[Vatican Information Service] 1449.4
Top
www.catholic-family.org
'The
smoke of Satan'
When
Pope Paul VI spoke about the 'smoke of Satan'
entering the Catholic Church, he was referring
to liturgical abuses, according to the prelate
who served as his master of ceremonies. Cardinal
Virgilio Noe, the chief Vatican liturgist during
the pontificate of Paul VI, spoke candidly about
the late Pope's concerns in an interview with
the Roman Petrus web site. The Italian prelate--
who was also the Vatican's top liturgist under
Pope John Paul I and the early years of the pontificate
of John Paul II-- is now retired, and at the age
of 86 his health is failing. In his interview
with Petrus he concentrated primarily on his years
serving Pope Paul VI.
Pope
Paul accepted the liturgical reforms after Vatican
II 'with pleasure,' Cardinal Noe said. He added
that Paul VI was not be nature a sad man, but
'he was saddened by the fact of having been left
alone by the Roman Curia.' Regarding the late
Pope's famous remark about the 'smoke of Satan,'
Cardinal Noe said that he knew what Paul VI intended
by that statement. In that denunciation, he said,
the Pope 'meant to include all those priests or
bishops and cardinals who didn't render worship
to the Lord by celebrating badly Holy Mass because
of an errant interpretation of the implementation
of the Second Vatican Council.
He
spoke of the smoke of Satan because he maintained
that those priests who turned Holy Mass into dross
in the name of creativity, in reality were possessed
of the vainglory and the pride of the Evil One.
So, the smoke of Satan was nothing other than
the mentality which wanted to distort the traditional
and liturgical canons of the Eucharistic ceremony.'
For Pope Paul VI, the cardinal continued, the
worst outcome of the post-conciliar liturgical
reform was the 'craving to be in the limelight'
that caused many priests to ignore liturgical
guidelines.
Cardinal
Noe recalled that the Pope himself believed in
careful adherence to the rubrics of the Mass,
firmly believing that 'no one is lord of the Mass.'
Speaking for himself, the former top Vatican liturgist
said that the liturgy must always be celebrated
with reverence and careful respect for the rubrics.
He said with regret that in the wake of Vatican
II 'it was believed that everything, or nearly,
was permitted.' Cardinal Noe said: 'Now it is
necessary to recover-- and in a hurry-- the sense
of the sacred in the ars celebrandi, before
the smoke of Satan completely pervades the whole
Church.' [CWNews] 1449.5
Top
www.catholic-family.org
Inter-religious
cooperation
Inter-religious cooperation can help to counteract
a disturbing trend toward secularization and heedless
individualism, Pope Benedict XVI said in a May
16 address to visiting bishops from Thailand.
The Holy Father told the Thai prelates, who were
completing their ad limina visits, that he was
impressed with the productive relationships the
Catholic minority had established with the Buddhist
leaders of the Asian country. That friendship,
he said, could help the two faiths together to
fight against the more disturbing elements of
globalization, a process which is 'pushing the
transcendent and the sense of the sacred to the
margins and eclipsing the very source of harmony
and unity within the universe.'
Christians and Buddhists can work together to
help people recognize 'the articulation of ethical
values discernible to reason, reverence for the
transcendent, prayer, and contemplation,' the
Pope said. The Pope saluted the efforts of Thai
Catholics 'to uphold the dignity of every human
life, especially the most vulnerable.' He offered
special recognition for the efforts to curb prostitution
and other forms of sexual exploitation that are
rampant in Thailand. Moving beyond that work,
he encouraged the bishops to preach regularly
about the sanctity of human sexuality and of marriage,
to counteract the toxic influence of pornography
and the 'trivilization of sexuality in the media
and entertainment industries which fuels a decline
in moral values and leads to the degradation of
women.' Of particular concern to you is the scourge
of the trafficking of women and children, and
prostitution.' [CWNews] 1449.6
Top
www.catholic-family.org
Consecrated
virginity
Consecrated virginity is a powerful form of Christian
witness that 'flowered anew in the Church after
Vatican II,' Pope Benedict XVI remarked in a May
15 address to 500 members of the Ordo Virginum
order who were on a pilgrimage to Rome. Consecrated
virginity, the Pontiff said, is 'a charism which
is as luminous and fruitful in the eyes of the
faith as it is obscure and futile in the eyes
of the world.'
