Speaking to judges and other officials of the Roman Rota, which is the highest court of appeal of the Vatican, Pope Francis urged them: “Do not forget that you are pastors.”

Describing the judges’ work as “a service peculiar to the God of Love”, the Pope said the canonical judgment of the court should be accompanied by pastoral wisdom. There should not be any opposition bet­ween the legal and pastoral dimensions of the tribunal’s work, he said.

India’s 4,000 cases of anti-Christian violence

According to a report in the Catholic news agency, Fides, over 4,000 cases of anti-Christian violence occurred in India during 2013. Most of these cases of violence were committed in Indian states where Hindu fanaticism is strong.

The state with the worst record of violence is Karnataka.

According to the report, these incidents of violence resulted in seven murders as well as hundreds of beatings, attacks on churches, and other forms of abuse.

Over 200 cases were considered to be grave forms of persecution.

British Catholics tend to vote for Labour

According to a report published by Theos, a British think tank on religion and politics, British Catholics are more likely to vote for the Labour Party than members of the Church of England. The latter generally support the Conservative Party.

The in-depth study, entitled ‘Voting and Values in Britain: Does Religion Count?’ was based on data from the latest 2010 census.

Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs are of a similar political bend to Catholics. On the other hand, Jews vote for the Conservatives.

The Liberal Democrats are the preferred choice of Buddhists.

The study also found that non-religious people are most consistently libertarian, take a strong line against censorship and are sceptical about management and the fair distribution of wealth.

Bishops in US call for minimum wage to rise

In an appeal for an increase of the minimum wage, the Bishops of Maryland, USA, said: “As early as the late 19th century, Pope Leo XIII recognised the principle that workers should be paid a wage sufficient to support a family as ‘a dictate of natural justice more imperious and ancient than any bargain between man and man’.

“A full-time worker earning the state’s current minimum wage of $7.25 (€5.30) earns little more than $15,000 (€10,978) annually, hardly enough to pay for food and rent, let alone support a family.

“More than 80 per cent of the state’s low-wage earners are adults, and many are parents trying to provide the necessities of life for their children.

“They deserve the comfort of knowing that their hard work can provide the means they need to achieve economic stability for themselves and their families.”

Pope JPII’s private notes to be published

Although Blessed Pope John Paul II had instructed his personal secretary, the now Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwsz, to burn his private notebooks, the latter has decided to publish them. In his will, the late Pope said he counted on his secretary to ensure his wishes were observed after his “years of cooperation and help, full of understanding”.

But Cardinal Dziwsz, who was the Pope’s secretary for almost 27 years, approved of their publication. “I had no doubt these were such important items that it would be a crime to destroy them,” he said.

Many have criticised the planned publication, describing it as an act of disloyalty toward the late Pope.

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)

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