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 WASHINGTON-Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York called on everyone "concerned about the tragedy of abortion" to recommit to a "vision of life and love, a vision that excludes no one" on January 14. His statement marks the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Cardinal Dolan chairs the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

"Most Americans oppose a policy allowing legal abortion for virtually any reason - though many still do not realize that this is what the Supreme Court gave us," wrote Cardinal Dolan. "Most want to protect unborn children at later stages of pregnancy, to regulate or limit the practice of abortion, and to stop the use of taxpayer dollars for the destruction of unborn children. Yet many who support important goals of the pro-life movement do not identify as 'pro-life,' a fact which should lead us to examine how we present our pro-life vision to others."

"Even as Americans remain troubled by abortion," wrote Cardinal Dolan, a powerful and well-funded lobby holds "that abortion must be celebrated as a positive good for women and society, and those who cannot in conscience provide it are to be condemned for practicing substandard medicine and waging a 'war on women'." He said this trend was seen recently when President Obama and other Democratic leaders prevented passage of the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act, "a modest measure to provide for effective enforcement" of conscience laws.

"While this is disturbing," said Cardinal Dolan, "it is also an opportunity." Pro-life Americans should reach out to "the great majority of Americans" who are "open to hearing a message of reverence for life." He added that "we who present the pro-life message must always strive to be better messengers. A cause that teaches the inexpressibly great value of each and every human being cannot show disdain or disrespect for any fellow human being." He encouraged Catholics to take part, through prayer and action, in the upcoming "9 Days for Life" campaign, January 16-24. More information on the campaign is available online: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxJwfcefUiU

He also cited the Year of Mercy called by Pope Francis as a time for women and men to find healing through the Church's Project Rachel post-abortion ministry.

The full text of Cardinal Dolan's message is available online.
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Keywords: Roe v. Wade, anniversary, Pro-Life, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, 9 Days for Life, USCCB, U.S. bishops, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Year of Mercy, Project Rachel, Pope Francis
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Washington D.C., Mar 6, 2016 / 04:14 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- When we purchase bananas at the grocery store or eat at a seafood restaurant, we might not think twice about it.

But, many of the everyday products that we use may be the result of forced labor.

“The world is now focused on slave labor again,” said Justin Dillon, CEO of the group Made in a Free World, which seeks to inform businesses about slave and child labor in their supply chains.

Last month, a new federal law was enacted to prohibit importation of goods made with forced labor into the U.S., a big boost in the fight against labor trafficking.

Since the 1930 Tariff Act, which prohibited such importation, one clause exempted this prohibition for when “consumptive demand” required such goods be imported. Critics have argued that this exemption became a wide loophole and the law’s intent was rarely enforced, resulting in the proliferation of slave-made goods in the U.S. economy.

The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, passed by both parties in Congress, struck that clause, and President Barack Obama signed the act into law.

The law is a “positive step” in the fight against trafficking because it “closes a rather large loophole” and is a statement that “we as a country are against products produced by forced labor – full stop,” said Mary Leary, a human trafficking expert and law professor at The Catholic University of America.

However, she told CNA, “other problems remain about our ability/political will to investigate allegations of forced labor.”

Although it may be impossible to estimate the exact number of goods produced with forced or child labor that are available to U.S. consumers, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has provided some context.

Almost 21 million people worldwide are victims of forced labor, the ILO says. 19 million of them are exploited by private corporations; 2 million suffer at the hands of the state. An estimated $150 billion a year is made in profits from forced labor.

The abuse extends across industries, Leary said: agriculture, manufacturing, shipping, service industries like janitorial services, construction, and fishing. Whether the culprits are sweat shops in Bangladesh, slave fishing in Indonesia, or mines in India, the raw materials gathered or processed by forced labor end up in U.S. stores.

Verité, a fair labor NGO and State Department grantee, released a report this year documenting the role of forced labor or child labor in 43 different commodities that are circulated worldwide, like flowers, produce, seafood, and metals. The report listed the chief offending countries for each commodity and the countries from which the U.S. imports these goods.

Investigations by The Guardian and the Associated Press in 2015 also made headlines, uncovering a shadowy network of slave fishing in Southeast Asia and Thailand which exports seafood worldwide.

The AP investigation traced some of this seafood all the way to U.S. businesses. Shrimp caught and processed with slave labor ended up in the supply chains of U.S. grocery stores, food distributors, and restaurants.