The
ancient roots of this way of life, he said, reflect
the 'unprecedented novelty' in which some women
of the early Church discovered their 'desire to
give one's entire being to God, which had had
its first extraordinary fulfilment in the Virgin
of Nazareth and her 'Yes.'' The Pope encouraged
the women to life their vocation with 'the intensity,
but also the freshness, of its origins.' The choice
of virginity, he said, testifies to 'the transitory
nature of earthly things and an anticipation of
future good.' The members of Ordo Virginum,
he said, should be witnesses of hope in a future
joy, and of 'the peace that belongs to those who
abandon themselves to the love of God.' [CWNews]
1449.7
Top
www.catholic-family.org
Thailand
bishops' ad limina
On
Friday, the Holy Father received prelates from
the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Thailand,
who have just completed their 'ad limina' visit.
Speaking to them in English, the Pope pointed
out that the mission of their country's small
Catholic community 'is undertaken within a context
of relationships, most especially with Buddhists.
In fact, you have readily expressed to me your
great respect for the Buddhist monasteries and
the esteem you have for the contribution they
make to the social and cultural life of the Thai
people.
'The coexistence of different religious communities
today unfolds against the backdrop of globalisation',
he added, noting how 'on the one hand there is
the growing multitude of economic and cultural
bonds which usually enhance a sense of global
solidarity and shared responsibility for the well-being
of humanity, on the other there are disturbing
signs of a fragmentation and a certain individualism,
... pushing the transcendent and the sense of
the sacred to the margins and eclipsing the very
source of harmony and unity within the universe.
'The negative aspects of this cultural phenomenon,
which cause dismay to yourselves and other religious
leaders in your country, ... point to the importance
of inter-religious co-operation', In this context,
the Pope called on the prelates to promote, 'in
concordance with Buddhists, ... mutual understanding
concerning the transmission of traditions to succeeding
generations, the articulation of ethical values
discernible to reason, reverence for the transcendent,
prayer and contemplation'.
'The
outpouring of the Spirit is both a gift and a
task, ... the presentation of Christ and His love
to the world', said Pope Benedict, indicating
that, 'in Thailand, that gift is encountered particularly
through the Church's medical clinics and social
works as well as through her schools'. 'Catholic
schools and colleges make a remarkable contribution
to the intellectual formation of numerous young
Thais. They should also make an outstanding contribution
to the spiritual and moral education of the young,'
Benedict XVI told the bishops. He also appealed
'to the many men and women religious who diligently
serve in Catholic institutions of learning in
your dioceses.
Theirs
should not primarily be a role of administration
but of mission. ... It is of the utmost importance,
therefore, that religious remain close to the
students and their families, most especially through
their classroom teaching of the catechism for
Catholics and others interested, and through moral
formation and care for the spiritual needs of
all in the school community'. He also called on
religious congregations to ensure that schools
'become increasingly accessible to the poor who
so often long for the faithful embrace of Christ'.
The Holy Father pointed out that the task of spreading
the Word of God cannot be left to catechists alone.
'It is the ministry of your priests', he told
the prelates, 'to 'announce the divine word to
all' and to 'labour in preaching and teaching''.
The Pope expressed his appreciation 'for the efforts
of the entire Catholic community of Thailand to
uphold the dignity of every human life, especially
the most vulnerable. Of particular concern to
you is the scourge of the trafficking of women
and children, and prostitution. Undoubtedly poverty
is a factor underlying these phenomena, and in
this regard I know much is being achieved through
the Church's development programmes. 'But there
is a further aspect which must be acknowledged
and collectively addressed if this abhorrent human
exploitation is to be effectively confronted.
I am speaking', the Holy Father concluded, 'of
the trivialisation of sexuality in the media and
entertainment industries which fuels a decline
in moral values and leads to the degradation of
women, the weakening of fidelity in marriage and
even the abuse of children'. [Vatican Information
Service] 1449.8
Top
www.catholic-family.org
The
Family
Alliance
for the Family in Europe
On
Friday, in the Vatican, Benedict XVI received
representatives from the Forum of Family Associations
and from the European Federation of Catholic Family
Associations, who are in Rome to participate in
a conference entitled: 'Alliance for the Family
in Europe, associations in the leading role'.
In
his comments, the Pope recalled how the conference
aims 'to compare the experiences of various types
of family association, and has the objective of
raising the awareness of political leaders and
public opinion on the central and irreplaceable
role that the family plays in our society'.
