DAILY DISPATCH for Thursday, 28 April 2016 "Pope’s Morning Homily: The Spirit Has Been Surprising the Church Since the Beginning" from ZENIT in Roswell, Georgia, United States

DAILY DISPATCH for Thursday, 28 April 2016 "Pope’s Morning Homily: The Spirit Has Been Surprising the Church Since the Beginning" from ZENIT in Roswell, Georgia, United States

• Pope’s Morning Homily: The Spirit Has Been Surprising the Church Since the Beginning
• ‘We Were Fleeing From Death’: Interview With One of the Families Francis Brought From Greece
• Christians in Crisis: Report Details Dire Situation in Iraq and Syria
• Irish Bishops Provide Pastoral Reflection in Lead-up to Elections
• Discipleship and Citizenship
• Human Cryopreservation: Ethical and Moral Assessment
• Facing Euthanasia Law, Canadian Faithful Organize ‘Day of Prayer for Palliative Care’
• Financial Information Authority Presents 2015 Report
• From John Paul II’s Homily on Canonization of St. Gianna

Pope’s Morning Homily: The Spirit Has Been Surprising the Church Since the Beginning by ZENIT Staff

There is always resistance to the surprises of the Spirit, but it’s the Spirit who continues to lead the Church forward. That was Pope Francis’ message at Mass today at the Santa Marta chapel as he reflected on the reading about division and resistance within the early Church in Jerusalem.
Commenting on today’s reading from Acts about the Council of Jerusalem, Pope Francis said the protagonist in the Church is always the Holy Spirit. It’s the Spirit who, from the very beginning, gives strength to the apostles to proclaim the Gospel and it’s the Spirit who carries the Church forward despite its problems.
Even when there is an outbreak of persecution, the Pope said, it’s the Spirit who gives believers the strength to stand firm in the faith, even if they face resistance and anger from the doctors of the law. In the passage from Acts, the Pope noted, there was a double resistance to the Spirit, from those who believed that Jesus came only for the chosen people and from those who wanted to impose the law of Moses, including the practice of circumcision, on those who had converted.
There was great confusion over all this, the Pope said, but the Spirit led their hearts in a new direction. The apostles were surprised by the Spirit, he said, as they found themselves in new and unthinkable situations. But how were they to manage these circumstances? Pope Francis said the passage begins by noting that ‘much debate had taken place’: no doubt heated debate, because on the one hand they were pushed on and on by the Spirit, but on the other, they were facing new situations that they had never seen or even imagined, such as pagans receiving the Holy Spirit.
The disciples were holding a ‘hot potato’ in their hands and didn’t know what to do, the Pope said. Thus they called a meeting in Jerusalem where each one could recount their experiences of how the Holy Spirit had been received by the Gentiles. And in the end they came to an agreement. But first , the Pope noted, “The whole assembly fell silent, and they listened while Paul and Barnabas described the signs and wonders God had worked among the Gentiles through them.” Never be afraid to listen with humility, the Pope said. When you are afraid to listen, you don’t have the Spirit in your heart. When the apostles had listened, they decided to send several of the disciples to the Greeks, the pagan communities, that had become Christians to reassure them.
Those who converted, the Pope continued, were not obliged to be circumcised. The decision was communicated to them in a letter in which the disciples say that “The Holy Spirit and we have decided….” This is the way of the Church when faced with novelties, the Pope said. Not the worldly novelties of fashion, but the novelties of the Spirit who always surprises us. How does the Church resolve these problems? Through meetings and discussions, listening and praying, before making a final decision. This is the way of the Church when the Spirit surprises us, Pope Francis said, recalling the resistance that emerged in recent times during the Second Vatican Council.
That resistance continues today in one way or another, he said, yet the Spirit moves ahead. And the way the Church expresses its communion is through synodality, by meeting, listening, debating, praying and deciding. The Spirit is always the protagonist and the Lord asks us not to be afraid when the Spirit calls us. Just as the Spirit stopped St Paul and set him on the right road, so the Spirit will give us the courage and the patience to win over adversity and stand firm in the face of martyrdom. Let us ask the Lord for grace, the Pope concluded, to understand how the Church can face the surprises of the Spirit, to be docile and to follow the path which Christ wants for us and for the whole Church.[Report from Vatican Radio]
Readings provided by the US bishops’ conference:
Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Lectionary: 288
Reading 1 ACTS 15:7-21
After much debate had taken place,
Peter got up and said to the Apostles and the presbyters,
“My brothers, you are well aware that from early days
God made his choice among you that through my mouth
the Gentiles would hear the word of the Gospel and believe.
And God, who knows the heart,
bore witness by granting them the Holy Spirit
just as he did us.
He made no distinction between us and them,
for by faith he purified their hearts.
Why, then, are you now putting God to the test
by placing on the shoulders of the disciples
a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?
On the contrary, we believe that we are saved
through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they.”
The whole assembly fell silent,
and they listened
while Paul and Barnabas described the signs and wonders
God had worked among the Gentiles through them.After they had fallen silent, James responded,
“My brothers, listen to me.
Symeon has described how God first concerned himself
with acquiring from among the Gentiles a people for his name.
The words of the prophets agree with this, as is written:
After this I shall return
and rebuild the fallen hut of David;
from its ruins I shall rebuild it
and raise it up again,
so that the rest of humanity may seek out the Lord,
even all the Gentiles on whom my name is invoked.
Thus says the Lord who accomplishes these things,
known from of old.
It is my judgment, therefore,
that we ought to stop troubling the Gentiles who turn to God,
but tell them by letter to avoid pollution from idols,
unlawful marriage, the meat of strangled animals, and blood.
For Moses, for generations now,
has had those who proclaim him in every town,
as he has been read in the synagogues every sabbath.”
Responsorial Psalm PS 96:1-2A, 2B-3, 10
R. (3) Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name.
R. Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Announce his salvation, day after day.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
R. Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king.
He has made the world firm, not to be moved;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Gospel JN 15:9-11
Jesus said to his disciples:
“As the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love.“I have told you this so that
my joy might be in you and
your joy might be complete.”

‘We Were Fleeing From Death’: Interview With One of the Families Francis Brought From Greece by Salvatore Cernuzio

Suhila Alshakarji, one of the 12 Syrian refugees that Pope Francis brought with him to Italy from the Island of Llesbos, has lifeless, tired eyes. They only revive when she looks at her daughter Qudus, 7, whose name, she specifies, “means Jerusalem,” playing carefree in the garden and, finally, she smiles.
Not so much time has passed since the little girl — in a rubber dinghy that stopped for almost an hour and a half in the open sea, with 36 other immobile persons to avoid any movement — asked her mother terrorized: “What’s happening?”
“At that moment, I did everything to have her fall asleep, so that if we died, she wouldn’t be aware of anything,” Suhila told ZENIT.

I met with the family, together with the two others brought by the Pope, in the heart of Trastevere, where the Italian School of Language and Culture of Sant’Egidio Community is located, where volunteers are teaching Italian for free to some 1,900 people, between refugees and foreigners.
The drama reported to me by the woman, a former dressmaker not even 50 years old, is only one of the many that the Alshakarji family from Deir Ezzor have had to suffer for some years. Since, that is, those demonic forces of Islamic State, ISIS, Daesh have polluted a territory that up to now was characterized by peace and dialogue.
“We lived serenely in Deir Ezzor for 1,400 years,” said Rami, head of the family, an esteemed teacher before becoming a refugee. In this region known as ‘the Auschwitz of the Armenians, which ISIS has devastated and has also killed 300 civilians, “for thousands of years we have all been equal: Muslims, Catholics, Jews … we had no differences; no one ever asked of what religion you were.”
The Alshakarjis had to flee from there in haste with their children: in addition to Qudus, also Rashid, 18, and Abdalmajid, 15, who in this new phase of life calls himself Totti, like the famous soccer player. “I am happy to have come to Italy, so I have two things: soccer and school. Finally, I can go back to study,” he said, hiding behind a timid smile, while his brother did not proffer a word.
“They are very stressed,” explained the father Rami, who instead is relaxed and affectionate with all the journalists and volunteers of Sant’Egidio that have come to meet him. “They have given interviews every day,” explained Roberto Zuccolini, one of the directors of the Community for relations with the press. “In fact, they asked to be protected from excessive media exposure.”

