Catholic News 2

Church leaders from South Sudan are urging Pope Francis to visit their troubled country in support of their efforts to restore peace between warring factions. 

At a meeting with Pope Francis in Rome, Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian leaders gave him an update on the deteriorating situation in South Sudan. The Catholic Archbishop of Juba, Paulino Lukudu Loro, told him: "There is war, there are killings, there's death, there are refugees, and there are people in camps across the country.” 

Pope Francis was “ready to visit,” said Archbishop Loro. If the Holy Father came to the world’s youngest nation, it would raise awareness of the critical humanitarian and security situation.  “The Holy Father can help us talk to the international community, to the regional community, and to our government,” the Juba prelate said. 

Francis Flood, CAFOD and Trocaire’s Country Representative in South Sudan, said Pope Francis would receive a “warm welcome”, adding: “We are working tirelessly with our local Church partners to get emergency aid to communities affected by the conflict, under very challenging conditions. Such a visit would hopefully boost efforts to get the country’s leaders to work towards achieving long lasting peace and prosperity so that people can return to their homes, schools, farms and businesses.”

In Yirol region, CAFOD and Trocaire are helping more than 4,800 people with food – maize flour, beans, cooking oil and salt – as well as supplying clean water to communities by rehabilitating boreholes.

South Sudan, which gained independence in July 2011, is the world’s youngest country. Despite initial hopes of a peaceful future, conflict broke out in December 2013 between factions loyal to President Salva Kiir and the former Vice President, Dr Riek Machar.  A fragile peace agreement, signed in August 2015, has now broken down, leading to pockets of fighting across the country. 

There is growing concern that the conflict is taking on ethnic overtones. On 26 October, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, warned that unless the alarming rise in hate speech and incitement to violence against ethnic groups was reined in, “mass atrocities” could erupt.

Archbishop Loro was joined in Rome by Daniel Deng Bul, Archbishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan, Right Rev. Peter Gai Lual Marrow, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan, Fr. James Oyet Latansio, General Secretary of the South Sudan Council of Churches, and Ferdinand Von Hasbury, Adviser to the South Sudan Council of Churches.

(David Mutua, CAFOD in Nairobi)

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Massimiliano Migliorato, Catholic Press Photo

By Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As nuncio to Syria, Cardinal-designate Mario Zenari resides in Damascus. Even though the city does not come under attack as much as Aleppo, there are constant mortar attacks, and it makes him think of the nation's children.

If the attacks make him scared, he told Vatican Radio, he can only imagine what the children are experiencing, especially when so many experience much worse, like "seeing homes collapse on top of them, having to flee because their home or village was destroyed."

He has said that by choosing to give him a red cardinal's hat, Pope Francis was not only honoring the people and the steadfast presence of a papal representative in the war-torn nation.

"It's a gesture of love for the martyred Syrian population and it is also a gesture of supporting diplomacy," Cardinal-designate Zenari told SIR, the news agency of the Italian bishops' conference.

Since 2008, Cardinal-designate Zenari has served as the pope's representative in Syria, where armed conflict eventually emerged out of the escalating unrest following the 2011 Arab Spring. The conflict involving government forces, jihadist rebel factions and the so-called Islamic State has left nearly half a million people dead, according to the Syrian Center for Policy Research and, according to the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, at least 7.6 million people have been displaced internally and more than 4 million people fled the country.

"It's well noted that the Holy See has always maintained diplomatic relations during this period" and now, by elevating "his ambassador to the dignity of cardinal, (the pope) is giving additional value to this presence and to the diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the crisis," he said.

"Even if I am Italian, as the nuncio, my homeland is Syria. A son cannot tear himself away from his mother's bedside when she is sick or dying -- that is why I stay," he told Vatican Insider Oct. 11.

He also told Vatican Insider that, in Damascus, "everything is polluted, the air, the water, the land. And the people who escape the bombings or the chemical weapons attacks live under another kind of bombing -- poverty, which hits 80 percent of the people. Half of all the factories and hospitals have been destroyed."

When Pope Francis announced the creation of 17 new cardinals Oct. 9, the nuncio's name was first on the list. The pope also made a point of adding that the prelate would "remain apostolic nuncio to the beloved and martyred Syria."