The
Holy Father recalled the fact that this year marks
the 40th anniversary of Paul VI's Encyclical 'Humanae
vitae', and the 25th anniversary of the promulgation
of the 'Charter of the Rights of the Family',
presented by the Holy See in 1983.
'The
Charter of the Rights of the Family is principally
addressed to political leaders', said the Pope,
and it 'offers those invested with responsibility
for the common good a model and a point of reference
upon which to base appropriate political legislation
for the family. At the same time, it is addressed
to all families, encouraging them to come together
in the defence and promotion of their rights'.
Benedict
XVI then quoted John Paul II, 'the Pope of the
family', who used to say that 'the future of humanity
passes by way of the family' and he added: 'Biblical
revelation is above all an expression of a story
of love, a story of alliance with God and with
mankind. This is why the story of love and union
between a man and a woman in the alliance of marriage
was taken up by God as a symbol of the history
of salvation'.
Turning
to consider the difficulties facing families in
the modern world, the Pope said: 'From so many
families, in a worryingly precarious state, we
hear a cry for help, often an unconscious one,
which clamours for a response from civil authorities,
from ecclesial communities and from the various
educational agencies. Accordingly, there is an
increasingly urgent need for a common commitment
to support families by every means available,
from the social and economic point of view'.
Among
the proposals to emerge from the conference, the
Holy Father praised that of 'the laudable commitment
to mobilise citizens in support of the initiative
for 'family-friendly fiscal policy'', which aims
to urge 'governments to promote family-related
policies that give parents a real possibility
of having children and bringing them up in the
family'.
'For
believers, the family (cell of communion at the
very foundations of society) is like a 'small
domestic church' called to reveal God's love to
the world. ... Help families to be a visible sign
of this truth, to defend the values which are
written in human nature itself and which are therefore
common to all humanity: life, the family and education.
These are not principles deriving from a [particular]
confession of faith but from the application of
a justice respectful of the rights of each human
being. This', he concluded, 'is your mission,
dear Christian families'. [Vatican Information
Service] 1449.9
Top
www.catholic-family.org
'State-approved fornication' *
* *
Paul
Likoudis writes: 'An Anglican theologian at
Montreal's McGill University, Douglas Farrow,
director for Pluralism, Religion, and Public Policy,
delivered a stern wake-up call to Catholics in
Canada, Western Europe, and the United States
that state interference in marriage absolutely
implies state domination and regulation of Christian
churches, especially the Catholic Church.
In
an April 27 essay published in 'The Montreal
Gazette', Farrow, author of a new book, Nation
of Bastards: Essays on the End of Marriage,
explains how the Province of Quebec's policies
defining and regulating marriage - especially
by offering special legal recognition of same-sex
couples - is actually an onslaught on Christian
civilization, 'and quite specifically against
the Catholic faith.'
Reflecting
on various aspects of the current British government's
persecution and prosecution of Catholic prelates
who insist on their right, and the right of Catholic
schools, to articulate the Church's teaching on
sexual morality, Farrow asks the questions few
dare to pose:
'When,
I wonder, will we wake to the fact that the situation
has changed quite fundamentally in the West? When
will we take concerted action aimed at preserving
our freedoms, so that they may be handed on to
our children and to the next generation?'
The
Canadian government's aggressive assertions -
step by step over the past four generations -
that the state is the primary educator of all
children, warns Dr. Farrow, ensures the state
will also regard itself the 'educator' of the
Catholic Church, legislating and regulating what
it can teach, what roles it can fulfill in a pluralistic,
secular society.
Prominent
officials, he writes, 'have begun to question
the right of religious organizations as such,
and not just their private schools, to operate
freely on a charitable basis, if their teachings
and practices do not conform to the current ideologies
of the state. That the beliefs and practices of
these same religious organizations might belong
to the founding and progress of the state in question,
and lie at the roots of its historic social order,
seems hardly to matter. The new image must prevail:
it must at all costs be etched into the features
of the next generation.
'The
main sources of resistance to that image must
be neutralized, if not eradicated. And the primary
target here is not, as some fancy, radical Islam,
which does indeed import ideas and practices inimical
to our historic order. The primary target is Christianity,
especially Catholic Christianity.
'This
might sound alarmist, but quite frankly I mean
to raise the alarm. I think we need to understand
the larger arena in which the battle over the
new curriculum is being fought, and to recognize
that it is no longer possible to take no side
in this battle.'