Imprisoned by jihadists
However, Rami needs to speak; he wanted to give vent to all the evil he had to endure. First of all, his imprisonment by the jihadists, which lasted six months. Rami crossed his wrists to have us understand the condition in which he was constrained to live daily: his hands and feet chained. “They thwarted me and beat me on the back,” he said. “Why,” I asked and naively added: “You are a Muslim …”
“They aren’t Muslims,” he replied almost angered, “they don’t have a religion. They kidnapped and thwarted us only to impose themselves, to make us understand who has the power, to make us afraid.” Rammi’s brother, 55, was also kidnapped for three years; he was also freed later. The same fortune did not touch many of their other relatives. “Three disappeared,” said Suhila, “we don’t know if they are alive. Nine are dead. All the rest of the family is in different cities of Syria, where at present there are battles. Sometimes we heard from them, at others not. We were scared.”
During her husband’s imprisonment, Suhila fled courageously with her children to relatives in Lebanon. She did not think they would ever be reunited. When the miracle happened they decided that the moment had arrived to leave the country. “I decided to leave because I wanted to save my family,” explained her husband. “We fled when we understood the children were risking their life; they are young and could have died from one moment to the next because of the bombings or be forced to enrol” in the jihad.
They know nothing about their home. It will probably be destroyed. “When we left, the village was burnt by bombs.” Impressed in their memory, instead, is all the course endured to leave the country: the flight by night from Deir Ezzor passing through Raqqa, Aleppo and other areas occupied by ISIS, “so dangerous that there even weren’t animals on the road.” “Some left on foot, others hidden in fruit and vegetable trucks,” said Suhila.
“They treated us very badly,” echoed her husband. Every time we met someone who shouted at us. “Stop, who are you? From what area are you? Of what party are you? Of what religion are you?” “Thus, just to disturb us, to terrorize us.”
It all lasted 10 days, then the Alshakarjis arrived at Izmir in Turkey, to try their fortune through the “illegal way,” boarding, that is, a boat returning from Lesbos. “A boat? It was, rathger, a rubber dinghy,” exclaimed Rami.
“We left at 11:00 pm; every 100 meters the motor was blocked. No one died; the sea was inexplicably calm, but at a certain point, in the dead of night, the vessel stopped for 90 minutes. The horizon couldn’t be seen. We called the Coast Guard but it was hard for them to find us. We stayed there immobile: the women and children in the middle and all the men around them. All that was needed was a bit of wind or the least movement and all 36 of us would have ended up in the water.”
Warm again
The terror was replicated for five more hours, until we arrived at Lesbos. The refugees found a completely different scene in the Greek Island. The kids smiled recalling “the impressive welcome: on the beach: There were volunteers, young people and adults, who came into the water to help us come down. Even elderly women helped to push the rubber dinghy to the beach.” Then, once we descended, they threw flowers on us.
The family stayed for 50 days at Lesbos, in the Moria camp visited by the Pope. “We were all right, but we were too many – explained Suhila – basic things were lacking, such as food, water. We didn’t eat well; there wasn’t enough water for a bath; many youngsters and children got sick. Doctors were hard to find.”
However, Suhila added, in the Island the refugees were able to feel that human warmth that they had almost forgotten. “The people were very good, very affectionate,” so much so that little Qudus was immediately at ease. “She went around the camp from 9 am to midnight; she gave a hand to the volunteers to help other refugees.”
My father …
Then Francis arrived: “An angel that came to save us.” To the question about how they received the news that the Pope chose them as one of the three families to bring to Italy, Rami rested his hands on his eyes and answered: “What to say? It was a great surprise, I couldn’t believe it: a personage that we saw on TV and who isn’t even a Muslim had come to take us, to save us … We would never have expected it.”
“We felt a new life inside us, there was hope,” said his wife, managing a smile. And Qudus intervened to tell me: “When I met the Pope I said to him: ‘He is my father, are you also my father?’ I kissed and embraced him and said to him that my name means Jerusalem. He was happy, he joked with me.”
From that meeting with the Pontiff, there was one surprise after another: “We lunched together, we even ate lasagna!” said Rami. Then the arrival in Italy where they met volunteers of Sant’Egidio who welcomed them “as in a family.”
The Community is now offering them food and lodging and teaching them the language. “No sooner they arrived, the family requested political asylum at the Ciampino Airport. They obtained a residency permit,” specified Zuccolini. Now, he added, “they are beginning to integrate. They have done their shopping, they are beginning to look for a school for their children. I was impressed because, although coming from distant places, places of war, in one week they have felt at home. If the will to be integrated exists everything becomes easier.”
At present the Alshakarji family is living “a dream.” They have no prospects: it’s impossible to return home, and to go to another country is difficult. The only hope is that expressed by Suhila heartbrokenly, “All the countries, not only European but also Muslim, should follow the Pope’s gesture and help Syrian families. It’s important because people are dying every day.”
I asked them for a photo to immortalize this very intense moment. The children smiled and said: a “Selfie!” Rami instead, insisted that the photograph be taken in front of the plaque of Sant’Egidio Community: “It’s the least we can do to thank them.”


Christians in Crisis: Report Details Dire Situation in Iraq and Syria by Fr. John Flynn

With no end in sight to the fighting in Iraq and Syria the remaining Christian population continues to experience very difficult conditions.
A recent report, “Salt of the Earth: Impact and Significance of the Christian Presence in Syria and Iraq during the Current Crisis,” details the significant contributions Christians have made to the region and what it stands to lose if they are forced to flee.
The report was a joint effort by the organizations Open Doors, Middle East Concern, Served, and the University of East London.
Up until a few years ago Christians in Syria accounted for about 8%-10% of the 22-million population. Syria’s Christians were made up of members from 11 officially recognized groups, most of whom self-identify as Arab or Arabic-speaking, the report explained. The largest group were Greek Orthodox, with about half a million adherents.
The report put at 40%-50% the proportion of these who have been forced to leave Syria due to the conflict. The impact of those leaving has been particularly evident in the all-Christian villages.
The report also observed that many Christians may not return to Syria even upon a cessation of the conflict as they will have resettled in diaspora communities. As well, among many interviewed for the report the feeling was that “although Syria has experienced other waves of conflict and out-migration in the past, more Christians sense a greater ongoing threat in the current crisis and feel they are living in Syria on borrowed time.”
Prior to 2003 there were approximately 1.5 million Christians in Iraq, but this number has dropped dramatically, with the current number put at anywhere between 200,000 to 500,000.
Approximately 70% of Christians are from the Chaldean Catholic tradition, while the remainder are Syriac Orthodox, Syriac Catholic, Armenian and Protestant.
Impact of Christianity
“Throughout much of its history, Christianity has been a minority faith in the region, yet Christians have held significant influence,” the report observed.
For example, Christians have played an important role in healthcare and the provision of aid. In relation to Syria the report said that their faith-based organizations have been better able to utilize local distribution networks for aid than secular non-governmental organizations.
“Some of the most effective and respected aid providers in Iraq are Christian organisations,” the report added.
Christians in the two countries are also known for their higher than average educational achievements. “Creative production in Syria has largely relied on the influence of Christians,” the report stated. There were approximately 300 schools in Syria run by Christian charities prior to 2012.
“Many fear, therefore, that the loss of a Christian influence in Syria could open a greater space for extremism,” the report commented, in relation to the sectors of education and culture.
In Iraq Christians also ran many prominent educational institutions and even after the Christian religious schools were replaced by a national education system many university professors were Christians, the report explained.
“Christians have played a vital role in facilitating important developments in their fields that might not have advanced without their participation,” said the report referring to Iraq. “Christians also contribute a diversity of perspectives, which helped develop critical thinking in society.”
Christians are also active in politics, with a number of Christian political parties in Syria. In general Christians have cooperated with the regime in Syria and have held senior government posts, the report stated.
In Iraq the political situation of Christians is more complicated. According to the report the Chaldean Church was seen as privileged under Baathist rule, largely due to their acceptance of an Arab Iraqi identity. By contrast Assyrians felt overlooked and victimised. In addition many Iraqi Christians went to live in the territory held by the Kurdish Regional Government.
In relation to religious freedom the report commented that in Syria there was general freedom of worship. Under the Baathist regime, Christian communities were allowed to purchase land, build churches or other institutions.
Devastating losses
The fighting has brought with it a drastic change in this situation. “In contested areas, Christians along with their fellow countrymen have faced devastating losses mitigating any privilege or sense of rights,” the report said. This is in spite of the fact that many Christian communities have avoided taking sides in the conflict.
In Iraq also there was freedom for Christians to practice their faith, but since 2003 there have been numerous church bombings and harsh treatment of religious minorities by Islamic extremists.
In concluding, the report stated that Christians face increasing pressure and risk from multiple sources. The educational, cultural and economic achievements attained by Christians are no longer sufficient to protect them.
“Christians are widely acclaimed for their values, relative integrity, and commitment to excellence,” the report noted, but this significant contribution to their countries is in grave danger of being lost due to their forced exile and continuing persecution.

