Canceled for COVID-19, Rome’s March for Life to ‘connect’ online

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CNA Staff, May 8, 2020 / 07:00 am (CNA).- A new “dial-a-Mass” service enabling Catholics with no internet connection to listen to Sunday Masses is proving a success, an English bishop has said. 

Bishop Terence Drainey of Middlesbrough said that 100 people used the Mass-by-Phone service when it launched May 3.  

Public Masses were suspended in England from March 20 and churches ordered to close days later. The government has not indicated when churches will be allowed to reopen. 

The Diocese of Middlesbrough, in northern England, decided to introduce the phone line — believed to be the first of its kind in England — when it became clear that some Catholics were unable to follow livestream Masses because they didn’t have smartphones or Wi-Fi.

Bishop Drainey told CNA: “We’re trying to reach out to as many people as possible. But it became obvious to us that there are some people who aren’t on the internet and they are being completely missed and also wanting to somehow take part in the Mass.”

“As a result of that, talking to our communications people, we came up with this idea of having a ‘dial-a-Mass’ system.”

When Catholics call the service, they hear a brief message welcoming them to St Mary’s Cathedral in Middlesbrough. A recording of the Sunday Mass then begins. 

The Knights of St Columba Council 29 is funding the service, which the diocese believes is the first in England that doesn’t require special access codes.

Bishop Drainey said the line was part of the Church’s creative response to restrictions imposed by the government to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“One of the things that this crisis situation has brought out is people’s imagination: how to initiate new ways of praying, new ways of getting in touch with the larger Church, participating virtually in liturgical celebrations,” he said.

He added that the service was likely to continue after the crisis passed. He recalled that an 86-year-old woman had phoned him just before the lockdown to talk about livestreamed Masses:

“I said we’re about to do it. ‘That’s fine, great,’ she said. ‘But when all this is finished, you need to continue livestreaming. People like me who can no longer get out, we long to be able to somehow be in contact with the Mass. So promise me there you’ll really encourage livestreaming after this has all passed.’ And I said: ‘Yes, absolutely. I agree.’”

In addition to livestreaming Masses and Mass-by-Phone, the diocese is planning to hold a virtual pilgrimage to Lourdes after it was forced to postpone its regular trip to the French shrine at the end of May. The online pilgrimage will include services on Facebook as well as special prayers and reflections. 
 

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London, England, Mar 6, 2018 / 03:43 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- On Tuesday, London’s Court of Appeal upheld a lower court’s decision to end life support for an ill 21-month-old boy, despite the parent’s wishes to continue treatment.

Justice Anthony Hayden of the High Court ordered two weeks ago that life support could be removed from Alfie Evans, who is stationed at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool. Hayden said that “continued ventilatory support is no longer in Alfie’s interests.”

Alfie is in a “semi-vegetable state” due to an unknown neurological degenerative condition. His parents want to transfer him to the Vatican-linked Bambino Gesu Pediatric Hospital in Rome, to receive further diagnosis and treatment.

However, the Liverpool hospital where Alfie is currently said it considered further treatment to be “futile.”

“Our aim is always to try and reach an agreement with parents about the most appropriate care plan for their child. Unfortunately there are sometimes rare situations such as this where agreement cannot be reached and the treating team believe that continued active treatment is not in a child’s best interests,” said the hospital.  

Justice Eleanor King was one of the three judges who denied the appeal on March 6 and agreed with the High Court’s previous decision.

Justice Hayden “could not have done more to ensure the father and mother had every opportunity to express their views and have them taken into consideration,” she said, according to BBC.

She said the evidence showed that the child was “deeply comatose” and “to all intents and purposes unaware of his surroundings.”

Justice King applauded Tom Evans’ passionate “fight on with Alfie’s army,” but said the father had “no clear plan.”

Evans said afterward that he would challenge the case before the Supreme Court.

“At this moment, Alfie’s not ready so we’re not ready to let go,” he said, according to the BBC.

Head of Alfie’s parents’ legal team, Barrister Stephen Knafler QC, said the state’s decision wrongly hinders “parental choice.”

The court ruling echoes a similar case last year, when England’s courts ordered Charlie Gard to be taken off life support.

At 11 months old, Gard died in July 2017 after a months-long debate regarding his parents’ right to pursue further treatment. The parents had fundraised over $1.6 million to seek experimental treatments and had received offers from European and U.S. hospitals. However, courts rejected the request to transfer him for experimental therapy.

The case drew widespread attention and outcry. Dr. Melissa Moschella, a Catholic University of America philosophy professor, disagreed with the court’s decision, telling CNA that the United Nations “clearly indicates that the parents, not the state will have primarily responsibility.”

 “It seems to me completely wrongheaded that the state should be stepping in here when the decision that the parents are making is really aimed at the best interests of the child,” Moschella said in 2017.

“It’s not crazy, it’s not abusive, it’s not neglectful. It’s the decision of parents who want to, however they can, to give their very sick child a chance for life.”

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