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Fr. Cedric Prakash, an Indian Jesuit priest and committed human rights activist, is the Regional ‎Advocacy & Communications Officer of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) for the Middle ‎East & North ‎Africa (MENA) Region, based in Beirut, Lebanon.   Belonging to the Gujarat Jesuit Province of India, ‎Fr. Cedric was until recently directing "Prashant", a Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace, ‎which he founded in 2001 in Ahmedabad.   He has been at the forefront on issues related to human ‎rights, justice, peace and other advocacy matters for which he has been honoured both in India and ‎abroad.  Notable among these is the Knighthood of the Legion of Honour, one of France’s highest ‎civilian awards  conferred on him in 2006. ‎

Fr. Cedric was recently on a visit to the Jordanian capital Amman in his capacity as the Regional ‎Advocacy & Communications Officer for JRS MENA.  We managed to catch up with him on his mobile ‎phone to know about his new assignment.  Last week, in the first part of this telephone interview, Fr. ‎Cedric explained his switch from the founder and director of “Prashant” in Ahmedabad, India,  to the ‎Regional Advocacy & Communications Officer of JRS MENA, in Beirut, Lebanon.  The 64-year old ‎Jesuit said it was the outcome of his admiration for late Jesuit superior general, Fr. Pedro Aruppe who ‎started the Jesuit Refugee Service in 1980 to meet the emergency of the boat people of south-east Asia, ‎and a long and difficult process of discernment to discover God’s will, to which Fr. Cedric said “yes”.    ‎He said his job at JRS MENA with refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Turkey, includes ‎highlighting advocacy issues at different fora, such as with the media, like-minded individuals and ‎groups, concerned governments, etc… At the time of his visit to Amman, he had visited some 25 ‎refugees centres in the Middle East region.   He said many of these refugees and internally displaced ‎people are in makeshift centres, illegally rented  apartments, dormitories, in the open fields or in ‎officially-recognized refugee camps.  Fr. Cedric said they suffer exclusion and lack of integration, ‎manifested in restrictions in employment, formal education and movement; lack of food, safe drinking ‎water, sanitation and medical care, and exploitation and abuse.   Besides stories of trauma, pain and ‎suffering, Fr. Cedric also comes across heroic models of resilience and hope.  He said he was ‎particularly moved to tears to see a mother of 4 little girls, abandoned by her husband, struggling to ‎give her children a better tomorrow.  ‎

Today, in the final of this 2-part telephone interview, we asked Fr. Cedric about the humanitarian ‎assistance of JRS MENA, besides advocacy, counselling and show of solidarity. ‎

Listen:  

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(Vatican Radio) “We believe that there is no ‘just war’. Those words are at  the heart of a statement published on Thursday at the conclusion of an international conference looking at changes in Church practice and teaching on non-violence and peacemaking.

Organised jointly by the Catholic peace network, Pax Christi International and the Vatican’s Justice and Peace Council, the three-day encounter brought together some 80 theologians and peace activists from conflict zones around the world.

Philippa Hitchen reports: 

The statement, presented at a press conference in the Vatican, explores the Gospel message of non-violent activism and asks Pope Francis “to share with the world an encyclical on non-violence and Just Peace.” The appeal calls for non-violent practice and strategies to be developed, promoted and taught in all Church agencies, seminaries, parishes and educational institutes.

It also calls on the Church to “no longer use or teach ‘just war’ theory which recognizes war as morally justifiable  - if a series of criteria can be met. Participants believe that modern methods of warfare make this impossible and that “too often the ‘just war theory’ has been used to endorse rather than prevent or limit “ military action.

Among those sharing practical experiences of peace making at the conference was Archbishop Jean Baptist Odama of Gulu in northern Uganda

“Any war is a destruction and there is no justice in destruction of life, of property…..so no spending of resources for the destruction of life”

Participants said on the one hand what they’re calling for is a historic change to 1700 years of Church teaching of the ‘just war’ theory. But on the other hand, they stress it’s simply the next step in the direction that popes have been pointing over the past half century since Pope John XXIII wrote his landmark encyclical Pacem in Terris.