Irish Bishops Provide Pastoral Reflection in Lead-up to Elections by ZENIT Staff

A Pastoral Reflection by the Catholic Bishops in Northern Ireland on 5 May elections to the Legislative Assembly

1. Voting for those who will govern our society is a moral act. Each vote cast, or not cast, potentially influences the values that will shape future law and policy
2. We appeal for a new and more constructive political culture, one based on a shared commitment to the common good and the priorities of citizens rather than on traditional constitutional issues
3. We call on all parties to address, in the next Programme for Government,the disturbing levels of childhood poverty and the systemic issues of social need … One practical appeal is for funding to schools so that no pupil begins the day without a nutritional breakfast
4. The social and moral teaching of the Church is clear, that it is never morally acceptable to support any policy that undermines the sacred inviolability of the right to life of an innocent person in any circumstances
5. As Pope Francis has recently said, there are “no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family”
6. We call on all politicians to respect the positive contribution to peace and good relations made by all school sectors and to ensure that all school sectors are treated equally in terms of funding and policy
7. See appendix below: Ten questions which Catholics are encouraged to ask candidates who are standing in the Assembly elections

Outline of content:

1. Introduction (n. 1-3)
2. Political participation and the moral duty to vote (n.4-5)
3. The failure of the Assembly to address childhood poverty and social need (n.6-9)
4. A call to a new political culture (n.10-14)
5. Building a pervasive culture of life, care and hope (n.15-19)
6. Considering the moral consequences of casting a vote (n.20-22)
7. Encouraging a culture of welcome and hope for all (n.23-25)
8. Respect for Religious Freedom and concern for persecuted Christians (n. 26-30)
9. Respect for the Right to Faith-based Education in a genuinely pluralist society (n.31-37)
10. On caring for our Common Home (n.38-41)
11. Support for the family based on marriage between one man and one woman (n.42-44)
12. Conclusion: A culture of life, care and hope for all (n.45-46)
13. Appendix for Parishes: ‘Ten questions based on Catholic Social Teaching for Catholics to ask candidates standing in the Assembly elections’

