october 07, 2012, vol 62, no 20

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www.catholicnews.sg SINGAPORE 50 CENTS / WEST MALAYSIA RM$1.20 MICA (P) 043 / 01 / 2012 PPS 201/04/2013 (022940) VOL 62 NO. 20 SUNDAY OCTOBER 7, 2012 HOME CHARIS in Myanmar Page 8 ASIA HK Church’s ‘open letter’ Page 10 WORLD Was Jesus ‘married’? Page 12 ‘Muslims, Christians can live side by side’ Pages 16-17 FOCUS Religious restrictions increase worldwide Page 19 MIGRANT SUNDAY FEATURE A look at the plight of foreigners on our soil Pages 20-21 INSIDE They called the Church together and reported what God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith. (Acts 14:27). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ARCHBISHOP’S MESSAGE ‘Year of Faith an occasion for conversion’ During the Year of Faith, I ask Catholics on the documents of Vatican II as well as to gain more familiarity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church. – Archbishop Chia on the special year, which will last from Oct 11, 2012 to Nov 24, 2013 Logo and archdiocesan theme for the Year of Faith Continued on page 2

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ARCHBISHOP’S MESSAGE: ‘Year of Faith an occasion for conversion’

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Page 1: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

w w w . c a t h o l i c n e w s . s g

SINGAPORE 50 CENTS / WEST MALAYSIA RM$1.20 MICA (P) 043 / 01 / 2012 PPS 201/04/2013 (022940) VOL 62 NO. 20SUNDAY OCTOBER 7, 2012

HOMECHARIS in Myanmar������������������ ���� Page 8

ASIAHK Church’s ‘open letter’������������������������������������������ ���� Page 10

WORLDWas Jesus ‘married’?� ����������� �������������������� Page 12

‘Muslims, Christians can live side by side’����������������� ������������ Pages 16-17

FOCUSReligious restrictions increase worldwide�������� ������� ������������� Page 19

MIGRANT SUNDAY FEATUREA look at the plight of foreigners on our soil� Pages 20-21

INSIDE

They called the Church together and reported what God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith. (Acts 14:27).

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ARCHBISHOP’S MESSAGE

‘Year of Faith anoccasion for conversion’

‘During the Year of Faith, I ask Catholics

������������� ����on the documents of

Vatican II as well as to gain more familiarity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church.’

– Archbishop Chia on the special year, which will last from Oct 11, 2012 to Nov 24, 2013

Logo and archdiocesan theme for the Year of Faith

� Continued on page 2

Page 2: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

2 Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNews22 HOME

ARCHBISHOP’S DIARYSep 30 9.30am Church of St Michael: Mass – Feastday 12.15pm Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour:

Mass – Migrants’ Sunday 6.00pm Church of St Teresa: Mass – FeastdayOct 05 6.00pm Church of Sts Peter and Paul:

Mass – Feast of St Faustina* �2X� 4072��� #��� �������Y� ������Y����3�#�=�����Oct 07 5.30pm Catholic Spirituality Centre: MassOct 11 8.00pm Cathedral of the Good Shepherd: Mass – Year of FaithOct 13 5.00pm CJC Training and Development Centre:

Mass – NCC Day

Various events have been lined up to mark the Year of Faith.

The archdiocese will launch the special year at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd on Oct 11 with a Mass at 8 pm.

Archbishop Nicholas Chia will be the main celebrant at the Mass.

Parishes, archdiocesan groups and Religious orders have been invited to send their representa-tives to participate in this Mass, according to organisers.

The celebration will also in- ����� ����� ���� ���� ��� ���#�� ��� �����= ��������������Pastoral Institute (SPI).

Meanwhile, SPI has already sent Year of Faith packages to par-ishes. These include banners bear-ing the Year of Faith logo, bulletin inserts explaining the logo, and special Prayers of the Faithful.

A prayer card will also be dis-tributed to parishes in October, ac-cording to SPI director Arthur Goh.

Catechetical director Fr Erbin Fernandez is giving two work-shops for the special year.

$���=��� ����� ����� ��� ��the Year of Faith for parish min-istries and Neighbourhood Chris-tian Communities. The second is introducing Catholics to the tool

for the realising the New Evan-gelisation – the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC).

There is also a follow-up work-shop on creating small Christian communities within ministries for parishes wanting to further imple-ment the new evangelisation.

So far, the Church of the Holy Spirit has held the Year of Faith workshop while the Church of the Holy Family has had the CCC workshop, according to Fr Erbin.

Other events lined up include the Archdiocesan Neighbourhood

Christian Communities (NCC) Day and Archdiocesan Youth Day.

NCC Day, to be held at Catho-lic Junior College on Oct 13, aims to help communities explore to-gether how each baptised Christian can be a witness of the faith and participate in the mission of Christ.

The Archdiocesan Youth Day will also be held at Catholic Jun-ior College, from Nov 16-17.

The event, which includes a ����������������� �=�������������of the larger Church and encourage them to be involved in parish life. �

Year of Faith to be launched at cathedral

Fr Erbin Fernandez conducting an introduction to the Year of Faith workshop. He will be holding several workshops in conjunction with the special year.

‘An occasion for conversion’� From page 1

relationship with Jesus – and re-member that faith is not an ideol-ogy but a personal encounter with the Risen Lord.

Here in Singapore, we will cele-brate this year with an emphasis on rediscovering who Christ is for us.

From the celebration of Neigh-bourhood Christian Communities (NCC) Day to the Archdiocesan Youth Day, and in every event of our calendar, let them lead the faithful to joyous rediscovery of Christ upon which the Church of

D��������=������ ���������0In local parishes, I would like to

see a better participation in the lit-urgy, especially the Eucharist, since in it the mystery of faith and source of the New Evangelisation, the faith of the Church is proclaimed, celebrated and strengthened.

I invite parishes to reconsider their own state of community; and to take their inner-life more seri-ously, to practise charity, forgive-ness, mercy, and peacemaking =�����������������������������witness the goodness of the Chris-tian community to others.

Rediscovering who Jesus is for us as a parish would be an es-������=�������������'����-gelisation.

I also invite all Catholics to approach the Sacrament of Recon-ciliation more regularly during the Year. The Sacrament restores and heals us, giving us the strength to begin again.

Conversion is an ongoing pro-cess when we freely choose to re-spond to an encounter with Christ’s love and mercy. The Year of Faith is an opportunity to embrace and respond to the call to conversion to our Lord ever more generously.

May our Mother Mary – Vir-gin most faithful – pray for us and obtain for us, through her heaven-ly intercession, the faith necessary for us to wholeheartedly take up the Holy Father’s invitation to ful-ly live this Year as a special time of grace and share with others that which is dearest to us – Christ Je-sus, who “leads our faith to per-fection” (Hb 12: 2). �

Yours in Christ,

Archbishop Nicholas Chia

Page 3: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

3Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNews HOME

By Don Gurugay

The Church of Our Lady of Lourdes has launched a com-memorative book of its 124-year history called The Dance of Faith.

The hardcover book, which includes a DVD on the history of the church, was presented to Archbishop Nicholas Chia during a Mass on Sept 23.

The celebration was the last day of a triduum dedicated to St Pio of Pietrelcina.

@$��� ������ '�� �� '��� =������������������������������= ���journey,” parish priest Fr Augustine Joseph told CatholicNews. “In-formation was scanty and photo-�������'�������= ����� ������0A

Material for the book was sourced from past and present pa-rishioners as well as priests who had served the parish, said Fr Jo-seph. “We are extremely grateful

for the dedication of these people who came forward and helped out.”

The book describes the de-velopment of the church in Ophir Road, and describes how it came to serve the Indian Catholic com-munity – both Singaporeans and migrants.

It highlights the roles played by various parish priests, especial-��� ��� =����� �������� ��� ����-pore, Archbishop Michael Olco-mendy, who was the parish priest during the Second World War.

The book gives the back-ground to various church struc-tures such as the adjacent school building, the presbytery, the grotto chapel and the main church build-ing. It also describes the impact of bombing on the church during the Second World War.

The Dance of Faith costs $50 a copy and is available from the ��������������

A parish’s Dance of FaithOur Lady of Lourdes Church launches commemorative book

Archbishop Chia was main celebrant at the Mass on Sept 23. The church serves many members of the Indian community, both local and foreign.

The Dance of Faith book comes with a 15-minute DVD on the history of the church.

Page 4: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

HOME

Pictures of past and present CHIJ students and staff as well as quotes from them will feature in a commemorative book.

Quill, as the book is called, will portray CHIJ from the early days of its founding to the pre-sent.

It is scheduled to be launched

Photo book coming upon Nov 9 at Artspace@Helutrans, 39, Keppel Road, Tanjong Pagar Distripark #01-07. Images from the book will also be exhibited.

The book and images will be sold to raise funds for the Infant Jesus Homes and Children’s Centres. The exhibition will last till Nov 25.

A look at Singapore’s CHIJ schools and their recent forum as

4 Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNews

CHIJ students urged to reach for their dreams

By Martin See

Seven hundred students from the 11 Convent of the Holy Infant Je-sus (CHIJ) schools came together for a forum featuring some of the institutions’ most notable alum-nae.

The Sept 15 event, titled Wom-en as Agents of Change and held at Victoria Junior College Audito-rium, was to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the IJ order.

“Don’t feel you mustn’t be am-bitious. That’s old fashioned,” Am-bassador-at-large Chan Heng Chee told her audience.

The convent education gives students “opportunities” to “learn leadership”, said the former am-bassador to the US and keynote speaker for the event.

Prof Chan also shared that she was part of the Legion of Mary dur-ing her years in Katong Convent, and that her favourite subjects were literature and history – because they “taught you how to think”, “be tolerant and understand” and “enlarged your experience”.

She noted that one of the lega-

cies of the convent education is training girls to speak well. “The importance of … learning to speak properly will serve you well,” she said.

Furthermore, “convent girls are dutiful, and that is what has been said to me”, she added.

Three panellists then shared

how their CHIJ education has ben-�=������0

Member of Parliament Fatimah Lateef spoke about the Servant Leadership values she learned dur-ing her years in CHIJ Opera Estate and Katong Convent.

Servant Leadership is about honesty and integrity, leading by example, setting standards for yourself, good communication, having the courage to make tough decisions, having good relation-ships and giving recognition to oth-ers, she said.

“Serving the community is the best work of my life and it was in-culcated in the convent school,” Dr Fatimah said in response to a ques-tion from a student.

The alumna also recounted her experiences leading humanitar-ian missions overseas in countries devastated by war, natural disasters and other calamities, and which needed her attention as a medical doctor.

Ms Trina Liang, UN Women National Committee Singapore president, spoke about her experi-ence working with the UN to cre-ate gender equality in Third World countries.

“I learnt to help other people through my convent education,” she said.

She also spoke about rising above failure. “To approach failure as a lesson learnt is important,” she said.

Ms Tan Su Shan, DBS man-aging director and group head of wealth management, said that “IJ girls have humility and respect for everybody. IJ girls recognise and appreciate diversity”.

The Nominated Member of Parliament also shared that “as a boss you serve people” and stressed that it is as important to be just as “nice … to the cleaner” as to the CEO.

The students reacted to each speaker with cheers and applause, and also asked them questions.

Gabrielle Koh, a Sec Two stu-dent from CHIJ Toa Payoh, told CatholicNews: “Hearing all four speakers tell stories about their lives in IJ ... it then struck me that the 10 years I spend in IJ will not just end at Sec Four, but would last me for a lifetime.

“Once an IJ girl, always an IJ girl,” she said.

