Catholic News 2

When it comes to alcohol, Fr. Charles Searson, a Jesuit priest in Zambia for many years, is unequivocal.

“There is a very clear nuance in the Bible,” says Fr. Searson. “Wine is enjoyable –one glass. Too much wine, too much alcohol; too much Whisky and you get drunk, that’s very wrong.” Fr Searson said this in discussion with Vatican Radio. He says that the Bible has both a positive and negative message when it comes to alcohol.

“God gave us wine to make us happy. That’s Psalm 104 verse 15.” He then adds, “St. Paul in the letter to the Ephesians  Chapter 5 verse 18 has a clear message: Don’t get drunk.” Put differently, says Fr. Searson, it is not unChristian to drink but very unChristian to get drunk.

Fr. Searson is Zambia’s National Director of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart. It is an international Catholic organisation. The association does not advocate for the prohibition of alcohol but does require of its members the complete abstinence from alcohol, drugs and smoking.

The Zambia Pioneer Association is preparing to host the 5th Pan-African Congres on “Faith and Alcohol” to be held in the Zambian capital of Lusaka, this August. The congress will bring together Pioneer members from Africa and beyond as well as various stakeholders involved in the campaign against alcohol abuse. There will also be nurses, doctors, teachers, politicians and the youth in attendance.

Michael Chanda, a former seminarian and now a secondary school teacher in Zambia is a recovering alcoholic. He now dedicates most of his private time talking to Zambia's youth about alcohol abuse. Michael laments the erosion of a clear distinction between social drinking and what actually is alcoholism.

“Alcohol intake is not bad in itself. It is enjoyable but we (Pioneers) look at the dangerous effects of excessive drinking, and the misery alcohol abuse brings to society. We abstain from alcohol for the purpose of prayer on behalf of those ravaged by the excessive consumption of alcohol,” said Michael.

Alcohol has always been part of life in most of Sub-Saharan Africa. It is widely available in many traditional ceremonies such as harvest festivals, weddings and funerals. So, alcohol in itself is not Africa’s problem. The biggest challenge is said to come from binge drinking. According to experts, this is drinking too much alcohol in a short space of time with the express intention of getting drunk.

Those in the know also say that binge drinking is the most harmful form of drinking to individuals. This kind of drinking has been associated with fatal accidents; the misjudging of risky situations or just the loss of self-control.

Fr. Searson and his team believe governments in Africa could do more. They refer, for example, to Zambia’s Liquor Licensing Act which regulates the “sale and supply of intoxicating liquors.” They see this law as most often observed in the breach. In Zambia, underage drinkers can easily buy cheap and strong spirits, and pubs sometimes stay open beyond stipulated hours.

“The Catholic Church has a particular role to play in this huge international problem,” says Fr. Searson. As an organisation dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Pioneers in Zambia are bringing their spiritual values to the problem.

“We say in some of our local languages in Zambia, “mulilo” to mean fire. We hope the fire of God’s love will apply, to heal; to prevent harm and to educate people that life is good. Life is about love, and there is no need to get drunk in order to be happy,” said Fr. Searson.

(Fr. Paul Samasumo, Vatican Radio)

Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday travels to Cairo to meet with Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Egypt’s al-Azhar university. The pope will spend just over 24 hours in the Egyptian capital, where he’ll also meet with the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Tawadros II and leaders of the small Catholic community there.

At al-Azhar university Pope Francis will speak at an international peace conference which the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is also be attending. His visit to the prestigious Islamic institution comes just two months after the resumption of talks between the university and a Vatican delegation.

Professor Gabriel Said Reynolds teaches Islamic Studies and Theology at the University of Notre Dame in the United States and was a member of the Catholic delegation for the talks at al-Azhar in February, which came after years of tension and mistrust between the two sides.

Philippa Hitchen spoke to Professor Reynolds to find out more about the impact of the pope’s visit in the context of this new phase of Catholic-Muslim relations….

Listen:

Professor Reynolds says the al-Azhar delegation was “remarkably eager to restart the conversations” with the Vatican, following the “complications” which date back to the bombing on Dec 31st 2010 in Alexandria. Since the election of Pope Francis, he says, there has been “a real warning of relationships between a number of different Islamic institutes and the Vatican, and this is one sign of that warming”.

Combatting extremist propaganda

During the February meeting, he says, al-Azhar showcased their efforts “to combat the propaganda of extremist groups, notably ISIS or Daesh, in the Islamic world”. He says it was “a real opportunity” to show that while the West often claims that Muslims don't stand up to extremism, “al-Azhar was making point that we’re doing just that”.

