Quotes and news

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales are trying to reach out to lapsed Catholics and have inaugurated a campaign called ‘Crossing the threshold’, Bishop Kieran Conry of Arundel and Brighton said.

“Some congregations can be entirely white, middle-class and wealthy, and if you don’t fit in, you might not feel comfortable,” he added.

“I don’t think clergy are always friendly and sometimes Catholics appear quite cold. We had a tradition of not speaking out of respect: you said your prayers and minded your business. We have to be careful about that.”

Benedictines give up control of its school

The famous Ealing Abbey monas­tery is surrendering control of the prestigious St Benedict’s School in London. The decision was taken after an independent investigation found that the monastery had failed to protect students who were victims of sex abuse.

The school will now be part of the responsibility of a new educational trust.

The investigation concluded that “the form of governance of St Benedict’s School is wholly outdated and demonstrably unacceptable”. Twen­ty-one cases over the past 40 years were investigated.

The Vatican will also be holding its own investigation.

‘The family is not a private entity’ – Pope

In a recent message to the Ecuadorian Episcopal Conference, Pope Benedict wrote: “The family born of a covenant of love and of complete and sincere commitment between a man and woman in marriage, is not a private entity enclosed in itself.

“By its vocation it makes a wonderful and decisive contribution to the common good of society and the mission of the Church.

“Society is not a mere aggregation of individuals, but the outcome of relationships between people – husband and wife, parents and children, siblings – the foundation of which is to be found in family life and in the bonds of affection deriving therefrom.

“Each family, through its children, gives society its own experience of human richness. We can well say that the health and value of relationships within a society depend upon the health and value of relationships within families.”

Schönborn believes in dialogue

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna said the bishops of Austria hope to resolve differences with various dissident Catholic groups. “We are in talks and will remain in talks,” he said, “because I and the bishops are still convinced that a lot can and must be cleared up by dialogue.”

Among other things the Catholic groups proposed is holding Mass without priests. Mgr Schönborn said this is “an open break with a central truth of our Catholic faith”.

Pope to light Xmas tree using iPad2

Pope Benedict will light the world’s largest electronic Christmas tree in the Italian town of Gubbio without leaving the Vatican City. Instead, he will just gently tap an iPad2. The tree-lighting ceremony takes place on December 7, the eve of the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

The Pope will also send a video message to the residents of Gubbio.

The electronic tree extends over 609m on the face of Mount Igino near Gubbio, and uses more than 7,620m of electrical cable. The tree will stay lit until the Epiphany.

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)