Week
of Prayer for Christian Unity
As
the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity drew toward
a close, Pope Benedict XVI met on January 25 with
members of a joint working group representing
that Catholic Church and the World Council of
Churches (WCC). Later on Friday the Holy Father
was to preside at an ecumenical Vespers service
in the basilica of St. Paul-outside-the-Walls,
concluding the annual week of prayer. At his meeting
with the ecumenical delegation, the Pontiff said
that the annual Week of Prayer afford 'an opportunity
to thank Almighty God for the fruits of the ecumenical
movement.' He alluded to the productive talks
the joint working group has enjoyed since it was
established in 1965, and spoke of his own gratitude
for 'the work of so many individuals who, over
the years, have sought to spread the practice
of spiritual ecumenism through common prayer,
conversion of heart and growth in communion.'
Pope Benedict repeated his insistence that prayer
for the restoration of Christian unity is the
first and most effective form of ecumenical work.
'To pray for unity is itself an effective means
of obtaining the grace of unity,' he said, 'since
it is a participation in the prayer of Jesus Himself.'
[CWNews] 1418.1
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The
Society of Jesus and the Holy See
In
a January 25 statement to reporters in Rome, the
new superior general of the Society of Jesus said
that the Jesuits remain loyal to the Pope. 'If
there are problems' in the relationship, he said,
'it is precisely because we are so close.' Father
Adolfo Nicolas compared the relationship between
the Jesuit order and the Holy See to a marriage,
observing there are always tensions between loving
couples. But as in a marriage, he added, the Jesuits
and the Pope are wholly dedicated to the same
goal: the welfare of the Church. Downplaying suggestions
that the Jesuit order is at loggerheads with Pope
Benedict XVI, Father Nicolas recalled that he
had studied the works of then-Father Joseph Ratzinger
years earlier and found them inspirational. Theological
disagreements between himself and the Holy Father,
he insisted, exist only 'in the imaginations of
those who have written' on that topic. The new
Jesuit leader told journalists that his own views
on religion have been heavily influenced by his
years in Japan. Before serving in Asia, he said,
he had firm and unyielding views about what constitutes
proper religious faith and practice. In Japan,
he reported, such attitudes are seen as intolerant;
the Asian approach accepts a wide diversity of
views. 'In Japan,' Father Nicolas said, 'I discovered
that true religion goes much deeper.' [CWNews]
1418.2
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Embryonic
cloning
On Friday the Vatican condemned in the strongest
terms the practice of embryonic cloning. Bishop
Elio Sgreccia, president of the Pontifical Academy
for Life, called it the 'worst type of exploitation
of the human being', and said that it was unnecessary
for research given the rise of alternative research
that bypasses the use of embryos. The German Government
has confirmed that it has no plans to change its
ban on therapeutic cloning in spite of recent
US research which created cloned embryos using
skin cells from adults. US researchers claim that
embryonic stem cell therapy helped cure mice with
a common form of muscular dystrophy. The study
was published by Dr Rita Perlingeiro of the University
of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Nature
Medicine. [Reuters,Islamic Republic News, SPUC]
1418.3
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Western-style
secularism
The greatest moral challenge facing Slovenia today,
Pope Benedict XVI told that country's bishops
in a January 24 meeting, is 'Western-style secularism,
which is different and perhaps more underhand
than Marxist secularism.' As the country recovers
from the after-effects of Communist rule, the
Holy Father said, Slovenia is tempted toward 'the
unbridled pursuit of material goods, the drop
in natality and the reduction in religious practice.'
The Pope told the Slovenian bishops-- who were
in Rome for their ad limina visit-- that the Church
must counteract the effects of secular ideology.
As Slovenia becomes a full member of the European
community, he said, the nation's leaders should
be mindful of the crucial importance of building
society on a firm moral basis. A strong Europe,
the Pope said, 'cannot relinquish the principle
spiritual and ethical component of its foundation:
Christianity. Each generation is called to renew
the choice between life and goodness and death
and evil,' the Pope told the visiting bishops.
He exhorted them to redouble their evangelizing
efforts, to help protect Slovenian society from
the corrosive influence of secular materialism.
[CWNews] 1418.4
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The
Family
UK
tax and the Family
Many
British families are paying a far higher proportion
of their income in tax than their counterparts
in other advanced countries, according to a major
new research study.
