Eastern Link
April 2021
If you or your Circle is doing anything that might be of interest to other Circles, social activities, new ideas, keynote speakers coming up, helpful tips, or just of general interest, please share that information and photos (if possible) through Eastern Link by emailing p21.newsletter@thecatenians.org.au
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Contents:
A New Catenian Group in Adelaide On Wednesday 10 March 2021 in the presence of Catenian dignitaries from, Province 20, Province 21, Victoria Area Council and Great Britain, a new Group, Adelaide City Group was inaugurated and is now part of Province 20. |
| Call for Motions to the Australian National Conference I hereby call for motions to be put to the 2021 Australian National Catenian Conference which are to be submitted to me, the Australian National Secretary, at anc.secretary@thecatenians.org.au no later than 5:00pm AEST May 20, 2021. |
Zoom - help needed! The Australian National Conference in August this year will be live streamed through Zoom and the organising committee is requesting assistance from people with some familiarity with Zoom to help present the conference to our online delegates. |
The Shire Group thrives during Covid January 2021 marked some important changes for the Shire Group (aka the Southern Sydney Group) with the first face to face meeting in eleven months and a new venue for meetings. When COVID restrictions hit, the Group fairly quickly adapted by moving its meetings to Zoom. In fact, only one meeting (March 2020) was missed altogether. |
Province 21 Golf Day at Gordon Golf Club 12 players comprising 8 brothers (4 Ku-ring-Gai, 3 The Hills and 1 Pittwater) and 4 visitors (3 Ku-ring-Gai and 1 The Hills) Directors Trophy won by Ku-ring-Gai (Stim Robinson and Paul Rubenach). Former Prov 21 Director Phil Davies joined the group at lunch to present the trophy. Runners up were The Hills brothers Malcolm Clow and Victor Gauci. Photo shows Stim presenting the trophy (Malcolm on the left of photo). Victor Gauci deservedly won the prize for the best overall Catenian score. |
The realities of domestic violence revealed at Harbouside North - a guest speaker available for all circles.  Claire Barber, CEO of Mary's House, was guest speaker at Harbourside North Circle's March dinner. Claire gave a presentation on the sobering statistics of domestic violence and the beneficial services provided by women's refuges such as Mary's House. |
| Around the Circles News of interest gathered from Circle newsletters |
Prayers for ... Please keep these Catenians and their relatives in your prayers |
A New Catenian Group in Adelaide
Standing left to right: Lok Cheung, Nicholas Chileshe, Luis Arreola-Garcia, Johan Livera, Amal Martin and Jashy Scaria. Seated left to right: Secretary/Development Officer Kingsley Forsyth, Chairman Michael Cogman and Treasurer Andrew Mulholland.On Wednesday 10 March 2021 in the presence of Catenian dignitaries from, Province 20, Province 21, Victoria Area Council and Great Britain, a new Group, Adelaide City Group was inaugurated and is now part of Province 20.
Due to the accelerated time frame of the inauguration process the historic event was held via Zoom and hosted by Province 20 Secretary Harry Muller. Province 20 Director and Chairman of Central Council, Ralph Fitzpatrick conducted the ceremony.
Special visitors via Zoom included Province 20 President, Lou Daily, Province 20 Vice President Chris Downey, Director-elect Province 21 Graham Short, Chairman Victoria Area Council Peter Walsh, Australian National Secretary John Secker, Treasurer International Regional Council and Past Australian National Council President, Gerry Barton . International visitors were Great Britain National President and Vice President Central Council, Eddie O'Donnell, President of International Regional Council and Past Grand President (2013/2014), John Rayer and Great Britain National Vice President David Arundale.
Chairman Michael Cogman presents an Adelaide City Group membership certificate to Kingsley Forsyth.The key achievements were the granting of the Mandate to the new Group, the enrolement of nine Catholic gentlemen and the enrolment of one current Catenian Brother, Michael Cogman of Joondalup Circle as a joint member and Chairman of the Group.
Lou Daily, Province 20 President, writes -
Adelaide City Group 942, was inaugurated on wednesday night and is now part of Province 20.
Much consultation and many meetings by Zoom had been undertaken in the Lok Cheung and Luis Arreola-Garcia celebrate after the Adelaide City inauguration ceremony.short period of less than one month. A real achievement!
