Greens oppose environment of Catholic schools in Scotland · weekofevents....

SCO, 19 Waterloo Street, Glasgow G2 6BT � tel 0141 221 4956 � fax 0141 221 4546 � e-mail [email protected]

� Controversial stance omitted from 2016 Scottish Green Party manifesto but still remains party policyBy Ian Dunn and Daniel Harkins

THE Scottish Green Party hasadmitted that it remains intent onending state-funded Catholic edu-cation in Scotland.Despite the policy being left out of

the party’s 2016 manifesto ahead of theMay 5 elections, a Green spokesmantold the SCO that ‘the Scottish Greens’policy remains to move toward an non-denominational education system inScotland, the focus of this is not toclose down schools but for greater inte-gration.’Michael McGrath (above right),

director of the Scottish Catholic Educa-tion Service, said this was a policyintended to ‘close schools, and endCatholic schools in Scotland.’“They don’t want Catholic schools

and it’s important the electorate knowthat voting Green means you’re votingto end Catholic schools,” Mr McGrathsaid. “I would be interested to know

what the thinking behind that policy is.It doesn’t seem to be about toleratingother people’s wishes, or allowingparental choices, but instead imposinga one size fits all system contrary to alldevelopments in education all overthe world.”

Policy from the topMany of the Scottish Green candidates,including co-convenors Patrick Harvie(above left) andMaggie Chapman, havepublicly spoken about their desire toend Catholic schooling in Scotland.“The Greens support an integrated

secular education system,” Mr Harvietold the SCO last year. “Children havethe right to a neutral education.”Ms Chapman said on Twitter that

denominational schools could ‘rein-force’ sectarianism. However, the Scot-tish Government’s advisory group ontackling sectarianism has repeatedlystressed that Catholic schools are notresponsible for the problem. In a report

last year, the group said that ‘our posi-tion stated in [a] 2013 report has notchanged from the belief that sectarian-ism would not be eradicated by closingschools.’Another Green candidate, David

Officer, who is on the Scottish GreenParty’s list in the North East, went as faras to say that ‘secular schools’ were soimportant to him he would want themto be made part of the constitution of anindependent Scotland.Ross Greer, who is the lead Green

candidate for the West of Scotlandregion, has said that ‘no religion shouldhave an institutional place in education.100 per cent secular is the way to go.No to private faith schools as well.’

OmissionThe Scottish Green Party’s 2007 mani-festo said it would ‘move towards theintegration of state funded religiousschools into nondenominational educa-tion’ but leaders left this policy to end

Catholic education in Scotland out oftheir manifesto for the 2016 elections.Mr McGrath suggested the hostile

response the party received in 2007 toits education policy may have moti-vated members to leave it out of theirmanifesto this time.“They are trying to cover their

tracks,” he said.“They should be brave enough to

stand behind their policy. They shouldbe transparent about their desire to endCatholic schools.”Recent polls suggest the Scottish

Green Party could win up to a dozenseats in the Scottish Parliament.

Other partiesA spokesman for the Scottish LabourParty said it was ‘committed to retain-ing Catholic schools in Scotland.’SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon and

Scottish Conservative leader RuthDavidson have both spoken about theircommitment to continuing Catholic

education in Scotland.“I am very supportive of state-funded

Catholic schools,” Ms Sturgeon told theSCO last year. “They performvery well.”Ms Davidson has also told the SCO

that she ‘wholeheartedly supportsCatholic education.’“Indeed, I only wish that more faith

groups, charities and other organisa-tions were able to play a similar role ineducation, and were able to set up stateschools themselves,” she added.

� Editorial, page 8� [email protected]� [email protected]

No 5669 Friday April 29 2016 || £1 VISIT YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER ONLINE AT WWW.SCONEWS.CO.UK

Fr ColinMacInnesreports fromquake inEcuador. Page 7

Pro-life activistsstand up inEdinburgh andGlasgow.Pages 4-5

ACN reacts tounanimous ISISgenociderecognition byMPs. Page 3

Contact SPUC Scotland for candidate question pack for theforthcoming Scottish Parliamentary Election on 5th May 2016

Phone: 0141 221 2094Remember the Value of

LIFEwhen you cast your Vote in May

Greens oppose environment ofCatholic schools in Scotland

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2 PICTURE NEWS FRIDAY APRIL 29 2016SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER

INSIDE YOUR SCO INDEX TO NEWS, OPINION AND FEATURES THIS WEEK

NEWS pages 1-6LOCAL NEWS pages 2,3, 4-5WORLD NEWS page 6VATICAN NEWS page 6LETTERS page 8

COMMENT pages 9CENTRE SPREAD pages 10-11BISHOPS’ ENGAGEMENTS page 9CHILDREN’S PAGE page 12SPIRTUAL REFLECTION page 13

FAITH IN CULTURE page 14PUZZLES pages 12 and 14INTIMATIONS pages 15-17WILLS AND LEGACIES page 18-19CATHOLICISM & ECOLOGY page 20

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THE first session of the his-toric Paisley Synod got under-way last Saturday at NotreDame High School inGreenock.It is the first synod in Scotland to

involve lay people and more than150 of them from all over the dio-cese were present for the daylong event.The morning session was

addressed byMgrDenis Carlin (topleft), parish priest of St Mary’sGreenock who gave a powerfuladdress acknowledging the dra-matic way in which the Churchengages with society had changedsince he was ordained in the midseventies and challenged delegatesto find new ways to respond to thatreality. With the day organisedaround the theme of Calling,addressing how to bring people totheChurch, delegateswere split intoworking groups whose response todifferent issues would then be sum-marised by the synod organisers.

The afternoon session wasaddressed by Bishop John Keenan(bottom left). The bishop told dele-gates that they were under the pro-tection of Mary and that the rebirthof the diocese would come aboutthrough devotion to our Lady. Healso stressed he truly wanted laypeople to step forward and be boldand said he would amend their pro-posals as little as possible.“Many people said they were

surprised at how bold they wereasked to be,” delegate RonnieConvery said.“There was a lot of discussion

about howwe need to be more rad-ical in the way we deal with fami-lies. The traditional family idealmaybe doesn’t exist in the way itused to and we need to find newways of engaging with families ofall shapes and sizes.”There will be a further four ses-

sions of discussion before thesynod’s proposals are voted on inthe final session.

PAISLEY SYNOD IN SESSION

SPOTLIGHT ON Archbishop Philip Tartagliawelcomed nearly 350primary 7 pupils to StAndrew’s Cathedral onTuesday for a celebratoryMass before they head offto high school. The childrenwere from ten schools inEast Dumbartonshire andCastlemilk. The schoolswere: Holy Family Primaryand St Agatha’s and StFlannan’s Primary inKirkintilloch, St Andrew’s inBearsden, St Joseph’s inMilngavie, St Helen’s and StMatthew’s inBishopsbriggs, StMachan’s in Lennoxtownand John Paul II and StBartholomew’s primary inCastlemilkPICS: PAUL McSHERRY

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FRIDAY APRIL 29 2016 NEWS 3SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER

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ACN on UK MPs’ recognition of genocideBy Ian Dunn

A LEADING Catholic charity haswelcomed a unanimous vote in theHouse of Commons recognisingDaesh (ISIS)’s attacks on Christians,Yazidis and other ethnic and religiousminorities as genocide.The motion, which also called on the

Government to refer the issue to the UnitedNations Security Council in a bid to bringthose committing the genocide to justice,was passed by 278 to 0. Neville Kyrke-Smith, the national director of Aid to theChurch in Need (UK), welcomed the resultof last Wednesday’s vote.

“We are delighted by this result—as itshould now lead to action for Christiansand other persecuted minorities in the Mid-dle East,” he said. “Our project partnersin the region say they often feel abandonedand forgotten by the West, we hope thatthis will lead to concrete steps being takenthat will give them real hope amidst theongoing turmoil.”Article two of the UN Convention on

the Prevention and Punishment of theCrime of Genocide covers ‘acts commit-ted with intent to destroy, in whole or inpart, a national, ethnical, racial or religiousgroup.’ This includes not only killing, but‘causing serious bodily or mental harm tomembers of the group’ and ‘deliberatelyinflicting on the group conditions of lifecalculated to bring about its physicaldestruction in whole or in part.’Daesh has declared its intent to both

eradicate Yazidis from the region and tokill ‘the worshippers of the cross’.Opening the debate in the house, MP

Fiona Bruce (above) referred to evidencefrom Yvette, a woman who had flown infrom Syria to address parliamentarians at ameeting the evening before. Mrs Brucesaid that ‘[Yvette] spoke of Christiansbeing killed and tortured, and of childrenbeing beheaded in front of their parents.’“She showed us recent film footage of

herself talking with mothers—more thanone—who had seen their own childrencrucified,” she added. “Another womanhad seen 250 children put through a doughkneader and burnt in an oven. The oldestwas four years old. She told us of a motherwith a two-month-old baby. When Daeshknocked at the front door of her house andordered the entire family out, she pleadedwith them to let her collect her child fromanother room. They told her, ‘No. Go. It isours now.’”Mrs Bruce also mentioned ‘the truly

harrowing personal testimony’ of 16-year-old Yazidi girl Ekhlas.“She was seized by Daesh from her

home, along with others from her commu-nity in Sinjar in northern Iraq,” she said.“At the age of 15, she saw her father andbrother killed in front of her. She told of

how every girl in her community overeight, including herself, was imprisonedand raped. She spoke of witnessing herfriends being raped and hearing theirscreams, and of seeing a girl aged ninebeing raped by so many men that shedied.”A spokesman for the Catholic Church in

Scotland said: “The unanimous vote byMPs to declare that ISIS is committinggenocide against Christians and Yazidis inthe Middle East will hopefully bring muchneeded recognition to the perilous situationfaced by Christians and other minorities.”He went on to praise the role of Lord

David Alton of Liverpool, whose amend-ment to get the genocide recognised in theLords last month was narrowly defeated.

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Knights urge voters tokeep Catholic valuesThe Knights of St Columbahave called on parties andvoters to consider ‘the corevalues of Catholic socialteaching’ ahead of electionon May 5.In an open letter, Supreme

Knight Charlie McCluskey saidthe Church’s teachings ‘bringbalance to our society andwhich ensure quality of life andcare for the most vulnerable inour communities.’“This includes the unborn,

the aged and infirm and ofcourse those brought to ourshores through war and vio-lence in so many parts of ourworld today,” he said. “One ofthe core passages from theAims and Objectives of theKnights of St Columba statesthat we are pledged to cam-paign for pro-life and moralissues, working with otherorganisations that share our

views and beliefs.”Key issues mentioned in the

letter from the lay Catholicorganisation are abortion,assisted suicide, homelessness,the rights of low paid workersand Catholic Schools.“I would also call for all

political parties and the elec-torate to look at the core valuesof Catholic Social teaching,values that bring balance to oursociety and which ensure qual-ity of life and care for the mostvulnerable in our communi-ties,” the Supreme Knight said.“This includes the unborn, theaged and infirm and of coursethose brought to our shoresthrough war and violencein so many parts of ourworld today.”Catholics are asked by the

Knights to bring to the election‘the benefits of the insights thattheir Christian Faith gives.’

Custodians ready for busytime at the Italian ChapelSECURITY has beenincreased at Orkney’sfamous Italian Chapel aheadof a predicted bumpertourist season in the islands.Visitors to the Italian Chapel

on Lamb Holm are beingcharged for entry for the firsttime, while a team of custodianswill watch over the World WarII building while it is open. Themove is partly to control visitornumbers with more than 100cruise liners due to dock inOrkney this summer. It also fol-lows the theft of three treasuredwooden plaques in August 2014from the beloved chapel, whichwas built by Italian prisoners ofwar who were placed in Orkneyduring the war.The plaques, part of the Sta-

tions of the Cross adorning theRoman Catholic chapel’s walls,have never been recovereddespite despite widespreadoutrage and an internationalappeal for information by thepolice.The team of 11 custodians are

being led by Helen Hume, whohas previously served as care-taker at the chapel for 22 years.“The main reason is to con-

trol the number of people going

in,” Ms Hume said. “There are116 cruise liners booked for thisyear so they have book in 20minutes slots so instead of,where in years gone by, theremay have been or two or threebuses here at a time now therewill just be one.“So it will just be 50 approxi-

mately that get in at a time andso I suppose that should giveeverybody a better experience.After the damage was done andthe Stations of the Cross werestolen they put in the CCTV butthe preservation committee havenow decided to have custodianson duty so they watch what isgoing on and control things andpreserve the chapel for futuregenerations.”The chapel was built by the

prisoners of Camp 60 on LambHolm, who were captured innorthern Africa and put to workbuilding the Churchill Barriersblocking access to Scapa Flow.It was created by joining twoNissen huts together, whilemuch of the ornate interior dec-oration was done by DomenicoChiocchetti who remained tofinish the chapel even thoughthe work was not completeduntil after the end of the war.

SCIAF Wee Box deadline is onMay 4 to get UK aid matchingSCIAF supporters throughoutScotland are being urged toget theirWee Box Lent appealdonations in by the May 4deadline to guarantee theywill be doubled by the UKGovernment.For the second year running, the

UK government promised that itwould match—£1 for £1—alldonations to SCIAF’s Lent appeal.The huge generosity shown byparishes, schools and peopleacross the country help evenmorepeople in poor countries to get theurgent help they need.This year the appeal told the

story of how SCIAF is helpingpoor cattle herders in Ethiopiaadapt their lives to the increasinglyharsh and erratic climate that theyface. Scottish celebrities includingRicky Ross, Michelle McManus,Susan Boyle, Gordon Strachanand Scotland’s party political lead-ers have all backed the appeal.SCIAFDirectorAlistair Dutton

is now urging everyone to sendtheir money in before the deadlineto make sure their donations willgo twice as far.“I would like to say a massive

thank you to everyonewho’s filledtheir SCIAFWee Box this Lent,”he said. “Thanks to you we’re

improving the lives of even moreof the poorest people in the world.Please, if you haven’t done soalready, get yourWee Boxes to usbyWednesday May 4. Only thencan we be sure that every £1 yougive will go twice as far. Yoursupport really does change livesand is greatly appreciated.”Singer SusanBoyle, a long-time

supporter of SCIAF added that‘it’s fantastic that every £1 yougive to SCIAF’s Wee Box appealwill be doubled by the UK gov-ernment.’“It’s a really great way to make

sure the money you give will helpmore people in poor countrieshave a better life,” she said. “Soplease, get your skates on andmake sure you send yourWeeBoxdonation to SCIAF byWednesdayMay 4.”

