Catholic News 2
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraqi special forces swept into Fallujah on Friday, recapturing most of the city as the Islamic State group's grip crumbled after weeks of fighting. Thousands of trapped residents took advantage of the militants' retreat to flee, some swimming across the Euphrates River to safety....
VIENNA (AP) -- The Latest on the IAAF's meeting on Russia (all times local):...
(Vatican Radio) Vatican Weekend for Saturday 18th of June, 2016 features our report on the weekly general audience of Pope Francis with pilgrims from across the world. This is followed by an interview to mark the ‘Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church’ currently taking place in Crete and an historical journey back in time focusing on relations between Canterbury and Rome. In the last part of the programme we share a tour of Christian and pagan Rome with Latinist Carmelite Father Reginald Foster. A programme presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick:
(Vatican Radio) Vatican Weekend for Saturday 18th of June, 2016 features our report on the weekly general audience of Pope Francis with pilgrims from across the world. This is followed by an interview to mark the ‘Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church’ currently taking place in Crete and an historical journey back in time focusing on relations between Canterbury and Rome. In the last part of the programme we share a tour of Christian and pagan Rome with Latinist Carmelite Father Reginald Foster.
A programme presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick:
(Vatican Radio) Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva, addressed the 32nd session of the Human Rights Council Thursday, drawing attention to the efforts of the Catholic Church in education on behalf of young women and girls.The 32nd session of the Human Rights Council has as its focus Women’s rights and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: delivery on the promise to leave no one behind. Archbishop Jurkovic said education "represents one of the most important determining factors for the promotion of women in society", empowering them in their role as protagonists in society in the face of inequality and violence. "Collaboration with and respect for women are fundamental in building a society based on real values, including those related to religious convictions."He noted that the Catholic Church sponsors around 400,000 elementary and secondary schools in all parts of t...
(Vatican Radio) Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva, addressed the 32nd session of the Human Rights Council Thursday, drawing attention to the efforts of the Catholic Church in education on behalf of young women and girls.
The 32nd session of the Human Rights Council has as its focus Women’s rights and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: delivery on the promise to leave no one behind.
Archbishop Jurkovic said education "represents one of the most important determining factors for the promotion of women in society", empowering them in their role as protagonists in society in the face of inequality and violence. "Collaboration with and respect for women are fundamental in building a society based on real values, including those related to religious convictions."
He noted that the Catholic Church sponsors around 400,000 elementary and secondary schools in all parts of the world, representing a substantial effort to aid the intellectual and cultural development of young women.
The full text of his intervention is below:
Geneva, 16 June 2016
Mr. President,
The Holy See welcomes this Panel discussion on “Women’s rights and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: delivery on the promise to leave no one behind.” Indeed, the 2030 Agenda gives clear indication of comprehensive global agreement that Sustainable Development cannot be achieved without protecting and caring for every man and woman in need, and adopting an approach aimed at ensuring that “no one will be left behind”. However, despite renewed emphasis in the 2030 Agenda on the innate dignity of the human person and on the unity of the human family, many women around the world continue today to suffer from violation of their fundamental human rights.
Mr. President.
In order to achieve sustainable development, we must overcome discrimination. In particular, violence against women is an atrocious manifestation of widespread discrimination and inequality against women and girls. It prevents millions of women from fulfilling their critical role in society. As underscored in the Sustainable Development Goals, addressing this problem is fundamental to creating “a peaceful and equitable future.” [1] The Holy See Delegation believes that elimination of violence requires a specific and concerted commitment by both governments and civil society. As regards the latter, the Catholic Church, through its associations and commitment, in both cities and rural communities, has been a pioneer in assisting and helping women victims of violence and in providing them with secure shelter, as well as psychological and social support.
My Delegation would like to recall that current levels of domestic violence against women and girls reflect a most alarming prevalence. As Pope Francis stated in Amoris Laetitia: “The verbal, physical and sexual violence that women endure in some marriages contradicts the very nature of the conjugal union.” [2] Such shameful behaviour hinders women from bringing out their best and unique qualities, which are so useful and necessary to make society progress in the right direction. In this regard, the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides a fresh opportunity to reflect on the pivotal role of genuine and strong family bonds, as the family is the key starting point for a better society.
