The Thanksgiving celebration on the election of the Ecclesiastical Province of Kota Kinabalu, the elevation of Kota Kinabalu to Archdiocese and the appointment of Archbishop John Lee as Metropolitan Archbishop will be held on Monday, September 1.2008.
The celebration will begin with the Eucharistic Celebration at 10.00am at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart followed by lunch at 12 noon. There will be a dinner at 6.30pm at the Sutera Harbour Resort in Kota Kinabalu.
 The Diocese of KK was established in 1976 with Fr Peter Chung as the first bishop. Arcbishop John Lee Yit Yaw was born on Oct.5, 1933 in Jesselton, North Borneo (now Sabah). He was ordained a priest on December 27, 1964, and appointed Bishop of Kota Kinabalu on March 30, 1987. His Episcopal ordination was on June 26, 1987.
 The Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu has two Suffragan Dioceses: Keningan, and Sandakan.
 Based on the 2006 KK Diocesan Archives, there are  214,465 Catholics among the 3,545.960 population.

Ninety-one candidates, students and working adults, were confirmed by His Grace Archbishop Murphy Pakiam on August 10.
His Grace, in his homily, also challenged the confirmands to live out their faith in the family, BECs, School and market place.
The presence of the Young within the family is important, he said, contrary to secular philosophy which separates the youth from the old, children from the Parents. It is being united as a family that the experiences of the Holy Family can be captured, he continued. 'Who said that the Young cannot spend time with the Old?' he questioned.
It is one big family, he emphasised. He urged the Confirmands to take up this challenge so that they can succeed in making this change in perception because of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Later, after the Eucharist, he thanked the catechists and parents for their tireless effort of exposing the children to the right way of living in the world.

The new intake for the third batch of the Migrants' Capability Enhancement (CAPE) Programme of the St John's Cathedral Migrants Ministry has begun. The registration is held at the old parish hall of St John's Cathedral (SJC).
According to CAPE Coordinator, Corazon Moran, registration open on Sundays from 9.OOam to 3.OOpm, will end on September 28, 2008. As of August 17, some 150 migrants including several locals have signed up for the various courses being offered.
The courses which are conducted in English include English, Basic Care Giving, Western and Oriental Cuisines, Baking & Pastry, Beauty Culture, Ballroom Dancing, Basic Computer, Bahasa Malaysia, Sewing, Creative Arts, Basic Automotive, Basic Defence Driving, Bar Tendering, Business Motivation and Yoga.
Corazon said that the 20 odd courses are open to all migrants as well as local Catholics, including those from other parishes. So far members from the Filipino, Myanmarese and Vietnamese communities have signed up and Corazon expects at least 250 to 300 people to enroll for the third intake.

College General, the inter-diocesan seminary in 'Peninsular Malaysia organised a Vocation stay-In Experience which was well attended by young men from all three dioceses.
A total of 37 young men, the most in recent years, participated in the three-day event, which was meant to give them a small taste of life in the seminary. Kudos to the parish priests and vocation directors for enabling them to come. The theme for the Stay-In, held from Aug 8 - 10 was 'Come and See' (John 1: 39).
The young men began the weekend exposure with hilarious ice breakers and briefing. Peals of laughter could be heard as bishop, priests, seminarians and aspirants bandied with words by using the names of fruits to introduce themselves for example I am Jambu-John. crhe aspirants found it a very "fruity" affair.
For more information about the diocesan priesthood, College General and the Bicentennial Celebration please log on to www.collegegeneral.org

