The Catholic Weekly 26 April 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 24 NEWS 26, April, 2020 Poet of the suburbs THE AUSTRALIAN tradition of Catholic poets suffered a significant loss with the death of Bruce Dawe on 1 April. Our religious imagina- tion found its roots at first in Irish-Catholic culture, pro- ducing poets such as “John O’Brien” (the pen-name of Monsignor Patrick Hartigan) and Vincent Buckley. It later extended to other ethnic peoples in the post- war era, notably the Pol- ish-Ukrainian author, Peter Skrzynecki. But a notable strand has been supplied by Catholic converts, notably James McAuley, Les Murray, Kevin Hart – and Bruce Dawe. Dawe’s conversion took place in the early 1950s. His studies at the University of Melbourne brought him into contact with Catholics, in par- ticular Vincent Buckley and other poets, which nurtured his interest not only in Chris- tianity but also in imaginative writing. He was then in his early 20’s and seeking a purpose and a direction in life. He was at- tracted to the Catholic Church by its rich tradition of ritual as well as the luminous lives of the saints. His interest in ritual was initially inspired by the beau- ty of High Church Anglican services, and he gratefully acknowledged the influence of a high school teacher, Lil- lian Scholes, who combined her vocation as a Method- ist lay preacher with Sunday morning attendance at An- glo-Catholic services. Though born and raised in Melbourne, Dawe moved in his late 30’s to Toowoomba, Queensland, where he taught first at the Catholic school, Downlands College. He later joined the staff of the Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education (sub- sequently the University of Southern Queensland) as a lecturer in English Literature, eventually rising to the rank of Associate Professor. In his poetry Dawe caught the connections between his Christian faith and the experi- ences of ordinary life. He captured in everyday language our human yearn- ings and devotions, our fears and frustrations, our suffer- ings and grievances. He knew that his faith gave a new centre of meaning and a higher purpose to these expe- riences. “We have to preserve a vision,” he said. “Writing is part of a total moral vision. You just can’t escape that.” A crucial part of this moral vision was his opposition to abortion. While this preceded his conversion to Catholicism, it was intensified by his growth of faith. Inspired by the Feast of the Holy Innocents, he wrote a powerful poem, “The Wholly Innocent,” protesting against the destruction of the unborn by imagining himself as one of the vulnerable: “I never walked abroad in air I never saw the sky Nor knew the sovereign touch of care Nor looked into an eye. “I never chose, nor gave consent Nor voted on my fate Unseen, I came, unseen I went Too early and too late. . . . “Remember me next time you Rejoice at sun or star I would have loved to see them too, I never got that far.” The principal collection of Dawe’s many poems, en- titled Sometimes Gladness , went through six successive editions, between 1978 and 2006, as he produced updated versions every few years to in- corporate more recent poems. He dedicated the book to St Maximilian Kolbe, whom he said “he admired enor- mously”, knowing how he had “sacrificed his life to save the life of a married Polish fellow prisoner.” Dawe had a special admi- ration for St Pope John Paul II during his long pontificate in the final decades of the 20th century. In one interview he applauded the Pope’s singular contribution to “the freeing of Poland”, and his giving of “hope to other Eastern Euro- pean states”. The poet was honoured with various literary prizes, including the Patrick White Award in 1980 and a Christo- pher Brennan Award in 1984 for lifetime achievement in poetry. In 1992 he received an Or- der of Australia for his contri- bution to Australian literature. But he remained through- out his life a teacher and a Bruce Dawe’s verse often plumbed the hidden eternal in Australian everyday life poet for the people – not sim- ply evoking the truths of ordi- nary experience but enriching them as well. He thought, as he said in one interview, that “good im- aginative teaching of basic truths is the way to get people to believe in faiths”, and he en- joyed crossing “the inevitable bridges that teachers make between their experience and that of students”. In poetry he brought to life the meaning of “whatev- er dark and troubled waters” flow beneath these “inevitable bridges”. Bruce Dawe was a poet at once quintessentially Austral- ian and Catholic. He was steeped in the expe- rience of ordinary Australian life - and only Australia could have produced him. But he raised this experi- ence to a higher plane, so that it achieved memorable ex- pression in his poetry. Karl Schmude is a co-found- er of Campion College Aus- tralia and President of the Chesterton Society. He was then in his early 20’s and seeking a purpose and a direction in life. He was attracted to the Catholic Church