Mr. President,
Collaboration with and respect for women are fundamental in building a society based on real values, including those related to religious convictions. In this respect, education represents one of the most important determining factors for the promotion of women in society; it empowers them to become protagonists in efforts to overcome inequality and violence and to bring their unique and effective contributions to the creation of a more just and equitable human family. In this regard, we note the significant resource offered by 400,000 Catholic Church-sponsored elementary and secondary schools in all parts of the world. Many of these are located in developing countries. These Catholic Church-sponsored educational institutions are particularly attentive also to make education accessible to girls and young women, especially those who come from underprivileged or marginalized families and communities.
Mr. President,
In conclusion, disregard of the equal dignity of human beings constitutes one of the most urgent challenges to the international community. We are all well aware of the specific and distinctive influence of women in society, whose input and leadership can be crucial to the search for solutions to the many global problems facing humanity, from poverty to climate change. Women have a specific vocation in the human society and they must be encouraged to embrace the opportunity to uphold the dignity of life through their involvement in education and their participation in political and civic life. They can and should develop their unique “capacity for the other” for, without their voice, the social fabric of society would be weakened.
Thank you, Mr. President.
[1] Report of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women on the activities of the United Nations Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women, 15 December 2015, p.16
https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N15/431/06/PDF/N1543106.pdf?OpenElement
[2] Pope Francis, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia, 54, p. 43.
(Vatican Radio) Vatican Weekend for 19th of June 2016 features our weekly selection of readings and reflections on the Sunday gospel presented by Jill Bevilacqua and an interview focusing on ‘Chesterton & Eugenics: the challenge of our time’ with the President of the Chesterton Institute at Seton Hall and editor of the Chesterton Review, Fr. Ian Boyd, CSB along with his Seton Hall colleague and friend, Prof. Dermot Quinn.Listen to a programme presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick:
(Vatican Radio) Vatican Weekend for 19th of June 2016 features our weekly selection of readings and reflections on the Sunday gospel presented by Jill Bevilacqua and an interview focusing on ‘Chesterton & Eugenics: the challenge of our time’ with the President of the Chesterton Institute at Seton Hall and editor of the Chesterton Review, Fr. Ian Boyd, CSB along with his Seton Hall colleague and friend, Prof. Dermot Quinn.
Listen to a programme presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick:
(Vatican Radio) A video message by Pope Francis was released on Friday to highlight an awareness and fund-raising initiative by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). The charity’s “Be God’s Mercy” initiative marking the Jubilee Year of Mercy was formally launched at a press conference in the offices of Vatican Radio. Please click here to listen and watch Pope Francis' video message. In his video message the Pope urged people to “carry out works of mercy together with ACN in every corner of the world, in order to meet the many, many needs of today.”Please find below a full English translation of the Pope's video message on behalf of the charity, ACN:"I want to appeal to all men and women of good will all around the world for a work of mercy to be done in each town, in each diocese, in each association. We, men and women, need God’s mercy, but we also need each other’s mercy. We need to take each ...
(Vatican Radio) A video message by Pope Francis was released on Friday to highlight an awareness and fund-raising initiative by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). The charity’s “Be God’s Mercy” initiative marking the Jubilee Year of Mercy was formally launched at a press conference in the offices of Vatican Radio.
Please click here to listen and watch Pope Francis' video message.
In his video message the Pope urged people to “carry out works of mercy together with ACN in every corner of the world, in order to meet the many, many needs of today.”
Please find below a full English translation of the Pope's video message on behalf of the charity, ACN:
"I want to appeal to all men and women of good will all around the world for a work of mercy to be done in each town, in each diocese, in each association. We, men and women, need God’s mercy, but we also need each other’s mercy. We need to take each other’s hand, caress each other, take care of each other and not make so many wars. I am looking here at the dossier prepared by Kirche in Not, a papal foundation, to carry out works of mercy in the whole world. I trust Kirche in Not with this work… I also entrust them to carry on the spirit they have inherited from Father Werenfried van Straaten who had the vision at the right time to carry out in the world these gestures of closeness, of proximity, of goodness, of love and of mercy. So I invite all of you, together with Kirche in Not, to do, everywhere in the world, a work of mercy but one that stays, a permanent work of mercy; a structure for so many needs that there are today in the world. I thank you for everything you do. And do not be afraid of mercy: mercy is God’s caress."
