Catholic News 2
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A fire at one of Iraq's oil fields could hinder military and humanitarian efforts as operations to recapture the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul get underway....
NEW YORK (AP) -- In a New York hotel room earlier this week, Russia thought it was close to a deal with the U.S. to revive a cease-fire deal for Syria....
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday laid the blame for a "bleeding Middle East and North Africa" on the U.S. and its allies, in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly smacking of the kind of rhetoric that reflected the state of superpower relations during the Cold War....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hillary Clinton's former chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, and two other staff members were granted immunity deals in exchange for their cooperation in the now-closed FBI investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of state, says a Republican congressman....
NEW YORK (AP) -- More than half the country fears a Trump presidency. And only about a third of Americans believe he is at least somewhat qualified to serve in the White House....
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Video of a deadly encounter between Charlotte police and a black man shows his wife repeatedly telling officers he is not armed and pleading with them not to shoot her husband as they shout at him to drop a gun....
(Vatican Radio) The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, on Thursday delivered an address for the opening of the Seventy-First Session of the United Nations General Assembly.In his remarks, Cardinal Parolin said “Integral human development is…impossible without peace.”“Conflicts not only render the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals at the regional level absolutely impossible, but also destroy so many human resources, means of production and cultural heritage,” – the Cardinal said – “Today, as during the 1950s, 60s and 70s, there is the recurrence of the threat of nuclear conflict with its terrible consequences. The enormous and ill-fated effect of war is a downward spiral from which there is often no escape, triggers an increase in political polarization at the global level and narrows the spaces in which the same international community can propose effective solutions for ...
(Vatican Radio) The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, on Thursday delivered an address for the opening of the Seventy-First Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
In his remarks, Cardinal Parolin said “Integral human development is…impossible without peace.”
“Conflicts not only render the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals at the regional level absolutely impossible, but also destroy so many human resources, means of production and cultural heritage,” – the Cardinal said – “Today, as during the 1950s, 60s and 70s, there is the recurrence of the threat of nuclear conflict with its terrible consequences. The enormous and ill-fated effect of war is a downward spiral from which there is often no escape, triggers an increase in political polarization at the global level and narrows the spaces in which the same international community can propose effective solutions for a stable and lasting peace.”
The full text of Cardinal Parolin's speech is below
ADDRESS
by His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parolin
Secretary of State of His Holiness Pope Francis
and Head of the Holy See Delegation
to the General Debate of the Seventy-First Session of the
United Nations General Assembly
New York, 22 September 2016
Mr President,
Last year, in his address in this Hall, His Holiness Pope Francis defined the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as “an important sign of hope.” Just a few days ago, he reiterated his appreciation for the actions taken last year by the United Nations, encouraging all to put these ambitious objectives into practice: “The protection of our common home requires a growing global political consensus. Along these lines, I am gratified that in September 2015
the nations of the world adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, and that, in December 2015, they approved the Paris Agreement on climate change, which set the demanding yet fundamental goal of halting the rise of the global temperature. Now governments are obliged to honour the commitments they made, while businesses must also responsibly do their part. It is up to citizens to insist that this happen, and indeed to advocate for even more ambitious goals.”
The achievement of the 2030 Agenda involves an important assumption of responsibility on the part of Governments and the commitment of all for the common good. This commitment entails recognizing the need to strive not only for great macroeconomic goals but for outcomes that are specific, lasting, and equitably distributed. Without a stable financial situation, lasting investments and a commercial appraisal that favours internal growth, however, the 2030 Agenda will be impossible to achieve. Pope Francis has emphasized that “economics and politics, society and culture cannot be dominated by thinking only of the short-term and immediate financial or electoral gains. Instead, they urgently need to be redirected to the common good, which includes sustainability and care for creation. One concrete case is the ‘ecological debt’ between the global north and south. Repaying it would require treating the environments of poorer nations with care and providing the financial resources and technical assistance needed to help them deal with climate change and promote sustainable development.”
We always must remember that development – especially integral human development – cannot be imposed. Men and women, as individuals, must be the principal agents of the 2030 Agenda. Last year, in this very chamber, Pope Francis affirmed that this “presupposes and requires the right to education, … which is ensured first and foremost by respecting and reinforcing the primary right of the family to educate its children, as well as the right of churches and social groups to support and assist families in the education of their children.”
