News from around the Catholic world for the week ending 6 June.
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• Pope Francis urges Catholics to rediscover the beauty of family
• Kidnapped missionaries freed in Cameroon
• Nurses and Midwives to conduct UK abortions
• Catholic Social Services Australia and the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council release their criticisms of the Federal Budget
• Walk with Christ Corpus Christi Procession to hit the streets of Sydney for another year.
TRANSCRIPT
BOBBIE: Pope Francis has defended the family in an address to 52,000 Catholics, warning that the devil seeks to destroy it. The comments came in the Holy Father’s opening address to the 37th National Convocation of the “Renewal in the Spirit”, held at Rome’s Olympic Stadium on Sunday.
Pope Francis spoke to the crowd of Catholic Charismatics from around the world on the theme of renewal, addressing specifically priests, youth, the disabled, and families. He stated that renewal in our world “means rediscovering the beauty of creating a family”.
Pope Francis said, “Families are the home Church where Jesus grows. He grows in the spouses’ love and in the children’s lives.”
“For this reason, the enemy attacks the family so much,” he said.
Pope Francis’ took these comments further at his Mass on Monday, encouraging the attending couples to strengthen their marriages through perseverance.
The Holy Father said, “Married life must be persevering, because otherwise love cannot go forward.”
He also urged couples not to put off having children, which is the key of Christian marriage.
“You can go explore the world, go on holiday, you can have a villa in the countryside, you can be carefree. [I]n the end this marriage comes to old age in solitude, with the bitterness of loneliness,” he said.
More on that story at asianews.it and dailymail.co.uk.
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Two Italian priests and a Canadian nun have been freed in Cameroon after being kidnapped in early April this year.
The release marks the end of the nearly two-month ordeal, which began after the trio were taken at gunpoint from a parish in the northern district of Maroua.
The release had been reportedly secured in a joint operation by Italian, Canadian and Cameroonian governments.
In a statement, Fr Federico Lombardi of the Holy See Press Office said, “We thank God that this incident has come to a successful conclusion.”
“At the same time we continue to pray and to work, that every form of violence, hatred, and conflict in the various regions of Africa and in other parts of the world might be overcome,” Fr Lombardi said.
The Italian priests had reportedly been working in Cameroon as missionaries, performing pastoral duties as well as assisting in improving water supplies and combating HIV/AIDS in the region.
More on that story at Vatican Radio.
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New abortion guidelines in the UK allowing nurses and midwives to play a major role in the termination of unborn children has sparked outrage from all sides of Parliament, Zenit has reported.
Until now midwives and nurses were only permitted to take ‘certain actions’ during the abortion, but the revised rules state that a “nurse or midwife may administer the drugs used for medical abortions”. Under the new guidelines a doctor is only needed to approve and begin the abortion process.
Crossbench peer and Catholic Lord Alton of Liverpool said he felt it was “particularly perverse that midwives who do the beautiful work of helping babies into the world, will now be called upon to end the lives of children they might otherwise work to save.”
Conservative MP Fiona Bruce also criticised the development, calling it a clear liberalisation of abortion law”.
“I do not believe that it is what Parliament intended,” Ms Bruce said.
Labour MP and co-chairman of the all-party parliamentary pro-life group Jim Dobbin commented that the Department of Health seizes “every opportunity to make life easier for the abortion industry”.
“The Abortion Act is crystal clear that a qualified doctor is the only person able to perform an abortion,” he said.
The move follows pressure from the Royal College of Nursing and abortion providers, who believe the law should be changed to allow nurses full control of abortion induced by drugs or some other techniques.
See that story at zenit.org.
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Catholic Social Services Australia and the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council have this week issued a joint statement criticising the Federal Budget for deepening the divide between rich and poor.
Chairman of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council Bishop Christopher Saunders said the budget drives division and alienation in our Australian community.
“I am particularly concerned about the Budget’s impact on Indigenous families and young people,” Bishop Saunders said.
“Many of whom already face deprivation and marginalisation and confront enormous barriers in finding work,” he said.
Acting Executive Director of Catholic Social Services Australia Ms Jackie Brady expressed particular concern with the time-limits on welfare payments for young people.
“Without an adequate safety net, young people up to 30 years of age are being set up to fail,” Ms Brady said.
“That is especially so when the Government is pulling back on programs such as Youth Connections, which we know are successful in helping young people make the move from school to work or further education,” she said.
Ms Brady added, “If the government really wants us all to make a contribution, then it should be empowering those who are struggling – not punishing them”.
The Federal Budget, which was released last month, has received mixed responses, with cuts to family benefits, more stringent conditions tied to welfare payments and other measures which the Government says are necessary to address Australia’s increasing deficit.
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Thousands are expected to flood the streets of Sydney in procession this month for the for an event celebrating the feast of Corpus Christi.
Walk With Christ is an annual event organised by the Archdiocese’ CREDO office.
All are welcome to participate, with the Eucharistic procession (accompanied with prayers and hymns) commencing at St Pat’s Churchhill and concluding at St Mary’s Cathedral with prayer and benediction.
The procession has in the past provided opportunity for the Church to reach out to Sydney-siders through public witness, with crowds reaching over 5,000. People will also have a chance to pray for their needs and those of the city as they bear witness to Christ.
Catholic Renewal and Evangelisation Diocesan Office Director Cathy Kennedy spoke to Cradio about the event.
CATHY KENNEDY: Anyone who comes for the first time are really quite blown away by the beauty of it, but also the corporate power of it. Having so many Catholics together from all around the Archdiocese gives you a real sense of pride to be Catholic: that you’re in something that’s bigger than just your little part of the world and your experience. I guess that’s a little bit like the WYD experience that young people get, so this is like a little taste of that.
BOBBIE: This year’s Walk with Christ will kick of at 2:30pm on 22 June.
