Prayer
intentions for June
Pope
Benedict's general prayer intention for June is:
'That all Christians may cultivate a deep and
personal friendship with Christ, in order to be
able to communicate the strength of His love to
every person they meet'.
His
mission intention is: 'That the International
Eucharistic Congress of Quebec in Canada may lead
to an ever greater understanding that the Eucharist
is the heart of the Church and the source of evangelisation'.
[Vatican Information Service] 1452.1
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Saint
Gregory the Great
In
his general audience held in St. Peter's Square
on Wednesday, the Pope turned his attention to
St. Gregory the Great, who was Bishop of Rome
from 590 to 604 and whom 'tradition deemed worthy
of the title of 'Magnus', the Great'. Gregory,
said the Holy Father, 'truly was a great Pope
and a great Doctor of the Church'. He was born
in Rome in 540 to a rich and noble family, which
stood out 'for its attachment to the Christian
faith and for its service to the Apostolic See'.
Benedict XVI recalled how Gregory first entered
upon an administrative career, becoming prefect
of Rome in 572.
'However such a life cannot have satisfied him
for shortly afterwards he decided to abandon all
public office and withdraw to his house on the
'Clivius Scauri', beginning life as a monk'. In
this way 'he acquired a profound knowledge of
Holy Scripture and of the Fathers of the Church,
which he later used in his own works'. Gregory's
skills and experience caused Pope Pelagius II
to appoint him as deacon and send him as ambassador
to Constantinople 'to help surmount the last vestiges
of the Monophysite controversy and, above all,
to obtain the emperor's support in the struggle
to counteract the pressure of the Lombards'. A
few years later, 'he was called back to Rome by
the Pope who made him his secretary'.
When
Pelagius II died, Gregory succeeded him in the
See of St. Peter. It was the year 590. A large
number of documents have been conserved from Gregory's
pontificate, said the Pope, 'thanks to the 'Registro'
which includes around 800 of his letters. ...
Among the problems afflicting Italy and Rome at
that time, was one of particular weight in both
civil and ecclesial life: the question of the
Lombards'. Gregory established 'fraternal relations
with them, with a view to a future peace founded
on mutual respect and the serene coexistence of
Italians, Greeks and Lombards'. Negotiations with
the Lombard king, Agilulf 'led to a truce which
lasted for nearly three years (598-601), after
which it proved possible to stipulate a more stable
armistice in 603', said the Holy Father.
'This positive result was possible also thanks
to the contacts which the Pope had, in the meantime,
established with Queen Theodelinda, a Bavarian
and a Catholic. ... Little by little Theodelinda
managed to lead the king to Catholicism, thus
preparing the way for peace'. The 'beautiful'
story of this queen, said the Pope, 'demonstrates
the importance of women in the history of the
Church'. 'Pope Gregory was also active in the
field of social work. With the income of the considerable
patrimony which the See of Rome possessed in Italy,
especially in Sicily, he bought and distributed
grain, helped those in need, assisted poverty-stricken
priests, monks and nuns, paid the ransom of citizens
who had fallen prisoner to the Lombards, and bought
armistices and truces'.
'Gregory', the Pope explained, 'undertook these
intense activities despite poor health which often
forced him to keep his bed for days on end. ...
Notwithstanding the difficult conditions in which
he had to work, he managed, thanks to the holiness
of his life and his abundant humanity, to conquer
the trust of the faithful, achieving what, for
his own time and for the future, were truly grand
results'. 'He was a man immersed in God. The desire
for God was perpetually alive in the depths of
his soul and precisely for this reason he always
remained close to others, to the needs of the
people of his time. At a time of disaster - a
desperate time - he managed to create peace and
bring hope. This man of God shows us', Benedict
XVI concluded, 'where the true sources of peace
are, where true hope comes from, and thus he is
also a guide for us today'. [Vatican Information
Service] 1452.2
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Catholic-Orthodox
relations
In a personal message to Russian Orthodox Patriarch
Alexei II, Pope Benedict XVI thanked the Russian
prelate for his 'commitment to fostering relations
between Catholics and Orthodox.' The Pope's message
welcomed the 'growing closeness' between Rome
and Moscow, and the 'shared desire to promote
authentic Christian values and to witness to our
Lord in ever deeper communion.' Cardinal Walter
Kasper, the president of the Pontifical Council
for Christian Unity, delivered the Pope's message
when he met with Patriarch Alexei in Moscow on
May 30. Cardinal Kasper was in Russia for a series
of meetings with both Catholic and Orthodox officials.
Pope Benedict said that he appreciated how the
Moscow patriarchate 'has been increasingly committed
to dialogue with other Christians,' and expressed
his gratitude for 'the signs of friendship and
trust which your Church and its representatives
have demonstrated in various ways.'
