Catholic News 2
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- A South Carolina judge declared a mistrial Monday after a jury deadlocked in the murder trial of a white former police officer charged in the shooting death of an unarmed black motorist....
NEW YORK (AP) -- Donald Trump chose retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson on Monday to be secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, raising fresh concerns about the lack of experience some of Trump's Cabinet picks have with agencies they're now being chosen to lead....
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The founder of a ramshackle Oakland artists' colony where dozens of people burned to death saw himself as a kind of guru and loved to surround himself with followers but showed chilling disregard for their well-being, according to relatives, neighbors and acquaintances....
Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon told Kofi Anan that religious leaders are there to help end the persecution of the Rohingya in Rakhine as well as the renewed ethnic fighting in Shan state. The prelate met with the former U.N. chief and other faith leaders during an hour-long meeting lead by the Rakhine Advisory Commission in Yangon on Thursday, Dec. 1."Cardinal Bo talked about the important role of religious leaders to bring about peace and reconciliation amid the Rakhine crisis and wars in northern Shan state," Father Dominic Zarbinus, the cardinal's secretary told ucanews.com. It's business as usual for the outspoken cardinal who has long been urging the authorities to bring justice to Myanmar.The former United Nations chief Kofi Annan visited people displaced by ongoing conflict in an area near Myanmar's border with Bangladesh Saturday as head of a commission tasked with finding solutions to issues which have raised widespread internatio...
Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon told Kofi Anan that religious leaders are there to help end the persecution of the Rohingya in Rakhine as well as the renewed ethnic fighting in Shan state. The prelate met with the former U.N. chief and other faith leaders during an hour-long meeting lead by the Rakhine Advisory Commission in Yangon on Thursday, Dec. 1.
"Cardinal Bo talked about the important role of religious leaders to bring about peace and reconciliation amid the Rakhine crisis and wars in northern Shan state," Father Dominic Zarbinus, the cardinal's secretary told ucanews.com. It's business as usual for the outspoken cardinal who has long been urging the authorities to bring justice to Myanmar.
The former United Nations chief Kofi Annan visited people displaced by ongoing conflict in an area near Myanmar's border with Bangladesh Saturday as head of a commission tasked with finding solutions to issues which have raised widespread international ire. The Advisory Commission on Rakhine had arrived in a northern part of the state where the army is accused of violence against members of the Rohingya Muslim minority.
"We cannot be silent on the oppression of our people either by the government or any other armed groups," Cardinal Bo said in a letter, circulated in June, adding that religious leaders need to believe in a "peaceful solution" to problems.
U Myint Swe, a Buddhist and president of Ratana Metta Organization, a Yangon-based NGO, attended Wednesday’s meeting and said that Annan asked for suggestions from religious leaders regarding the Rakhine persecution.
"Under Aung San Suu Kyi's government, the Rakhine crisis, ethnic conflict in northern Shan state, crime and child rape cases have erupted thanks to a group of opportunists who are attempting to undermine the reputation of the government," Myint Swe told ucanews.com.
The government established the Rakhine Advisory Commission, comprised of six local and three international experts to investigate problems in the state which the U.N. have said amount to ethnic cleansing.
The killing of nine police officers at three border posts in northern Rakhine on Oct. 9 resulted in a surge of violence by Myanmar's military, which operates separately from the civilian government led by State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi.
International rights groups have accused the military of burning homes, arbitrary arrests, torture and rape but the government has continuously denied the allegations, claiming that the military has been hunting militants within legal limits.
Rohingya advocacy groups claim around 400 Rohingya were killed in the military operations in the north of the state, while Myanmar says just 91 -- 17 soldiers and 74 alleged "attackers" -- have been killed. The State Counselor Office Information Committee said in a statement Saturday that four of the 74 died during interrogation.
Suu Kyi's government established the commission to investigate the allegations bowing to weeks of international pressure. The commission chair is Vice President Myint Swe, who was the feared head of military intelligence under former leader General Than Shwe.
(Source: UCANews)
(Vatican Radio) European Union leaders are assessing the impact of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's defeat in the Italian constitutional referendum on European unity and the euro currency. Germany's chancellor has expressed sadness, while other leaders tried to calm concerns that uncertainty after the Italian vote and the prime minister's resignation could weaken the euro. Listen to the report by Stefan Bos: German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters that she regretted that Renzi resigned following the referendum. "I am sad that the referendum in Italy didn't turn out the way the prime minister wanted, because I have always supported his course of reform," she said.Merkel explained that it was an Italian domestic decision. But she added: "From my point of view, we will continue our work in Europe and we have set the right priorities."Merkel also welcomed Alexander Van der Bellen's victory over right-wing populist Norb...
