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Washington D.C., Apr 18, 2016 / 07:14 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Facing a rising tide of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and government crackdowns on religious practice, European religious communities must stand together, insisted one religious leader this week.

“For the first time in history, we recognize that all faiths are at risk,” Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks told an audience at the National Press Club on Monday in Washington, D.C. He added that “all faiths can stand together recognizing our shared humanity under the sovereignty of God.”

Rabbi Sacks gave the keynote address at the conference put on by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, titled “Europe at a Crossroads.” The conference focused on efforts by civil and religious leaders to combat “religious hatred and bigotry in Europe,” especially Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.

“The truth is that things are difficult, in Europe and throughout the world. I have been very, very shocked by what is happening in Europe,” Rabbi Sacks said.

More Jews are leaving France, Holland, Belgium, Norway, Sweeden, and Denmark because of increasing acts of anti-Semitism. The political hostility has become particularly bad in Hungary, Rabbi Sacks noted, and the climate toward Jews in Poland is deteriorating.

Throughout Europe, synagogues have been attacked, Jewish stores have been targeted, and Jews are afraid to wear symbols of their faith in public. Whenever the Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalates, so too do public acts of anti-Semitism in Europe.

It was recently discovered that a member of Britain’s Labour Party praised Hitler amongst a slew of anti-Semitic tweets, including statements that Iran should “wipe Israel off the map” and that Hitler was the “greatest man in history.”

Jews are the not the only victims of religious-targeted violence throughout Europe. In Glasgow, a Muslim shopkeeper who wished a happy Easter to the “beloved Christian nation” of Britain was shortly afterward stabbed to death by a Sunni radical for insulting Islam. Muslim women in Britain have been targeted for veiling their faces or wearing a hijab, a headscarf.

Laws prohibiting or infringing on religious practice have also surfaced. A German law required parents to discuss circumcision with their children. French laws outlawed the wearing of the hijab in public. Denmark banned Kosher and Halal animal slaughter.

Threatened by extremism and hostile secularism, religious communities must stand together, Rabbi Sacks insisted. He drew from an account of Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi from his book “If This Is a Man.”

At Passover, Jews begin eating the “bread of affliction” in remembrance of the toil the Hebrews endured as slaves in Egypt. At the end, however, they eat the “bread of freedom” that their ancestors ate at the first Passover, their exodus from Egypt, Rabbi Sacks explained.

In his book, Levi wrote of a meal that the suffering prisoners at Auschwitz shared together in between the Nazi departure from the camp and the Soviets arriving. “And I suddenly saw that even if what we eat is the bread of affliction, if we are willing to share it with someone else, we have begun the process of turning affliction into freedom,” he wrote, quoted by Rabbi Sacks.

“In the same way, everyone must be “standing together in defense of religious liberty,” Sacks said, “and that stands a chance of success. Whereas if we stand on our own, we stand no chance whatsoever.”

As an example, Sacks explained how, when he was Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, the BBC had him do a television program “as a message to the nation.” He used the opportunity to “show the most beautiful faces of the Muslim community in Britain.”

The “end result” of this was that “we realized we had to be there for others if we wanted others to be there for us,” he said.

Another time when anti-Semitic acts became more prevalent on Britain’s college campuses, he explained to fellow Jewish leaders that they would monitor for anti-Semitism, but they would also “lead the fight against Islamophobia.”

As he sees it, “if you are hurting because people hate you, then stand in solidarity with other people” who also face hatred.

 

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Fukuoka, Japan, Apr 18, 2016 / 02:52 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Japan's Catholic bishops are coordinating efforts to help the thousands of people affected by the two earthquakes which struck the city of Kumamoto on the southwestern island of Kyushu last week.

A 7.3 magnitude quake hit Kumamoto, nearly 70 miles south of Fukuoka, on April 16, following a 6.4 magnitude earthquake on April 14. At leat 41 persons were killed, and thousands wounded. Some 180,000 have been rendered homeless, according to the BBC.

“We thought the damage was contained in the small area of Mashiki town,” Bishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Niigata told CNA April 16, “but this morning's quake caused damage in a much wider area, including the neighboring Ohita prefecture.”

Bishop Kikuchi is head of Caritas Japan, the national bishops' social action arm, which is assisting in rescue and relief efforts on Kyushu. He conveyed the prayers and solidarity of all the Japanese bishops and stated their appreciation for the prayers and aid sent from around the world.

Bishop Dominic Ry?ji Miyahara of Fukuoka on Saturday called an emergency meeting of diocesan officials to discuss how to mobilize relief efforts for the earthquake's victims.

He has appealed for donations ot the diocese for relief and rehabilitation needs, and has sent the director of the diocesan branch of Caritas to assess the situation. One Catholic school was damaged in the quake, but no other serious damage has been reported at other Catholic institutions.

It is “very hard for the victim[s] to lose their homes where mornings and nights are still chilly,” Bishop Miyahara said in an appeal for support.

“I'm praying for those who suffer great damage from this earthquake and we, [the] Diocese of Fukuoka are with you in your pains and sorrows. We ask your prayers for the victim[s] and people in these areas for them to have comfort and enough strength to go through this situation and for them to have quick recovery from this damage.”

