Dublin, Ireland, Mar 9, 2018 / 05:24 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a decision that some critics are comparing to Roe v. Wade, the Irish Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that unborn children have no other rights except those guaranteed by the Eighth Amendm… […]
Reykjavik, Iceland, Mar 8, 2018 / 11:19 am (CNA/EWTN News).- As Iceland’s parliament continues to consider a bill that would bar circumcision for non-medical reasons, the head of the country’s Catholic diocese has expressed concerns over religious persecution.
“To us it looks like this can be an opportunity for those who are interested in this matter to misuse the subject of circumcision in an attempt to persecute individuals for their religion,” said Bishop David Tencer of Reykjavik, according to RUV, Iceland’s public broadcaster.
Circumcision is a religious ritual in both Judaism and Islam. Jewish boys are circumcised eight days after birth, while Muslim practices vary widely.
The proposed bill states that “Anyone who…causes damage to the body or health of a child or a woman by…removing sexual organs shall be imprisoned for up to 6 years.”
Female genital mutilation has been banned in Iceland since 2005.
The bill was introduced by Silja Dogg Gunnarsdóttir of the Progressive Party of Iceland, who said, “We are talking about children’s rights, not about freedom of belief. Everyone has the right to believe in what they want, but the rights of children come above the right to believe.”
A recent poll suggests that 50 percent of Icelanders support the ban, 37 percent oppose it, and 13 percent have no opinion.
The health risks and benefits of circumcision have been a topic of debate for several years in some European countries, although none have banned the practice outright.
Iceland, which has a population of around 334,000, has a small Muslim population of less than 1,500, and an even smaller Jewish population of fewer than 250.
Agnes Sigurðardóttir, the Lutheran Bishop of Iceland, has warned that “the danger that arises, if this bill becomes law, is that Judaism and Islam will become criminalised religions. We must avoid all such forms of extremism.”
Yair Melchior, chief rabbi of Denmark, and and Yoav Melchior, rabbi of Oslo, have commented that “There is no country in the world now that bans circumcision. This sets a dangerous precedent that may affect other countries.”
Ahmad Seddeeq, an imam at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Iceland, said that circumcision “is something that touches our religion and I believe that this is… a contravention [of] religious freedom.”
San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, Mar 8, 2018 / 12:05 am (CNA).- Sister Consolata di Santo, one of the first religious sisters to work in the hospital developed by St. Padre Pio, died March 2 at age 101, according to the Italian publication Avvenire.
Born … […]
London, England, Mar 6, 2018 / 03:43 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- On Tuesday, London’s Court of Appeal upheld a lower court’s decision to end life support for an ill 21-month-old boy, despite the parent’s wishes to continue treatment.
Justice Anthony Hayden of the High Court ordered two weeks ago that life support could be removed from Alfie Evans, who is stationed at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool. Hayden said that “continued ventilatory support is no longer in Alfie’s interests.”
Alfie is in a “semi-vegetable state” due to an unknown neurological degenerative condition. His parents want to transfer him to the Vatican-linked Bambino Gesu Pediatric Hospital in Rome, to receive further diagnosis and treatment.
However, the Liverpool hospital where Alfie is currently said it considered further treatment to be “futile.”
“Our aim is always to try and reach an agreement with parents about the most appropriate care plan for their child. Unfortunately there are sometimes rare situations such as this where agreement cannot be reached and the treating team believe that continued active treatment is not in a child’s best interests,” said the hospital.
Justice Eleanor King was one of the three judges who denied the appeal on March 6 and agreed with the High Court’s previous decision.
Justice Hayden “could not have done more to ensure the father and mother had every opportunity to express their views and have them taken into consideration,” she said, according to BBC.
She said the evidence showed that the child was “deeply comatose” and “to all intents and purposes unaware of his surroundings.”
Justice King applauded Tom Evans’ passionate “fight on with Alfie’s army,” but said the father had “no clear plan.”
Evans said afterward that he would challenge the case before the Supreme Court.
“At this moment, Alfie’s not ready so we’re not ready to let go,” he said, according to the BBC.
