office - Spreading the message ‘with compassion’

A different Australia

Oilfield justice would be nice, too

Cardinal hears the view of young leaders

Speaking out!

St Patrick’s College proud of $5m makeover

Club has great tradition of service and facilities

Club proud supporter of parish, children

Vale – the ‘soldier’s padre’

Australia’s first trained social worker

Faith plays role for Alan

Girls will sing at St Peter’s

Eaglereach: ultimate wilderness experience

Parish Mass a vital part of Tadgh’s game plan

Letters: We knelt in street

I was very interested to read about the Eucharistic Congress held in Sydney in 1928 (Sydney spellbound by Eucharistic Congress, Timelines CW 2/5).

I was a 16-year-old teenager and remember it all so well.

I remember standing in the street watching the procession, the men from Holy Name Sodality marching about 10 abreast, singing loudly the We stand for God hymn.

The Children of Mary with their blue capes seemed to go on forever. We knelt in the street as the Blessed Eucharist passed us.

My sister and I went to the Showground; in fact, we went to everything we could. I have never forgotten it all. I am now 92.

(Miss) May Chauvin
Bateau Bay, NSW

GRACES AND BLESSINGS

I would like to share my news with all the readers of The Catholic Weekly; indeed, to shout it from the rooftops.

Six years ago we were given permission by our parish priest to celebrate Holy Hour every morning during Lent. We had to start at 5am so as to get the Divine Mercy and Rosary said before the 7am Mass.

So many graces and blessings have been brought on to the parish. It’s wonderful. Try it in your parish.

When you sit in front of the sun, you get burnt by the sun. But when you sit in front of the Blessed Sacrament you get burnt with the son of God.

(Mrs) Marie Kelly
Florida Gardens, Qld

JUSTICE, NOT CHARITY

The Howard Government can play with $37 billion in an election budget, but at the same time has cut its modest aid to East Timor.

I was in Dili recently and our group visited a family who told us they were hungry. Even so, they brought cut some corn and some boiled bananas to share with us.

They rarely eat meat, saying that they would have a chicken on “happy Christmas”. In East Timor, this family’s situation is normal. However, they want justice not charity.

East Timor is requesting that the dispute over its sea border with Australia be settled by using the internationally accepted standard of a median line, that is, half-way. Such a border would ensure for East Timor a consistent income, about $US12 billion over 20 years, which would enable the nation to feed and employ its citizens without going into debt.

Since 1999, Australia has taken resources worth a million dollars a day from areas of the Timor Sea whose ownership is under dispute, a total of $2 billion, a sum which dwarfs any aid we’ve given to Timor.

Australia is also claiming at least 60 per cent of the resources which lie on East Timor’s side of a median line, and has withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the Tribunal for the Law of the Sea so that there won’t be an umpire to interfere.

Can you imagine the outcry if the Timorese were claiming resources on our side of a half-way line?

Sr Susan Connelly
Mary MacKillop Institute of East Timorese Studies
St Marys, NSW

CHANGES IN SCHOOLS

The feature on Catholic schools (Schools special – 2004, CW 9/5) highlights the changes in our Catholic schools.

For more than 100 years the schools were staffed by nuns and brothers. Now their places have mainly been taken by dedicated lay people.

Geoffrey M Prendergast
North Ryde, NSW

LARGER MESSAGE

In the light of objections to The Passion of the Christ, I draw attention to a statement by Fr Thomas Williams, dean of the school of theology at Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome, who was a theological consultant for the Mel Gibson movie:

“Gibson’s film has been subjected to unprecedented scrutiny in effortsto find fault with his depiction of Christ’s passion and death. This was to be expected, given the importance of the subject matter.

“Despite these efforts, however, the picayune quibbles expressed by many of his critics border on the ridiculous.

“Complaints concerning the languages spoken, the height of the cross, the length of Jesus’ hair, the size of the crowd in Pilate’s praetorium and the placement of the nails in Jesus’ hands seem strangely trivial in the face of the larger message of the film.”

Fr John George
Randwick North, NSW

YES, MINISTER?

If Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott is fair dinkum about abortion (Abbott calls Catholics to action over abortion, CW 2/5), he should either resign from his portfolio (which finances up to 100,000 abortions a year) or at least request another portfolio.

As a “passionate Catholic” he should know that you cannot serve two masters.

No practising Catholic needs to be told by Tony Abbott that abortion is wrong, so one must wonder how he got your front page. It must be an election year.

Patrick Dunn
Yass, NSW

YES, MINISTER!

Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott (Abbott calls Catholics to action over abortion CW 2/5) has called on us to campaign for a change in abortion laws by stating “repeatedly and indefatigably” the Church’s traditional position on the killing of children in the womb.

For Tony Abbott to come out and publicly make these statements is a very commendable effort.

I believe this represents a special opportunity for Catholics and the wider pro-life community alike, an opportunity that is not to be missed.

Tony Abbott has extended his invitation to “let the world know that the Church hasn’t gone soft on this, or forgotten about it, or moved on from it.”

He has stated that he would like to see a constituency for change; this constituency can only occur, however, if enough people make their position heard.

I strongly encourage all Catholics to write a letter of support to Mr Abbott as well as a letter to Prime Minister John Howard stating your position on this most urgent and relevant issue.

Write to: Minister Tony Abbott, Suite MG 43, Parliament House, Canberra, ACT, 2600 and Prime Minister John Howard, Parliament House, Canberra, ACT, 2600.

G Hempel
Tweed Heads, NSW