Cardinal
Kasper's meeting with Patriarch Alexei produced
no major announcements. The Vatican has deliberately
downplayed expectations for the visit, saying
that the cardinal traveled to Russia in an effort
to learn more about the life of the Russian Orthodox
Church. Although Vatican analysts speculated that
Cardinal Kasper might seek to persuade the Moscow
patriarchate to rejoin a joint Catholic-Orthodox
commission for theological dialogue, there was
no official indication that the cardinal had made
such a plea, nor any indication that the Russian
Orthodox hierarchy would reconsider the adamant
stand that led Russian representatives to walk
out of the latest commission meeting in Ravenna
last October. On the contrary, Patriarch Alexei
indicated that theological dialogue 'couldn't
develop without the world's largest Orthodox Church
participating,' the Interfax news service reported.
Interfax
said that the Russian patriarch expressed concerns
to Cardinal Kasper about the activities of the
Ukrainian Catholic Church. Orthodox leaders have
complained frequently about the vigorous activity
of Eastern-rite Catholics in Ukraine since the
fall of the Communist regime and the revival of
the Catholic hierarchy following years of government
repression. Patriarch Alexei and Cardinal Kasper
agreed 'in principle' that a meeting between the
Pope and the Russian prelate might be arranged
in the future. They also agreed that such a meeting
should not be staged simply for appearances, but
should be the product of a substantive improvement
in relations between Rome and Moscow. [CWNews]
1452.3
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Myanmar
bishops' ad limina
On
Friday, The Holy Father today received prelates
from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Myanmar,
who have just completed their 'ad limina' visit.
Speaking English, the Pope began his remarks by
highlighting how 'the Church in Myanmar is known
and admired for its solidarity with the poor and
needy. This has been especially evident', he told
the prelates, 'in the concern you have shown in
the aftermath of the cyclone Nargis'. 'During
these difficult days, I know how grateful the
Burmese people are for the Church's efforts to
provide shelter, food, water, and medicine to
those still in distress', he said, assuring the
bishops that the Universal Church 'is joined spiritually
with those who mourn the loss of loved ones. ...
May God open the hearts of all so that a concerted
effort may be made to facilitate and co-ordinate
the ongoing endeavour to bring relief to the suffering
and rebuild the country's infrastructure.
'The Church's mission of charity', he added, 'shines
forth in a particular way through the religious
life. ... I am pleased to note that an increasing
number of women are responding to the call to
consecrated life in your region', he said. 'Similar
signs of hope are seen in the rising number of
vocations to the priesthood. These men are both
'called together' and 'sent out to preach' to
be examples of faithfulness and holiness for the
People of God'. The Holy Father encouraged the
prelates of Myanmar 'to continue making the necessary
sacrifices to ensure that seminarians receive
the integral formation that will enable them to
become authentic heralds of the new evangelisation'.
'The
Church's mission to spread the Good News depends
on a generous and prompt response from the lay
faithful to become labourers in the vineyard.
They too are in need of a robust and dynamic Christian
formation which will inspire them to carry the
Gospel message to their workplaces, families,
and to society at large'. The Pope then went on
to refer to the reports the bishops had presented
to him, in which they had mentioned 'the enthusiasm
with which the laity are organising many new catechetical
and spiritual initiatives, often involving great
numbers of young people'. And he encouraged the
bishops 'to remind those under your care to turn
continually to the nourishment of the Eucharist
through participation in the liturgy and silent
contemplation'.
'Your
active participation in the First Asian Mission
Congress has led to new initiatives for promoting
goodwill with Buddhists in your country', he told
them. 'In this regard, I encourage you as you
develop ever better relations with Buddhists for
the good of your individual communities and of
the entire nation'. Before concluding his remarks,
Benedict XVI expressed his 'sincere gratitude'
to the prelates for 'your faithful ministry in
the midst of difficult circumstances and setbacks
often beyond your control'. Recalling that that
next month the Church 'inaugurates a special Jubilee
Year in honour of St. Paul', the Pope concluded:
'Paul exhorts us to keep our gaze fixed on the
glory that awaits us so as never to despair in
the pain and sufferings of today'. [Vatican Information
Service] 1452.4
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Education
among the new generation
On
May 29th, the Vatican's Synod Hall was filled
by the bishops of Italy as they listened to the
Pope's address on the theme of evangelization
and education among the new generations. The Holy
Father spoke of the 'educational emergency' in
forming the youth and insisted that truly human
formation involves God. The Pope began his address
by recalling the 'educational emergency' he has
referred to on a number of previous occasions.