I thank Chris Downey, Harry Muller and Ralph Fitzpatrick for all the hard work towards this important objective.
We congratulate and welcome the new Adelaide City Group as part of Province 20 and with hard work and God's blessings, the Group will quickly grow to Circle status.
Call for Motions to the Australian National Conference
from John Secker ANC Secretary
The next Australian National Conference will take place on Saturday August 21, 2021.
At this time, it is anticipated that the conference will be conducted both by online connection and physical attendance in Sydney, further information in this regard will be provided closer to the conference date and in the light of such regulatory requirements as apply at that time. The organizing committee for the physical aspects of the conference are also planning for the traditional ancillary conference events of workshops, dinners and Mass.
I hereby call for motions to be put to the 2021 Australian National Catenian Conference which are to be submitted to me, the Australian National Secretary, at anc.secretary@thecatenians.org.au no later than 5:00pm AEST May 20, 2021.
In addition to motions pursuant to Rule 26(b) the ANC is prepared to allow the conference to be used as a forum for the consideration of more broadly focused Australian member motions. The requirements regarding each class of motions are detailed below.
REQUIREMENTS FOR MOTIONS
Motions pursuant to Rule 26 - Alterations to the Constitution, the Principles and the Rules may be made only by a proposal put to the Membership under one of the procedures indicated below and approved by a two thirds majority of those voting. There are two procedures for bringing proposals to change the Constitution, the Principles, and the Rules to the Membership:
Rule 26 (a) Ordinary Procedure – not applicable in this context - governs a proposal put to the Membership with the concurrence of National Councils or, failing that, Central Council; or
Rule 26 (b) Extraordinary Procedure applicable in this context –
i) Any Member, Circle or Council sponsoring such proposal may submit it to a National Conference of the Association, providing that three months' notice of the proposal shall have been given to the National Secretary. Within one month thereafter the National Secretary shall issue to each Circle a copy of all proposals submitted to such Conference. Such proposal shall be subject to scrutiny by a Standing Orders Committee of three Members appointed by the previous National Conference. After consultation with the proposers, the Standing Orders Committee may amend such proposals.
ii) A simple majority of the Members present and voting in support at such Conference, plus if necessary a number of Members not at that conference identified as approving the proposal within three months of the conference so that in total 200, shall decide whether any proposal is approved or rejected. If a proposal is approved, it shall be referred within seven days to the Association Secretary. The Association Secretary shall within three months of the receipt of the approved proposal refer it to every Circle for a vote of the Members enrolled in that Circle.
Motions to be considered not pursuant to Rule 26 (b). The ANC is prepared to allow the conference to be used as a forum for the consideration of Australian member motions subject to the following prerequisites being met:
The proposal shall be subject to the consideration of the standing orders committee as provided for under rule 26 (b)
The proposal must have the support of the sponsoring member's Circle or Provincial Council;
Having no constitutional basis, the proposal must not be directive of the ANC or any administrative body. Rather, it must only provide for a consideration of whatever the mover is proposing; and
The same time frames and procedures (other than for Association voting) as for Rule 26 (b) motions shall apply.
Zoom - help needed!
The Australian National Conference in August this year will be live streamed through Zoom and the organising committee is seeking help with the Zoom aspects.
The committee is requesting assistance from people with some familiarity with Zoom to help present the conference to our online delegates.
Those who feel they can help should know that a helping hand from our UK brothers has been offered and is available, so this should make life a bit easier for our helpers. UK brothers have spent the last few months setting up their national conference on Zoom with similar capabilities and we have their full support for our Zoom team. They have sent us a full list of instructions and have offered us a Zoom meeting to explain what they do.
Our Australian conference will use Zoom for voting on motions, utilising the Zoom Polling feature, and Zoom chat being used to enhance the ability of interaction between the conference and individual online delegates.
Help with the above would be greatly appreciated and those interested can contact Chair of the Organising Committee Paul Pearson at paul.pearson@wieck.com.au or 0410 311 376 for more information.
