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(Vatican Radio) The Catholic Bishops of the Philippines have expressed alarm at signs of vigilantism and a sharp rise in police killings, following a general election a month ago. As regional correspondent Alastair Wanklyn reports, the nation's incoming president has threatened to stamp out crime, using all means possible.

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In a statement, the bishops expressed alarm at reports that suspected drug pushers have been shot dead because they resisted arrest. They cited reports that bodies have been paraded for the media with labels declaring their supposed crime.

The bishops also condemned the offering of financial bonuses to police who kill. They said such bounties are never morally acceptable.

The statement is a pastoral message addressed to Philippine law enforcers. It was released on Monday by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.

The nation will get a new leader at the end of June, when President-elect Rodrigo Duterte takes office. He has said he will support police who kill in driving down crime.

The bishops' statement did not mention Duterte, but it condemned vigilantism, saying every Christian should turn away from such movements.

The statement finished acknowledging the brutality police face in the Philippines, but it said Christians should ask themselves if they have contributed to the spread of crime, by their acts or by their silences.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, the Cardinal of Manila, Luis Antonio Tagle, issued a special prayer for public officials. It quotes St. Paul's Letter to Timothy, urging people to pray for those in office so that they may live "quiet lives, godly and dignified in every way."

The prayer is to be used at Masses up until Duterte takes office.

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(Vatican Radio) The opening session of the long awaited pan-Orthodox Council took place on Monday on the Greek island of Crete, led by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew 1st.

Preparations for the ‘Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church’ have been in the works for more than 50 years, but the meeting has been overshadowed by the last minute decision of four Church leaders to stay away from the week long meeting.

Despite these difficulties, Patriarch Bartholomew hailed the significance of the Council in his opening address, as our correspondent at the meeting Nicolas Papachristou reports:

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Among the representatives of the other Christian Churches present at the opening session of the Council today was the head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Kurt Koch, who is leading a delegation from the Holy See. He shared  his impressions of the opening session, saying the meeting is a very important event that can deepen the relationship between the local Orthodox Churches, but he says he hopes it can also lead to a strengthening of relations with the Catholic Church.

The cardinal recalls how Pope Francis, in Evangelii Gaudium, speaks of the gifts that Catholics can receive from other Christian Churches, in particular the synodality of the Orthodox Church. 

He notes that the main issues of discussion between Catholics and Orthodox are centred on primacy and synodality, adding that he hopes there will be progress made at the next plenary session of the joint international commission for Catholic-Orthodox dialogue to be held in Italy in September

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Munich, Germany, Jun 20, 2016 / 10:00 am (CNA).- In April, Robert Spaemann, emeritus professor of philosophy at the University of Munich, attracted significant attention for an interview with Anian Christoph Wimmer, editor of CNA's German-language edition.

Greatly valued as an advisor by Saint John Paul II, a friend of Benedict XVI, and widely held to be the most important German Catholic philosopher of recent decades, Spaemann expressed a distinctly critical interpretation of Amoris Laetitia.

After widespread reaction to that interview, Spaemann responded with a follow-up column in “Tagespost.” That column is reprinted below with permission.

 

We Shouldn’t Talk About a “Breach”: The Debate on Pope Francis and His Exhortation, Amoris Laetitia

By Robert Spaemann

My critical remarks in a conversation with Catholic News Agency (CNA) on the Papal Exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, have evoked lively reactions – partly in enthusiastic approval, partly in rejection. The rejection refers primarily to the sentence that expresses a “breach with the teaching tradition of the Catholic Church” in footnote 351. What I wanted to say was that several of the Holy Father’s expressions are contrary to the words of Jesus, to the words of the Apostles, as well as the traditional Doctrine of the Church.

One should only speak of a breach when a Pope clearly and explicitly teaches something by formally invoking his apostolic authority – so not casually in a footnote – that contradicts the aforementioned doctrinal tradition. The case is not given here because Pope Francis does not love unambiguousness. When he recently said that Christianity knows no “either-or,” it shows he is clearly not bothered that Christ said, “Let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ mean ‘no.’ Anything more is from the evil one” (Mt 5:37). The letters of St. Paul are full of “either-or’s.” And finally, “Whoever is not with me is against me” (Mt 12:30).

