Tuesday, April 5, 2011

2 Canadian bishops cancel priest's presentations over abortion ties RSS Facebook April 05, 2011

Two Canadian bishops canceled the speaking appearances of a Mexican priest over the latter's ties to groups that support abortion.
Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa announced that Father Luis Arriaga, a fellow Jesuit and director of Centro Prodh (the Miguel Pro Centre) in Mexico City, would not be making scheduled presentations at the diocesan center and local parishes because of the "Centre's support of groups espousing abortion."
According to press reports, Centro Prodh is a partner of the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (CCODP), the official international development organization of the Church in Canada. CCODP had sponsored Father Arriaga's appearances in Canada as part of its Share Lent campaign.
"Since the Centre's support of groups in favor of abortion rights in Mexico is incompatible with the Church's defense of the right to life from conception to natural death and the mission of Development and Peace, and in order to remove any doubt about this commitment, the speaking engagements of Fr. Arriaga have been cancelled," the Ottawa archdiocese announced.
Another Ontario prelate, Bishop Paul-André Durocher of Alexandria-Cornwall, canceled Father Arriaga's speaking appearances in his diocese.
"The decisions to cancel the speaking engagements were made in view of allegations about the Centre Prodh and Father Arriaga, because of which it appears that 'prayer protests' were being planned," the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a statement. "The CCCB Standing Committee on CCODP will shortly discuss the questions which have been raised."
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Saudi Arabia: where carrying the Rosary is a crime RSS Facebook April 05, 2011

Camille Eid, a professor at the University of Milan, describes the persecution Christians endure in Saudi Arabia. Eid, who has lived in Jeddah-- the nation's second-largest city-- told the television program "Where God Weeps" that

it is hard to be a lay Catholic in Saudi Arabia because you have to have a very deep background in your faith. You cannot have copies of the Gospel in your home. You cannot have a rosary. You cannot have contact with your Christian friends as a community; you can have Christian friends, you can frequent the foreign communities but you are prohibited from talking about your faith … In other Islamic countries Friday is a holiday so Mass as a community [is allowed], but not on Sunday because Sunday is considered a working day; but even this is not the case in Saudi Arabia.
"We have a case of the martyrdom of a Saudi girl who converted to Christianity," Eid adds. "Her brother discovered her. She wrote a poem to Christ and she had her tongue cut, she disappeared and was later found dead. Her name was Fatima Al-Mutairi and this happened in August of 2008. In 2008 two cases of raids by the religious police saw men, women and children less than three years old arrested. We have many reports of torture."



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European bishops urge compassion for Libyan refugees RSS Facebook April 05, 2011

The Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe is urging the nations of Europe to have compassion on the Libyan refugees who are fleeing their strife-torn land.
"The soul-stirring influx of émigrés arriving in Europe, especially from Libya, victims of the war, is well-known to all of us," the bishops said in a statement. "Masses of refugees reach Europe on Italy's coasts. However, the issue does not affect just one nation, but calls for the solidarity, and institutional solidarity, too, of all peoples on the European continent, as well as that of the structures of the European Union and other continental bodies."
"In every human person we must see the inalienable dignity of the creature bearing in him / herself the image of God," the bishops added. "We are also responsible for safeguarding legal order and are respectful of the dignity of all people in the countries of our continent. We pray that arms may give way to reason and dialogue."
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