Sonia Higgins, a Sec Three stu-dent from St Theresa’s Convent, shared: “One of the things Prof Chan said that really moved me was that women should not feel in-timidated by men when they are in leadership positions.

“I feel this meant that whether you are a male or a female, you have the ability to lead.”

The Infant Jesus order was founded by Blessed Fr Nicholas Barre. The IJ Sisters set up their =���� ���������������������������known as Town Convent in Victo-ria St, in 1854.

Today, about 15,500 girls at-tend the 11 CHIJ schools yearly. �

[email protected]

‘Don’t feel you mustn’t be

ambitious. That’s old

fashioned.’ – Ambassador-at-large

Chan Heng Chee

A student posing a question during the forum

Panellists (from left): MP Fatimah Lateef; Ms Trina Liang, president of UN Women National Committee Singapore; Ms Tan Su-Shan, DBS managing director and group head of wealth management; and Ms Elaine Yew, moderator.

Keynote speaker Chan Heng Chee

Page 5: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

HOME

the Infant Jesus order marks its 350th anniversary this year

5Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNews

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Page 6: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

6 Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNews6 HOME

By Don Gurugay

Reach out to students under your care “so that this Year of Faith will really come alive through you for them”.

Archbishop Nicholas Chia made these remarks to about 400 Catholic-school educators gath-ered for the Teachers’ Day Eu-charistic Celebration and tea at Catholic Junior College.

“In this Year of Faith when we also celebrate the 20th anniversary of the publishing of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we can open our eyes and our ears to hear God speaking through the teachings of the Church,” Archbishop Chia told teachers, principals, school su-pervisors and management.

“Try to make time to study and read together some sections of this important document,” he said during the Sept 15 event.

About 20 children from the Canossian School for the hearing impaired sang two hymns during

the Mass, which the Archdiocesan Commission for Catholic Schools (ACCS) has been organising for ���=��� ��� ���������0

“It is a good thing for teach-���� �� ���� � �� ����� ����� ��� ��-ucators,” Mr Aldrin Thomas, a Catholic High School teacher, commented. “Teaching is not just a job but a calling. It is also a good thing for the students of our schools to help out.”

Students from four Catholic schools served as ushers, altar ��������������= �'�������������event.

“We are organising this event to support our Catholic teachers,” said ACCS executive director Wendy Louis.

“Coming together for the Eucharist and for tea once a year gives Catholic educators a chance to meet informally and to experi-ence the teaching community pray-ing together. They will know that they are not alone in their schools or in their work,” she said. �

Teachers and students at the Teachers’ Day Mass held at Catholic Junior College.

Reach out during Faith Year, educators urged

Page 7: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

7Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNews HOME

Children from Catholic Kinder-garten sang, danced and played games with elderly residents of a home in Kluang, Malaysia, during a school mission trip.

The members of the Miriam Home for the Aged beamed as the six-year-olds put on a kung fu dance, showing off high kicks and punches, and sang Rasa Sayang, If You’re Happy and You Know It and other songs.

Prior to the singing, the 33 children helped the residents make “shakers” from recycled vitagen containers, green beans and wrapped with coloured paper.

The elderly folks then shook these containers to the rhythm of the songs

Thirty-one parents and 16 school staff accompanied the chil-dren during their visit to the home,

run by the Canossian Sisters. The aim of the trip, organ-

ised on Sept 3,was to inculcate a sense of empathy in the children towards the elderly and needy, said Ms Edna Ng, principal of the kindergarten at Flower Road.

One game the children played with the residents was the “para-chute” game.

The youngsters helped wheel the elderly folks into the hall and arranged them in a circle. Every-one then took hold of the edges of a huge, colourful piece of cloth, which had a hole in the middle, and lifted it to knee height.

A few plastic balls were then placed onto this cloth and at the word “go”, both young and elder-ly players began shaking the cloth so as to prevent the balls from falling through the hole.

The game was to help with eye-hand coordination as well as bonding.

The children apparently en-joyed the interaction as much as their eldery counterparts.

“I was happy because they were happy!” six-year-old Jon Tan commented later.

Zechariah Tan, (not related to Jon) said he now wants to “save money to help the poor”.

One parent, Mrs Clare Leong, commented, “Although the elder-ly were in wheelchairs, I saw joy and happiness in their eyes while the children sang and danced.”

Another parent, Mrs Samancre Tan, said, “Through this trip, the children learnt to touch the lives of the elderly and needy … It had been an enriching and memorable experience for all.” �

Three parishioners from the Church of St Francis of Assisi received the papal Benemerenti medal from the apostolic nuncio on Sept 9.

The honour was instituted by Pope Gregory XVI in 1832 and is conferred on those who have exhibited long and exceptional service to the Church. The word benemerenti translates to “a well deserving person”.

The parishioners, Mr Joseph Fam, 71, Ms Pauline Choo, 62, and Mr Augustinus Koh, 77, have served in various capacities for at least three decades.

� Mr Fam, for the past 33 years, had served in the Art and

Deco Ministry and also as Eucha-ristic minister.

He is currently the conductor for the Chinese choir.

� Ms Pauline Choo, had served as parish secretary under the vari-ous parish priests and is the current organist for the Chinese choir. She has served for more than 30 years.

� Mr Augustinus Koh initiated the Chinese Block Rosary Group and is still an active member. He has organised many parish events and served in various positions in the Chinese Pastoral Council.

Mr Koh is currently assisting in the parish bookstore.

He has served the parish for more than 30 years. �

Recipients of the Benemerenti medal pose for a photo with apostolic nuncio Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli (from left): Mr Joseph Fam, Mr Augustinus Koh and Ms Pauline Choo.

3 from St Francis of Assisi awarded papal medal

Children from Catholic Kindergarten

playing the ‘parachute’

game with residents of the Miriam

Home for the Aged.

Kids bring cheer to elderly in Kluang

In the wake of public discus-sions on preschools, the Catho-lic schools’ commission says it agrees with the experts that play is important in a child’s develop-ment.

“Many of our preschools are already using purposeful play in their approach,” says Ms Merilyn Dasson, the Archdiocesan Com-mission for Catholic Schools’ (ACCS) project director for early childhood education.

“Through purposeful play, children develop an understanding of their social worlds. They learn to relate to each other and social-ise and learn the basic skills,” she told CatholicNews.

“We are studying the situation to strengthen best practices in de-veloping the core curriculum, re-ligious education content and ap-proaches building on the Ministry of Education’s frameworks and guidelines,” she said.

ACCS is also providing regu-lar formation programmes to raise the expertise of teachers, she added. The Ministry of Educa-tion and Ministry of Community, Youth and Sports “also provide programmes for professional de-

���������������� ���������=�from these as well”.

On the question of affordabil-ity of Catholic preschools, ACCS executive director Wendy Louis says that “the Catholic Church has always regarded education as her special mission and has con-sistently provided affordable, high quality education”.

She says she hopes more young Catholic parents would consider Catholic preschool education for

their children “as these are the cru-cial years of growth in religious, social and emotional competence”.

“It is crucial that schools part-ner parents in the education of their children,” she said. For this reason, schools work very closely with parents for their children’s holistic development, she said.

There are presently 19 Catho-lic preschools in Singapore ca-tering to 4,840 children aged be-tween four and six. �

ACCS has weighed in on the discussions on preschools, saying many Catho-lic ones employ ‘purposeful play’ and that the Church consistently provides affordable, high quality education.

Preschools: play and affordability

Page 8: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

8 Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNewsHOME

A team from CHARIS visited Myanmar in early September to ������������������������� ���0

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CHARIS sends aid to ����������� �� ��

Villagers welcoming the CHARIS team to Thabaung Township in the Irrawaddy Delta region.

Page 9: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

9Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNews HOME

By Darren Boon

The Christian Family and Social Movement (CFSM), Singapore is set to launch a reference-cum-activity book this December to commemorate its golden jubilee.

Fifteen thousand copies of My Family Book will be made avail-able through parishes, according to CFSM.

In addition to highlighting the growth of the group over the dec-ades, the book also gives readers the proper forms of inter-gener-ational address among relatives in Chinese, romanised Chinese (pinyin), and in Tamil together with transliteration.

Space is provided for family photographs and for the recording of names of family members and other relatives as well.

The book also explains the Christian view of marriage and family.

According to book editor Mark Tan, My Family Book aims to help families identify and culti-vate relationships of love.

The book can be used as a project for family members to dis-cover their genealogy and appre-ciate their relationships, he added.

Proceeds from the book will also help raise funds for the min-

istry’s future projects such as youth development, said CFSM president Donald Sng.

In addition to the book launch, CFSM is also celebrating its anniversary during the Nov 24 Sunset Mass at Blessed Sacra-ment Church followed by a buffet dinner.

CFSM, which provides ongo-ing formation for families, began here in 1962 after the late Arch-

bishop Michael Olcomendy hired a fulltime worker to start the movement.

Family and neighbourhood groups were then formed in the Tanglin Halt/Queenstown area.

The movement had begun overseas as part of lay apostolate movements to witness the Gos-pel values in daily lives. It drew originally from the Young Chris-tian Workers movement started by

the late Cardinal Joseph Cardijn. Other parallel movements includ-ed the Young Christian Students.

CFSM Singapore later launched a series of services for families.

Today, the movement has ����� (5� ������� ��� =��� �� ����families each who meet once a month for ongoing formation on Christian values and family life. Members also go on outings and trips.

The ministry also produces a monthly newsletter.

According to Mr Sng, the movement encourages members to be active in other church minis-tries and to live out their Christian values in their various situations.

CFSM is inviting current and past members to join its 50th an-niversary celebrations. These include a Sunset Mass on Nov 24 at Blessed Sacrament Church followed by a buffet dinner at $25 per person. For details, contact [email protected]. �

[email protected]

CFSM to launch book for jubileeChristian Family and Social Movement’s book to highlight forms of inter-generational address

Left: My Family Book, to be launched for CFSM’s 50th anniversary celebrations, highlights the movement’s growth. Right: The book gives the Chinese and Tamil forms of address for various relatives.

Page 10: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

10 Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNewsASIA

LAHORE, PAKISTAN – Members of interreligious forums in Paki-stan have urged restraint in dem-onstrations against a controversial =����������������������������across the Middle East and Asia.

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Religious leaders urge ������ ����������

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Church of Pakistan

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A similar advertisement ad-�������� ��������� ��������� '������������� �� �� ����� �'����������&�������0�� UCANEWS.COM

The Hong Kong Church urged the

government to reassess policies on population rise, housing, medical

care, education and welfare for

Hong Kong residents.

View of Hong Kong.

HK diocese publishes ‘open letter’ on social policy

Page 11: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

11Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNews 11ASIA

Church in China destroyed by arsonists, Catholics say

PHILIPPINES – Philippine Church ��= ����� �� ���� 15� ��� ��������� �������@������"����A���������������� �������� Y�7� ����-���� ��� ����� ������� �� ������������ ����������������'����'���0

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Philippine Church launches audio Bible

NEPAL –� ������ ����� ���� ������(������������6��������#����-���� ��� �������'�������������� ��������� ����� ����� ��� � ��-���� '�� �� ���� ���� �������������������'� ������0

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Govt assures Christians Nepal will be secular state

Children walking to

school in Nepal. Senior

politicians have assured

Nepalese Christians the

government would safeguard secularism in the

predominatly Hindu country.

