Ireland: Cardinal Brady, no added tax burden on the poorestDuring a celebration in Sligo cathedral on 31 March, Cardinal Sean Brady, Primate of All Ireland, urged the government not to punish the poorest by raising indirect taxes on essential goods and services. “It seems to me that the will of the country is to place solidarity and fairness at the top of the agenda in preparing the budget”, said the cardinal. “It is accepted that there will be tax increases. The question is: will they be direct or indirect? Indirect taxes sometimes fall most heavily on those with low incomes. So if more indirect taxes are to be introduced they should be put on non-essential goods and services”. “People survived recessions best in the past when their neighbours rallied round and shared what they had”, said Brady, according to whom “the sufferings and challenges that await us, whether in our personal life or in the major events of world history, are opportunities for transformation, to enable the Grace of God to build in us and through us something better and new. God’s plans are for our well-being. As St. Paul reminds us, in all things God works for our good”. “Now is the time for social solidarity, fairness and compassion”, added the cardinal. “It would give immense hope to everybody if those who are better off showed they are aware that there are others who have a greater moral claim to be insulated from the impact of the recession”. Brady also repeated his conviction, already expressed in the past, that “Europe seems to be losing its memory and its Christian heritage”.England: Catholic schools, service to the countryIn an address on 1 April, government secretary of state for education Jim Knight paid tribute to the experience and skills of the headmasters, directors and teachers of Catholic schools, a large representation of whom participated in a conference organized by the Catholic Education Service for England and Wales, the agency of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales that deals with the schools sector, and by the Heythrop Institute of Religion, Ethics and Public Life. The conference, with the title “Visions for Leadership”, was dedicated to the theme of leadership and how new leadership figures can be drawn to and formed in Catholic schools. Knight pointed out that these leadership figures are an important resource for the whole community. Explaining to the over hundred headmasters, members of the management committees of Catholic schools and other delegates that “inspired leaders give life to a school that lies at the very heart of the community”, Knight echoed the words of the President of the Catholic Education Service, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, who asked school leaders to “promote an ecology of human growth” in tune with the unique mission of Catholic education. Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, Catholic Primate of England and Wales, thanked the delegates for their “hard work” and congratulated them “for the very important service they render to the Church and to society”. Portugal: WYD in the Algarve and in the AzoresThis year, the Diocesan Youth Days (JDJ), promoted by the Youth Pastoral Service of the diocese of the Algarve, will be held in the city of Lagos. The ceremonies will begin on the evening of 3 April. The programme of this year’s event is entitled: “From Damascus to Hope” and will have its culminating moments during the night, in the eucharistic adoration and in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The following day, Saturday 4 April, will begin with a eucharistic celebration in the church of São Sebastião, followed by other religious events and festivities in the streets of the town. The day’s events will end with a prayer service sung by the group Laudate and the handing over of the JDJ cross to the parish destined to host the event next year. The youth and university apostolate of the diocese of Angra do Heroísmo, in the island of Terceira (Azores), will celebrate World Youth Day, in turn, on Sunday 5 April, dedicated to the theme: “Like Paul: for me living is Christ”. Apart from the usual Palm Sunday procession, each of the parishes on the island will be called to represent and reflect on one of the Letters addressed by St. Paul to the various Christian communities. At lunchtime there will be concerts, animations and the holding of traditional games in the streets, while the celebrations will end with a Festival of Christian Songs, during which the messages sent in by all the other islands of the archipelago will be shown on video, so that, by means of the young, the Church may transmit and share the unity and pulsing life of a deep and genuine faith.