The
study, believed to be the first of its kind, has
been conducted for the charity Christian Action,
Research and Education (CARE), which is campaigning
for fairer tax treatment of families with children.
It charts the way over the past 40 years in the
UK, the tax system has been increasingly tilted
against one-earner married couples with children.
In
2006, a one-earner married couple with two children
on average earnings of £30,800 a year paid
40 per cent more tax in the UK than in comparable
countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development. Compared with European
Union states, one-earner married families are
paying 25 per cent more tax.
The
study also finds that the UK tax system disadvantages
families in comparison with single people without
children. In other OECD countries, the tax paid
by one-earner married couples on average wages
is around 50 per cent of that paid by a single
person on the same income. In the UK, however,
the figure is 75 per cent even when tax credits
and child benefit are taken into account.
"Among
highly developed economies, the UK is almost alone
in operating a tax system that ignores spousal
obligations," the report says. Only Finland,
Sweden and New Zealand have a system like the
UK's. All other such OECD countries - including
the US, France, Germany, Australia and Canada
- take account of family circumstances.
The
study reveals that since the 1960s, in the UK
the tax burden on a one-earner married couple
with two children earning 75 per cent of the average
wage has trebled. But the burden on a single person
with no dependents has risen by only 16 per cent.
In the mid-60s, a one-earner family on an average
wage paid just 9 per cent of its income in tax.
In 2006/7 that figure was 20 per cent more
than double the level of the mid-60s.
The
authors of the study, fiscal consultants Don Draper
and Leonard Beighton, warn that the UK's bias
against families is deepening child poverty. They
point out that more than two million children
live in one-earner homes and they estimate that
reducing the tax burden on one-earner couples
could take as many as 500,000 children out of
poverty.
The
new study will galvanise the debate over family
taxation and child poverty with the Conservative
leader David Cameron pledging to bring in a tax
allowance transferable from a stay-at-home parent
to a working spouse and the Liberal Democrats
arguing that tax credits should recognise the
financial needs of a second parent.
The
authors conclude that if in 2006 there had been
a transferable tax allowance this would have gone
a long way towards bringing the UK into line internationally,
making the tax system fairer and reducing child
poverty.
In
the mid-60s, a one-earner family on average income
paid just 9 per cent of its income in tax. By
2006/7 that figure was 20 per cent, the study
finds, and this increase is out of line with the
rest of the world,the study's authors believe.
The
average tax burden in OECD countries, excluding
the UK, is 14.5 per cent and among 15 EU states
it is 16 per cent. This compares with the 20 per
cent figure in the UK.
In
a foreword to the report, Professor Robert Rowthorn
of Kings College, Cambridge says: "At one
time, marriage and family obligations were extensively
acknowledged in the British tax system through
special arrangements for married couples and tax
allowances for dependent children.
"These
have been almost entirely abolished by politicians
who regard themselves as the standard bearers
of modernity and women's emancipation."
He
continues: "There is now a groundswell of
support for reforming the British tax and benefit
system. The system is resented because it so biased
against one-earner couples who wish to look after
their own children."
"There
is growing recognition that it penalises stable
couples and encourages family breakdown and un-partnered
childbearing." [Christian Today] 1418.4a
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Europe
Marriage
and Family
The
Catholic Family Institute (C-Fam) reports from
New York that while European policymakers pay
lip service to reversing the demographic crisis
on the continent, little attention is paid to
the vital role of marriage and family. A new report
from the European bishops calls on the EU to recognize
the devastating impact of divorce on European
society and to address the economic challenges
faced by young European families today.
Maciej
Golubiewski writes : 'A report just released
by the European bishops calls on the European
Union (EU) to focus on what they consider to be
the real needs of families in Europe and further
calls on the EU to respect national marriage laws
of the member states. The report by the Commission
of the European Bishops' Conference (COMECE) entitled
'Proposal for a Strategy of the European Union
for the Support of Couples and Marriage' focuses
on two fundamental problems that present 'high
emotional, social and financial costs to European
society:' the continuing increase in divorce rates
and the difficulty faced by young Europeans who
decide to raise children.
