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(Vatican Radio) Leaders of all the Christian Churches in Jerusalem have condemned the recent escalation of violence at the Temple Mount, or Haram ash-Sharif, a site sacred to Christians, Muslims and Jews.

Last Friday, three Arab Israeli gunmen opened fire on police officers at one of the gates adjacent to the site. Two policemen were killed before the attackers were shot dead, as they fled back into the complex.

In a joint statement, the heads of all 13 Christian communities in the city strongly condemned the attack and voiced concern about any changes to the historical agreement regulating access to religious sites in the Holy Land.

The so-called ‘Status Quo’ governing ownership of the holy places was drawn up in the 18th century. The Christian leaders say “any threat to its continuity and integrity could easily lead to serious and unpredictable consequences”. They also pray “for a just and lasting peace” throughout the region.

Philippa Hitchen spoke to one of the signatories of the statement, Palestinian Bishop Munib Younan, head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land….

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Bishop Younan says the position of the Christian leaders is very clear: “the holy places are places for worship, meditation and prayer, not places for conflict and fighting or disagreement or war”.

He also believes the measures taken in the aftermath of the attack “have really raised the tensions”, in particular the closure of the site to Muslims for Friday prayers and the installation of metal detectors. He insists there must be free access to the holy places and there cannot be a collective punishment “because of an attack by two persons”

Respect the 'status quo'

Asked about the need to guarantee security, he notes that during Ramadan every Friday between four and five hundred thousand Muslims enter the site, “and everything goes smoothly”. He stresses that it is vital to respect the ‘status quo’ and maintain the Temple Mount under the custodianship of King Abdullah of Jordan.

Political solution essential

Noting that both King Abdullah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack, Bishop Younan says “in Palestinian society there are people who think differently” but the vast majority do not condone violence. However, he says that “mistrust is so deep” it’s essential to find a political solution to end “the Israeli occupation, which is considered illegal”.

Bishop Younan praises the position of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate and insists “we should not allow any radical group to make us hostages. He notes the religious leaders have a code of conduct “to respect each other’s holy places and not create any provocation against the other”.

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(Vatican Radio) Moral leadership and the work of faith-based organizations in bringing warring parties to the negotiating table are more and more of value in a world in which conflict continues to sow misery and injustice.

More specifically, the moral leadership of Pope Francis and the engagement of organizations like the Saint Egidio Community, which is currently overseeing peace agreements between the Governments and warring factions in Central African Republic and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, act as catalysts and provide momentum to much needed peacemaking diplomacy.

This is the opinion of Ambassador Alexander Laskaris, the Deputy to the Commander for Civil-Military Engagement of the United States Africa Command. A man with a life-time experience working in Africa, who was recently in Rome to tie up with the US Embassy to the Holy See and with Saint Egidio.

Ambassador Laskaris spoke to Linda Bordoni of how his personal experience in Africa impacts his work today and about how he views the action of the Catholic Church in fostering dialogue and reconciliation.

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“As the Africa Command we serve the broader diplomatic engagement strategy of the US Government, and as the US Government, certainly in Africa we are in constant need to be in partnership with the moral leadership of African partner nations; in a whole number of nations undergoing tragic crises one of the main sources of moral leadership is the Catholic Church, the Holy See, the Vatican Foreign Ministry and the religious orders who operate in all of these countries” Ambassador Laskaris says.

He points out that right now, missionaries and other religious are often – tragically – the last witnesses we have in some of these crisis areas, but they also possibly represent the best convening authority to bring competing factions to the table and to break the monopoly of armed men in peace processes.

“To make peace you obviously have to talk to the people with the guns, but to make durable peace they cannot have a monopoly” he says.

The Church – Laskaris continues – is our best bet for convening the parties and locking them into a framework for peace that the rest of us – the US government through its broad support and the Africa Command through the military side – support in order to give peace talks a framework and a structure that includes both the armed and the unarmed parties.

Laskaris reveals he is in Rome also to meet with representatives of the Saint Egidio Community that, he says, leads the way in peacemaking.

He also speaks of the impact Pope Francis’ voice – and actions – have had not only in bringing about the conditions to bring the different parties to the negotiating table, but also in raising awareness and acting as a catalyst for concrete action.

“Specifically, in the Central African Republic, the Pope walked from the Catholic Cathedral of Bangui to the Mosque in the PK5 – the Muslim neighborhood – which was crossing a literal battle line but also crossing a metaphorical battle line. It was an act of personal courage, of physical courage but, more important, of moral courage” he says.

The Ambassador also reflects on his experience in South Africa during the very years before and during transition to democracy and on how often the power of moral leadership is an “unappreciated factor in the destiny of nations.”

And specifically, he says that he thinks Pope Francis’ visit to the CAR catalyzed a successful elections process.

