The enthusiasm of some for the Synodal Way is one side of the way all human societies make deliberate change. Likewise, the fears of Cardinal Walter Kasper and some other bishops are exactly what we should expect.

If we could see the future clearly, then it would be different - but no one has a crystal ball. The future always contains surprises. Some of these will be more wonderful than anyone has imagined; other will be worse than our greatest fears. That is simply the way it is!

One might imagine that it would be different with the Church - the Body of the Christ animated by the Spirit - and it has been the illusion of some Christians in every age that because they "had the faith" or "the Bible" or the "gift of magisterium" that their steps into the future were guaranteed!

Alas, we are always engaged in a process of discernment: we pray for the light of the Holy Spirit and we then try to glimpse the way forward. We walk forward by faith. The Church's prayer is always that "by the light of the Spirit we may be truly wise and enjoy his consolation" (da nobis in … Spiritu recta sapere, et de eius semper consolation gaudere).

Wrong signals

If we cannot now know the outcomes of our decisions, what we might suspect, with Cardinal Kasper, will be a disaster. But it may turn out completely the opposite - and vice versa - so we can exercise some foreknowledge with regard to the signals our actions send out in the present.

Right now, I can know that something is being wrongly interpreted or wrongly used. What will happen tomorrow is, in an absolute sense, unknown; but what is faulty now can be known through an examination of evidence that has been building up for some time and is available to us. This is where we can take definite action for the better.

This is such a basic element of our thinking that we tend to ignore it and spend our time in more distant - and so imprecise - speculation.

We can easily illustrate this: will there be a fire in the house or will it be OK? I simply do not know, and I hedge my bets by having house insurance. Contrast that with the definite event that I smell smoke and hear the fire alarm now, right now. In this case, I do not speculate but act: I call the fire brigade.

Liturgy is not costume drama

We see this same decision process in the Church.

Some weeks ago, Pope Francis did not speculate that some clergy might or might not really want to take the reforms of Vatican II to heart. Rather, he saw that their actual activity now - wearing lace and birettas - sent out a signal that they did not like modernity.

This was not a "might be" or "might happen" but a definite signal to people by those priests that they preferred a former time. So the pope sent a clear and definite signal to them!

In effect, he told them that helping the People of God celebrate their liturgy - it belongs to all the baptized because when we assemble we are "wholly celebrant" - is what their ministry is about. It is not costume drama in which they, as clergy, have the leading roles and take the bows!

The view out of a Roman window: the view from outside, looking in, is very different!

But there are many other areas where the Church, or clergy, are right now sending out signals that indicate an actual problem - a fire that needs fighting urgently. And if these are not tackled, then it will make the whole synodal process, for both the fearful and the hopeful, little more than hot air.

Seen to be transparent

Long trained to discretion, indeed secrecy, most clergy are happier dealing with anything "scandalous" far from the public view. Hence, one episcopal conference after another has been found to have been involved in cover-ups! It would be interesting to know just how many bishops have had to resign in the last 25 years because they were seen "to have swept matters under the carpet".

But this attitude - quite apart from the fact that it is morally unjust (criminals were allowed to create more suffering and went un-punished) and ecclesiologically inept (every member of the Church is as much a member as anyone else) - also failed to appreciate our cultural situation.

Lace inside the head

Many years ago I heard praise of a new bishop - arrived from a job in Rome - by some of the canons of his chapter: "He is the soul of discretion - his Vatican training is in his every move!"

I hope that would not be a vote of approbation by those priests today if they got a new bishop. Anyone who is so naturalized to secrecy, even to holding up the so-called "pontifical secret", is actually unfit for a job in the Roman Curia, much less in a diocese.

Such a man is an inhabitant of a world that is long past. Such a man is wearing lace inside his head.

A world that craves transparency

Whenever we find examples of people doing things in a "smoke-filled room" or "behind closed doors" or without full reporting, we become suspicious. Sad experience has taught us that such "back room" procedures are usually the fore-runner of greater problems.

So, for example, we are not surprised to hear that there is a crackdown on a free press and open discussion in Vladimir Putin's Russia. What might be labelled "judicious discretion" among two bishops in purple cassocks seems little different from "suppression" and "repression" when done by a military junta.

