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(Vatican Radio) German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that closing the route used by migrants fleeing war and poverty through the western Balkans "does not resolve the problem" and that this move is "not sustainable". 

Her comments aired by German radio came while the European Union urged member states to start taking thousands of refugees each month from Greece and Italy as many people remain stranded in what aid workers view as alarming conditions.  

Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:

Merkel told public radio network MDR that Europe's largest refugee crisis since the Second World War would not be solved by what she called "taking a unilateral decision." 

She spoke after western Balkan nations barred entry to transiting refugees from midnight Wednesday.

The German leader said the situation was neither sustainable nor lasting. Merkel acknowledged that Austria's unilateral decision, and then those made subsequently by Balkan countries, would obviously bring fewer refugees but, she added, they put Greece in a very difficult situation.

She stressed that it was crucial to reach a deal with Turkey supported by all the European Union's 28 member states as in her words "Greece cannot bear the weight for long." However Hungary has already threatened to use its veto against the deal if it involves resettling refugees among member states. 

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The EU's top migration official, Dmitris Avramopolous, suggested Thursday that at least 23 member states must start taking 6,000 refugees each month from Greece and Italy to ease Europe's migrant burden. 

He warned that if relocation does not work, then the whole system will collapse. However his appeal has done little to ease the pain for as many as 15,000 people who are now stranded in mud and often heavy rain near the Greek-Macedonian border. 

“I’m sick of this, so tired and bored of this, just waiting for nothing," said Nidal from Syria. “I wait and wait and wait, and then there is nothing. I know that there is nothing at the end but I am waiting.” 

Doctors have expressed concern about an outbreak of disease. Christian Reynders of aid group Doctors Without Borders is especially worried about the many children suffering in cold and wet conditions. “We fear that the number of children suffering from these conditions, these particular conditions, the humidity, the smoke inhalation, it will cause them severe damage to their lungs,” he said.  

Further away authorities in Macedonia said hundreds of people, mostly from Syria, remain stranded in no-man's land on the border with Serbia for a third day amid a dispute between the two countries over who should provide shelter for them.  The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR has warned that most of them are children and that their situation is alarming.  Yet, with the EU and Turkey still discussing a strategy, there's little hope their suffering will end soon

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(Vatican Radio) Despite warnings regarding Europe border closures, forced migrants set off from Turkish shores on Thursday in small boats for the dangerous crossing to Greece. 

Five, including a baby, drowned in the attempt.

Almost 1000 forced migrants and refugees are known to have died in the Aegean crossing from Turkey to Greece since the route became popular last year. 

According to the International Organization for Migration more than 350 Greece-bound migrants have drowned this year alone.

In the treacherous waters, together with the struggling Greek and Turkish coastguards, is a privately funded search and rescue operation scouring international waters and saving thousands of lives thanks also to the fact that, in collaboration with the Sovereign Order of the Knights of Malta, a medical team is on board an equipped ship. 

A simple but fundamental detail that allows vulnerable migrants who may have been in icy waters for hours to receive immediate medical attention for hypothermia and other life-threatening conditions.  

MOAS, which stands for Migrant Offshore Aid Station, is an NGO founded by philanthropists Christopher and Regina Catrambone. 

As Regina who lives in Malta told Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni, a first-hand encounter in the Mediterranean Sea with an unseaworthy vessel filled with migrants seeking a better life marked the beginning of this life-saving venture…

Listen:

Regina explains that the MOAS project was born in 2013 and consists in a vessel that is equipped with two dinghies, drones (that search for vessels or migrants in difficulty amongst the waves) and a crew of experts including doctors, nurses and rescue divers.

Initially operative in the Mediterranean Sea, “We are present now also in the Aegean Sea and CISOM – The Order of Malta Italian Relief Corps – is involved in the post-rescue operation” she explains.

Regina says that together with her husband Christopher she wanted to step into the crisis with concrete contribution as well as encourage others to take action.

“Each of us has talents and skills, and if each of us put their skills to work to help others” we can make a difference.

