Europe

London, England, Apr 10, 2018 / 03:38 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As a London borough considers adopting a buffer zone around its abortion clinic to keep pro-life activists at a distance, one such group says the measure would discriminate against women who are helped through prayer and support vigils.

The Ealing Council, which serves the west London borough, is considering the ordinance during an April 10 meeting.

It follows a report recommending that a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) with a censorship zone be set up around the Marie Stopes Clinic, which performs about 7,000 medical and surgical abortions a year.

“The report ignores the testimony of women who have been helped by vigils,” said an April 5 statement from Be Here For Me, a pro-life organization which is fighting against the proposed buffer zone measure.

“The PSPO is so broadly worded that it criminalizes offers of support to women, as well as criminalizing prayer,” the statement continued.

The council denies it is criminalizing prayer. Its report stays that “’It should be clear from the order that the only ‘prayer’ which is prohibited is that which amounts to an act of approval/disapproval of issues relating to abortion services … It is not a general ban on prayer and it applies only within the ‘safe zone’ defined by the order.”

Be Here for Me has said that Ealing Council has “swallowed the pro-choice narrative without question.”

The pro-life group has primarily advocated against a PSPO because of the women who have been aided and supported through pro-life groups outside of the abortion clinics. The group has published multiple testimonies telling the stories of women who have been assured and supported through the prayer vigils.

“When I was pregnant, I was lost, confused, I didn’t know what to do… I was worried because I was on my own,” said a woman who testified on the Be Here For Me website, saying she went to an abortion clinic to terminate her pregnancy, but changed her mind.

“When I got there I met a lady outside the abortion clinic… I told her everything,” she continued, saying that “if there was no one outside the clinic I don’t think I would have kept the baby.”

She also noted that “seeing my baby now, I’m so happy that I met someone that very day.”

Another woman said the protester outside the abortion clinic “was our angel,” and another noted that she “felt under strong pressure to have an abortion,” but was relieved when she spoke to someone who was offering support outside of the clinic.

The proposed buffer zone has come amid allegations of intimidation and threats from protestors outside abortion clinics.

However, pro-life groups have denied the accusations. Antonia Tully of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children told members of parliament that the alleged intimidation “is not what is happening,” according to the Telegraph.

Another SPUC spokesperson, Alithea Williams, has said that “if people were genuinely being intimidated then of course we would want to condemn that, but there are laws in place about harassment and intimidation and nobody has been arrested at these sites.”

The Be Here For Me organization is hosting a rally at the town hall on Tuesday as the Ealing Council cabinet meets to vote on the buffer zone. The rally aims to “send a clear message to the Ealing Council and the media assembled that there is strong opposition to banning help outside abortion centers.”

“This will be the end of a vital support option that 100s of women have accessed at Ealing in recent years,” said the Be Here For Me group.

If the Ealing Council passes the proposed buffer zone, it will be the first location in United Kingdom to have an enforced PSPO. Other locales, including Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester, Portsmouth, and two other London boroughs have considered similar measures.

Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, has said that “behaviour that seeks to deliberately target women for harassment and intimidation should not be tolerated,” and a local Labour MP, Rupa Haq, has said that the buffer zone is meant “not to stop protests, but to ask protesters to instead make use of the many places they could protest – from Parliament Square to town centres … The women accessing clinics are not seeking debate – they are trying to make their own personal decision about their own pregnancy.”

The matter of buffer zones around abortion clinics is also being discussed in the British Parliament.

MPs have heard testimonies of harassment during a recent parliamentary committee, and Home Secretary Amber Rudd has ordered an assessment of protests outside abortion clinics. Rudd has said that “it is completely unacceptable that anyone should feel harassed or intimidated simply for exercising their legal right to healthcare advice and treatment. The decision to have an abortion is already an incredibly personal one, without women being further pressured by aggressive protesters.”

Will Quince, a Conservative MP, told The Telegraph that “Looking at legislation to introduce buffer zones or exclusion zones for protesting around clinics of this nature is something we have to look at … I think we do need to be looking to legislate.”

In the US, a July 2017 city ordinance in Louisville, Ky., created a temporary buffer zone around the city’s only abortion clinic. In 2014 the US Supreme Court struck down on free-speech grounds a Massachusetts law requiring a 35-foot buffer zone around abortion clinics, only to have the state legislature enact a new 25-foot zone.

Ontario adopted a similar law in 2017.

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Rome, Italy, Apr 7, 2018 / 03:46 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Speaking Saturday in Rome, Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke said that the pope is the highest authority in the Church, but because his power is derived from the divine law, the faithful are obligated to reject his teaching if it falls outside that divine law.  

