PERTH, WA: July 18, 1991
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Help stop slaughter BISHOPS TOLD TO STEP UP FIGHT AGAINST ABORTION AND EUTHANASIA VATICAN CITY (CNS): Pope John Paul II urged the world's bishops to step up their fight against abortion and euthanasia, saying the practices amount to a modern day "slaughter of the innocents". In a strongly worded letter sent to every bishop, the pope blamed a "prevalent death mentality" for blunting Christian consciences. To counter this trend, he said, bishops must speak out forcefully "at every opportunity" and
make sure Catholic seminaries, schools and hospitals follow Church teaching about respect for human life. The bishops should also support pro-life legislative and political efforts, he said. The pope's letter, was a follow-up to an extraordinary meeting of the world's cardinal at the Vatican last April. The meeting centred on the rising number of abortions worldwide and the increasing acceptance in some places of euthanasia, or mercy-killing,
The pope said the meeting had revealed a "striking picture" of numerous and violent attacks on human life, especially on the weakest and most defenceless. No less worrisome, he said, was that "people's moral conscience appears frighteningly confused" and unable to distinguish good from evil, even in such basic matters. "Laws and civil ordinances not only reflect this confusion but they also contribute to it," the pope said.
"When legislative bodies enact laws that authorise putting innocent people to death and states allow their resources and structures to be used for these crimes, individual consciences, often poorly formed, are all the more easily led into error," he said. In order to break this "vicious circle", he said, Church leaders must go against the trend and proclaim church teaching "fearlessly, in word and deed, to individuals, peoples and states". He called on bishops to:
• Make "public declarations at every opportunity" on pro-life issues.
• Contribute to programs that aid the suffering and the dying.
• Exercise particular vigilance over the teaching being given in seminaries, Catholic schools and universities.
• Encourage "scientific reflection and legislative or political initiatives which would counter the prevalent 'death mentality' ".
• Make sure the practices followed in Catholic hospitals and clinics are "fully consonant with the of nature such institutions". • Support projects that give practical help to women or families experiencing difficulties.
The pope said proclaiming the right to life "from the moment of conception to life's natural end" should be a cornerstone of the Church's "new evangelisation" in society. He
described
the
unborn and the dying as modern-day a "oppressed" class of people who need the Church's voice to defend them. The pope noted that the cardinals had concluded their April meeting by unanimously asking him to write a document, preferably an encyclical, on the inviolability of human life. The pope did not say whether he would do so. but a Vatican source said the wording of the papal letter indicated that he would.
Identical spiritual paths of Noble twins — Page 7 Directory is launched Perth archdiocese's first e ver comprehensive directory was officially launched on Tuesday by Bishop Healy at a meeting of the Pastoral Planning Team and other advisors. The 131-page booklet contains a comprehensive listing and description of the administration, services, parishes, clergy and religious orders working in the archdiocese. Bishop Healy said that although the information was available from other sources, the directory now gathered the facts in one volume and this was a symbol of the spirit of unity and cooperation that should exist in a diocese. Introducing the func-
ro. ftv "I',
Were raising the standard.
DL 16,31
lion, the director of Pastoral Planning Sister Sonia Wagner said the red cover would remind users of the apostolic the purpose of publication. From an idea put forward at the Council of Priests and developed by its sub-committee, the directory was passed to the Chancery Office and later to the Pastoral Planning Office where Sandra Brown had the task of culling the material into its final published form. She said that a directory like this in its first edition would have omissions and inaccuracies and be would these addressed in hopefully what would be annual editions.
Sandra Brown helps Bishop Healy unwrap the first directories.
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