(Vatican Radio) European Union leaders are assessing the impact of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's defeat in the Italian constitutional referendum on European unity and the euro currency. Germany's chancellor has expressed sadness, while other leaders tried to calm concerns that uncertainty after the Italian vote and the prime minister's resignation could weaken the euro.
Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters that she regretted that Renzi resigned following the referendum. "I am sad that the referendum in Italy didn't turn out the way the prime minister wanted, because I have always supported
his course of reform," she said.
Merkel explained that it was an Italian domestic decision. But she added: "From my point of view, we will continue our
work in Europe and we have set the right priorities."
Merkel also welcomed Alexander Van der Bellen's victory over right-wing populist Norbert Hofer in Austria's presidential election.
However German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that Germany was watching the developments in Italy "with concern."
POLITICAL RISKS
And an influential German business group, the Federation of German Industries, said it is worried about the potential risks to the economy and Europe's currency union posed by the outcome of Italy's referendum.
The head of the group of 19 countries that use the euro currency said however there is no need yet for "emergency steps" after Italian voters rejected constitutional reforms.
Eurogroup leader Jeroen Dijsselbloem said however that he had urged Italy's Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan to take the "necessary steps" to ensure that Italy's 2017 budget complied with EU rules. "After yesterday's referendum we will await the political developments in Italy. I spoke to him this morning and we agreed that at this juncture it's difficult for the Italian government to commit now to take additional measures," he said.
"Therefore the Eurogroup invites Italy to take necessary steps in the nearby future to ensure that the budget will be compliant," Dijsselbloem added. Dijsselbloem, who is also Dutch finance minister, insisted that the Italian vote against a reform by pro-EU Prime Minister Renzi doesn't mean that anti-EU forces will win in upcoming votes in France or the Netherlands.
However it has become clear that Europe will face a new period of political uncertainty.
Vatican City, Dec 5, 2016 / 10:22 am (CNA/EWTN News).- As Christmas approaches, don't downplay your sins, Pope Francis said. Instead, name them honestly in the Sacrament of Confession, open your heart, and ask the Lord to heal you from within.If we merely say: “yes, yes, I have some sins; I go, I confess…and then I go on as before,” we don't allow ourselves to be recreated by the Lord, the Pope said Dec. 5.It's as if we've applied “two coats of paint” on our heart, believing that is good enough.“No!” he said. What we should do instead is name our sins carefully, saying: “I've done this, and this, and this, and I am ashamed at heart. And I open my heart,” asking the Lord to “recreate me!”Doing this is what will give us the courage to go towards Christmas with “true faith,” Francis said.It often happens that we want “to hide the gravity of our sins,” he said, but when we atte...
Vatican City, Dec 5, 2016 / 10:22 am (CNA/EWTN News).- As Christmas approaches, don't downplay your sins, Pope Francis said. Instead, name them honestly in the Sacrament of Confession, open your heart, and ask the Lord to heal you from within.
If we merely say: “yes, yes, I have some sins; I go, I confess…and then I go on as before,” we don't allow ourselves to be recreated by the Lord, the Pope said Dec. 5.
It's as if we've applied “two coats of paint” on our heart, believing that is good enough.
“No!” he said. What we should do instead is name our sins carefully, saying: “I've done this, and this, and this, and I am ashamed at heart. And I open my heart,” asking the Lord to “recreate me!”
Doing this is what will give us the courage to go towards Christmas with “true faith,” Francis said.
It often happens that we want “to hide the gravity of our sins,” he said, but when we attempt to “diminish,” instead of acknowledge our sins, they become “very ugly,” like “the venom of a serpent” that seeks to destroy others.
Referring to the day's reading from the Gospel of Luke, where Jesus first forgives the sins of the paralytic man before physically healing him, Francis focused on the great importance of seeking out Christ’s spiritual healing in our own lives.
What Jesus did in the Gospel, he said, “was not only change things from ugly to beautiful, from wicked to good: Jesus made a transformation.”
It’s not a solution of “cosmetics” or “make-up,” Pope Francis noted. “He changed everything from the inside!” The message of the Gospel is that before healing the paralytic man, Jesus first forgave his sins, “recreating him” and making him “totally new.”
