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(Vatican Radio)  New Year celebrations in eastern Ukraine were overshadowed by reports of deadly fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists. The clashes came amid frustration in Russia over Ukraine's free-trade agreement with the European Union which came into force on New Year's Day, prompting the start of Moscow's food embargo against Kiev.

Listen to Stefan Bos' report:

The deal, signed in June 2014, is part of the broader EU Association Agreement and is at the heart of the drastic deterioration of Ukraine's relations with Russia.

It will grant Ukraine tariff-free access to the EU's giant market and is expected to boost Ukraine's struggling economy. 

But the deal deal has angered Russia which retaliated by suspending its free-trade agreement with Ukraine and banning the import of several products including Ukrainian food. 

Russia's First Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Alexei Likhachev, defended these measures. "The implementation of tariffs against Ukraine are fully justified, as Ukraine is implementing Brussels' principles of external trade, which means that Ukraine's jurisdiction will be adjusted according to the European Union's main conditions of both customs administration and the rules of external trade," he said.  

Ukraine reacts

However embattled Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk called Russia's actions unjustified. "Ukraine held about sixteen consultations about how it would fulfill the free trade agreement with the EU and whether this would involve any risks for Russia," he explained. 

After this process it is clear there are absolutely no reasons for Russia to even mention any risks the EU trade pact could cause," Yatsenyuk added.   

That's not all: Russia says it's suing Ukraine for defaulting on a $3 billion Eurobond debt owed to Moscow.

The rhetoric on both sides has done little to ease tensions elsewhere as the Ukrainian military and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine accused each other on Friday of violating an already shaky holiday truce between the warring sides.

Separatists said one "serviceman" was killed in the early hours of New Year's Day, as Ukrainian forces shelled the Donetsk airport and the Kominterenovo village.

Military attacked

However Ukraine's military countered that its positions in the the Donbas region came under attacks 22 times over the past 24 hours tough no casualties were reported among Ukrainian forces.

Additionally, Ukrainian police are blaming saboteurs yet again for blowing up an electricity pylon that shut down electricity for at least one-quarter of the residents of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.

In November a similar attack saw electricity supplies being cut to all the peninsula's two million residents. 

With an ongoing conflict and amid slow reforms, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yatsenyuk has come under public pressure to resign. 

Yet he has made clear that early elections would be wrong as he wants to tackle high level corruption in 2016 including in the judiciary.  "As for the judicial reforms we must recognize that during the previous two years nothing has changed. My position has been and remains to be [that] we must replace all the nine thousand judges and we must not carry out just cosmetic reforms," he told reporters.    

Jobs such as judges could be even bought in Ukraine, which is now under Western pressure to end these and other practises, as it seeks closer ties with the EU and a more peaceful future this year.

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(Vatican Radio)  The Holy See announced on Saturday (2 Jan 2016) that the Comprehensive Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Palestine has come into full force.

The Comprehensive Agreement was signed by the Holy See and the State of Palestine on 26 June 2015. It "regards essential aspects of the life and activity of the Church in Palestine, while at the same time reaffirming the support for a negotiated and peaceful solution to the conflict in the region."

A joint statement released by the two parties stated that "The Agreement shall come into force when both Parties have notified each other in writing that the constitutional or internal requirements for the coming into force of the Agreement have been met."

The text of the official announcement may be found below:

Entry into force of the Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Palestine

With reference to the Comprehensive Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Palestine, signed on 26 June 2015, the Holy See and the State of Palestine have notified each other that the procedural requirements for its entry into force have been fulfilled, under the terms of Article 30 of the same Agreement. 

The Agreement, consisting of a Preamble and 32 articles, regards essential aspects of the life and activity of the Church in Palestine, while at the same time reaffirming the support for a negotiated and peaceful solution to the conflict in the region.