The Shire Group thrives during Covid
A contribution from Les Austin, Secretary, Shire Group
The Shire Group, (left to right) Graeme Cossato, Peter Mazurek, Paul Marsden, Kevin Doherty, John Tweedie, Peter O’Reilly ,Bruno Malacco, Kevin Redman, Les AustinJanuary 2021 marked some important changes for the Shire Group (aka the Southern Sydney Group) with the first face to face meeting in eleven months and a new venue for meetings.
When COVID restrictions hit, the Group fairly quickly adapted by moving its meetings to Zoom. In fact, only one meeting (March 2020) was missed altogether. The Zoom meetings worked well for our Group and had some unexpected benefits in allowing visitors from overseas to join the meetings as well as local visitors. There were ten visitors from the UK, some of whom attended more than one meeting, and even one from India. The guests included the Great Britain Catenian National President and the Chairman of the Catenian Bursary Fund. As COVID restrictions eased, we moved to a hybrid arrangement, supplementing the formal meetings on the normal meeting night with an informal dinner a couple of weeks later.
Although the Zoom meetings were successful, we were pleased to return to meeting in person. But with our old venue slow to make its meeting room available, a new location was required. This was found in Club Central, Menai (once known as the Catholic Club), thanks to some great work by our Treasurer Kevin Redman.
Kevin Redman, Father Dan McCaughan and Peter Mazurek.The Shire Group was Inaugurated on 27 September 2017. Since then, we have had many interesting speakers including, Frank Tierney on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, Rosa Vukovich on the work of Catholic Mission, Jane Jeffes on modern slavery, Anne Lanyon on Papal Encyclical "Laudato Si", ANC President George Kazs (via Zoom), Father Dan McCaughan, St Patrick's Sutherland and our own members John Tweedie on Timor Leste and Peter Mazurek on his book "Modern Catholic Concerns" We have also held successful Christmas Ladies night every year since our inception.
The Group currently has nine members, including three joint members. Our joint members enjoy the experience of our Shire get togethers so much that they are prepared to travel from as far away as Collaroy and Blackheath to our meetings/dinners. Paul Marsden has been the Group's President, and Les Austin its Secretary, since our foundation.
Brothers from other Circles are most welcome to join us at Club Central, Menai on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Details are available from our Development Officer, Kevin Doherty at email Kevin@dohertyhome.com
Province 21 Golf Day at Gordon Golf Club
12 players comprising 8 brothers (4 Ku-ring-Gai, 3 The Hills and 1 Pittwater) and 4 visitors (3 Ku-ring-Gai and 1 The Hills)
Stim Robinson, Phil Davies and Paul Rubenach with the Directors TrophyDirectors Trophy won by Ku-ring-Gai (Stim Robinson and Paul Rubenach).
Stim presenting the runners-up trophy to Victor Gauci (Malcolm on the left of photo).Former Prov 21 Director Phil Davies joined the group at lunch to present the trophy.
Runners up were The Hills brothers Malcolm Clow and Victor Gauci. Victor Gauci deservedly won the prize for the best overall Catenian score.
We were very fortunate that the weather gods smiled on us despite a very gloomy forecast of 90% chance of 15 - 30 mm on the day.
Victor Gauci and Stim with the overall trophy.Barely a drop.
This was the first time we have held the annual competition at Gordon. The move from the Muirfield GC was due to the club introducing a Friday members' comp and limiting the time available to us. Very positive feedback from the brothers and visitors to play at Gordon next year.
Several of our regular players were unavailable this year but we certainly look forward to catching up again next year.
The realities of domestic violence revealed at Harbouside North - a guest speaker available for all circles
Graham Short Circle President presents a cheque to Claire Barber CEO Mary's House on behalf of Harbourside North brothers.Claire Barber CEO of Mary's House was guest speaker at Harbourside North Circle's March dinner.
Claire gave a presentation on the sobering statistics of domestic violence and the beneficial services provided by women's refuges such as Mary's House.
Mary's House is funded entirely by donations and fundraising events such as the annual walk from Kirribilli to Rose Bay, all of which were adversely affected by CoVid restrictions when at the same time the need for its services increased.
Claire is available to speak at other Catenian claireb@maryshoude.org.au
Claire joins a list of other available guest speakers for circle dinners, which can be found under Province 21 Circle Resources at https://www.thecatenians.org.au/province-21/home
Around the Circles
Local news gathered from Circle newsletters.
