The Catholic Weekly 24 May 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 24 NEWS 24, May, 2020 SAINT JOHN Paul II, whose centenary of birth occurs on the 18th of May this year, re- iterated many times and de- finitively in his great Encyc- lical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), the critical place held by faithful baptised spouses and parents. It is they, John Paul II pointed out, who are key to laying the foundations of and animating a Gospel-infused, healing and world-changing “radical justice” he called “The Culture of Life.” (See EV nos 92 and 93). The type of “solidarity” and “complementarity” women and men share in the loving receptivity and labour of the family not only forms the children within “the domestic church”, but this labour also radiates outwards, as a dy- namic force shaping the wid- er polis: it is capable of trans- forming societies’ attitudes, laws and institutions in favour of human respect and dignity. One such couple, was a husband and a wife who to- gether exemplified the cul- ture-lead evangelisation and social reform envisaged by the Polish pontiff who was a close friend to both. This couple both worked to provide practical and med- ical support to babies and children touched by genetic disability. One was a paedia- trician, genetic scientist and clinical pioneer and the oth- er, named this week the “soul and cement” of his legacy, was a mother and tireless and influential advocate. The husband, who John Paul II called, “my brother Jérôme”, was Professor Jérôme Lejeune and his wife was Madame Birthe Bringsted Le- jeune, who died on 6 May at the age of 92. Professor Lejeune was the World Health Organisation expert on both atomic radi- ation and genetics and the inaugural Chair of Genetics at the Faculty of Medicine in Paris. In 1958, Lejeune and Marthe Gautier contribut- ed to the discovery of the additional chromosome 21 (or partial addition) causing Down’s Syndrome. Prof Leje- une made it his life’s mission to find ways to “cure” some of the disabling effects of the ad- ditional chromosome as well as to offer “wholistic” care for those touched by Trisomy 21- and other genetic conditions. The direction of his life changed, when in 1969, he declared, with the support of his wife, his dismay that his Madame Lejeunewas lesswell-known thanher husband, but everybit as important Scientist’s wife a pillar of the culture of life Madame Birthe Lejeune, wife of Professor Jérôme Lejeune, entered eternal life on 6 May 2020. PHOTO: CLAUDE TRUONG-NGOC/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CC BY-SA 3.0 discovery was being used as the basis of eugenic screening and abortion. His faith-driven leadership on behalf of the “smallest in society” – and his courage, charity and good humour in the face of rejection by many in the scientific and political community has contributed to the promotion of his Cause to canonisation. In 2007, 10 years after Pope John Paul II visited his grave during World Youth Day Paris, he was de- clared Servant of God. Two years ago, almost to the day, we reflected in The Catholic Weekly upon the counter-cultural hospitality of Professor Lejeune. Madame Birthe Lejeune was the face of Professor Leje- une’s legacy and she was born near Odense in Denmark in 1928. She came to Paris to study French while she worked as an au pair. She converted to the Catholic faith and married Jerome and they had five chil- dren. The adult children with Madame Lejeune formed the “Friends of Jerome Lejeune” soon after her husband’s death in 1994. This family based group contributed to the wider fam- ily that is the Lejeune Consul- tancy and Institute inParis op- erating with a three-pronged focus: “Research-Care-Advo- cacy” for those diagnosed or living with Down’s and other genetic conditions. This week the Foundation posted a visual tribute (in French) to Madame Lejeune, calling her the soul of the Foundation, who “along with her husband ... championed the inherent dignity and in- finite value of individuals with Down syndrome, with special care for the unborn.” For those defending life in France, she cut a tiny but lively figure, described by the French as ‘militant’, some- thing of a resistance fighter. She was giving talks and in- terviews until her 92nd birth- day this year. She often ap- peared at the dais, dressed in a parka and jeans, sometimes cigarette in hand, speaking careful French with a Nordic accent. In Australia we might call her a “pocket rocket.” Due to Madame Lejeune’s energetic work in her latter years, funds and resources were gathered to support over 50 scientific research projects into disabilities of genetic ori- gin. Over 