Europe

Rome, Italy, Aug 2, 2019 / 03:06 pm (CNA).- This week, as many as 5,000 Catholic scouts are walking historic pilgrimage routes to Rome that will culminate in a private audience with Pope Francis and a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Aug. 3.

Catholic scout troops are a European tradition that started in the early 20th century with Venerable Jacques Sevin, a French Catholic priest who was inspired by the potential of scouting, founded by his contemporary Robert Baden-Powell in England, for youth development.

Fr. Sevin founded the first Catholic scouting troop, consecrated to the Sacred Heart, in France in 1918.

The Scouts of Europe, a Catholic scouting organization recognized by the Holy See, was founded in the wake of World War II, built on the idea that scouting can help young people “discover that the true European legacy is the capacity to live together in peace and brotherhood around a common aim, Christ,” according to the International Union of European Guides and Scouts – European Scout Federation.

The theme of the scouts’ weeklong trek to Rome, called the “Euromoot,” is “Parate Viam Domini,” which means “prepare the way of the Lord.” The logo includes twelve stars symbolizing the Virgin Mary.

Some of the scouts are walking to Rome by the Way of St. Francis from Assisi, while others have chosen to walk the Way of St. Benedict or part of the medieval Via Francigena. Priests walk with the different scout troops to provide access to the sacraments throughout the pilgrimage.

The scout troops of “rangers” and “rovers” aged 16-21 come from more than 20 countries. Some members of the organization’s North American branch, the Federation of North American Explorers, are also participating in the pilgrimage.

Reflections for the journey focus on St. Catherine of Siena, St. Paul, St. Benedict, St. Francis, and Sts. Cyril and Methodius as ideal examples of heroic virtue to be imitated.

“The most important thing … for us as leaders … is to take their souls to God, their sanctity is essential,” Spanish scout leader Flory Delgado told CNA.

Delgado, 32, has been involved with Catholic scouting her entire life before becoming a volunteer leader for the Scouts of Europe. Delgado’s parents met through their Catholic scouting troops in Spain.

“For us scouting is a style of life,” she explained. The aim of this lifestyle is God, above all, and then training one’s character, good health, service to others, and practicality, she said.

Delgado said that the scouts try to incorporate their Catholic faith into all of their activities with a particular emphasis on the sacraments and service.

“In every activity, we start with a prayer, we finish with a prayer. We pray together the Angelus,” she said.

In her 14 years serving as a scout leader, Delgado has seen the benefits of getting young people out of the house through scouting.

When you leave your comfort zone, you have to face difficulties, Delgado explained, such as the weight of your backpack on a hiking trip.

“You have to make your own decisions of what we will bring with us, and this is what we will carry on our shoulders,” Delgado said. This is a lesson for life, she explained, you have to take responsibility for your own decisions.

“Also, when you start something, finish something,” she said.

The first Scouts of Europe pilgrimage to Rome took place in 1975, in which 500 scouts met St. Paul VI.

St. John Paul II met with scout delegations on several occasions. In 2003, the pope met the scouts in Castel Gandolfo and said to them:

“Dear young people, be generous in answering Jesus’ call inviting you to put out into the deep and become his witnesses, discovering the trust he puts in you to devise a future together with him. Above all, to fulfil this mission the Church is entrusting to you requires that you cultivate a genuine life of prayer nourished by the sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Confession.”

“Dear Guides and Scouts of Europe, you are a precious gift not only for the Church, but also for the new Europe which you see growing before your eyes, and you have been called to share, with all the ardour of youth, in building the Europe of peoples, so that the dignity of every individual as a child loved by God will be recognized, and a society built on the basis of solidarity and charity,” he continued.

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Amsterdam, Netherlands, Aug 2, 2019 / 02:32 pm (CNA).- A law professor at a Dutch university has noted concerns over the effects of a newly implemented law banning women from wearing burqas in some public places in the country, suggesting it will be to the detriment of religion’s role in the public square.

The Netherlands’ ban on wearing “face-covering clothing” in hospitals, schools, government buildings, and on public transit went into effect Aug. 1. The ban does not mention in particular the burqa, a body- and face-covering garmet, or the niqab, a face veil, worn by some Muslim women.

Violators can be assessed a 150euro ($167) fine.

“This undoubtedly has a chilling effect on their ability to take part in public life,” Dr. Tom Zwart, a professor of law, economics and administration at the University of Utrecht, told Sky News.

A federation of Dutch academic hospitals said that it was “not aware of any cases in which wearing face-covering clothing or a possible ban has led to problems” in healthcare, according to Sky News.

Some forms of religious expression in Europe face legal penalties.

Austria and Bavaria implemented similar bans on wearing burqas or niqabs in some public places in 2017. They have been banned in public in France since 2010.

