In some countries, Italy being among them, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is preceded by the Day of Judeo-Christian Reflection...Then we all go back to living by our passions, I guess.
The Pope will also close the week with a special ceremony in the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul next week, where he promises more on the topic of unity:
Next Wednesday I will again address these and other experiences which have opened my heart to hope. Of course the path to unity continues to be long and difficult; however, we must not be discouraged and must continue go forward on it, relying first of all on the sure support of the One who, before ascending to heaven, promised his followers: "And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). Unity is a gift of God and fruit of the Spirit's action. Therefore, it is important to pray. The more we draw near to Christ, being converted to his love, the closer we also come to one another.
- A Pakistani Christian teen jailed for blasphemy has been released.
- B16 had some demands for the new Turkish ambassador to the Vatican:
While enjoying the religious freedom guaranteed to all believers by the Turkish Constitution, the Catholic Church wishes to benefit from a recognised legal statute, and see the start of official dialogue between the Bishops’ Conference and the State authorities in order to resolve any problems that may arise and maintain good relations between both sides. I do not doubt that the governmentwill do everything in its power to progress in this direction.
- The Vatican is having a private meeting about China. And underground Bishop Meng has died at 103. I find the eulogies to these old faithful duffers so moving.
Closer to home: thanks to Joe Knippenberg at No Left Turns for sending me the story of Chaput the Great objecting to Gov. Ritter's plan to re-fund Planned Parenthood. Gov. Ritter ran as a pro-life Democrat and Chaput objects:
It's hard to have a future "for our children and our children's children" without children, and in practice, Planned Parenthood specializes in the business of preventing them.
Knippenberg's no fan of PP, but wonders if Chaput's argument undermines the logic of government support for faith-based initiatives. I see his point, although the Colorado Constitution explicitly forbids government funding of abortion; presumably it doesn't forbid reception of the sacraments or other pervasively Catholic activity. Does that affect the argument?
West Coast Walk for Life is Jan 20. (Remember how exciting that was last year?) The one here in DC is Monday. And the President has designated Sunday National Sanctity of Human Life Day in a nice statement.
One of our society's challenges today is to harness the power of science to ease human suffering without sanctioning practices that violate the dignity of human life. With the right policies, we can continue to achieve scientific progress while living up to our ethical and moral responsibilities.
National Sanctity of Human Life Day serves as a reminder that we must value human life in all forms, not just those considered healthy, wanted, or convenient. Together, we can work toward a day when the dignity and humanity of every person is respected.
