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"IRISH-STYLE DIVORCE WORRY
-
DUBLIN, Ireland (NC) To counter allega-a tions that large increases in the number of annulments granted by Church marriage courts amount to "Irish-style divorce", the presiding judges of Ireland's four regional Church marriage courts have urged the Irish bishops to publish the number of annulments granted. The
judges
made
the decreed
recommendation
by diocesan tribu-
recently nals. meeting The Constitution of the since the regional tribunals Republic of Ireland, enactwere established a near ed in 1937, forbids divorce. ago. It may not be amended The four regional tri- without a national referenbunals, or courts, were es- dum. tablished to make more Civil annulment, are efficient the system through more difficult to obtain in which couples seek a decree Ireland than Church annulof nu Ins -- a declaration ments. bs the Church court that Public concern has inthe couple was never marcreased recently about the ried. frequency with which the The new arrangement is Church is granting decrees also designed to make it of nullity. easier to share expert adrecent meetvice in marriage cases. Previously annulments were ing of the lass students' debating society at Kings Inn. the Dublin law school, Judge Hugh Flaherty said that declarations of nullity had reached "epidemic proportions".
after
their
first
I
MORLEY SCHOOL'S
Indian bishops on justic
NEW BLOCK new two - storey block incorporating two upper classrooms and a A
130 square metre resource centre pictured above) was opened recently by Bishop Quinn at Infant Jesus School,
Shirley. With no grant forthcoming, the $70,000 has been undertaken by the combined efforts of the school board, Parents and Friends, and Ladies'
Auxiliary. On the opening day, donated $700
parents
worth of books. The centre is big enough to cater for the enrolment that this year has reached 460
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MANGALORE, (NC) The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India concluded its biennial meeting in January with a commitment to "heal the many wounds of humanity" by working for justice and equity for all.
The
sterilisation
The meeting of more detriment of positive fampublic statement than 100 bishops was the ily values in society. summarising their deliberafirst since the days of fortions and resolutions, the Before she was ousted, mer Prime Minister Indira bishops stressed that efforts Mrs. Gandhi was pressing for a just society were not Gandhi's emergency rule, strongly for mass sterilisawhich ended last year with the work of bishops alone tion in India and penalties the election victory of the but "of the whole for
In
a
Christ-
non-compliance. opposition Janata Party, ian community working in Some sterilisation rules and the meeting was devotaccord with other agencies." ed to study of "The Re- had been put into effect They asked the People of for government workers, God not to resign themselv- sponse of the Church to the several Indian States were es to helplessness even Urgent Needs of the Counin various stages of develtry." though "the obstacles to oping sterilisation laws, and the creation of a just sociat one point 7 million sterDISCRIMINATION ey seem insurmountable." The bishops pledged to ilisations were reported in less than one year. work towards ending dis crimination in India ,particularly that practised NO COMPULSION against Christians of lower The Janata Party ran on caste origins who are refused benefits purely on the a platform that included opposition to mass sterilisabasis of religion. Responding to continuing tion.
See Pat Murphy for
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government pressures for birth control, the bishops reaffirmed their support of Pope Paul's VI's 1968 encyclical on the subject, and they stressed their continuing support for natural family planning efforts. MRS GANDHI'S POLICY Before the meeting Bishop Patrick d'Souza of Var-
A few days after the bishops' meeting, however, Indian President Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was was quoted in a New Delhi magazine as advocating an all party agreement to pass 'some sort of penalties or disincentives for having more than two or three children then serilisation could come into effect in routine course." He added that there should be no compulsion. The bishops have consistently opposed sterilisation
-
ansi, general secretary of the bishops' conference, told reporters that the encyclical's positive teachings on marriage and family life while supporting voluntary had been ignored, to the family limitation through
Church
In the February
Minister's Relief Fund In their public statement
educa-
es
should focus especially
on the primary health care for the urban and rural
poor;
011IER FAMILY PLANNING STORIES, PAGES 2 sad
35 rejected
it. Observers in Dublin expect that the Irish bishops will accept the recommendation of the tribunal judges and publish figures on an-
nulments within three weeks.
publication.
Action for justice is part and parcel of the preaching mission of the Church; CHRISTIAN ROLE Christian justice connot only in winning just wages for the poor, securing the rights of the oppressed and correcting injustices in the social order, but also in accepting persons as persons despite their faults and weaknesses; sists
5.395
two
or
A Perth Marriage Tribunal spokesman said that in the United States figures have been published. In Australia canon lawyers at their annual meeting are made aware of the situation hut no official list of statistics is drawn up for formal
on justice the bishops affirmed that:
To preach justice effectively the Church itself must be free of bribery, corruption or favouritism, and Church institutions and parishes must be administered justly;
issue
dependent, columnist Des Moore published figures on annulments in 1976.
According to his figures. tional services must serve rich and poor alike and be there were 800 applications training grounds for social for annulment in 1976 and 112 judgments delivered. consciousness; Of the 112 verdicts, 77 Church health servicgranted nullity,
natural methods as a means Eradication of leprosy of slowing India's popula- must be taken up as a spetion growth cial concern of the Church; In other areas. the bishBishops, priests and ops discussed ways to make Indian Caritas (Catholic Religious must adopt a simple lifestyle. Charities) more effective in its work. The desire to heal the The agency has budgeted wounds of humanity, the 10 million rupees (about bishops said, arose from $1.2 million) for relief "our faith, our hope and work in the cyclone-devas- our love in Jesus Christ." tated areas of Andhra Pradish and has contributed about $12,000 to the Prime
5
of the Dublin Sunday In-
1308 Albany Hwy, CanningtOn Phone 4512$113 Dit 081
,
.