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The Catholic archdiocese of eastern India’s Odisha state is planning to build a memorial this year for those killed in the state in the worst anti-Christian violence in modern India.  “Many priests, religious and lay people have suggested a memorial especially for the Kandhamal martyrs. This has been discussed at various levels and it is gradually taking concrete shape,” Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar told Matters India January 1. “We pray that this process hastens,” the Divine Word prelate said.  Kandhamal district in Odisha state was the scene of unprecedented attacks on Christians in 2007 and 2008. The violence in 2008 lasted for nearly four months and claimed more than 90 lives and rendered more than 50,000 people homeless.

The proposed memorial is likely to come up at the premises of Divya Jyoti (divine light) Pastoral Centre, K. Nuagam in Kandhamal, some 215 km west of Bhubaneswar, the state capital.  Hindu nationalist groups had ransacked and torched the center during the anti-Christian persecution in August 2008. The attackers brutally attacked its director Fr. Thomas Chellan and gang raped a nun there.  

During the year, Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar Archdiocese will also focus on faith formation, education and peace promotion, besides bringing various communities together and reaching out to civil administration.   In a pastoral letter on Dec. 15, Archbishop Barwa sought suggestions from priests, religious and laity on how to implement these plans.

In a related development, Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias has said he wants the Church in India to initiate a process to declare those killed during an anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal as martyrs.  The prelate who is Archbishop of Bombay said he has spoken to the Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints regarding this.  “I am willing to speak personally about Kandhamal violence and its martyrs to Pope Francis, whenever there is an opportunity,” Cardinal Gracias told Matters India December 28.   Cardinal Gracias is part of the 9-member Council of Cardinals hand-picked by Pope Francis to advise him on the reform of the Catholic Church’s central administration in the Vatican. 

During the National Eucharistic Congress of India held in Mumbai, Nov. 12-15, Card. Gracias was profoundly moved hearing the testimony of one of the victims of the 2008 violence, Kanak Rekha Nayak who witnessed her husband being chopped into pieces by Hindu extremists for not giving up his faith. Cardinal Gracias said he had met Kanak Rekha and other victims earlier in 2011 in Odisha’s ‎capital, Bhubaneshwar, asking how he could help them.  And the request of Kanak Rekha was, “Can our husbands be declared martyrs by the Church?”  Cardinal Gracias commended the genuine faith of these simple Christians.  (Source: Matters India) 

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(Vatican Radio)  Bishop Damian Muskus, General Coordinator for WYD Krakow 2016, called on young people to “allow God to touch your hearts with His Mercy and transform them”.

Bishop Muskus’ words came in the form of an open letter addressed to young people who are preparing to attend the World Youth Day event to take place in Krakow, Poland on 26-31 July 2016.

Pope Francis released his message for WYD2016 in September, reminding young people that the theme for the event is “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Mt 5:7).

Adding his voice to the Holy Father’s, Bishop Muskus told young people to “Prepare yourselves for the extraordinary surprises, which He has prepared for you on the way to the great celebration of faith in Krakow.”

“In the New Year,”, he continues, “allow God to touch your hearts with His Mercy and transform them. May the radiance of His presence enlighten your daily life. May His love be for you a source of courage, strength and joy. Bring it to everyone, especially those who need hope and support, and become for the world clear signs of the merciful love of the Father.”

Concluding his letter, Bishop Muskus expressed his expectation and joy at the prospect of meeting the young people in Krakow, imparting his blessing upon all of them and their families.

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San Francisco, Calif., Jan 2, 2016 / 06:59 am (CNA).- Anyone who's familiar with “Portlandia” probably remembers Colin the chicken – a heritage-breed, woodland-raised fowl who was fed a diet of sheep's milk, soy and (local) hazelnuts and lived a happy life on a (local) 4-acre farm before succumbing to its fate on the plates of two insufferable hipsters.

While the comedy show, based in and around Portland, Ore., takes cultural mores to hilarious extremes, the chicken sketch points to a truth in current culture: more and more people are eating organic, local, non-GMO foods and prefer the authentic over the artificially enhanced.

And that's where the Archdiocese of San Francisco saw an opportunity to help low-income parishioners escape poverty.

