Benedict XVI's personal secretary described
the Pope's vacation as 'monastic,' saying that
the Holy Father spent much time in meditation
and prayer, but also took many walks in the
woods. The Pope wrapped up his 19-day summer
vacation in Lorenzago di Cadore in the Veneto
region of northern Italy, making his way to
the summer papal residence of Castel Gandolfo,
30 kilometers (18 miles) south of Rome.
It was a sort of 'monastic-Benedictine vacation,'
explained Monsignor Georg Gänswein in an
interview with the Italian daily Il Giornale.
Monsignor Gänswein explained the Pope's
daily vacation schedule: 'Every day begins with
holy Mass, followed by thanksgiving, the breviary
and meditation. Then there is breakfast, and
afterward the Holy Father spends his time reading,
studying, writing and meditating. At 1, there
is lunch and afterward the Pope takes a brief
walk in the park that surrounds the house. A
beautiful path was prepared in the woods surrounding
the residence, with a simple chapel, a statue
of Our Lady sculpted by a forest ranger, wooden
benches and beautiful vases of geraniums in
various places.
After
the Holy Father's rest he returns to his books,
to writing, study, prayer and the piano. Every
once in a while he listens to a CD of classical
music. Around 6 p.m., Benedict XVI goes out
for a walk in the forest or around the nearby
lakes. At 7:30, he has dinner, then he watches
the evening news and then, after another walk
on the house grounds, the Holy Father goes to
bed.' The Pope also stayed up-to-date on matters
of the Church while on vacation. He met with
various Church leaders, including Vatican Secretary
of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone and Cardinal
Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the archbishop of Hong Kong.
From Castel Gandolfo, the Holy Father will continue
his ministry until the end of the summer. He
will meet with Italian youth Sept. 1-2 at the
Shrine of Loreto and also has an apostolic trip
to Austria, from Sept. 7 to 9. The Pontiff will
make a pastoral visit to the Italian city of
Velletri, near Castel Gandolfo, on Sept. 23.
Today, Benedict XVI will deliver his traditional
Angelus address at Castel Gandolfo. The weekly
general audiences will begin again next Wednesday,
when the Pope meets members of the Scout Movement,
who will be marking the 100th anniversary of
the organization. [Zenit] 1374.2
The
Family
'Proclamations
of the Gospel'
Catholic
families that are nourished and penetrated by
faith are particularly beautiful proclamations
of the Gospel today, says Benedict XVI.
The
Pope said this on Tuesday during a question-and-answer
session with 400 priests of the dioceses of
Belluno-Feltre and Treviso, in the Church of
St. Justina Martyr in Auronzo di Cadore, near
Lorenzago di Cadore, where he spent his vacation.
'Christianity
is not a complicated package of many dogmas,
so that no can know them all; it is not something
exclusively for academicians, who can study
these things, but rather it is something simple:
God is, and God is near in Jesus Christ,' the
Holy Father said. 'Bringing God to others implies
above all, on one hand, love, and on the other,
hope and faith.
'Therefore
the dimension of everyday life, the best witness
for Christ, and the best proclamation is always
the life of true Christians.'
The
Pontiff particularly praised the example of
Catholic families.
'If
we see families nourished by faith, how they
live in joy, how they live suffering in a deep
and underlying joy, how they help others, loving
God and their neighbor, this seems to me to
be the most beautiful proclamation today,' he
said. 'For me, the most comforting proclamation
is always that of seeing Catholic families and
Catholic individuals who are penetrated by faith:
The presence of God shines forth in them.' [Zenit]
1374.3
United
Nations
Pressure
on the Philippines
The
United Nations is placing pressure on the Philippines
to reduce its population and reverse its pro-life
laws that prohibit abortions. A representative
of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
told the Filipino government that it should
adopt the agency's Millennium Development Goals
to eradicate poverty and hunger. The UNFPA has
been involved in China's family planning programme
that prohibits couples from having more than
one child and has resulted in forced abortions
and sterilisations as well as significant legal
and political harassment. China instituted its
policy for same anti-poverty reasons. Suneeta
Mukherjee, UNFPA representative to the Philippines
said the country must do more to promote 'women's
rights ... including reproductive health and
family planning.' However, the strongly Catholic
country has turned back previous efforts to
weaken its protective laws. In March, pro-life
advocates celebrated the defeat of a bill that
would have prohibited families from having more
than two children. [LifeNews.com] 1374.4
Radical
homosexual groups
The
Catholic Family Institute (C-Fam) reports from
New York how radical homosexual groups are flooding
the UN accreditation process for non-governmental
organizations and they seem poised to cause
serious problems for traditionally minded countries.
