Catholic Women's League Australia Inc. "IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO TOUCH THE HEART OF ANOTHER, NOR IS IT EVER IN VAIN" Pope Benedict XVI "I have come that they may have life and have it to the full" John 10:10 National Newsletter Issue 2 June 2010 Cast of the Pieta by Michelangelo in Saint Peter's Basilica © L'Osservatore Romano National Newsletter Catholic Women's League Australia Inc. From the National President As you may be aware, the Australian Women’s Coalition (AWC) did not receive funding from the Federal Government this time around. Prior to the Government’s decision, AWC had commissioned a report on human trafficking which was prepared by the Anti-Slavery Project, University of Technology (UTS) Sydney. Much has changed in this area over the past five years and the AWC had called upon the Government to look into the following areas and amend the Criminal Code to: Dear Ladies, - Introduce new offences of servile marriage, forced marriage and forced labour and the Winter is upon us and it seems that it has come deceptive recruiting for labour services. around much quicker this year or is it that I am just - Amend the definition of exploitation in the slowing down! Autumn and spring are my favourite trafficking in persons offences to include forced seasons. In autumn, we experience the wonder of marriages and practices similar to slavery and, nature as the colour of leaves change day by day - Clarify the meaning of coercion. until we end up with bare branches and then a few months later, spring brings forth new life on these The full report can be downloaded from the AWC trees. Of course at times we complain about having website at www. awcaus.org.au. to pick up the leaves, but when I watch my little 18 months old grandson bringing me those leaves as if WomenSpeak, which received funding from the he has found something wonderful and exciting, then Federal Government, is now officially called Equality one soon forgets the mess the leaves make. Rights Alliances (ERA). It now has a membership of 47 organisations of which we are one. Today in our Church, we too have something exciting happening. While it has taken much longer than a few CWLA Inc has collaborated with South Korea and months, the new translation of the Roman Missal is New Zealand with two resolutions and amendments awaiting approval of the Holy See. Archbishop Denis to the WUCWO Constitution and BYLAWS for the Hart of Melbourne, Vice-chairman of the International WUCWO Assembly in Jerusalem. We are now Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) has waiting to see if the WUCWO Committee responsible advised that an interactive DVD titled “Become One for the Resolutions accepts them. Body, One Spirit in Christ” and other preparation materials will be issued as soon as the final Roman As previously advised, Brenda Finlayson will not be approval is given. seeking re-election as the WUCWO Board Member Australia at the Centenary Assembly in Jerusalem. I recently purchased a book from Amazon titled However, Brenda has been accepted by the Holy ‘Praying the Mass – The Prayers of the People’ See as one of the two candidates for the position by Jeffrey Pinyan. It is a guide to the new English of WUCWO President General. Congratulations translation of the Mass. It is easy to read while giving to Catherine McGrath who has been nominated as a very clear explanation of the current and the new our candidate to follow Brenda as WUCWO Board translation. Hopefully, League members will be at the Member Australia. Please keep both Brenda and forefront in promoting the changes to the Liturgy. Catherine in your prayers. Some within the Church may complain about these With the conclusion of the Year of the Priest, let us changes. However, we have witnessed such a drop not forget our priests and bishops and especially the off in Mass attendances over the past few decades Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI in this time of trial. and this change may be what is needed at this time. I encourage League members to spiritually adopt a Archbishop Hart recently noted: “Pope Benedict has priest and pray for him each day. written much about the beauty and transcendence in the liturgy. There is a desire to make the celebration Holy Mary Mother of God, Pray for us. of the Mass more reverent and less susceptible to popular culture” (AD 2000 June 2010). Madge Fahy National President 2 National Newsletter Catholic Women's League Australia Inc. From the National Chaplain that we have received, the gift that we hold on trust and the dignity that belongs to the office that we hold as ministers of Christ on earth. Members of the League are scattered all across our country, and are active in all sorts of apostolate in the Church and local parishes. You may come into contact with priests more often than many other Catholics do. You are more conscious of the work and the demands that are made upon priests in these times. This Year for Priests was an opportunity for the entire Church, but particularly for members of the League to pray for, to support and encourage your priests. You might suggest to your families and Dear friends, friends that they might continue to make an extra effort to pray and support their priest. Take a moment The theme that has been chosen for this year: 'It is to thank them for what they do, to encourage them, never too late to touch the heart of another, nor is it to do something extra to help them. ever in vain’, fits very well with the Year for Priests proclaimed by our Holy Father which concluded on This Year for Priests was for the whole Church: the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart this year. priests and laity. As members of the League, let us work together to strengthen our priests, and in turn Priests encounter people in all sorts of circumstances, to be strengthened by our priests. in all sorts of places and with very different needs. Priests are very conscious that every personal Fr David Cartwright encounter that we have with another person can National Chaplain ‘touch the heart of another’ and each opportunity is ‘never in vain’. Such reflections stem from what we SPREADING THE KINGDOM believe the priest is in our Catholic tradition. In the experience of the Apostle to the Gentiles, In Catholic theology we say that the priest is whom the Lord called to be a “minister of the Gospel,” ‘another Christ’, who makes present the ministry vocation and mission are inseparable. He therefore of Jesus among us. Apart from his sacramental represents a model for every Christian, particularly for ministry, his very presence in a parish or community missionaries ad vitam, in other words, those men and is a visible and tangible reminder of the risen women who dedicate themselves totally to proclaiming Lord among us. Jesus has not forgotten us, and Christ to those who still do not know him, a vocation He gave us the priesthood so that His work on which has retained its full value. This missionary earth might continue to the ends of the earth. service is carried out in the first place by priests who dispense the Word of God and the sacraments and who manifest the healing presence of Jesus Christ to all, especially the sick, the lowly, and the poor through their charitable Apostolate....Let us pray that the ranks of those who decide to live the Gospel radically with the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience may be ever more numerous. They are men and women who have a primary role in evangelization. Some of them are dedicated to contemplation and prayer, others to a multi-faceted educational and charitable action, but they all have the same goal in common; to witness to God’s primacy over everything and to spread his Kingdom in every social milieu....Finally, it should not The priest is not just here to be an administrator, a be forgotten that the vocation to Christian marriage is a builder, a public speaker. He is not just here even missionary vocation: indeed, the spouses are called to to offer the Mass and the Sacraments to us. The live the Gospel in families, in work contexts, in parish priest is here firstly as the representative of Jesus and civil communities. In some cases, they also offer Christ among us, and that is why every encounter their valuable collaboration to the mission ad gentes. with a priest can ‘touch the heart of another’. This is a good and salutary reminder for the laity, and also Pope Benedict XVI for priests. The Pope has offered this Year to priests Regina Caeli, April 13, 2008 so that we may be more conscious of the great gift 3 National Newsletter Catholic Women's League Australia Inc. NATIONAL INTERNATIONAL CSW 54 NY List of Resolutions adopted at the Session - SECRETARY REPORT 1. Women, the girl child and HIV/Aids 2. Release of women and children taken hostage including those subsequently imprisoned in armed conflict 3. Situation of and assistance to Palestinian women 4. Women's economic empowerment 5. Eliminating preventable maternal mortality and morbidity through empowerment of wormen 6. Strengthening the institutional arrangements of the United Nations for the support of gender equality and the empowerment of women by In recognition of the historic 15th anniversary of consolidating the four existing offices into a the Beijing World Conference on Women, the NGO composite entity Committee on the Status of Women NY organised 7.