But time and again we see a minimalist approach to transparency from bishops. It is simply the wrong signal: it creates the impression that they cannot be trusted. Then it generates the question: why do they want to keep things back? Then: what have they to hide?

The breakdown of trust in the Church - which just might be generating those attitudes which cause the fears expressed by Cardinal Kasper - is a fact right now. Once people spontaneously generate that wonderful expression, the hermeneutic of suspicion, then there is a rupture in the magisterium.

This rupture is not a possible fruit of a mistaken approach to synodality (i.e. the equivalent of "will the house go on fire?" or "will there be a sea-battle tomorrow?"), but a simple fact for many of the baptized - they do not trust the official statements of bishops as anything more than statements intended to preserve power and prevent necessary change.

This level of suspicion of bishops has probably not been seen over wide areas of the Western Church since the sixteenth century.

An interesting slogan

Among disadvantaged groups this very significant statement is often repeated: Nothing about us, without us, is for us.

It is worth thinking carefully about the implications of this maxim.

It speaks of suspicion, the desire for transparency, and the desire for real - not token - consultation.

It also speaks about the experience of women who hear statements made about them and their bodies by men.

It speaks about married people hearing about the demands of the Christian life from celibates who have never had to worry about being out of work, never had to cope with the pressures of providing food or shelter or repaying a mortgage each month, nor dealing with the worries that are part of every relationship and family.

It speaks about hearing of "child protection measures" from men who do not have children but have profound professional identification with clerical abusers.

And the list goes on ….

Signs of the times

Let's not worry about tomorrow's potential problems, we have enough actuals that need urgent attention.

"So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today" (Mt 6:34).

Time is short! Some things are urgent! Transparency is a 'sign of this time'

Time is short! Some things are urgent! Transparency is a 'sign of this time'

We need to take heed of the signs of the times - and stop sending out the wrong signals.

You might say, "But transparency is not that important, and certainly not part of our moment! Let's just ignore it!"

Well, some people in the Vatican have already seen that it is part of our historical moment - hence the accounts for Peter's Pence have just been published for the first time. This is the transparency that is appropriate to a community such as the Church.

Anything that is less than full transparency - and being transparent about transparency - is a skandalon (a stumbling block) to evangelization.

• First published in La-Croix International. Republished with permission.
• Thomas O'Loughlin is a presbyter of the Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton and professor-emeritus of historical theology at the University of Nottingham (UK). His latest book is Discipleship and Society in the Early Churches.

"We oppose the release of water containing the radioactive substance tritium into the ocean after purifying the contaminated water from Tepco's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant," they said this week in a letter to Japan's Prime Minister and cabinet members.

Releasing tritiated water after it goes through a purification process is wrong, the signatories say.

"We have a responsibility to hand over to future generations a global environment where we can truly live safely and with peace of mind," the bishops point out, citing Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical on a Christian ecology, Laudato Si.

"Since the world has been given to us, we can no longer view reality in a purely utilitarian way, in which efficiency and productivity are entirely geared to our individual benefit," Francis says in the encyclical.

"Intergenerational solidarity is not optional, but rather a basic question of justice, since the world we have received also belongs to those who will follow us."

The bishops' letter also noted a range of community interests are against the plan.

Local government councils of Fukushima Prefecture and of other prefectures are opposed to it. As are the local and National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives.

Then there's the Governor of South Korea's Jeju province, an island in the Korea Strait. He has also called for preparations to be suspended.

The event that caused the Fukushima nuclear plant to fail.

Back in 2011, three nuclear reactors at the plant suffered meltdowns in the massive 2011 earthquake and resulting tsunami.

The damaged reactors have to be constantly cooled with water, which becomes radioactive in the process.

The plans

The current plans consider dumping over 1 million tons of partially cleared radioactive water into the ocean, as soon as 2022.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), which operates the nuclear plant, says it has removed all radioactive isotopes but tritium.

An expert panel says tritium is harmful only in very large doses.

In addition, the International Atomic Energy Agency says if properly filtered, the water could be diluted with seawater and safely released into the ocean.

However, the Catholic bishops argue that the water's secondary treatment is still in the testing stage.

Furthermore, the bishops point out, health experts disagree about the health effects of tritium, citing claims that it is linked to stillbirth, Down syndrome, and childhood death due to leukemia.