Carlingford:
Brother Frank Gelonesi was enrolled as a member of our Circle at our February meeting. Welcome, Brother Frank – we hope that you have a long and enjoyable association with the Catenians.
There were also in attendance two visiting gentlemen from OLOL parish, South Baulkham Hills – Bill Grattan and Ron Devine. We hope they had an enjoyable evening and that we see more of them.
Eight UK Brothers joined us via Zoom and gave a brief review of their UK circumstances after the formal meeting closed. Their contributions add meaning to the concept of Catenian Brotherhood in these unprecedented times.
Harbourside North:
Harbourside North Catenians hosted recently ordained Fr Noel Custodio, of Sydney Harbour North Parishes, as guest speaker at its April meeting and dinner. Fr Noel is Sydney born and bred, of Phillipino parents, and he talked of the discernment of his vocation and also the parish and diocesan work in which he is involved. One area was as Chaplain at UTS which together with the chaplaincy at The University of Sydney is a major source of seminarians from amongst undergraduates. Picture Circle President Lois leCompte, Ed Van Riet, Freddie Grew with Fr Noel Custodio.
Catering issues
Last month we had a fantastic dinner prepared for us by our chef Brenton. Sadly we only had 9 brothers present and one visitor, plus the very impressive after dinner speaker Claire Barber (11 in all).
With the reduced numbers attending our dinners, our caterer Shamrock Hospitality has kindly agreed to reduce the minimum number for which the Circle will be required to pay, to 15. The previous arrangement had been that we pay for 18 dinners, but this has not been enforced recently. The Circle should be very thankful for our caterer's generosity in that regard, as our coffers would have been significantly depleted last month had we been required to pay for 7 extra dinners.
In addition, it has become increasingly difficult to determine numbers before each dinner. Council now asks that all Brothers advise each month if they will be attending.
Cairns:
Two Father's plus two son's!!!
What an amazing sight to see, Brother Dean's son Luis and Brother Mike Schramm's son Brother Michael, who is our great and very competent Circle Treasurer, both Brother Dean and Brother Michael are two of our founding members.
It just show's what a Fraternal our Cairns Circle beholds.
What a fantastic President's Mass we had recently. Our Circle Chaplain Fr Neil celebrated our President's Mass at Mother of Good Counsel, in the Cairns City. It was a wonderful service and we had a couple of guests with us, Ken and Erica Harris and of course our two very younger Brother's Children; Harvey George Parrish and Henry Bridge.
The Mass was followed by a lovely lunch at Brother Lui's restaurant; The Salt House at The Pier. Everyone really enjoyed the wonderful Mass and Lunch. A big thank-you to Cathy Spencer for the super pictures.
What a fab lunch all the Brothers and guests had at Brother Lui's restaurant; The Salt House at the Pier, lovely food, lovely company, a great way to show our President Joe how thankful we are for all the work he puts into our Circle.
It was just a joyous occasion and to see our younger Brothers with their young children, what a credit to bring them along. We must be the only Circle in the Association who has so many young children. Hopefully soon, Brother Rev Mark's son Joey will be attending our meetings, our Circle as always will give him a huge welcome.
It was nice to see Ken Harris and his wife Erica at the Mass and lunch, hopefully one day he will join our Circle. We all know him and he would be a credit to our Circle. Thanks for the picture Joe, most appreciated. I think that our Circle is always welcoming to any visitor's we get, we don't get many being where we are, but we make sure that they are well looked after.
WELL CAUGHT REV BROTHER MARK…
Rev Brother Mark Cavicchiolo and son Joseph were fishing recently and had an amazing catch. You can guess what was for dinner that evening.
Brother Mark and his son go out fishing on a very regular basis, it is good recreation for Brother Mark who does a lot work for our Parish as well as holding down a full-time occupation.
Young Joseph is a student at St Andrew's college Redlynch.
Canberra:
Peter Heffernan was enrolled as a new member and Myles Hannan attended his final meeting. While Myles has decided not to continue as a member because of his many other competing commitments, he hopes to keep in touch, attending theatre nights and weekends away.
Peter Heffernan (2nd from the left) being enrolled as new member of the Circle by President, Brian Fish.
