Europe

Czestochowa, Poland, Nov 20, 2018 / 11:18 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The bishops of Poland published Monday a statement on the sexual abuse of minors by some clerics, asking forgiveness of the victims and calling for action, prayer, and penance.

When sexual abuse “appears among the clergy, it becomes the source of a particular scandal,” the bishops said in their Nov. 19 statement, prepared during their plenary assembly at Jasna Gora.

“The disillusionment and the outrage are all the more painful because children, instead of receiving caring love and accompaniment as they seek the closeness of Jesus, experience violence and the brutal detachment from their dignity as children.”

The bishops made frequent reference in their statement to the words of Pope Francis and Benedict XVI, as well as of St. John Paul II.

“For many believers, especially for young people who are sincerely looking for God, sexual scandals involving clergy are becoming a hard test of faith and a reason for great scandal,” they said.

“The Church in Poland wants to be increasingly effective so that the safety of children and young people, according to the will of the Lord, will become a priority for all communities and families,” they added.

The bishops said they have begun collecting data on sexual abuse of minors by clerics in Poland, and said that such an act is “an extremely grave sin.”

“We ask God, the victims of abuse, their families and the Church community for forgiveness for all the harm done to children and young people and their relatives by clerics, consecrated persons and lay workers in the Church. We ask the Lord to give us light, strength, and courage to resolutely combat the moral and spiritual corruption that is the main source of sexual abuse against minors. We ask the Lord to make our efforts to create an open and child-friendly environment in the Church effective.”

They said they have acted for many years to eliminate such crimes from among the clergy: “Any sign of possible criminal acts leads to a preliminary investigation, and if the probability is confirmed, the Holy See and the prosecutor’s office are informed. We ask those who have been harmed by the clergy to report the damage suffered to ecclesiastical superiors and to the appropriate state authorities.”

The bishops noted that each dioceses has a delegate to receive reports of abuse, who will “help the victim to get psychological, legal, and pastoral support” so as “to help the victims to take the steps necessary to overcome the consequences of the damage suffered.”

The bishops’ conference has, for five years, appointed a child protection coordinators who “organizes many formation meetings for the diocesan and religious clergy that are slowly but effectively changing attitudes and raising awareness. We are also preparing in dioceses, orders and religious congregations a prevention system to help to protect children and adolescents from potential sexual abuse. We want ecclesial communities to be a safe place for children and young people and to make their safety a priority for the whole society. On this occasion, we appeal to all those who take this to heart to effectively combat threats against children and young people, especially in the sphere of the Internet.”

“We are also more attentive to the human and spiritual formation in the seminaries and to priestly formation. For this purpose, for several years, formation is given the educators in the seminaries so that they may work competently on the formation of future priests and avoid admitting immature people, unable to faithfully pronounce their vows and promises, to become members of the clergy.”

They urged prayer and penance to “open our hearts to the spirit of authentic conversion; let us live in harmony and love with all people of good will and fight against all abuses of power, sexuality, and conscience, in all environments, especially in the Church communities where children live and grow.”

The bishops urged perpetrators to repentance: “Openly acknowledge your guilt, submit yourselves to the demands of justice, but do not despair of God’s mercy.”

“May Mary, the Mother of Beautiful Love, ask her Son to give us his grace so that we may express our sincere sorrow and act with determination in a courageous struggle against every kind of danger, coming from some clerics, inflicted on children and young people,” the Polish bishops concluded.

“Let us not forget to ask for conversion for the perpetrators of these wrongs. Let us also ask for the entire Church, both clergy and laity, the spirit of unity and Christian love of our neighbor. Let us be strengthened by the example and intercession of martyr priests who gave their lives in defense of human dignity.”

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Madrid, Spain, Nov 19, 2018 / 07:46 pm (ACI Prensa).- Matteo Pio Colella was just 7 years old when he contracted a deadly disease. Doctors believed there was no hope for the boy, but he made a full recovery. His cure was the miracle that paved the way for the canonization of St. Padre Pio by Pope John Paul II in June 2002.

Colella, now 27, gave an exclusive interview to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish language sister agency, on the occasion of the pre-release of the film “El Misterio del Padre Pío” (The Mystery of Padre Pio) in Madrid.