This emergency 'assumes a very specific form'
when dealing with 'the transmission of the faith
to the new generations,' he said. Educating the
youth in today's culture requires us to 'negotiate
the obstacles placed in our way by relativism,
by a culture that puts God within parenthesis
and discourages all truly committed choices, and
in particular definitive choices, rather privileging
... self-affirmation and immediate satisfaction.'
To
confront these difficulties, Benedict XVI told
the bishops that they should turn to the 'many
charisms and forms of evangelizing energy' present
in their dioceses and accept them with joy. Other
tools at the bishops' disposal 'are personal relationships,
especially sacramental confession and spiritual
guidance. Each of these moments represents an
opportunity given to us to help our young people
see the face of the God who is the true friend
of mankind.' According to Pope Benedict, the educational
crisis can be solved by introducing an 'education
that is truly educational,' an education that
're-establishes full and integral formation of
the person as the center of its focus.' What must
happen in Italy is, 'to overcome a difficult period
in which economic and social dynamism seemed to
weaken, faith in the future diminished, and the
poverty of many families led to a growing sense
of insecurity,' the Pope said.
The
Holy Father also pointed to 'signs of a new climate'
due to 'a more serene relationship between political
forces and the institutions' which has been inspired
by 'a more acute sense of a shared responsibility
for the future of the nation. ... There exists,
in fact, a widespread desire to resume the journey,
to face and resolve at least the most urgent and
pressing problems, to open a new season of economic
(but also civic and moral) growth.' The Church
must not fail to make her contribution to this
renewal, 'so that Italy may see a period of progress
and harmony,' he said. The greatest service that
the bishops can provide is to 'first of all bear
frank witness to the fact that ... the fundamental
problem of mankind today remains the problem of
God. No other human and social problem can truly
be solved if God does not return to the center
of our lives,' the Pontiff asserted.
While
the Pope explained that the government should
maintain its lay character, he also said that
it is 'important to resist all tendencies to consider
religion, and in particular Christianity, as a
purely private matter.' He laid particular emphasis
on the prelates' concern for 'the family founded
on marriage, ... in order to encourage a culture
favorable, and not hostile, to the family and
to life, and to ask public institutions for coherent
policies that recognize the central role families
play in society, especially in generating and
educating children.' Furthermore, he added, 'our
commitment to the dignity and protection of human
life in all moments and conditions must remain
strong and constant.' 'We cannot close our eyes
and remain silent in the face of the poverty,
discomfort and social injustice that afflict such
a large part of humankind, and that require generous
commitment from everyone,' Benedict XVI concluded.
[CNA] 1452.5
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The
feast of Corpus Christi
The feast of Corpus Christi is an invitation to
Christians to work for the elimination of world
hunger, says Benedict XVI. The Pope affirmed this
last Sunday in his address to thousands gathered
in St. Peter's Square to pray the midday Angelus.
'Last week our gaze was attracted by the mystery
of the most holy Trinity,' the Holy Father said.
'Today we are invited to look upon the consecrated
Host: It is the same God! The same Love! This
is the beauty of Christian truth: The Creator
and Lord of all things became 'a grain of wheat'
to be sown in our earth, in the furrow of our
history; he became bread to be broken, shared,
eaten; he became our food to give us life, his
own divine life. 'He was born in Bethlehem, which
in Hebrew means 'House of Bread,' and when he
began to preach to the crowds he revealed that
the Father sent him into the world as 'living
bread come down from heaven,' as 'bread of life.''
The Pontiff affirmed that the Eucharist is 'the
school of charity and solidarity.'
'Those
who eat the Bread of Christ cannot remain indifferent
before those who, even in our days, lack daily
bread,' he stated. 'Many parents are barely able
to provide for themselves and their children.
It is a grave and growing problem that the international
community finds hard to solve. 'The Church does
not only pray 'give us this day our daily bread,'
but, following the Lord's example, works in every
way 'to multiply the five loaves and two fish'
with countless humanitarian efforts and sharing
so that no one remains without the necessities
of life.'
Rome will host a UN summit in early June where
the growing global food crisis is to be discussed.
A drastic increase in food prices, caused by a
variety of factors, including the growing use
of biofuels, has poor countries struggling to
pay for basic sustenance. 'Dear brothers and sisters,
may the feast of Corpus Domini be an occasion
to grow in this concrete attention to our brothers,
especially the poor,' Benedict XVI encouraged.