New space for non-violent witness

Conference organisers noted the presence of nine members of the Pontifical Justice and Peace Council, including its president Cardinal Peter Turkson, at the conference, saying they believe Pope Francis is opening up “a new space” for such non-violent witness to take root.

As participants head home to the four corners of the globe, they hope this conference will mark a milestone on the road towards putting Jesus’ powerful witness to non-violent peacemaking back at the heart of the Church message and mission.

 

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Vatican has recognized officially the Indian ‘Jesus Youth Movement’ granting it Juridical approval as ‘International Private Association of the Faithful’

Jesus Youth is the first movement in the history of the Catholic Church in India and the second in Asia to receive such a Pontifical approval. The decree of approval will be awarded during a ceremony held in the Vatican on May 20, 2016.

A Catholic lay movement that began in Kerala, India in the early 80s has now  spread to 35 countries around the world, with its  presence in all 5 continents.

Jesus Youth is an initiative of young people themselves, who, filled with the Holy Spirit try to reach out to other young people. The strength of the movement is its special focus on a life centered on the Lord Jesus Christ: beginning with an experience of God nourished by prayer, the Word of God, the sacraments and fellowship, and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with others.

Though not an actual community, Jesus Youth is a network of small but vibrant groups of young people. In their own life situations, they strive to give time to the Lord, responding to the challenges of today’s world in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Youth members seek to grow as faithful disciples of Christ, through the six pillars of the movement.

Daily Prayer: A daily ‘quiet time’ with the Lord leading to an experience of the companionship of Jesus, enables one to have a joyful attitude in daily life.

Word of God: A regular time for a meditative reading of the Sacred Scripture helps one to seek God’s guidance and shape his life according to God’s will.

Sacraments: Frequent and active participation in the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation contributes to a life of wholeness and strength and are integral to a person’s growth in holiness.

Fellowship: Christian life, a call to live the life of the Trinity in communion with one’s brothers and sisters in Christ through mutual support, encouragement and gentle correction, is an important element in the movement. Cells, small groups, prayer groups, service teams and friendship circles help to make Jesus Youth a family.

Service: Following the footsteps of the Master who brought the Good News to the poor, Jesus Youth stretches out a helping hand to those burdened with poverty and deprivation.

Evangelisation: Personal renewal in Jesus leads to a commitment to share the person and message of Jesus with others. This commitment to evangelisation is central to the life of every Jesus Youth.

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(Vatican Radio) On Thursday 14th April, the Sovereign Order of Malta alongside the Embassy of the Czech Republic to the Holy See inaugurated the photographic exhibition “The Devil Within Us”, by Czech photographer Jan Sibik.

Particular attention was drawn to the photographs of the Greek Island of Lesbos, which showed migrants arriving from Turkey by boat. Vatican Radio’s Georgia Gogarty spoke with Sibik, in light of Pope Francis’s forthcoming visit to Lesbos on Saturday.

Listen:

For the last 30 years, Sibik has travelled to the world’s most troubled countries, documenting the plight of innocent people affected by conflict. His powerful yet harrowing images emphasise the global humanitarian crises and the desperate situations these people find themselves in as a result of war and natural disaster.

The exhibition, spearheaded by Czech Ambassador to the Holy See, Pavel Vosalik, comes ahead of the World Humanitarian Summit, taking place in Istanbul from 23rd until 24th May. 

(Georgia Gogarty)

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(Vatican Radio) “It was fantastic!  Very, very inspiring moment for the seminarians at the Scots College.”

These were the words of seminarian Ryan Black after Pope Francis met with members of the Pontifical Scots College, which is marking 400 years since it became a seminary. One year after the martyrdom of St John Ogilvie, the students of the college took the Mission Oath, pledging to return to their homeland as priests.

“St. John Ogilvie is really a symbol for the Catholic community in Scotland,” explained Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow after the meeting.

Listen to the Vatican Viewpoint featuring Archbishop Philip Tartaglia and seminarian Ryan Black:

“He is a symbol of the freedom to be a Catholic and the freedom of the Church, so the Holy Father was absolutely right saying he was a martyr and this is a time when we need to give witness,” Archbishop Taraglia told Vatican Radio.