Therefore, Pope Francis continued, “the simplest and best measure and indicator of the implementation of the new Agenda for development will be the effective, practical and immediate access, on the part of all, to essential material and spiritual goods: housing, dignified and properly remunerated employment, adequate food and drinking water, religious freedom and, more generally, spiritual freedom and education.”
Such a process of bringing about integral human development – a concept that includes, but is not exhausted by, economic development – should, through multilateral initiatives, stimulate also the quest for complementary, alternative finance systems capable of ensuring that financial resources are both accessible to and sustainable for the poorest. As Pope Francis said here last year, “The pillars of integral human development have a common foundation, which is the right to life,” which presumes that “we recognize a moral law written into human nature itself, one that includes the natural difference between man and woman (cf. Laudato Si’, 155), and absolute respect for life in all its stages and dimensions.”
Integral human development is, moreover, impossible without peace. Only two days ago in Assisi, Pope Francis, together with numerous other world religious leaders, stressed the importance of dialogue as a privileged way to be peacemakers. Conflicts not only render the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals at the regional level absolutely impossible, but also destroy so many human resources, means of production and cultural heritage. Today, as during the 1950s, 60s and 70s, there is the recurrence of the threat of nuclear conflict with its terrible consequences. The enormous and ill-fated effect of war is a downward spiral from which there is often no escape, triggers an increase in political polarization at the global level and narrows the spaces in which the same international community can propose effective solutions for a stable and lasting peace.
Among the factors that degrade social coexistence in countries and undermine the whole international community, we must count the scourge of terrorism. In the course of recent years, we have seen the metastasis of terrorism to so many parts of the world. Neighbors to Syria and Iraq have increasingly become victims of innumerable barbaric acts. Beyond the Middle East, atrocious acts of terrorism have instilled fear in the daily life of so many across the globe.
In the Middle East, we see the terrible consequences of a spiral of war: many lives destroyed; fallen states; collapsed ceasefires; unsuccessful peace initiatives; and failed attempts to resolve the fundamental causes of conflict in Syria, Iraq and Libya, to find a solution to the crisis of the presidency in Lebanon, and to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This persistent failure has dampened the hopes and promises of all who consider that region sacred and holy. We can also witness these failures in the long-standing conflicts that continue to oppress and take the lives of so many in South Sudan, the Great Lakes, and now for two and half years in Eastern Ukraine. Although these situations have all been high profile and have brought an immense amount of human suffering, we are still very far from resolving their root causes. It almost seems that we have accepted conflict, war and terrorism as part of our new normal.
Beyond the urgency of the need for ceasefires, for respect for the dignity and the rights of affected peoples, and for access to humanitarian aid, there is also the necessity to facilitate negotiation with those who have direct or indirect responsibility for particular conflicts. Thankful for the positive outcome in Colombia, the heartfelt hope of the Holy See is that, through the facilitation of the international community, various forms of contact and dialogue will be pursued to resolve ongoing conflicts.
In particular, from the beginning of the conflict in Syria, the Holy See has invited all Parties to dialogue and the international community to spare no efforts in facilitating an end to violence and in promoting the conditions for dialogue aimed at finding a political solution. Syria, however, has been overrun by all kinds of armed groups. The uproar of arms must cease so that peace may stand a chance, and above all so that humanitarian assistance may be brought to those who most need it. The Holy See is convinced that this is possible provided that there is the political will to bring an end to the fighting.
Despite present difficulties, one can still gratefully find in Lebanon the conviction that the common good requires the participation and cooperation of all sectors of society, based on the rule of law and the idea that institutions are founded on respect for the innate dignity of every human being. The Lebanese constitutional arrangement, in which diverse ethnic groups, cultures and religions are an asset and contribute to a peaceful coexistence, can also be a model for a political solution in the region.
The Holy See also believes that in the Middle East a renewed commitment in favour of the rule of law and of freedom of religion and of conscience is the most effective way to safeguard the dignity of all. In this context, the 2015 Global Agreement that the Holy See signed with Palestine and that has subsequently been ratified by both Parties sets out in law the defence of the most basic human rights, among which are freedom of religion, the right to peaceful assembly, and the freedom publicly to profess one’s own religious beliefs. In the complex situation of the Middle East, and in particular in Iraq and Syria, the Holy See maintains that the Global Agreement with Palestine can serve as a template for other Countries with analogous social
structuring.
In the context of renewed efforts to relaunch the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians, the Holy See renews its appeal to both Parties to abstain from unilateral or illegal measures of whatever kind, which may constitute an obstacle to the search for peace and to the advancing of the two-State Solution.