Samantha
Singson writes: 'Overturning a prior decision
by the NGO accrediting committee, the UN Economic
and Social Council (ECOSOC) voted to grant official
consultative status to the Coalition Gaie et
Lesbienne du Quebec (CGLQ) and the Swedish Federation
for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights
(RFSL) in Geneva last week.
The
voting process was mired in confusion over unclear
language. Several delegate requests for clarification
interrupted the roll-call vote and led Pakistan
to call for a point of order and ask for a re-vote.
No re-vote was taken. The motion to grant ECOSOC
status passed with 22 countries voting in favor,
13 against, 13 abstaining and 6 absent.
An
attorney for one NGO at the Geneva meeting told
the Friday Fax, 'Increasingly in the past several
months, at meetings such as the CSW [Commission
on the Status of Women], the Human Rights Council
and now the ECOSOC council, there have been
serious issues regarding transparency in the
voting process. After witnessing several of
these types of incidents, one has to wonder
whether voting at the UN really matters or if
the result is preordained.'
The
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
(IGLHRC) and ARC International launched intense
lobbying campaigns preceding the ECOSOC vote
to ensure that both groups' applications would
be approved.
In
January, the 19-member NGO accrediting committee,
a subcommittee of the ECOSOC, rejected CGLQ's
application and deferred RFSL's request. Despite
the fact that there had been a thorough examination
of the evidence, the representative of the United
Kingdom charged that the rejection of the homosexual
rights groups was 'straightforward discrimination.'
Debates
within the NGO accrediting committee meetings
over applications from homosexual rights groups
have become increasingly heated in the last
few years. While the ECOSOC council almost always
accepts subcommittee recommendations, it has
made exceptions twice in the last year in order
to accredit radical homosexual groups.
The
International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA),
an NGO that was stripped of its ECOSOC status
because of ties to pedophilia and whose repeated
attempts to regain ECOSOC status have been denied,
launched an international campaign in 2006 to
encourage all of its 550 affiliate organizations
to submit NGO applications for UN consultative
status. Many have applied and been accepted.
ECOSOC
members voting in favor of granting status to
CGQL and RFSL included the United States, the
United Kingdom, Albania, Austria, Bolivia, Brazil,
Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany,
Greece, Guinea-Bissau, Iceland, Japan, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand,
Portugal and Romania.
Voting
against were Algeria, Belarus, Benin, China,
Guinea, Indonesia, Iraq, Pakistan, Russian Federation,
Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Sudan.
Speaking
to the press after the ECOSOC vote, CGLQ's executive
director and ILGA North America representative,
Yvan Lapointe, said that his group now plans
to use the UN as a platform for spreading 'homosexual
rights' to many of the same countries that voted
against it. [C-Fam] 1374.5
Europe
The
deterioration of education
The
deterioration of education. In an interview
with the Archdiocese of Madrid's weekly paper,
Alba, Inger Enkvist, adviser to the Ministry
of Education in Sweden, said it was 'cynical'
that Spain would copy an educational model that
is a proven failure. The absence of effort,
the lack of authority and the precariousness
of the content will exert a heavy cost. The
only winners will be the teachers 'plugged into
the budget.'
Enkvist
has spent decades studying the process of decay
in European public schools and she thinks that
the deterioration of education is the cause
of 'constructivism,' which is a 'process assumed
by the majority of European educational models.
It is based on the idea that the truth is only
that which we construct ourselves, thus destroying
the tradition and knowledge accumulated by previous
generations. Constructivism teaches that the
child should know the truth on his own.'
However,
she countered, 'The teacher should always be
the one to lead the student towards the truth.
Constructivists worry a lot about how you teach
but not about what you teach. A teaching method
in which what is put first is not effort but
rather that the children are happy, that they
play and work together as a team, and that they
say what they want, has already proven to be
a failure,' Enkvist said. The ones who benefit
most are the teachers who have created this
system sustained by public funds.
'This
constructivism creates adolescent adults who
want everything right now,' she continued. 'It's
like a permanent 1968 generation. Of course,
nothing in life is immediate, most of the fruit
of our labour comes after much effort, and the
[constructivist] attitude renders some unfit
for life because they confuse desires with reality.