Conditions are horrible for forced laborers in Thai fishing boats and processing factories. The State Department’s 2015 Trafficking in Persons report explained the details.

“Thai, Burmese, Cambodian, and Indonesian men are subjected to forced labor on Thai fishing boats; some men remain at sea for several years, are paid very little or irregularly, work as much as 18 to 20 hours per day for seven days a week, or are threatened and physically beaten. Some victims of trafficking in the fishing sector were unable to return home due to isolated workplaces, unpaid wages, and the lack of legitimate identity,” the report explained.

Migrants from other countries like Burma and Cambodia are looking for work, and so they pay a broker who promises them a job but instead sells them to boat captains, Verité reported.

Other commodities like metals, diamonds, and produce that are imported into the U.S. may also be gathered and processed by child or slave laborers.

Flowers, for instance, are grown and picked in Ecuador with child labor and sent to the U.S. Around Valentine’s Day, when demand is greatest, workers endure up to 20-hour days with no overtime pay. Women are subjected to sexual violence and harassment with no ability to speak out.

With such a deep and nefarious global supply chain affecting almost every product that may be sold in U.S. stores, what exactly can Catholic consumers and businesses do to mitigate the influence of foreign companies who profit from labor trafficking?

Ultimately, ending human trafficking and slave labor will not come through charitable donations, but through the market, Dillon told CNA. $120 million is given annually to fight trafficking, but over a thousand times that is made in profits per year from slave labor – $150 billion.

Dillon’s group, Made in a Free World, works to help businesses fight trafficking by predicting where there might be forced labor in their supply chains. They do this through “predictive modeling” of almost 54,000 goods, services, and commodities and where the materials come from through trade routes. Their modeling tool is software called “FRDM” – “forced labor risk determination and mitigation” – available to businesses online.

The problematic companies that employ child laborers and forced laborers are more easily identified this way.

“The game we’re playing is to reverse the power of the marketplace to start to create transparency and make it more and more difficult for the bad guys, the bad companies, to be profitable,” Dillon said.

Businesses should be held accountable for their purchases, but no one is perfect, he continued.

Consumers shouldn’t be demonizing U.S. businesses where slave-produced goods unknowingly end up on shelves, but should rather be encouraging them as much as possible to investigate their supply chains and supporting the businesses who are making the best effort to do so, he said.

“We need the global marketplace on our side, not attack it.”

“Most companies have almost no idea what’s behind their initial purchase,” he continued.

For example, a U.S. company that sells tablet computers might buy finished tablets from a Chinese supplier.

However, “the optics beyond that supplier A, that first company where you’re buying, are almost invisible,” Dillon said. “You have very little idea of where supplier A is buying their components’ parts, and maybe even commodities to be able to produce that tablet computer for you.”

The most pragmatic thing for companies to do is “start to understand what your purchases are,” he said. Companies are starting to investigate their supply chains but it will take time to create a new marketplace, he cautioned. The most difficult struggle his group faces is from people who want a solution now.

“It’s very easy to be indignant and have a lot of bluster and demand justice, but the reality is this is going to take time,” he said. “Justice systems are just that, they are systems…built over time.”

Consumers can do two things now, he said. First, “be patient.” And second, “buy in the direction of freedom,” or support businesses with goods made with free laborers. Made in a Free World provides a list of businesses who are

They can also visit SlaveryFootprint.org, a project of Made in a Free World, to get an estimate of how many forced laborers produced the products they consume.

“I believe that we’re at the front third of a very, very important movement,” Dillon said, adding that “it’s not something we can do overnight.”

“I believe that justice is vigilance. It’s not an accomplishment. It’s a condition,” he said.



Credit: Jiri Hera via www.shutterstock.com

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 WASHINGTON-Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York called on everyone "concerned about the tragedy of abortion" to recommit to a "vision of life and love, a vision that excludes no one" on January 14. His statement marks the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Cardinal Dolan chairs the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

"Most Americans oppose a policy allowing legal abortion for virtually any reason - though many still do not realize that this is what the Supreme Court gave us," wrote Cardinal Dolan. "Most want to protect unborn children at later stages of pregnancy, to regulate or limit the practice of abortion, and to stop the use of taxpayer dollars for the destruction of unborn children. Yet many who support important goals of the pro-life movement do not identify as 'pro-life,' a fact which should lead us to examine how we present our pro-life vision to others."