“According to the Holy Scriptures and the Sacred Tradition, the Successor of St. Peter enjoys a power that is universal, ordinary and immediate on all the faithful,” Burke said at a conference on confusion within the Church, held in Rome April 7.

“Since this power comes from God himself, it is limited by natural law and by divine law,” he continued, “which are the expressions of the eternal and immutable truth and goodness that come from God, are fully revealed in Christ and have been transmitted in the Church uninterruptedly.”

“Therefore, any expression of doctrine or practice that is not in conformity with the Divine Revelation, contained in the Holy Scriptures and in the Tradition of the Church, cannot constitute an authentic exercise of the Apostolic or Petrine ministry and must be rejected by the faithful.”

Burke spoke alongside Cardinal Walter Brandmueller, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, philosopher Marcello Pera, professors Renzo Puccetti and Valerio Gigliotti, and journalist Francesca Romana Poleggi.

The conference, which was put on partly to honor the last wishes of the late Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, archbishop emeritus of Bolona, was titled: “Church, where are you going?”

The subtitle, “Only the blind would deny there is confusion in the Church,” was taken from one of Caffara’s last interviews before his death on Sept. 6, 2017.

Topics at the conference included questions about the Church’s doctrine on matters of sexual morality; the issue of conscience and the concept of “discernment;” and the limits of papal authority and infallibility, which the Church teaches is applicable only in cases of certain public statements on faith and morals.

Cardinal Burke presented a lengthy speech outlining both what papal power is and what its limits are. He also discussed what he believes to be the role of the bishops and the faithful when the pope is thought to have stepped outside these bounds.

Burke explained that while it is both the pope and the bishops who share in the care of the universal Church, it is only the pope who “exercises the fullness of power, so that the unity of the universal Church may be effectively safeguarded and promoted.”

“It is clear that the fullness of power has been given by Christ himself and not by any human authority or popular constitution, and that, therefore, it can only be exercised in obedience to Christ,” he continued.

He argued that from the beginning of the Church, this idea of the “fullness of power” has been well-defined and that it was well understood that it did not allow certain actions to be performed by the Roman Pontiff.

“For example,” Burke stated, “[the pope] could not act against the Apostolic Faith. Moreover, for the good of the good order of the Church, it was a power to be used sparingly and with the greatest prudence.”

Asking how we should correct the pope if he does overstep the limits of his power, Burke pointed to two steps, which he called “a brief and preliminary answer, based on natural law, on the Gospels and on the canonical tradition.”

First, he said, “the correction of the presumed error or abandonment of his duty should be addressed directly to the Roman Pontiff; and then, if he continued to err or not answer, a public declaration should be made.”

“The Roman Pontiff is – like all the faithful – subject to the Word of God, to the Catholic faith and is the guarantor of the obedience of the Church and, in this sense, servus servorum [servant of the servants].”

He noted that he believes devout Catholics must always teach and defend the fullness of power that Christ gave to “His Vicar on earth.” But at the same time, they must teach and defend the power “within the teaching of the Church and the defense of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.”

Cardinal Joseph Zen, a bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, was not present, but sent a brief video message recorded in February 2018, stating that though he was not able to travel to the conference, he was there with his prayers and with his heart.

Zen, who has spoken out strongly against a possible forthcoming agreement between the Holy See and the Chinese government, said that the Church is a great family, and that at the center of the family is the Holy See, which is very important.

He noted how Pope Francis likes to emphasize the importance of the peripheries, but said that “in this moment, our periphery, China… is in much difficulty, great difficulty,” and that “many voices from this periphery do not arrive at the center [of the Church.]”

“We have a great desire to have more communication between the center and the periphery,” he continued, “because if one wants to help the Church in China, one should know [the country]” and not only statistics or what can be read in books.

“At the moment, we are afraid that at the center they do not bring a decision that will truly help to grow the Church. This is the worry of many,” he stated.
 

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Muenster, Germany, Apr 7, 2018 / 11:59 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Bishop Felix Genn of Muenster, Germany called for prayers Saturday, after a man drove a delivery vehicle into a crowd of pedestrians, killing three and injuring dozens more.

“What has h… […]

London, England, Apr 6, 2018 / 04:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As the parents of a sick toddler fight for continued treatment, saying that he is showing signs of improvement, the hospital where he is staying is requesting court permission to end his life su… […]

Vienna, Austria, Apr 5, 2018 / 03:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Muslim community in Austria is calling for more dialogue surrounding the government’s recent proposal to ban headscarves, or hijabs, for young girls in schools.