__________________________________________________
Introduction.
As Christians, our encounter with the risen Jesus, living and among us, is a decisive event that has consequences for every aspect of our lives. This includes our lives as citizens. Renewed by the Spirit, Christ calls us to be artisans of a new creation, the leaven in society of ‘a new social, economic and political order, founded on the dignity and freedom of every human person, to be brought about in peace, justice and solidarity.’ (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, n.19)
Far from separating us from concern about society and its development, the Gospel commandment to love one’s neighbor as oneself commits us ‘to work for the good of all people and of each person, because we are all really responsible for all’. This is what Catholic social teaching calls our duty to the ‘Common Good’.
In this pastoral reflection, we consider what some key principles of Catholic Social teaching offer by way of direction and priorities in the search for the common good in Northern Ireland at this particular time. In doing so, we have no desire to interfere in the legitimate autonomy of politics, or to support one political party or candidate over another. This is a matter of conscience for each Catholic voter to determine after careful consideration of all the issues, in light of the Gospel and the teaching of the Church. Our sole concern here is to present the universal values of the Gospel, in the tradition of Catholic Social teaching, as an aid to the formation of conscience, in the run-up to the forthcoming Assembly election. We do so with humility, as pastoral leaders in a Church community where, as pilgrims with others, we often fall short of our own ideals and depend completely on the strength and mercy of God. The reflection we offer, therefore, is offered as part of our pastoral responsibility within the community of the Church, and as an expression of the cherished freedom that all enjoy in a democratic society.
Political participation and the moral duty to vote.
Fundamental to our duty as citizens is the exercise of the precious freedom we enjoy to elect those who govern our society. Catholic Social Teaching affirms the moral duty to vote in free and just elections (CCCn.2240). It values the democratic system and considers politics a noble vocation, insofar as they both serve objective moral truth and affirm the inviolable dignity of every person, reflected in respect for their inalienable right to life and care from conception to natural death.
We therefore call on Catholics and all citizens to participate in the forthcoming elections in an informed, reflective and respectful way. Recalling the tradition of our Church to include prayers in the liturgy for those who serve in the civil and political sphere, we encourage all people of faith to pray for those who have the courage and generosity to stand for elected office. Our particular prayer is that they will be motivated and sustained by a genuine desire to serve the common good, with an abiding concern for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in our society.
The failure of the last Assembly to reduce childhood poverty and social need.
Consistent with our prayer that politicians will have an abiding concern for the most vulnerable, we make as our first appeal a call to all parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly to address, as the foremost priority in the next Programme for Government,the disturbing levels of childhood poverty here, and the systemic issues of social need that fracture so many homes and communities. Pope Francis reminds us that, ‘Just as the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say “thou shalt not” to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills’, he says (EG, 53). Quoting one of the leading Christians of the early Church, Pope Francis also reminds us that ‘Not to share one’s wealth with the poor is to steal from them and to take away their livelihood. It is not our own goods which we hold, but theirs.’ (EG, 57).
It is an indictment on the priorities and preoccupations of the last Assembly that Northern Ireland was the only region in the UK where levels of childhood poverty actually increased,with over 101,000 children in Northern Ireland now living below the poverty line. This is in spite of the fact that child poverty levels here were already more than twice those of other UK regions, and the highest across the island of Ireland, at the time of the Good Friday [Belfast] Agreement. If the Gospel values of Christianity mean anything in our society, if our societal commitment to the welfare of children is real, then this cannot be allowed to continue. It is a salutary reminder to all of us, including every politician who bears the name Christian, that how we will be judged by the Lord at the end of time will be determined by how we fed the poor, gave water to the thirsty, clothed the naked, welcomed the stranger, responded to those in captivity and cared for those who are sick (Mt. 25: 34-36).
Northern Ireland also has some of the highest levels of fuel poverty, of working poor, of those on disability related benefits and other forms of welfare support on these islands and is expected to be the last to benefit from any wider economic recovery.The last Assembly failed to address the issues of poverty, social need and economic recovery in any systemic or long term way. In an environment of excessive and even morally questionable austerity policies imposed by Westminster, it is understandable that it was difficult for politicians in Northern Ireland to achieve all they had hoped for in terms of the ‘peace dividends’ of the Good Friday Agreement. Individual politicians and parties will also be able to point to some important improvements they have made to the quality of life and financial support available to help those in need, including important mitigations of the Westminster welfare reforms. However, it is morally and politically inexcusable that some twenty years after the Agreement, Northern Ireland still experiences the widest gap on these islands between the haves and the have nots, and that this gap is widening further.
In this pastoral statement, therefore, we appeal to Catholics and all who believe in a more just and equitable society, to make the systemic and comprehensive eradication of childhood poverty and social need the key priority of the next Assembly. One practical appeal we make is for funding to be made available to schools so that no pupil begins the day without a nutritional breakfast. The benefits that flow from such a policy in terms of health, concentration, behavior and outcomes are well established in research and represent, in purely economic terms, an excellent return for the relatively small financial investment this requires in the future of our young people. We are particularly proud that some of our Catholic schools, working in some of the most disadvantaged communities in Northern Ireland are taking the lead even in the context of enormous pressures on their school budgets.
A call to a new political culture.
The poor and most vulnerable have paid the greatest price in Northern Ireland for a political culture that has too often been dominated by constitutional rivalries, a preoccupation with “tribal issues” and party point-scoring. This has contributed in turn to a discernible alienation from politics on the part of many, particularly the young.
Following the Good Friday Agreement, almost two decades ago, many had hoped for a new political culture in Northern Ireland, one that would open up the space to address, as a shared priority, the urgent issues of social need and disadvantage, the healing of the legacy of hurt and pain created by violence, and the building of a social and economic infrastructure that would give grounds for hope to current and future generations. By committing all political parties to ‘partnership, equality and mutual respect’ (art. 2), and assigning the question of the constitutional future of Northern Ireland to a separate referendum (art. 1.ii), an exciting opportunity was created to move away from traditional tribal politics and an adversarial political culture dominated by the constitutional question.
As the Assembly elections approach, we make an appeal for a new and more constructive political culture, one based on a shared commitment to the common good and the priorities of citizens rather than on traditional constitutional issues. This will require the Assembly to look beyond its own resources and preoccupations to widen the social and civic base of politics. The loss of the ‘Civic Forum’, for example, committed to in the Agreement but quietly shelved in subsequent years, is only one symptom of a political culture that has become more and more detached from the wider interests, experience and expertise of civic society, including of Churches and faith groups. We urge the next Assembly to establish new mechanisms of regular and transparent dialogue between the political institutions in Northern Ireland and the wider sources of social and political capital in our society, such as business organisations, agricultural organisations, universities and educational groups, voluntary organisations and NGO’s, as well as Churches and faith organisations.
Something important is lost when the enterprise of politics becomes detached from these vital and positive sources of the common good, which make a significant contribution to the life and well-being of citizens and society. We also appeal for a new culture of political discourse, one that is able to argue and differ respectfully, to build constructive consensus around areas of common concern and to set aside differences when issues fundamental to the common good are at stake. This call to a new and more constructive civil discourse extends also to those who are involved in the world of social, print and broadcast media, who have a vital role to play in enriching public debate and improving the quality of life of citizens.
We make this call mindful that as a Church we too must play our part in creating a new and positive civic and religious culture, one focused on working together with others for reconciliation and an end to sectarianism in all its forms.
Building a pervasive culture of life, care and hope.
The Gospel of love, and from it the ideal of the ‘civilisation of love’ that Catholic Social Teaching proposes to the world, calls on all of us to build a pervasive culture of care for others, especially for the most vulnerable. Building such a culture of care demands that we prioritise those policies in health, welfare, employment and economic distribution that improve the life and dignity of every citizen, irrespective of their stage of life or state of life. It calls us to become active citizens in what Pope Francis calls the ‘revolution of tenderness’, a revolution by which our ‘hardness of heart’, that gives rise to so much inhumanity and cruelty in the world, is replaced by a sensitivity and active concern to protect all and care for all, including the earth itself, our common home.
One of the great contradictions of our age, is that at the same time as society is developing a more urgent sense of the need to care for our planet and other creatures, many seem determined to treat some of our fellow human beings as something ‘disposable’, to be ‘thrown away’, as part of what Pope Francis calls our pervasive ‘throw-away’ culture. This is particularly true with respect to both ends of the spectrum of human life.
Central to the good news that the Church proclaims is that the life of every person is sacred and inviolable, irrespective of the stage or state of that life. It is regrettable that some choose to caricature the Church’s promotion of the inviolability of human life, from conception to natural death, as a mere ‘religious doctrine’, and therefore to be dismissed in the name of a free and secular society. Secularism is not a neutral philosophy of life among others, uniquely capable of facilitating pluralism in society, and the grounds upon which the Church upholds the inviolability are both rational and human, as much as they are religious. The principle of the inviolability of innocent human life is the most fundamental of all moral principles. It is the basis upon which every human right we enjoy as persons is predicated. This is not only a religious doctrine, but a universal human value upon which our very freedom and dignity as a person rests. It admits of no exceptions. To deliberately and intentionally take the life of an innocent person, whatever their state or stage of life, is always gravely morally wrong. To co-operate in such an act, by supporting it directly or indirectly, as an individual act or as a social policy, is also gravely wrong.
In situations of human crisis and need, our humanity is deepened and ennobled when we respond from our endless capacity for compassion and care. As a Church, motivated by the Gospel of love, and inspired by the call to the ‘revolution of tenderness’ proposed by Pope Francis, we call on all those who believe in a better future for humanity to preserve the dignity and sanctity of human life, in all its stages and conditions, as an affirmation of our human capacity to love, support and care for those faced with the most challenging circumstances. We call on our politicians to provide every possible service and support to women, parents and families who are faced with severe difficulties and crises in pregnancy. The services and care provided at the moment are far from adequate. We make a particular appeal, with others, for the next Assembly to commit to the provision of comprehensive peri-natal hospice services for women and their families responding to a diagnosis of life-limiting disability for their unborn child. These unborn children are in every human, medical and moral sense living human beings who, especially in their vulnerability, and with their mother, deserve the utmost love, care and support we can give them as a society. Taking the life of an unborn child with severe life-limiting conditions cannot be the most compassionate and humane response we have to offer to a mother in crisis pregnancy in the twenty-first century.
In the often emotionally charged and adversarial debates that take place on these issues, it can be difficult to convey the sensitive and hope-filled vision for humanity at the core of the Church’s belief in our noble capacity as humans to care, and to work for life-affirming solutions to challenging human problems. What is needed is a calm, rational discussion about these sensitive issues marked by a common concern to ensure that all those facing difficult situations in pregnancy, or at the end of life, receive a compassionate response based on the greatest degrees of love, understanding and care as a society we can provide, a response that affirms rather than undermines the universal moral principle that the right to life of every innocent and vulnerable person is inviolable.
Considering the moral consequences of casting a vote.
Voting for those who will govern our society is a moral act. Each vote cast, or not cast, potentially influences the values that will shape future law and policy, by endorsing the values and policies of a particular candidate or party. Voting for a particular candidate is an expression of one’s own ideals and moral vision for society. At the heart of Catholic Social teaching is the moral vision of a society worthy of the human person, marked by a culture of justice and care for all, especially the most vulnerable, and built upon respect for the inherent right to life of every person, from conception to natural death.
In recent years, it is striking how many Catholics and others in Northern Ireland have indicated to us, and to many priests, that they find it increasingly difficult to find a political party for whom they can vote in good conscience. While respecting the right of any citizen not to vote, where there is no clear alternative in an election, Catholic social teaching encourages us to maximize the good in the political choices that we make, and to limit any potential harm. What this means in any given election, requires careful moral discernment and a decision based on a sincere and informed conscience which has the pursuit of the good, and the avoidance of what is morally wrong, as its principal motivation.