CNS photo

WUHAN, CHINA –� Y������� ������ ��������� �� �� ������ ����� �����#���� ���� ����� ��� ������ ����� ���� ��������������������'��� ���0

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The wooden altar was burned to the

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Page 12: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

12 Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNewsWORLD

WARSAW, POLAND – The Ger-man bishops’ conference has de-fended a controversial decree that said Catholics who stop paying a Church membership tax cannot receive sacraments.

“There must be consequences for people who distance themselves from the Church by a public act,” said Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg, conference president, in defending the Sept 20 decree.

“Clearly, someone withdraw-ing from the Church can no longer take advantage of the system like someone who remains a mem-ber,” he said at a Sept 24 news conference as the bishops began a four-day meeting in Fulda.

“We are grateful Rome has given completely clear approval to our stance.”

He said each departure was

“painful for the Church”, adding that bishops feared many Catho-lics were unaware of the conse-quences and would be “open to other solutions”.

“The Catholic Church is com-mitted to seeking out every lost person,” said Archbishop Zol-litsch.

“At issue, however, is the credibility of the Church’s sac-ramental nature. One cannot be half a member or only partly a member. Either one belongs and commits, or one renounces this,” he said.

Catholics make up 30 percent of Germany’s population of 82.3 million, about the same propor-tion as Protestants, with two percent belonging to Orthodox denominations, according to gov-�����=�����0�� CNS

No sacraments if Church tax not paid

CANBERRA – Two proposals to legalise same-sex marriage in the Australian federal parliament re-cently were strongly defeated, re-ported ZENIT news agency.

On Sept 19 the House of Rep-resentatives voted on a proposal by backbencher Stephen Jones, of the Australian Labour Party, the party currently in power at the federal level, to legalise same-sex “marriage”.

The Labour Party allowed a free vote on the proposal, while the coa-lition of opposition parties, led by Mr Tony Abbott, held to their prom-ise of voting against any attempt to introduce same-sex “marriage”.

The vote was 42 in favour of legalisation and 98 against. Both Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott voted against the bill.

“The overwhelming vote in the House of Representatives in favour of marriage between a man and a woman is greatly welcomed,” says Mr Chris Meney, director of the Archdiocese of Sydney’s Life, Marriage and Family Centre.

ROME – Scholars are unlikely to agree anytime soon on the authen-ticity of a newly published text containing a reference to Jesus’ “wife”.

But the tiny papyrus fragment, purportedly dating to the fourth century AD, has already stirred interest in the early Church’s at-titudes towards marriage, sex and the role of women.

The fragment of papyrus with eight lines of Egyptian Coptic writing is the “only extant ancient text which explicitly portrays Je-sus as referring to a wife”, wrote Ms Karen L King, historian of Christianity at Harvard Divinity School, in an academic paper she delivered on Sept 18 at an interna-

VATICAN CITY – The potential power, but also the limits, of an ec-umenical proclamation of the Gos-pel and defence of Gospel values is likely to be a key topic during Oc-tober’s world meeting of bishops.

The ecumenical focus of the Synod of Bishops will be particu-larly sharp on Oct 10 when – at the personal invitation of Pope Benedict XVI – Anglican Arch-bishop Rowan Williams of Can-terbury will deliver a major ad-dress to synod members.

While popes have long invited other Christians to be “fraternal delegates” and make brief speech-es at the synods, Pope Benedict has begun a tradition of inviting important religious leaders to de-liver a major address.

In 2008, Orthodox Ecumeni-cal Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and Chief Rabbi Shear-Yashuv Cohen of Haifa, Israel, addressed the Synod of Bishops on the Bible. Another rabbi and two Muslim leaders gave speeches at the 2010 special synod on the Middle East.

Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary ���������= ���#�� ����������-moting Christian Unity, said the invitations demonstrate the pope’s recognition that the “challenges facing religious belief itself and

Church life are common – no Church, no religion is an island – and we need one another and can learn from one another”.

In addition, he said, ecumeni-cal and interreligious cooperation shows the world that “we are to-gether in promoting the values of belief and the moral-ethical val-ues that we stand by”. � CNS

VATICAN CITY – The third volume of Pope Benedict XVI’s book on Jesus of Nazareth should be pub-lished before Christmas, the Vati-can said.

The volume, focusing on the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ infancy and childhood, will be the third ��� =��� ������� �� ��� ������� ���books the pope has written “to �������'� ���=�����������-sage of Jesus”, the Vatican said in a statement on Sept 21.

The statement announced a Vatican publishing house agree-ment with the Italian publisher Rizzoli to handle sales of the rights to the book in languages other than Italian and the German original.

Herder, the pope’s longtime German publisher, will handle the original German-language text.

The Vatican’s plan is to release the book simultaneously in the world’s major languages, including English, in time for Christmas. � CNS

Third volumn of pope’s book expected by Christmas

Synod may examine possibility of ecumenical witnessing

Angelican leader, Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, is to address the Synod of Bishops on Oct 10. CNS photo

tional Coptic studies conference in Rome.

“It does not, however, provide evidence that the historical Jesus was married,” she wrote, “given the late date of the fragment and the probable date of original com-position” at the end of the second century.

The best source of evidence giving an account of Jesus’ life and ministry is still the Gospels in the New Testament, Ms King told reporters on Sept 19, “and they are silent about his marital sta-tus”. But she said the fragment is “direct evidence” that early Chris-tians started debating in the sec-ond century whether Jesus could have been married or not.

Fr Juan Chapa, a New Testa-ment scholar at the University of Navarra in Spain, told Catholic News Service that the “Gospels don’t mention marriage, not because they wanted to hide something, but because it was clear that Jesus did not get married, and it’s consistent in the Church’s tradition”.

He also noted that the gnostic gospel genre to which the fragment evidently belongs is one of stories about Jesus that mainly take place after the resurrection, using lan-guage that is heavily allegorical.

Thus, he said, the fragment’s relevant words – “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife’” – were likely not meant as a literal assertion about the life of the historical Jesus. � CNS

@-� ��� ����� ������ ��=����� ���truth of how marriage has always been understood,” he commented in a news story published on the web-site of the Archdiocese of Sydney.

“Given the broad consultation ����� �� ����= �� ������� ��� ���number of bills which have been introduced on this issue it is to be hoped our elected representatives

will now be free to devote the nec-essary time to other issues which are of importance to all Austral-ians,” Mr Meney commented.

On Sept 20, another vote on same-sex marriage was held in the Australian Senate, and again it was overwhelmingly defeated, by 41 to 26.

Among those speaking against the Senate initiative was Labour senator John Hogg, president of the Senate. A report by the Aus-tralian Broadcasting Corporation noted that he rarely speaks during debates on legislation, but he did speak out on this issue.

“I have a deep-seated belief that marriage is between a man and a woman exclusively,” he said.

“I utterly reject the offensive language of some of those sup-porting the bill that people who share my views are discriminatory or homophobic,” he added.

“This is absolutely nonsense ������=��������������������������resort to try and isolate those who don’t share their views,” he said. � ZENIT.ORG

Prime Minsiter Julia Gillard voted against the same-sex marriage bill.

Same-sex ‘marriage’ defeated in Australia

Ancient text on Jesus’ ‘wife’ stirs debate

The papyrus fragment, purportedly dating to the fourth century, contains reference to Jesus’ ‘wife’. CNS photo

Page 13: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

13Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNews WORLD

Three Singapore Focolare Move-ment members who participated in the GenFest 2012 say they felt inspired by their experience at the gathering.

Ms Michelle Teo, 33, says she was struck by the experiences of the young people from around the '����0�@:������� �����= �����-uations, they managed to embrace their sufferings and go ahead with life.”

Ms Teo was among the 12,500 people from different countries, races and religions who partici-pated in the gathering held in Bu-dapest, Hungary from Aug 31 to Sept 2, to realise the ideal of a united world.

A group of 30 young people from Singapore, Malaysia and In-donesia attended the gathering.

The GenFest gathering was initiated by the Focolare Move-ment’s late founder Chiara Lubich in 1973 for young people who '�������=��/��������������@$���all may be one.”

This is the 10th GenFest and ��� =��� �� ��� ����� ������� -���0�The last was held in Rome in 2000.

With the theme Let’s Bridge, the event aimed to help young people build bridges of mutual respect and understanding among cultures and faiths, in the family, school and workplaces.

Participants marched through the streets towards Budapest’s iconic Chain Bridge on Sept 1 to ����������������'������ ������on which messages of unity were written.

Songs and artistic performanc-es were also staged during the celebration, which was translated into 27 languages and broadcast

around the world on the Internet and satellite TV.

Young people shared their faith stories and how they lived ��� D������ ���� ������ ���= ���moments.

One youth from Egypt shared how he defused some of the ten-sion caused by the events in Ta-hir Square in Cairo by organising people from two districts to paint the wall of a school in the capital.

Ms Amelia Tan, a parishioner

InternationalFocolare eventinspiresS’poreans

The 12,500 participants gathering for a march in Budapest during the GenFest 2012 celebration.

of Singapore’s Church of St Mary of the Angels, said the three-day celebration was a reminder of her mission. “I want to build a united world,” she said.

Ms Teo and Ms Tan were among 1,700 participants who later travelled to Castel Gandolfo near Rome for a week for an intensive programme to help them deepen their faith and discover concrete ways of living the Gospel.

During this programme, held at the Focolare’s Mariapolis Cen-tre, participants heard from their peers how they lived the Gospel at work, at home and in school, and their efforts at remaining chaste in their relationships.

The Focolare is a two-million strong global movement. �

Copyright © 2012 Centro S. Chiara Audiovisi Soc. Coop. a.r.l. – Federico Orta

Participants marched through the streets towards Budapest’s iconic Chain Bridge to ��"��� ����%!��&�"����&�����������

messages of unity were written.

Page 14: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

14 Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNewsWORLD

VATICAN CITY –�$���,�� ��=��-��� ������� ��� �� �� �� ��against a US consulate in Libya, which led to the death of a US ������������ ����� ��� ��������and at least 10 Libyans.

@$��� ����� �������� �� �� ��-ganised against the United States �������� � ������� �� ������A� �������� @ ����� ���� ��� =����� �����-���� �������� �� ��� ���� ������>�������0A

“Nothing, in fact, can justify ��� � ����� ��� �������� �������-���� ��� ���� ����� ����� ��A������ /����� &�� &����� �� ������-���� ��� ,�� �� ���������� �� �� '�������������������������13.

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@����� '��� ���� ��������������� ��� �������� ���� ��� �� ����� '�� ����� �������� ��������� ������� ���� �������� ��� ��������� ��������������- ����� ��� ���� ����������� '������ ����� ��� ������� ��������������� �� ����������� ��������Y������:���A�&�����������said.

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��� ���� ��� ��� ����� ������ �������������A�&����������� ����� ��������(1������0

@$����������� ������ �������E���=��� ���� �� ��� ����� �-tions against the sensibilities of Y������ ���������� ���� � �� �����

evident in these days, as we see ��� ��� ���� ���� �������� ����-�����'������� ���������'�� ������� ������� ����� ��� ���������������� �� ������� ���-�� ��A���������'�����������'�� �� '��� ����� �������� �������� 0

The Vatican said that state-���'��������������������'��������������������������������������������Y������:�������-� ����������������������F������������=����� ��������������Y�������0�

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@�������&� ���������������� �����������#�����������Y��-�������������������������A�&��9�= � D��� ��� ���� ��� ,�� �������������� �'�� ��� ��� &������������(70

@$��� #����� � #��� ��� ���*������� ��� �������� ��������� ������ ������� � ������ ���=���A� ������ ��� @#�������� ������������� '��� ��� ���� ����� ���'������������ ���������A���������������0

>�������� ���#��������@������� =��� �� ����� ������� ��� ��������������� ��������������'�����������������������������=����� ����� � -������������ ���������'���������������A0�� CNS

��� ��������������� �������� �������������� � ��

Demonstrators hold signs during a rally on Sept 12 in Benghazi, Libya, to condemn the killers of Mr J Christopher Stevens, US ambassador to Libya, and the attack on the US consulate in the city. CNS photo

‘The very serious attack organised

against the United States

diplomatic mission in Libya calls for the

������������%'�� condemnation on the part of the Holy See.’