They end up believing that if they want something
to be true, reality will end up conforming to
their desires,' she added.
'This
is not a problem of resources,' Enkvist continued,
'but of the system itself. And perhaps the system
would work better with fewer resources. In Asian
countries, where classrooms overflow with 50
or more students, textbooks are of poor quality
and teachers are underpaid, amazing results
are being achieved. . . .' [CNA] 1374.6
www.cfnews.org.uk
International
news
CHINA
Four priests arrested
The
US-based Catholic rights organization, the Cardinal
Kung Foundation, claimed this morning that four
priests have been arrested in China. According
to the Foundation, three of the priests were
arrested on Tuesday when they were hiding in
a private house in the Ximeng region of Inner
Mongolia. The three underground Roman Catholic
priests were arrested because they refused to
join the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association
and because they were loyal to Pope Benedict,
the foundation said in a statement. The three
priests, Liang Aijun, 35, Wang Zhong, 41 and
Gao Jinbao, 34, all from Hebei province in northern
China were initially imprisoned in a cage and
deprived of all contact with the outside world,
the foundation claimed.
The
priests have now all been transferred to an
undisclosed location, it said in a statement.
A fourth priest, Father Lui Tai, 50, has been
detained since early July in the Zhuolu county
detention cell, also in Hebei province. Father
Lui had also refused to register with the Patriotic
Association, the statement said. He belongs
to the diocese of Xuanhua, Hebei. The state-approved
church recognizes the Pope as a spiritual figurehead
but rejects papal control and refuses to allow
the Vatican to appoint bishops, saying this
would be interference in its internal affairs.
President of the Cardinal Kung Foundation, Joseph
Kung cited a letter Pope Benedict XVI sent to
the bishops of China published on June 30. The
pope in his letter said that the concept of
a church which was "independent" in
terms of doctrine from the Holy See was incompatible
with Catholic teachings. Kung pointed out that
the pope had assured the Chinese government
that Catholics could also be "good citizens"
and respectfully asked the Chinese government
to guarantee them "authentic religious
freedom. Let us not forget that there are, as
far as we know, still five bishops in jail;
many other bishops are under house arrests and
severe surveillance; and approximately 15 priests
and some Catholic lay persons - an unknown number
of them - are also in jail," he said. "While
we need to love our enemies and pray for those
who persecute us, as Pope Benedict told us in
his China letter, we also need to awaken the
world to the ongoing persecution of the Roman
Catholic Church in China," Kung added.
"The freedom-loving and powerful countries
of the world should take into greater consideration
... all human rights violations in China when
forming and implementing their political and
commercial decisions in relation to China."
[Earth Times] 1374.7
CHINA
Pro-lifers sentenced to prison
Chinese
courts in Bobai county in the southwestern portion
of the Asian nation sentenced two men to prison
who were involved in a protest against forced
abortions that involved thousands of people.
The local population engaged in riots after
a campaign by local officials that resulted
in dozens of forced abortions. The protests
began after family planning authorities began
forcibly aborting women for violations of the
nation's one-child population policy in April.
At least 61 women were made to have abortions
as late as seven and nine months into pregnancy.
Women said were forced to have abortions because
they were unmarried, while other women were
married and pregnant with their second child.
Because of the alleged violations of the family
planning policy, officials increased fines for
offenders and began seizing or destroying the
property of people who couldn't pay the fines.
Some of the citizens of the area say the fines
were instituted even on people who had already
paid them and that and the forced abortions
cause thousands of citizens to riot and destroy
government buildings and property.
Police
eventually arrested 28 people in association
with the riots, according to official Chinese
media sources. While the government media did
not say whether anyone had died, the New York
Times reported that eyewitnesses said at least
five people had been killed in the protests,
including local family planning officials who
had forcibly aborted the babies and destroyed
homes.Now, according to the official Xinhua
News Agency, two men, whose names were given
as Peng and Li, have been arrested in connection
with the protests. The government's news service
said they photocopied the letterhead and seals
from county authority documents onto forged
documents. The letters then claimed government
would refund the 'social support fee' and give
subsidies to the residents. The two men made
400 copies of the forged document and distributed
them to 'instigate' the residents to demand
the money, the government's news service claimed.
