✣Peer who helped Christians flee ISIS dies aged 96
What happened?
Lord Weidenfeld, who fled the Nazis as a refugee and in turn helped Christians escape ISIS, died last week. The 96-year-old founded the Weidenfeld & Nicolson publishing house in 1949. Its authors included Isaiah Berlin and Vladimir Nabokov. Later he published the memoirs of St John Paul II. Last year George Weidenfeld funded a scheme which aims to help thousands of Syrian Christians fleeing violence at the hands of ISIS.
What the British media said
In the Spectator literary editor Sam Leith recalled: “He published Lolita. He was drinking buddies with Pope John Paul II. And – I know he’d probably have regarded this as no big thing, but I was agog – he fought what he guessed was probably the last duel in Vienna before the Anschluss. “The duel involved George – all of about 5ft 7in – seeking out and deliberately insulting the biggest, most Aryan Nazi he could find,” Leith wrote. A duel was fought with swords, over 92 rounds, until a draw was declared. In the Daily Mail AN Wilson wrote of “a charming and ruthless networker who … could persuade anyone to write for him”, adding: “He managed to secure a book from John Paul II … he did as much as anyone to build bridges between Judaism and Catholicism”.
What the religious media said
Cardinal Vincent Nichols told the Catholic Herald that it was a “great privilege” to meet Lord Weidenfeld and to hear his gratitude for the Christian family who took him in before the Second World War. Lord Sacks, the former chief rabbi, told the Jewish Chronicle that Lord Weidenfeld was an “elemental force for good” who was “always thinking of new ways to fight prejudice, heal ancient wounds and bring peace to troubled regions of the world”. The Marquess of Reading, patron of the Barnabas Fund which helps persecuted Christians, said Lord Weidenfeld was a “dear and trusted friend to the Jewish and Christian communities and was instrumental in bringing them together … to support the suffering Church in the Middle East”.
The most overlooked story of the week
✣Pope: don’t confuse marriage with other unions
What happened?
Pope Francis said there could be no confusion between God’s plan for marriage as an indissoluble bond “between one man and woman who are open to life”, and other sorts of unions. The comments were made last Friday in his annual speech to the Roman Rota, the Church’s supreme judicial authority.
Why was it under-reported?
Socially conservative statements by Francis seem to be glossed over by a media that would have pounced on similar remarks made by Benedict XVI. Francis told the court: “The Church, in fact, can demonstrate God’s unwavering merciful love towards families, especially those wounded by sin and life’s trials, and at the same time proclaim the essential truth of marriage according to God’s plan.” Similar remarks in the past have been ignored by liberal journalists who have decided that the current Pope is “one of them”.
What will happen next?
The Pope’s comments hinted that his highly anticipated synod document will not bring in any sweeping change, said CruxNow’s John Allen. He said that while none of the Pope’s points added up “to a clear ‘no’ to Communion for the divorced and remarried, it does not suggest a Pope who finds the present discipline on marriage unrealistic, or one who believes that the grounds for annulling a marriage need to be significantly expanded. Instead, Francis called for … more thorough programmes of marriage preparation.”
✣The week ahead
The Pope and bishops will mark the end of the Year of Consecrated Life on Tuesday with a morning jubilee pilgrimage and a Eucharistic celebration for the 20th World Day of Consecrated Life. Closer to home, Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury will also celebrate a Mass to mark the end of the year at Shrewsbury Cathedral.
Last year judges ruled that a Christian baker in Northern Ireland (right) had discriminated against a customer by refusing to bake a cake with a pro-gay-marriage slogan on it. An appeal against the ruling will be heard on Wednesday.
Tomorrow the Pope will hold the first in a series of monthly jubilee audiences. The audiences will be held on Saturdays and are designed to give the Pope a platform for laying out his vision for the Year of Mercy. The events will be held in the Vatican’s Paul VI audience hall and will supplement his regular weekly audiences on Wednesdays.
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