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(Vatican Radio) Romanian police have broken up a human trafficking gang in central Romania which misused children and other vulnerable people as slaves since at least 2008. 

The latest operation in which at least 40 people were rescued comes amid international pressure on the European Union member state to tackle organized crime.       

Listen to the report by Stefan Bos: 

Romanian police zoomed in on the mountain town of Berevoiesti. Special police forces made a horrific discovery in this area,some 150 kilometers northwest of the capital Bucharest: Video footage showed a man chained up at a home. And police found two other men and two boys aged between 10 and 12 in chains. They raided homes where they also discovered 50,000 euros and a kilo of gold. 

When the operation finished dozens of victims had been rescued. Organized-crime prosecutors believe some 90 suspects exploited and abused around 65 vulnerable people, some with physical and mental disabilities as well as impoverished people and children. 

Investigators say many of the victims have been held over eight years. In several cases, victims had reportedly been kidnapped near train and bus stations or even close to churches and from their homes. Now suspects were put in handcuffs. A shouting woman denied involvement, as she was carried away.

CAPTIVES AS SLAVES 

That's not what investigators believe. They say suspects like her used captives as slaves. The group allegedly forced many minors to work hard physical work and go begging in various large cities across Romania. Others had to log and sell wood, work as domestic slaves or look after animals. They were often often chained, whipped, beaten and threatened, refused food or made to eat off the ground. And they were coerced into fighting each other for entertainment. 

Some were reportedly stripped naked and doused with hot or cold water. Prosecutors suspect that several people were raped or otherwise sexually abused. They were locked up overnight to prevent them escaping. 

It was eventually Berevoiesti mayor Florin Bogdan who reportedly alerted authorities about suspicions of slavery in his town last year. But it apparently took months to monitor suspects till police finally took action.     

While a chief prosecutor, Valentin Preoteasa, has called the case "unprecedented" and "shocking in the 21th century", Romania has for a long time been under European Union pressure to tackle organized crime groups and corruption. 

Authorities say say those rescued in this latest anti-crime operation have been housed in centres and given food, showers and beds. 
The suspects who chained them now face being locked up themselves, in prison, for up to 20 years.   

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Vatican City, Jul 14, 2016 / 11:31 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Alongside other global institutions such as the United Nations and the International Olympic Committee, German-based insurance carrier Allianz has partnered with the Vatican for a sports conference aimed at exploring the benefits of faith and sport, and to put these into action.

Announced in a July 14 press release from the Pontifical Council for Culture, the partnership between the Vatican and Allianz, a European financial service company with headquarters in Munich, centers on an Oct. 5-7 conference titled “Sport at the Service of Humanity.”

Set to take place in the Vatican, the conference will draw 150 leaders from the world of sport, faith, business and civil society to establish the principles for “a new movement” in sports.

Leaders, the press release states, will discuss “how sport and faith working together can improve and enhance the lives of those who most need it in many different walks of life.”

According to Vatican Radio's Chris Altieri, who is handling media for the conference, leaders and organizers share one common conviction: “that sport helps people become their best selves, and that a healthy sporting culture helps build strong communities.”

The conference, then, seeks to give “robust expression to that vision” by bringing together athletes from all levels of sport alongside leaders from different faith, business, political, academic, policy and cultural communities, he told CNA/EWTN News July 14.

The shape the conference is taking, he said, is designed to encourage participants to share best practices which can then be presented to the broader public “in a helpful manner: to help build a sporting culture that is capable of responding to the needs of today’s society.”

The Pontifical Council for Culture, who conceived the idea for the conference, is engaging with various leaders around the world to ensure their participation. Among those whose presence is already confirmed are U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon and Thomas Back, president of the International Olympic Committee.

In the press release, Msgr. Melchor Sanchez de Toca, undersecretary for the Council for Culture, thanked Allianz for their partnership, noting that “this is the first time that there has been such a high level meeting in the Vatican on sports and faith.”

