Catholic News 2
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Forget everything you think you know about the new "Ghostbusters" movie....
MILAN (AP) -- Survivors described being thrown forward violently and then freeing themselves from a tangle of metal and body parts after two Italian commuter trains collided head-on Tuesday in the southern region of Puglia, killing at least 22 people and injuring scores more....
DADAAB, Kenya (AP) -- Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai visited the world's largest refugee camp on her 19th birthday Tuesday and voiced concern that Kenya's plans to close it could create "a generation lost."...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General Loretta Lynch steadfastly defended her decision to close the Hillary Clinton email investigation without criminal charges, insisting Tuesday that she simply accepted the unanimous recommendation of career FBI investigators and attorneys....
Within moments of Theresa May's confirmation as the next prime minister of Britain, London tabloids and wags were comparing her to Britain's "iron lady" of the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher. But those taking a closer look see more in common with Europe's most powerful woman today: Germany's "iron chancellor," Angela Merkel....
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) -- With hugs and handshakes, Bernie Sanders endorsed Hillary Clinton for president on Tuesday and emphatically told his supporters their "political revolution" must now turn to electing his Democratic former rival....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Kaylin Luces found herself in a difficult position last week: In one moment, she was texting her sister, a police officer, telling her, "Be careful out there. Cops are getting shot." In another, she sent a text to her two young nephews to be mindful of how they act when in the presence of police....
DALLAS (AP) -- At a memorial for slain police officers, President Barack Obama declared Tuesday that a week of deeply troubling violence has appeared to expose "the deepest fault lines of our democracy." But he insisted the nation is not as divided as it seems and called on Americans to search for common ground in support of racial equity and justice....
(Vatican Radio) A cessation of hostilities appears to be holding in South Sudan following President Salva Kiir’s appeal after a resurgence of violence in the country’s capital of Juba.Forces loyal to president Kiir and vice president Riek Machar resumed fighting last Friday on the eve of the country’s fifth year of independence.Since the outbreak of violence more than 300 people, including UN peacekeepers, have been killed and thousands have been displaced within the capital, raising concerns that violence will spread throughout South Sudan.Many fear that the country is on the brink of falling back into a civil war.Georgia Gogarty spoke to Angela Wells, the communications officer for Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Eastern Africa, who described the current circumstances in Juba and the terrible situations the South Sudanese people are finding themselves in.Listen: Angela Wells has described the situation as “dire” with many fearing that the country...
(Vatican Radio) A cessation of hostilities appears to be holding in South Sudan following President Salva Kiir’s appeal after a resurgence of violence in the country’s capital of Juba.
Forces loyal to president Kiir and vice president Riek Machar resumed fighting last Friday on the eve of the country’s fifth year of independence.
Since the outbreak of violence more than 300 people, including UN peacekeepers, have been killed and thousands have been displaced within the capital, raising concerns that violence will spread throughout South Sudan.
Many fear that the country is on the brink of falling back into a civil war.
Georgia Gogarty spoke to Angela Wells, the communications officer for Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Eastern Africa, who described the current circumstances in Juba and the terrible situations the South Sudanese people are finding themselves in.
Listen:
Angela Wells has described the situation as “dire” with many fearing that the country is reverting back into conflict “despite the peace agreement signed by leaders just a few months ago”. Thousands have been internally displaced within Juba, and many aid agencies have chosen to evacuate following the bombardments of UN compounds.
People have been fleeing South Sudan since 2013, Wells explained. There are 2.4 million displaced persons, 1.7 million within the country and 700,000 fleeing to Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya. Those who have fled since last Friday in particular were in Juba. They are civilians living in the capital, “normal people working in the city trying to make a normal life”, who have been caught in the crossfire of heavy artillery and bombardments.
3500 people are being housed in Catholic churches across the city. Concerns have been raised however over the sanitary conditions as many of these churches are not designed to cope with the number of people they are receiving. Civilians are running from one protection site to another, mainly schools and churches which “are perceived to be safer but in actual fact are not” Wells said. There is a sense of uncertainty, as Wells stressed, “we don’t know if people will start to flee outside of Juba of it this violence will escalate to other areas of the country”, where it will be harder to keep people safe.
