SIR – I congratulate Pastor Iuventus (April 29) on at last making a visit to Medjugorje. At least he is not one to condemn without ever having been there, as a number of other critics do.
But for those many of us who have been several times to Medjugorje and have experienced great blessings and peace, it should be remembered that other shrines such as Lourdes had their critics too – until Rome ratified them officially. We live in the confidence that one day Medjugorje will be accepted officially as one of the great – if not the greatest – shrines in the world. This, of course, remains in God’s hands and Rome will be just as cautious as in other cases.
St John Paul II was known to have said he would have gone himself had he not been Pope – indicating he believed in Medjugorje but was unable to make a visit for the time being.It might also be remembered that Croatia has a language of its own and translations into many other tongues is not easy. May I humbly suggest that Pastor Iuventus tries it a few more times – and prays about it, too.
Yours faithfully,
Fr David Quarmby
St Helier, Jersey
SIR – Thank you for giving so much coverage to the Non-violence and Just Peace conference in Rome, co-hosted by Pax Christi and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. As one of the organisers, I find it encouraging to see the debate evolving. A letter cannot address the full complexity of the arguments for greater investment in non-violence and just peace models, but I will share some key points.
First, I would like to state that far from being a “marginal group” (News Focus, April 22), Pax Christi is an international movement with 70 years’ experience of peacemaking. As well as its grassroots work in education and campaigning, it has representative status at the UN and the EU and brings a wealth of experience to both.
Matthew Shadle (Cover story, April 29) gets to the heart of the matter: unless effort is put into establishing non-violent alternatives, war easily becomes the only resort. This very much captures the spirit of our gathering and outcome appeal. We must work at every level to educate about Gospel non-violence based on the life and teaching of Jesus.
Clearly, we must face up to injustice and violence, and we propose a just peace model that includes diplomacy, conflict prevention, building community relationships, challenging the systems that profit from war and much more.
If we hold on to the just war model we will always be limited in our ability to find non-military responses, preventing us from finding the resources and skills needed to undertake this work.
We rarely ask the question, does war work? We rarely take into account all the costs of war – economic, social, environmental and psychological – in measuring its effectiveness. We rarely question whether the money spent on military budgets achieves the true peace and stability that so many seek.
Among our participants were people whose lives have been affected by ISIS, or by violent groups in Sudan, Colombia, Uganda and elsewhere. They are committed to non-violent resistance to injustice. Their message was clear: war and violent responses to such groups makes lasting peace, social justice and healing of communities less likely.
The conference is not the end but an important step in an ongoing conversation that we hope will engage the whole Church and greatly enhance Catholic commitment to active non-violence.
Yours faithfully,
Pat Gaffney
General Secretary, Pax Christi,
London NW4
SIR – In response to Dr Condon’s letter of April 22, I did not state, nor did I intend to convey the impression, that victims are prevented by the pontifical secret from reporting their abuse to the police, because Quentin de la Bédoyère’s article was about the bishop being so prevented, not the victim.
Art I (4) of Secreta Continere applies the pontifical secret to the bishop to whom the allegation is made and the evidence obtained by those investigating it on his behalf. Those who know about the events of child sexual abuse from sources other than the “extrajudicial denunciations” and the canonical process to deal with them are not affected by the secret.
Furthermore, Art III (1) imposes a permanent silence on the allegations and evidence, as Professor John Beal states in his scholarly article on the Vatican website (with which I am quite familiar): “However, insisting on secrecy even long after the process has reached its conclusion is more difficult to justify. Blanketing everything connected with denunciations and the penal process under the ‘pontifical secret’ in perpetuity seems inimical to other ecclesial values and, quite frankly, counterproductive.”
One can only agree, but that is the proper meaning of the words of Secreta Continere, as Professor Beal concedes. More importantly, that interpretation seems to have been the one accepted almost universally by the bishops and their canonical advisers, as Quentin de la Bédoyère’s article suggests.
Yours faithfully,
Kieran Tapsell
By email
SIR – I am afraid that Martin Pendergast’s letter (April 29) may have given an incorrect impression of Encourage, a group of Catholics who experience same-sex attractions and desire to live chaste lives, and who meet regularly in London.
I am happy to say that this group, rather than being “independently established”, as Mr Pendergast suggests, is fully recognised as a chapter of Courage International. I am grateful that it has the support of Cardinal Nichols, who appointed the group’s chaplain last year, and who was kind enough to allow me an opportunity a few months ago to speak to the priests of Westminster diocese about our work.
I pray that the group continues to flourish, and that our members in London, Shrewsbury and elsewhere continue to give courageous witness to the world of the joy and freedom to be found in embracing the Gospel call to chastity.
Yours faithfully,
Fr Philip Bochanski
Associate Director, Courage International, Norwalk, Connecticut, US
SIR – On Ascension Day the congregation hears first the account in Acts, looking back on the Ascension, and then St Luke’s account of its actually happening. May I suggest that on this day (and similarly Whit Sunday, Trinity Sunday, St Barnabas and St James) the traditional order be reversed, and the Gospel read before the Epistle?
Yours faithfully,
JR Lucas
By email
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