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(Vatican Radio) Iraqi special forces have moved more than 1,000 people from villages near the front lines of the battle to retake the Islamic State-held city of Mosul and surrounding areas, where the U.N. says militants have committed a number of atrocities in recent days.

During his Angelus address on Sunday, Pope Francis expressed his closeness and solidarity with those affected by the fighting and called for prayers.

Meanwhile,  humanitarian aid agencies in Iraq, including CAFOD and Catholic Relief Services have been working to assist those affected by the fighting. Hani El-Mahdi, CRS Director for Iraq, spoke with Vatican Radio’s Christopher Wells about relief efforts in the country:

Listen: 

Catholic Relief Services started their work in Northern Iraq in the summer of 2014, as a response to ISIS invading Mosul. Since then, they have worked with sister agencies such as CAFOD and Caritas Iraq and have been able to serve more than 150,000 internationally displaced people as a result of the current conflicts going on in Iraq.

In recent days, the Iraqi government and Kurdish forces have launched an offensive against ISIS militants in the country, and it has had an effect on the work being done by CRS:

“We have been preparing for it for some time by basically testing volunteers and staff in order to be ready to receive a huge number of internally displaced people, from Mosul in particular,” El-Mahdi continues, “On the top of all the assistance we have been doing so far we have to keep up in order to respond to this anticipated new wave of displacement.”

The displaced people of Iraq often lack necessities and CRS does their best to provide aid and winterization items:

“Usually people will need immediate assistance in the beginning and that’s what we have been providing so far, including shelter, water, and sanitation. Also, household items, kitchen materials, blankets,” said Eh-Mahdi. 

 El-Mahdi warns that, “The coming winter in Iraq can be brutal for those IDPs so winterization items and cash assistance are needed.” He also stresses that children are in need of education.

While there are many people being displaced from Mosul, there are other areas in need of humanitarian aid and he mentions the cities of Kirkuk, Amarah, and Fallujah:
  
“There are thousands of IDPs stranded in those areas, wanting immediate assistance. On top of that, more than 3 million IDPs in the country still need assistance, particularly during the coming weather.” 

So, he concludes, we continue to deal with multiple challenges across the nation which are rendered even more urgent and critical by the upcoming winter months.

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(Vatican Radio) The 6th Meeting of the Viet Nam – Holy See Joint Working Group took place in Vatican City from 24 to 26 October 2016. After the meeting the following press statement was released.

Joint Press Release
on the 6th Meeting of the Viet Nam – Holy See Joint Working Group
(24-26/10/2016)

Implementing the agreement reached at the 5th Meeting of the Viet Nam – Holy See Joint Working Group in Ha Noi (September 2014), the 6th Meeting of the Viet Nam – Holy See Joint Working Group took place in Vatican City from 24 to 26 October 2016. The Meeting was co-­chaired by H.E Mr. Bui Thanh Son, Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Head of the Vietnamese delegation, and Monsignor Antoine Camilleri, Under-Secretary for Relations with States, Head of the Holy See Delegation.

The two sides had a broad and deep exchange of views on Viet Nam – Holy See relations, including issues related to the Catholic Church in Viet Nam.

The Vietnamese side reiterated the consistent and practical improvement of the legal framework and policies on the promotion and protection of people’s freedom of belief and religion; encouragement and continued facilitation of the active engagement of the Catholic Church in Viet Nam in the national cause of socio-economic development.

The Holy See, while reaffirming the freedom of the Church to carry out its mission for the good of the whole of society, expressed appreciation to the Vietnamese Government for the attention given to the needs of the Catholic Church, as recently witnessed through the establishment of the Catholic Institute of Viet Nam, and for the assistance in the organization of important ecclesial ceremonies and events.

The two sides agreed that the Catholic Church in Viet Nam will continue to be inspired by the Magisterium of the Church regarding the practice of "living the gospel in the nation" and being, at the same time, good Catholics and good citizens. The Holy See reaffirms that Pope Francis has a keen interest in the development of Viet Nam – Holy See relations and it looks forward to the continued and invaluable contribution offered by the Catholic community, in cooperation with other actors in Vietnamese society, and in accordance with the applicable laws, to national development and the promotion of the common good.