ACN projects supported during the four-month “Be God’s Mercy” campaign in 2016 include prison ministry, drug rehabilitation centres and support groups for women who have suffered violence.
The charity said Pope Francis has supported an ACN project providing medicine for St Joseph’s Clinic, Erbil, in the Kurdish north of Iraq, which serves 2,800 displaced people who fled their homes when militants of the so-called Islamic State group captured large swathes of Iraqi territory.
Also speaking at the press conference was Archbishop Sebastian Shaw of Lahore, Pakistan, who gave an account of the atrocity on Easter Sunday in Yohannabad near Lahore where suicide bombers killed 76 people in a park, most of them Christian families celebrating Easter with a picnic. Archbishop Shaw was interviewed by Susy Hodges after the press conference:
Listen to the interview with Archbishop Sebastian Shaw of Lahore:
Christians in Pakistan form a tiny minority and have been long been the victims of targeted attacks by Islamic extremists but the suicide bombing on Easter Day outside Lahore was by far the bloodiest attack since 2113. Asked about the morale of Catholics living in Pakistan, Archbishop Shaw said “fear was always there” but despite this Christians were "strong in their faith" and “morale was still high.”
Turning to Pope Francis’ video message to highlight the “Be God’s Mercy” awareness and fund-raising campaign organized by the ACN, Archbishop Shaw said they were “very much encouraged” by this papal gesture. He also disclosed that they had received financial aid from the Pope to help the victims of the Easter Day suicide bombing and spoke of his gratitude for this.
(Vatican Radio) A group of nine Syrian refugees, including two Christians, arrived in Rome on Thursday from the Kara Tepe refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, following the visit of Pope Francis to the island on April 16, when he accompanied three families of refugees back to Rome.The Vatican Gendarmeria, with the help of Interior Ministry of Greece, the Greek Asylum Service, and the Community of Sant’Egidio, accompanied the refugees from Athens to Rome on Thursday. The Community of Sant’Egidio will provide for their housing, according to a statement from the Holy See Press Office.The refugees, six adults and three children, are all Syrian citizens who were in the Kara Tepe refugee camp. They had arrived in Lesbos from Turkey.
(Vatican Radio) A group of nine Syrian refugees, including two Christians, arrived in Rome on Thursday from the Kara Tepe refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, following the visit of Pope Francis to the island on April 16, when he accompanied three families of refugees back to Rome.
The Vatican Gendarmeria, with the help of Interior Ministry of Greece, the Greek Asylum Service, and the Community of Sant’Egidio, accompanied the refugees from Athens to Rome on Thursday. The Community of Sant’Egidio will provide for their housing, according to a statement from the Holy See Press Office.
The refugees, six adults and three children, are all Syrian citizens who were in the Kara Tepe refugee camp. They had arrived in Lesbos from Turkey.
The Ethiopian Catholic Church’s Social and Development Commission Coordinating Office of Meki (ECC SDCOM) is providing irrigation water to 1200 households. The irrigation scheme constructed at Azezera Beredu Kebele of Arsi Zone has the potential to irrigate about 450 hectares of land. The project which includes the Women Savings and Credit Cooperative is implemented with a budget of 3 million Euros secured from Oxfam Intermón.The local community which is traditionally dependent on rain-fed agriculture hopes that with the new structure, they will be able to harvest crops about three times a year. This will significantly increase the annual income of every beneficiary household as they now can produce beyond consumption. The surplus will be for the market. For such a rural community, any increase in the income for families means fewer burdens on women and children. This will allow children to attend school without disruption thus moulding them into more successful citiz...
