Europe

Belfast, Northern Ireland, Sep 13, 2018 / 01:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Coming into effect at the end of 2018, English women will be allowed to take abortion pills at home; but it remains unclear whether Northern Irish women who travel to England will be allowed to do so.

Currently, women who plan to end a pregnancy at 10 weeks or less are required to take two abortive pills at the clinic. The second pill is taken between 24-48 hours after the first one.

With the new plan, the women will be allowed to take the second abortion pill at home, after the first one has been taken at the clinic.

The women may have to prove English residency; a similar program in Scotland requires a residence test.

If the residency test is adopted in England, it “would deny women coming from Northern Ireland this choice of procedure,” Labour MP Stella Creasy has said.

Victoria Atkins, British Minister for Women and Equalities, explained that the Department for Health is only able to approve English homes as a place that the abortion bill can be taken.

Atkins said officials “are working with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to determine protocol which will set out criteria for which places should be covered by the term ‘home’.”

“We will look at how the (early abortion pill) schemes are working in Scotland and Wales and learn from the experience there.”

Abortion is allowed in Northern Ireland only if the mother’s life is at risk, or if there is risk of permanent, serious damage to her mental or physical health. Abortion pills are illegal in Northern Ireland.

Bills to legalize abortion for fatal fetal abnormality or rape or incest failed in the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2016.

In June 2017, Teresa May’s government announced that Northern Irish women would be able to procure free National Health Service abortions in England.

The UK Supreme Court threw out a case challenging Northern Ireland’s abortion law in June 2018, saying the commission which brought the case does not have standing to do so. However, the judges also said the current law violates the European Convention on Human Rights.

Lord Mance, delivering the judgement June 7, said that had the commission the competence to bring the challenge, “I would have concluded, without real hesitation at the end of the day, that the current Northern Ireland law is incompatible with article 8 of the [European human rights] convention insofar as it prohibits abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormality, rape and incest but not insofar as it prohibits abortion in cases of serious foetal abnormality.”

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Bucharest, Romania, Sep 13, 2018 / 10:00 am (CNA).- A referendum on the definition of marriage appears headed for a national vote in Romania. The ballot measure, strongly support by the Romanian parliament, would clarify that the country’s consti… […]

Berlin, Germany, Sep 12, 2018 / 08:55 am (CNA).- A study commissioned by the German bishops’ conference reports the sexual abuse of thousands of children in that country over a period of 70 years. The report was scheduled to be released later this month, but was leaked Wednesday to German media.

The report was commissioned by the German bishops’ conference and scheduled to be presented on Sept. 25 at the autumn plenary session of the German bishops, as CNA Deutsch reported.

Its methodology is substantially different from that of the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report.  

The study documents sexual offenses against “3677 predominantly male minors” between 1946 and 2014, Der Spiegel reported  

“1670 clerics are accused of the deeds,” the German magazine reported, saying researchers had “examined and evaluated more than 38,000 personnel and other files from 27 German dioceses.”

Der Spiegel reported that in many cases evidence was found by researchers to have have been “destroyed or manipulated.”

“We are aware of the extent of sexual abuse that is proven by the results of the study. It is oppressive and shameful for us,” Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier said in a statement Wednesday. The bishop is Commissioner for Questions of Sexual Abuse in the Church and for Questions of the Protection of Children and Minors of the German bishops’ conference.

“Four years ago we commissioned the study and we bishops in particular are facing up to the results. The first step will be the Assembly in Fulda.”

Ackermann also criticized the leak of  the study documenting the abuse of minors by priests and religious in Germany in the years 1946 to 2014.

In a statement from the German bishops’ conference, Ackermann said: “I regret that the study, which has remained confidential so far, and is the result of four years of research on the subject of ‘Sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests, deacons and male religious in the area of the German Bishops’ Conference’ was published today.”

“Especially with regard to those affected by sexual abuse, the irresponsible advance publication of the study is a severe blow,” said Ackermann.

