Portugal: gay marriages, “a step backwards””A step backwards”: that’s how Father Manuel Morujão, spokesman of the Portuguese Bishops’ Conference, comments on the law which legalizes homosexual marriages also in Portugal and which the President of the Republic, Anibal Cavaco Silva, has now decided to promulgate, after its approval by Parliament on 11 February. In a statement issued on 17 May, Father Morujão writes: “Taking cognizance of the decision of the President of the Republic to promulgate the law that legalises marriages between persons of the same sex”, the Bishops’ Conference first of all declares that “this law constitutes a step backwards in the construction of social cohesion, and conflicts with one of the most firmly consolidated principles of the various civilizations of mankind”. In this regard the spokesman of the Portuguese bishops recalls what was said by Benedict XVI just a week ago at Fatima, in his address to the representatives of Catholic social institutions: the Pope had urged them to “safeguard the essential and primary values of life, from its conception, and of the family, founded on the indissoluble marriage between a man and a woman”. The statement thus points out: “Speaking in Fatima on 13 May, Pope Benedict XVI recalled that the family is founded on the union of love between a man and a woman, and that its protection is one of the key factors for the promotion of the common good”. Condemnation of the law legalizing same-sex marriages has also been expressed by Isilda Pegado, President of the Portuguese Pro-Life Federation, who in a briefing to SIR Europe spoke of an “attack on the traditional family which will give rise to grave misgivings throughout society. The law was supported by a narrow political élite, forming a clear minority in relation to the fathers and mothers who wish to bring up their own children in the truth”.Ukraine: card. Husar, “peace and reconciliation”May 9 and May 16 were two days of prayer in Ukraine during which were respectively commemorated the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II and the final victory over the Nazi regime and over political authoritarianism. On the occasion of these two important anniversaries Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, Primate of Ukraine’s Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC) exhorted the population: “A shining future will be envisioned provided that we overcome past failings, and this can only happen with prayer and conscious commitment”. “True and long-lasting victory – the archbishop said – will be achieved provided that everyone is a party to peace”. Cardinal Lubomyr recalled the military warfare in the years 1941 – 1945, honouring the memory of the “soldiers who gave their lives for the liberation of their homeland”, and added: “Although we have been celebrating the victory over war for the past 65 years, feelings of widespread and long-lasting peace did not prevail. The second half of the 20th century has been a period marked by new oppositions and tragic ordeals for Ukraine and its bordering countries”. During the years of the persecution, His Eminence pointed out, “some availed themselves of all possible means and privileges, while causing suffering unto others scot-free; unjust behaviours were motivated by fear or by the yearning to please the authorities; but most of the population was unjustly oppressed and tyrannized”. “Today, we must convey our understanding and compassion to those who were part of the three groups and pray for them intensely. They belong to our bitter past, even though there are those who covet their return to no avail”. Finally, Card. Lubomyr called upon the faithful “not to judge others. Each one must undertake a conscience examination aimed at reconciliation with the Lord and with others”.Austria: for remarried and separated CatholicsFormulating new proposals for the pastoral care of separated and remarried Catholics: that is the objective of the Austrian bishops, announced by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, President of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference, on 17 May. “An episcopal commission, chaired by the Archbishop of Salzburg, the Most Rev. Alois Kothgasser, has already been set up to this end; specific proposals should be presented before the plenary of the Bishops’ Conference in November 2010”, said Schönborn in a press conference, held together with the Bishop of Carinthia, Alois Schwarz. The initiative is a specific outcome of the congress of pastoral councils that ended in Mariazell on 15 May. Bishop Schwarz hoped for an approach of “great sensibility”, taking into account “various points of view”, which the Church must adopt to “be able to find solutions” to the question of the separated and remarried, as also to the “value given by the Church to sexuality and sex as a gift” and the “role of women in the Church”. On the question of sex abuse, an issue also discussed at Mariazell, Schönborn spoke of “very painful and oppressive” experiences. Nonetheless, he concluded, one thing that did emerge at Mariazell is that this situation, however painful, may also be an “opportunity to reconsider the fundamental tasks of Christians and of the Church”.
