France: “we’re not sailing adrift””Recent media campaigns have affected and destabilised many of our dioceses. We wish to share with everyone the faith that resides within us: our Church is not a ship that is sailing adrift. Rather, it is animated and guided by the Holy Spirit”, said Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris and President of France’s Bishops’ Conference in the speech he delivered yesterday in Lourdes in conclusion of the French Bishops’ Spring plenary meeting. The archbishop commented on the polemical debates over the Pope’s statements on the fight against AIDS. “The test we recently stood encouraged us to reach the heart of our mission, not letting ourselves be distracted or deviated by violence or polemics”. The Cardinal explained that Christians today are tasked with “actualizing” the message of love inscribed in the Gospel and address it “to every human being” encouraging the human person “to lead a life that is worth of its unique greatness”. “This is what we do when we encourage our contemporaries, the youth in particular, to live a sexuality that is worth of human reason and responsibility without giving in to the myth of irresponsible relations that are thought to carry no risks but which instead end up eliminating the joy of the love of man and woman and are reduced to a mortal conduct that generates anguish”. Accordingly, the Church encourages “scientific and medical research, recalling the need to respect human dignity” and exhorts community members to be “generously committed to the service of the poor”. The Cardinal called for the unity of the Church of France, since “Its vitality and dynamism will depend on the communion we live with the resurrected Christ and on the communion we live with all our brothers in the world. As your bishops, we are in close unity with Pope Benedict XVI to whom we once more convey our affection and support”, His Eminence concluded.Belgium: the bishops’ “regret” over the polemics The Bishops of Belgium expressed their “regret” over the resolution adopted yesterday by the Lower Chamber that defines “unacceptable” the Pope’s recent statements regarding the fight against AIDS. In a Note issued April 3rd, Belgium’s Bishops’ Conference voiced its respect for “the democratic trait” of the decision. However, the bishops remarked, it “does not take into account what Benedict XVI truly wished to express”, that is, “without education to sexual responsibility, other preventive means are insufficient”. The bishops hope that “as Easter draws close, the polemics will be toned down. What both our Country and Africa need is a serene reflection regarding all the available means that can curb the epidemics”. Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Press Office of the Holy See, expressed his “consternation” over the resolution adopted by the Lower House on the Vatican Radio, and declared, “In each democratic Country the Holy Father and the Catholic Church are free to express their positions and lines of action regarding topics that are evidently linked with the Church’s vision of the human person and his moral responsibility, with human formation and education prospects, with assistance and care to the sick and to those who are suffering”. Father Lombardi recalled: “The Church’s ongoing tradition and experience in healthcare and human formation, especially in the poor Countries, is such that it needs not to be proved or commented on”. According to the director of the Vatican Press Office, “we also wonder whether the positions of the Holy Father have been seriously and accurately examined, or whether instead they have been filtered by the non-objective and non-balanced lenses of Western media reports”.Luxembourg: preparation for the chrismal MassAmong the rites for the Holy Week, the Church of Luxembourg ascribes “major importance” to the Chrismal Mass, which will be celebrated by Bishop Msgr. Fernand Franck, on Wednesday April 8 in Luxembourg’s Cathedral to the presence of the priests, deacons and Christian faithful of the entire diocese. The celebration will be marked by two significant events: the archbishop will bless the oil that will be used for the anointing of the infirm and for the catechumen, along with the Holy Chrism used for the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and ordination. During the chrismal Mass introducing to Holy Thursday, which commemorates the institution of the Eucharist, the bishops and the priests will renew their priestly promises and will call upon all baptised faithful to support them in their prayers.