According to Reuters, Peng was among the people
forced to pay up to tens of thousands of yuan
for unapproved births. Li and Peng were sentenced
to one and two years in prison, respectively,
for instigating the riots. The abortions have
all occurred at the Youjiang District People's
Hospital of Baise City, where local officials
denied the forced abortions were occurring.
[LifeNews.com] 1374.7
IRELAND
Prominent pro-lifer elected to Senate
The
former spokesman for the Archdiocese of Dublin
has been elected to the third seat in the Irish
Senate. Ronan Mullen, 36, a first-time candidate,
and well-known pro-life media commentator and
barrister, pulled off what the Irish Times
reported to be a 'sensational upset.' Mullen,
campaigning on family and community issues,
pulled in support from a broad array of voters,
the Irish Times reported. Mullen stated
that the government should strive to 'make Ireland
a centre of excellence for adult stem cell research
as opposed to ethically controversial embryo-destructive
research.' In a speech after the election, Senator
Mullen said: 'We have found a new way to talk
about certain values in Irish life and those
values have resonated with people and those
values are respect for the dignity of the person
and respect for life itself at all stages and
in all situations.'[Zenit] 1374.8
JAPAN
'Womb-on-a-chip'
An electronic IVF device is being developed
by Japanese researchers. Tokyo University scientists
are working on a so-called 'womb-on-a-chip'
that can produce embryos when it is fed with
sperm and eggs. The 2mm wide device can contain
up to 20 fertilised eggs which can grow there
until ready for implantation or freezing. Dr
Teruo Fujii, who is leading the research, said:
'We are providing the embryos with a much more
comfortable environment, mimicking what happens
in the body.' He plans to test the chip on human
embryos later this year. [Irish Examiner, SPUC]
1374.9
USA
New York Times/CBS News abortion
poll
A new poll conducted by the New York Times
and CBS News finds that 56 percent of Americans
wants abortions to be illegal or under more
strict limitations. The survey found 22 percent
of Americans say abortions should not be permitted
and another 34 percent wants abortions to be
much harder to get than they are currently.
Jut 41 percent of those polled say abortion
should generally be available without any limits.
The
media outlets asked respondents the following
question: 'Which of these comes closest to your
view? Abortion should be generally available
to those who want it; Abortion should be available
but under stricter limits than it is now; or
Abortion should not be permitted?' The poll
found that the number of Americans who don't
want any limits on abortions has risen from
34 percent in March to 37 percent in May and
41 percent now. Those wanting more limits has
fallen from 41 percent in March to 37 percent
in May to 34 percent now.
The
percentage of those who do not wants abortions
permitted at all has held steady from 23 percent
in March to 21 percent in May to 22 percent
now. Pro-life observers said the poll is faulty
because, while it pretends to offer a pro-life,
pro-abortion and middle ground answer, it actually
puts most pro-life advocates in a tough spot
by forcing them to choose the middle ground
response.
Polls that break down abortion attitudes into
various categories find a 55-45 percent pro-life
split and a large portion of the pro-life advocates
say abortion should be illegal in virtually
all cases except to save the life of the mother
or in cases of rape and incest. Such people
don't have a category in a poll like this one
that gives them only an option to have abortion
not be permitted in any case without exception.
The CBS News/New York Times poll featured
telephone interviews with 1,554 American adults
and was conducted from July 9 to July 17. It
has a margin of error of three percent. [LifeNews]
1374.10
USA
Pro-life group's boycott list
A
pro-life group that monitors corporations that
give contributions to Planned Parenthood has
released a new boycott list. Life Decisions
International hopes pro-life advocates will
consult the list before making purchases at
some of the leading companies in the United
States because they support the number one abortion
business. Doug Scott, the president of LDI,
tells LifeNews.com that the boycott list has
proven effective over the 15 years the group
has targeted corporate Planned Parenthood sponsors.
'As a direct result of the commitment, action
and prayers of pro-family people, at least 153
corporations have stopped funding Planned Parenthood,'
he said. Scott estimates that the boycott has
cost Planned Parenthood more than $35 million
over the period after corporations targeted
by the boycott relented. He added: 'This should
be a testament to those who believe it is impossible
to change corporate philanthropic behavior.'