Pope Francis, however, only wants to “make suggestions.” Contradicting suggestions cannot be disallowed. And one must, in my opinion, contradict him energetically when he claims in Amoris Laetitia that Jesus also had only “set forth a demanding ideal.” No, Jesus commanded, “for he taught as one having authority, and not as their scribes” (Mt. 7:29). He himself points to, in among others a conversation with the rich young man, the inner unity of discipleship with the observance of the Ten Commandments (Lk 18:18-24). Jesus preaches no ideal, rather institutes a new reality: the Kingdom of God on earth. Jesus does not suggest, he invites and commands, “I give you a new commandment.” This new reality and this commandment bear a close relation to human nature, which is perceptible by the means of reason.

Even if what the Holy Father expressed does not fit well with what I read in the scriptures and what comes to me in the Gospels, then it is not a sufficient reason to speak of a breach and it is above all not a reason – as Alexander Kissler unfortunately does – to make the Pope an object of polemics and ridicule. When St. Paul stood before the Sanhedrin to defend himself and the high priest ordered that he be struck in the face, Paul reacted with the words, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall.” After it was made known to Paul that he was standing before the high priest, Paul said, “Brothers, I did not know that he was the high priest. For it is written, ‘You shall not curse a ruler of your people’” (Acts 23:3,5). Kissler should have been moderate in tone when he wrote about the Pope even if the content of his critique is, for the most part, justifiable.

The Pope complained that some – incited by the media – go more or less out of the way of his countless discussions on the alarming state of the family in order to get tied up on a footnote on the topic of receiving Holy Communion. But the pre-synodal public discussion revolved only once around this topic because there is actually only a yes or no answer here. The debate was continued and indeed equally controversial as before because the Pope refused to quote his predecessors’ clear statements concerning this matter and because his answer is so obviously equivocal that everyone can interpret and does interpret his words in favor of one’s own opinion.

“If the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will be ready for battle?” (1 Cor 14:8). If the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith sees himself by now forced to publicly accuse one of the closest episcopal advisors and papal ghostwriter of heresy, then things have already gone too far. Also, the Roman Catholic Church is not infinitely resilient. Pope Francis loves to compare the critics of his politics with those “sitting on the chair of Moses.” But here, the shot backfires. It was the teachers of the law who defended divorce and handed down a regulation for them. Jesus’ disciples were then ultimately appalled by the Master’s strict ban on divorce, “Who then can still marry?” (Mt 19:10). Just as the people, who ran away upon hearing the proclamation of the Lord to eat His body and drink His blood, said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it? (John 6:60). The Lord “was moved with pity for the crowd,” but He was not a populist. “Do you also want to leave?” (John 6:67). This question to the Apostles was His only reaction to the decline in disciples.

 

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Rome, Italy, Jun 20, 2016 / 12:13 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A Vatican conference dedicated to the up-and-coming 'theology of disability' aims not only to end common stigma surrounding persons with disabilities, but to show that their lives are a gift and to help integrate them more fully into the life of the Church and of society.

“The disabled person’s life has never been more in danger as it is now, before life and after,” Cristina Gangemi told CNA in an interview.

Co-director of The Kairos Forum and an expert in  intellectual and cognitive disability with a particular focus on spirituality, Gangemi and her organization are partnering with the Pontifical Council for Culture in putting on the “Living Fully 2016” conference later this week.

Society, she said, “is seeking to develop the perfect human person,” and in doing so renders the life of the disabled “mechanistic.”

Rather, “the disabled person calls you back to love, because they say: ‘I look differently, I think differently, I’m a creative learner, I do things in a way that’s not typical, but do you love me?’ And it calls society to answer to the question: ‘Do you love that human person?’”

More importantly, persons with disabilities pose the same questions to the Church, she said, adding that the Church’s response must reflect Pope Francis’ call to love and mercy.

Gangemi said this reflection doesn’t come from feeling sorry for disabled persons, “but that we feel sorry for the way we’ve treated them. We’ve created a community of ‘them and us,’ and we must remove that and get back to a community of ‘us,’ because within the body of Christ there is only us.”

The Living Fully conference in Rome is being held June 23-26, beginning with a symposium on “Exploring Disability, Theology, Practice and Culture.” That will be followed by a three-day conference titled “Disability, Culture, Family and Faith – a Celebration,” hosted by LUMSA University.

Topics that will be covered include how to see the disabled with God's eyes' the Church's attitude and practice in welcoming disabled persons; the gift of our bodies as they are in light of St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, and how to end and the problems of isolation and loneliness often experienced by persons with disabilities.

Personal stories from people with one or more disabled family members will also be given throughout the conference.

Gangemi explained that the 'theology of disability' is “a new, emerging discipline” and is born from the experience of both disabled persons and their families, as well as the desire to explore their place and value in the Christian community.

The pioneer behind disability theology is John Vanier, a Catholic philosopher, theologian, and humanitarian from Canada.

