Over one hundred years of perseverance, kindness and hospitality in the Kimberley has culminated in a prestigious WA Heritage Award recently for the Sisters of St John of God. The order’s Heritage Centre in Broome stole the award for their outstanding contribution to heritage by a community-based organisation. In coming to their decision, award judges said the centre was “A shining ex...

Not many couples celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary in hospital, with one of them suffering from pneumonia. Pat and Frank Hackett, of Success, did just that on Thursday, May 17, with Pat visiting Frank in St John of God Murdoch and patiently sitting with him at his bedside. Two of their four daughters, Donna and Bernadette, brought a huge arrangement of roses to the hospital, wh...

Prayers in Latin and Greek were offered on the fifth anniversary of the passing of Father Gerard Beeson in a moving ceremony in the Lady Chapel of St Mary's Cathedral. Fr Beeson was the first convener of the Catholic Archdiocesen Taskforce for Catholic-Orthodox Bridge-building under the patronage of The Very Reverend Robert Healy (dec), former Auxiliary Bishop of Perth. It was establi...

Dear Father, The Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks of the Akathistos in connection with devotion to Our Lady. I have never heard of it. Can you tell me what it is? The Catechism mentions this prayer in Part Four, dealing with Christian prayer, in Article Two on “The Way of Prayer”. After commenting on the words of the Hail Mary, the Catechism goes on to say: “Mediaeval piety in the We...

Alison Berrisford tells her story to Debbie Warrior Becoming Catholic is a journey I have been on for some time. In 2002, things were very different for me. I had lost my job and come out of a long term relationship. I felt alone and very depressed so I saw a psychologist and got counselling. I decided I needed someone full time in my life, not just when times were tough. I researched diffe...

EDITOR'S NOTE: An article by well-known Australian journalist Geraldine Willesee appeared in several Australian newspapers over the weekend of 23-24 February 2013 reporting her experience of sexual abuse by the late Fr Brian Harris when she was a 14-year-old student in Perth in the early 1960s. At the time the below article on Fr Harris was published, The Record was unaware of any allegation...

Catholics touring the Menora Synagogue with Fr Tim Deeter and Rabbi Dovid Freilich get a lesson on the common ground shared by both Judaism and Catholicism By Giles Tuffin “Roll up, roll up,” the jovial Rabbi said. “Session starting soon, buy your popcorn.” That is how the affable and irrepressible Rabbi Dovid Freilich welcomed Catholic visitors to the Menora Synagogue on Thursday, Apr...

Lumen Christi's year 12 belle's and beau's shine at their ball The Year 12s of Lumen Christi looked every bit the part at their Year 12 Ball, held on Wednesday, April 11, at the Esplanade Hotel in Fremantle. Our young ladies were beautifully dressed in gowns while our young gentleman were handsomely dressed in formal attire. This made it very difficult for the Lumen staff to select the...

If The Record – or any other newspaper – were to publish an editorial asserting that the problem of methamphetamine production in suburban drug laboratories was obviously impossible to stamp out and that the best course of action to handle this pernicious problem would be to legalise drug production in contained areas for later sale in the nightclubs of Northbridge, people would think this we...

Graduates from Acts 2 College celebrate as they become the new messengers of Christ in today's world. Perth’s Catholic College, Acts 2 College of Mission & Evangelisation, celebrated the graduation 2011 class on Sunday, March 18 with Mass, a graduation ceremony and reception. Then-Perth Archbishop Barry Hickey, along with priests Fr Steve Tynan MGL and Fr Andre Nahhas, celebrated Mass...