The proposal, which is being dubbed a “child protection law,” will be drafted later this year and could affect girls up to the age of 10. Austria’s new coalition government has said this new measure would protect the nation’s culture from Islamic influences and the infiltration of parallel societies, according to the BBC.

“Our goal is to confront any development of parallel societies in Austria,” said Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, of the Austrian People’s Party, to the local ORF Radio.

Kurz additionally noted concern that the headscarves worn by young girls in schools was becoming a problem, calling it a “growing phenomenon,” although he did not give further details.
 
The Muslim community in Austria voiced concerns over the measure, calling the proposal “counterproductive.” They also remarked that “very few” girls under the age of 10 wear headscarves to school and have requested more dialogue on the issue.

A ban on wearing in public burqas or niqabs, which cover the face, was implemented last year, though hijabs are allowed.

Kurz formed last year a coalition government with the Freedom Party of Austria, following an October 2017 legislative election. The Austrian People’s Party has championed issues such as stricter immigration regulations after Austria absorbed a number of refugees, who make up around 2 percent of the nation’s 8.7 million population.

Austria is not the only European country which has considered measures to ban religious headscarves. The Court of Justice of the European Union has allowed a qualified ban on headscarves in the workplace. The ban additionally forbade other religious garb, including crucifixes, skullcaps, and turbans, from being worn while at work, depending on internal company rules.

The EU ruling came under fire from critics concerned about religious freedom, including Adina Portaru, legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom International in Brussels.

In a previous interview with CNA, Portaru called the measure “highly problematic,” since it “ultimately allows private businesses to implement rules which violate the fundamental right to freedom of religion.”

“Nobody should be forced to choose between their religion and their profession,” she continued.

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Cologne, Germany, Apr 4, 2018 / 03:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Seven German bishops have written to the Vatican, asking for clarification on the question of Protestant spouses of Catholics receiving Holy Communion.

The letter was sent to Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and Archbishop Luis Ladaria, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

The signatories, among them the Archbishop of Cologne and five Bavarian bishops, did not beforehand consult with the president of the German bishops’ conference, Cardinal Reinhard Marx.

Marx, the Archbishop of Munich and Freising in turn has published his own response to the unusual move.

In a written statement provided to CNA Deutsch, the Archdiocese of Cologne stated that the letter, dated March 22, 2018, seeks clarification as to whether the question of Holy Communion for Protestant spouses in interdenominational marriages can be decided on the level of a national bishops’ conference, or if rather, “a decision of the Universal Church” is required in the matter.

“From the view of the signatories, the goal in a question of such centrality to the Faith and the unity of the Church must be to avoid separate national paths and arrive at a globally unified, workable solution by way of an ecumenical dialogue,” the April 4 statement explained.

The request for clarification from Rome follows a February announcement that the German bishops’ conference will publish a pastoral handout for married couples that allows Protestant spouses of Catholics “in individual cases” and “under certain conditions” to receive Holy Communion, provided they “affirm the Catholic faith in the Eucharist.”

The announcement was made “after intensive debate” at the conclusion of the general assembly of the German bishops’ conference, held Feb. 19 – 22.

It would appear that the debate did not achieve clarity for the signatories, namely Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, Archbishop of Cologne, Archbishop Ludwig Schick of Bamberg, as well as Bishops Konrad Zdarsa of Augsburg, Gregor Maria Hanke of Eichstätt, Stefan Oster of Passau and Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg – and Bishop Wolfgang Ipolt of Görlitz.

Notably, five of the seven bishops are based in Bavaria – where Cardinal Marx is Archbishop of Munich and Freising.

Responding with his own letter April 4, the head of the German Bishops’ Conference notes that his fellow bishops clearly “have such grave doubts as to whether the proposed solution in Pastoral Guidance on denominational marriages and participation in the Eucharist ‘is consistent with the Faith and unity of the Church’, that you should ask the President of the [Pontifical] Council for [Promoting] Christian Unity ‘for assistance.'”

How the Vatican will answer to the letter is now the decisive question; sources in Rome have told CNA Deutsch that a response is being formulated.

There are practically no historical precedents for the move of the seven bishops, although local media in Germany today drew a comparison to a 1999 debate, when Cardinal Joachim Meisner – then Archbishop of Cologne – wrote directly to the pope, after the majority of German bishops had voted in favor of providing pregnant women with a form of mandated counseling required by the German government in order to legally have an abortion. Ultimately, Pope Saint John Paul II instructed the German bishops to change tack and end their involvement.

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Dublin, Ireland, Apr 3, 2018 / 10:58 pm (CNA).- A proposed policy in Ireland that would ban Catholic schools from prioritizing Catholic students on wait lists is being criticized as discriminatory, since it would not apply to other religious schools.

