Victoria, Canada, Dec 16, 2015 / 03:06 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has reversed a decision by the province’s law society that would have banned graduates of a Christian law school from practicing law in the province. The Law Society of British Columbia (LSBC) originally agreed to recognize graduates of the proposed law school at Trinity Western University (TWU), the largest Christian university in Canada, in April 2014. They reversed their decision in October 2014 with a vote of the members of LSBC, citing as the reason a covenant that all TWU students sign promising they will not have sex outside of a marriage between a man and a woman, as well as uphold other biblical ideals. Of the approximately 13,000 members of LSBC, 74 percent voted to deny accreditation to TWU graduates. In a sharply critical reversal decision, Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson rebuked the Law Society of British Columbia for infringing on the school’s religious libe...
Victoria, Canada, Dec 16, 2015 / 03:06 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has reversed a decision by the province’s law society that would have banned graduates of a Christian law school from practicing law in the province.
The Law Society of British Columbia (LSBC) originally agreed to recognize graduates of the proposed law school at Trinity Western University (TWU), the largest Christian university in Canada, in April 2014.
They reversed their decision in October 2014 with a vote of the members of LSBC, citing as the reason a covenant that all TWU students sign promising they will not have sex outside of a marriage between a man and a woman, as well as uphold other biblical ideals.
Of the approximately 13,000 members of LSBC, 74 percent voted to deny accreditation to TWU graduates.
In a sharply critical reversal decision, Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson rebuked the Law Society of British Columbia for infringing on the school’s religious liberty and for overstepping their bounds by dictating the decision to a vote of its members without properly considering constitutional rights.
"There is no basis upon which a conclusion could be drawn or any evidence from the Special General Meeting or the October Referendum proceedings that the LSBC's membership considered, let alone balanced, the petitioners' Charter rights against the competing rights of the LGBTQ community," he said, according to The Vancouver Sun.
British Columbia Law Society president Ken Walker said the judge’s decision is important and that the society will be consulting their legal counsel regarding next steps.
In a statement on the school’s website, Earl Phillips, the executive director of TWU’s proposed School of Law, said the school is “very pleased” about the decision.
“As the Chief Justice has affirmed, the decision to approve a law school graduate must be based not on personal opinions and feelings, but on the law and evidence. The evidence shows that TWU teaches its students to work and live with the highest levels of skill and integrity,” he said.
Guy Saffold, a senior advisor to the president of TWU, said on the school’s website that opposition to the “Community Covenant” signed by students stems from misunderstanding.
“The covenant isn’t about pushing anyone away, but about building a community where we’re free to honour our consciences,” he said. “The same covenant calls for all members of the TWU community to respect the dignity of others regardless of their background. Loving one another without exception is one of the most important principles of Christian faith.”
Saffold added that TWU does not ask students about their sexual orientation during the admissions process, and that LGBTQ students were welcome to attend the school.
The university has experienced similar backlashes in other Canadian provinces.
The Nova Scotia Barristers' Society and the Law Society of Upper Canada each refused to recognize TWU graduates.
Alberta, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and the Yukon will recognize TWU’s law graduates. A decision by the Nova Scotia court requiring approval of TWU law graduates has been appealed by the Nova Scotia Barrister’s Society, and an Ontario court decision against TWU has also been appealed.
Saffold told The Vancouver Sun that while he is celebrating the decision in British Columbia, he knows that the process to get the TWU’s law school off the ground is far from over.
"At least if it is in your favour you are happy for the day, but we know there is more process to come," he said. "It's a good day, but there's always tomorrow."
HAVANA (AP) -- A lineup of Cuban-born baseball stars, including some of the most famous defectors in recent memory, made a triumphant return to the island as part of the first Major League Baseball trip here since 1999....
HAVANA (AP) -- A lineup of Cuban-born baseball stars, including some of the most famous defectors in recent memory, made a triumphant return to the island as part of the first Major League Baseball trip here since 1999....