The report says that in the field of matrimonial
matters, '[national] diversity has to be respected
and family law is and must remain the sole competence
of member states.' The bishops found that some
legislative proposals of the European Commission
for increased cross-border legal cooperation come
close to encroaching on the exclusive right of
member states to make their own family policy.
Moreover, EU policy in the areas of employment,
social protection and poverty reduction ignore
the importance of marriage altogether, they said.
In the area of employment and social protection,
the bishops make the case that 'loving and stable
couples are a social capital for all Europeans'
and are 'founts of mutual trust in society' as
well as 'the preferable instance for bringing
up children' and charge the EU with ignoring this.
They call for EU assistance in sharing European
best practices regarding divorce prevention programs
such as communication training for high-risk couples,
especially those dealing with pressures of dual
employment and separation due to increased geographic
mobility.
The bishops also took issue with the EU's assumption
that a dual-income family is 'a new social norm'
among European citizens, arguing that some dual
earning households exist primarily for financial
constraints. For that reason, they said, EU should
support and not discriminate single-earner families.
Staying at home to care for one's children is
'an important and welcome contribution to the
well-being of all citizens of the European Union,'
according to the report, which cites studies showing
family break up as an important cause of poverty.
As for cross-border legal cooperation in family
matters, the bishops warn that the EU's legislative
proposals exceed EU mandates by recognizing de
facto unions and registered partnerships. This
could prematurely 'entail common recognition of
such unions in a situation where member states
do not provide recognition for the legal aspects
of such unions' and dangerously undermine the
importance of marriage as endowing parents with
social and legal responsibilities which otherwise
do not exist, they said.
David Fieldsend, from the Brussels-based CARE
Europe, said, 'The Bishops' paper is a timely
and well-researched contribution to the debate
that is at last being aired at the EU on family
matters. For too long talk of the family has been
taboo while all sorts of fringe agendas were embraced
with enthusiasm. Now the demographic crisis has
forced the EU's leaders to sit up and take notice.'
[C-FAM] 1418.5
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The
radical onslaught
Hillary
Clinton's support for abortion
It's
no secret that Hillary Clinton has promoted abortion
at every turn as a senator and presidential candidate
-- forcing taxpayers to pay for abortions and
voting against a partial-birth abortion ban repeatedly.
Clinton confirmed she will take her pro-abortion
views to the White House in a statement on the
anniversary of Roe v. Wade. At the top of Clinton's
agenda as president would be the appointment of
Supreme Court judges who would uphold Roe and
keep abortion legal for another 35 years. 'When
I'm President, I will appoint judges to our courts
who understand that Roe v. Wade isn't just binding
legal precedent,' Clinton said in the statement
LifeNews.com obtained. She said the judges would
share her view that Roe 'is the touchstone of
our reproductive freedom, the embodiment of our
most fundamental rights, and no one - no judge,
no governor, no Senator, no President - has the
right to take it away.' [LifeNews] 1418.6
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International
news
Canada
Pro-life subway adverts banned
A
pro-life New Brunswick group is up in arms after
Fredericton officials prohibited it from placing
advertisements against abortion inside bus shelters.
New Brunswick Right to Life says the city is discriminating
against it by allowing other advertisers to appear
on the shelters but not their ads asking people
to rethink their abortion views. The ads in question
are professional-looking and non-graphic and feature
the tag line, 'Abortion. Have we gone too far?'
Peter Ryan, executive director of the pro-life
group, said, 'We think we're picked upon and not
held to a standard that is fair. We think it's
discriminatory, it's repressive and we're going
to fight it,' he added. 'These ads are very tasteful,
but it's just because they mention the abortion
word that some people think, 'No, we're just not
even going to allow any kind of public discussion
or debate about it.'' Fredericton Mayor Brad Woodside
defended the city's decision to prohibit the ads
and he told the newspaper that they invite controversy
that the city doesn't want to start. He claims
pro-abortion ads wouldn't be accepted either.
ACTION: Send your comments on the discrimination
to Fredericton Mayor Brad Woodside at P.O. Box
130, Fredericton, NB, E3B 4Y7, Canada. Phone (506)
460-2085, Fax: 506-460-2134. You can send an email
by visiting this
website [LifeNews] 1418.7
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Canada
Abortion ship sails in
The operator of the infamous abortion boat that
has sailed outside European nations that prohibit
abortions is in Canada for the twentieth anniversary
of legalized abortion there. Despite the fact
that it has killed a Canadian woman and 12 others
worldwide, Rebecca Gomperts complains the abortion
drug RU isn't widely available in rural areas.