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Krakow, Poland, Apr 3, 2018 / 10:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Thirteen years after the death of St. John Paul II, a close friend and colleague of the beloved Polish pope said the pontiff’s vast legacy and influence can still be felt, and is a source of inspiration for the world.

“Thirteen years have passed since the death of this Holy Shepherd, yet he unceasingly continues to speak, inspiring, showing the way, and encouraging,” said Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz April 2.

In looking at the “book of life” for John Paul, Dziwisz said it is clear that the Polish pope’s life and ministry were a reflection of Jesus Christ, and were built on the “rock” of his personal relationship with God.

Dziwisz, archbishop emeritus of Krakow, was a close friend of Pope Saint John Paul II and served as his personal secretary for 40 years – both in Poland before the pontiff was elected to the papacy, and afterward for the entirety of his pontificate.

Cardinal Dziwisz spoke during a special Mass inside the Sanctuary of St. John Paul II in Krakow commemorating the 13th anniversary of the John Paul II’s death April 2, 2005.

In his homily, the cardinal said that John Paul II’s attitude throughout his life was one of “respect and readiness for service.”

This was demonstrated particularly in John Paul’s attention to the pastoral care of the faithful, from the family, to youth, the unborn, the sick, disabled and elderly, he said: John Paul II “was convinced that man is the way of the Church and that this is why he constantly urged the Church to serve man.”

Dziwisz also pointed to John Paul II’s influence in the wider, international community, and specifically his role in helping bring down communism in Europe during the 1980s.

John Paul, Dziwisz said, “was a realist. He saw good and evil in the world. He saw selfishness, tensions, and conflicts,” and tried to reach everyone, “especially those responsible for the fate of nations but not always guided by the same values and motivations as he was.”

The Polish pope was not only able to bring together leaders from the world’s different religions to pray for and promote peace, but he “contributed in a decisive way to freeing the Central and Eastern European nations from the shackles of a totalitarian system.”

Karol Jozef Wojtyla, who would later choose the name John Paul II upon his election to the papacy, was born the youngest of three children in the Polish town of Wadowice, a small city 50 kilometers from Krakow, on May 18, 1920.

In 1942, at the height of World War II, he began courses in the clandestine seminary of Krakow, and was eventually ordained in 1946. He took part in Vatican Council II (1962-1965), being appointed archbishop of Krakow in 1964, and contributed to drafting the Constitution Gaudium et spes.

Wojtyla was elected pope Oct. 16, 1978, at the age of 58, and took the papal name John Paul II. Over the course of his 27 year pontificate – one of the longest in Church history – he traveled to 129 countries, and was instrumental in the fall of Communism in Europe.

He died at 9:37 p.m. April 2, 2005, the day before Divine Mercy Sunday – a feast he established during his pontificate – after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

John Paul II was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on May 1, 2011, Divine Mercy Sunday, at a ceremony which saw an estimated 2 million pilgrims flock to Rome. He was canonized April 27, 2014, in Saint Peter’s Square by Pope Francis on the same feast day.

In his homily commemorating the anniversary of John Paul II’s death, Cardinal Dziwisz said he had a great love for the Church, with all of her strengths and weaknesses.

The Church John Paul II loved, he said, was not “an ideal Church that does not exist,” but was rather “the Church of weak and sinful people, people who are converting, returning to the paths indicated in the Gospel.”

“John Paul II wisely and patiently guided the great community of a very diversified Church which speaks different languages and expresses the faith in different cultural contexts and traditions,” he said, adding that “there was a place for everyone in his pastoral heart.”

In leading the Church into the third millennium of the Christian faith, John Paul encouraged Christians to “look at the face of Jesus Christ, the only Savior of the world, and to go out into the depths of faith, hope, and love, and so become a leaven of good in our turbulent world.”

Dziwisz closed his homily calling John Paul II a gift to the Church and to the world, and prayed that everyone would be inspired “by the desire that he realized to the very end: to make a gift of himself to others and ultimately to God.”

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Dublin, Ireland, Apr 2, 2018 / 07:00 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A priest whose father was executed following Ireland’s 1916 Easter Rising has died at the age of 104, after a lifetime of mission work.
 
Father Joseph Mallin, S.J., passed away early… […]

Rome, Italy, Mar 31, 2018 / 01:40 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis’ Holy Thursday Mass at a prison in Rome was more than just another event for the inmates who participated – it was a sign that while invisible to the world outside, they had not been forgotten.

