Nigh on 250 priests gathered from across our land and from NZ to share in fraternity; to listen to good speakers and focus group leaders; and to express their joys and hopes their sadness and challenges in living out the ministerial priesthood today.

The reconciliation ceremony was a moving and cathartic moment as we acknowledged our individual and collective sin as priests (particularly in the light of the constant revelations of clerical abuse), and our need for God’s forgiveness and the poignant moment when representatives individually expressed their hopes in the midst of some trying realities in their ministry.

I would like to again thank:

• The local organising committee who did such a wonderful job in organising this convention.
• The team at our NCP National Office for their invaluable work.
• The many generous sponsors.
• The Bishop of Parramatta, Anthony Fisher, for his contribution and the support and contribution of various agencies from the Parramatta Diocese.

For those who couldn’t attend, the addresses by Donald Cozzens, Richard Lennan, Geraldine Doogue and David Tacey are available on the NCP website.

The final convention dinner saw the launch of the short history of the National Council of Priests of Australia written by Damien Williams and awards were presented to Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, Fr Paul Hanna, Mgr Rob Egar and Fr Bob Wilkinson.

There is much material from the convention for the NCP executive to mull over and focus our energies into the future. Over the weeks and months ahead we will be distilling the feedback from the convention and prioritising our efforts to work with some of the issues raised. One thing is for sure – the richness of the convention was due in no small measure to the long years of pastoral wisdom and ministry experienced by many of our members. Many were reassured of their own thinking by the resonance they heard at the convention: sometimes similar frustrations to their own were voiced, and they discovered again that they were not alone with their joys and hopes, challenges and disappointments.

A recent letter in the English Tablet 31 July 2010 by (Fr) J. Ambrose Walsh expressed his concern about what he called “the creeping emasculation of Vatican II reforms” and that, “nearly 50 years after LumenGentium, the Church’s central authority will still not implement in any meaningful way the doctrine of a General Council: Episcopal Collegiality.” He went on to say “to implement it would trigger structural reform at every level in the Church; to continue ignoring it is surely to be resisting the Holy Spirit.” It seemed to me, at the convention, that the majority were expressing our reaffirmation of the Vatican II reforms and the urgency for structural reform to renew the church and to allow the Risen Christ to embrace the world in which we live and minister.

Bishop Kevin Dowling CSsR, the Bishop of Rustenburg, South Africa in an edited extract from a talk given by him to Catholic laity in Cape Town (the full text can be found at www.thetablet.co.uk ) courageously and eloquently put it in a recent article (“Too safe a system”, Tablet 17 July 2010): “…if church leadership anywhere presumes to criticise or critique socio-political-economic policies and policy makers, or Governments, it must also allow itself to be critiqued in the same way in terms of its policies, its internal life, and especially its modus operandi. A democratic culture and praxis, with its focus on the participation of citizens and holding accountable those who are elected to govern, is increasingly appreciated in spite of inevitable human shortcomings. When thinking people of all persuasions look at church leadership, they raise questions about, for example, real participation of the membership in its governance and how in fact Church leadership is to be held accountable, and to whom. If the Church, and its leadership, professes to follow the values of the Gospel and the principles of Catholic Social Teaching, then its internal life, its methods of governing and its use of authority will be scrutinised on the basis of what we profess.”

His words provide a great challenge for us all.

IAN MCGINNITY

Something of the richness of the experience of the recent NCP convention in Parramatta is conveyed in the pages of this Spring edition of The Swag. Peter and I thank those who have taken time to write down their reflections on the convention experience and made them available to publish in our magazine. There’s a wide range of responses – all valuable.

In this short editorial section, I want to share some of my own reflections.

Firstly, on behalf of all who participated, and indeed of the sponsoring body the National Council of Priests of Australia, a sincere thank you to the Parramatta organizing Committee and to all who contributed to the gathering. Be assured it was all very worthwhile!

I carry away from Parramatta a few special things:

• There is a renewed sense of being part of a brotherhood – not in any way over or against the sense of being part of the Body of Christ through Baptism – but special in its own right. To spend time, quality time, with 250 others who share the responsibility and the gift of ordained priesthood renews my energy, challenges my faithfulness, opens up new paths and rekindles the fire!

• I was captured by Donald Cozzens’ opening remarks about living fully in the present time. The past with all its treasures and limitations is past: the future is only dreams. What is God asking of me/us in the now of today?

• A number of times and in a number of different ways, spurred on by our keynote speakers, I found myself questioning again why we so often condemn or want to distance ourselves from the “secular” world. Is not the real world “full of the goodness of God”? Is it not the real flesh of the world that God embraces in the incarnation of the Son? I am very happy and privileged and challenged to be a “secular priest”! Being faithful to Jesus surely means entering fully into the Incarnation.

• There were other reminders too – Karl Rahner’s prediction and dream that the Christian of the 21st century will need to be a contemplative person and the underlining of the value of being humiliated and embracing our frailty and humanness with scrupulous honesty. Before every Easter Sunday there is a Good Friday: before every Resurrection to new life there is a death of what was.

