In Brief
Chile: The bishops criticize the governments anti-aids campaign.
On Monday, the Ministry of Health, in Santiago, presented four televised slots, in the context of its campaign in the battle against Aids. One of them shows a homosexual couple exchanging embraces, before advocating the use of condoms.
Three of the six national channels let it be known that they refused to televise these slots, whose message is contrary to their ethics and those of the Catholic Church
In a communiqué released on December 1, the Commission on Ethics of the Chilean Bishops Conference, stated that the use of a condom had the effect of encouraging risky practices. It affirmed that only sexual abstinence and monogamous relationships were the means of ensuring genuine safety. The use of condoms diminished the risk of contamination without totally removing it.
United States: Flu forces faithful to abandon communion under both kinds
The arrival of the flu, which has already caused the death of a dozen people in the south west of the Unied States, has led Fr. Lawrence OKeefe, rector of the Sacred Heart cathedral in New Mexico, to suspend the practice of communion of the Precious Blood for his parishioners.- O felix grippa!
Italy: Crucifix thrown from hospital window
At the center of a bitter controversy, on the presence of crucifixes in public places in Italy (see DICI no 84), the Muslim fundamentalist Adel Smith threw out of the window a crucifix which was in his mothers hospital room,. Incensed, he declared that she "could not die in a room where there was a crucifix".
In its edition of December 17, the Osservatore Romano wondered: "One provocation after another, one insult after another, to the point of outrage. Maybe the moment has come to say: Enough!", describing this as a "vile act" and a "sacrilege". The matter has been referred to a court of justice.
