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 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.

Bishop Seitz' testimony can be found at http://www.usccb.org//about/migration-policy/congressional-testimony/upload/seitz-ongoing-migration.pdf

Keywords: Bishop Mark J. Seitz, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Congress, Senate, Committee on Migration, migration, unaccompanied children, violence, Pope Francis
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(Vatican Radio)  Croatia says more than half a million asylum seekers have entered the country since mid-September on their way to Western Europe. The announcement came while the Czech Republic said it would provide asylum to more than 150 Christians from Iraq.

Listen to Stefan Bos' report:

Police said at least 501,987 people crossed into Croatia since Hungary closed its border with Serbia. That move in September forced refugees to continue their long journey through Croatia. However authorities have confirmed that all asylum seekers moved towards the wealthy nations of the European Union, primarily to Germany or Sweden. 

Hungary's right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who was re-elected as the ruling Fidesz party's leader and seeks re-election in 2018, has defended his decision to erect an anti-migration fence along the border with Serbia. He told his party supporters that  EU leaders rejecting his call to keep migrants out of the bloc were in his words "weak, unsure and powerless."

Orbán also said the "continent looks like a battlefield and the worse is yet to come" adding that "millions or tens of millions" migrants may still enter Europe. 

Merkel defends policy

Yet in Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel defended her decision to allow in people from wartorn nations, such as Syria, calling it a "humanitarian imperative" and part of Germany's identity to let in migrants who had piled up in less welcoming Hungary.         

However Merkel, who was just elected as Time magazine's 'Person Of the Year' also addressed  concerns from within her party about an influx this year alone of one million refugees. "“We want to and we will noticeably reduce the number of refugees because it’s in everyone’s interest,” Merkel said. "“The spirit with which we need to tackle the refugee crisis: we have achieved so much, we will continue to make this work.. also because the essence of the Christian Democrats is to show how we deal with difficult situations,” she added. 

Eastern European countries have come under pressure to help more refugees. The Czech Republic says however it wants to provide asylum to 153 Iraqi Christians because they are threatened by extremists. It comes shortly after neighboring Slovakia said it would provide asylum to 25 Christian families from Iraq.

The countries along the Balkan migrant corridor in the past weeks have been allowing in only refugees from war-torn countries such as Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan. That has slowed down the movement of people and angered asylum-seekers from Iran or African nations.

Migrants usually cross the Aegean Sea from Turkey into Greece and then move on to Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia before reaching Austria. All have continued their journey toward the wealthy nations of the European Union, primarily Germany or Sweden.

Angela Merkel was speaking at the congress for her Christian Democrats party in response to concerns from within her party about an influx this year alone of one million refugees.

“The spirit with which we need to tackle the refugee crisis: we have achieved so much, we will continue to make this work.. also because the essence of the Christian Democrats is to show how we deal with difficult situations,” Merkel said.

Despite being widely praised for her bold response to the crisis, Merkel faces growing opposition to her open-door policy, “We want to and we will noticeably reduce the number of refugees because it’s in everyone’s interest,” added Merkel.

Police said Monday that 501,987 people have entered Croatia since Hungary closed its border with Serbia. That move in september forced migrants north redirecting the flow of refugees to Croatia. All have continued their journey toward the wealthy nations of the European Union, primarily Germany or Sweden. 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban lashed out at EU leaders who reject his call to keep migrants out of the bloc, which he described as "weak, unsure and powerless."

Orban told delegates at the ruling party Fidesz' congress on Sunday that the "continent looks like a battlefield and the worse is yet to come. How many more will hit the road, heading for Europe? I believe it's millions, or tens of millions."

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis speaks almost daily about the Jubilee Year and experience of the Holy Door as a way of rediscovering God’s mercy in our lives.  Holy Doors are being opened this week in cathedrals and churches across the globe, but over the coming year hundreds of thousands of pilgrims are also expected to make the journey to Rome, to step through the Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica, which the Pope himself inaugurated on December 8th, the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

While the Pope’s words, his homilies and teachings, provide plenty of spiritual guidance for such an experience, the British Consulate and its Embassy to the Holy See have also come up with some important guidelines offering practical support for anyone considering a pilgrimage to the Eternal City over the coming year. From a top ten tips leaflet on how to plan your trip, to a blog detailing routes and official registration procedures, the advice aims to guarantee pilgrims not only a fulfilling “spiritual experience, but also a very safe and happy one too”.

To find out more, Philippa Hitchen sat down with British Consul, Joyce McDougall, and Britain’s ambassador to the Holy See, Nigel Baker….