By Daniel Harkins

YOUNG people of StAndrews and EdinburghArchdiocese danced to thetune of World Youth Dayrecently as they held afundraising ceilidh, fashionshow and meal.The Saturday evening event

which was held to bolster fundsahead of the internationalCatholic youth festival to beheld in Krakow, Poland, at theend of July and £400 wasraised in total to help withtravel costs for those from thearchdiocese attending theweeklong event.Before the evening began, the

young people gathered togetheras a group for a retreat led by FrAnthony Caruana. There theyreflected on what it means to goon pilgrimage and thought aboutthe journey they have ahead ofthem. They shared their experi-ences of other journeys they hadundertaken and recalled memo-ries from previousWorldYouth Days.The evening events began

with an Italian supper and fash-

ion show. Some of the guestsenjoyed a feast of lasagne andhomemade bread followed bypanacotta with mango coulis,while the others were treated toa fashion show. The latter eventsaw a selection of handmadesummer wear, traditional dressand evening wear modelled bysome stunning volunteers.During the traditional dress

section of the show, the modelsshowed off national costumesfrom the countries the youngpeople will pass through ontheir way to Krakow includingScotland, England, France,Germany and of course Poland.After a quick change it was

on to evening wear with thegrand finale being a weddingdress modelled by newlyengaged couple Laura Pearsonand Murray McLeod, whowon’t be attending world youthday this year but offered theircatwalk skills for the cause asthey kick started their buddingmodelling careers.All costumes from the

fashion show were handmadeby Irene Furlong with many ofthem tailored-made for the

models.After the fashion show the

hall was transformed to makespace for the ceilidh with allenjoying a selection of dancesincluding the dashing white ser-geant and Canadian barn dance.The evening was brought to aconclusion with a dizzyinground of strip the willow.Roisin King was one of the

young people who attended theevening and will be travellingto Krakow in July. She said thepre-evening retreat was a ‘greatchance for the group to cometogether and get to know eachother,’ and singled out theceilidh as the highlight of thenight. “We look forward to get-ting to know each other betterover the coming months andworking together to makethe other events a success,”she said.A group of 35 people from St

Andrews and Edinburgh arecurrently set to travel toPoland. The last world youthday took place in Brazil in2013.

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4 LOCAL NEWS FRIDAY APRIL 29 2016SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER

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Pro-life debate heating upBy Daniel Harkins

PRO-LIFE campaigners took to the streetsof Edinburgh last week as debate aroundthe future of abortion in Scotland and thefreedom to campaign against it heated up.This year’s annual pro-life chain in the capi-

tal is the last to be held before the Scottish Par-liament gets new powers on abortion as part ofthe Scotland Act introduced after the ScottishIndependence referendum. A group of 142 peo-ple, the highest turnout in years, stood in wit-ness along Lothian Road in Edinburgh lastweekend, while in Glasgow a renewed battleover free speech took place as students at Strath-clyde University continued their fight to over-turn a ban on funding for a pro-life group.The 1967 Abortion Act came into effect on

April 27, 1968, and the anniversary is markedeach year in Scotland by campaigners for life.The Edinburgh pro-life chain (right) is one ofthe most visible of such events in Scotland, tak-ing place on a busy road through Edinburghcity centre.The pro-life activists began their witness last

Saturday with a Rosary in Sacred Heart Churchled by Archbishop Leo Cushley of St Andrewsand Edinburgh (below). Around 60 peopleattended, and their numbers grew as the chainwas formed in the city centre.A bright day saw students, children, doctors,

nurses and councillors join the chain, holdingplacards and speaking to passers-by. Paul Atkinfrom the Edinburgh branch of the Society for theProtection of Unborn Children Scotland (SPUCScotland) was one of the more than 100 peoplewho took part.“I really like the pro-life chain,” he said. “You

can write a letter and it’s seen by your MP or thereaders of a newspaper—which is great—buthow many people travel along Lothian Road inEdinburgh each Saturday? It’s thousands of peo-ple. And it’s just a simple, dignified witness; thestill, small voice of calm for unborn children andtheir mothers, and just sort of saying to people,you know, this is happening and we really needto change what we are doing as a society.”Mr Atkin said that in his experience the pro-

life chain is hugely influential. “Abortion workswell when it is not talked about,” he said. “As yousee with the students at Strathclyde University, sooften the approach is to shut people up, don’t talkabout it, because to be honest abortion doesn’tstand up to reasoned argument and discussion. Sosuccess for the pro-life movement is getting theissue out in the open and telling people what intheir heart of hearts they know anyway.”

Strathclyde University pro-life students, led byLaura Seggie and Sean Deighan recently lost amove to overturn a ban on pro-life groups receiv-ing financial support from theUniversity of Strath-clyde Students’ Association (USSA). When theissue was raised by the pro-life students last year,student executive member Kyle Henry said that‘what the issue boils down to is should we be ableto have pro-life societies on campus.’The students will now meet with the univer-

sity advisory service as they seek to overturn the

bpaci

htl(h

Mackay Brown Orkney honourTHE life of Catholic writerGeorge Mackay Brown wascelebrated in his nativeOrkney Islands on April 13with a special Mass and aweek of events.The poet, novelist and drama-

tist—who died on April 13,1996—spent his life writing aboutthe Orkney Islands off the northcoast of Scotland. He converted toCatholicism in 1961 and his faithwould influence a number of hisworks.A Memorial Mass was cele-

brated by Archbishop MarioConti and parish priest Fr PeterKelly in Our Lady and St Josephsin Kirkwall andwas preceded andsucceeded by a number of eventsreflecting on the writer’s life andworks. On April 14, fans of theauthor visited his graveside atWarebeth for prayers and read-ings from his works followed bylunch at the Stromness Hotelwhere George had many lunches

with friends and visitors.The next day saw Stations of

the Cross at our Lady and StJosephs and an evening of reflec-tion at the St Magnus CentreKirkwall. Gabrielle Barnby readher new poems composed for theoccasion and Archbishop ContilaunchedAlisonGray’s new bookon the writer, George MackayBrown: No Separation.

SPOTLIGHT ONYoungCatholics

from StMargaret’sRoy Bridge

wereamongst the

schoolpupilsacross

Scotlandwho aremaking

their FirstCommun-ions. The

youngsters,resplendentin their FirstCommunion

dresses,suits andkilts, arepictured

right withparish

priest MgrThomasWynnePIC: :

ANTHONYMCMILLAN

THE family of a Bothwellman behind a new statue ofOur Lady of Palestine atCarfin Grotto have paidtribute to his work high-lighting persecution in theHoly Land.Frank Lunny became dedi-

cated to bringing Our Lady ofPalestine to Scotland after visit-ing a shrine at Deir Rafat on apilgrimage to the Holy Land. MrLunny was a member of theScottish Lieutenancy of theEquestrian Order of the HolySepulchre of Jerusalem, whosepatroness is Our Lady of Pales-tine and who are dedicated tosupporting the Christian presencein the Holy Land.The retired sheriff died before

he could see his project com-pleted, but thanks to the efforts ofhis friends and family, a statue

was unveiled and blessed atCarfin Grotto last month. Carvedin India from white marble, thestatue depicts Our Lady gazingout over the fertile plain belowthe Judean foothills, her handoutstretched in protection andblessing over her native HolyLand. It is believed to be the onlystatue of Our Lady of Palestinein Scotland and possibly in theUK.Frank Lunny’s son Mark said

he hoped the statue would raiseawareness of the suffering inPalestine. “My father alwayswanted a way to remind peopleof the difficulties of the Christiancommunity in the Holy Land,”he said.“Through the hard work of

many in bringing this statue toCarfin, we hope that as peoplepass the statue they will stop and

think about the plight of those inPalestine, and pray for them andfor peace in that troubled land.”More than one hundred people

attended theApril 4 blessing ofthe statue—a replica of the onein the Holy Land—includingfriends and family of Mr Lunnyand Knights and Dames of theHoly Sepulchre.The ceremony was preceded

by Mass at the shrine celebratedbyArchbishop Mario Conti, theGrand Prior of the Order in Scot-land, Bishop Joseph Toal ofMotherwell, who is an episcopalmember of the Order, and FrFrancis McGachey, the Guardianof the Grotto.

(Above) The Lunny family in frontof the new statue. Left to right,Peter Lunny, Cora Lunny, AnyaLunny, Elizabeth Lunny, Rona

Lunny and Mark Lunny

Carfin statue is Frank Lunny’s legacy

FRIDAY APRIL 29 2016 LOCAL NEWS 5SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER

THE NATIONAL SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF LOURDES - CARFIN

MONDAY2nd MAYBEGINNING OF GROTTO SEASON 2016

DAILYSCHEDULEMonday-Saturday, HolyMass 10amMonday-Thursday, HolyMass 1pm

Monday-Friday,Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament 10.30am-8.00pmSaturday-Sunday,Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament 12noon-5pm

Monday-Friday, Sung Evening Prayer and Benediction 8pmSundays, Sung Evening Prayer and Benediction 6pm

Monday-Thursday, Confessions 1.45pm-2.15pmSaturday, Confessions 10.45am-11.15am; 4.15pm-4.45pm

VISIT THE CHAPELSAND SHRINES OF THE GROTTOThe Little Flower Chapel, The Bethlehem Cave,

The Chapel of Our Lady of the Angels, The Lord’s Tomb,The Holy House of Nazareth and the Divine Mercy Chapel,

The All Saints Reliquary Chapel

VISIT THE PARISH CHURCHIn this Holy Year of Mercy we have a Holy Door in the Parish Church to which thePlenary Indulgence is attached under the following conditions: pass through theHoly Door, attend Holy Mass and Communion, pray for the Pope’s Intentions and

celebrate the Sacrament of Confession

Visit the newest shrine to Our Lady Untier of Knots

For more information see: www.carfingrotto.orgWWW.SCONEWS.CO.UK

in Edinburgh and Glasgow

ban. More than 5000 people have singed an onlinepetition against the ban, which has raised questionsabout free speech rights for students on universitycampuses. In 2014, SPUC were banned from host-ing a stall at Dundee University’s freshers’ fair.“The pro-life students at Strathclyde University

have taken the appropriate steps to overturn a policythat excluded pro-life students from affiliating a pro-life society to the Student Union,” John Deighan(above right), CEO of SPUC Scotland said. “Theyhave been urging fellow students to support freedom

of speech and hopefully attention to the issue willpermit reason to prevail.Democracy cannot work if uniform thinking is

imposed on everyone.A university is the place aboveall where we should be able to see a proper andhealthy exchange of ideas.”There were 11,475 induced abortions in Scotland

in 2014, the lowest reported since 1995. 72 per centwere carried out at nine weeks gestation or earlier.451 took place between 14 and 17 weeks and 124abortions took place after 18 weeks.

Grangemouth parishioners in LourdesPARISHIONERS from Christ the Kingand Sacred Heart in Grangemouth wereamongst the Scots who headed to Lourdeslast month on an Easter pilgrimage.They were joined by parish priest Canon

Leo Glancy and this year had the good fortuneto be accompanied by Fr John McInnes of OurLady and St Bernadette’s, Larbert, and many

of his parishionersOne parishioner said that ‘a good week was

had by all’ and added that the weather wasmostly good with only a little rain.“Lourdes always has a special appeal to all

and this year was no exception with manypromising to book up for next year again,” sheadded.

PICS: CATRIONA ATKIN

6 WORLD/VATICAN NEWS FRIDAY APRIL 29 2016SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER

WWW.SCONEWS.CO.UK

By Stephen Reilly

POPE Francis has told teenagers hap-piness can’t be downloaded like amobile phone app.The Pope used the reference to connect to

Faithful aged 13-16who converged onRomefor a Holy Year weekend for teenagers.In his homily during Mass on Sunday in

St Peter’s Square, he told a crowd of100,000 that ‘happiness has no price’ andis ‘not an app that you can download onyour phones, nor will the latest updatebring you freedom and grandeur in love.’The Pope warned the young Catholics

not to give in to the ‘temptation to let ouraffections be tainted by an instinctivedesire to have what we find pleasing.’“Our consumerist culture reinforces this

tendency,” he said. “Yet when we hold ontoo tightly to something, it fades, it dies,and then we feel confused, empty inside.The Lord, if you listen to his voice, willreveal to you the secret of love. It is caringfor others, respecting them, protecting

them and waiting for them.”The Pope said he knew that all those

present were ‘capable of acts of greatfriendship and goodness.’“With these you are called to build the

future, together with others and for others,but never against anyone.” he said. “Youwill do amazing things if you preparewell, starting now, by living your youthand all its gifts to the fullest and withoutfear of hard work. Be like sporting cham-pions, who attain high goals by quiet dailyeffort and practice.”A day earlier, in a video message to the

teens’ rally in a Rome stadium, the Popelikened being out of contact with Godthrough lack of love to being where there’sno mobile phone reception.After Mass, dozens of white-robed

priests surrounded the Holy Father andmany took selfies with him.On Saturdaymorning, the Pope surprised

those gathered in St Peter’s Square by hear-ing confessions for more than an hour.He administered the Sacrament of Rec-

onciliation to 16 teenage boys and girlswho were visiting the Vatican for theJubilee event for teenagers.The Holy Father made the surprise visit

to the square to hear confessions alongside150 other priests. The teenagers who madetheir confessions to the Pope were pickedfrom the crowd at random.Meanwhile, during the Mass on Sunday,

the Pope prayed that a ‘merciful’God willtouch the hearts of those in Syria whohave abducted Catholic and Orthodoxfaithful, including bishops and priests, sothat the captives will be released soon.He told the Faithful that he was very

concerned about those held captive inSyria, which has been ravaged by fiveyears of civil war.The Pope didn’t cite any particular

hostage by name. He also appealed forprayers for all persons held kidnapped inthe rest of the world.

