Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, Aug 7, 2021 / 15:00 pm (CNA).
As Spain records a high rate of suicide, a Bishop in the Basque Country on Wednesday urged that no effort be spared in addressing the crisis, “taking a stand for life.”
Bishop Juan Carlos Elizalde Espinal of Vitoria gave his reflection during Aug. 4 Solemn Vespers in honor of Our Lady of the Snows.
“There are many people, youths and adults, who decide to put an end to their existence. Don’t do it. Life is worth living. In face of the darkness, Christ is the Light,” Bishop Elizalde stressed.
In addition to the common reasons people take their own lives such as clinical depression, Spain legalized both euthansia and assisted suicide in December 2020.
The bishop called on “everyone, public institutions, companies, schools, families and the Church,” to join together to provide the necessary help to the person contemplating suicide, “who needs to know that God has a plan for him and there’s a new beginning.”
“I ask that we spare no effort to address this problem of the first order, taking a stand for life, from the first moment of conception to its natural end, alleviating pain, also taking care of the caregiver and always ensuring the dignity of all,” he continued.
On average, according to official data, every day in Spain “more than 10 people die from suicide (more than twice as many victims as from traffic accidents) and many more suffer the consequences. Suicide is one of the biggest public health problems in Europe. The estimated rate of suicide is 13.9 per 100,000 inhabitants per year.”
By comparison, Spain has seen 173.1 deaths per 100,000 from Covid-19.
Bishop Elizalde also pointed to one of the main causes of suicide in Spain, bullying.
“Bullying, which causes profound pain, is an evil that we must eradicate from schools and workplaces. We have no right to ruin anyone’s life. Bullying in schools causes serious problems,” which can even lead to “the young person ending his own life. There are many people, youths and adults, who decide to end their existence,” he said.
The Bishop of Vitoria also recalled the millions of Christians who are persecuted because of their faith, “who bear witness to the Truth,” and noted that in Spain “there are also those who intend to eliminate the millenary presence of our faith.”
“It’s nothing new, but I want to alert you to the growing intolerance towards faith in Christ in our society,” he said.
The bishop also warned of the great harm caused by a school curriculum that discards religious education, “as this new education law seems to want to do” in the drive toward secularization.
The Celaá Law, which took effect in January, marginalizes the subject of religion in schools.
For the bishop, eliminating from the curriculum the student’s free choice to take religion classes is like “an attack against one’s own culture, against the understanding of the world and against freedom,” and pointed out that “we shout to heaven when they trample on rights, but not when those rights are related to the transcendent, to the faith of a great majority of people and against the knowledge of Jesus and everything that has to do with him.”
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Pope Francis visits St. Paul’s Grotto in Rabat, Malta, April 3, 2022. / Vatican Media.
Rabat, Malta, Apr 3, 2022 / 02:05 am (CNA).
Pope Francis prayed on Sunday morning at St. Paul’s Grotto in Rabat, where local tradition holds that the Apostle… […]
Vatican City, Mar 24, 2021 / 09:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis appointed Wednesday Juan Carlos Cruz to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.
Cruz, a Chilean survivor of clerical sex abuse, will sit on the Vatican commission for three years.
“I am very grateful to Pope Francis for trusting me with this appointment. I deeply appreciate it,” Cruz wrote on his Twitter account following the announcement on March 24.
“This renews my commitment to continue working to end the scourge of abuse and for so many survivors who still do have justice.”
Cruz joins the existing members of the commission. Fifteen of their appointments were renewed for a year by the pope.
The Vatican Commission for the Protection of Minors was established by Pope Francis in March 2014 as a papal advisory body to improve the Church’s norms and procedures for the protection of children and vulnerable adults.
Cruz is a survivor of sexual abuse by Fr. Fernando Karadima, who in 2011 was found guilty by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of sexually abusing minors in the 1980s and 1990s.
Pope Francis met with Cruz and other victims of Karadima in April 2018 in a meeting at the Vatican in which the pope apologized for previously defending Chilean Bishop Juan Barros, who was accused of covering up Karadima’s abuse at the time of the pope’s trip to Chile earlier that year.
Cruz later said in an interview that he had spoken about his homosexuality during his private meeting with the pope, and said that Francis had told him to accept himself and his same-sex attraction because God made him that way.
Last week, before his appointment to the pontifical commission, Cruz spoke out in criticism of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith’s (CDF) ruling that the Catholic Church cannot give liturgical blessings of homosexual unions.
Cruz told the Associated Press on March 15 that people would leave the Catholic Church “if the Church and the CDF do not advance with the world.”
Since the pontifical commission’s establishment, the advisory group has been headed by Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston with U.S. Msgr. Robert Oliver as its secretary.
