Germany: stepping up communicationF. Hans Langendörfer, Secretary of the German Bishops Conference (DBK) asked the German Church to adopt comprehensible language. During the inauguration ceremony for the opening of the year of the Catholic Formation Office in Bonn, Langendörfer declared, “there are political and ecclesial languages, and none of the two are always easy to understand”. The Dbk Secretary called for a language “that doesn’t wear off but remains grounded to life and close to individuals”. “Only through sincere communication and by speaking in a comprehensible manner will the Church reach out to distant persons and to the youth” Langendörfer declared, and announced “a drastic improvement” of Church activities on the Web in Germany at diocesan and inter-diocesan level”. Instead of activating their own digital TV network – as previously proposed – the bishops have decided to “increase audio-visuals and interactive initiatives” offer on the Web. Indeed, “the DBK aims at furthering the partnership experience with national television”, he said. Finally, Langendörfer voiced his hope “that additional digital TV programs will grant further opportunities for presenting Church activity; whereas the relationship “with private TV networks, which barely address topics related to faith and to the Church, is more difficult” he concluded. Scotland: no to the use of embryos The Catholic Church Scotland voiced its opposition to the use of stem cells from human embryos after a number of scientists from Glasgow’s “Southern General Hospital” were granted permission to carry out experiments with the cells of an aborted newborn. Experiments are aimed at regenerating the tissue of twelve infarcted patients; researches hope the patients’ mental and physical capabilities will be recovered. “We oppose the use of stem cells from destroyed embryos since it is our belief that the human embryo ought to be granted the dignity of a human being from the moment of conception, before it is implanted in the uterus, until its natural termination”, declared the archbishop of Glasgow Mario Conti to British Catholic press. “Creating an embryo with the purpose of destroying it is incompatible with this dignity and entails the sacrifice of a human life”, Conti affirmed. “Some people justified this action by claiming that it benefits another human being. However the end doesn’t justify the means, while the benefits of this technique are still obscure”. “ReNeuron”, the stem cell research company which obtained authorization from the “UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Agency”, had filed a request for a patent in November 2006 to the “US Food and Drug administration”, which turned it down.England: discriminating “Act of Settlement” In the next few days the British parliament will decide whether to change the “Act of Settlement” of 1701, which rules that monarchs cannot be Catholic or marry Catholics. The Act is viewed as discriminating although the United Kingdom establishment fears that its removal would split the Church of England from the State thus affecting the Country’s constitutional structure. A few days ago, during the debate regarding a new bill, Liberal-democrat MP Evan Harris proposed that king and queens be enabled to marry Catholic spouses and that women with younger brothers be also granted the possibility of enthronement. Harris’ draft bill doesn’t modify the Act of Settlement nor does it interfere with the provision barring non-Protestants from ascending the British throne. Harris told the Catholic Weekly “Tablet” that he opposes all forms of discrimination and that “Catholics’ exclusion is blatantly wrong”. Last year, Peter Phillips, nephew of Queen Elizabeth, married Catholic Autumn Kelly who had to renounce her faith to enable her husband to preserve his throne succession lineage. On the contrary, Prince Michael of Kent renounced the possibility of becoming king after marrying Catholic Austrian baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz in 1978. Gordon Brown promised the “Act of settlement” will be abolished if the Labour party gains a fourth mandate to the parliament.
