Catholic News 2
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- Former American astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, has been evacuated by plane from the South Pole for medical reasons, officials said Thursday....
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- The Somali-born student who injured nearly a dozen people in a car-and-knife attack at Ohio State University showed few signs of bitterness despite what must have been a difficult early life, and he even danced onto the stage when he graduated from community college....
BAGHDAD (AP) -- The government of Iraq is hoping that a new OPEC deal will help the war-weary country generate enough revenue to help pay for its costly, 2-year-old fight against the Islamic State group....
MEDELLIN, Colombia (AP) -- The Bolivian Civil Aviation Authority has indefinitely suspended permission for LaMia airline to operate following the deadly crash of one its charter planes in Colombia, officials said Thursday....
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- The first candidate-driven statewide recount of a presidential election in 16 years began Thursday in Wisconsin, a state that Donald Trump won by less than a percentage point over Hillary Clinton after polls long predicted a Clinton victory....
NEW YORK (AP) -- President-elect Donald Trump is poised to take a victory lap on Thursday, appearing first in Indiana to salute workers at a factory where he says he saved hundreds of jobs from moving to Mexico and then in Ohio on the first stop of a "Thank You Tour" to honor the supporters in states that helped him to his stunning victory....
(Vatican Radio) In a world where conflict affects so many communities, it is important to recognize the connection between food insecurity and social unrest. Kimberly Flowers, Director of the Global Food Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), was brought to Rome by U.S. Mission to the United Nations as the keynote speaker at the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) 13th Annual George McGovern Lecture. She highlighted the connection between conflict areas and food insecurity in her speech entitled, “Examining Linkages: The Nexus between Food Insecurity and Political Instability.”CSIS is a Washington D.C. based, bipartisan foreign affairs think tank. Leading the field in defense and intelligence thinking, they also provide recommendations to policy makers on how to develop foreign assistance programs that are focused on ending hunger and poverty. Kimberly Flowers spoke with Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni about...
(Vatican Radio) In a world where conflict affects so many communities, it is important to recognize the connection between food insecurity and social unrest. Kimberly Flowers, Director of the Global Food Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), was brought to Rome by U.S. Mission to the United Nations as the keynote speaker at the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) 13th Annual George McGovern Lecture. She highlighted the connection between conflict areas and food insecurity in her speech entitled, “Examining Linkages: The Nexus between Food Insecurity and Political Instability.”
CSIS is a Washington D.C. based, bipartisan foreign affairs think tank. Leading the field in defense and intelligence thinking, they also provide recommendations to policy makers on how to develop foreign assistance programs that are focused on ending hunger and poverty.
Kimberly Flowers spoke with Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni about food insecurity and how it is both a cause and consequence of conflict, often sparking violence and civil unrest.
Listen:
Kimberly Flowers explains that under the Obama administration, the U.S. Government focused on long term agricultural development and nutrition programs. In response to the food price crisis of 2007-2008, President Obama launched ‘Feed the Future,’ which is a global hunger and food security initiative. This allowed the U.S. Government to invest $6.6 billion across 19 focus countries for long term agricultural development and programs that reduce poverty and stunting.
“Congress views food insecurity as a bipartisan issue and as a result, passed the Global Food Security Act of 2016 last summer, codifying ‘Feed the Future’ for the next two years,” said Flowers.
Looking ahead to the Trump administration Flowers acknowledges, “That is really a critical and profound statement, not only of how the U.S. government sees global food security as an important foreign assistance tool, but it bridges one administration to the next.” The policy is guaranteed for the first two years of the new administration.
In regards to President-elect Trump, Flowers thinks, “It is too soon to say what his administration’s stance will be in terms of foreign assistance and global food security,” but is hopeful that his administration can be informed of why it is important.
Flowers admits that she has fears about the funding of food security programs in the future: “I have fears that [President Trump] may place people in positions who may or may not understand climate change as well.”
She hopes that the U.S. will continue to be a world leader in the efforts for food security and the rights of people around the world.
Flowers agrees that climate change is a defining issue in the world of food security, effecting developing nations and smallholder farmers. There are a lot of climate-smart agricultural techniques being implemented globally in order to mitigate the effects of global warming. Various elements including education, engagement, and technology are considered when combating climate change.