A Belgian ban on food preparation that is in accord with Jewish and Muslim rules took effect at the beginning of this year.

In a 2017 ruling The Court of Justice of the European Union allowed a qualified ban on hijabs in the workplace.

France’s Universal National Service program for teens, which will become mandatory over the next several years, has drawn serious religious freedom concerns, with critics noting that the program prohibits religious symbols, does not allow conscripts to leave for religious services, and fails to accommodate religious dietary restrictions.

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Glasgow, Scotland, Aug 1, 2019 / 11:48 am (CNA).- The Archbishop of Glasgow has written a letter to the UK Home Secretary calling the forced evictions of refugees and asylum seekers in his city “regrettable and harsh.” Those being evicted have failed in their asylum claims.

Serco, a provider of public services, began changing locks last week on housing it provides free of charge to asylum seekers in the city. The residents had been given eviction notices a year ago.

Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow wrote to Priti Patel, the UK’s Home Secretary, saying that “this measure is regrettable and harsh, bringing indignity and suffering on the refugees and asylum seekers, and dismay to the citizens of Glasgow.”

“I appeal to you not to make refugees and asylum seekers homeless, but to provide for them decent accommodation in accordance with their human dignity and human rights,” he wrote in the letter, published July 31.

A spokeswoman for the Home Office told The National, a Glaswegian daily, that “the UK only ever returns those who both the Home Office and the courts are satisfied do not need our protection and have no legal basis to remain in the UK.”

And a Serco official, Julia Rogers, said: “We very much regret the distress this will cause but hope that it will be understood that we cannot be expected to provide free housing indefinitely to hundreds of people who have been unsuccessful in their asylum claims and most of whom have no legal right to remain in the UK.”

Serco provides free housing for about 300 asylum seekers in Glasgow. It says it spends about GBP 1 million ($1.2 million) annually to house those who have had their asylum claims rejected.

The public services provider has said that “no children will be left without housing”, and nearly all the evictions are of single adults.

The evictions are being challenged in Scottish courts.

A judge dismissed a challenge in April arguing the evictions are unlawful without a court order, but that decision is being appealed.

Advocates for the failed asylum seekers want the evictions to be put on hold while the legal challenge continues.

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Rome, Italy, Aug 1, 2019 / 03:25 am (CNA).- There are many Catholic churches in Rome, but few can boast of having been built through the contributions of Catholics around the world as a gift to the pope.

San Gioacchino ai Prati di Castello is an excep… […]

Rome, Italy, Jul 31, 2019 / 03:01 am (CNA).- Each year the Eastern Catholic Churches, as well as other Eastern Christians, participate in a fasting season Aug. 1-14 in preparation for the Aug. 15 feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God (which is ce… […]

London, England, Jul 29, 2019 / 05:01 pm (CNA).- A Christian pastor has been compensated for a wrongful arrest after London police detained the man while preaching on the street earlier this year.

Oluwole Ilesanmi, 64, has been awarded over $3,000 (&p… […]

Szczecin, Poland, Jul 29, 2019 / 11:03 am (CNA).- A Catholic priest was severely beaten in an attack by three men in the sacristy of St. John the Baptist church in Szczecin on Sunday, in what was reportedly an attempted robbery.

Fr. Aleksander Ziejews… […]

Paris, France, Jul 25, 2019 / 02:48 pm (CNA).- Almost four months after a fire destroyed the roof of Notre-Dame de Paris, officials are concerned that the building is still at risk of collapse. Now instead of a fire threatening the 850-year-old building, it is the record summer temperatures that may further erode the stonework.

France, and most of Europe, is in the midst of a record-setting heatwave. Temperatures reached 108.7 degrees Fahrenheit (42.6 C) in Paris on Thursday, the highest ever recorded.

Philippe Villeneueve, the cathedral’s chief architect, is worried the Parisian heat wave combined with the water damage sustained during the firefighting effort could spell disaster for the cathedral’s vaults.

“I am very worried about the heat wave because, as you know, the Cathedral suffered from the fire, the beams coming down, but also the shock from the water from the firefighters. The masonry is saturated with water,” he told Reuters Aug. 24.

On April 15, a fire started in the center of the cathedral’s roof and nearly destroyed the entire building before it was put out.

While there has been no movement detected in the cathedral’s structure since the fire, Villenueve is nonetheless very concerned about the integrity of the stonework.

“What I fear is that the joints or the masonry, as they dry, lose their coherence, their cohesion and their structural qualities and that all of sudden, the vault gives way,” he explained to Reuters. “As I speak here, the vaults could very well collapse, because since April 15, we haven’t been able to access the vaults, neither from above nor from underneath.”

The stone vaults largely held during the fire, much to the amazement of onlookers. Only the part of the ceiling located underneath the spire, which was destroyed in the blaze, fell. The vast majority of the artwork, along with all of the relics, were spared from the flames.

