Addressing nuncios on September 17, Pope Francis said: “In the immense task of ensuring the freedom of the Church before every form of power that wishes to silence truth, do not delude yourselves that this freedom is solely the fruit of agreements, accords and diplomatic negotiations, however perfect and successful they may seem.
“Remember that you represent Peter, the rock that withstands the flood of ideologies, the reduction of the Word to mere convenience, submission to the powers of this passing world.
“Therefore, do not position yourselves on political or ideological battle lines, because the permanence of the Church does not rest on the consensus of the drawing room or the town square, but on faithfulness to the Lord, who, unlike wolves and birds, has no den or nest to rest his head.”
Filipino bishops slam killings
In a few weeks since Rodrigo Duterte was elected president of the Philippines, about 3,500 people, including 1,400 suspected drug traffickers, have been murdered. Many human rights organisations have described these killings as the result of vigilante violence.
The Catholic bishops have joined the chorus of protest and have issued a strong statement condemning these extra-judicial killings of drug addicts and dealers as “sins that harm the dignity of the human person”.
Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, the president of the Filipino bishops’ conference, said the death-squad killings cannot be justified because “human dignity must always be protected, and the nobility of every human person continues to shine despite the scars of crime and sin”. He added that drug addicts “are sick brethren in need of healing”.
Bishops challenge President
In a strong statement entitled ‘Restoring confidence in Nigeria’, the Bishops of Nigeria said “a hurricane of violence by herdsmen and other agents of death has left in its wake a landscape of blood and destruction”.
The document was particularly addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari. It stressed that “political violence, corruption, kidnappings, armed robbery, ritual murders and all ills of the past, are still very much present and we seem to be progressively sinking deeper into the mud. Our people are now ravaged by disease and hunger. The result is the rise in the curve of violence both by State agents and non-State actors among our own people.”
The bishops reminded the President that “most Nigerians are today disillusioned by the frittering away of the high hopes which they invested in his resolve to turn things around”.
Bishop denies supporting same-sex unions
Bishop Vincent Long of Paramatta, Australia, denied that he supports same-sex unions.
He said his comments during a public lecture were misinterpreted, particularly by the secular media. Bishop Long said he had called for “respectful langauge and pastoral engagement” with homosexuals, but had not endorsed homosexual activity or a homosexual lifestyle. “To accept a person’s sexual identity does not mean to condone his or her behaviour which is contrary to moral norms and the Church’s teaching,” he said.
Bishop Long said his lecture was an effort “to articulate an understanding of the vision of Pope Francis of what the Church is and our response to this vision in the light of the challenges we face today”.
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)