The Ethiopian Catholic Church’s Social and Development Commission Coordinating Office of Meki (ECC SDCOM) is providing irrigation water to 1200 households. The irrigation scheme constructed at Azezera Beredu Kebele of Arsi Zone has the potential to irrigate about 450 hectares of land. The project which includes the Women Savings and Credit Cooperative is implemented with a budget of 3 million Euros secured from Oxfam Intermón.
The local community which is traditionally dependent on rain-fed agriculture hopes that with the new structure, they will be able to harvest crops about three times a year. This will significantly increase the annual income of every beneficiary household as they now can produce beyond consumption. The surplus will be for the market. For such a rural community, any increase in the income for families means fewer burdens on women and children. This will allow children to attend school without disruption thus moulding them into more successful citizens. This, in turn, will contribute to the growth of the community and the development of the country as a whole.
Bishop Abraham Desta, the Apostolic Vicar of the of Meki, speaking at the inauguration ceremony, underlined that development is not something that is achieved with one process but is an ongoing effort that needs the united effort of all parties involved. He stated that the Church in Ethiopia always strives to achieve integral human development through her pastoral and development works and also by creating networks among the beneficiaries and the donor agencies.
“They say Rome was not built in a day, so our effort for development does not stop here. Today we have inaugurated this irrigation scheme that will support about 1200 families using the water nature has provided to the community, but the water has a potential to irrigate more land so after the inauguration we must start thinking about the expansion work and reaching more beneficiary households,” he said.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, a representative of the FDRE Charities and Societies Agency, Mr Thomas appreciated the work of the Ethiopian Catholic Church Social and Development Commission in supporting the rural community and assured of the agency’s continued collaboration for further achievements.
“Our agency is always pleased when we witness that the funds received from donor agencies are put to a good use for the development needs of the rural community, we commend the achievements of the Catholic Church in all her efforts for integral human development, and we assure you of our continued collaboration,” said Mr. Thomas.
The Ethiopian Catholic Church Social and Development Commission otherwise known as Caritas Ethiopia is registered with the Ethiopia Charities and Societies Agency and works through Diocesan Coordinating offices.
(Makeda Yohannes, Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat)
Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va
(Vatican Radio) June 18th marks the first anniversary of the publication of Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical Laudato Si’, focused on the care of our common home.The document, presented at a high profile press conference in the Vatican, explores the interconnected concerns of caring for human life and protecting the environment, calling for action based on an interior ecological conversion.Named after the words of St Francis in his Canticle of the Creatures, the encyclical asks what kind of world do we want to leave to our children and urges humanity to work together to solve the most pressing problems of inequality, injustice and environmental destruction.One year on, numerous conferences and encounters are taking place to examine the impact of the encyclical and ask how it is changing hearts, minds and practical policies.Among the interreligious organisations that have taken the Pope’s call to heart is the Jerusalem based Interfaith Center for Sustainable Devel...
(Vatican Radio) June 18th marks the first anniversary of the publication of Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical Laudato Si’, focused on the care of our common home.
The document, presented at a high profile press conference in the Vatican, explores the interconnected concerns of caring for human life and protecting the environment, calling for action based on an interior ecological conversion.
Named after the words of St Francis in his Canticle of the Creatures, the encyclical asks what kind of world do we want to leave to our children and urges humanity to work together to solve the most pressing problems of inequality, injustice and environmental destruction.
One year on, numerous conferences and encounters are taking place to examine the impact of the encyclical and ask how it is changing hearts, minds and practical policies.
Among the interreligious organisations that have taken the Pope’s call to heart is the Jerusalem based Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development which works to promote peace and environmental awareness through education and action. The founder and director of the Centre, Rabbi Yonatan Neril, is in Rome this week meeting with Vatican officials to see how the papal document is being incorporated into seminary formation programmes.
He talked to Philippa Hitchen about the work of the Centre and its impact on interfaith relations…
Listen:
Rabbi Neril talks about the impact of Laudato Si’ on the Jewish world and says these environmental issues can open up new possibilities of collaboration between the different faiths traditions….
He explains how the Centre tries to work with different religious communities in Jerusalem to promote greater ecological awareness…
Noting that an important part of the work of the Centre is to promote environmental courses in Catholic educational institutes, Rabbi Neril says some Catholic universities are already encouraging this but much more needs to be done….