“The world isn’t always so receptive to faith values and to religion, and in fact it can get squeezed – pushed to the margins,” the Archbishop said. “So we have to, in a way which is acceptable [and] convincing, give witness to our faith. In a way which, as Pope Francis would say, is merciful, too.”

The seminarian at the meeting said he is also aware of the challenge.

“There isn’t the persecution that we might find in the Middle East…or North of Africa, but there is this hostility towards the Gospel,” Black said.

However, he told Vatican Radio there is hope in the next generation.

“The young people in Scotland seem to have a new love for the Faith, which is fantastic,” – Black said – “And we as seminarians have a great access to that, because we are very lucky to be allowed to join in in diocesan pilgrimages to places like Lourdes with the youth of our diocese, and they really seem to have a newfound love for the Faith, and  an newfound appreciation to why the Faith is important in our country.”

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By

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Religious freedom "is foundational to our church and American society," said Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori in announcing a new video that explores the foundations of church teaching on religious liberty, including the Second Vatican Council document "Dignitatis Humanae."

The archbishop made the comments April 12 as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, which released the video.

Vatican II's 1965 Declaration on Religious Freedom affirmed that the "right to religious freedom has its foundation in the very dignity of the human person, as this dignity is known through the revealed word of God and by reason itself."

The video also highlights the Little Sisters of the Poor, who serve the elderly poor in nursing homes across the United States. The Little Sisters, along with other Catholic entities and other faith-based groups, await a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in Zubik v. Burwell, a lawsuit that challenges the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' mandate that employers, including most religious employers, cover contraception, sterilization and abortifacients in employee health plans.

The video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpPh6ymIhjg; on the USCCB's religious freedom home page at www.usccb.org/freedom; and at www.Fortnight4Freedom.org.

"This video makes clear that the Little Sisters' case must be viewed within the context of the church's deep commitment to the right of every person to have the ability to practice their faith and choose what is right, free of government interference," Archbishop Lori said.

Oral arguments in Zubik v. Burwell were heard by the high court March 23.

On March 29, the court issued an unusual order seeking additional briefs from the plaintiffs and the federal government about how and if contraceptive insurance coverage could be obtained by employees through their insurance companies without directly involving religious employers who object to this coverage.

On April 12, the plaintiffs filed a brief with the court in which they agreed with the proposal that such coverage be provided through an alternative health care plan without involving the religious employers. The government also filed a brief, arguing that it wanted to keep the contraceptive mandate intact, but offered that it would go along with the court's suggestion despite the possibility that it might not close the door on future legal challenges.

Both parties have until April 20 to file responses to the briefs. The court is expected to rule on the case near the end of its term in June.

The announcement on the new video also included information on the U.S. bishops' 2016 Fortnight for Freedom, a two-week period of prayer, education and advocacy focused on the role of faith in public life and the preservation of religious liberty rights.

The fifth annual observance will take place June 21-July 4. This year's theme is "Witnesses to Freedom" and will include a nationwide tour of relics of St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher, martyrs of the English Reformation.

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By Junno Arocho Esteves

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The courageous witness of those who have given their life for the Gospel is needed in a world that is often antagonistic toward its message, Pope Francis said.

"We too are living in a time of martyrdom, and in the midst of a culture so often hostile to the Gospel. I urge you to have that same selfless spirit as your predecessors did," he said April 14 during an audience with seminarians from Rome's Pontifical Scots College.

The pope met with the seminarians to mark the 400th anniversary of when the first seminarians in Rome made an oath to Pope Paul V to return to Scotland and carry out their priestly ministry.

The pope was greeted by Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow, who recalled the history of the oath made in 1616, one year after the martyrdom of St. John Ogilvie, a Scottish Jesuit killed for refusing to deny his faith during the time of the Reformation in Scotland.

"Those events four centuries ago, the martyrdom of St. John Ogilvie and the swearing of the Mission Oath, helped to settle the identity of the Pontifical Scots College as a seminary," Archbishop Tartaglia said.