Several well-known companies are appearing on
the LDI boycott list for the first time, including
the Allstate insurance company, CCA Global (the
parent of Carpet One and other flooring stores),
Chevron, Texaco, Comcast, DuPont, eBay and PayPal,
the Four Seasons Hotels, GlaxoSmithKline, Marriott,
OSI Restaurants (which includes Outback Steakhouse),
Sears and Kmart, Sonic, and Wawa convenience
stores. Some of the companies that remain on
the boycott list include Abode software, Wachovia,
Nike, Time Warner, Bank of America, CIGNA, Walt
Disney, Johnson & Johnson, Wells Fargo,
Whole Foods, Nationwide insurance, and others.
The new Boycott List includes a revised section
identifying charitable organizations associated
with Planed Parenthood. That includes the Audubon
Society, Alzheimer's Association, AARP, American
Diabetes Association, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation,
MDA, NEA, MS Society, and the Sierra Club, among
others. 'The Pro-Life Movement will succeed
only to the extent that pro-life people are
willing to be inconvenienced,' Scott said. 'The
very lives of children are worth that much effort
and a whole lot more.' [LifeNews] 1374.11
USA
Pharmacists and the killer-pill
American
pharmacists in Washington state have sued the
state over a new law that requires them to sell
the morning-after pill. Two pharmacists, Rhonda
Mesler and Margo Thelen, and Stormans Inc.,
the owners of a grocery store that includes
a pharmacy, filed a lawsuit earlier this week.
They said that the recent regulation forces
them into 'choosing between their livelihoods
and their deeply held religious and moral beliefs.'
[AP on ABC Money, SPUC] 1374.12
World
Youth Day
Pope
Benedict XVI's message
Benedict
XVI's Message for 23rd World Youth Day, due
to be held in Sydney, Australia from July 15
to 20, 2008, has as its theme: 'You will receive
power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;
and you will be my witnesses' (Acts of the Apostles
1, 8). The Message is dated July 20 in Lorenzago
di Cadore, Italy. Given below are excerpts from
the English translation.
1. The XXIII World Youth Day
'The underlying theme of the spiritual preparation
for our meeting in Sydney is the Holy Spirit
and mission. ... In this message I gladly offer
you an outline for meditation that you can explore
during this year of preparation. In this way
you can test the quality of your faith in the
Holy Spirit, rediscover it if it is lost, strengthen
it if it has become weak.'
2. The promise of the Holy Spirit in the
Bible
'Attentive listening to the Word of God concerning
the mystery and action of the Holy Spirit opens
us up to great and inspiring insights. ... The
outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the nascent
Church was the fulfilment of a promise made
much earlier by God, announced and prepared
throughout the Old Testament.'
'In 'the fullness of time,' the angel of the
Lord announced to the Virgin of Nazareth that
the Holy Spirit, 'the power of the Most High,'
would come upon her and overshadow her. The
Child to be born would be holy and would be
called Son of God. ... Before His death on the
Cross, He would tell His disciples several times
about the coming of the Holy Spirit, the 'Consoler'
Whose mission would be to bear witness to Him
and to assist believers by teaching them and
guiding them to the fullness of Truth.'
3. Pentecost, the point of departure for the
Church's mission
On the day of Pentecost 'the Holy Spirit renewed
the Apostles from within, filling them with
a power that would give them courage to go out
and boldly proclaim that 'Christ has died and
is risen!' Freed from all fear, they began to
speak openly with self-confidence. These frightened
fishermen had become courageous heralds of the
Gospel. Even their enemies could not understand
how 'uneducated and ordinary men' could show
such courage and endure difficulties, suffering
and persecution with joy. Nothing could stop
them.'
4. The Holy Spirit, soul of the Church and principle
of communion
'The Holy Spirit is the highest gift of God
to humankind, and therefore the supreme testimony
of His love for us, a love that is specifically
expressed as the 'yes to life' that God wills
for each of His creatures. This 'yes to life'
finds its fullness in Jesus of Nazareth and
in His victory over evil by means of the redemption.'
5. The Holy Spirit as 'Teacher of the interior
life'
'My dear young friends, the Holy Spirit continues
today to act with power in the Church, and the
fruits of the Spirit are abundant in the measure
in which we are ready to open up to this power
that makes all things new. ... However, at this
point a question naturally arises: who is the
Holy Spirit for me? It is a fact that for many
Christians He is still the 'great unknown.'
This is why, as we prepare for the next World
Youth Day, I wanted to invite you to come to
know the Holy Spirit more deeply at a personal
level.'