'May
the Virgin Mary obtain this grace for us. 'May
Mary, who, carrying Jesus in her womb, was the
living 'tabernacle' of the Eucharist, communicate
to us her faith in the holy mystery of the Body
and Blood of her divine Son, that he may truly
be the center of our life.' [Zenit] 1452.6
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Saints
Cyril & Methodius
The
lives of Sts. Cyril and Methodius show how the
Gospel contributes not just to the common good,
but also to the cultural patrimony of nations
and peoples, says Benedict XVI. The Pope affirmed
this Saturday when he received in audience a delegation
of state and religious leaders from Bulgaria and
Macedonia. Their visit marked the feast of the
two ninth-century saints who, with their preaching
in Slavic lands, laid the foundations for 'a friendly
coexistence of peoples.' For the Orthodox Church
the feast of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, the two
brothers from Thessalonica, who along with St.
Benedict, were proclaimed patron saints of Europe
by Pope John Paul II on Dec. 31, 1980, falls on
May 24. The Latin Church celebrates their feast
Feb. 14.
Speaking to the delegation from Bulgaria, led
by Ivajlo Kalfin, deputy prime minister and minister
of foreign affairs, the Holy Father said that
'the Gospel [...] does not weaken what is authentic
in different cultural traditions, but helps people
of every age to recognize and realize the authentic
good, enlightened by the splendor of truth.' 'Thus
the task of Christians,' he added, 'is to maintain
and strengthen the intrinsic link that exists
between the Gospel, the mission of Christ's disciples
and their respective cultural identities.' In
this regard 'the rediscovery of Christian roots
is important to contributing to building a society
in which the spiritual and cultural values that
flow from the Gospel are present,' the Pontiff
contended. He proposed the evangelizing work of
the brother-saints as a 'model of the inculturation
of the faith in its essential elements,' even
in our postmodern times.
Speaking
to the Macedonian delegation led by Prime Minister
Nikola Gruevski, the Pontiff observed that through
their missionary zeal the two saints 'became 'bridges'
connecting the East and the West.' At the same
time, he noted, 'their luminous spiritual witness
points to a perennial truth that must always be
rediscovered: Only by beginning from God can hope
become trustworthy and secure.'
'This hope becomes tangible when persons of good
will in every part of the world [...] imitating
Jesus' example and faithful to his teachings,
totally dedicate themselves to laying the foundations
of friendly coexistence among peoples and seeking
the good of all,' the Holy Father affirmed. Benedict
XVI concluded with the wish that, following the
example of the co-patrons of Europe, the 'bonds
of friendship' between the Catholic Church and
Macedonia and Bulgaria will become always more
'fraternal and supportive.' [Zenit] 1452.7
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Women's
'ordination'
The Vatican declared this week that any women
who attempt 'ordination' or any bishops who attempt
to 'ordain' women are automatically excommunicated
from the Church by their actions. The decree from
the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
is said to be absolute, universal and immediately
effective. The decree which was published in the
Vatican daily, L'Osservatore Romano, comes
in the wake of several women attempting to be
'ordained' as Catholic priests.
The most recent attempt to ordain a woman occurred
on May 4 in Winona, Minnesota when Kathy Redig,
participated in a ceremony of ordination. Bishop
of Winona Bernard Harrington responded to the
news of Redig's purported ordination by saying
it made him 'very, very sad.' The bishop also
said that 'She, by her actions, has excommunicated
herself.'
Another
occurrence of attempted ordination occurred in
St. Louis, Missouri on November 11, 2007. The
ceremony involved a German woman named Patricia
Fresen conducting a would-be ordination ceremony
at a St. Louis synagogue. Fresen used the formula
and rite of a Catholic ordination to 'ordain'
as priests two St. Louis-area women, Rose Hudson
and Elsie McGrath. The attempted ordination caused
Archbishop Raymond Burke of the Archdiocese of
St. Louis to declare the three women excommunicated
for taking part in an attempted ordination of
women to the priesthood.
The archbishop said the excommunication was part
of his 'solemn duty' to protect the faith and
unity of the Church. Archbishop Burke, who is
regarded as one of the foremost experts on canon
law, explained that this type of situation has
been addressed before. In August 2002, the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith also excommunicated
two women who had taken part in an invalid ordination
ceremony, he said. Patricia Fresen, the archbishop
said, had 'formally and directly engaged' in founding
a 'new and separate sect' called Roman Catholic
WomenPriests USA.
The
decree from the Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith also mentions that it applies to
all people in communion with the Catholic Church,
including any bishops or women who are members
of the Eastern Churches. Anyone who incurs this
excommunication can only be received back into
the Church by the Apostolic See, the decree says.
The declaration, which is signed by Cardinal William
Levada, concludes by saying that it is absolute,
universal and immediately effective upon its publication
in L'Osservatore Romano. [CNA] 1452.8
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Authority
and obedience
The
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life
and Societies of Apostolic Life this week published
an Instruction entitled: 'The Service of Authority
and Obedience', presented at an assembly of
male and female superiors general being held at
the Salesianum in Rome. 'In the first place, the
text examines the theme of religious obedience',
says a communique released by the congregation,
'the root of which is seen in that search for
God and for His will which is particular to believers.
