Catholic News 2

Rimini, Italy, Aug 19, 2016 / 03:45 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A teddy bear, a diploma, a menu – items owned, achieved and touched by Christians who were brutally killed in attacks this year – are on display in an exhibit aimed at drawing people into a visceral experience of the persecuted faithful.  
 
The display was created by the Italian branch of Aid to the Church in Need at the ecclesiastical movement Communion and Liberation's annual meeting in Rimini from Aug. 19-25.
 
A swing and a small carousel for children, six university desks, and a restaurant table set represent the three most recent scenarios where the anti-Christian persecution reached a peak: the suicide attack on Easter Sunday in a park in Lahore, that resulted in 72 deaths and 280 injured; the April 2 Garissa University massacre in Kenya, with a toll of 149 Christian students assassinated; the July 1st attack in a cafe in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
 
The relics of the martyrdom are also significant: the exhibit will show the teddy bear of one of the 30 children killed in Lahore; the graduation certificate that Muchire Shee was not able to complete, as she was killed in Garissa; the menu of the Holey Artisan Bakery of Dhaka the victims browsed before being held as hostages, tortured and assassinated.

Visitors will will also pass through “a tunnel of martyrs,” a dark space that will show images and audio of nine of the martyrs of our time. Among those, Fr. Jacques Hamel, the 85-year-old priest recently assassinated in Rouen; Fr. Andrea Santoro, the Italian priest killed in Turkey in 2006; Shahbaz Bhatti, the Pakistani ministry for Religious Minorities killed in 2011 because of his opposition to local blasphemy laws.
 
There will be also living testimonies of the Christian persecution taking place all over the world.
 
Seven witnesses will be present at the exhibit, to testimonies visitors the situation of Christians in their countries: Msgr. Mtanios Haddad will talk about the situation in Syria; Professor Shaheed Mobeen will provide details of the situation in Pakistan; Fr. Issa E.H. Abusada will discuss the Holy Land; the plight of Christians in Iraq will be recounted by Fr. Rebwar Basa.
 
Fr. Herman Tanguy will talk about the Central African Republic, a land that was blessed by Pope Francis’ visit last November while enduring a difficult and long term political situation. Fr. Martino Serrano will provide updates on the peace process in Colombia, while Fr. Olekasandr Khalayin will talk about the “forgotten conflict” in the Ukraine, that Pope Francis recently brought under the spotlights with the promotion of an extraordinary collection for the Ukraine Apr. 24.
 
Talking to CNA, Fr. Basa underscored that what is going in Iraq must be called a “genocide” as “our houses were seized and labeled with the ‘N’ of Nazarene; our churches have been turned into mosques, or into military headquarters or even in places where women are sold, raped and treated like slaves; many of our faithful were attacked and killed, or kidnapped and tortured and liberated after a very high ransom; many of us were assassinated for the only reason that they were wearing a cross.”
 
In the end, he said, “there is a serious attempt to cancel everything that links us to our land: our language, religious identity, places of worship, properties, traditions, culture, liturgy, monuments, manuscripts.”
 
Aid to the Church in Need also showed in the exhibit its response to the dire situation: the delivery of the Child's Bible, printed in 52 million copies and translated into 180 languages (include Pakistan's urdu and Central Africa's sango) and its supports the formation of 11,000 seminarians, more than one third of those are Africans. Additionally in Dhaka, Aid to the Church in Need is building a church in Bangladesh together with the family of Simona Monti, one of the victims. The Church will be dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel, and will be built in Harintana.
 
Communion and Liberation's Rimini event this year will host 106 conferences, 14 shows, 17 exhibitions and 22 sporting events. More information can be found at: http://www.meetingrimini.org/eng/.

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Washington D.C., Aug 19, 2016 / 03:57 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Amid continuing dispute over its transgender bathroom policy, the retail giant Target has denied that the controversy is linked to its decline in sales and says it will not change the policy.

Instead, it will spend $20 million for single-toilet bathrooms at 300 more stores. These bathrooms are not for individuals whose biological sex and gender identity differ, but instead are for people who are uncomfortable with the thought of using a restroom with a transgender individual.

The store chain in April announced that staff members and customers who identify as transgender may use the restroom or fitting room that corresponds with their self-identified gender, not their biological sex.

Critics voiced concern that the policy would allow men to use the women’s bathroom and could pose a risk to women and children. The American Family Association launched a boycott that gathered 1.4 million signatures online.

On Wednesday, Target said it would add single occupancy restrooms to the 300 of its 1,800 stores that currently lack them, CNN Money reports.

Walker Wildmon, assistant to the president of the American Family Association, said the addition of private restrooms “doesn't completely answer our concerns.” Boycott leaders want the policy changed.

On Wednesday, the company said its sales were disappointing and lowered forecasts on future sales. Sales have dropped 7 percent in the last year.

Wildmon said the American Family Association is “confident that our boycott has played a significant role in Target's financial results that came out today.”

Target Chief Financial Officer Cathy Smith said there is no evidence the boycott had significant effect on sales.

Target spokeswoman Katie Boylan said the addition of bathrooms is about “inclusion” and wanting “everyone to feel comfortable in our stores.”

 

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Tulsa, Okla., Aug 19, 2016 / 03:57 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Khalid Jabara, a Lebanese-American Christian man, was killed in Tulsa, Okla. last week. His alleged assailant was a man who repeatedly harassed his family with anti-Muslim, anti-Arab language.