Listen: 

Ambassador Baker notes how Pope Francis has emphasized the global nature of the Holy Year so people in Britain are interested and many pilgrims are expected to come to Rome. That will be largely Catholics from the different dioceses in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, he says, but  may also include people from other Christian Churches and other faiths too…

Baker speaks of his own experience as the first British layman to step through the Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica just after its inauguration on December 8th. He stresses that the concepts of “mercy and forgiveness, of reaching out to others” are valid for all people and that stepping through the door is an important way of “being forced to think” more deeply about such things.

Consul McDougall explains that everyone who registers from Britain will receive the Foreign Office top ten tips leaflet with useful phone numbers and websites. In particular, she stresses the need to take care of passports (carry a copy around the city instead of the original), to sort out health insurance and to check the Foreign Office travel advice before embarking on the journey.

Regarding security concerns, McDougall says the British government has worked closely with the Italian civil protection unit and is “very happy with security arrangements that have been put in place”. Like any major city, she says, “at this moment you have to be careful”.

Supporting British pilgrims for the Holy Year, McDougall explains, is part of a wider effort to help those travelling abroad for any major event. Ambassador Baker notes that similar support is offered to British people travelling to the Hajj, in the hope that all pilgrims will have not only a “wonderful spiritual experience, but also a very safe and happy one too”.

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(Vatican Radio/VIS)  Pope Francis on Tuesday appointed Fr. James Patrick Powers as Bishop of Superior in the US state of Wisconsin.

The diocese consists of: area 40,701 square miles, population 464,000, Catholics 77,200, priests 74, permanent deacons 68, religious 81.

The bishop-elect was born in Baldwin, Louisiana in 1953 and was ordained a priest in 1990. He has served in a number of pastoral roles, including parish vicar, parish administrator, parish priest and adjunct judicial vicar.

He is currently diocesan administrator of the diocese of Superior and pastor of the St. Joseph Parish in Rice Lake.

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A staff member at Bangui’s Palace of Renaissance, in the Central African Republic (CAR),  Tychique Nzouketia Reggy Reo-Olar has told Vatican Radio’s Africa Service that notwithstanding outbursts of violence in CAR, Pope Francis’ visit has had a profound effect on the people of his country. No one in CAR expected Pope Francis to wave a magic wand of peace in the country. Nevertheless, many people in CAR are still speaking about the appeals and words of peace Pope Francis pronounced while in CAR. He left a lasting impression, Reo-Olar, who works in the Transitional President’s office, said.

“Every politician, every Christian, every Muslim, animist and mere citizens -all continue to quote Pope Francis' statements (on peace and co-existence) in their speech,” Reo-Olar said.

On Sunday, residents of CAR defied rebels as they went out to vote in Sunday’s constitutional referendum that should go a long way in stabilising the Central African Republic.

CAR is not lacking of spoilers bent on disrupting the process towards stability. Reuters reported Tuesday that a rebel leader in CAR, Noureddine Adam, declared an autonomous state in the northeast of the country. CAR’s transitional Government immediately condemned the declaration. Adam, one of the main leaders of the Seleka rebel coalition, used intimidation in areas under his control to block voting in the crucial constitutional referendum Sunday, Reuters reported.

United Nations (UN) News has said that UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous told the Security Council that spoilers in CAR needed to be contained.

“We must not allow attempts by a few, to disrupt the hopes and aspirations of many for a successful electoral process that will return their country to constitutional order,” emphasised Ladsous.

The first round of presidential and legislative elections is scheduled for 27 December, this year. Ladsous has pledged MINUSCA (UN Blue helmet peacekeepers) ’s continued commitment to a “robust posture” to protect civilians. He has called for strong action to ensure that the perpetrators of serious human rights abuses are brought to justice.

MINUSCA in CAR currently maintains nearly 11,000 uniformed personnel in the country. These “Blue Helmet” peacekeepers, among others, performed exceptionally well in ensuring peace during Pope Francis’s November 2015 visit to CAR.

(Paul Samasumo, RV)

Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va

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(Vatican Radio/VIS) Pope Francis’ 2016 Message for the World Day of Peace, entitled “Overcome indifference and win peace”, was presented in the Holy See Press Office on Tuesday.

The panel was composed of Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council “Justice and Peace”, Flaminia Giovanelli and Vittorio V. Alberti, respectively under-secretary and official of the same dicastery. The conference was also attended by various refugees from Syria, Somalia, Kenya and Cote d'Ivoire, assisted by the Centro Astalli in Rome. Archbishop Michele Pennisi of Monreale, Italy and Fr. Luigi Ciotti, founder of the Abel Group and the Association “Libera,” also contributed to the presented with a written account.