Obviously, Laskaris says, the Pope represents that moral authority, but on the ground, every day, it is the leaders of the different faiths and of faith-based organizations that are in the fore and that can have a much needed positive impact in situations of conflict.

Speaking of peace negotiations he says it is important to broaden the participation of people sitting at the table: “you need civil society actors, you need faith based communities, and you need women, particularly!”

“The durability of a peace process is directly proportionate to the inclusivity of the actors – which is another way of saying that if you only have  the armed actors around the table it’s a resource deal between criminal élites ” he says.

And he points to the tragic example of South Sudan where, he says, the only people empowered to make peace are the ones empowered to make war. 

The presence of women he says is also a guarantee of a “longer shelf-life” for the peace process for various reasons including the fact that the way to reach vulnerable people and communities with humanitarian aid is through women.

Ambassador Laskaris, who has recently spent three and a half years as in office in the West African nation of Guinea, tells of the belief that stems from the Manlike cosmology that the source of all conflict is the inevitable competition of brothers of the same father:

“While the equal and opposite counter veiling of the principle of the universe, called Madenia, is the inevitable reconciliation of sons of the same mother.”  

So, linking this story into the culture, Laksris says Guineans wisely believe that the source of all reconciliation and peace is motherhood.

“The reason I am here is to acknowledge the importance of the  moral leadership of religious communities – in this case the Catholic Church and its presence throughout these countries – and to send the message that we are looking for your leadership and looking to fall in behind that leadership” he says.

Laskaris also says that nobody in positions of leadership in the US Military is under any illusion that these crises can be solved through the application of force.

He also goes on to foresee how the new political administration in the US will most probably stay true to a decade-long  tradition that sees “more constancy in the US/Africa policy than changes”.

The Ambassador concludes reflecting on how his personal experience as a young school teacher in South Africa prior to when democratic change made the nation a free country imbues his work at all time, grounding him in the memory of what the real Africa is: “I would not want to do what I do now without having had that experience, remembering always where I started and where my father started as a war displaced refugee” always taking into account that some things that governors see as “vexing” political issues like the migration crisis, is actually a profoundly significant human issue  “so it is extremely important to me to be able to maintain the connection of being a poor school teacher in a South African township in 1989.”
   
   

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Washington D.C., Jul 19, 2017 / 04:41 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Amid the Gard family's legal battle in the U.K. to pursue experimental treatment for their infant son, a committee in the U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation that could grant them permanent residency in the states.

“We just passed amendment that grants permanent resident status to #CharlieGard and family so Charlie can get the medical treatment he needs,” Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) said in a July 18 tweet.

The amendment could help the Gard family pursue additional treatment for Charlie, who suffers from a rare mitochondrial disease which paralyzes muscles and causes brain damage.

Charlie Gard has made headlines over the past few months as U.K. courts denied his parents the right to transfer him to other hospitals for treatment. The Gard family appealed to the EU court and was denied a hearing.

Claiming that prolonging Charlie's life would cause unnecessary suffering, British judges had ruled that London's Great Ormond Hospital could remove life support without the consent of the parents. The hospital granted Charlie an extension on life support so his parents may have a few more moments with him.

During the extension, a team of seven medical experts told the hospital that unpublished data on an experimental drug suggest a treatment which may improve the condition of Charlie’s brain. One of the experts is a neurologist and a researcher located at the Bambino Gesu Hospital in Rome – a Vatican hospital who's request to transfer Charlie to their facility was also recently denied.

Additionally, a U.S. specialist in mitochondrial diseases speculated in a video last Thursday that the experimental treatment, nucleoside therapy, has a success rate of at least 10 percent and a potential high of 56 percent.

Since experts have submitted new data that advocates for Charlie’s possible recovery, the Great Ormond Hospital has asked the courts to reopen the baby’s case that Charlie be transferred to the U.S. for nucleoside therapy, which his parents have successfully fundraised over $1 million for.

Charlie was diagnosed with Mitochondrial Depletion Syndrome – a fatal disease which progressively weakens the muscles and causes brain damage. The genetic disease is very rare, and Charlie is thought to be only one out of 16 people in the world diagnosed with the disease.

Despite Charlie’s low potential for survival, his parents have received U.S. and Vatican support for their right to fight for his life.

A statement was issued July 2 on behalf of Pope Francis, saying that the pontiff “prays for them, wishing that their desire to accompany and care for their own child to the end will be respected.”

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Washington D.C., Jul 20, 2017 / 12:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Grandparents and other family members are temporarily exempt from the travel and refugee bans implemented by President Donald Trump, the US Supreme Court said Wednesday.

The court also said that for the time being, a ban on entry by refugees already working with resettlement agencies may remain.

The Supreme Court did not explain its reasons in a brief order July 19. It said the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals must consider further arguments about who is included in the ban under Trump’s executive order. Supreme Court justices will hear further arguments about the executive order Oct. 10.

