Dear friends,

My email and mail is overflowing these days and I'm afraid I'm getting further and further behind in staying on top of it all. Part of this is simply due to the enormous growth we're experiencing with Catholica. Last month we ended up a with 54% increase in the number of individuals visiting our site (the new record is now 7,168 visitors in a month), a 57.6% increase in the number of visits, a 76.4% increase in the number of pages read, and a 73.5% increase in the number of hits (now up to a new record of 2,690,281). I haven't measured accurately how much larger my email inbox has become but I assume it is commensurate with all of the foregoing. Unfortunately we're still running on the proverbial smell of an oily rag and can't afford to employ any staff so for the moment I'll just have to ask for some forbearance as I try to cope with my correspondence.

But it is thanks to those emails that I'd like to share with you three stories and requests for assistance that have come in. I'm sure they'll all be of interest to most readers just to know what is going on but whether you can assist or otherwise will vary all over the place.

Are there any writers out there interested in setting up a Catholic Writers' Group or a Catholic Writers' Guild?

The idea was originally Cliff Baxter's but during the week John Edwards saw the idea that Cliff telegraphed last year and he's gotten off his backside and done something about it. He's set up an email list and so far three of us have begun sharing a few ideas via that list exploring the idea of establishing some kind of professional body for encouragement of Catholic writers and possibly to represent their interests. At this stage we're actually discussing what the end objectives might be. At this stage I'd just like to myself telegraph what John has done and to invite any readers out there who might like to contribute to the discussion that John has initiated to contact him by this email address so that your name might be added to the list.

Are there any theatrical impresarios and actors out there? Would you be interested in working on the staging of the play "O Papa" to coincide with World Youth Day next year?

Here's an interesting proposal that came in from Tom Lee an actor, writer and director in the United States that might lead to something...

Dear Brian, did you know that Pope Paul VI, desiring greater democracy and accountability in the Church, called for and set up a commission to develop a constitution for the Church (Lex Fundamentalis Ecclesiae)? It was shelved and buried by the Curia, it is believed, with the tacit approval of Pope John Paul II.

You don't know me mate, but I hope you soon will. I'm somewhat of a scrounger at the moment, who has the temerity to ask for your advice and maybe even help. When very young I was advised by leading Aussie Shakespearean actor/manager John Alden, if ever I needed to know anything about anything, always go to the most eminent person in the field, and more often than not they'll be flattered to be asked. By and large he's been correct.

Educated by the De La Salle brothers at Marrickville and Cronulla; in 1954, at age 15, I joined a leading advertising agency in Sydney and became a night student at East Sydney Tech (four-year Art diploma course) and completed the curriculum of the School of Applied Advertising, receiving my Licentiate at age 18, at that time the youngest ever to have done so. I began my acting career with a local amateur group, the Miranda Theatre group in 1956, from which I graduated to the Genesian Theatre in 1957, thereafter appearing in many productions, designing some and directing others. I also illustrated the Genesian Magazine and wrote many of its articles. My professional writing career began as a critic and feature writer with Australian Variety, which later morphed into The Entertainer. 1966 I played Hamlet to great acclaim in Sydney and was recruited to lead a touring company from the Perth Playhouse in '67 that travelled the state for the best part of nine months, concluding with a bonus guest week at the Hobart Theatre Royal. I also did a lot of radio drama while in Perth.

My birth name is Ronald Tunstall and my professional name is Tom Lee (necessitated by the fact that British Equity had a member by my name when I transferred from Australian Equity in late 1971, so I chose something short and sweet that they couldn't screw-up in the press. I'm an Aussie actor, writer, artist who departed from OZ in 1971 on the Achille Lauro headed to the UK via the Mediterranean, and from thence spent a year in Hollywood as part of the Foreign Press contingent, writing for British and Aussie publications. 1973 I returned to Britain and almost immediately joined Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap". I stayed with it for three and half years while researching by day at the British Library and the Jesuit Archives my one-man show "O Papa!" a staged history of the Papacy in two hours and twenty characters. The world-premiere was at the Vatican-owned Teatro Goldoni in Rome in Holy Year 1975, during my vacation from Agatha's hit.

A subsequent performance at Corpus Christi (the Actor's Church) in Covent Garden, to benefit the Catholic Stage Guild, was seen by Cardinal William Baum, at that time Archbishop of Washington DC, and he invited me to perform the show for his Diocesan Institute for the Arts. I also played it at Westminster Cathedral and the New End Theatre in Hampstead. Tours in Europe and America followed.

I'd meantime become a regular pundit on Catholic Church History on BBC programmes, and wrote and recorded several radio documentaries for CBC (Canada) recorded at the BBC studios in London, including a modified 2-hour version of "O Papa!" replayed several times by public request. It seemed likely at the time that I'd be invited to perform the show at the Adelaide Festival, but nothing came of it.

Subsequently I freelanced for a number of London publications and from mid-73-85 served as World Affairs editor of Ambassador International; being warned at one stage by MI5 that I was on the South African secret police hit-list. Fortunately Apartheid was already much weakened and I survived without molestation.

My Dad died in 1985 at Lucerne in Switzerland while he and Mum were touring Europe, and I accompanied her home to Sydney, having scattered his ashes in London not far from where he was born. An attempt was made to raise interest in "O Papa!" but again all efforts proved abortive.