Cardinal Turkson began by explaining that in a period in which there is a widespread attitude of indifference, the Pope considers in depth this “globalisation of indifference” which, starting with indifference to God, is extended to human beings and all creation. Human beings consider themselves self-sufficient and believe they owe nothing to anyone other than themselves, granting themselves rights without assuming duties.

“After showing that peace is threatened by indifference at all levels, the Message offers a biblical and theological reflection, which enables us to understand the need to overcome indifference to open up to compassion, mercy, commitment and, therefore, to solidarity. This latter is defined as a moral virtue and an attitude that those with responsibility in education and formation, such as families, educators and trainers, and those who work in relation to means of social communication, are required to cultivate.”

The document reaffirms the confidence in the capacity of human beings to conquer evil with good, and indicates the many praiseworthy forms of solidarity present in society in favour of victims of armed conflicts and natural disasters, the poor and migrants. It concludes with an appeal from the Holy Father to every person, in the spirit of the Jubilee of Mercy, to assume a concrete commitment to help improve the situation in which he or she lives: in the family, the neighbourhood, or the workplace. … Therefore, it is not only indifference at the centre of the 2016 Message, but also man's capacity, with the grace of God, to overcome evil and to combat resignation and indifference. In this regard, the Pope mentions some key events in 2015, such as the COP 21 on climate change, the Addis Abeba Summit for funding sustainable development worldwide, the adoption of Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, and the 50th anniversary of the publication of Nostra Aetate and Gaudium et Spes, two Vatican Council II documents that opened the door to dialogue with non-Christian religions and all the human family.

The under-secretary Flaminia Giovanelli noted the continuity of Pope Francis' teaching with that of his predecessors Benedict XVI and St. John Paul II. The Pope emeritus, in Caritas in Veritate, identified in the anthropological question the current social issue, emphasising the problem of nihilism. The link to the Magisterium of St. John Paul II is instead particularly visible in the indication of the path of mercy as the way to combat indifference.

Vittorio V. Alberti commented that if peace demands a victory and a conquest, it is because there is a conflict. “Indifference affects the public sphere – politics and culture,” he said, “and Francis writes once only a word that is a major conflict: corruption. When he was a cardinal, he called it the tiredness of transcendence – resignation, turning in on oneself. This is corruption. … There are many key words in the Message: man's capacity, apathy, lack of commitment, concrete commitment to contributing to improve the situation. But to improve in the name of what?”

“If I do not believe that there is a future,” he continued, “I do not believe in the meaning of things. And if I do not believe, where can I find the trust – and thus the strength of commitment – to combat corruption and to overcome indifference? … But is this a crime, nowadays? It is and it isn't. And this is perhaps the most dramatic terrain of this message: indifference that must be treated with mercy. If I see Palmyra destroyed, or the spread of corruption, I feel crushed by it because I do not believe that together we can change things. This is nihilism.”

“Mercy is not merely a moral fact, but also mental and intellectual: it is freedom of thought and Francis is giving us the deepest keys to combating indifference. He is providing the cultural base for combating corruption, framing it in the broader context of the crisis of our times, which is a cultural crisis. The lack of meaning is the greatest form of suffering because, insisting upon a perennial present, it corrupts the past, the future and the very present itself by exhausting its transcendence, debilitating the capacity to go beyond, towards a dream or an ideal.”

The archbishop of Monreale, in his text, recalls that it is decisive for the credibility of the Church to live and bear witness to mercy in the first person, towards the frailest in society, including detainees, as the Pope emphasizes. He writes, “I hope that the Church and civil society will take into consideration Article 27 of the Italian Constitution, which affirms that 'punishment cannot consist in treatment contrary to human dignity and must aim at rehabilitating the offender'. Custodial sentences are meaningful if, as well as affirming the needs of justice and deterrence, they serve also to rehabilitate the person, offering those who have erred the possibility to reflect and change their life, so as to be fully reintegrated in society. The Christian community is called upon to educate, assist and rehabilitate every person, enabling them to feel worthy of being loved and promoted in social life.”

Don Luigi Ciotti writes that peace, from Pope Francis' perspective, is “the opposite of quietism, of seeking to 'stay in peace'. True peace comes from a spiritual reawakening that has immediate practical consequences, that asks to be incarnated in … actions that involve our existence both as people and as citizens. We are workers for peace when we are attentive to our neighbours, when we do not turn away from their needs and their fragility; when we promote the common good. … Inhabiting the 'peripheries' is the first step in constructing peace, the basis for a more human civilisation and a society of closeness, in which people are not instruments for profit, and the well-being of the few does not mean poverty, exclusion, desperation and death for many others.”

The World Day of Peace is marked every year on 1 January.

