(Vatican Radio) Vatican Weekend for May 21, 2016 features a report on the words of Pope Francis during his weekly general audience to pilgrims from across the world.This is followed by a musical meditation to mark the day the Church celebrates Trinity Sunday. In the final segment of the programme we look ahead to the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China by shining a spotlight on the figure of Matteo Ricci. Listen to a programme presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick:
(Vatican Radio) Vatican Weekend for May 21, 2016 features a report on the words of Pope Francis during his weekly general audience to pilgrims from across the world.This is followed by a musical meditation to mark the day the Church celebrates Trinity Sunday. In the final segment of the programme we look ahead to the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China by shining a spotlight on the figure of Matteo Ricci.
Listen to a programme presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick:
(Vatican Radio) The situation on the ground in Syria is deteriorating with little concern that humanitarian aid reach besieged cities. Staffan de Mistura, UN special envoy for Syria, on Thursday said the United Nations will take the ‘last resort’ option of air drops of humanitarian aid if access to besieged areas in Syria is not improved by June 1st.He also said that without improved aid access and some restoration of the recent ‘cessation of hostilities’, the credibility of the next round of peace talks would be in question.Government raids in the province of Homs killed more than 20 people on Thursday, causing the cancellation of Friday prayers in the city of Houla due to fears of further violence.Jane Howard, Global Media Coordinator for the UN World Food Programme (WFP), spoke to Vatican Radio’s Francesca Sabatinelli about the dire need facing Syrians in besieged cities.Listen to the full interview: Eating grass to surviveMs. Howard said tha...
(Vatican Radio) The situation on the ground in Syria is deteriorating with little concern that humanitarian aid reach besieged cities. Staffan de Mistura, UN special envoy for Syria, on Thursday said the United Nations will take the ‘last resort’ option of air drops of humanitarian aid if access to besieged areas in Syria is not improved by June 1st.
He also said that without improved aid access and some restoration of the recent ‘cessation of hostilities’, the credibility of the next round of peace talks would be in question.
Government raids in the province of Homs killed more than 20 people on Thursday, causing the cancellation of Friday prayers in the city of Houla due to fears of further violence.
Jane Howard, Global Media Coordinator for the UN World Food Programme (WFP), spoke to Vatican Radio’s Francesca Sabatinelli about the dire need facing Syrians in besieged cities.
Listen to the full interview:
Eating grass to survive
Ms. Howard said that the situation in areas like Deir Ezzor where they are already carrying out airdrops is increasingly dire.
"Even in the last few weeks we've had reports that people are having to eat grass and just boiled vegetables to try and survive, because some of these places we've been unable to reach with truckloads of food for months and months, even a year or two years."
She said WFP is managing to feed nearly 4 million people every month, providing them with basic staples like rice, flour, and vegetable oil.
Despite this current number of people being fed, Ms. Howard said 18 areas in particular are very worrying. "Certain areas, 18 areas in particular, are giving us a lot of cause for concern because those are really under siege. That means that the parties that are surrounding them - we're talking about all sides here - won't let any food go in and out. Siege is really being used like a weapon of war."
Dangerous option
Ms. Howard said the reasons for considering airdrops of humanitarian aid a 'last resort' are several.
"First of all, you can't do it everywhere. You need to have a drop-zone which is big enough to drop the food into safely; you wouldn't want it to land on top of people. You can't do it in built-up urban areas so that rules out a lot of the places where people are under siege.
"You need to have security guarantees because in different parts of Syria, different people are controlling the airspace.
"At the end of the day, the real thing is that you can't drop the quantities that you can take in over land."
Ridiculous situation
As an example, Ms. Howard said the last six weeks of airdrops to the besieged town of Deir Ezzor could have been brought in a single over-land convoy.
"So, really, it's about the people on the ground letting us through. We've have repeatedly appealed to the different warring parties to let the food go through, because it's ridiculous that there are besieged areas maybe a few kilometres outside of Damascus, where you could drive there in an hour and a half. So airdrops are not the whole answer to the question. It's a much bigger question of humanitarian access."