Rights of Christian minorities

Participants at the meeting emphasized the work of an institution known as the ‘al-Azhar Observer’ which is active in social media in combatting propaganda of ISIS and others. Reynolds says the Muslim side voiced encouragement to the Vatican “to continue efforts to reach out to people in the West about welcoming Muslim migrants, in Europe and elsewhere”, while the Vatican side urged al-Azhar “to speak out about the rights of Christian minorities in the Islamic world”.

Prestige of al-Azhar in Islamic world

Commenting on the authority of al-Azhar within the Islamic world, he notes that, unlike the Catholic Church, there is no centralized figure or teaching body, so “al-Azhar relies on politics and the power of persuasion” which is “linked to prestige within the Sunni Islamic world”. Historically, he says, it’s been one of the most prestigious institutions, founded in 10th or 11th century. But in recent years “some parties of the Islamic world [who] consider al-Azhar to be one voice among many, while there are also concerns about relations between al-Azhar and the Egyptian government, as well as the “rise of a more conservative Salafi Islam which looks to other sources of authority and sees al-Azhar as not rigorous enough in their approach to Islamic law”.

Amplifying the Pope's message

In this context, Reynolds continues, Pope Francis’ willingness to travel to Cairo, to the heart of the Islamic world is “enormously important”, allowing al-Azhar to “help amplify the pope’s voice and his message about interreligious dialogue, about authentic religion supporting path of peace”. When those messages come only from the pope speaking from Rome or elsewhere in Europe, he says, “they can only reach a certain audience, but when they come from Cairo, alongside Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb , Grand Imam of al-Azhar, then a lot more people will listen”.

Visit "could not come at a better time"

Finally Professor Reynolds speaks about the tense situation in Cairo after the twin bombings on Palm Sunday, the latest in a series of unprovoked attacks on innocent Christians. While Christians initially welcomed the election of President al-Sisi , he says now there is “great anxiety that he hasn't been able to protect the Christian community”. On other side, Reynolds adds, there’s also internal tension at the heart of the Islamic community in Egypt,  so the pope’s visit “could not come at a better time, because of the turmoil now, a voice of peace and moderation is sorely needed”.

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Hundreds of young Filipinos on April 22 gathered in Manila, for a night of music, dancing and testimonials in what its Jesuit organizers dubbed as "One Praise," an annual youth worship that brings together Christian youth bands.

"We come from different communities, different parishes, but we come here united," said Father Roseller Atilano, director of the Jesuit Music Ministry, who spearheaded the event at the Ateneo de Manila University.

The priest said the annual gathering is in only on its second year but "hopefully, every year it gets bigger and bigger."

Father Atilano said this year's event attracted hundreds of young people, the so-called millennials, from various youth groups in the Philippine capital, including priests, seminarians, and even religious sisters.

"Apart from bringing more and more Catholic communities together, we have observed that Filipino composers are beginning to explore the modern sound of praise. This initiative is our contribution to the emerging Filipino charismatic music," said Fr. Atilano.

"With music, hopefully we can be with young people, engage them, and interact with them," said Jesuit Father Emmanuel Alfonso, executive director of Jesuit Communications in Manila. He said the idea for "One Praise" was inspired by the "perceived need to engage the youth more through music."

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila sent a video message to the event to express his regrets not to be able to sing and dance with the young people. "With your gathering now, I can see the beautiful and clear future of the church," Cardinal Tagle said.

"One Praise" featured performances by local worship artists whose songs were included in an album produced by Jesuit Communications. It uses the arts to promote worship among youths. (UCAN)

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The Apostolic Vicariate of Nepal has called on all Catholics in the Himalayan nation to pray for peace and for the rights of minorities.   Church leaders made the appeal on April 25, following an April 18 arson attack on a vehicle parked near Kathmandu’s Assumption Cathedral that damaged the parish residence.  The Vicariate "decided to hold an hour of prayer in all of the country’s churches,” said Chirendra Satyal, spokesman for the local Catholic Church. "Hundreds of people joined in the prayer for peace and for Christians,” said Satyal Chirendra. “Hundreds of non-Catholics came to the mass and condemned the violence and attacks against minorities." He added that many young people wore T-shirts that read “We would like to see Jesus "

Police have launched an investigation into last week’s attack but has not made any arrest so far.  The incident is the second attack against Nepal’s main Catholic church. In 2009 a bomb exploded killing three people during a religious service, an act blamed on the Nepal Defence Army, an extremist Hindu group. An improvised explosive device planted inside the church exploded on May 23, 2009, as prayers were about to begin.  The attack claimed three lives and injured many.  

