In an interview with ETWN, Cardinal Walter Kasper said Pope Francis did not approve his proposal to enable divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion in certain circumstances.

At the Pope’s invitation, Kasper had explained his proposal at a meeting of the College of Cardinals in February 2014. But this was not tantamount to approval , Kasper said . When the interviewer quoted Kasper implying papal approval , the cardinal answered: “No… he did not approve my proposal.”

Kasper said Pope Francis wanted the question raised, and wanted discussion of the idea, but “I wouldn’t say he approved the proposal; no, no, no.”

Intercultural dialogue’s religious dimension

At a seminar held by the Council of Europe, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for Relations with States, said: “Open and respectful encounters between religious traditions and between these and the social and political world are fundamental for social cohesion.

“The religious dimension continues to be a living reference point for millions of people in Europe, affecting their choices and, to a greater or lesser degree, their identity. It is a dimension which is in continuous transformation, due to new religious forms of life and profound changes experienced within religious communities that have long been present in Europe. For intercultural dialogue to bear fruit, it must face not only the religious dimension in general, but also interact with particular religious confessions with all their historic characteristics.

“Without the particular contribution given by religious perspectives, the entire culture of human rights, even those of non-believers, would be greatly impoverished. In today’s multicultural societies, respect for religious freedom is one of the fundamental factors by which the health of a democracy can be evaluated as being a home for everyone.”

A million children in prisons worldwide

Fides news service reported that over a million children are being held in prisons around the world alongside adults. In several African countries, children can be sentenced to prison for the ‘crimes’ of not having a home or a job, for begging or for sleeping on the streets. Once behind bars, they typically live in poor conditions, with inadequate nourishment, subject to abuse.

Don’t become NGOs

In an audience with members of the pontifical mission societies, Pope Francis said: “Please, guard against falling into the temptation of becoming an NGO, a distribution office for subsidies. Money can help, but it can also be the ruin of the mission.” The societies are coordinated under the jurisdiction of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.

The Pope warned the groups’ members that “when functionalism becomes central or takes up a lot of space, as if it were the most important thing, it will lead to ruin; because the first way to die is to take for granted the ‘sources’, that is he who moves the mission”. The work of the societies belongs to Jesus, he added, urging members not to “remove Jesus Christ” from their “many plans and programmes”.

Church destroyed

Fides news agency reported that six Christians were beaten and a Protestant church was destroyed in Chakwal, a city of 100,000 in Pakistan’s Punjab province. Prior to the incident, a local imam accused the church’s pastor, Suhail Masih, of seeking to convert Muslims. This is just one incident in the many attacks against Christian in Pakistan.

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)

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