Pope Francis urged some 25,000 faithful from the Rome diocese at the opening of its annual ecclesial convention, to stand up to “ideological colonisations that poison the soul”.

The Pope was referring to Gender Theory which considers gender to be just a cultural or personal construct without reference to nature.

As an example, he said parents of young children have to ‘re-catechise’ their children in the evening because of the ‘strange ideas’ they learn from their teachers and schoolbooks. “These ideological colonisations,” he said, “poison the soul and the family: we must act against this… [They] are hurtful and destroy society, the nation, families.”

Pope Francis spoke of the beauty and diversity of male and female characteristics. He said “complementarity and reciprocity” within families are very important for the healthy growth of children who must not be afraid of differences and must witness the joy of conjugal love in order to grow and develop with confidence and security.

‘Strive to oust IS’

When Islamic State overran Mosul, Iraq, 120,000 Christians had to flee. They have been displaced for over a year, and Syriac Catholic Archbishop Yohanna Moshe of Mosul said: “The only solution that will make them happy and give them dignity is to go back to their homes.”

“We ask everyone to put pressure on the people who have the responsibility to free the (towns and villages) as soon as possible so the people can come back and live in peace in their... homes and continue their lives there,” said Moshe, who was also forced to flee Mosul.

Quebec archdiocese reshaping itself

On May 24, Mass was celebrated for the last time at St John the Baptist church, Quebec city. Built in the 1880s, it is recognised as a major heritage church. Although it seats 2,400 there are no parishioners to fill the places as church attendances are diminishing. This also means less contributions – a dire need considering that renovation of the church was estimated at €9 million. Over the past decade, dioceses of the Quebec province have had to close churches in response to the secularisation.

“It’s sad,” said Quebec auxiliary bishop Gaetan Proulx. “It’s the signal that we’re moving towards smaller communities. The model for our Church is changing.”

New church in UAE

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, travelled to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, to celebrate the inaugural Mass at St Paul’s Catholic church. The church was built on land granted by the municipality. According to Catholic news agency Fides, about 900,000 Catholics live in the Middle Eastern nation; most are domestic workers from India and the Philippines.

In his homily, Parolin said the permission granted for new churches is “a concrete sign of hospitality that the Emirates has now shown toward Christians” and testifies to the state’s commitment to “a society based on coexistence and mutual respect”.

Polish bishops vow resistance to changes

Jozef Kloch, spokesman for the Polish bishops’ conference, said Polish bishops will resist changes to Catholic teaching on marriage and family life at October’s synod on the family at the Vatican, and rejected demands for reform by German-speaking Catholics.

He added that the Polish Church was determined to resist calls for reform of policy on issues such as homosexuality and Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics.

He added that there were no plans to publish Polish responses to a questionnaire circulated to dioceses by the Vatican.

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)

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