Catholic Family Roundup Digest
Tim Matthews,
[email protected]
Contents
Evangelium Vitae : We are our brothers' keepers.
LITHUANIA APPEAL
NEW CATECHISM - 'A NORM'
ME AND MY 'RIGHTS'
HAVE YOU HEARD?
INTERNATIONAL
FAMILY EXCHANGES
'COMMONSENSE'
POPULATION NOTES
LISTEN, IT'S A FACT ...
THE MASS
QUOTES
BOOKS & CASSETTES
PRAYER
MEDIA MATTERS
HOMESCHOOLING
PRACTICALITIES
GETTING OUR PRIORITIES RIGHT
'A gift for all'
The Rosary
'A comprehensive survey'
The Pope speaks
On prayer
NACF members write
Facts
Travel
Population: 'power of the lie'
********************
Evangelium Vitae : We are our brothers' keepers.
CIVILISATION is in the grip of a struggle between the 'culture of life' and the 'culture
of death', is the message given to us by Pope John Paul II in his eleventh encyclical,
Evangelium Vitae (Gospel of Life). 'By the authority which Christ conferred on Peter
and his successors and in communion with the Bishops of the Roman Church, I
confirm that the direct and voluntary killing of an innocent human being is always
gravely immoral'. The Pope's unambiguous message is 1ikely to be judged as one of
the most important of his reign.
In vivid language, the Pope reiterates the traditional teaching of the Church,
denouncing relativist thinking that insists nothing is intrinsically right or wrong. Any
action which is intrinsically wrong, he says, cannot be made right. This rule, then,
must be extended to all experimentation with embryos. Abortion is wrong. The
killing of the sick or aged, even for the relief of pain, is a 'grave violation of the law of
God'.
While re-affirming the value and dignity of life, the Pope is concerned with what he
sees as a 'prevailing 'culture of death'. The Church must speak up for the weak and
the defenceless, and amongst their enemies the Pope recognises the 'scandalous arms
trade', drug companies which develop abortion treatments, and a 'conspiracy against
life, involving even international institutions, engaged in encouraging and carrying
out actual campaigns to make contraception, sterilisation and abortion widely
available'.
The Pope writes of the disastrous contradiction in attitudes 'between the solemn
affirmation of human rights and their tragic denial in practise'. This stems from an
idea 'that exalts the isolated individual in an absolute way and gives no place to
solidarity, to openess to others and service of them'. Governments that pass laws that
disregard the dignity of individuals 'undermine the very fabric of society', and play a
large part in the unfolding tragedy. We are our brothers' keepers.
'For my part', Cardinal Hume told a press conference at which the 189-page document
was released, ' I find the whole of this authoritative statement to be an inspiring
exposition which goes to the heart of the most fundamental moral question there is:
the value of human life'.
LITHUANIA APPEAL
AS A FOLLOW-UP follow-up to our efforts during the International Year of the
Family, we wish to support Spiecius, the Association of Catholic Families in Lithuania,
who are very much in need of basic essentials, and find their incomes insufficient to
support themselves due to the countrys economic crisis, writes NACF member
Bronwen Burgess from Abingdon, Oxon. Were starting to raise funds for a second-
hand mini-bus which theyve asked for, and which could be driven to Lithuania with
many of the goods they require. Fourteen boxes of clothes have already been
despatched to Vilnius from where weve received two faxes from Vita Evaldas of the
Association of Catholic Families Spiecius. "We received most of the boxes, the
remainder will reach us soon. We already inspected your parcel and we have found
many nice things for us and for other families from our association. Especially for
those who have a little baby. We think all food products are very dainty. Thank you
and all people that have done this big work for our families"! In a second fax Vita
reported that "yesterday evening last boxes have arrived. It was second Christmas to
our family and especially for children. I and my husband were very deeply moved.
Thank you, your family and families ... I think that this parcel is not only from you,
but it is from God too".
To raise money for the mini-bus, adds NACF member Sarah Churchill from
Wallington, 'were hoping to hold a craft fair at the annual NACF pilgrimage to
Walsingham and need the following: home-made fare, e.g. cakes, biscuits and
preserves; home-made linen and knitwear, e.g. oven-gloves, quilts, toys, baby
blankets, childrens jumpers; pot plants and bedding plants; good-as-new baby and
childrens clothes, toys and books. There will also be a raffle. If NACF groups around
the country could also hold their own cake sales or bring-and-buy sales in conjunction
with Family Days, this would also help. Plans are also afoot to produce a recipe
book with the French NACF. All donations please (and bright fund-raising ideas), to:
NACF Lithuanian Families Appeal, 8 Green Lane, Bayworth, Abingdon, Oxon OX13
6RG, Tel: 01865 730163, or 18 Oaklands Way, Wallington, Surrey SM6 9RR, Tel: 0181
669 6296.
PS: From Vilnius we hear that the President of Lithuania, a past member of the
Communist party, has returned to the practise of the Faith.
NEW CATECHISM - 'A NORM'
AS WE face the Jubilee Year, a more lively adherence to the mysteries of Revelation
becomes more urgent through the frequent meditation on the Word of God, aided by
permanent catechesis. This was the message delivered by Pope John Paul II to
Argentinian bishops during their recent ad limina visit to the Vatican.
His Holiness expressed his joy at the widespread distribution of the Catechism of the
Catholic Church amongst the faithful. Its dogmatic, liturgical, moral and spiritual
riches must reach all, especially children and young people, through diversified
catechisms to be used in the parish, in the family, at school, or for formation within
the different movements or associations of faithful The new Catechism, he said must
be taken as a norm.
Meanwhile, in New York, addressing 350 of his priests at St Joseph's Seminary, John
Cardinal O'Connor insisted that they become 'intimately familiar' with the new
Catechism of the Catholic Church. 'Now we have the benchmark. We have the
authorised means to clarify our teaching. The people are hungry for this Catechism,
and I urge you to give it to them'. The Cardinal went on to say 'I don't think it has
anything to do with preaching ability or inability. It has everything to do with the
hunger people have been experiencing since the immediate aftermath of the Second
Vatican Council'. Father Farley, Spiritual Director at St Joseph's, later reminded the
assembled priests that Cardinal Newman always kept the Catechism of the Council of
Trent on his desk 'as a reminder of our responsibilities'.