She says “global migration is becoming the defining issue of our century. Whether people are fleeing conflict or economic deprivation - or both – people will continue to try to cross border so it is pointless to create imaginary ones, especially out at sea!”

“What we need to do is try to open our hearts and mind and embrace the situation and try to find real solutions with empathy for others, with mercy, with humanity” she says.

MOAS’ appeal, Regina says, is to be human and to feel empathy for these people “who are mothers, fathers, children, doctors… people just like us”.

Regina speaks of Pope Francis’ call for mercy and of her Catholic faith which, she says, is the anchor of her mission.

She remembers two-year-old Khalid who was the first victim by drowning this year in the Aegean Sea on January 1 2016.

Regina says this little boy could have become an engineer, a priest, a doctor, a Pope: “we don’t know. What we do know is that he died at sea” as his parents fled conflict and poverty in the illusion of providing him with a future.

For more information on MOAS click here.
 

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Jackson, Miss., Mar 10, 2016 / 01:19 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- With “a heavy heart and great sadness,” Bishop Joseph Kopacz of Jackson, Mississippi announced the death of Bishop Emeritus William R. Houck on March 9.

“We rejoice in the confident knowledge that he is at peace,” Bishop Kopacz said in a March 9 statement.

Bishop Houck experienced complications after undergoing bypass surgery for a single artery blockage.

“He was recovering but took a turn for the worst last night,” Bishop Kopacz said.

Bishop Houck served the Diocese of Jackson as bishop from 1984 until his retirement in 2003. He had a love for Catholic education and evangelization as evidenced by his years of study and numerous roles in education and school administration.

An Alabama native, Bishop Houck was born in Mobile on June 26, 1926 to William and Mildred Blanchard Houck. He was ordained a priest in 1951 after earning his S.T.L. from St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore and his Master’s Degree from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

He served as a school administrator in Pensacola, Florida from 1951 until 1957, when he went to Birmingham, Alabama and served as Superintendent of Catholic Schools of Mobile-Birmingham, a high school principal and Secretary for Education for the diocese during the years of 1957 to 1979. He also served as pastor of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Birmingham from 1974 to 1979.

He was ordained a bishop in 1979 by Pope St. John Paul II. Bishop Houck served with his predecessor, Bishop Joseph B. Brunini, until Bishop Brunini’s retirement in 1984. Bishop Houck was then installed as the ninth Bishop of Jackson on June 5, 1984, where he served until his own retirement in 2003.

During his time as Bishop of Jackson, he served as the chair of the U.S. Bishops’ committee on evangelization, helping them develop the 1992 document, “Go Make Disciples: A National Strategy for Catholic Evangelization.”

His lengthy resume includes service as a board member of Catholic Church Extension Society; the Mississippi Religious Leadership Conference; U.S. Catholic Coordinating Committee for Lay Volunteer Ministry; the Board of Hospice Ministries, Inc.; and the Mississippi Governor’s Task Force on Infant Mortality. He was president of the Ecumenical Health Care Organization for Whispering – a hospice ministry for AIDS patients abandoned by their families.

In 2001, Cardinal Francis George requested that John Paul II name Bishop Houck president of Catholic Extension Society of America. John Paul II agreed and Bishop Houck served as both Bishop of Jackson and president of the Chicago-based parish support organization until 2003 when his retirement as bishop was accepted.

In 2007, he retired as president of Catholic Extension and returned to Jackson where he remained active in diocesan and cathedral life until his death.

A Rite of Reception of the Body will be held March at 4 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle. Bishop Houck will lie in state and be available for visitation until 7 p.m. that evening and the following day from 10 a.m. until noon, and 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. with a Vigil/ Wake Service at 7 p.m. The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on March 17 at 12:30 p.m. followed by interment in the Bishop’s Cemetery next to the Cathedral.

 

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Vatican City, Mar 10, 2016 / 01:27 pm (CNA).- Since Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, apostolic nuncio to the United States, celebrated his 75th birthday Jan. 16, it is expected that his replacement will soon be named by the Holy See.

Amid this expectation, Vaticanista Sandro Magister wrote March 10 on his blog Settimo Cielo that 70-year-old Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to Mexico, will “imminently” be promoted as nuncio to the United States.

