The Catholic Leader Flipbook - Issue 5577 - November 10

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The Catholic Leader, November 10, 2019
News
What is a Gift of Faith?
A Gift of Faith is a Christmas present
given to a loved one in place of a
material gift. A Gift of Faith supports
Aid to the Church in Needto keep
the Catholic faith alive in those places
where it is most at risk.
G I V E A C H R I S T MA S G I F T
W I T H FA I T H AT T H E C E N T R E
To find out more visit:
or call 1800 101 201. The website has several
inspiring project videos that highlight how your gift will
make a difference to our brothers and sisters in faith.
We have several projects in need of
support including the construction
of churches, the supply of pastoral
transport, the formation of seminarians
and existence help for religious sisters.
Every Gift of Faith will receive a special
card and envelope, which can be given
to the recipient letting them know that an
offering has been made in their name.
Meet Fr Thabet Habib
who is rebuilding his
parish in Syria:
Photo by Lukasz Grudysz © ACN International
BRISBANE archdiocesan priest Fr Martin Doyle
died on November 3 at St Vincent’s Hospital,
Kangaroo Point, after a short illness.
He was aged 90 and had continued living
independently until the last weeks of his life.
Fr Doyle was born in Innisfail on February 1,
1929, one of four children. His elder brother and
two sisters predeceased him.
He attended Nudgee College and, in an inter-
esting foreshadowing of later life, his father was
a builder involved with the completion of the
St Mary’s Building at the Pius XII Seminary at
Banyo.
Fr Doyle was the final survivor of the ordina-
tion class of 1953, which came to be revered for
its quality and included priests such as Fr Tom
Boland and Fr Owen Oxenham.
After ordination Fr Doyle received appoint-
ments at Annerley-Ekibin, Geebung, Holland
Park-Mt Gravatt, Zillmere and Burleigh Heads,
the final two almost evenly split over 30 years.
Fellow clergy were warm in their praise of Fr
Doyle, both as a person and a pastor.
Retired Fr Denis Long said he benefitted
greatly from Fr Doyle’s wisdom during his
first appointment as a parish priest.
“When I went to Petrie in 1968 he was my
neighbouring priest at Zillmere parish, being
linked by the railway line,” Fr Long said.
“He was a very good friend to me in what was
my first time as a parish priest.
“I would characterise him as a very devoted
priest, one who was prepared for anything at
any time, and gave his whole life and soul to the
priesthood.”
Brisbane auxiliary Bishop Ken Howell was
another who remembered Fr Doyle fondly
through a number of appointments.
The then Fr Howell had his second posting
with Fr Doyle at Burleigh parish, and then went
into the parish as administrator after Fr Doyle
had suffered a stroke.
Fr Doyle would be remembered as one of
the great but gentle pastors of the local church,
Bishop Howell said.
“His pastoral care was legendary and impacted
many lives,” he said. “I can’t tell you how many
people have said to me over the years that Fr
Doyle greatly influenced them.
“He really did care for people in a most effec-
tive way.
“He wanted the people entrusted to his pasto-
ral care to grow in faith and to appreciate that the
call of God was to be lived in everyday life.”
Fr Doyle’s legacy lives on at the coast where,
through his avid support of Brisbane Catholic
Education, the Marymount College and Primary
Schools have flourished.
So too at Zillmere parish, where he helped
form a parish that was well regarded for the
engagement of parishioners in many endeavours.
Fr Doyle’s Requiem Mass was to be held at St
Stephen’s Cathedral on November 8, followed
by burial at Nudgee Cemetery.
Although he outlived all his immediate family,
a number of nieces and nephews were still much
involved in his life up until the end.
Special tribute must also be paid to his cousin,
the late Carmel Webb, and her family.
She assisted Fr Doyle greatly in the years that
followed his stroke.
Fr Martin Doyle dies at 90 after short illness
Rain lifts spirits on farms
By Mark Bowling
MUCH-needed rain has fallen on
parched regions of Queensland and
New South Wales – bringing tempo-
rary relief and lifting spirits.
Battling farm families celebrated as the heav-
ens opened, just as the Church entered a month
of prayer for rain, and for those touched by the
crippling drought.
Some rural kids witnessed their first major
downpour, splashing in puddles and playing in
the mud, while farmers posted videos on Face-
book dancing in the rain.
However the drought is not over, with Nation-
als leader Michael McCormack, who was acting
Prime Minister last week, warning that it would
take years for drought-ravaged Australia to
recover.
“It has settled the dust,” he said.
“It’s going to top-up some dams. (There’s) a
bit of a green sheet across those very dry areas
but it’s not going to solve the drought. “
The St Vincent de Paul Society and Salvation
Army are the new partners in a drought support
program to distribute aid to rural families for
accessing financial counselling, and to pay for
groceries, fuel, power bills and school fees.
Families will be eligible to claim up to $3000
under the program announced by Prime Minister
Scott Morrison when he visited Dalby and the
Western Downs in September.
“People are in a desperate state,” the St Vin-
cent de Paul Society’s drought committee chair
Matt Nunan said.
With about two-thirds of Queensland drought-
affected, Mr Nunan said Vinnies expected
“there will be a lot of people seeking to access
assistance”.
“It will be centrally administered online by St
Vincent de Paul through our national organisa-
tion with on-the-ground support in each of the
states,” he said.
While support funding would go to individu-
als, Mr Nunan said it benefitted entire towns.
“There is a knock-on effect. People run-up
credit with the local supermarket,” he said.
“If there is no money going into the economy
then people aren’t repairing their cars, the
mechanic isn’t getting paid, they’re not buying
tyres … it just has a devastating effect on those
communities.”
Vinnies has a strong record in responding to
people in need.
“We’ve got about 9000 members in Queens-
land so that’s a pretty wide distribution,” Mr
Nunan said.
“In a lot of towns all over Queensland, you’ll
find there’s a Vinnies shop.
“Members are really dedicated and out in the
community and working to make a difference.”
In recent days, far western NSW was one of the
major beneficiaries of the rainfall, with Bourke
receiving over 90mm and reports of more than
100mm in areas around the Darling River town.
Further north, thunderstorms brought much-
needed rain to some of Queensland’s driest
western regions.
Blackall, about 214km south-east of Long-
reach, received a drenching, while rain also fell
in a dry border band from Stanthorpe and across
the Downs.
“The last good rain in Blackall was in March,
and for some regions there hasn’t been decent
rain for seven years,” Mr Nunan said.
What a
feeling: The
delight of a
downpour
is experi-
enced by
these two
youngsters
at Five
Ways, NSW.
Photo: Katie
Mucahy
O’Brien.
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‘It has settled the dust. It’s
going to top-up some dams’