Quotes and news

Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, the Vatican’s nuncio to Ireland, has been called back to the Vatican for consultations, in what has been described as “an exceptional move”.

The recall follows the publication of the report about child abuses in the diocese of Cloyne and the strong reactions that followed particularly from the Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny. Fr Ciro Benedettini, vice-director of the Vatican press office, said recalling the nuncio “denotes the seriousness of the situation, the desire of the Holy See to face it with objectivity and determination, as well as a certain note of surprise and disappointment over some excessive reactions”.

The Irish Prime Minister had said in Parliament that the Cloyne report “exposes an attempt by the Holy See to frustrate an inquiry in a sovereign, democratic republic as little as three years ago”.

Call for democracy

The bishops of Southern Africa have called upon King Mswati III to lift the ‘emergency’ decree of 1973 and allow free political activity, to recognise the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to begin preparing a constitution that would ensure democratic government.

Swaziland is a landlocked country in the south of Africa. It has the lowest life expectancy and the world’s highest rates of AIDS. Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban, South Africa, said divine intervention was needed to change the attitudes of the king who is a cruel despot.

L’Osservatore salutes Marshall McLuhan

An article printed in L’Osservatore Romano lauds Marshall Mc­Luhan on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth.

The article describes the expert on media as an “acute analyst who understood the influence of technology on daily life long before the internet”.

The birth anniversary of one of the world’s greatest media gurus is being celebrated by about 250 conferences around the world.

McLuhan was a convert to Catholicism.

His slogans “the global village” and the “medium is the message” gained him and his theories universal popularity.

Corpus Christi procession in Russia

The Russian city of St Petersburg has granted permission for a Corpus Christi procession for the first time since the Russian Revolution in 1918.

Archbishop Paolo Pezzi of Moscow led the Eucharistic procession down the main street of St Petersburg.

Apologies for forced adoptions in Australia

Catholic Health Australia, the Sisters of Mercy and the diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, Australia, apologised “with a deep sense of regret and heartfelt sorrow” over forced adoptions involving 150,000 single mothers occurring in past decades.

The practices involved separating the mothers from their newborn babies immediately after birth and handing them to adoption agencies.

China slams Vatican

The Chinese State Administration for Religious Affairs criticised the Vatican for recently excommunicating two bishops ordained without the Holy See’s permission. The Chinese government said the Vatican’s decision was “extremely unreasonable and rude”. It appealed to the Vatican to revoke the excommunications and “return to the right track of dialogue in a practical manner”.

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)