Krakow Diary

Last weekend I was invited to address the annual conference of the Polish Federation of pro-life movements, on “The proclamation of the pro-life message in International institutions”. The conference was held in the Pastoral centre attached to the shrine of the Divine Mercy at Lagiewniki, Krakow. The Divine Mercy complex encompasses the original convent and chapel where the visionary, Sister Faustina received the Divine Mercy devotions but it also includes a new Basilica, viewing tower, conference centre, an adoration chapel, and related buildings. The invitation was also kindly extended by the organisers, to my wife Philomena to accompany me on the trip.

Friday 10th October
We had an early flight (which meant rising at 4.30am) and arrived at the Lagiewniki Centre in the early afternoon. We were immediately able to join in the Divine Mercy three o’clock devotions which were followed by Mass and a walk around the buildings within the shrine. When we returned to the pastoral centre we were warmly welcomed by Dr. Pawel Wosicki President of the Polish Federation and Dr.Antoni Zieba Vice President and introduced to other members of the federation who had arrived in the meantime.

Saturday 11th October
The conference was attended by about 300 delegates from all over Poland. The morning session looked at the protection of life, first internationally at United Nations level, at EU level, and finally in Poland. In my presentation on the international position I quoted an extract from a speech by Pope John Paul II who warned against a

‘new ideology of evil, perhaps more insidious and hidden than its predecessors, which attempts to pit even human rights against the family and against man’.

Pope John Paul’s statement sets out what I have experienced over the years at the UN. I witnessed an agenda clearly contrary to natural law being promoted and used to create new so-called rights. It was clear to me that this was and is a battlefront and what is at stake, is our entire way of life. Christian morality based on natural law is being rejected in favour of positivism and moral relativism. A whole new interpretation of human rights is being carefully put in place in what appears to be the single largest project in social engineering ever to be perpetrated on mankind and this is being done on a global scale.

Konrad Szymanski MEP addressed the conference regarding the impact of the EU on the protection of human life and Marek Jurek discussed the current situation in Poland.
Professor Bogdan Chazan addressed the conference on the problems associated with IVF and a young couple Michal and Agnieszka Pietrusinscy gave an excellent presentation on naprotechnology as a real alternative to IVF.

Mass was celebrated by his Excellency Bishop Stanislawa Stefaneka who attended the conference.

On Saturday afternoon during the workshops we were given a delightful and interesting guided tour of Krakow city centre by a charming young woman Alicija Babkiewicz, which included visits to the castle, the cathedral and the Bishop's palace where Pope John Paul 11 spent the 18 years prior to his elevation to the Papacy.

Sunday 12th October
The conference drew to a close with addresses by Dr. Wanda Poltawska, Dr. Antoni Zieba and federation president Dr Pawel Wosicki. Dr Wosicki looked at the mission and programme of the federation in today’s world.

The conference was followed by a pilgrimage to Wadowic the home town of Pope John Paul 11 which was celebrating that day the 30th anniversary of his election to the chair of St Peter. This part of the pilgrimage included a tour of the house in which John Paul 11 grew up and a visit to the church in which he was baptised. We then visited Kalwaria (CALVARY) Zebrzydowska a Bernardine monastery which has a famous way of the cross and which was also a place of pilgrimage for the family of Pope John Paul 11. We were very ably assisted during the pilgrimage by Dariusz Hybel who proved to be a mine of information. The autumn weather throughout the weekend was glorious, and according to Dariusz such conditions are known in Poland as a "Polish golden autumn", we would call it an "Indian summer"

Call for “Amnesty for Babies” for World day of Peace September 21st

The United Nations will celebrate “World Day of Peace” on Sept 21st.
“World Day of Peace” was originally established by the UN General Assembly in 1981 for the purpose of commemorating and strengthening of the ideals of peace. There are of course many kinds of violence present in our world which require our urgent attention, however the most insidious and unseen violence is that which is perpetrated against the innocent and vulnerable, that which is directed against unborn babies. Every baby counts, every life is a precious and unique gift, never to be repeated. Every baby, born or before birth, has an equal right to life with all other human beings, including his or her mother. Every pregnant woman knows that the baby she carries is a new human being. Medical science has also shown beyond any doubt that from the moment of fertilization each newly formed human embryo has a unique, separate and distinct identity.

Anti life ideologies have been adopted by many governments and powerful NGOs, ideologies which are hostile to the life of the child before birth. These ideologies must be confronted and shown to be detrimental, not only to the lives of the unborn, but to their mothers, to society, to the future population of nations and thereby their economic viability. Abortion is not, and can never be a human right.

European Life Network calls on Governments throughout the world to rethink this vitally important issue and beginning on world day of peace, to declare an amnesty for babies. The word amnesty comes from the Greek word amnestos, which means ‘the forgotten ones’. Do we need to ask who the forgotten ones in our society are, who are excluded when it comes to human rights? Babies once conceived and prior to birth are so often seen as expendable and truly become the forgotten ones, the amnestos, routinely condemned to death every day. There is no trial, no judge, no jury and no appeals procedure just a death sentence. What is their crime? Babies are innocent of crime but by just being there they are targeted for being present, being a second child, being a girl, being unwanted, or simply being inconvenient. Babies need strong advocacy to bring their plight to world attention. Even convicted murderers are given a fair trial, a right to appeal and then may even have their sentences commuted on grounds of clemency. The lives of many innocent babies are daily deemed to be worthless and undeserving of the most basic of rights.