"Even as Americans remain troubled by abortion," wrote Cardinal Dolan, a powerful and well-funded lobby holds "that abortion must be celebrated as a positive good for women and society, and those who cannot in conscience provide it are to be condemned for practicing substandard medicine and waging a 'war on women'." He said this trend was seen recently when President Obama and other Democratic leaders prevented passage of the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act, "a modest measure to provide for effective enforcement" of conscience laws.

"While this is disturbing," said Cardinal Dolan, "it is also an opportunity." Pro-life Americans should reach out to "the great majority of Americans" who are "open to hearing a message of reverence for life." He added that "we who present the pro-life message must always strive to be better messengers. A cause that teaches the inexpressibly great value of each and every human being cannot show disdain or disrespect for any fellow human being." He encouraged Catholics to take part, through prayer and action, in the upcoming "9 Days for Life" campaign, January 16-24. More information on the campaign is available online: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxJwfcefUiU

He also cited the Year of Mercy called by Pope Francis as a time for women and men to find healing through the Church's Project Rachel post-abortion ministry.

The full text of Cardinal Dolan's message is available online.
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Keywords: Roe v. Wade, anniversary, Pro-Life, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, 9 Days for Life, USCCB, U.S. bishops, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Year of Mercy, Project Rachel, Pope Francis
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Don Clemmer
O: 202-541-3206

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(Vatican Radio) Slovakia's leftist nationalist Prime Minister Robert Fico says difficult coalition talks are ahead after he won this weekend's elections on a fierce anti-migration platform, but no parliamentary majority. 

Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:

The liberal Freedom and Solidarity came second with 21 seats, followed by the conservative OLANO-NOVA which took 19 seats. Sunday's published results also showed a come-back for the far-right in the European Union member state.  

Fico was not in a celebratory mood when addressing reporters. His Smer-Social Democrats party received roughly 49 seats,  down sharply from his comfortable 83-seat majority in the 150 member parliament.

Fico had hoped to win more votes with an anti-migration campaign that included a pledge to  "never bring even a single Muslim to Slovakia" and filing a lawsuit against the European Union over its plan to distribute 160,000 refugees among the 28 member states.

Yet the Slovak leader said he still wants to form a government and avoid early elections as Slovakia takes over the rotating EU presidency in July. "It is simply the political duty of each political subject to look for partners for a meaningful government. We still see big challenges ahead of us. If we don't believe in the migrant crisis, let us just believe in the president of the Slovak Republic in the European Union," he said. "We need to consider that the government  should have some kind of experience handling these kind of processes."   
           
COMPLICATED TALKS

Analysts say that Fico to clinch a third term will have likely have to distance himself from the far right and start complicated talks with more moderate centrist parties, including a party representing Slovakia's ethnic-Hungarian minority.

Among the hardliners are the far-right Slovak National Party which made it back into parliament after a four-year absence with 15 seats. The extreme right nationalist Our Slovakia party secured 14 seats to enter parliament for the first time.
 
A European Parliamentarian of Fico's party, Monika Flasikova-Benova, expressed concern about the rise of the far-right in her nation. "It is a huge catastrophe that we will have fascists in Parliament when Slovakia takes over the European Union presidency," she added.

Critics have attributed the far-right's success to Fico's focus on refugees while he allegedly forgot about bread and butter issues such as demanded salary hikes for public sector workers and widespread anger over corruption.

Fico's strongly anti-refugee policies echo those of other hardliners in the EU's poorer ex-communist east, including Czech President Milos Zeman, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Poland's influential politician Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

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Rome, Italy, Mar 6, 2016 / 11:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After a recent attack at a Missionaries of Charity convent in Yemen claimed the lives of four of the sisters there, the bishop overseeing the area said he has no doubt they died as martyrs.

“For me there is no doubt that the sisters have been victims of hatred – hatred against our faith,” Bishop Paul Hinder told CNA March 6.

“The Missionaries of Charity died as martyrs: as martyrs of charity, as martyrs because they witnessed Christ and shared the lot of Jesus on the Cross,” he said, pointing to one of the prayers they recited daily.

The short prayer asks that “Lord, teach me to be generous. Teach me to serve you as you deserve; to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to ask for reward.”

Recited after their morning Mass and before breakfast, the prayer is one of the last that the sisters would have prayed before being killed.

Although he doesn't like to speak of reasons “for an unreasonable act,” Bishop Hinder would be difficult not to see that the event was motivated by “a misled religious mind.”