With other countries closing so many diplomatic missions over the past few years, the pope's gesture underlined that "staying on, on site, is important," the diplomat told AsiaNews the next day.

The 70-year-old prelate said he heard the announcement while he was having lunch with family and friends in his hometown near Verona, Italy.

"I knew nothing" about the appointment, he said. He heard the news from his brother-in-law during lunch after Mass. "At first, I didn't want to believe it," he told AsiaNews.

The cardinal-designate has said the world community and Syrian powers need to do everything possible "because the people are suffering." Unfortunately, the lack of willingness "is not so much an uphill struggle, but it seems that in these conditions, (it) is almost a cliff, like climbing a wall" to get a negotiated solution.

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Follow Glatz on Twitter: @CarolGlatz.

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(Vatican Radio) The United Nations has sacked the force commander of its mission in South Sudan after a damning report found peacekeepers failed to prevent the killing of civilians. Dozens of people died in July when government troops attacked a hotel and a camp close to the UN compound.

Listen: 

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(Vatican Radio) On his return from his Apostolic Voyage to Sweden, Pope Francis visited Saint Mary Major, where he gave thanks to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of the Salus populi Romani, for the successful outcome of his journey.

The Papal Basilica of St Mary Major is the largest church in the world dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pope Francis has made it his custom to visit the Basilica before and after his travels to various parts of the world. 

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(Vatican Radio) Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, on Monday addressed the UN General Assembly on the promotion and protection of human rights.

His intervention touched on a number of issues, including the “right to life of the unborn, of migrants in search of safety, of victims of armed conflicts, of the poor, of the elderly and the right to life of those facing the death penalty.”

The full intervention can be found below

Statement by H.E. Archbishop Bernardito Auza

Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See

Seventy-first Session of the United Nations General Assembly

Third Committee Agenda item 68 (b, c): Promotion and protection of human rights

Madam Chair,

I would like to extend my delegation’s appreciation for the continued dialogue over these last couple of weeks with the Special Rapporteurs and Special Mandate holders on the promotion and protection of human rights. It is my delegation’s hope that through such meaningful dialogue we can gain deeper understanding and come up with holistic responses to the global human rights challenges we face today.

At the heart of human rights is the recognition that all people are born with inherent equal dignity and worth and have a fundamental right to life, which should be upheld and protected at all stages, from conception to natural death.

Even though the reports prepared for the Third Committee’s current session recognize this fundamental right, it continues, alas, to be ignored or minimized. The right to life of the unborn, of migrants in search of safety, of victims of armed conflicts, of the poor, of the elderly and the right to life of those facing the death penalty continues to be ignored, dismissed and debated rather than prioritized.

In this regard, my delegation welcomes the report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living(1), and on the right to non-discrimination in this context, which recognizes that the right to life concerns not only direct acts or omissions by States to deprive individuals of life but also requires that States address the “systemic deprivations of the right to life tied to poverty, grossly inadequate housing and homelessness,” thereby recommending “a discussion on the relevance and importance of the right to life for those living in grossly inadequate housing conditions and for those who are homeless.”

The growing global consensus on the need to eliminate the use of the death penalty is also a welcome step towards protecting life. As Pope Francis stated in his video message to the Sixth World Congress against the death penalty, which took place last June in Oslo, Norway, “nowadays the death penalty is unacceptable, however grave the crime of the convicted person. It is an offence to the inviolability of life and to the dignity of the human person; it likewise contradicts God’s plan for individuals and society and his merciful justice. Nor is it consonant with any just purpose of punishment. It does not render justice to victims, but instead fosters vengeance.”

An integral understanding of human rights and human dignity also requires recognition of the social, cultural, political and spiritual rights of all people. A constitutive element of these rights is the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, as enshrined in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This freedom goes beyond

simple toleration and is not limited merely to the private sphere. It includes, as the abovementioned Article 18 affirms, freedom to change one’s religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest one’s religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Madam Chair,

As the interim report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief(2)  highlights, freedom of religion and belief is being trampled upon and ridiculed in many parts of the world, even as we speak. People continue to be persecuted, imprisoned and at times killed purely for their religious beliefs. In some corners of the world, the persecution of religious and ethnic minorities has risen to such an extent that it constitutes a serious violation of international human rights law. In other parts of the globe, religious minorities are discriminated against for their clothing or are forced to choose between their beliefs and their employment.

