In a message to charitable organisations discussing the Syrian crisis, Pope Francis said: “We must accept with great sorrow that the Syrian crisis has not been resolved and there is the risk of growing accustomed to it: of forgetting the victims claimed on a daily basis, the unspeakable suffering, the thousands of refugees, which include the elderly and children, who suffer and at times die of hunger and of diseases causes by the conditions of war.
“This indifference is harmful. Once again we must repeat the name of this illness that does so much damage in today’s world: the globalisation of indifference.
“The action of peace and the work of humanitarian aid carried out by Catholic charitable entities in this context constitute a faithful expression of God’s love for His children, who find themselves in conditions of oppression and anguish. God hears their cry, He knows their suffering, and He wishes to free them; and you lend your hands and your abilities to Him.
“The dear Christian communities [are] the face of a Church who suffers and hopes. Their survival in the Middle East is of profound concern to the universal Church. Christianity must be able to continue to live there, where its origins lie.”
Council of Nicea II?
A major Council was held in Nicea in AD325. Over 300 bishops took part and approved the statement of faith known as the Nicene Creed.
During the recent meeting in the Holy Land between Pope Francis and Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople it was agreed to plan an ecumenical meeting in Nicea in 2025.
Patriarch Bartholomew described it “as a legacy to ourselves and our successors”.
In the meantime, Metropolitan Hilarion, the chairman of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Department of External Church Relations, said Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I represented only his own Patriarchate of Constantinople, and not the world’s other Orthodox churches, in his meeting with Pope Francis.
Although the Ecumenical Patriarch holds a primacy of honour among the Orthodox churches his position can in no way be compared to that of the Pope.
No to automatic ‘gay marriage’ – UK bishops
Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark, UK, chairman of the conference’s Department for Christian Responsibility and Citizenship, criticised the British government’s proposal that same-sex unions legalised in 2004 would automatically become same-sex marriages.
He said “some lesbian and gay Catholics do not wish to enter into civil same-sex marriage because of their deeply held belief that marriage is between a man and a woman only, but still wish to have the legal rights contained in a civil partnership”. He added that it is important that these couples’ wishes are respected and that they are given the right to be legally recognised as unions, not as marriages.
Churches happy with Sisi as president
The victory of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Egypt’s presidential election was welcomed by the country’s Catholic bishops.
Fr Rafic Greiche, the bishops’ spokesman, described the result as “a clear call by Egypt’s political and civil society against Islamic fundamentalism”.
He told the Asia News service that as Sisi “knows that Christians are an important part of Egypt and he wants to defend religious coexistence” and that so far he has kept his word.
Bishop Adel Zaky, the apostolic vicar of Alexandria, described Sisi as “the right man at the right time”.
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)