Happiness is not a downloadable appPope Francis urges teenagers to resist dangers and temptations of a ‘consumerist culture’

Scots Catholics buildingEthiopian health centreTWO Catholic women whosupport a clinic forwomenwithmedical problems in Ethiopiahave helped lay the foundationsof a new medical centre there.Jo Middlemiss and Maureen

Burnett visited Ethiopia thisSpring. The Buccama Clinic,which they founded and havesupported for many years, wasfacing a crisis. The EthiopianGovernment had issued new reg-ulations, which meant the clinichad to expand or face closure.“As this no longer could be put

off, we decided that it must getstarted whilst we were present,”MsMiddlemiss said. “Weenabled some funding and it gotgoing. Sr Haimanot and her teamdid all the admin ground work.As they own the land, there arenone of the building/planning per-mission hassles that wemightmeetat home. It is hard to describe thelevel of excitement that the build-ing of the new health centre hasgenerated. This extension becameessential, as the government decreewas that Buccamawould no longerget a license to practise, if it wasnot upgraded to a health centre.”The Catholic duo’s charity

work began after Ms Burnettvisited Ethiopia and was intro-duced to the work of a clinicrun by a Franciscan nun. She

joined forces with her cousinMs Middlemiss and togetherthe two began the EthiopiaMedical Project, fundraisingfor the clinic and regularlytravelling to the country to lenda hand.The project supports the Clinic,

which helps women sufferingwith uterine prolapse after child-birth.While the medical problemcan be treated routinely in thewest, in parts ofAfrica, womencan be left ashamed andostracised with little understand-ing of the problem and unable toeven lift up their newly born chil-dren as a result of the condition.This new building could sta-

blise the future of the clinic forthe furture.“The laying of the foundation

stone was a very moving cere-mony,” Ms Middlemiss said. “Athoughtful and respectful builderbuilt a little stone box into the foun-dations, and we placed some littletokens of faith in the project, rosarybeads, and a St ChristopherMedalas a time capulse in a jam jar.”The pair had nothing but

praise for Sr Hieranaut whoruns the clinic.“She’s a truly extraordinary

woman,” she said. “We’re justhelping her achieve what God hasplanned for her.”

SPOTLIGHT ON

Members of the Missionaries of Charity arrive to cast their votes during the third phase ofWest Bengal Assemblyelections in Kolkata, India

Fr Mason appointedAuxiliary BishopPOPE Francis has appointed FrPaul Mason as the newAuxiliary Bishop ofSouthwark. Bishop-electMason, a priest of SouthwarkArchdiocese, is currently theEpiscopal Vicar for Kent.His Episcopal Ordination of

the bishop-elect will take placein St George’s Cathedral,Southwark, on May 31, theFeast of the Visitation of theBlessed Virgin Mary.

Pope celebratesEarth DayPOPE Francis made a surprisevisit to one of Rome’s mainparks on Saturday to participatein an Earth Day event at VillaBorghese. The initiative, EarthVillage. Living the City

Together. Rome in Mariapolis,was sponsored by Earth DayItalia, Connect 4 Climate and theFocolare Movement of Rome.The Pope sat on an outdoor

stage at Villa Borghese alongwith an Italian priest who hascourageously denouncedNaples-area mobsters forsystemically dumping toxicwaste on local farmland in alucrative, illicit operation. ThePope told the audience thatmoney has become a god ‘atthe centre of the world.’

Burundi bishopsbattle presidentLEADING governmentofficials in Burundi areaccusing the country’s Catholicbishops of dividing the nationand encouraging violence,because the bishops opposePresident Pierre Nkurunziza’sunconstitutional bid for a thirdterm. When Nkurunziza

announced his plan to run forre-election last year, thebishops lodged a strong protest,pointing to the constitution’sclear two-term limit. But theincumbent leader pressed aheadwith his plan.The president and the

bishops accuse each other ofescalating conflict in theviolence-plagued country.

Vatican tribute tomusic’s PrinceTHE president of the PontificalCouncil for Culture reacted tothe death of the rock musicianPrice by quoting the lyrics of afamous Prince song on Twitter.Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasiquoted a few lines fromSometimes It Snows in April,closing with the line: “All goodthings they say, never last.”Prince (Prince Rogers

Nelson) died at his home onApril 21 at the age of 57.

NEWS ROUNDUP

Third of churches in North Walesset to close, Bishop Brignall saysTHE Bishop ofWrexham hassaid that the closure of 22churches across his diocese, athird of the Churches in NorthWales, is a ‘huge opportunityfor renewal.’In a pastoral letter to the dio-

cese, Bishop Peter Brignallannounced that he plans to shut22 out of the current 62 Catholicchurches by 2020.“To some it will be shocking, to

others not radical enough; to someit will come as a relief, to others adisappointment or even a scandal,”he wrote. “To us all it will be achallenge, but I firmly believe alsoa huge opportunity for renewal.”

“It will mean pastors and com-munities will have to look afreshat how we live parish life, howthe Catholic Church in northWales is profoundly missionary,”he went on.Bishop Brignall said that some

of the changes would begin inthe next few weeks and askedCatholics to approach the deci-sion with a ‘generous heart and asteadfast Faith.’“Churches are going to be

closed and I hope some new onesbuilt; parishes are going to besuppressed and new ones estab-lished, and someMass times willbe altered,” he said.

Pope Francis blesses a teenager after hearingconfession in St Peter’s Square

FRIDAY APRIL 29 2016 WORLD/VATICAN NEWS 7SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER

WWW.SCONEWS.CO.UK

From Ecuador’s epicentre April 17Scottish priest FR COLIN MacINNES, a missionary living and working in Guayaquil, Ecuador,gives a first hand account of the recent tragic earthquake in the Latin American country

THEsanctuary chair I was sit-ting on started moving, thenrocking and after a few sec-onds, which seemed like aneternity, it seemed that the

chair wanted to start dancing. It was astrange sensation. I immediatelyrealised that this was not one more ofthe occasional tremors we get in thecountry. The situation was far moreserious.When the movement subsided Iremained seated. I thought that therewas only a light zinc roof above me andit would not do much damage even if itstarted to fall whereas there was a sem-blance of a small bell tower above themain door and I was almost sure thatwould be falling any minute. ThereforeI remained seated. In these circum-stances thoughts pass rapidly throughthe mind.There were other people in the

church as we had just finished a ‘HolyHour’ on April 17 which we celebratedaily from 6pm in order to start Mass at7pm. All stood up, a few movedtowards the door, but most stood petri-fied for a short while and then startedhugging each other for comfort.As theywere regaining their sense fear spreadacross the church like a dark cloud. Istood up and called them all to prayer.In a quiet deliberate way we prayed theOur Father. There was a miraculoustransformation. People relaxed. Therewas a sensation that the danger hadpassed and all was well again. We cele-brated Mass confidently and joyfully,prayed for people in danger and thatcalm and harmony might return.It was after Mass that the seriousness

of the situation began to dawn on us. Ayoung man with a cellular phoneapproached me and showed me a pic-

ture of one of the flyovers in the centreof Guayaquil which had fallen and hadsmashed through a passing car. Therewas no possibility the people insidecould be alive. I went upstairs to see thenews coming through on television. Themass media had been caught by sur-prise; most of the staff had finished theirday’s work and it was some time laterthat we learned that the epicentre of theearthquake was on a small semi-islandjust off the coast called Muisne.

When Canon McQueen and FrCallum McLellan, of happymemory, had visited me in

Ecuador some twenty five years ago wevisited the island of Muisne. At thattime there was no road to Muisne andwe had to travel a mile or so by canoe inorder to get there. Since then a fine roadhas been constructed and what was anearthly extension of paradise hasbecome a quiet attractive tourist resort.I remember swimming along the shore.The water was crystal clear; the sunrays penetrated the water and lit upcoral reefs below where myriad shoalsof fish of every colour, shape and sizepranced about. I promised myself that Iwould be back and spend a number ofdays there just to try to absorb thebeauty and mystery of the island. Thatwas more than 25 years ago and thispromise is filed with other promises Ihave made on visiting a number of otherplaces in Ecuador of unrivalled beautyand fascination.They tell me that, as a result of the

earthquake, the island has beenscorched as if a tsunami had passedright over it. Few if any buildingsremain standing. The newly constructedhighway leading to the island is unpass-

able and so access will once again be byboat or canoe. It is not known howmany people have survived the earth-quake, the state of potable water, basicsanitation and the food provision forsurvivors. It makes me sad just to thinkof how an idyllic spot has been so mer-cilessly struck off the face of the earth.The earthquake was of a force of 7.8

on the Richter scale and is reckoned tohave been twenty times stronger thanthe recent earthquake in Japan. A yearafter coming to Ecuador there was anearthquake that did very considerabledamage to infrastructure but not claimmany lives. At that time it was mainlyon theAndean Sierras, the Highlands ofEcuador. The city of Quito, the nation’scapital, was badly affected. Towers felloff churches; five of the ancient Sanc-tuaries (declared to be the patrimony ofhumanity by UNESCO) were badlydamaged and the roads towards easternEcuador were partially destroyed so thatone half of the country was isolatedfrom the other half. I remember back in

Scotland reading an article in the Sun-day Observer (I think that was the nameof the newspaper) and it described thescene of devastation throughout thecountry. The title of the article was“Earthquake the World Forgot about”.It will be sad if history is repeated andconsiderable aid does not arrive fromoutside. The need is great.

The economic state of the countryis critical. Oil prices, which werethe main source of income of the

country, have fallen drastically and nowoil is extracted from the ground at aloss; the price of the dollar has risensharply and as Ecuador is a dollarisedcurrency it finds that there is littledemand for its goods as neighbouringcountries that have similar products forexport have devalued their currency andare more competitive for the exporttrade. The country is in recession, isgoing through an economic crisis andGovernment is finding it difficult to payits workers, its contractors, internal andexternal debts. The coming years lookbleak. The country has just suffered theeffects of what we call the Niño andmany towns and villages along the coastwere flooded during the past twomonths. Homes, shops and businesses,normally located at street level, wereinundated before residents could domuch about salvaging their belongings;crops were lost and country roads werewashed away. Recuperation plans werejust being put in motion when the earth-quake struck.The state of the country is that of a

wrecked ship being tossed about onvery heavy seas. At the same timethough material damage is very consid-erable the loss of lives is even more sad-

dening and the sorrow is more endur-ing. At the moment the death role isworking its way towards the 600 mark.Material things can be replaced but theloss of a member of the family, of a dearone, is irreplaceable. I think that thereis a consciousness in the county of thisfact and we hear of all forms of solidar-ity and help coming from every quarteras people try to help bear the burden ofloss of others. Catholic parishesthroughout the country are giving agreat example to all and our own parishof St Theresa of the Child Jesus is play-ing its part. If town or city councils,local authorities and other voluntarybodies in Scotland want to help I wouldbe pleased to channel their aid if theyfind it difficult to do it in a more formalway. In circumstances such as oursmaking the aid arrive at the right peo-ple is the challenge. Finally, I would askyou all to pray for the poor people whoare suffering so much that God maygive them fortitude to face the futurewith hope and joyful hearts.These are dark days for Ecuador but

they are days where faith uplifts themind and strengthens human resolve. Itwas a joyful moment for the congrega-tion of St Theresa’s and a proudmoment for me when my niece, AllanMacInnes (above), lead the offertoryprocession gracefully playing the Scot-tish bagpipes. The poor people are alsograteful to the cases of clothes myMary, my sister-in-law and her twodaughters brought with them. Theclothes are now being distributed to thevictims of the earthquake. Bornish, Uistand the Isles have always been gener-ous and I am sure that they are pleasedto make their contribution in thismoment of need of a nation.

MISSIONS MESSAGE

Caring Pope Francis neededby his own flock

THE Christian world has been left stunnedby the latest actions of the Holy Father inbringing 12 Muslim refugees from aholding camp on the Greek isle of Lesbos.to the Vatican.It is a well documented fact that

Christians were thrown into the sea byMuslims when they refused to convert toIslam; this was from a craft en route toItaly.The Pope recently visited a Protestant

sect in Italy known as the Wadlensians tooffer forgiveness for the Catholic Churchwhich condemned this sect as heretics in1215.

Pope Francis needs to rethink hisintention to join in the Lutherancelebrations to mark the start of theProtestant Reformation.The enormous cost of these Popes

travels would possibly amount to enough togo a great deal to eradicating hunger and ifMary`s Meals had such wealth at theirdisposal they could show how this can bedone.This latest act by the Holy Father has

caused shock waves in the Christian worldand my advise to him is ‘stay at home, carefor your flock and demonstrate your caringlove for those who love Christ.’

David Erskine,ALLOA

Patoral care not rooted indoctrine isn’t pastoral

IN BISHOP John Keenan’s reflections onthe Pope's Apostolic Exhortation AmorisLaetitia, the Paisley bishop’s primarypoint, that doctrine hasn't changed—it's ourpastoral practice that has to change—is ared herring. First of all, no Pope has theauthority to change doctrine. Secondly,doctrine is the essential ingredient topastoral care.Pastoral care that isn’t rooted in doctrine

is not pastoral!Amoris Laetitia advocated the

abandonment of doctrine in the name ofpastoral care. It offers no clarity to youngCatholics starting out their adult lives. Itclaims that couples should decide forthemselves how to regulate births, with apassing comment that natural methodsshould be ‘promoted.’ No mention thatco-habiting, divorce and ‘remarriage,’ samesex relations and the use of artificalcontraception will always remain gravesins.By all means, pastors must be sensitive

when dealing with broken families....Sensitivity must always be rooted in thesound doctrine of the Church and not inpolitically correct ambiguity.Peter MackinLINWOOD

8 LETTERS FRIDAY APRIL 29 2016SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER

WRITE TO LETTERS, SCO, 19 WATERLOO STREET, GLASGOW G2 6BT [email protected]

PICTURE OF THE WEEK

The monks at PluscardenAbbey marked the 90thbirthday of Her MajestyQueen Elizabeth by ring-ing the abbey church'sbells for nine minutes,and by singing a specialchant and prayers atMass.(Left to right) the bell-

ringers are: Fr MartinBirrell, Br Joseph Carron,Br Matthew Jackson.The Queen’s birthday

wasn’t a spring day atthe Elgin abbey though, itwas snowing accordingto Fr Giles Conacher.A spokesman for the

Scottish Catholic Churchsaid: “In congratulatingthe Queen on the occa-sion of her 90th birthdayand hoping that she willcontinue to enjoy goodhealth for many years tocome, we rememberwith great fondness thewarm welcome sheextended to Pope Bene-dict at Holyrood Palace,when he visited Scotlandin 2010”

ESTABLISHED IN 1885

Choose a party thatreflects your views

I ENJOYED reading the recent letter fromJ MacAuley in the SCO referring to theBishops’ call for Catholics to join politicalparties, and fight from within for what isright.I did this over 30 years ago. I joined the

SDP, and have ensured that those issuesreferred to by the Bishops always had adefender within the SDP, and then LiberalDemocrat fold.I have been a local councillor for 28

years, and have been selected many timesfor parliamentary elections; I have been amember of the Scottish party executive,and I am now the President of the ScottishLiberal Democrats.Any time issues such as abortion and, in

particular Catholic education were raised,usually in motions to conference, I wasalways able to put forward the Catholicperspective on these issues. While therewere, and are, people within my party whohave very different views from mine, Ihave never encountered hostility, or asuggestion that I shouldn’t hold theseviews. The Liberal Democrats are, as itwould suggest, a party where you areallowed to have your own views, and canexpress those views clearly and fight forwhat you think is right. I know that, forsome years, members of the Labour partyhad to keep their heads well down if theyprofessed support for the pro-lifemovement—I have never had any suchreaction in my party.Choose the party which most reflects

your other views in life, and then join andbring your own, Catholic, perspective toeverything that happens within the party.Work with people, not against them, andyou will eventually find that, like me, youhave suddenly become part of thebackbone of the party, and can influencewhere you can.