"I was asleep when fire broke out and flames came into the house,” Assumption Cathedral’s parish priest, Father Ignatius Rai said talking about the attack two days after Easter. On waking up he rushed to children's room to get them out to safety. The fire was brought under control with the help of neighbouring people.   "Whoever did it, he must be brought to justice,” Fr Benjamin demanded, adding that the attack will not deter the Catholic Church in its mission.  Recalling the 2009 attack in the church, he said “innocent people were killed and now we see another horrible attack.”  “Minorities must have the right to exercise their faith freely,” he said. 

"Let us pray for peace and solidarity,” urged Fr. Benjamin during the prayer service in the cathedral.  “This incident teaches us to be alert about possible attacks. Churches all over Nepal have to be careful and increase security." The parish priest said. He noted that minorities must be guaranteed "respect and dignity, so that all religious groups can be free to practice their faith. We can no longer endure persecution and violence."  (Source: AsiaNews)

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received participants in the Congress of the Interntaional Forum- Catholic Action on Thursday morning in the Synod Hall at the Vatican.

The Congress is focused on the theme: “Catholic Action in Mission with All and for Everyone”, and is marking the 150^th anniversary of the organization’s founding.

The charism of Catholic Action is one of lay-led missionary discipleship: faithful to the Pope, rooted in the local Church, and active in service especially and particularly at the parish level.

Listen to our report

In his remarks to the participants, Pope Francis focused on renewing the mission of Catholic Action by recovering the original sense of the apostolate and applying that sense of self-understanding to the concrete conditions encountered in contemporary life.

Delivered in his native Spanish, and based on bullet-points, Pope Francis encouraged the participants to foster renewal by becoming prayerfully active, outgoing, docile to the Spirit, willing to sacrifice, and open to surprises.

Among the highlights of the special audience was the presentation to the Holy Father of several gifts, including an English-language psalter found aboard a boat carrying migrants to Lampedusa, thousands of whom drown during the course of the dangerous voyage.

The fate of the psalter’s owner is not known.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday reflected on the fact that being Christian is not a social status.Speaking during the homily at the Mass in the Casa Santa Marta the Pope said Christians must be witnesses of obedience to God, like Jesus was.

Recalling the reading of the day Pope Francis quoted Peter’s words before the Sanhedrin when he  said “You must obey God rather than men." 

Peter and the Apostles had been freed from prison by an Angel, and forbidden to teach in Jesus’s name 

And yet the high priest said “You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and want to bring this man's blood upon us”.

In order to better understand this event the Pope also referred to the Book of Acts regarding the early months of the Church  which describes a growing Christian community and many miracles. 

There was the faith of the people, he said, but there were also “wily” people trying to take advantage of the situation and “wanting to make a career for themselves” like Hananiah and Sapphira.  

The same kind of dynamics take place today, the Pope noted, and there are those who despise “God’s faithful people.”

Turning back to the reading of today, the Pope said that Peter, who out of fear had betrayed Jesus on Holy Thursday, this time courageously answered  the high priest saying that “we must obey God rather than men." 

This answer, he said, makes it clear that "a Christian is a witness of obedience" as Jesus was, when in the garden of Gethsemane, he addressed these words to the Father: “not my will but yours be done”.

"The Christian is a witness of obedience; if we are not on this path and growing in our witness we are not Christians. We must at least walk this way” he said.

The Pope pointed out that “Jesus is not the testimonial of an idea, of a philosophy, of a company, of a bank or of power: he is a testimonial of obedience”.

However, Francis explained, to become a “witness of obedience” we need the "grace of the Holy Spirit".

"Only the Spirit can make us witnesses of obedience. It’s not enough to listen to spiritual guides or to read books…. all that is fine but only the Spirit can change our heart and make us witnesses of obedience” he said.

The Pope said it is a grace we must ask for: “Father,  Lord Jesus, send me your Spirit so that I may become a witness of obedience, that is, a Christian.”

Francis also said that to be witnesses of obedience implies consequences, as narrated by the First reading; in fact, after Peter's response, the high priests wanted to put him to death:

"Persecutions were the consequences of this witness of obedience. When Jesus lists the Beatitudes he ends with the words ‘Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you’” he said.

And pointing out that the cross cannot be taken away from the life of a Christian, the Pope said “being a Christian has nothing to do with social status, it is not a lifestyle that makes one feel good; being a Christian means being a witness of obedience and the life of a Christian is full of insults and persecutions”.

Pope Francis concluded his homily saying that in order to be witnesses of obedience like Jesus, it is necessary to pray, to recognize that we are sinners with much “worldliness” in our hearts and to ask God for the grace of becoming witnesses of obedience" and to not be afraid when we are insulted and persecuted "because as the Lord said: the Spirit will tell us what to answer."