They advocated that treated water be stored in tanks or solidified in mortar. Ocean release should not be the only method, they said.

The bishops say it is "worrisome" that the government report did not mention the effects of treated water on non-human marine life and the marine environment.

The release of radioactive material into the ocean is "irreversible," they said. Government officials had provided false information in the past regarding nuclear power plant building and maintenance.

Source

• CNA
• Image: Ejinsight.com

In a statement, Cardinal Maung Bo, Archbishop of Yangon in Myanmar and president of the Asian Bishops' Conferences says the bishops are calling for Christians to pray for the people of Hong Kong and China.

China's President Xi Jinping has signed into law a controversial national security legislation that aims to safeguard security in the special administrative region of Hong Kong.

Beijing says the law, which came into effect on 1 July, is necessary to deal with separatism and foreign interference.

"We hope the law will serve as a deterrent to prevent people from stirring up trouble," said Tam Yiu-Chung, Hong Kong's sole representative on the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, which approved the law.

It introduces new crimes with severe penalties, such as life imprisonment. It also allows security personnel from the Chinese mainland to operate in Hong Kong without local government oversight or restriction.

Critics say it will outlaw dissent and destroy the autonomy promised when the territory was returned to China in 1997.

In his statement, Bo attacked the law as "destroying" the region's "healthy mix of creativity and freedom." He rated the new law as "offensive to the spirit and letter of the 1997 handover agreement."

The handover agreement, signed by the governments of the United Kingdom and of China when Hong Kong ceased to be a British possession in 1997, guaranteed for "at least 50 years" the city-state's right to a democratic government and relative political autonomy from the mainland.

The UK government says the new security law violates the 1997 agreement, ending its "two systems, one country" model.

Bo is also concerned about freedom of religion in Hong Kong, and wants assurances that priests and pastors will not be "criminalised" for the content of their homilies or preaching.

The situation for freedom of religion in Mainland China is "suffering the most severe restrictions experienced since the Cultural Revolution," Bo says.

Given that freedom of belief is guaranteed in Hong Kong's basic articles, "wherever freedom as a whole is undermined, freedom of religion or belief - sooner or later - is affected," his statement says.

Cardinal Bo statement closes with a request for Christians, "in the spirit of the prophets, martyrs and saints of our faith", to pray for preservation of human rights in Hong Kong, the people of Hong Kong, and the people of China.

Source

• America Magazine
• YouTube
• Tablet

In a statement, they said the Catholic bishops under the Nazi regime did not oppose the war of annihilation started by Germany or the crimes the regime committed.

They also said the Nazi-era bishops gave the war a religious meaning.

Bishop Georg Batzing, who is the president of the German bishops' conference, says critics have accused the Church of failing not only to remember its role, but also of not owning up to it.

"We must not sit back, but carry the legacy into the future," he told a news conference.

"This is all the more true given that Europe does not seem to be in a good state at the moment."

Batzing says the "old demon of division, nationalism, ‘ethnic' thinking and authoritarian rule" is appearing in many places.

"Terrifying anti-Semitism is widespread, even here in Germany," he says.

He told the news conference that anyone who has learned the lessons of history must vehemently oppose these tendencies.

"This applies without ifs and buts to the Church, which is committed to the gospel of peace and justice."

Source

• The Catholic Universe
• Image: Holocaust Encyclopaedia - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

In an ideal world, not only would the Vatican have less say in choosing bishops, but priests and laity would have a larger role in the selection of their leaders.

However, unless the institutional church actually reaches that goal, and power truly devolves to the grassroots, giving more autonomy to Catholic bishops might make things worse, not better, at least for progressive Catholics.

While Pope Francis's appointments of often have elevated reformers to power, he cannot replace every powerful leader in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

And the bishops now leading U.S. Catholics skew conservative.

Indeed, in 2014, one bishop speaking on background confided that only about a third of American bishops were totally on board with Francis's agenda, about a quarter were definitely against, and the rest were still figuring out where they stood.

Not much appears to have changed in the intervening years.

Consider, for example, Pope Francis's approach to divorced and remarried Catholics who wish to practice their faith. The pope suggested that such Catholics, in certain circumstances, could receive Communion.

