News from around the Catholic world for the week ending 14 February.
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• Thousands of engaged couples to celebrate St Valentines day with Pope Francis
• Spain takes a step towards making abortion illegal
• Belgium legalises euthanasia for children of all ages
• Russian Cathedral shooting leaves two dead
• Education the focus of this year’s closing the gap report
• Rapping priest from the Bronx Fr Stan Fortuna set to visit Melbourne.
TRANSCRIPT
SARAH: Thousands of engaged couples are expected to flock to St Peter’s Square today to celebrate St Valentines Day with Pope Francis.
The meeting, which is themed “the joy of ‘yes’ forever’ has been organised by the Pontifical Council for the Family and is set to attract at least 17,000 young couples who are preparing for marriage.
The event will begin at 11am local time with a period of prayer, reflection and testimonials, before the Holy Father’s arrival at noon.
It is one of the many events that have been planned in the lead up to the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the theme of pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelisation.
The tradition of St Valentines Day is said to have Christian roots, marking the feast of St Valentine who was believed to be a third century Roman priest. According to legend, St Valentine was martyred for solemnising marriages illegally, when the Roman Emperor had outlawed them to prevent young men from avoiding the draft.
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Spanish MPs have this week voted to proceed with proposed abortion law reforms put forward by the governing Peoples party late last year.
The proposed laws would be the most restrictive laws in Europe, making abortion illegal, except in the case of rape, and requiring two doctors to verify circumstances for any woman seeking an abortion.
The secret vote was initiated by the opposing socialist party in an effort to block the bill before it goes to a general vote, when MPs are likely to vote on party lines. However, MPs voted 183 to 151 against abandoning the proposed legislation, in spite of heated demonstrations across the country.
In a protest outside of a Catholic Church last week, Madrid’s Cardinal Antionio Rouco Varela was attacked by topless Femen activists blaming the Catholic Church for the proposed reforms.The women, who had inverted crosses painted on their bodies, chanted ‘abortion is sacred’.
Parliamentary debate on the bill will continue before it is written into law.
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The Belgian Parliament have this week passed legislation allowing euthanasia for children.
The Chamber of Representatives voted 86 to 44 in favour of the law, which enables terminally ill children to be killed, provided they are conscious, understand what euthanasia means and have asked to die.
In an interview with the National Catholic Register late last year, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy for Life Msgr Renzo Pegoraro warned of the dangers of the legislation.
Msgr Pegoraro said “A child is a child and so is not at full maturity and with the capacity to understand and handle such a crucial decision.
“There is a general universal acknowledgement that children are more vulnerable and fragile and need a supplement of support, help and care. So we don’t understand why there is this willingness to manage a person’s capacity and liberty by losing this idea of the protection, defense, respect and intrinsic value of life, particularly of children,” he said.
The law will now go to Belgium’s King to be signed before being enacted.
See the full NC Register interview
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A shooting at a Russian Orthodox Cathedral last Sunday has left a nun and a church-goer dead and six people wounded.
The attack took place after a Sunday service at the Orthodox Cathedral of the Resurrection on Sakhalin Island off the far-east coast of Russia.
The gunman has been identified by Russian authorities as a 25 year old cash-in-transit security guard. No motive has been given for the shooting, though in a statement on the Sakhalin Orthodox diocesan website, Archbishop Tikhon said that the gunman “started shooting not just at people, but also at icons, in what I would say was a very demonstrative execution”.
Russian investigators have also said that the gunman was drunk at the time of the shooting.
Prayer vigils for the victims have been held around Russia, including a service by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, and at Black Sea Resort in Sochi, where the Winter Olympics are currently being held.
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Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has this week released the annual Closing the Gap report on reducing the disadvantages faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples around Australia.
The report tracks the progress made on Indigenous health, education and employment outcomes created by Australia’s Federal and State governments in 2008.
According to the 2014 report, good outcomes have been attained in child mortality and Year 12 attainment rates. However, efforts are failing in other areas such as literacy & numeracy, employment and life expectancy – with Indigenous Australians having a life expectancy of 10-11 years less than other Australians.
As part of his release speech, the Prime Minister announced a new target for the report: 90% school attendance across all Australian schools within the next five years. Mr Abbott said, “We may be doomed to fail, I fear, until we achieve the most basic target of all: the expectation that every child will attend school every day.”
“One of the worst forms of neglect is failing to give children the education they need for a decent life,” he said.
The release of the report coincides with yesterday’s 6th anniversary of then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s formal apology to Indigenous Australians for the Stolen Generation.
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Fr Stan Fortuna, the rapping Franciscan from the Bronx will be performing in Melbourne next month at Flame Fest, an annual event held at St Mary MacKillop parish, Keilor Downs.
The event, which is organised each year by the parish’s Flame youth group, is set to attract hundreds of young people for an evening of music and fellowship.
Flame Youth Group member Sharon Calleja spoke to Cradio about how the hugely popular all-ages event came to be.
SHARON: So, Flame Fest started with a jamming with Jesus session with 20 youth from our parish. We had invited Fr Rob Galea and some how it just completely exploded. The following year we had 800 people packed in St Mary MacKillop’s church and it was completely out of our hands. As we were greatly inspired by the total success of the first flamefest we decided to make it into an annual event in which we would be able to use the talents of our Church in order to glorify God as one united. This year’s flamefest is definitely going to be a Spirit-filled night with lots of music, dancing, evangelization and lots of fun. And it’s going to be a great opportunity to see and meet Fr Stan Fortuna in person, along with many other talented youth who are on fire for the Lord, and it’s definitely a night not to be missed.
SARAH: Fr Stan is a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal and is known for his unique style of evangelisation through jazz and hip-hop music.
The event will take place at 6.30pm on Saturday 1 March. Tickets are $25 and all proceeds will go to assist in Fr Stan’s ministry.
For more details you can find the Flame Fest event on Facebook, email [email protected] , or phone: 0415 957 123.
Music Credit: Waking Up Instrumental – Dexter Britain