The abortion drug, also known as mifepristone,
has been responsible for more than 1,110 medical
complications in the United States alone. Women
have needed hospitalization and some have required
emergency surgeries or blood transfusions because
of problems. But Gomperts, the head of the Dutch-based
Women on Waves organization that runs the abortion
ship, attended a pro-abortion symposium at the
University of Toronto. There, she said Canadian
officials must do more to promote the dangerous
drug to women who live outside of the countries
large cities -- where it's more readily available.
'The lack of availability of mifepristone -- that
means for women who don't live in cities, it's
extremely hard for them to access abortion services,'
she said. [LifeNews] 1418.8
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Chile
'Dogs better protected than humans'
Bishop
Bernardo Bastres of Punta Arenas, Chile complained
this week that dogs have more legal protection
than human beings. His statements came as the
city of Punta Arenas is dealing with a plague
of stray dogs that have become a potential health
problem. City officials have been hesitant to
address the problem, worried that their actions
might be considered 'insensitive' to animals.
'Right now a dog has more rights than a person,'
Bishop Bastres said. He criticized the government
for legalizing the morning-after pill and for
taking other anti-life measures while refusing
to do something to address the plague of street
dogs. 'This is inconsistent, since issues that
are related to the lives of people deserve to
be supported and discussed in Congress, because
they have to do with the regulation of births
in the country, and not with the rights of animals,'
he added.
The
bishop recalled that when the Chilean bishops
opposed the government's norm forcing the distribution
of the abortion pill, the Ministry of Health called
the measure 'a norm for the common good.' 'However,
with the problem that we have with the excess
of dogs, no norm is issued. Rather we are told
we have to wait for a new law,' the bishop added.
'That is, in practice what they are telling us
is that a dog is more important than protecting
the life of a human being,' he stated. 'Things
are definitely changing,' the bishop went on,
'when we dictate norms for human beings and laws
for dogs.' He stressed that the Ministry of Health
has the duty to take action to protect the public
health from the problem of too many dogs. 'Dogs
without owners must be sacrificed,' the bishop
said, adding that 'ten years will go by before
there is a law on dogs.' [CWNews] 1418.9
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Gaza
'Almost as bad as hell'
Speaking to the Universe, a Catholic priest
in the Gaza Strip said that the situation facing
his parishioners there is 'almost as bad as hell.'
'Gaza is dying' under an Israeli blockade, Msgr.
Manawel Mussalam told the <i>Universe.'.
The Catholic priest said that the effect of the
blockade is tantamount to 'punishment for extermination.'
Msgr. Mussalam described a situation in which
food is scarce, utilities are unavailable, and
few people can find gainful employment. 'The situation
is critical,' he said. 'Streets are covered with
sewerage. I see the sick crying and dying.' Many
people have flocked to his church, the priest
reported, because the parish has a generator that
provides electricity. 'They come to cook and they
come for a shower,' he said. But the scarcity
of food and fuel has prompted many Gaza residents
to break across the border into Egypt in search
for daily necessities. [CWNews] 1418.10
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Ireland
Non-Christian immigrants & parochial schools
Irish
government officials have hailed a new policy,
announced by the Archdiocese of Dublin earlier
this week, that will reserve seats in two parochial
schools for non-Catholic immigrants. The new policy,
reserving one-third of the available seats in
two schools for non-Catholic students, is designed
to serve the educational needs of the immigrant
families who have crowded into the neighborhood
served by those Catholic schools. Education minister
Mary Hanafin welcomed the archdiocesan policy,
saying that it would help build a more diverse
society. Integration minister Conor Lenihan agreed,
congratulating Archbishop Diarumuid Martin for
a 'very positive move toward better integration
in our school system.' The new policy, established
in the parish of Porterstown and Clonsilla, has
been established as a pilot program. [CWNews]
1418.11
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Jamaica
Legalising abortion
The
Jamaica House of Representatives has signed off
on the creation of a 10-member group to examine
the possibility of legalizing abortion there.
