Portugal: a pastoral note on the Papal visit The Permanent Council of the Portuguese Bishops Conference (Cep) published a Pastoral Notice, in which it wishes Benedict XVI’s forthcoming visit (11-14 May) “may not remain a passing event, although shared and festive, but may it represent the seed from which the fruits of a spiritual, apostolic and social renewal may sprout and grow”. The document states that “the Pope’s journey must be prepared in a horizon of faith, in the construction of ecclesial unity, and in a fairer and more fraternal society”. “Benedict XVI – write the bishops – comes as a pilgrim, and the Portuguese church will have to walk with the Successor of Peter to rediscover, in Christianity, an experience of understanding and mission. The bishops ask the Catholic congregation to “turn into brave apostles, capable of giving concreteness to the necessary, urgent announcement of Christ in all the spheres of daily action, such as politics, health care, industry, trade, agriculture, fishing, education, teaching, work and entertainment”. In recalling that the Pope’s visit is extended to “all Portuguese people” as well as to the “migrant communities”, the bishops insist that “only by living in a permanent conversion may the Church present itself credibly in a world on which they try to impose relativism and indifference”.Ukraine: the Greek Catholic Church speaks out against abortion “Notably through the practice of abortion, contemporary culture is increasingly becoming a culture of death”, said Cardinal Lubomyr, head of Ukraine’s Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC), in the address delivered past February 27 for the Day in Memory of Aborted Children. In compliance with the decisions of the 46th session of the Bishops’ Synod of Kiev-Halych, held in September 2009 in Lviv-Briukhovychi, the Church drew up a program to counter the practice of abortion across the Country with the creation of a coordinating Committee. The project’s initiatives include the establishment of the Day in Memory of Aborted Children, due to be celebrated each year the second Saturday of Lent, which this year falls on February 27. With the approval of Cardinal Lubomyr, the UGCC Commission for Health Pastoral Care drew up an appeal, which the head of the Church gave to priests on on February 27, to be read the following day, Sunday 28, during celebrations, along with two specific prayer intentions. “The popular view of the world has undergone dramatic changes, and damaged consciences affect and degrade the moral level and the values of society as a whole”, claimed the major archbishop. “Everyone ought to know that the Church incessantly teaches that God prohibits to take the life of an unborn child!” His Eminence declared. Every abortion “is a serious murderous sin, regardless of the States’ legislation and of mundane considerations!”. “Long before owing it to men we owe obedience to God!”.England: the bishops’ document on the social doctrine Just before elections in the United Kingdom, which are taking place in May (but the date has not been confirmed, yet) the Catholic bishops of England and Wales published a document with the title “Choosing the Common Good”, devoted to the social doctrine of the Church. The publication, “which is a contribution to the great debate on the values and the vision supporting our society”, it is written in a note by English bishops, tells the themes of next elections in advance. “Finding a common vision of society is more urgent than the details of the policies of each party. Wherever there is no vision, peoples perish”, it is written in the text mentioning an excerpt from the book of Proverbs. The construction of a fair and civil society can be carried out, since the “desire for love and truth is inborn for all men and women”. According to Msgr. Vincent Nichols, president of the Bishops Conference of England and Wales, “it is important for everyone to read this document and take part in the debate about the values and the vision supporting a civil society. The document does not say how to vote, but grants a background for the most important problems, which might dominate the next elections, and it gives political parties an invitation on how to respond, in the best way, to the common efforts made to build up a better society”.
