The Catholic Weekly 22 November 2020

$2 22, November, 2020 SPORTS STARS 2020 VOCATIONS ALL IN THE FAMILY P12 LIFTOUT INSIDE You can help a child shine brighter this Christmas. The General frames his life Former Australian Governor General Peter Cosgrove holds framed front pages of The Catholic Weekly featuring coverage of his career. The much-loved Aussie’s biography was published this week and he spoke to journalist Debbie Cramsie about his re markable career. REPORT P5 The fact that the university approved our event is encouraging to us, and the security guards were very good.” Sarah Ryan, LifeChoice A STUDENT event at Sydney University turneduglyafter pro- testors attacked a pro-life stall, verbally abusing and physically threatening its organisers. Police were called shortly after the start of the three-hour event that began to descend into chaos after student ad- vocacy group LifeChoice set up a stall on the main campus with a banner ‘Abortion ends a human life. Change my mind’. Student and LifeChoice Sydney secretaryMadeleine Graveleine said the intention was to invite a relaxed forum for discussion seated on the lawnnear Eastern Avenue between pro-life and pro-choice students. Instead, LifeChoice mem- bers say their sign and other printed materials were ripped to pieces and thrown at them, a glass smashed to the ground, verbal abuse hurled at them and that at times during the event they were forced to pro- tect themselves from physical attack. Students’ blogs and social media accounts revealed video footage and photos of the con- frontation. “Most protestors didn’t even want to talk about abortionand they got very personal in their insults,” saidMs Graveleine. Following the event, the University of Sydney’s Wom- en’s Collective published their version of the encounter, say- ing they had called the “snap protest” in response to “an an- ti-choice stall”. “This stall, under the guise of mere philosophical debate, scrutinised the deeply person- al decisions of people in crisis, calling into question people’s ability tomake decisions about their own bodies,” the state- ment read. LifeChoice member Sarah Ryan said the ordeal had been “very intense” at times but it would not deter them from holding outreach events on campus in the future. “The fact that the university approved our event is encour- aging to us, and the security guards who were present, though they were limited in howmuch support they could provide, were very good,” she said. A spokesperson for NSW Police confirmed police had been called to the protest but said there were no arrests made. Pro-lifers attacked Sydney University students standing up for life subjected to abuse and physical intimidation ¾ ¾ Marilyn Rodrigues CATHOLIC SCHOOLS SPORTS STARS 2020 ADVERTISINGSUPPLEMENT