Too much sex
VATICAN SPOKESMAN Joaquin Navarro-Valls has blamed "an irresponsibly permissive society" and its "over-inflated build-up of sexuality" for priests who sexually abuse minors. Modern emphasis on sex, said Navarro-Valls this week, could lead to "serious immoral acts, even by persons who have received for years a moral education".
Just a handshake
CARDINAL CANAL DALY, Primate of Ireland, has expressed his approval of President Mary Robinson's controversial meeting with Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein president. Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster last week, the Cardinal said: "I think it was very good that she visited an area which is often neglected".
Vatican finances
THE VATICAN'S DEFICIT for 1992 was much less than expected, in large part because of the devaluation of the lira, and because of the increase in value of Vatican
property, the Vatican announced this week. The balance sheet, presented to a committee of cardinals by US Cardinal Edmund Szoka, put the deficit at L2 million.
School in Albania
THE FIRST PRIVATE Catholic school in Albania was inaugurated last week in the city of Durazzo. Mgr Ivan Dias, the Apostolic Nuncio, together with other Albanian bishops, attended the ceremony. The secondary school will be run by the Benedictine Sisters of Divine Providence.
Churches meet
28 REPRESENTATIVES from 14 Orthodox Churches and 28 Catholic representatives took part in the seventh plenary assembly of the Mixed Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic and Orthodox Church in Lebanon this week. Orthodox Metropolitan Spiridion called the meeting "decisive" for the reconciliation of "historical contrasts" between the two Churches.