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(Vatican Radio) The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games is on Friday,  but as things stand today: is Rio De Janeiro ready to host the biggest extravaganza in sport?. 

Listen to the report by James Blears: 

Hundreds of protesters were met with Police tear gas and pepper spray as the Olympic torch arrived in Rio, by boat after a three month odyssey around Brazil. 

It`s estimated that the Olympics, which have happened just two years after the soccer World Cup, will cost Brazil in excess of fifteen billion dollars.  
That`s less than other venues in other countries, but Brazil isn`t economically match fit, with a deep recession matched by  a political crisis, which has seen President Dilma Rousseff ousted.  

Those Brazilians who are demonstrating argue that the money expended could have been better directed and more wisely used,  by helping the poor, who live in their teaming overcrowded thousands,   in the poor run down favelas,   skirting the smart new venues and buildings, which have been completed on time.  Many Brazilians can`t afford the price of tickets for the Olympics in Rio. Thousands of those tickets remain unsold.

Rio has a very high crime rate.  There have been several well documented cases of athletes and workmen being robbed at gunpoint.  Accordingly 85,000 troops and Police are on patrol,  acting as guardians rather than trouble shooters.  

Authorites promised to clean up Rio`s Guanabara Bay, which remains heavily polluted with sewage and other pollutants.  Olympic sailors will have to navigate a course around this, staying tight lipped. Don`t drink the water!

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(Vatican Radio) At the beginning of every month Pope Francis makes known his prayer intention for the month to come.

In August it has to do with Sport  and his desire that sports may build a culture of encounter among everyone for a world of peace.

In July the Pope’s prayer intention was for Respect for Indigenous Peoples.

In a video message he said that he prays that “indigenous peoples, whose identity and very existence are threatened, will be shown due respect”.

Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni looked into the question of the rights of Indigenous and Tribal peoples with Lewis Evans who works for Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights.

Listen:

Pointing out that this is not the first time Pope Francis has called for respect for indigenous people’s rights, Lewis Evans says “it is great the Pope  is putting the issue  at the heart of his agenda”.

Commenting on the Pope’s words when he says ‘I want to be a spokesperson for the deepest longings of indigenous peoples, […] who are threatened in their identity and in their existence’ Evans upholds this statement saying that  many tribal and indigenous peoples around the world are indeed facing annihilation: their land is being destroyed, their labour stolen.

“In all kinds of different parts of the world people face eviction from their ancestral lands, their basic rights as human beings are denied, people try to silence and brutalize them… so it’s fantastic to have people like Pope Francis on our side in the struggle for recognition of peoples’ rights” he says.

The Pope’s video message features a woman in traditional tribal attire asking to be listened to, but she is addressing an empty auditorium.  To the question whether rights campaigners do in fact feel they are not being listened to, Evans says that is often the case especially as for too many ‘powerful’ people these issues are a very low priority. This is something Survival, he says, is trying to change.

Evans explains that Survival International is an NGO that campaigns for the rights of tribal peoples and is supported entirely by donors.

“Basically we help tribal people to defend their lives, protect their lands and determine their own futures” he says.

He says Survival works in partnership with tribal peoples, “gives them a platform from which to speak to the world, investigates atrocities, supports legal representation, funds medical self-help projects, educates the search campaign lobbies and protests on behalf of tribal peoples in support of their rights”.

Evans says tribal peoples are threatened across the globe. Many of them he says are in South America where there are still some un-contacted tribes while others are partially integrated into the mainstream of society – like the Guaranì in Brazil – whom, he points out, are facing extermination as their lands are systematically being stolen while they are subjected to genocidal violence, slavery and racism.  

Other reasons that see tribal populations across all five continents being threatened have to do with economic interests and even wildlife conservation as some governments claim to know how to look after peoples lands better than people who have lived on them for millennia.

“So it really is a global struggle and that’s why we try and get support on a global basis mobilizing supporters to campaign, lobby and protest all across the world” he says.

What with the Olympics about to kick off in Brazil, Evans also shines the spotlight on the situation of tribal populations in the Amazon in Brazil where there are many who risk being wiped out and who are being campaigned for by Survival and its supporters.

Evans also highlights the incredible wealth of diversity indigenous populations provide the planet with.

“They are part of our human diversity; people have the right to determine their own futures and to determine how they wish to live”.

Also he says: “tribal and indigenous peoples are the best guardians and conservationists of the natural world; they are better at looking after the environment than anyone else, they have a very sustainable relationship to their natural environment”.

To find out more about the work of Survival International and to join its campaigns click here.
  
 
      

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Assisi, Italy, Aug 4, 2016 / 11:22 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The path to heaven is through forgiveness and pardon of those who have offended us, just as we have received salvation through the love and forgiveness of the Father, Pope Francis said today in Assisi.