The documentary is directed by writer and filmmaker José María Zavala and includes Colella’s testimony.

“I wasn’t feeling well,” he recalled. “I told my mother that I didn’t want to go to school, but she made me go because at that time I didn’t like school. That same night, when my mother came to say goodnight, I didn’t recognize her, and so they immediately took me to the hospital.”

On Jan. 20, 2000, Colella was diagnosed with acute fulminant meningitis, caused by bacteria. The disease had affected his kidneys, his respiratory system and blood clotting. He was immediately admitted to the hospital founded by Padre Pio, the “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza” (Home for the Relief of Suffering), located in San Giovanni Rotondo where the saint’s monastery is.

The following day, Colella went into a coma. His health deteriorated drastically, and doctors considered him a lost cause, thinking he would die within a few hours.

While Colella was in this critical condition, his mother Maria Lucia went to pray over the tomb of Padre Pio to ask for her son’s healing.

“During the coma,” Colella recounted, “I saw Padre Pio in a dream on my right and three angels on the left. One with golden wings and a white tunic and the two others with white wings and a red tunic. Padre Pio, on my right, told me not to worry because I would soon be cured. In fact, my cure was like the resurrection of Lazarus.”

And that’s exactly what happened. The doctors considered Colella to be clinically dead, but he came back to life.

The young man is grateful to Padre Pio for his intercession. He said he considers the saint to be like a grandfather in whom he can confide.

“I have always thought that I have received an enormous grace for which I must be thankful. When I talk to someone who doesn’t believe, I tell him ‘I’m here. For science it’s inexplicable, but there is another explanation that we can’t understand’.”

This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Milan, Italy, Nov 18, 2018 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- An Italian court has ordered Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò to pay back nearly 2 million euro of inheritance, plus interest and legal fees to his brother, Father Lorenzo Vigano.

Archbishop … […]

Rome, Italy, Nov 17, 2018 / 04:01 am (CNA).- Pope Francis Monday established a curriculum in Sciences of Peace at the Pontifical Lateran University, involving the “pope’s university” because of the special bond it has with the Holy Se… […]

Rome, Italy, Nov 17, 2018 / 12:00 am (CNA).- With the intention of “providing a radical solution” to the sex abuse issue, the Italian bishops’ conference established Thursday a new center for youth protection, and pledged to update it… […]

Brussels, Belgium, Nov 16, 2018 / 10:59 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In the wake of the European elections, a proposal was raised to consider “family” as the basis of Europe’s cultural heritage.

The idea was raised at a high-level conference at the European Parliament in Brussels that took place Nov. 6.

The conference was promoted by FAFCE, the Federation of Catholic Family Associations, that gathers all the National Catholic Family Associations in Europe in the framework of its biannual board.

The conference was entitled “Family: the Ecosystem of Cultural Life in Europe,” and was hosted by MEPs Anna Zaborska and Luigi Morgano, in cooperation with the Commission of the European Bishops Conferences, on the occasion of the European Year for Cultural Heritage.

The panel of the high-level meetings included representatives from the European Parliament, the top ranks of COMECE, and from the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.

The Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life participated at its highest levels, with a speech delivered by Dr. Gabriella Gambino, undersecretary of the section on the family.

In her intervention, Gambino stressed that the pope asked her to “collaborate with the Church in reconstructing an authentic culture of life and family within the big challenges posed to modernity,” and noted that the dicastery “is attentive to some of the most delicate current issues, especially with the upsurgence of new forms of so-called parenthood, also as a result of in vitro fertilization.”

Gambino stressed that “family is a source of society because it is at the root of the common good,” but also because “it is the place where the human being is culturally nurtured, and where each of us become every day more human from the first moment of conception.”

Marriage is important to protect the human being. It juridically guarantees two orders, that of sexuality and that of generation.

Gambino explained that “the order of sexuality must be exclusive between spouses,” while “the order of generation establishes the family role that comes from marriage,”

This is the reason why, she said, marriage is not just “a social institution of the couple, it is strong in generating cultural roles that go beyond spouses.”