Vatican City, May 20, 2016 / 09:58 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has voiced his prayers and condolences to all those affected by the apparent crash of an EgyptAir plane in the Mediterranean Sea Thursday morning.“Having learned with sadness of the tragic crash of the Egyptian passenger airliner, Pope Francis wishes to assure you of his prayers and solidarity at this difficult time,” said a telegram from Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin to Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.It added that the Pope “commends the souls of the deceased of various nationalities to the mercy of the Almighty.”“Upon the relatives of the passengers and all those involved in the search and rescue efforts, His Holiness invokes the divine blessings of strength and peace,” the telegram said.Early Thursday morning, an Airbus A320 disappeared while traveling from Paris to Cairo.Flight MS804 have been carrying 66 passengers and crew. According to Greek au...
Vatican City, May 20, 2016 / 09:58 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has voiced his prayers and condolences to all those affected by the apparent crash of an EgyptAir plane in the Mediterranean Sea Thursday morning.
“Having learned with sadness of the tragic crash of the Egyptian passenger airliner, Pope Francis wishes to assure you of his prayers and solidarity at this difficult time,” said a telegram from Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin to Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
It added that the Pope “commends the souls of the deceased of various nationalities to the mercy of the Almighty.”
“Upon the relatives of the passengers and all those involved in the search and rescue efforts, His Holiness invokes the divine blessings of strength and peace,” the telegram said.
Early Thursday morning, an Airbus A320 disappeared while traveling from Paris to Cairo.
Flight MS804 have been carrying 66 passengers and crew. According to Greek authorities, radar showed it making two sharp, zig-zag and dropping some 25,000 feet before falling into the sea.
International military units are searching the area, looking for wreckage and clues to what happened in the plane’s final hour.
The cause of the crash remains unknown. Egyptian authorities say terrorism is more likely than a technical failure, although no terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the act.
Investigations are also underway to determine whether a security breach occurred in Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport.
IMAGE: CNS photo/James MartoneBy James MartoneSHKODER, Albania (CNS) -- Humanbones, old shoes and deteriorating priest collars fill cardboard boxes in theoffice of Franciscan Brother Vincenzo Foca, an Italian who lives and works inShkoder.The "relics" belong toCatholics killed under Albania's previous communist, staunchly atheist regime, BrotherFoca explained to Catholic News Service on an unusually hot day in May. "I hope you don't mindbeing surrounded by bones," he started, before pointing to the boxes, labeledwith names and set in a row upon a long table. He explained how he'd devotedmuch of the past 24 years in this traditionally Catholic stronghold locating,disinterring, cleaning and preparing the bones and other various remains of Catholicswho were murdered here for their faith, sometime between 1945 and 1974.The Vatican's move in April to recognizethe martyrdom of 38 Albanians -- including a woman -- set the stage for theirpossible beatification and injected special meaning -...
IMAGE: CNS photo/James Martone
By James Martone
SHKODER, Albania (CNS) -- Human bones, old shoes and deteriorating priest collars fill cardboard boxes in the office of Franciscan Brother Vincenzo Foca, an Italian who lives and works in Shkoder.
The "relics" belong to Catholics killed under Albania's previous communist, staunchly atheist regime, Brother Foca explained to Catholic News Service on an unusually hot day in May.
"I hope you don't mind being surrounded by bones," he started, before pointing to the boxes, labeled with names and set in a row upon a long table.
He explained how he'd devoted much of the past 24 years in this traditionally Catholic stronghold locating, disinterring, cleaning and preparing the bones and other various remains of Catholics who were murdered here for their faith, sometime between 1945 and 1974.
The Vatican's move in April to recognize the martyrdom of 38 Albanians -- including a woman -- set the stage for their possible beatification and injected special meaning -- as well as impetus -- into his work, Brother Foca said.
"What I have before me are six martyrs," he said, lifting each box, one by one, and naming the priest whose remains each filled. They were among those on the pope's list for martyrdom, he said.
"This first box is Don Ndre Zadeja, the second is Don Dede Malaj, the third is Don Jak Bushati, the fourth is Don Anton Muzaj, the fifth is Don Luigj Prendushi, and the sixth is Don Ndoc Suma," Brother Foca said, using the Italian title for Father to name the diocesan priests.
"I have brought the bones here in my office in order to clean them, as some have been underground for up to 70 years. We have found a lot of bones, not all, but quite a lot, on which I have already done a preliminary cleaning," said Brother Foca, 54.
Then, he reached into the boxes containing Fathers Malaj and Suma's bones and pulled out a deteriorating priest's collar from the first one and a pair of disintegrating shoes from the other.
"We don't have to do an analysis on these, because they were identified by the families who buried the priests, or knew where the bodies were," he said of the six sets of bones and various accompanying artifacts.