She says it is crucial that world leaders understand the implications of climate change and how it is being felt around the world. Although farmers in the U.S. may not feel the effects of climate change in such an extreme way due to advanced technology, smallholder farmers around the world may, which changes the amount of food produced and the level of global food security.
Many of the hungriest people in the world are smallholder farmers. They are extremely dependent on weather cycles and unfortunately there are lean seasons and hidden hunger. Many small holder farmers do not have the literacy or education level to understand better agricultural practices, which would increase both their income and production levels.
Flowers points out, “it is important to connect agriculture as a business so smallholder farmers…can be trained on business practices so they can better understand how they need linkages to markets and to engage with the private sector.”
Reflecting on her work with food security Flowers says, “Not only is there a humanitarian plight and pull and meaning of trying to end hunger, but there’s the economic side, the political will side. There are so many things that are sort of intertwined that once they start to layer upon layer, I feel really grateful that I get to work on something that is meaningful in terms of bettering lives around the world and is also complicated and complex in terms of policy around the world.”
Since the beginning of his Pontificate, Pope Francis has been very vocal, speaking out against the globalization of indifference. He calls for people to empathize with the poorer and often speaks of those who are affected by climate change and lack of food security.
Speaking of Pope Francis, Flowers says, “There is something about him; he resonates with so many more people and that means his message is so much more important because he is able to reach people.”
Flowers is grateful for the work Pope Francis has done and the attention it has brought to the topic of food security:
“For me, Pope Francis adds another great voice to the work that I do and that others do because he is going to reach people that I am not going to reach.”
Because of his broad reach, Pope Francis is able to reach the disconnected populations, such as young people. Flowers hopes that through education and travel, youth can expand their world view.
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis invited international students on Thursday to overcome the “globalization of indifference” with “the freshness, actuality, and daring of the Gospel.”He was speaking to participants of the IV World Congress on the Pastoral Care of International Students, organized by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People.Listen to Devin Watkins’ report: The theme of the World Congress takes Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium as its focus, examining its contribution to moral challenges in the intellectual world.The Holy Father invited the students to approach their studies as a springboard to contributing to a healthier society.He reminded them of the words of St. Paul to Timothy: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.”The Pope went on to cont...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis invited international students on Thursday to overcome the “globalization of indifference” with “the freshness, actuality, and daring of the Gospel.”
He was speaking to participants of the IV World Congress on the Pastoral Care of International Students, organized by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People.
Listen to Devin Watkins’ report:
The theme of the World Congress takes Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium as its focus, examining its contribution to moral challenges in the intellectual world.
The Holy Father invited the students to approach their studies as a springboard to contributing to a healthier society.
He reminded them of the words of St. Paul to Timothy: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.”
The Pope went on to contrast the search for intellectual self-realization with a model for the good of all.
“To the modern concept of the intellectual,” he said, “working for the realization of self and in search of personal recognition, often without care for their neighbor, it is necessary to counter with a model built on solidarity, which works for the common good and for peace.”
The Holy Father said the experience of studying abroad “increases self-confidence” by expanding a person’s ability to relate with others, allowing one to “open up without fear to the other”.
Turning to teachers and pastoral workers, the Pope invited them to “instill in young people love for the Gospel, the desire to live it concretely and announce it to others”.
He said, “In this way, young people are formed who thirst for truth and not power, ready to defend their values and live mercy and charity, which are the fundamental pillars for a healthier society.”
The Holy Father went on to say the phenomenon of international students, though promoting an encounter between cultures, can bring to the fore some negative aspects, “like the emergence of certain closures, defense mechanisms before diversity, internal walls which do not allow a person to look their brother or sister in the eye and realize their real needs”.
He said a sad reality is the rise of a “globalization of indifference” which makes a person “incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor” (cf. Apos. Exhort. Evangelii Gaudium, 54).
In conclusion, Pope Francis said the experience of being an international student has the potential to “produce positive outcomes” on globalization, “with the freshness of the actuality and daring of the Gospel, in order to form new evangelizers ready to infect the world with the joy of Christ, even unto the ends of the earth.”