'The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the love of
the Father and of the Son, is the Source of
life that makes us holy. ... Nevertheless, it
is not enough to know the Spirit; we must welcome
Him as the guide of our souls, as the 'Teacher
of the interior life' Who introduces us to the
Mystery of the Trinity, because He alone can
open us up to faith and allow us to live it
each day to the full. The Spirit impels us forward
towards others, enkindles in us the fire of
love, makes us missionaries of God's charity.'
6. The Sacraments of Confirmation and the Eucharist
'Faith is born and is strengthened within us
through the Sacraments, particularly those of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation
and the Eucharist. ... This truth concerning
the three Sacraments that initiate our lives
as Christians is perhaps neglected in the faith
life of many Christians. They view them as events
that took place in the past and have no real
significance for today, like roots that lack
life-giving nourishment. ... Yet it is through
the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and
then, in an ongoing way, the Eucharist, that
the Holy Spirit makes us children of the Father,
brothers and sisters of Jesus, members of His
Church, capable of a true witness to the Gospel,
and able to savour the joy of faith.'
'Nowadays it is particularly necessary to rediscover
the Sacrament of Confirmation and its important
place in our spiritual growth. ... Confirmation
gives us special strength to witness to and
glorify God with our whole lives. It makes us
intimately aware of our belonging to the Church,
the 'Body of Christ,' of which we are all living
members, in solidarity with one another.'
'I would like to add a word about the Eucharist.
In order to grow in our Christian life, we need
to be nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ.
... 'Source and summit' of the Church's life,
the Eucharist is a 'perpetual Pentecost' since
every time we celebrate Mass we receive the
Holy Spirit Who unites us more deeply with Christ
and transforms us into Him.'
7. The need and urgency of mission
'Many young people view their lives with apprehension
and raise many questions about their future.
They anxiously ask: How can we fit into a world
marked by so many grave injustices and so much
suffering? ... How can we give full meaning
to life? ... Let us not forget that the greater
the gift of God - and the gift of the Spirit
of Jesus is the greatest of all - so much the
greater is the world's need to receive it and
therefore the greater and the more exciting
is the Church's mission to bear credible witness
to it. ... Once again I repeat that only Christ
can fulfil the most intimate aspirations that
are in the heart of each person. Only Christ
can humanize humanity and lead it to its 'divinization.'
Through the power of His Spirit He instils divine
charity within us, and this makes us capable
of loving our neighbour and ready to be of service.
... There are those who think that to present
the precious treasure of faith to people who
do not share it means being intolerant towards
them, but this is not the case, because to present
Christ is not to impose Him.
'Moreover, two thousand years ago twelve Apostles
gave their lives to make Christ known and loved.
Throughout the centuries since then, the Gospel
has continued to spread by means of men and
women inspired by that same missionary fervour.
Today too there is a need for disciples of Christ
Who give unstintingly of their time and energy
to serve the Gospel. ... In particular, I assure
you that the Spirit of Jesus today is inviting
you young people to be bearers of the good news
of Jesus to your contemporaries. ... You know
the ideals, the language, and also the wounds,
the expectations, and at the same time the desire
for goodness felt by your contemporaries. This
opens up the vast world of young people's emotions,
work, education, expectations, and suffering.
Each one of you must have the courage to promise
the Holy Spirit that you will bring one young
person to Jesus Christ in the way you consider
best, knowing how to 'give an explanation to
anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope,
but [to] do it with gentleness and reverence'.'
8. Invoking a 'new Pentecost' upon the world
'My dear young friends, I hope to see very many
of you in Sydney in July 2008. ... Together
we shall invoke the Holy Spirit, confidently
asking God for the gift of a new Pentecost for
the Church and for humanity in the third millennium.'
[Vatican Information Service] 1374.13
Comment
SORs
: the freedom of churches
The freedom of churches to ensure that they
employ Christians of integrity, living in accordance
with the Bible's teaching, was damaged by the
recent judgment of a Welsh Employment Tribunal
when, on July 17th July it held that the Hereford
Diocesan Board of Finance had acted unlawfully
in a case concerning the decision of the Bishop
of Hereford, Anthony Priddis, not to offer a
5 year post as Diocesan Youth Officer to an
openly homosexual applicant, John Reaney. The
Lawyers Christian Fellowship comment:
Background
On
paper Mr Reaney was a strong candidate with
substantial previous experience as a Diocesan
Youth Officer. Along with three other applicants
who were called for interview, Mr Reaney was
specifically asked to confirm his compliance
with the 1991 'Issues in Human Sexuality' statement
by the House of Bishops and General Synod. Mr
Reaney declared his compliance with it by saying
that he was not currently in a relationship
and 'for this post he did not intend to enter
into a relationship.' Mr Reaney had been in
a five year homosexual relationship that had
ended a few weeks prior to his application for
the Youth Officer job.