“This is all the more exasperating since not even the members of the German Bishops’ Conference so far know the entire study,” he added.

According to the German bishops’ conference, the aim of the study, in which all 27 dioceses of Germany took part, was “to obtain more clarity and transparency about this dark side in our church, not only for the sake of those affected, but also in order to be able to see the misdemeanours for ourselves and do everything possible to ensure that they do not repeat themselves.”

“We are concerned about a responsible and professional approach to the problem. I am convinced that the study is a comprehensive and careful survey that offers figures and analyses from which we will continue to learn. This also applies to the findings that provide a deeper insight into the actions of perpetrators and the behaviour of church leaders over the past decades. Once again, I stress that the study is a measure that we owe not only to the Church, but first and foremost to those affected,” Ackermann said.

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Rome, Italy, Sep 11, 2018 / 07:00 pm (CNA).- At a panel discussion in Italy for the presentation of the Italian translation of his book “The Benedict Option,” author Rod Dreher stressed that the “Benedict Option” does not mean l… […]

Liverpool, England, Sep 11, 2018 / 01:35 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- An estimated 10,000 Catholics processed through the streets of Liverpool in a Eucharistic Procession on Sunday, in a spirit of prayer and penance for the clerical abuse scandals.

The proces… […]

Oviedo, Spain, Sep 10, 2018 / 04:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In the third known act of egregious artistic restoration of Spanish Catholic art in recent history, a 15th century statue of Christ and Mary has been given a fresh – and loud – coat of paint, simultaneously sparking hilarity and outrage online.

The wooden statue, from a chapel in the village of El Ranadoiro, about 35 miles west of Oviedo, depicts Christ on the lap of who appears to be his grandmother, St. Anne, with his mother the Blessed Virgin Mary standing to the side.

The figures, once plain wood, now sport bright colors, with St. Anne in a hot pink veil and sky blue robes, Christ in lime green, and Mary in a light turquoise veil and deep red robes. Each face dons lined eyes and bold red lips; St. Anne’s fingernails are painted a muted pink.

Amatuer artist and local resident Maria Luisa Menendez said she offered her talents to the parish priest, who gave her permission to paint the statues. She also painted two smaller figurines in the parish collection, one of Mary holding Christ, and one of St. Peter, each with similarly bold strokes.

“I’m not a professional, but I always liked to do it, and the figures really needed to be painted. So I painted them as I could, with the colours that looked good to me, and the neighbors liked it,” Menendez told local newspaper El Comercio, as quoted by AFP.

The saintly snafu has some comparing Menendez’ work to that of Cecilia Gimenez, who ‘restored’ the now-infamous Ecce Homo painting in Spain in 2012. Her fuzzy, monkey-like depiction of Christ spawned its own SNL skit and a comedic tributary opera, and continues to draw thousands of visitors a year from all over the world.

Luis Suarez Saro, who had restored the El Ranadoiro sculptures in 2002-2003 with local government approval, has called Menendez’ paint job “crazy.”

Suarez Saro told AFP that Menendez “likes to draw and paint, she did some courses… and she felt the sculptures looked better this way.”

Genaro Alonso, Councilor of Education and Culture of the Principality of Asturias, the region in which the statues are located, reacted strongly, telling local sources that Menendez’ work was “not a restoration, it was a revenge.”

Reactions to the restoration on Twitter ranged from the amused to the outraged.

Spanish art conservation group ACRE bemoaned the botching of yet another piece of historic Spanish art.

“Does no one care about this continued plundering in our country? What kind of society stands by as its ancestor’s legacy is destroyed before its eyes,” the group tweeted.

The incident also called to mind the uproar over a similarly botched statue earlier this summer, when a 16th century St. George statue was ‘restored’ by a local arts and crafts teacher in Estella, another town in northern Spain.

The bright colors and odd expression on the refinished statue’s face left some comparing it to the Belgian comic character Tintin.

“It shows a frightening lack of training of the kind required for this sort of job,” ACRE said at the time of the St. George restoration.

