A Church that is listened to” “” “

The Assembly of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales has just ended in Leeds. Five main topics were on the agenda: the war in Afghanistan, the situation in the Holy Land, the opposition to euthanasia, the appeal to the government to ban human cloning and the setting up of a unit to combat the sexual abuse of juveniles. The work of the Assembly was summed up for us by Patrick Kelly , Archbishop of Liverpool. Archbishop Kelly, every day cloning poses new questions to Catholics. “That’s right. Hitherto we thought that the most dreadful prospect of all was the cloning of a human being. We realize that the prospect of the cloning of human tissue for experimental purposes and its subsequent destruction is an aberration. And on this matter there unfortunately exists a legislative vacuum”. How far does this position converge with British public opinion? “It’s difficult to say. Here Catholics only account for ten percent of the population, just over four million. Of course the positions adopted by the Catholic bishops are followed with attention and respect both by journalists and by politicians”. How come that you are listened to so closely? “We try to respond to these problems in a scrupulous way from the medical viewpoint and in a consistent way from the ethical viewpoint”. What’s the relation of the Catholic Church with Anglicans on these issues? “On many moral questions the positions of the Catholic Church and the Church of England coincide, and whenever possible, we adopt a common position. Two Anglican archbishops and twenty-four bishops sit in the House of Lords; they always act as spokesmen of the Catholic positions”. Did you also tackle the question of the war in your Assembly. What emerged from your discussions? “One has the impression that when one speaks of the war against terrorism one speaks especially of a war against the Moslem countries, with the risk of unleashing tensions also in our own society. Whenever military force is used, the problem exists of the proportionality of the means and how much physical force it is morally permissible to use”. In your resolution you also invite Christians to fast with Moslems, especially during the month of Ramadan… “It’s an open invitation that involves a reflection on the meaning of Ramadan and that may help to bring the faithful of the two religions closer together”. Fact File In 1850 there were only twelve Catholic dioceses in Great Britain; now there are twenty-two, plus a special diocesan representation for the armed forced. With 4.2. million Catholics (some 10% of the population) the Church linked to Rome remains a minority. In 1829 it recovered the civil and legal rights it had lost at the time of the Reformation. Since then Catholics have emerged from their ghetto and entered, together with the late Cardinal Basil Hume (who died in June 1999), national political life. The Bishops’ Conference is subdivided into five departments: the first for Christian life and religious service; the second for mission and unity; the third for Catholic education and formation; the fourth for Christian responsibility and citizenship; and the fifth for international affairs. On questions of particular importance the Bishops’ Conference consults the National Conference of Priests, the National Conference of Religious, the National Committee of Catholic Women, the National Council of Lay Associations, the Catholic Union of Great Britain and Ireland and the Canon Law Society. The Catholic agencies that form part of the Bishops’ Conference comprise the Catholic Education Service, the Catholic Youth Services, CAFOD, the Catholic Fund for Aid to the countries of the Third World, and the Agency for the Catholic Media. Silvia Guzzetti