“Yesterday is a moment that I think is going to resonate through the prison for at least the whole next entire year. I think it’s a moment that touched every single guard and every single prisoner who was there,” seminarian Alex Nevitt told CNA March 30.

A seminarian in his third year of theology studying at the Pontifical North American College, Nevitt does prison ministry at Rome’s Regina Coeli prison, where Pope Francis celebrated yesterday’s Mass of the Lord’s Supper for Holy Thursday.

The pope washed the feet of 12 inmates and visited the infirmary, as well as “Section VIII” of the facility, where prisoners who have committed serious crimes or who have certain mental illness live.

After the pope’s Mass, which commemorated the night Jesus himself was arrested, Nevitt said many of the inmates were moved, because “this is their lived experience that they know.”

“These are men that are easily forgotten,” he said, noting that at one point a representative from the prison spoke to the pope and thanked him “for making sure we’re not forgotten.”

“Sometimes it’s very easy to forget those who are in prison because we don’t see them,” Nevitt said, explaining that as seminarians, “it’s a privilege” to serve the inmates because it helps them to better understand “where the fringes of society are.”

Nevitt, who is from the Diocese of Patterson, NJ, has been working in the prison apostolate for two and a half years. He is in charge of the other eight seminarians who are involved in the ministry, five of whom are currently working inside the prison, and three of whom will start in September when they finish training.

As part of their ministry, the seminarians lead bible studies and catechesis. They work most directly with English-speaking inmates, the majority of whom are migrants from Africa. Since the prison does not provide a list of English-speakers, the seminarians will often walk around looking for people.

The people they work with, Nevitt said, are there for a variety of reasons – anything from illegal immigration to petty street crimes, such as selling merchandise like toys or purses on the street illegally.

Although there are not many life sentences, they actual time a person has to spend in prison is not well-defined, Nevitt said, explaining that some people are from Europe or have gained Italian citizenship legally, but have no family, making it harder to access bail or be released without a support system.

“You hear some backstories of prisoners who don’t want to write back home because they’re ashamed of being in prison,” he said. “So I think the pope’s message of forgiveness probably spoke very much to those types of prisoners, to not be ashamed, and they can be forgiven and move forward.”

A total of three popes have visited Regina Coeli, the most recent being St. John Paul II in 2000. Pope Francis’ visit meant a lot, Nevitt said.

When people heard that the pope was coming, they “were extremely excited…Regardless of whatever religion they were from, [they] were excited that the pope was coming, so there was a huge amount of energy in the prison for it.”

During the Mass, the pope washed the feet of 12 prisoners from different religions – including Catholics, Muslims, an Orthodox Christian and a Buddhist. The inmates were from various countries, including the Philippines, Nigeria, Colombia, Sierra Leone, Morocco, Moldova, and Italy.

Nevitt said they work with a many non-Catholics, Protestants and Muslims, in their bible studies. At one point they had prepared a man for baptism, and after being transferred to another prison, he came into the Catholic Church.

Another of these non-Catholics is a Nigerian man named Oladipupo, who has been in their bible study for two years and whose feet the pope washed on Holy Thursday.

Oladipupo is a Pentecostal Christian, but has come to the bible study regularly, and even wrote a letter to Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Liturgy and the Discipline of the Sacraments, after reading Sarah’s recent book “God or Nothing.” And he got a response back.

“We’re hoping that Oladipupo will soon be called to the Catholic faith once he’s ready for it,” Nevitt said, explaining that after yesterday’s liturgy, he spoke to Oladipupo, who was amazed to see “the humanity of the pope, to see this man who is the leader of the Catholic Church in such a human way.”

Similarly, Nevitt said he also spoke with a Muslim man after the Holy Thursday Mass, though he didn’t know the man was a Muslim at the time. The man had been so moved by the liturgy that he had wanted to receive communion, and is now going to start coming to the bible study led by the seminarians.

Many people were moved by the pope’s homily Mass, Nevitt said, during which Francis emphasized forgiveness, condemned the death penalty, and told prisoners that Jesus would never abandon them, but would “take a chance” on them.

“Throughout the whole homily everyone was quite captivated at every word the pope was saying, and you could see even from a couple of the guards who were standing around me, there were a lot of head nods,” Nevitt said.

The space itself was very intimate, he said, noting that the rotunda where the Mass took place was small and only a limited number of guards and prisoners were able to sit inside the area, while the rest watched from different wings.

“There were certain moments, especially when the pope was kneeling down to wash the prisoners’ feet, you could see people crying,” Nevitt said. “There was a very humanness to seeing the pope kneeling down at his age, sometimes he would have difficulty…getting back up, and people [were] just crying at his example of humble leadership.”

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