Please God this issue of The Swag will be a useful contribution to the renewal of energy and the clarifying of vision within the ordained Priests of Australia and New Zealand – and beyond them to the whole Church.

Hal Ranger, co-editor

For me the NCP convention was a profoundly challenging, inspiring and disturbing experience all at the same time.

Donald Cozzens’ dual challenge to recall times when we felt the brotherhood of the priesthood both strongly and as a sham left me feeling disturbed because it was clear that this valued “brotherhood” could be a sham. Bishop Geoff Robinson receiving an award to the lengthy standing ovation of over 250 people present at the NCP dinner will long live in my memory as a moment symbolising the importance of authentic and honest leadership in church. Geraldine Doogue’s careful analysis of the failure of the church to embrace the standards and values now found in the corporate world’s restructuring processes was a shocking indictment on our church practice.

It was Thursday morning’s Reconciliation Service that offered space to make connections and integrate ideas. Michael Whelan’s careful breaking open of the Emmaus journey invited us to let the unreconciled edges of our church and ministry touch us. This caused me to think about two painful events in my life that came from Donald Cozzens’ questions about the “brotherhood”.

I recalled being told by the bishop that I could not be made a parish priest because he “had no confidence in my pastoral care of people”. After 25 years of commitment to the diocese it is no wonder that I felt hurt. This was not because I wasn’t becoming a parish priest, but because my commitment to the people was my passion. Of course it was a bully tactic to punish me for standing alongside the people. That it was untrue made it no less painful and somehow added to the disappointment – it was an example of clerical power misguided. It showed the brotherhood of the priesthood to be a sham. The second was being told by the next door parish priest that I was “not welcome in his church” as he waved his finger at me. This did some violence to any notion of “brotherhood”. I was angry not because he didn’t want me in his church, but because his actions were such cause for scandal amongst the parishioners, who as it happened, did want me in “his church”.

Those quiet moments in St Patrick’s Cathedral were healing for me as Michael Whelan reminded us that when the disciples were downcast on the Emmaus road, Jesus walked with them for a while in the wrong direction so he could accompany them through the pain into the light and on their return to Jerusalem to be with the community. I didn’t realise how much these events held me downcast, even though the first was 20 years ago.

The power of this moment of recognition made the convention worthwhile for me, but there was so much more. I was delighted by the challenging talks and forums and yet the dysfunctional church was never far away. Who are we when we gather without the women, lay folk and children of the church? What does it mean for us to discuss these matters of importance still firmly in the clerical cast? It had a strange comfortability, yes at the edge at times but not edgy enough when we think of what has happened to the “brotherhood”, but more tellingly, what has not yet happened.

Peter Maher, co-editor

Frank gave a series of talks at the NCP 2000 Lorne Convention which he later developed into a book that was published by St Pauls Publications in 2007 with partial financial assistance from NCP. It was published by Paulist Press in the USA last year (2009).

In this complete presentation on a difficult pastoral subject, Frank effectively presents the many and varied formats / practices of the sacrament which provide the necessary context for the discussion that follows. His insight into the pastoral challenges that confront the 21st century church, a church in need of conversion and in need of living the memory of Christ, is “spot on”.

Fr Denis McCarthy OMI celebrated his Diamond Jubilee of Priesthood on June 29 2010. Born in County Limerick, Ireland in 1925, Fr McCarthy entered the Oblate Novitiate at Cahermoyle, also in Country Limerick, in 1943 before studying for the priesthood at Kildalton Abbey, Piltown in County Kilkenny and was ordained on June 29, 1950.

He arrived in Australia late in 1950 and was stationed at St Joseph’s Juniorate at Geelong, Victoria for six months before taking up his first ministry at St Kieran’s in Moe, Victoria as assistant priest.

A brilliant student, all-round sportsman and in possession of a fierce intellect and excellent command of English, Fr McCarthy’s exceptional communication skills soon found him preaching missions and retreats throughout eastern Australia.

In 1957, the Oblates opened the first of their secondary colleges, Iona College in Brisbane, with Fr McCarthy taking up a key role as bursar alongside headmaster Fr Tim Long OMI. Required to wear a number of ‘hats’, Fr McCarthy also taught mathematics and was often at the ‘coalface’ of numerous working bees.

Fr McCarthy was posted to Lesmurdie in Western Australia in 1961 where he continued preaching missions until he was called on to assist in the establishment of a second Oblate school – Mazenod College, due for completion in 1966. His next move, a year later, was as superior of the mission house at Eagle Junction in Brisbane, where he stayed until 1970.

Fr McCarthy’s next appointment was perhaps his most distinguished and certainly his longest, heading the most important job of MAMI Director where he remained for another 35 years. Through his hard work and genuine interest in people, Fr McCarthy strengthened membership numbers and succeeded in raising funds that were vital for the support of the Oblate missions in Indonesia and Hong Kong as well as assisting in the training of future Oblates at St Mary’s Seminary in Mulgrave.

Reflecting on his milestone, Fr McCarthy said “Over the years I have often asked myself, ‘Why did I become a priest?’. Of course Christ Himself gives us the answer ‘You have not chosen Me – it is I who have chosen you.’”