The Trump administration had argued that an exemption for close family members should not apply to grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and brothers- and sisters-in law.

A federal court in Hawaii said that definition of close family was too strict.

The ban bars travel into the U.S. for 90 days by nationals of Somalia, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Libya, and Iran, all predominantly Muslim countries. It halts all refugee resettlement for 120 days. The first version of the ban, which had a broader impact, was announced in January, then blocked in federal court. A revised version was announced in March, then blocked by legal challenges.

In June the Supreme Court restored the ban, while saying those with “bona fide” links to the U.S. were exempted: close family members, employment, university admission, or relationships with other institutions.

Hawaii was among the challengers of the revised ban. It also argued that a refugee organization’s interactions with a refugee qualify as a bona fide relationship. About 24,000 refugees have formal assurances with resettlement agencies for relocation assistance.

However, the Supreme Court rejected that argument, thus allowing the U.S. government to halt efforts to grant entry to these refugees.

The order was not signed, though it stated that Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch would have granted the Trump administration’s request to put the lower court’s entire order on hold.

Trump had presented his order as a temporary anti-terrorism measure. The Trump administration has also lowered the cap on refugee admissions to 50,000 people per fiscal year. That cap was reached July 13.

In March the U.S. bishops had warned that security concerns could overshadow real human beings.

“Let us not lose sight of the fact that behind every policy is the story of a person in search of a better life,” the bishops said. “They may be an immigrant or refugee family sacrificing so that their children might have a brighter future. As shepherds of a pilgrim Church, we will not tire in saying to families who have the courage to set out from their despair onto the road of hope: 'We are with you'.”
 
“It is necessary to safeguard the United States in a manner that does not cause us to lose our humanity,” said the March 22 statement from the US bishops' conference's administrative committee.

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By Julie Asher

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. House budget resolution "will place millions of poor and vulnerable people in real jeopardy" because it reduces deficits "through cuts for human needs" and by trying to slash taxes at the same time, said the chairman of the U.S. bishops' domestic policy committee.

"A nation's budget is a moral document," said Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, Florida, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development. "Congress should choose a better path, one that honors those struggling in our country."

Bishop Dewane's July 20 statement was issued in response to the budget resolution that was voted out of the House Budget Committee along party lines July 19.

The nonbinding Republican measure is a 10-year budget blueprint that calls for $621.5 billion in national defense spending, provides for $511 billion in nondefense spending and ties cuts to a major overhaul of the U.S. tax code.

It makes at least $203 billion in cuts over a decade in Medicaid, food stamps, tax credits for the working poor and other programs that help low-income Americans. The bill also would change Medicare into a type of voucher program for future retirees.

"The USCCB is monitoring the budget and appropriations process in Congress very carefully, and is analyzing the proposed House budget resolution in more detail," Bishop Dewane said. "We note at the outset that the proposal assumes the harmful and unacceptable cuts to Medicaid from the American Health Care Act."

The House May 4 passed the American Health Care Act to replace the Obama administration's Affordable Care Act. The Senate effort to repeal and replace the health care law collapsed late July 17.

In the House budget resolution, "steady increases to military spending ... are made possible by cutting critical resources for those in need over time, including potentially from important programs like SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) that provide essential nutrition to millions of people," Bishop Dewane said.

"This would undo a bipartisan approach on discretionary spending from recent years, that, while imperfect, was a more balanced compromise given competing priorities," he added.

Catholic Charities USA also rejected the measure's "dramatic cuts in key social safety net programs."

Dominican Sister Donna Markham, president and CEO of the national Catholic Charities network, urged House members "to prioritize and protect programs that support and uplift the poor and vulnerable in our country."

"While CCUSA supports the responsible use of our nation's fiscal resources and has worked consistently to improve effectiveness in anti-poverty programs, reforms that seek only to cut our nation's social safety net will further strain efforts to meet individual needs and risk pushing more Americans into poverty," Sister Markham said July 20.

She made the comments in a letter to Rep. Diane Black, R-Tennessee, who is chair of the House Budget Committee, and Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Kentucky, ranking member.

Sister Carol Keehan, a Daughter of Charity, who is president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association, also wrote to Black and Yarmuth expressing her opposition to the budget resolution.

"As an organization guided by the social teachings of the Catholic Church, we firmly believe that the federal budget should be informed by moral principles and offer special protections for the poor and vulnerable," she wrote July 18, the day the measure was unveiled.

"A budget must be fair and just and cannot be balanced on the backs of those among us who least can afford it," Sister Keehan said. "We recognize that the proper role of federal spending programs should be to lift up the neediest among us enabling them to active participants in society.

"Unfortunately, the deep cuts in programs and services assumed by this budget proposal will severely reduce or eliminate access to basic necessities such as food, shelter, health care, education and other social supports that help lift families and individuals out of poverty and improve their health outcomes," she said.

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