Late '85 to early '92 I was resident in Majorca, Spain, with my foster brother Roderic Vickers, where I researched one of the books I'm trying to peddle, "The Invention of Christianity and the Papacy - the first 500 years." The other book is a novel based on the life of a real English priest from the 13th century who ended up on the other side of the known world as ambassador and interpreter for Genghis Khan. It's titled "Search for the Unicorn". In 1992 we moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where we still reside, and where I did a few performances of "O Papa!" and devised, with Roderic, a two-man show "Seven Deadly Sins?" which we played at a small venue for a year. One critic called it "A cross between Monty Python and Noel Coward on a bender."

But "O Papa!" is still niggling me, and mother (90 now and resident in a managed-care facility in Pendle Hill) having read of egregious waste of money by the Australia Council for the Arts on projects that never materialized, recommended that I approach them for a grant to bring the show at last to Australia, and what better time than while the Pope is in Sydney for World Youth Day?

Here's where you might be able to advise me. Most of my generation seem to be either retired or dead. I'm 68 and not at all sure where to turn. I may also be a bit old to try and portray some of the characters in the show, so I'd be very happy to share the stage with some up-and-coming young blood, which would require some rehearsal and prep time for a month or so before any performances.

There may be some individuals associated with the Genesians that remember me, but the seating there is very small, hardly making the journey worthwhile.

The Riverside at Parramatta seems a good prospect, but they may already have plans for July 2008. The Independent, where I played the Pope in "Becket", is too big and cavernous.

Your Catholica website has been a great help in Familiarizing me with some of the current hierarchy and the upbeat attitudes of some, like yourself, who, like my friends at the National Catholic Reporter and Call to Action, are trying to drag the church, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century.

When I was doing "O Papa!" in Rome in '75, I was interviewed by an Aussie priest on Vatican Radio, but I've misplaced my diary for that period and can't recall his name. I believe he was returning to Sydney to run a Catholic Information Service. He could be a bishop now. He told me a delightful story about John XXIII. As you know, he was very rotund, so large that when he was unexpectedly elected pope, none of the three white cassocks prepared by the papal tailor for the first balcony appearance fitted. The largest had to be split up the back and put on him from the front. Then, for a week or so, he wandered about the Vatican in one of his old black cassocks, totally unrecognized, as he'd never worked in the Vatican and no one expected to see the Pope in black. One afternoon he wandered up the hill to Vatican Radio and found only an old man sweeping the floor. He asked, "Excuse me - don't they work here in the afternoon?" The old man growled, "Padre, you have it all wrong. In the morning they don't work. In the afternoon they don't come." A week or two later, an ambassador was presenting his credentials and asked the Pope, "Holiness, how many people work in the Vatican?" The pope gave him one of his mischievous looks and said, "About half."

Yours truly, Tom Lee

If you are interested please contact Tom Lee via this email address.

Helping the Nersisyan family in Armenia…

Last year on Catholica, and again largely thanks to Cliff Baxter, we were introduced to Dr Armen Gakavian - a still youngish man based at Macquarie University here in New South Wales who has decided to take on some humanitarian work assisting the people of Armenia who were brutally oppressed early in the 20th Century. In particular he has made the situation one family and their needs a particular focus of his attention and through various networks has been assisting them with various financial and medical needs. The members of Catholica have been generous in the past in assisting with the specific requests he has asked us to publicise through our pages. Here is the latest request I've received from Armen...

Dr Gakavian with the Nersisyan family in Armenia

Dear all,

Psychologists talk about the long-term effects of trauma, poor nutrition and exposure to cold weather on the physical, emotional and mental health of individuals. In Armenia, there is ample evidence of this, with many individuals and families suffering from multiple ailments resulting from untreated chronic conditions.

I say all of this because I somehow feel obligated to explain why, once again, I am compelled to write to you with a request for money for the Nersisyan family. The above paragraph is the only way I can come close to explaining, to myself and to others, the unending succession of health problems that seems to confront this family.

Two days ago, 21 year-old Hrach wrote to me with 2 requests:

1. APPENDIX REMOVAL: Hrach's sister, Arusik, has developed acute appendicitis, for which she needs immediate treatment. I need to send US$350 - about AU$430 - to them ASAP. My target for transferring the money is Tuesday.

Can you help?

2. PRIOBIOTICS AND MEDICINES: The strong drugs that Sona, Hrach's mother, took following her thrombosis operation late last year have resulted in an acute candida infection, for which she needs to take probiotics and certain drugs (please forgive me for not being able to provide the exact details - it is very difficult to grasp medical terms and the names of medicines in one's own language, let alone in a language that is not your everyday tongue!). For this, she needs US$80 a month (just under AU$100 a month) for the next 6 months.

Would, say, 5 people like to give AU$20 a month each, for the next 6 months?

The best way to give is by direct deposit. My account details are:

Bank name: ANZ Bank
Bank branch - Macquarie Centre
BSB #: 012-327
Account name - G I A Gakavian
Account number - 4980-20905

Please let me know the amount and date of your transfer, so that I can keep track of incoming funds.

If you prefer to give by another method, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Thanks, and God bless you.

Best regards, Armen

PS. Any amount received in excess of the above will be used by Hrach to acquire his Graduation Certificate, which he needs to present to future employers. He is currently working 5 nights a week at an internet café and earning about US$50 (AY$60) a month, which he was hoping to save up towards obtaining the certificate. However he has so far used this money to cover a portion of his mother's medical expenses.

If you would like to contact Armen via this email address.

You can read a commentary Armen wrote for us back in January explaining more about his endeavours and his spiritual perspective HERE.
You can read the original appeal article by Cliff Baxter HERE.

Brian Coyne is the editor and publisher of Catholica Australia.

We welcome your thoughts in response to this commentary in our forum.

Brian Coyne can be contacted at: Brian Coyne <editor@catholica.com.au>

©2007 Brian Coyne

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