Just as the first reading from the Prophet Isaiah is also about renewal, the Pope encouraged everyone to seek out renewal by going to the “root” of our sins.
We must “get to the bottom of our sins and then give them to the Lord, so that He will cancel them and help us go forward with faith,” he said. “We are all sinners,” but if we go to the root of our sins and invite God there, he will come and make us a “new man” or a “new woman.”
Just as Mary Magdalene did not have a physical ailment, but “a wound within,” we are all sinners in need of healing, the Pope said. Mary Magdalene recognized that Jesus could heal not only physical sickness, but spiritual as well.
“This is what the Lord is asking of us today,” he said. “'Courage! Give me your sins and I will make you a new man, a new woman.' May the Lord give us faith to believe this.”
Vatican City, Dec 5, 2016 / 12:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis endorsed a recent conference dedicated to the conservation and restoration of art and heritage within the Middle East, as a means to defend the rights of the human person. The Pope gave his support for the Safeguarding Endangered Cultural Heritage Conference, which occurred at Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, on Dec. 2-3. Supported by UNESCO, France and the UAE set up the conference in hopes of protecting the heritage of the countries torn by war within the Middle East. Identifying the theme as “unfortunately starkly current,” the Pope said that “the protection of cultural treasures constitutes an essential dimension in the defense of what it is to be human.”In countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Mali, and Syria – each exposed to centuries of war – looting, destruction to cultural monuments, and illicit trading are commonplace. Within these cultures, all of which extend over a ...
Vatican City, Dec 5, 2016 / 12:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis endorsed a recent conference dedicated to the conservation and restoration of art and heritage within the Middle East, as a means to defend the rights of the human person.
The Pope gave his support for the Safeguarding Endangered Cultural Heritage Conference, which occurred at Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, on Dec. 2-3. Supported by UNESCO, France and the UAE set up the conference in hopes of protecting the heritage of the countries torn by war within the Middle East.
Identifying the theme as “unfortunately starkly current,” the Pope said that “the protection of cultural treasures constitutes an essential dimension in the defense of what it is to be human.”
In countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Mali, and Syria – each exposed to centuries of war – looting, destruction to cultural monuments, and illicit trading are commonplace. Within these cultures, all of which extend over a millennium back, many culturally significant pieces and property have already been damaged or obliterated. National Geographic has reported on specific pieces which have faced or are facing extinction, including the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan, Afghanistan, and the toppled statues of the Mosul Museum in Iraq by ISIS militants.
Both the president of France, François Hollande, and the crowned prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, have organized the conference with over 40 representatives from other countries.
The conference is supported by UNESCO, an organization within the UN dedicated to protecting and rehabilitating damaged art, cultural monuments, and natural wonders. Since its establishment in 1945, UNESCO has retained significant art and nature all over world. Having already helped restore the Old Walled City of Shibam, Yemen and even Yellowstone National Park within the US, UNESCO will be an important piece in enforcing and organizing the restoration.
“This will be a historical initiative to pass down our legacy of tolerance and value of heritage,” said the organization's chairman of tourism, Mohammad Khalifa Al Mubarak, who added that the project would need to raise $100 million in order to do so.
Partnering with UNESCO and relying on their previous expertise, countries will look to establish the Global Fund for Culture in order to reconstruct places like Nimrud or Palmyra. France and a few other countries have also shown interest in housing artifacts until it is safe for their return.
For the countries of the Middle East under violence and constraints to religious freedom, the Pope trusts this conference will bring about a greater concern for the human person. “I hope that this event marks a new step in the process of the implementation of human rights,” he said.
IMAGE: CNS/Oscar DurandBy Oscar DurandISTANBUL (CNS) -- Sami Dankha,his three brothers and their families used to kick off Christmas celebrationsby attending a packed Christmas Eve Mass at St. Thomas Church in Baghdad. Wearingbrand new clothes and sporting fresh haircuts, they would spend the nightchatting, singing and eating pacha, a dish made from sheep's head that Iraqisconsider a delicacy and a staple of Christmas.But that was 20 years ago.Today, Dankha, 51, his wife, Faten, and their five children live in Turkey asrefugees, far away from the rest of their families. They are waiting for ananswer to their resettlement application to Australia. "If you count Christmas andEaster, it has been about 40 times we haven't gathered," said Dankha,whose brothers now live in New Zealand, Australia and the Netherlands.Years of instability, violenceand discrimination have forced Iraqi Christian families to leave their homes.Christmas, traditionally celebrated with loved ones, is a reminder of...