The move comes after a government report indicated
the Caribbean nation should overturn its laws
prohibiting abortions. Doing so would have Jamaica
join Cuba as the only other island nation in the
western hemisphere to have legalized abortion.
The government claims the nation's health system
is burdened by the number of women injured by
botched illegal abortions, but appears not to
have looked at the possibility of improving pre-natal
care or offering assistance to pregnant women
to keep their babies. Health Minister Rudyard
Spencer received Parliament's approval to create
a House committee to sit along with a Senate one
to investigate the idea. [LifeNews] 1418.12
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Netherlands
Dissident Dominicans
World
leaders of the Dominican order have issued a correction
to three Dutch Dominican theologians who issued
a popular pamphlet arguing that parish communities
could celebrate the Eucharist without a priest,
the French newspaper La Croix reporters.
The Dominican officials criticize the Dutch theologians
for promoting views that contradict fundamental
Church doctrines, according to La Croix.
But the report issued from Rome stops short of
disciplinary action against the theologians involved
in the Dutch pamphlet. Last June, three Dominican
theologians in the Netherlands issued a pamphlet
entitled Kerk en Ambt ('Church and Ministry'),
which was fashioned as a response to severe shortage
of priests in that country.
The pamphlet, which was circulated widely among
Dutch parishes, argued that in the absence of
an ordained priest, any Catholic-- male or female,
married or unmarried, homosexual or heterosexual--
could preside at the Eucharist. That role, the
pamphlet said, 'is not a prerogative reserved
to the priest.' The pamphlet was circulated with
the approval of Dominican provincial leaders in
the Netherlands. The Dutch pamphlet drew calls
for a response from the Vatican's Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith, which in turn asked
the leaders of the Dominican order in Rome to
address the matter.
The
resulting report from Rome-- of which La Croix
has obtained a copy-- is frankly critical of the
Dutch pamphlet, saying that the authors distort
the teachings of the Church and particularly the
documents of Vatican II. The report from Rome,
dated January 23, does not call for disciplinary
action against the Dominicans responsible for
the pamphlet. But it directs the Dutch Dominicans
to publicize the response in all the parishes
where the original pamphlet was circulated last
year-- as many as 1,500 parishes. The Roman response
acknowledges the severity of the shortage of priests
in the Netherlands, and the need to make plans
to serve the pastoral needs of parishes without
priests. However, the document remarks, any such
pastoral plans must be made with an eye to the
teachings of the Church and the need for unity
among the faithful.
The
author of the Roman response, the French Dominican
Herve Legrand, does express some sympathy for
the Dutch Dominican theologians on one issue:
the question of priestly celibacy. On that issue
'there must be a debate,' the document says, noting
that 'the current situation for priests is not
the only one possible.' [CWNews] 1418.13
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Philippines
A legal age for marriage
A
leading Catholic prelate in the Philippines has
suggested raising the age of legal consent for
marriage, in order to guard against family breakdown.
Archbishop Oscar Cruz of Lingayen told lawmakers
that many couples, married early in life, are
'psychological unprepared and emotional unstable.'
He recommended raising the current minimum age
requirement, which is 18, as a remedy. At 18,
the archbishop argued, many people are immature
and 'incapable of raising a family.' He did not
specify an alternative minimum age. Current law
in the Philippines allows couples between the
ages of 18 and 21 to marry only with consent from
their parents. Only at 22 can an individual marry
without showing evidence of parental consent.
[CWNews] 1418.14
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Poland
Opposition to IVF
Opposition
to in vitro fertilization is rising in
Poland, although it still represents a minority
opinion, according to a recent survey. The newspaper
Rzeczpospolita reports that 26% of Polish
respondents opposed in vitro fertilization
for married couples. While a distinct minority,
that number had increased 11% since January 2005.
