IN BRIEF


‘Treat asylum seekers with dignity’ Pope Benedict XVI has marked World Refugee Day by appealing for a more dig- nified welcome for asylum seekers. He reminded worshippers at the end of an outdoor Mass in the tiny Republic of San Marino on Sunday that this year was the sixtieth anniversary of the international convention that protects those fleeing their homelands because of persecution and other hardships. “I therefore invite civil authorities and all persons of good will to ensure hospitality and dignified living conditions for refugees as they wait to be able to freely and safely return to their homelands,” the Pope said.


King’s pledge on freedoms Freedom of religious worship in Morocco is guaranteed in constitutional reforms proposed last week by King Mohammed VI. The new constitution, to be put to a referendum on 1 July, also “supports human rights in all aspects, including a fair trial, no torture, no detention, no dis- appearance, and we need to guarantee freedom of expression”, the King said on 17 June. Distribution of Christian mate- rials among Moroccan Muslims is illegal, and 150 foreign Christians have been expelled since 2009 for proselytising.


Brazilian eco-activist shot The Church’s Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) has announced the murder of the sixth rural activist in the Amazon area over the past month. The CPT said on 14 June that 31-year-old Obede Loyla Souza had been a “marked man”, since he had confronted illegal loggers in the northern state of Para. He was subsequently shot in the head.


Tallest Christ raised in Lima The Peruvian capital, Lima, is gearing up to inaugurate the world’s tallest statue of Jesus Christ on 29 June. The 37-metre high Christ of the Pacific is the “personal dream” of outgoing President Alan Garcia, who donated US$36,000 to its construc- tion. Mr Garcia said the version of Rio’s Christ the Redeemer will “bless Peru and protect Lima”.


Artists mark papal anniversary Scottish classical


composer James


MacMillan has been invited to join 59 other artists in contributing to a summer- long exhibition in the atrium of the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican to mark Pope Benedict XVI’s sixtieth anniversary of priestly ordination. Pope Benedict, whose priesthood anniversary is next Wednesday, will inaugurate “The Splendour of Truth, the Beauty of Charity” on 4 July.


For daily news updates visit www.thetablet.co.uk


Letter from Rome


Renewal”, is the most important initiative ever to come from Rome in helping church leaders deal with the sexual abuse of minors by priests. The Jesuits who run the university and the one who heads the Holy See press office, Fr Federico Lombardi SJ, passionately and convincingly outlined the scope of next February’s gathering at a carefully planned meeting last Saturday with the press. Fr Lombardi even sent personalised emails to some reporters a few days earlier to remind them that registration was required to attend the briefing. Mgr Charles Scicluna, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s (CDF) “chief prosecutor” of abuse cases and the Vatican’s most credible and authoritative voice on the issue, was a featured speaker. That, in itself, was extremely significant. The Maltese priest has addressed the abuse crisis at a major press conference only one other time, as far as I am aware. But while the Gregorian claimed that the symposium “has the backing of many of the Holy See’s congregations”, the CDF appears to be the only one of the nine that is actively taking part. Where are the others?


T And unless I missed something,


L’Osservatore Romano has not made even a single mention of the upcoming symposium. Whether intended or not, the paper’s silence only magnifies the fact that inside the Vatican, and in parts of the worldwide episcopate, there are still too many people who are not taking the sexual abuse crisis seriously enough. That’s why Fr Lombardi has been adamant that an entire “culture” within the Church has to change.


C


atholics in Great Britain, the United States and many other parts of the world will be making donations to


the annual Peter’s Pence Collection this weekend. These are the funds the Pope uses for charitable purposes. The collection is usually taken up on the Sunday closest to the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul, which is on Wednesday. And like Blessed John Paul II before him, Pope Benedict XVI will again mark the day by celebrating Mass at the Vatican and giving the pallium to metropolitan archbishops he appointed over the past year. There will be another papal celebration


the next day when the Vatican marks the Feast of Corpus Christi. But the Pope won’t be celebrating at St Peter’s. Instead, he’ll


he international symposium next year at the Pontifical Gregorian University, “Towards Healing and


follow the custom of having the Mass at St John Lateran and then leading a eucharistic procession to the nearby St Maria Maggiore. There’s a great restaurant in front of the


Lateran and a few days ago a Catholic friend visiting from America joined me there for dinner. She seemed surprised when I mentioned that St John’s is the Pope’s cathedral. And she was unaware that up until the fourteenth century the adjoining Lateran Palace was the main residence for the popes. Unfortunately, a lot of people that visit Rome never make it to the “head and mother of all the churches in the city and the world”, as the Lateran is designated. But there is a new incentive for them to put it on their itinerary. Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi this week began offering visitors the opportunity to take a 45-minute tour of the church with an iPod. It’s free. Just leave a document at the desk and pick it up.


Bel Paese to savour its natural beauty, culture and cuisine, young Italians are increasingly becoming fed up with living here. That’s the alarming news that came out this week in a report issued by the Migrantes Foundation, the migration office of the Italian Episcopal Conference. One of the findings showed that 40 per cent of the people between the ages of 18 and 30 consider it a “misfortune” to live in Italy. Much of that comes from the fact that they are very pessimistic about job and career opportunities. But that’s not the only reason. Delfina


I


Licata, one of the authors of the report, said that many young adults with university degrees head to Spain and take jobs for which they’re overqualified. The reason they stay, she said, is because they feel happier there. Each year, more than 42,000 university students go abroad for a study experience. Their top two choices are Barcelona and Madrid. The report said that more and more Italian secondary school pupils are also studying outside the country – many in Russia, India and China.


And, evidently, these adventuresome


young Italians like what they are experiencing. While most of the university students return to live in Italy, about half of them say they would rather live and work in another country if they had the chance. Mamma mia!


Robert Mickens 25 June 2011 | THE TABLET | 31


taly is poised for another summer of record tourism. But while people from different parts of the world flock to the


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36