Romania, France, England

Romania: specifications on the use of iPhone”The Catholic Church doesn’t approve iPhone confession”. The claim was reaffirmed by the archdiocese of Bucharest in a press release on February 14, in response to non-truthful news on to the application launched by Little iApps, presented a few days ago by the Romanian press. The director of the Vatican press office father Federico Lombardi made the same clarification a few days ago. At a time when modern communication media are ever more widespread – writes the spokesman of the Romanian archdiocese father Ieronim Iacob in the statement – “We should not be surprised that prayers or conscience examination questionnaires are being uploaded as part of an iPhone application”. The Catholic Church “does not reject, in fact she encourages applications of this kind that serve as digital support for prayers or spiritual reflection”, provided “they are used as auxiliary tools, knowing that they cannot replace worshippers’ personal relationship with God and the Church”. “No iPhone application can replace confession or confer remittance of sins”, concludes the statement whilst inviting the media involved in the dissemination of false news reports to disclaim their news reports “by publishing the official release by the Catholic Church”.France: the bishops attend interreligious dialogue classes50 French bishops will be attending interreligious dialogue classes. The autumn formation session titled “Christian faith in God and Interreligious Dialogue: which theology of dialogue” opened in Lyon (ongoing until February 16). It will be attended by over half of the French episcopate. The meeting, promoted by the Doctrine Commission of the French Bishops’ Conference, will host panel lectures by theologians and experts in the dialogue process, along with Msgr. Michel Santier, bishop of Créteil and president of the Council for Interreligious Relations, who will brief the bishops on the state of the dialogue and of interreligious relations promoted by the Catholic Church in France. The program includes a panel debate between cardinal Philippe Barbarin, archbishop of Lyon, and Azzedine Gaci, president of the regional Council (Rhône/Alpes) of Muslim faith. “If there are delicate issues – states the presentation of the formation course – the questions raised must not prevent the dialogue, rather these ought to promote renewed thrust for its development”.England: day of prayer for the PopeIn a document for the feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, Apostle, (February 22), bishop Kieran Conry, president of the Department for Evangelization and Catechesis, invited the English Catholic community to pray in a special way for the Pope and for all bishops. “This feast celebrates how the See of St Peter is a symbol of the unity of the Church founded on the Apostle Saint Peter” whose mission as teacher and pastor “is continued in an unbroken line to the present Pope”, bishop Conry writes in the release. However, “it does not mean that we are being invited to celebrate and encourage a blind and unquestioning following of teaching imposed by others: This is a misunderstanding of the role of the Pope and Bishops. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that: ‘Man has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral decisions. He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters”. But we also have a duty “to develop a well-informed conscience” and “enlightened moral judgement”, he writes. The Magisterium is thus “a gift to each one of us as instituted by Jesus Christ. He conferred on St Peter and the other Apostles the authority to teach and interpret the truth of Faith. So too do his successors, the Popes and Bishops. They judge authoritatively what is in accord with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and what is not”.