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ANSTED, W.Va. (AP) -- The Latest on flooding that has devastated parts of West Virginia(all times local):...
LONDON (AP) -- The Latest on Britain's historic vote to leave the European Union (all times local):...
FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) -- Dozens of homes were looted and burned as Fallujah was liberated from the Islamic State group, and Iraqi government forces Monday accused the retreating militants. Some provincial police, however, blamed the fires on Shiite militias operating with the federal police....
LONDON (AP) -- Politicians who wanted Britain to leave the European Union were not shy about making promises. They plastered their campaign bus with vows to "take back control" on immigration and boost funding for the beloved National Health Service....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- As Hillary Clinton considers her choices for vice president, she's seriously weighing the potential negative impact her decision could have on Democratic efforts to retake control of the Senate, according to party members familiar with her thinking....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court issued its strongest defense of abortion rights in a quarter-century Monday, striking down Texas' widely replicated rules that sharply reduced abortion clinics in the nation's second-most-populous state....
(Vatican Radio) One year from the publication of the “Motu Proprio” with which Pope Francis established the new Vatican Secretariat for Communication charged with reforming Vatican media, the Prefect of the Secretariat, Msgr. Dario Eduardo Viganò, gives a run-down of the work accomplished in the past 12 months and looks ahead to a new vision.Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni: In an interview with Vatican Radio’s Alessandro Gisotti, Msgr. Viganò points out that clear indications in the Pope’s “Motu Proprio” place the current digital culture at the center of the reform and change the perspective into a “User first” one that challenges us to “stop navel-gazing in the assumption that others are listening and looking at us”.The media reform regards all the Vatican media outlets including the daily newspaper “L’Osservatore Romano”, Vatican Radio, CTV, the LEV publishing house, the typography ...
(Vatican Radio) One year from the publication of the “Motu Proprio” with which Pope Francis established the new Vatican Secretariat for Communication charged with reforming Vatican media, the Prefect of the Secretariat, Msgr. Dario Eduardo Viganò, gives a run-down of the work accomplished in the past 12 months and looks ahead to a new vision.
Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni:
In an interview with Vatican Radio’s Alessandro Gisotti, Msgr. Viganò points out that clear indications in the Pope’s “Motu Proprio” place the current digital culture at the center of the reform and change the perspective into a “User first” one that challenges us to “stop navel-gazing in the assumption that others are listening and looking at us”.
The media reform regards all the Vatican media outlets including the daily newspaper “L’Osservatore Romano”, Vatican Radio, CTV, the LEV publishing house, the typography and the Vatican Press Office.
Msgr. Viganò points out that some 85% of the population use mobile devices to connect to media. The Pope’s “Motu Proprio”, he says, is “an invitation to leave behind the arrogance of a unidirectional mode of communication” and to realize that we are called to bring the message of the Gospel to men and women of today who are immersed in new media.
Speaking of the past year of work, Msgr. Viganò says it has been an intense but “fascinating” time that has seen some 400 people involved in over 140 meetings in an effort to understand the existing potential and to draw up new projects. Some of these, he says, have resulted in investing in professional training and some staff members have been given the opportunity to “grow” by doing master degrees in business administration and communications.
Msgr. Viganò says the Pope himself and the C9 Council of Cardinals were extremely interested in their last meeting at the beginning of June to be updated on how the reform is proceeding. He says numbers were specifically spoken about because “the Cardinals will have to take responsibility for some of the decisions” to be made.
Regarding the technical aspects of the reform and the presentation of the new multi-media internet portal, Msgr. Viganò points out that “it’s all very well to have a new portal with better software, more options, etc., but the real reform takes place behind the scenes”. He describes the portal as the tip of an iceberg of a system in which everything will be produced by a concerted team effort: “we must learn to put our personal experience aside and put ourselves humbly in the position of learning because humility is the necessary way to approach the reform”.
And regarding the new portal itself, Msgr. Viganò explains it will feature videos, podcasts, images, print articles and live radio. He says the advantages for those who listen/watch/read us is that they will no longer be confused or “cannibalized” by turning to us.
Claiming that “we have been inexistent for the public”, he says that when Francis was elected Pope most people consulted Wikipedia to discover who Jorge Mario Bergoglio was and says there is much work to be done regarding web reputation and positioning.
