Sweden, Germany, Creation

Sweden: “regret” over consensus to gay marriages The Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches in Sweden expressed their regret over the decision taken October 22 by the General Synod of the Swedish Lutheran Church of allowing Church marriage to homosexual couples starting next November 1st. In a joint statement father Fredrik Emanuelson, in charge of ecumenism for the Swedish Catholic Church and Father Misha Jaksic, Orthodox Churches representative, said learnt of the news with “disappointment” and added, “it is a departure not only from Catholic tradition but also from the very nature of marriage as conceived by all religions”. However, the decision taken by the Lutheran Synod didn’t come unexpectedly since it had been “anticipated by a long debate” inside the Lutheran Church, undertaken at the beginning of the year with the enforcement of legislation granting civil marriage to homosexual couples. “None of us wishes to cancel the ecumenical colloquiums with the Swedish Church – is written in the communiqué -. The decision of the Church of Sweden widens the gap. However, “the meetings are more important than ever, in order to fulfill the will of Christ to be one so the world will believe”. Germany: an ecumenical award to TaizéTaizé is the “place of reconciliation”. This is the motivation of the Ecumenical Award of the Catholic Academy of Bavaria presented to the Community of Taizé on October 22. The 10 thousand-euro prize was given in Munich to the prior of the community Frère Alois and to his confrere. The award was given “in recognition of Taizè as a symbolical place for the reconciliation between Christians and divided peoples”, states the document that presents the motivations for the award. Upon receiving the prize -which since 1995 is conferred to individuals or institutions that excel in ecumenical engagement – Frère Alois recalled the founder of Taizé, Roger Schutz, who “proposed that Christians be the peace-yeast of humanity”. The community of Taizè – that does not accept donations – will employ the awarded money to publish Bibles to be distributed in China. Creation: messages symposium U.S.”Christians are called to join in offering the world a credible witness of responsibility for the safeguarding of the Creation, and to cooperate in every way possible to ensure that our earth can preserve intact its God-given grandeur, beauty and bounty”, Pope Benedict XVI wrote in a message to the International Symposium on Science, Religion and the Environment titled “Restoring Balance: The Great Mississippi River”. The Pope’s message was read by the archbishop of New Orleans, Msgr. Gregory Michael Aymond. “The solution to the ecological crisis of our time necessarily calls for a change of heart on the part of our contemporaries”. Benedict XVI said he “fully” agrees that while touching important political, economic, technical and scientific questions, “the urgent issues surrounding the care and protection of the environment”, “are essentially of an ethical nature”. Quoting from Caritas in Veritate, the Pontiff recalled that “Nature is prior to us” and as the setting of our life, it must be used “responsibly” and “with respect”. A “purely economic and technological” understanding of progress will inevitably provoke “negative consequences for individuals, peoples and the Creation itself”. In the message the Pope recalled the tragic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to New Orleans and surrounding areas on 29 August 2005. “My thoughts and prayers are with all those, especially the poor, who experienced suffering, loss and displacement, and all those engaged in the patient work of rebuilding and renewal”. The words conveyed by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Barthomew I were in deep harmony with the Pope’s. The Patriarch is in the U.S. for a 15-day pastoral visit. “Our decisions, personal and collective, determine the future of the planet”, he said. The Patriarch voiced his concern for the planet’s future. “We have reached a defining moment in our history…the point where absolute limits to our survival are being reached”. Deforestation, river pollution, desertification are among the urgent issues, the Patriarch underlined, with “the illusion of us being in control of our destiny as never before”. “Only wisdom could make us realize that the Creation is an interdependent, undivided whole”. Even “the smallest human intervention, even the minutest change in the natural order brought about by human action can have – and does have – long term devastating effects on the planet”.