Father Larry Goode is the pastor of St. Francis of Assisi parish in East Palo Alto, a small and historically low-income city in the San Francisco Bay area. Recently, Fr. Goode watched as big tech companies – Facebook, Google, and Microsoft – bought up most of the land surrounding his neighborhood, driving rent prices up and St. Francis' low-income families out.

“We're a community of low-income people, and we're trying to find a way to keep the community intact,” Fr. Goode said.

He started brainstorming with St. Patrick's seminary professor Father George Schultze and Ignatius Press founder Jesuit Father Joseph Fessio to come up with a way to create sustainable income for the poor in the area. That's how the idea of NanoFarms USA, a worker-owned farming cooperative, was born.

After receiving permission from Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone and St. Patrick's seminary rector Father Gladstone Stevens, Fr. Goode and St. Francis parishioners started using seminary grounds to plant produce, which they then started selling at local parishes and markets.

To supplement the income from the produce, the co-op is also creating and selling NanoFarms, or miniature, already-started gardens that range in cost from $500 - $2,000, depending on the model.

Those who purchase NanoFarms also have the option of hiring a worker to periodically maintain the garden.

Brendon Ford, the West Coast Regional Manager for NanoFarms USA, said the co-ops are giving workers a more just wage than what they might earn in other lines of work in the area.

“A lot of people, if they didn’t have this job, they would work for a gardener, or at a farm, or as a landscaper and they would be making very low wages,” he explained.

“Here (at NanoFarms) they actually own the company, they run the company, they vote for their boss, they can decide the direction of the company,” he said. “They have a lot more control. They have a lot more responsibility, but they have a lot more ownership.”

Ford, who didn't know much about farming when he got involved with the co-op, and had to take an eight-week course on bio-intensive farming practices in order to learn more, while another worker is finishing training in organic farming practices.

“It's awesome because last year we didn't know anything about this stuff, and now we know so much,” Ford said. “We've literally seen the fruits of our labor.”

The idea of fresh, organic produce is definitely trending in the Bay area right now, Ford said, which helps the appeal of their business.

“Our culture, especially the millennial generation, is kind of rebelling against the unnatural stuff of the previous generation,” he said. “They really want to experience the authenticity of life, I think this applies with food.”  

But beyond providing authentic produce, NanoFarms is also helping tech workers and others in the area to recognize the value of every person in the community, Fr. Goode explained.

“Low-income people provide innumerable services for the other side of town, which they’re not being acknowledged or recognized for, so as the cost of living goes up and these people have to leave, nobody’s filling in to do those jobs,” Fr. Goode said. “So this is partly to make ourselves more visible, so people can see that there’s a need here for people to wash their cars, to do their lawns, to cook their food. Then they can see that it’s not going to make it a better community to have just tech workers.”

Fr. Goode said he is also reading Pope Francis' encyclical, “Evangelii Gaudium,” at the moment and believes that NanoFarms is responding to the Holy Father’s constant call to the Church to care for the poor.

“It's not optional, it’s a required thing,” he said. “The Gospel requires that we become a Church of the poor.”

Ford also said that NanoFarms USA is a model for how Church social teaching works.

“We have to take care of the poorest among us,” he said. “And (one way) to do that is to tackle the issue: Why do people not have money? Why are they not having the jobs that they need? And I think what NanoFarms is doing, it’s finding a solution to people without jobs.”

Ford said NanoFarms also appeals to people who like to support good causes in their own communities.

“They see that this is actually helping people, this isn’t helping some big corporation,” he said. “But these are local people that are right here, the farmers are from their parishes, their communities. They like that idea of supporting each other.”

There are already plans in the works for another NanoFarms co-op to start in the Archdiocese of Chicago, and Ford said he’d like to see the project spread further.

“We're hoping other dioceses will catch on to this idea and start their own co-ops.”

To learn more about the business, visit: http://nanofarms.com/

This article was originally published on CNA May 31, 2015.

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