The next Assembly term will see further pressures being brought to bear on politicians to introduce abortion to Northern Ireland. The moral issue here is not whether what is proposed is abortion ‘on demand’ or some form of so-called ‘limited’ abortion. From a moral point of view, there is no such things as ‘limited’ abortion. Abortion is always the deliberate and intentional taking of an innocent, vulnerable human life, and a direct breach of the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’. All forms of direct and intentional abortion contravene this fundamental sacred and human moral principle. The medical prognosis for the life of a child in the womb, or the extent of that child’s disabilities, is no more morally relevant than it is when considering an adult who faces the diagnosis of a life-limiting condition. This is why the social and moral teaching of the Church is clear, that it is never morally acceptable to support any policy that undermines the sacred inviolability of the right to life of an innocent person in any circumstances. A society worthy of our dignity as human persons, is one that calls us to respond from our noble capacity as human beings to care for and support someone in crisis, thereby valuing equally the life of a mother and her unborn child, rather than diminish our humanity by destroying another human life.
Encouraging a culture of welcome and hope for all.
An authentic and pervasive culture of care also involves commitment to a culture of welcome and support for the stranger and those fleeing from persecution, war or natural disaster. Many local communities, schools, parishes, voluntary and charitable organisations across Northern Ireland have been outstanding in their response to those refugees and asylum seekers who arrive daily to our shores. This includes those coming through the official Westminster scheme to assist people fleeing war and persecution in Syria. The numbers provided for through this scheme, however, remain tiny in proportion to the actual need. Others tell us of asylum seekers from Syria and other parts of the world who no-longer receive support from the State and live among us in the most precarious conditions. We ask those elected to the new Assembly to lobby the Westminster Government to increase the overall number of refugees accepted through the Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement Scheme, and to increase the numbers being resettled in Northern Ireland. We also ask that a comprehensive review of the care that is being provided to asylum seekers who arrive in Northern Ireland and to ensure adequate resources for the excellent NGO’s already providing vital support in this area.
It is also disturbing that Northern Ireland continues to be a destination for persons who have been trafficked and are now subjected to various forms of exploitation on our streets and local workplaces. The legislation passed on Human Trafficking by the current Assembly marked a welcome and important step in expressing our societal opposition to such exploitation and put it place various measures that will help on Human Trafficking. It is vital that the PSNI and relevant statutory care services are provided with adequate resources to respond to the scale of human trafficking taking place in our very midst. We also appeal to anyone who knows of persons who have been trafficked and are being exploited as workers or in any other way to report this to the PSNI as a matter of urgency.
In addressing the need for a culture of welcome and care for those fleeing their homeland, as so many from our own land had to do over the centuries, it is important to also acknowledge the disturbing levels of homelessness that exist among us. The tragic deaths of an unprecedented number of homeless people on our streets in recent months highlights the complexity of responding to the individual circumstances and needs of those who find themselves in this situation. There are many outstanding groups and services already working in this area. It is vital that the next Assembly undertakes a rigorous review of the nature, extent and causes of homelessness in Northern Ireland as a matter of priority and provides the maximum possible support to those agencies and groups that are responding to those in need of housing on a daily basis.
Respect for Religious Freedom and concern for persecuted Christians.
International surveys show that Christians are now the most persecuted group across the world. The Centre for the Study of Global Christianity in the United States estimates that 100,000 Christians now die every year, targeted because of their faith – that is 11 every hour. The Pew Research Center says that hostility to religion reached a new high in 2012, when Christians faced some form of discrimination in 139 countries, that is almost three-quarters of the nations of the world.
The lack of public outcry and political response to such persecution is in stark contrast to the media attention given to many other issues. The former Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks told the House of Lords recently that the suffering of Middle East Christians is “one of the crimes against humanity of our time” and said he was “appalled at the lack of protest it has evoked”.
Research also shows that in addition to violent persecution, Christians have become subject to subtle forms of exclusion and discrimination in various western democracies. This is sometimes experienced as a cultural ‘chill factor’, where expressions of Christian belief and conscience are no longer tolerated in the public square, while secular or other philosophical-ethical views, are incorrectly considered ‘neutral’ and given a certain primacy in decisions about public policy and law. Many local Christians now speak of a growing ‘chill factor’ in public policy and law here in Northern Ireland. This includes examples of exclusion of Church and faith groups from access to public funding for services because of their religious ethos and values, or of being caricatured in public debate as ‘archaic’ for promoting perennial human values such as the importance to society of traditional marriage and the family, or the preciousness of human life in the womb.
The right to religious freedom is a fundamental right universally recognized as foundational to a genuinely pluralist and tolerant society. It is not limited to the right to worship. The question of how freedom of religious conscience can be most appropriately accommodated and expressed in law is a matter we believe the next Assembly should address. The failure of the Northern Ireland Assembly to protect the rights of a Catholic Church-sponsored adoption agency to provide services in a manner consistent with its religious ethos was a siren call to all who uphold respect for religious freedom as an essential hallmark of an authentically free and pluralist society.
We encourage the next Assembly to set up a joint-working party on freedom of religion that would explore these issues in consultation with other relevant groups and to make recommendations for future policy and law. We also encourage the next Assembly and its politicians to highlight the issue of the violent persecution of Christians in the Middle East and other parts of the world, as well as the plight of other persecuted groups, by hosting debates and passing appropriate resolutions on these issues.
Respect for the Right to Faith-based Education in a genuinely pluralist society.
Closely related to respect for religious freedom is respect for the right of parents to have their children educated in conformity with their religious convictions. This right is explicitly recognized in the European Convention on Human Rights and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Respect for this right implies a duty on the State to facilitate a plurality of types of schools where parental demand and public resources reasonably allow for it.
This is consistent with a society that believes in genuine pluralism and tolerance. Yet the impression is often given in political and public debate about education in Northern Ireland, as well as in certain policy decisions, that the very existence of faith-based schools, and Catholic schools in particular, is something to be regretted and discouraged, rather than celebrated and encouraged as part of a genuinely tolerant society that respects diversity and parental choice.
Suggestions that only one model of integration of schools can contribute positively to reconciliation, understanding and tolerance is not only offensive to the positive contribution that all other school sectors in Northern Ireland make to peace and reconciliation but is monistic rather than pluralist, is inimical to parental rights and sometimes cloaks a deep-seated hostility to the Catholic faith itself. This is reflected in the suggestion sometimes made that those parents who want a faith-based education for their children should have to pay for it. This is to ignore the fact that all parents have the same rights in this regard and that all parents are tax-payers. Those who are not tax-payers have the same rights as those who are not to a faith-based education for their children.
The requirement in the Good Friday Agreement to promote integrated education was not intended to create a hierarchy of schools in terms of the rights of parents or recognition of the positive social role that all schools in our society play in terms of promoting peace, understanding and good relations. Yet this is the impression sometimes given, not least by some politicians and others who claim to espouse respect for difference as the very motivation for insisting that ALL children be educated together, irrespective of parental choice.
Catholic schools, by their very nature promote a pervasive Christian ethos that is inclusive, welcoming and tolerant. As well as in academic outcomes, they often lead the way in terms of pastoral care, welcome for new-comer children to Northern Ireland, inclusion of a diversity of religious and ethnic minorities, support for the disadvantaged, engagement in shared activities with schools from others sectors as well social outreach to local and international communities.
As a Church we welcome the opportunity to move towards the advent of jointly managed Church-schools in Northern Ireland, similar to those we share with other Churches in England, Wales and Scotland. Through our negotiations with the Transferors and the Department of Education, this is now possible for the first time in law. We continue to encourage all our Catholic schools to be at the forefront of sharing and inclusion. We also call on all politicians to respect the positive contribution to peace and good relations made by all school sectors and to ensure that all school sectors are treated equally in terms of funding and policy.
A key priority for the next Assembly has to be the need to address educational under-achievement, across all sectors. This includes the need to address the problems of post-primary transfer including, by aligning the curriculum, educational policy and resources more closely to the needs of the real economy.
On caring for our common home.
In his most recent encyclical letter, Laudato sí: On Care for Our Common Home, Pope Francis reminds us that the planet we share, our common home, faces an urgent and fundamental challenge that affects us all. This is the challenge of environmental degradation and the increasingly dramatic consequences of climate change.
Whatever the causes of climate change, to care for our common home in a responsible and sustainable way is a good in its own right and something we owe to future generations. The recent Paris summit set challenging but achievable targets for carbon emissions and for the transition to more sustainable forms of renewable energy. Northern Ireland is already a world-leader in the development of such renewable technologies and has enormous natural, educational and other resources to allow this vital aspect of our local economy to grow even further.
We encourage the next Assembly to invest in research and training to ensure the Northern Ireland economy is well placed to take full advantage of the developing market for new renewable technologies. We also call on the next Executive to support the rapid implementation of the recently approvedEnvironmental Better Regulation Billand to supplement this bill with well-funded measures to secure the environmental integrity of our precious natural waterways, landscapes, seas, fisheries and other resources, as well as supporting all citizens in living in a more environmentally sustainable way, for the sake of future generations.
As Pope Francis reminds us in Laudato sí,those who will suffer most from any failure to act now to protect our common home will be the poorest around the world. Catholic Social Teaching highlights the essentially global nature of the common good and emphasizes the universal destination of the goods of the earth, as a gift of God, for the benefit of all. This highlights the importance of the local Assembly having a global as well as a regional and national perspective on what constitutes the common good. We encourage the next Assembly and Executive to play their part in contributing to those UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 that are ethically consistent and to support the many local individuals and organisations that provide international outreach and outstanding development work in some of the most disadvantaged regions of the world.
Support for the family based on marriage between one man and one woman.
In Laudato sí, Pope Francis also reminds us that natural ecology and human ecology are inextricably linked. Echoing the words of his predecessor, Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, he reminds us that, ‘The book of nature is one and indivisible; it includes not only the environment but also individual, family and social ethics’ (CV, 12). In respect of the ethics of marriage and the family, religious and non-religious people alike have long acknowledged and know from their experience that the family, based on the natural institution of marriage between a woman and a man, is the best and ideal place for children. When legislation is proposed that equates other forms of relationship to the marriage between a man and a woman it effectively says to parents, children and society that the State should not, and will not, promote any normative or ideal family environment for raising children. Such legislation implies that the biological bond and natural ties between a child and its mother and father have no intrinsic value for the child or for society.
As Pope Francis has stated, ‘we must reaffirm the right of children to grow up in a family with a father and a mother capable of creating a suitable environment for the child’s development and emotional maturity’ (16 April 2014). It is also important to reiterate the objective moral truth, affirmed by the recent post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis, Amoris Laetitia(The Joy of Love), that ‘as for proposals to place unions between homosexual persons on the same level as marriage, there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family’ (n. 251).
The truth about marriage derives from its intrinsic nature as a relationship based on the complementarity of a man and woman and the unique capacity of this relationship alone to generate new life. This truth does not change with the shifting tides of historical custom or popular opinion. In this context we make a special appeal to those standing for election to the next Assembly to reflect on the importance of the family based on marriage between one man and one woman, as the foundation and cornerstone of society and therefore deserving of special recognition and protection in policy and law. This includes an appeal to protect those institutions and services that provide essential supports to family and marriage such as marriage preparation, relationship counselling, parenting support and other services in a manner consistent with the religious ethos and conviction of the organizations concerned. We call on members of the next Assembly to recognize in law and policy that freedom of religion means more than freedom to worship. It also involves the freedom to live and engage in society in a manner that is consistent with one’s own religious identity and deeply held beliefs.
Conclusion: A culture of life, care and hope for all.
In conclusion, we recall the fundamental Christian conviction that underlies this pastoral reflection in advance of the Assembly elections. It is this, that the future of humanity lies in the choice between a culture of life and care, or a ‘throwaway’ culture of destruction and death. The greatest hope for our local community and for our common home can only be built on a new and constructive culture of civil dialogue and wider participation in the processes of politics. A new and better future is possible, if it is built on a culture of life, care and hope for all.
In encouraging all citizens to fulfill their moral duty to vote in the forthcoming Assembly elections, we ask all who do so to inform their conscience in advance about the important moral, social and economic issues that are at stake. In expressing our good wishes to all who are standing for election, and acknowledging the spirit of public service that motivates the noble calling of politics, we assure every candidate of our prayers and encourage potential voters in a respectful and constructive manner to ask the following questions of any candidate to whom they are considering giving their vote.
Ten questions based on Catholic Social Teaching for Catholics to ask candidates standing in the Assembly elections

