Ireland: a “European” bishop”There are Christian roots on this island that are in constant need of nourishing. I am confident that your own vast experience of living and working in Europe will have an important contribution to make to that nourishing”, declared Cardinal Sean Brady, Metropolitan Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, addressing Monsignor Noël Treanor, who was ordained Bishop of Down and Connor (Northern Ireland) in St Peter’s Cathedral in Belfast on 29 June. Mgr. Treanor thus became the 32nd bishop of the Irish diocese, after 15 years’ distinguished service as general secretary of COMECE (Commission of the Episcopates of the European Community) in Brussels. In his homily during the Episcopal Ordination, Cardinal Brady recalled the life and mission of Ireland’s great saint, St. Columbanus, “one of the fathers of Europe”, on whom Benedict XVI had also dwelt in his general audience on 11 June (praising him as “one of the true fathers of Europe”). The cardinal drew a parallel between Columbanus and Treanor: “Both of you emigrated to the continent of Europe to work in various countries such as Italy, France and Belgium”, adding that St. Columbanus “shows us, even today, the roots from which our Europe can be reborn”. He also told Mgr. Treanor: “Your work on the international scene, in defence of life, in support of the family, in promoting ecumenical relations, will prove invaluable to you in the years that lie ahead”. After having thanked those present – including various European cardinals and bishops, representatives of the Orthodox and Protestant Churches and the President of Ireland Mary McAleese – Mgr. Treanor, in his first address as bishop, said: “I am a son of Ulster”, and expressed his desire to “collaborate with the bishops, clergy, religious and laity of the diocese” and “with the representatives of the civil institutions” to “work together in pursuit of the common good of all citizens of our society, though in full respect for the principle of the separation between religious and secular spheres”: a principle – said Mgr. Treanor – that was “already affirmed by St. Matthew in his distinction between what belongs to God and what to Caesar”, and that “represents a bulwark of democracy”: “its implementation for the cohesion and vitality of the fabric of society requires the exchange of ideas, dialogue and also debate between the two spheres”. The diocese of Down and Connor comprises some 330,000 Catholics in 88 parishes. There are 163 diocesan priests and 62 ordained members of the religious orders. The new bishop, who has chosen as his motto “Sicut filii lucis ambulate” (Walk as children of light: Eph 5:8), celebrated his first Mass in the church of St Bernard at Glengormley on 1st July. Luxembourg: no to biofuelsThe Catholic Church of Luxembourg has given its backing to an anti-biofuels initiative promoted by a further 18 organizations joined in the so-called ‘Agrokraftstoffe’ (biofuels) platform, to protest against the use of foodstuffs for the production of energy. The initiative consists of a letter of protest sent to the government of Luxembourg in recent days to express disapproval for the European Commission’s proposal to raise to 10% by 2020 the obligatory percentage of biofuels in the total EU energy requirement in the transport sector. This provision, write the organizers, “will destroy the food security of millions of people, though without contributing to the protection of the climate. This objective cannot be achieved in sustainable conditions”. The 10% target cannot be reached by European agriculture, which does not have the necessary cultivatable areas at its disposal to do so. “The larger part of biofuels is thus imported from threshold countries and developing countries. Our growing [energy] requirement will impact on global markets in such a way that increasingly more areas that promise the greatest profit will be cultivated, without any consideration of the conservation of the necessary areas for the cultivation of food”, warns the document. “This will also cause the plundering of the earth, grave violations to human rights, inhumane working conditions, and the destruction of the rain forests. Those who think that there are biofuels that do not cause famine are deceiving themselves!”. “Even the reduction of harmful emissions thanks to the use of biofuels is doubtful: their production involves, even now, the destruction of natural ecosystems, the emission of greenhouse gases in dramatic proportions and the destruction of varieties of species”, warn the organizers, who end their letter by urging the Parliament and government of Luxembourg to work towards the cancellation of the 10% objective.
