Spain: Cardinal Varela, “the economic crisis persists”In Spain, “the economic crisis persists and unemployment will not slow down, it is actually speeding up. Many companies, especially small- and medium-size concerns, cannot cope. These cold statistic figures must not hide that figures stand for people: families who have trouble coping with primary needs, such as food, housing and education”. This is the situation that was denounced on November 23rd by card. Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, at the opening of the Plenary Assembly of the Spanish Bishops Conference. “In many dioceses – the cardinal recalled -, special prayers have been added to the liturgical celebrations to ask for a quick end to the crisis, and we hope our demands will be listened to”. As the Pope says in his encyclical “Caritas in Veritate”, the current crisis should become “an opportunity to deeply face the situation of the whole human family. The stronger economies and those that have more human and financial resources seem to be seeing the end of the crisis now. But the heart-rending problem of hunger for millions of children persists and threatens to rise”. According to the cardinal, “we must keep in mind that the charitable way to the development of the poor countries may be a plan for solving the world global crisis”. Card. Antonio Maria Rouco Varela did not hide his concern “for the serious problems that affect our educational system”. In particular, the cardinal mentioned the “poor legal regulation of the teaching of Catholic religion and morality at school”, which does not comply with the requirements set out by the Agreement on Education and Cultural Subjects between the Holy See and Spain. The cardinal spoke of the different problems of the educational system that came to the fore over the last few months, such as high rates of dropouts, increasing violence in classrooms, a sexual education provided without any moral criteria, and of the Year for Priests which, as well as being “a timely opportunity for Spanish bishops joining forces in the search of the greatest good of their congregation, provides the Spanish prelates with a chance to deal with the current situation of Spanish priests”. There are, in this respect, “quite a few phenomena that make us hope”, such as young people and families “living as communities of faith and love”.England: bishops’ assembly, “no” to assisted suicideA response to the guidelines on assisted suicide laid down by the Director of Public Prosecutions in the UK Keir Starmer, a summing up of the pilgrimage of the relics of St. Theresa of Lisieux, the Apostolic Constitution “Anglicanorum coetibus”, the birth of the charity “Friends of the Holy Land” and the Catholic Youth Ministry Federation (CYMF), which brings together the authorities of diocesan youth ministry and the movements: these are some of the points on the order of the day of the plenary assembly of English bishops which ended in Leeds last week. The bishops’ response to the process of consultation called by the government on the new guidelines on assisted suicide was set out by David Jones, director of the centre for bioethics and emerging technologies at St. Mary’s University at Twickenham. According to the guidelines of the Crown Prosecution Service, relatives who help a terminally ill patient to die will not be charged with a criminal offence so long as the patient in question has clearly stated his/her wish to die and has asked to be helped to do so. Jones explained that there are aspects of these guidelines that could weaken the protection that the law now guarantees to disabled persons and persons who attempt suicide and that, if the new law were to be introduced, could lead to the legalization of euthanasia, as in Holland. “That’s why it’s important – said the expert – that the cases in which relatives would not be charged be clarified and that categories at risk such as the handicapped be protected”. It’s also important, he added, that “it is not a foregone conclusion that husbands and wives or persons who care for a terminally ill patient be not automatically considered ‘non chargeable’ because this would place the terminally ill in a position of great vulnerability”. Switzerland: University Sunday 2009The traditional fund-raising for the University of Freiburg, a historic cultural institution founded 120 years ago, is to be held on the first Sunday of Advent, that is, on 29 November. For 60 years, the Swiss Bishops’ Conference (CES) has been committed to supporting it through a fund-raising aimed at financing the sectors of social justice and ethical responsibility in particular. “The economic crisis with its repercussions, namely unemployment and the impoverishment of many people, shows that an accurate education on the ethical responsibility in the realm of economy is to be considered a priority”, wrote the bishops of the CES in a statement released in the run-up to the 29 November. “It is necessary to hold discussions about active euthanasia and embryo stem cell research and set clear principles of ethical responsibilities in all these fields. In all its departments, the University of Freiburg holds classes and workshops on the ethical behaviour of those who will be decision-makers in the future”. The fund-raising will be held in all of Switzerland’s parishes, churches and chaplaincies.