1. What will you do to address the unacceptable levels of childhood poverty in Northern Ireland and the widening gap between rich and poor?
2. What will you do to uphold the right to life of unborn children and adults with severe life-limiting disabilities, as well as children conceived through sexual crime, if the next Assembly seeks to introduce legislation that removes the fundamental right to life from them?
3. Do you support abortion, the direct and intentional taking of an innocent human life in any circumstances?
4. What will you do to protect and support family and marriage and in particular the natural institution of marriage between one man and one woman as the fundamental building block of society?
5. Will you support the right of religious organisations to provide services in a manner consistent with their religious ethos and beliefs?
6. Will you support the right of parents to have Catholic schools as part of a diverse system of educational provision, based on parental choice?
7. What will you do to highlight the persecution of Christians and other persecuted groups across the world?
8. What will you do to address human trafficking in Northern Ireland and to help improve services for refugees, asylum seekers and the homeless?
9. What will you do to help achieve those UN Sustainable Development goals that are ethically consistent and ensure proper care and respect for the natural environment?
10. What will you do to create a more constructive and inclusive political culture in the next Assembly, one that gives hope to all in our society for a better future?

Discipleship and Citizenship by Bishop James Conley

Here is the latest column from Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, reprinted from the Southern Nebraska Register.
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April 24, 1916, one hundred years ago this week, was a warm and beautiful day in Dublin, Ireland. It was Easter Monday, a national holiday, and families walked together through the city. It seemed a calm and uneventful morning. But away from downtown, on Dublin’s outskirts, organized groups of Irishmen began to quietly overtake roads, and bridges, and telephone stations surrounding the city center.
Shortly before noon, 400 Irishmen entered the downtown General Post Office on O’Connell Street, evacuated it, locked the doors, and hoisted on the rooftop a flag of the Irish people. A schoolteacher walked into the square and read a proclamation, declaring that Ireland would be a free nation.
Five days of conflict between the Irish and the British army followed. After that came years of political struggle, and decades of protracted fighting, during which grave acts of violence were committed by both sides.
But the “Easter Rising” of 1916 began a movement for the personal and religious freedom of the Irish people. It began the end of the centuries in which Ireland was ruled by other kingdoms and nations. And the roots of that Easter Rising and the desire for Irish freedom, was the deep and abiding Catholic faith of the Irish people. In fact, many leaders of the Easter Rising began their involvement because they wanted to leave for their children a more just, free, and charitable society.
The declaration of the Irish republic placed the nation under the care and protection of Almighty God, and expressed hope that in his blessing, the Irish people would serve “the common good,”—the Catholic sense of just governance. The Irish Constitution, adopted some years after Easter Rising, invoked the grace of Jesus Christ in the establishment of a nation “seeking to promote the common good, with due observance of Prudence, Justice and Charity, so that the dignity and freedom of the individual may be assured,” and “true social order attained.”
Political history is always complicated. But it is clear that the fathers of independent Ireland were formed and motivated by a commitment to Catholic teaching, and they sought to build a nation which would serve justice for all, ordered and animated by the principles and meaning of the Gospel. It is also clear that the “Easter Rising”—and the Catholic values promoted by its leaders—was only possible in a culture in which Catholicism was expressed in the art, and music, and family life of the people—in which the meaning of the Gospel bubbled up through every part of family and public life, naturally shaping the direction of the nation.
We are all called to build civil society ordered by the spirit of Jesus Christ. We do this through our direct political engagement; by voting, and running for office, and advocating for just legislation—for the family, the poor, and the unborn. But we also build Catholic culture by the way we engage with our families, our neighbors, our colleagues, and our friends. Very little of our everyday lives are directly impacted by particular government policies. But our lives are never lived in isolation. We form authentic Christian communities—and promote the common good—when we carry ourselves, through our ordinary relationships, with a desire to live the meaning of the Gospel. We build a just social order, one step at a time, in the ordinary experiences of our lives.
Forming truly Christian culture is a part of our responsibility as Catholics, and also a part of our responsibility as citizens. Last month, a friend and former student of mine, author Stephen White, published “Red, White, Blue, and Catholic.” He writes that “this book is a Catholic guide to faithful citizenship for every day of the year—not just Election Day.” The book is exactly that—a thoughtful and practical guide to becoming good citizens by building, in real steps, just and vibrant American culture.
White says that our Catholic faith should make all the difference in the way we live as American citizens. And he’s right. And to become good citizens, in the best sense, we should first become good disciples of Jesus Christ. “Red, White, Blue, and Catholic” can help us to do both of those things—I hope you will read it with your families, and I hope it will help us to build a culture, and rebuild a nation, in which we will be proud to raise future generations.