by its rich tradition of ritual as well as the lumi- nous lives of the saints. Bruce Dawe, a convert to the Church, became a major voice of ordinary Australian life in his poetry. PHOTO: PIXABAY CourtOKs jail for teacher A HIGH court in central Vietnam has confirmed the conviction of a Catho- lic teacher who used so- cial media posts to advo- cate for human rights. The People’s High Court rejected an appeal by Peter Nguyen Nang Tinh on 20 April and up- held his previous 11-year sentence in jail and an- other five years’ proba- tion imposed by a lower court last November. The People’s Public Security newspaper re- ported that Tinh, a music teacher, was accused of conducting and spread- ing information to oppose the communist state. He was found guilty of writing and posting ar- ticles that defamed and opposed the Communist government, rejected its achievements and dis- torted its history on his Facebook account. It said the father of two showed disrespect for the law and had fought against the state, so it was essential to impose a seri- ous punishment to chas- tise and re-educate him and warn others. Tinh’s wife Mary Nguyen Thi Tinh said the sentence was extremely unfair on her husband, who “committed a crime of patriotism, fighting against injustice and pro- tecting the nation’s is- lands and waters.” She said Tinh taught children the banned song “Returning [human rights] to the people,” took part in public protests ad- vocating for the protec- tion of Vietnam’s islands from Chinese invasion, opposed a cybersecuri- ty law and spoke against social injustice on social media. She said her 44-year- old husband was on a hunger strike for 46 days after prison officials refused to allow him to meet priests to pre- pare for Easter. He only stopped his hunger strike on 17 April after he was informed of his appeal date. He is imprisoned at Nghi Kim Camp in Vinh City. “My husband still de- mands to meet a priest af- ter the appeal court. If his demand is notmet, hewill resume his hunger strike,” she said, adding that her husband was fighting for the right to practice reli- gion for himself and other Catholic prisoners. She accused govern- ment authorities of in- humanely bringing him to court. “I strongly con- demn the judges and pris- on officials for upholding his wrongful conviction and treating him unfair- ly,” she said. – UCA NEWS Karl Schmude Columnist THE SUPREME Court of the Netherlands ruled that it is lawful for doctors to eutha- nise patients with severe de- mentia, provided that the pa- tient had expressed a desire to be euthanised while still legally capable. The decision was handed down on 21April. Lower courts had previous- ly ruled that a doctor had not acted improperly when he eu- thanised a 74-year-old wom- an with advanced dementia, even though the woman had to be repeatedly sedated and physically restrained during ¾ ¾ Christine Rousselle Dementia euthanasia upheld the procedure. The case was sent to the Supreme Court for further clarification of the country’s euthanasia law, which permits doctors to kill patients considered to be in “unbearable suffering.” Per Dutch law, euthanasia is only legal for those with de- mentia if they had written or discussed an advanced direc- tive with their doctor. The woman who resisted her euthanisation had writ- ten an advanced directive four years prior, requesting the procedure in lieu of be- ing put in a nursing home. In the directive, she had said she wished to “be able to decide while still in my senses and when I think the time is right.” Prosecutors argued that her attempt to fight off the doctor indicated that she could have changed her mind, but was unable to verbally communi- cate. Dr Charles Camosy, a pro- fessor at Fordham University and bioethicist, told CNA the supreme court decision is part of a legal “slippery slope” in the Netherlands on eutha- nasia. Patients with condi- tions including mental deteri- oration will be at the heart of future debate, he said. “I believe the next great fight over fundamental hu- man equality will be over the value of human beings with advanced dementia,” he said. “It is impossible, in my view, to separate what is hap- pening in the Netherlands from the broad rejection in the post-Christian West of funda- mental human equality.” “Doctors are notoriously bad at judging these things,” said Camosy. “Study after study finds that they rate the quality of life of their patients worse than the patients do themselves. They assume people want more quality of life than length of life, when in fact the numbers show exactly the opposite.” Camosy told CNA that giv- en how the Netherlands has euthanised newborn infants, who are also unable to com- municate a degree of suffer- ing, for about two decades, “it follows logically that they could say it about someone with late-stage dementia.” “Human beings with late- stage dementia simply don’t ‘count,’ morally speaking, the same as human beings that have been determined to have the traits that make someone a person,” he said. - CNA W