Catholic News 2
MOSCOW (AP) -- President Vladimir Putin has suspended a Russia-U.S. deal on the disposal of weapons-grade plutonium....
NEW YORK (AP) -- In his years as a reality TV boss on "The Apprentice," Donald Trump repeatedly demeaned women with sexist language, according to show insiders who said he rated female contestants by the size of their breasts and talked about which ones he'd like to have sex with....
(Vatican Radio) The Colombian people have narrowly - but decisively and stunningly - voted to reject the peace deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the FARC, which took four years to negotiate and agree.Listen to James Blears' report: The referendum was a simple yes or no vote. Accordingly, the vote has come back a narrow "no". While 49.8 percent voted "yes", 50.2 percent voted "no". It was that close, but a miss is as good as a mile.It's a stunning slap in the face for President Juan Manuel Santos, who bluntly stated that he has no plan B to cope with this. While it's an extraordinary victory for ex-President Alvaro Uribe, who had steadfastly campaigned for "no".This clearly indicates that, even though the people of Colombia are war-weary after 52 years of civil war, the majority feel that the FARC are getting away with it far too easily, and that they have been castigated ...
(Vatican Radio) The Colombian people have narrowly - but decisively and stunningly - voted to reject the peace deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the FARC, which took four years to negotiate and agree.
Listen to James Blears' report:
The referendum was a simple yes or no vote. Accordingly, the vote has come back a narrow "no". While 49.8 percent voted "yes", 50.2 percent voted "no". It was that close, but a miss is as good as a mile.
It's a stunning slap in the face for President Juan Manuel Santos, who bluntly stated that he has no plan B to cope with this. While it's an extraordinary victory for ex-President Alvaro Uribe, who had steadfastly campaigned for "no".
This clearly indicates that, even though the people of Colombia are war-weary after 52 years of civil war, the majority feel that the FARC are getting away with it far too easily, and that they have been castigated with little more than a token slap on the wrist followed by a hearty handshake.
It shows that they certainly haven't accepted FARC leader Timochenko's very public apology for the conflict, which resulted in 260,000 deaths with six million people displaced.
The FARC were given 180 days from the signing of the Peace Agreement, to disarm.
That process is now very much in question.
(Vatican Radio) Hungary's government-sponsored anti-migration referendum has been declared invalid because of low turnout, though citizens participating in it overwhelmingly rejected the mandatory European Union quota to relocate asylum seekers among member states. Less than half of 8.3 million eligible voters bothered to cast ballots after several opposition groups urged Hungarians to boycott Sunday's referendum. Listen to Stefan Bos' report: Official results showed that roughly 98 percent of the more than three million voters casting valid ballots backed the government. The referendum asked: "Do you want the European Union to be able to prescribe the mandatory settlement of non-Hungarian citizens in Hungary even without the consent of Parliament?" Most voted "No", against EU plans to resettle at least 160,000 migrants fleeing war and poverty among member states, even though Hungary would have to accommodate ...
(Vatican Radio) Hungary's government-sponsored anti-migration referendum has been declared invalid because of low turnout, though citizens participating in it overwhelmingly rejected the mandatory European Union quota to relocate asylum seekers among member states. Less than half of 8.3 million eligible voters bothered to cast ballots after several opposition groups urged Hungarians to boycott Sunday's referendum.
Listen to Stefan Bos' report:
Official results showed that roughly 98 percent of the more than three million voters casting valid ballots backed the government. The referendum asked: "Do you want the European Union to be able to prescribe the mandatory settlement of non-Hungarian citizens in Hungary even without the consent of Parliament?"
Most voted "No", against EU plans to resettle at least 160,000 migrants fleeing war and poverty among member states, even though Hungary would have to accommodate just some 1,300 people. However four percent of the votes were spoiled, twice as many as during other referenda held in recent years, further driving down the turnout to about 40 percent.
That is far below the 50 percent-plus-one-vote threshold needed to make the referendum valid. It came as a major political setback for anti-migration Prime Minister Viktor Orbán whose government spent at least 16 million euros on a campaign urging Hungarians to turnout with posters such as: "don't risk. Vote No on October 2".
Yet Orbán tried to sound upbeat when talking addressing supporters in Budapest. "Nine out of ten voters who participated voted for Hungary. They voted for Hungary's rights." He stressed that Hungary "is so far the first and only EU nation expressing its opinion [with a referendum] about the immigration question."
Battle in Brussels
Orbán claimed that the referendum outcome gave him enough ammunition to battle in Brussels over immigration and said he would ask Parliament to amend the Constitution to accommodate voters' anti-migration views. However several opposition politicians said the fact that the vote was invalid showed that many people had lost trust in Orbán's policies and urged him to resign.