In the Vatican’s March 24 announcement, the membership of Msgr. Luis Manuel Alí Herrera, Fr. Hans Zollner, Sr. Jane Bertelsen, Sr. Arina Gonsalves, Sr. Kayula Lesa, Sr. Hermenegild Makoro, Ernesto Caffo, Gabriel Dy-Liacco, Benyam Dawit Mezmur, John Owen Neville, Nelson Giovannelli Rosendo dos Santo, Hanna Suchocka, Myriam Wijlens, Sinalelea Fe’ao, and Teresa Kettelkamp Morris were renewed.
Fr. Richard Cassidy, professor of Sacred Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, dresses in Roman prisoner garb as he holds a copy of his newest book, “A Roman Commentary on St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians.” Fr. Cassidy’s eighth scholarly work, the book explores the subversive nature of St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, which the apostle wrote from behind bars in a Roman prison cell. / Valaurian Waller | Detroit Catholic
Detroit, Mich., Apr 30, 2022 / 08:00 am (CNA).
It was a tough decision for Rick Cassidy as he began graduate studies at the University of Michigan in mid-1960s. Would he take the course on Imperial Rome, because of his love of history, or the course History of Slavery, because of his deep concern for social justice?
The Dearborn native chose the course on slavery. The insights he acquired have helped to guide Fr. Richard Cassidy’s scholarly work for three decades, including his latest work, “A Roman Commentary on St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians“ (Herder & Herder, 2020).
Paul’s letter, composed in chains and secreted out of his Roman jail cell, is intentionally “counter-slavery” argues Father Cassidy, professor of Sacred Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary since 2004, as well as “counter-emperor.” At its core, Philippians is an underground epistle that subverts the Roman power structure and the “lordship pretensions of Nero.” Reviewers praise the “distinctive thesis” of Father’s groundbreaking work as “fresh and illuminating,” making for “fascinating reading.”
This is Father Cassidy’s seventh book that examines the influence of Roman rule on the writers of the New Testament, and his eighth book overall. He returned to Ann Arbor on a rainy afternoon in late June to discuss his newest work.
Dan Gallio: St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians is most known for its soaring declaration of the divinity Christ, before whom one day “every knee must bend,” and “every tongue proclaim” his universal lordship (2:6-11).
Your new book presents a unique argument: Paul’s letter is primarily a “subversive” document of resistance against the Roman Empire—particularly against emperor worship and slavery. How did you arrive at this against-the-grain interpretation?
“A Roman Commentary on St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians” (Herder & Herder, 2020) is Fr. Cassidy’s eighth book and a follow-up on his 2001 work, “Paul in Chains: Roman Imprisonment and the Letters of St. Paul”. Valaurian Waller | Detroit Catholic
Father Cassidy: These insights were the result of long hours with the text, spending a lot of prayer time for guidance, as to Paul’s situation.
The issue of slavery came into play strongly. I now saw that Jesus was executed as a violator of Roman sovereignty, condemned by Pilate, executed under Emperor Tiberius—and that this was the slave’s form of death. This is a crucial point.
In regards to the two topics you mention, I had the intuition that the Letter to the Philippians was “counter-emperor cult” and “counter-slavery.” First, the self emptying of Christ from on high—descending downward into human form, downward, downward to the point of the slave’s death on a Roman cross—and then you have St. Paul’s wonderful words in chapter 2, verses 9-11.
My insight was that there is going to be a redressing of what has happened. Because of the great faithfulness of Jesus Christ, the Father intervenes and begins the lifting up, the ascending of Christ, where the Father exalts Jesus and bestows upon him “the name above every other name.”
So I can now speak about this famous passage in terms of a kind of “drama”: four scenes that represent the descent of Jesus, and four scenes that represent his ascent, akin to a medieval passion play. The Father intervenes on Christ’s behalf, conferring upon him the name of “Lord.” Now all of creation, including the emperor, the governor, the imperial personnel, are all subject to Jesus. They have to prostrate themselves before the name of Jesus.
DG: So, essentially, Philippians is subversive because it makes a political statement as much as a theological one.
FC: Yes, but for some, it is a great privilege to genuflect at the name of Jesus. This includes slaves! Paul had integrated slaves into his community in Philippi. They were empowered now to proclaim the name of Jesus, standing alongside free men and women. They are standing alongside the Roman imperial power structure, all involved in the same process of bowing before Christ and proclaiming his name.