Eileen McCartin MBESCOTTISH LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

Memories of Sisters ofCharity house

I HAVE always admired the work ofMother Teresa and the missionaries ofcharity in reaching out to abandonedchildren and elderly and my wife and Ivisited one of their houses in Manila justbefore we got married; at that time just todrop off a few supplies of baby milk andmedicines. It was almost 20 years laterbefore we visited again but this time I cameto appreciate it in an entirely different way.As we entered I noticed an array of

coffins lined-up against the wall outside thecarpenters shed, and during the Mass therewas an occupied one in the chapel too. Butas the day unfolded and we met with manyof the residents it became apparent that itwas by no means a gloomy place.We visited two teenage girls (Hazel and

Barbie) both bedridden with badlydeformed limbs and unable to speak; butwhen my wife started to sing to them theirfaces lit up with beautiful smiles. It was asif light beamed out of them. A pure light,

emanating from pure souls as theydelighted in the hymns being sung. It waslike the two of them were lamps placed atthe foot of God’s throne, burning brightlyas they lay there interceding, through thesufferings of their short lives, for ussinners.Next we met an old lady, Antonia; an 83

year old with a skeletal appearance, almostweightless. She was full of joy also andloved to talk and pray with us. Such astrong spirit and another beautiful(toothless) smile. Like all the residents shehas nothing and no one in the world andspends her time in prayer and preparationto meet her God and be reunited with herhusband and son who had gone on aheadof her.Through the love of the missionary

sisters the tragic circumstances of the livesof the residents meet the majesty of Godand although time is short I believe thateach one receives what they need beforethey die.Stephen ClarkPHILIPPINES

Grudging praise isbeginning to grate

FROMUKIP Scotland Leader David Coburn’s ‘if we werestarting from scratch, I’d prefer the French secular sys-tem, without religious schools’ in the April 15 SCO toGreen Party Co-convenor Patrick Harvie’s reframed andrenewed attack on state-funded Catholic schools—as

rebutted this week by SCES Director Michael McGrath—time andtime again Catholic education in Scotland is misidentified as thecause of sectarianism and not one of the solutions to anti-Catholicbigotry. Talk about blaming the victim.We would all like to see the end of religious prejudice in this

country and abroad. Wishing it did not exist, or pretending that itdoes not, is not going to achieve that end, however. What causeshumanists, secularists and extremists to hate Catholic schools, pro-tected in Scottish law, with such a vengeance? One cannot help butsuspect the green-eyed monster comes into play among thesesmaller but noisy minorities.Disguised as calls for equality, their condemnation of faith school

comes from a place where it pains some opponents to see that thesubstantial Catholic minority in Scotland formally recognised andcatered to through the things such as state-funded Catholic educa-tion. It underlines the fact that Catholic voices play an importantpart on our society to this day, so it does not fit their concept of amodern Scotland needing to be post-Christian to take it rightfulplace in the world today.Those who abhor the parts of our system and society that

thrive—such as Catholic schools—have no solid alternative plan.How can replacing faith schools with nothing be a step forward forprogressive Scotland?That said, there is always scope to improve the standard of

Catholic education.

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LETTER OF THE WEEK

CORRECTIONAfter the recent earthquake in Ecuador (as reported in the April22 SCO), the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF)monitored and observed the situation. The SCO apologies forany confusion over the role SCIAF was performing that mayhave resulted from the April 22 report.

WWW.SCONEWS.CO.UK

FRIDAY APRIL 29 2016 COMMENT 9SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER

FOR the past twomonths, I have beenstruggling with writ-ing about 40 Daysfor Life—because I

am loath to disagree with somany good people who tookpart in the prayer vigil, peoplewhom I admire greatly, peoplewhose good intentions I wouldnot question for an instant.I have been an ardent pro-

life advocate—if a somewhatintermittent pro-life activist—since I attended an SPUC pub-lic meeting in Greenock in1973.Abortion is the deliberate

ending of the growing anddeveloping life of an innocentand defenceless unborn baby:it is killing. When I haveattended pro-life chains, how-ever, I have not asked for theABORTION KILLS CHIL-DREN placard but the one thatreads ABORTION HURTSWOMENANDKILLS CHIL-DREN. The longer messagegives passers-by a more accu-rate summary of what the pro-life movement has grown torecognise: That, in addition tothe vast numbers of unbornchildren killed in these terribleoperations, there are vast num-bers of living victims, fore-most among whom are many,if not all, of the women whohave had abortions. There arenumerous other groups of vic-tims but here I am concernedwith women and abortion.I use the phrase ‘grown to

recognise’ to emphasise thatthere has occurred, since the1967AbortionAct, a profounddevelopment in pro-life peo-ple’s understanding of theplight that women can findthemselves in when they havea crisis pregnancy. Especiallyin the first decade after the act,there was, I believe, an amountof judging, perhaps even con-demnation, of women who hadhad abortions. Looking back, Ithink some of that judgingwas being done in my ownheart.The pro-life movement is

now far less judgemental.

Pro-life people’s hearts goout to women who findthemselves with a crisis

pregnancy and our handsreach out to help them. Our‘hands’ are called LIFE andThe CardinalWinning Pro-lifeInitiative and The Innocentsand so on. Our hearts go out towomen who have had an abor-tion too, and our hands reachout to help them also. Our‘hands’ in this case includeARCH (Abortion RecoveryCare Helpline), which doesgreat work for people who—inARCH’s own words—‘haveexperienced an abortion, or

been involved with someonewho has, [and who] may bestruggling to come to peacewith that.’There is another, a third,

group of women: Those whoare just about to have an abor-tion. As a movement, we havenot given as much thought tothis group. One of the thingsthat interested me when I firstheard that there was to be a 40Days for Life Prayer Vigil inGlasgow was that it seemed tobe an attempt by pro-life peo-ple to reach out to women whoare clearly set on having anabortion. I had, however, somemisgivings. I consulted themain website of the 40 Daysfor Life Campaign(https://fortydaysforlife.com)to find out more.One of my difficulties lay

with an aspect of the 40 Daysapproach which, it seems clear,the founders regard as central:locating, if possible, prayervigils close to facilities whereabortions are carried out. Thisis done, I suppose, to increasethe probability that people whouse the facilities will see thosewho are participating in thevigil. In trying to decidewhether I was comfortablewith the underlying idea, I hadto think not so much of theprayer vigil outside the QEUHin Glasgow as of a prayer vigiloutside a building that could

be walked round in a minute.In the case of the hospital, withits large campus and well-known alternative entrance,there was a real possibility thata woman intending to have anabortion might not see thevigil; in the case of a smallbuilding that possibility wouldscarcely exist.Would I be comfortable with

virtually forcing a woman topay attention to me and theother people holding the vigil?When I answered this questionwith a decided “No”, I saw thatI was against the principle ofthis practice. It looked toomuch like targeting.I had a second difficulty. On

the website (at fortydaysfor-life.com/mission), under theheading Constant Vigil, weread: “It [that is, the prayer vigil]also serves as a call to repen-tance for those who work at theabortion centre and those whopatronise the facility.”Chief among those who

patronise the facility are, ofcourse, women who are goingto have an abortion. I could notsee how I could meaningfullycall someone to repentancewithout at the same time judg-ing that person.From what I have already

written, it will be clear that Ibelieve that pro-life peopleshould avoid judgement andshould be seen to avoid judge-

ment. (I have absolutely noreason to believe that thosepeople who gave their timeand effort to attend the Glas-gow 40 Days for Life prayervigil did actually stand injudgement over anyone.)

Finally, there are bound tobe a large number ofwomen using a busy

abortion facility over any 40-day period. Among that largenumber it seems reasonable tosuppose that there will besome women who will betouched by the presence of theprayer vigil and who mayeven change their mind abouttheir abortion. Of course, wethank God for this. But therewill be other women—in myview many more of them—who will become aware of thevigil and who will, I believe,feel that they are being judgedat a very vulnerable time. Thissurely will only serve to alien-ate them.For these reasons, both I and

my wife Marie, who has alsobeen part of the pro-life move-ment for many years and whohelped me to write this article,respectfully suggest that 40Days for Life—whilst it clearlyhas, especially for those whobelieve in God, many admirablefeatures—is not (at least in itscurrent form) the way ahead forthe pro-life movement.

Pro-life groups must remain ina non-judgemental movementBY LAWRENCE

LOGUE

BISHOP NOLANGalloway, www.gallowaydiocese.org.uk

BISHOPS ENGAGEMENTS

BISHOP TOALMotherwell, www.rcdom.org.uk

BISHOP KEENANPaisley, www.rcdop.org.uk

ARCHBISHOP TARTAGLIAArchbishop of Glasgow, www.rcag.org.uk

FRI 29 9.30AM Visit to the Confirmandi at St Kessog’s Bal-loch TUES 3 MAY Address to Catholic Head Teachers’Association of Scotland THU 5 1PM Solemnity of the

Ascension; Mass in St Andrew’s Cathedral FRI 6 9.30AMMass for the Archdiocesan Primary Head Teachers’ Associ-ation in St Dominic’s Bishopbriggs 7PM Mass for the 40th

anniversary of St Joseph’s Church, Tollcross

ARCHBISHOP CUSHLEYArchbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh

www.archdiocese-edinburgh.com

BISHOP ROBSONDunkeld, www.dunkelddiocese.co.uk

SAT 30 APRIL3PM Confirmations, St Paul’s, Glenrothes SUN1 MAY 10.15AM Confirmations, St Ninian and Triduana, Edin-burgh TUE 3 12.45PM Chapter Mass, St Mary’s MetropolitanCathedral, Edinburgh 7PM Confirmations, St John Vianney’s,Edinburgh Clergy Formation Day, Gillis Centre, Edinburgh7PM Confirmations, St Kentigern’s, Edinburgh THU 5 7PMClergy Holy Hour, St Bennet’s, Edinburgh FRI 6 7PM Confir-mations, The Sacred Heart, Edinburgh SAT 7 12NOON Confir-

mations, St Mary Star of the Sea, Edinburgh 3PMConfirmations, St Teresa of Lisieux, Edinburgh

SUN 1 MAY Confirmations Our Lady and St JosephsOrkney WED 4 9AM Safeguarding conference at BlessedJohn Scotus FRI 6 12NOON Visit to Peterhead prison.

BISHOP MCGEEArgyll & the Isles, www.rcdai.org.uk

BISHOP GILBERTAberdeen, www.dioceseofaberdeen.com

SUN 1 MAY Rome Diaconate Ordinations WED 4 2PMMeeting with C McCrosson and Fr J McManus THU 5 2PMMass for Feast of the Ascension—St Clement’s Church,

Dundee (School & Parishioners) SAT 6 11 AM Mass for theSick—St James Church, Kinross 6.15 PM Parish Visit to

St John Vianney Church, Alva

SAT 30 APRIL Diocesan Education Conference Westmin-ster SUN 1 MAY 10AM Mass at St James Paisley 11.30AMMass at St Fergus Paisely. MON 2 7.30PM UCM closingmass St Joseph’s Greenock. TUE 3 Pre confirmation visitsto St Fergus, St Catherine’s and Our lady of Peace Primar-ies in Paisley. WED 4 Pre confirmation visits to St Mary’s

and St James primaries in Paisely THU 5 10AM Mass HolyFamily mass for Ascension 1PM Mass at St Mirin’s Cathe-dral. FRI 6 Pre confirmation visits to St James renfrew,

St Ann’s Erskine and St John Bosco, Erskine primaries. PMWorld Youth Day fundraiser in Greenock.

SAT 30 APRIL 12NOON St Columba’s, Annan Confirma-tion/First Communion 3PM St Andrew’s, Dumfries RomePilgrimage Meeting SUN 1 MAY 9.30AM Our Lady andSt Cuthbert’s, Maybole Confirmation/First Communion,4PM St Joseph’s, Kilmarnock Rome Pilgrimage Meeting.MON 2 2PM HCPT Diamond Jubilee Carfin Grotto, MassTUE 3 9.30AM St John Ogilvie’s Primary School, Irvine.

FRI 6 9.30AM St Ninian’s Primary School, Prestwick. SAT 712NOON St Andrew’s, Dumfries Confirmation/First

Communion

SAT 30 APRIL Scots College Rome—Diaconate OrdinationsMON 2 MAY 1PM 60th Anniversary Mass for HCPT atCarfin TUE 3 7PM Confirmations in St Gerard’s, BellshillWED 4 10.30AM School visit to Our Lady of Lourdes PS,

East Kilbride 1.30PM School visit to St Hilary’s PS, East Kil-bride FRI 6TH 10.30AM School visit to St Patrick’s, Coat-bridge 1.30PM School visit to St Mary’s PS, Coatbridge

TUE 3 MAY 10AM Mass St Mary’s Benbecula. 11AM Visitto Balavanich Primary School and visit to Second Year REClass Sgoil Lionacleit. 7PM Talk on Discipleship in parishhall. THU 5 MAY 11AM Mass and meeting of religious

sisters, Bishop's House Oban.

