The Catholic Weekly 29 March 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 20 29, March, 2020 ACROSS 7. What I should have done, if I were in your position! (7,6) 8. It’s not fair for one to use this (8) 9. It may be driven to support things (4) 10. Takes part in a running match (6) 12. Lure about ten onto the rink (6) 14. Property that goes with rank (6) 16. Could be a steel plant (6) 18. Sweet way to make money (4) 20. Trying hard to persuade one it’s urgent (8) 22. Laughter-maker? (5,2,6) Quick Crossword answers also fit the large grid CROSSWORD DOWN 1. Has a walk that’s awfully untidy looking (8) 2. Catch ten out with a quick blow (6) 3. A board transaction (4) 4. A quiet father - that’s obvious (8) 5. It’s bought by the yard but worn out by the foot (6) 6. An outlaw to play the informer (4) 11. Wool gatherer? (5-3) 13. Puts in order and gains financially (6,2) 15. Painter of unusual traits (6) 17. Suppose it means adopt (6) 19. Time for just one thing (4) 21. Repeat after some reflection (4) CRYPTIC CLUES QUICK CLUES SOLUTION FOR LAST WEEK ACROSS 7. Equipment (13) 8. Decayed (8) 9. Seize (4) 10. Victor (6) 12. Sudden (6) 14. Passive (6) 16. Unsettled (6) 18. Influence (4) 20. Unyielding (8) 22. Dull (13) DOWN 1. Renovation (8) 2. Supporter (6) 3. Hew (4) 4. Draw out (8) 5. Minister (6) 6. Subside (4) 11. Calculator (8) 13. Original (8) 15. Tiresome (6) 17. Scarce thing (6) 19. Decline (4) 21. Profound (4) 15,743 QUICK Across 1 Foil; 8 Occurrence; 9 Raincoat; 10 Pick; 12 Fitted; 14 Resort; 15 Snatch; 17 Medium; 18 Clue; 19 Conceive; 21 Likelihood; 22 Site. Down 2 Occasional; 3 Loan; 4 Accord; 5 Writer; 6 Despised; 7 Seek; 11 Circumvent; 13 Tethered; 16 Hectic; 17 Mentor; 18 Colt; 20 Ends. CRYPTIC Across 1 Lava; 8 Correspond; 9 Immerses; 10 Rips; 12 Kneels; 14 Notion; 15 Remiss; 17 Reason; 18 News; 19 Accident; 21 Informally; 22 Side. Down 2 Adam and Eve; 3 Acre; 4 Crisis; 5 Gets on; 6 Operetta; 7 Odds; 11 Pronounced; 13 Emission; 16 Spasms; 17 Recall; 18 Nail; 20 Days. R eview SAINTS OF THEWEEK Blessed Restituta Kafka 1894-1943 Berthold died c. 1195 Feast: 29 March Not much is known about this hermit who is considered by some historians to be the found- er of the order of Carmelite friars. Various legends had him born in Limoges, France, educated at the University of Paris, and participating in the Crusades in Turkey. What is known is that he directed a group of Frankish hermits living on Mount Carmel in Palestine in the second half of the 12th century. The ex- istence on Mount Carmel of a church and hermitage in the spiritual tradition of the prophet Elijah is document- ed from 1163 on. Born Helene Kafka in Moravia, she moved with her family to Vienna in 1896. Despite parental opposition, she joined the Hartmann Sisters, or Sisters of Christian Char- ity, a nursing order, taking the name Maria Restituta, after St. Restituta of Sora, who was beheaded in the third century. Seasoned by World War I, she gained re- nown as an operating room nurse and anesthetist in Modling, Austria. Arrested by the Nazis in 1942 for religious activities in her hospital, she was beheaded, the only nun so sentenced in the Nazis’ German terri- tories. ENTERTAINMENT New year, New job catholicjobsonline.com.au SEE OUR LATEST JOBS How society failed a boy so tragically THOUGH OVERLONG and uneven, The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez is, nonetheless, a searing indictment of our col- lective failure to protect our most vulnerable children. The docuseries - which has alreadymet with considerable popularity, despite its sombre theme - is currently streaming on Netflix in six one-hour ep- isodes. Veteran documentarian Lowell Bergman (previously of 60 Minutes and Frontline ) is one of the program’s executive producers. The other, Brian Knappenberger, directed the film. The series opens with a dramatic 911 call concerning 8-year-old Gabriel Fernan- dez (Johnny Jett Mercado). Vivid re-enactments follow, portraying the hectic but ul- timately futile efforts of the trauma workers at Antelope Valley Hospital in Los Ange- les County to save their young patient. A depressed skull fracture was probably themost serious of the multiple injuries the boy suffered on “every part of his body,” as nurse Christine Estes recalls. Similarly, Dr James Ribe, who conducted Gabriel’s autopsy, remembers that it took two days to docu- ment all his wounds. Well acquainted with the indicators of child abuse, hos- pital staff were properly dubi- ous when Gabriel’s mother, Pearl, said that he sustained his numerous injuries by slip- ping in the bathtub. The re- ality was far more gruesome. After assuming guardian- ship of her son six months prior to his death, Pearl and her live-in boyfriend, Isau- ro Aguirre, engaged in what Assistant District Attorney Scott Yang describes as a “systematic progression of torture.” The couple kept Gabriel handcuffed in a cupboard for long stretches, fed him cat litter, shot him with a BB gun and extinguished ciga- rettes on him. Aguirre, here portrayed by William Guirola, has been sentenced to death and Ga- briel’s mother to life in prison in the case. But Jackie Lacey, the first woman and African American to serve as Los Angeles Coun- ty’s district attorney, didn’t let the matter rest there. She determined that four social workers with the local department of child and fami- ly services also bore some cul- pability for missing numerous warning signs about Gabriel’s peril. So she charged them with child endangerment resulting in death and falsification of public records. The Trials of Gabriel Fer- nandez also implicates the deputy sheriffs who were called to the Fernandez home multiple times. Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami, himself a survivor of child abuse, mem- orably recalls his frustration when he had to file a court motion just to obtain their in- ternal report on the case. A whistleblower from child and family services speaks for the filmmakers when he says, “So many could have inter- vened, but chose not to. Why not?” Given its grim subject mat- ter, the documentary is obvi- ously suitable for adult view- ers only, all the more so since it includes occasional strong language. Propelled by John Dragon- etti’s insistent musical score and by its immersive reenact- ments, The Trials of Gabriel How could it happen? How did so many fail little Gabriel Fernandez? PHOTO: COURTESY OF NETFLIX THE TRIALS OF GABRIEL FERNANDEZ NETFLIX REVIEW Fernandez will grab audience attention quickly. But the show ultimately fails to sustain this initial momentum. Mystifyingly, for instance, the narrative digresses to re- view the algorithm that Alle- gheny County, Pennsylvania, has developed to detect child abuse more quickly. The doc- umentary also loses track of Pearl’s story and of the so- cial workers’ plight for long stretches. When the program focuses on Aguirre’s fate, by contrast, it raises fundamental moral questions about capital pun- ishment. Is he an irredeem- able monster or something more? Canmercy play any role in such an extreme situation? These tough questions will challenge viewers, and per- haps engender debate. What isn’t open to question is the service the show’s creators perform by shinning a spot- light on Gabriel’s suffering and the neglect that led to his tragic death. Artistic flaws notwithstand- ing, The Trials of Gabriel Fer- nandez will prove a valuable piece of filmmaking if it mo- tivates people to prevent such horrors in the future. - CNS ¾ ¾ Chris Byrd