“If I had my life over again, I would do exactly the same. I have been very happy as a priest. I have been given opportunities that no other calling would have given me. Our Lord promised a 100-fold return but he has given me 1000-fold, or even 10,000- fold.”

Fr John McHugh with sons Shaun, Kieran and David. Photo courtesy of Farina FotoGraphics

Four years of study and sacrifice at Rome’s Pontifical Beda College was celebrated on 16 July as John McHugh became the first man this century to be ordained at Nicholas’ Catholic Church, Tamworth.

More than 700 family and friends, including his 92 year old father Leo, his three sons, David, Kieran and Shaun, 40 plus brother priests and Mgr Roderick Strange, the Rector of the Beda College, packed St Nicholas’ Church and a neighbouring marquee to celebrate this wonderful occasion with John.

Following the ceremony family, friends and parishioners continued the celebrations at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre.

John began his journey to priesthood some years after the death in 2003 of his beloved wife of 24 years, Julie. John has been appointed assistant priest at Sacred Heart Parish Inverell.

On Friday July 16th at the chapel of Nazareth House Nursing Home, Tom Murtagh OFM and Arthur Boland OFM were joined by 16 priests including the Australian Franciscan Provincial, Paul Smith OFM and family members as they celebrated their Golden Jubilee of priestly ordination.

Tom has spent most of his priesthood in teaching and professorial roles. He gained a Doctorate in Theology from the Melbourne College of Divinity. Tom’s thesis dealt with the work of medieval Franciscan Peter Olivi who was born in France in 1248, studied under St Bonaventure in Paris and taught theology. Though a controversial figure because of his stance on strict poverty, he was exonorated and the Franciscan Minister General commissioned him to teach student-friars. Tom said he worked on Olivi’s writings because “nobody else had done it”! Tom helped fraternities of the Secular Franciscan Order as Spiritual Assistant and lectured at Yarra Theological College. Sadly, all of this fine work came to an abrupt halt when he was struck by a debilitating stroke in 2004. Tom is now confined to a wheelchair.

Arthur was ordained on the same day as Tom. His priestly energy has been spent on missionary work in Aitape Mission, PNG. Over almost all of his 50 years as a priest, Arthur has had roles in various parts of the now expanded Aitape Diocese where he is currently guiding the formation of young indigenous Franciscans.

The Franciscan family rejoice that Tom and Arthur have been such valuable contributors to the mission of the church and to the wider society.

This emphasises the values and dreams a community shares, and develops respect and trust by honouring each person’s contribution and vision. Of course this can be difficult in our polarised church but it revolves around the questions of what we value together and how we can develop those values in practical strategies. It is sometimes referred to as “growing the good”.

The questions at the end of the Pastoral Letter may be useful as parishes look for ways to grow the good. Here are some of the suggested questions:

• When have you felt most strongly that you were sent out as a missionary to the world?
• What are you most grateful for about Journeying Together?
• What “goals and methods” do you see as important means of achieving “a detailed focus for the years ahead”?
• What “formation and enrichment of the people involved” are required to achieve and sustain these goals?
• What differences do you think “the Catholic presence” makes to the area you live in?
• Where do you see the Church being “most attentive to the needs of the poor and suffering”?
• Think about someone whom you believe to be a Spirit-filled person. How does their life show this?
• Think of someone you know who has had a conversion experience, or is seeking God in new and deeper ways. What do you think led to this change?

For more information, visit: www.sale.catholic.org.au

This website is certainly worth a look as it has a remarkably good page which lists a range of resources on Catholic social teaching, human rights, indigenous justice, globalisation, refugees and asylum seekers, spirituality and liturgical resources, work, peace and ecology. Links to documents from the Popes, Second Vatican Council, Roman Curia and Bishops are also published as well as reports, articles and activities to inform and educate. You can also sign up for the monthly newsletter Act Justly.

justiceandpeace.org.au

In a pastoral letter on sexual abuse sent to all 220 parishes of the Archdiocese of Melbourne, which has more than one million Catholics, the archbishop offered a sincere and unreserved apology to all victims of sexual abuse and to their families. Melbourne, alone among Australia’s 33 archdioceses and dioceses, does not use the Towards Healing protocol adopted elsewhere but instead the Melbourne Response, adopted by then Archbishop George Pell in 1996. The Melbourne Response has been criticised as being too legalistic compared with the more pastoral emphasis attributed to the Towards Healing protocol but Archbishop Hart defended the approach, introduced in consultation with the Victoria police, as the most compassionate way of caring for victims.

The Tablet, 17 July 2010.

Caritas Australia has launched an appeal and will work with communities now and in the long-term to improve hygiene practices, provide access to clean water, repair community infrastructure and provide emergency shelter, to at least 60,000 people over the next 10 months.

Their relief effort in the country is underway with local partners responding to the community’s immediate needs: food, water and shelter by delivering hygiene and shelter kits, including water purification tablets to people in the severely affected areas.

Go to www.caritas.org.au to make a secure online donation.