Ku-Ring-Gai:
Trialling potential new venue:
The April Meeting and Dinner will be held on Monday, April 12th at the Turramurra Bowling Club, 181 Bobbin Head Rd, North Turramurra from 6.45pm for 7.15pm start.
Unfortunately, the St Ives Club is still unable to provide a caterer for the foreseeable future. The Warrawee Club has been able to cater to our needs very well for the past three meetings, but in April we will be trialling a new venue which we believe is more centrally located for a majority of Brothers, has more spacious facilities and better parking.
March Ladies Night
46 Brothers and Wives, 3 wives of deceased Brothers and one visiting gentleman, Tony Luciano assembled on Monday, March 8th at the Warrawee Club for our March Ladies Night. Fortunately, there were no power issues as at our February meeting, and after a short meeting with everyone present and seated at the tables, we settled down to an enjoyable meal and lively conversation. Things almost felt "normal" again. This was our second Ladies Night, following the Christmas function, since physical meetings had resumed.
Our "entertainment" for the evening was provided by Martin and Gen Stebbings, quizzing us on our knowledge of 'Australian values', following their recently successful citizenship tests. Both had scored 20/20, which maximised their sponsorship fundraising for the Bursary Fund. This proved to be a lot of fun and provoked some interesting debate.
Brothers have kindly donated $2,100 to the Bursary Fund, in response to this initiative. Martin and Gen are most grateful for these generous donations, which have now been passed on to the central fund.
Bursary Fund Raising
The Catenian Bursary Fund makes awards totalling over $250,000 annually to young Catholics worldwide aged between 16 and 24 who volunteer to work on development projects overseas or attend diocesan pilgrimages. Young Australian Catholics have received many grants from the fund over the years.
The past year has seen a slowing in the number grants. Nevertheless, funds are needed to finance new grants when overseas travel reopens.
For more details of the work undertaken by recipients of the Bursary Fund, please see the associations website - https://www.thecatenians.org.au/about-us/bursary-fund
Look at that sunset! From left to right: Anne Marie Rubenach, Dot Tighe, Stefan & Carolynne Wawryzniak, Gen Stebbings, Jim & Alicia Phelan, Patricia Kiely, Paul Rubenach, Martin Stebbings and Noelene Johnson
Opera on the Harbour: La Traviatta
A group of 15 from Ku-ring-gai and Harbourside North Circles enjoyed a fabulous night at the Opera on Sydney Harbour on Saturday, March 27. Fortunately, it was a warm and dry evening, without much breeze, so perfect conditions for what was a fabulous performance enjoyed by all.
Raising money for Lifeline: Bobbo Cycle Ride
The Bobbo challenge was completed on Sunday, March 28 by Ken Anania and Martin Stebbings. Covering a distance of 58 kms with over 2500 cyclists, the course was completed in 2 hours 50 mins. The total elevation gain was an eye watering 900 + metres.
Ken, who has only recently taken to cycling, set himself a modest fundraising goal. Thanks to the generosity of Catenian Brothers and other friends, he had to raise his goal several times. Martin, who has been cycling for many years went along in support. Ken's fund raising so far has raised a fantastic $5300 for Lifeline.
Manly:
The luncheon gathering at Wakehurst Golf ClubAt our March meeting, discussion was held on the possibility of separate joint meetings with Warringah and Pittwater Circles later in the year. With some Circles struggling to get good attendances at meetings due to COVID etc, it was thought joint meetings could help bridge the gap and keep Brothers connected and involved. Again, Peter Williams will look into this.
The halfway point for manly's walkersAfter discussion, it was agreed unanimously at the meeting that the fees for the coming year would remain at $100. This will be communicated in the April newsletter together with payment details.
Manly's Friends of Catenians social activities continue with twice weekly walks along Manly Beach, Zoom Trivia every 2nd Monday, 2nd Friday of the month lunches at Wakehurst Golf Club and other events come back under Covid restrictions.
City of Sydney:
Bros Joe McGuinness, Geoff Byrne, Bob O'Mara, John Breen, Peter GialourisWith the Saint Thomas More Society, Bros. Peter Tilbrook and Brian Skinner have put together an excellent speaker in Hon. Terence "Terry" Sheahan AO. to make the night "one not to miss".