In 1964 Vanier founded L’Arche foundation, which has grown to become an international federation of communities for people with developmental disabilities, and is present in 35 countries around the world.

According to Gangemi, the essence of disability theology can be defined as “a way of exploring the Christian Gospel and the very essence of God through the life experiences and expressions of people who’ve been disabled.”

While Vanier is Catholic, the story of L’Arche and the study of disability theology have been taken up especially by members of the Anglican Communion, Gangemi said, explaining that because of this the conference will also feature ecumenical speakers.

As someone who has been working in the field for more than 20 years, Gangemi said that while Catholic theologians are taking an increasing interest in disability theology, “it’s a missing bit of what we do as a Church.”

“Disability isn’t a special occasion, it’s an everyday occurrence, it’s part of who we are as Church,” she said, voicing her hope that the fact that LUMSA University is hosting the conference will help to ensure that disability theology “is part and parcel of what universities and Catholic studies have in the future.”

One concrete sign of the Church’s increasing interest in persons with disabilities is the recent Jubilee of the Disabled, held June 10-12 as part of Pope Francis’ wider Jubilee of Mercy. During the jubilee, Pope Francis said discriminating against the disabled is “ugly,” and insisted such persons ought to be loved, rather than hidden from society.

Gangemi said that in her opinion, while the topic of disability theology has always been needed in the Church, the need is more dire today due to the “urgent drive to obtain the perfect human.”

“The disabled person still lives in a very paradoxical place,” she said, noting how currently in the UK, the only factor allowing parents to get a full-term abortion at 40 weeks gestation is for reasons of fetal disability.

“Even the day that you’re born, (right) before you’re born if you’re known to have a disability and it’s decided that you shouldn’t exist, you can be aborted.”

The paradox, she said, is that if the disabled child survives pregnancy and is born, they are then protected by legislation which deems them “an equal and valued human being” and provides for their needs.

With the Church “it’s the other way around,” she said. “Because of our stance on life as gift and our protection of the unborn child, the disabled person’s life is totally respected and valued.” But once the disabled child is born and baptized, “there’s almost nothing for them to do.”

“So the theology of disability doesn’t say it’s about belonging, it says ‘what are you going to do in your parish, and how are they going to belong?’”

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IMAGE: CNS/Sean Hawkey

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church opened with only 10 of the 14 Orthodox churches represented, Pope Francis offered his prayers.

After reciting the Angelus prayer June 19, the pope had thousands of visitors in St. Peter's Square join him in praying a Hail Mary for "all of our Orthodox brothers and sisters."

Pope Francis noted that the day was Pentecost on the Julian calendar followed by the Orthodox. "Let us unite ourselves to the prayer of our Orthodox brothers and sisters, invoking the Holy Spirit so that it would assist with its gifts the patriarchs, archbishops and bishops gathered in the council."

The pope's daily tweet repeated his message: "Let us join in prayer with our Orthodox brothers and sisters for the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church opening today in Crete." Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who is presiding over the council meetings, retweeted the pope's message.

In his homily at the Cathedral of St. Minas in Heraklion, Crete, Patriarch Bartholomew insisted the Orthodox Church is united in its faith in Christ and in church doctrine. "The Orthodox Church is one, but reveals itself in the world through its individual local vines, which are unbreakably and indivisibly attached to one -- to one church, to one body," he said.

The patriarch did not directly address the absence of delegations from the Orthodox churches of Bulgaria, Antioch, Georgia and Russia, which is the largest of the Orthodox churches. Although they had agreed in January to attend, the absent churches cited a variety of reasons for staying away, ranging from jurisdictional disputes to objections to the procedures adopted for the meeting. The patriarchs of the 10 participating churches had met separately June 17 and sent last-minute pleas to the four churches to attend.

In his homily, Patriarch Bartholomew said the Orthodox bishops need the council "so as to adopt the appropriate measures to protect the faithful from the prevailing errors" present in the world today. "The number of religious factions that are attempting to lead the Orthodox faithful astray are in the hundreds."

"Regardless of our different opinions, we Orthodox Christians ought to point out that the only road on our course in this world is unity," the patriarch said. "Of course, this road demands a living sacrifice, much work and is achieved after great struggle. It is certain that this council of ours will contribute toward this direction by creating a climate of mutual trust and understanding through our meeting in the Holy Spirit and through an edifying and sincere dialogue."

The unity of the Orthodox Church, he said, "does not take on the form of a federation, nor does it stem from congregating around some mortal figure. It proceeds from and is made complete by our common faith, which is synonymous with salvation, with eternal life."

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