As Catholics we rejoice with all Malaysian citizens as we celebrate our 51st anniversary of national freedom with joy tempered with sadness at recent events.  Joy, because we have attained a certain maturity with greater freedom of speech and expression for a new era of democracy.  Sadness, because there are some who frustrate the march to higher levels of freedom, of truth, of justice and peace.In the situation prevailing at present in our country, we bishops think it necessary to highlight certain points in the Teachings of the Church on the political community of a nation.Christians must be conscious of their specific and proper role in the political community:
• they should be a shining example by their sense of responsibility and their dedication to the common good;
• they should show in practice how authority can be reconciled with freedom, personal initiative with solidarity and the needs of the whole social framework, and the advantages of unity with profitable diversity. 
• They should recognize the legitimacy of differing points of view about the organization of worldly affairs and show respect for their fellow citizens, who even in association defend their opinions by legitimate means.
• Political parties, for their part, must support whatever in their opinion is conducive to the common good, but must never put their own interest before the common good”
(Vatican II Documents: Church in the Modern World - Participation by all in Public Life. No. 75).We also raise a few concerns over recent happenings:
- Racial and religious tensions have re-surfaced with mob action in disrupting the forum organised by the Bar Council on 9th August, 2008 and the action of Federal Ministers in condemning the organizers of the forum and threatening them with the use of the Internal Security Act and the Sedition Act.
- The demonstration of the students of UITM against the legitimate suggestion of the honourable Menteri Besar of Selangor is another lost opportunity towards racial integration at the core of human formation through education.
- The continued rise of the cost of living, especially fuel, electricity and food prices which is causing great hardship to the poorer segment of our people. 
- The displacement of peoples through mega housing projects has not only eroded our environment drastically, but also has given rise to other social problems, especially the rise in horrendous crimes.
 “We need to remind ourselves and to reassert our fundamental belief and dream that peace and harmony cannot be sacrificed on the altar of political expediency or economic efficiency.  It is the right of each person to have his or her voice heard and for each community to make known its views.  We need to convince ourselves of the centrality of the democratic processes and take upon ourselves the responsibility to promote and ensure greater peace and harmony”.
(Stepping Stones to greater Peace and Justice – August 1998: Archbishop Soter Fernandez)In the light of these, we exhort lay people who have been blessed by God with leadership positions in the social and political arena to strive for the common good, especially the unity and progress of the country where justice and respect flourish for all.We pray for our Prime Minister, that he will carry out his promises to the Rakyat against any odds that may deter his right judgement.We pray for our representatives in Parliament, that they will be single-minded in their service to the Rakyat.We call upon all God-fearing people to pray for God’s blessings upon Malaysia - for a greater enlightenment in areas of religion, politics and social life.  Let us truly work towards one Bangsa Malaysia.

GOD BLESS MALAYSIA.

Archbishop Murphy Pakiam
President
Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Malaysia.

A series of warning letters "show cause" letter has been issued by the Home Ministry to the HERALD The Catholic Weekly in respect of articles carried by the paper which, according to official from the Home Ministry, we allegedly "politically inclined and touched on Islamic issues."
The HERALD is a weekly publication printed by the Catholic Church Malaysia. It carries news of current affairs and religious and educational articles with a view to propagating tl Catholic faith. The HERALD is sold in churches and not by newsvendors. The HERALD has a circulation of 13,000 copies per week and a readership estimated at 50,000.
In seeking to control the contents of the HERALD, the Home Ministry's warning and "show cause" letters go again Article 3 (1), Article 10 (1) (a) an Article 11 (3) (a) of the Federal Constitution i.e. the right to freely practice one's religion, the general freedom of speech and expression and the right of religious group to manage its own affair Such controls would deprive the Catholic community of current information an education relating to their faith and such an act by the authorities is tantamount to curtailment of religious freedom.

The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) on Aug 13, expressed its concern with the threat to suspend the publication of the HERALD (the Catholic newspaper) if it publishes an editorial on the Permatang Pauh by-election.
Suhakam Civil and Political Rights Working Group (CPRWG) chairman Datuk Dr Michael Yeoh Onn Kheng, in a media statement, said this would be deemed an infringement on freedom of expression.
"Any Malaysian citizen or publication should be allowed to make comment on Malaysian politics and elections as that is the fundamental right of all citizens, provided such comments do not provoke dissension and arouse public disorder," he said.
It was reported in The Star on Aug 13 that HERALD may have its permit suspended if it goes ahead and publishes an editorial on the Pematang Pauh by-election.
An official with the Home Ministry's publication control and Quran text division had said that this was because an editorial on the by-election was a topic under current affairs and politics which clearly went against the conditions of its permit which should only centre on its religion and religious activities.
The division recently issued a show cause letter to the HERALD for allegedly publishing articles relating to politics.

The Patronal Feast of the Parish of St John Baptist Marie Vianney
concluded on Monday, Aug 4. This year the parishioners were blessed with four priests concelebrating the Thanksgiving Mass on the actual day.
The Parish Priest, Fr Mari Arokiam, said that we have a God who is full of surprises. He was so delighted and thankful to God for the presence of Msgr Sebastian Francis from Melaka-Johor District, together with Fr Devadasan, the Parish Priest of St Francis Xavier, Melaka and Fr Jestus Pereira, the Chancellor for KL Archdiocese and also the Parish Priest of St Anthony's KL.
Reflecting on the month's NEWBEC theme Freed by
Christ the Word the preachers shared these words, COME - LISTEN - EAT. Focusing on these three words, they reminded the faithful that no matter what we are going through in life, Jesus is constantly inviting us towards Him.