(Vatican Radio) One hundred Syrian refugees from Lebanon are set to arrive at Fiumincino Airport in Rome on 2 December through a special “humanitarian corridor” programme, bringing the total intake to five-hundred refugees since the start of the project.Humanitarian corridors are a pilot project and the first of its kind in Europe. The corridors will allow the entry of over 1,000 refugees into Italy over a two-year period. They are the result of an ecumenical collaboration between Catholics and Protestants: the Community of Sant'Egidio, the Federation of Evangelical Churches, the Waldensian and Methodist Churches. The project is completely self-funded by the founding organizations.The corridors provide safe routes to those seeking asylum, helping them avoid dangerous journeys by boat across the Mediterranean, in which thousands of people have died.Providing legal entry onto Italian soil with a humanitarian visa allows refugees to apply for asylum. Entrance vi...
(Vatican Radio) One hundred Syrian refugees from Lebanon are set to arrive at Fiumincino Airport in Rome on 2 December through a special “humanitarian corridor” programme, bringing the total intake to five-hundred refugees since the start of the project.
Humanitarian corridors are a pilot project and the first of its kind in Europe. The corridors will allow the entry of over 1,000 refugees into Italy over a two-year period. They are the result of an ecumenical collaboration between Catholics and Protestants: the Community of Sant'Egidio, the Federation of Evangelical Churches, the Waldensian and Methodist Churches. The project is completely self-funded by the founding organizations.
The corridors provide safe routes to those seeking asylum, helping them avoid dangerous journeys by boat across the Mediterranean, in which thousands of people have died.
Providing legal entry onto Italian soil with a humanitarian visa allows refugees to apply for asylum. Entrance via corridor is granted to people in vulnerable positions such as victims of persecution, families with children, elderly people, sick people, single women, and people with disabilities.
Once the refugees arrive in Italy, they are received by various religious organizations: the Community of Sant’Egidio, the Federation of Evangelical Churches and ‘Tavola Valdese’. These are then responsible for their accommodations and economic aid while filing for international protection. The refugees are offered integration into Italian society, through learning of the language, schooling for children, and other opportunities.
During his Angelus on 6 March 2016, Pope Francis welcomed the humanitarian corridors and called them a concrete sign of commitment to peace and life. He added that he hopes this initiative will spread to other countries, and “it is the drop that will change the sea.”
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday greeted a delegation of faithful from the Apostolic Administration of the Caucuses who were in Rome to thank the Holy Father for his recent Apostolic Visit to Georgia.Pope Francis told the delegation their visit brought him many memories of his trip.“I never thought I would find in Georgia what I saw: The culture, spirituality, a people that praises Jesus Christ as the Savior, because it is a Christian population,” – the Pope said – “It was for me a great joy.”He said he was also personally impressed by the person of Ilia II of Georgia, saying “I perceived there a man of God.”While acknowledging the problems faced by the small Catholic community, Pope Francis said he thought they would find a way “without forcing the issue, to slowly walk together.”The Pope concluded by remarking on the different faithful he met, calling the responsibility of the laypeople “a great thing,&rdq...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday greeted a delegation of faithful from the Apostolic Administration of the Caucuses who were in Rome to thank the Holy Father for his recent Apostolic Visit to Georgia.
Pope Francis told the delegation their visit brought him many memories of his trip.
“I never thought I would find in Georgia what I saw: The culture, spirituality, a people that praises Jesus Christ as the Savior, because it is a Christian population,” – the Pope said – “It was for me a great joy.”
He said he was also personally impressed by the person of Ilia II of Georgia, saying “I perceived there a man of God.”
While acknowledging the problems faced by the small Catholic community, Pope Francis said he thought they would find a way “without forcing the issue, to slowly walk together.”
The Pope concluded by remarking on the different faithful he met, calling the responsibility of the laypeople “a great thing,” and thanking the priests and religious for their work.
“Go forward!” – Pope Francis said – “This work is like yeast, to make the thing grow. Thank you very much! And do not forget to pray for me.”
