The Catholic Weekly 26 September 2021

catholicweekly.com.au 3 26, September, 2021 FRANCE Notre Dame safe for building After two years of work, French officials have an- nounced that the basilica of Notre Dame has been secured, the structure is safe, and reconstruction can begin. The basilica was ravaged by fire on April 15, 2019, and engineers had warned that its walls could collapse if they were not shored up properly. ITALY Blood of Naples saint liquefies The blood of St Januarius liquefied on 19 September, the saint’s feast day, Arch- bishop Domenico Battaglia of Naples announced. While the archbishop cautioned against superstitious beliefs, the mir- acle of the saint’s blood was greeted by residents of Napoli as a reassuring sign. (The fail- ure of the blood to liquefy has been associated with natural disasters in the city.) This was the second time this year the miracle occurred; the blood of the 3rd-century bishop also liquefied on 2 May, prior to a procession through the city. IRELAND Diocese sued over ‘IRA’ cleric The Irish Diocese of Derry is a defendant in a lawsuit stemming from a terrorist bombing that killed nine people in 1972. A priest of the Derry diocese, Father James Chesney was suspected of organising the bombing as a key figure in the Irish Republic Army. Although Fr Chesney (who died in 1980) was never charged, Church officials ar- ranged to send reassign him to another diocese. In 2010, a po- lice ombudsman report said detectives had intelligence and information that pointed to Chesney’s participation in the bombing, but they decided not to pursue this investigation. According to the report, then-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland William Whitelaw and then-Archbish- op of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland Cardinal William Conway discussed the priest’s alleged IRA activities and dis- cussed transferring him across the border to Donegal. Police drew on intelligence and other material from a variety of sources, and concluded that Chesney was the IRA’s Director of Operations in South Derry and allegedly was directly involved in the bombings and other acts of terrorism. This intelligence presented “signif- icant investigative opportu- nities” which should have led police to further investigate, and either implicate the priest or eliminate him as a suspect, the 2010 report said. ARCHBISHOP ANTHONY Fisher OP is calling on Catho- lics in NSW to fight the push for assisted suicide laws in the state after Queensland lost its own battle last week. The Queensland Parlia- ment voted 60-31 to pass eu- thanasia and assisted suicide laws there on 16 September, with no amendments made. One of the key amend- ments sought was an institu- tional conscientious objec- tion that would have allowed faith-based hospitals and aged care facilities the right to exclude assisted suicide from taking place in their facilities. “These laws are amongst the most extreme in the world because, in addition to failing to protect the vulnerable sick and elderly, they also fail to protect the consciences of those who do not want to be ¾ Marilyn Rodrigues Qld bill kills conscience involved in these deadly prac- tices,” Archbishop Fisher said. “Under the new law, faith- based facilities will be forced to allow external doctors to perform euthanasia on their premises. “Catholic institutions that exist to uphold the dignity of human life from conception to natural death will be re- quired to open the door and let the culture of death inside. “Euthanasia advocates will now turn all their efforts to NSW, and so it is more impor- tant than ever that the Parlia- ment hears from you.” The archbishop urged Catholics and other people of good will to urgently contact their MPs and MLCs to op- pose the proposed laws. “NSW has come together so well in recent months and accepted restrictions on our freedoms so that we can pro- tect our most vulnerable,” he said. “Saying ‘no’ to these laws is saying ‘yes’ to true care and compassion to those who need us most.” Queensland’s Catholic bishops had strongly opposed the proposed laws, with Arch- bishop Mark Coleridge con- cerned that with the passing of assisted dying, legislators would excuse themselves “from ever really having to address the proper funding of palliative care again”. On social media, soon after the vote in parliament, Arch- bishop Coleridge wrote that it had been “a victory for death but a defeat for life…now we await the dark spectacle of unexpected consequences”. Catholic Health Austral- ia chair John Watkins said Catholic health and aged care providers are “deeply disappointed by a law which so clearly conflicts with their ethic of care”. “We have made it clear all along to the Government that we will not allow vol- untary assisted dying in our hospitals or aged care facil- ities, yet the Parliament has passed a law that forces us to do so,” Mr Watkins said. “It places us in an invidi- ous and extraordinary posi- tion.” He said the Catholic sec- tor would work with the Queensland Government in coming months “on a system that reconciles our beliefs with its laws”. Director of Hope Bran- ka van der Linden said the Queensland result was an in- credibly disappointing result to say the least”. “Not even the news that Queensland has the highest suicide rate in the country was enough to give MPs vot- ing in favour of these laws a moment of pause,” she said. “The sad reality is that this suicide rate will only in- crease now that the state has defined some suicide deaths as ‘dignified’.” legislators [will] excuse themselves for ever having to properly fund palliative care again ... nowwe await the dark spectacle of unexpected consequences” Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane Despite restrictions, love still blooms Blunt instrument: StatedemandsCatholichospitalskillpatientswhorequesteuthanasia Amy Rutten and Isaak Holmes didn’t let Covid stand in the way of their wedding when they married in a Nuptial Mass celebrated by Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP at St Thomas of Canterbury church in Lewisham last Saturday 18 September 2021 with a maximum of 10 people in the entire church. The couple are waiting for lockdown to end to complete their honeymoon. PHOTO: GIOVANNI PORTELLI NEWS