CHRISTIANS AND
BUDDHISTS: INCREASING DIALOGUE THROUGH EDUCATION
Vatican City, 3 April 2012 (VIS) - Made public today was the annual Message to Buddhists for the Feast of Vesakh, issued by the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. The message is signed by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran and Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata, respectively president and secretary of the council. (IMAGE RADIO VATICANA\)
Vesakh is the main Buddhist feast and commemorates the three fundamental moments in the life of Gautama Buddha. According to tradition, the historical Buddha was born, achieved enlightenment and passed away during the full moon of the month of May. Thus Vesakh is a mobile feast which this year falls on 5 and 6 May, while in China it is celebrated on the eighth day of the fourth month of the Chinese calendar, which this year corresponds to 28 April. On those days, Buddhists decorate their houses with flowers and perfume them with incense, visit local temples and listen to the teaching of the monks.
This year's message is entitled: "Christians and Buddhists: Sharing Responsibility for Educating the Young Generation on Justice and Peace through Inter-religious Dialogue": Extracts from the English-language version of the text are given below.
"Today, more and more in classrooms all over the world, students belonging to various religions and beliefs sit side-by-side, learning with one another and from one another. This diversity gives rise to challenges and sparks deeper reflection on the need to educate young people to respect and understand the religious beliefs and practices of others, to grow in knowledge of their own, to advance together as responsible human beings and to be ready to join hands with those of other religions to resolve conflicts and to promote friendship, justice, peace and authentic human development.
"With His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, we acknowledge that true education can support an openness to the transcendent as well as to those around us. Where education is a reality there is an opportunity for dialogue, for inter-relatedness and for receptive listening to the other. In such an atmosphere, young people sense that they are appreciated for who they are and for what they are able to contribute; they learn how to grow in appreciation of their brothers and sisters whose beliefs and practices are different from their own. When that happens there will be joy in being persons of solidarity and compassion called to build a just and fraternal society giving thus hope for the future.
"As Buddhists you pass on to young people the wisdom regarding the need to refrain from harming others and to live lives of generosity and compassion, a practice to be esteemed and recognised as a precious gift to society. This is one concrete way in which religion contributes to educating the young generation, sharing the responsibility and cooperating with others.
"As a matter of fact, young people are an asset for all societies. By their genuineness, they encourage us to find an answer to the most fundamental questions about life and death, justice and peace, the meaning of suffering, and the reasons for hope. Thus they help us to progress in our pilgrimage towards Truth. By their dynamism, as builders of the future, they put pressure on us to destroy all the walls which unfortunately still separate us. By their questioning they nurture the dialogue between religions and cultures.
"Dear friends, we join our hearts to yours and pray that together we will be able to guide the young people by our example and teaching to become instruments of justice and peace. Let us share the common responsibility we have towards the present and future generations, nurturing them to be peaceful and to be peace makers".
RITE FOR THE BLESSING OF A CHILD IN THE WOMB
Vatican City, 3 April 2012 (VIS) - Beginning in the second week of May when many countries around the world celebrate Mother's Day, the text of the "Rite for the Blessing of a Child in the Womb", having received the approval of the Holy See, will be made available in parishes throughout the United States. The announcement was made recently in a note issued by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops informing the faithful that the the text - printed in both English and Spanish - has received the "recognitio" of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston and chairman of the episcopal conference's Committee on Pro-Life Activities, has explained that the blessing was prepared to "support parents awaiting the birth of their child, to encourage parish prayers for and recognition of the precious gift of the child in the womb, and to foster respect for human life within society". The blessing may be imparted either during the liturgy or outside of Mass and the text will eventually be included in the Book of Blessings, after it has been revised.
The blessing of unborn children was promoted by Archbishop Joseph Edward Kurtz of Louisville. When bishop of Knoxville he had asked the Committee on Pro-Life Activities to see whether a blessing existed for a child in the womb. When none was found, the committee began preparing a text which was presented to the Divine Worship Committee in March 2008. In November of the same year the full body of bishops approved the prayer and it was sent to the Holy See for the "recognitio".
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican City, 3 April 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father:
- Appointed Bishop Jose Carlos Cabrero Romero of Zacatecas, Mexico, as archbishop of San Luis Potosi (area 19,428, population 1,925,000, Catholics 1,845,000, priests 264, permanent deacons 10, religious 985), Mexico. He succeeds Archbishop Luis Morales Reyes, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.
- Appointed Bishop Castor Oswaldo Azuaje Perez O.C.D., auxiliary of Maracaibo, Venezuela, as bishop of Trujillo (area 7,400, population 788,000, Catholics 746,000, priests 117, permanent deacons 23, religious 93), Venezuela. He succeeds Bishop Vicente Ramon Hernandez Pena, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit
Vatican City, 3 April 2012 (VIS) - Made public today was the annual Message to Buddhists for the Feast of Vesakh, issued by the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. The message is signed by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran and Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata, respectively president and secretary of the council. (IMAGE RADIO VATICANA\)
Vesakh is the main Buddhist feast and commemorates the three fundamental moments in the life of Gautama Buddha. According to tradition, the historical Buddha was born, achieved enlightenment and passed away during the full moon of the month of May. Thus Vesakh is a mobile feast which this year falls on 5 and 6 May, while in China it is celebrated on the eighth day of the fourth month of the Chinese calendar, which this year corresponds to 28 April. On those days, Buddhists decorate their houses with flowers and perfume them with incense, visit local temples and listen to the teaching of the monks.