It also came as a victory for groups such as the conservative Movement for a Modern Hungary party. Its leader, Lajos Bokros, was among those who had called for a boycott of Sunday's vote. "This referendum is destroying the remaining dignity and international standing of Hungary, because it is based on a government-orchestrated xenophobia" he told Vatican Radio.
Bokros, a former minister of Finance, said that the "very question that the government formulated is absolutely horrendous because the European Union does not have any plan to settle forcefully or otherwise illegal migrants."
He added: "On the other hand Hungary has every obligation to accept refugees because Hungary is a signatory of all this UN contracts which obliges this country to do so."
Nearly 400,000 migrants passed through Hungary last year while making their way toward more prosperous and welcoming Western European nations. Razor-wire fences erected on the border with Serbia and Croatia, along with thousands of security forces and new expulsion policies, reduced the numbers significantly this year.
Breaching border area
Last month, police reported either zero or just one migrant breaching Hungary's border area on 13 different days.
Hungary last year rejected over 80 percent of the asylum claims made in the country, one of the highest rates in the EU, reported Eurostat, the EU's statistical office. The country granted asylum to just 508 refugees but rejected 2,917 applications and had nearly 37,000 claims still being processed.
Orbán had hoped his tough-stance on migration would translate into a valid anti-migration referendum. Critics saw the invalid referendum as a test for the 2018 elections and suggested that many voters had abandoned Orbán's Fidesz party.
Yet with the opposition divided over policies and prime ministerial candidates, Orbán remains a strong leader, despite suffering his first major defeat in years.
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis, during the inflight press conference on his return from Azerbaijan, was asked how he would counsel the faithful in America and what wisdom would he have them keep in mind next month when the Presidential election there occurs?Responding to the question, the Holy Father said that, “in electoral campaigns, I never say a word. The people are sovereign. I'll just say a word: Study the proposals well, pray and choose in conscience.”The Pope’s answer mirrors that of Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky and President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’, who is in Rome this week.Listen: Speaking to Lydia O’Kane, Archbishop Kurtz said, “…It’s important that our faithful, in fact all people of good will form their consciences well. The Church is not going to endorse this candidate or that candidate, never has and certainly will not now and into the future. But we will talk ab...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis, during the inflight press conference on his return from Azerbaijan, was asked how he would counsel the faithful in America and what wisdom would he have them keep in mind next month when the Presidential election there occurs?
Responding to the question, the Holy Father said that, “in electoral campaigns, I never say a word. The people are sovereign. I'll just say a word: Study the proposals well, pray and choose in conscience.”
The Pope’s answer mirrors that of Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky and President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’, who is in Rome this week.
Listen:
Speaking to Lydia O’Kane, Archbishop Kurtz said, “…It’s important that our faithful, in fact all people of good will form their consciences well. The Church is not going to endorse this candidate or that candidate, never has and certainly will not now and into the future. But we will talk about those core values that deal with the common good, deal with the importance of human life and in those cases I think we ask people to form their consciences well.”
The Archbishop added that the Church talks about, “engagement in public life that when you do make you decision to vote, it should not be simply, “how am I going to benefit personally”, but rather how is this going to affect the common good.”
The US Presidential election takes place on November 8th 2016.
(Vatican Radio) The Catholic Bishops of Canada have concluded their 2016 Plenary Assembly, which took place from September 26-30 in Cornwall, Ontario.“We had many interesting presentations,” said Bishop Douglas Crosby, OMI, President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB). “It was a very full Plenary; the agenda was perhaps too packed.”In an interview with Vatican Radio, Bishop Crosby spoke about some of the most important themes of the Plenary Assembly. Notably the Bishops discussed the recent legalization of euthanasia in the county. “The law is called ‘Medical Assistance in Dying,’” said Bishop Crosby, “which I think we would all want medical assistance in dying. So it really is misleading in terms of the title but this is really assisting suicide.” The Bishops heard from Cardinal Willem Eijk, Archbishop of Utrecht, Holland, on the social and cultural impact of legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia i...
(Vatican Radio) The Catholic Bishops of Canada have concluded their 2016 Plenary Assembly, which took place from September 26-30 in Cornwall, Ontario.
“We had many interesting presentations,” said Bishop Douglas Crosby, OMI, President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB). “It was a very full Plenary; the agenda was perhaps too packed.”
In an interview with Vatican Radio, Bishop Crosby spoke about some of the most important themes of the Plenary Assembly. Notably the Bishops discussed the recent legalization of euthanasia in the county. “The law is called ‘Medical Assistance in Dying,’” said Bishop Crosby, “which I think we would all want medical assistance in dying. So it really is misleading in terms of the title but this is really assisting suicide.” The Bishops heard from Cardinal Willem Eijk, Archbishop of Utrecht, Holland, on the social and cultural impact of legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia in The Netherlands and beyond. They also discussed pastoral responses to euthanasia.