Evidence
that the Quebec government, largely dominated
by lapsed or self-hating Catholics, is determined,
in Voltaire's immortal words, to ecrasez l'infame,
is the province's new school curriculum, Ethics
and Religious Culture, which Farrow insists is
deliberately designed to 'wean children away from
traditional religious and moral commitments and
to train them up in an ideology antipathetic to
those commitments, the ideology of so-called 'normative
pluralism'.'
The
curriculum, which is mandatory for public, private,
and religious-denominated schools. Farrow continues,
'is intended to teach them the Sheerman principle
that faith is all right as long as people are
not that serious about it. It is intended, in
other words, to pry them away from their most
basic communities of socialization - their families
and their houses of worship - and to unite them
in the state, with the state, and under the state,
a state that regards itself as more fundamentally
important than their families and churches....
'And
who, I wonder, will determine what is or is not
in the best interests of our children? That is
a hole in parental rights big enough to drive
a motorcade through.
'It's
crucial that we understand how the federal bill
on same-sex marriage, Bill C-38, has changed the
legal terrain both in Canada and in Quebec. Contrary
to Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, Canada's highest court has convened
marriage into an institution that, rather than
being recognized by the state, actually belongs
to the state - an institution that is a creature
of civil law, not of natural law. Parliament has
then redefined marriage in a way that excludes
procreation from its purview.
'Those
developments have put most of our parental rights
and freedoms in jeopardy. It is no longer clear,
legally speaking, who owns the children or who
is finally responsible for the children. With
the demise of traditional marriage, there is no
longer any institution that makes it plain that
the natural family unit has rights and responsibilities
that do not derive from the state but exist independently
and are brought to the state. The family no longer
exists as something that buffers its members from
state power and authority.
'This
bears directly on the issue of education. One
particular right we have always cherished, and
until recently recognized constitutionally, is
the right to educate our children as we wish,
especially with regard to religion. But that right
(never unqualified, of course) has now been taken
away.
'The
state has decided for us how to educate our children,
even with respect to religion. And why shouldn't
it? This, after all, is the kind of state that
in the same year it passed Bill 95 also happily
eliminated, under federal instructions, the one
institution that honored and protected the natural
family unit and its rights - the institution that
made clear whose children they are.
'In
Quebec,' Farrow continued, 'the government is
pressing ahead with a plan to form the next generation
in the image devised by its professional ideologues,
regardless of what Quebec families and religious
communities may think about it. It knows, as one
recent ministry document declares, that 'to educate
is, first and foremost, to train human beings.'
And it confesses that 'the need to secularize
public schools in order to respect each person's
human rights [does] not mean that the schools
no longer (have) to deal with the students' spiritual
development.'
'So
it will deal with their development as it sees
fit. It will train every child according to an
individualist and pluralist philosophy that effectively
renders null and void the Catholic view of spiritual
development.
'Do
you think this claim exaggerated? I can only tell
you that if you do, either you have not perused
the policy documents behind the new curriculum
or you do not grasp the Catholic faith itself.
The Catholic faith - being trinitarian, incarnational,
and ecclesial - is precisely not individualist,
or pluralist, or relativist. It seeks personhood,
not individuality. It seeks communion, not state-imposed
homogeneity. (Beware the 'normative' in 'normative
pluralism'!) It desires the truth, and therefore
acknowledges errors. It takes no refuge in subjectivism,
like the new curriculum does: a subjectivism that
only thinly disguises the cynicism of an intelligentsia
and a civil service made up largely of lapsed
Catholics.
'Perhaps
you are not yet aware that prominent figures on
both sides of the Atlantic have begun to question
the right of parents to educate their children
according to their own religious beliefs even
in the privacy of their own homes. Our ministry
of education has not gone quite that far, at least
not yet. But it is determined to steal a march
on parents. Day after day, our children will be
subjected to the championing of 'individualism'
over 'institutionalism'; which is to say, individualism
will now be institutionalized at school.
'To
what purpose or effect, I ask, if not to isolate
children from the institutions - familial and
religious - that relativize the state and its
institutions? That qualify their dependence on
and allegiance to the state? In short, that make
for a free society?'
'Catholic
Insight', the national Catholic monthly magazine,
published a review of Farrow's Nation of Bastards
in its April 2008 edition by Paul Tuns, editor
of Canada's national pro-life newspaper 'The
Interim'.
The
review of this important new book began: 'First,
a government that knows not its limits and redefining
a millennia-old institution transgresses those
limits is a general threat to its citizens.