– Jesuit Fr Federico Lombardi, the Vatican

spokesman, in a written statement released on Sept 13

Page 15: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

15Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNews WORLD

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – The Archdiocese of Liverpool has be- �������=������ ������:��������;������� ���������������-�����������������������0

�� ������������ ��8��������-������ �����������11� ������-�������� ��������������� �����-����������������������������������� ������� '��� ��������� ���� �������� ����� ��� ����� �������Y��������'���0

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$��� �� ���� ������ #�� ��� ���Priests supported the move after ����� �������� �������'��� �������������������������(��2�*��������#�������&������0

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Laity can preside at funerals in Liverpool

A funeral procession... The Archbishop of Liverpool has commissioned 22 lay ministers to celebrate funeral ceremonies in an effort to relieve priests’ workload. �*���'�������

Page 16: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

POPE IN LEBANON16 Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNews

BEIRUT – Pope Benedict XVI ar-rived in Lebanon on Sept 14, say-ing that he came “as a pilgrim of peace, as a friend of God and as a friend of men”.

At a welcoming ceremony at Beirut’s airport, he praised Leba-non, with a mixed population of Christians and Muslims, for its distinctive record of “coexistence and respectful dialogue”.

Pope Benedict’s primary rea-son for visiting Lebanon was to �������������� ����������� ����on the 2010 special meeting of bishops, called the Synod of Bish-ops, which was dedicated to Chris-tians in the Middle East.

Speaking only days after the killing of the US ambassador to Libya and three of his staff mem-bers, the pope told reporters he had never considered cancelling his visit and that no one had advised him to do so.

He also praised the so-called Arab Spring, a revolutionary wave that started in December 2010, leading to the fall of dictatorships in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yem-en, and currently threatening the government of Syria, just across the border from Lebanon.

The pope said the movement represented positive aspirations for democracy and liberty and hence a “renewed Arab identity”. But he warned against the danger of forgetting that “human liberty is always a shared reality,” and consequently failing to protect the rights of Christian minorities in Muslim countries.

THE pope arrived at the Beirut air-port shortly before 2 pm and was welcomed by President Michel Suleiman, a Maronite Catholic.

Later in the day, he signed the

document calling on Catholics in the Middle East to engage in dialogue with Orthodox, Jewish and Muslim neighbours, but also to affirm and defend their right to live freely in the region where Christianity was born (see story below).

The ceremony took place in the Melkite Catholic Basilica of St Paul in Harissa.

The pope signed the docu-ment in an atmosphere of interre-ligious harmony, with Orthodox, Muslim and Druze leaders in the basilica.

Dr Mohammad Sammak, the Muslim secretary-general of Leba-non’s Christian-Muslim Commit-tee for Dialogue, told Catholic News Service, “I hope his visit will give more credibility to what '�� ����� ��=����� ��� ��� ��������of Lebanon – a country of convivi-ality between Christians and Mus-lims who are living peacefully and in harmony together for hundreds of years now.”

However, during the pope’s =��������������������� �������visit in a demonstration in Tripo-li. One person died and 25 were wounded in a clash that followed.

THE next day, the pope told a multifaith gathering of Leba-non’s political, religious and cul-tural leaders that peace would not come to the Middle East until its nations enjoy religious freedom, since only the free practice of faith can inspire the region’s peo-ples to unite around basic human values.

Speaking at the presidential palace in Baabda, he did not refer ��� �= ����� �������� ��� ��������������������� ��� ���� ������the current civil war in neighbour-

ing Syria, but noted that the “cen-turies-old mix” of cultures and re-ligions in the Middle East has not always been peaceful.

Peace requires a pluralistic so-ciety based on “mutual respect, a desire to know the other, and con-tinuous dialogue,” the pope said,

and such dialogue in turn depends on consciousness of sharing fun-damental human values, cherished and sustained in common by dif-ferent religions.

Thus, he argued, “religious freedom is the basic right on which many rights depend.”

The pope spoke after meeting privately with Lebanon’s president and prime minister, the president of parliament, and leaders of the country’s four major Muslim com-munities: Sunni, Shiite, Druze and Alawite. Lebanon’s population is estimated to be about 60 percent Muslim and almost 40 percent Christian.

In an apparent reference to Middle Eastern states that restrict the practice of religions other than Islam, the pope said that freedom must go beyond “what nowadays passes for tolerance,” which he said “does not eliminate cases of

A section dedicated to interreligious dialogue in the pope’s document on the 2010 Synod of Bishops encour-aged Christians to “esteem” the re-gion’s dominant religion, Islam.

It lamented that “both sides have used doctrinal differences as a pretext for justifying, in the name of religion, acts of intolerance, dis-crimination, marginalisation and even of persecution”.

%���������� ������������ ��-ious position of Christians in most of the region today, where they fre-quently experience negative legal and social discrimination, the pope called for Arab societies to “move beyond tolerance to religious free-dom”.

The “pinnacle of all other free-doms”, religious freedom is a “sa-cred and inalienable right,” which includes the “freedom to choose the religion which one judges to be true and to manifest one’s

beliefs in public,” the pope wrote.It is a civil crime in some Mus-

lim countries for Muslims to con-vert to another faith and, in Saudi Arabia, Catholic priests have been arrested for celebrating Mass, even in private.

The papal document, called an apostolic exhortation, denounced “religious fundamentalism” as the opposite extreme of the secularisa-tion that Pope Benedict has often criticised in the context of contem-porary Western society.

Fundamentalism, which “af-�� �� ���� ���������� ���������A�thrives on “economic and political instability, a readiness on the part of some to manipulate others, and a defective understanding of reli-gion,” the pope wrote.

“It wants to gain power, at times violently, over individual consciences, and over religion it-self, for political reasons.”

Many Christians in the Mid-dle East have expressed growing alarm at the rise of Islamist extrem-ism, especially since the so-called Arab Spring democracy movement has toppled or threatened secular regimes that guaranteed religious minorities the freedom to practise their faith.

The apostolic exhortation criti-cized another aspect of social real-ity in the Middle East by denounc-ing the “wide variety of forms of discrimination” against women in the region.

“In recognition of their innate inclination to love and protect hu-man life, and paying tribute to their ��� �= � �������� �� ��� �����health care, humanitarian work and the apostolic life,” Pope Ben-edict wrote, “I believe that women should play, and be allowed to play, a greater part in public and ecclesial life.” �

Pope stresses religious

‘Muslims and Christians, Islam and Christianity, can live side by side without hatred,

with respect for the beliefs of each person, so as to build together a free and humane society.’

– Pope Benedict XVI to young people

Young people carry a large cross during a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in Bkerke, Lebanon, on Sept 15.

The pope meeting Lebanese religious leaders at Baabda Palace outside Beirut on Sept 15.

Going beyond tolerance � Continued on page 17

CNS photos

Page 17: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

POPE IN LEBANON 17Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNews

By Francis X Rocca

BEIRUT – When Pope Benedict XVI stepped off the plane in Bei-rut, he said he had come to Leba-non, and to the Middle East in gen-eral, as a “pilgrim of peace”.

-�=�����E�������������������three days, he repeatedly called for peace and underscored the role of Christians in promoting it. Yet his most eloquent message of hope to the troubled region lay not in the dip-lomatic language of his public state-�������� ���������������� ��������������������������������������0

Throughout his trip, Pope Ben-edict limited himself to general statements of principle on the most contentious political issues, and ���������������� ����������0�>���insistence that religious freedom is a basic human right and a prerequi-site for social harmony was a bold ����������� ���������������where most countries restrict and ���� �������� ��� ��� � �� ��� ���faith besides Islam.

"������������ ������� ����to Lebanon to present, he said ����� ��� �= � ����� '����� ���how the region’s Christians are �����������������������������0

The pope deplored the human ��������� �����'����������������Syria, but his only practical recom-mendation was a neutral call to end the importation of military arms.

With regard to religiously in-������� ����� ��� ��� ����� �� ������generic reference to terrorism and ���������������������������E� ���the statement that “authentic faith does not lead to death”.

>�� ����� ����� ����� ��� �- ������� ���E� � ��� ���������'�� ���������������� �F�������F-����� �=��� ������� �����������F������ ������� �� �� ����� ��dozen Muslim countries, including Lebanon.

Ironically, the crisis may also ���������������������������������across. With turmoil spreading

across the Middle East, the papal ����� ���������� �������������-pealing story to the secular press.

For the Lebanese, the pope’s '��������� �� ������ �� ����� ���security concerns powerfully un-derscored his commitment to the country and the region.

@$��� ����� �� � ��� ��� >����&����� ���� �� ���� ���= ��� ��-ment is an indication that Chris-tians here are not forgotten,” said >�����Y���������������������������������������� ����������0

$������������������������������'-case for Lebanon, which for years '����������������� ����� ������ ��and religious freedom in the Middle East. The show of enthusiasm across sectarian and political lines, in a na-���������� ���������������(�)4F�2� �����'����'����������� � ������of unity to the outside world and to ��������������������0

Epitomising the welcome by Muslim leaders, Lebanon’s grand ��������������������'�������-�������������@����� �������#������� ��<��������� ����-�-lam”.

��� ��� �������� !����� ����newspaper reported, Lebanon President Michel Suleiman cited the unanimity among political fac-������������'���������������that the “way to capitalise on the ���������������������������A0

The pope would no doubt agree, while limiting his short-term ���� ����0�

������ ���� ����������� �������������� ���� ��� �������� �� ������“equilibrium, which is presented �����'����� ��� �� ��������� ��� ��-tremely delicate. Sometimes it ������ ����� �� ���� ����� �� ��'�'�� �� ��� ������� ���� ��� �����-ted to pressures which are too often ���������������=���� ������������������ �� �������� �������and gentleness.”

What precisely those pressures might be, the pope prudently de-clined to say. � CNS

discrimination” but sometimes @���������� ������0A

“The freedom to profess and practise one’s religion without danger to life and liberty must be �������������������A��������0

-6�������� ��������� ������-ing, the pope urged young Chris-tians from Middle Eastern coun-����� �� �� ���� ����� �� ���economic insecurity through emi-gration, but to draw strength from ��������������������� ���������troubled region.

$���������������������12�222�

young people gathered outside the residence of the Maronite pa-���� �� �� "������ �� �� ������������� ������=��'����������������singing and prayer.

@6�� ���� ���������� ���uncertainty should lead you to taste the bitter sweetness of emi-�������'�� �����������������-��� ��� �� ��������� ���� ��� �����of an uncertain future,” he told the young people. “You are meant to be protagonists of your country’s ����������������������� ������-ciety and in the Church.”

@#������������ ������ �����-������������������������������-��� ��� ��E� ��� ��� ��� ��������� ������� �E��� �� ��� '���A� ���

freedom in Lebanon trip

The pope walks to the altar for the start of Mass on the waterfront in Beirut on Sept 16.

���������������� ��������������� ������������������������������������-counter with the pope.

said. “In this way you will spread peace all around you.”