Bishop Kikuchi explained to CNA that the affected area is “largely mountainous, and thus difficult for volunteers to access.” Landslides have cut off some remote villages, and roads, bridges, and tunnels have all been damaged.

Some communications are cut off, and electricity and water supplies have been affected. Aftershocks were continuing through at least Sunday.

Bishop Kikuchi said that it is rare for such a powerful earthquake to hit Japan, particularly Kyushu. Quakes of a similar magnitude were recorded in 1995 in Kobe, in 2004 in Niigata, and in 2011 in Tohoku.

As messages and prayers flooded social media for the earthquake victims, Catholics in Thailand also expressed their prayers.  

Fr. Joseph Thammarat Ruanngam, chancellor of the Diocese of Chanthaburi, told CNA that his community “expresses its heartfelt condolences following the devastating earthquake and stands united in prayer with the affected people of Japan.”

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Legnica, Poland, Apr 18, 2016 / 02:59 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A bleeding Host that “has the hallmarks of a Eucharistic miracle” was approved for veneration in Poland over the weekend.

The announcement was made by Bishop Zbigniew Kiernikowski of Legnica on April 17.

On Christmas Day 2013, a consecrated Host fell to the floor, the bishop said. It was picked up and placed in a container with water. Soon after, red stains appeared on the host.

Then-Bishop of Legnica, Stefan Cichy, created a commission to monitor the host. In February 2014, a small fragment was placed on a corporal and underwent testing by various research institutes.

The final medical statement by the Department of Forensic Medicine found: “In the histopathological image, the fragments were found containing the fragmented parts of the cross striated muscle. It is most similar to the heart muscle.” Tests also determined the tissue to be of human origin, and found that it bore signs of distress.

Saying that the Host “has the hallmarks of a Eucharistic miracle,” Bishop Kiernikowski explained that in January 2016 he presented the matter to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

In April, in accordance with the Holy See’s recommendations, he asked parish priest Andrzej Ziombrze “to prepare a suitable place for the Relics so that the faithful could venerate it.”

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Henry Romero, Reuters

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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Six members of the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother, including a young nun from Northern Ireland, are among the dead in the strongest earthquake to strike Ecuador since 1979.

Sister Clare Theresa Crockett, 33, of Londonderry, died while leading children to safety in a school at Playa Prieta, where she was teaching the youngsters to play the guitar, according to the Spain-based order.

Her body was found under rubble April 18, about 36 hours after the magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the Pacific Coast region of the country.

Five Ecuadorean postulants also died in the collapse. The order identified them by their first names: Jazmina, Maria Augusta, Maira, Valeria and Catalina.

The six women were among at least 272 people who died in the massive earthquake that struck communities in the northern part of the country. Authorities reported that nearly 3,000 people were injured and that an unknown number of buildings were destroyed or damaged.

Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops' relief and development agency, was partnering with local relief organizations to determine how best to respond in the communities most affected by the temblor. Water, food and emergency shelter are the biggest needs, the agency said on its website.

"Some of the poorest provinces are located near the coast and we expect thousands of people to need immediate help," Tom Hollywood, CRS's representative for South America said in a statement.

Some of the hardest-hit communities in the earthquake zone, including in Esmeraldas and Manabi provinces, were inundated with rain and flooding in the days before the disaster, making them prone to potential landslides and complicating the relief effort, the agency said.

"It's been really difficult to get in touch with our local partners," Hollywood said, explaining that communications networks are down or working intermittently. "Last night, even here in Quito, the whole network collapsed."

Pope Francis sent words of condolence to Ecuador and Japan after praying the "Regina Coeli" with pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square April 17.

Japan's Kyushu region was shaken by a pair of strong earthquakes April 16 and 17, which killed 41 people, injured hundreds and forced 180,000 people from their homes.

The Ecuadorean bishops' conference offered prayers for the victims in an April 17 statement sent to the Vatican's Fides news agency.

"Our thoughts go especially to our brothers and sisters in the provinces of Manabi and Esmeraldas, who seem so far to be the most affected, and we invite everyone to participate in the national collection for the victims in order to help in their most urgent needs," the statement said.

Sister Clare's family described her as a "superstar," while friends said she lit up a room when she entered, reported the Belfast Telegraph in Northern Ireland. A relative told the Derry Journal she was "a diamond of the family" who died as she lived, "helping people."

The Independent daily in London reported that Sister Clare wanted to be an actress and wrote and acted in local theater productions. She admitted to spending her weekends drinking and attending parties before joining the Sister Servants of the Home of the Mother. She discovered the religious order by accident when she signed on for a free 10-day trip to Spain, thinking it was a chance to party. After learning it was a pilgrimage with mostly middle-aged women to the order's 16th-century monastery, she tried to back out, but ended up attending and discovered her religious vocation.

The order said in a statement that it mourned the loss of its six members, but realized that "death is not the end of the path."

"Sister Clare had spent nearly 15 years of her life in consecration to the Lord. She was a generous sister with a special gift for reaching out to children and young people," the order said.

"The postulants had entered the order just a year ago and were generously preparing themselves to become Servant Sisters. And the Lord found them all prepared," the statement said.

Three other sisters and two postulants in Playa Prieta were injured in the building collapse. They suffered various injuries, including broken bones and bruises, but none of the injuries was life threatening, the order said.

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