In this respect, it is worth noting that a book that is proving very popular is
Introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Cardinal Ratzinger and
Bishop Christoph Schonborn. It is published by Words Ink (PO Box 97, Chichester,
Sussex PO18 AY. 8.50 ISBN 0-89870-485-5) and is a fluent, clear and readable
introduction to the new catechism by the Cardinal heading the bishops commission for
its implementation, and the bishop who is its general editor.
ME AND MY 'RIGHTS'
I CANNOT claim anything as a moral right until I can prove that it is necessary for the
fulfilment of some essential duty. Hence it is that if I can keep this idea well before my
mind, I am in little danger of getting selfish in my life. If, whenever I find myself
speaking of my rights (even in ordinary conversation), I set to work at once to see
whether they are rights at all and what corresponding duties they oblige me to
perform, I shall find that I shall not be so quick or so insistent in asserting them. It is a
pity that the word "right" has become so popular a word, and the word "duty" so dull
and respectable: for many people cannot stop talking about the one who imagine it to
be old-fashioned even to mention the other. Duties themselves do, indeed, demand in
their performance some tax upon my pleasure or my will. I must deny myself
something: to do what I ought to do, there must always be some self-sacrifice. My
rights, therefore, become nothing more than the requisite opportunities for denying my
own will. Let me clamour, therefore, through life, never for rights, but for the better
understanding of my own destiny, and only assert that I must be allowed to fulfil my
duty. Let me never use the word "right" without the swift consciousness of the duty
involved: for rights from the very nature of the thing have nothing at all to do with
private privileges (which are exceptions on the whole to be reprobated, and seldom if
ever to be demanded), but sacred obligations. Fr. Bede Jarrett, OP. Meditations for
Layfolk.
HAVE YOU HEARD?
You may remember that recently NACF members acted as host to some children
from Gomel in Byelarus? Byelarus bore the brunt of the fallout from Chernobyl and
unhappily it is reported that since that incident there has been a 200-fold increase in
the incidence of thyroid cancer in the area - in some pockets of Byelarus the increase is
ten times higher than that. In all, as many as 2.3 million children may have been
exposed to Chernobyl's fallout. Evidence suggests that the consequences of exposure
to this radiation will last for at least 40 years.
A new family support group, Education for Chastity, designed to combat harmful sex
education has been set up in Northern Ireland. For information contact Mrs Kathleen
McQuaid, Nunsmeadow House, Quarry Lane, Dungannon, Co.Tyrone BT70 1HX.
One group of families badly in need of our prayers (and financial support) are those
of ministers of religion who have been led by conscience to come into full communion
with the Catholic Church. St Barnabas Society , formerly the Coverts Aid Society, was
founded to help such families. St Barnabas, you will remember, was the good man,
full of the Holy Spirit and of faith who made friends and welcomed St Paul after his
dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus. (Acts 11.24) Address: 4 First Turn,
Wolvercote, Oxford OX2 8AH.. Yours in the Holy Family, Tim.
INTERNATIONAL
It is hoped to establish a branch of the NACF in Kenya. Those interested should
contact Stephen de la Bedoyere at St Johns, Beaumont, Old Windsor, Berks SL4 2JN.
Tel: 01784 431460.
You might be interested to know that the Foyer of Charity at Courset, only half an
hours drive from Boulogne, has a retreat which is translated into English every
summer, usually at the end of July, writes Donal Foley. These are well suited to the
needs of families since children are looked after at no extra cost. People are only asked
to pay what they can afford for their stay. The Foyers would like to establish a
community in this country but it probably needs more families and individuals to go
over and experience the retreats for themselves, before we can expect this to happen.
For more information, contact Donal at 103 Harriet Street, Cathays, Cardiff CF2 4BX.
Tel: 01222 345204 or Martin Blake at 4 Dunkerton Close, Glastonbury, Somerset. BA6
8LZ. Tel: 01458 833726
The first Catholic newspaper has been published in Siberia , the largest Catholic
diocese in the world. It has 100,000 Catholics, scattered over 12 million square
kilometers.
A 12ft section of the infamous Berlin Wall now stands peacefully in the Vatican
Gardens. It was given to the Pope as a gift after being auctioned in Monte Carlo. It
bears a sketch of a church and tower which was drawn on the west side by East
German escapees. On marble slab next to the wall is inscribed the Pope's words:
"Have no fear... throw open the doors to Christ, to his power of salvation, open the
states' frontiers and the economic systems as well as the political ones. Have no fear."
The Bishops of Mexico have attended a course on bioethics organised by the
Pontifical Council for the Family. Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, the President of the Council
gave several of the papers . All of the important areas of bioethics and marriage and
the family were dealt with. It is now intended to hold similar conferences for priests,
religious and lay people who are involved in pastoral work with families.
The first Catholic seminary to exist in Albania since 1939 is to be opened in Scutari.
It will have 150 seminarians. It will be named after Bishop Pjeter Meshkala who died
in an Albanian prison after 25 years of forced labour.
Bishop Karl Lehmann of Mainz, head of the German Bishops Conference denies that
the German bishops are involved in any rebellion against papal authority. "We defend
ourselves against the insinuation of such anti-Roman and anti-Papal stances. We know
we are strictly bound to the successor of St. Peter and in this we want to be second to
none."
FAMILY EXCHANGES
Great care should be always be taken when making arrangements for family
exchanges. It is best to have some form of written agreement right at the start - it can
avoid later disputes.
A family in our sister French organisation (Grenoble region) seeks UK family and
school to welcome their son Thibault, 15, for one or two months in the summer term. In
return, they can welcome a boy into their home. Contact: Monsieur J.F. Ruchon-
Granger, 2 rue Colonel Escallon, 38350 La Mure, France.
Our good friend Pre Marie-Benot writes to say that a family he knows well has a 19-
year-old daughter who would like to help by working with a UK family during the
summer holidays. Contact: Marina Monneret, Route de Riboux, 13780 Cuges les Pins.
Tel: 42-73-83-49.
'COMMONSENSE'
IF THE Catholic makes commonsense his guide, he reduces his service of God to a
service of human wisdom. It is not a service of Divine Wisdom - because the whole
point of commonsense is that it is the sense of the common man - and so is not a
supernatural act at all. It may be a wise thing to follow the advice of a clever man, but
it is certainly a very stupid thing to follow the dictates of cleverness in preference to
the promptings of obedience. Obedience is supernatural: cleverness is not. Far from
obedience being the submission which the unintelligent yield to the intelligent, it may
on occasion be the exact reverse: it may mean that wise men have to defer to unwise
ones. Indeed it is in the circumstances of this sort that the quality of obedience is
shown at its best. A soul is being really wise when it bows to the decision of a stupid
superior. If Our Lord left Himself to be disposed of by foolish and wicked men, His
followers should not be too ready to quote commonsense against those to whom they
owe obedience. Dom Hubert van Zeller, OSB (Dom Hubert's books are on sale at the
Book Shop at Downside Abbey, Somerset).
