Catholic News 2

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay was re-elected on Monday to head of Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), the forum of Latin rite bishops in India, for another term of two years.

The re-election of Cardinal Gracias was the unanimous decision of more than 130 bishops attending the 29th plenary of the Latin rite bishops in Bhopal, said a press note.

However, other top officers, vice president Archbishop Philipe Neri Ferrao of Goa and secretary general Bishop Varghese Chakkalakal of Calicut were replaced. Archbishop George Antonysamy of Madras - Mylapore is new vice president and Archbishop Anil Joseph Thomas Couto of Delhi is new secretary general.

Cardinal Gracias is also the president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences as well as the Archbishop of Bombay.

Archbishop Antonysamy has served in the Vatican embassies in Gambia, Liberia and Sierra Leone and was in charge of d’Affaires of the Vatican Embassy in Jordan. In 2012 he was appointed the sixth archbishop of Madras-Mylapore archdiocese.

Archbishop Couto began his episcopal career as the auxiliary bishop of Delhi. He was then transferred to Jalandhar as its second bishop in 2007. He became the Delhi archbishop in 2012.

The newly elected office bearers were installed at a ceremony moderated by Archbishop Abraham Viruthakulangara of Nagpur.

The Indian prelates' eight-day plenary is scheduled to conclude on Feb. 8. (UCAN)

Full Article

(Vatican Radio) US President Donald Trump’s Executive Order to tighten restrictions on arrivals to the United States has been widely condemned, although polls suggest that US public opinion is sharply divided on the policy. 

Amongst other restrictions, the Order issued on January 25, bans nationals from seven mainly Muslim countries from entering the US, it places a temporary ban on all refugee admissions and prioritizes refugee claims by religious minorities (Christians in mainly Muslim countries). 

Faith-based organizations and human rights groups have called for a re-think of the Executive Order and have urged governments to address the structural causes of forced displacement and share the responsibility of providing for refugees.

Amongst them, the Jesuit Refugee Service – JRS - that has released a joint interfaith statement with the Italian Islamic Religious Community – COREIS- calling for bridges, not walls.

Linda Bordoni spoke to COREIS President, Imam Yahya Sergio Yahe Pallavicini and JRS Advocacy Officer, Amaya Valcarcel about their appeal.

Listen: 

Imam Yahya Sergio Yahe Pallavicini explained that a common sensitivity and Christian and Muslim shared values are at the roots of a continuing collaboration and cooperation between the Italian Islamic Religious Community and the Jesuit Refugee Service that goes back in time over the past 12 months or so.

“Unfortunately what is happening in the US, through the statements of President Trump, somehow pushed us to increase our brotherhood and react – or pro act – giving a joint brotherly interreligious Islamic-Christian response on the need to be much more consistent and honest on humanity, on refugees and migrants, and even on politics” he said.

Amaya Valcarcel pointed out that JRS is very glad to be able to speak out together with the Islamic Community in Italy and said that theirs is first of all a message of faith.

“Christians and Muslims inhabit religious traditions that are rooted in the experience of exile and in the hospitality of God and of God’s own, so hostile attitudes towards displaced persons have no place in our religious traditions and manifest a grave moral failure” she said.

In line with their faith, Valcarcel said, all people of goodwill should promote a more generous culture of hospitality.

She points out that within the Christian tradition, in the Old Testament there are no less than 36  explicit invitations to ‘love the stranger’.

“Also Jesus tells us to love the stranger and care for the stranger. He himself puts himself as a stranger” she said.

Valcarcel said that, also through the joint statement, JRS affirms its solidarity with all refugees regardless of their faith “and any attempt to reject refugees on the basis of their religion is contrary to our common values.”.

Yahya Pallavicini said the Qur’an also tells peoples and nations to know one another and pointed out that on a spiritual level “we all belong to God and to Him we will be going back.”

On the other hand, he pointed out, as regards our responsibilities on earth, we should share brotherhood and hospitality, and also work “to know each other and to love each other better as a way to love God. This is the main principle of the Commandments” for all believers.

“As a consequence of our theological and religious principles we feel there is a responsibility also at a cultural, social, and civic level to help politicians to be much more open-minded and consistent with their responsibilities regarding their own citizens and people at large” he said.