>�������'���������������- ���� �'����� ���� ��������� ���said they “can quite easily lead to addiction and confusion between ��������������������0A�

$'������������������������������� ������ ����� �������� �� �-put from young Christians from all ����������0

The Middle East’s young Christians, they said, “yearn for peace and dream of a future with-out wars, a future where we will �������� ����������'�����'��'����with our brothers, the young peo-ple of different religions to build a ���������� ��� ����� 000� ���������where human rights and freedom are respected, where each one’s dignity is protected.”

@;�� ���� ������� ���� �� ������of peace,” they said. “We want to ���������������������������������-logue and cooperation.”

The crowd cheered when the pope said he did not forget the Syrian people, stressing that he is always praying for them and that he is glad there were some Syrian people at the gathering.

Pope Benedict also offered a '������� ����� �� ���Y���������������������������������'����with Christians to build up the re-gion. “Muslims and Christians, -����� ��� #���������� �� �����side by side without hatred, with respect for the beliefs of each per-son, so as to build together a free and humane society,” the pope said.

�$��� �'������� ������� Y���� ��Beirut’s City Centre Waterfront on ���� (X�� ��� ����� � ��'�������the suffering of Christians in the Middle East, reassuring them and urging them to promote peace through religiously inspired ser-�� ������ ���0

������������ ��'������������742�222�����������@&����'���/���������� ����� ��� ����� ����� ��������'��� �� >��� �������� ����������= �������'�� ������������earthly power or glory but, if nec-essary, to self-abandonment, to losing one’s life for Christ and the D����������������������A0

���������� �� ������ '�����#������F��� �� ���� ����� ���� �-cluding schools and health care fa- ���������������������������������Y��������E������������������������� ������ �� ��� @������� ���poor, the outcast and the suffer-ing,” and called on Christians to be @������������� ������� � ����-tion in the Middle East.”

One participant, Mr George Srour, 38, told Catholic News ����� �� ��� @'�� #�������� ����be united and participate” in the �������������@����'���� �����'����be no more Lebanon. It will be- ���� ����� -����� ��� �'� �������'����������#��������������0A�� CNS

�������������

The pope ��������with Melkite Patriarch ���������III Laham of Damascus, Syria, at the Melkite Catholic Basilica of St Paul in Harissa.

ANALYSIS

Pope’s presence was the message

Page 18: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

18 Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNews

Fortnightly newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore

2 Highland Road, #01-03 Singapore 549102.Telephone: 6858 3055. Fax: 6858 2055. Website: www.catholicnews.sg

IN MEMORIAM: Susan Lim: [email protected] SUBSCRIPTIONS: Richard Paul: [email protected] ADVERTISEMENTS: Elaine Ong: [email protected]: Medona Walter: [email protected] / LAYOUT: Christopher Wong: [email protected] Elaine Ong: [email protected]

MANAGING EDITOR: Father Johnson Fernandez: [email protected]

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Christopher Khoo: [email protected]

STAFF CORRESPONDENTS: Darren Boon: [email protected] Martin See: [email protected]

EDITORIAL MATTERS AND QUERIES: [email protected]

Please include your full name, address and phone no. for all letters to the editor. Published submissions will be edited.

LETTER

LETTERS/OPINION

IN OUR novitiate, when I was a novice with the Ob-lates of Mary Immaculate, our assistant novice di-rector, a sincere but overly-stern man, cautioned us about too much levity in our lives by telling us that there is no recorded incident in scripture of Jesus ever laughing. I was a pious novice but, even then, that didn’t sit well with me. I combed the Gospels trying to prove him wrong, but found out that, techni-cally, he is right. But is he?

A couple of years later, during my seminary studies, I read a book by Peter Berger entitled, A Rumour of Angels, in which he tries to point to various places within our everyday experience where, he submits, we have intimations of the divine, rumours of angels, hints that ordinary experience contains more than just the ordinary, that God is there.

One such experience, he submits, is that of a mother comforting a frightened child at night, using soothing words and gestures to as-sure the child that he or she need not be afraid, that everything is all right, the world is in order. In saying those words, if she means them, and normally she does, the mother is, in effect, implicitly praying the creed.

Another such intimation of the divine within ordinary experience, Berger suggests, is the phenomenon of laughter. In laughter, he sub-mits, we intuit our transcendence: Given that we are able to laugh in any situation shows that there is something in us that is above that situation, transcendent to it. In laughter, Berger believes, we have a rumour of angels.

The late German theologian Karl Rahner agreed, suggesting that laughter shows we are on good terms with reality and hence with D��0�����������������D����� ��������������������=�������������-en when we will be in an exuberance of joy.

Commenting on the Beatitudes in Luke’s Gospel where Jesus says, blessed are you who are now weeping, for you shall laugh, Rah-ner said that what Jesus is saying suggests that the happiness of the =�������'������E��������'���������������������������� �����'����also bring us to laughter – “to an intoxication of joy”.

Here are his words: “‘But you shall laugh.’ Thus it is written. And because God’s Word also has recourse to human words in order to express what shall one day be when all shall have been – that is why a mystery of eternity also lies hidden, but real, in everyday life; that is why the laughter of daily life announces and shows that one is on good terms with reality, even in advance of all that all-powerful and eternal consent in which the saved will one day say their amen to eve-rything that he has done and allowed to happen. Laughter is praise of God because it foretells the eternal praise of God at the end of time, when those who must weep here on earth shall laugh.”

"�� ��� ���� �����= ���?� >���� �������� ��������� ������ ����hope? An upbeat-spirit masquerading as theology? The naive claim that if I am happy, then God is on my side? Indeed, in the Gospels, where is there a recorded incident of Jesus laughing?

Good scripture scholarship has long suggested that looking for an individual text to prove or disprove a certain point is not a good approach to scripture. The teachings of scripture are best gleaned by looking to scripture as a whole. And if we do that in this case, I be-�������'��'����=��������������"���������8����9�������������0�

As Rahner points out, Jesus, himself, teaches that laughter will be ����������=��������������0�%��������� �����¡�"�������������Jesus’ message as a whole invites us to joy, a joy that no one can take from us, and laughter is the exuberant expression of that joy. It is the ������������������� ��'���E�'�����������=��������������0

Hence, in laughter, we do have a rumour of angels and we do intuit our transcendence. In laughter we do manifest that we are on good terms with reality and on good terms with God. In laughter we ��=����������E�����������������'����������������������/��������Norwich that, in the end, all will be well, and all will be well, and every manner of being will be well – even though our world is not in that state today

My assistant novice director was a wonderful, sincere, gentle and overly serious man. Levity was not his thing and laughter was not his preferred method of implicitly praying the creed. He showed his deep faith in other ways, believing that laughter is not the only rumour of angels inside of ordinary life.

But it is one of intimation of the divine within human life. Laugh-ter, when it is healthy, when it is not forced or cynical, is, as Rahner ������@������ �������E��A�����E����������=������0�$����'���'��laugh we also pray the creed. �

Laughter as faith

Catechesis in Singapore is indeed headed in a wonderful new direc-tion with the Singapore Pastoral Institute’s revised syllabus and retraining of parish catechists (I ;��$��D��&���#�� ����¡���#6�Sept 23).

It was a pity the article did not remind parents that they “have the =��� ������������� ���� ��� ��� �-tion of their children” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2223). They promised at marriage and at the child’s baptism to raise their offspring in the faith.

While parish catechism can explain areas like liturgy that parents may not feel equipped to tackle, the faith is far more than learning about God – it is about living with God through daily prayer, Scripture, and the liturgi-cal year.

The Church teaches that “edu-cation in the faith by the parents should begin in the child’s earli-est years...Family catechesis pre-cedes, accompanies, and enriches other forms of instruction” (CCC 2226).

Sadly, some parents abandon this great work to their parish. We catechists encounter children who never attend Mass because parents take them to Protestant services or tuition instead. We also face the challenge of conveying Christian values to those steeped in their parents’ materialistic or self-cen-tred attitudes.

And how can the Church nur-ture religious vocations if parents reject the idea of their children be-ing anything “less” than well-paid professionals?

Most of the time, though, par-ents neglect this formation be-cause they do not quite know what to do. They want to raise their children in the faith, but prefer to leave it to the “parish profession-als” lest they say the wrong thing.

But living the faith at home is ���������������������¡�>����are some simple ideas to start with:

� Pray together before meals and at bedtime. Keep prayers with young children short and simple.

� Set up a home altar and task the children with its upkeep, eg sort-ing holy cards or dusting statues.

� A child-size prayer corner in the children’s bedroom with beau-tiful sacred art acts as a spiritual focus and refuge.

� Read Scripture together. The day’s Mass readings are a great way to live the liturgical year. For young children, even a line or two ��������D��������������= �0

� Observe Catholic traditions, such as Friday abstinence from meat, and explain why.

� Celebrate liturgical seasons with coloured tablecloths, art, food and hymns. Don’t turn Ad-vent into Christmas before the 14�����!� �����¡

� Celebrate the saints and ask for their intercession. Tell stories of the saints whose feasts fall within the month. These are great fun for little ones who love play-��������F��¡

� Attend Mass together on Sundays, and on weekdays if pos-sible. Weekday Masses are short and easier for children to follow.

� Show that Mass is special by dressing appropriately and paying attention. Discuss the homily af-terwards with your children.

� Be aware of the messages

you send. When you reschedule Mass due to the World Cup or Great Singapore Sale, your chil-dren learn what your priorities are.

� Make Confession regularly, and encourage your children to do so when they are old enough.

� Invite sons to become altar servers.

� Demystify the Religious life by befriending priests and Reli-gious, and inviting them to dinner.

� Find out what your children are covering in parish catechism and discuss it at home, particularly as they prepare for the sacraments.

� Always speak of God and the Church with respect.

The Church does not expect parents to be theologians or Bible experts. It asks only that they love their faith and live it with joy and =�����0�@���������������������of teaching their children to pray and to discover their vocation as children of God” (CCC 2226). For if they do not, what impact can we parish catechists have, who spend just an hour or two with the chil-dren each week?

Estella YoungSingapore 457266

� See also letter on Page 19

CN Sept 23

Parents need to be involved in catechism

Page 19: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

19Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNews FOCUS

I thought it would be great to share with fellow Catholics this wonderful iPhone/Android app called Laudate that I have been using to further my Catholic faith.

I listen to it on the way to work on the bus and train, which doesn’t take up my time and, in fact, I feel it helps me set the day right.

It has daily Mass readings (both audio and written), daily Y�������� �����������������as well as daily meditations of Pope Benedict XVI. It even has audio rosary and many Catholic media such as the EWTN Glob-al Catholic Television Network which places great emphasis on the family unit and why the family

is the solution to many problems in society.

Best of all, it’s free.

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aycka.apps.MassReadings&hl=en(

iPhone:http://itunes.apple.com/sg/

app/laudate-1-free-catholic-app/id499428207?mt=8

Another app that I have been using is iCatholicRadio.

It has round-the-clock talk shows on the family and issues around the world, allowing non-Catholics and Catholics alike to seek answers to questions on Church history and views.

It also has podcasts on the re-�� ��������������&�������� ����� ���>������������� ����� ��-ments and many more.

Android:ht tps : / /p lay.google .com/

s to re /apps /de ta i l s? id=com.

jacobsmedia.icath&hl=eniPhone:http://itunes.apple.com/us/

app/icatholicradio-1-mobile-cath-olic/id370685543?mt=8

Catholicism is an ongo-ing faith building journey and it shouldn’t stop at baptism.