IMAGE: CNS/Oscar Durand
By Oscar Durand
ISTANBUL (CNS) -- Sami Dankha, his three brothers and their families used to kick off Christmas celebrations by attending a packed Christmas Eve Mass at St. Thomas Church in Baghdad. Wearing brand new clothes and sporting fresh haircuts, they would spend the night chatting, singing and eating pacha, a dish made from sheep's head that Iraqis consider a delicacy and a staple of Christmas.
But that was 20 years ago. Today, Dankha, 51, his wife, Faten, and their five children live in Turkey as refugees, far away from the rest of their families. They are waiting for an answer to their resettlement application to Australia.
"If you count Christmas and Easter, it has been about 40 times we haven't gathered," said Dankha, whose brothers now live in New Zealand, Australia and the Netherlands.
Years of instability, violence and discrimination have forced Iraqi Christian families to leave their homes. Christmas, traditionally celebrated with loved ones, is a reminder of the exodus of Christians from Iraq and the Middle East to countries all over the word. Despite the distance and across different time zones, families keep the spirit of the holiday alive.
"The last time we were all together was 2005. Maybe 2006. I am not sure," Habiba Taufiq, 69, told Catholic News Service.
Taufiq was born in Aqrah but has lived most of her life in Ankawa, a Christian enclave in northern Iraq. She is now a refugee in Turkey, where she lives with one of her 10 children. The other nine are split among Australia, France, Sweden and Iraq.
"We danced and celebrated because of Jesus. Not only us but also with other families," Taufiq said, remembering Christmas back home. "Now there is a big difference because we are in different countries and that affects the occasion."
To stay connected, families rely on messaging and calling apps.
"I call them on Viber video," said Dankha, mentioning one the most popular apps among the Iraqi community in Turkey.
Last year, Dankha spent at least four hours glued to his phone as he virtually celebrated Christmas with family and friends in 10 different countries. At some point he had to connect his phone to a power adapter after running out of charge. But seeing and hearing what is happening on the other side of the call is no replacement for being face to face.
"I see them celebrating in parties, and I feel sorrowful because I am here and we are separated, in different countries," Dankha said.
Nearly halfway around the world, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Nesrin Arteen, 42, also uses a messaging app to keep in touch with her family.
"I talk to them often; with the internet, it is easy. But back when I arrived, it was very different," she told CNS.
Arteen is from Zakho, Iraq, and moved to Canada in 1994 before smartphones became ubiquitous. At the time she had to use a call center and wait in line before she could speak with her family. And when it was her turn, the quality of the connection was not good, and the calls frequently disconnected.
For Arteen, Christmas meant attending the Christmas Eve Mass and staying up all night with her family. She fondly remembered klecha -- a traditional cookie usually filled with nuts, coconuts or dates -- which she could not have when she first arrived in Canada. Back then Saskatoon did not even have a Chaldean Catholic church, which made her feel removed from her Christmas traditions.
"It was a different feel, different from home. I didn't feel the spirit of Christmas," Arteen said, remembering the first Christmas she spent in Canada.
Over time things changed. Today there is a Chaldean church in her city, and Arteen has started to create her own Christmas traditions.
"I feel that the spirit of Christmas is here," she said. "My children go to a Christian school and are also part of the choir. There are places where they sing Christmas carols."
Taufiq hopes to reunite soon with some of her family in Australia. As she navigates visa procedures, she said she feels at peace that her children continue the traditions she started.
"The circumstances separated us and now we are in different countries. But we still continue living with love," she said.
Dankha told CNS this Christmas will be special. His younger brother, Yalda, will visit him in Turkey from the Netherlands. They haven't seen each other since 2000.
That makes one less person on his list of people to call on Christmas.
"There are so many friends I don't know if I will ever see. Maybe one day when my country's situation is OK, maybe then we will get together. But I don't know if that will happen," he said.
- - -
Copyright © 2016 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.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House shed new light Monday on the legal foundations for President Barack Obama's expansive use of U.S. military power to target extremists overseas, in a report that also offered the first confirmation that the U.S. now deems the al-Shabab group in Somalia to be inherently linked to al-Qaida....
ALEPPO, Syria (AP) -- Rebel shelling killed two Russian nurses and eight civilians Monday in Aleppo, and a Russian fighter jet crashed as it was returning to an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean after a sortie over Syria, but the pilot ejected safely, Moscow officials said....