This year's message is entitled: "Christians and Buddhists: Sharing Responsibility for Educating the Young Generation on Justice and Peace through Inter-religious Dialogue": Extracts from the English-language version of the text are given below.
"Today, more and more in classrooms all over the world, students belonging to various religions and beliefs sit side-by-side, learning with one another and from one another. This diversity gives rise to challenges and sparks deeper reflection on the need to educate young people to respect and understand the religious beliefs and practices of others, to grow in knowledge of their own, to advance together as responsible human beings and to be ready to join hands with those of other religions to resolve conflicts and to promote friendship, justice, peace and authentic human development.
"With His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, we acknowledge that true education can support an openness to the transcendent as well as to those around us. Where education is a reality there is an opportunity for dialogue, for inter-relatedness and for receptive listening to the other. In such an atmosphere, young people sense that they are appreciated for who they are and for what they are able to contribute; they learn how to grow in appreciation of their brothers and sisters whose beliefs and practices are different from their own. When that happens there will be joy in being persons of solidarity and compassion called to build a just and fraternal society giving thus hope for the future.
"As Buddhists you pass on to young people the wisdom regarding the need to refrain from harming others and to live lives of generosity and compassion, a practice to be esteemed and recognised as a precious gift to society. This is one concrete way in which religion contributes to educating the young generation, sharing the responsibility and cooperating with others.
"As a matter of fact, young people are an asset for all societies. By their genuineness, they encourage us to find an answer to the most fundamental questions about life and death, justice and peace, the meaning of suffering, and the reasons for hope. Thus they help us to progress in our pilgrimage towards Truth. By their dynamism, as builders of the future, they put pressure on us to destroy all the walls which unfortunately still separate us. By their questioning they nurture the dialogue between religions and cultures.
"Dear friends, we join our hearts to yours and pray that together we will be able to guide the young people by our example and teaching to become instruments of justice and peace. Let us share the common responsibility we have towards the present and future generations, nurturing them to be peaceful and to be peace makers".
RITE FOR THE BLESSING OF A CHILD IN THE WOMB
Vatican City, 3 April 2012 (VIS) - Beginning in the second week of May when many countries around the world celebrate Mother's Day, the text of the "Rite for the Blessing of a Child in the Womb", having received the approval of the Holy See, will be made available in parishes throughout the United States. The announcement was made recently in a note issued by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops informing the faithful that the the text - printed in both English and Spanish - has received the "recognitio" of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston and chairman of the episcopal conference's Committee on Pro-Life Activities, has explained that the blessing was prepared to "support parents awaiting the birth of their child, to encourage parish prayers for and recognition of the precious gift of the child in the womb, and to foster respect for human life within society". The blessing may be imparted either during the liturgy or outside of Mass and the text will eventually be included in the Book of Blessings, after it has been revised.
The blessing of unborn children was promoted by Archbishop Joseph Edward Kurtz of Louisville. When bishop of Knoxville he had asked the Committee on Pro-Life Activities to see whether a blessing existed for a child in the womb. When none was found, the committee began preparing a text which was presented to the Divine Worship Committee in March 2008. In November of the same year the full body of bishops approved the prayer and it was sent to the Holy See for the "recognitio".
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican City, 3 April 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father:
- Appointed Bishop Jose Carlos Cabrero Romero of Zacatecas, Mexico, as archbishop of San Luis Potosi (area 19,428, population 1,925,000, Catholics 1,845,000, priests 264, permanent deacons 10, religious 985), Mexico. He succeeds Archbishop Luis Morales Reyes, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.
- Appointed Bishop Castor Oswaldo Azuaje Perez O.C.D., auxiliary of Maracaibo, Venezuela, as bishop of Trujillo (area 7,400, population 788,000, Catholics 746,000, priests 117, permanent deacons 23, religious 93), Venezuela. He succeeds Bishop Vicente Ramon Hernandez Pena, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit
EUROPE : SOLIDARITY FOR WORLD AUTISM DAY
Archbishop ZimowskiIND. CATH. NEWS REPORT:
Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, has written a message for the Fifth World Autism Day, which took place yesterday, in which he makes an appeal for sensitivity and supportive solidarity towards autistic people and their families. In the message he recalls how "autistic spectrum disorders constitute ... a grave alteration of behaviour, of verbal and non-verbal communication, and of social integration, with a wide-ranging effect on the normal development and evolution of the personality".
"The Church sees as impelling the task of placing herself at the side of these people - children and young people in particular - and their families, if not to breakdown these barriers of silence then at least to share in solidarity and prayer in their journey of suffering". This is particularly important because families with autistic children, although they look after these children with loving care, experience repercussions as regards the quality of their own lives, and are often, in their turn, led to be closed up in an isolation that marginalises and wounds".
For this reason the Church and all men and women of good will "feel committed to being 'travelling companions' with those who live this eloquent silence, which calls upon our sensitivity towards the suffering of others".
