The theme for this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is: ‘We will all be changed by the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ’.

Pope Benedict XVI urged Catholics, “as individuals and in communities, to participate spiritually, and where possible practically in the Week of Prayer, to ask God for the gift of full unity among the disciples of Christ”.

The organisation of this ‘week’ is an initiative of the World Council of Churches, which has all the support of the Catholic Church. It will end next Wednesday.

Vatican unveils plans for the Year of Faith

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said the Year of Faith that will start on October 11, 2012, “is intended to contribute to a renewed conversion to the Lord Jesus and to the rediscovery of faith, so that the members of the Church will be credible and joy-filled witnesses to the Risen Lord, capable of leading those many people who are seeking it to the door of faith”.

The year should be “a propitious occasion to make Vatican Council II and the catechism of the Catholic Church more widely and deeply known”.

Pope Benedict will preside the opening celebration for the Year of Faith.

At the national level, episcopal conferences will be encourage to focus on “the quality of catechesis”, and to ensure that the teaching of the faith is in “complete conformity with the catechism of the Catholic Church.

The bishops’ conferences will be strongly encouraged to use all available media outlets to promote that goal.

Same-sex marriage ‘not in public interest’

The Catholic bishops of the three dioceses in Washington State described allowing same-sex marriage as “not in the public interest”.

“Marriage in faith and societal traditions is acknowledged as the foundation of civilisation.

It has long been recognised that the stability of society depends on the stability of family life in which a man and a woman conceive and nurture new life,” the bishops said.

The bishops appealed for support to the current legal definition of marriage and asked people to contact their elected representatives to urge them to “defend the current legal definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman”.

‘Culture of vigilance’ against future abuse

A “culture of vigilance” against future cases of sex abuse by priests on minors has been promised by the bishops of Belgium during a press conference. The bishops also said that guilty clergy must compensate their victims even if their crimes are no longer punishable by law.

“We cannot repair the past, but we can take moral responsibility by recognising sufferings and helping victims recover,” Bishops Guy Harpigny of Torunai and Johan Bonny of Antwerp, the Church’s delegates for abuse, said during the press conference.

They asked for “forgiveness for the suffering we weren’t able to prevent, and we commit to treat this problem differently in future”.

The bishops also published a 52-page booklet, A Hidden Suffering, outlining a holistic plan against abuse.

Bishops urge national reconciliation

The bishops of Venezuela have published a collective pastoral letter in preparation for the presidential election that is expected to be held in a year’s time.

The bishops urged people to come together for the common good, “based on mutual respect and appreciation”, to close the country’s political and social divides.

The bishops acknowledged that “building unity among Venezuelans is not an easy task”, but said, “the progress and welfare of this country can only be achieved with the participation of all citizens”.

In the pastoral letter, Catholics were urged to pray for and promote the common good and view the election “from the human and Christian standpoint of national reconciliation”.

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)

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