France, Poland

France: keynote address of Cardinal Vingt-TroisThe fears of French society, the economic crisis, the nuclear incident of Fukushima and the energy question, the law on bioethics and the debate on secularity: these are the main issues tackled by Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris and President of the French Bishops’ Conference, in the keynote address with which he inaugurated the episcopate’s spring plenary in Lourdes on 6 April (until 8 April). Addressing his thoughts to “our brothers of the Churches of North Africa and the Ivory Coast”, to whom he assured closeness and prayer, the cardinal urged “Christian communities” to “give a strong sign of hope and solidarity to the populations” of these countries. Cardinal Vingt-Trois then spoke of a French society “infected by a kind of fear” and listed some of the reasons for this: the recent events in Japan, the revolutions in Africa, the phobia induced by a wave of mass migration, the difficulties of accepting foreign cultures or religions, the fear of incurable diseases, the obsession with disabled children, and worries about the future. Nevertheless, he warned, “in a pre-electoral period” this “latent and widespread fear may become a powerful demagogic weapon”. That is why the cardinal urges lucidity and calm. In response to the economic crisis, apart from the measures already taken, “new lifestyles need – he said – to be promoted”, in particular in the light of the nuclear incident of Fukushima, which “transmits a highly symbolic signal” and “heightens our sense of the collective irresponsibility that denies the link between consumption and energy production”. Referring to the bill on bioethics now being examined by the Senate, the President of the French bishops expressed the hope that “senators would not water down the provisions approved by the majority of deputies and not open the door either to State eugenics” or “to the general authorization of the use of the human embryo as research material”, because “succumbing to these temptations would violate the respect due to each and every human being”. “Research – he warned – cannot be justified by the presumed or real generosity of its objectives and intentions. The end never justifies the means”. With regard to the debate on secularity promoted by the UMP party, the Cardinal observed: “Not only does it risk fomenting the antagonism felt about a series of minority Moslem practices, but, paradoxically, it could also reduce the understanding of secularity to its most exclusive conception: that of the rejection of any religious expression in our society”.Poland: a different atmosphere with John Paul IIOn Saturday 2 April at 9.37 pm the bells of churches throughout Poland rang out into the night. “Today is not a day of mourning, but on the contrary a day of rejoicing for the birth of a new saint”, declared Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz during the prayer vigil in Pilsudski Square in Warsaw, commemorating the 6th anniversary of the death of John Paul II. Speaking of the virtues of Karol Wojtyla during the mass for the repose of his soul, the cardinal underlined the importance of prayer in the life of the Polish pope and his prayer for everyone to be always filled with love. At the time of the death of Karol Wojtyla in Krakow, from the very same window from which the Pope spoke to the young, in Franciszkanska Street, Cardinal Dziwisz, together with thousands of faithful who had gathered to commemorate the anniversary of the Pope’s death, recited a prayer invoking the intercession of John Paul II. “Six years ago I was at his side – recalled the Cardinal (former private secretary of the Pope) -, I saw on the monitor the beating of his heart and how it stopped. In spite of the fact we were all expecting the inevitable, when it happened it seemed as if the whole world had stopped”. But whereas everyone was then sad, “today there’s a different atmosphere, because that Pope shall always remain with us and we shall have ever more need for him”. At Wadowice three thousand students from all the schools of the province participated in a prayer vigil on Saturday. Similar vigils were held in many other Polish cities. In Warsaw, a model of the city of Wodowice in the early years of the 20th century was reconstructed in a playground, as part of the initiative called “Bridge” (from Pontifex Maximus and as a bridge between the different generations) aimed at children born in 2005. Children were thus able to get to know better the life of the young Karol Wojtyla. To mark his approaching beatification, over fifty books dedicated to the life and work of the pope have already been published: biographies, studies, albums full of period photos and even tourist guides with indications of the paths once walked by Karol Wojtyla. According to the latest surveys, carried out on 2 April, 82% of Poles think that the teaching and example of John Paul II have influenced their life, while 20% would like the anniversary of the Pope’s death to be raised to the rank of a State celebration.