IF ANY pro-lifers from across the UK and furtherafield had significant misgivings about making the tripto Brum for the March for Life in May last year, theycould probably be counted on the fingers of one hand.Perhaps the only tinge of regret for those of us who

came from places like Glasgow, was that we reached Birm-ingham only after midday; too late for Mass and the HolyHour in St Chad’s Cathedral. However, having prayed theRosary and a Chaplet of Divine Mercy on the journey, noneof our contingent had cause to feel any of the spiritualimpoverishment against which we had come to do battle.Joining a queue in the cathedral, it also seemed important topray in front of an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, andspecifically, some prayers to St Juan Diego which includedthe following:“Take to Our Lady protectress of the unborn, all the HolyInnocents lost through abortion. Help us to remember thatHuman Life is sacred. Beloved Juan Diego, show us theway to Our Lady of Guadalupe that she may receive us inthe depths of her heart and guide us to the true God.Amen.”At 1pm we gathered on a patch of grass to one side of the

cathedral for the welcome from the organisers. After thisArchbishop Bernard Longley, the kind guarantor that ourday would have his Apostolic seal of approval, said a fewtimely words of encouragement, as well as warning thatthere would be some opposition to our rally on Chamber-

lain Square later in the afternoon.

If you’ve never heard of abortion survivor Gianna Jessen,find one of her videos on YouTube and let her tell youher story. In Birmingham on

May 16 last year, she was mag-nificent!“I am a Christian first and pro-

life activist second.”She is Jesus’ girl. So much so

in fact, not only did Our Lordbring her, as He did Shadrach,Meshach, and Abednego (cf.Daniel, ch 3), through the fieryfurnace of an abortion attempt;but when she tells Him to dosomething, He does it! All of uswill remember that, although thesun was out, it was very windy inBirmingham that day, causingGianna inconvenience as shespoke. Of course, she could jokeabout this with no little aplomb,but there came a point when she simply said: “Lord—I’vehad it with this wind. Take it away!”Within a couple of seconds of making this demand, about

half way through her 45 minute-long testimony, the wind

dropped, and there was no more than a gentle breeze for therest of the time she spoke to us!“And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the

LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great andstrong wind tore the moun-tains and broke in pieces therocks before the LORD, butthe LORD was not in thewind. And after the wind anearthquake, but the LORDwas not in the earthquake.And after the earthquake afire; but the LORD was notin the fire: and after the firea still small voice.” (1 Kings19:11-12)Ms Jessen is an inspiration

to women, to men, to girlsand boys, mothers andfathers, priests and religious,educators, philosophers, doc-tors, factory workers, taxi-drivers—everyone on earth.

Even if she might not win, I for one would love to see herchallenge, for instance, Hilary Clinton as a candidate for thepresidency of the US. She not only speaks the truth—GiannaJessen is close to Jesus because she is the truth. She is the

truth of our invincible cause; she is a living refutation ofevery shred of foolish, deceitful propaganda trotted out bythe abortion industry.

We then dispersed and made our way, to the soundof Marian hymn-singing, to Chamberlain Square.Here we encountered our dear brothers and sisters

in the opposition camp, who were as noisy and disruptiveas could be expected, though we outnumbered them byabout 5:1.Among their supporters however, were representatives

with a giant banner of at least one of the UK’s biggest teach-ing unions; a reminder of the abortion industry’s success ingetting its claws on the formation of our children. I alsocouldn’t help noticing one young woman with a pro-abor-tion placard, wearing a T-shirt which said Black Flag. It hap-pens that so-called Islamic State/Daesh, the fanatics whosereign of terror has recently extended into Europe, carryblack flags.No one should be blind to the fact that, if we in the West

cut ourselves off completely from our Judeo-Christianmoorings, extremist Islam is ready and well-equipped to fillthe moral void.In other words, if we do not actively confront the aggres-

sive secularising agenda which so enthralls our political andmedia elite, we could end up with more—a lot more—thanwe bargained for.

We were then addressed by Obianuju (Uju)Ekeocha, from Nigeria, a biomedical scientist byprofession, and founder of Culture for LifeAfrica.

HerAfrican heritage was a rebuke to our rowdy antagonistsin itself, and she was extremely eloquent and courageous indrawing a parallel between the systematic ‘de-humanisation’which allowed her fellowAfricans to be forced into slaveryuntil 200 years ago, and the de-humanisation of unborn chil-dren which allows them to be killed in such dreadful num-bers today.As a final act of witness, we all knelt and prayed in silence

for a few moments, before singing the Salve Regina. Beingrelatively so far from home, our coach-load then had tomake our way back to St Chad’s cathedral in some haste, soas not to keep the driver waiting.After a group photo and a few goodbyes (‘God-be-with-

ye’s) to people we had met, we filed back on board thecharabanc, and had no trouble at all in sustaining our joyfuland prayerful spirits all the way home.

� For full details of this year’s March for Life, due to takeplace on Saturday May 14, visit www.marchforlife.co.uk.Toenquire about seats on the coach from Glasgow to Birm-ingham, please contact [email protected], or phone0141 2212094.

FRIDAY APRIL 29 2016 FRIDAY APRIL 29 201610 MARCH FOR LIFE MARCH FOR LIFE 11SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER

WWW.SCONEWS.CO.UK WWW.SCONEWS.CO.UK

LIFE FROM CONCEPTION—NO EXCEPTIONAhead of the May 14 March for Life, JAMES BRUCE recalls highlights from last year’s event which showcased depth of feeling for both life and Faith in this country

Gianna Jessen is aninspiration to women, to men, to

girls and boys, mothers andfathers, priests and religious,

educators, philosophers, doctors,factory workers,taxi-drivers.... She

not only speaks the truth—MsJessen is close to Jesus becauseshe is the truth. She is the truth of

our invincible cause.

12 CHILDREN’S LITURGY FRIDAY APRIL 29 2016SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER

WWW.SCONEWS.CO.UK

Our weekly series on Children’s Liturgy has lesson plans and activity suggestions for use with youngpeople who are on the path to Christ

Each week, Catechists will find readings and Psalm responses, complemented by prayer, reflection,discussion questions, and activities. Please feel free to use them as you wish

The lessons are created by Adorer-theologians using the lens of the spirituality of St Maria de Mattias,which also embraces precious blood spirituality

While this is the starting point for the lessons, readers are invited to approach them however the spiritmoves you

The Church is concerned with the availability and understanding of scripture for children who have theirrightful place in the Church. In light of this SCO aims to provide a useful tool in drawing children closer tothe Catholic Faith

FAITHFIRSTKIDS

Seventh Sunday of EasterReflectionIN TODAY’S Gosepl we hear how Jesusreturned to heaven to be with God. Eventhough Jesus was ascending into heaven andleaving this world, in a way He has never left.

We don’t see Him in the same way as thefirst disciples did, that is true, but all of Jesus’followers from then until now are instructedby Jesus to tell other people about Him byboth our words and our actions.

Discussion�How do you think you would feel if someoneyou cared about very much left you? How doJesus’ friends respond when Jesus ascendsinto heaven?� Why do you think they were joyful? Whyweren’t they sad that Jesus had left them? Thedisciples knew that Jesus was the Son of God.And that even though He was now with God,rather than on earth, Jesus would always bewith them.�How does it make you feel to know that Jesusloves you and is always with you?� Can you remember the last time that youwere really happy? When you were filled withjoy?What was it that made you so happy?Whatdoes happiness feel like?� Can you remember the last time you madesomeone happy? What did you do or say? Andhow did you feel when you saw that you hadmade someone happy?

Activity� For the activity below which illustrates onepoint of this Gospel, you will need at least onemirror and some pictures or words. It would begood to practise the setup of the illustrationbeforehand!� Select one child, and have him/her stand in aposition so s/he cannot see you (perhaps arounda corner or with his/her back to you, dependingon where you are gathered).� Ask if the child can see you. Give him/her amirror to hold, and see if s/he can see you now.Depending on your setup and the number ofmirrors available, you could arrange the mirrorsmore elaborately to help children see aroundcorners, etc.� Give each child the opportunity to look in themirror and see a picture or a word that shows

something about Jesus (a picture of healing, theword ‘forgiveness,’ a crucifix, etc).� If we live the way Jesus lived, we will beshowing Jesus to others; when we see otherpeople living the way Jesus lived, we are seeinghim. Our challenge is to be like the mirror! TheHoly Spirit helps us to do this, and we will hearmore about the Holy Spirit next week.

PrayerGod, make us joyful as we celebrate Jesus’ascension into heaven. Help us to follow wherehe has led us. Amen.

First ReadingI can see the heavens thrown open and the Son ofMan standing at the right hand of God. A readingfrom the Acts of the Apostles 7:55-60Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit. Helooked toward heaven, where he saw ourglorious God and Jesus standing at his right side.Then Stephen said: “I see heaven open and theSon of Man standing at the right side of God!”The council members shouted and covered

their ears.At once they all attacked Stephen anddragged him out of the city. Then they startedthrowing stones at him. The men who hadbrought charges against him put their coats atthe feet of a young man named Saul.As Stephen was being stoned to death, he

called out, “Lord Jesus, please welcomeme!” Hekneeled down and shouted, “Lord, don’t blamethem for what they have done.” Then he died.The Word of the Lord

Responsorial Psalm97:1, 6, 9.(R) The Lord is king, the most high over allthe earth.The Lord is King! Tell the earth to celebrate and

all islands to shout.(R) The Lord is king, the most highover all the earth.The heavens announce, “The Lord bringsjustice!” Everyone sees God’s glory.(R) The Lord is king, the most high over allthe earth.The Lord rules the whole earth, and he is moreglorious than all the false gods.(R) The Lord is king, the most highover allthe earth.

AlleluiaJohn 14:18(R) Alleluia, Alleluia.The Lord says: I will not leave you orphans. Iwill come back to you, and your hearts willrejoice.(R) Alleluia, Alleluia.

GospelA reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke24:46-53Jesus said to His disciples: “Thus it is writtenthat the Christ would suffer and rise from the deadon the third day and that repentance, for theforgiveness of sins, would be preached in hisname to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.“You are witnesses of these things. And

behold I am sending the promise of my Fatherupon you; but stay in the city until you areclothed with power from on high.”Then He led them out as far as Bethany,

raised his hands, and blessed them. As Heblessed them he parted from them and wastaken up to heaven.They did him homage and then returned to

Jerusalem with great joy,and they werecontinually in the temple praising God.The Gospel of the Lord

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ACROSS1 Circular toy you spin around your waist

(4-4)6 Huge group of soldiers (4)7 Type of laugh (6)8 A room on a ship (5)9 You carry books and copies in this (9)13 It's like a paddle (3)15 The edge of a slice of bread (5)16 You watch TV, you listen to this (5)17 It involves fine singing and acting (5)18 This creature from Australia looks like a

small kangaroo (7)

DOWN1 Traditional food from Scotland (6)2 It warns ships of rocky dangers (10)3 Sacred or blessed (4)4 A huge canal runs through this country in

Central America (6)5 Not telling the truth (5)10 Jesse James or Robin Hood, for

example (6)11 Cask, keg (6)12 Precious metal (4)14 Spacious (5)15 Prepare a meal (4)

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

ACROSS1 Cornflakes 6 Noisy 7 Ropes 9 Snowdrop10 Young 12 Summer 13 Speck 15 Keyrings18 Bag 19 Stop 20 Saw

DOWN1 Canary 2 Rain 3 Flying 4 Arrow 5 Experiments 8Super 9 Snack 11 Orphan 14 Kept 16 Rip 17 Sow

The Children’s Liturgy page ispublished one week in advance to

allow RE teachers and those takingthe Children’s Liturgy at weeklyMasses to use, if they wish, this

page as an accompaniment to theirteaching materials

CHILDREN’SCROSSWORD 129

FRIDAY APRIL 29 2016 REFLECTION 13SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER

EWTN PROGRAMMESSUNDAY MAY 111AMREGINA CAELI WITH POPEFRANCIS1PMSUNDAY MASS5PMEWTN BOOKMARK5.30PMEXTRAORDINARY FAITH6PMTHE WORLD OVER9PMSUNDAY NIGHT PRIME10PMVATICANOMONDAY1PMDAILY MASS8PMFORGOTTEN HERITAGE:EUROPE AND THE EUCHARIST8.30PMCATHOLIC ENLIGHTENMENT:GIFTS OF CATHOLICISM TOCIVILIZATION9PMAT THE HEART OFRELATIONSHIPSTUESDAY1PMDAILY MASS5.30PMEWTN NEWS NIGHTLY9PMAT THE HEART OFRELATIONSHIPSWEDNESDAY1PMDAILY MASS5.30PM

EWTN NEWS NIGHTLY

9PM

AT THE HEART OF

RELATIONSHIPS

THURSDAY

1PM

DAILY MASS

5.30PM

EWTN NEWS NIGHTLY

8PM

EWTN LIVE

9PM

AT THE HEART OF

RELATIONSHIPS

FRIDAY

1PM

DAILY MASS

5.30PM

EWTN NEWS NIGHTLY

8PM

THE WORLD OVER

9PM

AT THE HEART OF

RELATIONSHIPS

9.30PM

LIFE ON THE ROCK

SATURDAY

1PM

DAILY MASS

7PM

THE THREE LITTLE SHEPHERDS

9PM

FRANCISCAN UNIVERSITY

PRESENTS

LAY READERS’ GUIDE

SUNDAY MAY 1Acts 15: 1-2, 22-29. Response: Let the peoplespraise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.Apocalypse 21:10-14, 22-23, John 14:23-29

MONDAYActs 16:11-15. Response: The Lord takesdelight in his people. John 15:26-16:4a.

TUESDAYFeast of Ss Philip and James. 1st Corinthians15:1-8. Response: Their word goes forth

through all the earth. 14:6-14.

WEDNESDAYActs 17:15, 22-18:1. Response: Your glory

fills heaven and earth. John 16:12-15.

THURSDAYFeast of the Ascension of the Lord. Acts 1:1-11

Response: God goes up with shouts of joythe Lord goes up with trumpet blast.

Ephesians 1:17-23 Or Hebrews 9: 24-28;10:19-23, Luke 24:46-53.

FRIDAYActs 18:9-18. Response: God is the king of all

the earth. John 16:20-23.

SATURDAYActs 18:23-28. Response: God is the king of

all the earth. John 16:23b-28.

