Quotes and news

During the 64th plenary assembly of Italian bishops, Pope Benedict described Europe as “wounded” by a flight from faith, and said “a rich soil risks becoming an inhospitable desert”. He remarked that “many of the baptised have lost their identity and affiliation, and “they do not know the essential content of faith, or they think they can nourish it independently of the Church”.

The Pope lamented that for many people, God has simply become the great Unknown and Jesus is just an important historical figure. He explained that within this context the first essential need of new evangelisation is a strong life of prayer, and that “the first condition to speak about God is to speak with God, becoming more and more men of God, nourished by an intense life of prayer and shaped by his Grace.”

Clerical abuse: a thing of the past?

New statistics released by the Archdiocese of Dublin show that while 34 per cent of all complaints of abuse refer to the 1980s only one per cent of claims relate to the decade between 2000 and 2010. The two other decades of shame were the 1960s, with 23 per cent of allegations and the 1970s, with 27 per cent.

The financial cost of this abuse currently stands at $19 million (€15m), $13m (€10.5m) of which is compensation, and the remainder legal costs paid for both sides.

Christians air concern

With Egypt set to go to the polls again on June 16 and 17 for the run-off election for the country’s president, the Coptic Catholic bishop of Giza has expressed concern about the possibility of a victory for the Muslim Brotherhood candidate.

Bishop Antonios Aziz Mina of Guizeh (Giza) accused the Brotherhood of not keeping their promises: “Whoever will guarantee liberty and democracy and a good constitution for Egypt will have our vote,” he said. “He needs to guarantee the minimum of liberties we seek.”

Although there are no official polls indicating the way Egyptian Christians voted, most observers say many of Egypt’s Christians support candidates who served under ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

3,000 pilgrims in China

The shrine of Our Lady of Sheshan, China, was visited by more than 3,000 pilgrims on May 24.

This happened in spite of the Chinese government’s efforts to dissuade people from doing so.

The pilgrimage was more significant as it happened on the day dedicated by Pope Benedict XVI for prayer for the Church in China.

In an attempt to intimidate pilgrims the Chinese government said there were “security” risks, and had also prevented Catholics from other dioceses from attending.

But Fr Thaddeus Ma Dagin, the vicar general of the Shanghai diocese, led a procession and concelebrated Mass with 40 other priests.

Catholic-Orthodox spat in Greece

Relations between the Catholic and Orthodox Church in Greece have taken a turn to the worse .

Last month the Orthodox Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus instituted legal proceedings against the Archbishop of Athens Nikolaos Foskolos. The Orthodox leader is accusing the Archbishop of breaking the Greek constitution by running a Catholic school in Piraeus. Article 13 of the constitution prohibits proselytism.

On its part the Catholic Church accused the leader of the Orthodox Church of intolerance and fanaticism.

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)