“Today I would like, before all else, to recall the words that, according to an ancient tradition, Saint Francis spoke in this very place, in the presence of all the townsfolk and bishops: ‘I want to send you all to heaven!’”

“What finer thing could the Poor Man of Assisi ask for, if not the gift of salvation, eternal life and unending joy, that Jesus won for us by his death and resurrection?” said Pope Francis during his meditation at the Porziuncola at the Papal Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels.

“We are never alone in living the faith; we do so in the company of all the saints and of our loved ones who practiced the faith with joyful simplicity and bore witness to it by their lives. There is a bond, unseen but not for that reason any less real, which makes us, by baptism, ‘one body’ moved by ‘one Spirit.’”

Pope Francis visited the Porziuncola to mark the 800th anniversary of the “Pardon of Assisi,” when, according to tradition, while Saint Francis was praying, he had a vision of Christ and Our Lady surrounded by angels. When the Lord asked what he wanted for the salvation of souls, Saint Francis responded by asking God to grant a plenary indulgence to all pilgrims who visit the church.

“Forgiveness – pardon – is surely our direct route to that place in heaven. Here at the Porziuncola everything speaks to us of pardon! What a great gift the Lord has given us in teaching us to forgive and in this way to touch the Father’s mercy!”

Pope Francis reflected on the parable in Matthew 18:21-35, where the servant who, after having been forgiven of a large debt by his master, in turn does not forgive the smaller debt of his fellow servant.

We all could be the servant in the parable with a debt so large we cannot repay it, Pope Francis said. “When we kneel before the priest in the confessional, we do exactly what that servant did. We say, ‘Lord, have patience with me.’ We are well aware of our many faults and the fact that we often fall back into the same sins. Yet God never tires of offering us his forgiveness each time we ask for it.”

Pope Francis drew parallels to the parable explaining how God is like the master, feeling compassion, pity and love for us. He said that God’s forgiveness knows no limits for those who acknowledge their wrongdoing in their hearts and desire to return to him.

The problem occurs, Pope Francis said, when we do not extend the same forgiveness toward our brothers and sisters who have offended us. “The reaction described in the parable describes it perfectly: He seized him by the throat and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’”

“When we are indebted to others, we expect mercy; but when others are indebted to us, we demand justice! This is a reaction unworthy of Christ’s disciples, nor is it the sign of a Christian style of life.”

Pope Francis recalled the words of Jesus to Peter to forgive not “seven times, but seventy times seven,” trusting in the Father’s love, rather than our own idea of justice. As disciples of Christ, we have received God’s mercy, Pope Francis said, “at the foot of the cross solely by virtue of the love of the Son of God. Let us not forget, then, the harsh saying at the end of the parable: ‘So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.’”

The Pope noted how even eight centuries later, Saint Francis continues to be a channel of God’s pardon and said that no one can feel exempt from the work of showing the world God’s mercy. “In this Holy Year of Mercy, it becomes ever clearer that the path of forgiveness can truly renew the Church and the world,” he said.  

“The world needs forgiveness; too many people are caught up in resentment and harbor hatred, because they are incapable of forgiving. They ruin their own lives and the lives of those around them rather than finding the joy of serenity and peace. Let us ask Saint Francis to intercede for us, so that we may always be humble signs of forgiveness and channels of mercy.”

 

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Toronto, Canada, Aug 4, 2016 / 01:43 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Middle East Christians need help to survive, and leaders in the relief effort have outlined what the average Catholic can do.

“They can speak out. They should talk with their parish. And they should pray,” Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, told CNA Aug. 3.

Echoing his call to action was Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil in northern Iraq.

“Pray for them. Tell their story. Raise awareness about persecution. Give aid,” he said. The archbishop encouraged Americans and Canadians to try to put pressure on their politicians “to really adjust the whole political vision of America, Canada and the Middle East.”

The plight of Middle East Christians and other minorities was a major focus of the Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus held in Toronto. Several Middle East bishops attended alongside other bishops and the order’s delegates from around the world.

The convention came exactly two years after the Islamic State group’s capture of Mosul and the expulsion of tens of thousands of Christians. In Iraq’s neighbor Syria, civil war has raged for five years, with the Christian minority especially affected.

“These communities that still speak the language of Jesus have the right to continue,” Anderson told reporters Wednesday. “They must have equal rights.”

He called on Western governments to make aid conditional on human rights for minorities.

“The perpetrators of genocide must be brought to justice,” he said.

Anderson pointed to the Knights of Columbus’ $11 million in support for Middle East Christians and other minorities like the Yazidi people Since 2014. The relief effort has tried to address shortfalls in humanitarian relief caused by Christians’ avoidance of refugee camps, which they consider dangerous.