Religious communities themselves are not immune to the temptation to violate the freedom of religion and belief of others. Intolerant interpretations of certain religious beliefs have led to much religious persecution. Religion becomes a source of discrimination when it is used and abused to define national identity and unity. In certain cases, a misinterpreted religion becomes an accomplice of State-induced discrimination and stigmatization in education, health-care provision and family law, and inspires bureaucratic harassment and burdensome administrative stipulations to limit the freedom of other religious groups.

Given all these forms and manifestations of violations of freedom of religion or belief, my delegation fully agrees with the conclusion of the interim report of the Special Rapporteur, that, inter alia, “the full scope of freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief is often underestimated, with the result being an inadequate awareness of the broad range of violations that take place in this area.”(3)

Renewed and sustained attention and action to protect and promote the freedom of religion or belief is therefore of fundamental importance if we are to make meaningful gains in human rights protection and promotion.

Thank you Madam Chair.

1 A/71/310

2 A/71/269

3 A/71/269 n. 73.

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London, England, Nov 2, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In the 14th century, approximately one third of the population of Europe - or anywhere from 75 million to 200 million people - was wiped out due to what became known as the Black Death.

Characterized by and named for the black, bulbous sores that oozed pus and blood, the affliction typically killed its victims within two to seven days.

The Black Death, also known as the Black Plague, understandably shook the faith of the people of Europe at the time. It was shortly after its reign of terror that an anonymous Dominican friar wrote “Ars moriendi”, or “The Art of Dying,” a six-chapter work explaining the Church’s perspective on a good death.

It included catechesis on why death was not to be feared, how the soul could prepare itself for death, and proper prayers to for the individual and loved ones to say at the time of death. A shorter version translated the book into 11 woodcuts illustrating the work.

Now, more than 600 years later, “The Art of Dying” got a facelift, thanks to the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

The teachings have been translated onto a website, complete with animations, video interviews with experts and priests, and explanations of various aspects of preparing well for death as a Catholic. The new resource was debuted today, a day before All Souls’ feast day, where the Church remembers and prays for the dead.

“Most people have an instinctive fear of death, but many also have a conviction that something lies beyond, that death does not have the last word,” the website explains.

“The Catholic faith is rooted in the belief that God made us to enjoy eternal life with him.”

The Art of Dying website is split into five categories - What is dying well?, Talking about death, Facing death personally, Losing a loved one, and Caring for the dying.

It also explains the various means of spiritual support available through the Church for a dying person, including the Anointing of the Sick, and final reception of the sacraments of confession and communion.

It also addresses the big questions people often have at the end of their lives the meaning of life, suffering, and the goodness of God.

“Sometimes people wonder, when confronted by tragedy or suffering, why God lets it happen. When we are tempted to echo those words, we need to remember that God is now and forever at the heart of any human suffering,” Fr. Peter Harries, the Catholic chaplain at University College London Hospital, told The Art of Dying.

“The Christ who was cruelly tortured and crucified on Calvary suffers still whenever there is pain, suffering or death, among those he now identifies with. If we ask ‘where was God in all this?’, the answer has to be ‘There, wherever there are human beings’.”

But The Art of Dying is not just for Catholics, the creators of the website explain in their ‘About’ section.

“There is a shared interest in discussing how we can make death more peaceful and meaningful. It is likely that you will share the Church’s concern that sometimes, particularly in hospital, dying patients are subjected to unnecessary medical interventions that prolong suffering,” they said.

“You will probably agree with the Church that they should be kept as comfortable as possible and given appropriate pain relief. You will probably want to know more about what you can do to achieve a good death for you and your loved ones.”

In an age where physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, both of which the Catholic Church strongly opposes, have become increasingly popular, the updated Art of Dying could serve as a valuable resource for Catholics and people everywhere who are looking for answers to their questions about how to die a good death.

“After centuries of ministering to the dying, the Catholic Church has a fund of experience to share in what was traditionally called the art of dying well,” the website explains.

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