... Christian and religious obedience does not,
then, appear simply as the implementation of ecclesiastical
or religious laws and rulings, but as the momentum
of a journey in search of God which involves listening
to His Word and becoming aware of His design of
love - the fundamental experience of Christ Who,
out of love, was obedient unto His death on the
cross.
'Authority in religious life', the communique
adds, 'must be understood in this light, in other
words, as a way to help the community (or institute)
to seek and achieve the will of God. Obedience,
then, is not justified on the basis of religious
authority, because everyone in a religious community
(first and foremost the authorities themselves)
are called to obedience, Authority places itself
at the service on the community so that God's
will may be sought and achieved together'. 'The
question of religious authority must be placed
in the context of the great shared commitment
to obedience, ... the theme that opens and closes
this document', says the communique.
The
Instruction also considers 'the delicate matter
of 'difficult obedience', that in which what is
requested of the religious is particularly hard
to carry out, or in which the subject feels he
sees 'things which are better and more useful
for his soul than those which the superior orders
him to do'. ... Drawing from a still-relevant
text of Paul VI, the document also dwells upon
the possibility of 'objections of conscience'
in the subject who must obey'. 'The Instruction
seeks to recall, above all, that obedience in
religious life can give rise to difficult moments,
to situations of suffering in which it is necessary
to refer back to the Obedient One par excellence,
Christ. ... It must, moreover, be borne in mind
that authority too can be 'difficult', experiencing
moments of discouragement and fatigue which can
lead to resignation or inattention in exercising
an appropriate guidance ... of the community'.
'The reference to conscience helps people to consider
obedience not just as a passive and irresponsible
execution of orders, but as a conscious shouldering
of commitments ... which are a real actuation
of the will of God'. 'If the document contains
a serene and faith-motivated exhortation to obedience,
it also offers a vast and coherent set of guidelines
for the exercise of authority', such as 'inviting
people to listen, favouring dialogue, sharing,
co-responsibility, ... and the merciful treatment
of the people' entrusted to authority.
The
Instruction, the communique concludes, 'gives
particular resonance to the religious community
as a place in which, under the guidance of the
superior, a form of 'community discernment' must
be exercised in decision-making. This practice,
for the implementation of which important suggestions
are offered, does not however eliminate the role
of authority ... And it must not be forgotten
that, by ancient tradition, the highest authority
within religious institutes resides in the general
chapter (or similar institution), which is a collegial
body'. [CWNews] 1452.9
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Nine new ambassadors
Among
Pope Benedict XVI's meetings on May 29th was the
reception of nine new ambassadors to the Vatican,
an unusually high number. In his address to Uganda's
new ambassador Nyine S. Bitahwa, the Holy Father
praised the country's successful efforts to curb
the spread of AIDS through encouraging abstinence
and fidelity, in defiance of UN pressure to rely
on condoms. Uganda's efforts to reverse the spread
of HIV/AIDS have been met with a high success
rate and rely on what is known as the ABC method,
which does not emphasize the use of condoms. Pope
Benedict lauded the advances in healthcare made
by Uganda and its 'successful policy of prevention
based on continence and the promotion of faithfulness
in marriage.'
The
UN Population Fund places very little emphasis
on behavioral change and instead works off the
assumption that people will not be faithful. Consequently,
they also place the majority of their efforts
on distributing free condoms. Another Ugandan
development that the Pope found praiseworthy was,
'the culmination of efforts to formalize peace
agreements and to bring to a conclusion the long
years of warfare marked by cruel and senseless
violence.' He also expressed his hope that all
displaced people may 'return to their homes and
resume a peaceful and productive existence.' [CNA]
1452.10
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Statistical Yearbook
A
new edition of the statistical yearbook of the
Catholic Church shows the Catholic proportion
of the world's population holding steady at 17.3%.
The new volume from the Vatican publishing house
shows a substantial jump in Africa's Catholic
population, from 130 million in 2000 to 158.3
million in 2006, the last year for which data
are available. The Catholic population grew by
a more modest rate in the Americas and Oceania,
while remaining stable in Europe and Asia. The
number of priests in the world grew slightly in
the same period, 200-2006, from 405,178 to 107,262.
However, the increase was not evenly spread across
the continents. In Africa the number of priests
soared by over 23%, and in Asia by nearly 18%.
But in the Americas the number was essentially
unchanged, while in Oceania it fell by 4.4% and
in Europe by 5.8%.