In Germany, Argentina and Malta, Catholic bishops followed the pope's advice. That did not happen here.

Like Nun on the Bus Sister Simone Campbell, I don't expect the bishops "to get a brain transplant."

They largely are old and white and set in their doctrinal ways. But I did expect U.S. bishops to have a sense of balance about the issues they take on. Yes, we get it.

We know that bishops oppose same-sex marriage, contraception and abortion. But surely, they could agree with the pope that other issues are just as, if not more, important? Continue reading

• Celia Viggo Wexler is the author of Catholic Women Confront Their Church: Stories of Hurt and Hope (Rowman & Littlefield).

A week-long summit which the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Pope Francis will attend in Rome will climax with a service in the monastery from which St Augustine was sent to evangelise Britain in 597 AD.

At the service 19 pairs of Anglican and Catholic bishops will be commissioned to work together in "joint mission". Read more

Their stance echoes Vatican statements about North Korea's nuclear capabilities and Pope Francis's concerns.

The U.S. bishops' conference "welcomes the action of the U.N. Security Council ...," Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces, N.M. said.

He says the Conference encourages "this important step toward a world without nuclear weapons".

Cantú chairs the U.S. bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace.

He said the U.S. bishops have long supported ratification of a comprehensive test ban.

The United Nations Security Council has approved a resolution asking countries to stop nuclear weapons testing.

The resolution presents avoiding nuclear weapons testing as an international norm.

The resolution, proposed by the United States, passed with 14 votes. Egypt abstained.

Wall Street Journal says the resolution is symbolic.

Sept. 24 marked the 20th anniversary of the launch of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

At present 166 countries, including the Holy See, have signed and ratified the Treaty.

A total of 183 countries have signed the treaty but have not ratified it, including the United States.

The U.S. failed to ratify the treaty in a 1999 Senate vote.

Instead, it has observed a national moratorium on nuclear weapons testing since 1992.

The nuclear test ban treaty will not take effect until several countries ratify it.

These are the U.S., North Korea, Egypt, Iran, Israel, China, India and Pakistan.

North Korea carried out its fifth nuclear test on September. 9.

It said the nuclear warhead it detonated could be mounted on ballistic rockets.

The explosion was estimated at about 10 kilotons.

This is about two-thirds the power of the bomb the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima during the Second World War.

Source

• CNA
• Image: crnchy.com

It must then follow that the Catholic Church is the true religion.

All others are false, no matter how sincerely they are held - they are held sincerely but mistakenly.

The greatest persecution of the Church comes not from her enemies without, but arises from sin within the Church, and that the Church thus has a deep need to relearn penance, to accept purification, to learn forgiveness on the one hand, but also the need for justice. (Pope Benedict, 11 May 2010).

We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-church, between the Gospel and the anti-gospel, between Christ and the antichrist.

This confrontation lies within the plans of Divine Providence.

"We must prepare ourselves to suffer great trials before long, such as will demand of us a disposition to give up even life, and a total dedication to Christ and for Christ … With your and my prayer it is possible to mitigate this tribulation, but it is no longer possible to avert it" (Pope Saint John Paul II).

Bishops refuse to talk about mortal sin.

But as for cowards, the unfaithful, the depraved, murderers, the unchaste, sorcerers, idol-worshippers, and deceivers of every sort, their lot is in the burning pool of fire and sulphur, which is the second death (Revelation).

"The normal Catholic in the parish might hear a sermon on abortion once a year.

"They'll never hear a sermon on homosexuality or gay marriage.

"They'll never hear a sermon about contraception" (Cardinal O'Malley).

Why are we never told about our spiritual responsibility towards our brothers and sisters, but only to be caring about the physical and material well-being of others?

"Admonishing sinners" is one of the spiritual works of mercy.

This is Christian charity; we must not remain silent before evil.

All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to "unveil" the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums (Catholic Catechism 2116).

"We see spread abroad ideas contrary to the truth which God has revealed and which the Church has always taught. Real heresies have appeared in dogma and moral theology, stirring doubt, confusion, and rebellion. Even the liturgy has been harmed. Christians have been plunged into an intellectual and moral illuminism, a sociological Christianity, without clear dogma or objective morality" (Pope Saint John Paul II).

