A request to do this came from bishops at the recent Synod for the Amazon.

In its final document, the synod defined ecological sin as a sin against God and future generations. It "manifests itself in acts and habits of pollution and destruction of the harmony of the environment."

Protecting the environment is one of Francis's particular priorities. His encyclical Laudato Si' (2015) is about this.

"We have to introduce, we are thinking about it, in the catechism of the Catholic Church, the sin against ecology, the sin against our common home, because it's a duty," he says.

According to the Rome Statute the International Criminal Court adopted in 1998, there are four core international crimes.

They are: crimes against humanity, genocide, war crimes and crimes of aggression.

Francis wants the international community to recognise ecocide as a "fifth category of crime against peace."

This includes "the massive contamination of air, land and water resources, the large-scale destruction of flora and fauna, and any action capable of producing an ecological disaster or destroying an ecosystem."

Speaking to last week's 20th world congress of the International Association of Penal Law, held in Rome, Francis said the culture of waste is only part of the problem.

Combined with other widespread phenomena in western societies, it is showing the "serious tendency to degenerate into a culture of hatred."

"It is no coincidence that in these times, emblems and actions typical of Nazism reappear, which, with its persecutions against Jews, gypsies and people of homosexual orientation, represents the negative model par excellence of a culture of waste and hatred," Francis told conference participants.

"On this occasion, and through you, I would like to appeal to all the leaders and representatives in this sector to help with efforts ... to ensure the adequate legal protection of our common home."

He also criticized the "market idolatry" that makes individual people defenseless before the interests of the "divinized market".

This market has become the absolute ruler, with some economic sectors exercising more power than the state itself, he said.

"The principle of profit maximization, isolated from any other consideration, leads to a model of exclusion which violently attacks those who now suffer its social and economic costs, while future generations are condemned to pay the environmental costs."

Source

• America Magazine
• The Wall Street Journal
• Crux Now
• Image: treehugger.com

Speaking during the 25th anniversary of St. John Paul II's revised publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Francis said the death penalty violates the Gospel and amounts to the voluntary killing of a human life, which "is always sacred in the eyes of the creator."

"It must be clearly stated that the death penalty is an inhumane measure that, regardless of how it is carried out, abases human dignity."

Francis went on to say the church must take a strong stand against capital punishment. This would include making changes to the Catechism.

At present the Catechism says while saying capital punishment's need is increasingly rare "if not practically non-existent," it is permissible if it's the only way to defend life against an "unjust aggressor."

(The Catechism is a question and answer guide to what Catholics should think about a wide range of moral and social issues.)

Acknowledging that in the past the Papal States allowed this "extreme and inhuman recourse," he said the Holy See had erred in allowing a mentality that was "more legalistic than Christian" and now knew better.

Noting that church doctrine can develop over time, Francis said the Catechism "should find a more adequate and coherent" way to express the Gospel message about the dignity and value of every human life.

"It's necessary to repeat that no matter how serious the crime, the death penalty is inadmissible because it attacks the inviolable dignity of the person," he said.

Source

• ABC News
• Yahoo 7
• Vatican Radio
• Image: Live Law

Ms McAleese's revelation that she did this came as Ireland's parliament last week removed the common law defence of "reasonable chastisement" of children.

In an interview, the former Irish president said she raised with the Pope "the Church's support for corporal punishment of children, which is set out in the catechism and which the [UN] Committee on the Rights of the Child regards as a violation of children's rights, under the Convention on the Rights of the Child to which the Holy See is a state party".

She said that Pope Francis has set up a working party on corporal punishment under the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

This working party is chaired by UK child abuse survivor Peter Saunders.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states parents must regard their children as children of God and must respect them as human persons (CCC #2222).

But it also cites the passage from Sirach 30-1-2: "He who loves his son will not spare the rod . . . He who disciplines his son will profit by him." (CCC #2223)

This is set alongside St Paul's saying in Ephesians 6:4 "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."

In May, the Council of Europe released a statement condemning corporal punishment against children.

This was after Ireland was found to be in violation of a European charter which forbids the practice.

Ms McAleese said she has communicated with Pope Francis "occasionally".

Among the subjects she has raised are problem of youth suicide and self-harm, since the Church provides educational services to a majority of children in Ireland.

She also said she sees her Church as "a major conduit for homophobia which is toxic, a form of hatred that has nothing to do with Christ and is unchristian".

Sources

• Irish Times
• UN Tribune
• Irish Mirror
• Catechism of Catholic Church
• Image: 2GB

Cardinal Raymond Burke, in an interview with the Rorate Caeli website, said Pope Francis himself doesn't consider "Evangelii Gaudium" to be magisterial teaching.

"I now say to people that, if they are experiencing some confusion from the method of teaching of Pope Francis, the important thing is to turn to the catechism and to what the Church has always taught, and to teach that, to foster it at the parish level, beginning first with the family," Cardinal Burke said.

"We can't lose our energy being frustrated over something that we think we should be receiving and we're not."

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"The Catechism of the Catholic Church is an important book...reading it would improve your knowledge," he told the group on July 22.

The cardinal delivered an address at Loyola College in Negombo, Sri Lanka, in celebration of the Negombo Regional Catechists Day.

Source

CNA

The catechism is a compendium of Catholic beliefs structured around the four pillars of faith: creed, sacraments, commandments and prayer. The USCCB announcement about the latest e-book format comes at a time when more active readers are moving to e-books from traditional formats. Continue reading