Human Cryopreservation: Ethical and Moral Assessment by Justo Aznar

There are currently around 250 frozen individuals in the United States and more than 100 on the waiting list. Are there objective possibilities of returning the cryogenically frozen individual to life?
Cryopreservation consists of preserving human individuals or organs at very low temperatures (less than -130°) in order to preserve them. The low temperatures decrease the metabolism and facilitate preservation.
Technique
Cryopreservation begins by bringing the person to a state of hypothermia as quickly as possible in order to reduce cell damage. Anticoagulants (heparin) and vasodilators (nimodipine) must also be administered.
When cardiorespiratory arrest has occurred, the patient must be placed in a support or container that is suitable for inducing hypothermia (iced water or other alternative systems). Cardiopulmonary support manoeuvres are performed, treatments are administered and intravenous lines are inserted that allow the blood to be exchanged for cryoprotectant solutions.
At least one artery and one vein must then be cannulated in order to enable the exchange of blood for a cryoprotectant solution (usually ethylene glycol, dimethyl sulfoxide or other components) that prevents the formation of ice crystals, allowing vitrification of the cells while preventing damage due to the crystals. Exchanging the blood for a cryoprotectant solution takes place at hypothermia temperatures — preferably less than 10°C — since at these temperatures the solution can transport as much oxygen as blood. Once the blood has been exchanged for the cryoprotectant, rapid cooling below 0°C should be performed. This cooling can be carried out with dry ice, which allows the temperature to be lowered to -79°C, or with liquid nitrogen, which enables a temperature of -196°C to be reached. Nevertheless, once a temperature of -130°C has been reached, arrest of the cell’s biological time is complete and the procedure can continue slowly until it reaches the -196°C of liquid nitrogen.
Finally, the individual is placed inside a cryostat consisting of two walls separated by an inner vacuum, where they can be maintained at -196°C – indefinitely in principle – until a way of reversing the vitrification process is found (description taken from a report by Dr. Luis Estrada).
Current situation
There are currently around 250 cryogenically frozen individuals in the United States and more than 100 on the waiting list to be cryopreserved when the time arrives. In Clinton Township, in the state of Michigan (USA) is the Cryonics Institute, which is dedicated to human cryogenic freezing. Eighty-three frozen humans are currently stored in the Institute, as well as various pets, including 20 cats, 15 dogs, three parrots and a hamster.
The director of the Institute, Robert Ettinger, had his mother cryogenically frozen in 1982, his first wife in 1987 and his second in 2000. One of the ethical concerns raised by cryogenics is that if these bodies could actually be resuscitated after a long period of time, the individual could find themselves in a human environment that is completely unknown to them, i.e. they would not know anyone. This is not the case of Ettinger of course, who could find himself with his mother and two wives — although the latter could be more of a hindrance than a help!
Ethical and moral assessment
We are going to divide our comments into two parts: technical and ethics or morals.
Technical aspects:
In our opinion, the main problem that arises in the cryogenic freezing of human beings is that there is no previous experimental evidence that can somehow guarantee the success of this practice. As we very well know, commencing biomedical experiments in humans first requires exhaustive preclinical experiments in animals, which at least guarantee that the technique to be implemented will not have adverse consequences for the human individuals in whom it is to be used.
In this respect — to take one example — we recall that when North American biopharmaceutical company Geron sent a proposal to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting approval to use embryonic stem cells in the treatment of spinal cord injuries, the proposal was rejected because — in the opinion of the FDA — there were no preclinical experiments of sufficient weight to guarantee an absence of side effects in the patients in whom it was to be used; the trial could not therefore be recommended. This was despite the fact that Geron had presented a report of more than 20,000 pages listing previous experiments in animals, although the use of embryonic stem cells for this clinical end was later approved. Nonetheless, this case shows how sufficient previous experiments in animals are required to approve use in humans.
It may also be of interest to highlight that, in 2012, the Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to professor Shinya Yamanaka, who in 2007 developed a technique for reprogramming adult somatic cells. This Nobel prize was surely awarded to him owing to the immense possibilities opened up by this technique, in both the experimental and biomedical fields. Nevertheless, the first clinical trial with reprogrammed (iPS) cells did not start until 2015, which shows the prudence with which these new technologies are evaluated. In this case, the technique was used to treat a patient with age-related macular degeneration, in a trial that is currently underway in the Riken Institute in Japan. In July 2015, however, the Institute reported that it had halted the trial because it seemed that in the second patient, small genomic alterations had been detected following the cell reprogramming procedure. So, what does all this mean? It means that, in order to be able to apply a new experimental technique such as cryopreservation, there must be reasonable certainty that there are no negative side effects in the individuals in which it is to be used.
To support the use of this technique, it has occasionally been argued that previous experiments have been conducted with some invertebrates, and it seems also with some small mammals, in which the cryogenically frozen animal’s body was restored. I have not stopped to delve deeper into these claims, but I believe that to think that this research opens the possibility for use in humans is unfounded. Successful restoration of higher mammals following cryogenic freezing — particularly non-human primates — would have to be demonstrated, which is not an easy matter owing to the long time it would take. I think that, until this is proven, it is a non-experimental evidence-based risk to use these techniques in humans, especially if we consider that up until now, scientists have been unable to vitrify whole organs, although experiments are underway in this field, particularly to recover their functionality once thawed. There is a further biological issue that I think needs to be taken into account. Although some authors occasionally report the ability to recover vitrified oocytes, and that the success of this practice could be extrapolated to whole human bodies, I do not believe there is any scientific basis for this comparison. The oocyte is a single cell, while the human body has billions of cells — more than 200 different types. When a vitrified oocyte is thawed, the process takes place at the biological rhythm of a single cell. How can we be sure that in the cryogenic freezing of a whole body, the biological rhythms of each of the cell lines will be similar? In particular, how can we be sure that in the event of “resuscitation” of that body, the different biological rhythms of cell recovery would be able to take place harmoniously, so that recovery of the entire body is feasible?
In addition to the above difficulties, complex organisms are known to be unable to survive vitrification, because in theory, the formation of crystals that which occurs at the very start of the process must be prevented in order do so. This would require a suitable cryoprotectant that was non-toxic, could enter the cells rapidly, and could be easily removed at the end of the process, something which is not currently available.
These are reasonable questions that I believe need to be clarified before implementing cryogenic freezing of human individuals.
There are undoubtedly minor technical problems that could be assessed, but I think these are secondary to those I have mentioned above.
Ethical aspects:
Most certainly the two scenarios in which this practice can be carried out are: either the individual is in the process of dying but is still alive, or he is already dead, i.e. they are acting on a cadaver. Let’s analyse both circumstances separately.
In the first case, if the subject is still alive — and since as far as I know there is no explicit Catholic Church Magisterial teaching on this practice — I think that the criteria used to morally assess human embryo freezing could be applied, because from a moral point of view, there is no difference in how an early human embryo and an individual adult should be treated. What though does the Magisterium of the Church say about human embryo freezing? We shall refer to two texts on this matter: the first from the Instruction Dignitas Personae from 2008, and the other from Pope John Paul II. The first states that: “Cryopreservation is incompatible with the respect owed to human embryos: it presupposes their production in vitro; it exposes them to the risk of death or physical harm, since a high percentage does not survive the process of freezing and thawing; it deprives them at least temporarily of maternal reception and gestation; it places them in a situation in which they are susceptible to further offense and manipulation”.
In the second, John Paul II made an “appeal to the conscience of the world’s scientific authorities and in particular to doctors, that the production of human embryos be halted, taking into account that there seems to be no morally licit solution regarding the human destiny of the thousands and thousands of ‘frozen’ embryos which are and remain the subjects of essential rights and should therefore be protected by law as human persons”.
That is, it seems morally illicit to freeze human embryos, which can certainly be extrapolated —and with much greater reason — to a human adult.
The second scenario is that it involves a cadaver, and in this case it should be treated as such. There is Catholic Church Magisterial teaching on this matter, which in our opinion is applicable by analogy to what should be done with cryogenically frozen cadavers. In this regard, there does not appear to be any problem for cryogenic freezing if the cadaver is treated with the respect merited by human remains.
From a moral point of view though, there may be an insurmountable difficulty in relation to revival of the cryopreserved cadaver, in the hypothetical case that it could return to biological life. In this circumstance, we would have to ask: would that cadaver recover its individual soul? Or would another have to be created for it? These are theological issues that are difficult to resolve. I think that the revival of resuscitated bodies at the end of times, set out clearly in Gospel texts, has nothing to do with the “resuscitation” of these bodies in a period close to their natural death. I believe that this “temporary” revival is not easily compatible with the eschatological resurrection of the body.
In summary:
From a medical point of view, there appear to be unquestionable difficulties for human cryogenic freezing, since there are no previous studies that guarantee the absence of negative side effects, and especially the objective possibility of returning the cryogenically frozen individual to life.
From a moral point of view, in the case of individuals cryogenically frozen before death, i.e. in the process of dying, we consider that subjecting them to a cryogenically frozen state is an act incompatible with the human dignity of those individuals.
In the case of cadavers cryogenically frozen after dying, i.e. after separation of the body and soul, we think that there may be a serious problem, theologically unresolved, as regards the revival of that body, in the event that its restoration were achieved.
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• Justo Aznar is the director of the Bioethics Observatory of the Catholic Univeristy of Valencia (Spain)