And for a start, what better way to build that faith than to in-crease our knowledge of the Bible and views of the Catholic Church, and bring us closer in understand-ing to the God who so loves us.

Lee Chiew LingSingapore 805872

� See story on Page 22

LETTER

Catholic smartphone apps that could enrich faith

Laudate app has daily Mass read-������������������������������-tions of the pope.

���������!���������������������-������������"���"����$����$�������������������������%�

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI said his three-day trip to Lebanon convinced him that now is the time for Christians and Muslims to bear witness together against violence and in favour of dialogue and peace.

In Lebanon, he said, Mus-lims “welcomed me with great respect” and their presence at each of his public events “gave me an opportunity to launch a message of dialogue and coop-eration between Christianity and Islam”.

“I believe the time has come to give a sincere and decisive wit-ness together against divisions, against violence and against war,” ��� ����� ����� �� ���� (�� �� ����weekly general audience.

9����'�����������(5F(X�����to Lebanon, the pope told an es-timated 7,000 people gathered in the Vatican audience hall that the “relaxed and constructive cli-mate” of meetings with Lebanese religious leaders, government of-= ����� ��� ��'��� ����� ��� ���Christians and Muslims was “a strong sign of hope for the future of humanity”.

He said that despite the cur-rent tensions in the Middle East, particularly because of the con-����� =����� �� ������� ��� '���strongly committed to making the trip “because I was convinced that a father must be alongside his children when they face serious problems. I was motivated by a deep desire to proclaim the peace the Lord left His disciples”.

Lebanon’s tradition of differ-ent religions not only coexisting in peace but working together for the good of the country must be treasured, strengthened and seen as an example for the whole re-gion, the pope said.

At a general audience attend-ed by dozens of groups of high school and university students from around the world, Pope

Benedict said he was especially touched by the festive atmos-phere that marked his meeting on ����(4�'��������������� �����Lebanon and surrounding coun-tries.

“Watching young Christians and Muslims celebrating together in great harmony, I urged them to build together the future of Leba-non and the Middle East, and to oppose together violence and war. Agreement and reconciliation must be stronger than the tempta-tions of death.”

The pope said he returned to Rome convinced that sincere faith and a desire to do God’s will can and must be the basis for social harmony because faith in God gives birth to true peace. � CNS

Christians, Muslims must give joint witness for peace, pope says

�� ������ ��� ������ ��� &� ����'���������������� ����������������������� *������ ��������� ��������� ���people wait for the arrival of Pope +��������<=>� ������������������������� ������� ��� +$��$��� &� �����on Sept 15. CNS photo

WASHINGTON – The increase of restrictions on religion are up '����'���� 3� ���� ���� ��� =���time, those restrictions increased �������������������������� -cording to a report.

&��� ��� ���� �� '��� ��� =���time in the study’s four-year his-tory that both government restric-tions and social hostility were up by at least one point on a scale of 2� �� (2�� � ������ �� ��� ��� ��-���� �� �������'�&�������9�-ligion & Public Life, which issued ��������������120�

$������'���������(X� ��-tries with such large measurable increases in both criteria.

$��� � ������� ������� ��� ���from a ranking of “low” to “mod-erate” in terms of restrictions on religion, according to the study, Rising Tide of Restrictions on Re-ligion.

The period studied was mid-2009 to mid-2010.

In terms of government re-strictions, the Pew study found 51 cases of governments applying zoning laws or regulations to pre-vent religious groups from build-ing houses of worship, schools or other facilities. Of those 51 instances, 31 involved Christian denominations.

On the 10-point scale, social ������������������ ������������2.0 to 3.4, while government re-strictions jumped from 1.6 to 2.7.

The government restrictions score in each of the past three years had been 1.6, while the social hostilities number fell be-tween 1.8 and 2.0.

On the world scene, Christians – as with each of the past years of the study – were more frequently the target of religious restrictions.

In the latest study, there were 111 countries found to have har-assed Christians, up from 97 in

the previous study year ending in mid-2009. Muslims placed sec-ond, with 90 countries harassing them, and Jews were third, with 68 countries harassing them.

No religious group was found to have had a decrease in the num-ber of countries harassing them.

On a 10-point “social hos-tilities index”, 15 countries reg-istered scores of 7.2 or higher. Pakistan registered the highest � ����������'������-�����-��������������� "���������� �������� ���Israel – all of whom were on the ���������=������������������0

Likewise, on the 10-point gov-ernment restrictions index, Egypt topped the list, followed by In-�������� Y��������� ��������������Afghanistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, :�������#������������0

The report noted that as of mid-2010 – six months before

the outbreak of protests and other civil unrest that would become ��'� ��� �������� ������ 3� ���Middle East and North Africa had “by far the world’s highest levels of social hostilities involving re-ligion as well as government re-strictions on religious beliefs and practices”.

In all, 37 percent of countries have high or very high restrictions on religion, compared with 28 which were found to have mod-erate restrictions, and 35 percent with low restrictions.

However, 75 percent of the world’s citizens live in countries with high or very high religious restrictions, up from 70 percent from year-before numbers, com-pared with 19 percent living in countries with moderate restric-tions and 6 percent with low re-strictions. � CNS

Study shows restrictions on religious practice up in US, worldwide

Page 20: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

MIGRANT SUNDAY FEATURE

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In our local context, it is a very real situation in Singapore today where every other person we en-counter on a daily basis is likely to be a foreigner. Political, economic or social conditions have forced him or her to leave their country in search of better prospects abroad.

This search for better living ��������������������������-secution, war, violence, hunger or natural disasters, has led to an unprecedented mingling of indi-viduals and peoples within local communities.

;�����������������������������'������not only have unprecedented new problems such as overcrowding come into focus but also many ethi-cal, religious and spiritual issues have been thrown up. As Singaporeans, we are called to be sensitive in offering support to our many sisters and brothers '���������������������������������� ������������ ���'��������������������= ��������������0�

Indeed, the widespread prevalence of migra-

tion today offers a providential opportunity for the proclamation of the Gospel. Men and women from various regions of the earth may or may not have encoun-tered Christ or only know Him only partially. As such, it is nec-������� �� =�� �������� '���� ��embrace them into the fold.

As a Church, we are faced with the challenge of helping migrants remain faithful even when de-prived of the cultural support that existed in their country of origin.

“Migration and the New Evangelisation” is the theme for this year and it arises from the

aforesaid situation. The present times call upon the Church to embark even more fully on a new evan-gelisation in the advent of this human mobility – it � ��������������= ������������������0�

We ourselves are beseeched to be nourished with the Word ourselves to be better servants of the Gospel in the work of evangelisation in these � ��������� �������=��� ��� �������� ������ ���new and uncertain mingling of peoples and cultures.

At the parish level, ACMI (Archdiocese Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People) is planning to reach out to all parishes by inviting and encouraging them to start their own Parish Migrant Ministries in the coming months, hence furthering the Church’s mission of evangelisation.

As such, Christian communities are encour-aged to pay special attention to all migrants and their families by accompanying them with prayer, solidarity and Christian charity while promoting respect and dignity of every human person with regards to their housing, work and welfare and their smooth integration with the rest of society.

Therefore on this occasion of Migrant Sunday, let our joyful proclamation of the salvation of Je-sus Christ bring hope, relief and joy to the hearts of those who live among us on foreign land. �

Yours in Christ,

Archbishop Nicholas Chia

ARCHBISHOP’S MESSAGE

Prayer, solidarity, Christian charity

Archbishop Chia: Migra-tion offers opportunity for proclamation of the Gospel.

VATICAN CITY – Christians need to offer migrants special care, rang-ing from prayer and concrete aid to promoting policies that uphold immigrants’ rights and dignity, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Modern migration represents “an unprecedented mingling of in-dividuals and peoples, with new problems not only from the human standpoint but also from ethical, re-ligious and spiritual ones”, he noted.

$��� ����� ��� ������� ����� ����corners of the world offers new opportunities to evangelise and to provide material and spiritual care to those in need, he said.

The pope made the comments in a message on the theme of Mi-grations and New Evangelisation for the World Day for Migrants and Refugees 2012.

The Catholic Church in Malay-sia, Singapore and Brunei observes the special day on Sept 30 this year.

In his message, the pope called on Christians to pay special attention to migrant workers and their families and to accompany them with “prayer, solidarity and Christian charity”.

Christians also should promote political, economic and social poli-cies and strategies that uphold “the dignity of every human person, the safeguarding of the family [and] � ����������=�������������'����and to welfare,” the pope said.

Those seeking asylum because of persecution, violence and threats to their lives “need our understand-

ing and welcome”, he said. They need respect for their dignity and rights and to become aware of their duties and responsibilities in a new land, he added.

The pope said increased human mobility means there are new chal-lenges and opportunities for evan-gelisation.

Every Christian has a duty to evangelise, and the ease of com-

munication and meeting new people who may never have encountered Christ “must reawaken in each one of us the enthusiasm and courage that �����������=���#������� ����-nities to be undaunted heralds of the Gospel’s newness”, he said.

The presence of people from dif-ferent nations and cultures means there is greater urgency for dialogue and respect for legitimate differences.

However, secularisation and the “fragmentation” of societies that divide people according to cul-tural or ethnic identities are an ob-stacle to the unifying vision of one human family, he said.

Much of today’s world “is marked by endeavours to efface God and the Church’s teaching from the horizon of life, while doubt, scepticism and indifference

are creeping in, seeking to eliminate all the social and symbolic visibility of the Christian faith”, he added.

In such secularised communi-ties, the Church is faced with new challenges in helping Christians migrants maintain their faith in their new homelands, the pope said.

The Church must develop new pastoral approaches, methods and expressions to help Christian mi-����� @����� ����� ����� =��� ����when they are deprived of the cul-tural support that existed in their country of origin”, he said.

The increased mobility of peo-ples from different nations also pre-sents new opportunities to evange-lise, to dialogue with other believers and show the unifying force of the Christian vision, said the pope. �The pope’s full message can be found at http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/migration/docu-ments/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20111025_world-migrants-day_en.html

Give special care to migrants and their families, urges pope

Foreign domestic workers attending a baking course run by the Archdiocesan Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People. File photo

The presence of people from different nations means there is greater urgency for dialogue and

respect for legitimate differences, says Pope Benedict.

20 Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNews

A look at the plight of migrants as Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei

Page 21: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

MIGRANT SUNDAY FEATURE

By Jeremy Khoo

JOSHY PALAYOOR is a foreign worker. In 1999, he came from Kerala, India to work in Singapore as an operator in a manufacturing company.

He paid the employment agent a whopping $6,000 with loans he borrowed from relatives and was paid a meagre $500 a month to sup-port his family back home. He had little education and as an operator his job scope was to pack, stack and load products into a container.

As a work permit holder he was not allowed to bring any family members with him and he stayed in a dormitory room which he shared with 12 other foreign workers.

Joshy felt really depressed as he thought he had one of the worst jobs in Singapore.

Joshy is a Catholic. In the dor-mitory, he joined a Jesus Youth prayer meeting and met foreign workers working in other indus-tries. There he made friends work-ing in the shipyard industry who were much worse off than he was.

They had to perform back-breaking and often very hazardous building, maintenance and clean-ing jobs everyday with even less pay. In addition, they have no job

security as they could not be guar-anteed daily work and wages.

From then on Joshy decided to stop complaining about his job and resolved to do his best at work to help his fellow foreign workers.

He donated 10 percent of his salary to the Church as tithe and also travelled around Singapore to do mission work, meeting people in ministry and prayer gatherings.