Wells said the “mandatory thing that’s needed as soon as possible is protection” and the fact that UN centers provided to protect people have been attacked is “completely unacceptable”. She went on to explain that many of those arriving to protection centers are “very malnourished” and that “food provision, shelter and medical care” are the priorities. She explained that “no agency can ensure that those services will reach people “if humanitarian channels are being attacked. Therefore “all humanitarian services need to be protected amidst this conflict”.
For JRS a major need is education. She explained that many are “eager to learn despite being in a war”. For South Sudanese people “learning is the only thing they can take away that no one can take from them” and can subsequently grow from this conflict. She stressed that education must be prioritized amongst other emergency needs.
Pope Francis has said that “peace is a priority” for South Sudan. Despite peace seeming elusive at this moment according to Wells, she said that his words have huge “significance for everyone working with displaced persons and the South Sudanese themselves”. She said that the country’s leaders and international community need to prioritize peace in their hearts and structures of power. Wells said, “ultimately they have to give up their greed that is fueling this conflict” and “we need to see this in tangible actions not just words”.
There was no letup in flood misery in Madhya Pradesh and Assam with most parts of Central and Eastern states of India facing unprecedented very heavy rainfall.Incessant rains in the past five days have killed at least 22 people in India's Madhya Pradesh state, displacing hundreds of others and submerging homes, schools, hospitals and mission stations."Hundreds of houses, churches, schools are flooded displacing people. Mission stations are flooded in many parts of the state," said Father Maria Stephen, public relations officer of Bhopal Archdiocese based in the state capital with the same name. The rains, reportedly the heaviest in 43 years, have flooded the entire city, he said.Father Stephen said the natural calamity "is a painful situation" for the church in the state but "we cannot do much for affected people" owing to negligible numbers and limited financial sources. Nearly 70,000 people are left homeless as water rose to dangerous levels alo...
There was no letup in flood misery in Madhya Pradesh and Assam with most parts of Central and Eastern states of India facing unprecedented very heavy rainfall.
Incessant rains in the past five days have killed at least 22 people in India's Madhya Pradesh state, displacing hundreds of others and submerging homes, schools, hospitals and mission stations.
"Hundreds of houses, churches, schools are flooded displacing people. Mission stations are flooded in many parts of the state," said Father Maria Stephen, public relations officer of Bhopal Archdiocese based in the state capital with the same name. The rains, reportedly the heaviest in 43 years, have flooded the entire city, he said.
Father Stephen said the natural calamity "is a painful situation" for the church in the state but "we cannot do much for affected people" owing to negligible numbers and limited financial sources. Nearly 70,000 people are left homeless as water rose to dangerous levels along parts of the Narmada river.
Christians form only 0.29 percent of 72 million people in the state and the majority of them belong to indigenous and Dalit communities who live in remote villages.
"We have deployed church volunteers to help in rescue and relief operations in many parts of the state," said Father Stephen, adding that in several places people are stranded.
The army has moved 400 flood-hit people in the Satna area of the state to safer places. The Satna Diocese’s Bishop’s House, church-run schools and convents are inundated.
"We could not even go out of our houses to help the needy," said Father Martin Punnolilil of Satna Diocese. "It is terrifying," he said adding that roads are under waist-high flood waters.
The state government has deployed rescue teams to move affected people to temporary relief camps set up in government buildings, school and colleges located on higher ground.
"Thousands of people will be evacuated today. We are working on a war footing mode to set up relief camps," additional home secretary Basant Singh said in Bhopal, the state capital. "The health department is distributing medicines to prevent outbreak of water-borne diseases."
State Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told media that his officials are on constant alert to tackle the flood situation and to ensure shelter, food, drinking water and disease prevention measures for affected people.
(Source: UCANews)
