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Bangladesh’s cardinal has expressed his sorrow for the victims of the devastating landslides in south-east Bangladesh triggered by heavy monsoon rains. According to the latest reports, at least 144 people have died in a series of landslides in the districts of Rangamati, Bandarban, Chittagong and Cox's Bazar.  The death toll is expected to rise as rescuers reach out to many areas affected by the violent rains. 

"I'm really shocked. Most victims are tribals living in the hills,” Cardinal Patrick D'Rozario, Archbishop of Dhaka told AsiaNews.  “I am praying for those who lost loved ones,” he said, adding, “All my affection goes out to them." 

Following torrential rains, tons of mud and debris slid from the hills, sweeping away homes on their way.  The worst affected areas are the hilly districts, where thousands of people build their homes on the slopes.  

Card. Patrick believes that the natural disasters are also an effect of climate change. "People need to be more aware," he said. In an appeal to "government, political parties, and non-governmental organizations,” Bangladesh’s first cardinal insisted “they have to work for the victims.” “No one has to politicize the landslide tragedy," he stressed.  The prelate announced that Caritas would also be involved in rescue operations.

Father Dominic Sarkar, parish priest in Bandarban, reported the death of "Rara Tripura, a Catholic of just 18," and the injuring of "at least ten other Christians." His parish is located in a remote area and rains have made the situation even more tragic.  "Communication links to other districts have been cut,” he said. “Many people are still missing. We need help for the poor because those who live on the hills are really in need,"  Fr. Sarkar said.  (Source: UCAN)

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Indianapolis, Ind., Jun 15, 2017 / 07:45 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In their discussion Wednesday on spiritual, pastoral and policy support for immigrants, the U.S. bishops highlighted the need for compassion, while also clearing up misconceptions about their views.

“There was a desire to express solidarity with and pastoral concern for those at risk, but also a desire to avoid encouraging exaggerated fears,” said Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, who has worked for several months to head the bishops’ working group on immigration.

Archbishop Gomez presented on the efforts of his working group at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ general meeting this week in Indianapolis.

Kicking off the discussion was a talk by Fr. Daniel G. Groody, C.S.C., Ph.D., of the University of Notre Dame.

In introducing Fr. Groody for the first segment of the panel, conference president Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo indicated that the talk would focus on the “spiritual rather than political perspective.” The event program referred to the talk as discussing the “Spirituality of Immigration.”

Fr. Groody began by speaking about the Mass Pope Francis celebrated at Lampedusa in July 2013, saying that he “would like to reflect a little bit on migration and the Eucharist,” and “to see how we can foster a Eucharistic imagination in our people.” He linked the Mass at Lampedusa, which was celebrated using an altar, lectern, and chalice crafted from the boats of refugees, to the border Mass at the United States-Mexico border.

From discussing this pair of Masses, he moved into his reflection on moving “from otherness to communion.”

Discussing the “Age of Migration,” he described the exploding statistics of displaced people, noting that the twenty-first century has seen more refugees than even World War II, and that migrants (even those within their own country) and refugees today comprise one-seventh of the global population.

“The first thing I want to say is that migration is an incredibly, incredibly complex issue,” Fr. Groody said, and “those who don’t understand its complexity either aren’t listening or they don’t understand.”

Moving into what he described as a “Liturgy of Words,” Fr. Groody outlined various groups who interact with immigrants in the United States. These include “vigilantes” living and operating at the border, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), political leaders, corporations, Church leaders, and human rights activists. He then detailed how these groups interact in legal, economic, and humanitarian capacities.

Turning to the legal aspect of the discussion, he considered Thomas Aquinas’ four kinds of law: natural, civil, divine, and eternal. “The goal for us for a just society is to have some sort of connection and participation between these laws.”

From this “Liturgy of Words,” Fr. Groody reflected further on the Eucharist at Lampedusa, telling the story of the carpenter who created the liturgical instruments out of the wood of refugee’s boats.

During a question-and-answer session with the bishops, Fr. Groody mentioned the “risk of deporting our souls” as rumors about the increase in deportations fly. He also summarized his “central theological point,” namely that “God in Jesus Christ so loved the world that he migrated into the far and distant territory of our sinful and broken existence, and there he laid down his life on a cross so that we could migrate back to our homeland… it is no longer the ‘other’ who is the migrant, but it’s all of us.”