WWW.SCONEWS.CO.UK

WHAT is the greatest giftthat God can give us? Iasked a group of school-children this question theother day. They responded:

life, love, family, friendship, the world, for-giveness… These children know what isimportant in life.But God has another gift he wants to give

us, a gift that is worth even more than all ofthese put together. When the children heardthat, hands shot up around the classroom.They knew that the greatest gift God canpossibly give us is the gift of himself. At thecore of Christianity is this gift of God to us—the greatest possible gift—which he promisedto give us, and finally gave us in person, in thePerson of his Son, God incarnate, Jesus Christ.When I was a child, I used to lament that

I had apparently missed out on God’s gift ofhimself to us. Growing up in late 20th cen-turyAmerica, I often wished I had been borntwo thousand years earlier in Palestine whereI might have had the chance to see Jesus, tohear him, perhaps even to be touched andhealed, forgiven and fed by him. But thetruth is, we have not missed out.On the night before he died, Christ ‘insti-

tuted the Eucharist as the memorial of hisdeath and Resurrection, and commanded hisapostles to celebrate it until his return’ (CCC1337). To receive ‘the gift of his Eucharist isto receive the Lord himself’ (CCC 1336).Weare most truly touched and healed, forgivenand fed by the One whose gift of himselfreaches to the depths of our being.Nevertheless, our participation at Mass is

not limited to reception of Holy Commun-ion. When speaking of the Liturgy of theWord and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, theConstitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the

Second Vatican Council reminds us thatthese parts of the Mass ‘form but one singleact of worship’ (56).In the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine

Revelation, we are likewise told: “TheChurch has always venerated the divineScriptures as she venerated the Body of theLord…she never ceases, particularly in thesacred liturgy, to partake of the bread of lifeand to offer it to the faithful from the onetable of the Word of God and the Body ofChrist.” It goes on to say that ‘In the sacredbooks the Father who is in heaven comeslovingly to meet his children, and talks withthem’ (21). God’s gift of himself includes hisrevelation of himself and of his plan—a rev-elation that has been handed down to us inthe Scriptures and fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

The Bible truly is the Word of God inhuman language, proclaimed that wemight believe, and so enter into com-

munion with the Holy Trinity, through ourcommunion with God the Son, the Wordmade Flesh. Therefore, the proclamation ofthe Word of God in Sacred Scripture always

precedes the celebration of the Eucharist andreception of Holy Communion (above).God is a mystery, yet he wants us to know

him—not simply that he exists. He wants usto know him to have a relationship with him.That is why he revealed himself to us: in thelaw given to Moses, the promises entrustedto the prophets, and ultimately, in his Son,Jesus Christ. The Mass is the privileged con-text for our encounter with theWord of God.As we listen to the readings from SacredScripture, God reveals himself to us andinvites us to respond to him in love. It is easyto get distracted and so not really hear thereadings at Mass. We have to recall that weare listening to a person who is not simplythe reader, deacon, or priest; we are listen-ing to Almighty God every time we hear theScriptures read at Mass.

Whenwe recognise that we are listen-ing to God—to our heavenly Fatherwho has been lovingly speaking to

his children—we are prepared to respond infaith. Our profession of the Creed and theprayers of the faithful acknowledge this Godwho has revealed himself and his love for us.This listening also prepares us to make an

offering of our own lives in union withChrist. As the priest offers the bread andwine at the altar, which become the Bodyand Blood of Christ to be given to us, we arecalled to silently make an offering of ourown lives; making a gift of ourselves to God.Holy Communion is not simply a matter ofreceiving the Gift of God himself. HolyCommunion is a matter of union with him,with the One who gives himself, all of him-self, to us; a union with the One whoreceives the gift of each one of us withabsolute, unconditional, infinite love.

God is a mystery, yet hewants us to know himSR IMELDA ANN DUPUIS from the DOMINICAN SISTERS OF ST CECILIAlooks at God’s gifts, and the union of love with God: Holy Communion

AA SSPPIIRRIITTUUAALLRREEFFLLEECCTTIIOONN

14 FAITH IN CULTURE FRIDAY APRIL 29 2016SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER

IWAS recently commissioned to write a piecewhich pondered the Irish Catholic vote inScotland. It was fascinating to discover a rangeof diverse opinion.Among themanyCatholicsI spoke to it was clear that politics and recent

events had shaped their lives and voting habits.My quest began in the East End of Glasgow

where I interviewed Labour politician ThomasRannachan, a vocal opponent of the offensivebehaviour Act. His views lead me to ask othersabout the controversial Bill. Labour supporter Gus

Mooney, 79, told me that he believed the change‘was a good thing. There are enough songs forclubs to sing without getting caught up in the oldhatreds. I think our culture has been improved as aresult of it.’ Others were not so keen. FormerCeltic Football Club employee and AlternativeView editor Matt McGlone (61) voted for inde-pendence but it seems unlikely he would cast avote for the SNP.“I have a problem with SNP because some of

their policies and attitudes seem very dogmatic.”he said. “Many football fans felt theAct was goingto stop people singing sectarian songs and callingsupporters ‘Fenian b-------.’ Instead they seem tohave particularly targeted Celtic’s away supportand members of the Green Brigade. How could Iever vote for that?”Chantelle Monaghan, 22, is a general area man-

ager for Vanilla Blush, also in Glasgow’s East End.She will be voting SNP in the forthcoming local

elections—her energy captures something of thegenerational shift that has taken hold throughoutScotland over the last five years. “I never had anyinterest in politics before the [independence]reerendum,” she explains. “Many young peoplehad their eyes opened, it seemed SNP were stand-ing up for Scotland—everybody had lost all faithin Labour. For so long people were sleep-walkinginto the polls to vote for them.”The referendum also offered Chantelle a

stronger sense of inclusion. “I’m an Irish Scot—that is my heritage but I see myself as more Scot-tish now rather than half and half. Before Iwould’ve seen myself as more Irish but whenScotland began standing up for itself and having asay, things changed. Before there was a sense ofwhat the English vote for the English get—butwith 56 seats being filled by SNP in the Westmin-ster elections, that made me proud to be Scottish.”

Across the M8 in Edinburgh teacher ElizabethCampbell, 56, is from both Scottish and Irishroots. Faith plays a fundamental role in how

she will vote: “I vote solely on ‘life’ issues that is.whether or not the candidate is pro-life. I also take intoaccount their views on assisted suicide.”While not for independence, she believes the SNP

have made many positive changes, saying: “I’m notreally convinced about going it alone. I think it’s bet-ter to be part of something bigger. That said, the SNPhave done some positive things. I know it seems asmall point but keeping the council tax at the samelevel for eight years has been a great help to numer-ous families. I also like the fact that Nicola Sturgeonherself is not in favour of assisted suicide.”Issues such as abortion, assisted suicide and

plans that would allow young people to changetheir gender remain a concern for many Catholic

voters. “I understand the issue of abortion is to bedevolved to Scotland and the worry is that the lawmight become even more permissive. I hope notas devolution would provide a wonderful oppor-tunity to look seriously and hard at this hugelyimportant issue. The gender issue is a worry too.To me gender is decided by nature. To set up a gen-der clinic for under 18s—such as London’s Tavis-tock clinic—is crazy. Under 18s are only children;it’s love and affection they need, not a discussionabout invasive and irreversible surgery.”

It is clear that a large section of the Irish dias-pora in Scotland continues to see itself in rela-tion to Catholicism, faith schooling and Celtic.

There are echoes of the past in these bodies, theycontain the struggles of their impoverished ances-tors who faced a gargantuan struggle in a hostileand sectarian climate to build their schools,churches and football clubs. What has clearlychanged are voting habits among a new generationinspired by SNP and the leadership of Ms Stur-geon. Many traditional Labour voters seem stuckbetween stations, not quite persuaded by the SNPbut less convinced by a weakened Labour party.I spoke to a number of undecided Catholic vot-

ers; politicians would do well do consider theneeds, concerns and history of that community aswell as its collective strength.A newly invigoratedScottish political landscape has got people talkingmore than ever; the Church in Scotland has a realopportunity to be another positive voice in thisongoing national conversation.

� Richard Purden is a freelance journalist, theauthor of We are Celtic Supporters, FaithfulThrough and Through, an SCO feature writer anda married father of two

Politicians should listen to Catholic voicesFAITH IN CULTURE hears the thoughts of Scotland’s Catholics ahead of the May 5 Scottish Parliament election

WWW.SCONEWS.CO.UK

Scottish Catholic Observer:Scotland’s only national

Catholic weekly newspaperprinted by Trinity Mirror, Oldham.Registered at the Post Office

as a newspaper.

First entry out the hat on FRIMAY 6 will be the winner

Send your completedcrossword entries—along withyour full name address anddaytime phone number—toCROSSWORDCONTEST SCO 19WATERLOO ST GLASGOW G26BT

The winner’s name will beprinted below.

The editor’s decision is final

APRIL 22 SOLUTION

ACROSS1 Subjugated 6 Aped10 Faith formation12 Payroll 15 Grebe17 Etch 18 Rain19 Throw 21 Chimney23 April 24 Fair 25 Akin26 Locum 28 Gallops33 Chihuahua 34 Alarm35 Suds 36 Lederhosen

DOWN1 Soft 2 Brigadier3 Usher 4 Awful 5 Earn7 Prize 8 Donkey work9 Haughty 13 Ouch14 Lemming16 Dreadlocks 20Reappears 21 Clamour22 El Al 27 Child29 Adage 30 Leash31 Shoe 32 Omen

CROSSWORD

ACROSS1 Such a tasty confection might make cheek cease (10)6 Curved structure (4)10 Michaelmas daisy (5)11 Have my tram rod altered for a holy death (9)12 Ruler of ancient Rome (7)15 Puccini opera (5)17 Flow sluggishly, like the last of the alcohol (4)18 Short letter sent back from Eton (4)19 Ranted (5)21 & 16d Songs in this style can be about two runny decanters

(7,3,7)23 Squander (5)24 Imputation (4)25 Native Southern African tribe (4)26 I get stuck into a couch here in Bulgaria (5)28 How I proved what one could make available (7)33 Even exits can be wide-ranging (9)34 Group of voices found amongst macho Irishmen (5)35 Bites sharply (4)36 Clergyman's residence (10)

DOWN1 Cajole (4)2 One guesses it’s the steamiest possibility (9)3 Assist a priest at Mass (5)4 Such a piece of jewellery might have arrived with love (5)5 Pavement edge (4)7 Travels on horseback (5)8 A roof over your head, and no alcohol? That's done -

no danger! (4,3,3)9 Inexplicable situation (7)13 City in Nevada that describes itself as "the biggest

little city in the world" (4)14 Cowboy operation that keeps an order of drinks aloft (7)16 See 21 across20 The mole drove around the cycle track (9)21 Paul, French impressionist artist (7)22 Once again, perform 'Scarlet Love' (4)27 Falsely incriminate here, where it's put, if overturned (5)29 Share out flightless South American birds (5)30 One will find only part of a civic hydrant here in France (5)31 One telling fibs (4)32 Get that cart up the yard! (4)

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FILL IN THE GRID IN SUCH A WAYAS EVERY ROW AND COLUMNAND EVERY 3 BY 3 BOX CONTAINSTHE NUMBERS 1 TO 9. NO GUESSWORK IS REQUIRED AND THEREIS ONLY ONE SOLUTION. ABOVEIS APRIL 22’s SIMPLE SOLUTION

FILL IN THE GRID IN SUCH A WAYAS EVERY ROW AND COLUMNAND EVERY 3 BY 3 BOX CONTAINSTHE NUMBERS 1 TO 9. NO GUESSWORK IS REQUIRED AND THEREIS ONLY ONE SOLUTION. ABOVE ISAPRIL 22’s MODERATE SOLUTION

MODERATE

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APRIL 22’s crosswordcompetition winner was:Robert Aiton, Shotts

By RichardPurden

FRIDAY APRIL 29 2016 CHURCH NOTICES 15SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER

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THE JERICHOCOMMUNITY

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The Compassion of Jesusamong the homeless, the drug andalcohol addicted and others being‘passed by on the other side’.

The community directs Jericho Houses inScotland, England & IndiaVocation information from:

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PA10 2PY Tel 01505 614669Scot. Charity No. SC016909

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“Dear children! My Immaculate Heart bleeds as I look at you in sinand sinful habits. I am calling you: return to God and to prayer that itmay be good for you on earth. God is calling you through me for yourhearts to be hope and joy for all those who are far away. May my call befor you a balm for the soul and heart so that you may glorify God, theCreator, who loves you and is calling you to eternity. Little children,

life is short; you, make good use of this time and do what is good. Thankyou for having responded to my call.”Craig Lodge Family House of PrayerDalmally, PA33 1AR. Tel (01838) 200 216

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FIRST SATURDAYDEVOTIONTOOURLADYOFFATIMA (SCOTLAND)THE LEGION OF MARYinvite you to join them for the celebration ofThe Feast of Our Lady of FatimaFriday May 13th 2016

10am Car.in GrottoConcelebratedMass,BishopJosephToal,Bishopof Motherwell11.30 “Our Lady Speaks at Fatima”A Play in 2 Acts for children, presented byPrimary 4 and Primary 4/5St Michael’s Primary School, Dumbarton12.45 Lunch1.15 Conducted tour of the Grotto1.45 Rosary and Benediction7.30 Mass: Marian Procession: Rosary and BenedictionShrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Christ the King Church

Howwood, Renfrewshire7.30 Exposition: Mass: Marian Procession in the grounds(please note: Friday13th not the Vigil)

DEVOTION TOST. JOHN PAUL II

TUESDAY 3RD MAYST. PATRICK’S, SHIELDMUIR

71 SHIELDMUIR STREET,WISHAW, ML2 7TH

6PM EXPOSITION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENTAND LITANY OF OUR LADY

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FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENTS

16 FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENTS FRIDAY APRIL 29 2016SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER

FUNERAL DIRECTORY

O’DONNELLIn remembrance of my belovedhusband, John Hugh (Jack), whodied on August 19, 2012, andwhose 80th birthday occurs on May 1.In the Shelter of Thy Sacred Heart,Dear Jesus may he rest.Our Lady of Perpetual Succour,pray for him.Inserted by his ever loving wifeTheresa.

GALLAGHERIn loving memory of our dearbrother, Father Clarence S.J., whodied May 5, 2013.Sacred Heart of Jesus, grant himeternal rest.Inserted by the family.