The meeting for April is on the 14th because of Easter and attendance could be at a premium with Covid. The Council has decided to make it a ladies night with a short meeting to commence on time.
We are trialling an online booking scheme for the first time at: https://www.trybooking.com/BPMBZ
You can make the booking and pay online through this app. Please log on now and make this night a great success.
Bookings have been good both from the Brothers in our Circle and visiting gentlemen. With the Covid restrictions we can still accept your booking to this wonderful night, the brainchild of our President Peter Gialouris.
The Hills:
Discussion concerning having informal mid-month lunches /morning teas. It was agreed to go ahead.
President thanked Secretary for his work
Monthly Newsletter - agreed we should have one. Br George to be approached to publish, BUT MUST HAVE ARTICLES FROM ALL, ESPECIALLY PHOTOS.
Brisbane Water holding a gathering on March 18th.
Prayers for ...
Carlingford:
Please continue to pray for Bro Don Mees who is becoming increasingly frail as he approaches his 94th Birthday on 12th April.
Please pray also for Bro Frank Slade as he recovers from a prostate operation.
Thankfully, Bro John Secker is recovering well from his recent kidney surgery. He should be driving on the roads again and, maybe, even on the golf course.
Please also remember in your prayers Bro Stan and Jan Burgin as they settle into their new home at Aminya Aged Care, Baulkham Hills, and also Bros Laurie Burns and Bill Carpenter together with Patrick Wheeler (grandson of Barbara Kenny),
Timothy Carpenter, and Christopher Carter.
Ku-Ring-Gai:
Our members, family and friends who are sick and in need of our prayers -
Brothers Greg Scahill, John Szymanski, Steve Swain, Kevin Duffy and John Boland.
Family members Marie Gibbons, Barbara Burke, David Gardener, Sam Gardener (Justin's brother), Gayle and Suzie Meagher, Rebecca Davies, Madeleine Szymanski and daughter Kate McRea, Monica Moldrich, Margaret Marshall and Karen Tighe.
Manly:
We remember in our prayers all Manly Brothers who have been unwell or who have been having medical procedures.
Chris Micallef continues to use his mobility scooter. Chris would love to see any Brothers who can visit him – he is in Room 31, Wesley Taylor Village, 156 Ocean Street, Narrabeen; his mobile is 0472 546 233. It would be best to ring Chris first as he goes to dialysis on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoons.
Chris is looking forward to renewing his attendance at Manly Catenians soon.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Chris.
Jim Rush has been having some health issues with his heart. Latest is that Jim had an operation on 22 March at St Vincent's Hospital to repair a leaking heart valve. Subsequently, Brian Hamer rang him to see how he was doing. Jim said the operation was unfortunately not successful. It is not clear at this stage whether any further surgery is possible. Brian said Jim was quite subdued and would love to hear from his Catenian brothers.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Jim and Liz.
Paul Pearson continues to have treatment for his macular degeneration which consists of regular injections in his affected eye. Ouch! It sounds awful but Paul says "you can't see the needle coming"! Great although unexpected news for Paul at his latest injection on 8 April – the injections are actually healing his macular! He is managing the experience as well as possible and we keep him in our prayers.
Bob Rigon had knee replacement surgery on one knee on 7 April and the operation was successful. His recuperation, including rehab, is now under way.
John Colwell is well. His wife Sue says he's "in a good space" and is very happy in himself. He enjoys his regular respite care sessions
City of Sydney:
Council had received an email of resignation from Bro. Mark O'Brien and have recommended that we do not accept this from Mark and under these circumstances he and wife Therese need all our support and prayers. Peter O'Reilly has been in contact with Therese, who is suffering through this ordeal but at the moment is happy in her accommodation and with her financial position.
Bro. Max Cattle has been through the mill with a bad back. He had been having tingling pain in his back and Hip, visited the physiotherapist and specialist. He contacted Dudley O'Sullivan and saw a neurologist and Neuro-surgeon and was operated on for a cist on the spine. He is making quite a good recovery for "an old bloke" and is much happier to be pain free.
The Hills:
Prayers; For the sick, -- Br Milan & Mary Bohman, Paul Roberts – mother & B.I.L; Fr Mick; Bernie Good, John Dinning's niece & Ranee Fernando