A security guard at Sacred Heart Major Seminary helps Fr. Cassidy don his “prisoner’s clothing” for a photo shoot promoting Fr. Cassidy’s latest book, “A Roman Commentary on St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians,” which details Paul’s experience behind bars and the conditions under which he wrote his Letter to the Philippians. Valaurian Waller | Detroit Catholic
And that name is “Lord.” Jesus is being acclaimed as Lord, and not the emperor, to the glory of God the Father. This is the decisive element of Philippians 2:6-11, blended together in this one passage.
DG: You provide a forty-four-page introduction to the social situation of the Roman colony of Philippi. Why did you feel such an informative but lengthy introduction was necessary to support your thesis?
FC: I had to establish that conditions at Philippi mirror conditions at Rome. This is important. Philippi was like “Little Rome.” When Paul is speaking of conditions at Philippi, his is also experiencing the same oppressive conditions at Rome as a chained prisoner. I had to establish that emperor worship was everywhere, in Philippi’s renowned amphitheater, in the streets, in public artifacts. That is why I had to go into an extensive introduction to set the stage of what Paul is doing in his letter.
DG: Your appendices are extensive, too, like bookends to the introduction, driving the thesis home again using illustrations.
FC: There is one illustration of a monument where slaves are chained, and a slave trader is proclaiming his prowess as a slave trader. This monument to the degradation of slavery was at a city adjacent to Philippi. Paul almost certainly passed by it on his way to and from Philippi. It was discovered back in the 1930s and almost destroyed in the war by Nazi bombings.
DG: Paul is sometimes criticized by revisionist commentators for not rejecting the institution of slavery in his letters. Is your book an answer to these critics?
FC: Paul’s approach to slavery is complicated. There are some letters where he seems to envision the imminent return of Christ. Possibly he minimized the importance of slaves being freed in these letters. However, in Philippians, his final letter before his death, he addresses the issue definitively. It is very undermining of slavery.
I intended to de-establish the idea that Paul acquiesced to slavery. He did not acquiesce. The laudatory prepublication comments by scholars make me think the book will have a decisive role in re-imaging Paul.
Against a prevailing notion that St. Paul “acquiesced” to the idea of slavery in his writings, Fr. Cassidy’s book aims to counter the idea by showing how St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians actually served a subversive purpose in a Roman empire dominated by emperor worship and tight controls. Valaurian Waller | Detroit Catholic
DG: Back to Philippians 2:6-11. Why do you maintain this passage is not a hymn or baptismal catechesis, as is customarily believed, but is an original composition of Paul? Is this position another example of your counter exegesis?
FC: This is not some other preexisting hymn. No! This is fresh imaging. Visceral imaging. This is intensity from identifying with Christ as the “slave crucified.” No one else could have composed this passage. And Paul could not have composed this passage until he was in Roman chains and could see the threat posed against Jesus by the counterfeit claims that Emperor Nero is Lord.
DG: It’s almost like the passage is “supra-inspired,” that he would get such an original insight while in such dreadful circumstances.
FC: Correct. And there is a real question as to how this letter could be transmitted from prison, with the security and censorship. In garments? In pottery? It is possible the original written letter was confiscated. So how is Paul is getting his subversive thoughts past the Roman guards?
I suggest in my book that Paul was drilling his associates, Timothy and Epaphroditus, to memorize his letter, given the role of memory in early Christian life.
DG: With your busy teaching and pastoral duties, where to you find the motivation and energy to produce such a thoroughly researched, and beautifully written, work of scholarship?
FC: It’s Spirit driven!
DG: Is the Spirit driving you to another book?
FC: I would say so. After a book comes to publication, there is always a kind of mellowing period. So right now I have not identified the next project. I am appreciating the graces I have received from this book, and trusting that the same Spirit who has shepherded me through this sequence will still stand by me, guiding me forward.
Bullying seems odd as primary cause for Spain’s suicides at a rate 7.7 [World Pop Review] well below France 13.8 neighbor Portugal 11.9. Although Vitoria Bishop Elizalde’s assessment is observation, not based on scientific studies. And he may be right. Perhaps the Spanish character once a land of conquering warriors, bullfights, manly honor suffers its residue. Still it’s a low figure comparable to Italy at 6.7 that historically doesn’t match, unless we reach back to the Roman empire a bridge too far for consideration. Low suicide rates Britain 7.9 has a similar history of sorts, a world empire. Germany 12.3 Poland 11.3 are on the higher scale. Perhaps it’s the friendly Med clime, [Greece E Orthodox a turbulent past 5.1, whereas inland North Macedonia E Orthodox an astronomical 21] both nations Spain Italy Roman Catholic both nations waning in practice. Astronomical rates Russia 25.1 South Africa 23.5 seem appropriate for the tumultuous radical changes in recent decades. North Macedonia with it’s very high rate is a new nation with claims and breakaway from Serbia and Greece finding its way with all the unknowns. Belgium 18.3! “However, it is worth noting that Belgium has some of the world’s most liberal laws on doctor-assisted suicide, which is likely to be a factor in its statistics” (WPR). Now we may be getting somewhere. Russia with 25.1 is still suffering from a communist ideological hangover, which may account for lethal medical care sold as compassion for the unproductive aging. South Korea, largely atheist listed as no religion 56.1, Buddhist 16, Protestant 16, Catholic 8 has an astronomical high percentage 28.6. A growing wealthy nation largely atheist. Atheism, unsettled values, a rapidly aging community, euthanasia legal [and assisted suicide?], hopeless depression [widespread depression noted by external analysts] may nevertheless be the indicator for their choosing death rather than life. Faith saves.
