PWC asked to retain a role in Vatican audit
After suspending an external audit led by a leading international firm, the Vatican has signed a new contract asking only that it provide assistance and consulting services.
The suspension in April of the external audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) “was not due to considerations regarding the integrity or the quality of PwC’s work, nor is it attributable to the desire of one or more entities of the Holy See to hinder reforms”, the Vatican press office said in a statement.
Rather, the statement continued, the external audit with PwC was interrupted because, according to Vatican laws, the task of performing the financial statement audit is entrusted to the Vatican’s own office of the auditor general, “as is normally the case for every sovereign state”.
The Council for the Economy, which originally hired PwC, still can determine whether there is a need for external auditing in addition to the work carried out by the Vatican’s auditor general, spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said.
Children’s right to religious education
All children have a right to religious education and access to the sacraments, a priest who was born deaf and became blind 16 years ago has said in Rome. Opening the Year of Mercy jubilee celebration for the sick and persons with disabilities, Redemptorist Fr Cyril Axelrod insisted sign language and body language are “gifts of the Holy Spirit” meant to help Christians share the Gospel with all people.
“Catechesis must be available for people of all ages and all abilities,” he insisted, while acknowledging the difficulties in doing so for children with disabilities who might require tailor-made faith formation.
All children learn about God primarily from observing their parents, he said, noting how deaf children are particularly attentive to body language and facial expressions.
Pope’s boost for Ukraine fund
Pope Francis has set up a predominantly Ukrainian committee to distribute funds raised from collections for victims of the war in eastern Ukraine and has asked the funds go primarily to projects suggested by Ukraine’s religious leaders. Explaining that a special collection on April 24 had met with “a great response”, Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said the exact figure raised was not yet known, as some parishes and dioceses had yet to forward the collected funds, but said that it was obviously “substantial” if it required a special committee to distribute it.
Euthanasia is ‘selfishness’
Euthanasia is an act not of compassion, but of selfishness, Pope Francis has said. Addressing a gathering of healthcare professionals from Spain and Latin America, the Pope warned that a growing acceptance of euthanasia highlights the rise of a selfish “throwaway culture” that casts aside the sick, the dying and those who do not satisfy the perceived requirements of a healthy life.
In an increasingly “technological and individualistic” culture, he said, some could “hide behind alleged compassion to justify killing a patient”. True compassion, he said, “does not marginalise, humiliate or exclude, much less celebrate a patient passing away”, thanking doctors not merely for their knowledge and competence, but for their compassion and mercy.
Recalling how compassion means not “pity” but “suffering with”, he warned against giving in to “the functionalist temptation” of applying quick solutions motivated by “false compassion” or cost-efficiency. “The dignity of human life is at stake; the dignity of the medical vocation is at stake,” he warned.