The president of the pontifical council highlights the efforts of health care workers, educators, professionals and volunteers, adding that "the scientific world and health care policies must also be encouraged to engage in and ... increase diagnostic, therapeutic and rehabilitative pathways that can address a pathology which affects more people in numerical terms than could have been imagined only a few years ago. To encourage and sustain, in the supportive action of the world of schools, voluntary work and associations, these efforts is a duty, not least to discover and bring out that dignity which even the gravest and most devastating disability does not eliminate, and which always fills us with hope".
Finally Archbishop Zimowski commends autistic people and their families to God. "Although enveloped in the mystery of silence because of a grave psychological disturbance, they are never alone, inasmuch as they are passionately loved by God and, in Him, by the community of those whose faith commits them to becoming a living and transparent sign of the presence of the Resurrected Christ in the world".
Source: VIS
AMERICA : EL SALVADOR : CATHEDRAL STILL OCCUPIED BY EX-COMBATANTS
Agenzia Fides REPORT - The Archbishop of San Salvador,
His Exc. Mgr. Jose Escobar Alas, complained that for the past three months, the
Metropolitan Cathedral has been occupied by a group of ex-combatants, which does
not allow the religious celebrations to be held. "We regret that our Cathedral
is still occupied, especially during this special moment such as Holy Week. This
is why, once again, we ask the people who are inside to reflect and desist from
this evil act that goes against the respect and honor of God and violates the
right of people to worship God in his temple", said the Archbishop talking to
the press.
According to local Fides sources, the Archbishop stressed that this situation constitutes a violation of the right to the freedom of religion guaranteed by Article 25 of the Constitution of the Republic. Meanwhile, the occupants have expressed their willingness to negotiate and leave the premises of the church. Camilo Artiga, one of the occupants, explained that this forceful action continues because the negotiation process has stopped for the Easter holidays. "The Government of the Republic and the Archbishop know our willingness to continue negotiations and to give temple back before Holy Week, but it was not possible because the American government went on vacation," said Artiga. The occupants have also criticized Mgr. Escobar Alas’ words, when he said that their decision is "an act of disrespect" towards the faithful.
The ex-combatants, who entered the cathedral occupying it at the beginning of January, announced that they are not going away until a commission to negotiate with the government is set up. The demands of ex-combatants regard their reinstatement as veterans of the police and the reinstatement of their representative in parliament; the recognition of their trade union (see Fides 16/01/2012). They also stressed their good will because, without having yet reached any agreement, they have opened the Cathedral to ensure that the faithful could visit the grave of Archbishop Romero, on the anniversary of his assassination. "Everything depends on the government if a proper agreement is reached, and if there is an agreement , tomorrow the faithful can also come to Mass in the Cathedral" said Artiga. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 03/04/2012)
According to local Fides sources, the Archbishop stressed that this situation constitutes a violation of the right to the freedom of religion guaranteed by Article 25 of the Constitution of the Republic. Meanwhile, the occupants have expressed their willingness to negotiate and leave the premises of the church. Camilo Artiga, one of the occupants, explained that this forceful action continues because the negotiation process has stopped for the Easter holidays. "The Government of the Republic and the Archbishop know our willingness to continue negotiations and to give temple back before Holy Week, but it was not possible because the American government went on vacation," said Artiga. The occupants have also criticized Mgr. Escobar Alas’ words, when he said that their decision is "an act of disrespect" towards the faithful.
The ex-combatants, who entered the cathedral occupying it at the beginning of January, announced that they are not going away until a commission to negotiate with the government is set up. The demands of ex-combatants regard their reinstatement as veterans of the police and the reinstatement of their representative in parliament; the recognition of their trade union (see Fides 16/01/2012). They also stressed their good will because, without having yet reached any agreement, they have opened the Cathedral to ensure that the faithful could visit the grave of Archbishop Romero, on the anniversary of his assassination. "Everything depends on the government if a proper agreement is reached, and if there is an agreement , tomorrow the faithful can also come to Mass in the Cathedral" said Artiga. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 03/04/2012)
AUSTRALIA : ARCHBISHOP RELEASES DOCUMENT ON MARRIAGE
ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY REPORT
Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee's Inquiry into the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2010
+ Cardinal George Pell,
30 Mar 2012
Introduction
Catholics hold strong beliefs about the dignity of
the human person and the goodness and beauty of marriage as a natural
institution between a man and a woman. In response to the subject inquiry, I
make the following submissions regarding the nature of marriage and why the laws
of the Commonwealth of Australia must continue to recognise and support marriage
as meaning the exclusive and permanent union of one man and one woman.
What is marriage?
Marriage is a natural institution whereby a man and a woman give themselves to each other for life in an exclusive sexual relationship that is open to procreation. It is a union that is publicly recognised, honoured and supported because of its unique capacity to generate children and to meet children's deepest needs for the love and attachment of both their father and their mother. In the words of Professor Robert George of Princeton University:
The definition of marriage as an inherently procreative community does not exclude heterosexual married couples who cannot have children for reasons of age or infertility. They are still married because their sexual union is naturally designed to give life, even if it cannot give life at a particular point in time, or ever. Marriage between a man and a woman always has an inherent capacity for, and orientation towards, the generation of children, whether that capacity is actualized or not.