Archbishop Pierre, a Frenchman, was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Rennes in 1970. In 1995 he was consecrated a bishop and appointed apostolic nuncio to Haiti. He served there until 1999, when he was transferred to Uganda. And he has been apostolic nuncio to Mexico since 2007.

A source close to the Mexican bishops' conference told CNA that Archbishop Pierre “is known for suggesting solid, reliable candidates to the episcopate.”

Magister, meanwhile, charged that Pope Francis “has in mind” a change in the character of the episcopate in the United States, citing his 2014 appointment of Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago. Archbishop Cupich replaced Cardinal Francis George, who retired at the age of 77.

Magister characterized Archbishop Pierre as a “Bergoglian,” and someone in whom Francis confides.

“With the Bergoglian Pierre as the new nuncio, and thus with a key role in the appointment of bishops, the reshaping of the American episcopate will have a notable acceleration,” Magister wrote.

 

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Ettore Ferrari, EPA

By Junno Arocho Esteves

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In an effort to ensure greater financial transparency and accountability, Pope Francis approved new regulations governing the financial contributions given for sainthood causes, the Vatican announced.

The new "norms on the administration of goods of the causes of beatification and canonization" states that because of the complexity of the sainthood process, the causes incur substantial costs, including for diocesan-level investigations, work carried out by the Vatican Congregation for Saints' Causes and the beatification or canonization ceremonies themselves.

The norms, approved by Pope Francis March 4 and released by the Vatican March 10, were released several months after leaked documents allegedly written by a commission studying the financial activity of Vatican offices concluded there was "insufficient oversight of the cash-flow for canonizations."

In his book "Merchants in the Temple," Gianluigi Nuzzi claimed the Congregation for Saints' Causes was among the most reluctant Vatican offices to cooperate with the papally appointed commission and needed immediate action to promote transparency and honesty.

He also claimed that "to simply open a cause for beatification costs 50,000 euros, supplemented by the 15,000 euros in actual operating costs," including compensation for theologians, physicians and bishops examining the cause. That amount, he said, "skyrockets" with the costs of researchers, postulators and the drafting a candidate's biography attesting to their holiness. The average cost of a sainthood cause, Nuzzi claimed, was about 500,000 euros or $550,000.

U.S. Catholic officials traditionally have used $250,000 as a benchmark for the cost of a cause from the initial investigation on a diocesan level to a canonization Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.

Nuzzi, along with Italian journalist Emiliano Fittipaldi, author of "Avarice," is on trial at the Vatican for his involvement in allegedly obtaining and publishing confidential documents.

The new regulations issued by the Vatican detail procedures for handling contributions received and specifies which authorities are charged with overseeing the flow of money for a sainthood cause.

While the postulator or promoter of a sainthood cause can continue to administer the funds for each cause, the bishop of the diocese or the superior general of the religious order that initiates the cause or another church authority must review financial statements and approve the budgets for each cause.

St. John Paul II in 1983 called for a general oversight of the funds and he established a "Solidarity Fund" at the congregation to collect funds to help pay for causes from countries where Catholics may not have the financial resources needed to carry out all the research. The new rules reaffirm the existence and importance of the fund and stipulate that it is up to the congregation to determine if any excess funds from a completed cause will go to the fund or to other uses.

"In cases in which there are real difficulties to sustain the cost of a cause in the Roman phase, the promoters may ask the Congregation for Saints' Causes for a contribution through the local bishop," the regulations state.

Overall supervision of finances, however, lies with the Congregation for Saints' Causes. "In case of failure or administrative-financial abuses by those participating in the development of the cause, the Congregation for Saints' Causes will take disciplinary action," the document says.

The new norms, which were signed by the congregation's head, Cardinal Angelo Amato, were approved for a three-year trial period.

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Follow Arocho on Twitter: @arochoju.

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Stringer, Reuters

By Dennis Sadowski

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Knights of Columbus and In Defense of Christians contend that Christians in Libya, Iraq and Syria are victims of genocide carried out by the Islamic State in a new report.