Head of Alfie’s parents’ legal team, Barrister Stephen Knafler QC, said the state’s decision wrongly hinders “parental choice.”
The court ruling echoes a similar case last year, when England’s courts ordered Charlie Gard to be taken off life support.
At 11 months old, Gard died in July 2017 after a months-long debate regarding his parents’ right to pursue further treatment. The parents had fundraised over $1.6 million to seek experimental treatments and had received offers from European and U.S. hospitals. However, courts rejected the request to transfer him for experimental therapy.
The case drew widespread attention and outcry. Dr. Melissa Moschella, a Catholic University of America philosophy professor, disagreed with the court’s decision, telling CNA that the United Nations “clearly indicates that the parents, not the state will have primarily responsibility.”
“It seems to me completely wrongheaded that the state should be stepping in here when the decision that the parents are making is really aimed at the best interests of the child,” Moschella said in 2017.
“It’s not crazy, it’s not abusive, it’s not neglectful. It’s the decision of parents who want to, however they can, to give their very sick child a chance for life.”
Dublin, Ireland, Mar 5, 2018 / 01:00 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Ahead of the upcoming World Meeting of Families in Ireland this August, a government minister has warned that the event should not express “intolerance” of LGBT groups or same-sex co… […]
Paris, France, Mar 2, 2018 / 04:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A statue of St. John Paul II will be removed from public land in a small French city, after a 2017 court order ruled its cross must be removed.
The statue, nearly 25 feet tall, portrays Pope Sain… […]
Rome, Italy, Mar 2, 2018 / 10:31 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Friday, Pope Francis continued his surprise “Mercy Friday” initiative with a visit to a home that keeps children with their mothers, who might otherwise be separated because of imprisonment.
Called “Leda’s House,” the home allows women who might have otherwise been imprisoned or put under house arrest for minor crimes to be rehabilitated while continuing to care for their children with supervision.
Located in the EUR neighborhood of Rome, the houses opened just one year ago and is the first of its kind in Italy. It currently houses five young mothers, between 25 and 30 years old, and their children. Most come from Rome, though one is from elsewhere in Italy and another is from Egypt.
According to a Vatican press release March 2, the women, children, and staff of the home all greeted Pope Francis with amazement. He spent some time speaking with the women and children before giving the kids giant chocolate Easter eggs.
According to the Vatican, the gift was “welcomed with great joy by the children, who invited him to have a snack with them.”
Today, #PopeFrancis continued his surprise “Mercy Friday� initiative with a visit to a home that keeps children with their mothers, who might otherwise be separated because of imprisonment.
Read the full story here: https://t.co/1u9xV5Ydqg
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— Catholic News Agency (@cnalive) March 2, 2018
The women shared their appreciation of the opportunity to raise their children, despite the challenges. The Pope also left some gifts for the women, including a signed parchment to remember his visit.
During his visit, Francis was welcomed by Lillo Di Mauro, the head of the overseeing governmental department, along with the head of “Leda’s House,” who both highlighted the intense difficulties of children whose parents are imprisoned.
To avoid embarrassment, the children may make up stories about their incarcerated parents, they said, or they may become “aggressive and unmanageable,” although they are not bad children.
“The stay in the structure,” according to the Vatican’s press release, “allows mothers to accompany and take their children back to school, and to carry out activities useful for learning a profession, in view of future reintegration into the world of work and society.”
The women are able to continue living in a home environment and raising their children, while accompanied by staff and educators.
Pope Francis’ visit to “Leda’s House” is a continuation of his “Mercy Friday” custom, which he began during the Jubilee of Mercy, in 2016.
Originally planned once per month for the duration of the jubilee year, the Pope has continued these visits as a means of practicing the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. He has met with refugees, children, women freed from sex trafficking, and the terminally ill, among others.
Rome, Italy, Feb 27, 2018 / 05:00 pm (CNA).- Almost a year and a half after an August 2016 earthquake in the central area of the Italy, a tabernacle with 40 intact and consecrated hosts was found amid the rubble in Our Lady of the Assumption church in the town of Arquata.