In the joint statement JRS and COREIS express alarm for the policy of giving priorities to refugees claiming religious persecution in countries where their religion is in minority.

As regards this issue Yahya Pallavicini pointed out that many Muslim majority countries are currently undergoing serious socio-political crises.

“This is among the reasons we have an increase of refugees coming from those countries where there is a lot of poverty, lack of education, lack of social and educational empowerment; but this cannot be the reason to deny to people coming from those countries the opportunity to live, to know, to learn how to be part of a wider humanity and of the relationship between East and West even within the United States” he said.

Highlighting the issue, Valcarcel said that half of the people served by JRS are in fact Muslims and stressed the fact that International Law is based on the principle of impartiality “which in religious words means universal love.”

She said that this Executive Order threatens to destabilize refugee protection globally by reducing the number of resettlement places and closing access to asylum claims, as wells as by discriminating on the basis of religion and ethnicity.

“Our criteria are to work under the principle of vulnerability and need” she said.

So what we are saying, she explained, is that we oppose this US ban and we ask governments to work on the architecture of protection.

“All that has been built after the 2nd World War is at risk and we are asking governments to really strengthen International Law in their own countries” she said.

Yahya Pallavicini went a step further saying the faith-based groups are calling on governments to be consistent with their responsibility in terms of ‘elected persons of a democratic system’.

He pointed out that they represent the people of their land but they also represent a vision of life and of the world that cannot be narrow-minded and unfair.

He said that richness lies in the pluralism of faiths and cultures, and if any county confuses nationalism with the discrimination of religious minorities it is a sign we are going backwards.

“This is unfortunately what we are seeing in the Middle East when one tries to create a pseudo-Caliphate” he said and pointed out that the reaction that causes the United States to neglect the needs of human beings coming from some countries in the Middle East “goes somehow in the very same narrow-minded direction, where culture is neglected and the values of religion as well.”

Valcarcel said JRS and COREIS are seeking to advance religious understanding in ways that will enable the great faith traditions to make stronger contributions to peace and justice.

“This directive, and other initiatives, by explicitly excluding migrants from a number of Muslim countries, threatens to undermine our efforts to enhance mutual understanding” she said.

She said it could also trigger negative consequences for peace and justice in the US and in the rest of the world.

The Imam highlighted how the cooperation between JRS and COREIS also offers a symbolic, concrete sign showing that Christians and Muslims are engaging together for common values in ordinary life, but also helping politicians to do their responsibility rather than dividing and creating confusion.

Pope Francis has repeatedly called for cooperation and dialogue between religions for the good of humanity and, Valcarcel pointed out, he has described migration as an occasion of grace and an opportunity to grow.

“He says that those who migrate are forced to change some of their most distinctive characteristics, but even those who welcome them – we are also forced to change” she said.

So, she concluded, he calls on us to experience these changes not as obstacles, but as genuine opportunities for growth: “We can grow spiritually together by hosting our brothers and sisters”.          
           

Full Article

Washington D.C., Feb 7, 2017 / 06:23 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Israeli-Palestinian conflict requires wise U.S. engagement to build a better future for both peoples, and this future could be endangered by an embassy relocation, the U.S. Catholic bishops told the new Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson.

Bishop Oscar Cantu, chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, said that resolving the conflict will require “critical, continued engagement” to overcome 50 years of conflict and its “egregious injustices and random acts of violence.”

The U.S. bishops have long backed a two-state solution, as has Pope Francis. The bishops implored the Secretary of State to keep the U.S. Embassy to Israel in Tel-Aviv, rather than move it to Jerusalem as President Donald Trump has advocated.

“Relocating the embassy to Jerusalem is tantamount to recognizing Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel,” Bishop Cantu wrote Feb. 1. He noted that the international community has determined that Jerusalem’s status must be determined in mutual agreements between Israel and Palestine.

Moving the embassy would undermine U.S. commitment to a two-state solution, the bishop said.

He added that the U.S. has always provided “leadership and support” to the peace process.

“We continue to profess hope for a diplomatic solution that respects the human dignity of both Israelis and Palestinians and advances justice and peace for all,” Bishop Cantu continued.

The year 2017 would be an important year, marking “the fiftieth anniversary of a crippling occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, crippling for both peoples,” he said.

