Volume 19, Issue 10

To the words of All Are Welcome, Archbishop Denis Hart opened the ceremony to celebrate the solemn dedication of St Francis Xavier Church, Corio, 21 years after the church was opened.

Volume 19, Issue 10 

The primary and secondary school religious education texts produced by the Archdiocese of Melbourne have been officially recognised by the Holy See as a major contribution to the transmission of the Catholic Faith.

Volume 19, Issue 10

Horrific machete injuries may seem an unlikely catalyst for a career in surgery, but when young Melbourne medical student Chris Brooks volunteered at Kijabe Mission hospital in Kenya that is exactly what happened.

Volume 19, Issue 10

Just over 30 years ago, retired lawyer Andrew Sholl met the late Fr Elias Friedman OCD at the Stella Maris Carmelite Monastery on Mount Carmel, in Haifa, Israel. Within two years of their meeting, Mr Sholl and Fr Elias established the Association of Hebrew Catholics to enable Catholics who are of Jewish origin or background to openly live out their Israelite identity while being faithful Catholics.

Volume 19, Issue 10

While most human deaths are ‘natural’, being the result of ageing, injury or disease, the choice of ‘voluntary’ death – suicide, assisted suicide and euthanasia (SASE) – has been a human response to the problems of life since the beginning of recorded history. In the West, social acceptance of these actions has varied over time.

Volume 19, Issue 10

Glossy magazines wallpaper the front aisles at a local newsagency. “Practise the perfect pout” and avoid meat and dairy products monthly to ensure ‘smooth skin’, suggests one magazine helpfully. A free ‘bling ring’ entices potential purchasers of another, and advertises a perfumed ‘Bed Wand’ and The Body Shop blusher on its ‘Get back to girly glamour’ page.

Volume 19, Issue 10

At any given time there are many millions of refugees in the world. In 2006, there were 32.9 million people of concern to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. This represented a more than 56% increase on 2005. Of the 32.9 million people of concern, 9.9 million were refugees, 12.8 million were internally displaced, 5.8 million were stateless and all did not have a place to call ‘home’.The United Nations has designated 20 June each year as World Refugee Day; and in Australia, non-government organisations (NGOs) will celebrate Refugee Week from Sunday 15 to Saturday 21 June 2008.

Volume 19, Issue 10

Just after Easter last year, I had the opportunity to travel to Turkey as a part of my interfaith work for the Archdiocese. While it was not the official purpose of my journey, I did have in mind one particular goal: to visit the great Hagia Sophia Church in Istanbul (now a museum) which for more than a 1000 years was the greatest church in Christendom. When I walked through the doors of that astounding building and offered up a silent prayer at a spot where millions of Christians have prayed before me, I felt that I had completed my journey, and could return home with a sense of fulfillment.

Volume 19, Issue 10

A topic receiving more attention recently in debates on abortion is the question as to whether a foetus can suffer and feel pain. A book just published brings together evidence by experts, mainly Italian, on the subject.

Volume 19, Issue 10

Pope Paul VI issued Humanae Vitae in July 1968, a month after I became a Catholic at Oxford. ‘Great expectations’ were abroad. Experts predicted ‘a change’ in Church teaching on birth control. A pamphlet from Ealing Abbey prepared women for change. It vanished when the papal teaching appeared! I regret not buying a copy – a collectors’ item.

Volume 19, Issue 10

At the time of Kairos going to print, the Medical Treatment (Physician Assisted Dying) Bill 2008 is due to be debated by the Victorian Parliament in the Legislative Council in the week commencing 9 June 2008.

Volume 19, Issue 10

Following the release of the Victorian Law Reform Commission’s Final Report Law of Abortion on 29 May, the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Archbishop Denis Hart, has called on the Victorian Government to establish a Parliamentary Enquiry into abortion, before introducing legislation on abortion.

Volume 19, Issue 9

St Patrick’s Cathedral, the Mother Church of the Archdiocese of Melbourne, has a new website: www.stpatrickscathedral.org.au. 

Volume 19, Issue 9

On Sunday 13 April 2008 Archbishop Denis Hart celebrated with parish priest Fr Tony Guelen and 22 concelebrants a Thanksgiving Eucharist to mark 125 years of St Mary’s Parish, Dandenong.