How does marriage between a man and a woman make a unique contribution to society?
Marriage makes a unique and irreplaceable contribution to society because a stable, loving marriage provides the best conditions for raising children. Through marriage, children are able to grow up knowing that they were created through an act of intimate love and with the knowledge that their mother and father have committed to each other for life. Marriage also contributes uniquely to society in modelling the way women and men live interdependently, recognising the equal dignity, beauty and value of the other, and committing to seek the good of each other. The family based on marriage is also the best social framework for the promotion of inter and intra-generational biological connectivity, which is an important and vital social good.
Marriage: discrimination against same-sex couples?
Unjust discrimination against persons is always wrong, but participation in particular social institutions is not always equally available to all persons within society. Distinguishing between certain groups is essential for the maintenance of the validity of the institution; e.g. university access is based on academic merit and not simply on the desire to attend a university. Women's and girls' only schools and colleges are permitted to deny entry to men, because society recognises that receiving men into the institution would change its essential character.
It is not unjust discrimination against homosexual couples to uphold marriage as being between a man and a woman. Marriage and same-sex unions are essentially different realities. Justice, in fact, requires society to recognise and respect this difference.
Marriage: a basic human right?
"The right to marry and found a family" is affirmed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). International law has always understood and affirmed the enduring, unchanging truth that marriage is a life-giving union of a man and a woman. The United Nations Human Rights Committee, which monitors international human rights treaties, has stated that the right to marry "implies, in principle, the possibility to procreate".2 The right to marry is a fundamental human right. However, to respect this right means to accept the objective reality of marriage as a union of a man and a woman that is inherently procreative.
Why should secular society recognise, structure and encourage marriage?
Secular society has always recognised marriage as a public institution because the marital relationship makes a unique and essential contribution to the common good. Marriage is pre-political and the state has in this sense inherited marriage. The state should not alter and supply different reasons for an institution which it has inherited; rather it can only consider the reasons why this institution has deserved - and still deserves - social recognition and support. The primary reason why nation states have been interested in marriage and why it has attracted public support is because of its procreative aspect, encompassing the generation and raising of children:
The state cannot grant the legal status of marriage to same-sex unions without failing in its duty to promote and defend marriage as an institution essential to the public good.
While same-sex couples can have children by means of donor sperm or eggs, or through adoption, their relationship does not inherently have the possibility of creating children. For same-sex couples, having a child will always involve the use of one or more persons outside their relationship. This is unjust to children and destructive of their family connectedness. This practice should not be publicly endorsed or encouraged, because it involves a profound loss and deprivation for the child concerned: the loss of a pre eminent and vital relationship with their biological father or mother.
Although it is deeply natural and good to desire children, the child should always be seen as a gift - a person whose rights and dignity must always be respected. As affirmed by international law, children have a right to their biological heritage.5 It is a grave injustice to deliberately deprive children of the experience of being loved and raised by their natural mother and father6 and to prevent them from having a developing and ongoing relationship with their biological siblings.
Religious freedom at risk for all Australians
Some proponents of same-sex marriage have argued that in the event of marriage being redefined, the Catholic Church and other religious communities will be "protected" or "exempted" from being required by law to perform same-sex marriages. Such proposals fail to understand the immensely powerful role and influence of the law in our society. Changing the Marriage Act would, in practice, compel Catholics and other faith communities to recognise and accept same-sex marriage in their schools, charities, social welfare, health care and adoption services.
An 'exemption' would only apply to religious celebrants, and would offer no legal protection for the vast majority of Catholics and other Australians with a religious and/or conscientiously-held belief that marriage is a union of a man and a woman.
The Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2010, with or without any accompanying 'exempting' legislation, poses a grave danger to religious freedom. It would threaten the right of Catholics and all Australians who believe in marriage to live, teach and publicly practise their belief that marriage is a union of a man and a woman.
In March 2012 the European Court of Human Rights handed down a judgment reaffirming its earlier decision that same-sex marriage is not a human right under the European Convention on Human Rights. However, the Court added that:
The meaning of marriage is important for all of us
The philosopher Ronald Dworkin, himself a supporter of homosexual marriage, explains why there is a strong case for not changing the meaning of marriage. He begins with the premise that the institution of marriage is:
When we permit same-sex relationships to mimic marriage we also say that a child gains no benefit from the knowledge that they were created through an intimate act of love between their parents. As a result, our understanding of children also changes. Instead of seeing children principally as gifts created in love we begin to treat them as an entitlement.
When legislatures act to change laws, social norms change as a consequence, and these impact on all members of the community. Because marriage is one of the greatest resources of society, one that encourages men and women to commit to each other for life and to love and raise their children together, any change in the definition of marriage away from procreation to simply an emotional union will fundamentally alter society's values. Professors David Tubbs and Robert George explain the impact of a change in the definition of marriage:
Marriage: our common heritage
Pope Benedict XVI has reminded us that marriage between a man and a woman is a fundamental element of the "common patrimony" of humanity - our most precious heritage as human beings. Marriage is the place where sexuality is truly humanized, where man and woman through their exclusive commitment to each other create a family and pass this love on to their children and to future generations:
Thank you for the opportunity to make this submission on such an important matter of national interest.
Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee's Inquiry into the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2010
+ Cardinal George Pell,
30 Mar 2012
Catholics hold strong beliefs about the dignity of
the human person and the goodness and beauty of marriage as a natural
institution between a man and a woman. In response to the subject inquiry, I
make the following submissions regarding the nature of marriage and why the laws
of the Commonwealth of Australia must continue to recognise and support marriage
as meaning the exclusive and permanent union of one man and one woman.
What is marriage?
Marriage is a natural institution whereby a man and a woman give themselves to each other for life in an exclusive sexual relationship that is open to procreation. It is a union that is publicly recognised, honoured and supported because of its unique capacity to generate children and to meet children's deepest needs for the love and attachment of both their father and their mother. In the words of Professor Robert George of Princeton University:
"Marriage is the community formed by a man and a woman who publicly consent to share their whole lives, in a type of relationship oriented toward the begetting, nurturing and educating of children together. This openness to procreation, as the community's natural fulfilment, distinguishes this community from other types."1By contrast, although the community formed by a homosexual couple may involve genuine caring, affection and commitment to one another, it is not an inherently procreative community, because their sexual relationship is not designed to generate children. Marriage is not simply a loving, committed relationship between two people, but a unique kind of physical and emotional union which is open to the possibility of new life.
The definition of marriage as an inherently procreative community does not exclude heterosexual married couples who cannot have children for reasons of age or infertility. They are still married because their sexual union is naturally designed to give life, even if it cannot give life at a particular point in time, or ever. Marriage between a man and a woman always has an inherent capacity for, and orientation towards, the generation of children, whether that capacity is actualized or not.
How does marriage between a man and a woman make a unique contribution to society?
Marriage makes a unique and irreplaceable contribution to society because a stable, loving marriage provides the best conditions for raising children. Through marriage, children are able to grow up knowing that they were created through an act of intimate love and with the knowledge that their mother and father have committed to each other for life. Marriage also contributes uniquely to society in modelling the way women and men live interdependently, recognising the equal dignity, beauty and value of the other, and committing to seek the good of each other. The family based on marriage is also the best social framework for the promotion of inter and intra-generational biological connectivity, which is an important and vital social good.
Marriage: discrimination against same-sex couples?
Unjust discrimination against persons is always wrong, but participation in particular social institutions is not always equally available to all persons within society. Distinguishing between certain groups is essential for the maintenance of the validity of the institution; e.g. university access is based on academic merit and not simply on the desire to attend a university. Women's and girls' only schools and colleges are permitted to deny entry to men, because society recognises that receiving men into the institution would change its essential character.
It is not unjust discrimination against homosexual couples to uphold marriage as being between a man and a woman. Marriage and same-sex unions are essentially different realities. Justice, in fact, requires society to recognise and respect this difference.
Marriage: a basic human right?
"The right to marry and found a family" is affirmed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). International law has always understood and affirmed the enduring, unchanging truth that marriage is a life-giving union of a man and a woman. The United Nations Human Rights Committee, which monitors international human rights treaties, has stated that the right to marry "implies, in principle, the possibility to procreate".2 The right to marry is a fundamental human right. However, to respect this right means to accept the objective reality of marriage as a union of a man and a woman that is inherently procreative.
Why should secular society recognise, structure and encourage marriage?
Secular society has always recognised marriage as a public institution because the marital relationship makes a unique and essential contribution to the common good. Marriage is pre-political and the state has in this sense inherited marriage. The state should not alter and supply different reasons for an institution which it has inherited; rather it can only consider the reasons why this institution has deserved - and still deserves - social recognition and support. The primary reason why nation states have been interested in marriage and why it has attracted public support is because of its procreative aspect, encompassing the generation and raising of children:
"Because married couples ensure the succession of generations and are therefore eminently within the public interest, civil law grants them institutional recognition. Homosexual unions on the other hand, do not need specific attention from the legal standpoint since they do not exercise this function for the common good".3Companionship and love are undoubtedly important, but it is not the role of the state to legislate on the basis of private affections. Procreation, however, constitutes the public reason for marriage, because the creation and raising of children is publicly significant, with immense implications for the common good. The family, based on marriage, is the basic unit on which society and the extended family is built. As such, the state has an interest in and duty to ensure children are raised, as far as possible, by their natural families.4
The state cannot grant the legal status of marriage to same-sex unions without failing in its duty to promote and defend marriage as an institution essential to the public good.
While same-sex couples can have children by means of donor sperm or eggs, or through adoption, their relationship does not inherently have the possibility of creating children. For same-sex couples, having a child will always involve the use of one or more persons outside their relationship. This is unjust to children and destructive of their family connectedness. This practice should not be publicly endorsed or encouraged, because it involves a profound loss and deprivation for the child concerned: the loss of a pre eminent and vital relationship with their biological father or mother.