After Fr. Groody spoke, the panel moved into its second session, a summary of the tasks completed by the bishop’s working group on immigration issues, commenced at the November 2016 General Assembly. Wednesday’s session marked the final presentation of the group, whose work will now be integrated into the conference’s existing committees on immigration.

The presentation was conducted by Archbishop Gomez along with Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin, Texas, chair of the bishops’ migration committee. After the presentation, which lasted about half an hour, the panel transitioned to a discussion session.

Archbishop Gomez gave a summary of the group’s work, noting that they had been formed in anticipation of the incoming presidential administration’s likely moves on the issue. As such, much of their work consisted of making public statements on behalf of the USCCB against measures such as the executive orders issued in the first days of the nascent administration.

He also summarized the resources the group had produced for dioceses, namely materials for prayer, pastoral accompaniment, action alerts, legal memoranda, and policy reports.

Bishop Vásquez then addressed where the conference intends to move from the group’s work. He expressed the desire to continue the collaboration strengthened over the course of their work, and highlighted the continuing good work of Justice for Migrants, an advocacy group of the USCCB.

He also spoke of the need to counter the false images presented of the bishop’s work on the topic, such as the misconception that they are advocating for “open borders,” and highlighted the five principles presented in their 2003 joint document with the bishops of Mexico, “Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope.”

 

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Sean Gallagher, The Criterion

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INDIANAPOLIS (CNS) -- Atlanta Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory said June 14 the U.S. Catholic bishops "can never say that we are sorry enough for the share that we have had in this tragedy of broken fidelity and trust" -- the clergy sex abuse crisis.

He made the comments in the homily at an evening Mass said to commemorate a "Day of Prayer and Penance" for victims of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. The liturgy was celebrated at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis at the end of the first day of the bishops' spring assembly.

"At this Mass, we bishops humbly and sincerely ask for the forgiveness of those who have been harmed, scandalized or dispirited by events that, even if they happened many years ago, remain ongoing sources of anguish for them and for those who love them," he said.

"We bishops have learned a great deal about the sorrow and pain of those we love and serve, even as we have to acknowledge humbly, publicly and pitifully our share in bringing much of that pain to bear," Archbishop Gregory said.

Pope Francis has summoned the bishops of the Catholic Church, he said, "to find occasions and opportunities to pray earnestly for God's grace to bring about the healing and the reconciliation of those who have been harmed in this tragedy that has hurt far too many of his people and far too much of his church."

"The Holy Father has called us respectfully to acknowledge our own share in causing the pain that so many are still enduring," he said.

"At this Mass," Archbishop Gregory continued, "we bishops humbly and sincerely ask for the forgiveness of those who have been harmed, scandalized or dispirited by events that, even if they happened many years ago, remain ongoing sources of anguish for them and for those who love them."

The bishops "humbly seek forgiveness from the faith-filled people of our church and from our society at-large," he said. But, he continued, they especially seek forgiveness "from those whose lives may have been devastated by our failure to care adequately for the little ones entrusted to us and for any decision that we made or should have made that exacerbated the sorrow and heartache that the entire church has felt and continues to feel -- for what we have done, and for what we have failed to do."

Archbishop Gregory noted that the U.S. bishops have put many procedures in place to address the sex abuse crisis in the 15 years since they first approved the "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People."

The charter emphasizes that the first obligation of the church toward victims of sexual abuse is to offer outreach and provide a path toward healing and reconciliation. The document also put in place a system for auditing how dioceses are complying with the charter and implementing procedures to address abuse cases and prevent abuse.

The bishops also created the Secretariat for Child and Youth Protection and established the National Review Board, which oversees the audits.

These "procedural and educational expressions of our commitment to reform and renewal ... are sincere, state-of-the-art and effective," Archbishop Gregory said.

"Nevertheless, this expression of our sorrow," he said, referring to the special Mass, "is far more important at this time, in this place, than any administrative process or training effort, however beneficial to the church and to the world."

At the end of Mass, all the bishops knelt and recited a Prayer of Healing and Reconciliation.

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