The two sides acknowledged the progress in Viet Nam – Holy See relations, including regular contacts and consultations, the exchange of high level delegations and frequent pastoral visits to Viet Nam by the Papal Representative and Non-Resident Special Envoy, Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli.

The meeting took place in an atmosphere of cordiality, frankness and mutual respect.

The two sides agreed to maintain constructive dialogue, in a spirit of good will with a view to increasing mutual understanding and further promoting relations between the two sides. They also agreed to convene the 7th Meeting of the Viet Nam – Holy See Joint Working group in Ha Noi. The date of the meeting will be arranged through diplomatic channels.

Before departing from the Vatican, the Vietnamese delegation paid courtesy calls on the Secretary of State of His Holiness, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and on the Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher. They also visited some religious institutions of the Holy See.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday reminded the faithful that the month of October is dedicated to the Rosary and invited all believers to recite the Marian prayer.

In a tweet, just a few days ago, on the day when the Church celebrates the feast of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary, the Pope said “the Rosary is the prayer that always accompanies my life: it is also the prayer of simple people and saints...it is the prayer of my heart”. 

At the conclusion of  the weekly General Audience, he explained that the Rosary is “a synthesis of Divine Mercy”:
 
“With Mary, in the mysteries of the Rosary  we contemplate the life of Jesus which irradiates the mercy of the Father. Let us rejoice in His love and forgiveness, let us recognize it in foreigners and in those who are needy, let us live His Gospel every day”.
 
And greeting the young, the sick and the newly wedded, Pope Francis said:

“May this simple Marian prayer show you, young people, the way to give life to God’s will in your lives; dear sick people, love this prayer because it brings consolation for the mind and the heart; and dear newly wedded spouses, may it represent a privileged moment of spiritual intimacy within your new family”.
  
Pope Francis gives all people he meets a Rosary. “Our Lady – he says – is always close to Her children and ready to help when we pray to her, when we ask for her protection… let us remember she is always ready to serve and never keeps anyone waiting”. 

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Catholic colleges from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka plan to work together to educate poor disadvantaged youths in the region.

The venture is part of a three-year project initiated by the International Federation of Catholic Universities called "Continuing Education of Disadvantaged Adolescents”.

The research partners are Salesian College, Siliguri; Stella Maris College, Chennai; Christ University, Bengaluru — all in India; Notre Dame University in Dhaka, Bangladesh; and Aquinas University in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

"We need to study how to bridge the gap of continuing education for the dropouts,” George Thadathil, the principal of Salesian College was quoted as saying in the report.

The joint project  was launched officially by the IFCU Deputy Secretary General Dr. Barnabe D’Souza on 21st October 2016.

“This international research could build bridge between what happens with government policy and ground reality,” says Dr  D’Souza the first Indian to occupy the post of 92 year old global body which has more than 1,200 universities under it in all five continents.

The research team aims to work with services offered by the state, local administration and NGOs for greater sustainability after the initial three years, it said. (UCAN)

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(Vatican Radio) As Pope Francis makes a new appeal for more openness and solidarity towards migrants, the International Director of Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), Father Tom Smolich, says the Pope's remarks are not just calling for a different approach towards refugees and migrants but are also stressing the importance of a face-to-face encounter with migrants to quell the fears felt by many people towards them. Father Smolich was interviewed by Susy Hodges.

Listen to the interview with Father Tom Smolich of Jesuit Refugee Service: 

Pope Francis' appeal during his Wednesday general audience for more solidarity towards migrants came the day after residents of a town on Italy’s Adriatic coast formed a blockade to prevent the arrival of 12 female migrants, one of them pregnant, who were to have been housed in a local hostel.

The Pope's remarks on migration also came on the heels of a new UN report saying that the Mediterranean Sea crossings by migrants trying to reach Europe have been three times deadlier this year than in 2015. The report estimated that one out of every 47 people attempting the crossing from North Africa to Italy during 2016 has died at sea.

Father Smolich said he “fully agreed” with the Pope when he said that putting up walls and barriers to try to stop migrants and refugees from coming to richer nations only encourages the criminal trafficking of these increasingly desperate people. 