The confirmation class of the Chard of the Holy Family, Kajang, attended their confirmation preparation camp from June 20 to 22 at IJ convent here.
The camp was organised by the confirmation class teachers of the three language groups, under the tutelage of Mr. Joseph Arul, the English speaking class teacher. Also in this camp with the youths was the Youth Band of Holy Family Blood Redemption, whose members had been journeying with the youths over the course of the past year and the lead speakers Vincent Nathan and Eddy Dorairajah.
Prior to this camp, the youths had already attended a one-day camp in January which no only got them familiar with each other but also got them in tune with the spiritual aspect of their journey towards becoming apostles of Christ.
This three-day stay-in camp was intended as a channel through which the youths could experience spiritual healing and an infilling of the Holy Spirit, for many a first encounter.

CHRISTIAN FEDERATION OF MALAYSIA
(PERSEKUTUAN KRISTIAN MALAYSIA)
Address: 10, Jalan 11/9, Section 11, 46200 Pctaling Jaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Telephone: (03) 79571278, (03) 7957146, Fax: (03) 79571457
Email: cfmsia @yahoo.co.uk

PRESS STATEMENT ON THE "SHOW-CAUSE" LETTER ISSUED TOTHE HERALD

The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) regards the three warning letters sent by the Home Affairs Ministry to the publishers of the HERALD as unjustified and an infringement of the right to circulate news within one' own religious community, a right guaranteed by our Federal Constitution (Article 11).
Christians believe that all of life, in its political, economic, social, cultural and religious aspects, come under the sovereignty of God. Therefore, Christians have a duty to educate its members to discern God's will and purpose by writing and publishing articles in church newsletters.
Furthermore, the weekly news contained in the Herald is intended for Catholic Christians who are regular Sunday worshippers, in order to help them to relate their faith to wider concerns, and to pray effectively for God's blessings and guidance in one's life, nation and the world.
The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) calls upon the Home Affairs Ministry to unconditionally withdraw the "Show-cause" letter and grant the HERALD their renewable publishing permit. Should there be matters for clarification it should be resolved rationally and reasonably through face to face dialogue.
 
Bishop Dr Paul Tan Chee Ing, SJ
Chairman, Christian Fcdration of Malaysia
Dated: 141h August 2008

In a ease that involves both media and religious freedom, the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) has asked the government to withdraw the warning letters to Catholic newspaper HERALD.
The CFM said that the warning and show cause letters were unjustified and an infringement of the fundamental right to circulate news within a religious community.
"Christians believe that all of life - in its political, economic, social, cultural and religious aspects - comes under the sovcrcignty of God," CFM chairman Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing SJ said in a statement.
"Therefore, Christians have a duty to educate followers of the religion to discern God’s will and purpose by writing and publishing articles in church newsletters,” 

Fr George Harrison, the assistant director of ASAYO and Laura Joseph, a pastoral worker from ASAYO visited youths from Good Shepherd Church, Setapak.
A total of 14 youths participated in this formation themed Be the Word. Through the formation, the team hoped to guide and encourage the youths to deepen their desire to read, reflect, live and be rooted in the Word of God.
The emphasis on this gathering was on Mary's visit to Elizabeth. The youths were given the passage to read in silence. Guided questions were given to the groups to answer. Each person was invited to share his/her personal insights. The youths shared on two points, on being humble and having trust.
Laura then took them to a deeper experience on the passage. She asked them to look at other qualities of Mary in the passage. She asked the participants about their own qualities as reflected in Mary.

What do Muslims really think and want? Beyond the discourses among the scholars and religious heads, what do the grassroots Muslims actually want? It is important that we understand the views of the Muslim populace - and not just the views of religious leaders and scholars - on issues like democracy, human rights, and the role of women in society, said Professor John L. Esposito, A Professor of Religion and Islamic Studies in Georgetown University, Esposito had been invited by the Sisters of Islam (SIS) to deliver a two hour talk entitled The Future of Islam: Reformation or Stagnation on Aug 9 at the Crown Princess Hotel.
Esposito began the talk by describing the results of a Gallup poll taken among the Muslim populace, which concluded that for grassroots Muslims all over the world, religion was important. Together with that, they desired democracy, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion
 As far as the laws of the land were concerned that the key consideration in Islamic reform today pertained to its relationship with tradition. The nature and extent of reform was highly dependent on how Islamic interpreters applied such tradition to the modern life.