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A 39-year-old woman and a teenage boy are suspected in the deaths of two children whose bodies were found inside a storage unit in Northern California, in a case that came to light after police checked on a 9-year-old girl who was found starving and injured but alive, authorities said....
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A 39-year-old woman and a teenage boy are suspected in the deaths of two children whose bodies were found inside a storage unit in Northern California, in a case that came to light after police checked on a 9-year-old girl who was found starving and injured but alive, authorities said....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional leaders are girded to push a Christmas compromise on tax cuts and spending through the House and Senate by week's end after Republicans and Democrats reached agreement on a legislative package extending dozens of tax breaks for businesses and families and financing 2016 government operations....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional leaders are girded to push a Christmas compromise on tax cuts and spending through the House and Senate by week's end after Republicans and Democrats reached agreement on a legislative package extending dozens of tax breaks for businesses and families and financing 2016 government operations....
 WASHINGTON- The United States has a moral obligation to protect unaccompanied children and families from persecution in Central America, said Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, in testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, October 21. Bishop Seitz is an advisor to the USCCB Committee on Migration and a member of the board of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC).The humanitarian outflow, driven by organized crime in the northern triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, continues, with nearly 40,000 unaccompanied children and an equal number of mothers with children having arrived in the United States in Fiscal Year 2015."If we do not respond justly and humanely to this challenge in our own backyard, then we will relinquish our moral leadership and moral influence globally," Bishop Seitz said.Bishop Seitz pointed to the human consequences of U.S. policies which are designed to deter migration from the region, i...
 WASHINGTON- The United States has a moral obligation to protect unaccompanied children and families from persecution in Central America, said Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, in testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, October 21. Bishop Seitz is an advisor to the USCCB Committee on Migration and a member of the board of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC).
The humanitarian outflow, driven by organized crime in the northern triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, continues, with nearly 40,000 unaccompanied children and an equal number of mothers with children having arrived in the United States in Fiscal Year 2015.
"If we do not respond justly and humanely to this challenge in our own backyard, then we will relinquish our moral leadership and moral influence globally," Bishop Seitz said.
Bishop Seitz pointed to the human consequences of U.S. policies which are designed to deter migration from the region, including U.S. support for Mexican interdiction efforts which are intercepting children and families in Mexico and sending them back to danger, in violation of international law.
Bishop Seitz recommended an end to these interdictions and the introduction of a regional system which would screen children and families for asylum in Mexico and other parts of the region. He also called for Congress to approve and increase a $1 billion aid package proposed by the Administration.
"If we export enforcement," Bishop Seitz said, "we also must export protection."
Bishop Seitz recalled the words of Pope Francis before Congress in September, when he invoked the golden rule in guiding our nation's actions toward those seeking safety in our land.
Quoting the Holy Father, Bishop Seitz repeated to the committee, "'The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time will use for us.'"
"Mr. Chairman, I pray that time, and history, will conclude that we honored this rule in meeting this humanitarian challenge," Bishop Seitz concluded.
Keywords: Bishop Mark J. Seitz, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Congress, Senate, Committee on Migration, migration, unaccompanied children, violence, Pope Francis # # # MEDIA CONTACT: Norma Montenegro Flynn O: 202-541-3200
(Vatican Radio) Burundi is quickly sliding back into outright civil war. That’s according to the United Nations (UNHCR), who says its aid agencies are responding to increased violence in the country with emergency response teams. Recent fighting has left over 150,000 people internally displaced in Burundi, with more than half a million suffering from severe food insecurity due to the conflict.Listen to Peter Kenny's report:The violent situation in Burundi is deteriorating and in danger of sliding into war the UN commissioner for Human rights has warned. Due to the escalating violence the UN Human Rights Council is to convene a special session on December 18.UN Human Rights Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein has said he is "deeply alarmed by the latest developments in Burundi's unfolding crisis."Cecile Pouilly a spokesperson for the UN rights office said at the end of last week security forces arrested hundreds of young men in Bujumbura, allegedly ...
