CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Belgium: the release of Michelle Martin”A human being is still a human being”. This is how mgr. Aloys Jousten, bishops of Liege, explains to the Belgian press why the Poor Clares of the Malonne convent accepted to take in, since last night, Michelle Martin, ex wife and partner in crime of the ‘Monster of Marcinelle’, alias Marc Dutroux. Actually, last night, the Belgian Court of Cassation passed a final verdict which, rejecting the victims’ families’ appeals, granted probation to the woman, who was let out of prison and moved to the convent. In Malonne, which is in southern Belgium, 75 km from Brussels, tension is palpable. Right now, the Belgian bishops have not officially responded to such release yet. However, father Tommy Scholtes s.j., in charge of press and communication for the Belgian Bishops Conference, said, in a statement on catho.be, that: “The bishops understand the victims’ and the victims’ families’ pain for the decision taken by justice. They have been made aware of the ruling of the Court of Cassation and respect such decision”. Catho.be also mentions that the victims’ families will bring the file about the Michelle Martin case to the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg.France: the bishops’ solidarity to RimshaThe French bishops too have taken position in support of Rimsha Masih, the 13-14 year old Pakistani Christian girl who has been in prison since 16th August, because she was accused by a neighbour of having burnt some pages from the Koran. The girl, who suffers from Down syndrome, is currently in a maximum security prison, and, for her blasphemy charges, she risks anything from life sentence to death sentence. “Rimsha – mgr. Bernard Podvin, spokesman of the French Bishops, writes in a notice – is just 14 years old”. “She cannot read or write. She suffers from trisomy. Can you sentence an innocent to death? Can you sanction life? And in the name of what?”. In the notice, the spokesman recalls that even Pakistani Muslim leaders have taken position in support of the girl and have asked for “an unbiased investigation and for the people who unfairly accused Rimsha to be punished”. Card. Tauran too is moved to tears, in the name of the Catholic Church. “Let’s do something for Rimsha”, asks mgr. Podvin. “Let’s not identify with religious attitudes that do not honour the smallest of men. And let’s dedicate the start of the school year to all the Rimshas in the world”.Ireland: welcoming 12 new seminariansThe Catholic Church of Ireland is pleased that 12 new seminarians were welcomed to St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, Ireland’s national seminary, for the commencement of their studies for the priesthood. The President of the College Mgr. Hugh Connolly welcomed the new candidates for the priesthood, their families and their friends to Maynooth saying: “At the beginning of your formation, I wish you all the best during this privileged time for discernment, for learning, for vocation, for praying and for listening. You were chosen to be particularly close to the Lord in the word of Sacred Scripture, in the faith of the Church, in participation in liturgy and in serving others”. The presence of 12 new seminarians at Saint Patrick’s College is a sign of the vitality of the Catholic Church in Ireland, which, after being badly affected by the child abuse scandal in the past few years, hosted the 50th International Eucharistic Congress in June this year. “This – Mgr. Hugh Connolly recalled – has been a memorable year for the Church in Ireland”. In the past five years, the number of new seminarians who began their studies in Maynooth was: 13 in 2011; 10 in 2010; 24 in 2009; 14 in 2008; and 18 in 2007.England: Card. Murphy-O’Connor turns 80 “Shakespeare said: old men forget. But it’s not completely true. If I look behind, to my long life, I remember many things, good and bad, joys and pains, success and failures. I served as a bishop and priest for 55 years and I am grateful to God for all the blessings he bestowed upon me during my lifetime”. Cardinal Murphy O’Connor turned 80 on August 24. A thanksgiving Mass will be celebrated to mark the occasion on Friday September 21. His Excellency has served, inter alia, as vice-president of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences from 2001 to 2006. In 2009 he left the diocese of Westminster to serve the Bishops’ Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. He said in a BBC broadcast: “God has guided me during these past 80 years. He is the God of love and compassion. I have faith in Him”.
