Catholic News 2
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- With just days to decide, Qatar on Friday weighed an onerous list of demands by its neighbors as a way out of a regional crisis, and a top Emirati official warned the tiny country to brace for a long-term economic squeeze unless it is willing to acquiesce....
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- Authorities say a military jet apparently practicing for an Ohio air show has been involved in an accident....
NEW YORK (AP) -- Johnny Depp apologized Friday for joking about assassinating Donald Trump during an appearance at a large festival in Britain, the latest example of artists using violent imagery when dealing with the president....
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- Vice President Mike Pence's visit Friday to Colorado to celebrate the anniversary of Focus on the Family comes at a time of change for the religious right during the age of President Donald Trump....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Military chiefs will seek a six-month delay before letting transgender people enlist in their services, officials said Friday....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump signed a bill into law Friday that will make it easier for the Department of Veterans Affairs to fire employees, part of a push to overhaul an agency that is struggling to serve millions of military vets....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republican Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada said Friday he opposes the GOP bill that would scuttle much of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, complicating the task party leaders face in guiding the banner legislation through the Senate....
(Vatican Radio) A traumatic tale of five children, sexually abused by their father, formed the centrepiece of an international child protection conference that concluded at the Pontifical Gregorian University on Thursday.The annual Anglophone Safeguarding Conference brought together 111 delegates from bishops conferences and religious congregations around the world to discuss ways of ‘Celebrating Hope’ for survivors of abuse, for those working in child protection, and even for the abusers themselves..The conference was organised by the bishops conferences of Scotland and Malta, together with the Gregorian University’s Centre for Child Protection, which has pioneered training in all aspects of safeguarding in the Church.To find out more, Philippa Hitchen spoke to one of the principle organisers, Tina Campbell, who serves as national safeguarding coordinator for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of ScotlandListen: Tina recalls the 2016 conference, co-hosted by E...
(Vatican Radio) A traumatic tale of five children, sexually abused by their father, formed the centrepiece of an international child protection conference that concluded at the Pontifical Gregorian University on Thursday.
The annual Anglophone Safeguarding Conference brought together 111 delegates from bishops conferences and religious congregations around the world to discuss ways of ‘Celebrating Hope’ for survivors of abuse, for those working in child protection, and even for the abusers themselves..
The conference was organised by the bishops conferences of Scotland and Malta, together with the Gregorian University’s Centre for Child Protection, which has pioneered training in all aspects of safeguarding in the Church.
To find out more, Philippa Hitchen spoke to one of the principle organisers, Tina Campbell, who serves as national safeguarding coordinator for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Scotland
Listen:
Tina recalls the 2016 conference, co-hosted by England and Wales, together with Kenya, on the theme of listening to survivors of abuse. During that meeting, she says, the theme of hope emerged as a key question for those working in safeguarding, which “can be extremely demanding and sometimes might feel hopeless”.
Hope for survivors
She recalls her first meeting with the Reid family members, who spoke about their experience at the hands of their abusive father. She invited them to talk to clergy and member of religious orders in Scotland and then asked them to give a keynote presentation to the Rome conference. A Protestant family from Northern Ireland, the Reids now all work as psychotherapists, some in the field of child protection. They symoblise in a powerful way, she says, the possibility of recovery and bringing hope to others.
Hope for abusers
The question of hope for abusers, Tina admits, is a difficult concept for a survivor, and for some perpetrators too. Many of them have criminal convictions, have been jailed and have been rejected by their families, so there’s “very little light in that darkness of the life of a perpetrator”. It is very difficult to get inside the world of someone who finds children sexually attractive, she says, so it's a challenge to give to walk alongside them and try to give them a sense of hope.
Honesty and accountability
Tina says that sadly “we will always have people who’ll want to harm children and the vulnerable”. But she notes there is a “greater awareness of accountability in the Church” and a greater ability for people to talk about the problem with honesty and transparency. “There can be no longer any idea that cover up or concealment is loyalty to the church,” she says.
Zambia’s Father Paul Samasumo has been elected as one of the two SIGNIS World Vice Presidents for the period 2017 - 2021.The Italy-based Fr. Samasumo who is head of Vatican Radio’s English Africa and Ki-Swahili Services becomes the first African to hold one of the top three positions in the worldwide association for Catholic media professionals known as SIGNIS.The election of Fr. Samasumo took place on the occasion of the SIGNIS World Congress 2017 which has just ended. The meeting was held at Laval University in Canada’s Québec City from 19 June to 22 June.American National Ms Helen Osman was elected SIGNIS World President taking over from Mr Gustavo Andujar who did not seek re-election. The two 2017 - 2021 Vice Presidents are Fr. Samasumo of Zambia and Mr LJ Sinniah of Malaysia. The three together with the Treasurer constitute SIGNIS world’s executive committee.The SIGNIS World Congress 2017 in Quebec was held under the theme "Media for ...
Zambia’s Father Paul Samasumo has been elected as one of the two SIGNIS World Vice Presidents for the period 2017 - 2021.
