France: “climate of suspicion” on immigrantsA “climate of suspicion” that “demolishes” the work of “those for whom solidarity is not a vain word” is denounced by the French bishops in a communiqué issued on Friday 15 May, with the title “Migrants and volunteers”. “Irregular migrants – says the communiqué – have seen their insecurity increase due to the international crisis. Some of us exercise on their behalf the elementary humanitarian presence that is required of us in conscience and fidelity. But this solidarity is regarded with suspicion: frequent controls, detention on suspicion, appeals to respect the law”. The bishops recall that “the fraternity to which we aspire is a fundamental principle of our Republic, and also a guiding principle of the social thought of the Catholic Church”. And they add that “the State and the local communities cannot assume by themselves alone this commitment to vulnerable populations. They must also be able to rely on a network of associations with a view to serving cohesion and cohabitation”. The bishops also point out the need for a discussion on these problems with their own elected representatives and recall what John Paul II wrote in 1997: “The Church feels it is her duty to be a neighbour, like the Good Samaritan, of clandestine immigrants and refugees, contemporary icon of the traveller who is stripped, beaten and abandoned by the roadside”.Spain: “the right to be born”No one can be denied “the right to be born”, declared the President of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, in his homily in the Cathedral of Madrid during the feast of the patron St. Isidro. The cardinal was commenting on the bill for the reform of abortion brought before Parliament by José Luis Zapatero, and now given its preliminary reading, but bitterly opposed by the Spanish bishops and pro-life organizations. The government in fact recently approved the text of the bill drafted by the Minister of Equal Opportunities Bibiana Aido, which grants to every woman the right to freely decide by the 14th week of pregnancy whether to abort or not. From the 14th to the 22nd week abortion will only be possible in the case of “grave physical or psychological risk” for the woman’s health or of malformation of the foetus, ascertained by two physicians. Beyond the 22nd week the interruption of pregnancy will only be possible in the case of any “anomaly incompatible with life” or “incurable disease” of the foetus, on the decision of a medical commission. Simultaneously the Spanish Bishops’ Conference has intervened on the announcement by the Ministers of Health and Equal Opportunities, Trinidad Jiménez e Bibiana Aído, approving the so-called “day after pill” to be freely available without medical prescription. Hitherto the pill has been exclusively dispensed in hospitals and in family planning centres. Now it won’t be necessary to get a doctor’s prescription, nor will there be any further controls on its administration, not even in the case of minors. The bishops cited a previous statement they had issued in 2001 in which they call the day-after pill a “new threat to life” and exhort everyone to “respect and cherish human life. No one will wish in good conscience to contribute to confounding good with evil, with so grievous a sign of the so-called culture of death that leads to killing, mistakenly believing that it is a way of serving life”. The pro-life associations have also intervened on the question. In a communiqué the spokesperson of the “Right to Life” platform (DAV), Gádor Joya, pointed out that “the so-called day-after pill has an abortive effect”, with the result that the provision announced by the government “presupposes the practice of free abortion”. It also “authorises teenage girls to abort through this method, without their parents knowing or authorising it”, which represents “not only a humanitarian, but also a medical aberration”.Lithuania: 8,000 youth at the meeting with TaizéFrom 1-3 May 2009, some 8000 youngsters participated in the meeting with the Taize community organized by the youth pastoral centre of the archdiocese of Vilnius, capital of Lithuania. Over three years ago, the brothers of the ecumenical community founded by Frère Roger had been invited to hold a stage of the Pilgrimage of Trust on Earth in Vilnius, on the initiative of Cardinal Audrys Juozas Baèkis, Archbishop of Vilnius. In his welcoming address, the cardinal declared: “I am convinced that, thanks to you and your presence, jubilant Vilnius will give proof of her hospitality”. Indeed, the hospitality offered by the whole city surpassed all expectations. This was the first time that it proved possible to bring together thousands of young Christians of various confessions, coming also from Poland and from Russia, from Latvia and from Ukraine, from Belarus and Western Europe, all them given a warm welcome by Lithuanians in their festive capital. “These thousands of youngsters – comments the Taizé community -, by seeking reconciliation and building together the communion of the Church, have been a true sign of hope during this meeting: the sign that a future of peace is possible.