The 278-page document was released March 10 in Washington, a week before a congressionally mandated deadline for the Department of State to announce if genocide was being committed against religious and ethnic minorities in the Middle East and North Africa by the Islamic State.

It argues that the case for genocide exists and called on Secretary of State John Kerry to make such a declaration and to include Christians in it.

The organizations delivered the report to Kerry March 9.

Carl Anderson, Knights of Columbus CEO, said during a news conference introducing the report that the evidence uncovered supports a declaration of genocide by the U.S. government. He said that the dozens of atrocities uncovered "may only be the tip of the iceberg."

"Over and over again, we report that as bad as things are, we expect that things are far worse," he said.

If a genocide declaration is made, the perpetrators of the violence then can be indicted and eventually brought to trial, Anderson added. Until such a designation is made, he explained, Islamic State members can continue acting with impunity toward anyone they claim does not adhere to their fundamentalist beliefs.

State Department officials hinted in October that a genocide designation was coming for the Yezidi minority in the region, but not for Christians. The comments led to a firestorm of protest from Christian groups that resulted in congressional action setting the March 17 deadline for Kerry to respond.

Several participants in the news conference called for any genocide declaration to include Christians. Omitting any group from the designation would allow Islamic State militants to continue their attacks on those communities without fear of legal prosecution, they said.

The report contains dozens of statements collected from Feb. 22 through March 3 from witnesses and victims of atrocities carried out by Islamic State forces. The incidents include torture, rapes, kidnappings, murder, forced conversions, bombings and the destruction of religious property and monuments.

"Murder of Christians is commonplace. Many have been killed in front of their own families," said the report, titled "Genocide Against Christians in the Middle East."

It cites statements from religious leaders, including Pope Francis, and conclusions from the European Parliament, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and the Iraqi and Kurdish governments, all of which have labeled the Islamic State's actions as genocide.

Father Douglas Bazi, who ministers in a camp for 400 displaced persons in Irbil, Iraq, explained that the incidents detailed in the report are just a few among the thousands he has heard from people forced to flee the Islamic State in Iraq.

"If we do not declare a genocide, we are not saying the truth," said the priest, who was held for nine days and beaten with a hammer after the church he was assigned to was bombed by the militants.

"I am here to tell you that my people feel they are forgotten and they are alone," he said.

Anderson said the report is an early step in raising awareness of the violence being carried out against Christians and other religious minorities by the Islamic State. He expressed hope that people will come to realize that it is time to speak out for those being attacked, kidnapped, threatened, injured and killed.

The report includes a legal brief directed toward Kerry detailing the case for a genocide designation.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution in February stating that the Islamic State was "committing genocide against Christians and Yezidis and other religious and ethnic minorities who do not agree with the so-called ISIS/Daesh interpretation of Islam, and that this, therefore, entails action under the 1948 U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide."

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom called on the U.S. government in December to designate Christian, Yezidi, Shiite Muslim, Turkmen and Shabak communities in Iraq and Syria as victims of genocide by the Islamic State.

The Knights of Columbus and the Washington-based In Defense of Christians began a petition campaign in late February asking Kerry to make a genocide declaration. The organizations said more than 50,000 people had signed on through March 9.

The organization highlighted numerous Christian religious leaders and prominent people who signed the petition. Among them were Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; Bishop Oscar Cantu of Las Cruces, New Mexico, chairman of the bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace; Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, chairman of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association; Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles; Bishop A. Elias Zaidan of the Maronite Eparchy of Los Angeles; and Andrew Benton, president of Pepperdine University.

Archbishop Gomez explained his stance while lamenting the March 4 deaths of four Missionaries of Charity sisters and 12 other people killed by uniformed gunmen who entered the home the sisters operate for the elderly and disabled in Yemen, in a column for Angelus, the online edition of The Tidings, the archdiocesan newspaper.

"It is clear that what the so-called Islamic State is doing to Christians and other minority groups in Iraq and Syria fits the United Nations' definition -- violence and killing with 'intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group,'" he wrote.

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Follow Sadowski on Twitter: @DennisSadowski.

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