"The families were present when we dug the bodies up... and they were crying, but they were also joyful," because the priests -- their relatives -- "were going to be beatified," Brother Foca said.
He said he was awaiting the arrival at the end of May of a specialist from Italy, who would do the final "conservation of the bones ... to ensure they last for a very long time" in Albania, which also has large Orthodox Christian and Muslim populations, who suffered as well under the previous atheist regime.
Brother Foca said that, almost from Day One, he had been "searching all over Albania for all Franciscan friars who died during the communist period, up until 1992," and that he had located 14 of them so far. He said he reburied them in Shkoder's Franciscan church.
Eight of the martyrs on the pope's list were Franciscans, but among those only the bodies of three had been found, including that of Archbishop Vincenc Prennushi, a Franciscan prelate, he said.
Some on the list had already been reinterred, he added, citing as an example the only woman on the list, Maria Tuci, whom Brother Foca said had died in 1950 due to various, horrific methods of torture, inflected by state agents because of her Catholic faith. She was now entombed in a Shkoder convent.
"Part of her torture consisted of her being put naked in a cloth bag, with a feral cat," Brother Foca said. "They beat the bag, and the cat would tear into her," according to Tuci family members who lived to tell about her ordeal.
He said that when the pope recognized the 38 Albanian martyrs last April, Catholic churches in Shkoder and other parts of the country rang their bells loudly.
"All the bells rang out ... and the people came running, asking, 'What has happened, what has happened?' And we told them, and they were very much moved ... because there are still some older people who lived this period of persecution and they remember. The '70s was not that long ago," Brother Foca said.
He noted that in September 2014, Pope Francis visited Albania and was moved to tears after listening to the stories of two survivors of Albania's former communist crackdown against the church.
At the time, the pope had called the country "a land of heroes and martyrs."
"Albanians are very happy; they now have heroes ... who never gave up, and who died for the church and for the pope, in whom Jesus Christ lives," said Brother Foca.
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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.
IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Father Liam DunneBy Francis NjugunaNAIROBI, Kenya (CNS) -- A Slovaknun shot and wounded in Yei, South Sudan, died May 20 at a hospital in Nairobi.Holy Spirit Missionary SisterVeronika Terezia Rackova, director of St. Bakhita Medical Center in Yei, was evacuated to Nairobi May 17, shortly after the nighttime shooting.She had been in a coma before her death.Outside the intensive care unitat the hospital, Sister Maria Jerly, regional superior for the HolySpirit Missionary Sisters, told Catholic News Service that Sister Rackova wasshot as people marked John Garang Day. She said Sister Rackova was driving anambulance after taking an expectant mother to the hospital when the vehicle wasshot by soldiers patrolling the area. Sister Rackova was shot in the stomach,Sister Jerly said.She added that a motive for theshooting was not known. Three soldiers were arrested inconnection with the incident, and Sister Jerly added, "One of them is saidto have admitted having sho...
IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Father Liam Dunne
By Francis Njuguna
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNS) -- A Slovak nun shot and wounded in Yei, South Sudan, died May 20 at a hospital in Nairobi.
Holy Spirit Missionary Sister Veronika Terezia Rackova, director of St. Bakhita Medical Center in Yei, was evacuated to Nairobi May 17, shortly after the nighttime shooting. She had been in a coma before her death.
Outside the intensive care unit at the hospital, Sister Maria Jerly, regional superior for the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters, told Catholic News Service that Sister Rackova was shot as people marked John Garang Day. She said Sister Rackova was driving an ambulance after taking an expectant mother to the hospital when the vehicle was shot by soldiers patrolling the area. Sister Rackova was shot in the stomach, Sister Jerly said.
She added that a motive for the shooting was not known.
Three soldiers were arrested in connection with the incident, and Sister Jerly added, "One of them is said to have admitted having shot at Sister Rackova."
Six of the order's nuns are serving in South Sudan, mainly in the Yei Diocese. Sister Jerly told CNS the congregation did not plan to leave the area.
"On the contrary, we would like to continue giving services to the needy people of this great country of South Sudan," she said, adding, "Some of our sisters are right now tormented over the incident, but we plan to continue to carry our badly needed services by the needy people of this country."
Sister Jerly said Sister Rackova would be buried in Kenya, and that the Divine Word Fathers, the sisters' male counterparts in Kenya, would handle the arrangements.
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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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