The Italy-based Fr. Samasumo who is head of Vatican Radio’s English Africa and Ki-Swahili Services becomes the first African to hold one of the top three positions in the worldwide association for Catholic media professionals known as SIGNIS.
The election of Fr. Samasumo took place on the occasion of the SIGNIS World Congress 2017 which has just ended. The meeting was held at Laval University in Canada’s Québec City from 19 June to 22 June.
American National Ms Helen Osman was elected SIGNIS World President taking over from Mr Gustavo Andujar who did not seek re-election. The two 2017 - 2021 Vice Presidents are Fr. Samasumo of Zambia and Mr LJ Sinniah of Malaysia. The three together with the Treasurer constitute SIGNIS world’s executive committee.
The SIGNIS World Congress 2017 in Quebec was held under the theme "Media for a Culture of Peace: Promoting Stories of Hope.”
Commenting on his election, Fr. Samasumo said he sees his election at the top helm of the Catholic Association as an honour to all Africa.
“I am humbled and grateful to the assembly for their confidence in me and my continent, Africa. I thank my superiors at the Pontifical Secretariat for Communication who have always given me the space to work with SIGNIS. My candidature was actually not proposed by Africa, but once it was made, my African brothers and sisters at this Congress warmly embraced the idea,” said Fr. Samasumo.
Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the SIGNIS World Congress, The African Assembly of delegates elected Nigerian priest and university professor, Fr. Dr Walter Ihejirika as new SIGNIS Africa President.
SIGNIS is a worldwide association of Catholic communicators representing more than 140 countries. Its members are national associations grouped by regions of the world. There are six regions: Africa, Latin America, North America, Pacific, Asia, and Europe, as well as an International Group composed of international organisations. I
The administrative headquarters of SIGNIS, the General Secretariat, is in Brussels. There is also an office at the Vatican, SIGNIS Services Rome, which provides technical and material support to church and secular organisations all over the world.
Issued in Quebec, Canada by Fr. Walter Ihejirika
SIGNIS Africa President.
23 June 2017
(Vatican Radio) Russia's Foreign Ministry has condemned new U.S. sanctions against Russians involved in the Ukraine conflict saying the move puts at "serious risk" the entire bilateral relationship amid mounting tensions between Washington and Moscow.Listen to Stefan Bos' report: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his American counterpart Rex Tillerson on Thursday that new sanctions imposed by Washington on Russia would damage relations between the two nations, Moscow said.Sanctions target mainly Russian people and companies linked to the conflict in Ukraine, where Russia anneced the Crimean peninsula and allegedly supports pro-Russian seperatists in the east of the country.The Russian Foreign Ministry quoted Lavrov as saying in the phone call that "Actions of this kind, put the entire sphere of Russian-American relations at serious risk."Before the phone call, Lavrov already complained about what he called America's Russophobic obsession.B...
(Vatican Radio) Russia's Foreign Ministry has condemned new U.S. sanctions against Russians involved in the Ukraine conflict saying the move puts at "serious risk" the entire bilateral relationship amid mounting tensions between Washington and Moscow.
Listen to Stefan Bos' report:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his American counterpart Rex Tillerson on Thursday that new sanctions imposed by Washington on Russia would damage relations between the two nations, Moscow said.
Sanctions target mainly Russian people and companies linked to the conflict in Ukraine, where Russia anneced the Crimean peninsula and allegedly supports pro-Russian seperatists in the east of the country.
The Russian Foreign Ministry quoted Lavrov as saying in the phone call that "Actions of this kind, put the entire sphere of Russian-American relations at serious risk."
Before the phone call, Lavrov already complained about what he called America's Russophobic obsession.
BLAMING RUSSIA
Lavrov told reporters that he "regrets the 'Russophobic' obsession" of "our American colleagues". He said that "It already crosses all lines."
He claimed that while Ukrainian President "Petro Poroshenko cannot fulfill his obligations under the Minsk peace agreements - sanctions against Russia continue."
Lavov added that "in the very complex processes taking place in Syria - only Russia is blamed and, of course, the Assad regime." Lavrov said, "there are also many examples of when American congressmen do not like some development or events in a region, they immediately attempt to blame Russia."
In another blow to Moscow, European Union leaders also voted Thursday to prolong the bloc's economic sanctions on Russia by another six months after discussing the increasingly troubled peace plan aimed at ending the fighting in eastern Ukraine.
More than 10,000 people have died in the conflict.
MILITARY TENSIONS
Amid the East-West standoff, military tensions are rising.
In one of the latest incidents this week a fighter jet of the NATO military allience confronted a plane carrying Russia’s defense minister in neutral airspace over the Baltic Sea.
Russian media reported that is was being chased away by a Russian warplane. NATO confirmed the face-off, but denied it was chased away. The alliance also rejected allegations that it was not acting aggressively and said it didn't know that the defense minister was on board.
Dozens of similar incidents have been reported in the past few years.
Both NATO and Russia have blamed each other for aggressive intercepts in this strategically important area.