The Catholic fraternal organization has also helped lead the effort for a Congressional recognition of genocide.

Anderson cited the latest issue of the Islamic State magazine Dabiq. Its cover story, titled “Break the Cross,” highlighted a photo of an Islamic State partisan taking down a cross and setting up the flag of the extremist group that holds territory in Iraq and Syria.

The issue also shows a photo of Pope Francis labeled “The Enemy.”

“What could be more clear?” Anderson asked. “They are targeting Christians for extinction and they are making no secret about it.”

Archbishop Warda said he keeps hope alive for Iraqi Christians by reminding them that they are not forgotten. Aid from abroad that helps them secure decent housing, schools, clinics and other services helps them know this.

Iraqi Christians’ plight is better compared to the Yazidi population, but their families who have fled to Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan are in a “dreadful” situation.

Anderson urged North American Catholics to contribute financially “even a little bit” to the Knights’ Christian Refugee Relief Fund and pass the word to their fellow parishioners.

Yousif Thomas Mirkis, Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Kirkuk, said American and Canadian Catholics can learn from Iraq’s Christians.

“Share knowledge, share hope, and share concern,” he said, even suggesting some visit his diocese. “If you come, only three days in Kirkuk is better than three hours of explanation.”

In his view, many North Americans have difficulty understanding the situation and are isolated from global problems.

The Islamic State group has now gone global, according to the archbishop. He pointed to a professed Islamic State ally’s attack on a night club in Orlando as a moment of awakening, and as an opening for Iraqi Christians to help Americans.

“We are aware. We are educated. We speak Arabic. We write in Arabic. We can help. We can advise,” Archbishop Mirkis said.

The Syrian situation was also a topic in Toronto. Melkite Archbishop Jean-Clement Jeanbart of Aleppo told reporters Syria was “a wonderful country” that is now destroyed.

“When I think about it, yes, sometimes I am almost crying… because it’s terrible,” he said. “The people there have no more food for their children, no work or income, and are under constant attack.

“Our people are terrorized and we are really in a big danger of disappearing… because an exodus has begun.” He has a plea for those who want to help the Church: “help us. Help us by stopping this savagery.”

Archbishop Warda said he keeps hope alive for Iraqi Christians by reminding them that they are not forgotten and that “God is with them.” Aid from abroad that helps them secure decent housing, schools, clinics and other services helps them know thIs.

In Iraq, Archbishop Mirkis runs a university to help young people of all religions resist the negative forces in the country.

“I gather many students, Muslim, Christian and Yazidi. I help them to stay in Kirkuk and to attend university. I have 400 students. In this way I build the future,” he said.

Like Archbishop Warda, Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignatius Yousseff III Younan of Antioch invited Catholics to visit Christians in safe parts of Syria to learn the humanitarian and political problems for themselves.

The patriarch at times voiced positive sentiments towards Syrian president Bashar Assad, whose violent crackdown on protesters helped trigger the Syrian Civil War.

He said Assad supported Christians and other minorities against extremists.

“We are not siding with Assad, nor with his party, nor with his government,” Patriarch Younan added. “We patriarchs and bishops side with the people, who endure this kind of hecatomb that fell on Syria and Iraq.”

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Washington D.C., Aug 4, 2016 / 01:50 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Supreme Court on Thursday put a temporary halt to a federal judge’s ruling that a student who identifies as transgender must have access to either gender’s public school restroom.

“I am pleased the Supreme Court blocked this ruling before children return to school,” said Mat Staver, founder and chair of the legal group Liberty Counsel.

In a 5-3 decision, the Court put a stay on a federal court’s ruling that the Gloucester (Va.) County School Board must allow a student who was born a girl and identifies as a boy to use the boys’ bathroom at school. The stay will last until the Supreme Court either refuses to hear the case or hears and decides the case.

The student is protected under Title IX of the Civil Rights Act which “prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity,” because of federal interpretations of the statute to include protections for sexual orientation, the Fourth Circuit Court ruled in April.

In the decision, the court cited Department of Education regulations that girls and boys bathrooms be “comparable” to each other, and the department’s Office for Civil Rights statement that “a school generally must treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity.”

Previously, a lower court had denied the student an injunction against the school board’s restroom policy. The circuit court remanded that decision and sent it back, and in June the district court judge ruled that the school district had to allow the student access to the men’s bathroom. The case will still be appealed to the Supreme Court.

Justice Stephen Breyer approved the stay of the ruling “as a courtesy,” since “four Justices have voted to grant the application” and “we are currently in recess, and that granting a stay will preserve the status quo” until the Court agrees to take or refuse the case.