“We must become ‘the source’ for Vatican and Papal news – not the official source (that’s the Press Office) but an important source’, he says.
Following an in depth analysis of the organizations that make up Vatican media, Msgr. Viganò says the Secretariat has come to the conclusion that it is the work of the people which is ultimately penalized: “it’s like a motor that has everything and yet does not work efficiently; instead of producing energy it produces only heat and ends up overheating and stalling. Here we have a motor; we want it to function properly so that it can go fast, so that it can put on the breaks, so that it can overtake when needed”.
Regarding the unification of Vatican Radio and CTV, Msgr. Viganò says a ‘repositioning’ and an ‘empowerment’ of the Radio’s “105 Live” local radio broadcasts will soon be a reality because, he says, it is important for the radio dimension to remain and people will be able to continue to listen to Vatican Radio in Italian. However he says it will possibly feature news broadcasts in other languages as well.
“As Fr Lombardi mentioned on the occasion of the Radio’s 80th anniversary, Vatican Radio is no longer a radio station” he said.
The different language programmes, Msgr. Viganò explains, will be the ‘beating heart’, the protagonists of the ‘hub content’ of the new portal with a slew of multi-linguistic and multi-cultural programmes with text content and audio that will be offered via podcasts.
Caritas Bangladesh has a new executive director. Francis Atul Sarkar took over from Benedict Alo D'Rozario, who served the social arm of Bangladesh’s Catholic Church in various capacities for 29 years. D’Rozario who is 60, served for 11 of these years, as executive director. At the handover ceremony at the charity’s headquarters in Dhaka on Thursday, Sarkar said Caritas Bangladesh would prioritize helping more poor and downtrodden communities in order to "serve and care" for their development. "Service is all we aim to offer to more and more people. We will make more effort to help people benefit from the model of service and care of the Catholic Church," he told UCANEWS. Among those present at the June 23 inauguration of the new Caritas director were Caritas Bangladesh president Bishop Gervas Rozario of Rajshahi and Archbishop Patrick D'Rozario of Dhaka.Sarkar, 58, from Baradal...
Caritas Bangladesh has a new executive director. Francis Atul Sarkar took over from Benedict Alo D'Rozario, who served the social arm of Bangladesh’s Catholic Church in various capacities for 29 years. D’Rozario who is 60, served for 11 of these years, as executive director.
At the handover ceremony at the charity’s headquarters in Dhaka on Thursday, Sarkar said Caritas Bangladesh would prioritize helping more poor and downtrodden communities in order to "serve and care" for their development. "Service is all we aim to offer to more and more people. We will make more effort to help people benefit from the model of service and care of the Catholic Church," he told UCANEWS. Among those present at the June 23 inauguration of the new Caritas director were Caritas Bangladesh president Bishop Gervas Rozario of Rajshahi and Archbishop Patrick D'Rozario of Dhaka.
Sarkar, 58, from Baradal Parish in the Diocese of Khulna, joined the regional office in southern Bangladesh as an education officer in 1990. For nine years until 2003, he led Caritas Khulna as its regional director. In 2003, Sarkar worked at Caritas central office in Dhaka as a team member to formulate 'Caritas 10-Year Strategic Plan.' He served as Caritas development director from 2005-2014. After 2014 he worked as Assistant Executive Director (Programmes) at the agency.
Emphasizing Christian values, care and responsibility in Caritas services is a major goal for the organization, Sarkar said. "Our efforts in services and development are based on Christian values of charity. We would like to strongly maintain that Caritas is different than other NGOs," he said. To make this happen, he said, Caritas staff would be well equipped as "weapons of service" to establish the church's "philosophy of service." Another major goal is to motivate people to help each other for development, he said. "People have a tendency to help each other when in need, and we would like to preserve this motivation. This is so people can participate in development with their own resources, and they can make resilient efforts in situations like disasters, of their own accord," he said.
Despite Christians being a small minority, representing less than half a percent of Muslim-majority Bangladesh's 160 million people, Caritas has made great strides in the development of poor and marginalized communities since independence in 1971. Currently, eight Caritas regional offices help 2 million families directly with 95 projects that include education, vocational training, livelihood, water, sanitation, health and climate change adaptation programmes.