POPULATION NOTES
A RECENT report has shown that it is quite feasible to feed a global population of 10
billion and still leave room for areas of natural wilderness. The present world
population is less than 6 billion. The report also shows that there is plenty of room for
improving current crop yields using current technology. The introduction of new
technologies would enable yields to be increased even further. In India, it is pointed
out, the Green Revolution has seen food production increase fivefold with an increase
of only three- quarters of the amount of land used. Source: People Count, pub.by the
Committee on Population & The Economy, 13 Norfolk House, Courtlands, Sheen
Road, Richmond, Surrey TW10 5AT.
In a talk to a symposium sponsored by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences at the
Vatican, Pope John Paul II appealed to world leaders 'to make the necessary means
available for research and education in the area of natural methods of family
planning'. Such knowledge helps couples in achieving as well as avoiding
pregnancies. What must also be understood, he said, is 'the essential moral difference
between those methods which artificially interrupt a process which of itself is open to
life, and other methods'.
After the 1990 victory of the HDZ conservative party, a public drive for a "spiritual
renaissance" began in Croatia. Among the proposed reforms were the outlawing of
abortion and a special tax on childless bachelors over the age of 25. But these reforms
were suspended when war erupted in 1991. Now a grass- roots 'One Child More'
group has been formed for the express purpose of encouraging Croatian families to
have more children. The group believes that not having children is contrary to
Christian values, and that having more children will be good both spiritually and
materially. Nicholas berstadt of the American Enterprise Institute says, Eastern
Germanys adults appear to have come as close to a temporary suspension of child-
bearing as any large population in human experience.
In Japan the contraceptive pill is banned, officially, on health grounds. Another
reason is that the number of children being born (1.5 per couple) is well below the
replacement level of 2.11. Source: Far Eastern Review
A number of towns and cities in Italy are giving money and other incentives to
Italians who have children. Mayor Edamo Barbien of the northwest town of Bagnone
says his municipal council will pay 500,000 lire ($315) to each couple having a baby.
"After World War II there were about 7,000 people living in Bagnone, now there are
2,000 and the median age is 65. Our town is dying. There is a culture of egoism and
individualism in Italy. People aren't interested in the future. It's this attitude that has to
be changed."
LISTEN, IT'S A FACT ...
IRELAND produces almost 250% more vocations per head of its Catholic population as
Australia. It is not without significance that the parish in Ireland producing the
greatest number of vocations is one which has perpetual adoration of the Blessed
Sacrament, Mother Teresa claims that a similar fruitfulness in vocations in her order is
helped by the fact that each nun must spend an hour every day before the Blessed
Sacrament.
Record numbers of people have been dragged into the UK's tax net by the cut in the
married couples allowance, reducing the level of earnings at which couples begin to
pay tax from around 100 to 93 a week. Your income is 30,000 a year? If youre a retired
married couple the tax man will relieve you of 5,000 at the end of the year. If you
trying to raise a family with two children on a similar salary, earned by one spouse,
then the tax man will take over 7,500 - some 2,500 more than hell take off the retired
couple with fewer responsibilities. The allowances which have traditionally protected
families should be restored.
According to an article in the Sunday Telegraph, 90% of British women want to be
mothers of at least two children, yet more and more married women find themselves
mortgage trapped and find themselves leading sterile working lives instead of fruitful
family lives.
THE MASS
THE MASS is the most perfect form of prayer. It is a Sacrifice. Every time we go to
Mass it is as if were present at Calvary when Our Lord died. It is said that for each
Mass we hear with devotion, Our Lord sends a saint to comfort us at death; Padre Pio
said the world could exist more easily that if we knew the true value of the Mass, we
would die of joy; St Anselm said that a single Mass offered for oneself during our
lifetime is worth more than 1,000 after death; St Theresa was told by Our Lord to thank
Him for all His gifts by attending one Mass; Our Lady says that Jesus so loves those
who assist at Mass that if necessary Hed die for them as many times as they heard
Mass. Remember, the four ends of the Mass are (1) Adoration: we adore Almighty
God who made Heaven and earth. (2) Thanksgiving: we thank Him for all our
spiritual and temporal gifts (3) Expiation: we pay the penalty and make amends for
our sins> (4) Petition: we ask God to meet all our needs.
QUOTES
I CANNOT, with the utmost energy of imagination, conceive what they mean. When
domesticity, for instance is called drudgery ... all the difficulty arises from a double
meaning in the word. If drudgery only means dreadfully hard work, I admit the
woman drudges at home - as a man might drudge at the Cathedral of Amiens or
drudge behind a gun at Trafalgar. But if it means that hard work is more heavy
because it is trifling, colourless and of small import to the soul, then, as I say, I give it
up; I do not know what the words mean. To be Queen Elizabeth within a definite area,
deciding sales, banquets, labours and holidays; to be Whitely within a certain area,
providing toys, books, cakes and boots; to be Aristotle within a certain area, teaching
morals, manners, theology and hygiene. I can understand how this might exhaust the
mind, but I cannot imagine how it could narrow it. How can it be a larger career to tell
other peoples children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell ones own
children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone,
and narrow to be everything to someone? No, a womans function is laborious; but
because it is gigantic, not because it is minute. I will pity Mrs Jones for the hugeness of
her task; I will never pity her for its smallness.
G.K.Chesterton Whats Wrong with the World
The Pope says to you: I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in
the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene ...walk! (Acts 3:6) Yes, my young friends, the
Pope has come here today to give you the strength of Christ, to give you a companion
you can trust! Can you trust, at least once, someone who has never disappointed
anyone? Open your heart to Jesus Christ and you will have the courage that never
fails, no matter how great the obstacles are: you will know a love that is stronger than
death! I cannot fail to testify to and praise this power of God, this sure love that has
already saved my life from death! Young people, believe and you will live! Young
people, believe and stake everything on love! Young people, believe and decide this
very day to build an eternal home in your life! My young friends and brothers and
sisters, re-discover self-confidence and build your life, your love, your family in
Christ! I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, no
present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other
creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Rom 8:38). A young person who is faithful to Christ will know true and unending
happiness. Homily to the young people in Luanda, Angola.
