The new Archbishop of Warsaw Kazimierz Nycz , in an interview published in January by the weekly GOSC NIEDZIELNY (02/2007), said that in Poland “the Church is seen in an idealistic way, thank God. But just for this reason some things are difficult to understand. There is a need for a purification of memory. In our difficult history there have been inspiring moments, full of generosity and glory – and we need to speak of them. But we cannot remain silent, either, about certain weaknesses and sins. We must honestly acknowledge that the Polish Church has tackled the problem of coming to terms with the past with too great a reticence and in too defensive a way. The questions have been deferred in the hope that everything would be resolved and clarified by itself. There is no doubt that the Church hierarchy has sinned in negligence. I think that what has happened (i.e. to Msgr. Stanislaw Wielgus, accused of collusion with the Communist security services, and forced to resign as archbishop of Warsaw) will permit us more serenely, but also more rapidly, to tackle this problem once and for all. We must not be afraid, because in the history of the Church in the time of the Communist regime the good far outweighed the evil. The cases of martyrdom are far more frequent that those of betrayal or infidelity. We need to allow the truth to purify us”. “ Horrifying“: that’s how Michael Burleigh , the most important historian of the Third Reich, has called the Labour government’s social policy in an interview in the English Catholic weekly CATHOLIC HERALD (02/03). Recalling the “human engineering” of Hitler’s regime, Burleigh finds an echo of this practice “on the current scene and in the policies of New Labour”. “I judge the attempts to modify the behaviour of children at a very tender age profoundly sinister – he observes – . What will happen next? Anti-social babies? In particular when this is accompanied by a whole political culture largely designed to obscure the truth: people are being constantly bombarded by words, slogans and lies. On the one hand, they try to impose morality on the weaker classes. On the other, they have caused the degeneration of the political system”. The British daily THE GUARDIAN (06/03) devotes a comment to climate change. Recalling the recent “Stern Report” on the consequence of greenhouse gases on the world economy, the author of the piece says that “by the end of 2007 we will understand whether world leaders are serious. The EU proof is awaited in the days ahead at the European Council that ought to see its 27 members reach a deal on reducing carbon emissions by 20%” before “reaching a 30% reduction by 2020 if the other States, such as the USA, agree”. Remarking on the important role of China and Australia in the question, the British daily concludes: “Dreaming of a future beyond the age of petrol is easy. Getting there will be painful”. The debate on the end of life and the right to die has entered the French presidential campaign. But “are we perhaps guilty of amnesia?” asks Dominique Quinio in an editorial in the French Catholic daily LA CROIX (07/03), recalling that “in April 2005 the Parliament adopted a bill on the rights of the terminally ill and the end of life, the so-called Leonetti law”. The provision “certainly does not accede to those who demand the right for active assistance in dying, but it does respond to the anguish of those French people who express their wish to be able to die without suffering”. “People persist in behaving as if this reflection had never been made – continues Quini o – or as if a shared text had not been produced”. “When the supporters of euthanasia resume their assault on the candidates, they need clearly to spell out their intentions. What do they want? They aren’t the only experts on the matter – concludes the editorialist – . Patients, families, medical personnel are grappling with the same questions” but perhaps “come to other conclusions. Let’s listen to them”. “2007 is the European Year of Equal Opportunities for everyone” writes Anna Maria Mauro Pastorino in an editorial in the Italian Catholic daily AVVENIRE (08/03), marking International Women’s Day. She points out that “ equality is a right constitutionally recognized by the European Union as part of the values rooted in our Christian culture”. “Equal opportunities – continues the President of the Italian Women’s Centre – are realised starting out from the family, for it is there we are educated in the exercise of reciprocity and selfless service to others. So equal opportunities should be understood as a means of civil participation”. The fact is, however, that today “ Western societies are being deconstructed: the meaning of the family founded on selfless relations is being lost and the waste is great”. This is a field in which “women, thanks to their specific ability to listen to others”, can “ re-invent social subsidiarity and project new organizational models” on which to base “the new social order”.