Suicide, we have read, is less a positive choice than a compulsive effort to simply escape temporary and overwhelming pain of some very unhappy sort or another. The permanent “solution” to a temporary problem.
Is this like all addictions and fixes, which at root are said to be all symptoms of the same underlying and lost sense of “belonging”? The lack of belonging (even by bullying)…
The bishop urges us to offer “support”—i.e., to restore real belonging—at the personal level. One doesn’t need a specialized degree, often just the random gift of personal presence. A different way out from simply careening involuntarily down a mental railroad track that drops over a cliff, and with no power to stop it (as was described to me decades ago by a college roommate and potential suicide).
One ubiquitous accelerant for suicide, of course, is the culturally-imposed option (“choice”!) of routinized annihilation—the societal bookends of abortion to euthanasia. With individual suicide as a middle-case.
In Spain and globally, societal climate-change (coupled with prohibition of the human and religious question) is fatal.
Bullying seems odd as primary cause for Spain’s suicides at a rate 7.7 [World Pop Review] well below France 13.8 neighbor Portugal 11.9. Although Vitoria Bishop Elizalde’s assessment is observation, not based on scientific studies. And he may be right. Perhaps the Spanish character once a land of conquering warriors, bullfights, manly honor suffers its residue. Still it’s a low figure comparable to Italy at 6.7 that historically doesn’t match, unless we reach back to the Roman empire a bridge too far for consideration. Low suicide rates Britain 7.9 has a similar history of sorts, a world empire. Germany 12.3 Poland 11.3 are on the higher scale. Perhaps it’s the friendly Med clime, [Greece E Orthodox a turbulent past 5.1, whereas inland North Macedonia E Orthodox an astronomical 21] both nations Spain Italy Roman Catholic both nations waning in practice. Astronomical rates Russia 25.1 South Africa 23.5 seem appropriate for the tumultuous radical changes in recent decades. North Macedonia with it’s very high rate is a new nation with claims and breakaway from Serbia and Greece finding its way with all the unknowns. Belgium 18.3! “However, it is worth noting that Belgium has some of the world’s most liberal laws on doctor-assisted suicide, which is likely to be a factor in its statistics” (WPR). Now we may be getting somewhere. Russia with 25.1 is still suffering from a communist ideological hangover, which may account for lethal medical care sold as compassion for the unproductive aging. South Korea, largely atheist listed as no religion 56.1, Buddhist 16, Protestant 16, Catholic 8 has an astronomical high percentage 28.6. A growing wealthy nation largely atheist. Atheism, unsettled values, a rapidly aging community, euthanasia legal [and assisted suicide?], hopeless depression [widespread depression noted by external analysts] may nevertheless be the indicator for their choosing death rather than life. Faith saves.
The ratio is the number of suicides per 100k.
Bullying? Often used as a rationale/emotional blackmail for LGB promotion. A too-easy explanation for the prevalence of suicide, IMHO.
Suicide, we have read, is less a positive choice than a compulsive effort to simply escape temporary and overwhelming pain of some very unhappy sort or another. The permanent “solution” to a temporary problem.
Is this like all addictions and fixes, which at root are said to be all symptoms of the same underlying and lost sense of “belonging”? The lack of belonging (even by bullying)…
The bishop urges us to offer “support”—i.e., to restore real belonging—at the personal level. One doesn’t need a specialized degree, often just the random gift of personal presence. A different way out from simply careening involuntarily down a mental railroad track that drops over a cliff, and with no power to stop it (as was described to me decades ago by a college roommate and potential suicide).
One ubiquitous accelerant for suicide, of course, is the culturally-imposed option (“choice”!) of routinized annihilation—the societal bookends of abortion to euthanasia. With individual suicide as a middle-case.
In Spain and globally, societal climate-change (coupled with prohibition of the human and religious question) is fatal.