Catholic News 2
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Vice President Mike Pence got an insider's look at Kennedy Space Center on Thursday and promised more glory days ahead for "this gateway to the stars."...
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- The Illinois House voted Thursday to override Gov. Bruce Rauner's vetoes of a budget package, giving the state its first spending blueprint in more than two years and ending the nation's longest fiscal stalemate since at least the Great Depression....
LOGANVILLE, Ga. (AP) -- Four young children and their father were found slain in a home outside Atlanta early Thursday, and police say the mother - now charged with their deaths - was the one who called 911 to report the killings....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Eight years after the Great Recession ended, the economy is steadily churning out jobs, and the unemployment rate is at a 16-year low....
Hobby Lobby, the arts-and-crafts chain whose devout Christian owners won a landmark Supreme Court ruling on religious freedom, is caught up in an antiquities-smuggling scandal that has opened the company to accusations of hypocrisy....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A pre-emptive military strike may be among the "pretty severe things" President Donald Trump says he is considering for North Korea, but it's a step so fraught with risk that it ranks as among the unlikeliest options....
WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- Most U.S. presidents use their foreign trips to promote the virtues of American democracy. President Donald Trump did some of that, too. But he didn't hesitate to use his quick visit to Poland to air some pointed grievances, blasting his predecessor, casting doubt on his own spy agencies and unloading on news outlets by name....
(Vatican Radio) A 19 year old Aboriginal student from Brisbane has been named as the inaugural Francis Xavier Conaci scholar, an initiative providing educational opportunities for young people from Australia’s Indigenous communities.Nathan Pitt was announced on Thursday as the first student to be awarded the scholarship, which allows him to study this month at the Rome campus of Australian Catholic University. He’s currently studying psychology at ACU’s Brisbane campus and plans to pursue a career providing mental health support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in remote, rural communities.The scholarship is named after a 19th century Aboriginal student, Francis Xavier Conaci, who was encouraged by a Benedictine abbot in Western Australia to travel to Rome to study, in the hope that he could return to work as a monk within his native community. Conaci died in 1853 at the Rome abbey of St Paul’s Outside the Walls, but his legacy ...
(Vatican Radio) A 19 year old Aboriginal student from Brisbane has been named as the inaugural Francis Xavier Conaci scholar, an initiative providing educational opportunities for young people from Australia’s Indigenous communities.
Nathan Pitt was announced on Thursday as the first student to be awarded the scholarship, which allows him to study this month at the Rome campus of Australian Catholic University. He’s currently studying psychology at ACU’s Brisbane campus and plans to pursue a career providing mental health support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in remote, rural communities.
The scholarship is named after a 19th century Aboriginal student, Francis Xavier Conaci, who was encouraged by a Benedictine abbot in Western Australia to travel to Rome to study, in the hope that he could return to work as a monk within his native community. Conaci died in 1853 at the Rome abbey of St Paul’s Outside the Walls, but his legacy lives on in this new initiative, supported by Australia’s embassy to the Holy See.
Philippa Hitchen spoke with Nathan Pitt to discover how he hopes to take forward that challenging task of empowering Australia’s indigenous communities….
Listen:
Nathan Pitt speaks of his family background, of his Catholic education and of how he grabbed at this opportunity to spend time in Rome to round out his culture and gain a more global perspective in order to be able to go home with better tools and knowledge with which to contribute to building a more just society.
Nathan also expresses his own thoughts and gives a personal perspective on the often tragic history of aboriginal Australians: “there were unfortunately groups who just trampled on all the indigenous people had, and forced their own cultures onto them”.
But, he points out, there were also those who came in and shared their culture, like Francis Xavier Conaci, who worked together with indigenous people helping them to build and develop their communities.
“I think there needs to be a lot more light shed onto the positive aspects” he said.
Nathan speaks of various initiatives that celebrate indigenous culture and heritage and all kinds of aspects of indigenous Australian life pointing out the valuable contribution of Church groups who lend their support and collaboration in building a positive relationship and shining the light on traditional culture.
Above all, Nathan speaks of his own desire to help empower indigenous communities and - in particular - help them to overcome deep-rooted discrepancies and injustice in a situation in which health care and imprisonment negatively affect generations of indigenous Australians: “I’m studying psychology and the key parts of my studies are going to be in criminal psychology and forensic psychology, not so much to go in and help people who have already been imprisoned, but to get in early and help young indigenous Australians to try and break that cycle of imprisonment”.
Washington D.C., Jul 6, 2017 / 11:21 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Just days after North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile that can reach Alaska, bishops in the United States and Europe have called for the “total elimination of nuclear weapons.”“Even a limited nuclear exchange would have devastating consequences for people and the planet. Tragically, human error or miscalculation could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe,” the Bishops said in a joint declaration on Thursday.“We call upon the United States and European nations to work with other nations to map out a credible, verifiable and enforceable strategy for the total elimination of nuclear weapons.”Entitled “Nuclear Disarmament: Seeking Human Security,” the declaration was issued to coincide with the conclusion of a meeting hosted this week by the United Nations “to negotiate a legally binding treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total eliminati...
Washington D.C., Jul 6, 2017 / 11:21 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Just days after North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile that can reach Alaska, bishops in the United States and Europe have called for the “total elimination of nuclear weapons.”
“Even a limited nuclear exchange would have devastating consequences for people and the planet. Tragically, human error or miscalculation could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe,” the Bishops said in a joint declaration on Thursday.
“We call upon the United States and European nations to work with other nations to map out a credible, verifiable and enforceable strategy for the total elimination of nuclear weapons.”
Entitled “Nuclear Disarmament: Seeking Human Security,” the declaration was issued to coincide with the conclusion of a meeting hosted this week by the United Nations “to negotiate a legally binding treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination.”
