Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, said: “The solutions to global poverty and hunger cannot be left to market forces alone.
“To eradicate poverty and hunger, in particular extreme poverty and chronic hunger, the sharing of science and technology, the acceptance of ethical values like solidarity and social justice to influence the market, and joint political will must all align themselves.
“While acknowledging that [economic] progress has been made, we must also recognize that developing countries, in particular the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), still need support.
“For that reason, both financial and non-financial development commitments should remain, be enhanced wherever necessary and be fulfilled.”
Cardinal Pell airs concern
Cardinal George Pell distanced himself from the Pope's claim in the encyclical Laudato Si’ that there is enough evidence to show that climate change is the result of human activity. When Pell was still serving in Australia he had also created controversy by stating that he did not see persuasive evidence of man-made climate change.
During an interview with the Financial Times Cardinal Pell said that “the Church has got no mandate from the Lord to pronounce on scientific matters”.
On the other hand, the prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy praised the overall message of the encyclical. He said that parts of the encyclical were “beautiful” and backed the Pope’s call for respective treatment of the environment.
Racists not welcome
Italian pastor Fr Gianfranco Formenton from the parish of Sant’Angelo in Mercole, in Spoleto, posted a sign on the door of his parish church, “Racists are not allowed in this church”. He said that the poster was his reaction to anti-immigration protests.
Germans leave Church
While in 2013 the number of Germans formally leaving the Catholic Church was 178,805, there was an increase of 22 per cent in 2014 amounting to 217,716.
This information was given by the German bishops’ conference. Only 2,809 entered, and 6,314 others were “readmitted.”
Germans who are officially members of a church have to pay a “church tax”. As a result Catholics who stop going to Church generally take the step of leaving formally to stop paying the tax.
Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the president of the German bishops’ conference, observed that the departures from the Catholic Church reflect “personal life decisions that in every case we profoundly regret, but we also respect the freedom of choice.”
Draft constitution worries Church
The Church in Nepal is concerned that proposed changes in the constitution of the country can endanger the “freedom of religion”.
These fears are strengthened by the campaign of Hindu nationalists who want Nepal to be declared as a “Hindu nation”.
In a memorandum presented to the political parties, the Church requested that the word “secular” should be inserted in the preamble to ensure full religious freedom and demanded Christianity be recognised as a religion.
The memorandum made reference to the provisions of the proposed constitution which seem to contradict themselves. While clause 1 of Article 31 upholds individual freedom of religion as a fundamental right, clause 2 ushers in a “right to abandon religion”. But clause 3 bans proselytising or conversion by clerics. A spokeperson for the Church said that this clause could be used against clergy and Church with “wild allegations of conversion”, he said.
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)