Joshy began to consider his job as a blessing instead and consist-ently did well in his work. He even made it his policy not to take medi-cal leave unless it was very urgent.

Management took notice of his performance and over the years sponsored him to attend three cours-es which included two National $� �� ���#���= ����3�6$#1����6$#7�3���������-��������$� �-nical Education and an advanced di-ploma from Singapore Polytechnic.

;��� ���� ��������� �����= �-tions, the company promoted him to the position of technician where he continued to excel.

Joshy then moved to ST Mi-croelectronics in 2006 where he continued to improve himself. He completed his degree in Engineer-ing from Coventry University, UK, last year. He was recently promoted to his current position as engineer.

�-6#:����=��� ������'������ ��Singapore, becoming a permanent resident was a “distant dream” for him as he knew this would be im-possible as a work permit holder. Under Singapore law, one has to have at least an S-Pass to qualify.

So after he completed his ad-vanced diploma and got his S-pass, he immediately applied for PR and by the “grace and love of God” re-ceived it in two months.

Joshy said he believed “this is all the Lord’s doing” and began to plan for his family’s future.

AFTER� =��� ������ ������ ����������� ��� '��� =����� ����� �� �����his wife and son over from India to live with him in Singapore. The latest addition to his family, his daughter, was born here.

Joshy and his wife then decided ��������>!"�������������������market. At that time his wife was getting anxious as the contract for �������������'������������0�

Joshy, on the other hand, had faith in God and knew that He would

provide when the time was right. Several weeks before their

lease was up, a housing agent called Joshy to inform him of an Open House at 3pm on Saturday.

Unfortunately, they were not able to make it as they had to attend a prayer meeting. However, they persuaded the agent to allow them to ���'�����������������������0�

Joshy and his wife loved the ������������ ������� ������ ��after their prayer meeting to look at it again.

There was a large crowd of buyers but because the couple had come earlier they were given pri-ority and immediately made the down payment.

They became proud owners of ����� ����� �'� >!"� ��� �� '����������� ��� ����� ���� ����� ���� ���was up.

Joshy shares that he was always touched and moved by the Bible passage, Mark 16:15, “Go into the entire world and preach the good news to all creation.”

He used to say to his wife that

they are here in Singapore with a purpose and mission, not just to make money.

His personal prayer is: “May loving Jesus use me always ac-cording to His will and grace”. He added that he and his wife have an intense desire for their children to become missionaries in Asia.

He also thanks God for being part of the Archdiocese Commis-sion for the Pastoral Care of Mi-grants and Itinerant people (ACMI) which helps solve the many work-related issues of the migrant work-ers he used to minister to.

Joshy says he is very grateful to Jesus Youth, an International Char-����� � %���� D����� ��=������ ��the Singapore Archdiocesan Cath-olic Charismatic Renewal (SAC-CRE) in Singapore.

The prayer groups, training and retreats helped him greatly in his formation and faith journey in Christ, he said. �

The writer is executive director of ACMI (http://www.acmi.sg)

Joshy Palayoor and his family in Singapore. The prayer groups, training and retreats he experienced here helped him greatly in his faith formation, he says.

From factory worker to �������

Joshy Palayoor was paid a meagre $500 a month as factory operator but later worked and studied his way to become an engineer.

By Joachim F Xavier

Once again we come to that time of the year when we begin preparations to celebrate the positive presence of our dear migrant brothers and sisters in our midst. Yes! Indeed this is a cause for celebration for it is in this presence that we see and experience the awesomeness of our great God who made us all different and yet as part of one big beautiful human family.

The Migrant Sunday theme this year is Migration and the New Evangelisation. Without doubt, there is an unparalleled exo-dus of millions of people moving between states, countries and continents in search of a better future for themselves and their family.

This phenomenon is especially true and real in the context of South East Asia, where millions of individuals and whole families uproot themselves from the security and com-fort of their homeland and embark on what is

arguably a perilous en-deavour armed only with hope and courage.

We see this massive movement manifests it-self in real but sometimes painful ways in our cities, churches, work places and even our very homes.

How does the con-temporary Church re-spond in the face of such an all encompassing phenomena of epic proportions? Pope Ben-edict XVI in his annual message in conjunc-tion with World Day of Migrants & Refugees 2012, has called on the local Church to unre-servedly reach out in love to the migrant com-munity in our midst who themselves reach out in pain and agony for faces, hands and feet that will welcome them rather than shun them.

This call to reach out takes on an impera-

tive tone when one considers the faith risk migrants are exposed to in a foreign land.

What better response to this call then by ��������������������/�����#����������=��-ing the seed of faith that migrants carry with them on their voyage.

This is the new evangelisation. No longer is it the case that missionaries need to embark on long journeys to bring the Good News. Today, the souls hungering for God and His Good News beckon at our very doorsteps! It is through our eyes and hearts that they will recognise God and His compassion for their pain and suffering.

Every time a Mass is organised in a for-eign language or free Bibles distributed or a meal is shared with our foreign brothers and sisters, we become instruments of God’s im-measurable love for His children everywhere 3���������'�����������¡

The Episcopal Commission for the Pas-

toral Care of Migrants & Itinerants (EMI) being the arm of the Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei charged with the pastoral care of migrants in this part of the world, has always promoted the celebra-������Y��������������������= �� ��-endar event in every diocese and parish.

As part of this promotion, the EMI has put together an organisers’ kit that is designed to help those involved in migrant ministries to organise Migrant Sunday.

Therefore it is with much anticipation we greet this celebration. Motivated by the mes-sage of His Holiness, powered by the Holy Spirit and assisted by the Migrant Sunday Kit, may this year’s Migrant Sunday open our hearts and arms to warmly embrace our dear migrant brothers and sisters present in our midst! �The writer is chairperson of Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants, Bish-ops’ Conference of Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei.

Migrant Sunday – a cause for celebration

Joachim F Xavier

21Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNews

mark the World Day for Migrants and Refugees on Sept 30

Page 22: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

22 Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNewsFAITH ALIVE

By Marcellino D’Ambrosio

IN MATTHEW 16:3, Jesus quipped that the spiritual leaders of his day were good at forecast-ing the weather but bad at reading the signs of the times.

As we approach the 50th anni-versary of the start of the Second Vatican Council, let’s remember one of the key “signs of the times” that prompted the council is what Pope Benedict XVI calls “the eclipse of God” in some formerly Christian societies.

By the mid-20th century, they had adopted a sort of practical athe-ism: people were going about their daily lives as if God did not exist.

But the council saw more than just problems in the hustle and bustle of contemporary life. It saw new opportunities, such as the de-velopment of the modern media.

In the last 15 years, there has been dramatic development in communications. First came the Internet, then the more interactive blog. Finally, the social media world of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube arrived.

Put that together with smart-phones, iPads and applications, or “apps,” and you have a communi-cations revolution.

Let’s begin with the potential

of the new media to build up the faithful. One of the council’s goals was to make the entire liturgy, in all its richness, more accessible to the life of every Christian.

Using free smartphone apps such as Laudate and iMissal, peo-ple now can carry around the ordo – the Church calendar – and the Lectionary in their pocket.

Laudate also features daily Mass readings, the Liturgy of the Hours, hundreds of prayers, nove-nas and the rosary available with ����� �������=���0�-�� �� ���� -ed one of my teens for looking at her smartphone during Mass only

��=������������'��������'���along the Scripture reading.

Online websites and phone apps now put the day’s Divine *�= �� ������� �� ����� ������ ����computer, tablet or phone to prayer.

Moving from prayer to cat-� ������� '�� =�� ��� ��� �'�forms of media have made Church doctrine accessible everywhere. Everything from the Scriptures to the Catechism of the Catho-lic Church to the writings of the priests, saints and popes can now be accessed by these devices.

But something that has always been true is even truer today: less

is more. A tweet shared via Twit-ter is limited to 140 characters. Quotes are more likely to get at-tention than dissertations.

As people who share our faith with others, we can and should use the technology on a small scale to feed, instruct and inspire others.

The task of the new evangelisa-tion is to share the Gospel with the �����'���������������=��������the ability to speak to virtually the whole planet is available to the av-erage person through social media.

I recently used a group texting app to share Scripture quotes pri-vately with seven people in my

family. During the same week I shared thoughts publicly through my Facebook page.

Facebook statistics told me that my communications reached more than 293,000 people and more than 15,000 of them were “talking about” what I shared.

$���� ���� �� �� =��� ��� ��-portant point. Social media is not static but dynamic. Its hallmark is interaction. Facebook has its famous “like” button but also has options to comment on a post or to share it. You know whether you are hitting your target.

A second hallmark of social media is that its use is not subject ����=����� ������0�-�������������to a class that meets three times a week or a TV show that you have to allocate 30 minutes to on Thursday evenings. It is everywhere, always.

This is exactly where we want to get the truth of the Gospel: back into daily life and back to people for whom it has become irrelevant.

Social media presents us with a great opportunity and a challenge.

Dull content will never go viral even if it is true. We must use all the creativity at our disposal to commu-nicate truth in text, image and video in a witty, intriguing way that makes people want to hit the “retweet” and “share” buttons. � CNS

Good News in the 21st centuryUsing the communications revolution to share the Gospel

Everything from the Scriptures

to the Catechism of the Catholic Church to the

writings of saints and popes can now

be accessed by our modern devices.

Page 23: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

23Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNews

CHILDREN’S STORY:

By Joe Sarnicola

Some of the people of Israel be-gan to complain about not having a home of their own to live in; they were tired and they were hungry.

When the Lord heard their com-plaints, He was angry. Moses tried to pray to God for the sake of his people, and the Lord answered.

“Assemble for me 70 of the elders of Israel,” He told Moses, “men you know for true elders and authorities among the people, and bring them to the meeting tent. When they are in place beside you, I will come down and speak with you there. I will also take some of the spirit that is on you and will bestow it on them, that they may share the burden of the people with you. You will then not have to bear it by yourself.”

The Lord instructed Moses to tell the people to prepare themselves for His message. They complained they had no meat, so the Lord said He would send them so much meat they would not want any more.

Moses knew the amazing won-ders God had performed to bring the people safely out of Egypt, but he did not know how the Lord could provide so much meat. There were so many people.

So Moses said, “The people around me include 600,000 soldiers; yet you say, ‘I will give them meat to eat for a whole month.’” And the Lord replied, “Is this beyond the Lord’s reach? You shall see now whether or not what I have promised takes place.”

Although he did not understand, Moses obeyed the Lord. He sum-moned the 70 elders of Israel and

told them to stand by the tent. Then the Lord came down in a cloud and spoke to Moses. The spirit of the Lord touched Moses and each one of the elders.

Two other men, Eldad and Medad, were not with Moses and the elders. They felt the spirit of the Lord where they were, and they prophesied to the people who remained back in the camp. Joshua heard of this and im-mediately went and told Moses.

“Moses, my lord,” he said, “stop them.”

But Moses did not want to stop them. Instead he said to Joshua, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all of the people of the Lord were prophets! Would that the Lord would bestow His spirit on them all!” �

Read more about it: Numbers 11

Q&A1. What were the Israelites complaining

about?2. What happened to the elders of

Israel?

SPOTLIGHT ON SAINTS:St Jerome SophroniusJerome Sophronius (342-420) studied religion from the time he was a small boy. His father sent him to Rome to continue his schooling in litera-ture and languages.

Since much of his religious education was more academic than spiritual, he did not have a strong drive to serve God. As a young man, he decided he wanted to change his life and be-come a true religious person. After a vision in which God asked him who he was, Jerome set his life toward devotion to God.