To some people, it was a symbol of Muslim unity when leaders, members and supporters of three ideologically conflicting parties - Pas, Parti Keadilan Rakyat and Umno - managed to shut down a legal forum on conversion to Islam.
The protesters, putting words of their leaders into action, stormed into the Bar Council auditorium in Kuala Lumpur on Aug 9 to put an end to the planned half-day open forum only an hour after it started.
Till late Aug 9 night, there was neither a comment nor criticism from the Barisan Nasional component parties such as MCA, Gerakan, MIC and its multiracial Sabah and Sarawak affiliates. Even the non-Malay leaders of PKR have yet to offer any views.
"The police yielding to pressure to disrupt the half-day Bar Council forum on conversion to Islam at 10.00am in Kuala Lumpur today (Aug 9) is a most adverse reflection on law and order as well as religious harmony in Malaysia on the eve of the 51st. Merdeka anniversary.

Despite the fact that the Bar Council's Conversion to Islam: Art 121 (1A) of the Federal Constitution, Subashini & Shamala Revisited forum on Aug 9 ended prematurely, former Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) commissioner Prof Mehrun Siraj managed to raise an issue concerning the fate of marriages once a spouse has converted.
Speaking to reporters, Mehrun said that the law should provide for the settlement of such cases in the civil courts.
Mehrun urged the government to amend Section 3 of the Law Reforms (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 to give a converted spouse the opportunity to annul his or her civil marriage at the Civil Court in cases where the other spouse opted not to convert.
"Currently, the divorce is taken to the Syariah courts and the non-Muslim spouse will feel his or her rights are not protected," she said.
"If a non-Muslim chooses to convert, we should accept him but his civil marriage should be settled first. Give the opportunity to the non-converting spouse to claim alimony and custody of children," added the adjunct professor of law at the International Islamic University Malaysia.

It was indeed a sight as various groups of people converged to use the facilities available at Wisma Lourdes, the new community building which opened its doors on Sunday, Aug 3.
From the Faith Education classes - Pre school to Confirmation class, RCIA, RCIC, RCIT, Bible classes, ALPHA, BECCOT, Parish Office and fellowship by the Filipinos, Myanmarese and Vietnamese - everyone was eagerly waiting to take occupancy.
What stood out the most was the Charity Health Clinic, which is jointly managed by the OLL Catholic Doctors & Nurses Association and the main body Tzu Chi International Medical Association. The Charity Health Clinic is open every first Sunday of each month and caters mainly for migrant workers seeking medical aid. What was inspiring is the total dedication and teamwork of about 100-over volunteers as they rallied to offer a helping hand. The turnout of migrants and refugees was more than one hundred.
The group itself has been in existence since 1966, originating from Taiwan and made up of volunteers including Doctors and nursing staff.

Everybody can tell a story, and participants of a writing workshop were shown how stories can be told in a way that can grab the reader instantly.
One participant was from Penang, another from Johor and the other six from Kuala Lumpur. All were drilled and grilled at the workshop organised by Cahayasuara Communications Centre in Kuala Lumpur on Aug 2.
One of the participants, William Anthony from the Cathedral of St John, said: "After many years of writing my Church newsletters, I finally understood how to write. Now, I feel confident interviewing a person or any group, because I now know how to begin a story."
Under the tutorship of the Star's sub-editor, Vanitha Nadaraj, the workshop was conducted with active interaction between the presenter and the participants followed by exercises. The seminar covered the basics in journalism, with short exercises to enhance the understanding of the participants.
The next writing workshop would be held in July 2009.

In conjunction with the World Youth Day celebrations in Sydney over the week, the youths of St Anne's were given the opportunity to experience God's presence a healing power right here in Port Klang.
The event began at 4.OOpm with a cross being passed from the back of the hall to the front. Everyone was given the "burden" of carrying the cross. After a short Praise & Word session and an ice-breaker, the Pope's opening address at the World Youth Day celebrations Sydney was telecast for the 100 odd youths gathered at the Stella Maris hall on July 19.
Then Fr Simon Pereira, the energetic a vibrant priest from Singapore who has managed to touch the lives of many youths told the youth to "visualize, actualize and prayerize." It was a beautiful soul-searching exercise and all the wish, hopes and dreams were then lifted to the Lord in prayer. The session ended with a power-pack praise and worship session.