The authors of the survey attribute the rising
opposition to recent statements by the country's
bishops. The survey, which was conducted January
4-7, 2008 and polled 890 residents of Poland,
found that only 9% of respondents oppose all government
funding for in vitro fertilization. Thirty-eight
percent support some level of funding while 39%
think the government should always pay for the
elective medical procedure. [CWNews] 1418.15
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UK
Fit
for Mission * * *
The
groundbreaking education document 'Fit for
Mission', Schools' produced by the Bishop
of Lancaster has received further praise from
the Vatican. The document had previously been
praised by the Congregation for Clergy. It has
now also been singled out by Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski,
Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education,
as a 'reliable resource for renewing the vitality
of Catholic education in today's society'. The
cardinal commended Bishop Patrick O'Donoghue on
behalf of the congregation for his 'initiative
and work done to strengthen the values inherent
in the Catholic school'. Cardinal Grocholewski
highlighted the publication's 'comprehensive'
use of documents from the Holy See to support
the Catholic ethos in schools on a diocesan level.
The implementation of the Fit for Mission?
Schools programme will be developed throughout
Lancaster over the course of this year. The diocese's
education centre will facilitate and co-ordinate
further consultation and implementation of the
action plan among primary and secondary schools,
and colleges. The
consultation will culminate in a diocesan conference
in November 2008 to discuss the progress of the
initiative over the year. Bishop O'Donoghue, currently
on a pastoral visit to India at the invitation
of the Syro-Malabar community, said: 'I am absolutely
delighted with the letter from Cardinal Grocholewski.
'It is so encouraging to learn that Fit for Mission?
Schools has been commended by the Congregation
that has authority over all Catholic schools and
colleges throughout the world.'
He added: 'I see it as yet another sign that our
efforts at Lancaster are moving in the right direction.
'We are honestly trying to make our schools and
parishes fit for mission - striving to communicate
the Gospel with a freshness and energy to young
and old.' [Gabriel Communications]
In
a linked story, and further to our report (1416.20)
about the claim made by Daphne McLeod, chairman
of Pro Ecclesia ct Pontifice, that diocesan advisers
are keeping a 'stranglehold' over the teaching
of religion in Catholic schools, retired headmaster
Eric Hester has the following letter published
in this week's Catholic Herald. 'Sir -
For some 30 years Daphne McLeod (News, January
18) has been the Cassandra of Catholic education:
fated to tell the truth but never to be believed.
Recent figures of the decline of the Church in
England and Wales now show Mrs McLeod's criticism
of Catholic religious education to be completely
valid.
Mrs
McLeod is especially right to draw attention to
the failure of Catholic inspections to be of any
use since they are conducted by people responsible
for the textbooks which have failed Catholic pupils.
All other inspections in our schools - Ofsted,
for example - are impartial and forbidden even
from mentioning a textbook by name, let alone
recommending it.
It
is disingenuous of the national adviser for RE,
Fr Joseph Quigley, to say that schools are not
inspected by the same actual inspectors as those
who wrote the book: those who approve the inspectors,
approved the books. However, it is good news that
a review of the disastrous books Here I Am
and Icons is already underway. Why has
this review not been given full publicity? I had
never heard of it until Fr Quigley's throwaway
remark - it has not been publicised in the Catholic
media or on the bishops' conference website. This
time there must be no secrecy. The consultation
must include not just a few carefully selected
people but must be available to all Catholic parents,
teachers and priests.
Might I suggest, too, that the consultation and
review should be under the chairmanship of Bishop
Patrick O'Donoghue of Lancaster, or his nominee
from that diocese, which is energetically tackling
the teaching of RE and applying the remedies ordered
by Rome? [Catholic Herald]
'Fit for Mission? Schools
- an expanded edition - See with His Eyes, Love
with His Heart, Share in His Virtues'
is to be published by the Catholic Truth Society
on February 12th. ISBN: 978 1 86082 497 5 Product
code: Do 779. Price: £6.95. Size: A4, Page
extent: 80pp 1418.16
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UK
Embryonic stem-cell research
British
scientists are asserting that the requirement
over embryonic stem-cell research is holding back
research that could save lives. In a letter to
The Times organised by Dr Evan Harris MP, a group
of leading scientists wrote: 'We urge the Government
to accept this important improvement to the Bill,
which will help to maintain the UK's reputation
as the place of choice for this exciting and world-leading
medical research.' The Cardinal Archbishop of
Westminster has called for the House of Lords
to set up a National Bio-ethics Commission, to
reflect on advances in biotechnology. Cardinal
Cormac Murphy O'Connor writing in The Times noted
that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority
is primarily a regulator and not suited to ethical
reflection. an ethics body. Under proposed Government
changes, women in a lesbian relationship would
have joint parental rights, the Telegraph reports.