He began his training for the priesthood under the condition that he would not be assigned to a church but would be allowed to become a monk or religious recluse. Following this path, Jerome was asked by Pope Damasus I to be his personal secretary.

Jerome is revered today for his scholarship and dedication to the Church. We honour him on Sept 30. �

PUZZLE:������������ ���� �������������������� ����� ���� ��� hidden in the letters below? Letters may be used only once with none left over:� � � ��������� � � ��������� � �� � �� � � � � � � �� ����������� � �� �� �� �������� Answers to Crossword Puzzle

WORDSEARCH: � ISRAEL � COMPLAINED � HUNGRY � ANGRY � MOSES � ASSEMBLE � ELDERS � PEOPLE� BESTOW � MESSAGE � AMAZING

BIBLE TRIVIA:What is the name ����� ���������������� ����� ���� ��� Answers to Puzzle:

Exodus, Genesis, Joshua, Psalms, Job, Isaiah. Answers to Bible Trivia: Malachi.

Bible Accent:$��� =��� =��� ������ ���the Old Testament are considered books of law. The Hebrew term for these books is the “Torah” and the Greeks called them the “Pentateuch”.

These books contain much more than just a record of God’s laws. They tell the story of creation, of the early Bible heroes such as Jo-seph, Abraham, Isaac and Noah, and of course of the famous escape of the Israelites from the slavery in Egypt.

$����������������������=������������������little about the information they contain.

Genesis is a word that means “origin”, and in this case it is the origin of the human race and of our faith.

Exodus, similar to the word “exit”, means to leave. Here it means the story of how the Isra-elites left Egypt.

Numbers includes the record of the censuses that were taken to count the people of Israel.

And Deuteronomy means “second law”, a reference to the book being a summary and ����= ��������������������'�������������established. �

Page 24: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

24 Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNews WHAT’S ON

Oct 5THE MARGINALISATION OF FAITH IN BIOETHICS – IS IT A GOOD THING?7.30-9.30pm: Fr Joseph Tham, who teaches bioethics at the Regina Apostolorum of Rome, discusses if, why �����'������ �����������������=����of bioethics today. By Catholic Medical Guild. At Church of Sts Peter and Paul (Parish Centre). Register T: 6858 3011

Oct 6CHILDREN’S EUCHARISTIC ADORATION 10am-12pm: Bring the little ones to adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Food & fun after Adoration to celebrate Children’s Day. For children up to 12 years old. By Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. At Prayer Room. Register E: [email protected]

Mondays Oct 8 to Dec 17ALPHA COURSE7.45-9.45pm: Relax, eat and share real-life stories. For everyone interested to discover what Christianity means, deepen their relationship with Jesus, or explore the meaning of life. At Church of St Bernadette AV Room 2nd Floor (12 Zion Rd). Register T: 9798 7788 (Richard), 8322 3536 (Andy); E: [email protected]

Friday Oct 12 to Sunday Oct 14INDIVIDUAL GUIDED RETREAT Fri (7pm)-Sun (4pm): A silent retreat to help one become more attentive to the presence of God in one’s life. Cost: $110 (non air-con room), $160 (air-con room). By Centre of Ignatian Spirituality and Counselling. At 8 Victoria Park Rd. Register by Oct 2 T: 6467 6072; E: [email protected]

Saturday Oct 13 and Sunday Oct 14THEOLOGY OF THE BODY CRASH COURSE 9am-5pm (daily): Based on the DVD series, Introduction to the Theology of the Body, facilitated by Andrew Kong and team. Cost: $17 (for workbook). By Apostolate for Catholic Truth. At International Plaza (10 Anson Road 29-03). T: 9649 3893 (Andrew); Register E: [email protected]

Oct 13 to Nov 17 COMMON SENSE PARENTING WORKSHOP 7.30-9.30pm: Developed by Boystown USA, this 6-session workshop will equip parents with effective techniques to address and improve their child’s behaviour as well as build good parent-child relationships. Cost: $150 (per person), $240 (couple). By Morning Star Community Services. At 4 Lor Low Koon. Register T: 6315 8812 (Shuba); E: [email protected]

Oct 13JOURNEYING WITH MARY9am-4.45pm: A retreat guided by Fr John Carlo Ma Rosales on a deeper understanding of Mary’s love for us and our response to her love. Mass and candlelight procession at 6pm.

No registration. At St Joseph’s Church (Victoria St). T: 6338 3167; E: [email protected]

Friday Oct 19 to Sunday Oct 21CHOICE WEEKEND Fri (6pm)-Sun (6pm): Take a break you deserve from your busy life. At Jurong West St 42. Register T: 9880 3093 (Dawn), 9046 2297 (Albert); E: [email protected]

Oct 20LIFE OFFERED FAITH PROCLAIMED 7-9pm: Free public seminar on Blessed Pedro Calungsod on the eve of his canonisation. Come and learn about the life of the 17-year-old Asian martyr. At Blessed Sacrament Church, Damien Hall. T: 9643 3799 (Rowena Jubelag)

Sunday Oct 21 to Thursday Nov 8 COUPLE EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMMECouple Empowerment (CEP) Discovery Series for four nights to learn the latest life skills to build a more emotionally intelligent marriage. Ideal for young married couples and all couples open to re-discovering one another. Child-minding services available. At Church of St Teresa (Auditorium). Register T: 9105 9921 (Victor/Annabelle), E: [email protected]

Oct 21WORLD MISSION SUNDAY EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION11am: Main Celebrant: Archbishop Nicholas Chia. All are welcome. By ACMA. At St Anne’s Church

Oct 21 CATHOLIC MEDICAL GUILD AGM 60TH AGM MASS DINNER4-10.30pm: All Catholic doctors and friends welcome. Starting with AGM followed by a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Nicholas Chia. Fellowship

EVENT SUBMISSIONSWe welcome information of events

happening in our local Church. Please send your submission at

least one month before the event.Online submissions can be made at

www.catholic.sg/webevent_form.php

RCIA/RCIYA journey for those seeking to know more about the Catholic faith. Baptised Catholics are also invited to journey as sponsors.

TuesdaysRCIA@CHURCH OF OUR LADY STAR OF THE SEA 7.45-9.45pm: At Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea (10 Yishun St 22). E: [email protected]

SaturdaysMANDARIN RCIA@NOVENA CHURCH 3.45-5.45pm: At Novena Church Peter Donders Room (300 Thomson Rd). Conducted by Sr Assunta Cheng. T: 9626 8546 (Alphonsus); E: [email protected] Crossword Puzzle 1068

Solution to Crossword Puzzle No. 1067

12 Tide13 Jaguarundi22 “It _____ upon a

midnight clear…”25 Johann _____,

16th century defender of Catholicism

26 556, to Nero27 Fenced areas29 Biennial games

org.30 “As I have seen,

those who plow iniquity and sow trouble _____ the same.” (Job 4:8)

31 Eli’s university32 Type of gun33 Edible mollusk34 _____ of the

Mohawks35 Bank machines

(abbr.)36 Lariat

39 Christmas visitors40 The Name of the

Rose author43 Not any44 Mass apparel46 Personal name of

God revealed to Moses

49 Leaves without paying the bill

50 Isaiah spoke of a new one (Isa 66:22)

51 Macy’s, for one52 Passover meal53 “By the sweat of

your _____…”54 River in France55 Rivers in Spain56 Sea eagle57 Pedro’s home59 Legendary loch61 Not gross62 Plaything

ACROSS1 Like the man who

built his house on rock

5 Lenten markers10 “I am the ___, you

are the branches.” (Jn 15:5)

14 Easy-Bake, for one15 A queen from this

country came to hear Solomon speak

16 Comply17 Outer covering18 Evil king of the

New Testament19 Damage by

regular use20 Ricky, in real life21 Acquire through

merit23 A good one may

get you accepted (abbr.)

24 The Israelites wandered here

26 “Give us this _____…”

28 They make up a decade

33 Catholic Canadian Prime Minister, Joe _____

37 More than sate38 Beer type39 French “thank you”41 Broad valley42 Poor Richard’s

was one44 Trembling poplar45 Catechetical

period following the reception of Baptism by adults

47 “Exodus” hero played by Paul

48 Superior of convent

53 Hebrew for “son of”

56 Delta follower, to a ham

58 “A dillar, a dollar, _____ o’clock scholar”

60 Undoing62 Peter and Andrew

may have used this

63 Traveled64 Musical

instrument65 Beginning66 Very,

in Versailles67 It was wild68 Okays69 Possessive

pronoun

DOWN1 “…and the _____

was God” (Jn 1:1)2 Like some halls3 Inward feeling4 “The _____ near!”5 One of 12 brothers

in the Old Testament

X� #����F=��������7 Hegel’s title8 Black9 Acronym for

“winter blues”10 It may be solemn11 “_____ your

pardon”

B I N D H A N D S A N T SO N E A E C O L E P O U TA L E S R E S I N P A T EZ E D E S E N A H U M

T S A R S P A U LD A Y S I N L E S S

R E A P M E A L S C I AP A L M A T L D C C CP C L S C R A M W E L KS K E T C H Y S H U

W O E S P O S E DF A C E T C H I D E OO T O E S T O I C T I N AO M I T S E A L E A T I TL E N S W A T T S O H M S

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 01 11 21 31

41 51 61

71 81 91

02 12 22 32

42 52 42 72

82 92 03 13 23

33 43 53 63 73

83 93 04 14

24 34 44

5 64 4

74 84 94 05 15 25

35 45 55 65 75 85 95

06 16 26 36

46 56 66

76 86 96

moc.scilohtacrofsemagdrow.www

dinner with Bishop Anthony Fisher giving a lecture on Rethinking Principlism in Bioethics. At Hotel D������ �= �B������1�"�������C0�Register E: [email protected]; W: http://www.cmg.org.sg/60agm

Oct 26CANDLELIGHT ROSARY WALK FOR YOUNG ADULTS 8-10pm: Honour Mary with a candlelight rosary walk in the Garden of Light followed by Eucharistic adoration. By Generation CHRIST! Ministry. At Church of St Ignatius Garden of Light (behind Kingsmead Hall). E: [email protected]

Thursday Oct 25 to Saturday Oct 27RENEWAL IN THE SPIRIT SEMINAR Thu (7-10pm), Fri (1.30-9.30pm), Sat (9.30am-4pm): Conducted by Alex Loo and team from KL. At Church of Divine Mercy (19 Pasir Ris St 72). Register T: 9430 2524 (Irene), 9667 8968(Eileen), 9652 6069 (Gladys)

Nov 3FINDING GOD IN YOUR WRITING PART 29.30am-5pm: Experience a deeper awareness of God’s presence in one’s everyday life through writing and other activities. For those who have �����������=���'�����'�������0�Cost: $80 (with lunch). By Centre for Ignatian Spirituality & Counselling. At 8 Victoria Park Rd. Register by Oct 27. T: 6467 6072; E: [email protected]

Nov 15YD12 – ALTAR SERVER RECOLLECTION 9.30am-1pm: As part of the celebration for Archdiocesan Youth Day 2012. For 13 to 18 years old. With lunch. "��%����Y������*�= �����������Club Singapore. Register by Oct 20. E: [email protected]

Page 25: OCTOBER 07, 2012, Vol 62, No 20

28 Sunday October 7, 2012 � CatholicNews

PUBLISHED BY ARCHBISHOP NICHOLAS CHIA, 2 HIGHLAND ROAD #01-03, SINGAPORE 549102. PRINTED BY TIMESPRINTERS, 16 TUAS AVE 5, SINGAPORE 639340.

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