As a result of these changes, Europe's proportion
of the world's Catholic priests dropped below
50% for the first time, falling to 48% in 2006.
The Americas now account for 30% of the world's
priests; Africa and Asia together for 21%, and
Oceania just over 1%. The world's population of
religious brothers showed a similar pattern, dropping
by 12% in Europe, remaining steady in the Americas,
increasing in Asia, and leaping by over 30% in
Africa. Among women religious, substantial increases
in Africa (up 15.5%) and Asia (up 12.8%) failed
to prevent a worldwide decline from 800,000 to
750,000 from 2000 to 2006, because of a sharp
drop in the number of nuns in Europe and the Americas.
[CWNews] 1452.11
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United Nations
Abortion,
adoption
The
Catholic Family Institute (C-Fam) reports from
New York on the UN Population Fund, a UN agency
that swears it is neutral on abortion. It held
its swank awards ceremony last week and gave its
top awards to a pro-abortion woman and a pro-abortion
group. Go figure. They also report on a very good
new report on adoption published by the unbiased
UN Population Division.
Top
award
Samantha
Singson writes: 'Last week the UN Population
Fund (UNFPA) hosted its annual population award
ceremony at the United Nations (UN) to honor an
individual and an organization for 'outstanding'
work in the population field, including family
planning. This year's honorees were abortion advocates
Dame Billie Miller in the individual category
and New York-based Family Care International (FCI)
in the institutional.
In an elaborate ceremony at UN headquarters, guests
were greeted with performances by the New York
Symphonic Orchestra and the UN staff choir. Under-Secretary-General
for Communications and Public Information Kiyotaka
Akasaka presented the awards on behalf of Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon. Reading Ban Ki-moon's remarks,
Akasaka lauded both Billie Miller and FCI for
their 'significant contributions' which, he asserted,
had allowed countless people 'to plan pregnancies,
avoid recourse to unsafe abortion, practice responsible
sexual behavior, and prevent the spread of HIV.'
UNFPA executive director Thoraya Obaid lauded
Dame Billie Miller's 'exemplary achievements as
a tireless advocate, policy maker, change agent
and role model for policies on gender, sexual
and reproductive health, including family planning.'
Miller is a well-known fixture at the UN as a
past president of the International Planned Parenthood
Federation/Western Hemisphere Region, and has
served as Chair of the NGO Planning Committee
for the International Conference on Population
and Development (ICPD). In her acceptance speech,
Miller mentioned several career 'highlights' in
her work to promote 'sexual and reproductive rights,'
including the decriminalization of abortion in
her home country of Barbados.
Ann Starrs, president of FCI, accepted the institutional
award on behalf of the organization. FCI was praised
by the committee for its work to reduce maternal
mortality and to promote safe motherhood and sexual
and reproductive health for adolescents. The committee
also praised FCI's pivotal role in planning and
hosting last year's Women Deliver conference in
London. In her acceptance speech, Starrs touted
Women Deliver for its role in bringing the issue
of maternal mortality to the forefront, though
many critics blasted Women Deliver for its extensive
focus on abortion. According to Spanish pro-family
advocate Lola Velarde, the then president of FCI,
Jill Sheffield, dismissed her concerns that Women
Deliver did not adequately address practical solutions
to reduce maternal mortality - namely providing
skilled birth attendants and emergency obstetric
care - by saying, 'You're wasting my time.'
2008
marks the silver jubilee of the UN population
awards. Past recipients include other abortion
advocates such as Nafis Sadik, former head of
UNFPA, and Fred Sai, chair of the ICPD conference
held in Cairo in 1994 and FCI's current chairman
of the board, as well as the International Planned
Parenthood Federation. One of the awards' most
controversial past recipients was Qian Xinzhong,
who as minister of China's State Family Planning
Commission was responsible for overseeing China's
draconian one-child policy, which included forced
abortion and mandatory sterilization.
Algeria,
Bangladesh, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic
of the Congo, Haiti, Iran, Malaysia, Peru, Sweden
and Tanzania currently comprise the awards committee,
with UNFPA serving as the administrator. Nominations
for next year's laureates are being accepted by
the committee.
New
report on worldwide adoption
Maciej
Golubiewski writes : 'An upcoming report from
the United Nations Population Division is expected
to highlight adoption trends worldwide, some of
which appear linked to changing social norms and
legal developments.
Data from 118 countries indicate that there are
around 260,000 domestic and international adoptions
a year. The United States adopts over 120,000
children, significantly more than any other country.
The US is followed by China, Russia, Ukraine and
a few Western European countries, which together
account for the bulk of adoptions worldwide.
