Website Rest
January 2019
This website is very regularly updated throughout the year (and indeed has been for the last 11 years), except for January when its voluntary operator takes some much needed rest. It will still be updated in January but less regularly than usual unless there is 'breaking news', which is always possible. Particular News items will also be published where possible, as will Prayers Of The Faithful, the weekly Newsletter and some other content. For others also having a rest may we all come back re-energised to face what is likely to be an exciting year for our Parish and wider Church. Meanwhile do keep an eye on the website.
Senate passes modern slavery bill
Extract from Cath News, CBS News, 29 November 2018
Labor has criticised a new regime requiring large companies to report on modern slavery in supply chains because it lacks penalties for non-compliance. Businesses turning over more than $100 million will have to report what they are doing to stamp out slavery in supply chains. But companies won’t face any penalties for shirking responsibility or false reporting - a leading criticism of the legislation which passed the Senate yesterday. “Big business cannot be trusted to police themselves on modern slavery,” Labor frontbencher Don Farrell said. “The experience overseas makes the need for penalties crystal clear.” Government minister Linda Reynolds said civil penalties would be examined in a review of the scheme due three years after the laws come into place. “Business feedback shows market scrutiny as well as reputational risk and reward will drive compliance more effectively than punitive penalties,” Senator Reynolds said. Modern slavery practices include people trafficking, forced labour, debt bondage and forced marriage. More than 40 million people worldwide are believed to be victims of modern slavery, including 4300 Australians. The draft laws will go to the House of Representatives to approve government changes requiring allowing the minister to send a please explain to companies failing to report. Under the amendments, the minister also must report annually to parliament about how the regime is working....(more)
ABC school funding analysis 'fraught with problems'
Extracts from CathNews, Catholic Education Commission, 23 November 2018
An ABC News investigation published online yesterday revealed more than a third of private schools received more public funding that similar public schools in 2016. “Comparing schools with similar socio-economic characteristics using ‘per-student’ funding data is fraught with problems because it ignores variables such as school size and teacher salaries,” NCEC acting executive director Ray Collins said. “The data on the MySchool website does not represent the funding governments provide to system schools, but the funding that school systems allocate to meet schools’ needs, based on size and student disadvantage. Systems must reallocate funding from their larger schools to their smaller schools to address student need and cover costs. “The key point here is ‘Do government schools attract more public funding (state and federal combined) than Catholic schools?’ and the answer is ‘Yes, they do’. That has always been the case and remains the case today.”......“Schools have many fixed costs, therefore mathematically the cost of running a smaller school is higher; the cost of the principal, for example, will be double on a per-student basis in Rydalmere because it has half the number of students,” Mr Collins said....(more)
50th Wedding Anniversary
Our congratulation, blessings and best wishes to Rhonda and Ernest Clarke who are celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary at Mother of God this Sunday.
Moving our Embassy in Israel
Extract from Parish Newsletter, 19 October 2018
News
that our government will consider moving our Embassy in Israel from Tel
Aviv to Jerusalem may seem of little consequence to most people in
Ivanhoe but to those of us who have spent time in the Holy Land and have
developed friendships with local Palestinian Christians and Muslims it
is heartbreaking. What our Palestinian Christian brothers and sisters
must be thinking of our nation at the moment doesn’t bear thinking
about. For Government leaders to say that moving our Embassy to
Jerusalem would not impact on its commitment to a two-state solution is
ludicrous. The two-state solution and the so called peace process is
not working and has been deliberately undermined. The reason for this is
that Israel, supported by US policy, constantly undermines Palestinian
hopes for autonomy by expanding settlements, forced removal of families
from their homes and farms, and entrenching the illegal occupation of
Palestine. To move the embassy is to reward this behaviour and signal an
end to any genuine bipartisan commitment. What makes this
announcement even more tragic is that it is so obviously linked to the
Wentworth by-election and the hope of gaining a few more Jewish votes.
But while this may attract the support of the more extreme Zionists many
moderate Jews who also long for a peaceful and just two state solution
also oppose any foreign embassies moving to Jerusalem before the “final
status” of Jerusalem is decided....(more) Image: The Age Jerusalem 20181019 Shutterstock
St Vincent de Paul Society
Friday 12 October 2018
A member of the Society will address the parishioners this weekend, Observance Sunday, to thank you for all the assistance you have given during the year and to encourage parishioners to consider joining the society.
