Friday 5 August 2022
1. Why Poland has seen a 90% drop in legal abortions
2. Pius XII, a great friend of the people of Israel
3. Kazakhstan, the President of the Episcopate: Francis brings us a model of fraternity
Why Poland has seen a 90% drop in legal abortions
The Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita reported on July 30 that 107 legal abortions were recorded in the country of more than 40 million people in 2021, compared to 1,076 the year before, showing a 90% drop, American media outlet The Pillar analyzes. This is due to the fact that in October 2020 the Polish Constitutional Tribunal declared that a 1993 law permitting abortion for severe and irreversible disability or a life-threatening incurable disease was unconstitutional. Urszula Dudziak, an associate professor in the Department of Family Sciences at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, told The Pillar that while the drop in abortions was expected, the figure could rise again if pro-lifers rested on “their proverbial laurels.” Nonetheless, she said much work still needs to be done especially in educating people toward “ love and responsibility” and in “what preconception and prenatal care is.”
The Pillar, English
Pius XII, a great friend of the people of Israel
Often criticized today for his silence during the Second World War, Pius XII was first recognized after the war, notably by Jews, such as by the then Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meier. This is because the Pope helped to hide or exfiltrate Jews throughout Italy during the war. In an article published in Omnes, journalist Jose Garcia Peregrin looks back at how this image was tarnished and turned into a “black legend” with the release of the play “The Vicar” by Rolf Hochhuth in 1963, and then a book by John Cornwell that made him “Hitler’s Pope” in 1999. However, the journalist wants to emphasize and remember certain facts, such as Pius XII’s condemnation of nationalism and Nazism in particular, his actions to help Jews and the violent reaction of the Nazis, who crticized the Pope. He is “a Pope who not only did not remain silent in the face of genocide, but who made efforts to save as many as possible; and who succeeded precisely by doing so in a silent way,” insists the author of the article.
Omnes, Spanish
Kazakhstan, the President of the Episcopate: Francis brings us a model of fraternity
In an interview with the Holy See’s official media outlet, Vatican News, Bishop José Luis Mumbiela Sierra, of the Diocese of the Holy Trinity in Almaty in Kazakhstan, commented on the importance of Pope Francis’ participation in the upcoming Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. “The presence of the Holy Father constitutes for the Congress itself its greatest achievement in all these years, because the pontiff is the most important and recognized international figure in the field of promoting dialogue between different nations, cultures and religions,” said Archbishop Sierra, who is also the President of the Bishops’ Conference of Central Asia, which Kazakhstan is a part of. He says he hopes that “the words that Pope Francis will speak during his visit will be received with fervor so that, in the future, this same congress will be transformed into an authentic laboratory for peace in the world.” “His presence will serve to underline the vocation of this country to be a model of peaceful coexistence among different ethnic groups and religions,” the Archbishop explained.
Vatican News, Spanish