Political leaders are doing their best to fan the flames

Stressing that it is our “Christian duty and Christian love “to do something different" when it comes to our treatment of migrants, Father Smolich said he regretted that a number of political leaders across the world “are doing their best to fan the flames” of fear and prejudice towards migrants and refugees.

Asked for his reaction to the incident where residents in an Italian town formed a blockade to stop a group of female migrants from being housed in a local hostel, the JRS Director said Pope Francis is stressing that if people in Europe or elsewhere actually get to meet a migrant face-to-face... “to encounter one another as human beings”... then most of those fears and prejudice towards them can evaporate.

When they (the migrants) are perceived “as the other, the force, the enemy, then the people blockade, people are frightened,” he said.

Father Smolich concluded by saying that “all of us” need to respond to “this human crisis” of migration and refugees and if we spoke out more about this and lobbied our political leaders to tackle this issue and show more compassion, then the leaders in turn could not “get away with doing things (on the migration issue) that a lot of people are not particularly happy about.”

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Armed groups in South Sudan released 145 children on Tuesday, the U.N. children's agency (UNICEF) said, calling on warring parties to stop recruiting child soldiers as the world's youngest nation teeters on the brink of renewed civil war.

The children were released by the rebel SPLA-In-Opposition, led by former Vice-President Riek Machar, and the Cobra Faction, which signed a peace deal with the government in 2014.

"Our priority is to get them into school and to provide services to communities so the children are able to see a more promising future," UNICEF's South Sudan representative, Mahimbo Mdoe, said in a statement.

"With the ongoing fighting across the country, UNICEF continues to receive reports about the recruitment of children in Unity, Jonglei and other states."

The children were released in Jonglei State's Pibor area, to the northeast of the capital, Juba.

Oil-rich South Sudan descended into civil war in December 2013 when a row between President Salva Kiir and his sacked deputy, Riek Machar, ended with fighting that often occurred along ethnic fault lines.

A peace deal was signed in 2015 but violations have been frequent, and heavy fighting broke out again in July.

Machar fled the country and is seeking medical treatment in South Africa.

He has urged his forces to reorganize for armed resistance to Kiir's government.

Rising hate speech and incitement to violence against certain ethnic groups could result in mass atrocities if the government does not act, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Some 16,000 children serve in armed forces in South Sudan, with an estimated 800 newly recruited in 2016, UNICEF said.

Tuesday's release is the largest so far this year, following the demobilization of 1,775 children in 2015, mostly by the Cobra Faction.

UNICEF warned in August of an imminent spike in forced recruitment of child soldiers.

Forces attacking villages often grab children and force them, at gunpoint, to fight, rights groups say.

Others join to save themselves from being beaten or killed and to protect their communities.

Half of children in South Sudan do not go to school - the highest proportion in the world, UNICEF said.

After being disarmed and provided with civilian clothes, the children undergo medical screening and take part in a reintegration program which includes psychosocial support.

Once their families are traced, they receive three months of food aid and livestock, UNICEF said.

(Katy Migiro, Thomson Reuters Foundation)

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis’ visit to Sweden for a joint ecumenical commemoration of the Reformation is a big step forward because Catholics and Lutherans are "no longer defining themselves in opposition to each other", but in communion with one another,

Those were the words of the head of the Holy See press office, Greg Burke, to journalists at a briefing on Wednesday ahead of the Pope’s departure for southern Sweden on Monday October 31st. Pope Francis and the heads of the Lutheran World Federation will be jointly presiding at an ecumenical prayer service in Lund cathedral, followed by a public witness event in the nearby city of Malmö. On the following morning, All Saints Day, the Pope will also celebrate Mass in Malmö for Sweden’s tiny Catholic community.

Also addressing journalists in the Vatican press office about the significance of this unprecedented ecumenical event was the General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, Rev Martin Junge, and the head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Kurt Koch.

Philippa Hitchen reports:

Listen: 

The Cardinal and the Lutheran leader looked relaxed and upbeat as they explained the importance of the Pope’s presence in Sweden for this 500th anniversary commemoration. The event comes as the culmination of years of theological progress, from the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in 1999, to the publication of a shared history of the Reformation in the 2013 document ‘From Conflict to Communion’.