“It is not a one-off event. The idea is to create a movement that will resonate with everyone, regardless of faith, culture and geography,” he said.

Oliver Bäte, CEO of Allianz SE, said his organization is proud to partner with the council, adding that the movement “aligns with Allianz's desire to support those who choose to live life with courage.”

With the help of the conference, he said, “we will be laying the cornerstone of a global movement that builds bridges between people and helps transform lives.”

 

According to the official website for the conference, the initial inspiration came from the desire to explore the interconnectedness of faith and sport, as well as the “scope and limit” of the combination.

In order to turn the concept into a reality, the Vatican in September 2015 invited 30 individuals representing the various stakeholders to a two-day working session in order to come up with a strategy and an agenda, as well as ideas on how to bring the concept to life.

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Council for Culture, then brought together a core group of sport and marketing experts to form a management team tasked with supporting the council in terms of strategy and partnerships.

According to Altieri, the vision of the October gathering follows the same one outlined by leaders in the 2015 workshop, who, after completing their discussion, “saw the need to continue their conversation.”

The main purpose of the October conference, then, “is to articulate the contours and the content” of this new movement in sports, “and to decide on the next steps.”
 
One concrete step backed by Allianz in particular will be the Humanity Sports Club, which, according to the conference website, is a global initiative geared toward encouraging youth “to adopt the principles of the movement and demonstrate that commitment” both on the field and in life.

The club promotes six fundamental principles they believe ought to govern sports behavior, but which can be adopted by all: joy, compassion, respect, love, balance and enlightenment.
 
Cardinal Ravasi on the conference website said the event will be an opportunity to join together in facing “the great challenges” of modern society, which are “shared interests for the world’s sporting and religious communities.”

How to live with respect for all, with an increased understanding of others’ traditions and values, how to live healthier lives and how to foster more integrated communities are topics of interest for everyone, he said.

Sport, the cardinal added, is also key for education, since it allows youth to “open up to the trials of life, putting themselves to the test, crossing boundaries, meeting opponents on a fair playing field while striving to be the best they can be, in some sense aiming for the Transcendent.”

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IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring

By Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A mobile medical unit donated by the Vatican tours Rome's peripheries, offering free health care to those in need.

A local volunteer association of doctors, health care professionals and medical students use the white and blue-striped RV-style vehicle, which carries Vatican City license plates and the Holy See's coat of arms -- two keys topped by a papal crown.

Dr. Lucia Ercoli, director the Istituto di Medicina Solidale, told the Vatican newspaper that using a medical unit with Vatican license plates lets the migrants, "who live in truly inhumane conditions" in the forgotten corners of Rome, see and experience "the closeness of the pope and the church."

Of the people they serve, many are women, including expectant mothers, as well as children, people who have been tortured in their home country and parents whose children drowned in the sea during their dangerous journey to Italy, she said in an interview published July 13.

The association of medical volunteers has been active since 2004, she said. They partner with other nonprofit groups and the church to staff makeshift clinics and offer services in places of great need.

As of last summer, they started providing services once a week to a church-run center for immigrants near a city train station.

"Hundreds of people," she said, would show up Saturday mornings to get a check-up "and we could do so thanks entirely to the almoner's office that supplied us with the medicines."

The Vatican almoner's office also offered the camper-like medical unit, and now there is a more private setting for patients that better respects their dignity, and the unit is outfitted with needed equipment, she said.

"Thanks to the Vatican camper, so far we have seen more than 2,000 people" by heading to shanty towns and abandoned buildings where the poor and homeless seek shelter, rather than wait for them at a volunteer center.

The Istituto di Medicina Solidale has also been providing medical care for those in need every Monday at a first aid station near the colonnade at St. Peter's Square, again with support from the papal almoner's office, which is funded by charitable contributions from Pope Francis and private donors.

