L’Osservatore Romano agreed that the birth of the seven billionth baby brings a new challenge to the world but disagrees with others about the nature of this challenge. The Vatican newspaper said the challenge is not to stop population growth, but to find ways to ensure the continued growth can benefit all humanity.
Cristian Martini Grimaldi wrote that people talk as if population growth in some countries is so exaggerated that it is like an “abnormal growth” on part of a diseased body. “Perhaps the point isn’t to stop growth, but how to continue to grow,” specifically by “emphasising development that does not privilege only a few, but all,” he said.
Grimaldi said that in discussions about excessive population growth, “the experts always and only indicate two places: sub-Saharan Africa and Asia,” particularly China and India.
Needed: a healthy secularism – Pope
Speaking during the welcoming ceremony of Almir Franco de Sá Barbuda as the new Brazilian ambassador to the Vatican, Pope Benedict said a healthy secularism “must not consider religion as a mere individual sentiment, relegated to the private sphere, but as a reality which, being organised into visible structures, requires public recognition of its presence”. The Pope said religious groups should have the right not only to worship freely, but also to “practise their cultural, educational and charitable activities, when these do not contrast with morality or public order”. By way of example the Pope said that religious education in public schools is not a sign of state support for particular beliefs, but rather a recognition of parents’ rights to educate their children.
Abuse scandals darken Irish views on Church
Almost half of Irish people who took part in a poll conducted by Irish religious thinktank, the Iona Institute, say they view the Catholic Church unfavourably. Of those with a negative view, three-quarters refer to the abuse scandals or the attempt to hide abuses. But 23 per cent say their negative view is due to the Church’s history and structures.
Twenty-eight per cent of those polled said they had a “very unfavourable” view of the Church, while 19 per cent said their view was “mostly unfavourable”.
Just eight per cent said their view of Catholicism was “very favourable”, with 16 per cent saying that had a “mostly favourable” view.
The same poll found that 70 per cent of the Irish public overestimate the number of priests accused of abuse. The actual figure is four per cent, but more than two-fifths of the respondents guessed it was over 20 per cent, and more than one-quarter said it was above 40 per cent.
Pope’s November prayer intentions
The Vatican has announced that Pope Benedict’s general prayer intention for November is “that the terminally ill may be supported by their faith in God and the love of their brothers and sisters”.
His missionary intention is: “That the celebration of World Mission Day may foster in the People of God a passion for evangelisation with the willingness to support the missions with prayer and economic aid for the poorest churches.”
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)