(Vatican Radio) Burundi is quickly sliding back into outright civil war. That’s according to the United Nations (UNHCR), who says its aid agencies are responding to increased violence in the country with emergency response teams. Recent fighting has left over 150,000 people internally displaced in Burundi, with more than half a million suffering from severe food insecurity due to the conflict.
Listen to Peter Kenny's report:
The violent situation in Burundi is deteriorating and in danger of sliding into war the UN commissioner for Human rights has warned. Due to the escalating violence the UN Human Rights Council is to convene a special session on December 18.
UN Human Rights Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein has said he is "deeply alarmed by the latest developments in Burundi's unfolding crisis."
Cecile Pouilly a spokesperson for the UN rights office said at the end of last week security forces arrested hundreds of young men in Bujumbura, allegedly summarily executing a number of them and taking many others to unknown locations.
“With this latest series of bloody events, the country seems to have taken a new step towards outright civil war and tensions are now at bursting point in Bujumbura,” Pouilly said.
Zeid has urged all actors in the current crisis, including political leaders and State authorities at the highest level, to take every step possible to stop this deadly escalation and engage in a meaningful and inclusive dialogue.
(Vatican Radio) The Press Office of the Holy See has issued a Note in response to the evaluation of the report of the Holy See to the Council of Europe’s financial oversight agency, MONEYVAL, which was submitted last week, on December 8th, and made available to the public by MONEYVAL on Tuesday, December 15th.The Note recognizes MONEYVAL’s confirmation of the “substantial progress” the Holy See has made over the course of the past two years, toward, “building an institutional and regulatory framework for the prevention and combating of money laundering and the financing of terrorism that is functional and adequate to the task.”Click below to hear our reportThe Note goes on to recall the $11.2 million in frozen assets that the Vatican’s investigative and prosecutorial arm – the “Promoter of Justice” – has frozen pending thorough investigation. It underlines the Vatican’s establishment of a strong international ...
(Vatican Radio) The Press Office of the Holy See has issued a Note in response to the evaluation of the report of the Holy See to the Council of Europe’s financial oversight agency, MONEYVAL, which was submitted last week, on December 8th, and made available to the public by MONEYVAL on Tuesday, December 15th.
The Note recognizes MONEYVAL’s confirmation of the “substantial progress” the Holy See has made over the course of the past two years, toward, “building an institutional and regulatory framework for the prevention and combating of money laundering and the financing of terrorism that is functional and adequate to the task.”
Click below to hear our report
The Note goes on to recall the $11.2 million in frozen assets that the Vatican’s investigative and prosecutorial arm – the “Promoter of Justice” – has frozen pending thorough investigation. It underlines the Vatican’s establishment of a strong international network that enables it to cooperate actively with other countries and international and transnational organizations working toward the same goals of transparency and rule of law.
The Note concludes , saying, “The Holy See welcomes the invitation of the MONEYVAL Committee further to strengthen the capacity of its courts and police agency to conduct more incisive investigations in criminal matters and to punish the crimes of money laundering and financing of terrorism committed in the area of the Holy See and the Vatican City State.”
(Vatican Radio) The Greek Parliament Tuesday night passed a politically-unpopular batch of austerity measures in the eventual hope of meeting the conditions for a cut in the intractable national debt.Listen to John Carr's report:The vote was a close one – 153 deputies out of a total of 300 in the chamber – exactly corresponding to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s slender majority. Many deputies of his leftwing Syriza party opposed some of the measures, but said they voted for them anyway to keep Tsipras’s three-month old government together.Last night’s vote is expected to unlock a couple of billion euros in short-term bailout aid. But the ultimate aim, say government officials here in Athens, is to get Greece’s creditors to approve a cut in the Greek debt that has surged to nearly 200 percent of gdp and is widely believed to be unsustainable.The measures include more pension cuts and arrangements to sell nonperforming loans...
