Quotes and news
Combat 'rising tide of secularism'
Pope Benedict XVI urged Scottish bishops to combat the "rising tide of secularism in your country".
The Pope observed that the corrosive influence of secularism in Scotland is evident in the public support for euthanasia, which "strikes at the very heart of the Christian understanding of the dignity of life". He went on to say that new developments in embryo research add another reminder of the importance of defending the culture of life. "If the Church's teaching is compromised, even slightly, in one such area," he said, "then it becomes hard to defend the fullness of Catholic doctrine in an integral manner".
The Pope confirmed he will visit Scotland during his apostolic visit to the UK in September.
Abuse victims ask for €1 billion
When tomorrow the Irish bishops meet Pope Benedict, Cardinal Seán Brady, the Primate of All Ireland, will deliver a letter from representatives for abuse victims asking for €1 billion in compensation. Irish religious orders "paid just €128m of the total compensation bill of €1.2bn", following the Ryan report, notes the Irish Independent.
The victims' representatives also requested that Pope Benedict meet with abuse victims during his UK visit.
Brazil to change abortion wording
The Brazilian bishops' conference said the government has agreed to change wording on abortion in its human rights plan.
In late January, more than 40 bishops met in Rio de Janeiro and signed a document that was sent to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, rejecting parts of the plan that would allow abortion, same-sex marriages and adoption by same-sex couples and would prohibit religious symbols in federal buildings and agencies.
Bishop Barbosa noted that 80 per cent of the government's human rights plan is acceptable to the Church and that the differences in opinion found in the plan are because the Church believes that human rights should be defended for everyone from conception to natural death.
'Christian' in party name should mean something
Bishop Gerhard Muller of Regensburg said having the word 'Christian' in a name should mean "something concrete". He said this in criticism of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union.
In January, Archbishop Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising told Der Spiegel that the party's tax policy had "proved beneficial above all for rich people", adding that he also objected to its support for stem-cell research and aspects of its family policy.
"What's lacking for me is a decisive acknowledgment of the Christian faith and Church - the CDU's programme talks only very generally about Christian values, which is too hazy," said Mgr Marx. Commentators say the CDU's new coalition with the Free Democratic Party has moved it to the left, and that four per cent of practising Catholics had resigned their membership in the party.
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)