Pope Benedict XVI: visit to Lebanon

Whilst Lebanon does not appear to have been drawn fully into the tragic events in Syria, it is a country that has not avoided some of the consequences of that conflict. Lebanon has recieved refugees escaping the violence in Syria, and some of the sectarian tensions within the Syrian conflict have spilled over into violence in Lebanon itself.

Pope Benedict's visit to Lebanon does, in this context, take on an aspect of a pilgrimage in favour of peace that was in all probability not part of its original intention.The focus of the visit is the signing and publication of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops.

Speaking in French at the end of today's General Audience, Pope Benedict said:

Chers pèlerins, dans deux jours à pareille heure, je serais en vol vers le Liban. Je me réjouis de ce Voyage apostolique. Il me permettra de rencontrer de nombreuses composantes de la société libanaise : des responsables civils et ecclésiaux, des fidèles catholiques de divers rites, et des autres chrétiens, des musulmans et des druzes de cette région. Je rends grâce au Seigneur pour cette richesse qui ne pourra continuer que si elle vit dans la paix et la réconciliation permanente. C’est pourquoi j’exhorte tous les chrétiens du Moyen-Orient, qu’ils soient de souche ou nouveaux arrivés, à être des constructeurs de paix et des acteurs de réconciliation. Demandons à Dieu de fortifier la foi des chrétiens du Liban et du Moyen-Orient, et de les remplir d’espérance. Je remercie Dieu pour leur présence et j’encourage l’ensemble de l’Église à la solidarité afin qu’ils puissent continuer à témoigner du Christ sur ces terres bénies en recherchant la communion dans l’unité. Je rends grâce à Dieu pour toutes les personnes et toutes les institutions qui, de multiples manières, les aident dans ce sens. L’histoire du Moyen-Orient nous enseigne le rôle important et souvent primordial joué par les différentes communautés chrétiennes dans le dialogue interreligieux et interculturel. Demandons à Dieu de donner à cette région du monde la paix si désirée, dans le respect des légitimes différences. Que Dieu bénisse le Liban et le Moyen-Orient ! Que Dieu vous bénisse tous !

[.... I give thanks to the Lord for this richness which can only continue if it can live  in peace and a permanent reconciliation. This is why I encourage all the Christians of the Middle East, be they of ancient origin or newly arrived, to be builders of peace and actors for reconciliation.... Let us ask God to give this regeion of the world the peace it so desires, in respect for legitimate differences. God bless Lebanon and the Middle East! God bless you all!]

The page at the Vatican website for the visit to Lebanon is here. Texts will be added as they are delivered.

Same-sex marriage: the situation in France

La Croix carries reports describing the situation with regard to same-sex marriage in France. These follow an exclusive interview with Christiane Taubira, the Minister of Justice, published by La Croix on Monday.

I haven't got time to translate all of La Croix's coverage, but here are the links and an excerpt from one of their reports (my translation could be better, I think). The interview with Christiane Taubira can be found at the first link.

Christiane Taubira : « Le mariage pour tous répond à une exigence d’égalité »

Les réactions après les annonces sur le « mariage homosexuel »

Le cardinal Vingt-Trois relève les « écueils » du débat sur le « mariage homosexuel »

Surtout, l’argumentation de l’Église ne doit pas être comprise comme « défendant une conception du mariage et de la famille essentiellement catholique, une particularité confessionnelle ». « La transmission générationnelle, l’organisation de l’avenir par l’éducation des enfants ne sont pas d’abord confessionnelles », a rappelé le président de la Conférence des évêques. « Que mon point de vue soit alimenté par des considérations chrétiennes est une évidence, mais si je propose d’autres solutions, c’est en me mettant au service non pas de l’Église mais de l’humanité. »
[Above all, the argument of the Church must not be seen as "defending an idea of marriage and the family that is essentially Catholic, a confessional interest". "The transmission to a new generation, the preparation of the future by the education of children are not primarily confessional", recalled the president of the Bishop's Conference. "That my point of view should be nourished by Christian considerations is a given, but if I suggest some different answers, it is because I put myself at the service not only of the Church but of humanity".]