According to the Italian daily Avvenire, inside the tabernacle “the ciborium was overturned but the lid was still on. And despite all the months that had gone by, the hosts were whole, without any alteration.”
The Bishop of Ascoli Piceno, Giovanni D’Ercole, told Avvenire what was discovered: “A fresh baked aroma was still noticeable, which is very moving. It is a sign of hope for everyone. It tells us that Jesus also suffered the earthquake like everyone else, but he has come out alive from among the rubble.”
Fr. Angelo Ciancotti of the Ascoli Piceno cathedral said that getting into the tabernacle was not simple: “The problem was opening it up, but my collection of tabernacle keys helped me.”
The priest opened the tabernacle with one of the keys in his extensive collection, and said that inside an overturned ciborium, “was the Body of Christ which for more than a year and a half remained intact, without any change in color, shape or scent.”
Fr. Ciancotti told Avvenire that “there was no bacteria or mold as happens with hosts after a few weeks. Even though they were more than a year and a half old, they seemed to have been made the day before.”
In his opinion “this prodigious and inexplicable discovery” is “a miracle, but above all a message for everyone: it is a sign that reminds us of the centrality of the Eucharist.”
“Jesus is telling us” with these intact hosts that “’I am in your midst. Trust in me.’” he concluded.
This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Shrewsbury, England, Feb 27, 2018 / 01:00 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a recent pastoral letter, a British bishop has encouraged Catholics to make the “awesome reality” of the Eucharist a central focus of their life and prayer during Lent.
&ldq… […]
Munich, Germany, Feb 22, 2018 / 10:26 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Reinhard Marx has announced 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”.
According to the press report of the Archbishop of Munich and Freising, the handout is primarily aimed at pastoral workers and is to be understood as a tool for pastoral situations, “to consider the concrete situation and come to a responsible decision about the possibility of the non-Catholic partner to receive Communion”.
The announcement was made “after intensive debate” at the conclusion of the general assembly of the German bishops’ conference, which was held Feb. 19 – 22 in the Bavarian city of Ingolstadt, and attended by 62 members of the bishops’ conference under the leadership of conference chairman Cardinal Marx.
The press release declares that its premise is that “in individual cases, the spiritual hunger for receiving Communion together in interdenominational marriages can be so strong that it could jeopardise the marriage and the faith of the spouse”. The statement goes on to say that this applies all the more to spouses who “already want to live out their marriage very consciously” as a Christian couple.
The central message of the handout is “that everyone in a marriage that binds denominations,” after a “mature examination in a spiritual conversation with their priest or another person charged with pastoral care, that has come to a decision of conscience to affirm the Faith of the Catholic Church as well as thereby concluding a ‘grave spiritual need’ as well as fulfilling the desire to receive the Eucharist may approach the Lord’s table and receive Communion.”
Cardinal Marx’ statement emphasises: “We are talking about decisions in individual cases that require a careful spiritual discernment.”
The handout is expected to be published in a few weeks’ time.
The Code of Canon Law states that in the danger of death or if “some other grave necessity urges it,” Catholic ministers licitly administer penance, Eucharist, and anointing of the sick to Protestants “who cannot approach a minister of their own community and who seek such on their own accord, provided that they manifest Catholic faith in respect to these sacraments and are properly disposed.”
The bishops’ announcement follows a discussion of such a proposal at a previous general assembly held in the spring of 2017.
According to Archbishop Ludwig Schick of Bamberg in a report in the German diocesan newspaper “Tag des Herrn” from March 2017, Schick is quoted as saying that the bishops were seeking “a responsible decision” on the question of non-Catholic partners in interdenominational marriages in individual cases by pastoral means.
On Dec. 31 2016, the website of the Lutheran ecclesial community in Germany reported that Bishop Franz-Josef Bode of Osnabrück was hoping for a recognition of what was already the case, namely, that in many places, Protestants went to Communion with their Catholic spouses. “We have to give a foundation to what often already is in place in practice”, the website quotes Bode from an interview with the Lutheran press agency EPD.
Bode, who also attended the 2014-2015 Synods of Bishops on the family, was elected vice-chairman to the German bishops’ conference Sept. 26, 2017.
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