New research shows Australian teens have complex views on religion and spirituality
Extract from Andrew Singleton, Associate Professor of Sociology and Social Research, Deakin University; Anna Halafoff, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Deakin University; Gary D Bouma, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Monash University (and friend of The Conversation); Mary Lou Rasmussen, Professor, School of Sociology, Australian National University, The Conversation, September 18, 2018
It’s perhaps not surprising that few Australian teens are
engaged in formal religion and its practice. But, according to a new national
study, many young people are nonetheless interested in spirituality, taking a
complex and broad-minded approach to the issue. As researcher Andrew Singleton
writes, the findings further challenge the idea that Australia is largely a
Christian country, with teenagers at the forefront of overturning old ideas and
constructing new ones. The researchers found that teenagers broadly fit into six
groups on matters of spirituality, from those with strong convictions to those
questioning and discovering. And what is also striking is that they are
remarkably tolerant of others’ views on the matter. As the researchers often
heard: “it’s all good”. The 2016
Census suggested about a third of Australian teens had no religion. But ask
a teenager themselves about religion, rather than the parent or guardian
filling in the census form, and the picture is slightly different. According to our new national survey,
at least half of teens say they are “religious nones” - those who do not
identify with a religion or religious group. Digging deeper, we found a more
complicated picture of faith and spirituality among young Australians. Most Gen
Z teens have little to do with organised religion in their personal lives,
while a significant proportion are interested in different ways of being
spiritual. Migration, diversity, secularisation and a burgeoning spiritual marketplace
challenge the notion that we are a “Christian” country. More than any other
group, teenagers are at the forefront of this remaking of Australian religion.
Their daily experience of secondary school and social media sees them bumping
into all kinds of difference. Teens are forming their own strong views about
existential matters. Our national study by scholars from ANU, Deakin and Monash – the AGZ Study –
comprises 11 focus groups with students in Years 9 and 10 (ages 15-16) in three
states, a nationally representative telephone survey of 1,200 people aged
13-18, and 30 in-depth, follow-up interviews. …(more) Image: Teenagers, abstract collage, Katrina Frazer
Father Hans Zollner: Post abuse crisis, how can we get back to our Christian roots?
Extract from Jim McDermott, America, The Jesuit Review, 17 September 2018
Hans Zollner, S.J., is a licensed German psychologist and psychotherapist with a doctorate in theology and one of the church’s leading experts in the area of safeguarding minors. He is the president of the Centre for Child Protection at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, a member on the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and a consultor to the Congregation for the Clergy. America spoke with Father Zollner in July and followed up recently as the sexual abuse crisis in the United States continues to roil the church. This is the first of three interviews James McDermott, S.J., is conducting about the abuse crisis. What is your reaction to what we’ve seen in the United States and elsewhere over the last month? The strongest impression I have is that it has now reached another level. The discussion and the awareness and the intensity, especially in the United States, is very surprising because you have gone through this for many years already. And it brings out the American [social and political] divisions that are visible in the country and in the church. But why is it so shocking for so many, left and right of the divide? It is because the extent of the cover-up by church leaders in the past and their co-responsibility for it (no matter what their ideological persuasion) are becoming clearer now. And then the question is how people deal today with all these issues.....(More)
Erring Shepherds
Extract from Association of Catholic Priests, Ireland, 10 September 2018
It
has pained me greatly to write this article. I deeply love the Catholic
Church – which has an unconditionally loving, merciful and triune God
at its centre. I have great respect and love for Pope Francis and have
worked closely throughout my life with many dedicated, hard working and
deeply spiritual priests. But
something is deeply wrong within the Catholic Church as is revealed in
the short history below of clerical and institutional abuse. The Church
has lost much of its moral leadership around the world, particularly
among younger Catholics in the northern hemisphere. The
problem, as clearly and frequently identified by Pope Francis, is a
pervasive and toxic culture of clericalism throughout the Catholic
hierarchy. Within clericalism I would include the related problems of
the sexual abuse of children by a small minority of clergy,
unaccountable power, careerism, imposed celibacy and a major lack of
effective involvement of lay men and women at all levels within the
