“Charlotte” suffered an abortion when she had an unexpected pregnancy two years ago, and still remembers the trauma and sadness she felt.
When I found out that I was pregnant at a tender age of 21, studying in Australia with no family around me, I did not get the same fears that many other unmarried young women faced. Although I had admittedly made a mistake of engaging in sexual intercourse with a man I was not married to, I was thrilled to find out I was pregnant.
Due to medical complications I had to live with, I had thought for several years that I was infertile. For me, the feeling of guilt was drowned out by a pure joy that I too could be a mother, that I too could have a baby grow inside my womb. Unfortunately, my boyfriend of five years did not accept the reality of my pregnancy. He was adamant that I should abort our child.
Aiding Syrian rebels a big mistake, nun warns Insurgents destroying delicate religious and ethnic balance in Syria, says Syria-based nun 
BUKIT MERTAJAM, PENANG – Penang diocese welcomed its fifth bishop on Aug 20. Bishop Sebastian Francis replaces Bishop Antony Selvanayagam, who had led the diocese since 1983. More than 6,000 people from Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, including seven bishops and about 100 priests, witnessed the episcopal ordination and installation ceremony at St Anne’s Church in Bukit Mertajam. Archbishop Murphy Pakiam of Kuala Lumpur was the principal consecrator while Bishops Paul Tan of Melaka-Johor and Antony Selvanayagam of Penang were the co-consecrators. In his inaugural address to the congregation, Bishop Francis urged the people to pray for him in his new role. “I ask this of you because as disciples of Jesus Christ, we all are called to holiness and have received an equal privilege of faith through the justice of God,” he said. The 60-year-old bishop also reached out to the hearing impaired in the crowd by using sign language and acknowledged the presence of people from other faiths as well. Speaking during the ceremony, Archbishop Pakiam said, “As a father and a brother, love all those whom God places in your care. Love the priests and deacons who share with you the ministry of Christ.
 An approachable priest who cared for his flock – that is how former parishioners and those who knew the late Fr Joseph Tan remember him. Fr Tan returned to the Lord on Aug 27 after a battle with cancer, a few weeks shy of his 65th birthday. His funeral was scheduled for Aug 30. Fr Tan was ordained in 1973 and served as assistant priest and parish priest at Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour (1973-1981). He was subsequently parish priest of Church of St Bernadette (1983-1996), Church of the Holy Spirit (1996-2005), and Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary from 2005 until the time he stepped down due to ill health.
 “It is the loving God who has called you to this important service to the sick and the infirm,” Archbishop Nicholas Chia told more than 200 nurses gathered for the annual Catholic Nurses’ Day Mass. Therefore, the Catholic nurse “cannot follow Christ on her own terms,” choosing to do what she likes, he said in his homily. The Mass for Catholic nurses and other healthcare professionals from polyclinics and private and government hospitals was held at the Church of the Risen Christ on Aug 19. The event was organised by the Catholic Nurses Guild of Singapore.
Catholic Junior College students ate with migrant construction workers and even played ball games with them in the school compound recently. The Aug 26 outreach programme was part of the college’s “Bread Basket” project, which on three previous occasions saw the students packing and delivering food and toiletries to workers at their dormitories. The day began with about 60 workers and 30 students forming groups and playing simple games as an icebreaker. A buffet lunch followed and after that it was down to various ball games.
 ... says American Catholic evangelist who gave talks recentlyThe Gospel is able to touch the lives of people when its message is lived out in an individual’s life. Otherwise it remains abstract, says an American Catholic evangelist. “There is no good news without a personal witness,” says Mr Thomas Smith, who travels worldwide to conduct conferences, seminars, workshops and talks. Mr Smith was in Singapore to give a series of talks at the Church of St Mary of the Angels from Aug 22-25.
 Martin See speaks to the artist who is breathing new life into St Joseph Church’s stained glassThe stained glass artist who is restoring the century-old window panels at St Joseph’s Church, Victoria Street, says her work allows her “to bring the Gospels to life”. “There were moments when I had doubts if this was the right career path, but I always found my way back to the work which I believe is my calling from God,” said Koh Bee Liang, 52, a parishioner of St Mary of the Angels. The former student of St Theresa’s Convent, who is a member of the Focolare movement, has been working with stained glass for the past 29 years.
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 Some 30 women and children from a Catholic crisis centre were among those who enjoyed a concert of gospel and pop music recently. The women from the Good Shepherd Centre even got up to dance during the concert, put on by local musician Terence Castillo. The God is Good concert was held at the Church of St Mary of the Angels’ St Clare Hall on Aug 20.
 The Bangladeshi worker who was attacked by two men is now able to pay off his medical costs and even looks forward to setting up a small business back home, thanks to a Catholic donor. Mr Sudip Chandro Bhandro Joy was viciously attacked and robbed by two men on May 15. A Straits Times report on Aug 11 noted that he suffered injuries to his cheeks, nose and head and has been on medical leave since the incident. The construction worker is also experiencing numbness in his upper jaw and is unable to eat solid food.
 Giving his best, relying on God’s grace and maintaining a prayer life is how newly ordained Fr Joseph Zhang says he intends to live out his priestly vocation. The China-born priest was ordained by Archbishop Nicholas Chia on Aug 20 at the Church of the Holy Trinity. Fr Zhang says he is filled with gratitude as he has experienced God journeying with him over the past 30 years and guiding him towards his vocation. He is also grateful for those who have helped him on this journey.
Communications professionals give advice on the do’s and don’ts of media relationsWhen facing media queries in the wake of a Church-related crisis, silence is “not a strategy”, some 40 priests learnt during a seminar. Engaging the media at such a time would allow the Church’s voice to be heard and its version of the facts to be published, Mr Simon Pangrazio told his audience, who included Archbishop Nicholas Chia. Mr Pangrazio was one of two speakers who conducted the media and communications seminar at the Church of the Holy Spirit on Aug 17. The archdiocesan Communications Office and Communications Advisory Council organised the event to help priests become more aware of media-related issues.
 Insurgents destroying delicate religious and ethnic balance in Syria, says Syria-based nunDUBLIN – The armed insurrection in Syria is “producing a totalitarianism that is worse” than that of Bashar Assad’s regime, a Carmelite nun has warned. Mother Agnes Mariam of the Cross also appealed to the international community to stop supporting violent militias linked to Al Qaeda and other extremist groups guilty of atrocities against innocent Syrian civilians. “We know now that those people are not fighting for freedom, they are fighting for their values, and those values are not even those of moderate Islam,” said the Lebanese-born nun, who is superior of the community at the monastery of St James the Mutilated in Qara, Syria.
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