After
the interviews, an 8-person panel unanimously
recommended Mr Reaney to the Bishop for the
Hereford post.
The
Bishop was concerned because Mr Reaney had not
ended his recent homosexual relationship in
order to be celibate, but rather because the
relationship had simply broken down. In addition,
Mr Reaney's previous job in the Chester diocese
had finished prematurely when he was told to
choose between his homosexual partner (who had
turned up 'unannounced, inappropriately' at
events), and his job in the diocese. He had
chosen the former.
When
the Bishop asked Mr Reaney what would happen
'if he met someone [another man]' in the future,
Mr Reaney responded that if a homosexual relationship
might develop, he would discuss it with the
Bishop.
After
consideration the Bishop informed Mr Reaney
that he would not be offered the post. A short
while later, with the assistance of the homosexual
activist group Stonewall, Mr Reaney issued legal
proceedings against the Diocese.
The
judgment
The
judgment of the Cardiff Employment Tribunal
is notable for its lack of criticism of the
Bishop's conduct in the case. In fact, it is
clear from the evidence heard by the Tribunal
that Anthony Priddis dealt with the situation
with wisdom, sensitivity and grace. For this
reason, the Tribunal unanimously threw out the
allegations of harassment that Mr Reaney had
made.
As
was expected, the Tribunal reinforced the High
Court's position that there is no difference
between sexual 'orientation' and sexual 'behaviour'
in the eyes of the law. It did not matter that
the Bishop was not discriminating because Mr
Reaney was attracted to men, but because of
Mr Reaney's lifestyle as a sexually active homosexual.
The Tribunal decided that on the face of it,
Mr Reaney had been unlawfully discriminated
against because he was a homosexual.
However,
the Tribunal decided that although Mr Reaney
was not applying for a job as a clergyman, the
post of Diocesan Youth Officer did fall within
the 'very narrow' exception for which the Church
of England could discriminate on the grounds
of sexual orientation. This was a valuable decision
for all churches - Stonewall had argued aggressively
that churches should not be able to refuse to
employ practising homosexuals in any jobs other
than the clergy.
Churches
that want to protect the integrity of their
ministry should therefore be able to do so,
providing the job they are recruiting for involves
the employee being 'closely associated with
the promotion of the Church.' In such a case,
it is likely they can ensure that the employee
is not a practising homosexual.
However,
specifically in relation to the Church of England,
the Tribunal drew one key distinction between
clergy and non-clergy posts, by saying that
'we do not think it would be in accordance with
the Issues [in Human Sexuality] statement to
require [unmarried] lay persons to commit to
celibacy.' Sadly, the equivocal position of
the Church of England means that the courts
have said that the most that Anglican churches
can require of lay employees is that they are
not in a practising homosexual relationship
during the employment. Lay employees cannot
be expected to be repentant about past homosexual
behaviour, or to acknowledge that such behaviour
was wrong. Of course, this position would change
if the House of Bishops and General Synod were
to revise the Issues on Human Sexuality statement
and strengthen its requirements. Thankfully
this part of the judgment does not apply to
denominations outside of the Church of England.
The
court implied that providing Mr Reaney was single
on the day of the job interview and declared
an intention to remain single, then he fulfilled
the Church of England's requirements - a position
which they said was 'wholly logical and rational
because the future is not known to any person.'
Comment
The
Tribunal's argument that Mr Reaney fulfilled
the Church of England's requirements 'because
the future is not known to any person' is specious.
It was perfectly reasonable in the circumstances
for the Bishop to listen to Mr Reaney's comments
about his current and future intentions in the
light of the substantial past evidence (particularly
his long-term homosexual relationship that had
ended weeks before applying for the Hereford
job), and conclude that Mr Reaney did not satisfy
the 'Issues in Human Sexuality' document.
The
Church of all places is called not to tolerate
sin or unrighteousness. In a spirit of grace
and love the Church should require the highest
standards of Christian integrity. Where applicants
to positions of authority within the Church
display a lack of acceptance of the clear teaching
of the word of God, either through their speech
or