D'Rozaio, the outgoing executive director, said 93 percent of Caritas Bangladesh funds were spent on services for the people and only seven percent on staff. "This,” he told UCANEWS, “is the lowest rate of administrative expenses among Caritas members in the world." (Source: UCAN/AsiaNews)
Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle on Friday unveiled a project in an effort to reach out to people for whom healthcare services are hardly a reality. The Archbishop of the Philippine capital, Manila, blessed two mobile clinics of Caritas Manila, donated by the US-based Barnabite Heart to Heart Ministry for its “Make Sad Eyes Smile” project in Pennsylvania in September 2015. Through the two trailers, volunteer doctors and nurses will provide services to street children and the homeless in areas of Metro Manila. “If they can’t come to the hospital then the clinic will go to them. Through these clinics, we hope that God’s concern and healing could reach many people,” said 59-year old Card. Tagle, who in May last year was elected the president of Caritas Internationalis by over 130 member organizations from all over the world. According to American Barnabite priest Fr. Robert Kosek, who hea...
Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle on Friday unveiled a project in an effort to reach out to people for whom healthcare services are hardly a reality. The Archbishop of the Philippine capital, Manila, blessed two mobile clinics of Caritas Manila, donated by the US-based Barnabite Heart to Heart Ministry for its “Make Sad Eyes Smile” project in Pennsylvania in September 2015. Through the two trailers, volunteer doctors and nurses will provide services to street children and the homeless in areas of Metro Manila. “If they can’t come to the hospital then the clinic will go to them. Through these clinics, we hope that God’s concern and healing could reach many people,” said 59-year old Card. Tagle, who in May last year was elected the president of Caritas Internationalis by over 130 member organizations from all over the world.
According to American Barnabite priest Fr. Robert Kosek, who heads the Barnabite Heart to Heart Ministry, clinics are simple “acts of kindness” and proof that “love still exists.” “I call these clinics the oasis of mercy through the countless of people donated… people who cannot be here but gave one dollar or 50 cents (for these project),” said the priest who worked in the Philippines. Card. Tagle agreed with him saying that just like any act of love, there’s a community behind it. “So we thanks the collaborators and friends who pursued this worthy project,” he said. “This is close to a miracle. People were generous. People were selfless.” He added that the mobile clinics as “gifts” are impetus and invitation “for all of us to spread compassion.” “Let us nurture the gift and let it be used responsibly to promote the good especially of the poor,” the Tagle said. (Source: CBCP)
IMAGE: CNS photo/Jeff Bruno, The MonitorBy Patrick T. BrownTRENTON,N.J. (CNS) -- "What's the point of working so hard in school if you'regoing to end up cutting grass?"Thosewords stick with Jose Aguilar two decades later. He was sitting in a New Jerseyclassroom, a teenager in the country without legal documents, and took hisex-Marine teacher's hard-nosed advice as license to, as he puts it, "giveup."Aguilarremembers his teacher calling him an "excellent student," but saying,"I see a lot of kids just like you who end up working as a landscaper. IfI was you, I'd just quit school, and find something you're good at."Whenhe was young, Jose had been brought across the U.S.-Mexico border without documentationas his family pursued economic stability and a brighter future. His choices ledhim to instability and a brush with death.Buthis journey didn't end there. A conversion experience, becoming a father and makinga trip to a Catholic Charities immigration office helped him regain the promise...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Jeff Bruno, The Monitor
By Patrick T. Brown
TRENTON, N.J. (CNS) -- "What's the point of working so hard in school if you're going to end up cutting grass?"
Those words stick with Jose Aguilar two decades later. He was sitting in a New Jersey classroom, a teenager in the country without legal documents, and took his ex-Marine teacher's hard-nosed advice as license to, as he puts it, "give up."
Aguilar remembers his teacher calling him an "excellent student," but saying, "I see a lot of kids just like you who end up working as a landscaper. If I was you, I'd just quit school, and find something you're good at."
When he was young, Jose had been brought across the U.S.-Mexico border without documentation as his family pursued economic stability and a brighter future. His choices led him to instability and a brush with death.
But his journey didn't end there. A conversion experience, becoming a father and making a trip to a Catholic Charities immigration office helped him regain the promise his family sought when crossing the border decades ago.