Unlike the United States, most of Europe lacks air conditioning, which makes heatwaves particularly dangerous. So far, five deaths in France have been linked to the excessive heat.

The cause of the fire at Notre-Dame is still undetermined. On June 15, Mass was celebrated at one of the side altars for the first time since the fire.

France’s parliament recently passed a law declaring that Notre-Dame must be rebuilt exactly the way it was prior to the fire. The rebuilding effort will take years.

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London, England, Jul 22, 2019 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- The High Court has agreed to hear in September a bid from the parents of Tafida Raqeeb to take her to Italy for treatment. The five-year-old girl has been comatose since February, and UK doctors want to remove her life-sustaining treatment.

The UK doctors have barred Raqeeb’s parents from taking her abroad for treatment.

Two doctors from the Gaslini Children’s Hospital in Genoa examined Raqeeb via video link earlier this month, and they agreed to care for her in Italy. They said they did not believe her to be brain dead.

Bishop John Sherrington, an auxiliary bishop of Westminster and the English and Welsh bishops’ representative on life issues, said July 18 that “Difficult dilemmas have to be faced. In that process, I hope that all due weight will be given to the wishes of her parents, while also respecting the clinical judgement of the doctors caring for her. Those of us not in possession of all the relevant information might best be reserved in our judgement.”

Raqeeb’s parents, Mohammed Raqeeb and Shelina Begum, asked the High Court in London July 16 to allow her to leave the country; its decision to hear the case was made July 22.

The court will hold a week-long hearing on Raqeeb’s case. They will also review the refusal of Royal London Hospital to allow her to be removed and taken to Italy.

Raqeeb suffered an arteriovenous malformation which resulted in a burst blood vessel in her brain, and has been in a coma since Feb. 9.

The AVM triggered cardiac and respiratory arrest, as well as a traumatic brain injury. Doctors at the Royal London Hospital say there is no chance she will recover from her coma, and declared any further medical treatment futile.

Bishop Sherrington wrote that “I trust that the doctors from the Gaslini Children’s Hospital in Genoa will be given time and opportunity to come to a well-informed view and to share their prognosis with their colleagues here in London.”

“Such international cooperation is essential good practice in the care of tragically difficult lives.”

The bishop also offer prayers for strength for Raqeeb and her parents.

“The tragic illness and circumstances of little Tafida Raqeeb will touch everyone who hears of it. I hope it will also move them to pray, as it does me.”

He said: “I pray for this little girl that she and her parents are strengthened by the presence of God, by the mercy of God and by the support of all who know and love her.”

An online petition supported by the family requesting that Royal London Hospital allow Raqeeb to be transferred to Gaslini Children’s Hospital insists that the child should remain on life support.

“Following extensive brain surgery at King’s College hospital, doctors informed her parents that she was brain dead and to consider making preparations for her funeral,” reads the petition.

“A brain stem test indicated that Tafida did not meet the qualification of ‘brain death’ as she made gasping movements and therefore could not be removed from the ventilator.”

Since then, Raqeeb has remained on a ventilator at Royal London Hospital. According to the family, a neurologist has declared her to be in a “deep coma,” from which she is beginning to emerge. Her parents say she is able to open her eyes and move her limbs, as well as being able to swallow and react to pain.

Begum has said that doctors initially proposed giving her a tracheostomy and allowing her to return home, to continue recovery.

“The medical team have now changed their mind and want to withdraw ventilation to end her life,” Begum wrote as part of a separate online petition organized by the family.

Begum had said she wants to “exercise her rights as a parent.”

Raqeeb’s family is being represented by Yogi Amin, a human rights lawyer, who said that “The heartbroken family do not want to be caught in a situation where the state overrules the parents’ good intentions to arrange […] treatment in a hospital of their choosing for their disabled daughter.”

He added that “There is no evidence that Tafida will be harmed during transit or abroad and her loving parents should have a legal right to elect to transfer their daughter to another hospital for private medical care.”

Tafida’s case follows similar campaigns by parents in the cases of Charlie Gard and Alfie Evans, who were both terminally ill children in NHS care. In 2017, doctors sought to remove Charlie Gard from his ventilator, despite his parents’ wishes to transfer him to a hospital in New York City. He died in hospice at the age of 11 months, after life support was removed.

Less than a year later, the parents of Alfie Evans also objected to NHS attempts to remove his ventilator, saying they wished to move him to a hospital in Italy. Evans’ life support was eventually removed, and he survived for five days breathing on his own before dying just short of his second birthday.

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Rome, Italy, Jul 20, 2019 / 04:36 pm (CNA).- A little over 100 years ago, the Catholic Church’s first Filipino-born bishop died while on a visit to Rome. Now, a group of Filipino priests are on the hunt for his remains.

The search for Bishop Jor… […]