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Stockholm, Sweden, Apr 27, 2017 / 03:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A new Swedish study has shown that women who are taking the contraceptive pill might be putting themselves at risk for decreasing their overall health and well-being.
 
Mood swings, energy level shifts, and a “significantly lower” quality of  life were the reported side effects of the contraceptive pill when the three-month study had concluded.
 
“Despite the fact that an estimated 100 million women around the world use contraceptive pills we know surprisingly little today about the pill's effect on women's health,” said Professor Angelica Linden Hirschberg, one of the study’s leaders, according to the Karolinska Institute.
 
“The scientific base is very limited as regards the contraceptive pill’s effect on quality of life and depression and there is a great need for randomized studies where it is compared to placebos,” Dr. Hirschberg continued.
 
The study that explored the side effects of contraception was conducted by the Karolinska Institute and Stockholm School of Economics, and included 340 healthy women between the age of 18-35. Their findings were recently published in the scientific journal “Fertility and Sterility.”
 
A randomized group of women in the study were given a placebo pill, and the other group was given a common contraceptive pill with levonorgestrel and ethniylestradoil. Both groups of women and the leaders of the study were unaware of which pills the women were taking.
 
Compared to the placebo group, the women taking the pill reported back saying their self-control, vitality and moods were all impacted by the contraception, and noted that their quality of life plunged significantly.
 
“This possible degradation of quality of life should be paid attention to and taken into account in conjunctions with prescribing of contraceptive pills and when choosing a method of contraception,” stated Niklas Zethraeus, one of the study’s co-authors, according to the Independent.
 
While most women are aware that some side effects come will taking contraceptive pills, more and more studies are showing just how negative the impact can be.
 
Last year, a popular Danish study reported the adverse connection between hormonal birth control and depression, which linked women on the pill to a subsequent use of anti-depressants.
 
While this particular Swedish study did not pick up on any increase in depression, the researchers did note that contraception cannot be generalized and that different pills carry different side effects.
 
“All types of hormonal contraception have advantages and disadvantages. This possible effect on life quality adds to this knowledge and could be of particular importance for women who have experienced negative mood symptoms previously,” Dr. Hirschberg stated.
 
For the over 100 million users of contraceptive pills, the study’s researchers suggested that the negative life quality impact could be of “clinical importance” for women, and is something that women should be aware of.  

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Regina, Canada, Apr 27, 2017 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Non-Catholic students at Catholic schools in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan will not receive taxpayer funding, a judge ruled last week.

The Saskatchewan Catholic School Boards Association criticized the April 20 ruling, saying Catholic school divisions have “the right to decide to admit non-Catholic students” and to determine the extent to which their admission allows them to have “a truly authentic faith-based Catholic school system.”

“Our faith is a journey that includes inquiry of non-Catholics and growth of existing members. This requires inclusion and a welcoming spirit,” the school boards association said in a letter responding to the decision.

The association charged that the complaint threatens parents’ choices and limits the choices of non-Catholic parents.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Donald Layh ruled that any provincial government funding would violate Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the state’s duty of religious neutrality, and equality rights.

The ruling will take effect in July 2018.

The decision concerned a lawsuit between the Good Spirit School Division and the Christ the Teacher Catholic Separate School Division, the Canadian site Global News reports.

The lawsuit challenged the creation of a separate school division in 2003 in the village of Theodore, 130 miles northeast of Regina, before the village’s public school closed.

Some parents of non-Catholic students decided to send their children to the local Catholic school instead of busing them to a public school in another town.

A local public school division filed a legal complaint against the Catholic school division and the provincial government in 2005. The complaint charged that the funding was unconstitutional and wrongly put the Catholic school in the role of a public school. Funding of non-Catholic students at the Catholic school constituted discrimination against public schools, the complaint said.

The complaint also charged that the creation of the new school division was not qualified. It charged that the division was created to prevent the public school from closing.

Tom Fortosky, the Saskatchewan Catholic School Boards Association president, said the association was “obviously disappointed” by the decision and was evaluating its response.

“This has already been a 12-year journey instigated by the public boards, and we don’t have much of an appetite to spend more on legal defense,” he said April 20. “However, we have an obligation to stand up for the constitutional rights of separate school divisions, so we are giving serious consideration to an appeal.”

Saskatchewan's head of government, Premier Brad Wall, has said the ruling “is not good news” for the province's students. “Consider the implications here … you could have massively overpopulated public schools and empty or near-empty separate schools. You could actually risk the viability of community schools because there's a number of people who will choose to send their students to the school closest to them.”

“We want to give parents as much choice as possible," Wall said April 24. “That's where we will stand on this issue and we're going to work to be able to preserve that stance.”

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