ALLISON27th AnniversaryIn loving memory of our dear mother,Mary, who died on May 4, 1989.Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for her.St Joseph, pray for her.Inserted by Lily, Mary and Joe.

BETKAIn loving memory of our dearparents and grandparents, PatriciaBetka (nèe Gilroy), who died onApril 29, 1965, and Max Betka, whodied April 10, 1980. R.I.P.St Anne, pray for them.

BOYD28th AnniversaryOf your charity, please pray for therepose of the soul of my dear uncleHugh, who died on April 30, 1988,and also his beloved wife, Elizabeth,who died on June 23, 2011.Our Lady of Lourdes and StFrancis Xavier, pray for them.Inserted by their loving family.

CAMERON35th AnniversaryIn loving memory of our dear fatherand grandpa, William, who died onApril 27, 1981.‘Till we meet in Heaven again.Sacred Heart of Jesus, grant himeternal rest.Inserted by his loving family.

CAMPBELL, Janet Rose4th AnniversaryIn loving memory of our very dearand so much loved Janet; mother,nanny, sister and sadly missed wifeof Jim.With pride we speak your name,praying for you always.May you see the face of the LivingGod; Mary, Mother of God, keepher always in your protection.May you rest, Janet, forever in theloving arms of Jesus Christ.Jim, family and sisters.

CAMPBELLTreasured memories of my dearlyloved wife, Mary, died on April 29,2007. R.I.P.Sadly missed.Donnie.

CAMPBELLTreasured memories of Mary, ourdearly loved sister and aunt, diedApril 29, 2007. R.I.P.Loved and remembered every day.St Anthony, pray for her.Chrissie, James and Claire.

CAMPBELL9th AnniversaryIn loving memory of Mary, a kindand caring sister and aunt, whodied April 29, 2007.Our Lady bless her in heaven.May her soul rest in peace.Donald Patrick and family.

CAMPBELLIn loving memory of Mary (néeNicholson) of Bishopton and Barra,a dear sister, sister-in-law and aunt,who died April 29, 2007. R.I.P.On whose soul, sweet Jesus, havemercy.Murdoch, Flora and family, South Uist.

DELANEY2nd AnniversaryIn loving memory of Michael,beloved son of John and Theresa,love of June, dear dad of EmmaLouise and James, loving brother ofKaren, Joseph, Clare and John,brother-in-law, uncle, cousin andfriend of many, who was killed onApril 28, 2014.St Michael please look after him.

DOHERTYIn loving memory of our dear father,WilliamJoseph,whodiedApril 30, 1982.St Theresa of the Child Jesus, prayfor him.Inserted by Bill and Valerie.

DONNELLYOf your charity, please pray for therepose of the soul of our muchloved father, Daniel Donnelly, whodied on April 27, 1955.O Mary, conceived without sin, prayfor him.

FEIGHANTreasured memories of Michael,who died May 1, 1990.Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord,And let perpetual light shine upon him.May he rest in peace.Our Lady, Star of the Sea, pray for him.St Martin de Porres, pray for him.Mary, Patricia and Michael.

GALLACHER41st AnniversaryOf your charity, please pray for therepose of the soul of our dearmother, Rosa Courtney Murphy,who died May 3, 1975, also ourdear father, James Gallacher, whodied October 14, 1959, (formerly of23 Auchinairn Road,Bishopbriggs).Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for them.Inserted by Jimmy and Rosa.

GALLAGHERIn loving memory of our dear son,brother and uncle, John, who diedon April 30, 1989.Memories are the loveliest things,They last from day to day,They don’t get lost, they don’t growold,They never fade away,Deep in our heart yourmemory is kept,We love you too much to ever forget.Love and miss you very much John.From Dad and all your lovingfamily. xxx

GALLAGHERIn loving memory of our dearmother, Mary, who died on May 4,1998, also our dear father, Charles,died September 5, 1971.May they rest in peace.Sacred Heart of Jesus, grant themeternal rest.Inserted by the family.

GERRY13th AnniversaryRemembering our beloved mumand gran, Marie, who died suddenlyon May 2, 2003 and also Bill, whodied July 11, 2008.Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for them.Always missed and never forgottenby Carol and family.

KINNEARIn loving memory of Agnes, whodied April 24, 2015. Dear mother ofDavid, much loved sister-in-law ofCathie and dearest aunt to hernieces and nephews.May she rest in peace.

LAVERY47th AnniversaryPlease remember in your prayersour dear loving mother, Anna RyanLavery, who died May 4, 1969.R.I.P.St Ann and St Anthony, pray for her.Inserted by her loving family athome and abroad.

McCLUSKEY28th AnniversaryIn loving memory of our dearmother, Anne, who died April 30,1988, also our dear father,Vincent, who died June 15, 1984.Our Lady, pray for them.Inserted by the family.

MacDOUGALLIn loving memory of Ceitag, a dearmother and granny, who died April30, 2001.Those we hold most dear nevertruly leave us, they live on in thekindness they showed and comfortthey shared, and the love theybrought into our lives.Inserted by Marybelle, Hector,Catriona and families.

McINTOSH44th AnniversaryPlease pray for the repose of thesoul of my beloved husband, andour dear father, Ian, who died May5, 1972.Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercyon his soul.Our Lady of the Isles, pray for him.Inserted by his loving wife and family,18 Stirling Drive, Bishopbriggs.

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FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENTS

FRIDAY APRIL 29 2016 FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENTS 17SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER

O’REILLY19th AnniversaryPlease pray for Dr. Francis O’Reilly,who died on May 1, 1997, muchloved husband of the late Dr.Maura and dearly loved dad andgrandad.‘Happy those who die in the Lord!Now they rest forever after theirwork, since their good deeds gowith them.’ – Apocalypse 14:13.Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,And let perpetual light shine upon them,May they rest in peace, Amen.Both loved into eternity by the family.

TAGGARTIn loving memory of our dearmother, Helen Taggart, who died onMay 1, 1963, and our dear father,Daniel Taggart, who died onOctober 2, 1983; also Pally, diedSeptember 30, 1987, and Francy,died October 5, 1999. R.I.P.Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for them.Inserted by their family, Croy andCastlecary.

TIMMONS34th AnniversaryOf your charity, please pray for thesoul of our dear father, JamesJoseph, who died on May 4, 1982.May his soul rest in the peace ofChrist.Inserted by his sons, daughtersand grandchildren, 76 CaledoniaRoad, Saltcoats.

WARD18th AnniversaryIn loving memory of our dearmother, Margaret Kane, who diedon May 1, 1998, also our dearfather, John Ward, died October 13,1980. R.I.P.Our Lady of Fatima, pray for them.Inserted by the family.

GRATEFUL thanks to St Josephfor answering our prayers. – E.

POWERFUL NOVENAOf Childlike Confidence(This novena is to be said at thesame time, every hour, for nineconsecutive hours – just one day).O Jesus, who hast said, ask andyou shall receive, seek and youshall find, knock and it shall beopened to you, through theintercession of Mary, Thy Most HolyMother, I knock, I seek, I ask thatmy prayer be granted (make yourrequest). O Jesus, who hast said,all that you ask of the Father in Myname, He will grant you through theintercession of Mary, Thy Most HolyMother, I humbly and urgently askThy Father, in Thy name, that myprayer be granted (make yourrequest). O Jesus, who hast said,Heaven and Earth shall pass awaybut My word shall not pass, throughthe intercession of Mary, Thy MostHoly Mother, I feel confident thatmy prayer shall be granted (makeyour request); publicationpromised. - K.

MAY THE SACRED HEART ofJesus be adored, glorified, loved,throughout the world. Sacred Heartof Jesus, pray for us. - L.S.

O ST. MARTHA, I resort to theeand to thy petition and faith. I offerup to thee this light which I shallburn every Tuesday for nineTuesdays. Comfort me in all mydifficulties through the great favourthou didst enjoy when Our Saviourlodged in thy house…I beseechthee to have pity in regard to thefavour I ask… I intercede for myfamily that we may always be pro-vided for in our necessities. I askthee, St Martha, to overcome thedragon which Thou didst cast at thyfeet. One Our Father, three HailMary’s and a lighted candle everyTuesday and the above prayermade known with the intention ofspreading devotion to St Martha. -M.M.

NOVENA PRAYER TO OUR LADYOF THE MIRACULOUS MEDALO Immaculate Virgin Mary, motherof Our Lord Jesus Christ, and ourMother, penetrated with the mostlively confidence in Thy all powerfuland never failing intercession,manifested so often through theMiraculous Medal, we, Thy lovingand trustful children, implore Theeto obtain for us the graces andfavours we ask during this novena,if they be beneficial to our immortalsouls, and the souls for whom wepray (mention your petitions).Obtain for us, Mary, a deep hatredof sin and the purity of heart whichwill attach us to God alone, so thatour every thought, word and deedmay tend to His greater glory.Obtain for us also a spirit of prayerand self denial so that we mayrecover, by penance, what we havelost by sin and at length attain tothat Blessed abode where Thou artthe Queen of Angels and of Men.Amen. O Mary, conceived withoutsin, pray for us who have recourseto Thee. (three times). - V.P.

THANKSGIVING

MacKAY6th AnniversaryPlease pray for the repose of thesoul of Mary-Kate MacKay, whodied April 29, 2010.Words are few, thoughts are deep,Memories of you, wewill always keep.Fois shiorruidh Thoir dhi aThighearna.Inserted by Neil, Linda and family,Fort William.

MacKAY, Mary Kate6th AnniversaryIn loving memory of Mary KateMacKay, who died April 29, 2010.Also remembered her latehusband, Angus MacKay, diedFebruary 9, 1997.A smile for all, a heart of gold,Two of the best this world could hold,Never selfish, always kind,These are the memories they leftbehind.Inserted by John Angus andfamily, Greenock.

MacKIGGAN18th AnniversaryIn loving memory of our dearmother and grandmother, Isabella,who died May 1, 1998.No tears, no verse can ever say,How much we miss you every day,Memories of you are proudly kept,Someone too special to ever forget.Donald John, Jennifer and Robert.– Fortrose.

MacKIGGANIn loving memory of my dear mum,Isabel, died May 1, 1998, also dad,Donald John, died April 28, 1989.We lost two peoplewith a heart of gold,How much we miss them can neverbe told,They shared in our troubles andhelped us along,If we follow in their footsteps,We will never go wrong.Although you are not beside us,You are never far away,You are always in our hearts,With every passing day.Loved and remembered always,Donald Allan, Mary Flora andDarren John.

MacKINNON, Sarah Anne16th AnniversarySo sadly missed and rememberedwith love our sister and aunt, SarahAnne, died May 4, 2000. Alsoremembering our uncle, JohnMacLean, died May 7, 2004, ourfather, Donald MacKinnon, diedJuly 23, 1998 and our mother, MaryMacKinnon, died December 8, 2013.You are always in our heartsand remembered in every prayer.Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for them.

MacKINNON7th AnniversaryIn loving memory of our dearbrother, Michael, of Caolis, Vatersay,who died on May 2, 2009.Fois shiorruidh gun robh aig anamagus aig anamannan nammarbh-chreideach triomh iochd Dhe.Amen.Oigh Mhiore nan Tonn, guidh air ashon.Peggy and Archie.

McLEAN9th AnniversaryIn loving memory of our dear AuntMargaret, who died April 30, 2007.Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for her.Inserted by Irene, Ian, Alex andfamilies.

MacPHEE5th AnniversaryRemembering with love BelleMacPhee, Liniclate, Benbecula, amuch loved mother and grand-mother, who died on May 4, 2011.Quietly remembered today andevery day.Sacred Heart of Jesus, keep her inYour care.Inserted by all her family.

McTEERIn loving memory of our dearlyloved mother, Ann Elizabeth, whodied May 5, 2003.Sweet Heart of Jesus let your lightshine upon her and our latebeloved father, Robert, and grant tothem your mercy and love.Jesus we trust in You.Blessed Mother take care of themSt Anthony, pray for them.Your loving family.

MacNEILIn loving memory of our dear sonand brother, Domhnall, whom Godcalled home on May 2, 2001, aged15 years.Sadly today your memory wetreasure,Loving you always, forgetting younever,Memories are something no onecan steal,Death leaves a heartache no onecan heal;Deep in our hearts a’Dhomhnaillyou are always there,Loved and remembered in everyprayer.St Anthony, pray for him.Mum and Dad.As time goes on without you,And days turn into years,We think of you each moment,With many silent tears.St Barr, pray for him.Clare-Anne, Mairead, Sarah Annand young Donald.

MacRURYTreasured memories of a belovedand dearly loved mother,mother-in-law, nana, MaryMacRury, East Gerinish, whopassed away on April 28, 2005.We lost a mother with a heart ofgold,How much we miss her can neverbe told,She shared our troubles andhelped us along,If we follow in her footsteps,We will never go wrong.So rest in peace dear mother,And thanks for all you’ve done,We pray that God has given you,The crown you’ve truly won.Our Lady of the Isles, please prayfor her.From all the family at home andaway.

MORRISON13th AnniversaryIn loving memory of my dear wife,Patricia, who died May 1, 2003.St Martin, pray for her.Sadly missed.Inserted by John, her lovinghusband – 6 Peninerine, South Uist.

NAIRN11th AnniversaryIn loving memory of our dear dad,Andrew Nairn, who died on April29, 2005.We loved you yesterday, today,tomorrow – forever.R.I.P.His loving family.

NUGENTTreasured memories of ourbeloved Uncle John, whose 52ndanniversary occurs on April 30.Loved and remembered always.St Barbara, pray for him.Dear St Joseph, pray for him.From all his nieces and nephews.

ROONEYTwenty-second Anniversary ofJOHN, aged 13 years and 2 days,who now would have been aged35. Killed in a traffic incident onMay 1, 1994.Dear Lord,He was so young.So young and strong,And filled with promise.He gave so much joy,Wherever he went.On this one boy,You bestowed so much.Why then?Why John?Why not someone,Less good?But we knowWhile asking,That we are onlyIntensifying our grief.And going intoA dark lost placeWhere all our faithWould be gone.And then decayWould replaceThe good thatHe wished for us.Instead,Let us thank you Lord,For the blessingOf our John.And knowing that,His young shortened lifeHas been lifted,To where,The rest of us,Can’t followJust yet……Separation? Yes!Loss? Never!John, you are loved,By a love,Beyond all telling,And missed by a grief,Beyond all tears….By your Mum, Dad, Peter andFrances.To know you was to laugh JohnBut to miss you is to cry.From your family and friends whomiss you.The momentThat we parted,My heartWas split in two,One sideWas filledWith memories,The other sideDied with you.John I now wonderDid I thank you?For everythingThat you done.For all the good timesAnd all the bad times.When you helped,To celebrateOr to understand….Did I thank you,For the simple things...The laughter,And the smiles.If I forgot,I am thanking you now.John you are lovedBy a loveBeyond all telling…...And missed by a griefBeyond all tears……

ROBELLO17th AnniversaryIn loving memory of our dearmother and grandmother, Nan, whodied on April 26, 1999.Our Lady of Aberdeen, pray for her.Inserted by the family.

