FAMILY MATTERS

Australian Archbishop Answers Critic

ABC ONLINE, Aug. 29 — An Australian archbishop said the Church has the right to comment when political issues have a moral dimension, the online edition of the Australian Broadcasting Co. reported.

Hobart Archbishop Adrian Doyle, in response to a Tasmanian politician who described Church leaders as “uninformed, ignorant and unhelpful,” on the issues, said not only does the Church have the right to comment, but is expected to comment.

“We're in a no-win situation,” he said. “There are people who criticize us for not speaking up loud enough and often enough, and now we're told that we have no place in the conversation at all.”

Bishop Imprisoned for 28 Years Dies

ASSOCIATED PRESS, Aug. 28 — Bishop Xie Shiguang of Mingdong, China, a leader of the country's underground Catholic Church, died Aug. 27 of leukemia, Associated Press reported.

Bishop Xie was first arrested in 1955 by Chinese authorities “because of his loyalty and obedience to the pope,” and released a year later, Vatican radio reported Aug. 27. He was arrested again in 1958 and jailed until 1980, the report said.

The bishop was also imprisoned from 1984-1987, and finally for two years starting in 1990, and was kept under surveillance by authorities until his death, the radio report said.

The Vatican praised Bishop Xie as a “courageous witness to Christ.”

Islamic Extremists Forcibly Shut Down Javan Chapel

ASIANEWS, Aug. 29 — A group of about 200 Islamic fundamentalists forcibly shut down a Catholic Chapel in Margahayu, which is linked to the Buah Batu's parish church in West Java, shortly after the 6:30 pm Saturday Mass, AsiaNews reported.

Right after Mass, the Islamists approached the celebrating priest, Father Iwan Pr, and told him to immediately close the chapel and stop all liturgical service.

The report said the forced closing is indicative of the Islamic fundamentalism that is growing in Indonesia.

In the last year, militants for the Islamic Defender Front, a local extremist group, forcibly closed 23 Christian churches. Muslim leaders like former President Abdurrahman Wahid have called on the government to “intervene quickly and decidedly” to defend Christians.

Russia Records More Abortions Than Births

MOSNEWS, Aug. 23 — Russia had approximately 100,000 more abortions than births in 2004. The reason for the carnage, the country's leading obstetrician told the Russian news service MosNews, is to avoid the costs of raising children.

Russian women had 1.6 million abortions compare to 1.5 million births. One-fifth of the women who had abortions were under the age of 18, said Dr. Vladimir Kulakov, vice president of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. “Many more” abortions weren't reported, he added.

According to LifeSiteNews.com, the Mary Mother of God Mission Society operates a crisis pregnancy center and post-abortion counseling service in Vladivostok. Father Myron Effing said some women have had as many as 30 abortions because of a lack of hope for the future. He said the Russian government also severely restricts working visas to those seeking to enter the country to do religious work, including pro-life work and education.