The Paralympic Games must change the way we think about abortion

The Paralympic Games must change the way we think about abortion.

... if, as Lord Coe says, 'we will never think of disability the same way', surely we must lift 'the cloud of limitation' on the thousands of unborn babies in the womb, whom providence has seen fit to gift with one leg, no arms, no eyes, dwarfism or spina bifida.

 'Paralympics call Britain to review abortion laws'

“What is astounding is that Britain is enabling the eyes of the world to be opened to the giftedness and potential of those with disabilities through its hosting of the Paralympic Games. However, its own laws vehemently and shockingly discriminate against any new life in the womb that might possibly be affected by a physical handicap, genetic problems or a mental defect."

In conversations with a number of Paralympians in recent days [James Parker, Catholic co-ordinator for the 2012 Games] was astonished to discover that “many of them don’t even realise that, should their team mates have been conceived in Britain today, they would most likely be aborted. If Britain wishes to retain its place towards the head of the medals table at future Paralympic Games in decades to come then it needs to seriously consider changing its laws to stop discriminating against what is presently termed as an ‘unacceptable quality of life’. Games aside, any society that wishes to be healthy needs to increasingly value disability and non-disability equally.

h/t Archbishop Cranmer and Independent Catholic News

Rimsha Masih: latest reports

The latest reports from the Fides News Agency about the case of Rimsha Masih:

After the case of Rimsha, the challenge of the blasphemy law

Rimsha is free; her case upholds the review of the blasphemy law.

Aid to the Church in Need UK has two reports:

Top Catholic human rights activist says blasphemy case against Rimsha Masih is "engineered"

Bishop says young girl accused of burning Qur'an texts may be freed

BBC reporting here:

Pakistan Christian girl accused of blasphemy released

Pakistanis 'disturbed' by blasphemy case

British Pakistani Christian Association reports here:

Rimsha free from prison!

Rimsha Masih granted bail on provision of 2 x 500,000 rupee sureties! BPCA establishes Rimsha Fund to pay for legal costs and protected shelter for Rimsha and her family!

"Right to die": an invented right

 The news media are today reporting that a health minister newly promoted in the recent Cabinet/Government reshuffle has said, in the context of terminally ill people, that "you have a right to kill yourself". It is interesting to note the different emphases of the BBC reporting and that in the Telegraph. The front page report, and published interview on inside pages, in the Times are behind their paywall, so I am not able to link to them. The penultimate paragraph of the interview in the print edition reads as follows:

Ms Soubry has always been a "firm supporter" of the Abortion Act and backs the introduction of gay marriage. She also thinks there is a case for reforming the law on assisted suicide. "I think it's ridiculous and appalling that people have to go abroad to end their life instead of being able to end their life at home. You can't say to a doctor or a nurse, 'Kill this person' but ... you have a right to kill yourself. The rules that we have about who we don't prosecute allow things to happen but there's a good argument that we should be a bit more honest about it".

Though it is not clear what Ms Soubry thinks the terms of a reformed law should be, I would challenge her to justify the claim that there is such a thing as a right to kill to yourself. When asserted in the public domain, it sounds eminently reasonable and compassionate. But does it have a rational, argued basis, rooted in the nature of the human person?

No justification whatsoever can be found for the assertion of a right to kill yourself in a document such as the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. If anything, the provisions of the Universal Declaration suggest the opposite (my emphasis added):

Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 25: (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

Can it not be argued, contrary to Anna Soubry, that a situation where a terminally ill person feels that they want to kill themselves represents a breach of their rights under the above articles of the Universal Declaration? And that the establishing, even within the limited context of the terminally ill patient, of such a right within UK law would bring UK law into conflict with the Universal Declaration?

I find Anna Soubry's intervention particularly unfortunate in such close proximity to the example provided by the London 2012 Paralympics of how hope is engendered, not just by the person who is ill or disabled alone, or by the person who is caring alone, but between the two together. See my posts At the Paralympics and Paralympics Chaplain on Radio 2. It is sad to see such a prominent intervention that fails to recognise the part that society as a whole has to play in working to engender this community of hope rather than undermining it.

