Filipino women take center stage

adminonNovember 19, 2021January 5, 2022Leave a Comment

Christians in the Philippines © Francis R. Malasig

This year's World Day of Prayer focuses on women in the Philippines. Several thousand women will also mark the day in NRW. Christian women of the Philippines have prepared this year's globally observed day.

In Germany alone, in the area of the Westphalian Church on Friday, a total of more than 55.000 children, women and men are expected to attend the almost 550 services in the parishes, as the Protestant Women's Aid in Westphalia announced in Soest on Tuesday.
For the current Reformation Year, the two churches jointly invite participation. This was announced by the German Bishops' Conference and the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) on Tuesday in Bonn and Hanover.

In the region of the Protestant Church in the Rhineland, for example, a central ecumenical event of the church district Bonn takes place in the Erloserkirche in Bad Godesberg. Many Protestant congregations from Erkrath near Dusseldorf and Cologne to Trier and Saarbrucken are also participating in the international day of action for women, according to the World Day of Prayer committee.

Consumerist lifestyle strengthens unjust structures, it said

About 20 Filipinas have prepared the liturgy for the ecumenical service. Under the title "What's fair??" they want to draw attention to the social injustice, poverty, exploitation and migration from economic need in the Southeast Asian island state. This was explained by the chairmen of the Pastoral Commission of the Bishops' Conference, Bishop Franz-Josef Bode of Osnabruck, and the vice president of the EKD Church Office, Bishop Petra Bosse-Huber. Reports from Filipino women showed "how our consumerist lifestyles reinforce unjust structures". At the same time, the testimonies encouraged people to "stand up for justice and an abundant life for all in the spirit of the Gospel".

Using the biblical parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16), they address labor rights violations, the exploitation of female labor abroad, and the slow pace of reconstruction after natural disasters such as Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, as they said.

Collection for charitable organizations

Collections from World Day of Prayer services support education and employment projects for women and girls as well as programs against sexualized violence. Among them, according to the World Day of Prayer Committee, are almost a dozen Philippine projects, such as the workers' organization "Kayumanggi", which works against wage dumping, as well as a self-help program for the rights of indigenous groups and the counseling center "Kaagapay" for the needs of migrant workers.

According to the Westphalian Women's Aid, collections amounting to about 81 are made annually from its area.000 euros to the German World Day of Prayer Committee based in Stein near Nuremberg. The women's association in the Protestant Church of Westphalia has been participating in the campaign since the 1950s.

Pope Benedict XVI. Recalled at his general audience on Wednesday his meeting with victims of abuse in Malta. "I shared with them the suffering, and moved I prayed with them. In the process, I ared them that the Church is acting," the Pope said.

About 30.000 people attended the Pope's general audience this Wednesday – including a thousand Roman schoolchildren and several hundred priests from the diocese of Rome. Benedict took stock of his visit to the island of Malta last weekend in St. Peter's Square, saying, "The occasion was the 1.950. Anniversary of the arrival of St. Paul on this island. The shipwreck that brought him there is dated to about the year 60. Like Paul, I was able to experience the warm welcome of the Maltese people. He said that although they were barbarians, they found a very unusual human kindness. Today they are an educated people of high culture, but they have retained their philanthropy and hospitality. I want to thank everyone who gave me this welcome, especially the children and young people who were around me with enthusiasm. The highlights of my trip were the visit to the grotto of St. Paul near Rabat, where, according to tradition, he lived for three months as a prisoner; then the celebration of the Eucharist in Floriana, in front of the church of St. Publius, and finally the meeting with the young people in Valletta, in the port, in a wonderful picture where the ships were around, the artillery fired salvos of veneration and the joy really shaped everything."

Meeting under strict discretion In a departure from the program of the visit, Benedict XVI had. spoke Sunday at noon in Malta with eight former pupils of an orphanage who had been sexually abused by clerics when they were minors. The meeting, which lasted about 25 minutes, took place under strict discretion in the chapel of the Papal Nunciature in Rabat. In his German address, the pope did not mention the encounter with the abuse victims, but instead returned to St. Paul: "The shipwreck of St. Paul off the Maltese coast was first of all a disaster, but it was part of divine providence, because that is how Christianity came to this island and created a great history. Since then, the history of the Maltese people has been inextricably linked to the Catholic faith, which has deeply shaped their culture and traditions. Today, the Gospel and the teachings of the Church continue to guide the search for answers to today's challenges. The full respect of the unborn life and the sanctity of marriage in the legislation of the country speak of it."Malta is the only EU country where Catholicism is still the state religion. Divorce and abortion are forbidden, according to Verfang. "Also the apostolic spirit of St. Paul has remained alive in Malta. Still the two islands of Malta and Gozo send a multitude of missionaries out into the wide world. With their commitment, they make it clear that faith becomes stronger when it is passed on and the Maltese Cross shows all over the world what the cross means: reconciliation and peace." said Benedict XVI.

Greetings from the Pope To the German pilgrims On Wednesday, the Pope addressed a special greeting to the participants and supporters of the fundraising relay from Wittenberg to Rome "From Luther to the Pope": "The encounter with the risen Lord transformed the life of St. Paul, who proclaimed the Gospel in Malta, here in Rome and in many countries. Like him, we want to bring the message of the cross and the love of Christ to the people. Knowing that even storms and shipwrecks are part of God's plan and can lead to new beginnings and new departures. May the Lord give you the power of his Holy Spirit".

Krzysztof Charamsa (43), ex-employee of the Roman Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is no longer allowed to work as a priest after his outing until further notice.

Bishop Ryszard Kasyna in Pelplin, northern Poland, Charamsa's home diocese, suspended him from his priestly duties and barred him from wearing priestly clothing, a diocese spokesman confirmed Thursday in response to a query.

Charamsa had come out as homosexual in early October in Italian and Polish media and at a press conference together with his Catalan partner in Rome. He accused the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, for which he had worked, of "paranoid homophobia". He immediately lost his post at the Vatican and his authorization to teach at pontifical universities.

Charamsa receives the punishment provided for in canon law

His home bishop had initially only called him to return to the "way of the priesthood of Christ". However, since Charamsa "continues to live a life outside the regulations for Catholic priests" and lacks "any will to correct his life," he will now be subject to the punishment provided for this in canon law, the diocese said in explaining its decision. The suspension should bring him to reflection. It can be cancelled if the theologian corrects his life.

Charamsa worked in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 2003 and was also associate secretary of the Vatican's International Commission of Theologians. He was also a lecturer at the Pontifical Jesuit College (Gregorian University) and the College of the Legionaries of Christ (Regina Apostolorum).

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