Although it is deeply natural and good to desire children, the child should always be seen as a gift - a person whose rights and dignity must always be respected. As affirmed by international law, children have a right to their biological heritage.5 It is a grave injustice to deliberately deprive children of the experience of being loved and raised by their natural mother and father6 and to prevent them from having a developing and ongoing relationship with their biological siblings.
Religious freedom at risk for all Australians
Some proponents of same-sex marriage have argued that in the event of marriage being redefined, the Catholic Church and other religious communities will be "protected" or "exempted" from being required by law to perform same-sex marriages. Such proposals fail to understand the immensely powerful role and influence of the law in our society. Changing the Marriage Act would, in practice, compel Catholics and other faith communities to recognise and accept same-sex marriage in their schools, charities, social welfare, health care and adoption services.
An 'exemption' would only apply to religious celebrants, and would offer no legal protection for the vast majority of Catholics and other Australians with a religious and/or conscientiously-held belief that marriage is a union of a man and a woman.
The Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2010, with or without any accompanying 'exempting' legislation, poses a grave danger to religious freedom. It would threaten the right of Catholics and all Australians who believe in marriage to live, teach and publicly practise their belief that marriage is a union of a man and a woman.
In March 2012 the European Court of Human Rights handed down a judgment reaffirming its earlier decision that same-sex marriage is not a human right under the European Convention on Human Rights. However, the Court added that:
"Where national legislation recognises registered partnerships between same sex, member states should aim to ensure that their legal status and their rights and obligations are equivalent to those of heterosexual couples in a similar situation."7Mr Neil Addison, an English barrister who specialises in discrimination law, explained that what this means is that:
"Once same-sex marriage has been legalised then the partners to such a marriage are entitled to exactly the same rights as partners in a heterosexual marriage. This means that if same-sex marriage is legalised in the UK it will be illegal for the Government to prevent such marriages happening in religious premises."8Australia is not a party to the European Convention on Human Rights and is not bound by the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. But this reasoning is likely to be followed by Australian courts and tribunals to read down 'exemptions' intended to protect religious freedom.
The meaning of marriage is important for all of us
The philosopher Ronald Dworkin, himself a supporter of homosexual marriage, explains why there is a strong case for not changing the meaning of marriage. He begins with the premise that the institution of marriage is:
"a unique and immensely valuable cultural resource. Its meaning and hence its value have developed over centuries, and the assumption that marriage is the union of a man and a woman is so embedded in our common understanding that it would become a different institution were that assumption now challenged and lost. Just as we might struggle to maintain the meaning and value of any other great natural or artistic resource, so we should struggle to retain this uniquely valuable cultural resource.We should not treat lightly those legal and social norms which limit marriage to persons of opposite sex. Often out of a sense of not wanting to unfairly discriminate, we can think that allowing equal status to other forms of unions somehow seems just. However, when we equate same-sex relationships with marriage, it further undermines our understanding of family by wrongly implying that biological connectivity of children with their parents and siblings is not important. In addition, it mistakenly says that having both a mother and a father is an unnecessary and superfluous duplication. Contrary to everything we intuitively and sociologically know about effective parenting, it adds further confusion by saying that mothers can 'father' just as well as men, and that fathers can 'mother' just as well as women.
I believe that argument to be the strongest that can be made against gay marriage. It raises a larger and even more important issue. Who should have control, and in what way, over the moral, ethical, and aesthetic culture in which we must all live and that defines the meaning of our social and legal institutions and shapes our lives in many other ways?"9
When we permit same-sex relationships to mimic marriage we also say that a child gains no benefit from the knowledge that they were created through an intimate act of love between their parents. As a result, our understanding of children also changes. Instead of seeing children principally as gifts created in love we begin to treat them as an entitlement.
When legislatures act to change laws, social norms change as a consequence, and these impact on all members of the community. Because marriage is one of the greatest resources of society, one that encourages men and women to commit to each other for life and to love and raise their children together, any change in the definition of marriage away from procreation to simply an emotional union will fundamentally alter society's values. Professors David Tubbs and Robert George explain the impact of a change in the definition of marriage:
"the legal recognition of same-sex partnerships as marriages is likely to further destabilize an institution already damaged by the casual acceptance of cohabitation and unwed childbearing as well as by the high rate of divorce. If a desire to stamp social approval on homosexual conduct and relationships leads to a redefinition of marriage that detaches it not only from biological complementarity and procreation but also from the related norm of sexual exclusivity, what will be left of the institution?"10Legislation similar to the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2010 is being considered in the United Kingdom. As the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales stated recently in their letter of 10 March 2012:
"The law helps to shape and form social and cultural values. A change in the law would gradually and inevitably transform society's understanding of the purpose of marriage. It would reduce it just to the commitment of the two people involved. There would be no recognition of the complementarity of male and female or that marriage is intended for the procreation and education of children."11I reiterate strongly the declaration of the English and Welsh bishops that we have a duty to all married couples, and to future generations, to do all we can "to ensure that the true meaning of marriage is not lost".12 The real and distinctive meaning of marriage - a meaning cherished and preserved for countless generations of the human family - must not be taken away because of a deeply misguided idea that marriage only means any kind of committed relationship between two individuals.
