News in Brief
Love does not kill Love: Archbishop Prowse
No Catholic facility and no staff of Catholic facilities will participate in euthanasia or assisted dying, Archbishop Christopher Prowse has said.
“At the foundational level, Catholics join mainstream philosophy and human rights traditions and believe that human life is to be protected from conception until natural death,” he said in a statement released yesterday.
“Legislation aimed at deliberately taking human life via VAD, suicide, or state-sanctioned killing of any kind is always wrong.”
Archbishop Prowse said euthanasia was a brutal and immoral way of eliminating pain.
“A better way is to minimise pain through high-quality palliative care that targets pain management in a particular patient,” he said. “This moves to the heart of the issue. High-quality palliative care makes the euthanasia option unnecessary.”
The archbishop reminded that Christians believe the God of love has made human persons in God’s own image and likeness.
“Each human person is thus precious and has dignity beyond compare,” he said. “This love is extended especially to the vulnerable and, in this case, the terminally ill. Direct euthanasia to eliminate suffering (terminal or non-terminal) is morally unacceptable. Love does not kill love.
Read the full statement here: https://www.catholicvoice.org.au/euthanasia-in-the-act-love-does-not-kill-love/
Teacher shortage may force Canberra schools to return to remote learning this term
ACT schools may have to resort to remote learning in term two as educators brace for staff shortages due to winter illnesses and the nationwide teacher shortage, CathNews has reported.
Schools will likely need to combine or split classes to cope with high levels of absences, which could be exacerbated by an expected increase in COVID cases.
Catholic Education director for Canberra Goulburn Archdiocese Ross Fox said remote learning remained an option for schools if all other strategies had been exhausted.
“We wouldn’t anticipate it being likely or widespread nor prolonged, but it is a real option for us where there are significant illnesses,” Mr Fox said.
“Principals and executive teachers might have to cover for absent teachers in the classroom and professional learning may have to be rescheduled. Our priority is to ensure really great learning.”
‘Tell Jesus everything’: Pope Francis
Pope Francis has recommended making an examination of conscience at the end of each day as a way to invite Jesus into the joys and struggles of daily life,
Cathnews has reported.
“Indeed, for us to it is important to reread our history together with Jesus: the story of our life, of a certain period, of our days, with its disappointments and hopes,” the Pope said.
“There is a good way of doing this, and today I would like to propose it to you: it consists of dedicating time, every evening, to a brief examination of conscience,” he said.
“What happened inside of me today? That is the question. It means rereading the day with Jesus.”
Pope Francis addressed a crowd of around 30,000 people on Sunday from a window overlooking St Peter’s Square.
St Patrick’s Parish School, Cooma, Principal Frances Robertson
Principals on pilgrimage
Led by Archdiocesan parish priest and Vicar General Fr Richard Thompson, the Holy Land pilgrims are in their second week and have already covered a lot of ground.
Several Catholic school principals and teachers are also participating.
The group’s itinerary includes Petra, the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, Nazareth and Jericho.
On the Mount of the Beatitudes and overlooking the Sea of Galilee, St Patrick’s Parish School, Cooma, Principal Frances Robertson sent blessings back to her community for a happy start to learning in Term 2.
For more photos, see https://photos.app.goo.gl/ids8WnMXwKinsL51A
