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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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LONDON, APRIL 17, 2007 (Zenit.org).- A growing number of doctors in the United Kingdom are refusing to perform abortions for ethical reasons, a new report shows.
A report by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists looked specifically at the number of abortions that now take place at private clinics instead of public ones because of unavailable staff.
The number of abortions in private clinics 10 years ago was 20%; now the number is closer to 40%.
Still, the newspaper Independent reported on Monday that the number of abortions in England and Wales is at a record 190,000 a year. With fewer doctors willing to perform the procedure, abortion supporters say that within five years, there may be more demand for abortions than doctors to provide them.
Furthermore, with fewer doctors in public clinics willing to perform abortions, hospitals must refer those seeking abortion to private clinics. And the National Health Service, which funds four out of five abortions in Britain, is struggling to cope with the bills.
Saving, not taking life
Julia Millington of the London-based ProLife Alliance said that the news of fewer abortions at public clinics is certainly welcomed.
In a press statement, Millington added: "We have been hearing for some time now that young doctors, in particular, do not want to work in this field.
"Those choosing to go into medicine presumably do so because they want to cure sickness and disease, not end the lives of innocent human beings."
In the United Kingdom, abortion is legal throughout the entire pregnancy if the doctor believes the baby suffers a severe disability, or if the mother's life is at risk.
Otherwise, depending on the mental health of the mother, an abortion can be had up to 24 weeks.
On another front, a London Catholic hospital will ban abortion-referral, contraception provision and in vitro fertilization following a campaign to restore its Catholic identity.
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor of Westminster asked that the ethical code of the Hospital of St. John and St. Elizabeth be revised after learning that doctors were providing the morning-after pill and referring women for abortions.
The new code is expected to be agreed upon by the hospital board next month.
Code: ZE07041727
Date: 2007-04-17
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VATICAN CITY, APRIL 17, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI will go on pilgrimage to pray before the tomb of St. Augustine, whom he considers one of the great teachers of his life.
The Pope will visit the Italian dioceses of Vigevano and Pavia this Saturday and Sunday and while there, visit the tomb of the bishop of Hippo.
St. Augustine was a fascination for the young Father Joseph Ratzinger, who dedicated his doctoral thesis to the saint's ecclesiology.
Augustinian Father Vittorino Grossi spoke with the press about the Pope's studies of St. Augustine.
The priest mentioned that the Pope has "manifested his love for St. Augustine, explaining that Augustine's theology fascinated him because his principal objective was not a system of theology -- even though it is that, and a good one -- but the human person and his concrete existence."
"Joseph Ratzinger, after being elected Pope, frequently recalls the thought of St. Augustine in his ministry, referring above all to the Hippo bishop's commentaries on the Psalms," Father Grossi added.
The Holy Father will visit Augustine's tomb, located in the Basilica of St. Peters in the Golden Sky in Pavia. The prior-general of the Augustinians, Father Robert Prevost, invited Benedict XVI to visit shortly after his election as Pope.
Father Prevost explained that the visit will mark the blessing of the cornerstone of the cultural center that the order is building, which will be named after the Pope, "due to the strong spiritual and theological links which unite Benedict XVI with the Father of the Church."
The pilgrimage also marks the 750th anniversary of Pope Alexander IV's bull "Licet Ecclesiae Catholicae," which unified the Augustinians.
Augustinian Father Giustino Casciano, prior of the monastery of St. Peter's in the Golden Sky, also mentioned that the pilgrimage dates nearly coincide with the anniversary of Augustine's conversion and baptism, April 24.
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, recalled: "The urn with the mortal remains of the saint has four locks, guarded by the bishop, the prior of the basilica, the mayor of the city and the council of the cathedral, thereby demonstrating that Augustine belongs to all of the components of the city, without distinction."
Code: ZE07041704
Date: 2007-04-17
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VATICAN CITY, APRIL 17, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI says that the peace promoted by the Christian faith is key to avoiding the so called clash of civilizations.
The Pope said this on Monday, his birthday, in the meeting he had with Cardinal Friedrich Wetter, retired archbishop of Munich, who was accompanied by 50 delegates. Cardinal Wetter succeeded Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who led the archdiocese from 1977 to 1982.
The Holy Father told them briefly about the audience he had just had with Edmund Stoiber, minister-president of the Pope's native Bavaria, and Peter Harry Carstensen, minister-president of Schleswig-Holstein.
The Pontiff said: "Despite the environments from which the two come, and their notably different temperaments, both of them showed an interior certainty that the faith opens a future, and that in this moment of encounter between cultures, as well as in the impending clash between them, it is highly important that the interior, peaceful and renewing strength of the Christian faith stays alive in our culture, thereby acting as a positive influence on the future."
Benedict XVI also spoke of the audience he'd had with Orthodox Metropolitan Ioannis Zizioulas of Pergamum, a delegate from the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople.
"He is supported by a deep interior conviction that the meeting between Rome and Orthodoxy is fundamentally important for the European continent and the future of the universe," the Pope said.
The Holy Father added that Metropolitan Zizioulas, one of Orthodoxy's prominent theologians, commented: "We have to make every possible effort so that this encounter truly leads us to fraternal communion, so that later, the blessing of communion in faith can be born from it: the blessing that will allow humanity to see that we are 'one' and believe in Christ."
"I think that is the mission we all have," Benedict XVI asserted, "committing ourselves, each one according to his condition of life, so that the strength of the faith becomes operative in this world, becomes efficacious as joy, trust and gift in this moment."
Code: ZE07041702
Date: 2007-04-17
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The Pope said this on Monday, his 80th birthday, during lunch in the Apostolic Palace with members of the College of Cardinals who were in Rome.
"Our times, each day, the vicissitudes of our life, our luck, our actions, all are in God's good hands," he told the cardinals.
"This is the great confidence with which we go forward, knowing that God's hands are sustained by the hands and the hearts of many cardinals. This is the motive of my great joy on this day," the Holy Father said.
"The true gift of this day for me is the prayer that gives me the certainty that I am accepted from the inside," Benedict XVI added, "and above all, helped and supported in my Petrine ministry, a ministry which could not be carried out alone, but only in communion with all those who help me, praying that the Lord be with us and with me."
Code: ZE07041706
Date: 2007-04-17
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In a note sent today to Bishop Francis DiLorenzo of Richmond, via Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, the Holy Father said that he was "deeply saddened by news of the shooting at Virginia Tech."
Cho Seung-Hui -- a 23-year-old senior majoring in English -- shot two students early morning Monday in the Ambler Johnson Residence Hall.
More than two hours later, Cho opened fire a half-mile away on students and professors in their classrooms in Norris Hall, leaving 30 dead and many wounded. The gunman then shot himself.
Benedict XVI conveyed in his note the assurance of his "heartfelt prayers for the victims, their families and for the entire school community."
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2007/4/17 - www.asianews.it - The Russian Orthodox leader says Benedict XVI and the Patriarch of Moscow can speak “as one voice” about shared challenges but they still remain far apart. Uniate Church and the Petrine primacy are major obstacles. “The primacy of the bishop of Rome is not on the agenda of any Orthodox Church.”
Click here for story at asianews.it.