Catholics should preach the faith "by open and constant profession of the obligations it imposes".

One of their main duties is "professing openly and unflinchingly the Catholic doctrine"; a second is "propagating it to the utmost of their power". The only ones who win when Christians stay quiet are the enemies of truth (Pope Leo XIII).

The truth is, God loves us unconditionally, but God does not save us unconditionally.

Love without truth is a fiction.

Joe Hannah

Bishop-elect John Arnold of Salford said he believes the Pope has made some bishops rethink their priorities.

A former barrister who was auxiliary bishop in Westminster, Bishop Arnold has pledged to follow the Pope's exhortation to stay close to his people.

"I do believe that a bishop belongs among his people," the bishop-elect said.

"Sometimes, as Francis says, that is to lead, sometimes to simply be with and sometimes be round the back to make sure no one gets left behind," he told The Tablet after his appointment was made public last week.

Last month, Pope Francis asked new bishops not to be tempted to try to change their people, but to love them and pray for them, even when they have erred.

A year ago, Francis told new bishops to be pastors, not princes.

Bishop-elect Arnold said his first priority will be to listen and learn about the diocese.

But he said he would continue to build on relationships established with other local faiths in areas such as "peace, justice, equality and education".

He also raised the possibility of moving out of his episcopal residence for Salford, a manor house that has an historic listing, although there are no plans to sell the property.

Bishop-elect Arnold said he accepted the appointment "with much trepidation but [i] will do all I can to serve the people, priests, and religious of this diocese as we all seek to respond to Pope Francis' call to be 'missionary disciples'."

"I have much to learn in this new experience, after 31 years of priesthood spent entirely in Westminster."

At Salford he succeeds Bishop Terence Brain, who had reached retirement age of 75.

Bishop-elect Arnold paid tribute to his predecessor and expressed his gratitude.

The Salford diocese covers Greater Manchester and North East Lancashire.

Bishop-elect Arnold studied for the priesthood at the Gregorian University in Rome, where he obtained both a license and a doctorate in canon law.

He is the chairman of the trustees of Cafod, the official Catholic aid agency for England and Wales.

Sources

• The Tablet
• BBC
• Catholic News Agency
• National Catholic Reporter
• Catholic News Service
• Image: Cafod

Attempts to remedy the problem in Noumea were unsuccessful.

Bishop Ghislain was then flown to Sydney where he is to have further treatment.

Bishop Ghislain was ordained Bishop of Wallis and Futuna in 2005.

He was ordained a priest in 1971 at Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, France, and came to New Caledonia in 1973.

He worked in New Caledonia until 2003 when he moved to Suva in Fiji after being appointed vicar provincial of the Oceania province of the Society of Mary.

The Diocese of Wallis and Futuna is located in the Pacific Islands.

Source

• Supplied
• Wikipedia
• Image: diocese.ddec.nc

On September 25, Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano of Ciudad del Este diocese was removed to preserve the "unity of both the bishops and of the faithful", according to a Vatican statement.

"Serious pastoral concerns" were also cited.

Bishop Livieres had allowed a priest accused of abusing seminarians in other countries to minister in his diocese.

A Vatican spokesman denied these accusations were central to the bishop's removal, but said this had been debated.

Bishop Livieries had appointed Argentina Fr Carlos Urrutigoity as vicar-general, despite his track record in the United States.

Scranton diocese in Pennsylvania posted a message to its website this year that that the priest "was identified as posing a serious threat to young people".

Fr Urrutigoity was removed as vicar-general in Ciudad del Este in July, just before an apostolic visitation by Spanish Cardinal Santos Abril Castello.

Ordinations were suspended in the diocese after the visit.

The Vatican statement said the "onerous decision" to dismiss Bishop Livieres was made after a "careful examination" of the findings of a Vatican investigation conducted by the congregations for Bishops and for Clergy.

Several years ago, Bishop Livieres publicly accused Asuncion's archbishop of being gay, setting off a public uproar.

After he became bishop in 2004, Bishop Livieres opened his own diocesan seminary in Ciudad del Este and shortened the formation period to four years.

On September 25, Bishop Livieres posted a letter to his diocesan website, stating that he opened this seminary to make up for the failings of the national seminary.

This raised the ire of his fellow bishops, Bishop Livieres wrote.