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Limerick, Ireland, Sep 9, 2018 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Bishop Brendan Leahy of Limerick has encouraged a fresh collaboration between the Church and the government of the Republic of Ireland.

“I make a humble plea to all who want to begin with us again in a new way, what the Taoiseach called a new covenant; let’s rebuild a church at the service of Irish society,” he told the Irish Times.

He clarified that the new relationship would enable the Church to be at “the service of the Irish people.”

Bishop Leahy’s comments come in the wake of the World Meeting of Families, where Pope Francis spoke about the country’s clerical abuse scandal.

The Bishop of Limerick identified the scandals as “a blindness in the Church” which is now being viewed with open eyes. He said that despite the discouraging events in the Church, the faith has been a constant in the country, which was greatly expressed during the World Meeting of Families.

“It was everywhere I turned. At a time when many have – for one reason or another, not least the scandals that have hit the church – shied away from public expressions of faith, people felt released from shackles for the weekend. The freedom and joy as they celebrated being part of God’s kingdom was remarkable and not seen since 1979 in this country.”

This does not negate the evil which has been committed, he added. However, he said it would be unfair to present and future possibilities to see the Church only in light of these scandals.

“Clearly those who attended the ceremonies in Dublin and Knock have a deep love of their faith and we must continue to nourish that. It is our mission. The sins of the past cannot be allowed to cloud over that mission,” he said.

He said Church has made tremendous strides in improving the protection of children and repeated the Church’s decision to cooperate with the authorities. If any secrets of abuse remain hidden, he encouraged those members of the Church to bring it into the light.

“I plead with them to come forward immediately and own up to this, again to State and church authorities. Do not put yourself in a situation where the poison within can infect others. There is no place for this in God’s house.”

Relations between the Church and the Irish government have been strained in recent years.

In May, voters repealed the Eighth Amendment, which banned abortion. The following month, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that publicly-funded hospitals in Ireland will be required to perform abortions, even if they are Catholic and morally opposed to the procedure.

Individual medical professionals will be able to opt out of performing abortions, but entire hospitals will not be able to do so.

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Brussels, Belgium, Sep 7, 2018 / 04:06 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- An annual report released by a special group within the European Union warned of serious religious freedom violations in some parts of the world. It highlighted the importance of protecting th… […]

Kyiv, Ukraine, Sep 7, 2018 / 11:27 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Russian hackers infiltrated the email inboxes of Orthodox, Catholic, and other religious leaders connected to Ukraine amid conflict between Kyiv and Moscow over Ukraine’s political and religious independence.

Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, apostolic nuncio to Ukraine, was among the 4,700 global targets of the “Fancy Bear” cyber espionage group, the same Russian hackers who were indicted in the special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, according to the Associated Press.

Gugerotti and unnamed Ukrainian Greek-Catholic clergy were hacked by this group, along with other foreign diplomats, journalists, intelligence personnel, and Hillary Clinton.

Kyiv is the site of the 988 baptism of Vladimir the Great, Grand Prince of Kiev, which resulted in the Christianization of Kievan Rus’, a state whose heritage Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus all claim.

The Christianization of Kievan Rus’ forms the roots of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, and several Orthodox Churches in Ukraine.

In addition to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), which is linked to the Russian Orthodox Church, there are two other Orthodox Churches which have claimed autocephaly, but are not recognized by other Orthodox Churches: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyiv Patriarchate) and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.

These two latter Churches have asked the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, for recognition as autocephalous Churches. The request has been supported by the Ukrainian parliament and its president.

The Ecumenical Patriarch is regarded as the primus inter pares or “first among equals” among the Eastern Orthodox Churches.

Bartholomew’s staff were particularly targeted by the cyber-espionage group aligned with the Russian government. Several Greek Othodox metropolitans were hacked, including Bartholomew Samaras, Emmanuel Adamakis, and Elpidophoros Lambriniadis.