He cited Pope Francis’ call to those in authority “to leave no stone unturned in the search for equitable solutions to complex problems, so that Israelis and Palestinians may live in peace.”

“The path of dialogue, reconciliation and peace must constantly be taken up anew, courageously and tirelessly,” the Pope said in his May 2014 visit to Israel.

Bishop Cantu said some Israeli actions undermine both peace and the Christian presence in the occupied Palestinian Territories. He pointed to the Bethlehem-area Cremisan Valley, where 58 Christian families live near a Salesian monastery, a convent and a school.

The bishop objected that the Israeli barrier wall in the valley constricts residents’ movement and their access to their lands, splits them from Christian institutions, and encourages them to emigrate.

“The Cremisan Valley is emblematic of the alarming number of Palestinians who have lost their homes and livelihoods,” he said. “Settlement expansion, confiscation of lands and the building of the Separation Wall on Palestinian lands violate international law and undermine a diplomatic solution.”

 

Full Article

IMAGE: CNS photo/Felipe Trueba, EPA

By Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Without making room for God's word in their heart, people will never be able to welcome and love all human life, Pope Francis said.

"Each life that we encounter is a gift deserving acceptance, respect and love," the pope said in his message for Lent, which begins March 1 for Latin-rite Catholics.

"The word of God helps us to open our eyes to welcome and love life, especially when it is weak and vulnerable," he wrote.

Released by the Vatican Feb. 7, the text of the pope's Lenten message -- titled "The Word is a gift. Other persons are gift" -- focused on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in the Gospel of St. Luke (16:19-31).

The parable calls for sincere conversion, the pope said, and it "provides a key to understanding what we need to do in order to attain true happiness and eternal life."

In the Gospel account, Lazarus and his suffering are described in great detail. While he is "practically invisible to the rich man," the Gospel gives him a name and a face, upholding him as worthy, as "a gift, a priceless treasure, a human being whom God loves and cares for, despite his concrete condition as an outcast," the pope wrote.

The parable shows that "a right relationship with people consists in gratefully recognizing their value," he said. "A poor person at the door of the rich is not a nuisance, but a summons to conversion and to change."

But in order to understand how to open one's heart and see the other as gift, a person must see how the word of God operates.

One way to do that, he said, is to be aware of the temptations and traps the rich man fell victim to, derailing his search for true happiness.

The nameless "rich man" lives an opulent, ostentatious life, the pope wrote, and his love of money leads to vanity and pride -- "the lowest rung of this moral degradation."

"The rich man dresses like a king and acts like a god, forgetting that he is merely mortal," he said. "For those corrupted by love of riches, nothing exists beyond their own ego. Those around them do not come into their line of sight. The result of attachment to money is a sort of blindness. The rich man does not see the poor man who is starving, hurting, lying at his door."

Love of money, St. Paul warned, "is the root of all evils," and the pope said, it is also "the main cause of corruption and a source of envy, strife and suspicion."

"Instead of being an instrument at our service for doing good and showing solidarity toward others, money can chain us and the entire world to a selfish logic that leaves no room for love and hinders peace," he added.

The rich man's eyes are finally opened after he and Lazarus are dead; Lazarus finds comfort in heaven and the rich man finds torment in "the netherworld," because, as Abraham explains, "a kind of fairness is restored" in the afterlife and "life's evils are balanced by good," the pope said.

The rich man then asks for an extraordinary sign -- Lazarus coming back from the dead -- to be given to his family members so they will repent and not make the same mistake as he.

But, Abraham said the people have plenty of teachings with "Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them," the pope said.

This explains what the real problem is for the rich man's and those like him: "At the root of all his ills was the failure to heed God's word. As a result, he no longer loved God and grew to despise his neighbor," the pope said.

The pope asked that Lent be a time "for renewing our encounter with Christ, living in his word, in the sacraments and in our neighbor."

"May the Holy Spirit lead us on a true journey of conversion, so that we can rediscover the gift of God's word, be purified of the sin that blinds us and serve Christ present in our brothers and sisters in need," he said, especially by taking part in the various Lenten campaigns sponsored by local churches.

- - -

Editor's Note: The text of the pope's message in English is online at: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/lent/documents/papa-francesco_20161018_messaggio-quaresima2017.html

The text of the pope's message in Spanish is online at: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/es/messages/lent/documents/papa-francesco_20161018_messaggio-quaresima2017.html

- - -

Copyright © 2017 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.

