It began as an ordinary conversation at a Sunday afternoon parish social function. I was chatting with one of the ladies who had arranged the festivities, and the subject came around to Mass that morning. “Oh, we didn’t go;” she quipped, “we felt like having a lazy morning, so we slept in.” I was taken aback by her casual admission. Since she and her husband were very active in the...

As part of her sophomore English Literature course, my teenage daughter has been studying The Tell-Tale Heart, a short story by 19th century American Gothic fiction author, Edgar Allan Poe. For those not familiar, this tale is written in first-person narrative by a character, who (whilst insisting he is not mad) exhibits classic symptoms of monomania and paranoia, if not psychopathy. ...

By Fr Tadgh Tierney OCD Carmelite priest Fr Joseph Kelly was born in Boyle, Co. Roscommon, Ireland, on January 9, 1929. His father, also named Joseph, was an inspector in the Royal Irish Constabulary. After attending the local primary school, he was recruited for the Carmelite Juniorate in Castlemartyr, Co. Cork, which he attended from September 1942-47. He had a twin brother Frank...

Felix and Rita Calleja survived the terrors of the German bombing of Malta during World War II to start a new life and family in Australia. PHOTO: Paul Calleja[/caption] Seventy years ago Felix Calleja and Rita Grech stood at the altar of the Hal Lija Church of the Transfiguration in Malta and took their marriage vows, promising to be true in good times and in bad, for richer, for poorer, ...

During 35 years of legal practice, Gus Irdi has never yelled “I object” in an open court room but he is eager to debunk the myth of the stereotypical, power-hungry lawyer. The man behind Irdi Legal and a graduate of the University of Western Australia in Law and Jurisprudence, Mr Irdi tells Juanita Shepherd how his faith has helped him during his career and the struggles and triumphs he has...

A Morley woman has come out swinging against the best selling book Fifty Shades of Grey, saying erotic fiction is not the harmless fun it purports to be. Consecrated virgin Maureen Togher shared her personal experience with hundreds of online friends last week, citing the book’s massive sales and her own desire to prevent harm to others. Dubbed “mummy porn” by much of the mainstream m...

A s referred to in last week’s editorial, a crisis of childcare is really a crisis of motherhood, of parents, of families and of children, therefore a crisis of society, a symptom that something is deeply wrong in our very midst. That Perth and Australia have a crisis of childcare is because the society we have constructed does not actually deeply value any of these things for their real...

It is no papal title but for Melbourne-based artist John Paul being a two-time winner of the Mandorla Art Award is a great achievement. The 58-year-old artist received $25,000 prize money for his winning painting titled Palm Sunday, in the 2012 Mandorla Art Award, which he also won in 1990. The exhibit judges said Palm Sunday looks like a medieval stone carving brought to life and dem...

Bridget  Curran’s first book The Miracles of Mary was a hit, inside and outside the Catholic Church. A best-seller, it received an imprimatur from Archbishop Hickey and was later translated into Italian, Indonesian and Portuguese. She has also worked on documentaries and TV shows for the ABC, SBS and Channel 7, including Who Do You Think You Are?, Who’s Been Sleeping in My House? and My Asi...

By Brian Peachey Marist Brother Redmond Casey, who has celebrated his Diamond anniversary of religious life was a teacher in Bunbury, Northam and Subiaco, then known by his religious name, Brother Pius. He was the fourth eldest in a well-known Casey family of eight children. Born in Perth in 1933 and educated at St Ildephonsus College in New Norcia, he entered the Marist Juniorate ...