Although
the quality of adoption reporting varies from
country to country with reliable data oftentimes
hard to come by, adoption is mainly a domestic
phenomenon, with eighty five percent of all adoptions
involving citizens or residents of the same country.
Yet the number of children adopted domestically
has been declining over the past decades in many
developed countries. This trend is especially
prevalent in Western Europe, Australia and New
Zealand, and, to a lesser extent, the United States.
Clare
Menozzi, a demographer with the UN Population
Division and the principal author of the report,
told the Friday Fax that wider societal acceptance
of single parenthood, increased access to welfare
support for single mothers and the widespread
availability of inexpensive contraception may
have contributed to this trend. Ms. Menozzi also
believes that policies to discourage adoptions
by step-parents may have resulted in a decrease
in domestic adoptions in some countries. These
legal reforms aim at safeguarding the rights of
non-custodial biological parents.
Whereas the number of domestic adoptions has been
declining in many developed countries, several
developing countries such as India and Sri Lanka
have experienced an increase in the number of
domestic adoptions, in part as a result of policies
to encourage adoption by local residents.
Concerning international adoptions, China and
Russia have emerged in the past decade as the
most important countries of origin, replacing
South Korea and India. There have been steep increases
in international adoptions by some countries,
such as the US, Spain and France, though the rate
has been flat in Sweden, which traditionally took
in a substantial percentage of foreign children.
In April, the Hague Convention on Intercountry
Adoption has come into force in the US. Some policy
makers have seen it as a useful tool for promoting
domestic adoption, which is considered by them
superior to international adoption and more in
a child's interest.
Thomas Atwood, the President of the National Council
for Adoption, believes however that those who
see domestic and international adoptions as being
in conflict are mistaken. Atwood told the Friday
Fax that those views are unfortunate since many
countries simply cannot take care of their orphans,
and international adoption might be the only way
for these children to have a family. Atwood also
said that given the UN Children's Fund's (UNICEF)
claim that there are 143 million orphans in the
world, he would like to see the United Nations
and its agencies to show more leadership in promoting
a global culture of adoption. [C-FAM]
A 'coherent response' is necessary to address
the 'overwhelming challenge' of the food crisis
caused by a surge in global food prices. The remedy
is a new mentality that would 'place the human
person at the center and not focus simply on economic
profit,' Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi said to
the Human Rights Council on Thursday.
Archbishop
Tomasi, head of the Holy See's permanent observer
mission to the United Nations and Other International
Organizations in Geneva, said that the public
must realize that chronic hunger can cause violent
conflict, uncontrolled migrations, environmental
problems, epidemics, and even terrorism.
The
archbishop said that intergovernmental agencies
'rightfully have concluded that hunger is not
due to lack of food.' Rather, he said, hunger
is caused by the lack of both physical and financial
access to agricultural resources.
The
food crisis should direct everyone's attention
to the 854 million people plagued by chronic hunger,
whose ranks are joined by four million new people
each year, the archbishop said.
'Higher
prices may cause some inconvenience to families
in developed countries since they find it necessary
to spend 20% of their income on food. However,
such prices are life threatening for the one billion
people living in poor countries since they are
forced to spend nearly all their daily income
of $1 per day in search of food,' Archbishop Tomasi
said.
The
present food production problem, he said, is more
than a 'temporary emergency.' Rather, it is structural
in nature and should be approached in the context
of just and sustainable economic growth.
The
archbishop also pointed out that international
trade and liberalization in agricultural products
tend to favor multinational corporations over
small local farms, which he said are the base
of food security in developing countries. The
remedies, he said, are investment in agriculture
and rural development and solidarity with the
most vulnerable. Also important is the condemnation
of hoarding and price speculation as 'unacceptable,'
and the recognition of individual property rights.
The
archbishop called for the elimination of unfair
agricultural subsidies and the organization of
cooperative structures for smaller farms. The
use of food production, he said, eventually has
to be balanced 'by mechanisms that respond to
the common good' and not the market.
Archbishop
Tomasi closed his address with a call for a new
mentality that would 'place the human person at
the centre and not focus simply on economic profit.'
[CNA] 1452.12
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www.catholic-family.org
The
radical onslaught
SHAME
!
Sexually-explicit
NSPCC educational booklet
A
prominent UK charity has been implicated in the
production and distribution of a sexually explicit
'educational' pamphlet aimed at children as young
as seven. The booklet has been removed from one
school in West Surrey after complaints from parents,
but the charity responsible, the National Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC),
has defended the material, saying the sexual material
is already covered by the national sex education
curriculum.
The
charity, ChildLine, a branch of the NSPCC, produced
a 20-page illustrated booklet in order to help
children identify and report instances of abuse,
including sexual abuse. ChildLine operates a children's
abuse telephone and internet hotline and helps
connect children and families to social services.