The killing has caused concern about attitudes in the U.S.

“Here, in the United States, Mr. Jabara and his family became targets of violence and hatred not because of their faith, but because of their Middle Eastern identity and culture,” In Defense of Christians executive director Kirsten Evans said Aug. 17.

“Sadly, Middle Eastern Christians caught in the crossfire of the sectarian conflict plaguing the Middle East have also become vulnerable scapegoats for hatred and violence born of political and cultural tensions here in the United States.”

On Aug. 12, Jabara called police to report that his neighbor, Stanley Vernon Majors, had a gun in his hand and that he was scared about what might happen, his sister Victoria Jabara Williams said in a statement. The police said there was nothing they could do because the man had returned to his home.

Soon after police left, Jabara stepped out of his house. Police say his 61-year-old neighbor was waiting for him, CNN and the Washington Post report.

Majors fatally shot Jabara, 37. The assailant was arrested and will be charged with first-degree murder.

Jabara’s sister said the man’s history was well-known.

“This suspect had a history of bigotry against our family. He repeatedly attacked our ethnicity and perceived religion, making racist comments. He often called us ‘dirty Arabs,’ ‘filthy Lebanese,’ ‘Aye-rabs,’ and ‘Mooslems’,” said Williams.

The man also commented against Mexicans and blacks, she said.

“Our brother’s death could have been prevented,” she added. “This man was a known danger.”

Neighbors had lodged several complaints against Majors, who had a history of making threats.

In 2013, the Jabara family filed a protective order against him, and Majors then filed a restraining order against Jabara. In 2015 Jabara’s mother, Haifa, was taking a walk in the neighborhood when the man allegedly ran her over with his car. She spent weeks in the hospital with major injuries.

The police report indicated Majors was intoxicated at the time and accused the Lebanese of crimes committed by Islamic extremists.

“Majors remarked that Mrs. Jabara and her family were filthy Lebanese and they throw gay people off roof tops,” an officer wrote in the report.

Majors was charged with felony assault and initially held in custody without bond. Against the district attorney’s wishes, a judge allowed his release until his March 2017 trial date.

“My family lived in fear of this man and his hatred for years,” Williams objected. “Yet in May, not even one year after he ran over our mother and despite our repeated protests, he was released from jail with no conditions on his bond – no ankle monitor, no drug/alcohol testing, nothing.”

The Jabara family had settled in Tulsa in the 1980s, and Jabara was an active member of St. Antony Orthodox Church.

His parish has said the community “will always remember the young man who grew up in our parish. Khalid had a huge heart and loved his parents, siblings, nieces and nephews. He was kind, funny, bright and caring; everyone who knew him was truly the better for it.”

“The entire St. Antony family mourns with the Jabara family and feels the loss of Khalid. May the love and compassion of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ along with the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos and all the saints bring their family peace and comfort and may the memory of Khalid truly be eternal.”

In Defense of Christians, which focuses on Christians in the Middle East, lamented the apparent motives of the killer.

“That anyone, no matter who they are or where they come from, could be targeted for violence, persecution and even death simply because of their ethnic or religious identity, is unconscionable,” said Evans, the organization’s executive director. “Our deepest sympathy goes out to Mr. Jabara’s family and community.”

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Washington D.C., Aug 19, 2016 / 05:07 pm (CNA).- Friday, August 19 is World Humanitarian Day, as designated by the United Nations General Assembly in 2008. The day “honors those, who have lost their lives in humanitarian service and those, who continue to bring assistance and relief to millions,” the U.N. has stated.

“The Day also seeks to draw attention to humanitarian needs worldwide and the importance of international cooperation in meeting these needs.”

Amidst a global humanitarian crisis where the number of persons displaced from their homes is at its highest ever recorded, here are five things to know:

The Lake Chad Basin in Africa – which includes the countries of Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger – has been described as the “world’s most neglected humanitarian crisis.” Famine, drought, and sectarian violence by the terror group Boko Haram and militant Fulani herdsmen have combined to displace almost 3 million. The U.N. has estimated that over nine million people need humanitarian aid. In Northeastern Nigeria alone, in territory held by the Boko Haram, the U.N. has estimated that around a quarter million children “are suffering from severe malnutrition.”  

The scale of displaced persons is so large that the International Olympic Committee recognized them with their own team, competing in Rio under the Olympic flag. A team of 10 athletes made the trek, including a Syrian swimmer Yusra Mardini. In August of 2015, she was on an overcrowded refugee boat that broke doewn in the Aegean Sea. Mardini swam to the Greek island of Lesbos, and from there to Europe. “My message at these games is just “Never give up’,” she said.  

The Vatican has stepped up its humanitarian outreach efforts. It now provides showers, haircuts, and even circus outings and beach trips for Rome’s homeless. It has welcomed refugees. Pope Francis recently lunched with 21 Syrian refugees.  

“World Humanitarian Day recognizes those who dedicate their lives to serving others in difficult circumstances,” according to Catholic Relief Services. Perhaps no one did this better than Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who will be canonized Sept. 4. CRS’ Sean Callahan, who once worked with Mother Teresa, recalled that “she didn’t just send people out – she did the work herself…We felt we were in the presence of a saint.”  

You can pledge to pray for someone in need through Catholic Relief Services’ Virtual Votive Candle project. If you want to make a donation through CRS, you can do it to honor Bl. Mother Theresa of Calcutta in advance of her Sept. 4 canonization.

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