He claimed his removal came as a result of an ideological campaign by Paraguayan bishops in league with Vatican officials.

"The true problem of the church in Paraguay is the crisis of faith and moral life perpetuated by bad formation of clergy and the negligence of pastors," he wrote.

Bishop Livieres also complained that he was never shown Cardinal Abril's report, that the apostolic visitation was flawed and that he was not allowed to speak with Pope Francis on his situation.

He said all allegations of inappropriate conduct were false, but he would accept the Pope's decision.

Sources

• New York Times
• National Catholic Reporter
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: BBC

The Pope said this in a written address on September 18 to 138 recently appointed bishops from around the world, including two from Australia.

"Though jealously safeguarding the passion for truth, do not waste your energy in opposition and arguments, but in building and loving," Francis told the bishops.

Like Moses, bishops need to be with their people no matter what, he said.

"I also beg you to not let yourselves be deceived by the temptation to change the people. Love the people that God has given you, even when they will have committed great sins."

Like Moses, the bishop must "come up to the Lord" and advocate on his people's behalf, praying for forgiveness and a fresh start, he said.

"I am well aware of how our times have become a desert," the Pope said.

And that's why the people need someone who will patiently guide them and help them mature, and who will not "fear death as exiles, but deplete your last energies, not for yourselves, but to let those you guide enter into God".

Nothing is more important than bringing people to God, he said.

Bishops must strike a balance between being audacious sentinels, ready always to wake up a slumbering world, and gentle, forgiving fathers who unconditionally love the sinning people "God has given you".

The only way to fulfil this mission, Francis said, is to be constantly in search of and completely bound to Christ.

The Church cannot have bishops who are "switched off or pessimists", the Pope added.

It can't have bishops who rely only on themselves and have "surrendered to the darkness of the world or resigned to the apparent defeat of the good, screaming - at this point, in vain - that the tiny fort has been attacked", the Pope said.

But they do have to be like sentinels, he said, "capable of waking up your churches, getting up before dawn or in the middle of the night to bolster the faith, hope and charity, without letting yourselves be lulled to sleep or conforming to the nostalgic complaint of a golden past that's already gone".

The Pope also warned bishops not to surround themselves with "climbers" and "yes-men".

Source

• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: National Catholic Reporter

That's what the synod's general secretary, Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, told the Catholic News Service.

The extraordinary synod from October 5-19 will be attended by presidents of bishops' conferences, heads of eastern Catholic churches and Vatican officials.

There will also be a dozen or more voting members named by the Pope, three priests chosen by the Union of Superiors General, a dozen or more expert advisers, and about a dozen representatives of other Christian churches.

Also present will be up to 30 observers, more than half of whom will be married couples - who will be encouraged to address the assembly, Cardinal Baldisseri said.

The big change from past synods is that the voting members of the extraordinary synod will be asked to submit their presentations in writing at least two weeks before the meeting opens, the cardinal said.

"This is not to limit the discussion, but to help organise it," he said.

The report opening the synod will be a first summary of the bishops' submissions, instead of a rephrasing of the synod working document as in past synods, he added.

During the first week, instead of reading their presentations, the bishops will have "three or four minutes" in summary - focusing only on one theme - and, perhaps, include ideas or clarifications that have come from listening to their brother bishops, he said.

As the bishops address the assembly, the synod's opening report will be modified to reflect the discussion.

At the end of the first week, the revised report will be presented to the assembly.

The second week of the synod will be taken up mainly by work in small groups organised according to language, Cardinal Baldisseri said.

The small groups will work, theme by theme, on amending the summary report.

This is likely to be used as the working document for the 2015 synod.

Cardinal Baldisseri cautioned that decisions about the Church's pastoral approach to families are not expected until after the 2015 synod.

Sources

• Catholic News Service
• Synod Working Document
• Image: Catholic News Agency

There were 82 Bishops from Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, the countries of the Pacific, and Australia and New Zealand in Wellington last week for the assembly of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania

The Assembly takes place every four years in a different part of Oceania and the next assembly will be held in Papua New Guinea in 2018.