Marriage: our common heritage
Pope Benedict XVI has reminded us that marriage between a man and a woman is a fundamental element of the "common patrimony" of humanity - our most precious heritage as human beings. Marriage is the place where sexuality is truly humanized, where man and woman through their exclusive commitment to each other create a family and pass this love on to their children and to future generations:
"We have a positive idea to offer, that man and woman are made for each other … that marriage develops, first of all as a joyful and blessing-filled encounter between a man and a woman, and then, the family, which guarantees continuity among generations and through which generations are reconciled to each other and even cultures can meet."13I urge you once again to recognise that marriage is an institution between a man and a woman, uniquely designed for the gift of children, and to support the essential and irreplaceable contribution marriage makes to our society.
Thank you for the opportunity to make this submission on such an important matter of national interest.
- Robert P. George, In Defense of Natural Law. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1999, p.168.
- UN Human Rights Committee General Comment No 19.
- Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Considerations regarding proposals to give legal recognition to unions between homosexual persons, June 3, 2003. Available at: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20030731_homosexual-unions_en.html
- UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 7(1).
- UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 30.
- UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 7(1).
- "Gay Marriage is not a human rights, according t European ruling" The Telegraph (UK), 21 March 2012.
- Ibid.
- Ronald Dworkin, "Three Questions for America", The New York Review of Books, September 21, 2006.
- David L. Tubbs & Robert P. George, "Redefining Marriage Away", City Journal, Summer 2004.
- A Letter on Marriage. Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales. 10-11 March 2012. Available at: http://www.catholic-ew.org.uk/content/download/28460/194403/file/abps-letter-marriage-march-2012.pdf.
- Ibid.
- Press interview with Pope Benedict XVI, Castel
Gandolfo, Italy, August 5, 2006.
http://www.sydneycatholic.org/people/archbishop/addresses/2012/2012330_461.shtml
ASIA : PHILIPPINES : UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT KILLED
ASIA NEWS REPORT:
by David Viehland
Members of the Inter-Religious Solidarity Movement for Peace condemn the killing of Arturo Eustaquio III, president of Universidad de Zamboanga, gunned down by unknown assailants on Sunday. He had been involved in education for years. His university was one of the main centres of higher education on the island of Mindanao.
Manila (AsiaNews) - Christian and Muslim leaders have condemned the killing of Universidad de Zamboanga (UZ) president Arturo Eustaquio III, calling on the authorities to stop the spate of killings in the southern Philippines city. Two suspects, reportedly on motorcycles, shot to death the 69-year-old Eustaquio, a Muslim, on Sunday in Santa Maria village.
An active member of the Inter-Religious Solidarity Movement for Peace (IRSMP), Eustaquio was laid to rest the next day on the grounds of the university, founded by his family. The college serves at least 8,000 students, both Christians and Muslims, and over the years has become one of the most prominent centres of higher education in the region. Its main campus is in Zamboanga City and Ipil, but plans are on the drawing board to start another branch in Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur.
The Eustaquio family also owns one of the main private hospitals in the city.
According to police, one motive for the murder was that the university was getting too big. In recent months, the victim had received death threats, the latest on 21 March. Police had warned him that he might be abducted for ransom.
In a press statement signed by IRSMP secretary Fr Angel Calvo and other Christian and Muslim religious leaders, the organisation described the slain educator as a peace advocate who helped students from poor families.
The group complained about the violence that is sweeping the city, with killings and kidnappings. Increasingly, residents are concerned and fearful about their safety.
"If an assassin can kill with impunity a man of stature like Eustaquio, who then in this city can be safe from a similar attack?" IRSMP leaders asked.
The IRSMP appealed to President Benigno Aquino III to exercise his extraordinary and special powers to order appropriate officials, agencies and sectors to restore and preserve peace and order and the rule of law in Zamboanga City and the rest of the island.
After 40 years of fighting between the Filipino military and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Mindanao has become one of the most dangerous places in the Philippines and the world. Abductions, attacks and killings are everyday occurrences, and most go unpunished.
During his election campaign, President Aquino promised to change direction from that taken by her predecessor, Gloria Arroyo. The latter is currently on trial on corruption charges and has been accused of protecting friendly businessmen involved in brutal murders.
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Christian-and-Muslim-leaders-appeal-to-Aquino-after-Universidad-de-Zamboanga-president-is-killed-24429.html
by David Viehland
Members of the Inter-Religious Solidarity Movement for Peace condemn the killing of Arturo Eustaquio III, president of Universidad de Zamboanga, gunned down by unknown assailants on Sunday. He had been involved in education for years. His university was one of the main centres of higher education on the island of Mindanao.
_0404_-_Presidente_Università_Zamboanga.jpg)
Manila (AsiaNews) - Christian and Muslim leaders have condemned the killing of Universidad de Zamboanga (UZ) president Arturo Eustaquio III, calling on the authorities to stop the spate of killings in the southern Philippines city. Two suspects, reportedly on motorcycles, shot to death the 69-year-old Eustaquio, a Muslim, on Sunday in Santa Maria village.
An active member of the Inter-Religious Solidarity Movement for Peace (IRSMP), Eustaquio was laid to rest the next day on the grounds of the university, founded by his family. The college serves at least 8,000 students, both Christians and Muslims, and over the years has become one of the most prominent centres of higher education in the region. Its main campus is in Zamboanga City and Ipil, but plans are on the drawing board to start another branch in Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur.
