VATICAN CITY, FEB. 5, 2007 (Zenit.org).- A plenary indulgence can be
obtained by participants in the World Day of the Sick, the Vatican
announced.

The Holy See published a decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary today, stating
that a plenary indulgence is granted to faithful who take part in the
celebrations of the World Day of the Sick, as well as to patients and those
who care for them, or who are united to them spiritually.

The main venue for the day, celebrated Feb. 11, the feast of Our Lady of
Lourdes, will be Seoul, South Korea.

Benedict XVI will be represented in Seoul by Cardinal Javier Lozano
Barragán, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry.

In his message for the day, the Holy Father established that this year would
be dedicated in a special way to patients with incurable or terminal
illnesses.

Vatican decree

The decree granting the indulgences, signed by Cardinal James Francis
Stafford, major penitentiary, explains that the Church "earnestly desires
that the annual observance of the World Day of the Sick will become an
effective catechesis of the teaching … on the value and function of pain."

The decree states: "A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful that,
with the usual conditions -- sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion
and prayer for the Holy Father's intentions -- and with a spirit detached
from all sin, take part with devotion, next Feb. 11, in the city of Seoul or
in any other place established by the ecclesiastical authority, in a sacred
ceremony celebrated to implore God for the objectives of the 15th World Day
of the Sick.

"The faithful who in public hospitals or private homes assist the sick with
charity as 'good Samaritans,' especially the incurable or terminal and,
because of their service cannot take part in the ceremony indicated earlier,
will obtain the same gift of the plenary indulgence, if on that day they
generously give at least an hour of their charitable assistance to the sick
as if they did it to Christ the Lord himself, having their spirit detached
from all sin and the intention to comply, as soon as possible, with the
conditions needed to obtain the plenary indulgence."

The decree continues: "The faithful who because of illness, advanced age or
any other similar reason cannot take part in the indicated ceremony, will
obtain the plenary indulgence, on the condition that, having the spirit
detached from all sin and intending to fulfill as soon as possible the usual
conditions, on that day united to the Holy Father, take part spiritually
with desire in the above - said celebration and offer to God, through the
Virgin Mary, 'Health of the Sick,' and their physical and spiritual
sufferings."

Finally, the decree "grants the plenary indulgence to all the faithful, from
Feb. 9 to 11, every time that with a contrite heart they address to the
merciful God devout prayers to implore the above said objectives in
assistance to the sick, in particular of the incurable or terminal."

By Father John Flynn

ROME, FEB. 4, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Catholic adoption agencies in Britain run
the risk of being forced out of business. On Jan. 29 British Prime Minister
Tony Blair announced that there will be no exemption from
anti-discrimination laws for the Catholic agencies.

The new regulations will be voted on in Parliament this month and come into
force April 6, according to a BBC report Jan. 29. The Equality Act, valid
for England, Wales and Scotland, prohibits discrimination in the provision
of goods, facilities and services on the basis of sexual orientation.

The only concession to the Church is that Catholic agencies will have a
breathing space before they are obliged, by the end of 2008, to accept
same-sex couples as prospective adoptive parents. Until that time they can
refer homosexual couples to other adoption agencies.

In a statement issued the same day as the government's announcement,
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, archbishop of Westminster, said he was
"deeply disappointed" at the decision not to give the Catholic organizations
an exemption based on religious conviction and conscience.

Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor expanded on his position in an opinion article
published in the British newspaper Telegraph on Jan. 31. He noted that all
parties recognized the "outstanding contribution" Catholic agencies make to
the common good, a point recognized by the prime minister himself.

The cardinal objected that the regulations go against the view of most
people that children need a father and a mother. In addition, all the major
faiths active in Britain share the "deepest convictions" that a child
"prospers in the care of a father and a mother."

Respecting conscience

This was demonstrated by the show of support Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor
received from leaders of various faiths.

Anglican archbishops Rowan Williams of Canterbury and John Sentamu of York
sent a letter Jan. 23 to the prime minister in which they said: "The rights
of conscience cannot be made subject to legislation, however well meaning."

Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain,
said the "right to practice one's faith or the freedom to have no belief is
a cornerstone of our society," reported the Times on Jan. 26.

The grand master of the Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland, Ian Wilson, also
declared his support for the position of the Catholic Church. "There has to
be more tolerance of the views of people of faith, and that includes the
cardinal," said Wilson in a report published by the Scotsman newspaper Jan.
31.