According to court documents, the student in question, “G.G.” had received hormone therapy and a legal name change to a boy’s name. The student and the mother “told school officials that G.G. was a transgender boy.”

G.G. began using the boys’ bathroom until the county school board proposed that school bathrooms be restricted to separate biological genders and that transgender students have access to an independent private bathroom.

The student refused to use a private bathroom because doing so would “make him feel even more stigmatized . . . . Being required to use separate restrooms sets him apart from his peers, and serves as a daily reminder that the school views him as ‘different.’”

The U.S. Catholic Bishops have recently spoken about treatment of children identifying as transgender.

“Especially at a young age and in schools, it is important that our children understand the depth of God's love for them and their intrinsic worth and beauty. Children should always be and feel safe and secure and know they are loved,” Bishop Richard Malone of Buffalo and Archbishop George Lucas of Omaha stated on May 16.

Bishop Malone chairs the U.S. bishops’ family life and youth committee; Archbishop Lucas chairs the bishops’ Catholic education committee.

Nevertheless, the bishops said, federal agencies’ treatment of “‘a student's gender identity as the student's sex’ is deeply disturbing,” the bishops continued, citing Pope Francis’ words in Amoris Laetitia that “the young need to be helped to accept their own body as it was created.”

There have been “legitimate concerns about privacy and security on the part of the other young students and parents,” the bishops added of policies that recognize students’ gender identity over their biological sex.

“As Pope Francis has recently indicated, ‘biological sex and the socio-cultural role of sex (gender) can be distinguished but not separated’,” the bishops added.

 

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By Michael Swan

TORONTO (CNS) -- Cardinal Marc Ouellet, whose writings were once strongly identified with resistance to any change to the ban on Communion for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, has given a ringing endorsement to "Amoris Laetitia," the apostolic exhortation by Pope Francis that sums up two synods on the family.

"In all honesty, I think that controversies around 'Amoris Laetitia' are understandable," Cardinal Ouellet, head of the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops, told about 2,000 Knights of Columbus gathered in Toronto for their annual convention.

But Cardinal Oullet said rather than demand clarifications, his audience -- which included dozens of bishops -- should reread the 250-page document with its 400 footnotes.

"It is a document worth reading and re-reading slowly," he said. "Especially Chapter 4 on love."

As the 2015 Synod of Bishops on the family approached, Cardinal Ouellet re-published and updated his 2007 book, "Mystery and Sacrament of Love: A Theology of Marriage and the Family for the New Evangelization." The book was a frequent touchstone for those arguing against any change in church discipline, which regards divorced and remarried Catholics who did not receive an annulment as living in sin with their current spouses.

But in his Aug. 2 speech to the Knights of Columbus, Cardinal Ouellet emphasized that Pope Francis had not touched Catholic teaching regarding divorce and the indissolubility of marriage.

"What is proposed is a new pastoral approach," said the cardinal, in charge of vetting and appointing bishops around the world. "More patient and respectful, more dialogical."

"Amoris Laetitia" opened the way for remarried Catholics and their pastors to engage in "a responsible personal and pastoral discernment of particular cases, one which would recognize that, since 'the degree of responsibility is not equal in all cases,' the consequences or effects of a rule need not necessarily always be the same."

This idea of discernment before applying a blanket rule, and the possibility that different bishops in different parts of the world may come to different conclusions, has moved an anonymous group of 45 theologians to write a letter to the College of Cardinals demanding they "respond to the dangers to Catholic faith and morals" they perceive in "Amoris Laetitia."

Cardinal Ouellet's response was to raise the possibility that such a process of pastoral discernment might be good for everybody, not just the divorced and remarried.

"I am confident this process of discernment will bear fruit for all Christian families," he said.

In a speech full of praise for Pope Francis' humility and life of prayer, Cardinal Ouellet said he was grateful for "Amoris Laetitia." He also praised the pope's Jesuit practice of twice daily examinations of conscience and his outreach to the poor and marginal -- especially to prisoners.

"The Holy Father is aware of his own wounds, mistakes and sins," said Cardinal Ouellet. "He approaches those in need who are in jail not from on high, demanding respect, but asking for forgiveness."

Pope Francis' life of prayer brings him closer to the Holy Spirit, the cardinal said.

"Our own Pope Francis is also unpredictable, like the Holy Spirit," he added.

Cardinal Ouellet urged the Knights of Columbus to engage in dialogue that is "delicate and respectful, cognizant of our own mistakes." He also praised the Knights for their record of service and charity.

"This aspect of charity is emphasized by the Apostles and Pope Francis," he said. "Our Holy Father shows us that charity goes beyond being for people. We must also be with people, which also will transform us."

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Swan is associate editor of The Catholic Register, Toronto-based Canadian Catholic weekly.

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