(Vatican Radio) The Greek Parliament Tuesday night passed a politically-unpopular batch of austerity measures in the eventual hope of meeting the conditions for a cut in the intractable national debt.
Listen to John Carr's report:
The vote was a close one – 153 deputies out of a total of 300 in the chamber – exactly corresponding to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s slender majority. Many deputies of his leftwing Syriza party opposed some of the measures, but said they voted for them anyway to keep Tsipras’s three-month old government together.
Last night’s vote is expected to unlock a couple of billion euros in short-term bailout aid. But the ultimate aim, say government officials here in Athens, is to get Greece’s creditors to approve a cut in the Greek debt that has surged to nearly 200 percent of gdp and is widely believed to be unsustainable.
The measures include more pension cuts and arrangements to sell nonperforming loans to foreign hedge funds – a move that has sparked public fears that unpaid mortgages could result in mass foreclosures.
Tsipras has said that won’t happen, but most Greeks are sceptical nonetheless.
Vatican City, Dec 16, 2015 / 12:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Council of Europe's second progress report on the reform of Vatican finances, released Tuesday, found that the Holy See has addressed many of the deficiencies in its financial system, while continuing to urge that it ramp up money laundering prosecutions. The Dec. 15 report was released by Moneyval, the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering committee. According to a Moneyval statement, the Holy See “has addressed most of the technical deficiencies in its legislation and regulations. However there is a need now for an anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing system to deliver effective results in terms of prosecutions, convictions, and confiscation.” Moneyval's lengthy report notes that since the anti-money laundering system was set up, “29 money laundering investigations have been undertaken in the Holy See / Vatican City State by prosecutorial law enforcement bodies” b...
Vatican City, Dec 16, 2015 / 12:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Council of Europe's second progress report on the reform of Vatican finances, released Tuesday, found that the Holy See has addressed many of the deficiencies in its financial system, while continuing to urge that it ramp up money laundering prosecutions.
The Dec. 15 report was released by Moneyval, the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering committee.
According to a Moneyval statement, the Holy See “has addressed most of the technical deficiencies in its legislation and regulations. However there is a need now for an anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing system to deliver effective results in terms of prosecutions, convictions, and confiscation.”
Moneyval's lengthy report notes that since the anti-money laundering system was set up, “29 money laundering investigations have been undertaken in the Holy See / Vatican City State by prosecutorial law enforcement bodies” but “no prosecutions have, as yet, been initiated.”
The report also highlights that more than 11 million euros ($12 million) are frozen in Vatican accounts.
The report reads that “there still remains, however, a continued lack of indictments for money laundering or for related serious proceeds-generating offenses in the three years since (the 2012 report). This situation needs to be improved."
Despite these criticisms the report can be considered a step forward as the Vatican establishes a financial system in line with its uniqueness – a state where there are neither banks nor a market – and which is at the same time compliant with current standards countering money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
The report praises the remediation process of the accounts in the Institute for Works of Religion, or Vatican bank. In 2013 the Vatican bank updated its guidelines for categories of customers, restricting those with access to the institution.
The Moneyval report notes that these guidelines are being followed strictly, and that the remediation process has led to the closing of some 4,600 accounts.
The report praised the Vatican's Financial Intelligence Authority for its oversight of the Vatican bank, and the continuity of the FIA's governance. It mentioned that the FIA's board “comprises more persons with professional and international AML/CFT experience and expertise, including the first lay president.”
In a Dec. 9 statement, Msgr. Antoine Camilleri, Vatican under-secretary for relations with states and head of the Holy See’s delegation at Moneyval, maintained that “the latest progress report confirms that the Holy See has established a functional, sustainable and effective system, aiming at preventing and fighting financial crimes”.
Moneyval issues peer-to-peer evaluations of members states as part of an on-going process which is continually updated to maintain high standards for countering money-laundering and the financing of terrorism.