From the impossible to the possible

A few years ago, Rev. Junge stressed, the idea of Catholics and Lutheran marking together such a historically divisive event would have seemed simply impossible, yet today it's a powerful sign of Christian witness to our suffering and fragmented world.

“We are working on the last details of what we truly believe is a historic commemoration….. We do this a year ahead of the 500th anniversary, thereby hoping to give a very strong ecumenical signal, that we understand because of our dialogues, because of the trust that has grown among us, because also we have been able to remove some of the obstacles of doctrinal differences among us, that the time is mature, is ripe, to move ‘from conflict to communion’. And this is what we’ll do publically, this is for what we’ll be praying, for God to be with us, this is what we want to encourage our communities, to live out that commitment”.

Three aspects of commemoration

Asked about those Catholics who question the idea of celebrating the Reformation, Cardinal Koch pointed to the three aspects of the common commemoration: gratitude for the past 50 years of progress, common witness as a sign of hope for the future, but also repentance for the terrible religious conflicts which transformed Europe into “a sea of blood” in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Reassessing Luther's life and legacy 

Questioned about the possibility of lifting Luther’s excommunication, the cardinal said that’s not something the Church can actually do, but he pointed to the very many positive statements that recent popes have made in reassessing Luther’s contribution to the understanding of our common Christian faith.

“The Catholic Church cannot lift the excommunication because it’s just finished by the death of a person. But on the other side is what we can say about Luther, and here we have many beautiful things that the popes have said…..the words of John Paul II on his visit in Germany, in Mainz, he said that we can learn many things from Luther. Then we have the beautiful speech of Pope Benedict in Erfurt, where he said the greatest concern of Luther was the question of God, the centrality of the question of God and the Christocentrism are the key concerns in the life and work of Luther and Pope Benedict recongised this very well. This is, for me, more important, what we can say about Luther and what we can learn from the theology and concerns of Luther”.

Longing for Eucharistic sharing

While theological differences around ministry, the Church and the Eucharist remain, the Cardinal and the Lutheran leader said they hope the events in Sweden will give impetus to new understanding and even new agreements on sharing at the Eucharistic table. 

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Catania, Italy, Oct 26, 2016 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The tragic death of a mother in Italy after late-term pregnancy complications and miscarriage is being pinned on the doctor’s refusal to perform a late-term abortion, despite appearances that the mother died of complications of the miscarriage.

The case  is complex, John F. Brehany, PhD, an ethicist for the National Catholic Bioethics Center, told CNA in a statement. “At a minimum, there seems to be a profound disagreement about what was said between the physician and the hospital, and the patient and her family.

“Hopefully, this tragedy will not be exploited to promote abortion on demand or to undermine respect for the rights of conscience of physicians and other healthcare providers.”

The family of Valentina Milluzzo, who died at Cannizzaro hospital in the Sicilian city of Catania, allege that she passed away because her doctor was a  "conscientious objector" to abortion and thus did not perform an abortion after she suffered pregnancy complications.

The hospital denies that this is the case, and the head of the hospital, Angelo Pellicano, told Ansa news agency that the doctor did not have a conscientious objection to abortion, but that there was a spontaneous miscarriage that was forced by serious circumstances.

Milluzzo went into labor early, at 19 weeks, pregnant with twins. After two weeks of monitoring in the hospital, the condition of Miluzzo and of the babies worsened, and her blood pressure dropped.

According to the family’s legal representation, doctors refused to abort the struggling babies or otherwise intervene in order to save the mother. Within hours, both fetuses had died.

As the night progressed, the mother contracted an infection, her health continued to decline, and she was taken into intensive care. She died Oct. 16.

Pellicano told Ansa he disputes the family’s account and that, because the children’s death was a natural miscarriage, conscientious objection does not apply. "There was no conscientious objection on behalf of the doctor that intervened in this case because there was no voluntary termination of the pregnancy,” he said.

The prosecutor in Catania has stalled Milluzzo’s burial until an autopsy can be performed and further investigation can be conducted.

Brehany said that while the facts underlying the case are still unclear, the ethical principles surround the case are knowable.

“These two things are clear,” he stated. “It would've been unethical for the physicians to undertake an abortion – to directly kill one or both of the twins – to save the life of the mother.” Furthermore, “it is right and good that the physician involved made a conscientious judgment in this regard, and that judgment of conscience should be honored.”