40 years the Lejeune Foundation has assisted near- ly 10,000 patients and their families and have advocated and promoted the issues of Down’s people and others in parliamentary and at other public platforms. In 2017, Madame Lejeune made an extensive tour of the US with the aim of drawing awareness to the work of the Foundation and to promote the establishment of a Jérôme Lejeune Medical Centre. The Centre will open later in 2020. Last week, at a sparsely populated Covid-restrict- ed funeral Mass in Paris, Archbishop Michel Aupet- it, himself a former medical practitioner and bioethicist, preached upon the bright energy “for life” of Madame Birthe. The Archbishop reflected upon the life of the resurrect- ed Christ, given to Christians and reflected in the lives of “Birthe and Jerome Lejeune (who) wanted to love to live, wanted to live to love.” He also noted that the “cul- ture of Death” was the work of Satan, who he said, is full of resentment towards human life, love and dignity, especial- ly for the vulnerable. The fear, loss of hope and cynical dis- trust towards the good gift of each human life is infectious. Aupetit reflected on the in- fluence of this resentment: “… how hard it is to be disowned by your friends, by those who should support you. Even within the Church, some blinded by a deadly ideology or by fear of the world (who also) fought with incredible violence against those who carried love and life in the name of the Lord.” It is clear that it was Birthe Lejeune’s support, shared vi- sion and what the Archbishop called “her good fight” that fired the international devel- opment of the Lejeune legacy. Many years before, in 1952, as a hopeful young scientist, Lejeune wrote with some pre- monition to his young Danish fiancée of his vision of their future life together: ‘C’est un but passionnant qui nous de- mandera de grands sacrifices, ma chérie..” “It is a passionate but very demanding goal with many great sacrifices my darling” but one that is “juste et saine” or “just/right and healthy (or health giving)”. He assured her that with hope “we will get there!” Anna Krohn is an educator and educational writer who has worked for the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family and the Australian Catholic University in Mel- bourne. Along with her husband, she [Madame Lejeune] championed the inherent dignity and infinite value of individuals with Down syndrome, with special care for the unborn.” Anna Krohn Columnist In brief Our Lady of the artillery furor MOSAICS REPRESENT- ING Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Putin were re- moved for a ceremony marking the end of con- struction of a Russian Or- thodox cathedral. A thanksgiving service for the completion of the Cathedral of the Resur- rection of Christ, which will also be known as the Great Cathedral of the Armed Forces of the Rus- sian Federation was held last week. Deputy Defence Min- isters General Andrey Kartapolov and General Timur Ivanov participat- ed, while Bishop Stephan Privalov of Klinsky, who heads the Synodal De- partment for the pastoral care of the Armed Forces and public security agen- cies, led the service. The controversy sparked by the mosaics led to their removal. The images of Putin, Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu, Crimean Governor Sergey Aksyonov and other top officials also disappeared fromthe image of Crimea’s 2014 annexation. Despite the removals, the head of the Experts’ Council for Church Art, Architecture and Restora- tion of the Russian Ortho- dox Church, Archpriest Leonid Kalinin, insisted that the images of Stalin and Putin should have been kept in the church. General Kartapolov stressed that “Stalin re- stored religion in Russia”. In his blog, Deacon Andrey Kuraev referred to the church as ‘monumen- tal paganism’. In particular, he crit- icised the fresco called “Help of the icon”, in which the sacred image of the Mother of God arrives escorted by angels to sup- port the efforts of anti-air- craft artillery. Another image, called ‘Conquerors of Berlin,’ shows a protective angel on the banner of Victory. Saint Michael the Arch- angel with spear, head of the celestial and terrestri- al hosts, is accompanied by Saint Nicholas with the Gospel and Saint Sera- phimwith the cross. Some of the depicted saints draw a sword; even a Christ wields one. No less disturbing are other images involving Calvary, the saints and Our Lady in the wars and triumphs of Russia when it was the Soviet Union. The Mother of God, in full pagan identification with Mother Earth, keeps the fire of heroes in her womb. - ASIANEWS.IT NE

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