I call self-will that which we don't have in common with either God or with men, but
is our's alone; when, whatever we will, we don't will for the honour of God or for the
service of our brothers and sisters, but solely for our own interest, not intending to
please God or profit our brethren, but to satisfy our own inclinations. What is it that
God hates or punishes other than self-will? Take away self-will and there'll be no hell.
St Bernard, Paschaltide Sermon III 3.
In a world like the West where money and wealth are the measure of all things, and
where the model of the free market imposes its implacable laws on every aspect of life,
authentic Catholic ethics appear to many as an alien body from time long past, a kind
of meteorite which is in opposition, not only to the concrete habits of life, but also to
the ways of thinking underlying them'. Cardinal Ratzinger.
Our generation has been forced to realise how fragile and unsubstantial are the
barriers that separate civilisation from the forces of destruction. We have learnt that
barbarism is not a picturesque myth or a half-forgotten memory of a long-passed stage
of history, but an ugly, underlying reality which may erupt with shattering force
whenever the moral authority of a civilisation loses its control'. Christopher Dawson.
Modern liberalism asserts there is no such thing as an objective, universal moral truth.
All of us, it says, are makers of moral values. Instead of being founded in some higher
reality, values reflect personal preferences. No one's values can thus be wrong.
Liberalism admits of one wrong only: the idea that there is a real wrong; and one sole
absolute: there notion that there are absolutely no absolutes. Its favourite line is:
values are subjective, so don't impose yours on me! The fallacy of modern
liberalism is easy enough to detect. The assertion 'there is no objective moral truth'
contradicts its own content: it claims to be a universal and objective truth while
denying the very possibility of such a truth. At a more practical level, liberalism is
incapable of providing for a stable society. If values are subjective, there can be no
lasting social consensus. Richard Bastien in 'Challenge'.
Everything is so tightly compressed in the Church's Year. Within a few months, in the
fleeting moment between Christmas and Easter, we commemorate the 33 years of the
greatest revolution of all times -- the radical transformation of our fate by this one
human life-span which takes us from the sweet Childhood of Bethlehem to the terrible
Sign of Contradiction. Millions show less interest in this earth-shaking transformation
than in a football match on the television ...and yet for them too the Lord will come --
will come the Day when the Son of Man will judge them. Fr Werenfried, ACN
Mirror.
BOOKS & CASSETTES
AGED 86, conscious of his approaching death, Dietrich von Hildebrand told his wife:
Ive been battling against death for years; I wanted to remain with you, but now I must
face the fact that I am losing the fight. It is time to face death, and I have accepted it.
Taking up his pen, he wrote quickly but deliberately for two weeks. The result: a
powerful book, Jaws of Death; Gate of Heaven, ($17.95) in which the author confronts
death in all its aspects. I have sought to draw out for you truths about dying which are
valid for all men. In his final book Dietrich von Hildebrand shows how even deaths
horrible aspects can be viewed in the light of Christ. Learn from him the profound
meaning that Christ gives to death - and how He vanquished it with His tender,
infinite, all-merciful love. Sophia Institute Press. Box 5284, Manchester, NH 03108,
USA.
Two other important books have been published by the Sophia Institute Press.
Devoutly I Adore Thee; the Prayers and Hymns of St Thomas Aquinas. (ISBN 0-
918477-19-0. $13.95) 'This is no ordinary book! says Fr John Hardon, SJ, editor of the
Homiletic and Pastoral Review, These prayers are especially needed today, when so
much Christian piety is devoid of solid Catholic doctrine. Of The New Tower of Babel,
(ISBN 0-918477-22-0 $16.95) Cardinal OConnor of New York writes: Just after the
Second Vatican Council, Dietrich von Hildebrand warned that secularism was
invading society and even the Church. This book reveals the roots of that
secularization and shows how to fight it.
Advocates of sex education in schools claim that it encourages more responsible
behaviour, its opponents say it encourages promiscuity. Who is right? In Teaching Sex
in Schools, Robert Whelan examines recent research evidence which suggests that only
programmes which encourage resistance skills - i.e. saying NO to sex - have any
beneficial effect. (2.00. Family Education Trust, 322 Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2
7NS)
NACF families in the northeast have invented a new way of establishing a Catholic
library for member families. Each family has a list of their own books, pamphlets,
videos etc., that might be of interest to other members. The library now consists of
some 500 items, all entered on a computerised index. Anyone interested in the
technical side of setting up such a loan-service should contact Andrew Plasom-Scott on
44 0191 281 3900.
Audio-cassettes of the evening talks, daytime classes and evening talks given at the
13th Catholic Summer School, held in Gloucestershire in July 1994, can be obtained
from Mark Swires, Little Tomkyns, Tompkyns Lane, Upminster, Essex RM14 1T8.
In the late 1960s Dr William Coulson pioneered the values clarification method that
lies at the heart of most modern sex-education programmes (neutral discussions of
contraception, premarital sex, abortion etc.). In Psychology in Education: Friend or
Foe? a series of three cassettes published by CV Productions (PO Box 14, Fakenham,
Norfolk NR21 8EJ, 12.95 a set), Dr Coulson shows concerned parents how to combat
those destructive techniques which, he admits, he helped to create but later came to
regret. Unhappily many Catholic bureaucrats are still promoting this out-dated
teaching method . In his talks, Dr Coulson explains to parents how they can fight this
out-dated type of sex-education on doctrinal and psychological grounds.
GOOD news for French-speakers. 'The parents of very young children are often at a
loss to know where and how to begin teaching the life of prayer and piety', writes Alan
Robinson. 'It was a joy to find a new French group, Association Transmettre, the aims
of which is to help parents, catechists, teachers and priests to transmit the Catholic
Faith and practise to children. (BP 11, 84330 Caromb, Vaulcuse, France, Tel: 90 62 53
85, Fax 90 62 33 27) Much of the writing is the work of Madame Monique Berger, (one
of her sons is a secular priest, another a Benedictine monk). The Association publishes
books for both children and parents. Sur les genoux des Mamans, written for mothers,
is strongly influenced by the Benedictine spirit and by the Montessori method. The
main work of the Association, however, is its monthly newsletter. In recent issues
there have been selections of extracts from Papal teaching, articles on Christian
education, angels, a guide to catechisms, and practical notes about feast-days and
seasons. Their teaching is in full accord with living tradition and the Pontifical
Magisterium'. There are a number of good books now being published in France.