Dialogue is a responsibility and duty of all Christians, not just to learn from one another, but also to share our faith with others, said Fr Michael Chua at the Malaysian Institute Management (MIM) Managers' Renewal Programme on July 25.
Fr Chua, who is the Ecclesiastical Assistant for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, was invited by the MIM to speak in a forum on Living in a Multi-Faith Society.
Fr Chua elaborated the Catholic Christian perspective on what it meant to live in a multi-faith society by engaging in dialogue. He began by encouraging the audience to recognise how ethnocentric people really were. Firstly, this could be observed in the manner in which they usually sought company among others with whom they had common similarities rather than giving positive attention to people who were different from themselves.
Secondly, the general inclination to stereotype and make broad generalizations about people. Thirdly, the way people utterly ignored the importance of differences by claiming, for example, that all religions were the same (in which case dialogue would be rendered absolutely unnecessary.)

Bible Sunday was celebrated at the Church of the Holy Family on July 13. Before the Mass, a video presentation on the relevance of the Bible in today's world was projected. Parish priest, Fr William Michael, related the gospel reading on the parable of the seed, with the story of a young cradle-born Catholic, who struggles with his faith conviction, even though he practices the tradition of the church.
Fr William explained that it is internalising the Word that will help us face the challenges of the present world with Jesus as our guide. He stressed three steps that are required to attain this; Firstly, by hearing God's word attentively or the head step. Secondly, the hardest part, that is treasuring God's Word by taking to heart and consider how it can make our life better. Thirdly, by practising the Word of God as mentioned in St Paul's letter to the Romans, "The Word of God is sharper than any double-edged sword."

The power of God through the intercession of St Anne was evident at the church of St Anne as many came forward to share their testimony and experiences of miracles and healing happening daily in their lives through the intercession of St Anne. This faith brought thousands of pilgrims and devotees to the week-long feast day celebrations.
This prayerful journey with daily themes centred around the Word oj God went on from July 17 to July 27. The main celebration this year was extra special as it fell on the actual feastday of St Anne, July 26. The faith and presence of the thousands o1 pilgrims and devotees was not tempered by the gloomy weather and drops of drizzle that began as soon as mass started.
Parish priest Fr Lawrence Andrew SJ celebrated the Mass together with Fr Joe Stephens CSsR. Fr.Joe concluded his homily with a short plea, We ask God to help us struggle with our weakness, and St Anne will continue to intercede for as we live in this modern world.

An Open Day was organised at the Rumah Ozanam Batu Arang (a Home for Women and Children inflicted with HIV/AIDS), a shelter run by the Society of St Vincent De Paul.
This was done to raise awareness among the community. Among those who attended were members of SSVP, UNHCR, Malaysia AIDS Council and doctors and nurses from Sg. Buloh Hospital.
There was a video presentation of activities of the residents of the Home, which
was an eye-opener to those present.
The Guests were treated to Hi-Tea and they mingled freely with the residents. They were also given a tour of the Home by the residents. It was a wonderful sight to see the guests and their children interacting well with the women and children of the Home.
One of the residents thanked all the volunteers and staff for restoring her dignity and bringing her much joy. Although she is a Muslim, she said she was treated with kindness and respect.

On July 26 the Church of St Thomas played host to a group of residents from Eunos, Singapore who were on their "harmony trail" to Malaysia".
More than 300 of them came in 12 coaches led by their adviser, Mayor Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and MP for Aljunied GRC, Singapore.
Fr Eugene Benedict, the Parish priest, in welcoming the guests, said it was an honour for St Thomas' Church to have been included in their itinerary. He spoke about the strong connection of the Kuantan parish with Singapore.
From the early part of last century, Catholic priests from Singapore, in particular from the Church in Serangoon, travelled to provide pastoral care for the Catholic Community in Kuantan. He made mention of the fact that in 1907 the priest from Serangoon brought a small group of Chinese Hakka-speaking tin-miners to the Sungai Lembing tin mine in Kuantan.
He also acknowledged the growing ties with the many visitors from Singapore to the parish during the holidays. He concurred with the visitors that efforts for inter-religious dialogue and mutual respect are of importance.