'Second,
the state will inevitably be drawn into 'a nasty
custody battle' with 'the natural family unit
for the country's children.'
'Third,
once homosexual relations are recognized as normal
and as valid as heterosexual relationships, the
state will stamp out any opposition to the distinction.
'Marriage,
Farrow reminds readers, is 'not merely an institution
of restraint' necessary for the society's moral
fiber, but 'an institution in which society invests
some of its most important ideals.' If marriage
includes homosexual couplings, then opposition
to this ideal can legitimately be squelched.
'We
already see this in Europe and Canada, where principled
objections to homosexuality are being criminalized
and those who hold such views being excluded from
participation in public life.
'As
current examples, witness Canadian human rights
commissions being asked to punish religious magazines
and political parties for expressing views critical
of homosexuality, and the exclusion of Catholic
charities in England from adoption services if
they refuse to place children with homosexual
couples.
'That
is, if homosexuals are allowed to marry, the freedom
to question homosexual behavior is not likely
to be tolerated, Hence it is indeed logical for
Janice Gross Stein, a University of Toronto professor,
to call for Christian churches to lose their charitable
tax status if they continue to consider homosexuality
sinful. The problem is not with the consistency,
but the premise: that homosexual couples deserve
equal treatment in marriage...
'The
state thus turns the Trudeau/Globe and Mail
line about keeping the state out of the nation's
bedroom on its head, for with same-sex 'marriage'
the state now assumes that all consensual sex
that occurs is a public matter. When the government
fails to consider marriage's central role in the
creation of future generations of Canadians, it
reduces the civil institution to mere 'coupling
and copulation' or 'state-approved fornication.'
'This
state would become ever more interfering, enforcing
private immorality. How long do you think liberty
would last under such a regime? As part of the
custody battle for the nation's children, the
main battlefield is education. The state, not
parents, will decide what morality children will
be taught.
'Parents
who seek to protect their kids from immoral teaching
by home-schooling or sending their children to
private schools will find a jealous state interfering
with the rights of parents to determine how to
best educate their children, lest anyone have
the audacity to teach that homosexuality is wrong.'
Farrow's
book, Tuns informs his readers, is not just about
the threat to the Christian social order and marriage
posed by homosexual activists seeking state status
for their relationships, but merely part of a
libertine agenda, that includes state recognition
of-all types of sexual relationships; polygamy
is next, according to the author.
'Farrow
says the same-sex 'marriage' debate is far from
over and that declarations by politicians and
pundits that the debate is closed is 'wishful
thinking.' This debate will cease when marriage
ceases to matter.
'That
is both an encouragement to hope and reason to
worry,' observed Tuns. [http://www.thewandererpress.com]
1449.10
Top
www.catholic-family.org
United
Nations
Catholic
Family Institute report
The
Catholic Family Institute (C-Fam) reports from
New York on the UN Disabilities Convention and
the recent report from the Institute for Family
Policy.
1. Disabilities Convention
Samantha Singson writes : 'At a special commemorative
event at the United Nations General Assembly (GA)
this week, delegates and members of civil society
celebrated the entry into force of the Disabilities
Convention. Lauded as 'the first human rights
treaty of the twenty-first century' and a 'significant
addition to international human rights law,' the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
also marks the first and only UN treaty which
includes the term 'sexual and reproductive health.'
While speakers heralded the rapid entry into force
of the Disabilities Convention, several also alluded
to the difficulties and obstacles faced during
the drafting of the treaty. Over the four years
of negotiations, controversy swirled around the
proposed inclusion of the term 'sexual and reproductive
health.' Debate on the term continued until the
wee hours of the last day of negotiations and
delegations only assented to the inclusion of
'sexual and reproductive health' in the Convention
with the explicit understanding that it excluded
abortion.
When the GA adopted the Disabilities Convention,
15 nations made statements interpreting 'sexual
and reproductive health' as not encompassing abortion,
with no nation contradicting that interpretation.
Archbishop Celestino Migliore of the Holy See
stated that the Vatican could not sign the Convention
since the language which could imply a right to
abortion was not removed. 'It is surely tragic,'
said the Archbishop, 'that, whenever fetal defect
is a precondition for offering or employing abortion,
the same convention created to protect persons
with disabilities from all discrimination in the
exercise of their rights, may be used to deny
the very basic right to life of disabled unborn
persons.'
