World Media Watch

Mexican Bishops Urge Anti-Euthanasia Law

REUTERS, July 8 — Mexico's Roman Catholic bishops said there was no such thing as a right to death, amid pressure by some lawmakers, doctors and academics to have a national debate on euthanasia, Reuters reported.

The Mexican Bishops’ Conference, representing some 120 bishops, said in a statement that it sought a law protecting life “from the moment of conception until natural death.”

“Today we have numerous methods of strengthening human capacities and reducing physical pain. We cannot intervene for anybody's death, even in extremely painful situations,” said Bishop Francisco Chavolla of the Diocese of Toluca near Mexico City.

Bishops said that helping anyone to end their life is wrong and that terminally ill people should be encouraged to fight on. Matehuala Bishop Rodrigo Aguilar referred to Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman who was staved to death when her husband had her feeding tube removed.

“Terri Schiavo was a human being and should have been treated with dignity. Her death was provoked,” said Bishop Aguilar. “We must respect and defend human life.”

Dress Code Requested for India's Churchgoers

BBC NEWS, July 12 — Miniskirts, tight outfits and plunging necklines are inappropriate for Sunday Mass, Cardinal Ivan Dias stated, and urged the faithful to dress modestly.

According to BBC News, Church officials say it is an attempt to discourage vulgarity.

Dolphy D'souza, president of the Bombay Catholic Forum, told the BBC that issuing such guidelines was nothing new and the Church had been reminding followers about dress codes for some time.

Cardinal Dias told The Times of India, “Whereas in days gone by, the ‘Sunday best’ used to become at times a sort of fashion parade, the modern tendency would seem to go to the other extreme. People [are] wearing attire which is considered casual and unbecoming of the sacred dignity of the church and the members of its congregation.”

Catholic Diocese Bars Politician From Ministry

CANADIAN PRESS, July 8 — Member of Parliament Joe Comartin has been barred from involvement in Church ministry because of his support of homosexual “marriage,” Canadian Press reported.

Bishop Ronald Fabbro of the Diocese of London said in a letter, “a person who does not accept Catholic teaching on fundamental matters is disqualified from acting on behalf of the Church in a public capacity.”

Comartin had been an altar server, extraordinary minister of holy Communion, and most recently taught marriage preparation courses with his wife. A spokesman for the diocese said Mr. Comartin will still be able to attend Mass and receive Communion.

Father Gerry Compeau, pastor of Comartin's church, Our Lady of the Rosary in Windsor, Ont., said Comartin is “very friendly and courteous, and has a lot of respect for the clergy. But I think he has to realize, like I have to realize, that we follow the Church's law, and I follow it and he should be following it.”