The first aid station for the poor was opened in February, joining the other services -- showers, bathrooms and a unisex salon -- which opened under the colonnade in early 2015.

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Follow Glatz on Twitter: @CarolGlatz.

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Kevin Lamarque, Reuters

By

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In a bipartisan 245-182 vote, House members July 13 passed the Conscience Protection Act, which would provide legal protection to doctors, nurses, hospitals and all health care providers who choose not to provide abortions as part of their health care practice.

"We're grateful to House Speaker Paul Ryan for bringing the Conscience Protection Act to a vote, to all the co-sponsors for their leadership, and to those members of both parties who support the civil right of conscience," said Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore in a statement.

The cardinal is chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities and the archbishop heads their Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty.

"Even those who disagree on the life issue should be able to respect the conscience rights of those who wish not to be involved in supporting abortion," they said.

The measure, also known as H.R. 4828, also provides "much-needed protection for religious employers," they said. "In light of disturbing recent developments, even churches and religious organizations are being required to cover abortions in violation of their beliefs."

Cardinal Dolan and Archbishop Lori urged Congress "to move this vital legislation forward as part of this year's must-pass appropriations package."

H.R. 4828 was introduced in the House last March. It was introduced in the Senate in May as S. 2927; it has been referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and other supporters of the Conscience Protection Act say it close several loopholes in current law that they say are allowing states to mandate abortions be performed or covered by Catholic and other faith-based hospitals and health care providers.

In 2014, California began demanding that all health plans under its Department of Managed Health Care cover elective abortions. The state allows no exemption of any kind. In a ruling issued June 21 of this year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the state can "continue forcing all health plans under its jurisdiction to cover elective abortions, including late-term abortions."

Like California, New York state is mandating that all health insurers operating in New York require small-group employers -- including faith-based nonprofits and Christian businesses -- to cover all abortions with no exemption.

In addition, a trial court in Washington state issued a ruling June 21 that public hospitals in that state must perform abortions if they also offer maternity services. Washington's attorney general says the requirement applies even if a public hospital is acquired by a Catholic health care provider.

The Conscience Protection Act would "ensure that those providing much-needed health care and health coverage can continue to do so without being forced by government to help destroy innocent unborn children," Cardinal Dolan and Archbishop Lori said in a July 7 statement.

In a March letter to Congress, they said the measure "takes the core policy" of the federal Weldon Amendment of 2005 "and writes it into permanent law" to protect "those who decline to perform, pay for, refer for or provide coverage for abortion."

Other signers of the letter included the Christian Medical Association and Catholic Medical Association; the National Council of Catholic Women; the March for Life Education and Defense Fund; the National Association of Evangelicals; the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission; the Knights of Columbus; National Right to Life; and several associations of physicians and nurses.

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By Rhina Guidos

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The week had been emotionally draining at the predominantly black parish in Oakland, California. Along with the rest of the country, they had felt the weight of two more fatal shootings of black men by police.

Then things got worse July 7 when a sniper opened fire and killed five police officers during a march in Dallas where people were protesting the fatal shootings.

Two days later, Father Jayson Landeza, pastor of Oakland's St. Benedict Catholic Church, declared there would be no homilies during his Masses that weekend and instead allowed parishioners to do the talking during that time. What he and those gathered at St. Benedict's heard was sadness, pain, fear.

"My voice was not important," said Father Landeza, a priest who finds himself in the middle of communities colliding with each other this summer. As national leaders call for unity and calm, particularly between black communities and law enforcement, it is up to chaplains like Father Landeza to shepherd their flocks through this tense summer of mistrust and fear of one another.

"Everyone is going to their corners," said Father Landeza.

Many in the black community have voiced fear, as well as anger toward police. And police feel that "here are these people who hate us," said Father Landeza, explaining what some of the police officers feel when they see some of the protests taking place around the country.

What is his role and the role of other chaplains in all of this?