Recalling the oath made by the seminarians in 1616, Pope Francis said their decision and determination to return to Scotland and preach the Gospel "was born of a martyr's blood."

"The 'yes' proclaimed by the 16 men 400 years ago was eloquent not simply for their good intentions, but rather because they persevered and prepared themselves in every way, returning to Scotland to face the hardships that awaited them, even if it meant becoming martyrs themselves," the pope said.

Encouraging them to "give yourselves generously to your priestly formation," Pope Francis added that in doing so, they "will honor the history and sacrifices we recall today."

"You will also become in this moment a sign to the Scottish people, especially the youth, if you encounter them in their everyday lives, if you reach out to those who are furthest from Christ. Show them, each and every one, that God is always with us and that his mercy endures forever," he said.

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Follow Arocho on Twitter: @arochoju

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Stoyan Nenov, Reuters

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In a "humanitarian and ecumenical gesture," not a political one, Pope Francis was to join Orthodox leaders in personally meeting with hundreds of refugees and migrants stranded in Greece, the Vatican spokesman said.

Releasing the detailed schedule for the pope's trip April 16 to Lesbos, Greece, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said the pope and the Orthodox leaders wanted to draw attention to "a situation in which many people are suffering" and where a "solution worthy of the human person" still must be found.

Pope Francis was to make the trip with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and Orthodox Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and all Greece.

The three were scheduled to visit the Moria refugee camp, which the European Union has designated as a "hotspot" for registering those seeking asylum in Europe and from where those whose applications are denied are sent back to Turkey, which was their last stop before entering Greece and, therefore, EU territory.

Father Lombardi said the religious leaders would be welcomed to the camp by 150 children, including orphans and unaccompanied minors. They also were scheduled to greet personally 250 of the roughly 2,500 asylum-seekers currently at Moria.

The visit of the three religious leaders was to culminate with a prayer service on the waterfront in memory of those who have drowned trying to cross to Europe. According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 150,000 migrants and refugees arrived in Greece between Jan. 1 and April 7; more than half of them landed on Lesbos. In the same period, the IOM said, 366 people died attempting crossing the Aegean Sea to the island.

Here is the complete schedule released by the Vatican April 14. All times are local, with Eastern Daylight Time in parentheses:

-- 7 a.m. (1 a.m.) Departure from Rome's Fiumicino airport.

-- 10:20 a.m. (3:20 a.m.) Arrival at the international airport in Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Welcoming ceremony.

-- 10:35 a.m. (3:25 a.m.) Private meeting with the Greek prime minister in the airport.

-- 10:55 a.m. (3:55) Travel by minibus with Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos to the Moria refugee camp.

-- 11.15 a.m. (4:15 a.m.) Visit with the refugees.

-- 12:25 p.m. (5:25 a.m.) Brief speeches by Archbishop Ieronymos, Patriarch Bartholomew and Pope Francis.

-- 12:40 p.m. (5:40 a.m.) Signing of a joint declaration.

-- 12:45 p.m. (5:45 a.m.) The archbishop, patriarch and pope have lunch with some of the refugees.

-- 1: 45 p.m. (6:45 a.m.) Meeting with citizens of Lesbos, the Catholic community of Greece, followed by a prayer service for migrants who have died trying to reach Europe. Speech by pope. Prayers by archbishop, patriarch and pope. Minute of silence.

-- 2:30 p.m. (7:30 a.m.) Private meetings at the Mytilene airport with Archbishop Ieronymos, Patriarch Bartholomew and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

-- 3 p.m. (8 a.m.) Farewell ceremony.

-- 3:15 p.m. (8:15 a.m.) Departure from Mytilene airport.

-- 4:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m.) Arrival at Rome's Ciampino airport.

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Follow Wooden on Twitter: @Cindy_Wooden.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The Tennessee Titans have traded the No. 1 overall selection in this month's NFL draft to the Los Angeles Rams for a collection of picks in one of the biggest deals in league history....

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TOKYO (AP) -- A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 knocked over houses in southern Japan on Thursday evening, and police said people may be trapped underneath....

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