Another item on the agenda was the environment. Bishop Crosby told Vatican Radio, “Father Michael Czerny, [S.J.], from the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace, gave us a very good understanding and background for Laudato sì, which we received of course, last year but didn’t have the opportunity to have kind of an in-depth look at it. He gave us a very interesting presentation and helpful to understanding its formation and its importance.”
Among other topics, the Bishops also discussed the commemoration of the 5th centenary of the Protestant Reformation; as well as the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Amoris laetitia, On Love in the Family; and the commitments made by Catholic parties in response to the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Listen to the full interview of Bishop Douglas Crosby, OMI, of Hamilton, Ontario with Vatican Radio’s Christopher Wells:
STOCKHOLM (AP) -- Japanese biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi won the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for discoveries on how cells break down and recycle content, a garbage disposal system that scientists hope to harness in the fight against cancer, Alzheimer's and other diseases....
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Fighting in northern Syria between Turkey-backed Syrian rebels and Islamic State militants killed at least 15 rebels as the opposition tries to push toward a town of symbolic importance for the extremists, an activist group and Turkish officials said Monday....
PARIS (AP) -- Armed robbers forced their way into a private Paris residence where Kim Kardashian West was staying, tied her up and locked her in a bathroom before making off with more than $10 million worth of jewelry, police officials said....
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis returned to Rome late Sunday evening, after an intense weekend pilgrimage to Georgia and Azerbaijan in the Caucasus region. The Holy Father spoke with reporters traveling with him on his return flight, during which he offered reflections on a wide range of themes including marriage and divorce, homosexuality, and gender identity – further to his reflections offered on the same during the course of his whirlwind weekend visit.Listen to Chris Altieri's report: Catholic News Agency has prepared a full transcript of the in-flight press conference, available here.Responding to a question from Georgia’s public broadcaster, Ketevan Kardava, Pope Francis offered his own overview of his visit there. “I had two surprises in Georgia,” he said. “One, Georgia: I've never imagined so much culture, so much faith, so much Christianity…It is a believing people and an ancient Christian culture! A people of so many marty...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis returned to Rome late Sunday evening, after an intense weekend pilgrimage to Georgia and Azerbaijan in the Caucasus region. The Holy Father spoke with reporters traveling with him on his return flight, during which he offered reflections on a wide range of themes including marriage and divorce, homosexuality, and gender identity – further to his reflections offered on the same during the course of his whirlwind weekend visit.
Listen to Chris Altieri's report:
Catholic News Agency has prepared a full transcript of the in-flight press conference, available here.
Responding to a question from Georgia’s public broadcaster, Ketevan Kardava, Pope Francis offered his own overview of his visit there. “I had two surprises in Georgia,” he said. “One, Georgia: I've never imagined so much culture, so much faith, so much Christianity…It is a believing people and an ancient Christian culture! A people of so many martyrs. I discovered something that I didn’t know: the breadth of the Georgian faith. The second surprise was the patriarch: he is a man of God. This man has moved me. I many times have found that I left with the heart and moved and full of the sensitivity of having found a man of God, truly a man of God.”
Pope Francis went on to discuss his appreciation for practical ecumenism, saying, “On the things that unite us and separate us, I say: don’t make us discuss things of doctrine, leave this to the theologians. They know better than we do. They discuss, and if they are good, they are good, they have good will, the theologians on one side and the other, (but) what must the people do? Pray for each other, this is important: prayer. And second: do things together. Are there poor? We work together with the poor. There is this and that problem: we can do it together, we do together. Are there migrants? We do things together ... we do good things for others, together. This we can do and this is the path of ecumenism. Not only the way of doctrine, this is the last, it comes in last. But we begin to walk together. And with good will we can do this, you MUST do it.”
Pope Francis also addressed the work that can be done to achieve a lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, citing dialogue and equitable international mediation as the only ways forward. “I believe that the one way is dialogue,” he said, “a sincere dialogue without things held under the table.”
Pope Francis also spoke of the duty Christians have to pray for peace. “Christians also pray, pray for peace, because these hearts … this path of dialogue, of negotiation or of going to an international tribunal, but they can’t have problems like this. Think that the three Caucasus nations have problems: Georgia also has a problem with Russia, I don't know much, but it's greater … but it has a problem that can grow, it's an unknown. And Armenia is a nation with open borders, it has problems with Azerbaijan and should go to an international tribunal if dialogue and negotiation is a no-go. There is no other path. And prayer, prayer for peace.”
