Province 20’s job support project Caring for Catenians and their families ecognising the current and longer-term affects that the COVID-19 pandemic has had and is likely to have on its members and their families, in July 2020 the Province 20 Provincial Council launched its Job Support Project to provide support and assistance to those affected. Apart from health issues, it has been recognised that the other most serious outcome from the crisis will be the lasting affect on the economy and employment. Many people have already lost their jobs and even when the crisis is over there is no certainty about employment prospects. As a result Province 20 has initiated a “Job Support Project” modelled on an identical service provided by the Catenian Association in the United Kingdom for over 30 years and promoted with free advertisements in the monthly Catena magazine. In announcing the initiative, Provincial President Lou Daily said: “The UK program has been and continues to be very successful and it is intended in Province 20 to provide a very similar service in Western Australia to help Catenian brothers and their immediate families in their employment endeavours in these difficult economic times.” “This service is not intended to replace traditional ways of seeking employment and career opportunities,” Lou said, “but it will open the door to a wider audience within the Catenian Association to obtain employment and a business oriented networking site to seek career advice, help with resume writing and presentation and networking. The Catenian Australia LinkedIn unlisted group will enable brother members to network discretely about job opportunities or to facilitate connections for brothers outside the group. It’s important to note that unlisted groups such as the Catenian LinkedIn and the identical UK version cannot be searched for, nor do they appear on personal profiles. It is totally discrete. Province 20 has established a steering committee to guide the process and a separate panel of subject matter experts who have a diverse range of business experiences and skills, many at executive levels. Brothers seeking employment will also be able to place a free classified advertisement in the Western Link and in the E-bulletin, which will be distributed to all members through their circles on a frequent basis. Edition No 1 was released to members in July 2020 followed by Edition No 2 in August. Members who are also employers will be able to place free job advertisements in these two publications. Both types of advertisements will be given a numerical code to protect the privacy of each type of advertiser. The email address if you wish to register as a job seeker is [email protected]. When you register the program will then be sent together with your resume to the Administrator who will process your application. Province 20 Steering Committee Lou Daily (Chairman) 0419 953 507 Chris Downey 0419 040 947 Peter Johnston 0417 180 843 Harry Muller 0408 193 664 Catenians linking together (see page 3) R WESTERN LINK NEWSLETTER OF THE CATENIAN ASSOCIATION ISSUE NO. 55 OCTOBER 2020 PROVINCE 20 WESTERN AUSTRALIA NAME Editor: Peter Johnston Tel (08) 9204 4121 Email [email protected]Sub Editor: Max Gardiner Tel 0408 289 404 Marketing & Advertising: Peter Johnston Tel (08) 9204 4121
Transcript
Province20’sjobsupportproject
CaringforCateniansandtheirfamilies
ecognising the current and longer-term affects that theCOVID-19 pandemic has had and is likely to have on its
members and their families, in July 2020 the Province 20ProvincialCouncillauncheditsJobSupportProject toprovidesupportandassistancetothoseaffected. Apartfromhealthissues,ithasbeenrecognisedthattheothermost seriousoutcome fromthecrisiswillbe the lastingaffectontheeconomyandemployment.Manypeoplehavealreadylosttheirjobs and evenwhen the crisis is over there is no certainty aboutemploymentprospects. As a result Province 20 has initiated a “Job Support Project”modelled on an identical service provided by the CatenianAssociationintheUnitedKingdomforover30yearsandpromotedwithfreeadvertisementsinthemonthlyCatenamagazine.
In announcing theinitiative, ProvincialPresident Lou Daily said:“TheUKprogramhasbeenand continues to be verysuccessful and it isintendedinProvince20toprovide a very similarservice in WesternAustralia to help Catenianbrothers and theirimmediatefamiliesintheiremployment endeavoursin these difficult economictimes.”
“This service is not intended to replace traditional ways ofseeking employment and career opportunities,” Lou said, “but itwill open the door to a wider audience within the CatenianAssociation to obtain employment and a business orientednetworking site to seek career advice, help with resume writingandpresentationandnetworking. The Catenian Australia LinkedIn unlisted group will enablebrothermemberstonetworkdiscretelyaboutjobopportunitiesorto facilitate connections for brothers outside the group. It’simportant to note that unlisted groups such as the CatenianLinkedInandtheidenticalUKversioncannotbesearchedfor,nordotheyappearonpersonalprofiles.Itistotallydiscrete. Province20hasestablishedasteeringcommitteetoguidetheprocessandaseparatepanelofsubjectmatterexpertswhohaveadiverserangeofbusinessexperiencesandskills,manyatexecutivelevels.
Brothersseekingemploymentwillalsobeable toplacea freeclassifiedadvertisement in theWesternLinkand in theE-bulletin,whichwillbedistributedtoallmembersthroughtheircirclesonafrequentbasis.EditionNo1wasreleasedtomembersinJuly2020followedbyEditionNo2inAugust. Memberswhoarealsoemployerswillbeabletoplacefreejobadvertisements in these two publications. Both types ofadvertisements will be given a numerical code to protect theprivacyofeachtypeofadvertiser.
The email address if you wish to register as a job seeker [email protected]. When you register theprogram will then be sent together with your resume to theAdministratorwhowillprocessyourapplication.
WESTERN LINKNEWSLETTER OF THE CATENIAN ASSOCIATION
ISSUE NO. 55 OCTOBER 2020
PROVINCE 20 WESTERN AUSTRALIA
NAMEEditor: Peter Johnston Tel (08) 9204 4121 Email [email protected] Editor: Max Gardiner Tel 0408 289 404Marketing & Advertising: Peter Johnston Tel (08) 9204 4121
he Catenian Charity in Australia isengaged in providing grants to young
Catholicstohelpthemwithcostsincurredinobtaininganeducationandstartingacareer. Weinviteyoutojoinusasabrother,friendandcolleagueinour service of assistance to their development as citizens. Ourfaithisfullofgenerosity. YourdonationinsupportoftheworkoftheCatenianCharitywill play a vital role in opening doors to enable talentedstudents to study, by improving their capacity to afford feeswhilesupportingthemselvesthroughtheirstudies. Every gift will make a real difference to the lives of thestudents. If you are able to donate (see below), please provide yourcontact details so that a receipt can be posted to you. TheAssociation and the Catenian Charity will respect and protectyourprivacy.Alldonorswillretaintheiranonymityunlessthereisaspecificwrittendirectiontothecontraryfromyou. The Catenian Charity Inc. is a registered Deductible GiftRecipient (DRG) and all donations over $2 are deductible onyournextincometaxreturn. It is important foryou toknow that all costs andexpensesrelating to the setting up and running the Charity have beenseparately funded from contributions made by privatebenefactors. Alldonations to theCharityare for thesolepurposeofprovidingstudentscholarships. Donations may be made by cheque payable to CatenianCharityInc.ScholarshipFundandmailedtotheTreasurer,GeoffPrendergast,Unit701,3MarcoPoloDrive,Mandurah,WA6210. Alternatively youmayprefer to donateby electronic fundstransfer(EFT)totheCatenianCharityInc.bankaccount:
BSB086164Account708277080
If donating by EFT, please state your name in the transactiondescription and if you are a Catenian, include your Circlenumber.For further information search:www.catenian.org or contacteither:LenRoberts PeterJohnston4BostockRoad 43PaineCourtNedlandsWA6009 KarrinyupWA6018Phone(08)93899848 Phone(08)92044121Mobile0424284255 Mobile0417180843Email: Email: [email protected][email protected]
infindingemploymentintheseverychallengingtimesasuccessfulworking practice used by United Kingdom brothers has beenadopted, uniting together on Linkedin, the professional andspecialisedoccupationsemploymentnetworkingonlinesite. Linkedin works by connecting people with similar interests,occupations or fields of activity and forms an online supportnetwork.Notallareseekingemployment.Connectionssharenewsof interesting developments and major items of mutual interest.Likemanyonlineplatformsitisafreeservice.Additionally,majorcompaniesandallrecruitmentagenciesuseits“premium”servicetosearch forpotentialemployeeswhothey,or theirclientscouldutilise in a new position. So, “head hunting”: painlessly anddiscretely! ChrisDowneyistheProvincialVicePresidentandamemberoftheProvince20SteeringCommitteeresponsiblefordevelopingthenew Job Support Project. He writes: “We have now created aCatenians Australia unlisted group on Linkedin, which willenable brother members of network discretely about jobopportunities.” “Italsofacilitatesconnectionsforbrothersoutsidethegroup,”he said, “perhaps resulting in employment for those who haveadvertisedinourrecentlyintroducedE-bulletins.” “It’s important tonote thatunlistedgroupssuchasours (andthe identical UK version) cannot be searched for, nor do theyappearonyourprofile.It’stotallydiscrete.” “In the mid-term future the Catenians Australia group willcanvassformembersinProvince21(NewSouthWales)andAreaVictoria. For now, we need to establish a strong network inWesternAustralia.” “If any Catenian brother is an existingLinkedin member, I’maskingforyoursupport.” “Please invite me to “connect” with you, or contact me forinformation and once that’s established I will invite you to joinwithmeonCateniansAustralia.Togetherwewill formastrongCatenian chain, which will assist our families and promote ourfraternalassociation.” “It forms a significant face for the future of the CatenianAssociation.”Fraternalregards,ChrisDowneyProvincialVicePresidentProvince20
Encouragingprogresswithrecruitmentandexpansion
ntheJune2020editionoftheWesternLinkitwasreportedthatProvince20hadestablishedaworkinggroupchargedwith the
taskofrecruitmentandexpansion. The COVID-19 pandemic affected and slowed the practicalactivities of this working group now chaired by Provincial VicePresidentChrisDowney(DarlingRangeCircle).
ChrisDowney “Most Catenian and parish meetings together with socialgatheringscouldnotbeheldduringtheperiodofState-wideself-isolation and restrictions,” Chris reports, “however someencouragingprogresshasbeenmadeinrecenttimes.” “Thanks to some alert feedback from City of Mandurahbrothers,PeterBygraveandColinPurcellthestronginterestintheCatenian Association expressed by the parish priest at Kwinanawas followed up. Brother John Sutton (Canning and FremantleCircles) is a personal friend of Father Daniel Boyd who, togetherwith another two parish priests, were invited to Canning Circle’sJune meeting chosen because Fremantle, the closest circle toKwinana,wasatthattimestillunabletomeet.” “The three priests brought along some interestedparishioners,”Chrissaid,“threefromtheKwinanaParishandtwofrom the Baldivis Parish and the Canning Circle meeting with itsusualconvivialitywasquitesuccessfulinfurtheringtheirinterest.” “Recruitment remains the local task of all circle membershipofficersandourworkinggroupisavailableandkeentoassistthemat Mass presentations and parish meetings. We only need aninvitation,”Chrissaid. “Expansion projects are in the pipeline for the southeasternandnortheasterncorridorsofthemetropolitanareatogetherwithexpansioninthenear-citysuburbs.” “Aswithallprojects, ‘manyhandsmake lightwork’,and Iaskbrothers,particularlythoseintheareasmentioned,togiveearnestconsideration to comingon-boardourworking group to assist inthedevelopmentofourAssociation.”
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Newheadquarters
After being closed for over five months because of the COVID-19pandemicandtakingintoaccounttheageofitsvolunteerworkersandtheirsafety,theWheelchairsofKidsfactoryatWangaraisnowbackinproductioninnewpremises. With the help of a long time Melbourne donor, financingWheelchairs for Kids on extremely good terms, the factory hasbeen relocated from its old workshop of four separate units to amuchlargerfactoryinthesamevicinity. The volunteer Workshop Manager, Brother Olly Pickett isdelighted with the move. Whilst strictly adhering to the virus“socialdistancing”rulesduringtheshutdownisolationperiod,Ollyandafewvolunteershaveworkedhardonthefitoutandtransferofplant,fittingsandstocktothenewpremises.
Internalviewofthespaciousnewfactory
An initiative of the Rotary Club of Scarborough, WheelchairsforKidsstartedbuildingwheelchairsin1998forneedychildrenindeveloping countries. With the support of the ChristianBrothers including Workshop Manager Olly Pickett, the projectnowhasapoolofover300localretireevolunteers,producinganddistributingupto350wheelchairspermonth.Inaddition80ladiesworking from home sew colourful covers (eight per wheelchair)and hundreds of people all over Australia produce and donate
blankets and soft toys to go with the wheelchairs. Incredibly,approximately800volunteerscommittheirtimeandenergytotheproject. “Withourcountry’sfreedomandwealth,wecan’timaginethetragedy of being poor and born in an under-resourced countrywithadisabilitycausedbybirthorlandmines,”Ollysaid. “Disabledchildrenarebattlingwithnomedicalfacilitiesandnogovernment care. Children who can only sit in the dirt all day,everyday.” “For most life lacks hope. No schooling, no education and nochanceofevergainingajob.” “Imagine the difference it will make to this child and to thischild’sfamily,justprovidingasuitablewheelchair,”Ollysaid. Over46,000wheelchairstodateInthelast22yearstheorganisationhasproducedanddistributedover46,000wheelchairswith3,000distributedlastyear. Eachwheelchair isbuilt foronlyabout$200,providingneedychildren in under-resourced counties with a therapeuticwheelchair,includingposturalsupports,harnesses,headrest,tray,knee separator,waterproof cushion, knee rug, soft toyanda toolkit. This lowcost ismadepossiblebecauseproduction is entirelyby volunteers, rent and expenses are donated, suppliers providematerialsatdiscounts(somefree),transporttotheEasternStatesis donated by Toll and ongoing distribution and freight costs areprovidedbyestablishedaidagenciesandRotaryClubs.SpreadingthewordThefactoryshutdownduetotheCOVID-19virushasresultedinabacklog of demand for wheelchairs, which will keep volunteersverybusyinthemonthsandyearsahead. However, due to the virus donations have plummeted and asthe organisation gets back into production in its new premisesmorefinancialsupportisdesperatelyneeded. Contactsare:GordonHudson(volunteerCEO)andOllyPickett(volunteer Workshop Manager) and for more information visitwww.wheelchairsforkids.org Many Catenian circles in Province 20 have supported, andcontinuetoprovidevaluablesupporttothisworthwhileprojectasvolunteers,throughtheirPresidentsCharity,privatedonationsandjust“spreadingtheword.”
St.MaryoftheCrossMacKillop
PatronSaintoftheCatenianAssociationinAustralia
ith the blessing of the Sisters of Saint Joseph theirfoundress and Australia’s first Saint, St. Mary of the
Cross MacKillop has become a Patron Saint of the CatenianAssociationinAustralia. Priortotherestrictionsimposedonevery-dayactivitiesbytheCOVID-19pandemic itwas intendedto formallyconsummatethisimportant Catenian milestone during the Association’s SydneyConferenceMassinAugust2020.Withthatnotpossible,theformalceremony occurred at a Mass in the Mary MacKillop Chapel inNorth Sydney to celebrate her Feast Day on 8 August 2020, theSolemnityoftheSaint. Speakingafter theMass, theCatenianAssociation’sAustralianNationalPresidentGeorgeKazssaidthatsincethebeatificationofMary MacKillop in 1995, Australian Catenians have adopted thepractice of seeking her intercession at the commencement ofmeetingsandwhennewmembersjointheAssociation. Sister Monica Cavanagh, the Congregational Leader of theSistersofStJoseph,saidthattheSistersaredelightedtosharetheoccasionwiththeCatenians.Shesaidthatfromtheearliestdaysofthe Institute Mary MacKillop recognised the importance ofestablishing partnerships with people who supported her workandmission. “Mary MacKillop’s way of living the gospel in ourAustralian context aligns closely with the values at the heart ofwhat itmeans tobeaCatenian,” shesaid. “Herpracticaldown toearth spirituality hasmuch to offer thework of the Catenians inAustraliatoday.”
ThestoryofMaryMacKilloparyMacKillopwasborninFitzroy,Melbourneon15January1842 to Scottish immigrant parents Alexander MacKillop
andFloraMacDonald.ShewastheeldestofeightchildrenandwelleducatedbyherfatherwhohadspentsomeyearsstudyingforthepriesthoodinRomeandScotlandbutonhisownchoosingdecidednottocontinuetoordination.Alexanderwasnotabletoholddownapermanent job so the familywasoftenwithoutahomeof theirown; depending on relatives and friends to assist where theycould. From the age of 16Mary assumed financial responsibility forherfamilyworkingasagoverness,aclerkforSandsandKennyandasateacherinPortland.In1866,greatlyinspiredbyFatherJulianWoods,MaryopenedthefirstSt.Joseph’sschoolinadisusedstableinPenola. In 1867 Mary took her first vows in Adelaide. Bishop SheilapprovedtheRuleforthenewCongregationofSisters,theSistersofSt.JosephoftheSacredHeart.Otheryoungwomensooncametojoin her and together they opened schools for the working-classchildreninthepoorerpartsofourcitiesandintheisolatedtownsandcommunitiesacrossthenewlyemergingcoloniesofAustralia. With the help of the Sisters other centres of care wereestablishedsuchasorphanages,refugesandhousesofProvidenceforthedestitute,lonelyandsick.MaryMacKillopbroughthopeandlove to those considered least in the Australian colonies of thisperiod. Throughout her life Mary faced many painful experiencesincluding excommunication in September 1871. In 1883 BishopReynoldsofAdelaideinvestigatedtheaffairsoftheInstitute.Falseaccusationsweremade andyetMarybelieved that in the end allwouldbewell. Some of the Bishops of her time felt that the Congregationshould be under the control of each local Bishop. However, inordertosustainasenseofunityandcommonpurposeinmission,MaryenvisionedaCongregationoverwhichtheleaderwouldhaveresponsibility for the day-to-day affairs of the Congregation andtheappointmentofSisterstotheirlocalcommunities.InfactRomehad given approval to such a style of leadership for theCongregation. This caused conflict with some of the Bishops. In Brisbane itmeant the withdrawal of the Sisters from the Diocese and inBathurst it led to the establishment of a Diocesan form of theSistersofStJoseph.InthesedifficulttimesMaryrefusedtoattackthosewho undermined her work; shewas ever ready to forgivethosewhohadwrongedher. Throughouther lifeMary suffered frompoorhealth. Shediedon8August1909atMountStreet,NorthSydneywheresheisnowburied. On19January1995shewasbeatifiedbyPopeJohnPaulIIin Sydney and on 17 October 2010 was canonized by PopeBenedictXVIinRome. Saint Mary MacKillop’s holiness is marked by her deep love,her courage in the face of adversity, her willingness to forgivethosewhoharmedher,hercompassionateresponsetothosewhowereintroubleandherconstanttrustintheGodwhowalkedthejourneywithher. One of her outstanding qualities was her strong leadershipbothwithin the Church and beyond. The Crosswas her constantcompanion;findingherethestrengthandcouragetorespondwithhopeandcompassiontothemanydemandsthatbeingtheFounderofanewReligiousInstitutedemanded.HerlifecontinuestoinspirepeoplearoundtheworldinlivingfaithfullytheGospelcalltolove.
WrittenbySisterMonicaCavanagh,SistersofStJoseph
W
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iwara Circle Brother and Province 20 Director, RalphFitzpatrickwasappointedChairmanoftheCentralCouncil
oftheCatenianAssociationon19June2020,thefirstCateniantoholdthispositionfromaWesternAustraliancircle. Ralph joined theAssociation inNovember1995whenhewasin hismid 40s, married with two teenage sons andworking full
time. During the ensuing 25yearshehasheldavarietyofpositions in Liwara Circle,Province20andtheCatenianAssociation.Hiscurrentrolesinclude Director of Province20, Vice President of theAustralian National Council,Director of The CatenianAssociationLimited,Directorof Catena Publications
Limited,DirectoroftheCatenianAssociationAustraliaLimitedandnow Chairman of Central Council. These positions keep Ralphextremelybusyandallowhimtoutilizehisexperiencegainedfromhisworkinglife. Ralph was born on 20 December 1949 in Perth, WesternAustralia and has lived in WA all his life. His parents Ron andAlbertine (Tine) Fitzpatrick met in Penang, Malaysia. Ron was aprisoner of war in Singapore for five years during the SecondWorld War and Tine spent the war years in Penang. In 1947, acoupleofmonthsaftertheymarried,theymigratedtoWA.Ralphistheirsecondchildandhastwobrothersandonesister.Theirhomewasalwaysfilledwithpeople,astheirfamilywasthe“goto”placeforvisitingfamiliesfromMalaysia. RalphattendedHolyFamilySchoolinComoandthenChristianBrothers College Perth, which later became Trinity College. In1966hewasDuxofthecollege.HethenstudiedattheUniversityof Western Australia and gained a Bachelor of Science degreemajoring inmathematics and appliedmathematics followed by apostgraduateDiplomainComputation.Atthistimecomputingwasinitsinfancy. After leavinguniversityRalphcommencedwork in1971withthe WA State Public Service Board in the Organisation andMethods (O&M) section and studied part-time to complete aBachelorofCommercedegreemajoringinaccounting.AftersevenyearsintheO&Msectionhespent18monthsasaSeniorIndustrialOfficer at the Public Service Board performing duties whichincluded advocacy before the State and Federal IndustrialCommissions,briefingCounseltoappearintheWASupremeCourtand appearingonbehalf of the StateGovernment in theNationalWageCase. In 1981 Ralph was appointed Executive Officer to the WAGovernment Computer Policy Committee, which liaised with theComputingDivisionofTreasurerandthePublicServiceBoardonall State Government computing and information technologymatters.Thiswasearlydaysforcomputersinbusiness.Followingthe establishment in 1984 of the Department of Computing andInformation Technology (DOCIT), Ralph held several positionswithinthedepartment.In1986hewassecondedfor18monthstotheFunctionalReviewCommitteeasReviewCoordinator.
He returned to DOCIT as Senior Consultant and then asManager,ConsultancyandReviewBranch.DuringthistimeRalphwasaregularITadvisortotheExpenditureReviewCommitteeofCabinetandwasamemberoftheTenderBoard.WhenDOCITwasdisbanded in 1991, Ralph was transferred to the Department ofStateServiceswherehecontinuedasManageroftheConsultancyand Review Branch and Assistant Director of State InformationTechnology. In1991Ralphtookavoluntaryredundancyofferandenjoyedtwo years at home while also working part-time with his wifeLiana in theirAmwaybusiness. In1992he travelled to Indonesiaforthelaunchofthisbusiness. Realising he was too young to retire, Ralph started work in1993 forAcctser(nowcalledClassic InformationSystems).ThreeyearslaterRalphandacolleagueboughtthebusiness.Hewasnowpart owner and Managing Director and the business went fromstrengthtostrength.Ralphandhispartnerbuiltthecompanyfromasmallaccountingsoftwarebusinesstoasuccessful internationalsoftware development company specialising in accountingsoftware formining,explorationandoil companies.Ralph’sworkinvolveda largeamountof travel tominingsiteswithinAustraliaand overseas to Africa and the Philippines. Even while working,Ralph was actively involved in All Saints Catholic Church inGreenwood for more than ten years serving as a committeemember, Chairman of the Parish Council and Chairman of theFinanceCommittee. After 21 years in the Public Service and 21 yearsworking insoftwaredesignanddevelopmentheretiredin2014. In1970whileatuniversityhemetLianawhohadjuststartedaBachelorofSciencedegreemajoringinmathematics.TheymarriedintheTrinityCollegeChapelinMay1972andlivedinSouthPerthforayearbeforebuyinganewhouseinDuncraigwheretheyhavelived for 47 years, although many renovations have occurredduringthistime.Theyhavetwosons,Tonybornin1977andAlanborn in 1980. During their earlier years Ralph travelled a lot forwork. In one year he had 25 business trips and Tony could tellwherehis dadwas goingby the timeof day that he left home tocatch a plane (e.g. 5 am was Kalgoorlie, 11 pm was Melbourne,etc.). Hismotherand fathernurturedRalph’s loveofhockey,whichhe played at school and later for the Trinity Hockey Club. Ralphwas President and Treasurer of the hockey club where he andLianareceivedthejointBestClubmanaward.BothTonyandAlanattendedTrinityCollegeandRalphpassedonhisloveofhockeytothem. Injuries andwork travel put an end to his playing days in2004andnowheenjoyswatchinghissonsandgrandsonsplay. The family grew in 2003when Alanmarried Jill and then in2004when TonymarriedMaria. Ralph and Liana are blessed tohavewonderful sons anddaughters-in-lawwithwhom theyhavegreatrelationships. TonyandMarialiveinPerthandhavethreesonsandRalphisadoting granddad to Xavier, Evan and Ryan. They enjoy fishing,playingcardsandjustspendingtimetogether. AlanandJilllivedinLondonfor13yearsandhavenowbeeninCaliforniaintheUnitedStatesofAmericafortwoyears.Theyhavebeen a driving reason forRalph and Liana travelling overseas somuch. Ralph particularly likes watching Alan play hockey plusgoing away for short trips together. In recent years Ralph hastakenupgolfandplays(notverywell)twiceaweekifpossible.In2019RalphandLianaattendedtheGreatBritainNationalCateniangolfweekinOxford,whichtheythoroughlyenjoyed.Ralphplayedacoupleofgamesandthankfullydidn’tdisgracehimself,butdidn’ttakehomeanytrophies.
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Liana is involved in family history and has been an activemember of the Western Australian Genealogical Society for 15years and six years as President. Her contribution to the Societywasrecognisedin2019whenshewasawardedlifemembership. RalphandLianaareagoodpartnershipandsupporteachotherin their endeavours. Even though they have busy schedules theyvisit all Province 20 circles at least once each year and attendCatenianeventswheneverpossible.
In 2006 whenMike O’Malley ledthe GrandPresident’s tour ofWestern AustraliaRalph and Lianawere introduced tothe wider Catenianworld and itmarked thebeginning of theirinvolvement inCatenian events
nationallyandinternationally. They have been actively involved in five Grand Presidentstours toAustralia: in2008 (Province20and21),2009 (Province20),2012 (Province20),2014 (Province21)and2015 (Province20) plus one tour of the President of the Great Britain NationalCouncilin2018(Province20and21). They have attended all six Australian Conferences and nineinternational Catenian Conferences; the first for the 100-yearcelebrations in Manchester in 2008 and every year since 2012.Theywere booked to attend the conference in Aberdeen inMay2020, which was cancelled due to COVID-19. They espouse thebenefitsofattendinglocal,provincialandinternationaleventsandvisiting Catenianswhen travelling. The Catenian friendships theyhavemadeareverystrongandextendallaroundAustralia,GreatBritain, India and Malta. Their friendships and face-to-facemeetingsmake it easierwhenRalph attendsmeetings to discussCatenianissuesviaphone,email,SkypeorZoom. Ralphhasrecentlybeenre-electedDirectorofProvince20forafurthertermofthreeyearssoislikelytobeinvolvedforatleastfiveyearstocomeontheAustralianNationalCouncilandCentralCouncil. Liana and Ralph wholeheartedly recommend membership ofthe Association to anyone considering joining. Ralph is alwaysmindfulof theadvicehewasgivenbya friendofhis fatherwhenheaskedifhehadheardoftheCatenians.Hesaid:“Ralph,justjoin.Itwillbethebestdecisionyouevermake,”anditwas(apartfrommarryingLiana,ofcourse!)__________________________JoinedLiwaraCircle1995LiwaraCircleRegistrar2003LiwaraCircleCouncil2003-2012LiwaraCircleVicePresident2005/06LiwaraCirclePresident2006/07LiwaraCircleProvincialCouncillor2009/10ProvincialVicePresident2011/12ProvincialPresident2012/13Province20MembershipandExpansionOfficer2013-2015AustralianCommittee(Auscom)2012-2016InformationTechnologysub-committeeofAuscom(AusIT)2012-2015Province20Director2016–currentGrandCouncilforsixmonthspriortorestructure2016AustralianNationalCouncilsinceinception2016-currentAustralianNationalCouncilPresident2017-2019CatenianCentralCouncilJune2017-current
o my mind good friendships, whilst always enduring of thegaps caused by time and distance, still need ‘feeding’ from
timetotimethroughsomeformof interactionwhetherhumanordivine,writes JOHN SECKER theSecretaryofAustralianNationalCouncil. Today’stechnologygenerally(butnotalways),isamuchbetterconduit for communication than what most of us grew up with,whichismostfortunateinthisCOVID-19worldinwhichwelive.Itcertainly is changing the way we exercise our faith and stay intouchwithfriends;insomewaysgoodandinsomewayslessso. From a faith-based perspective amongst the good I’ve heardaresomeparishesthataregettingmanymorepeoplewatchingon-lineMassesthanpreviouslysatinthepewsovertheweekend.Theless good being the expert assessments I see in some journalsabout thepermanent lossofMassattendeesandopportunities toattend Mass that will likely eventuate when once again ourchurchesareabletofullyreopen. From a friendship perspective and drawing from myexperienceswithmyownCatenianCircleandmyfriendshipsmorebroadly,ouruseofthemodernelectroniccommunicationmethodshasmixedblessings. Amongst the good must be the plethora of social media andvideo conferencing tools allowing us to share our everyday liveswith those near and dear to us; so long as they have a goodconnection to the internet, able to use it and we remember toinvitethemtojoinin. For some of those who can meet those criteria, COVID-19bringsblessingsindeed.Ithinkparticularlyofsomeofmyfriendswhoareonceagainparticipating ingatherings that theirphysicalfrailty had led them to withdraw from. However, for thosedeficient in anyone of those ways, COVID-19 is increasing theirisolation significantly and we need to ensure that we do stay intouchwiththesefriends,whetherCateniansornot. Theoneformofcommunicationthatisstillwidelyaccessibleisthe written word. So, as we embrace the ever growing pool ofelectroniccommunicationtools,donotletusforgettocontinueto‘putpentopaper’intheformoflettersandnewsletters. Bydoingso,thoseofourfriendsnotconnectedtoournewandemergingelectronic friendshipswill still be able to sharewhat ishappeninginourCOVID-19lives.
Fraternally,JohnSecker
SecretaryAustralianNationalCouncil
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Unistudents,dealingwithCOVID-19CulturalawakeninginSweden“It’s been a bit of a crazy time for everyone this year”, writesKARRITHOMASwhowasawardedtheCatenianCharity’ssecondscholarshipof$5,000 inMarch2019tostudyat theUniversityofAdelaideforherBachelorofSciencedegree,majoringinmolecularbiotechnology. ThisyearKarriwasgrantedtheopportunitytostudyoverseasaspartofherdegreeonexchangeatUppsalaUniversityinSweden,auniversitywellrenownedforresearchandteachinginbiologicalsciences. I started out intending to complete a semester abroad atUppsala University, Karri said, which given the global COVID-19pandemicmaynothavebeenthebesttiming.Inthefirsttwoandabitmonths I did get to experience living there, however andhadmanyamazingexperiences.Duringmystudies, Imetpeople fromallovertheworldandadjustedtoawholenewwayofliving,whichreally openedmy eyes to a lot of newperspectives. I engaged asmuchasIcouldinlocalcultureandtraditionsand,whilesomeofitseemedverystrange,itreallywasquitespecialtoexperience. My studies also gaveme a fresh perspective on learning andacademia as they run classes and other aspects of learning verydifferentlytohowit’sdoneinAustralia.
While in Sweden I wasalso lucky enough to do abit of travelling andexploring my localsurroundings, doingeverything from visitingViking museums, to hikingthrough forests. I alsotravelled north and wentdog sledding as well asstaying a night in an igloothatIbuiltmyself. After the COVID-19
pandemichit,thingsbecamestressful,veryquickly,butaftermanydifferent cancelled flights and two full days of travelling I wasluckyenoughtofindawayhome.BoththeUniversityofAdelaideand Uppsala University were very supportive and I was able toreceive some credit for the studies I had completed in Sweden,while enrolling in another subject back in Adelaide, which I wasabletocatchupon. This meant the semester could be completed as normal(almost),whichresultedinthecompletionofmyBachelorsdegree.Despite all the difficulties I was able to achieve adistinction inmysubjectatAdelaidewhilemysubject inSwedenwascountedasexchangecreditandhencewasrecordedasanon-gradedpass. MyisolationperiodbackinAustraliaalsogavemetimetothinkaboutmy future careerdirectionandwith that I havedecided tofurthermy studies by adding an Honours year, which I am nowundertakingatFlindersUniversity.Myprojectinvolvesimprovingtheproductionof biodegradableplastics fromwastewater and inthefutureIhopetokeepcontributingtothefieldofenvironmentalbiotechnologyandimprovingthesustainabilityofecosystems. Thanks to the Catenian Association and the Catenian CharityInc.foryourwonderfulsupport,Karrisaid.
RockytimesatuniandSt.ThomasMoreCollege“The first half of 2020 has been a rocky onewith the COVID-19pandemicaffectingallaspectsofmylife,”writesJESSICAFENTONwhowasawardedthethirdCatenianCharityScholarshipof$5,000perannum(continuous) inSeptember2019 to studymedicineattheUniversityofWesternAustralia. JessicaiscurrentlyreadingforapostgraduatedegreeofDoctorof Medicine and resides at St. Thomas More College at Crawley,whichisattachedtotheuniversity.
JessicaFenton Despitethechanges implementedasaresultof thepandemic,mystudieshavecontinueduninterruptedusinganonline format,Jessica said. So far I have completed a rotation in surgery,psychiatry,geriatricsandrheumatologyandinternalmedicine.Mygradeshavebeengoodwithanaverageof89.3percentacrossallassessments so far. Our preclinical examinations wereunfortunately cancelled so I haven’t yet received any practicalmarks. Outsideofstudy,I’veworkedtirelesslyattheSt.ThomasMoreresidential college tokeep the community spirit alivedespite therestrictions enforced by the virus. My main goal has been toencourageeveryoneIcantoaimforsomeformofleadershipinhisorherfuture. Outside of college I have been keeping up with friends andfamily and attending Mass regularly. Father Peter has been anabsoluteblessingthroughthesetroublingtimes. Also, after a rigorous selection process I have been offered apositionat ruralclinical school inNorthamfor2021witha focuson service learning. This is excellent news for my long-termlearning as I have a strong interest in rural health and helpingdisadvantagedgroups. Finally,someextraexcitingnews:mysisterisnowofficially20weeks pregnant so we are very keenly underway planning thearrival ofmy firstnephew; awonderfulperiod in themixduringtheseotherwiseworryingtimes. I’m sending my prayers to everyone in the CatenianAssociation right now as I finish writing this report. Please staysafeandmayGodbless.
JessicaFenton
Unistudents,dealingwithCOVID-19(Cont.)
Challenging,butrewardingtimes
“Havingjustfinishedbyfirstsemester2020examsIfeelincrediblyrelieved,”writesEMMA JACKSONwho in2019wasawarded theCatenian Association Youth Support Fund scholarship of $4,000per annum (continuous) to read medicine at the University ofNotre Dame Australia (Fremantle campus). “This has been achallengingyetrewardingsemesterformanyreasons.”
Firstly, the step-upin workload from firstto second yearmedicine has beenimmense. It took me afewweeks to adjust tothesenewexpectationsandtodeterminehowIcould best manage mytime. Thankfully, byaboutweeksixIfinallyfelt that I hadestablished a routine,which allowed me to
honour all my commitments whilst allowing some time forrelaxation.AndthentheCOVID-19pandemichitAustralia. Bymid-Marchitbecameapparentthattheuniversitywouldbeshutting down andmoving online, so I seized the opportunity tospend time with my family in Sydney where I could live andcontinuemystudieselectronically. Online classes have been an interesting experience. On onehandIhavefoundalotmoretimetospare,asthereisnoneedtotravelbackandforthfromuni.Thathasbeenverywelcome.Ontheotherhand,Ihavemissedtheface-to-faceinteractionthatisreallyimportant inacourse likemedicine. Ithelpsyou feel likeyouarenot alone in facing the sometimes-overwhelming workload andexpectations.ImissmyfriendsinPerthandlookforwardtoseeingthemagainwhenIreturninthesecondhalfof2020. Thishasbeenanunprecedentedyearforthewholeworld,fullof uncertainty and anxiety. It is at times like this that I amespecially grateful to my generous scholarship donors. Knowingthat I have guaranteed financial support is not something I takelightlyinthiscurrentclimate.Ifeelsoincrediblyluckytobefreetofocussolelyonmystudiesandwellbeingwithoutneedingtoworryaboutmoney.Thankyoufromthebottomofmyhearttomembersof the Catenian Association and the Youth Support Fund andeveryonewho has contributed towardsmy scholarship fund thisyear. As a future doctor, it has been eye-opening, humbling andinspiring to witness how our brave health professionals on thefrontlinearededicatingthemselvesandriskingtheirownhealthtohelpthoseinneed. Their selflessexamplewill certainlybeat the forefrontofmymindasIembarkuponmyfuturecareer.
EmmaJackson
RollercoasterridethroughCOVID-19andfamilyissues
“AsagratefulrecipientofCatenianAssociationfinancialassistance,I am pleased to provide this update on how my studies areprogressing,”writesDEBORAHBAIKIEwhoin2019wasawardeda Youth Support Fund scholarship of $2,000 per annum(continuous)tofurtherherstudiesasanenrollednursingstudentattheUniversityofNotreDame(Broomecampus). The first semester2020 has been arollercoaster ride. Iwas excited to beginmy studies at thebeginning of the yearin theknowledge thatby year-end I wouldbeagraduateenrollednurse, however theCOVID-19 pandemicsuddenly intervenedand with face-to-facelearning halted, Ifacedanunknownwaitingperiod to return to the classroomandcompletemyfinalplacements.Thankfully,mostofourcoursewasalreadydeliveredonline. I continued to work at home in Northampton (about 50kilometresnorthofGeraldton)withonlineeducationandfocusedoncompletingmyassignmentswhilstwaitingtohearwhenandifwecouldreturntofulltimeworkandstudy. Then,sadly,inApril2020myfatherpassedawaysuddenlyandunexpectedlyathomecausingmetopushmystudiesasidesothatIcouldbewithfamilyandhavepersonaltimetogrieve.Duringthistime, the University of Notre Dame providedwonderful support,easing my concern about falling behind and encouraging me tofocus on family and myself. After two months I began to slowlyreturn toworkandstudyandhavediscovered that theworkloadhasincreasedmarkedlyinthefinalsemester. At the time of writing I am currently in the process ofcompletingassignmentsandwaitingformyfinalplacement,whichwillcompriseatotaloffiveweeks;twoweeksmedical,twoweeksmentalhealthandoneweekrenalnursing. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, I am unlikely to be able toreturn toBroomeand insteadwill complete theremainderofmystudyattheUniversityofNotreDameattheFremantlecampusoratGeraldton.Whilst I’msadnot tobe returning to classwith therest of my cohorts at the University of Notre Dame Broomecampus,IamgratefulthatIwillbeabletostayclosertofamilyinthesedifficulttimes. Once again I would like to thank members of the CatenianAssociation and the Province 20 Youth Support Fund for theirgenerousassistance in supportingme inmy journey tobecomeaGraduateNurse.
DeborahBaikie
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Artistinresidence
ArtistichistoryofatalentedCatenian
ost Province 20 brothers will know or have heard ofGEORGEBAZZICAwhowasaFoundermemberoftheCityof
Busselton Circle and President for many years while the circlestruggled for survival. Although the Busselton Circle is now “inrecess”havinghandedbackitsCharterinApril2019andnolongermeets, George and others from the circle have retained theirmembershipof theCatenianAssociationby joiningtheAustralianNational Council Central Circle. The Australian Central Circledoesn’tmeetbut in all other respects is an importantpartof theAssociation, conveying the same Catenian privileges to itsmembers. Perhapsalesser-knownaspectofthelifeofGeorgeBazzicais his passion and love of art, a pastime that has played andcontinues to play an enormous part of his life. This is hisartistichistory.
“RedGums”byGeorgeBazzica
Born inKalgoorlie in January1943Georgewas educated andspentmostofhisworkinglifeinSouthAustralia,wherehemetandmarriedElizabeth.TheyhavetwochildrenandliveinBusseltonintheirretirement. GeorgebeganworkasaLaboratoryAssistantatthePortPirieUranium Plant in South Australia and was later the AssistantManagerofthePirieTileCoinPortPirieandWhyalla. MovingtoWesternAustraliaGeorgewastheownerManagerofUniversal Terrazzo Tiles in Fremantle and then worked for 25years with Alcoa Australia Pty Ltd as Laboratory Senior AnalystTeamLeaderbeforeretiringduetoillhealthin1996. George studied watercolour painting under Tony Smibert inTasmania, JillAston(BA) inSouthAustraliaandArthurRaston inWesternAustralia. He also studied techniques and ethnics under Gillian Peebles(LondonSchoolofArts)andpastelsunderLynnHoldeninWesternAustralia.
“Twogumtrees”byGeorgeBazzica
In2004GeorgewontheFaithHemsleyAwardattheBusseltonArt in the Park exhibition and in 2007 the Great Southern ArtAward at Katanning judged by R. Vallis, Director Edith CowanUniversityCollectionandJ.Davies,DirectorBunburyRegionalArtGalleries.
“DevilRocks”byGeorgeBazzica
“Threegumtrees”byGeorgeBazzica
George was an active committee member of the RockinghamVisual Art Society 1996-2003, a Foundation Member of theRockinghamWaterColourSociety1998-2003andamemberoftheRockingham Council for the Arts and Crafts from 2007 andPresident1999-2001.HehasalsobeenamemberoftheBusseltonArtSocietyfrom2003andhasservedonnumerouscommittees.
twelvemonthsasMembershipOfficerspenttheensuing12yearsas Secretary. Barry was a founder member of Joondalup CirclewhenitwasinauguratedinFebruary2005whereheisnowinhis13thyearasSecretary. In 2018/19 Barry was both President and Secretary ofJoondalupCircleandwasalsoitsWelfareOfficerforthreeyears. Hewas a foundermember of the Province 20 Youth SupportFundwhenitwasformedin2007andhasbeentheSecretaryfor13years. “OneofthehighlightsofmycareerasLiwaraSecretary,”Barrywrites, “was when I was presented with a head lamp when hebegan to experience difficulty reading notices and minutes atmeetingsbecause I thought the lights at thevenuewere fading. Idiscovered later that I had cataracts that needed to be removedandaftertheoperationIcannowseeclearly.” “Another highlight occurred after I was presented with the‘dreadedwoodenspoon’forthefourthtimecompellingtheLiwaraCounciltomakeadecisionthat itwouldnolongerbeawardedtohard-working secretaries. Hence my motto ‘he who’s made nomistakehasdonenothing.’” BarrywasborninDurban,SouthAfricathemiddleoneofthreesiblings,anoldersisternowdeceasedandayoungerbrother.Theirfatherwasacareersoldierinthearmypaycorpsandtheirmotherwasashopassistantatthelocalmilitarygeneralstore.Thefamilylivedinalongbungalowinthearmymarriedquarters. Barry spent most of his primary school days at the localgovernment school in a place called Voortrekkerhogte nearPretoria. Then followed two years at Christian Boys College atPretoria and his final school years at the local technical collegewhere he matriculated after completing mechanical engineeringstudies. He then served five years in the South African armycompleting an apprenticeship as a fitter and turner, rising to therankofcorporal. In1968Barry left thearmy to investigate thewideworld.HespentayeartouringEngland,ScotlandandEuropewithamateinamini panel van. Sevenmonths of this tripwere spent in Englandworking on a hop farm, picking and packing apples and pears inKent and working in a small engineering works making “secret”componentsfortheadmiralty. “My only claim to international fame occurred in this time ofmy life,” Barry writes. “I appeared in the audience on Britishtelevision with the Beatles when they made a video for theprogramTopofthePopsandrecordedthesongHeyJude.” “Interwovenwith all these adventures Imet,wooed andwonmywifeElizabethwhowasalsodoingher‘thing’overseas.” BarryandElizabethweremarriedinSalisbury,Rhodesia(nowHarareZimbabwe)andsettledinDurbanwhereBarryspentayearas a maintenance fitter in a jute mill before turning his hand toteaching, firstly toapprentices for tenyearsandthen lecturingtomechanical engineering technicians for a further seven years. Helectured insubjectsmostpeoplewouldneverhaveheardof suchas mechanics of machines, applied thermodynamics andmechanotechnics.
BarryandElizabeth
Webb In1986BarryandElizabethmigratedtoAustraliatoprovideamore secure future for their three children namely, Duncan adegreed Environmental Health Officer married with their onlygrandchildEmilywhois15livinginVancouver,Canada,Geoffreyagraduate Electronic Engineer also living in Vancouver and MarywhoisaradiographerlivingandworkinginahospitalinGibraltar. Barry spent 21 years teaching at Newman College where hetaught mathematics, religion, technical drawing and computeraideddrawingtostudentsfromyearseightto12. “I have taught the children of a large number of CatenianbrothersovertheyearsatNewmanCollege,”Barrywrites. “I amnow retired from full time teachingbut formanyyearsafter retirement continued to do relief teaching at various highschools when needed as well as some private tutoring. I alsoworkedfortheRonaldMacDonaldFoundationasamathstutorfortenyears.” “Myinterestsaresport,reading,quizzinganddoingcrosswordpuzzles. Iplayedgradecricket for25years,uptobutnotbeyondsecond grade as a wicketkeeper/batsman but never scored acentury.My fatherwasanavidcricket follower,hencemy initialsareLBW,LynnBarryWebb.” “Ialsoplayedsoccer forthearmysideandwasSecretaryofacricketclub inDurbanfornineyears. Icoached juniorsoccerandcricketboth inSouthAfrica andPerth for anumberof years andwasaqualifiedsoccerreferee.” “NowI’manarmchaircriticforalmostallsportsandenjoyingretirement.” “Whosayslifeisuneventfulanddull?”
BarryWebbSecretary
JoondalupCircle
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BrianKerman’sstory
y parents Harry and Eileen Kerman lived in South Wales,writesBRIAN KERMAN. When they married in 1924 they
tookthedecisiontomovetoAustralia forapotentiallybetter lifebecauseof thedepression.My fatherwhowasa fitterand turnerbytradecameoutin1925tofindajobseveralmonthsaheadofmymotherandwhenshearrivedtheysettledintolifeinShentonPark. Myparentshadtwodaughtersinitially,butunfortunatelytheirfirst childdied at fourdays and their seconddaughterdied frompneumoniaagedfouryears.Iwasbornin1931. My mother was a very active person with a very positiveattitude and was always involved with community activitiesincluding theShentonParkProgressAssociationand theCatholicWomen’s League. She was elected as a Councillor of the City ofSubiaco, only the second woman elected in local Government atthattime. Tragically my mother was diagnosed with terminal bowelcancer and in the final stages was cared for in a small privatehospital in North Perth owned by a very close nursing friend,MargaretRigg.Shepassedawayon3August1950aged46.Iwas18yearsofageandwasdevastatedbyheruntimelydeath.SeveralyearslatermyfathermarriedMargaret. IattendedStAloysiusConventSchoolinShentonParkforfouryearsand thenoneyearat St IldephonsusCollegeatNewNorciafollowed by seven years at St Louis School in Claremontwhere IcompletedmyLeavingCertificatein1949, I commenced an engineering cadetship in 1950 at ForwoodDownWAPtyLtdandstudiedparttimeatPerthTechnicalCollegeforaDiplomainStructuralEngineering.IalsoobtainedaDiplomain Building together with a Builders Registration Certificate atLeederville Technical College. Following a period in theEngineering/DrawingOfficeIwasgiventheroleofsupervisingandmanaging the Company’s structural steel field constructionactivitiesinvolvinghigh-risesteelframedbuildingssuchasCouncilHouse,theReserveBank,ANZBank,a12-storyLanguageInstituteBuildinginKualaLumpur,theChannel7TVtowerandoilstoragetanks. In1962thecompanyformedajointventurewithPittsburgDesMoinesSteelCo(USA)toconstructallof thetankageandprocessstructures for Alcoa’s new alumina refinery at Kwinana. I wasgivenaseniorroleasConstructionSuperintendentfortheproject. ApartfromworkIdidhaveasociallife.IwasheavilyinvolvedintheShentonParkYCWwheretogetherwiththeNCGMwehadaverystrongyouthgroup.ItwastherethatImetBerylRowbottam(anotherpastStAloysiusstudent)andwemarriedon4February1954atStAloysiusChurch.Beryland Ihavebeenblessedwithabeautifulfamilyofthreedaughtersandfoursons.
OurChildrenhavegivenusgreatjoybypresentinguswith16wonderful grandchildren who in turn have presented sevenbeautifulgreatgrandchildren.
TheextendedKermanfamily
Back on the working front, after 31 years with the companyand as Deputy General Manager, I decided to resign in order tostart my own business. This was an enormous risk given ourcircumstanceswithsevenchildrenand little fundsother thanmysuperannuation, however I was encouraged by my businessassociatestotaketheplungeso,on21July1981attheageof50,IstartedKermanContractingPtyLtdoperatingfromasingle-roomoffice inApplecross.KermanContractinggrew rapidly and in the39yearsofoperationhascompletedawiderangeofprojectswithatotalvalueinexcessoftwobilliondollars. The company has specialised in the design, projectmanagement and constructionofmajor infrastructureprojects intheminingandprocessingindustriesaswellasmajorbulkstoragefacilitiesforgrain,fertilisers,heavymineralsandsandironoreforprojectsthroughoutAustraliaandoverseas.
As thecompanyhasgrown Iwasextremely fortunate tohaveour four sons join progressively becoming a major part of itssuccess. Our second son Christopher has beenwith the companyfor35yearsandwaswellplacedtotakeoverasManagingDirectorwhen I retired. Our sons Michael and Peter are on the Board ofDirectorsandIchairtheBoard. For recreation I am a keen sailor. When I was around 40 Idecidedtobuildasmallsailingdinghysothatwecouldgetintoasport in which we could enjoy as a family. We joined the PerthDinghyClub,ahighlysuccessfulfamilyorientatedclub,whichwasfoundedin1903. In1974withmysonChrisascrewwewonour firstNationalSignet Class championship on the Swan River followed in 1976when with my son Peter we won our second NationalChampionshipinMelbourne.Theboatwascalled“JustJenny”.Ouryoungestdaughter, Jenny is still sailing “JustJenny”withherownsonascrew. In1990IchangedclassesmovingintoaJavelinSkiff,crewedbyoursonMichaelandlaterbyourgodsonMichaelWear.TheJavelinis very fast, very wet and exciting, but after 27 years andmuchsuccessandenjoymentIdecidedtoretirefromthesportattheageof86.
I have been very privileged to have been a Commodore,Trustee and Life Member of the Perth Dinghy Sailing Club andimmenselyproudthatouryoungestsonGarywasalsoelectedasaCommodoreoftheclub. Beryl and I are veryproudof our family andhavea lot tobegrateful for. In recognition of this in 2005 we established theKermanCharitableFoundation. Wehavebeentrulyblessed.
BrianKermanDianellaCircle
ExperienceNewNorciaattheGuesthouse
et around a courtyard garden in the southern cloister of themonastery, the NEW NORCIA GUESTHOUSE provides
accommodationandmealstothosewhowishtospendsometimeleavingbehindthehustleandbustleofdailylife. Group bookings are welcome. The guesthouse is the idealvenue for parish retreats and the monks are happy to provideinput for spiritual programmes on request. A maximum of 24peoplecanbeaccommodated. Theguesthousecompriseseighttwin-shareroomswithensuitebathrooms and reverse cycle air-conditioning (adultaccommodationonly)oronetwinshareroomandsixsingleroomswith a shared bathroom facility and a column oil heater and apedestalfan(adultaccommodationonly). Allmealsareprovidedintheguesthousediningroomwithanoption to join themonks in theRefectory ifyouwish.Themonkseat in silence whilst a reader reads from the text of the day,scriptureandtheRuleofStBenedict. Tariffs are a suggested donation. The guesthouse is both aplace of service and a source of monastery livelihood and therecommended donation helps cover operating costs andcontributestoincome.
Catenianday-tripsandretreatsA very strong bond has developed between Catenians and themonks of New Norcia dating back to when the Association wasformedinWesternAustraliain1977.Bothdayvisitorsandgroupsfrom circles have regularly chosen to experience the peaceful,tranquilandprayerfulambienceofNewNorciatoshareadayoraweekendtogether. In planning your next Catenian circle event, a visit to NewNorcia would always be an easy and popular choice to offermembers,wivesandtheirfamilies. Idealtimetovisit:FromearlyApriltolateNovember.Guesthousecontactdetails:Phone:(08)96548002Email:[email protected]
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LeavingApartheidbehind
CourageousdecisionsWrittenbyLionelThompson
A country that actively works against themajority of its people isunlikely to generate happy growing-upmemories. It ismore likelythatpeopleaffectedwillseektoerasethosememoriesnotonlyfromtheir ownminds but also keep them from theminds of succeedinggenerations.SuchisonepoisonedlegacyfromApartheidevenoveraquartercenturyafteritwasabolished. Apartheiddefined fourmain racialgroups indescendingorder:White, Asian, Coloureds (people of mixed origins) and Black.Colouredshadagreaterdiversityinlooksandoriginsthanwhiteorblack bloodlines. My parents were classed in a sub-group of CapeColoureds. The diversity in looks could even be evident withinfamilies.Somememberscouldpassforwhitebecauseofskincolourandmanyactuallyplayedthegametogetaroundsteadilytighteningrestrictions.Insomecasesthisledtodivisionswithinfamilies.Itwasayokemyparentswerenotpreparedtoliveorraiseafamilyunder.Thisistheirstory.
BeginningsMy father Walter RossThompson was born inJanuary 1921 to George andMolly Thompson (nee VanAswegan) in Johannesburg,SouthAfrica.HeandhissisterMaryweretheeldest,followedby five younger brothersbefore their natural motherpassed away. Dad did not geton with his stepmother andwas often beaten, so he lefthomeatanearlyopportunity.My mother Ethel Thompson(nee Harris) had her familyorigins in the Eastern CapeProvince.BorninAugust1922she had the affectionatenickname “Gussy” for anunknownreasonandcarrieditthroughout her life. She hadsix older siblings and ayounger brother who died at17leavinghertheyoungestofthefamily.
We do not know anything of their lives growing up but thebeginnings of segregationwereprobably alreadybeing felt. Theymarried in November 1945 and my brother Wally was born inDecember1946withmefollowinginSeptember1948. They decided to become Catholics and we were dulychristened.
EarlyyearsBeing very young Wally and I were unaware of the trials ourparentsweregoingthroughonalmostadailybasiswhilewewereinSouthAfrica.Onlyinlateryearswouldsketchystoriesemergeoflifeontheothersideofthetracks.Then,fortuitouslyourparents’fortunes changed. An upholsterer and skilled carpenter,Dadwassuccessful in securing a job he heard about in East Africa on adiamond mining operation and in 1952 we left South Africaforever. Leaving behind oppressive government policieswas the easypart.Theeffectonfamily,however,wasmuchmorekeenlyfeltaswe learned from some cousins years later.With only spasmodiccorrespondence in the years that followed,Wally and Iwere notaware about grandparents, aunts, uncles or cousins. Theconditions under which close relatives were living became acompletevoidforus.
ThebigbreakDad and Mum both worked for Williamson Diamond Mines atMwaduiinTanzania,aremotecompanytownwiththenearestbigcity being Nairobi in Kenya. Working there came with verygenerouslivingconcessionsincludingpaidschoolfeesandholidayfares. Dad was responsible for producing furniture for companyhousing;probablynotahighlypaidjobbuthehadaninnateabilitytosavemoneyforthefuture.Whatheputawayoverthefollowing11yearswastoserveuswell. Mwadui’sremotenessmeantflyingtoandfromhighschoolonthe companyownedDC3aircraft.Wally and I attendedStMary’sSchoolinNairobiasboardersandwereawayfromhomeformuchof the time each year. Run by the Holy Ghost Fathers, disciplinewasenforcedby the “Saints”andgoodmanners learned thehardway. Although strict, there was fairness in the school’s ethos,however, bullying was a fact of life in all schools for weakerindividualsandStMary’swasnoexception.Schooldaysawayfromhomewerenotalwayshappybuttheyprovedtobepavingstonesforthefuture.Welearnedtoadaptandwelearnedresilience. In awiderworld inhabitedbyparents,politicswas the focus.TheMauMauUprising inKenyawas inprogress and theAfricancolonies were pushing for their independence from Britain andother European powers. Tanzania (formerly Tanganyika) gainedindependencein1961andKenyafollowedin1963.Thisquantumshift inpowermadeEuropeansuneasy,myparents among them.WewerenowBritishsubjectsandpossibletargetsforanyviolencethatmightarise. Thiswas in factwhat Dad had been puttingmoney away foranditwastimeforanothercourageousdecision.
AfutureinAustraliaThekeydrivers formyparentsmove toAustraliawasdue to thepoliticalinstabilityinAfricaandtheprospectofWallyandIhavingtogooverseasfortertiarystudies,spendingevenmoretimeawayfromhome. Later we learned that Mum and Dad had to choose betweenAustraliaandCanadaandIsuspectPerthwonbecauseitwouldbewarmerwithprobablybetterjobprospectsinupholsteryforDad. WetearfullyleftfriendsbehindinMwaduiinDecember1963,but at least we were complete as a family unit. Although sad toleavefriends,seeingthemajesticKilimanjarofromthetrainforthelast time aroused no emotions. The adventure of a new countryawaited,butlittledidIknowIwouldspendmuchofmyadultlifelearning about the continent I once called home. We arrived inWesternAustraliaon11January1964.
Dad’s prowess at saving money paid handsome dividends inPerth.Heneverhad tomortgage ahousewe lived in andalwaysseemed to have sufficient cash for large outlays such as cars.Althoughnotwellpaidwelackedfornothing.DadbuiltmostofourfurnitureandcontinuallymadehouseimprovementsrequestedbyMum.CapitalgainsfromhousesinDianella,thenBentleyandthenCrawleysawthemfinallymovetoMtClaremontfortheirtwilightyears. Overtheyearsourparentsmaintainedcontactdiscretelywithafewsiblings,butmybrotherandIwerenotawareofituntilwestarted to get visits from aunties. Dad’s sister Mary and Mum’ssisterSarahbothtravelledtoPerthonholidaysonafewoccasions,however we still did not learn much about cousins and uncles.Nevertheless our parents gradually began to talk to us about thepast. Disappointingly, Dad still dwelt on the negatives and hisangerwouldoftensurface,butMumwasmuchmorepositiveandconsequentlydisclosedmuchmoreinformation. IdistinctlyrememberawatershedeventasIwasapproaching20in1968.NationalServicewasinforceinAustraliaandwiththelikelihood of my brother and I being drafted proof of age wasrequired.ReluctantlyDadhadtoapplytoSouthAfricaforcopiesofourbirthcertificates.Whenheshowedmethedocumenttherewasaheadingonit:Ras(race)followedbythewords“CapeColoured”.Until then I had no idea I was anything other than white. Myparents had in fact destroyed the original birth certificateswhenwewent to East Africa and never told uswhat they regarded astheir shame. They were profusely apologetic toWally and I, butwhatsortofsoncouldholdthatagainsthisparents?Itwassimplyarollofthedicefromalongtimeagoandhadnothingtodowiththeopportunitiesthatlaybeforeus. The copy of my birth certificate is still with me. It’s thedocumentofmyexistenceandthereisabsolutelynoshameinit. Despite now knowing something of my heritage, I confess Ipaid precious little attention to the stories of Apartheidoppressions that were coming out of South Africa. The Sowetouprising of June 1976 was hardly a blip on my radar. Similarly,newsofforcedrelocationsandthebulldozingofpeople’shomesinsuburbsdesignated tobe “white”didnot raise alarmbells. Iwastoo busy working and raising a family here to consider family Ihardlyknewsufferingoverthere.Ifthereisanyshameinmylifeitis that it has taken up tomy twilight years to realise howmuchinhumanity I havemanaged to dodge inmy sheltered life and tofeelimmenserespectforthosewhoenduredit.
LifeafterretirementMum and Dad retired in 1986 with enough saved to guaranteethemacomfortablelife.DadhadlongenjoyedtravelandtheysawAustralia as well as overseas destinations such as New Zealand,Indonesia,Europe,theUnitedKingdomandIreland. Mum,howeverwasnottoofussedontravelsoDaddidatriptothe Holy Land on his own. His last trip overseas in 2000 wassurprisingly to South Africa to visit one of his few remainingbrothers. Notlongafterhereturnedhewasseriouslyinjuredwhenhitbyacarwhilecrossingtheroad.Itwastomarkthestartofa12-yeardeclineinhisqualityof life.Aftertimeinintensivecarehehadtoundergo many extensive surgeries on his legs to retain somemobility.Despitehisdrivetokeepgoinghegraduallybecamemorecrippled and was moved into a nursing home for the final twoyearsofhislife. Immobility finally resulted in gangrene due to poor bloodsupplyandtheremovalofhisrightlegabovethekneeinlateJuly2013wasthefinalstraw.Hediedlessthantwoweekslaterattheageof92.
parentsontheirfather’s90thbirthday MumwashisstaunchestadvocateduringDad’sfinalyears.Hebecame the full focusofher life andherdevotionneverwavereddespite the fact that he had not been easy to livewith. He ruledwithanironfistandwasoftenquicktoanger.Nevertheless,hehadprovided well for his family and his fidelity to her was neverquestioned. Mum proved herself the quintessential wife andmother. Eventually she too ended up in a nursing home and passedaway fromheart failureonAnzacDay2015, just22monthsafterherhusband.ItwasalsothedayoftheNepalearthquake.
ThetaleoftwobrothersHowdifferentcantwobrothersbe?Markedlysoinourcase.InmyyoungerdaysImerelyassumedWallyhadthebrainsandIdidn’tanditwasonlyinlateryearsIrealisedthedifferencebetweenuswashiscapacityforsheerhardwork. Wally was the academic one. He won a scholarship to studymedicineat theUniversityofWesternAustraliaandgraduated in1972.AfterheandhiswifeGaycompletedinternshipshechosetospecialise in anaesthetics and worked extensively overseasincluding New Zealand and Canada before they settled back inPerth. HehasheldpositionatseveralmajorPerthhospitalsincludingheadof intensivecareatSirCharlesGairdnerHospital.HeservedasPresidentof theAustralianSocietyofAnaesthetists from1996to1998andwasalsoPresidentoftheAustralianandNewZealandCollegeofAnaesthetists.Hisdedicationtoadvancingthescienceofanaesthesia in the medical profession earned him a Member ofOrderofAustraliain2011.Wallyretiredin2012andnowhappilyplays“PoppaWal”tosevengrandchildren. Itisoftensaidthatbehindeverygreatmanisasupportivewife.Gayplayedthatroletoperfection.Workingingeneralpracticesheunderstoodtheworkloadandtechnicaldemandsofmedicineandsupported Wally’s ascendance by looking after their growingfamily.Theirgrandchildrenaffectionatelyknowheras“Geegee”. I had a reputation for doodling at school, which did not domuchformyexamresultsbutitwasanaptitudefordrawingthatultimately ledme into cartographyorwhat is nowknownas themappingsciences. After finishing high school I was fortunate to get adraughtsman’s job with Western Mining Corporation (WMC), asuccessfulminingandmineralexplorationcompany.Notlongafterthat I met Mary when we both decided to take tennis coachinglessons. My working life was interrupted when I was called up forNational Service in 1970 and learned all about the winters inVictoriawhileatbasictrainingatPuckapunyal.Asitturnedoutour
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intakeonlyhadtoserve18months insteadof twoyearsduetoachangetoLaborgovernmentwhoabolishedNationalService. AfterbeingdischargedMaryand Iweremarried in1972andwe moved to Wittenoom in the Pilbara where WMC had anexploration office. I duly gained a Diploma in Cartography andcametoappreciatethevalueofmapsinoureverydaylives.Whenyouthinkaboutit, it’sactuallyaGod’seyeviewoftheworld.Thebiggerpicturesotospeak. Indeed,knowingwhereweareunderpinssomuchofourdailylivesfromnavigatingsuburbanstreets,tofindingpeoplelostinthebush, to flyingbetweenPerth andLondonon anonstop flight, tounderstandingoureffecton theentireplanetand its ecosystems.The mapping sciences have a footprint in just about everytechnicalventurethehumanraceembarkson. Apart from the 18 months doing National Service and fouryears doing graphic services for the aviation industry, I spent 41years in the mapping field and have seen it morph from hand-drawn lines and text into intelligent data bases where everysymboldrawnhasattributesassignedthatenableinterrogationofanyclassofdata. Ithasbeenaprivilegetoworkinthemappingsciencesandtobe part of Australia’s great mining andminerals industry. It hasalsobeenaprivilegetowear theAustralianarmyuniformduringNationalService.Contrarytowhatsomebelievedinthosedays, itwasnotawasteoftime.IknowthatAnzacDaymeansmuchmoretomehavingworntheuniform. Ispent34yearswithWMC,mostlyintheexplorationteam. Mary and I raised our three daughters, Nicole, Christina andSarahwhileworking invarious locationsaroundAustralia. Sadly,NicoledevelopedmentalhealthissueswhenwegotbacktoPerthand her mental and physical health has continued to declinesteadily.Shemetandmarriedamarkedlyunsuitablemanandhadadaughter,Miriam followedbya sonPeter tohim.Themarriageendedindivorce,atwhichstagetheycametolivewithMaryandIin1999. Nicole’sdaughteralsohasmentalhealthproblemsandbothofthemareondisabilitypensionsandsupportedbytheNDIS.Maryacts as primary carer for Nicole and Miriam. It is an exhaustingtask but she steadfastly refuses to take a decent break from it.FortunatelyPeterisokayandagreatantidotetobeingsurroundedbywomen.Weregularlycrackabeerandplaychessatwhichhejustasregularlygivesmeahiding. Runningahousewithtwodisabledandunstablepeopleisnota recommended strategy for retirement, however it is what it isandChristiandutyrequiresustokeeptryingtothebitterend. Along with good friends, art, photography and aviation,membershipof theCatenianAssociation(DarlingRangeCircle) isone of my escape outlets. The monthly meetings are a welcomebreakfromthehomedynamicandachancetohavesomenormalconversation.
Lionel,artbrushinhand,onhis70thbirthday It is fair to say my faith hasincreasedovertheyears.WhetheritispartlyduetobeingaCatenianor simply a factor of growingolder and feeling vulnerable, thefactremainsthatwhenIwalkintochurchIamatpeace.
Twobrothers;afinalwordDespite having vastly different life experiences, Wally and I areveryclose.WebothacknowledgethedebtweowetoMumandDadandunderstandtheirmotivesforchoosingthepaththeydid. Weareindeedbeneficiariesofalltheirhardworkanddifficultchoices. I think there would be very few sons or daughters ofmigrants who would not thank their parents for coming toAustraliaand,specifically,Perth.Thishasbeenhomefor56yearsandthatisnotlikelytochange. MumandDadchosewellanditisfittingthattheirfinalrestingplace is probably one of themost peaceful corners of the earth;freefromtheprejudicesthatdoggedtheiryoungeryears. Sincetheirpassing,WallyandIhaveworkedtogethertobuildcontacts with cousins and relations in South Africa and tappinginto their family knowledge. From it we have some insight intowhattheyendured,oftenthroughnochoiceoftheirown. Interestingly, some cousinshave confirmed that theirparentsalsoplayedthegameofsilenceaboutthepastwhenchildrenaskedabout other family members. It seems that they too are seekinganswers from scraps of information and as yet nobody has thetotalpicture. Ultimately, I suppose our joint aim is to compile andunderstandaverycomplexfamilytree. God willing, we may have enough time left to succeed.Apartheidmayhavemadeitdifficult,butwhilethereislifeitisnotimpossible.
LionelThompson
PlenaryCouncil2020onhold
ue to the COVID-19 pandemic the first Plenary CouncilAssembly has been postponed for one year until October
2021, reportsDr.GrahamMahony,FremantleCirclememberandProvince20Councillor. TheoutcomesfromthePhase 2 Listening andDiscernmentsessionswereprocessed by the Writingand Discernment Groupsand have resulted in theproductionofsixThematicDiscernment papers,which will form the basisof the agenda for theFirstAssemblyinOctober2021. The Writing andDiscernment Groups werestrongly guided bytheological academics andreligious. The papers can be reviewed onhttps://plenarycouncil.catholic.org.au/continuing-the-journey-of-discernment/. TheArchdioceseofPerthArchdiocesanCoordinatorofPlenaryCouncil2020TonyGigliahasadvisedthatArchbishopCostelloeisdraftingapaperondiscernmentwithanaccompanyingvideotobeusedinconjunctionwiththesixThemepapersreferredtoabove.
GrahamMahony
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UnderstandingChristianity
ThewritingsofStPaultheApostle
sStPaulwrotemostoftheNewTestament(theChristianscriptures)we need to know asmuch as possible about
him to understand what he wrote and hence to understandChristianity.Eventhoughhispastorallettersweretobecomethe centre of the New Testament, hewas totally unaware ofthis.ForPaulandtheearlyconvertsthescriptureswerewhatwecalltheOldTestament.
BarryDrewDarlingRangeCircle
It is my belief, writesBARRY DREW, that Paul was the firstman to understand Christianity. It is fairly obvious that St Peterandtheotherapostleswereconfusedtosaytheleast.Peter’sbreakfrom his Jewish background to understand the liberation that isChristianitywasaslowandpainfultransition. The Mosaic religion was a moral religion based on laws andcommandments. It saw God as a lawgiver who demandedobedience in return for his patronage. The challenge for theapostlesandtheircountrymenwasthatChristclaimedtobeequalwiththeFather,“TheFatherandIareone.”Christisatthecentreof Christianity andwe are called to a personal relationshipwithhim.Three timesChrist challengedSimonPeter, “SimonPeterdoyou loveme?”Most JewsfoundthisconceptofChristbeingequaltotheFathertoohardtoacceptandfewbecameChristians. AfurthercomplicationisthatScripturesays,“Cursedishewhohangs upon a cross.” How could Christ who was executed as acriminal be divine and equal to the Father? This was not theMessiahthatmostJewishpeopleexpected. Paulwas born around 5 AD in Tarsus inmodern Turkey. Hetellsusnothingabouthisparentsor family.HehadcitizenshipofTarsusandRome.Thesimplestexplanationisthathis fathermayhavebeenaRomanofficialandhismother,Jewish.Itistheeasterntradition that children would be brought up in the faith of theirmother. We have no idea of what Paul looked like, but in art he isalwaysshownwithsandyhair.Thisishighlyunlikelyandthereisnobasisforthistradition. AsayoungmanPaultravelledtoJerusalemtostudyscriptureunderGamaliel,awell-knownteacher.HerehebecameaPharisee,asectbasedonscripture.HewasnotedforhiszealfortheMosaicreligion.
We are all familiarwith the account of his conversion on theroadtoDamascus.Hewasstruckdownfromhishorseandgotupstunnedandblinded.SomedayslaterhewastakentothehouseofAnaniaswherehewascuredandbaptised.Hisconversionandre-orientationwashardly instantaneous.Notacceptedor trustedbytheChristianconvertshewithdrewtotheArabianDesertforthreeyearstomeditateonhissituation.HesaysthatChristappearedtohimandappointedhimanapostleequalwiththetwelve.Hethenreturned toDamascus topreachChristianity to the Jewsbutwaspoorlyreceived.NexthetravelledtoJerusalemtopresenthimselftotheJerusalemchurch.AgainhewaspoorlyreceivedsohewentbackhometoTarsus. He was rescued from oblivion by Barnabas who took him toAntioch,agentilechurch.Thischurchcommissionedhimtopreachtothepagans/gentilesprovidedheworkedunderthewatchfuleyeofBarnabas. Bytheendofhisfirstmissionaryjourneyitwasclearthatthecommunitieshadamajor crisison theirhands.SinceChristianityhad itsorigins in Judaism, the Jewishconverts felt that thepaganconvertsshouldhavetosubmit toallof the lawsandpracticesofJudaism. The question of circumcisionwas central since itwas amajor barrier to the conversion of pagans. Many adult pagansadmired the teachings of Judaism but were not prepared toundergothisrite.SuchpeoplelaterprovedtobeamajorsourceofconvertstoChristianity. Paulclearlyunderstoodtheprincipleinvolved.Christianswerefollowers of Christ, not Moses. If they were to be subject to theMosaicLawthiswouldmeanthatChristianitywasjustabranchofJudaism and that Moses was more important than Christ.FortunatelyPaul’sargumentcarriedthedaybeforetheCouncilofJerusalem.Christianshad the freedomof the childrenofGodandobeyedallofthecommandmentsofthelawonlytotheextentthattheywere“lovingGodandtheirneighboursasthemselves.” Paul was now emboldened to continue on his mission ofpreaching to the pagans. Luke and Mark, who later becameevangelists,seemtohavejoinedhisentourageatthisstage. Paulwas always a controversial characterwho sparked riotswherever he went. This was too much for Mark who wassupportedbyBarnabas.SoMarkwenthometoJerusalemandPaulandBarnabasagreedtogotheirseparateways. Onhis secondmissionary journeyPaul tookSilas ashismaincompanion.TheyvisitedmanyofthechurchesofTurkeyfoundedonthefirstjourney.AsaresultofadreamPaulwasdrawntowardsGreece.Again therewashostility toPaulandSilasand theywereimprisonedatBeroea.WhenreleasedPaulwenttoAthensleavingSilasandTimothytocarryonwiththeworkatBeroea. InAthensPaul had little impact being treated merely with philosophicalinterest.TheGreekshadmanygodsandsawChristasjustanotherproposedgod.Thiswasnobigdeal. PaulthenmovedtoCorinthviaThessalonicawherehefoundedhismost importantchurch.Thegovernor,Gallio,wasnotworriedbyPaul’swork.Thispeacefulenvironmentinspiredhimtostayfortwoyears.Itisprobablethathewrotehisfirstandsecondepistlesfrom Corinth (viz. Epistles one and two to the Thessalonians).TheseepistlesmaybethefirstNewTestamentwritings. SomeThessalonians felt that if theendof theworldwasnearthentherewasnopointinworkingandsotheybecameaburdenon the community. Paul insisted that anyone who did not workshouldnotbefed.SincePaulhadnospecialknowledgeofwhentheworldwould endhe couldnot resolve theiruncertainty andmayevenhavemadeitworsebysomeofhiscomments. FromCorinthhesailedtoPalestine,visitedJerusalemandthenreturnedtoAntioch.
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EmericFonseca1938–2020
embersandwivesofDarlingRangeCircleweresaddenedbythe loss of Emeric Fonsecawho passed away peacefully at
hishomeinWattleGroveon11June2020surroundedbyhiswifeMeryl, threesonsandtheir families.Emericwasamemberof the
Catenian Association for23years,servingformanyyears as the circle’sChamberlain. He was avery highly regardedmember of the circleattending virtually everymeeting, except whenprevented to by hisdeterioratinghealth. Emericwas82yearsofage and died just amonthshort of the 50thanniversary of hismarriage to Meryl, which
wouldhaveoccurredon18July2020. He was born in November 1938 in the seaside town ofMombasainKenya.HewasthesecondyoungestofeightchildrenofAlexanderandRosinhaFonseca. The family migrated to India where Emeric did most of hisearlyschooling.HeonlyeverspokefondlyofhischildhoodinIndiadespitethechallengesthatmusthavebeenpresentlivinginalargefamilywithlimitedincome.Emericoftentoldthestoryofalleightchildrensharingonebed,sleepingacrossthebedtofiteveryoneinand, as the children got taller, adding furniture to accommodatetheirdanglingfeet. Emeric completedhis high school yearsback inKenyawherehebeganhiscareerasajuniorlandsurveyor,savinghismoneysothathecouldheadofftoLondontofurtherhisqualifications. On returning to Nairobi Emeric met Meryl in 1968 and theywere married on 18 July 1970. Their three sons were born inKenya and then, in 1984, the family left everything behind andmigrated to Perthwhere they have lived inWattle Grove for thelast36years. Emeric had many interests including travel, history andgeography.HehadastrongCatholic faith,perhapsnot the“shoutfrom the street corner” type of Christian, but a man who nevermissedweekendMass,alwayssaidgracebeforemealsand,eveninhis80scouldstill recite thepost rosaryMemoraireprayeroffbyheart. Emeric will be remembered as a man with a great sense ofhumourandabilitytomakeotherslaughnotonlyadults,butalsobabiesandchildren.Hisfamouspartytrickwasthathecouldstickhistongueoutandtouchhisnose,atrickthatneverfailedtobaffleanyyoungchild. His threesonsrecall fondmemoriesofarichchildhood, filledwithfamilyholidaysandboundlessopportunities.Healsoenjoyedbeing a grandfather. He was very “hands on”, feeding, changingnappiesandputtingthemdownfornaps.Hisfirstgranddaughter,Lianamedhim“Emic”,atitlehetriedtochangeovertheyearstoGranddadEmic, butby then thenameEmicwaswell entrenchedforallfivegrandkids.
Mayherestinpeace
PeterColleran1932–2020
Requiem Mass to celebrate the life of Como Circle BrotherPeter Colleran was held at St Benedicts Catholic Church in
Ardrosson18 June2020.Peterpassedawayon8 June2020, thebeloved husband ofJocelyn, cherished anddevoted father of Rochelleand Craig (USA), Tim andGina (USA), Carolyn andgrandchildren Thomas,WesleyandKeeley(USA). Peter joined theCatenian Association in1999 and served as VicePresidentofComoCirclein2000/01, President in2001/02 and part of2002/03 and Secretary2004to2006andagainforthreeyearsfrom2009. Peterwasbornon22May1932inEastFremantleandgrewupworking in the family bakery business and attending CBCFremantlewhereheswam,boxedandplayedwaterpoloandwasDuxofthecollegeinhisfinalyear. After high school he worked in the bank and travelledextensively backpacking through countries in postWorldWar IIEurope.AfterreturningfromEuropeheworkedwiththeANZbankand joined the St Vincent de Paul Societywhere hemet Jocelyn.Theyweremarriedon12June1961andlivedinMosmanParkandtheninAlfredCove. In the late1960shemovedwith the family toWollongong inNew South Wales and then to Sydney in 1974, living inTurramurra.Petercontinuedtotravel,thistimewithBurroughsonbusiness trips to North and South America. His final move wasback to Perth, which was a career change for Peter when hebecametheMarketingDirectorofFAL. When he retired Peter and Jocelyn travelled to Europe,learningItalianandlivinginBarga,Italyforthreemonthssharingsome great adventures. It was around this time that they begantakingregulartripstotheUnitedStatestoseetheirson,TimwhowasplayingtennisattheUniversityofAlabama. In 1991 Peter walked his daughter Rochelle down the aislewhen she married Craig and three years later became agrandfather toThomas, FollowedbyWesley andKeeley. In 1999Rochelle and Craig moved with their growing family to the USAand for thenext15yearsPeterand Jocelynregularly travelled tosee their grandchildren and Tim who by then had moved toKentucky.TheywereintheUSAforseveral importantevents,thebirth of Keeley, the grandchildren’s graduations and Tim’sweddingtoGinain2009. Peter will be remembered as a compassionate, generous andloyal friendwhoknewhowto loveandhowtoshow it.Hehadastrong Catholic faith serving as an acolyte, a role that wasimportant to him particularly giving communion to the sick andfrail. He enjoyed his involvement with the Catenian Association,wasamemberofProbusandworkedtirelesslyastheSecretaryoftheCottesloeSurfLifesavingClub.
Mayherestinpeace
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UnderstandingChristianity(continued) Onhis thirdmissionary journeyhe returned towhat is todaycentral Turkey. Here he founded the churches of Ephesus andnearby Colossae. From here he wrote the First Epistle to theCorinthians. FromMacedonia hewrote the Second Epistle to theCorinthiansandfromCorinthhisEpistletotheRomans.HisEpistleto the Romans is written with much care because he had notvisited Rome nor founded the church there. Further, he neededtheir financial support for his futuremissions. From Ephesus hereturnedtoJerusalem. BackinJerusalemhepreparedforafourthmissionaryjourneyto Spain via Rome but fate prevented him. Hewas arrested as atroublemakerandtransferredtoCaesareaforhisownprotection.TheGovernor,Felixwantedabribebeforehewould releasehim.When Felix was replaced by Festus Paul decided to take hischanceswithanappealtohavehiscaseheardinRome.ArrivinginRomeabout62AD,hewaskeptunderhousearrestfortwoyears.DuringthistimehewrotehisEpistlestothePhilippians,Philemon,ColossiansandEphesians. Wedonotknowtheoutcomeofhis trial inRome.WebelievethatNeroexecutedbothPeterandPaulinabout68AD.ThereisnobasisforthetraditionthatPeterwascrucifiedupsidedown.Paul’smaincontributionthroughhiswritingswere:
v His Theology. Since Paul wrote most of the NewTestamentthenhistheologyandbeliefsbecamethebasisof Christian theology.When he wrote his epistles therewerenoaccountsofthe lifeofthefounder(Gospels),nocreed of beliefs, no church organisation and few otherwritings.Thechurcheswereallautonomous.
v The centrality of Christ to Christianity. Hementions hisactivitiesasazealousPhariseeandsays,“HenowcountsthemasnothingcomparedtotheknowledgeofChrist.”
v Hemakes it clear that salvation for the Gentiles comesthroughfaithinJesusChristnotobediencetotheMosaicLaw.
v HeintroducedthedoctrineoftheMysticalBodyofChristinhis epistles to theRomans,ColossiansandEphesians.He is NOT saying that the Church is like a body withChristasitshead,RATHERheissayingtheChurchIStheBodyofChrist.Christearntsalvationforhischurchbyhisbodily suffering, which reconciled Christians to theFather.
v In his pastoral letters Paul looked at each case inparticular rather than laying down general principles.When the Canon of books, which formed the NewTestament was drawn up in the second century Paul’spastoralletterswereincluded,whichmeanttheyarenowread as Scripture and hence general instructions for allChristians.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that no great movement inChristianity,goodorbad,hastakenplacewithoutabasisinPaul’swritings.
ContributedbyBarryDrewDarlingRangeCircle
Abouttheauthor
ARRYDREW,theauthorofUnderstandingChristianityandanarticle entitled Christianity; a thinking man’s religion
published in a previous edition of theWesternLink,was born inMelbourne where he was educated at local schools. He went touniversityandobtainedasciencedegree,laterbecomingascienceteacher. Hisworkingcareerwasspentteachingscience,computingandreligiousknowledgeintheeasternstates,NewZealandandSouthAfrica. Barryhasalwaysbeen interested inscripturestudiesandhasreadwidelyonthetopic. Hemethiswife,YvonnewhileonaholidayinCairns.Yvonneisfrom South Africa and has been widowed twice. She has adaughter,asonandtwograndchildren. BarryhasbeenamemberofDarlingRangeCircleforaboutfiveyears, regularly attending meetings and social functions. He hasservedasTreasurerforthelastthreeyears.BarryisamemberoftheHolyFamilyCatholicParishinKalamunda.
Inpraiseofsolitude
The Australian website Catholica.com.au published the followingextractfromMauricioGarciaVillegas,aColumbianProfessorofLawand Sociology, praising the opportunity for solitude brought aboutbytheCOVID-19lockdown. Ihavealways likedsolitude.Orrather,solitudethatcancometoanendatanytimebybeingwithpeople.AsVictorHugosaid:“IlovesolitudeaslongasIamnotalone.”Thatiswhy,despitealltheanguish that this COVID-19 confinement has brought, I haveenjoyed the additionalmoments of solitude that have comewiththequarantine. Thesocietyinwhichwelive,thesameonethatseemstohavedisappearedwiththepandemicbutthatwillsoonreturn,disdainsbeing alone, which it sees as a failure thatmust be corrected. Itoffersus television, radioandsocialnetworks toprovideuswithcompany.But,morethanprovidinguswithcompany,thesethingsprovideuswithvisualandauditorydistraction,abombardmentofshocking images and sounds so that our attention does notwander,asedativetospendtimequietly,withoutbeingdisturbed,asifwewerelazywithoutbeingawareofit. If, asOrsonWells said: “Wearebornalone,we livealone,wediealoneandonly through loveand friendshipcanwecreate themomentary illusion thatwearenotalone.” It seemsunhealthy toignore this inescapable factofbeingalone,or ruin itwith imagesandnoise. Perhapsthelifewehadbefore,runningtirelesslyfromoneendto the other,meant that introspection has gone out thewindow.Maybe I’m nostalgic about solitude, and that’swhy I thinkwe’respoiling it with endless work and empty entertainment. Perhapswe should be more aware that meditation, religions andphilosophyalsoobeytheneedthathumanbeingshavetomeetourinnerselvesandtogiveanintimatemeaningtowhatwedo. You don’t have to be a philosopher, a priest, or a Buddhistmonk to have an inner life or enjoy solitude.We can always runaway,eveninthemidstofthebombardmentofsoundsandimages,tomeettheselfthatwecallcarryinside,tocultivateandprotectit,sothatitdoesnotbecomeastrangebeingthatbothersusorgetsinourway.
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CCiirrccllee rroouunndduupp
Contributeditemsandphotographs
Bouvard
ThestoryofafaithfulwarriorWhenmy father started our pastoral station on the Nullarbor in1962 a reliablemeans of carting the essentials fromour existingfarm at Burra in the mid-north of South Australia was needed,writesBouvardCatenianBrotherPETERBROWN. The truckmy father chosewasaFordF600,whichhada17-foottrayandaremovabletwo-decksheepcrate. Because of the long cabin itwasmore comfortable to ride inthanothercab/overvehiclesespeciallyonthedirtroads. IthadaV8petrolmotor,which literallyateup the juice,butboy, could itgo. IpersonallyclaimedaworldlandspeedrecordforFordtruckswhen I carted a load of 144 sheep from the Burra farm out to aremote block known as ‘Worlds End’ some 30 kilometres away. When I returned from the round tripDad askedwhere I hadunloaded the sheep. I told him the block to which he replied: “Ithink I’ll go and check”. He exclaimed: “you must have beenmotoring!”IsaidIwasgoingtoclaimanewlandspeedrecordof89 miles per hour fully loaded to which Dad marvelled andremarkedhedidnotbelievethetruckcouldgothatfast.Mindyou,itonlyranatthreemilespergallonfuelconsumption. For many years the F600 served faithfully carting grain atharvest time and many trips to the pastoral station in the westcarryingwindmills,troughs,tanksandotherheavyequipment. TheEyreHighwaywasmostlydirtfromCedunatoNorsemanin the 60s. It was a real pioneering effort opening up a virginpastoralleasenorthofCocklebiddyinWesternAustralia. In those early development years the station had a managerandtheBrownfamilycontinuedatBurra.
PeterandBarbaraBrown
In1972ImarriedBarbaraandtwoyearslaterImovedwithmyyounger brother tomanage the pastoral property way out west.Barbarawasexpectingourfirstchildandfollowedseveralmonthslaterwhenitwassafetotravelwiththelittleone. The F600 was still serving us well although the miles weremountingupandoldagecatchingupwiththe‘greenmachine’. Myparents set out on the last trip from the SouthAustralianproperty to Cocklebiddy in the old truck in 1979 carrying a fullloadoffencingwire,hayandabout30rams. Theywere a bit overdue arriving andwe became concerneduntilamessagecamethroughviatheRoyalFlyingDoctorbaseatKalgoorlie that they would be a day late arriving due to vehicleproblems. Barbara and I duly went down to the roadhouse atCocklebiddytowelcomethewearytravellers. The engine of the old truck certainly didn’t sound the bestwhentheylimpedintoCocklebiddy. Itwasasighttobehold!Iftheyhadbeencarryingafewchookson board with the rest of the load they would have been “deadringers”forMaandPaKettle. Barbaraand Iwere thoroughlyamusedbutmyparentsdidn’tshare our humour. Dad approached me with hand outstretched,giving me the keys to the truck and said: “There you are son,you’ve got yourself a new truck; it’s not going back to SouthAustralia.”Onexaminationtheenginewasfoundtoberunningononlysixofitseightcylinders. Asadendtoatruebeastofburden;itshouldhavehadaplaqueacknowledgingitsexcellentserviceovermanyyearsasourfaithfulwarrior.
PeterBrown
Bouvard’snightofnightsBouvardCircle’smeetinganddinnerheldonTuesday18Augustatthe Café Coast restaurant located on the Dawesville Cut was anoutstandingsuccesswithmanyhighlights,writesMaxGardiner. ItwasthefirstdinnermeetingwithladiesforoversixmonthsandinwhatisararityforBouvardsixvisitingbrothersfromotherProvince 20 circles were in attendance, headlined by ProvincialPresidentLouDaily(DianellaCircle). The other visitors were Vern Scanlan (President DianellaCircle), Colin Purcell (President City of Mandurah Circle), GerryButler(Dianella),JohnWeselman(Liwara)andPeterBygrave(CityofMandurah). Themeetingwasenhancedbytheenrolmentofanewbrother,GraemeWeselmanthebrotherofLiwaracirclemember,JohnwhotravelledtoMandurahfortheoccasion.
Colin Johnson at All Saints Catholic Church in Greenwood on 14July 2020. Colin was theloving and caring husbandof Pat, devoted father ofChristine, Marie, David,Carolyn and Susan, father-in-law of Peter and Nigel,the adoringPopof 12 andGreatPoppyofthree. Colinwas a committedmemberofLiwaraCircleofthe Catenian Association,although unable to attendmeetings and functions inrecent times due to hispoorhealth.
Born inGeraldtonon17 January1930,Colinwas theseventhchild of Ethel and Victor Johnson and as the youngest the olderchildrenwereoftendesignatedtocare for “BabyColin”, seriouslyrestrictingtheirsocial lives.HemovedtoPerthin1936wherehewenttoschoolinHighgate,finishingatChristianBrothersCollegegraduating with his leaving certificate. Athletics were veryimportant to Colin, breaking records and receivingmany awardsincluding the honour of being all-round State champion in trackandfield. When he finished school in 1948 Colin joined theCommonwealth Audit Office and studied accounting bycorrespondencetobecomeanAssociateof theAustralianAuditorGeneral’s Office. He was promoted through the ranks ultimatelyachievingtheroleofSeniorAuditInspectorandhadthehonourofbeingappointeda“Fellow”onhisretirement. Colinenjoyedattending localdancesanditwastherethatPatcaught his eye. During their courtship he would see Pat safelyhomeonhisprizedmotorbike.Theyweremarriedon26 January1953. Their first homewas inManningwhere they lived until theybuilt a home in Doubleview. During this time they were blessedwith their five children so in 1965, needing a bigger home, theymovedtoWoodlandswheretheylivedfor50happyyears. Colinretiredin1988afterspending40yearsinthesameoffice,buthecontinuedtodosomepart-timeworkinhisearlyretirementafter passing university exams enabling him to work as anindependentauditor. Travelling became a favourite pastime of Colin and Pat withseveraltripsdrivingacrossAustraliaandoverseastripstotheUSAandtheUnitedKingdom.InlateryearstheyboughtacaravanandenjoyedmanytripsexploringWesternAustralia. The church was very important to Colin, a man of strongprinciples, faith and core values. He was generous with his timehelping the church with accounting, fundraising and serving onmany committees. He also loved family gatherings and formedmany wonderful friendships with the Catenian Association,swimmingwiththe“PolarBears”atScarborough beachandattheDoubleviewBowlingClub.
Mayherestinpeace
Gerald(Ged)Kerrigan1939–2020
embers of Fremantle Circle were saddened by the loss ofBrother Gerald Kerriganwho passed peacefully away on 4
August 2020 at the age of 80. A large gathering of membersrepresenting all circles inProvince 20 joined familyandfriendstocelebratehislifeataRequiemMassheldat St. Thomas MoreCatholic Church inBateman on Thursday 13August2020celebratedbyFatherPhongNguyen.Gedwas a committed memberof Fremantle Circle forabout 15 years, serving asMembershipOfficer. He was the lovinghusband of Margaret,marriedfor55years,fatherofKathleen,Maureen,MartinandBen,father-in-law of Tony, Clayton and Sonya and “Pop” of eightgrandchildren. Gedwasbornon10October1939inSubiaco,thesecondchildinthefamily.HehadanoldersisterJoanandayoungersisterPat.HewasfromastrongCatholicfamily,growingupwithhisauntandunclelivingnextdoorinWembley. As a child Ged was frequently sick, with three bouts ofRheumaticFeverbetweentheagesofsevenand19fromwhichhewas not expected to recover much less live to 80. He was oftenawayfromschool,sometimesmissingwholeyearsduetoillness. GedbeganhisworkinglifeatWalsh’sMenswearandhadlotsofjobs over the years, including being a “postie” at many differentpost offices across themetropolitan area andworking at Ricky’sfruitandvegetableshopinHamiltonHill. HemetMargaretataCatholicdramagroupatthe3-Bee’sandtheywentouttogethertoalotofballsandYCWpicnicsbeforeGedproposed and married when he was 25. A year later Kathleenarrived followed by three children in quick succession,Maureen,MartinandBen.GedandMargaretbuiltahouseinMyaree,whichisstilltheirhome55yearslater. GedwasacommittedandpassionatememberoftheAustralianLaborParty,comingfromaLaborstalwartfamily.In1972hewasKim Beazley’s senior campaign manager, helping to re-elect thelong serving Western Australian politician to a place on GoughWhitlam’s cabinet as Minister for Education. This was thebeginningofastronglinkwiththeBeazleyfamilyrecognisedinadeathnotice inwhichKimBeazley said thatGedwas a quiet butsubstantial contributor to the political life of this State in LocalGovernmentandendlesscampaignsataStateandFederallevel. Margaret and Ged were passionate about caravanning. Theystarted with their four young children in a Cargill Trailer Tentgraduatinglatertotheirfirstcaravaneventhoughtheydidn’thaveacarbigenoughtopullit.MargaretandGedweremembersandontheorganisingcommitteesofseveralcaravanclubs. Gedwillberememberedasamanofstrongfaithandhisbestlegacy is his four children and eight grandchildren. He was veryproudofhisfamilyandwillbegreatlymissed.
Mayherestinpeace
A MCIRCLEROUNDUP
CONTRIBUTED ITEMS & PHOTOGRAPHS
Canning
FishandchipsandpizzatogetrestartedEmerging from restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic,Canning Circle combined its postponed Annual General MeetingwithaclergynightoffishandchipsandpizzaonThursday25June2020 at the St Pius X Parish Hall in Manning. It was a capacitymeetingduetothevirus-restrictedgatheringsofamaximumof40persons. The circlewelcomed threemembersof the clergy.TheywereFather Anibal Leite Da Cunha, the Parish Priest at HamiltonHill,FatherGeoffAldous,theParishPriestatBaldivisandFatherDanielBoyd, the Parish Priest at Kwinana. Guests included threeparishioners from theKwinanaParish and two from theBaldivisParish. Canning Circle also welcomed six visiting Catenian brothersfromotherProvince20circles.TheywereMurrayHarrington,PatMcManus, Jim Phillips and Mike Taylor (Como Circle), ChrisDowney(DarlingRangeCircle)andProvincialPresidentLouDaily(DianellaCircle). Despite the long break between meetings, Canning’s WelfareandHospitality Officer DougWilliamswas quick to return to hisbestformfreelyhandingoutdoorprizesandAnzacbiscuitsforallin attendance and birthday gifts for Sean O’Hara and RussellGodsall.JeffDeSilvaandKeithMorgankepteveryoneentertainedwithsomedelightfulafterdinnerjokes. LouDailyprovidedanoutlineof theProvince20 JobSupportProject thatwill operate similarly to the scheme successfully runfor the past 30 years in the United Kingdom. The Province 20Membership andExpansionOfficerChrisDowney also addressedthe meeting, seeking Canning Circle’s help in establishing newcirclesinthesoutherncorridorofPerth.Thestoryinpictures:
BackathomebaseagainCanningmembersmade a verywelcome return to its traditionalmeetingvenueattheRAAFAMemorialEstateinBullCreekon23July2020,celebratingtheoccasionwithaladiesnight. WelfareandHospitalityOfficer,DougWilliamsaddedhistouchto a most entertaining evening with a vast array of gifts andchocolates,liberallydistributedduringtheevening. Ahighlightoftheeveningwastheinstallationofanewbrother,SteveOliverfromSacredHeartParishinThornlie.
Bouvard(continued) Tocapofaverywellattendedandenjoyableeveningtheguestspeaker was a very impressive young lady, Jessica Fenton, therecipientofaCatenianCharityscholarshiptostudymedicineattheUniversityofWesternAustralia. Jessica,whoattended thedinnerwith her father Mark, provided an interesting insight into herstudiesandaspirationsforthefuture.
KoffeeKlubservingapurposeAlthough the City of Busselton Circle handed back its Charter inApril2019andhasbeeninrecesssincethen,mostmembersnowbelong to the Australian National Council Central Circle andtogether with their wives continue to get together and care foreachotherinthetruespiritofCatenianism. IntheabsenceoftraditionalCatenianmeetingstheKoffeeKlubhasproventobeaworthwhilealternativeprovidingmembersandwives with a forum at which they can meet, often with visitorsfromothercirclesinProvince20. Socialising regulations imposed as a result of the COVID-19pandemicmeant that the Klub could notmeet for threemonths,buttheliftingofrestrictionssawmembersreconveneattheGooseCaféonSunday28June2020. Special guestswere Father JayBee fromOur Lady of theBayCatholic Church in Busselton and Provincial President Lou DailyfromDianellaCircle.
The coordinator, George Bazzica is always keen to welcomevisitorsfromPerth.TheKlubmeetsonthefourthSundayofeverymonth at the Goose Café located at the head of the famousBusseltonjettyontheredevelopedforeshore.
Como’s “headsand tails”gameconductedateverymeeting toraisefundsforthePresident’sCharityfailedtoproduceawinneratthe July meeting, something that nobody could recall everhappeningbeforeinthecircle’s35-yearhistory.
Themeetingwasnotwithoutastoryor twoas twomembersmanaged to lose their way driving to the venue. They wereresourceful enough, however in extracting themselves from theirpredicament.Theyknockedonadoorandexplainedtotheyoungwoman who answered that they didn’t have a clue where theywere. Shewasmost helpful, calling her sonwho got towork on“Mr.Google”tohelpthe lost travellersout. It ispleasingtoreportthat the two members made it to the meeting and enjoyed arelaxingeveningandthefishandchipandpizzafeast.
Interestingly, this was the first occasion on which the circle“intentionally”movedfromitstraditionalvenue.Afewyearsagoadifferent meeting place had to be found one night unexpectedlywhenmembers arrived at RAAFA Bull Creek to find the place intotaldarkness.On thatoccasion thecirclehadn’tmadeabookingand,afteracoupleoffranticphonecalls,analternativevenuewasfound.ThankstoanenterprisingwifeofonememberwhoralliedaroundtoplaceamealorderwithalocalChineserestaurantandamemberwhocalledonanearbyliquoroutlettoarrangedrinksitfinishedupbeingaverypleasantandenjoyableevening.
DarlingRange
LuckytobealiveThestoryofhowafutureCatenian,walkedawayfromaplanecrashInJuly1972IwasworkinginPortHedlandfortheDepartmentofCivil Aviation as a Flight Service Officer responsible for remoteareacommunicationsFlightWatchandSearchandRescueAlerting,writesCHRISDOWNEY. Although I was due tobe married in Septemberof the same year, thepublicserviceinitsinfinitewisdom transferred methere early. More aboutMonica’s reaction to that,later. The weather in thePilbara in winter isbeautiful so a colleagueand I (he a commercialpilot and me a groundedstudent pilot) agreed tohire a light aircraft, aCessna150,andflytoRosemaryIslandintheDampierArchipelagooffshore from Karratha. It was our intention to enjoy a campingandfishingovernighter. The flight is about 130 nautical miles and about 75 minutesflyingtime,someofwhichisoverwater,butlessthantennauticalmilessafeglidingdistancefromland. Itwasperfectweatherforflyingwithminimumclouds,freeofhot air ‘bumps’ andwhat appeared tobeonly aminorheadwindblowing off the sea. Sitting in the right hand seat sharing theinstrument panel, the gauges were right in front of me and Icommentedtomyfriendonthefuelflow.“Noworries’hesaid,it’stheheadwind.We’llhaveatailwindonthewayback.” Of more concern was the landing on Rosemary Island flyingacross the topof a smallhill at thenorthernend then “full flaps”andreductionofpowertosittheplanedownbetweensanddunesstoppingwithin1,000feet.Itwasaperfectlyexecutedlanding. We set up camp; put out the fishing lines and enjoyed a fewcold beers – aahh, the northwest lifestyle! The fish escaped ourattention, but the sandflies didn’t; so we were up early nextmorningfromourswagstopacktheaircraft.
ACessnalightaircraftsimilartotheoneChrisflewinto
RosemaryIsland
Como
Trivia,butnottrivialWithtimeonhishandsduringtheCovid-19isolationperiod,ComoSecretary, Pat McManus produced some interesting marriagestatistics. AsatthebeginningofApril2020thetotalnumberofyearsofmarriageenjoyedbyComomemberswas1,306years.The lengthofmarriagerangedfromtwotoseventy-twoandahalfyearsandthe averagewasa littleover50years.BrotherPeterCoxandhiswifeJoan(deceased)hadbeenmarriedforseventy-twoandahalfyearsatthetimeofJoan’sdeathon20April2020. FounderBrotherCon Stacey andhiswifeBerylwill celebratetheir70thweddinganniversaryon20November2020. “This information should be shouted from the rooftops,” Patsaid.
PassingthebatonsComoCircleBrotherTedMulcockwhowasenrolledasmemberon8November1994andBrotherBryanLilliswhowasenrolledon5May1998have steppeddown from thepositionsofChamberlainandTreasureraftermanyyearsofloyalservice. TedservedasChamberlainfor16yearsintwostints,thefirstfrom1997to1999andthesecondfrom2008to2020.Hehasnowpassed the baton to Murray Harrington who was enrolled as amemberoftheCatenianAssociationon6August2019.Itreallyisacaseof“theold”andthe“new”.ThanksareextendedtoTedforhiscommitmentanddedicationandtoMurrayfortakingover. Bryan gave nine years of dedicated service overseeing thecircles finances from 2011 to 2020. His work was completeddiligently and meticulously and Comomembers thank himmostsincerely for thatwork and his long period of service. Bryan haspassed the books to Godfrey Weldt who was enrolled on 12November 2019. Again, it’s a case of the “the old” to “the new”.ThanksareextendedtobothBryanandGodfrey.
FourfortheyearUnder the leadership ofMembershipOfficer FrankO’Connor andPresident Michael Taylor, four newmembers were enrolled intoComoCircleduringthe2019/20Catenianyear. Members were delighted to welcome Gary Caulfield, MurrayHarrington and his wife Margaret and Jim Phillips and his wifeMegan all fromComoParish andGodfreyWeldt from St ThomasMoreBatemanParish.
Jim and Megan Phillips are not exactly new to the CatenianAssociation.Jimfinallysuccumbedtogentlepressureappliedoverseveral years by a number of Como Circle members and withencouragementfromhiswifeMeganwasinstalledasaCatenianon6August2019. Jimwasbornon20September1943inDevonleighHospitalinPerth. His primary school education began at the InglewoodPrimary School (grade one), continuing at the South BunburyPrimarySchool(gradestwotosix)andcompletedatMosmanParkPrimarySchool(gradeseven).HeattendedJohnCurtinSeniorHighSchool in Fremantle and thenwent to the University ofWesternAustralia and Claremont Teachers College to graduate with B.A.Dip.Ed. FollowinghisgraduationJimjoinedtheEducationDepartmentand taught at the Donnybrook District High School in 1966 and1967beforeelecting to takeachange incareerpath tobecomeaschool psychologist. In that capacity heworked in the southwestbased in Bunbury from 1968 to 1971, then in the lower GreatSouthernbasedinAlbanyfrom1972to1983. From 1984 until his retirement from the EducationDepartment in 2015, Jim continued his work as a schoolpsychologistmostlyaroundFremantleandwithsometimebasedin Midland. During this time he also spent some stints in theCatholicEducationcentraloffice. From2015onwardsJimhadcasualappointmentsaspracticumsupervisorwiththeUniversityofWesternAustralia. Meganand Jimmet in1966when theywereboth teaching inDonnybrook andweremarried in 1968. They have four childrenandfivegrandchildren.Theiryoungestson,hiswifeandtheirthreechildren live inNewcastle inNewSouthWalesand theothersallliveinPerth. DuringtheirmarriedlifeMeganandJimhavelivedinBunbury,London(onaworkingholiday),Albany,Leeming,ComoandnowinShelley. For about tenyears theyalsohada “getaway” cottage inYork. Megan and Jim have had a long involvement in the CatholicChurchaspresentingcouplesofMarriageEncounterweekendsandalso Evenings for Engaged Couples (marriage preparation) andJesus Invites us to Love (six evening sessions for upper schoolSecondary students). They have also been involved in RCIAsponsorship and group leaders and Small Communities PrayerGroupatComoParish.JimisalsoanExtraordinaryMinisterfortheEucharist anda reader.Hehas servedon schoolboards and as amember of the Parents and Friends Association in Albany andPerth. InhissparetimeJimenjoysphotographyandproducingphotobooks as against having prints made. He is interested in woodsculpture and a subscriber to theWestern Australian SymphonyOrchestra.
Face-to-faceagainComo’smeetingon7July2020wasface-to-faceagain,attendedby23members. Itwas the best turnout for some considerable timereflectingperhapssomereliefforthemonthsof isolationbroughtaboutbytheCOVID-19pandemic.TheAprilmeetingwascancelledandtheMayandJunewere“Skype”meetings. With thecircle’snormalvenueat theRAAFAMemorialEstateBullCreekstillunavailable,theJulymeetingwasheldintheParishHall at St PiusXCatholicChurch inManningwith amenuof fishand chips or pizza. Drinks and glassware were BYO. Theatmosphere was very relaxed and the paper wrapped fish andchipsandboxedpizzameanttherewasnowashinguptobedone.
OCTOBER 2020 WESTERN LINK 2524 WESTERN LINK OCTOBER 2020
Winterwear“thenorm”forJulysoupnightNormaldress standardswereput aside in July for the traditionalwinter soupnight this year held at the Lesmurdie Churchhall. ItseemsthatbrothersofDarlingRangeCircleprefertocookthefoodandself-serve. Acoldnightinthemiddleofwinteristheperfecttimetomeetand enjoy a bowl of hot soup from a selection of at least fourdifferent varieties along with fresh, crusty bread buns. Brothers(most likely guided by their wives) always take time and acompetitiveprideincomingupwithadifferentrangeof flavours,whichaccountsforthehighattendanceattheannualfunction.
Enjoyingthesoupnightandafewdrinkswithfriends
Brothers were pleased to learn at the July meeting thatdonations made from the circle’s Dick Rosair Bursary Fund hadbeenpaidtoStBrigid’sCollegeandMazenodCollegeandhadbeenapplied to help a family remain at a Catholic College and to helpother families experiencing financial stress as a result of theCOVID-19pandemic. Oneofthemainaimsofthebursaryfundcontinuestobethatrecipientsgettousethefundstomeettheirownneedsratherthantobeused to subsidise school fees,which isnowcoveredmainlybytheschools.
Dianella
Coffeeinthepark,COVID-19styleAfteranenforced fewmonthsbreak, in June2020DianellaCircletookadvantageof the easedCOVID-19 restrictions for communalgatherings. Brothers celebrated the return to some sort ofnormalitywith“coffeeinthepark.” Members adhered to the “social distancing” rules, forminggroupsinseparatelocationsforafunmorningwherebrothersdidtheir best to keep conversation on a happy and good-humouredveinwithplentyofjokesandsharingoffunexperiences,tryingtoavoidanydiscussionaboutCOVID-19issues. Youmaybecuriousaboutthevacantwhitechairinbothofthefollowing photos.Well, someone had to take the photos and thatwasDianellaPublicityOfficer,NormThompson.Welldone,Norm. Itwasaverysuccessfuloccasionwitheveryonewelcomingthechancetoshareagoodtimetogether.
ReturningtonormalEmerging after its enforced shutdown due to the COVID-19pandemic, Dianella Circle held its postponed Annual GeneralMeeting with a dinner at the Forrest Park Croquet Club in MtLawley on Wednesday 24 June 2020 attended by 29 brothers.Brother John Gartner who is a member of the croquet clubarranged the venue and the President’s wife Helene Scanlanorganiseddinnerarrangements. VernScanlanofficiatedat themeetingandagreed tocarryonas President for the remainder of the Catenian year. The onlychanges to the circle committee was George Bartoli who stooddownafterservingformanyyearsinthispositionandMarioD’Uvawho advised that he would not be able to continue as raffleorganiser.ThePresident thankedbothbrothers for their supportovertheyears. Allmembershadanenjoyableevening incasualdresson thisoccasion but were looking forward to when the circle is able toreturntoitsnormalvenueattheMtLawleyGolfClub.
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OCTOBER 2020 WESTERN LINK 27
DarlingRange(continued) Take-offwasn’taschallengingasthelanding,”Chriscontinues.“We cleared the lower end of the strip, pointed in the rightdirection and headed for home. We finished our over-watersegment and flew pastWedgefield, which is Port Hedland’s lightindustrial area. The fuel gauges, which I had been monitoring,seemedtobestuckonnearempty.Ipointedthisouttomyfriendwhosaid:“Cessnagaugesarenotoriouslyunreliable.” Immediatelyafter thatandstillabouttwonauticalmiles fromthe airport fence, the engine failed and the propeller stopped infrontofus,horizontallystationary. Now, don’t ever think that light aircraft glide well. Wedescended like a stone, but under control, about 1,800 feettowardstheground.ThepilotmadeaMaydaycalland instructedmetoopentherighthanddoorsothatwewouldn’tbetrappedonour imminent crash landing. The air buffeting from our steepdescentwasincredible,soIheldthedooropenwithmylegout.Inthe distance ahead I could see a large fire tender (LFT) rushingfromtheairporttowardswherewewereheaded. Justbeforewereachedthegroundthepilotroundedoutnicelyandwe ‘arrived’,crashingthroughthespinifex,saltbushandlighttreeswell shortof theairport fence.Dust,debris, twigsandsandflewall aroundus. I’ll never forget the lovely turpentine smell ofcrushedspinifex.Wenosedoverbutonquicklyreleasingourseatbeltsand‘vacatingtheaircraft’itsettleddownonitsmainwheels,cushioned by vegetation debris.We didn’t need to rush our exit;therewasnofire,althoughthestraight-onarrivaloftheLFTwithsilver suited fireman manning the foam turret was entirelyreassuring. After checking our safe surroundings and a first aid quiz, the‘firies’ enjoyeda laughwithus.Theywereourairport colleaguesandallofpartoftheDCAfamily. TherewerenoinjuriestothepilotandpassengerandtheC150onlyneededsomepanelbeatingafterbeingtowedbackbytheLFTtothetarmac.Thegreater‘injury’wastothepilot’spride,allowingit to run out of fuel, but to his defence andmine (I should haveknown better too) the investigation revealed a distorted tachocableworkingerraticallyandnot showingour trueRPM.Wehadflownonaveragereadingsbutobviouslyestimated too lowusingourfuelexcessively. At the time Monica worked in HM Customs in Perth whereprivatephonecallswerenotwelcomeduringtheworkingday.Sowhen I rang her to short-circuit the news item, that invaluablewomen’s intuition told her straight away that something wasseriouslywrongandherwordscan’tbeprintedhere. ThepilotandIhadsome‘dues’topayfortheentireDCAfamilyattheairport’s‘wetcanteen’.
ChrisDowney
BacktomeetingagainDarlingRangeCirclebrotherswereverypleasedtobeabletomeetagain in June 2020 at the Lesmurdie church hall. The caterer forfunctions in thisvenuehappens tobe from theLesmurdieparishand serves a great two-coursemeal. The only downside,HARRYMULLERwrites,isthatmembersneedtohelpinthelaying-outoftablesandcleaningupthedishesafterthemeal. As it turns out, he says, these tasks have also helped bringbrothers closer together, especially with the new COVID-19cleaning regime in place when many hands definitely make theworklighter. ForitsAugustmeetingthecircle’soldvenue,HartfieldCountryClubinForrestfieldwasavailablewithvenuestaffpleasedtohavethecirclebackandhappytoserveeveryoneagain.
EnrollmentsdelayedbyCOVID-19DarlingRangeCirclefinalisedapplicationformsfortwogentlemeninMarchandwasreadytoproceedwithinstallationceremoniesatthescheduledAprilAnnualGeneralMeeting. Then the COVID-19 pandemic struck and rather than go onwith the enrollments through the use of Zoom or Skype, it wasdecidedtodeferthem.Meetingswerecancelled inAprilandMay,butmembersweredelightedtowelcometwonewbrothers,NormCarter and Kevin Mosey at the June meeting. Both men areacolytes, Norm at the Maida Vale Parish and Kevin at theKalamundaParishandhavealreadymadeapositivecontributiontothecircle.
NormCarter(left)andKevin
Mosey
NORM CARTER was born in Bayswater in Western AustraliaattendingprimaryschoolatSt.Columba’sCatholicPrimarySchooland completing his high school education at Christian BrothersCollegeinHighgate. Leaving school he worked as a projectionist for HoytsCinemas/Theatres in Perth for 46 years and in later years asManagerofHoytsCinemas. In1967hemetayoung lady,RosemaryHonisett at thePlazaTheatre inPerthwheretheybothworkedandtheyweremarriedat StMary’s Cathedral in Perth on 11 October 1968, raising twosonsandwithfourgrandchildren.Sadly,Rosemarypassedawayanumberofyearsago. ChurchandhisCatholicfaithhavebeenimportanttoNormandhe has been actively involved in parish life at the St Francis ofAssisi Parish in Maida Vale as a Special Minister and now as anAcolyte. Norm first became aware of the Catenian AssociationwhentwobrothersfromDarlingRangeCirclemadepresentationsataweekendMass.HeislookingforwardtothefellowshipofferedbybeingaCatenianandstrengtheningofhisownfaith.KEVIN MOSEY was born in Perth on 8 October 1945 attendingprimary school atBelmay and secondary school atBelmontHighSchool.HestartedworkinthebankingindustrywiththeNationalAustralia Bank where he worked for 40 years in seniormanagementpositions. Kevin met Anne at a social gathering. They were married inDianellaon31August1968andhaveraised threedaughtersandnow have eight grandchildren. Kevin and Anne have spent theirentire married life living in the northern suburbs of Perth inScarborough,LesmurdieandGooseberryHill. Kevin has had a long involvement in the Catholic Churchserving on various parish finance committees for 20 years,Treasurer of the St Vincent de Paul, Lesmurdie Conference foralmost 12 years and as an acolyte at Lesmurdie,Maida Vale andKalamundaparishesforover30years. Kevin’smaininterestsareAFL,cricket,walkingandswimmingandhenowlooksforwardtothefellowshipandfaithdevelopmentofferedbytheCatenianAssociation.
StoryofaMidlandpioneerDuring the COVID-19 self-isolation, Fremantle Circle BrotherKEVINHEFRONusedhissparetimetoworkonhisfamilytreeandshares here the story of his grandfather and his grandfather’snephew who was a prominent figure in the early history ofMidlandJunction. Kevin’sgrandfatherwasJamesJosephNilandwhopassedawayon 28 May 1923 at the age of 57 leaving a wife and threedaughters. Upon the death of James, his nephew TOM NILANDcame to Midland Junction to support his aunty (Kevin’sgrandmother)andtohelpwiththefuneralarrangements. DuringhisresearchKevincameacrossanobituaryintheSwanExpress following the death of Tom Niland. This an abbreviatedextractsuppliedbyKevin:One of the old pioneers of Midland Junction in the person ofCouncillor Thomas Joseph Niland passed away on 18 January. Cr.NilandarrivedfromNewZealandintheearly90sandsettledintheMidlanddistrict.Thedeceasedtookanactiveinterestinlocalpublicaffairspriorto1895whenMidlandJunctionbecameincorporatedasMunicipalCouncil. WhenthenewconditionscameaboutMr.Nilandwaselectedtothe Midland Junction Council in April 1898 and served untilNovember 1904. He had tenure of office in November 1905 toNovember1908. Cr.Nilandat this stage tooka farmdown in thesouthwest,butcamebacktoMidlandJunctionandwasagainelectedtotheCouncilin November 1922 and remained a councillor until the time of hisdeath. Cr. Nilandwas a worthy andwell-respected citizen ofMidlandJunction. He always took an active interest in matters of publicinterestthattendedtopushalongtheMunicipalityheresidedin.Thelatecouncillorwasforatimeengagedinhotelkeeping,farmingandcontracting and lately resided in Commercial Road, MidlandJunction. Mostofhisbestyearswerespentintheserviceoftheratepayersof Midland. He died at the age of 76 and is buried in the RomanCatholicsectionatKarrakattaCemetery.
MidlandInnDuring his research Kevin has discovered amongst his deceasedmother’s files a number of points of interest relating to hisgrandfather’snephew,TomNiland:Midland Inn is historically significant for its close associationwithThomas Joseph Niland, a local businessman and hotelier, whooperated a small boarding and lodging house (also known as theRailwayHotel)onthesite from1895.Thetwo-storeybrickhotel intheFederationFreeClassicalstylewasconstructedin1901. Midland Inn had a social value for the local community asevidencedbyits inclusionintheShireofSwan’sMunicipalHeritageinventory.ThevalueoftheplacewasagainevidencedbythepublicsenseoflossandconcernexpressedinPerthnewspapersafterafirethatoccurredon17November1999. In 1903 Tom built a substantial home for his family inHolmesdaleRoadintheMontrealEstateandnamedit“Holmesdale”.In1905hemovedtoa farmhehadacquiredatWokalupwherehecultivatedpotatoesandtrainedClydesdalehorsesthathesoldtotheMidlandJunctionCouncil. TomwasalsoinfluentialintheacquisitionoftheclocktowerfortheMidlandTownHallandhadaparkandastreetnamedafterhim.TwoplaquesintheTownHallrecognisehisroleandcontributiontoMidlandasaCouncillor.
KevinHefronFremantleCircle
OCTOBER 2020 WESTERN LINK 29
Dianella(continued)
President,VernScanlanattheAGM
AnnualGeneralMeetingdinnerattheForrestParkCroquet
ClubinMtLawley
CallingAustraliahomeAn excellent turnout of 48 Dianella brothers, wives and friendsenjoyedawonderfuldinnereveningonthecircle’sfirstnightbackat theMtLawleyGolfClub in July2020aftera fewmonthsawaybecauseoftheCOVID-19pandemiclockdown. Thesocialcommitteewenttogreat lengthstomakethisafunnightforall,sothescenewassettomakemembersandguestsfeelpartof a close-knit circle thatwill stay strongandgrowstrongertogetherthroughthecurrenthealthcrisis. Introducingthetheme,NormThompsongaveashortoutlineofthenight’sproceedings.He toldofhowhehadexperiencedsomepersonalfalling-offinrecentmonthsandthestepshehadtotakentoovercomehisnegativethoughtsandrealisehowfortunateweallare to be not only Australians, but also Catenians and WesternAustralians.
PeterKorasettingthescene
VicePresidentPeterKorastarted the funeveningbydonninghisAustralianumbrellacapandwithanAussieflaginhandaskedeveryonetoraisetheflagprovidedontheirtableandsingtogetherthe Australian Anthem joined on the screen by the Seekers, alsoproudlyAustralian.
SingingtheAustralianNationalAnthem
BirthdaygirlRomaBamford
RomaBamford, thewifeofBrotherWallywascelebratingherbirthday on the night of the dinner and was given warmcongratulations. When Roma declined to give her age, membersandguestsdidsomeguessingandsettledon25. Itwas a funnight and just to finish it off, dessertwas serveddecoratedwithasmallAussieflagplacedrightinthemiddleoftheplate.
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OCTOBER 2020 WESTERN LINK 31
PizzanightatStSimonPeterParishWith the circle’s normal venue at RAAFA Cambrai in lockdownuntil1AugustasaresultoftheCOVID-19pandemic,brothersmetat St SimonPeter Parish Centre inOceanReef onWednesday15July 2020 for the monthly meeting followed by a very informalpizzafeast. Althoughitwasaverycoldandwetwintersnight,17brothersbravedthecondition foramostenjoyableevening.SpecialguestswereStSimonPeterParishPriest,FatherFrancisKotandvisitingBrotherTonyFriedliebofLiwaraCircle.
JohnHollywoodandFatherFrancis
Father Francis extended a warmwelcome to circle membersand talked about the history of the Salvatorians that began inAustralia in1961. In1966 thenewStAnthony’sChurch togetherwithaccommodationforpriestsandtheparishcentrewasopenedin Bellevue. The parish of St Anthony was the only Salvatoriancentre in Australia until the year 1982 when Father AloysiusMcDonaghbecametheParishPriestinEsperanceintheDioceseofBunbury. In the late 1970s, prompted by the shortage of numbers, theBritish Province of the Salvatorians passed on their ministry inAustralia the vibrant Polish Province. Thanks to their wonderfulsupport they have been able to expand and undertake pastoralcare in a number of parishes in Perth and country areas ofAustralia. StSimonPeterParishatOceanReefwasfoundedin1985withFather Simon Carson appointed as Parish Priest. The first Masswas held at Prendiville College and Archbishop Barry Hickeyopenedthechurch,parishcentreandpresbyteryon19December1999.FatherFrancisKothasbeenParishPriestatStSimonPeterinOceanReefforsixyears. Thanks were extended to St Simon Peter parishioner andJoondalupCircleBrotherJohnHollywoodfororganisingthevenueandtoJohnMonkhouseforarrangingthewell-appreciatedmealofdeliciouspizzas.
Lefttoright:MikeWright,VinceSinagraandPatWinton
Liwara
MeetingthechallengesTheCOVID-19pandemichascertainlypresentedalargenumberofchallenges for the world, the Church and our own CatenianAssociation. This has been reflected in the adjustmentsmade byLiwara Circle around meetings and calendar events since thelockdown inWesternAustralia began inMarch 2020 and for theremainderoftheyear. Liwara’s firstCOVID-19meetingwasheld in June2020,whenthe circlewas limited to 20 people. Given the imposed limit andtakingintoaccountthemanymemberswhoalmostalwaysattenditwasdecidedtocallthismeetingNo410A,sothatnoonewouldberecordedasabsent.Itwascalleda“semi-circle”meetingforthatreasonandwasrunbythenewExecutiveCouncil,eventhoughtheAnnualGeneralMeetinghadn’t beenheld andnewoffice bearersnotyetinstalled.
“Socialdistancing”in
practice The Annual General meeting (called meeting No 410B) washeld in July and the new Council inducted: Terry Dwyer(President),TonyClark (VicePresident),TerryReilly (Secretary),Mike Keating (Registrar) and Neal Miranda (Chamberlain).Seventy-three brothers, wives and widows attended the dinner.KevinMcKerseywasthankedforhisthreeyearsserviceas,firstlyVicePresidentandthenPresident.
AfteranenforcedCOVID-19recessforthreemonths,theJoondalupCoffeeClubresurfacedonWednesday3June2020attheMullaloobeach foreshore with a turnout of eight including photographerPeter Johnston. Coordinator Barry Webb and his wife Elizabethwere unable to attend due to a family illness that necessitated arushedtriptoBunbury. On this occasion it was take-away coffee from theDome andbiscuits provided byMarlene and JohnMonkhouse. Theweatherwas sunny and pleasant with just a light breeze combining toproduceamostenjoyabletwo-hourouting. With the lift of restrictions, the club has now returned to itsusualmeetingplaceattheHillary’sMarinaat10.00amonthefirstWednesdayofeachmonth.
RecognitionoflongserviceThelongservicetotheCatenianAssociationofJIMDOHERTYwasrecognised at the June meeting of Joondalup Circle with thepresentationofhis40-yearmembershipcertificate.
Jim joined the City of Perth Circle in 1979 a little over twoyearsafter the circlewas inauguratedmarking theestablishmentoftheCatenianAssociationinWesternAustralia. WhenJoondalupCirclewasinauguratedinFebruary2005JimandhiswifePatwerelivinginMindarieandhewasenticedbyhisgoodfriendGeneVance(deceased)tojointhenewcircle.JimwasaFounder Member of the new circle where he has served asChamberlainformanyyears.Hehasalsomaintainedcontactwithbrothers from the City of Perth Circle where he is still a jointmember.
Jimwasabuilderduringhisworkinglifeandinretirementhasbecome a valued voluntary worker with Wheelchairs for Kids,working each Friday in the Malaga factory. He is also activelyinvolved inMen’s Sheds where he continues to put his buildingskillstogooduse. JimandPatnowlive intheOceanGardensRetirementVillagein City Beach; a longway fromMindariewhere Joondalup Circlemeets at the RAAFA Cambrai Retirement Village, but Jim rarelymissesameetingoraCateniansocialfunction.
Atlonglast–outofisolationThanks to the generosity of hostsMarlene and JohnMonkhouse,JoondalupbrothersfinallyemergedfromtheCOVID-19separationto enjoy a fantastic evening of fellowship and awonderful homecookedmealon17June2020.
Lefttoright:BarryWebb,JimDoherty,
AndrewSwansonandLesCroxford
MondaygolfersreunionThe Joondalup Circle “fair weather golfers” and wives gatheredtogether for lunch at the Greenwood Tavern on Thursday 2 July2020. TheinformalclubwasformedovertenyearsagobyRolfBankand Peter Johnston who played together, mainly at the publicHamersleygolfcourseinKarrinyup,asjustatwosomeforacoupleof years. Later numbers grew with the permanent addition of avery close friend andwork colleague of Rolf’s, RickMcGuire andnumbers in the last couple of years have been boosted withAndrew Swanson,MickDoak, a former Joondalup Catenian GeoffDaniel(WoodvaleParish)andaStVincentdePaulvolunteerwiththeWoodvaleConference,PhilMeynert. The lunch was organised as a get-together with Rolf who isincapacitatedandnolongerabletoplay. It was an enjoyable occasion that extended late into theafternoon while the “would-be” golfers exchanged highlyexaggeratedstoriesoftheirgolfingachievementsovertheyears.
LiwaraCircle’sAugustmeetingwasacasualpizzanightheldatOur Lady of Grace Catholic Church in North Beach. It was wellattendedandathoroughlyenjoyableevening. The Circle is looking forward to post COVID-19 with someconfidence with three more gentlemen who have expressedinterestinjoiningtheCatenianAssociation.
PlanningforapostCOVID-19revivalMembers of Liwara are nowengaged in a “discussiondocument”examining how the circle might function post COVID-19. Allbrothers have been challenged to voice their opinion about howthecirclemightdo thingsbetterordifferently,how themeetingsmightbechangedtobecomemoreefficientandrelevantandhowtoattractandholdyoungermembers. Brothershavebeenprovidedwitha12-pointdiscussionpaperandinvitedtoindicateyes/notoquestionsandwhererelevanttocommentandexpresstheiropinion. Thediscussionpointsaresetouthereunder:
v Regalia–onlyforformalmeetings(e.g.AGM’sandjointmeetings)otherwisejusttobewornbythePresident
v Dresscode–smartcasualexceptforformalmeetings
v Prayers–theprayersforoursick,familiesanddeceased
v Recruitment–whatexactlyisitweareofferingthatwouldmakeapossiblenewmemberhappytojoinus(theCatenianMissionandSpiritualitydocumentswithitsaimsandvaluesmightbeagoodplacetostart)
v Socialevents–wehadfiveonthepreCOVID-19calendar,
butisthatenoughordoweneedmoreorsomethingdifferent
v Mentoringnewmembers–whoseroleisit(thesponsor?)
andhowshoulditbedone
v Keepingintouchwithbrothersbetweenmeetings(especiallythoseindifficultyorneed),keepingcontact‘adhoc’asatpresentormoreformallyaswedidduringtheCOVID-19lockdown
When responses have been received and collated it isintended to present findings to Liwara Circle members forconsiderationandfurtherdebate.
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CityofMandurah
TheTonyLanestoryI first saw the light of dayon29June1934onafarmin Victoria, TONY LANEwrites. Itwasanerawhenmostcarshadcanvasroofsandthemotorwasstartedby a crank, quite literally.Churches were numerousandwellattendedwiththepriest travelling up to 80milestosaytwomasses. The farm was mainlywheat growing, but tohedge our bets because offrequent drought, webecame pretty self-sufficientwith a variety of
animals as well and we always retained a two-year supply ofhaystacksandseedwheat. Thewaryearswereverytoughonmyparentsbutuskidswerealways well fed and everyone had a job to do, no matter howyoung. If youweremobile you had a job. Emergency planswerewelladvancedtoevacuatepeoplefromthebigcitiestothecountryifneededand ifyouhad fourverandahsonyourhouseyouwereeligible to take eight evacuees. Fortunately it never happened.Duringthattimetherewerehugestacksofwheatinnewjutebagsat the rail sidings awaiting shipment. We drove sheep on wideroadsintheleantimes,learnedshearingandconsistentlyshearedsheepforeightmonthsoftheyear. IdidmyNationalServicetrainingatPuckapunyalatthesametimeasQueenElizabethandPrincePhilliptouredthegreat ‘LandofOz’,soourintakelinedthestreetsfortheRoyalsinBendigoandMelbourne.Quiteabuzz! IdrovetheNullarborfourtimesonmyowninanewVauxhallute.Whatcouldpossiblygowrong?Theutehadnolockingpetrolcap in those days andmysteriously somewheat ended up in thefuel tank so it was fuel blockages every day. At that time theNullarborwasthenalongseriesofgrazingleaseswithgatesacrossthe wide limestone road. While opening one such gate to getthrough I sawoil pouringout fromunder the vehicle. Iwas veryrelieved to find that itwas the timing casebolts thathad shakenloose on the rough road and thankfully the problem was easilyfixed,asthenearesthelpfromaGeneralMotorsHoldendealerwasovertwohundredmilesaway.OnthereturntripIstoppedtolistento the silenceof theplains, but the enginewas revving extremelyhigh. Itwas a broken enginemount and the listing of the enginehadpulledthechokeonfull,whichIfixedtemporarilywithapieceoftyreasachock. Welltheysaythere’ssomeoneforeveryoneandTeresabecametheloveofmylife.Weweremarriedon26May1962atStJoseph’sChurchatCharltoninVictoria.Weraisedsevenlovelychildren,sixgirlsandoneboy,andallhavegoneontoachievesuccessintheirowncareers.In1963wepurchasedafarmatMcAlindensome300kilometres southeast of Perth in Western Australia. This turnedout to be the bestmovewe evermadewith good seasons everyyearandnodroughts.Therewasagreat community spirit in thefamousBlueWooldistrict. After25yearsatMcAlindenandanother15yearsatNoggerupthe‘snowwassettlingonmyhair’soby2003wehadsoldupandmovedtoournewhomeinMandurah.
Wepurchasedafour-wheeldriveandanoff-roadcaravanandtravelledextensivelyaroundAustralia fortenyears.Wedidsomegold prospecting from Clermont in Queensland to the GoldenTriangle in Victoria and up to theWiluna andMeekatharra goldfields. Inadecadeof caravanningwehadonlyone flat tyre.Wehadpulled off the road to changedriverswhen a sliver of steelwentclean into the rear tandem tyre. That very same afternoon thecaravan’s door handle snapped off sowe soldiered on to CooberPedywithoutoutourcustomaryfouro’clock‘cuppa’. Wehadapolicyofnotpickinguphitchhikers,butonthewaytoErldunda in South Australia wemade an exception. The eveningwasdrawingclosewhenwepassedahugewilddog lopingalongtheroad.Afewhundredmetresfurtheronwecameuponablokehitchhiking; sowe justpulledupandsaid, ‘hop inmate’.Hewasblissfullyunawareofhisclosecallfromthedangerlurkingbehindhim. In2006wevisitedtheWolfCreekcrater,whichisaneasy100-footclimb-downbutabitharderclimbingout.Thecraterisabout800metres across and the base is covered with small trees likeBanksias. We flew to the Horizontal Falls in a light seaplane and laterheard that a similar aircraft attempting to land on the waterflipped over as the pilot had forgotten to retract the landingwheels. WeabsolutelylovedtheKimberleyregion,DarwinandallstopstoCairnsandwerefortunatetosee ‘therainontherock’andthefamousduststormsononeofourtripstoUluru.
TonyandTeresaLane These dayswe enjoy a quieter lifestyle in aRAAFAoperated,gated community in a suburb called Erskine, just south ofMandurah,andweloveit!
TonyLane
SharinghisItalianheritageOne of the City ofMandurah’s newestbrothers, GAETANOLAZZARO joinedthecircleinOctober2018. He is 83 years of agewith a proud Italianheritage, which he sharedwith brothers at the July2020meetingofthecircle,where he was the guestspeaker.
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CityofPerth
Therealityofbeinga“prisoner”athome“Prisonhasalwayshadaclearmeaningthroughouthistory:aplaceofisolationfromsocietyinapunitivepenalsetting,”writesCityofPerthBrotherIanMoncrieff. “Fortheelderly,ofcourse,beinga‘prisonerinone’sownhome’has also been a reality and the current COVID-19 pandemic hasprobablygivenallofusanewsenseofwhataprisonourhomescanbe.” “PHILZEID,whohasrecentlyannouncedhisretirementastheCity of Perth’s Welfare Officer, is one person who has alwaysunderstood first hand the terrible feelings of isolation of his sickCatenian brothers and their extended families. He has served asWelfare Officer with distinction from just a few years after hejoinedtheCatenianAssociationon21June1988,acknowledgedin2015whenawardedhonoraryLifeMembershipofthecircle.”
PhilZeid
“The brilliance of his service in this capacity is widelyrecognized, not only by City of Perth brothers, but also broadlyacrossProvince20andtheAssociation.” “Featuresofhisroutine includevisitingthesick inhospitalorat home and following up by phone and email duringconvalescence. He sends birthday and anniversary cards tobrothersandtheirwivesaswellastothewidowsofbrothers.Evenwhenhisownhealthisflagging,Philstrivestokeepintouchwithothersandhischeerfulandpositiveapproachtohishealthissuesisinspirational.” “Philevenrememberedthose,likeElliottLevittaformerCityofPerth member who moved on to join Joondalup and has sowonderfully been cared for by that circle. Housed at Bethany inYanchep, Elliott is not just a five-minute drive away. I clearlyremember accompanying Phil on two trips to visit Elliott duringwhichhetaughtmeotherlessonsabouthim;heisarally-driveratheart. The first trip was hair-raising for me; the second trip, Idrove.” “I’mnot sureofwhen,whyandhowPhildevelopedhis greatsense of looking after andmaking others feel loved,” writes Ian,“butIknowthatiftheCityofPerthCirclehasnothingelsetoofferProvince20wecanalwaysclaimto‘own’PhilZeid.” “Phil haswritten a very interesting and financially successfulstory of his life. This has run to two editions, although I’ve onlyread the first. Itmakesagoodread,as theysay, andperhaps thereasonsforhisinnatecharityaretobefoundthere.” “Phil,oldfriend,Istandtallerwhenyouarearound;youmakemefeelgood.”
IanMoncrieff
MakingadifferenceAchangeofvenueandthemovetolunchtimemeetingshasprovedapopularinnovationforCityofPerthmembers.ThenewvenueatNewmanSienaCentreisclosertohomeforallmembersandwithineasy reach for all of thenorthern andwestern suburbs circles aswellasbeingaveryattractiveandaccommodatingplace. Thecirclehasalsoswitcheditsmeetingtimestothemiddleoftheday,whichavoids travelatnightand leavesevenings free forhomeandfamily.
Mandurah(continued) Gaetano was born in Italy in September 1937 in a little coastaltownofCapoD’OrlandointheProvinceofMessina. Attheageof17,Gaetanodecidedto“tryhisluck”inAustraliaand migrated to Fremantle, arriving in Fremantle by ship onSaturday13January1955. I arrived on my own, he writes, but I had an uncle living inSpearwood, which is where I settled. Not speaking orunderstandingEnglishitwasdifficulttofindwork,buteventuallyIlanded a job with Watsons Smallgoods in Spearwood where Iworked for about a year. Then in 1956 I was employed at theColonialSugarRefinery(CSR)locatedinMosmanParkoverlookingtheSwanRiverandlaterthatsameyearImovedtoMerredininthewheatbelt where I was able to get employment with the StateWaterSupply. In1957 I gotwork in thebutchering trade at a local abattoirwhere I gainedvaluableexperienceand lifetime skills. I returnedtoFremantlein1958andboughtmyownbutchershoplocatedinSouthTerraceinpartnershipwithanacquaintanceandayearlaterin1959Iboughtoutmypartnerandbecameasoletrader. In1960ImetayounggirlnewlyarrivedfromItalyanditwasloveatfirstsight.TeresaandIweremarriedinApril1961andwehave livedmostofourmarried life inSpearwoodraisinga familyoftwosonsandadaughter.Duringthistimeuntil1993weownedandranseveralbutchershops. WemovedtoourpresenthomeinLakelands,anoutersuburbofMandurahin2004andhavesettledinandthoroughlyenjoythelifestyle. Teresa is involved in church activities including charityworkandIenjoymyhobbyofmakingItaliansausageandredwine. Since joining the Catenian Association I have thoroughlyenjoyed the camaraderie of the City of Mandurah Circlebrotherhood that has welcomed both Teresa and me into theirfold. Teresa also enjoys attending Ladies nights and circle socialfunctions.
theYearaward“for2020/21byPresident,ColinPurcellTheBrendanMcGurkMemorial Award is presented each year toacknowledge the City of Mandurah brother who has made asignificant contribution to the good of the circle in action anddeeds.
Thisyear’sawardwaspresentedattheJulymeetingofthecircletoMembership Officer GERARD OTS. Although Gerard has onlyserved in this role fora short time,hehasbeenactive inseekingnewmembersandhasalreadyintroducedanumberofnewcomersto the circle. He is also involved in other sub-committees of thecircleCouncil,particularlyinentertainmentandsocialfunctions. Theawardwasinitially introducedandstronglysupportedbytheLateBrendanMcGurkin2003/04andhasbeenawardedeachyear since. Brendan, who passed away on 24 July 2015, was aFounder member of the City of Perth Circle when it wasinaugurated on 8 February 1977 and later joined the City ofMandurahandBouvardCircleswhenheandhiswifeHelenmovedtoliveinMandurah. Brendanwasadedicatedandhard-workingCatenianwhowasawardedHonorary LifeMembership in 2007 for his contributiontoProvince20andtheAssociation.HewasEditorof theWesternLinkfromitsbeginningin1997until2012.
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SwanValley
MemoriesoftheCaminoFrances
ColinBroun,FatherStanBendkowskiandLizBroun
A few years ago COLIN BROUN and his wife Liz and great friend Father Stan Bendkowski arose early one April morning and departed St. Jean Pied de Port to walk Route de Napoleon over the Pyrenees leaving France and entering Spain. “It was the first day of our pilgrimage on Camino de Santiago, the Way of St. James,” Colin said. “Thirty four days later we entered Cathedral Santiago.” “During the journey I composed some haikustyle poetry. The words create pictures, which I hope readers enjoy and relate to.”
PathsBitumen, grass, snow, leaf Moist, mud, sharp, treacherous Flat, undulating, dry, hard, Straight forever Meandering, enticing Shade, walls, gentle Boot polished stone Ancient, new Yellow arrows Pilgrims To Santiago
Abandonedbootsonamountainpathway
CordilleraCantabricaThe Cantabrian Mountains are one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain. They stretch for over 300 kilometres across northern Spain from the Western limit of the Pyrenees to the Galician Massif in Galicia, along the coast of the Cantabrian Sea. Mountain Snow Cold gentle wind Valleys, deep, purple, white Greens Paths meandering Clay Rocks, round, sharp. Layered Embedded history Tread carefully mindfully Respectfully Weathered, broken New dwellings Ancient walls, stone walls, new walls Your soul, past souls, commune Slowly now Softly, quietly Embracing silence Serene peace MassinCathedralSantiagoVast, vaulted Cathedral Portico de la Gloria Golden Retablo St. James Tree of Jess Touching Peregrinos, backpacks, sticks Expectant, awed, journeys reason Reconciliation Alter, Priests, Botafumeiro Mass Emotions uncontained Tears Blessing Peace