Church. Lay people must be given back
effective ownership of their Church, in which they will work, in word
and action and partnership with clergy, guided by the Holy Spirit and a
deep knowledge of Sacred Scripture and strengthened divine Eucharist –
to help bring about on earth God’s Kingdom of unconditional love and
mercy for all human kind and all of nature. Let us have a Church of
mercy which is “a field hospital after battle” for the wounded, as Pope
Francis has said....(more)
Archbishop Names Ivanhoe Parish
Friday 31 August 2018
When the three Parishes in Ivanhoe were amalgamated in 2005 no official title was given to the new Parish. Normal practice is that every Parish, Church, School, Hospital or Catholic Institution receives a Patronal Title: either a Saint or a mystery of our Faith. Lack of a Patronal Title left us without a common name or Patron Saint for the Parish as a whole. It also left us without a common Patronal Feast Day that all three communities within the Parish could celebrate in common. With the support of the Parish Pastoral Council the Archbishop has now granted the Parish the title ’Mary Mother of the Church’. In doing so the Archbishop has written to us in these words:
“Your request to name the Parish in honour of Our Lady (under the title Mary Mother of the Church) respects the history of the Parish and the future mission now entrusted to you and your parishioners. We can have no greater advocate than Our Lady to accompany the Church and each of us as disciples of her Son. It is important for Parishes to have feast days on which to gather, pray, celebrate and give thanks to God.” Our new title does not effect in any way the existing titles of our churches or schools which each have their own Patronal Title. The new title only applies to our Parish as a united whole. We now look forward to our first Patronal Feast Day, on the new feast recently proclaimed by Pope Francis, the Feast of Mary Mother of the Church which is celebrated each year on the Monday after Pentecost. Next year that feast falls on 10th June - so prepare for a very big Parish Party!
Archbishop Comensoli meets mother of abuse victim
Extracts from CathNews, ABC News, 31 August 2018
In his first public speech since his installation as Archbishop of Melbourne, Archbishop Peter A. Comensoli has been confronted by the 93-year-old mother of an abuse victim who took her own life in 1994. Source: ABC News. Eileen Piper asked the Archbishop to look at a photo of her daughter Stephanie Piper lying dead in her coffin. The Church has long denied Stephanie Piper was abused by Fr Gerard Mulvale in the 1970s, accusing her of fabricating the story due to mental illness. Mulvale was convicted the year after Stephanie’s death of abusing two boys from his youth group. Mrs Piper’s lawyer, Judy Courtin, asked Archbishop Comensoli to “rectify this wrong”. “Please receive this dossier, read it, meet with Mrs Piper, and take action to bring an end to this horror,” Ms Courtin said. The Archbishop walked from the stage to Mrs Piper and took the photo in his hand. “I’d like to be able to meet with you,” Archbishop Comensoli said. “But then I need to consider your own circumstances and the circumstances of what happened to Stephanie, and then I’ll be able to respond further.”....In his speech, Archbishop Comensoli said the Church needed to lose its “corporate” image.....(more)
Pope Francis issues new letter on sex abuse: ‘We showed no care for the little ones’
Extracts from Nicole Winfield - Associated Press, America The Jesuit Review, 20 August 2018
Pope Francis
issued a letter to Catholics around the world Monday condemning the
"crime" of priestly sexual abuse and its cover-up and demanding
accountability, in response to new revelations in the United States of
decades of misconduct by the Catholic Church. Francis
begged forgiveness for the pain suffered by victims and said lay
Catholics must be involved in any effort to root out abuse and cover-up.
He blasted the self-referential clerical culture that has been blamed
for the crisis, with church leaders more concerned for their reputation
than the safety of children. "With shame and repentance, we
acknowledge as an ecclesial community that we were not where we should
have been, that we did not act in a timely manner, realizing the
magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives," Francis
wrote. "We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them." The
Vatican issued the three-page letter ahead of Francis' trip this
weekend to Ireland, a once staunchly Roman Catholic country where the
church's credibility has been damaged by years of revelations that
priests raped and molested children with impunity and their superiors
covered up for them.....In the letter,
which was issued in seven languages and addressed to the "People of
God," Francis referenced the Pennsylvania report, acknowledged that no
effort to beg forgiveness of the victims will be sufficient but vowed
"never again." He said, looking to the
future, "no effort must be spared to create a culture able to prevent
such situations from happening, but also to prevent the possibility of
their being covered up and perpetuated."...."Let
us beg forgiveness for our own sins and the sins of others," he wrote.
