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.

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