Italy: a poor “cross-generation care””Today in the most advanced areas of the planet, Europe in particular, there is a want of what scholars describe as cross-generation care”, claimed CEI President Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, according to whom such care has “waned, and risks dying out”. This process – remarked His Eminence in the prolusion to the permanent Bishops’ Council, certainly originates from “a factor in the cultural environment, determined by the relativistic approach that tends to curtail and flatten everything”. In other words, we have no answer to the “fundamental question: what is the object of education?” “And since the fact of having something positive to pass down is not being acknowledged, educational undertaking is unnerved and even freezed”. “It must be understood that claims in favor of distancing oneself from God strip the very foundations on which education reposes”, His Eminence said. Indeed, according to the CEI president, the figure of Paul VI must be given renewed attention, notably, his “idea of education, open to the new” and “rooted in the classical tradition”. Cardinal Bagnasco recalled the figure of Paul VI to priests “in their re-examination of the basic tenets” in the Year of Priesthood called by the Pope. In the prolusion His Eminence addressed various subjects including “environmental disasters” which in Italy have become “a permanent emergency that involves our Country as a whole, caused by violent phenomena that man is not responsible for” but also those caused by “man-made negligence and damage, by the violation of environmental constraints and the underestimating of risk, and by the implementation of irrational and uncontrolled urbanization plans aimed at higher profits to the detriment of security”. “Everyone must have at heart personal security, that of their family and of their community as a whole – said Cardinal Bagnasco – it’s contradictory to act heedlessly and recklessly while protesting the indifference of the public authorities”. As relates to the relationship between Catholics and politics, CEI president said he hopes that this season in time will contribute to “a new generation of Italians and Catholics perceiving the public sphere as important. They can change everyone’s destinies and be prepared to give the best of their thoughts, their projects and their time”, without seeking “the cheapest path of economic personal convenience but the most truthful one, that best presents God’s plan for mankind”. Ireland: preparations for the meeting with the Holy FatherPope Benedict XVI summoned all Irish bishops for a meeting next February 15-16. The news was confirmed by the press office of the Holy See and by a communiqué of the Irish Bishops’ Conference released at the end of the extraordinary meeting of Irish bishops held January 22 at St Patrick’s College of Maynooth (near Dublin). The meeting with the Pope will address the scandal of sexual abuse by the clergy on minors, ensuing the discussion of 9 and 10 December last on the same subject attended by Cardinal Sean Brady, President of Ireland’s Bishops’ Conference and Msgr. Diarmuid Martin, archbishop of Dublin, along with other Curia dycastery dignitaries. The meeting had been called on the aftermath of the release of the “Murphy Report” on the Archdiocese of Dublin. On that occasion Pope Benedict XVI expressed his “outrage and shame”, and announced “initiatives” at the level of governance and a pastoral letter to Irish faithful. In the extraordinary meeting in Maynooth the bishops resumed talks on the Commission of Investigation Report. “Since the publication of the Murphy report, bishops have been listening to the widespread and justifiable anger and frustration from survivors, priests and laity across their dioceses”, is written in the communiqué. Bishops recognize that “in the critical area of safeguarding children, people want accountability and transparency in terms of policy and procedures”. From the start, bishops have asked the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church to explore with statutory authorities, North and South, ways of ensuring that the Church’s policies and practices in relation to the safeguarding of children represent best practice and that all allegations of abuse are being handled properly. These discussions are ongoing”. Diocesan bishops welcomed the invitation from the Holy Father. Pope Benedict’s request was made “in the context of the very serious situation that prevails in the Irish Church”. As previously announced, the Pope will address a Pastoral Letter to the faithful in Ireland.
