The Church Services TV Blog
As you know we are taking a break from the Blog for a while, Meanwhile why not tune into and read the Blog of our Daughter organisation Church Services TV.
Church Services TV live stream Local Irish Mass, Rosary, Novenas, Important Live events such as the Divine Mercy Conference over the internet to you.
They also keep you updated on current news and events from their member churches at their blog space http://blog.churchservices.tv/
CatholicIreland.net Blog is taking a break.
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Which values matter? (a vision for Europe)
”Europe, in fidelity to her Christian roots, has a particular vocation to uphold this transcendent vision in her initiatives to serve the common good of individuals, communities, and nations”
(Pope Benedict XVI 28 September, 2009 – source: Vatican Information Services)
On which values should a new Europe be based?
In March, 2007, The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community, COMECE held a conference in Rome to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the European Community.
For the occasion, COMECE appointed a committee to produce a report on the values of the EU. The name they gave to their Committee was “The Group of the Wise” and it consisted of 25 prominent Europeans, among them Pat Cox and Peter Sutherland.
The publication of The Group of the Wise’ initial report, brought with it considerable disquiet because, notwithstanding the Report’s title A Europe of Values, it made no reference to issues such as abortion, euthanasia and Gay marriage.
Some of this disquiet found a voice in the President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Angelo Benasco of Genoa. As reported by Vatican Radio (23/3/2007), Archbishop Benasco reminded the Conference that, “The Catholic Church’s main concern is that the dignity of the human person remain the ethical centre of the Union. He said that human life must be protected from conception until natural death. He also said, the family must be respected.”
However, neither the Archbishop’s words nor his sentiments made their way into the final version of the Report which COMECE later presented to the European Commission.
So what does all this mean? It seems clear that there are two competing visions for Europe here, each having its own distinct set of values. One vision seems to involve the belief that “peace” in Europe can be successfully built (without putting too fine a point on it) on euthanised sick and elderly people; on an ‘anything goes’ attitude to marriage and sexual morality and; even, on the bodies of millions of aborted children. The other vision might be represented in the words of Archbishop Benasco, or, to quote the present Pope, in a timely address which he delivered for the 2008 World Day of Peace, “Everything that serves to weaken the family based on the marriage of a man and a woman…is an objective attack on peace.” (emphasis added)
The Treaty of Lisbon, if approved by the people of Ireland, would establish for the very first time a new supranational state, a State which would have a working Constitution explicitly based on the shared values of the Member States — values to which we will be giving our approval, if we vote ‘YES’ on October 2nd.
And what values are these? Well, 24 of the Member States effectively treat abortion as a “human right”, for starters. Euthanasia is also practiced.
More explicitly within the Constitution is the requirement that there may be no discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation (Article 10, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) –the word ‘orientation’ is not here meant to mean a disposition (over which a person may have no say) but rather an openness, for example, to homosexual behaviour.
The requirement that there be no discrimination of this nature would seem to imply that homosexual, bisexual and other harmful behaviour must be valued at least equally with the sexual relationship that is proper to the marriage between a man and a woman.
There is also no right to life for unborn children in the proposed Constitution but, ironically, the fact that a right to life is mentioned at all, as it is in Article 2.1 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, would seem to preclude the recognition of a right to life for unborn children as this right is recognised in almost none of the Member States.
Article 53, of the Charter, in particular could lock a country irreversibly into its tragic abortion regime and we would be turning the key! It is amazing to think that with our votes here in Ireland we have the power to establish such a potentially monstrous supranational state and consign 500 million Europeans to be citizens of that state, without them having any individual say in the matter. It is as if the people of Britain were being required to vote on setting up the old Soviet Union and on making the people of Ireland its citizens!
In the words of German Constitutional expert Prof. Dr. Karl Albrecht Schachtschneider, “Ireland is now the most important country in the world.” If the Irish people vote YES on October 2nd they will be voting YES to this Superstate, YES to its Constitution and YES to the values contained in that Constitution.
In effect, they will be giving much more than ‘a nod anda wink’ to the killing of millions of children in the EU every year. No, the Irish people will be signing their names to a Charter which by protecting the false “rights” already being practiced in these countries will strengthen the hold that the culture of death has over our European brothers and sisters. Christian charity demands that we stay our hand!
The Jewish people had it right. After one of their Kings had sacrificed (his) children to the false god Molech, the site of the sacrifice (the valley of Hinnom from which Jesus derived His name for hell, Gehenna) was
effectively turned into a rubbish dump situated outside the City walls. How terrible it would be for us and for the people of Europe if we were to build our city on our very own Gehenna.
A moderate response to the Ryan Report
Below is a letter a few friends and I sent to the Irish Times on the Ryan Report. We accept that such a report shocks Catholics into a shame filled silence but it is important that something be said through this forum so for now, here is the letter.
Dear Madam,
We are writing this letter as we feel that the views on the Ryan report by moderate Catholics in Ireland, which we hope make up the majority of our Church, have not been properly represented through the ongoing debate in these pages. Read More »
Aniston interview encapsulates culture of hopelessness
In an interview with Cosmopolitan magazine out tomorrow, actress Jennifer Aniston spoke about the “pressure” people felt to have a relationship that will last. “Whoever said that everything has to be forever? That’s unrealistic or hoping for too much. I don’t think it’s worth all that pressure,” Aniston told Cosmo!
Now, hold on a minute there, ‘friend’! Let’s just unpack this awhile! First of all, where is this Read More »
It shouldn’t be a burning issue for children
Mention the word suntan you get imaged of bronzed men and women on a beach somewhere in LA or Spain as the days of summer roll on. What you do not expect to get to is 70% burns to your body. Read More »
Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote. ~George Jean Nathan
Ah elections, the maximum amount of exposure for the minimum amount of effort. Well maybe I should rephrase that, the most effort a politician in Ireland will make is on the campaign trail. Once the chase is over, it seems like there is no fun left for them to have. Read More »
When you aim for perfection, you discover it’s a moving target. – Geoffrey F Fisher
Lou Reed once sang of having a “Perfect Day” but I’ve often wondered if perfection is a case of each to their own. Read More »
“Giving is most blessed and most acceptable when the donor remains completely anonymous”
We are not machines, that is obvious, but we are not unlike them. We have limits to which we can push ourselves to and parts that can get wore down, broken and will need to be replaced. However there is not always a ready made part to order in. Read More »
If I had my way I’d make health catching instead of disease. ~Robert Ingersoll
I have said before that it is scary how things can be taken from us in the blink of an eye. However when it something that we have not seen before literally tears us apart it is hard to fathom. Read More »