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(Vatican Radio) As a seven-day ceasefire came in effect between the warring parties in Yemen, the international charity, Save the Children, said the conflict there had greatly worsened an already dire humanitarian crisis.  The charity says 1.3 million children are acutely malnourished in Yemen and over 300,000 children are one step away from a famine. Susy Hodges spoke to Grant Pritchard, Director of Advocacy and Communications at Save the Children, to find out more details.

Listen to the interview with Grant Pritchard of Save the Children:

A forgotten crisis

Pritchard described the conflict in Yemen with its “devastating consequences” for the nation’s population as “a forgotten crisis” and points out that the already dire humanitarian situation there “continues to deteriorate.”  He therefore welcomes the temporary ceasefire that can offer a lifeline to the beleaguered Yemeni population, of whom more than 80 percent now depend on humanitarian aid. 

One step away from famine

Prichard notes that over two million people have been displaced internally by Yemen’s conflict and 14 million of the nation’s population does not get enough to eat on a daily basis.  Children are always the most vulnerable when it comes to malnutrition and Prichard says 1.3 million of Yemeni minors are “acutely malnourished.” He warns that out of that number, a third of a million children are just “one step away from famine.

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Washington D.C., Dec 14, 2015 / 03:13 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In an effort to address uneasiness about the Common Core, a developer of the curriculum says that a traditional Catholic education should prepare students regardless of new changes to the SAT and other standardized tests.

“As president of The College Board it is my conviction that a child excellently trained in traditional liberal arts will do superbly on relevant sections of the SAT and other aspects of Advanced Placement work,” David Coleman told the Cardinal Newman Society in an interview published Dec. 14.

The College Board is the non-profit that administers the SAT and Advanced Placement tests. Coleman, the organization’s president, was also a lead developer of the Common Core curriculum at Student Achievement Partners.

Coleman emphasized that the intention of the curriculum standards is not “a stultifying sameness.” He also focused on the need for a wise implementation of the standards.

“The vulgar implementation of anything can have a reductive and destructive effect,” Coleman said. He said he wanted to celebrate the “beauties and distinctive values of a religious education” in order to avoid a “leveling quality.”

According to the official site of the Common Core State Standards, the curriculum aims for high-quality academic standards in math and English language arts and literacy. The goals intend to outline student achievement by the end of each grade.

The Cardinal Newman Society is dedicated to a strong religious identity for Catholic schools. It is among the critics of Common Core education. Those concerned have questioned the quality of its recommended curriculum and its rapid implementation by many U.S. state legislatures.

Common Core also has strong backing from education policy influencers such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Obama administration, the National Governors’ Association and the school superintendent leadership organization the Council of Chief State School Officers.

Dozens of Catholic dioceses have decided to implement the curriculum, as have most U.S. states. Some state laws also have an impact on religious schools’ curriculum standards, such as rules for schools that receive tax vouchers.

The Cardinal Newman Society and like-minded parents and education experts have voiced concern that the Common Core curriculum could undermine the Catholic identity and liberal arts emphasis of many Catholic schools. They also worry the curriculum has a utilitarian emphasis on career preparation and college skills

The new SAT revision, to be launched in March 2016, is aligned with the Common Core.    

Coleman said the SAT revision aims for a deeper educational value and is not geared exclusively towards a careerist education mindset.

He said the new revision includes a section that will focus on one of five “founding documents in the great conversation of human dignity and liberty that it inspires.” These include the speeches of President Abraham Lincoln and civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Besides the Bible, these documents are a common reference point for “the conversation of human liberty and dignity,” Coleman said. These texts help inspire a conversation that opens up “so many domains of learning that might be closed to you.”

Coleman also had advice for Catholic education.

“Don’t be in a defensive crouch. I say that to every group I talk to of religious educators,” he said. “I say, share what you do that is beautiful and distinctive. Don’t just defend your right to exist. Be proud of what you have to offer, which is different.”

Coleman has previously defended the religious freedom of Christian colleges. He told the Cardinal Newman society he is “trying to get people involved in secular education to take a much more serious look at the depth and beauty offered by religious education.”

He told the Cardinal Newman Society that there are strengths in religious schools not shared by other schools.

Coleman has addressed educators at the National Catholic Educational Association, and he will speak again to their annual convention next March in San Diego.

The NCEA received a $100,000 grant in 2013 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support teacher training and materials on common core implementation. The foundation has dedicated at least $160 million to the curriculum’s development and promotion.

Coleman said his remarks to the Catholic educators’ upcoming convention will not be about Common Core. They will be about “the distinctive and potentially widely valuable benefits of religious training and religious education.” He told the Cardinal Newman Society he believes non-religious schools have “much to learn” from the best of religious schools.

Photo credit: www.shutterstock.com.

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