In addition to the Holy See, the Marshall Islands,
the United States, Canada, Peru, Honduras, Uganda,
Egypt, Iran, Nicaragua, Libya, Costa Rica, the
Philippines, Syria, and El Salvador noted their
interpretations of the phrase 'sexual and reproductive
health' either as not including abortion or as
not creating any new rights.
The Disabilities Convention entered into force
in record time. The Convention was adopted by
the GA in December 2006 and over 80 countries
signed onto the Convention on the first day its
text was opened for approval on March 30, 2007.
While the delegations of Poland and Malta were
two of the first to sign, both states also made
formal reservations stating that the term 'sexual
and reproductive health' does not confer a right
to abortion. Thus far, 129 countries have singed
the Convention and it has been ratified by - that
is, made legally binding upon - another 25 nations.
During the GA ceremony this week, speakers emphasized
that the entry into force of the Convention was
merely a first step and that attention would now
be placed on implementation. As outlined in the
Convention, a new treaty monitoring body called
the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,
as well as a Conference of States Parties, is
expected to be convened within the next six months.
2.
Institute for Family Policy
Maciej
Golubiewski writes : 'Last week, the Spain-based
Institute for Family Policy issued its second
annual report at the European Parliament in Brussels,
warning of the catastrophic consequences of demographic
decline. 'The Evolution of the Family in Europe
2008' sets forth nation-by-nation critical demographic
indicators that point to continent-wide lower
birth rates, higher divorce rates, increasing
abortion rates as well as a trend to postpone
marriage. The sixty-page report also compares
family policies in member states as well as that
of the European Union (EU) as a whole, concluding
with a set of comprehensive policy proposals.
The report points to immigration as the main source
of population growth in Europe, which does not
prevent European countries from becoming elderly
societies. Bulgaria and Germany have the fewest
young people, while Italy and Germany have the
largest elderly populations. In 2007 there were
almost a million fewer babies born than in 1982.
Eastern European countries lead with critically
low birth rates, with Slovakia and Poland failing
to reach a rate of 1.3 per family. For the population
to replace itself, the rate should be 2.1.
Abortion, together with cancer, emerges as the
leading cause of death in Europe, with 1.2 million
abortions each year, translating into one abortion
every 27 seconds. The highest increase in abortion
rates has been experienced by Spain, whose government
has recently instituted many new social policies,
including legalization of same-sex marriage.
Another trend underlined in the report is the
increase of cohabitation. In 2007 there were over
seven hundred thousand fewer marriages than in
1980, translating to a 25% decrease. This trend
is most prevalent among new member states - Bulgaria,
Slovenia and Hungary - where the marriage rate
fell by more than 50%. Accompanying this tendency
is the increase in out-of-wedlock births. One
out of three children is born outside of marriage
in Europe. Divorce is also on the upswing, with
365,000 more divorces in 2007 than in 1980. That,
coupled with shorter marriages, leads to more
single-parent families and contributes to the
existence of childless households.
The final part of the report contains a series
of recommendations, both for individual member
states and the EU as a whole. It criticizes traditionally
Catholic countries such as Poland, Spain, Portugal
and Italy of setting aside a meager one percent
of the GDP for the support of the family, whereas
the member state average is 2.1 percent. The report
proposes setting aside 2.5% of national GDP for
direct family assistance programs, reducing value
added taxes on essential infant products, and
'increasing tax convergence in Europe to make
it more family oriented.' With regards to the
EU, it urges European institutions to recognize
supporting the family as a policy priority. The
report calls on the EU to promote the family as
a universal institution with attendant rights
(including the right of parents to educate their
children) through various means, such as creating
an EU Commission for the Family and encouraging
cooperation among member states in promoting family-friendly
policies.
[C-FAM] 1449.11
Top
www.catholic-family.org
Europe
Bishops'
recommendation on VAT
The
Conference of European Bishops' Conferences (COMECE)
has recommended a reduction of the value-added
tax (VAT) on goods related to family life or church
services.
The
secretariat of COMECE, a group set up to represent
the episcopal conferences of countries in the
European Union, suggested to the European Commission
that lower VAT rates could help to offset pressures
on family life at a time when Europe is experiencing
'unprecedented demographic changes.' Lower VAT
rates would improve loving conditions for families,
COMECE argued. The COMECE particularly called
for lower VAT rates on diapers, child-care products,
car seats, and materials needed for construction
of day-care centers.