Les Editions Tequi (82 rue Bonaparte, 75006 Paris) has published two good books for
small children on the Mass, refreshingly dignified and modern.
An Alphabet of Saints for Young People by NACF member Pamela Flavin is an
informative booklet, written to acquaint young people with the lives of some better
known saint. Pamela first came into contact with Catholicism through Catholic girls
at her school and 'when I became a Catholic myself at the age of 18, I loved to learn
about the saints and martyrs and it makes me happy to be able to pass this on to other
children'. .Adelphi Press, ISBN 1 85654128 2. 2.50
Aged 86 and conscious of his approaching death, Dietrich von Hildebrand told his
wife: 'I've been battling against death for years; I wanted to remain with you, but now
I must face the fact that I am losing the fight. It is time to face death, and I have
accepted it'. Taking up his pen, he wrote quickly but deliberately for two weeks. The
result: a powerful book, Jaws of Death; Gate of Heaven, in which the author
confronts death in all its aspects. 'I have sought to draw out for you truths about dying
which are valid for all men. In his final book Dietrich von Hildebrand shows how
even death's horrible aspects can be viewed in the light of Christ. Learn from him the
profound meaning that Christ gives to death - and how He vanquished it with His
tender, infinite, all-merciful love. Sophia Institute Press, Box 5284, Manchester, NH
03108, USA. $17.95.
Family Publications, 77 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6LF, issue a catalogue containing a
wide selection of sound books. For a free copy, send an A5 s.a.e.
Natural family planning: a cassette
DOCTOR John Billings and his wife, Evelyn, have spent 40 years pioneering Natural
Family Planning throughout the world, 'a method for everyone, for the literate and the
illiterate, for Muslims, Hindus and Christians'. The Billings were recently in London
giving conferences to mark the International Year of the Family. One of their helpful
talks is now available as an audio-cassette and is published by Christus Vincit
Productions, PO Box 14, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8EJ.
PRAYER
THE BABY sitting in the supermarket trundler, quite at home there among all those
grown-up shoppers, looks at everything with wondering eyes but no fear. Why, little
baby, when you are so small, so weak and vulnerable, with no adult assurance or
understanding, why are you so comfortable and confident? Because your mother is
with you, isnt that it? She is busy, preoccupied, flitting along the shelves, but her being
there spells, safety, comfort, protection, love, not the sugary kind, effusive kind but
taken for granted like daylight or death, sure as breath. Our Lady of the Rosary, I am
like that baby in the supermarket, trundling along in my ineffectual way through the
mysteries of our redemption by your Sons sacrificial life and death. I hold your hand
and it is warm and strong and look with my weak eyes and understanding, knowing
that you will lead me and show me and look after me. Thank you, Mother. Amen.
Prayer sent by Mrs June Dunn of Auckland, New Zealand.
O heavenly Father, make me a better parent. Teach me to understand my children, to
listen patiently to what they have to say and to answer all their questions kindly. Keep
me from interrupting them or contradicting them. Make them as courteous to them as
I would have them be to me. Forbid that I should ever laugh at their mistakes, or
resort to shame or ridicule when they displease me. May I never punish them for my
own selfish satisfaction or to show them my power. Let me not tempt my child to lie
or steal and guide me hour by hour that I may demonstrate by all I say and do, that
honesty produces happiness. Reduce, I pray, the meanness in me and when I am out of
sorts, help me, O Lord, to hold my tongue. May I be ever mindful that my children are
children and I should not expect of them the judgement of adults. Bless me with the
bigness to grant them all their reasonable requests and the courage to deny them
privileges I know will harm them. Make me fair and just and kind. And fit me, O
Lord, to be loved and respected and imitated by my children. Amen. Prayer sent by
grandmother Kathleen Vidal from Ipswich, used by her ever since she was given it as
an Air Force wife in the USA .
MEDIA MATTERS
In Octobers Family Roundup, Kevin Hanlon drew our attention to the weekly
'Christian Comment' which several Christians write, in turn, for the Aire Valley
Target, a weekly free newspaper read by a million people. 'My address was given
for further information but nobody contacted me. No response highlights a big
problem we Catholics face - reluctance to go public for the cause of Christ and the
Church. This is a serious weakness because others with alien views to Christianity are
only too keen to get into the media, to spread their views. Increasingly articles in
newspapers are knocking Christianity. For example, at Easter 1993, in the Sunday
Observer there were some 14 articles on Christianity - all undermining Christianity in
some way or another. The Targets editor is very keen about our comments and only
once in four years has the article not appeared - and this was by accident. If local
papers are open to such weekly comments, then it is a God-given opportunity to
engage in what St John (Jn.23) calls a ministry of the mind. Further details of the
scheme are available from Kevin Hanlon at 65 Moorhead Crescent, Shipley, West
Yorks BD18 4LQ.
In a new book published in Canada, Media Virus, author Douglas Rushkoff says that
childrens programming has become the medias best conduit for controversial
messages. There is a subtle, usually satiric or ironic communication going on between
the makers of kids TV and the parents who are watching alongside their children. This
communication almost has an irreverent tone, as if to counter balance the moral
uprightness of the shows main message.
IT is an unhappy fact of life that not only are an increasing number of teenagers being
exposed to pornographic computer material, but the problem will undoubtedly grow.
It even exists in primary schools. The University of Central Lancashire found that
some 15 percent of primary school teachers (30 percent in secondary schools) were
aware that computer pornography was present in their schools. ELSPA (European
Leisure Software Publishers Association) has launched an initiative to combat the
spread of this disease, and is calling upon parents to educate themselves on how
computers work and the sort of things to look for. * Ensure that computer software is
always bought from reputable suppliers. * Avoid buying software from car-boot sales
or similar places where it's difficult to return in order to complain. * Learn how
computers work and examine the contents of files: pornographic material is usually
contained in graphics files with the extensions .GIF, ..JPG, .BMP and .PCX. . * Game
consoles like Sega and Nintendo won't run pornographic files; they'll only be found
on computers like PCs, Macintoshes and Amigas. * Keep the family computer in the
living room, not in the bedroom. * Look out for the ELSPA age-rating on any disks. *
Never allow your children to buy or use pirated software, not only is it illegal but you
may never know what else has been included. ELSPA has set up a computer
pornography hotline (01386 833810) which you can call for advice, or report any cases
that you come across.