While the United States and most European nations are not participating in the U.N. meeting, the bishops urged any country that is building up their nuclear arsenal to reconsider the effectiveness of this as a security strategy.
“...our world has become increasingly multipolar with a variety of threats reaching from terrorism, asymmetrical conflicts, cybersecurity to environmental degradation and poverty, which raises doubts about the adequacy of nuclear deterrence as an effective response to these challenges,” they said.
The also noted that building up a nuclear arms base is a waste of money, reiterating a point Pope Francis made in 2014, when he said that prioritizing spending on nuclear weapons “is a mistake and a misallocation of resources which would be far better invested in the areas of integral human development, education, health and the fight against extreme poverty.”
In another message in March 2017, Pope Francis said that peace and security were not built on a race to power and arms, but on “on justice, on integral human development, on respect for fundamental human rights, on the protection of creation, on the participation of all in public life, on trust between peoples, on the support of peaceful institutions, on access to education and health, on dialogue and solidarity.”
Francis is joined by numerous other Catholic leaders including Pope Benedict XVI, Pope John Paul II, Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI who all opposed the development of nuclear weapons.
The bishops closed their statement with another statement of Pope Francis, who said in 2014: “Nuclear deterrence and the threat of mutually assured destruction cannot be the basis for an ethics of fraternity and peaceful coexistence among peoples and states. The youth of today and tomorrow deserve far more. They deserve a peaceful world order based on the unity of the human family, grounded on respect, cooperation, solidarity and compassion. Now is the time to counter the logic of fear with the ethic of responsibility, and so foster a climate of trust and sincere dialogue."
The statement was signed by Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich, president of the Conference of European Justice and Peace Commissions, and by Bishop Oscar Cantú, chairman of the committee on International Justice and Peace for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
IMAGE: CNS photo/Clemens Bilan, EPABy Dennis SadowskiWASHINGTON (CNS) -- Agencies of the U.S. and European Catholic bishops have called for all nations to develop a plan to eliminate nuclear weapons from their military arsenals.A joint declaration released July 6 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Conference of European Justice and Peace Commissions called upon the U.S. and European nations to work with other nations to "map out a credible, verifiable and enforceable strategy for the total elimination of nuclear weapons.""The indiscriminate and disproportionate nature of nuclear weapons compel the world to move beyond nuclear deterrence," the declaration said.Titled "Nuclear Disarmament: Seeking Human Security," the declaration was released a day ahead of the July 7 conclusion of a second U.N. conference discussing a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons altogether.The declaration was signed by Bishop Oscar Cantu of Las Cruces, New Mexico, chairman of the USCCB Committ...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Clemens Bilan, EPA
By Dennis Sadowski
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Agencies of the U.S. and European Catholic bishops have called for all nations to develop a plan to eliminate nuclear weapons from their military arsenals.
A joint declaration released July 6 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Conference of European Justice and Peace Commissions called upon the U.S. and European nations to work with other nations to "map out a credible, verifiable and enforceable strategy for the total elimination of nuclear weapons."
"The indiscriminate and disproportionate nature of nuclear weapons compel the world to move beyond nuclear deterrence," the declaration said.
Titled "Nuclear Disarmament: Seeking Human Security," the declaration was released a day ahead of the July 7 conclusion of a second U.N. conference discussing a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons altogether.
The declaration was signed by Bishop Oscar Cantu of Las Cruces, New Mexico, chairman of the USCCB Committee on International Justice and Peace, and Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg, president of the Conference of European Justice and Peace Commissions.
"The teaching of our church, from the catechism to St. Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis, about the urgent need for nuclear disarmament is clear," Bishop Cantu said in a statement accompanying the declaration's release. "It is time for us to heed this moral imperative and promote human security both within the United States and Europe and globally."
The U.S. and most European nations have sat on the sidelines during the U.N. meetings discussing a weapons ban, preferring to focus on the need for broader security measures to allow for strategic stability on the road to verifiable reductions in nuclear arsenals. In all, about 40 nations are boycotting the negotiations to ban such weapons. Most nations continue to support the Non-Proliferation Treaty to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology.
Bishop Cantu told Catholic News Service his committee and the European bishops wanted to highlight the "glaring absence" of nuclear weapons states, including the U.S., from the U.N. conference.
"The silence gives us some clarity to raise a moral voice, to say, 'Let's look from a moral perspective what our priorities are as a nation when we're looking to invest hundreds of billions of dollars into the update and renewal of the nuclear arsenal," he said.
The declaration, he explained, serves to encourage the countries possessing nuclear weapons to join the U.N. meetings and exercise leadership in reducing and eventually eliminating nuclear weapons stockpiles.
"There are some really serious moral issues, economic issues, priority issues, policy issues that we want to lift up to society and our own electorate," the bishop said.
"We can lend a voice as well to the Vatican statement that was issued in 2014 that was really critical that clarified for the Catholic world at least and others ... that the ethic of deterrence was supposed to be one step on the road toward the elimination of nuclear weapons. It's (stockpiling weapons) not the pathway itself," Bishop Cantu added.
The declaration acknowledged that nuclear weapon states have been spending billions of dollars to modernize their nuclear arsenals. "These costly programs will divert enormous resources from other pressing needs that build security," it said.
"The fact that most of the world's nations are participating in this effort testifies to the urgency of their concern, an urgency intensified by the prospect of nuclear terrorism and proliferation, and to the inequality and dissatisfaction of non-nuclear states about the lack of progress in nuclear disarmament," the statement said.
The declaration cited Pope Francis, who during his papacy has repeatedly called for the elimination of nuclear weapons, most recently in a message to the United Nations' opening conference on a treaty to ban such weapons in March.
- - -
Follow Sadowski on Twitter: @DennisSadowski.
- - -
Copyright © 2017 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.