In a highly-anticipated meeting, Bartholomew hosted Russian Patriarch Kirill of Moscow in Istanbul Aug. 31. There was no statement released as a result of the meeting, leaving many Ukrainians wondering whether their request for an independent national Church will be accepted by Eastern Orthodox leaders.

The Russian Orthodox Church has strongly opposed the proposal of a Ukrainian Orthodox Church independent from Moscow’s control. One representative for Patriarch Kirill told AP that Ukrainian Orthodox independence would lead to the biggest Christian schism since 1054.

Granting autocephaly to the UOC-KP and UAO would end “Russia’s four-century-long monopoly on the ancient Kyivan heritage and modern Ukrainian Orthodox spirituality,” Myroslav Marynovych, a Ukrainian Greek-Catholic and vice-rector for university mission at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, told Catholic News Agency.

Marynovych added that he understands that “this sine qua non solution might create new problems in the inter-Church relations in Ukraine and in the world.”

However, he maintains that the Russian Orthodox Church’s willingness to cooperate with the Russian government’s “practice of evil” necessitates a split. The hacking is just one example.

The AP reported that “The Soviet Union slaughtered tens of thousands of priests in the 1930s, but the Communists later took what survived of the church and brought it under the sway of Russia’s secret police, the KGB, with clerics conscripted to spy on congregants and emigres,” a connection which has outlasted the fall of the Soviet Union.

The hacking of Orthodox and Catholic clergy took place from 2015 to 2016, but the AP reported that other evidence gives reason to believe that Russian attempts to compromise Bartholomew are ongoing.

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Rome, Italy, Sep 5, 2018 / 10:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- For Sr. Mary Prema Pierick, Mother Teresa’s impact did not come from her outward appearance, but from a personal encounter with the woman’s unconditional and mother-like love and acceptance.

According to the Missionary of Charity, Mother Teresa’s greatness defied her short stature, residing “inside” her. Upon meeting Mother Teresa for the first time, Sr. Prema told CNA / EWTN, “It was not appearance, but it was the way she related to me,” that was most striking. “That was an experience of a person who loves, and who accepts me, and who wants me, and is a mother to me.”

When “I saw her the first time she was already 70 years old, so she was already a little bent, but her eyes were full of life,” Sr. Prema said.

Sr. Prema was in her late 20s when she first met Mother Teresa in Berlin, Germany in 1980. She said she was inspired to meet the foundress of the Missionaries of Charity after reading the biography of her life, Something Beautiful for God by Malcolm Muggeridge. “I was impressed by the simplicity of life the sisters were having in Calcutta and I could not forget about it,” Sr. Prema said.

After this encounter with Mother Teresa, Sr. Prema continued to feel called to join the Missionaries of Charity. “Then slowly, as I became richer in my prayer life, I knew that I wanted to give all, all for Jesus,” she said. “And I didn’t look for a congregation where I could compromise, having things for myself or conveniences, but I wanted to follow Jesus in this radical way of life.”  

Elected to the position of Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity on March 24, 2009, Sr. Prema is the second to take over the order after Mother Teresa’s death in 1997.

For Mother Teresa, Sr. Prema shared, there was not only much physical suffering in the world, but also an invisible and deep spiritual suffering, found “in sin, in addiction to sinful behavior.”

Spiritual suffering is a “real deep, deep suffering,” Sr. Prema said. “For those who are in the blindness of sin, but also for those who are suffering the consequences of those sins.”

The solution, to Mother Teresa, was simply to love Jesus and to practice mercy. “Mercy was like a second nature to Mother because of the love she had for Jesus. And she invited everybody to put their hands, and especially their heart, to love.”

To those thinking they may be called to a vocation to the religious or priesthood, Sr. Prema shared, “Do not be afraid to love and to give yourself.”

And for everyone, Sr. Prema reminded, “Let us not be in a hurry and in a rush to complete things and projects and plans and become deprived of what is really making us human, which is to love and to be loved.”

This article was originally published Aug. 15, 2016. Mary Shovlain contributed to this report.

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