COMECE noted with approval that the European Commission
was already entertaining a proposal to lower VAT
rates for 'restoration, conservation, renovation,
and maintenance of churches and other places of
worship, including objects of religious worship.'
Such a policy would help to preserve church buildings
that are 'part of the common cultural heritage
of Europe,' the group said. [CWNews] 1449.12
Top
www.catholic-family.org
The
radical onslaught
'Grotesquely
bleak' abortion statistics *
* *
Thousands
of British women have had four or more abortions,
including dozens who have undergone six by the
age of 30. Figures uncovered by the Telegraph
show that almost 4,000 women have had at least
four abortions. In a 'grotesquely bleak' picture
of British society, scores of women have had at
least eight terminations. The figures emerged
as the row over controversial changes to fertility
law erupted into a bitter war of words, with a
minister accusing 'anti-abortion' MPs of trying
to 'hijack' legislation. On the eve of a crucial
Commons vote, Dawn Primarolo, the Public Health
Minister, accused Tory backbenchers of an underhand
attempt to remove the right to abortion by tabling
amendments to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology
Bill.
In
an interview with the Telegraph, she also
accused MPs who oppose the creation of hybrid
embryos of putting forward 'extreme and untrue
arguments'. Nadine Dorries, the MP leading the
campaign to reduce the abortion time limit from
24 to 20 weeks, hit back at the criticism, while
revealing that she has received hate mail over
her stance.
Miss
Primarolo made her comments as the Government
braced itself for a difficult two days of debate
on the Bill, which has been denounced by Christian
MPs and clerics. Gordon Brown was forced to concede
free votes on key aspects of the legislation after
three Catholic members of his cabinet made clear
they would vote against the measures. A free vote
will also be allowed on abortion amid unease about
the number of late terminations carried out for
'social' reasons.
It
emerged on Saturday that NHS doctors were refusing
to carry out late procedures and that 75 per cent
of the 7,000 terminations performed after 17 weeks
of pregnancy each year were being carried out
at private clinics and charities.
Department
of Health figures uncovered by the Telegraph
show that during 2006 more than 3,800 women
underwent at least their fourth abortion, including
more than 1,300 who were on their fifth or more.
Of more than 60,000 women who underwent a 'repeat'
abortion, almost 15,000 were on their third. These
included 65 women who had their sixth abortion
by the age of 30, and 82 girls aged under 18 who
had already experienced three, and more than 50
women who had had eight abortions or more.
On
Saturday night, campaigners for legal changes
expressed shock at the picture uncovered. Dr Peter
Saunders, general secretary of the Christian Medical
Fellowship, said: 'This is just so grotesquely
bleak.' He said the situation was 'approaching
the sorts of things we used to hear about Soviet
Russia. [Sunday Telegraph] 1449.13
Top
www.catholic-family.org
Same-sex marriage
in California
On
Thursday, the California Supreme Court imposed,
through judicial fiat, so-called same-sex marriage
on Californians, thus totally disregarding the
sanctity of marriage and the will of the people.
In 2000, Californians adopted Proposition 22 to
protect marriage and maintain its definition as
a union between one man and one woman, and expressly
prohibiting the state from recognizing same sex
marriages.
To
ensure that marriage is protected and the voice
of the people is heard, a constitutional marriage
amendment must be placed on the November ballot
and national efforts need to be made to generate
a federal constitutional marriage amendment. The
decision must be removed from the hands of judicial
activists and returned to the rightful hands of
the people.
This
seemingly undemocratic ruling has gravely concerned
many prominent members of several family groups
across the country. Karen England, executive director
for Capitol Resource Institute, stated 'The people
of California decided eight years ago that marriage
in our state will be defined as between one man
and one woman. Four arrogant, elitist, activist
judges decided that they know better than the
people how marriage should be defined.'
Ron
Prentice, the executive director of California
Family Council, warns of the contempt this ruling
shows towards democracy, 'This shocking decision
is a wake-up call for the majority of California's
citizens, whose votes have been rendered worthless
by the Supreme Court's disregard for the democratic
system.'
The
ruling not only incites fear on the ability of
the government to uphold the values of the people,
but if left unchanged, has severe implications
on the foundation of society: the family. Stephen
Bennet, Executive Director of Stephen Bennet Ministries
and a former homosexual, recognizes the devastating
effects that same-sex marriages have on families
and especially children, 'My immediate concern
is for America's children -- children who will
be deceived into believing this sinful activity
is normal and natural: it is not.'