Full Article

IMAGE:

By David Agren

SALTILLO, Mexico (CNS) -- Edelmiro Cardona hardly had any time to flee his native Honduras with his brother when gang members came calling.

Cardona, who left behind a wife and 4-year-old daughter, explained how his brother had built a house and rented it, only to have gangsters, who were related to the tenant, move in and refuse to relinquish it.

"We had to flee because they came by our house shooting," said Cardona, who worked installing satellite TV service, but sold his motorcycle and tools to pay for his escape.

The brothers made it as far north as Saltillo, some 190 miles from the Texas border. They decided to go no farther but to apply for asylum in Mexico.

They are among a growing number of Central Americans deciding to stay in Mexico rather than try to reach the United States, the traditional destination for migrants streaming out of countries south of Mexico.

"We're asking for refuge because if we return to our country of origin, we run the risk of being killed," Cardona said at a migrant shelter run by the Diocese of Saltillo, which is helping with his asylum claim. "It was a direct threat."

Migration from Central America is nothing new as many have left in search of better economic opportunities, making Mexico -- significantly wealthier than the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala -- an afterthought as they passed through on their way to the U.S.

Nowadays, an increasing number of migrants are thinking about Mexico as a more appealing option because of U.S. restrictions on refugee resettlement. For the migrants, it's more about finding somewhere safe.

Mexico has been more a transit country for migrants than a destination, even though the nation has a history of welcoming asylum seekers. The most recent example occurred during the 1980s as civil wars forced thousands of people to flee Central America.

The operators of Catholic-run migrant shelters, which operate throughout the country, along with the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, say today's trend stems from the dangers of the Northern Triangle countries.

The homicide rate tops 80 per 100,000 residents in Honduras and El Salvador, some of the highest rates in the world. Powerful gangs extort payments from small-business owners or demand that children join their ranks, with teenage boys obliged to carry out killings and young girls being forced to become gangsters' girlfriends.

"There is a threat to entire families for rejecting (gang demands), so they leave. We are increasingly seeing entire families leave ... including grandparents. They leave their countries due to persecution and enter (Mexico) as refugees," said Mariana Echandi, UNHCR spokeswoman in Mexico.

The path migrants ply through Mexico presents plenty of difficulties. Criminal groups regularly attack and kidnap migrants. In addition, a crackdown on Central Americans transiting the country has resulted in thousands of detentions and deportations by Mexican officials.

Shelter operators report another factor: difficulties in crossing the U.S. border. Sister Leticia Gutierrez, director of the Scalabrini Mission for Migrants and Refugees, said no one crosses the U.S. border alone: They have to pay someone.

Migrants "are seeking refugee status (in Mexico) because the United States is increasingly more difficult to reach," said Father Alejandro Solalinde, founder of the Brothers on the Road shelter in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region of Oaxaca state.

Antonio Solis, 20, says he was attacked en route through Mexico and robbed of 380 pesos, the equivalent of less than $19. He knew the risk of the road, but fled after gangsters told him to carry out a contract killing.

"They pulled me into a car and said, 'You're going to do this. If you don't do this, we know where your family lives and you will be the last one to suffer,'" said Solis, who had worked as a field hand, but wants to stay in Mexico.

Father Solalinde said his shelter encourages migrants to apply for refugee status. Those requests are increasingly being accepted, according to Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance statistics.

Asylum claims in 2016 increased by 156.4 percent from 2015, the commission reported. More than 2,560 successful asylum claims were made in 2016, an increase of 175 percent from 2015. The rate of acceptance moved from 46 percent in 2015 to 63 percent last year, while the number of abandoned claims has decreased.

Shelter operators said migrants are being provided better information. Lawyers, provided by some shelters such as the one in Saltillo and advocacy organizations, are helping with more refugee claims.

Still, the process is not always easy as cases can take up to four months to resolve. The commission operates only three offices throughout the country and people still do not know all of their legal rights or that they can seek asylum.

"People can't always prove their cases," said Sister Leticia. "Many of these cases end with a negative decision, but not because these people were not in a position to be recognized, rather because the process wasn't well-designed."

- - -

Copyright © 2017 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article