In many ways, Jose's story exemplifies the challenges and opportunities facing the roughly 700,000 young people brought to this country without legal permission who have found permanent legal status in the U.S. through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA.
Many immigrants and immigrant advocates were hopeful the U.S. Supreme Court would uphold President Barack Obama's executive actions expanding the DACA program and creating a new program, the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents, or DAPA.
Obama's policies were aimed at temporarily protecting more than 4 million unauthorized immigrants from deportation and allowing them to have temporary work permits, but 26 states challenged the president's policies and they were put on hold last November by a Texas-based federal judge. His injunction was upheld by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
On June 23, in United States v. Texas, the high court in a 4-4 decision upheld the circuit court's ruling.
The ruling could have a far-ranging impact on families struggling to stay together and gain a foothold from which to build a more stable future.
Families not unlike Jose and Marina Aguilar.
Jose was 7 when his family succeeded on their fourth attempt to cross the border.
"The guy that was supposed to bring us, he abandoned us in the desert, he left us there," Jose recalled in an interview with The Monitor, newspaper of the Diocese of Trenton. Another "coyotaje" -- a smugglers who help migrants cross the border without authorization -- came across them and helped them finish the journey.
"When I was in Mexico, they all told me the U.S. was beautiful, that I would have everything I never had over there, and at first it was like, 'That was a lie,'" Jose said. "It was horrible at first, crying, missing Mexico, but you just get used to it."
He learned English, "good enough that my friends thought I was born here," and worked hard in the classroom. Then came his conversation with his teacher, and the spiral downwards commenced.
"I'm not blaming him for what happened, because it's my fault, but ... I gave up. I gave up hope," Jose said. "I didn't care about my mom's tears, I really didn't care about any of it. I'm not proud of it."
He joined a gang, parties were frequent, drugs became a part of life -- then more than just a part. An accidental overdose left Jose in the hospital, at death's door. He started seeing deceased family members. Feeling his time was up, he started to pray.
"I told God, 'Don't do it for me,'" Jose said. "'I deserve this. I deserve to die. I am nothing. But don't let my mom suffer for what I'm doing. Because she doesn't deserve it.'"
He recovered, started attending church again, and swore off drugs. He found the stability his mother wanted for him in leaving Mexico, and a large part of that change occurred upon meeting his now-wife, Marina, and the birth of their daughter, Helen.
"Once she was born, we were like, 'We have to do something about changing her life,' because it's not just about our life anymore, everything is about her now," Marina said. "We want her to have both of her parents, always, and that's it. It's just the best thing that happened to us. She's our sunshine."
Jose and Marina, who belong to St. Anthony Claret Parish in Lakewood, New Jersey, began to look into programs that would help Marina become a permanent U.S. citizen. A friend encouraged them to attend an outreach presentation organized by Catholic Charities Community Services.
Marina's green card meant she could apply for lawful citizenship. For over two months, she stressed over studying for the citizenship exam, finding time during breaks at work or before going to sleep.
As the date of her test approached, her car was stolen. Inside was the green card proving her legal residence.
Catholic Charities helped Marina navigate the bureaucracy and continue her journey toward becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen. Even after she passed the citizenship test, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services still made her wait two months before the naturalization ceremony to investigate the lost green card.
When the day finally came for Marina to be sworn in as a U.S. citizen, she said, "I just couldn't stop crying.
"It really means a lot to me -- I met Jose here, my daughter was born here, this is now my country. I really worked hard for it, and it's my country now."
Regardless of the court's June 23 ruling, having the stability of legal status in the U.S. has made the Aguilars' lives less stressful in innumerable ways.
"I used to be scared before, of him (Jose) going out (for the day) and not coming back," Marina told The Monitor. "I used to always make sure I went with him, so in case anything happened, I knew he'd be OK. ... We don't need to be scared anymore."
Marina hopes Helen will grow up learning to dream big but added that "nobody will give you anything for free. ... You have to work hard for it."
After obtaining his GED and receiving legal status through DACA, Jose already has a new goal: to be sponsored into U.S. citizenship by Marina and become a licensed contractor.
"It's not that I'm not happy with what I have," Jose said, "but I want my daughter to have a better future."
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Brown is outgoing editor of The Monitor, newspaper of the Diocese of Trenton.
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