Mother Theresa in her acceptance speech when she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace told the assembly

But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child - a direct killing of the innocent child - murder by the mother herself. […] And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love, and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even his life to love us. So the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love

This theme was also referred to by Pope John Paul 11 on many occasions throughout his pontificate. In his statement for World Day for Peace in 2001 Pope John Paul II pointed out that there can be no real peace without respect for the most vulnerable in our society.

An authentic dialogue between cultures cannot fail to nourish, in addition to sentiments of mutual respect, a lively sense of the value of life itself. Human life cannot be seen as an object to do with as we please, but as the most sacred and inviolable earthly reality. There can be no peace when this most basic good is not protected. It is not possible to invoke peace and despise life.[...] I am speaking of a tragic spiral of death which includes murder, suicide, abortion, euthanasia,[...] To this list we must add irresponsible practices of genetic engineering, such as the cloning and use of human embryos for research, which are justified by an illegitimate appeal to freedom, to cultural progress, to the advancement of mankind. When the weakest and most vulnerable members of society are subjected to such atrocities, the very idea of the human family, built on the value of the person, on trust, respect and mutual support, is dangerously eroded. A civilization based on love and peace must oppose these experiments, which are unworthy of man.

Notes on Humanae Vitae from the JPII Generation

I came across a talk recently, entitled A Catholic Vision of Love and Sex given at the Catholic Chaplaincy of St Andrew's University in Scotland by a member of the JPII Generation(i.e. born and grew up during John Paul II's pontificate). This generation of young people were strongly influenced by the late pope's clarity of vision and have embraced the Church's teachings, largely to the surprise and disguiet of the older generation. Having grown up in the brutal moral turmoil predicted by Humanae Vitae, the JPII Generation is now defending this prophetic encyclical in the public sphere with enthusiasm, making use of the new media to get the message across. Facebook, the social networking website so popular with young people, currently contains no fewer than 19 groups about Humanae Vitae, none of them negative.

One has to be realistic about the numbers of young people who disregard the Church's teaching but, 40 years on, it is possible for a generation who were born long after the encyclical was published, to consider the message of Humanae Vitae without the hang-ups and prejudices their parents may have had.

Why Europe Needs a New Vision

The Irish Government is wondering what happened and why so many Irish people from all walks of life decided to reject the Lisbon Treaty, despite the fact that the vast majority of the political establishment not only supported the measure but actively lobbied for a yes vote. European governments are even more confused and are asking, did we not prioritise Ireland, why are they rejecting this treaty? They are even contemplating anti-democratic measures to force Ireland to rethink and come up with the “right answer” or threatening to create a two-tier Europe. Either of these actions would actually confirm the wisdom of the emphatic NO expressed by the people of Ireland. There are clearly many reasons why the Irish as a nation decided to reject this treaty. Many people are deeply concerned about the direction Europe is taking. We have seen more and more dark clouds on the European horizon as traditional values are being struck down one by one and Europe embraces what Pope John Paul II called the culture of death.

Freedom of religion is under grave attack, such as happened when Italian Rocco Buttiglione was denied a Commissionership simply because he is Catholic. Freedom of conscience and freedom of religion were and still are under attack, as we saw when the European Commission set up a panel of experts to evaluate a Concordat Slovakia planned to sign with the Holy See and the resulting report found that a woman’s right to have an abortion trumped the right of a doctor to conscientious objection. Freedom of conscience and freedom of speech are under attack when laws on sexual orientation and same sex marriage are forced on nation states and anyone who dares object is guilty of a hate crime. The right to life is under attack when Europe decides that sexual and reproductive health is a right and this includes abortion or when on myriad occasions the human embryo has not been respected from the moment of conception. Democracy itself is under attack when governments deny the right of their peoples to have a real say in the future of Europe.

We hunger and thirst for real justice in all of these and many other areas and are conscious of the message of John Paul II in his apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in Europa when he wrote;

Raise your voices in the face of the violation of human rights of individuals, minorities and peoples, beginning with the right to religious freedom; pay utmost attention to everything that concerns human life from the moment of its conception to natural death and to the family based on marriage: these are the foundations on which our common European home rests; ... respond, with justice and equity and with a great sense of solidarity, to the growing phenomenon of migration, and see in it a new resource for the future of Europe; make every effort to guarantee young people a truly humane future with work, culture, and education in moral and spiritual values. (182)

This is the Europe we want, Pope John Paul II has highlighted the way forward and Europe needs to listen. The political elite of Europe must cease to involve itself in empire building and in social engineering. They must turn their backs on the culture of death and begin to understand the deep-rooted needs of the people. They must embrace real justice and peace and begin to value life at all stages from conception to natural death. They must decide to embrace real democracy. When we see these root and branch changes in the development of the new Europe most people will be willing to accept it.