The Eustaquio family also owns one of the main private hospitals in the city.
According to police, one motive for the murder was that the university was getting too big. In recent months, the victim had received death threats, the latest on 21 March. Police had warned him that he might be abducted for ransom.
In a press statement signed by IRSMP secretary Fr Angel Calvo and other Christian and Muslim religious leaders, the organisation described the slain educator as a peace advocate who helped students from poor families.
The group complained about the violence that is sweeping the city, with killings and kidnappings. Increasingly, residents are concerned and fearful about their safety.
"If an assassin can kill with impunity a man of stature like Eustaquio, who then in this city can be safe from a similar attack?" IRSMP leaders asked.
The IRSMP appealed to President Benigno Aquino III to exercise his extraordinary and special powers to order appropriate officials, agencies and sectors to restore and preserve peace and order and the rule of law in Zamboanga City and the rest of the island.
After 40 years of fighting between the Filipino military and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Mindanao has become one of the most dangerous places in the Philippines and the world. Abductions, attacks and killings are everyday occurrences, and most go unpunished.
During his election campaign, President Aquino promised to change direction from that taken by her predecessor, Gloria Arroyo. The latter is currently on trial on corruption charges and has been accused of protecting friendly businessmen involved in brutal murders.
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Christian-and-Muslim-leaders-appeal-to-Aquino-after-Universidad-de-Zamboanga-president-is-killed-24429.html
AFRICA : TANZANIA : COUNTER HUMAN TRAFFICKING SYMPOSIUM
Cisa News REPORT
DAR ES SALAAM, April 03, 2012
(CISA) -The Second Dar es Salaam Counter Human Trafficking Symposium for
the grassroots and faith based organizations came to an end on March 29,
2012.
DAR ES SALAAM, April 03, 2012
(CISA) -The Second Dar es Salaam Counter Human Trafficking Symposium for
the grassroots and faith based organizations came to an end on March 29,
2012.
The symposium was organized by Reintegrated
Efforts for Social Transformation (REST), Hope for the Children Organization
(HFCO) and the Daughters of Mary Immaculate (DMI) Sisters in Dar, Tanzania
assisted by KARDS and Consolation East Africa from Nairobi, Kenya.
Several faith based and other local
organizations were represented in this symposium including The Catholic
Professionals of Tanzania (CPT), Wanawake Wakatoliki Tanzania (WAWATA), Caritas
Tanzania, Legal Human Rights Center (LHRC), University of Dar es Salaam and
Youth for Change (Y4C).
The symposium provided a healthy forum for
exchange of ideas, perspectives and information on the Challenge of human
trafficking in Tanzania. The important outcome of the symposium was the fact
that participants felt the need to strengthen networking and collaboration
amongst themselves.
The primary topic handled by the symposium was
the reintegration of the victims of human trafficking in Tanzania. This appears
to be a great challenge as facilities for temporary safe haven are lacking. So
far only one organization provides facilities the DMI sisters in Kimara.
Organizations working in countering human
trafficking have little know how of what it entails and its scope. Hence
constant forums for knowledge exchange that also contribute to promotion of
networking play an important role. The participants from Kenya shared with the
other participants that the Church in Kenya dedicated the first week of the 2011
Lenten period to discuss amongst human trafficking. By entrenching the message
against human trafficking in the Lenten Campaign the Kenyan Church indicated
that they saw it as a peace and justice issue.
The next symposium is scheduled for 28th and
29th June in Mombasa and the last major symposium for this year will be held in
Nairobi on 21st, 22nd and 23rd November. The third counter human trafficking
symposium for Tanzania will be held in 28th and 29th March 2013.
SOURCE CISA NEWS AFRICA
TODAY'S MASS ONLINE : TUES. APRIL 3, 2012
| John
13: 21 - 33, 36 - 38
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| 21 | When Jesus had thus spoken, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, "Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me." |
| 22 | The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. |
| 23 | One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was lying close to the breast of Jesus; |
| 24 | so Simon Peter beckoned to him and said, "Tell us who it is of whom he speaks." |
| 25 | So lying thus, close to the breast of Jesus, he said to him, "Lord, who is it?" |
| 26 | Jesus answered, "It is he to whom I shall give this morsel when I have dipped it." So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. |
| 27 | Then after the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly." |
| 28 | Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. |
| 29 | Some thought that, because Judas had the money box, Jesus was telling him, "Buy what we need for the feast"; or, that he should give something to the poor. |
| 30 | So, after receiving the morsel, he immediately went out; and it was night. |
| 31 | When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of man glorified, and in him God is glorified; |
| 32 | if God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. |
| 33 | Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, `Where I am going you cannot come.' |
| 36 | Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus answered, "Where I am going you cannot follow me now; but you shall follow afterward." |
| 37 | Peter said to him, "Lord, why cannot I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you." |
| 38 | Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the cock will not crow, till you have denied me three times. |
TODAY'S SAINT : APRIL 3 : ST. RICHARD
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St. Richard
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BISHOP AND CONFESSOR
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Feast: April 3
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