"An awareness of sin helps us to acknowledge the errors, the crimes and
the wounds caused in the past and allows us, in the present, to be more
open and committed along a journey of renewed conversion."(MORE). Photo: America The Jesuit Review AP Gregorio Borgia
Ampleforth and Downside (English Benedictine Congregation case study) Investigation Report August 2018, UK
Extract from Executive summary with link to full report, 14 August 2018
There are 10 English Benedictine Congregation (EBC) monasteries in England and none in Wales. Some of the abbeys have schools associated with them, including Ampleforth and Downside. Both are regarded as leading Catholic independent schools, each with acknowledged academic and sporting achievement, and both are now co-educational. The
EBC is not pyramidical in structure; it has no recognisable line
management oversight. Each abbot or abbess has responsibility for their
own community, which is autonomous. Nor does the monastic order fit
neatly into the Catholic diocesan structure, meaning that the
relationship to a diocesan bishop is usually collaborative rather than
hierarchical. It is difficult
to describe the appalling sexual abuse inflicted over decades on
children aged as young as seven at Ampleforth School, and 11 at Downside
School. Ten individuals, mostly
monks, connected to these two institutions have been convicted or
cautioned in relation to offences involving sexual activity with a large
number of children, or offences concerning pornography. The true scale
of the abuse however is likely to be considerably higher. Some examples
of the abuse are set out below......(full report) © Crown copyright 2018
Welcome Archbishop Comensoli: Pope Francis’ new shepherd in Melbourne celebrates Installation Mass
Extract from Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne Media and Communications Office, Thursday 2nd August 2018
Archbishop Peter Andrew Comensoli took his place on Wednesday night in one of the nation’s most influential Catholic pulpits as the ninth Archbishop of Melbourne. Archbishop Comensoli, 54, is a former banker who has led the Diocese of Broken Bay for the past three and a half years. He was officially inaugurated in a liturgy of installation at St Patrick’s Cathedral rich in the symbolism and magisterial ritual of the Church; a ceremony based on more than 1000 years of tradition, solemnity and celebration. Concelebrants included Melbourne’s Emeritus Archbishop Denis J Hart and Australian Bishops Conference president Archbishop Mark Coleridge, as well as archbishops and bishops from across Australia and clergy from the Archdiocese of Melbourne. Archbishop-elect Comensoli then entered the cathedral at the West Door, where the Dean of the Cathedral John Salvano offered him a crucifix to kiss and holy water with which to bless himself and the congregation. The new archbishop’s arrival represents a generational changing of the guard for the archdiocese, but he assured the faithful that the office’s commitment to Catholic teaching and tradition would continue unchanged. In the wake of one of the greatest challenges to the Church, it is clear that Archbishop Comensoli shares the same passion for justice as the man he replaces, Emeritus Archbishop Denis Hart. In interviews, Archbishop Comensoli has previously vowed to ‘right the grievous wrongs of the past’ and rebuild trust following the widespread damage caused by the child sex abuse scandal that has plagued the Church in recent decades.....(more) Photo: Melbourne Catholic. View live stream of the Mass Here (2'30")
relic - bone remains of one of Buddha's disciples - with a white cloth. They thanked the holy spirits for their rescue, and paid tribute to Saman Kunan, the only rescuer who died during the dramatic rescue
mission. Fourteen-year-old Adul Sam-on was the only one in the
group of 13 — a dozen boys aged 11 to 16 and their coach — who did not
join the ceremony on Tuesday and will not serve as a Buddhist novice
because he is a Christian. Thai Buddhist males are expected to enter
the monkhood at some point in their lives to express gratitude.
Sangiemjit Wongsukchan, the mother of 14-year-old Ekarat Wongsukchan,
told The Guardian her son will go “back to his normal life” after
this. “We can only do this for nine days because then he will have
to go back to study and prepare for exams. Back to his normal
life.”.....(More) Photos: news.com.au AFP
Spare a thought for the new archbishop
Where bishops once had the last say, they are now just another voice in public debate
Limited extract from Eric Hodgens, subscription journal La Croix International, 23 July 2018
A bishop’ job is part shepherd, part leader, part ruler, part manager. Pope Francis insists that pastoral care is the primary role. The Melbourne Catholic Church is getting a new bishop. At 54 he can look forward to 21 years in that post. What is the scenario Archbishop Peter Comensoli is walking into? It is not a good time to be a bishop. Over the last 50 years Western culture has dramatically changed. Contemporary culture is secular and pluralist. Authority, once derived from status, now must be won. Where bishops once had the last say, they are now just another voice in public debate. The Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference (ACBC) has problems. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has diminished episcopal authority in the public forum. Meanwhile, within the church institution, some bishops take a strong, conservative line on issues like abortion, same-sex marriage and dying with dignity, asserting that their views are “the church’s teaching.”....(source) Photo: La Croix International, Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne.