Sharing a Sydney scene with you ....

Last Sunday at Redfern, the heart of Sydney's Aboriginal community,
an unusual ceremony was held at St Vincent's Church - the welcoming
of an Aborignal Message Stick and the unveiling of a beautiful mural,
which included words spoken to the Aboriginal people by Pope John Paul
II 20 years ago. The priest who officiated was Fr. Frank Brennan,
who is one of the team at my church, St Mary Immaculate at North
Sydney, a very outspoken priest whose main area of work is in social
justice.

St Vincent's has quite a history - for many years, its pastor was Fr.
Ted Kennedy, a man who met the Aboriginal people on their own terms,
accepting them as they were, Catholic and non-Catholic alike. No
Aboriginal, however the worse for wear, who knocked at the presbytery
door was sent away without a meal, and if necessary a sleeping bag on
the floor. But since Fr. Kennedy died last year, the Cardinal has
directly appointed a series of right-wing hardliners to minister to
the parish, with sometimes amusing and often sad results, such as
priests locking the doors of the church to keep people out, and
parishioners walking out of services. In an ongoing war, yesterday's
battle was definitely won by the Aboriginal community.


Here is a photo of Frank Brennan showing the wonderful mural:





And a link to an inspiring, and amusing, story in today's Herald: "The
Great St. Vincent's Break-in":

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/the-great-st-vincents-breakin/2006/07/30/1154198012604.html


This certainly won't be the last in the saga of St. Vincent's, and it
also reflects the nature of the relationship of the Cardinal to the
rest of Sydney's Catholic community. The late Pope considered us a
rather wayward lot, and Cardinal Pell was appointed to tighten the
reins. I don't think he's having a great deal of success.

That's all I can say, just wow!. My dad's an usher at his church and he enjoyed the article when I sent it on to him. He told me about the eight women ordained on the river near Pittsburgh this week-end. Anyone looking at either of us from the outside would guess that we're total supporters of the hierarchy, but we're both waiting for the great change. I have faith in the Holy Spirit, but I wish She'd hurry up!