Work-life challenge
One of the greatest challenges to families and marriage is the current economic situation which forces parents to work at two and three jobs just to make ends meet, the prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, Cardinal Kevin Farrell (pictured) has warned.
He gave the keynote speech to the Faith and Life Convention in Belfast on Saturday, addressing 500 delegates from the Diocese of Down and Connor on Amoris Laetitia. The cardinal appealed to parishes to set up study groups to read the document and to train couples to teach, prepare and accompany married couples, rather than relying on priests.
Cancer vaccine apology
The Bishop of Waterford and Lismore has apologised for his criticism of the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine, which is given to teenage girls to protect against cervical cancer.
Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan had claimed it was “lulling” young girls into promiscuity. But in a surprise statement on Monday, he acknowledged he was not fully informed about the vaccination programme and admitted he had contributed to misinformation. “I can see now how HPV vaccines can contribute greatly to lowering the rate of cervical cancer. As I have learnt, possession of full information is paramount on this vital health issue.” His “abject” apology was welcomed by Fr Brendan Hoban of the Association of Catholic Priests, who said the bishop’s comments had been “ill-informed and dangerous”. Irish Minister for Health, Simon Harris, had described the bishop’s assertions as “ignorant” and “unhelpful”.
The Little Sisters of the Poor are to withdraw from Edinburgh after 154 years accommodating the elderly at St Joseph’s care home. But the order says it is “fully committed” to finding another care provider to run the home for its 48 residents and, if that fails, to find them other placements. Sr Kathleen Taylor, Mother Provincial of the Little Sisters of the Poor, said it could take up to a year to find a provider, with a “similar ethos” to the order. The Edinburgh convent is one of three homes the Sisters have in Scotland.
A memorial Mass for Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor was to take place on Wednesday 4 October at Westminster Cathedral. The Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, was to be the principal celebrant. Cardinal Cormac died on 1 September and is buried in the cathedral at the Tenth Station of the Cross.
Professor Emerita Ursula King was the main speaker at the annual gathering of the Catholic Women’s Ordination (CWO) group in Bristol. Members and supporters from across the UK gathered last weekend to hear Professor King speak on women’s ordination in the Church of England and the recent warm encounter between Pope Francis and the Lutheran Archbishop of Sweden, Antje Jackelén. Some 40 people attended the meeting, held in the parish hall at the church of St Nicholas of Tolentino. CWO last met there in 2014, the only two occasions in the group’s 25-year history that it has been able to meet on Catholic premises.
Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has admitted that his investment firm profits from abortion pills. Somerset Capital Management, the company he co-founded in 2007, has nearly £5 million worth of shares in the Indonesian firm, Kalbe Farma. The firm produces drugs to treat stomach ulcers but they are known to trigger terminations. Abortions in Indonesia are illegal. Mr Rees-Mogg, who recently voiced his opposition to abortion in all circumstances, told the Sunday Mirror he hasn’t personally managed the funds since he became an MP in 2010. “This is not something I would wish to invest in personally but you have a duty as an investment manager not to impose constraints on investors,” he said.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has criticised the way the BBC responded to the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse crisis. Justin Welby said the BBC had not shown the same integrity over accusations of child abuse as the Catholic and Anglican Churches. The BBC said it did not recognise the accusation and that it had acted transparently over Savile. A group of six survivors of abuse in the Church of England criticised the archbishop for his comments which, they said, did not reflect their own “bitter experience”.
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