The previous day the Scotsman published an article reporting declarations by
a spokesman for the Scottish Catholic Media Office, who warned that the new
regulations will create serious problems for Catholics.

"This is UK-wide regulation that will impact on anyone who provides goods
and services, from the priest who refuses to hire the parish hall to a
same-sex couple, to the editor of a Catholic newspaper who refuses to carry
a gay pride advertisement, or a printer who refuses to print those
advertisements -- they will all be criminalized by this draconian measure,"
he said.

In the days leading up to the government's decision, many commentators
warned of the dangers involved in not respecting the religious liberty of
Catholic adoption agencies.

"There has been much talk of rejecting discrimination," commented William
Rees-Mogg, opinion writer for the Times newspaper Jan. 29. But there was
never a question of taking away liberties for same-sex couples, who have the
legal right to adopt. Rather, it is a question of a government that seems to
fear the gay lobby more than the Catholic one, imposing its will on the
Catholic Church.

Stephen Glover, in an opinion piece published by the Daily Mail newspaper on
Jan. 25, observed that the Catholic Church was not threatening anyone, and
only wanted Catholics to be allowed to follow their consciences, according
to the centuries-old values held by many millions of people. Hardly an
extreme position, he observed.

Andrew Pierce, who declared himself to be an "adopted gay Catholic,"
announced his support for the Church in an article published by the
Telegraph newspaper Jan. 27. Reflecting on the work of Catholic adoption
agencies, he noted that last year they placed 230 children. A small number
of the overall total, but they handled 32% of the so-called
difficult-to-place children.

"Decades of experience will be lost if the agencies are squeezed out by the
conflicting forces of Church and state," stated Pierce. After all, he noted,
homosexuals don't have to go to the Catholic agencies if they want to adopt.

Mary Dejevsky, writing for the Independent newspaper Jan. 25, also noted
that homosexuals have many other agencies available if they wish to adopt.
Declaring her disagreement with the Catholic Church on many issues,
Dejevsky, nevertheless, stated: "It is quite wrong for the state to seek to
impose its values on religious belief."

By requiring adoption agencies to recognize the rights of homosexual
couples, the state "slides from the secular into the sacred," she warned.

For the children

A theme too often overlooked in the debate is what is in the best interest
of the children. A book recently published by two Italian psychologists,
Giovanna Lobbia and Lisa Trasforini, both active in the area of adoption,
argues that a family composed of a mother and a father is what children
really need.

Entitled "Voglio una mamma e un papà: Coppie omosessuali, famiglie atipiche
e adozione" (I Want a Mother and a Father: Homosexual Couples, Atypical
Families and Adoption), published by Ancora, the book explains that children
waiting to be adopted already suffer from disadvantages. Often the
institutions where they are kept are overcrowded, and the children do not
receive sufficient attention.

This can tempt us into thinking that even adoption by single parents or
homosexual couples could be better than being left in an institution.
Nevertheless, they argue, it is clear that children need a family composed
of a mother and a father.

It is a mistake, they argue, to accept a situation where adoption becomes a
right for singles or homosexual couples. The desire, however laudable, to
offer a home to a child is not enough to justify an adoption. More than a
right, adoption is a privilege.

Children often arrive to their adoptive families after having suffered
traumas and other negative experiences. In particular, they have often have
had imperfect relationships with adults -- parents who have left them,
educators and staff in the institutions that change frequently. The couples
that receive these children into their care must, therefore, have reached a
good level of personal and emotive equilibrium, in order to be up to the
challenge of giving the new child the care and attention it needs.

It would be a mistake to forget, they continue, that the task of becoming
successful adoptive parents is often much more complex and difficult than
that of having children through the normal biological processes.

Lobbia and Trasforini explain that in their work with adoptive families they
have often seen firsthand how it is essential that the adoptive couple can
offer to the child security, stability and the certainty of being accepted.
This is best achieved in a home where the two parents, each in their own way
as a mother and a father, can transmit the love and trust typical of a
complementary relationship formed in a stable marriage of a man and a woman.

For the child, growing up in a family composed of a husband and a wife is
also important in terms of psychological maturity, especially for their own
sexual identity. Many factors intervene in the maturing of sexual identity,
but there is no doubt that the parental role is of fundamental importance,
the authors maintain. Arguments, however, that cut little ice with lobbies
bent on imposing their will upon society.