The bishop, who serves as apostolic vicar of the Arabian Peninsula, said that he believes the sisters were a target because certain radical groups in the country “simply do not support the presence of Christians who serve the poorest of the poor.”

While so far no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, it is believed that carried out by members of either Al-Qaeda or ISIS.

He said the attitude obviously goes against the mainstream thought of the Yemen people, the majority of whom appreciate the presence of the Missionaries of Charity as well as their “dedicated service” to the poor.

The bishop reiterated that “there is no reason for such an act unless people, who deliberately or not knowingly, are the devil's agents.”

Bishop Hinder’s comments follow a March 4 attack at a Missionaries of Charity convent and nursing home for the elderly and disabled persons in Aden, the provisional capital of Yemen, which left 16 dead.

Four of the victims were sisters of the Missionaries of Charity, the community founded by Blessed Mother Teresa. They have been identified by the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia as Sr. Anselm from India, Sr. Margherite from Rwanda, Sr. Reginette from Rwanda, and Sr. Judith from Kenya.

Other victims of the attack included volunteers at the home, at least five of whom were Ethiopian. Many were Yemenis. The nursing home had around 80 residents, who were unharmed.

The Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia said the Missionaries of Charity have been present in Yemen since 1973 after the then Government of North Yemen formally invited them to care for the sick and elderly. The home in Aden has been open since 1992.

The attack comes as Yemen is embroiled in a civil war that killed more than 6,000 people, according to the United Nations.

In March 2015 Houthi rebels, who are Shia Muslims, took over portions of Yemen seeking to oust its Sunni-led government.

Saudi Arabia, which borders Yemen's north, has led a coalition backing the government. Both Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State have set up strongholds in the country amid the power vacuum.

Bishop Hinder said the attack on the Missionaries of Charity convent is proof that the war rages on, despite all attempts for negotiation.

“There are groups, especially in Aden region, who are not under control of the regular government and try to destabilize the country and to terrorize the people,” he said, noting that the few remaining Catholics will soon “have no other choice than to remain as discreet as possible” and try to wait for peace to be reinstalled.

The bishop said that currently its “impossible” to give an exact number of the Catholics left in Yemen because the war makes it difficult to obtain reliable statistics.

Many of the Catholics who haven’t left the country could be working in hospitals, but are unable able to reach their places of worship, which at present “are working only in a reduced way,” he said.

He blamed this on “the nationwide insecurity,” adding that before the war, he the estimated number of Catholics that he sent to Rome was 4,000 in all of Yemen.

However, Bishop Hinder said that he is sure “that in the meantime the number has essentially dropped.”

Although the effects won’t be seen immediately, the bishop said that both the sisters’ sacrifice as well as our prayers “will work.”

“As Christians we believe that Golgotha is not the end, but the Risen Lord who will have the final word at the last judgment.”

The bishop also said that he currently has no information on the whereabouts of Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil, a Salesian priest from India who had been staying with the sisters since his church was attacked and burned last September, and who has been missing since the Aden attack.

Fr. Uzhunnalil belongs to the Province of the Salesians of Bangalore and has been a missionary in Yemen since 2012, first in Taiz, and later in Aden at a church dedicated to St. Francis.

The Salesians have been present in Yemen for 29 years and are the only Catholic ministers in the country. Fr. Uzhunnalil was the only one left in Aden, and so collaborated closely with the Missionaries of Charity, who are the only religious congregation in the city.

Although the whereabouts of Fr. Uzhunnalil are still unclear, the Secretary of the Province of Bangalore, Fr. Valarkote Matthew, said in a March 6 communique that it seems as if Fr. Uzhunnalil “was taken away.”

However, he stressed that “this still needs to be confirmed. We are trying to ascertain the facts from different sources, but we only know for sure that around half past 8:30 in the morning several members of Al-Qaeda or Daesh (ISIS) broke into the convent.”

In the communique, it was noted that the vicar of the Major Rector of the Salesians, Fr. Francesco Cereda, is in constant contact with local authorities.

“The situation is still uncertain and we are unable to provide more specific details on what might have happened to our brother and where he is right now,” he said, but assured that the “profound and heartfelt prayer” of the community is being offered.

Fr. Cereda expressed his hope that Fr. Uzhunnalil “can be among us quickly and continue the precious service he held at his mission; our remembrance is for the four missionaries of charity.”

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