In the end, the human being is “the subject in relations that need others and a strong bond,” and so “if bonds are fragile, the human being’s need to have roots is not fulfilled. This is why “it is important to work on the political field so that family can be a place of certainty and stability.”

Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg, president of COMECE, stressed that family “is the most ancient foundation on which our society is based,” and it is “the first place where we found protection, counselling, solidarity and altruism.”

A participant of the Synod of Bishops on young people, faith and vocational discernment, Archbishop Hollerich said that “young people express the wish to live in family,” but “despite this deep desire to have a family, young people are scared.”

“Some people are scared because of economic situations, others because forced emigration make relations more unstable, and others are even scared not to be able to live in a conjugal life,” he said.

But family, Hollerich concluded, is crucial, because with no families “the European cultural heritage will not be inhabited anymore, and people will not be capable to create culture.”

Fr. Oliver Poquillon, general secretary of the COMECE, concluded that “family is the natural ecosystem of the human being. It is the natural environment for any person, and for this reason it must be at the heart of our political debate.”

Finally, Antoine Renard, President of FAFCE underscored that Europe needs trust, starting to promote a new cultural life from the most basic unit of society: “Politicians need to trust families and the families will trust them”.

The Board meeting of FAFCE followed the conference. The board discussed about the strategy and the future actions of the Federation.

For the first time a member from Slovenia participated in the Board : the Iskreni Institute. The Italian Federation of Kindergardens was accepted as a full member of FAFCE. Invited guests also attended this board meeting from Latvia, The Netherlands, and Ukraine.

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Dublin, Ireland, Nov 16, 2018 / 08:49 am (CNA).- The heart of St. Laurence O’Toole is again on public display six years after it was stolen, and 800 years after the death of the saint.

The relic was stolen from Dublin’s Christ Church Cathe… […]

Birmingham, England, Nov 14, 2018 / 02:46 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- An independent government inquiry is investigating how the Archdiocese of Birmingham handled allegations of child sexual abuse made against four priests.

Father John Tolkien, who died in 2… […]

Belfast, Northern Ireland, Nov 12, 2018 / 04:56 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Irish Protestants and Catholics should see the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day as an opportunity to build peace and reconciliation, Archbishop Eamon Martin of Ireland said at an in… […]

London, England, Nov 10, 2018 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A newly published study has found that nearly half of countries have fertility rates which are below replacement level, meaning that population size will decrease without immigration.

Published in the November issue of The Lancet, the study examines population and fertility by age and sex in 195 countries and territories between 1950 and 2017.

Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and part of the Global Burden of Disease analysis, the study found that the total fertility rates have decreased by more than 49 percent. The study states women on average are having a fewer babies in their lifetime – 2.4 as of 2017, compared to 4.7 in 1950.

To maintain population, the total fertility reate needs to be about 2.1.

The world population has increased by nearly 200 percent since 1950, though researchers have expressed concern that fewer births will lead to more elderly people than children.

Professor Christopher Murray, the director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, told the BBC that half of the countries have birth rates which are lower than the replacement level.

“On current trends there will be very few children and lots of people over the age of 65 and that’s very difficult to sustain global society,” he said.

“Think of all the profound social and economic consequences of a society structured like that with more grandparents than grandchildren.”

“We’ve reached this watershed where half of countries have fertility rates below the replacement level, so if nothing happens the populations will decline in those countries … the idea that it’s half the countries in the world will be a huge surprise to people.”

“We will soon be transitioning to a point where societies are grappling with a declining population.”

He said fertility rates are lower in more developed countries like the U.S., South Korea, Australia, and in much of Europe. However, due to higher life expectancies and immigration, the population in these countries have not decreased.

The study also found that three factors have contributed to the decline in fertility rates – more education and work for women, a decrease of deaths in babies under five, and increased availability of contraception.

When a trend in 2014 found a decrease in U.S. birth rates, experts identified the decrease as a shift in the cultural understanding about sex and childbearing, according to the National Catholic Register.

Mary Rice Hanson, who works at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, stated that “Our culture sees children through a warped lens, where children represent loss and burden – lost ‘freedom,’ lost privacy, lost wages, lost opportunities to travel, independence, even sex.”

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