HOMESCHOOLING
TEACHING your own children at home may seem an incredible idea to man Catholic
families in the UK - but it is now a way of life to many in the USA, writes NACF
member Jenny Pfang of Norfolk. There are several Catholic homeschool
correspondence courses in the USA which provide multi-subject curriculum, support
via the telephone, and regular magazines. Examples of these correspondence courses
include Seton and Our Lady of the Rosary. The emphasis is on sound Catholic
teaching, based on sound doctrinal knowledge and traditional devotion. Leafing
through the US homeschool magazines, one finds that the family sizes of those who
practise homeschooling vary from a few to many: I even counted one family with nine
children. My husband and I have decided to homeschool for two main reasons.
Firstly we see it as our duty before God to ensure our precious children have a truly
Catholic education. We hope they will acquire a good knowledge of sound doctrine,
Scripture and Church history. Our personal experience is that today, even priests
question fundamental doctrinal points. Our children will have to be even better
grounded in the Faith to be able to overcome this confusion. Secondly, in our
increasingly pagan world, any Christian child will need to have a very strong and
well-formed character to stand up against the pressure of his peers and the liberal
media. How easy is it for any school to cater for these two needs?
If anyone is interested in pursuing Catholic homeschooling, books on the subject will
shortly be available from the Spanish Place Bookshop, Spanish Place Rectory, 22
George Street, London W1H 5RB. Send a s.a.e. for a catalogue. It is my attention to
compile a list of useful resource material and ideas for Catholic homeschoolers. If you
are interested in receiving this information, send a s.a.e. to me, Mrs Jenny Pfang, PO
Box 777, ereham, Norfolk NR20 4UF. And be patient!
Recently a small group of Catholic homeschoolers met to exchange ideas and
experiences. The meeting was recorded and the tape can be obtained from CV
Productions, PO Box 14, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8EJ.
PRACTICALITIES
A TEAM from Exeter University is co-ordinating trials in the UK, Ireland and
Germany in a natural method of contraception which relies on monitoring fertility and
which appears to be better than 90 percent effective. The system has taken 15 years to
develop by Unipath, a subsidiary of Unilver. A hand- held monitor takes readings
from disposable urine dipsticks, displaying a green light during the safe period and a
red light when a woman is fertile. The monitor, no larger than a spectacles case.
measures changes in the wavelength of light absorbed by the dipstick which is coated
with antibodies that bind with two hormones found in the urine. The monitor also
stores readings for the past 6-months and so is able to take account of how the fertile
period varies for individual women.
State-of-the-art home security can be expensive to install, but Cheshire police are
recommending a cheaper way of going about things. They suggest planting thorn
bushes round your house and have produced a colour leaflet listing the densest and
thorniest shrubs. Their leaflet is available at 32 garden centres in the county.
GETTING OUR PRIORITIES RIGHT
WHERE the thought of self obscures the thought of God, prayer and praise languish,
and only preaching flourishes. Divine worship is simply contemplating our Maker,
Redeemer, Sanctifier and Judge; but discoursing, conversing, making speeches,
arguing, reading and writing about religion, tend to make us forget Him in ourselves.
Cardinal Newman, Lectures on Justification.
'A gift for all'
THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH must be the basis and point of
reference of Catholic teaching in our schools, said Cardinal Hume, President of the
Bishops Conference of England and Wales, in his preface to a recently published
document What are we to Teach?. In the same document, Bishop Mullins, Chairman
of the Committee for Catechetics, reminds us that all the Church's Pastors and the
Christian faithful have been asked to receive this Catechism not only in a spirit of
communion but 'to use it assiduously'.
Pope John Paul II has described the new Catechism as 'a gift for all ... addressed to all
and must reach all'. It is quite unacceptable, then, that it should be pushed aside or
mocked by teachers. The headmaster of a school in South Wales is reported in the
press as saying that the new Catechism would be made available in his Staff Room
only over his dead body.
As parents (especially those amongst us who are school governors, we have a duty to
insist that the instructions of the Bishops' Committee for Catechetics are implemented
in our schools and that the teachers are given comprehensive training in knowledge
and use of the new Catechism. The quoted view of a head teacher in Wales, that the
New Catechism would be introduced into his school staff room only over his dead
body is not acceptable to us.
'If we consider that more than a thousand bishops gave their own opinions to the draft
of the revised text' noted Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who headed the Bishops'
Commission for the implementation of the Catechism, 'and that 24,000 of their
observations were incorporated into the text, we realise that this book represents a
'collegial' event of bishops and through them the voice of the universal Church is
speaking with collegial authority. If ever the Holy Spirit speaks through the authority
of the Church, then it is the Holy Spirit who is speaking to us here. The new
Catechism is not, in the dismissive words of one of our seminary teachers, 'just a blip
in an on-going situation' but is, in the words of the Pope, 'the sure and authentic
teaching of the Church'.
The Ignatius Press have published two relevant books about the new Catechism: The
first is an Introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, written by Cardinal
Ratzinger and Bishop Christoph Schonborn who was its general editor .(ISBN 0-89870-
485-5, 8.95). The second book is The Companion to the Catechism of the Catholic
Church, a complete reference volume of all the texts quoted in the Catechism (ISBN 0-
89870-450-0 25.95). A 90-minute recording of a talk about the Catechism, God's
Timely Gift, given by James Likoudis, President of Catholics United for the Faith, at St
James's, Spanish Place, London, in 1994. is available from Christus Vincit Productions,
PO Box 14, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8EJ. 4.30 incl.UK postage.
The Rosary
RECOVERING from a serious stroke, '(now walking about 60-ft along the corridor
outside my room with the aid of a tripod with four legs') Canon Kevin Byrne, an old
friend of the NACF, has come up with a proposal that we should add five public
mysteries to the Rosary. 'I say them every night when I have finished the fifteen
others. They are: the Sermon on the Mount, Cana, the Transfiguration, the
forgiveness of a woman who was a sinner, the raising of Lazarus. I always offer up the
second mystery for the NACF. I pray that Jesus will visit your families, and turn all
their actions into pure gold, raise them up and make them full of life in the spirit. I
have said Mass for you and will do the same tomorrow'.
'A comprehensive survey'
WHEN a not specifically Catholic forum comes into being,, writes David Foster of
'Families for Tomorrow' the proceedings of the 16th International Congress for the
Family held in Brighton in 1990', one always fears that essential Catholic teaching will
be suppressed or omitted - notably on the limitation of families. On the whole, one is
reassured: the talks on natural family planning, and on the effects of contraceptives on
individuals and society, are among the most enlightening.
