News from around the Catholic world for the week ending 7 March.
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• Pope Francis’ Ash Wednesday Mass
• Belgian King signs off on child euthanasia
• NSW MLC Greg Donnelly urges voters to speak up for Zoe’s Law
• 200 cities around the world commence 40 Days for Life
• Caritas Australia launches Project Compassion for 2014.
TRANSCRIPT
SARAH: Pope Francis has celebrated Ash Wednesday Mass at the Basilica of St Sabina to mark the beginning of the season of Lent. His homily focused on the theme “Rend your hearts and not your garments” from the liturgy’s first reading by the prophet Joel.
The Holy Father reminded the faithful that the practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving are not “reducible to outward forms or vague intentions”, but intended to “[transform]one’s entire existence from the centre of the person”.
Pope Francis said, “…we live in an increasingly artificial world, in a culture of ‘doing’, [a culture]of the ‘useful’, in which we exclude God from our horizon without even realising it.
Lent calls us to ‘give ourselves a ‘shake-up”, to remember that we are creatures, that we are not God.”
On the same day Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera published an interview with the Holy Father.
The interview covered a variety of topics including the role of women, Church governance, his friendship with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, and the Church’s stance on artificial contraception.
Vatican Radio reports: “Some of the strongest remarks concerned the role of women in the Church. ‘It is true that women can and ought to be more present in the places where the Church’s decisions are made. This, however, I would call a promotion of the ‘functional’ type. Only, in this way, we do not get very far: We need to consider that the Church takes the feminine article,” he said, “She is feminine in her very origins…”
Find the full story on the Vatican Radio website.
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It’s been a dire week for Belgium, as after weeks of speculation, King Philippe has signed a bill that will make it the first nation to allow euthanasia for chronically ill children of all ages.
The signing of the bill was the final step in removing the minimum age limit for euthanasia in Belgium, with the Senate and Chamber of Representatives having already voted in favour late last year.
The legislation gives children the right to request euthanasia if they are suffering great pain and there is no available treatment. The child must receive parental, doctoral and psychiatric consent.
There has been strong opposition to the bill throughout Europe, particularly from the Catholic Church. The Church has strongly opposed the law, and has made a considerable effort to stop it from being passed.
Various other formal requests and large-scale petitions to have the King veto the bill now rest null as the country attempts to come to terms with the new legislation.
This new step has also ignited worldwide uproar with professionals across the globe describing it as an “absolute travesty”, a “step too far” and a law that renders children “expendable”. (American Academy of Pediatrics)
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This week saw the launch of the 40 Days for Life Lenten campaign in Australian cities; the first of over 200 cities to take part in the prayer vigils worldwide.
In Australia, seven cities are taking part in the 40-day prayer vigil outside of local abortion clinics. Other countries taking part include the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Germany and Nigeria.
It is believed that since the first campaign in 2004, over 8,000 lives have been saved, over 80 abortion workers have left the industry and at least 45 abortion clinics have shut down.
Most recently, the BPAS abortion business in Bedford Square, London has closed its doors after five 40 Days for Life campaigns at the clinic. The clinic is the first outside of the US to close following a 40 Days for Life campaign, and has seen more than 50 women choose life for their babies at that centre alone.
Some counter protests for the International event are already being planned. A feminist group based in Quebec has set up a Facebook event for a counter-protest in Montreal this Saturday, claiming the pro-lifers are acting “against the individual choice of women… for the purpose of saving “future humans” while limiting the choice of women.”
To find out about a 40 Days for Life event near you visit 40daysforlife.com.
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NSW Labor MP Greg Donnelly has this week issued a statement urging voters to contact members of the legislative council to voice their support for Zoe’s Law.
The proposed amendment to the Crimes Act 1900 would extend certain offences of grievous bodily harm to protect unborn children at over 20 weeks gestation. The bill passed the NSW Lower House in November 2013 and is currently before the Upper House.
While the law would not apply to acts committed by a medical practitioner and with consent of the mother, there has been a campaign launched claiming the legislation would impact ‘women’s reproductive rights’.
In his email Mr Donnelly dismissed attempts to link the proposed legislation to the abortion debate as both “dishonest” and “misleading”.
Mr Donnelly said “It is vitally important that those in the community who support this legislation communicate that view to MLCs.”
“To date MLCs have received virtually no emails or letters encouraging them to speak and vote for the Bill. At this stage they are only hearing the voices of the opponents,” he said.
A complete list of NSW MLCs can be found on the NSW Parliament website.
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Caritas Australia’s annual Project Compassion appeal has been launched at the New South Wales Parliament House in Sydney on Monday.
Guest speakers at the launch included New South Wales Premier Barry O’Farrell, Filipino priest Fr Dennis Espejo [Es-pe-ho], and Caritas Australia CEO Paul O’Callaghan.The campaign launch especially focused on The Philippines, which was devastated by Typhoon Haiyan in November last year.
Recalling his trip to the affected regions, Paul O’Callaghan said “It was numbing to enter a place where more than 8000 died, 26,000 were seriously injured and where 4 million lost their homes…the entire population of Sydney”.
“Just hearing the stories [of the Filipinos]was a harrowing and humbling experience. But even in the worst affected communities, there was a very real sense of hope,” he said.
This year’s Project Compassion campaign marks 50 years since the establishment of Caritas Australia. Last year’s campaign marked the most successful campaign to date, raising almost $11 million nationally.
To donate to Project Compassion, pick up a box at your local parish or visit caritas.org.au.
Music Credit: Waking Up Instrumental – Dexter Britain