In an endeavor to assist parents and teens understand each other, the Catholic Counsellors and Therapists Malaysia (CCTM), the KL Archdiocesan Family Life Commission (KLAFLC) and the Church of the Divine Mercy (CDM), Shah Alam, conducted a Seminar Workshop on July 12.
The Seminar-Workshop was titled Understanding Teens, Understanding Parents and was held at CDM. About 60 adults and 25 teenagers participated. The speakers were Dr Brendan J. Gomez, Developmental & Counseling Psychologist, Lecturer at HELP University College and Director, Asian Research Centre for Child & Adolescent Development (ARCCADE), and Dr Xavier V Pereira, Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist, Senior Lecturer, International Medical University and Chair of Catholic Counsellors and Therapists Malaysia.
Dr Brendan conducted the session Understanding Teen Development with his wife Patricia. Dr Xavier conducted the sessions, Understanding Parent-Teen Relationships and Understanding Teen Sexuality with the help of the CCTM and CDM teams.
The participants responded well to the input sessions and discussed topics openly during Break-Out sessions.

In the evening of July 16, the chapel at the new Carmelite monastery in Kampung Pasir in Seremban was thronged by an extraordinarily large turnout of worshippers from both the local and a number of outstation parishes.
They had converged at this breathtaking monastery chapel to celebrate the sunset Eucharist with the resident Carmelite Sisters on the occasion of the annual feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel held for the first time in Seremban.
It was the first time that the feast was being celebrated at the new monastery since its relocation. The Carmel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph which had moved here from Mantin, was originally located in the premises of the parish of St. Aloysius for a quarter of a century (1982-2007). It moved to its present commanding hilltop site on 20 July 2007. There are currently eight Sisters, two Novices and two Postulants in residence.

Fr Clarence Devadass, the parish priest of the Church of Our Lady of Fatima, began the study day with a rather striking approach by stating that only 50 per cent of Catholics in the parish go to Church.
He asked the participants for the reasons. There were some very lively and amusing answers: they are not in 'communion' with the priest; God is found everywhere; they, would rather go to the shopping malls on Sundays; there are not enough parking places around the Church; etc.
The first question was, "if only 50 per cent of Catholics attended Church, what is the Church doing about it?" Fr Clarence replied, "At the end of the Mass, we are sent forth, so what are we doing about it? If there are Catholics we know not attending, we should befriend them and bring them along, since each of us can play a part. The Eucharist is an amazing gift and by sharing this gift we can inspire others to come along."

A group of 30 Malaysian World Youth Day pilgrims, who formed the delegates to the Youth Arise Festival in Brisbane, were invited to be part of the Papal Welcome for the Sydney 2008 World Youth Day on Thursday, July 17. The group of 30 Malaysians were made up of 14 from Kuala Lumpur, PJ and Klang, 10 from Kota Kinabalu and 6 Malaysians working in Brunei.
The official invitation came from the International Liturgy Coordinator, World Youth Day 2008 - to inform that this group was one of the 8 other groups chosen to be on board the Papal Vessel - ie 30 out of 200 other young people from many other nations such as Russia, Estonia, China, etc. ... who would be present on the Star Deck (open air) of the Sydney 2000 (the luxury yacht to be used by the Pope - for the boat-a-cade ).

Quite recently the community of St John B Vianney, experienced some disturbances in their cemetery. Some intruders managed to get into the graveyard and damaged about 15 burial plots by breaking the statues of angels, flower vases and other decor.
The Parish Priest, Fr Mari Arokiam, together with Jude, the coordinator of the Cemetery Committee, found some of these items ripped off from their original graves and were thrown around or replaced on a different grave.
According to the Cemetery Committee, an application already been sent to the Archdiocese Finance Committee grant to fence up the whole cemetery ground. It is during process of awaiting for the approval of this grant that the incidents have taken place. However, the Committee, with the advice of their Parish Priest, has lodged a police report and they are waiting for some directives from the authority to the next step of dealing with this happening.

Members of the Prayer Group of Jesus Caritas visited the residents of Welcome Home Community Centre on July 19.
The members came bearing boxes of gifts. Mass was celebrated at the hall by Fr, Edward Soosay.
There were about 100 people present, including residents of five other nearby Homes, BEC members, the visitors as well as some of the residents themselves.
After Mass, the Charismatic Prayer Group served the sumptuous lunch they had brought. The visitors then presented gifts (toiletries) to each of the residents.
Then Anthony Gomez and Henry, administrator and supervisor of the Home respectively, led the Prayer Group, to meet the bed-ridden residents. The visitors were also taken on a tour of the “White House” .
The Home for men with AIDS/HIV is managed by AOHD (Archdiocesan Office of Human Development), and is officially gazetted as a recognized rehabilitation centre. It was heartening to note the largest number among the visitors were youth.