The talks are arranged on a plan which begins with an exploration of the family as the
key natural institution. There are contributions by Cardinal Hume ('Christians stand
for all that is authentically human ... the intransigence of the Church on these issues is
well-founded'), by the Chief Rabbi Lord Jakobovits ('the problem today is not that
children get lost, but that our mummies and daddies lost') and by Graham Leonard,
then Anglican Bishop of London.
In a particularly penetrating set of reflections, one remark by Fr Peter Elliott, based in
the Vatican, is worth quoting: 'Is not the so-called social consensus simply organised
by those who determine mass media policy'?
The sections which follow all inevitably reflect the problems created by enemies of the
family: by population policies involving propaganda for contraception, sterilisation
and abortion; by shifting views of medical ethics; by influences making for short-term
gratification and aiming at a specific 'youth culture'. (See The Electronic Generation
by Michael Keating); by feminist attacks on fatherhood - and motherhood; by sex
education in schools (Dr Melvin Anchell's analysis is the most damning I have read);
by government policies which penalise parants and families. In this last connection, I
found Kathrine Runske's account of the situation in her own native Sweden possibly
the most chilling contribution in the book: an epitome, in extreme form, of all that we
have seen gradually developing in other western countries, including our own.
But as Dr Digby Anderson puts it, 'do not overdo the current tribulations of the family'
- one only enables the enemies to pretend that the abnormal is established as the norm.
And indeed there is much that is heartening in the last third of the book.
Incidentally, if you want to seize whatever opportunities for human can be found, you
may gain amusement from the contortions of a former Minister who is apparently
unaware of the inconsistencies in her recommendations.
One must be grateful for this collection; it informs us, and offers us help, on such a
variety of fronts. It is as comprehensive a survey as I have ever read of the points at
which modern life touches the family.
The Pope speaks
* Sacred Scripture teaches that husband and wife are called to be 'one flesh',
actually a covenant of love. Through the union of their bodies they express the depth
and finality of their mutual gift. Precisely in the light of this totality one understands
why sexual union must take place exclusively in marriage. Is not the promise to be
the only man and the only woman for each other part of authentic conjugal love?
This witness of love and unity is also the most natural expectation of children, who are
the fruit of one man and one woman's love. And they require this love with every
fibre of their being. May the Blessed Virgin teach everyone the meaning of love.
Angelus address, Rome.
* The Pope says to you: 'I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give
you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene ... walk'! (Acts 3:6) Yes, my young
friends, the Pope has come here today to give you the strength of Christ, to give you a
companion you can trust! Can you trust, at least once, someone who has never
disappointed anyone? Open your heart to Jesus Christ and you will have the courage
that never fails, no matter how great the obstacles are: you will know a love that is
stronger than death! I cannot fail to testify to and praise this power of God, this sure
love that has already saved my life from death! Young people, believe and you will
live! Young people, believe and stake everything on love! Young people, believe and
decide this very day to build an eternal home in your life! My young friends and
brothers and sisters, re-discover self-confidence and build your life, your love, your
family in Christ! 'I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, no present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus
our Lord'. (Rom 8:38). A young person who is faithful to Christ will know true and
unending happiness. Homily to the young people in Luanda, Angola.
* The laity, because of their vocation to be the salt of the earth and the light of the
world, should be well-grounded in the Church's social doctrine and, through their
presence in public life, contribute to strengthening the fabric of society through their
diligence and industriousness, reliability and fidelity in interpersonal relations, and
courage in undertaking responsibilities in the field of economics and politics.
Address to the Bishops of Zimbabwe, Vatican City.
* The value of motherhood was raised to the highest level in Mary. It is the
woman who plays the most important role at the beginning of every human life. The
baby is not an object that the mother can dispose of at will, but a person to whom she
is obliged to devote herself, with all the sacrifices that motherhood entails, but also
with the joys it provides. Woman in virtue of her special experience of motherhood
seems to have a specific sensitivity towards the human person. Hence it is not an
exaggeration to define woman's place in the Church and in society as a 'key position'.
General Audience address.
* Women who renounce having children in order to advance their careers or
material well-being deny an essential part of their identity. 'For all the opportunities
opening to women for professional work in society and for apostolates in the church,
nothing could ever equal the eminent dignity which belongs to her maternity when it
is lived in all its dimensions... 'No matter how the roles of women multiply and
expand, everything about her - physiology, psychology, habits that practically belong
to her nature, moral, religious and even aesthetic sensitivity - reveal and exalt her
aptitude, ability and mission to generate new life'. Society needs to be reminded of
the value of motherhood which is not an 'archaic idea' restricting her freedom. Such
erroneous ideas push many women to renounce motherhood. 'Many even claim the
right to suppress the life of a child through abortion as if the right they have over
their own bodies implies a right of property towards their conceived child'. Weekly
General Audience.
* The Church is sometimes accused of making sex a 'taboo'. The truth is quite
different. Sexuality belongs to the Creator's original plan and the Church cannot fail to
hold it in high esteem. At the same time, however, she must ask everyone to respect it
in its inmost nature. Sexuality has a specific language of its own at the service of love.
It actually has its own unique psychological and biological structure, aimed at both
communion between man and woman and at the birth of new persons. Respecting this
structure is concern for the truth of what it means to be human, to be a person.
Angelus talk, Rome.
* Woman bears within her a likeness with God no less than man does. She was
created in God's image in her own personal characteristics as a woman. This is
equality in diversity. Therefore perfection for woman is not to be like man, making
herself masculine to the point of losing her specific qualities as a woman: her
perfection is to be woman, equal to man but different. The value attributed to the
person and mission of woman is fully revealed in Mary. Today, Mary's light can
spread throughout the world of woman, to embrace woman's old and new problems,
helping everyone to understand her dignity and to recognise her rights. Women
receive a special grace: they receive it to live in covenant with God, at the level of their
dignity and mission. They are called to be united in their own way - an excellent way
- with Christ's redeeming work. Women have a great role in the Church. This can be
understood very clearly in the light of the Gospel and of the sublime figure of Mary.
General audience Rome.
* The Church, an expert in mankind, cannot cease proclaiming the truth on
marriage and the family as God established it. Ceasing to do so would be a serious
pastoral omission which would lead believers to error as well as those who have the
important responsibility of making decisions on the common good of the nation. The
pastoral ministry of the family must consider as well the inestimable and irreplaceable
educational vocation of the couple when, as parents, they are called to the great
responsibility of instructing their children...Awaken -- in Christian families --
apostolic zeal so they make the task of the new evangelization their own'. Address to
the Bishops of Chile on their 'ad limina' visit to Rome, October 1994.
