Scottish bishop asks justice and peace groups to widen their work

In a homily delivered on Friday, at a Mass for Justice & Peace Groups of the Diocese of Paisley in St Joseph's Clarkston, the Bishop of paisley, Bishop Philip Tartaglia urged them to widen the range of issues they address. Bishop Tartaglia said he hoped the groups would raise their voice, "not only on matters to do with poverty, the environment, work, disarmament, and political oppression, but also on pro-life and family matters" adding that the recently published Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church "includes also within its covers the Church,s teaching on marriage and family life and on the sacredness of life from conception to natural death". The Bishop said: "This Compendium was in fact very useful to the Bishops, Conference as we sought to draw up our recent Holy Week Statement on Nuclear Disarmament. It was so helpful to have the teaching of the Church over the last 25 years on this matter easily accessible to us, so that we could draw up a statement whose language mirrored the Church's current teaching which calls the world to move from policies of deterrence to policies of progressive and concerted nuclear disarmament. Jesus tells us this evening in the Gospel that it is not enough to stick with an attitude that says "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Christians need to be motivated by a much more radical injunction: 'love your enemy'. Nuclear deterrence may offer he illusion of some kind of limited protection, but it is not love!" He said: "But for me the novelty of the Compendium of the Social Teaching of the Church is in its breadth of vision. It includes also within its covers the Church,s teaching on marriage and family life and on the sacredness of life from conception to natural death. The Compendium recognises the social impact of these matters which are also huge dilemmas for the modern world." "It would be wonderful if the Justice & Peace network in Scotland would raise its voice not only on matters to do with poverty, the environment, work, isarmament, and political oppression, but also on pro-life and family matters. The moral and social teaching of the Church is one. The new Compendium shows the way forward for Justice & Peace. I hope the Justice & Peace Groups of the Diocese of Paisley will rise to the challenge and follow the lead of the Pontifical Council because I think this would be a huge step forward for Justice & Peace Scotland and a huge service to the social teaching of the Catholic Church." Source: SCMO