Talking about the question of land ownership and resources management in Israel and Palestine which has been such a source of political conflict, Rabbi Neril says a new awareness of the need to protect our common home can bring people together across ethnic and religious divisions….
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis wants to see the laity more and more involved in the Church’s mission to evangelize in light of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. The Pope made that affirmation in an address Friday to participants of the last Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for the Laity ahead of the reform process that will bundle the department together with the Council for the Family and the Academy for Life. As one phase comes to a close, a new horizon opens for the mission of the laity in the Church, Francis told participants at Friday’s audience. In this, the last plenary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, the Pope began by thanking those who have worked in this institution of the Curia for their commitment. The Council was set up after the Second Vatican Council with the blessings of Pope Paul VI.No to lay people acting on "proxy" of the hierarchyThe Pope recalled the many fruits born over the last 5...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis wants to see the laity more and more involved in the Church’s mission to evangelize in light of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. The Pope made that affirmation in an address Friday to participants of the last Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for the Laity ahead of the reform process that will bundle the department together with the Council for the Family and the Academy for Life.
As one phase comes to a close, a new horizon opens for the mission of the laity in the Church, Francis told participants at Friday’s audience. In this, the last plenary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, the Pope began by thanking those who have worked in this institution of the Curia for their commitment. The Council was set up after the Second Vatican Council with the blessings of Pope Paul VI.
No to lay people acting on "proxy" of the hierarchy
The Pope recalled the many fruits born over the last 50 years in the context of the laity: World Youth Day, "providential gesture of St. John Paul II", the appearance of new lay associations and the growing role of women in the Church:
"We can say, therefore, that the mandate you have received from the Council was precisely to 'push' the lay faithful to get more and more involved and, better at it, in the evangelizing mission of the Church, not as 'delegates' of the hierarchy, but because [the lay] apostolate [means] 'participation in the salvific mission of the Church, to which all are disciples of the Lord through Baptism and Confirmation'. It is Baptism that makes every lay faithful a missionary disciple of the Lord, salt of the earth, light of the world, yeast that transforms reality from within.
New challenges require reform, sign of renewed confidence in laity
In light of the progress made thus far, the Pope then said "it is time to look again to the future with hope." The reality, he noted, brings new challenges and the idea to amalgamate the dicastery for the Laity with the Pontifical Council for the Family and with the Academy for Life came about in response to the need to reform the Holy See’s Curial offices.
"I invite you to welcome this reform, which will see you involved, as a sign of appreciation and esteem for the work you do, and as a sign of renewed confidence in the vocation and mission of the laity in the Church today,” the Pope said.
As it navigates new waters, the new department, he noted, will have as its 'helm' the 1988 Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles laici, Evangelii gaudium and Amoris laetitia, all papal documents which have focused on the family and the defense of life.
Reach out to the remote and needy
In the context of the Jubilee of Mercy, he continued, the Church is called to be "permanently going out" and to be an "evangelizing community" which "knows how to take the initiative without fear, to meet, seek out those who are distant and to come out to the crossroads to welcome the excluded."
The Church and the laity, Pope Francis said, need to be outward–looking – seeking out “the many families in trouble and in need of mercy, the many fields of apostolate still unexplored, the many good-hearted and generous lay people who would willingly put at the service of the Gospel their energy, their time, their skills if they were [encouraged to get] involved, and valued and accompanied with affection and dedication on the part of pastors and church institutions. "
We need lay people who look to the future and are willing to get their hands dirty
"We need well-trained lay people animated by a sincere and limpid faith,” the Pope said. Those whose “life has been touched from the personal and merciful love of Jesus Christ":
"We need lay people who take risks, who dirty their hands, who are not afraid to make mistakes,” he continued. “We need lay people with vision of the future, not [preoccupied] with the little things of life. And I said to the young people: we need lay people with the flavor of life’s experiences, who are animated by dreams. "
"Today,” the Pope concluded, “is the time when young people need the dreams of the elderly" so that they can have "the ability to dream," and so that they can give us "the power of the new apostolic visions".