“What is not clear, ethically speaking, is when the physician knew, or could have known, when the pre-born children had died. This is ethically relevant because, once fetal demise was established, there would be no ethical bar to inducing labor or undertaking other actions to evacuate the uterus and save the mother from infection,” he continued.

There is concern that the incident could be used to push for expanded abortion access in the country.

In Italy, abortion is permitted after 12 weeks of pregnancy only in order to save the life of the mother.

In the Republic of Ireland, legal access to abortion was expanded in 2013 after controversy over the death of Savita Halappanavar, who was admitted to a Galway hospital while miscarrying.

She reportedly asked for an abortion, which doctors refused because the baby still had a heartbeat. Halappanavar later died of a severe antibiotic-resistant infection following her miscarriage. 

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By Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Closing doors to immigrants and refugees is not the answer -- in fact, it only helps encourage the crime of human trafficking, Pope Francis said.

"The only way for resolution is through solidarity," where everyone pitches in because "all together we are a powerful force of support for those who have lost their homeland, family, work and dignity," he said Oct. 26 at his weekly general audience.

In his talk, the pope continued his series of reflections on the works of mercy, focusing on welcoming the stranger and clothing the naked.

He said clothing the naked is about caring for those whose dignity has been stripped from them and helping restore and protect that dignity.

So in addition to providing clothing to those in need, be on the lookout for and ready to help victims of human trafficking and those -- including children -- whose bodies are being bought and sold like some kind of commodity, he said.

Not having a home, a job or fair wages and being discriminated against because of race or faith are all forms of nakedness that "as Christians, we are called to be on the alert (for), vigilant and ready to act."

While voluntary or forced migration has been part of human history, the call to welcome the stranger is even more necessary than ever given that so many people today are on the move because of economic crises, armed conflict and climate change, he said.

There have been many "great expressions of solidarity" over the centuries, even though there have been social tensions, too, the pope said.

"Unfortunately, today's context of economic crisis prompts the emergence of an attitude of closure and not welcome. In some parts of the world walls and barriers are appearing," he said.

"Sometimes it seems that the silent work of many men and women who, in different ways, strive to help and assist refugees and migrants is overshadowed by the noise of others who give voice to an instinctive selfishness," he said.

"Closure is not a solution, rather it ends up encouraging criminal trafficking," he said.

The pope asked that people never be tempted by the "trap" of closing in on oneself, never become indifferent to people's needs and never become focused only on one's own personal interests.

The more a person opens up to others, he said, the more one's life is enriched, the more society opens itself up to peace and people recover their full dignity.

Looking up from his written remarks, the pope told the more than 25,000 people gathered in the square about a "little story" that happened a few days ago in Rome.

He said a woman had asked a man who was barefoot and looked lost if he needed help, and the man said he wanted to go to St. Peter's Basilica and walk through the Holy Door. The woman wondered how the man would ever get there without shoes, so she hailed a taxi, the pope said.

At first the cab driver did not want to let the man inside because "he smelled," but he eventually gave in. During the 10-minute ride, the woman asked the man about his life, and he talked about his trials of being a refugee escaping war and hunger. The pope said the women knew "the pain of a migrant" because of her Armenian roots.

When they arrived at their destination, "the woman opened her bag to pay the cab driver, but the driver, who at first didn't want this immigrant to get in because he smelled, told the woman, 'No, ma'am, I'm the one who must pay because you made me hear a story that changed my heart.'"

Pope Francis said, "When we do something like this, at first we refuse because it makes us feel a bit uncomfortable" or awkward, but in the end, carrying out an act of mercy or assistance makes the soul smell sweet and "makes us change. Think about this story and let us think about what we can do for refugees."

The pope also recalled the "stupendous figure" of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, who founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and who emigrated to New York from Italy in 1889 to minister to fellow immigrants, opening schools, orphanages and hospitals for the poor. She became the first U.S. citizen to be declared a saint.

"It is urgent today as is in the past" for all Christians to be assisting immigrants and refugees, he said. "It is a task that involves everyone, without exception." 

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Follow Glatz on Twitter: @CarolGlatz.

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