During the Assembly

• Bishop Eugene Hurley spoke about the situation of detainees in Australian detention centres.
• Bishops from Papua New Guinea and the Bishop of Tarawa in Nauru spoke of the detention centres within their countries and the effects of these on local populations of Manus Island and Nauru.
• Bishop Barry Jones and Mike Stopforth presented a session on the earthquakes and their impact on the Christchurch city and the Diocese. They spoke of the ongoing effects on the people of Christchurch, together with the rebuilding being undertaken by the Church and throughout the city.
• Archbishop Peter Loy Chong of Suva spoke on reading the signs of the Fiji times, and the pastoral implications of the political changes that have occurred in Fiji over the last fifteen years.

The Bishops also discussed topics that will be considered at the Extraordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to be held in Rome in October this year. In workshop sessions, the bishops heard presentations and engaged in discussion with presenters on young people and the Catholicism.

Source

• NZ Catholic Bishops' Conference
• Image: PNGEdge

In a statement released at their recent annual conference, the bishops said "We notice with pain and concern that Argentina is sick with violence. Some symptoms are clear, others more subtle".

"Criminal acts have not only risen in number, but in aggressiveness; a violence ever more ferocious and merciless," they wrote.

The Argentine Church wishes to see judges and prosecutors acting swiftly, independently and calmly.

However the bishops warned people against acts of vengeance or taking justice into their own hands.

The bishops also likened public and private corruption to a social cancer "causing injustice and death".

Argentina's chief of cabinet, Jorge Capitanich, reacted to the statement saying there was a "deliberate attempt" by the opposition to blame Christina Fernandez de Kirchner's government for the violence.

Continue reading

A Sinn Fein motion to introduce same-sex marriage legislation is likely to be defeated in the Northern Ireland assembly next week.

Unionist parties will introduce a "petition of concern" against the move.

Under the rules of the Stormont assembly, legislation cannot pass if the representatives of one community refuse to support a new bill, thus ensuring that no one section of the divided populace can impose laws on the other.

Before the vote, the Catholic hierarchy wrote to every assembly member to urge them to reject the bill.

Continue reading

Some bishops backed the junta in order to combat communism.

Continue reading

The bishops acknowledged that Church teaching can sometimes be a challenge, with some respondents seeing the teaching "as disconnected from real-life experience".

Continue reading

He had been profiled as a moderately conservative archbishop from Argentina, renowned for his simple lifestyle and pastoral affection for the poor.

Perhaps the only clue of his intention radically to reform the papacy and the Church, though barely understood at the time, was his bold and unprecedented decision to name himself after St Francis of Assisi.

People in the rainy square below fell silent and wept with joy as the newly elected Bishop of Rome, as he explicitly described himself, bowed his head and asked them to pray over him.

"Before the bishop blesses his people, I ask you to pray to the Lord so that he will bless me. Let us make this prayer in silence - your prayer over me," he said.

That evening Francis declared that he was launching the Church of Rome, "which presides in charity over all the other Churches", on new journey.

He said: "We take up this journey - bishop and people."

It would be months before most Catholics, especially the new Pope's fellow priests and bishops, would begin to understand the profound significance of those words. Continue reading.

Source: The Tablet

Image: Financial Review

"The US/Mexico border is our Lampedusa. Migrants in this hemisphere try to reach it, but often die in the attempt," said Bishop Eusebio Elizondo.

Bishop Elizondo chairs the US bishops' Committee on Migration.

Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston will attend along with the bishops on the migration committee and several border bishops.

Other bishops and cardinals are invited to join them.

The Mass will take place on April 1 at the border wall in Nogales, Arizona.

About 6000 migrants have died trying to cross the border from Mexico to the United States since 1998.

In his first visit outside Rome last year, Pope Francis visited the island of Lampedusa near the African coast to highlight the plight of desperate migrants.

The US bishops' visit to the border in Arizona is meant to follow the example of Francis's trip to Lampedusa.

"The purpose of the trip is to highlight the human suffering caused by a broken immigration system, an aspect of the national immigration debate which is often ignored," a US bishops' conference press release stated.

Bishop Elizondo said immigration is primarily about human beings, not economic or social issues.

"We exhibit our own indifference when we minimise or ignore this suffering and death, as if these people are not worth our attention," he said.

"It degrades us as a nation."

Sources:

• National Catholic Reporter
• Catholic World News
• Image: National Public Radio