Some pro-life campaigners are also putting pressure
on the Lords to overturn legislation which permits
abortion throughout pregnancy if the child is
disabled. [Times, Telegraph, SPUC] 1418.17
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UK
Ever more killer-pills
Use
of morning-after pills among British teenage girls
has rocketed since it became possible to buy them
over the counter. In Portsmouth, Hampshire, alone,
343 consultations with girls and women took place
in pharmacies between May and December last year.
Julia Millington, political director of the Pro-Life
Alliance in the south-east, said: 'It's a tragedy
that more young women are taking up the opportunity
to have easier access to the morning-after pill.'
[The News, SPUC] 1418.18
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UK
Children for sale
Hundreds
of young children are being sold and 'trafficked'
to Britain from Africa to be exploited as modern-day
slaves, it can be revealed. The illicit trade
in children - sold by their parents, some while
still babies, to criminal gangs and people traffickers
- has been uncovered by a Sunday Telegraph
investigation. An undercover reporter was offered
several children for sale by their parents in
Nigeria: two boys aged three and five for £5,000,
or £2,500 for one, and a 10-month-old baby
for £2,000.
Teenage
girls - including some still pregnant - were willing
to sell their babies for less than £1,000.
One international trafficker, tracked down in
Lagos, claimed to be buying up to 500 children
a year. Impoverished African parents are being
lured by the traffickers' promises of 'a better
life' for their children, thousands of miles away
in cities including London, Birmingham and Manchester.
But, once brought to Britain, the children are
used as a fraudulent means to obtain illicit housing
and other welfare benefits, totalling tens of
thousands of pounds each a year.
From the age of seven, rather than being sent
to school, they are exploited as domestic slaves,
forced to work for up to 18 hours a day, cleaning,
cooking and looking after other younger children,
or put to work in restaurants and shops. Some
of the children are also subjected to physical
and sexual abuse, while others even find themselves
accused of being witches and become victims of
exorcism rites in 'traditional' African churches
in Britain.
Campaigners
called last night for the Government and the police
to take 'urgent action' to end this '21st century
child slavery'. 'These children are being abused
under our noses in our own country,' said Chris
Beddoe, the director of End Child Prostitution
and Trafficking, a British-based coalition of
international charities. 'It is totally unacceptable.
We need urgent action to identify these children
as they enter the UK, find those who are being
abused and offer proper protection to those who
escape or are freed from their abusers.' A recent
survey by the Government's Child Exploitation
and Online Protection Centre claimed that 330
children, including 14 aged under 12, many of
them from Africa, had been trafficked to Britain
over the past year.
The
police and campaigners believe, however, that
this is just the 'tip of the iceberg' and that
the true figure is likely to be in the thousands.
A senior Scotland Yard officer said: 'The traffickers
and the people who buy the children and use them
as domestic slaves have no regard for their well-being
and we are determined to catch those involved
in this vile business. But this is a hidden crime,
going on largely in Britain's African communities
and we would urge people in those communities
to contact us if they suspect that any child in
their area is being abused. We need their co-operation.
They must not turn a blind eye.' [Sunday Telegraph]
1418.19
Top
www.cfnews.org.uk
USA
Fischer's Catholic burial
Legendary
chess player Bobby Fischer, who made history by
dethroning the Soviet chess king Boris Spassky
in 1972, asked to be buried as a Catholic, according
to officials of the Catholic Church in Iceland,
where he had been living since 1992. The famous
and eccentric chess player, who died last Thursday
at the age of 64, was buried Tuesday in Iceland
during a private Catholic ceremony. The French
news agency AFP reported that Fischer, who was
born into a Jewish family in New York, expressly
asked to be buried according to the Catholic rite.
Father Jakob Rolland of the Diocese of Reykiavik,
the capital of Iceland, presided at the funeral.
The former champion 'had expressed his desire
to have a catholic burial and we honored that'
with a ceremony that took place in Laugardaela,
a small city 50 kilometers south of the capital,'
Father Rolland said.