"I'm struggling with that," said Father Landeza during a telephone interview with Catholic News Service. "I'm not going to lecture anybody. I'm just listening and facilitating talking, just talking to each other. Both sides are pretty strongly entrenched."

Feelings all around are raw, he said, and there's a lot of acrimony. But it's also important to hear what everyone is feeling.

"I'm a friend to both sides," said Father Landeza, who was with Oakland police during a particularly dark moment in the department's history. In 2009, four Oakland law enforcement officers, two Oakland police and two SWAT team members, were killed by a felon after a traffic stop. Father Landeza led the public memorial service for the officers.

In 16 years as police chaplain, he's learned that cops are mission-oriented and idealistic, people who are generally trying to do the right thing. His brother-in-law is a police officer, so, in a sense, his mission has a personal element.

But he's also a pastor and he pays attention to what his black parishioners experience.

"There are people in my parish with deep and profound pain that I will never know as an Asian man," he said.

Some of that pain comes from mothers and grandmothers worried about sons and grandsons, teens, but also men in the 40s and what can happen to them at the hands of police. Outside of those communities, many don't understand this fear and dismiss it, he said, but it's important to listen and understand it. That's why he allowed his parishioners to express what they were feeling following the recent shootings. Many thanked him publicly and on Facebook for allowing their voices to be heard.

Along with the mourning, chaplains also are dealing with a growing lack of trust for the police communities they serve, and are trying to find ways to build trust and show support for officers.

"I never experienced the amount of distrust that officers experience today," said Conventual Franciscan Brother James Reiter, a former reserve officer who lives in Castro Valley, California, and who once served as chaplain for the Los Angeles Police Department. It's critical that all sides find common ground, he said.

"Both police officers and the public would benefit by asking God for the grace to see each other with his (God's) eyes," said Brother Reiter. "The vocation of a police officer is similar to the vocation of St. Michael the Archangel, their patron saint. As St. Michael battled the forces of evil, so, too, must police officers battle the forces of evil to protect God's people."

But are there police officers who bring dishonor to their profession?

"Yes, there are," said Brother Reiter, but there also are complicated situations that police face and that are difficult for a person without police academy training to consider. Brother Reiter said his personal ministry is to pray for police officers daily. He opened the @brojimr Twitter account, which he uses daily to tweet support and encouragement to officers he's never met and lets them know that they are appreciated.

On July 12, at a memorial service for the five officers killed in Dallas, President Barack Obama reminded the nation that "despite the fact that police conduct was the subject of the protest, despite the fact that there must have been signs or slogans or chants with which they profoundly disagreed, these men and this department did their jobs like the professionals that they were." But he also acknowledged that despite great strides in race relations in the country, "bias remains."

Father Landeza, who was attending a conference of police chaplains during the memorial, said that as an African-American, the president is in a unique situation but he also has to be careful about what he says, and what he's confined to saying as commander in chief. However, "no one can deny that the president isn't trying," he said. But it's hard to get all sides to listen to one another, Father Landeza said. Chaplains, however, will keep working at it, this summer and beyond.

In New York, Msgr. Robert Romano, deputy chief of chaplains for the New York Police Department, attended a candlelight vigil after the Dallas killings to show unity between police and community. He urged people to build bridges with officers, to not be afraid of them and greet them when they see them in public. 

In Washington, Msgr. Sal Criscuolo, chaplain for first responders, also called on the public to consider circumstances they may not see in a brief video. But consider, he said, that it's not an easy job and it's one that asks for the ultimate sacrifice, including saving the lives of people who may not like you.

"I honestly believe they're called by God," Msgr. Criscuolo said. "It's a vocation, a commitment of going above and beyond. Like Christ himself, you might be called to sacrifice your own life to save the life of another."

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Contributing to this report were Ed Wilkinson and Antonina Zielinska in Brooklyn and Mark Zimmermann in Washington.

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Follow Guidos on Twitter: @CNS_Rhina.

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Copyright © 2016 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.

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