News, on 8 July 2016, from Europe, France, Canada, Africa, and India, about the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, guidance of prayers for families, SECAM's Plenary Assembly, euthanasia, and surrogacy.
 
• EUROPE / FAMILY
"Integrate, dialogue, and generate" was the theme of the 44th Meeting of the General Secretaries of the Catholic Bishops ' Conferences of Europe which took place in Berlin, Germany, from 30 June to 3 July 2016. The event is mentioned on the website of the Catholic Church in France in a statement published on July 4th. One working session was devoted to solidarity with families in the light of the Apostolic Exhortation "Amoris Laetitia". Berlin's Archbishop, Msgr. Heiner Koch, who is also president of the Commission for marriage and the family of the German Episcopal Conference, spoke with enthusiasm about his personal experience during the session of the Synod of Bishops on the family in October 2015. Then, the Secretary of the CCEE, Msgr. Duarte da Cunha presented a short report on what the various Bishops' Conferences are doing to implement the guidelines contained in Pope Francis' Exhortation.
 
• CANADA / PRAYERS
The Canadian Catholic Bishops' Conference continues publishing suggestions for homilies and for writing prayers of the faithful that connect the Sunday liturgy with pro-life and pro-family pastoral initiatives. The texts proposed for the month of August 2016 are available on this page, with suggestions for the period from the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 7th, until the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 28th.
 
• SECAM / FAMILY
"The family in Africa: Yesterday, today and tomorrow, in the light of the Gospel" will be the theme of the 17th Plenary Assembly of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) to be held in Luanda, Angola's capital, from 18 to 25 July 2016, as indicated on the website of the Diocese of Dakar, the capital of Senegal. This theme was adopted after consultation of the Bishops' Conferences involved. Over 100 African Bishops are expected to attend the meeting.
 
• INDE / Surrogacy
In India, since the enforcement of the new rules to prevent abuse, clandestine networks are developing. The face was reported on this week by the information agency of the Foreign Missions of Paris Eglises d'Asie. The trafficking of ovules and surrogacy are thriving in India, says the agency. These actions give poor women a possibility to help their families out of poverty and allow certain couples to become parents, while enriching clinics and brokers.
 
• FRANCE / EUTHANASIA
A new episode in the "Vincent Lambert Case," so named after the 39-year-old French quadriplegic, in a state of minimal consciousness after a car accident in 2008, has been unveiled by the French-speaking press. The court has in fact decided that the protection of Vincent Lambert would be entrusted precisely to his wife, Rachel Lambert, who is in favor of stopping her husband's artificial nutrition. The judgment of the Court of Appeal in Reims confirmed on July 8th the decision, pronounced last March 10th, to entrust to Rachel Lambert the protection of her husband for the next ten years. This pronouncement had been challenged on appeal by the man's parents, who for four years have multiplied court actions in order to keep their child alive.