THE NATIONAL SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF LOURDES - CARFIN

Preparing for the one hundredth anniversary of theApparitions of Our Lady at Fatima

CONFESSIONS – 6.15pm-7.15pmTORCHLIGHTROSARYPROCESSIONwith thenew statue ofOur Lady of Fatima - 7.30pm

FOLLOWEDBYHOLYMASSCONFESSIONS –AfterMass

Pass through the Holy Door and gain the Plenary Indulgenceunder the following conditions: pass through the Holy Door, attend Holy Mass

and Communion, pray for the Pope’s Intentions and celebratethe Sacrament of Confession

Visit the Chapels and Shrines of the Grotto

The Pilgrimage Centre and Bookshop will be open from 6pmfor light refreshments

13th MAY 2016FEAST OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA

18 WILLS AND LEGACIES FRIDAY APRIL 29 2016SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER

The St Francis Leprosy Guild has been relieving the suffering caused by leprosy in over 80 centres in Africa,

Asia and South America, for the past 120 years as the only UK Catholic leprosy charity

donating today or remembering the Guild in your will www.stfrancisleprosy.org

St Francis Leprosy Guild, 73 St Charles Square, London W10 6EJ 020 8969 1345 [email protected]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Name..............................................................

Address .............................................................................................................................

Please tick if your donation can be gift aided ................... (cheques payable to St Francis Leprosy Guild) Reg. Charity No. 208741

The St Francis Leprosy Guild has been relieving the suffering caused by leprosy in over 80 centres in Africa,

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St Francis Leprosy Guild, 73 St Charles Square, London W10 6EJ 020 8969 134

donating today or remembering the Guild in your willor remembering the Guild in your willwww.stfrancisleprosy.org

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sleprosy.org

-----------------------------

.............................................

.......Reg. Charity No. 208741

-

Bring hope. Change lives.Leave a gift in your will.Call us on 0141 354 5555 or see www.sciaf.org.uk/legacy

Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund

“I put my hope in you.” Psalms 39.7

SCIAF, 19 Park Circus, Glasgow G3 6BE. Charity No: SC012302. Company No: SC197327. Photo: Sean Sprague.SCIAF is the official overseas aid and development charity of the Catholic Church in Scotland.

Help us promote a culture of life in Scotland- Our work depends on the generosity ofpeople who remember SPUC Scotland intheir Wills.- If you are already giving to SPUC Scotland,please don’t stop. That sustains the work wealready do to protect unborn children. But ifyou make a legacy to SPUC Scotland, it willhelp us to achieve our long-term goal ofending abortion.

Yes, I would like to help support the work ofSPUC Scotland

Please send me legacy details:

Name................................................Address ................................................................................................................................................................Postcode..........................................

Return to: SPUC Scotland,75 Bothwell Street,Glasgow, G2 6TS

A Legacy for Life!

Plan for the time you are no

THOUGH throughout the calendar there are times and spe-cial occasions when Catholic charities are given particu-lar attention by the Faithful—most notably during Lent,but also at times of special appeals and fundraisingefforts—it is the steady flow of funds from Catholics that

keep the charities closest to their hearts alive. However, in a timewhen donations are increasing, the impact of inflation often meansthat the real value of donations to charities is decreasing.For those charities experiencing such problems, legacies and wills

are becoming an important solution, with more and more peoplechoosing to leave a legacy to their chosen cause. Beneficiaries tosuch gifts range from individual parishes, local and national charitiesor national and international organisations, and these gifts ensurethat their work can continue in years to come.Among those charities and organisations appealing for support

through wills and legacies are SCIAF, St Francis Leprosy Guild,SPUC (Scotland) and Beatson Cancer Charity.SCIAF works in over 16 countries across Asia, Africa and Latin

America, helping some of the world’s poorest people. In Scotlandthey raise awareness of the causes of this poverty and how to tackleit at its root.St Francis Leprosy Guild provides financial help to find, treat and

rehabilitate those too infirm to work due to leprosy. It also sponsorsawareness programmes to help eliminate the stigma associated withthe disease.The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) works

tirelessly to defend those who have no voice to defend themselves aswell as providing free counselling for those suffering from Post-Abortion Trauma and giving educative talks on bioethical issues inschools across Scotland.The Beatson Cancer Charity serves around 50 per cent of Scot-

land’s population, some 2.5 million people. With their world-classfacilities they are able to provide 25,000 courses of chemotherapy ayear.Legacies play a crucial role in each of these organisations. One

year, the legacy income at SCIAF was enough to fund all of theirwork in Asia. Thus it is easy to see that while making a will mayseem like a difficult or morbid task it is extremely worthwhile – notonly to ensure our family or friends are taken care of when we departfrom this world but to make sure our generosity makes a lasting dif-ference.A gift to SPUC could allow safe passage of a new life into this

world after you leave it—£500 is enough to provide an expectantmother with emergency baby clothes and equipment. Leaving a giftin your will to Beatson Cancer Charity is a valuable and meaningfulway to ensure that future generations will benefit from the best can-

FRIDAY APRIL 29 2016 WILLS AND LEGACIES 19SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER

be thereforever

Say thank you to The Beatson in the most special way possible – by leaving a gift in your Will to Beatson Cancer Charity. Through your gift, you can be there in the future when someone needs the best possible cancer treatment, or a calming therapy in times of stress. Ask for our guide today, including details of our FREE Will-writing service.

Please contact Marie Newcombe, Head of Appeals, for your guide to leaving a gift in your Will:

Telephone: 0141 212 0505Email: [email protected] Web: www.beatsoncancercharity.org

leave a gift in your will and make sure beatson cancer charity is always there for cancer patients and their families

Beatson Cancer Charity, The Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, 1053 Great Western Road, Glasgow G12 0YN. Scottish Charity Number SC044442. Registered in Scotland as a Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee. Company No. SC461242.

longer here, these charities will thank you

cer care possible and that the fight against cancer continues. To theSt Francis Leprosy Guild, a legacy means they can continue theirmission to relieve the suffering caused by leprosy as they have beendoing for 120 years.

As Catholics, we know that it is our duty to feed the hungry, clothethe naked, visit the sick, shelter the homeless, instruct the ignorantand do all the things that Jesus asked of us when he said those words‘love one another.’ In this HolyYear ofMercy we are making an extra

effort to live by his words and practices. A simple way of doing this isby donating and allowing others to continue their long term ministry.By leaving a legacy to our chosen cause we can help live out the

spiritual and corporal works of mercy even in our death.

20 ECOLOGY SERIES FRIDAY APRIL 29 2016SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER

WEHAVE come tothe final part inthis brief series onthe Church and the

environment. In this series, weexplored the core issue facing usas Catholics when dealing withthe current interest in things‘green.’ We have examined thequestion as to what the properplace of the created worldshould be in relation to ourunderstanding of salvific history.We have looked at the fact thatour understanding of ecology isbased on relationships, relation-ships between God and mankind,between God and creation, andbetween created beings. Finally,through a brief look at Scripture,we discovered the ancient, Jewishroots of our understanding of the

environment.What we have not discussed

in any detail is what Pope Fran-cis dedicated far more time tothan to the underlying structuresof Catholic belief and the envi-ronment, namely the contempo-rary questions raised byenvironmental degradation. Forthe Holy Father, these are ques-tions of social structures,exploitation, and, ultimately, sin-ful behaviour. This is why, tomany, Laudato si’was not a newdeparture, but a continuation ofCatholic social teaching.Now, it has to be said that

Catholic social teaching hasalways received a mixed reac-tion. Ever since the publicationby Pope Leo XIII of Rerumnovarum, people, including

many Catholics, have beenoffended by what they—proba-bly correctly—perceived to be acritique of their own attitudes.Aaron Abell, in his study on

the reception of Rerum novarumin the USA, noted that: “Every-where, the few Catholics whochampioned labor’s cause in theChurch’s name met unyieldingresistance from highly placedCatholics intent on protectingvested interests or sincere inthinking that social reformmeant social convulsion.” InBelgium this clash betweenpolitically conservativeCatholics and those supportingthe rights of workers caused theinfamous battle between CharlesWoeste and Fr Daens.In addition to those who were

affronted or outraged were themany that simply did not takenotice. As an article from TheTablet from May 10, 1941,noted, most ignored the encycli-cal. “Rerum Novarum, to judgeby its slight immediate effectwhere its effect was most to bedesired, almost appeared toosoon, even in 1891. There is anappropriate hour for every mes-sage, and even the Preacher ofthe Gospel did not appear untilthe milieu had been divinely pre-pared. In 1891 The Times barelynoticed the revolutionary docu-ment.”In France, Yves-Marie Hilaire

noted, such was the obscurity ofRerum novarum in the aftermathof its publication, that it wasbarely mentioned in the FrenchCatholic press.The latter fate has certainly

not befallen Laudato si’! In anage of instant communication,and with a Pontiff who is veryadept at garnering the attentionof communicators, the encycli-cal certainly has not sufferedfrom lack of attention. Some ofthis was positive, some of it farfrom. The charge that PopeFrancis is a communist, that hewas reinventing Church teach-ing and other wild accusations,dominated the airwaves andcyberspace in certain quarters.Much of this was to be expectedand there were, indeed, very fewsurprises. What is most interest-ing, is the reception which theencyclical received in environ-mentalist quarters.

At the outset of this series,I took note of the factthat many policies of the

green movement are at oddswith Church teaching, and thatin some cases they are positivelyhostile to it. I should hasten toadd that this is not always thecase. WWF blogger, DamianFleming—‘helping to save theplanet’—is often complimentaryabout Pope Francis and theChurch, and welcomes, and iswelcomed at, World Youth Day

at Krakow. Of course, theVaticanswitches off the lights once a year,acknowledging Earth Hour, aWWF initiative to curb energyconsumption.Not all commentators from

the green movement are equallywilling to work with the Church,and some are hostile. MikeChilds, of Friends of the Earth,believes that his organisationknows ‘what changes that areneeded if we are to achieve well-being for people and the planet.’These include fewer children—failing to take into account thedramatic drop in the birth rateover most of the planet—andwomen being ‘empowered’ tohave access to family planning.The latter has to be of the artifi-cial variety, of course. Finally,we should have equality ‘regard-less of gender or sexual orienta-tion.’ I am not sure how the lattercomment saves the planet, butthere we are. Naturally, MrChilds feels that Pope Francis isnot helping his agenda along.I have opted for this particular

Friends of the Earth example asit shows the intricate intertwin-ing of the many issues that uniteunder the ‘green’ umbrella: abelief that humanity can createits own happiness, a strong sub-scription to the notion ofprogress, their rejection of manytechnologies notwithstanding, a‘progressive’view of social struc-tures and an unfailing belief thattheir solutions will create perfecthappiness and constitute the sal-vation of the planet.Where to start? I could do

worse than refer Mr Childs andthose who subscribe to his idealsto the brilliant analysis of the‘myth of progress’ by leadingCambridge University philoso-pher, John Gray, The Silence of

Animals: On Progress and OtherModern Myths. John Gray is anatheist, but a highly principledone, who dismisses the utopias ofthe past two centuries, fromMarxism and the free market tothe green movement, as attempt-ing to invent a religious languageof progress. Gray argues that weshould not need those myths, butif we do need them, we are betteroff with the old religions as theseare ‘better at it.’Other than thinking of reli-

gion as myths, I could not agreemore. All this to emphasise thatmuch of the green movementand many of its ideals are dia-metrically opposed to Catholicthinking. In that much at least, Iagree with Mr Childs andFriends of the Earth. We see thiscloser to home, too. The ScottishGreens are implacably opposedto Catholic schools and are def-initely not interested in taking onboard Catholic ideas on family.This is all the more reason forCatholics to gain a deeperinsight into what unites andwhat separates us from the greenmovement’s ideology.

First and foremost is the rea-soning behind the Catholicimperative to protect the

created environment.We believethat we as humans are part ofcreation, albeit a very specialpart, and that we have a Divinelyinstituted duty of care towards it.Many, but not all in the greenmovement, actually believe thathumans are outside the widerenvironment and detrimental toit. This explains in part theirdesire for fewer children, placingthem oddly in the company of awider culture of death. They arewidely at odds with each other onthe reasons to protect the envi-

ronment, ranging from protectingthe wild for its own sake to pro-tecting it for the sake of humanuse. None argue that it is God’screation.Secondly, as Catholics we

believe that environmental dam-age is caused by sin. Pope Fran-cis is adamant about it. Greed, aneed to dominate and a wish togain for the self what belongs toall or to God underlies exploita-tion and destruction of naturalresources. To the green move-ment, this view is frequently notascetic enough: many wish for avery minimalist use of naturalresources, regardless of whetherthis is necessary or not.Finally, as Catholics we

believe that ecology shouldinclude human ecology, basedon a Catholic anthropology.Strongly based on the teachingsof St John Paul II, this includesan embrace of human life and anacknowledgement that environ-mental issues are intertwinedclosely with the way in whichwe as human beings relate toeach other. This is on the agendaof many in the green movement,but frequently from a strongMarxist perspective.We do share an interest in pro-

tecting the environment, in shel-tering the poor from exploitationand in ensuring that the actionsof the richest do not impact dis-proportionately on the poorest.However, the differences arevery real, and we do well toremember them.

The green movementand Catholic teaching

CHURCH AND THE ENVIRONMENTDR HARRY SCHNITKER explains the very real differences between the greenmovement and Catholic thinking despite shared interest in the environment

WWW.SCONEWS.CO.UK

Environmental activists pose forphotos after attending Pope Fran-cis’ Angelus in St Peter’s Square atthe Vatican. Some 1,500 peoplemarched to the Vatican in supportof Laudato Si’, the Holy Father’sencyclical on the environment

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