When we look at the phenomenon of forced migration, we find ourselves before a population of people on the move greater than that of many of the States represented here: sixty-five million people have been compelled to flee from their homes and communities, because of persecution, conflict, widespread violence and hunger, and devastated lands. A word of praise must go to Lebanon and to Jordan for the hospitality they are offering to all who have escaped from war and destruction in Iraq and Syria as well as to Turkey, which is hosting millions of Syrian refugees.
Beyond the necessary urgent consideration of how to resolve the causes of this forced exodus, we must note that migration and development are tightly linked. The consequences of the mass movement of refugees and migrants threaten to weaken our commitment to the values of solidarity and hospitality towards those in need. These values stand at the heart of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy to which Pope Francis has been summoning the world. As Pope Francis has emphasized, “Mercy is the fundamental law that dwells in the heart of every person who looks sincerely into the eyes of his brothers and sisters on the path of life,”especially those who are the weakest and most vulnerable.
Drawing special attention to those who are in prison, the Pope has renewed his pressing appeal “to the consciences of leaders, that they come to an international consensus aimed at abolishing the death penalty.”
Without authentic and absolute respect for life, there can be no development that is truly human, integral and sustainable. Precisely to foster this development, Pope Francis has instituted a new Dicastery or department of the Holy See, the purpose of which is to promote justice, peace, the safeguarding of the environment, and the care of those most in need. The poor and needy are the human face of the sustainable development that we wish to keep ever before us, so that we may become responsible agents of a more just and truly human society.
Thank you.
World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations (WUCWO) Vice President for Africa, Rosaline Nganku Menga has praised the role played by women in the Church. “Women in Africa support vocations with prayer and with material resources. They raise funds to support diocesan Bishops with the training of priests; they assist the religious; they are catechists, heads of parish councils, members of justice and peace committees and so on,” Rosaline Nganku Menga, a Cameroonian national told Vatican Radio’s English language service for Africa in an interview.Early this month, WUCWO Africa held its 9th Africa regional assembly and golden jubilee celebrations in Malawi’s Capital, Lilongwe. The meeting took place under the theme “Women of Africa Proclaimers of God’s Mercy: “Come and See the man who told me everything I did. Could this be the Messiah?” Malawian President, Peter Mutharika along with the first lady, Gertrude, joined thou...
World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations (WUCWO) Vice President for Africa, Rosaline Nganku Menga has praised the role played by women in the Church.
“Women in Africa support vocations with prayer and with material resources. They raise funds to support diocesan Bishops with the training of priests; they assist the religious; they are catechists, heads of parish councils, members of justice and peace committees and so on,” Rosaline Nganku Menga, a Cameroonian national told Vatican Radio’s English language service for Africa in an interview.
Early this month, WUCWO Africa held its 9th Africa regional assembly and golden jubilee celebrations in Malawi’s Capital, Lilongwe. The meeting took place under the theme “Women of Africa Proclaimers of God’s Mercy: “Come and See the man who told me everything I did. Could this be the Messiah?”
Malawian President, Peter Mutharika along with the first lady, Gertrude, joined thousands of women who filled Lilongwe’s Civo Stadium for the opening Mass.
In the interview, Nganku Menga said women in Africa were selfless when it came to serving the Church.
“When a woman takes any role or responsibility in the Church, they do it with so much devotion that you begin to wonder and admire their dedication. Somebody looking at it from outside or as an outsider would think that it is a job with some financial gain to it. When women in Africa work for the Church, they do it in the manner of the women of the Bible who did all they could, from their own resources to cater for the disciples of Jesus. That is exactly how the women of Africa are working in the Church today, “Nganku Menga emphasised.
Nganku Menga explained that among other things, the WUCWO forum aims at building capacity among women.
“There are many women in Africa who are doing a lot and could do more, so as WUCWO we train them and try to empower these women in whatever it is that they are doing to improve their livelihoods and the welfare of their communities,” the WUCWO Vice President for Africa explained.
Asked about her vision for the Church in Africa, Nganku Menga says she looks forward to a Church in Africa that is truly inclusive and gives opportunity to young people and to women who are capable.
“We would like to see many more women holding positions of responsibility within the Church. We have never advocated for women becoming priests, no. There are, however, a lot of things we can do in the Church without becoming priests. We would like to see more women appointed to positions within Catholic institutions such as Catholic schools, universities, colleges and so on,” she said.