"Down the pit"

More on coal mines, prompted by me having a chat with an ex-miner the other day. He worked at Betteshanger in the Kent coalfield. I think he was a bit surprised to talk to someone who had some knowledge of, and contact, with coal mining (my father was  Bevin boy, see the end of this post).

Zero and I went down to the Kent coalfield on Saturday, to visit the Waiting Miner: Miner statue rededicated at Kent's Fowlmead Country Park. Fowlmead Country Park has been established on the side of the spoil heap from Betteshanger Colliery. It isn't that impressive for walking, but the facilities for cycling are very good. There were lots of visitors either hiring bikes or bringing their own on Saturday.

The plaque you can see on the plinth lists the names of all the miners who died in the pits of the Kent coalfield.

The Waiting Miner has his back to the former spoil tip, and looks out towards where the Betteshanger Colliery used to be.

At the paralympics

At the end of July, I posted about having seen some Olympic and Paralympic tickets. As events turned out, I was able to use one of them yesterday to attend Day 2 of the Paralympics. I went with my sister and five of her children (child 6 was at the Excel with friend for the day, watching Judo).

It was cool to start with - fleeces and coats - but warmed up during the day. The tickets enabled us to see the first two games of the blind 5-a-side football, and then acted as a day pass to other events for the rest of the day. After lunch at the "American Church" (= McDonalds) we used them to watch some wheel chair basketball. By lunch time, the Olympic Park was busy - very busy - with all ages, but a noticeable presence of families.

 It was very moving to see such a huge response to disabled sport. As one commentator I heard said on the radio a day or two before the paralympics started, you very quickly started watching the sport precisely as sport, rather than as it being a disabled form of the sport. That the athletics stadium was full to capacity for an evening session on Day 2 also sent a very moving message.


The 5-a-side court during a warm up. Here, silence during play was of the essence, since the unsighted outfield players depend on shouted instructions from a sighted goalkeeper and attack guide, and on hearing the rattle in the ball.

 

The basket ball arena during women's wheel chair basketball. Here, the opposite was true, with noise being of the essence. The game we saw did not involve Team GB, but every time the announcer asked who was cheering for Germany or who was cheering for the USA, the whole arena roared equally for both sides.

 

 

A view of the Live at the Park mid-afternoon - the top of the large screen is just visible above the line of trees at the centre of this photograph. You can see a full bank of people watching the screen from the opposite side of the river, but cannot see the crowd on the nearside bank, behind the trees at the left also watching from the other side. The athletics stadium and orbit visible in the background

 

 

 

 

In both the arenas we visited, announcers were very good at explaining some of the specific aspects and rules of the sport. This was particularly true of the 5-a-side football, where the idea of "Let them hear, hold your cheer" was quite important. And in the basketball arena, there was non-stop entertainment by way of little games with audience members during breaks in play.

 

 

I did read rather quickly and in passing some comment in the print media to the effect that we should not take the disabled athletes as having an experience typical of disabled people, the athletes being people of exceptional commitment and ability, and perhaps having had access to exceptional opportunities. But what struck me from listening to Stacy James on Radio 2, and again yesterday, was that hope is not one sided. Hope is engendered, not by the disabled person alone and not by the able bodied person alone. It is engendered between the two together. Well over one hundred thousand people enjoyed a brilliant day out yesterday, a gift to them from the disabled athletes involved; but it must have been quite something for disabled athletes to compete before such large crowds yesterday.

 

There are many other people whose disabilities (or illnesses) mean that participation in sport is not a possibility for them. But why cannot they take the model of hope offered by the paralympic athletes and the crowds supporting them as a model for themselves, and seek to build the hope between and among themselves that was demonstrated so amply yesterday? And should not society as a whole recognise its responsibility to adopt attitudes of hope towards and alongside those suffering from illness and incapacity and to reject once and for all the language of a "life not worth living"? Most of yesterday's athletes will have had not the slightest inkling of the extent to which they offered a gift to individuals who they will never know and never meet.