THE
P RTAL
August 2015
Page 20
News from Australia
The Ordinariate Parish of Maffra
F
r Ken Clark, and his wife Carmel,
are managers of the Maffra Motor Inn.
Utilising article 7: 3 of the Complementary
norms of Anglicanorum Coetibus they are
“engaging in a secular profession”, in this
case running a busy Motel, and building up
the body of Christ in establishing the Parish
of the Most Holy Family, Gippsland.
The Parish of the Most Holy Family has
been busy over the last few months in Gippsland.
With the permission of Fr Peter Kooloos, Leongatha,
Fr Ken Clark is offering once again a mass on the
second Saturday of the month in Mirboo North. We
now regularly celebrate the sacrifice of the mass:
• Sundays: 10am: Heyfield;
• Wednesdays: 10am: mass and adoration:
Cowwarr;
• 1st Saturday of the month: Chapel at the Motel:
Cenacle members;
• 2nd Saturday of the month: Mirboo North;
• All solemnities are celebrated at Cowwarr
Corpus Christi this year was a special occasion as
Fr Brian O’Connor, Sale diocesan priest, donated a
wonderful vestment to the parish for use at this, and
all future Solemnities. This was a wonderful gift, and
we used that vestment for the first time this year. It was
a grand occasion with mass, Corpus Christi
procession, and adoration followed by
Benediction. It was also the first time that
we used in our procession the baldacchino
that we found tucked away at Heyfield. To
celebrate the sacrifice of the Mass in such a
public way is one way that we can proclaim
Christ to the world.
Fr Ken is also, with the permission of
Bp Patrick O’Regan, Bishop of Sale, and Mgr Harry
Entwistle, Ordinary of OLSC, an assisting priest at
the Sale Cathedral. So far, this has only included an
extra mass at the weekend, and a couple of hospital
visits. The benefit of this flows two ways. It allows Fr
Ken to have regular contact with, and experience of,
the wider Catholic community; and it builds on what
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI calls ‘bonds of unity with
the presbyterate of the Diocese in which they exercise
their ministry’.
Fr Ken has been busy writing for AD2000, as well
as for the Gippsland Ordinariate blog. More on the
Gippsland Ordinariate can be found online:
Blog:
gippslandordinariate.wordpress.com
Web:
www.gippsland-ordinariate.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Gippsland.Ordinariate
Those who have come across the seas:
Justice for refugees and asylum seekers
T
he
Australian
Catholic
Bishops’ Social Justice Statement for 2015–
16 challenges Australians to think again about
our national response to asylum seekers,
especially those who come to Australia by
sea. It invites us to recognise the desperation
that has driven these people to seek refuge far
from their homes.
The Statement’s title For Those Who’ve Come
Across the Seas: Justice for refugees and asylum
seekers is taken from the words of our National
Anthem, is intended to remind all Australians of how
the nation has aspired to be a place of welcome and
inclusion.
In this Statement, the Bishops address the divisive
national debate over asylum seekers, especially those
contents page
who arrive by boat. They confront Australia’s
current deterrence-based response and remind
us of the needs of the nearly 60 million people
who are displaced around the world.
The Statement takes its inspiration from the
actions and words of Pope Francis on his 2013
visit to the Italian island of Lampedusa, where
he met the survivors of a refugee tragedy and
mourned for those who had died. It begins and ends
with the Pope’s own words and is strongly based on the
Scriptures and Catholic teaching.
The Bishops’ document traces the experiences of
asylum seekers from their flight from persecution
and danger, through their perilous journeys, to
their experience in Australia of indefinite detention,
deprivation and insecurity. It asks why both sides of
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