Poland: bishops against abortion The permanent Council of the Polish Bishops Conference expressed its “firm condemnation” of the Euro-Parliamentary Resolution (N° 1607 of past April 16) promoting the decriminalization of voluntary pregnancy interruption along with free access to the so-called “safe abortion”. “The Resolution of the European Parliament is detrimental to innocent children, to their mothers and to society as a whole”, the bishops remarked. “Abortion remains the murder of the defenseless child, since – from the moment of conception – he has a right to live, while the mother who is going through a difficult moment has the right to receive adequate social support”, the bishops wrote, adding their “categorical” “opposition to all attempts at imposing principles conflicting with the fundamental sensitivity of moral conscience by employing administrative tools”. His Eminence Cardinal Jozef Glemp who participated in the Council’s reunion and in the celebrations for Our Lady Queen of Poland, officiated a solemn liturgy in the sanctuary of Jasna Gora where he expressed his firm stand against artificial insemination: “Today Poland is threatened by a new ideology aiming mainly at individual development to the detriment of moral principles. During Nazism, the human race was the main ideology. Later in time, under Communist rule, working class ideology prevailed. Today the focus in on the individual. To him, society is just an object to be employed according to one’s needs and pleasures”. The Primate of Poland pointed out that as relates to artificial insemination, the Church, whose major task consists in spreading faith, “must be the upholder of reason and rationality”. England: adoption agencies shut down A third Catholic adoption agency will be losing its identity due to recent legislation compelling such institutions to allow foster-parenthood to homosexual couples. After the closure of “Catholic Care” in the diocese of Leeds and the relinquishment of the Catholic identity of a similar agency in the diocese of Northampton, also the adoption agency “Catholic Children’s Society” in Nottingham will be interrupting relations with the diocese. It will be transformed into a secular institution with a generalized Christian trait whereby also gay couples will be viewed as suitable candidates for adoption. “We have been forced into accepting this and I’m not at all happy about it”, declared the Bishop of Nottingham’s diocese Malcolm McMahon to the Catholic weekly “The Universe”. Bishop McMahon wrote to all the priests in the diocese explaining that the Catholic Primate of England and Wales Cormac Murphy-O’Connor tried to find a legal solution enabling Catholic adoption agencies to avoid the consequences of the new legislation. “It became clear”, the bishop affirmed in the letter, “that Catholic teaching cannot be followed without infringing this regulation. The decision to interrupt relations was taken with much sorrow”. Germany: Labor Day in Hamburg The concurrence of May 1st Labor Day with the Christian Ascension solemnity gave rise to an unexpected mix in Hamburg. May 1st traditional happenings in the Spielbudenplatz were attended also by the Protestant and the Catholic Churches. The joint celebration wasn’t only dictated by the calendar (which is rare, the last time was in 1913), it also was the result of the mounting vicinity of the Church and the workers, especially considering issues pertaining to globalization and the new social challenges which ensue from it. “I was surprised by the fact that in days preceding the event there was much talk of the supposed difficult relations between the Churches and the trade unions, while both are engaged in working to the benefit of the people”, declared the most reverend Werner Thissen, archbishop of Hamburg. The common stands of Churches and unions were expressed in the requests regarding social issues. In fact, all demand greater social equality. “Money and assets should never come first. Priority must be given to the individual”, declared evangelical bishop Maria Jepsen. On his part, Msgr. Thissen claimed that “the fact that in the archdiocese of Hamburg only, 80.000 workers need state support in addition to their salaries”, is “unacceptable”. “Minimum wages, adequate housing facilities, free Sundays and education cannot be viewed as charity but as a commandment of justice” said bishop Jepsen who also underlined: “we have the task to demand and expect that this is given to us”. The Church and union co-participation for May1st celebrations was motivated also by the need to jointly protest against the march held simultaneously by NPD extreme right-wing party in another part of town. An ecumenical celebration officiated by archbishop Thissen and bishop Jepsen closed the event.