This article was published before in Bioethics News

Facing Euthanasia Law, Canadian Faithful Organize ‘Day of Prayer for Palliative Care’ by ZENIT Staff

The Catholic Women’s League (CWL) of Canada is coordinating a day of prayer for palliative care, “12 Hours of Prayer for Palliative Care”, on Wednesday, May 4.
The CWL has provided resources which explain the program being proposed to parishes and family households. An information kit includes the resources available for the promotion and animation of the event. This includes a prayer service, suggestions for the Prayers of the Faithful, and resources on palliative care. In addition, the information kit provides a petition to be submitted to the House of Commons, asking that palliative care be “a defined medical service covered under the Canada Health Act so that provincial and territorial governments will be entitled to funds under the Canada Health Transfer system to be used to provide accessible and available hospice palliative care for all residents of Canada in their respective provinces and territories.”

• Link to the CWL’s news release
• Link to the resources
• Related: See more on the efforts of the Church in Canada to fight push for assisted suicide: https://zenit.org/articles/canadian-bishops-add-revamped-website-to-efforts-to-halt-euthanasia-push/

Financial Information Authority Presents 2015 Report by ZENIT Staff

The Financial Information Authority of the Holy See and Vatican City State presented its Annual Report for 2015.
The statement from the Vatican reported:
The year saw an effective implementation and application of the regulatory framework of the Holy See and the Vatican City State. Furthermore, international cooperation of the Vatican competent authority with its foreign counterparts to fight illicit financial activities has been intensified.
“The full implementation and application of Regulation No. 1 has shown the effectiveness of the regulatory framework of the Holy See and Vatican City State,” said René Brülhart, President of AIF. “International cooperation remains a key commitment of AIF. Additional Memoranda of Understandings with competent authorities of other jurisdictions were signed and the exchange of information on a bilateral level has increased significantly.”
The reporting system has been consolidated and in the last three years, 893 Suspicious Transaction Reports (STR) (202 in 2013, 147 in 2014 and 544 in 2015) have been filed with AIF. “The increase of STRs was not due to higher potential illicit financial activities, but to a number of different factors, namely the finalization of the closure of client relationships no longer compliant with Vatican legislation and policies adopted by supervised entities, the monitoring of clients’ activities under foreign countries’ voluntary tax compliance programs as well as the general strengthening of the reporting system and the increased awareness of the supervised entities,” said Tommaso di Ruzza, Director of AIF.
In 2015, 17 reports were submitted to the Vatican Promoter of Justice for further investigation by judicial authorities. The number of cases of bilateral cooperation between AIF and foreign competent authorities increased from 4 in 2012 to 81 in 2013 to 113 in 2014 and 380 in 2015.
Since 2012, the number of declarations of outgoing cash above the amount of EUR 10,000 decreased steadily from 1,782 (2012) to 1,557 (2013) and 1,111 in 2014 and remained stable in 2015 (1,196). Declarations for incoming cash also decreased from 598 (2012) to 550 (2013) to 429 in 2014 and 367 in 2015. This is due to an increased monitoring by the competent authorities and the introduction of reinforced procedures at the supervised entities.
About the AIF
The Financial Information Authority is the competent authority of the Holy See and Vatican City State for supervision and financial intelligence for the prevention and countering of money laundering and financing of terrorism as well as prudential supervision.
Established by Pope Benedict XVI with the Apostolic Letter in form of Motu Proprio of 30 December 2010, AIF carries out its institutional activities in accordance with its new Statute introduced by Pope Francis with Motu Proprio of 15 November 2013 and Law No. XVIII of 8 October 2013.
In 2015, AIF signed MOUs with the financial intelligence units (FIUs) of Albania, Cuba, Luxemburg, Norway, Paraguay and Hungary. In previous years, AIF had already signed MOUs with the Authorities of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, United Kingdom United States of America, South Africa and Switzerland. AIF became a member of the Egmont Group in 2013.

From John Paul II’s Homily on Canonization of St. Gianna by ZENIT Staff

On today’s feast of St. Gianna Beretta Molla, we recall the words of Pope St. John Paul II on her canonization in 2004:
Gianna Beretta Molla was a simple, but more than ever, significant messenger of divine love. In a letter to her future husband a few days before their marriage, she wrote: “Love is the most beautiful sentiment the Lord has put into the soul of men and women”.
Following the example of Christ, who “having loved his own… loved them to the end” (Jn 13: 1), this holy mother of a family remained heroically faithful to the commitment she made on the day of her marriage. The extreme sacrifice she sealed with her life testifies that only those who have the courage to give of themselves totally to God and to others are able to fulfil themselves.
Through the example of Gianna Beretta Molla, may our age rediscover the pure, chaste and fruitful beauty of conjugal love, lived as a response to the divine call!

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