The World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations was founded in 1910 and represents 100 Catholic women’s organisations worldwide.
(Fr. Paul Samasumo, Vatican Radio)
Email:engafrica@vatiradio.va
The Catholic University of Malawi (CUNIMA) which opened its doors and enrolled its first-year students in 2006 will on Saturday, 24 September 2016, celebrate its 10th anniversary along with this year’s graduation ceremony at the University grounds, Montfort Campus, Nguludi-Chiradzulu.CUNIMA was established by the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) on 16 October 2004 as an institution of higher learning and was officially opened by the late Bingu Wa Mutharika, then President of the Republic of Malawi on 28 October 2006.CUNIMA Vice Chancellor, Fr. Dr George Buleya said in an interview that the university which believes in quality and holistic education offers twenty-five programmes of study spread over six faculties.“We have the faculties of Commerce, Education, Law, Nursing and Midwifery, Social Sciences and the Faculty of Theology,” said Fr. Buleya.He said the University offers both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and ensures that it operates with app...
The Catholic University of Malawi (CUNIMA) which opened its doors and enrolled its first-year students in 2006 will on Saturday, 24 September 2016, celebrate its 10th anniversary along with this year’s graduation ceremony at the University grounds, Montfort Campus, Nguludi-Chiradzulu.
CUNIMA was established by the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) on 16 October 2004 as an institution of higher learning and was officially opened by the late Bingu Wa Mutharika, then President of the Republic of Malawi on 28 October 2006.
CUNIMA Vice Chancellor, Fr. Dr George Buleya said in an interview that the university which believes in quality and holistic education offers twenty-five programmes of study spread over six faculties.
“We have the faculties of Commerce, Education, Law, Nursing and Midwifery, Social Sciences and the Faculty of Theology,” said Fr. Buleya.
He said the University offers both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and ensures that it operates with appropriate academic standards.
“Students enrolled in the various programmes are assured learning and training opportunities of the highest quality. A holistic approach to higher education ensures that CUNIMA graduates are trained to become useful and reliable citizens who will make a difference when they graduate,” He said.
According to Fr. Buleya, the Catholic University of Malawi (CUNIMA) is a fast growing institution of higher learning and has grown from the initial student population of 127 in 2006 to the current population of 1677 students where 1074 are full-time students, and 603 are part-time students.
In a statement released ahead of celebrations, the university said the climax of the anniversary would be on Saturday, 24th September 2016 when the University will hold the twelfth graduation ceremony with 288 graduands.
“The award ceremony will be preceded by a Thanksgiving Mass to praise God for bringing the university to where it is now. At the same function the University will unveil the new Strategic Plan,” reads the statement in part.
The Catholic University of Malawi was recognised and accredited by the Government of Malawi on 29 January 2009 as an Institution of Higher Learning. Other affiliated colleges under CUNIMA are Kachebere Major Seminary in Mchinji and Inter-Congregation Seminary in Balaka.
(Prince Henderson, ECM Communications Officer)
Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va
(Vatican Radio) The Holy See has deposited the instrument of ratification of the United Nations Convention against Corruption at United Nations headquarters in New York.Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, made the formal deposition on 19 September 2016, both for the Holy See, and on behalf of the Vatican City State.A statement said the Holy See has expressed two reservations and three interpretative declarations, which form an integral part of the instrument of accession.Therefore, in accordance with Article 68, paragraph 2, of that Convention, it will enter into force for the Holy See and the State Vatican City on 19 October.In an article for L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, said, in the future, the competent offices of the Roman Curia and the State of Vatican City will review their administrative procedures in the light of the parameters contained in the Convention, in order to ensu...
(Vatican Radio) The Holy See has deposited the instrument of ratification of the United Nations Convention against Corruption at United Nations headquarters in New York.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, made the formal deposition on 19 September 2016, both for the Holy See, and on behalf of the Vatican City State.
A statement said the Holy See has expressed two reservations and three interpretative declarations, which form an integral part of the instrument of accession.
Therefore, in accordance with Article 68, paragraph 2, of that Convention, it will enter into force for the Holy See and the State Vatican City on 19 October.
In an article for L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, said, in the future, the competent offices of the Roman Curia and the State of Vatican City will review their administrative procedures in the light of the parameters contained in the Convention, in order to ensure the necessary compliance.
He also said he hopes that the accession of the Holy See to the Convention “would contribute to the efforts of the international community to ensure transparency and good governance.”