The NSPCC is the foremost UK charity working in
child protection and the prevention of cruelty
to, and abuse of, children.
The
booklet, titled 'In the Know, Keeping Safe
and Strong', includes a quiz in which children
are to identify the abusive situation among three
scenarios that include 'a goodnight cuddle from
mum' and a visit to the doctor. The third says,
'Your uncle promises you a new MP3 player if you
take your knickers off and sit on his lap.'
'We
want to raise awareness so that children speak
out sooner and, as necessary, receive the help
and support that they need,' ChildLine's spokesman
told the Daily Mail.
Thomas
A Becket School, in Worthing, West Sussex, has
pulled the booklets after complaints from parents.
The school has since informed parents that extra
copies of the booklet have been destroyed.
The
Daily Mail quoted a father of two children
at the school, Michael Auty, who said the booklet
is wrong even for eleven-year-olds and is 'putting
ideas in their heads'.
'I
don't want my kids to look at their uncles and
think, 'He might try and do something to me.'
It would harm the family.'
'It's
up to parents to explain to kids what they should
do if they find themselves in a particular situation,
but the language in this booklet is just too graphic.'
The
NSPCC supports mandatory sex education for all
children, and has argued against the view that
natural marriage between one man and one woman
is necessarily the only way to create stable relationships.
It has also campaigned to reduce the age of consent
for homosexual sex to 16.
The
society has been strongly criticised by fathers'
rights groups for its opposition to the rights
of contact for both parents in cases of divorce,
arguing that maintaining contact with the father
is not necessarily in the best interests of the
child.
In
2004, the fathers' rights group Fathers4Justice
occupied the NSPCC offices claiming that the organisation
'ignores the plight of 100 children a day who
lose contact with their fathers' and that they
promote a 'portrayal of men as violent abusers'.
Even
the extreme left has criticised the group. In
an article on Spiked in 2004, Frank Furedi, a
Marxist professor of sociology at the University
of Kent, said the NSPCC is 'devoted to publicising
its peculiar brand of anti-parent propaganda and
promoting itself'. [LifeSiteNews] 1452.13
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www.catholic-family.org
International news
Algeria
Christian convert's imprisonment
Archbishop
Emeritus Henri Teissier of Algeria has called
on the country's government to free Christian
convert Habiba Kouider, who was arrested on April
1 for 'practicing a non-Muslim religion' and is
facing a three-year prison sentence requested
by prosecutors. According to Vatican Radio, Kouider
was found with a Bible and was detained by police.
'I hope Habiba Kouider will be released since
the judge in the case has expressed a different
opinion from that of the prosecutor,' the archbishop
told the El Kabar newspaper. Ghechir Boudjema,
president of the Algerian League of Human Rights,
told Radio France Internationale that Kouider
has done nothing illegal. 'It is a good ruling
because (the judge) said the police and prosecutors
made a mistake by bringing charges against Habiba
Kouider,' he said.
There
is no law in Algeria that forbids owning a religious
book such as the Bible or the Koran, he added.
In the same city of Tiaret, six Algerian Protestants
have been accused of proselytism and were arrested
as they left a home where they had met for prayer.
Prosecutors are asking for the men to be sentenced
to two years in prison for 'practicing a religion
in an unauthorized place.'
Algerian
Minister of Religious Affairs, Bouabdallah Gholamallah,
said the group was acting 'outside the law' and
was seeking to 'constitute a (Christian) minority
in order to support foreign interference in the
internal affairs of Algeria.' [CNA] 1452.14
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Belgium
Euthanasia
A
group of legislators in Belgium is seeking to
expand the practice of euthanasia to include those
who are unconscious, as well as minors, according
to a recent article in the Spanish newspaper Hoy.
The initiative, spearheaded by former Senator
Jean-Jacques de Gucht, was originally launched
in 2004 and failed, the article states. The new
proposed legislation will allow people to create
a type of 'living will' that will allow doctors
to euthanize them if they are unconscious and
unable to give consent. While euthanasia has been
legal in Belgium 2002, the existing law has prohibited
the practice under the above-mentioned circumstances.
Doctors who refuse to kill their patients under
the law will be required to refer them to a doctor
who is willing to do it, reports Hoy. [LIfeSiteNews]
1452.15
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Brazil
Embryo research
Brazil's
supreme court has approved a law permitting human
embryo research. The chief prosecutor had raised
the legitimacy of the 2005 measure. A lawyers'
group called the decision 'a victory of knowledge
over obscurantism' while the Catholic church called
it lamentable and cited successful adult stem
cell research. [Reuters, SPUC] 1452.16
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