Only
five people attended the ceremony, including his
Japanese friend Miyoko Watai, who travelled from
Japan to attend to the funeral. Father Rolland
said she organized the funeral together with a
group of Fischer's friends in Iceland. 'I don't
know if he converted to the Catholic faith, but
that doesn't mean he didn't,' said Father Rolland,
in reference to the reserved manner in which Fischer
discussed his private life and his personal decisions.
By becoming a citizen of Iceland, Fischer escaped
serving a prison sentence in the United States
for money he earned during a tournament in 1992
in the former Yugoslavia-at that time under a
UN embargo-where he again faced and defeated Russian
champion Spassky. [CNA] 1418.20
Top
www.cfnews.org.uk
USA
New York's $2m. grant for embryo research
The
State of New York has given Cornell University
and the Weill Cornell Medical College grants totalling
almost $2 million towards stem cell research and
embryo research, which the institutions conduct
on human and animal subjects. The grants are part
of a £600 million multi-year programme launched
in 2007 - 08. [Bionity, SPUC] 1418.21
Top
www.cfnews.org.uk
Vietnam
Catholic protests
Angered by the Vietnamese government's refusal
to restore Church possession of the office once
occupied by the apostolic nuncio in Hanoi, more
than 2,000 Catholics demonstrated at the site
on January 25. Some were beaten and taken into
custody by local police. Traffic came to a halt
in Hanoi on Friday when Catholic priests, religious,
and laity marched in procession from St. Joseph
cathedral to the building that once housed the
apostolic delegation and is currently being used
by the government for commercial enterprises (the
garden of what was the nunciature is now a parking
lot for government officials). The morning protest
was followed by another demonstration after the
Mass celebrated for the 89th birthday of Cardinal
Paul Joseph Pham Dinh Tung, the retired Archbishop
of Hanoi.
During
the second protest, some Catholic women climbed
over a gate to place flowers at a statue of the
Virgin Mary inside the building. There they were
confronted by security officials. Disregarding
the women's explanations for venturing into the
building, the guards attacked them with batons,
kicking and cuffing them. When several other protestors
broke through the gate to rescue the women, they
too were embroiled in the scuffle with police.
The protestors took control the building for a
while-- long enough to put up a large cross in
the garden-- before the security force was reinforced
by local police units. As they regained control
of the building, police made several arrests.
A local source reported that officials are still
looking for others who were actively involved
in the protest. The January 25 clash was the most
serious conflict yet in a confrontation that began
in December. Hanoi's Catholics have demonstrated
daily at the old nuncio's office. Today's demonstrations
were the largest to date, coming in the face of
warnings that the government might take action
against the protests. [CWNews] 1418.22
Top
www.cfnews.org.uk
Book review
The
Realm
The
Realm. An Unfashionable Essay on the Conversion
of England. Aidan Nicols, Op. Family Publications,
6a King's Street, Oxford OX2 6DE. ISBN 978-1-871217-74-2
£8.95
Tim
Matthews writes : There are so many interesting
threads of thought in this book that, in a short
review, it difficult to highlight them individually
or give them due attention but basically, Father
Nichols here argues, any hope of converting our
increasingly secular society must be underpinned
by a profound change in our culture. 'Of course',
he writes in a Preface, 'most people would disagree
with my aim, never mind my methods. That is why
this is 'an unfashionable essay'.
As,
statistically, the Catholic Church in England
crumbles (and in these pages Nichols confines
himself to England and not the rest of the United
Kingdom), the call to re-conversion has been neglected,
he says. Not that this is due to dissenting voices,
but due to a general apathetic attitude towards
the entire realm of religion.
Yet
England, in fact, is inseparable from Catholicism:
it cannot be imagined without it. And -- although
there are quite few politically-correct Catholics
who fear to speak about the 'conversion of England'
-- what made England once, can make it again.
Well,
how well fitted are we, in the face of secularists
'who like to sweep the public-square clean of
religious detritus', to launch a new mission to
the people of England?
'Actually',
says Nichols, 'despite the scary statistics, I
think the church here is quite well fitted to
take up his mighty challenge … If the original
Anglo-Saxon conversion of England is anything
to go by, what you need for a successful movement
of conversion which really 'takes' and acts to
transform culture across as a whole society is
precisely a mixture of indigenous an exogenous
elements. You need people who come from within
and people who come from without'. Which is just
what we have in England today - a rich ethnic
mix. 'Catholicism can present itself
