CATENIAN ASSOCIATIONDAILY MASS SCHEME FOR VOCATIONSPROVINCE 21263 City <strong>of</strong> Sydney 3 rd Wednesday in November284 Ku-Ring-Gai 2 nd Saturday in July304 Carlingford 2 nd Sunday in November308 Castle Hill 1 st Sunday in November312 Pittwater 2 nd Tuesday in March317 Hornsby 4 th Saturday in August322 Manly 3 rd Tuesday in January328 Warringah 3 rd Friday in February330 Mosman 2 nd Thursday in April331 Canberra 4 th Monday in July340 Canberra Molonglo 3 rd Friday in July349 City <strong>of</strong> Cairns 2 nd Sunday in August912 City <strong>of</strong> Brisbane 4 th Saturday in FebruaryVictoria Area Council292 City <strong>of</strong> Melbourne 3 rd Sunday in October311 Waverley 4 th Tuesday in July334 Maroondah 3 rd Sunday in May335 Peninsula 2 nd Thursday in May345 Boroondara 1 st Thursday in AugustThe <strong>Catenians</strong>!!!Strengthening family life through friendship and faithEASTERN LINK NEWSLETTER 36 36 JUNE <strong><strong>20</strong>10</strong>
A MOVING STORY FROM PAT MORAN WHICHHIGHLIGHTS IN THIS YEAR OF THE PRIEST, HOWDANGEROUS IT WAS TO BE ONE IN EL SALVADOR, & THESAD MARTYRDOM OF BISHOP OSCAR ROMERO. . .Foreword: I have recently been reading the Centenary History <strong>of</strong> the CatenianAssociation by James Hagerty and also extract some information from it, especiallyconcerning membership. On page 167 I came across a reference to Bishop Arthur Rochewho spoke at the Harrogate Conference in <strong>20</strong>03, partly in relation to some suggestions inthe Project <strong>20</strong>08 Report <strong>of</strong> the Association. He seemed to make a lot <strong>of</strong> sense.I decided to check is there anything current about Bishop Arthur Roche and came acrossthis simple yet powerful reference (on the Diocese <strong>of</strong> Leeds website) to his Chrism Massat Leeds during Easter week, after he had returned from Guatemala and El Salvador. It isclear, in this Year <strong>of</strong> the Priest, that Oscar Romero’s life and martyrdom made a pr<strong>of</strong>oundimpression. Brother Pat Moran.Here is Bishop Arthur Roche’s Chrism Mass sermon. . .I have, as you know, just returned from Guatemala and El Salvador where, along withCAFOD, I was representing our Bishops’ Conference at the 30th anniversary <strong>of</strong> the assassinationand the martyrdom <strong>of</strong> Archbishop Oscar Romero. It was a journey filled with unexpected,surprising and deeply moving things: on the one hand, the poverty <strong>of</strong> the people, the strugglesagainst persistent and brutal violence, the constant violations and lack <strong>of</strong> regard for human lifeand dignity – seemingly so characteristic <strong>of</strong> the whole <strong>of</strong> Central America; and on the other, thedeep faith <strong>of</strong> the Christian communities who are building the Kingdom <strong>of</strong> God in very adversecircumstances.The anniversary Mass which was celebrated before countless numbers <strong>of</strong> Salvadoriansin the Cathedral square – the same square where, thirty years earlier on Palm Sunday, 1980,government troops fired live ammunition upon the crowds who had come to pray and honour himat his funeral. At the end <strong>of</strong> the Mass, an elderly lady came to me and took my hand and wouldnot let it go. She wanted to bear witness. She told me that she had returned for this night aftertwenty-nine years <strong>of</strong> exile to say thank you to Monseñor Romero. ‘You see’ she said, ‘my fourchildren were executed by the death squads and although we cried out in pain and horror andutter anguish from the very depths <strong>of</strong> our being, it was only the voice <strong>of</strong> Monseñor Romero whichwas heard - like the voice <strong>of</strong> Christ - a voice <strong>of</strong> liberty and love - and for which he suffered thesame fate. He gave voice to those who had no voice’, she said. ‘He gave hope to those who weresick with fear and living in despair’. Like so many – indeed hundreds-<strong>of</strong>-thousands in El Salvador– her life was ripped apart by that civil war – a war that divided the Church as well as the society<strong>of</strong> its day. Children have now grown up having seen their own parents, brothers and sisters, andfriends mutilated or executed by soldiers whose purpose was to ethnically cleanse the populationand build a better society.Her’s was not alone among these testimonies, nor was Oscar Romero by himself inbearing courageous witness to Christ. The martyrs <strong>of</strong> Central America are among some <strong>of</strong> themost numerous throughout the world – bishops (including a cardinal), priests, sisters, catechists,/Cont.EASTERN LINK NEWSLETTER 37 JUNE <strong><strong>20</strong>10</strong>