Catholic News 2
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- His White House dreams fading, Bernie Sanders aimed to add another state to his tally over Hillary Clinton with a win in West Virginia on Tuesday night....
(Vatican Radio) The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is considering sending armed personnel into Ukraine after several of its unarmed monitors were attacked or otherwise threatened in several incidents. OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier made the announcement after visiting staff members who observe a fragile ceasefire between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, which is constantly violated, killing soldiers and civilians. Listen to the report by Stefan Bos: Zannier told reporters that unarmed OSCE monitors have been threatened, shot at, harassed and had their access restricted, mainly on side of Russian backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. He revealed that various proposals are being discussed to beef up the OSCE's presence, including sending a well-armed police contingent or giving weapons to the monitors especially in the conflict area. However Zannier made clear the OSCE first needs consensus on the...
(Vatican Radio) The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is considering sending armed personnel into Ukraine after several of its unarmed monitors were attacked or otherwise threatened in several incidents. OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier made the announcement after visiting staff members who observe a fragile ceasefire between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, which is constantly violated, killing soldiers and civilians.
Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:
Zannier told reporters that unarmed OSCE monitors have been threatened, shot at, harassed and had their access restricted, mainly on side of Russian backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
He revealed that various proposals are being discussed to beef up the OSCE's presence, including sending a well-armed police contingent or giving weapons to the monitors especially in the conflict area.
However Zannier made clear the OSCE first needs consensus on the exact security measures. "So I am very open to be supportive. In the OSCE we have potentially the ability of having a more robust kind of operations [but] we need to have consensus so everybody has to agree."
SHAKY CEASEFIRE
The OSCE in Ukraine is an unarmed civilian mission to monitor and help implement a shaky ceasefire. But that isn't easy.
On Monday OSCE officials observed the Victory Day parade in rebel controlled Luhansk. Tanks rolled through the streets and other heavy weapons were seen during the event marking the 71st anniversary of Soviet victory over Nazi Germany and the end of World War Two.
Yet Alexander Hug, deputy chief monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, has mixed feelings about the display of military might. "Everyone has the right to express their cultural and historical heritage particularly when it comes to marking the May 9 victory day. Heavy weapons in the middle of a major city are not an honor. They are simply a violation of the Minsk [ceasefire] accords and a threat to the people living in that area," he said.
Hug noticed that several civilians and fighters have died in recent weeks in a conflict that has already killed more than 9,000 people. The OSCE counted 1,000 ceasefire violations on Sunday alone, while in some areas the enemy lines had moved closer to each other, sometimes being only 100-150 metres apart.
Amid the increase in fighting some 20 Ukrainian government soldiers were reportedly killed in April alone, compared with five in January. Both sides accuse the other of violating the terms of the 2015 ceasefire agreed in Minsk, Belarus, which includes a pullback of heavy weapons.
Vatican City, May 10, 2016 / 12:20 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis on Tuesday sent a message to Tawadros II to mark the “day of friendship” between Catholics and the Coptic Orthodox, acknowledging their common commitment to being witnesses of holiness and defending the dignity of human life.“Though we are still journeying towards the day when we will gather as one at the same eucharistic table, we are able even now to make visible the communion uniting us,” Pope Francis said in his May 10 letter to Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria, leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church.Like the Bishop of Rome, the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria is known as “Pope” to his followers.Pope Francis' message marked the third anniversary of his meeting with Tawadros in Rome; the day has become an annual celebration of fraternal love between the Catholic and Coptic Orthodox Churches.“Copts and Catholics can witness together to important values such as the...
Vatican City, May 10, 2016 / 12:20 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis on Tuesday sent a message to Tawadros II to mark the “day of friendship” between Catholics and the Coptic Orthodox, acknowledging their common commitment to being witnesses of holiness and defending the dignity of human life.
“Though we are still journeying towards the day when we will gather as one at the same eucharistic table, we are able even now to make visible the communion uniting us,” Pope Francis said in his May 10 letter to Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria, leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Like the Bishop of Rome, the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria is known as “Pope” to his followers.
Pope Francis' message marked the third anniversary of his meeting with Tawadros in Rome; the day has become an annual celebration of fraternal love between the Catholic and Coptic Orthodox Churches.
“Copts and Catholics can witness together to important values such as the holiness and dignity of every human life, the sanctity of marriage and family life, and respect for the creation entrusted to us by God,” Pope Francis wrote.
By learning to “bear each other’s burdens and to exchange the rich patrimony of our respective traditions,” he continued, “then we will see more clearly that what unites us is greater than what divides us.”
The Coptic Orthdox Church is an Oriental Orthodox Church, meaning it rejected the 451 Council of Chalcedon, and its followers were historically considered monophysites – those who believe Christ has only one nature – by Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox.
In the message, Pope Francis acknowledged the steps taken toward “reconciliation and friendship” between Catholics and the Coptic Orthodox.
“After centuries of silence, misunderstanding and even hostility, Catholics and Copts increasingly are encountering one another, entering into dialogue, and cooperating together in proclaiming the Gospel and serving humanity.”
“In this renewed spirit of friendship, the Lord helps us to see that the bond uniting us is born of the same call and mission we received from the Father on the day of our baptism.”
The Pope appealed to the Holy Spirit to unite Catholics and Orthodox Copts “evermore in the bond of Christian love and guide us in our shared pilgrimage, in truth and charity, towards full communion.”
Pope Francis acknowledged his “generous hospitality” for the most recent meeting of the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, which took place in Cairo.
“I am certain that we share the ardent hope that this important dialogue may continue to progress and bear abundant fruits,” Francis said.
Pope Francis spoke of the Christian communities in Egypt – where more than 90 percent of Christians are Orthodox Copts – as well as throughout the Middle East, saying his “thoughts and prayers” are daily with those “experiencing great hardship and tragic situations.”
“May God our Father grant peace and consolation to all those who suffer, and inspire the international community to respond wisely and justly to such unprecedented violence,” he concluded.
“On this occasion that has rightly become known as the day of friendship between Copts and Catholics, I willingly exchange with Your Holiness a fraternal embrace of peace in Christ the Risen Lord.”
The May 2013 meeting between Francis and Tawadros marked the first visit of a Coptic Orthodox patriarch to Rome in 40 years. Shenouda III, Tawadros' predecessor, visited Bl. Paul VI in 1973, and St. John Paul II returned the visit to Egypt in 2000.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Motorists are being convicted of driving under the influence of marijuana based on arbitrary state standards that have no connection to whether the driver was actually impaired, says a study by the nation's largest auto club....
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- U.S. and Afghan forces conducting a raid Tuesday against Islamic militants unexpectedly found and rescued the son of a former Pakistani prime minister who had been abducted three years ago, officials said....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Bullying is a "serious public health problem," and should no longer be dismissed as merely a matter of kids being kids, a leading panel of experts warned Tuesday....
There was a showdown in Houston last fall. This spring, North Carolina became the battleground. By now, confrontations have flared across the country over whether to protect or curtail the right of transgender people to use public restrooms in accordance with their gender identity....
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- His White House dreams fading, Bernie Sanders aimed for a win in West Virginia on Tuesday that would add another state to his tally over Hillary Clinton....
FORT MCMURRAY, Alberta (AP) -- Charred bicycles lean on a fence in front of incinerated townhomes. Just across the street, a school and playground are untouched....
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Within weeks of the September 2014 disappearance of 43 college students, Mexican authorities had rounded up scores of suspects and announced they had solved the case....
