During the midday Angelus last Sunday, Pope Francis said: “Today I exhort you to be protagonists of the good. Don’t think you are OK when you don’t do evil. Each one is culpable for the good he could have done and didn’t do.

“It’s not enough not to hate; one must forgive. It’s not enough not to be resentful; it’s necessary to pray for one’s enemies. It’s not enough not to be the cause of divisions; it’s necessary to bring peace where there isn’t peace. It’s not enough not to speak badly of others; it’s necessary to interrupt when we hear someone being spoken of badly: to stop the gossip is to do good.

“If we don’t oppose evil, we fuel it in a tacit way. It’s necessary to intervene where evil is being spread because evil spreads where daring Christians are lacking, who oppose it with the good, ‘walking in love’ (Cf. 5:2), in keeping with St Paul’s admonition.”

‘Palliative care is not assisted suicide’

Bishop Lionel Gendron of St-Jean-Longueuil, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, said: “As a comprehensive approach to end-of-life challenges, palliative care combines pain management with efforts to attend to a patient’s psychological, emotional, social, and spiritual needs, as well as caregiver support. …The practice of palliative care does not include interventions which intentionally cause the death of the patient. This has been central to the philosophy of palliative care and is a fundamental distinction that must be maintained.

“So while life is a penultimate good, requiring us to take reasonable care of our lives, we are not morally obligated to seek or undergo burdensome therapies ‘at all costs’ that provide no benefit.”

Jesuit missionary killed in Peru

Fr Carlos Riudavets Montes, a Jesuit missionary working among the indigenous people of Peru, was murdered in the school he ran for indigenous people.

Fr Riudavets, 73, whose school provides education to the children of the Yamakai-Entsa indigenous group, served in the north-central part of the Peruvian Amazon for 38 years.

The Peruvian bishops conference has urged the authorities to clarify facts and arrest those responsible.

The Pan-Amazon Ecclesial Network (REPAM) noted that Fr Riudavest was much loved by the people of the area, especially by the Awajún-Wampis.

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)