On prayer
BEG God to teach you anything about the subject that you cannot understand.....If
anyone tries to prevent your prayer or advises you to give it up, do not trust what he
says but look upon him as a false prophet. In these times you must not listen to
everybody: if today someone tells you that you have nothing to fear, there is no
knowing what he will say tomorrow. To know how to recite the Our Father well will
show you how to say all other prayers ... It comprises the whole spiritual life from the
very beginning until God absorbs the soul into Himself ... St Teresa of Avila.
NACF members write
* The time between holding that newborn baby, looking into those wondering, all-
gazing eyes, to waving goodbye to the little figure skipping off to school, can feel like a
lifetime, writes Sarah Churchill. So much development, so many stages, so much
emotion from frustration to pure joy, from anger to pure love. The parents' role has
been total, absolute, the child has been central to all that happened in the home. So,
before Mrs Smith gets him in the infants, what has life been like in the past five years?
Perhaps we should start at the beginning, and I mean 'the beginning', at conception.
Life being pregnant is well documented, and every experience is different. For some it
is easy, for others it is nine months of ill health. For most of us, it is something in
between - but already our responsibility as parents has begun. A priest once said we
should 'think of our body as a house, and make that house a permanently joyful place
for our most favoured guest, Jesus. Despite the nausea, veins and heartburn, surely
we should feel like this about nurturing a baby for nine months.
* Always say morning and night prayers with your children' writes Pam Talbot,
either 'official' prayers, or make them up yourself. Keep morning prayers short, try
and say evening prayers together with the whole family before everyone is too tired.
Remember to say Grace at mealtimes Keep a set time during the week to study the
Catechism with the children, and go over the readings for the Sunday Mass. Try and
keep a time each day to read to the children - lives of the saints, Bible stories and so on.
Whose feast day is it today? Who is your patron saint? What is an angel?
Sacramentals are very important. Make sure you always have something blessed on
you, make use of Holy Water in the home. For the Friday penance, take the children
to visit the Blessed Sacrament, say the Stations of the Cross. While in the Church,
point out and explain some of the features. Try and make feast days special.
Facts
Out of 37,000 AIDS sufferers in New York, only 70 had caught the disease from
heterosexual sources. In Britain, people suffering from AIDS have twenty six times
as much money spent on them as those suffering from heart disease or lung cancer.
The government 'ring fences' AIDS money which means that any unspent money
cannot be transferred to other health programmes.
We keep being told that the Netherlands has the lowest teenager pregnancy rate in
Europe, and that we should therefore imitate Dutch sex-education programmes. But
this fact is simply not true. The Dutch describe numerous abortions as 'menstrual
extraction's' and therefore do not record them in their statistics. There are many more
abortions in the Netherlands than the official figures reveal.
Travel
MORE than 400,000 pilgrims visit Cana in Galillee every year. The Mayor of Cana,
Wasil Taha, is inviting couples to visit the town next summer to renew their marriage
vows in the Franciscan Church in Galillee, built on the traditional site of the famous
miracle. For detailed information and registration, Tel: 972 6 517741 or fax 972 6
516251
* Inter-Church Travel is the UK's largest operator of religious tours, Amongst tours
on offer are a visit to Orthodox churches and monasteries in Romania; Santiago de
Compostella for the Feast of St James; Rome, including a general audience with the
Pope; the Holy Land; Biblical sites in Greece, Crete, Santorini, Rhodes and Turkey.
Inter-Church's programmes of retreat holidays, using retreat houses, monasteries and
convents cover twelve centres in eight countries including Lourdes, Bec Abbey in
Northern France, St Catherine's Monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai, Assisi, and the
remote Sambata monastery in Romania. Inter-Church tours are not sold through travel
agents, but details are available by calling (free) on 0800 300 444 or by writing to Inter-
Church Travel Ltd, Freepost, PO Box 58, Folkestone, Kent CT20 1YB.
Population: 'power of the lie'
'ONE thing, at least, we know after Cairo which we did not know before Cairo. We
know now that the power of the Lie has never been so great as it is today, Hitler lied
very well. Stalin lied even better. But never before was it possible to get the whole
world repeating a lie as it had in 1994. In Cairo, at the UN Population Conference, we
were told that the world population crisis had exceeded all known limits. It hadn't.
Population all over the world is decreasing. We were told that population was
outstripping food supplies, bringing famine in its wake. It isn't. The world's people
are better fed than ever before, We were told that the whole world agreed on state-
subsidised abortion as the only means to curb disaster. It isn't. "If 174 hands go up
and only 6 don't", said a US delegate, "that's consensus". In fact, 12 of the largest
nations spoke against abortion in the strongest terms as a means of demographic
control. Most Islamic nations didn't vote. And in the end the conference failed to
agree. This was a remarkable result for a conference masterminded by the world's
abortion ideologues, backed by the US Clinton Administration and heavily
propagandised by the media. A blatant attempt to bamboozle the entire world into
legalising abortion, with Family Planning in control, has been stopped in its tracks.
Not a bad result for a Christian minority, led by the Church. Bravo, Holy Father!
Challenge Magazine, Canada.
* The world's population growth-rate has sunk to its lowest rate for 40 years (1.5
percent). Economically, this declining birthrights mean heavy strains on national
budgets. In Germany, where 20.6 percent of the population is over sixty, pensions are
becoming the biggest government expense. In Italy in 1993 deaths outstripped births
by 5,265. Rather than seeing a child as a 'joy for the future', observed an editorial in
the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, couples regard children as cutting into
'the comfortableness of the present'.
* The Committee on Population and the Economy has produced a helpful pack
containing easy to absorb information on the relationship between population and
such topics as food, the environment, resources, feminism, 'unmet needs', and others..
A New Resource on Population: the Population Information Pack. 4.00 from CPE, 13
Norfolk House, Courtlands, Sheen Road, Richmond, Surrey TW10 5AT.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Provided courtesy of:
Eternal Word Television Network
PO Box 3610
Manassas, VA 22110
Voice: 703-791-2576
Fax: 703-791-4250
Data: 703-791-4336
FTP: EWTN.COM
Telnet: EWTN.COM
Email address: SYSOP@ EWTN.COM
EWTN provides a Catholic online
information and service system.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
