Radio María Launches in Mexico

CATHOLIC RADIO UPDATE, June 7 — For decades, anticlerical legislation prohibited almost all religious broadcasting in Mexico. With the new conservative government there, however, such laws have been pared back, and religious radio has undergone a renaissance.

Up to now, that renaissance has been limited to evangelical Protestant stations. Now a powerful Catholic station will go on the air in Mexico for the first time in living memory.

Radio María México has begun operations in Guadalajara, Jalisco, according to the online newsletter Catholic Radio Update. It will broadcast 24 hours a day, with a peak signal of 10,000 watts.

The station's headquarters were blessed on May 31 by Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez of Guadalajara.

Bishops Appeal for Mention of God in EU Constitution

EU BISHOPS’ CONFERENCES, June 5 — Bishop Josef Homeyer, president of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community, wrote on June 5 to Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, president of the European Convention, calling for references to Christianity and God in the preamble of the new EU Constitution.

The bishop's statement reads, in part: “My brother bishops and I have read with great interest the keenly awaited draft preamble of the EU Constitution. I … should like to express my astonishment that the preamble includes a list of important elements in European civilization but does not refer explicitly to Christianity. Without wishing to detract from other contributions, no other religion or philosophical movement has inspired Europe as much as Christianity.

“Allow me also to renew our proposal for a reference to God in the constitution. A reminder of the limits of human power and of responsibility before God, humankind and creation would be an important sign that public power is not absolute. The union would thus explicitly recognize that its citizens, be they Christians, Jews or Muslims, are free to invoke God. This recognition would represent a guarantee of the freedom of the human person and would help many citizens to identify with the values of the European Union and the future constitution. That such a reference need not be discriminatory is demonstrated clearly by, for example, the German and Polish constitutions.”

Even Poland's President Aleksander Kwasniewski, an atheist, has denounced the “godless” tone of the constitution, according to London's Daily Telegraph. “There are no excuses for making references to ancient Greece and Rome, and the Enlightenment,” he said, “without making references to the Christian values which are so important to the development of Europe.”

‘Choose Life’ Planned for Trafalgar Square

INDEPENDENT CATHOLIC NEWS, June 6 — People of all faiths will be gathering for a massive pro-life rally in Trafalgar Square on June 29, Independent Catholic News reported.

The rally will be followed by a walk to Parliament Square, leaving a candle outside Methodist Central Hall in memory of the unborn.

Further events and services will include the newly composed Requiem for the Innocents by Joseph Estorninho and Mass in Westminster Cathedral.

The event has wide patronage, including the archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor; the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams; and England's chief rabbi, Jonathan Sacks.